THE importance of nature and nature-based solutions to overcome biodiversity loss and climate change has never been higher on our global agenda. And Malaysia's treasure trove of natural assets is second to none.
British High Commissioner, Charles Hay, who has been here for nearly two years and speaks Malay, is very well-versed in our natural attractions. Last week, he launched the Malaysian Nature Tours programme in the context of the 2021 "Super Year for Biodiversity and Climate Change", during which major world summits will be held on both topics.
Malaysia's natural endowments include our vast rainforests and pristine marine areas, rich in plant and animal species, some found nowhere else on Earth. We are one of the world's 12 most megadiverse countries.
The wonder of Malaysia's flora and fauna is the multibillion-year product of natural selection, a theory attributed to naturalist Charles Darwin. However, what most people do not know is that another British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, also deserves credit for the theory.
Born in Wales in 1823, Wallace has been described as a naturalist, a geographer and a social critic. Like Darwin, Wallace travelled the world, observing and collecting samples of species. He travelled to Brazil and the Malay Archipelago that make up modern-day Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, amassing thousands of specimens of insects, birds and other animals.
After four years in Brazil, Wallace fell ill and started back to England. But 26 days into the voyage, his ship caught fire and sank in the Atlantic ocean. Through the greatest of luck, Wallace, his team and the ship's crew were picked up by a passing ship after 10 days adrift. But, all of Wallace's notes and samples were lost at sea.
Despite this setback, Wallace set off on another Southeast Asia voyage in 1854 to collect more samples. By1855, his observations led him to the conclusion that living things change over long periods of time — they evolve. However, he could not explain how or why. Then, in 1858, still in Southeast Asia, he fell ill again. Wracked with fever, he suffered hallucinations, but when the fever broke, the answer came to him — species evolve by adapting to their environment.
Wallace knew Darwin was working on similar research. In 1858, he wrote to Darwin, outlining his ideas. They collaborated on a scientific paper discussing their evidence for natural selection and evolution.
In 1859, Darwin published On the Origin of Species, his theory on natural selection for a broader audience. It became known as Darwin's theory. Sadly, Wallace's considerable contributions to the study of evolution have not achieved the same historic acclaim.
In Malaysia, it is a point of pride that our region has long been, and continues to be, of intense interest for naturalists' and other scientists' fieldwork.
It is no coincidence that one of this year's recipients of the prestigious Merdeka Award is the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP), established by the Royal Society in 1985, based in the Danum Valley, Sabah. SEARRP facilitates world-class scientific research that addresses major environmental issues facing the tropics: plantation development, habitat restoration and climate change.
Over the last 30 years, SEARRP scientists have vastly improved our understanding of rainforests, their conservation, restoration and sustainable management. Their mission also includes training and mentoring the next generation of scientists and conservation leaders, informing policy and best practices at local, regional and global levels.
While appreciating the British scientists' contributions to the our natural history, one must not forget those of the Malays and their many original scientific insights. This is well documented in a classic 1935 book by I.H. Burkill, Dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula, widely acknowledged as "a work of great scholarship by one of the world's leading ethnobotanists" and "a masterpiece of condensation of a vast fund of knowledge and experience".
But this writer could not agree more with the astute and legendary Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid (whose recent passing we greatly mourn), who noted that much of Burkill's information must come from traditional knowledge kept by kampung and indigenous people.
It is gratifying to see that today, in our quest to conserve biodiversity and use its components in a sustainable manner, appreciation of indigenous knowledge and leadership is being acknowledged in an ever-expanding range of ways and forums.
The writer is ambassador and science adviser to the Campaign for Nature, senior fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia and one of the recipients of the 2015 Merdeka Award
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times