On this year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we are highlighting the role of Indigenous women in preserving and passing on traditional knowledge. Indigenous women are knowledge keepers of traditional food systems and medicines. They are champions of Indigenous languages and cultures. They defend the environment and Indigenous peoples’ human rights. To build and equitable and sustainable future that leaves no one behind, we must amplify the voices of Indigenous women. Indigenous traditional knowledge can offer solutions to many of our common challenges. On my recent visit to Suriname, I learned first-hand how Indigenous peoples are protecting their rainforest and its rich biodiversity.  On this International Day, I call on Member States to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to promote Indigenous traditional knowledge for the benefit of all.

On Saturday, I proudly stood with Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, and the people of Hiroshima in memory of an unprecedented catastrophe. Seventy-seven years ago, nuclear weapons were dropped on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tens of thousands of women, children and men were killed in the blink of an eye, incinerated in a hellish fire. Buildings turned to dust. The cities’ beautiful rivers ran with blood. Those who survived were cursed with a radioactive legacy, stalked by health problems, and subjected to lifelong stigma because of the nuclear bombing.  I had the great honour of meeting with a group of those survivors — the hibakusha, whose numbers grow smaller each year. They told me with unflinching bravery what they witnessed on that terrifying day in 1945. It is time for world leaders to be as clear-eyed as the hibakusha and see nuclear weapons for what they are. Nuclear weapons make no sense. They cannot deliver safety, protection or security. By design, they deliver only death and destruction. Three-quarters of a century have passed since mushroom clouds swelled above Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since then, humanity has endured a Cold War, decades of absurd brinksmanship, and several terrifying near-misses that placed humanity within minutes of annihilation. But even during the depths of the Cold War, nuclear powers made significant reductions in their nuclear arsenals. There was widespread acceptance of the principles against the use, proliferation and testing of nuclear arms.    Today, we are in danger of forgetting the lessons of 1945. A new arms race is picking up speed, with governments spending hundreds of billions of dollars to upgrade their stockpiles of nuclear arms. Almost 13,000 nuclear weapons are now held in arsenals around the world. Geopolitical crises with grave nuclear undertones are spreading fast, from the Middle East, to the Korean peninsula, to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Once again, humanity is playing with a loaded gun. We are one mistake, one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from Armageddon. Leaders must stop knocking on doomsday’s door and take the nuclear option off the table for good. It is unacceptable for states in possession of nuclear weapons to admit the possibility of nuclear war, which would spell the end of humanity. By the same token, countries with nuclear weapons must commit to the “no first use” of those weapons. They must also assure States that do not have nuclear weapons that they will not use — or threaten to use — nuclear weapons against them, and be transparent throughout. Nuclear saber-rattling must stop.   In the end, there is only one solution to the nuclear threat: not to have nuclear weapons at all. This means opening every avenue of dialogue, diplomacy and negotiation to ease tensions and eliminate these deadly weapons of mass destruction.  We are seeing fresh signs of hope in New York, where the world has come together for the Tenth Review Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty is one of the main reasons why nuclear weapons have not been used since 1945. It contains legally binding commitments to achieve nuclear disarmament, and can be a powerful catalyst for disarmament — the only way to eliminate these horrendous weapons once and for all. And in June, members of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons met for the first time to develop a roadmap towards a world free of these doomsday devices. We can no longer accept the presence of weapons that hang by a slender thread over humanity’s future. It is time to heed the timeless message of the hibakusha: “No more Hiroshimas! No more Nagasakis!” It is time to proliferate peace. Together, step by step, let’s wipe these weapons off the face of the earth.      

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with Amanah Lestari Alam (ALAM) today launched Phase 2 of the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL), to reimagine youth participation in climate and environmental action across Malaysia. “Young people are the most vulneable group when it comes to climate change, but their voices have been ignored for far too long. I hope to see more inclusive and transparent children and youth participation in decision-making processes,” said Mogesh Sababathy, 24, youth climate advocate. The event celebrated the completion of Phase 1 of YELL in 2021, while highlighting opportunities as it entered the next phase. In Phase 2, youth-led environmental groups are invited to participate in developing narratives on climate change that is rooted in local, indigenous and traditional knowledge alongside impactful projects that respond to community-based environmental needs. “Children, especially those from poor communities will bear the biggest brunt of climate change. Children are also the most determined to take urgent action to undo the damage. Climate change is not only happening in distant polar ice caps. Climate change is happening here, where we are now, and our stories must reflect that. YELL is an essential and welcome platform for young people to draw attention to the lived realities they face in their homes and communities” said Amanda Bissex, Representative a.i. for UNICEF in Malaysia. The Change for Climate report released in 2020 found that Malaysian youth are eager to act on climate and environmental issues. However, some gaps remain, such as the lack of local narratives and local entry points that can help young people take their first steps in environmental action. From consultation with young people at the inception of YELL, it was found that youth-oriented environmental programmes are largely focused on doing, without much space for documentation, learning, and reflection. Green careers remain unpopular due to perceived low viability. Youth-led environmental organizations also struggle with issues of sustainability. “The genesis of YELL is for young people to have a platform to express their aspirations. We hope that YELL will empower youth to engage positively on climate change issues, rethink ways to raise awareness, act on climate issues, and contribute to local solutions,” said Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. YELL aims to strengthen the ecosystem of youth environmental leaders through capacity building for evidence-based advocacy and through work exposure and skills-building opportunities. Partners are invited to work together to provide skills and opportunities for youth leaders. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between UNDP and Amanah Lestari Alam (ALAM), an organization set up by Bank Pembangunan Malaysia with a mission to transform mindsets and change behaviors of Malaysians through environmental education. Together with UNICEF, YELL will be a flagship initiative under the MOU, with the purpose to strengthen youth-led climate action. YELL has also embarked on a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to engage rural youth on environmental entrepreneurship projects through the Social Entrepreneurship for Rural Youths (SERY) initiative. Additionally, YELL is working with Impact Malaysia on building local awareness of climate change and environmental action among youth from across the country. “We believe that educating young people creates lasting impact, not just to the individual but to the community as well – like engraving in stone. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and this MOU we have signed with YELL will enhance our efforts as a team to create a more sustainable environment” said Datuk Ali Tan Sri Abdul Kadir, Chairman of Amanah Lestari Alam. The launch event held at Rimba Ilmu, Universiti Malaya included an exhibition featuring achievements from YELL Phase 1 that began in July 2021. The exhibition featured #BumiBelia Stories Competition, stories from the field, and highlights the initiatives and actions of members from the YELL Network across Malaysia. There was also a networking session discussing opportunities for participating in YELL Phase 2. The event concluded with a learning session on living labs at the Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden jointly conducted by the host, Rimba Ilmu, and the UNDP Accelerator Lab Malaysia. More information about YELL and to get involved: https://yell.my/ YELL Phase 1 (2021) brought together a network of over 200 entities across diverse sectors in support of climate and environmental action, while developing directories, toolkits and resources to support young environmental heroes. In YELL Phase 2 (from 2022), YELL will provide seed funding for citizen science and action learning projects, support green careers and skill-building, and work with young people to (re)discover local and traditional knowledge. YELL is being piloted in Malaysia with the intention to scale across Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, forming a cross-country network whose actions for climate and the environment are rooted in the values, cultural norms, and local/traditional ecological knowledge of this region. In April 2022, YELL was selected as one of three global winners of the UNICEF-UNDP Green Shark Challenge, a global challenge designed to unleash the creativity, experience, and skills of UN staff to respond to global environmental challenges. About UNICEF UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children visit https://www.unicef.org/malaysia/. Follow UNICEF on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook About UNDP UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. For more information about UNDP and its work, visit: www.my.undp.org Follow UNDP on Twitter and Facebook About ALAM ALAM is a national initiative with the mission to transform the mind-set and change the behaviours of Malaysians on the environment. ALAM aims to create awareness, educate on the change and instil whistle blowing culture on environment by collaborating with the public sectors, private sectors and civil societies, in addition to advocating policy by working with and providing a meaningful bridge between industry players and policy makers for improved governance and impactful delivery of initiatives. For more information about ALAM and its work, follow ALAM on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Media contacts Rachel Choong Communications Officer (Media) UNICEF Malaysia Tel: +60122932690 Email: rchoong@unicef.org Lalitha Monisha UNDP Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam Tel: +6011 26155049 Email: lalitha@flowcommsasia.com

By UNDP Ecosystems & Biodiversity. Read the original article here A century ago, there were approximately 100,000 wild tigers in their various natural habitats worldwide; that number has decreased to around 3,500 today, with three out of nine subspecies of wild tigers declared extinct within the last 70 years. At present, tigers are under severe pressure from a variety of interlinked threats: poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, loss of prey species, disease, roadkill, and habitat destruction, to name just a few. The challenge is exacerbated by the interrelationships between threats and their overlapping timeframes. In the short term, the illegal wildlife trade has the greatest potential to crater the tiger population, whereas the long-term survival of the tiger will depend on cohering fragmented tiger habitats (or rehabilitating adjacent degraded ones) into a functioning whole. Optimally, these tactics are symbiotic - interdicting the illegal wildlife trade maximizes the potential for tiger survival in the near-term, while preserving habitat increases opportunities for accessing prey and improves the probability of mating and giving birth to future generations. Crucially, both aspects of the strategy require a great deal of public- community partnership, and local community involvement and buy-in to achieve success. Stronger together The Central Forest Spine (CFS) of Peninsular Malaysia is widely recognized for its extraordinarily rich biodiversity and ecosystems, including some of the last remaining wild populations of the endangered Malayan tiger.  The Improving Connectivity in the Central Forest Spine Landscape (IC-CFS) project is a collaborative effort between the Malaysian Government and international bodies to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. With funding from Global Environment Facility (GEF) and support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the project is working to restore contiguous forest landscapes in Central Forest Spine. An integral part of the project is targeted support to wildlife enforcement systems. Specifically, the project is improving the wildlife crime intelligence system through the integration of wildlife enforcement operations to protect tigers and reduce wildlife crime in Malaysia.   Working across three landscapes in Perak, Pahang, and Johor, the broader ecosystem is linked by connecting fragmented forest areas through the establishment of ecological corridors. This initiative is crucial for the preservation of the unique Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), a critically endangered species at dire risk of extinction.   Extraordinary measures According to the First National Tiger Survey, conducted from 2016 to 2020 by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Peninsular Malaysia, in collaboration with local NGOs, the Malayan tiger population today is less than 200. Without extraordinary actions, Malaysia is expected to lose this species within the next five to ten years.  In Peninsular Malaysia, illegal poaching and wildlife trafficking are among the main factors in the decline of local tiger populations. High demand for local wildlife on the black market - including the Malayan Tiger - involves local and international hunters in wildlife trafficking activities. The Malayan tiger is valued for its individual parts (including claws, fangs, heads, bones, flesh, organs, and skin), which are sold as fashion accessories, exotic delicacies, and traditional medicine. But with project help, local communities and authorities are fighting back: between January 2019 and June 2021, more than 1,000 tiger traps were destroyed by DWNP and partners from the Forestry Department, Royal Malaysian Police, military veterans, State Park Corporations, Orang Asli communities, and NGOs.   Complementarily, through the IC-CFS project, FDPM and DWNP - in collaboration with the Malaysia Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT) - have sought to protect the habitat of the Malayan tiger by conducting regular patrols and monitoring encroached areas and illegal hunting hotspots, especially in the Sungai Yu area of Merapoh, Pahang. The Sungai Yu area is one of the most important ecological corridors that connects the forest at Banjaran Titiwangsa with the forest landscape of Taman Negara National Park, which also happens to be the main habitat of the Malayan tiger.   More than 160 snares have been destroyed around the Sungai Yu ecological corridor since the first CAT Walk programe in 2010. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has also collaborated with DWNP to conduct patrols and monitoring in the Belum and Temengor Forest Reserves, which brought about a 90% decline in hunting activities. Coordinated Action Mirroring the effort to create a contiguous forest, partnerships to fight wildlife crime need to be equally strategic and coordinated. The IC-CFS initiative is led by a network of implementing agencies from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (KETSA), Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia (FDPM), Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and State Forestry Departments. Together, the coalition has collaborated with non-governmental organizations, businesses and communities to foment change across the local environmental landscape.   The Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and State Forestry Departments are spearheading aspects of the project that hinge on the implementation of sustainable land use in forest landscapes. In particular, these rely on forms of forest management that support and preserve the area’s biodiversity and ecosystem services. This takes on special urgency against a backdrop of habitat fragmentation. Intuitively, a conservation regime comprised of 50 siloed 1ha reserves has less utility than a single 50ha protected area. But we live in a world where siloed habitat is already the norm across most of the Malayan tiger’s natural range - globally, wild tigers have lost almost 93% of their natural habitat. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) is a key co-leader in wildlife conservation. DWNP supports the IC-CFS project through their protection, management, and enforcement efforts related to wildlife. Partnering for wildlife In the wake of the COVID pandemic, and with reports from around the world of increased poaching by communities that have lost their jobs and livelihoods, local communities and rangers on the ground have an opportunity to reiterate the importance of wildlife and ecosystem protection. Building on the work of the IC-CFS project in building partnerships and cultivating conservationists in communities, local rangers are front and centre in project efforts, serving as valued allies in conservation. Reducing crime In partnership with DWNP, the IC-CFS team utilises Spatial Monitoring and Reporting (SMART) tools for enhanced monitoring of patrolling within the pilot sites for efficient intelligence gathering, species identification, route-mapping, and recognizing smuggling techniques through forensics. Project officers are actively involved in integrated enforcement activities against local forest and wildlife crimes through collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), NGOs, and local communities under Operasi Bersepadu Khazanah – ‘Integrated Operation Treasure’ in English. The IC-CFS project has supported improvements to Standard Operating Procedures concerning arrests, handling of seized items, investigations, and prosecutions by state park authorities. The application of intelligence technologies such as real-time surveillance systems and intelligence analysis software for wildlife cybercrime at pilot sites allows for better threat detection. Empowering Officers Since April 2022, Forestry and State Park Officers have been empowered to enforce the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 via arrest of offenders, and searching and seizing illegally killed wildlife and their parts. Trained officers participate in integrated enforcement activities such as special operations targeting local poaching activities. This multi-agency joint response facilitates more frequent wildlife enforcement actions within the CFS landscape. These efforts have led to an increase in prosecutions of wildlife crimes in Malaysia, while the sustainable land use in forest landscapes aspect of the project ensures local benefits and buy-in. Preserving a future with wildlife These multi-party collaborations - with government agencies, NGOs, and local communities, and the FDPM - jointly protect and preserve the forest landscape in Malaysia. This unity supports and contributes to conservation efforts of the Malayan tiger, ensuring that it remains a national symbol for future generations. For more information on the IC-CFS project, visit the project website here or follow the project on Instagram here. For more information on UNDP Malaysia, visit here. Footnotes Story by: Andrea Egan, IC-CFS project team and Dato’ Hj Zahari Ibrahim, National Project Director of Improving Connectivity: Central Forest Spine (IC-CFS) and Deputy Director-General of Forestry at Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia / Photos: UNDP Malaysia