Stories about Asia and the environment...that you probably haven’t heard yet. A new perspective on how different countries in Asia are tackling a changing planet.
Vietnam is the world’s second largest destination for the illegal trade in pangolins after China. The Southeast Asian country is also a major transit hub for trafficking of the endangered mammal into China. And yet, there is very little awareness of this issue within Vietnam, and despite numerous seizures of pangolins and pangolin parts, there are few prosecutions. In Malaysia too, loopholes in wildlife protection laws have allowed a thriving online marketplace in exotic pets to develop – it’s not hard to find someone who’ll sell you a pangolin should you want one for your Instagram feed. But there’s an even more serious problem facing the pangolins, which used to be common in Malaysia’s forests – and habitat destruction isn’t just a problem for pangolins – it’s a problem for all of us.
Guests:
Trang Bui, The Pangolin Reports
Xu Jiaming, The Pangolin Reports
Elroi Yee, R.AGE
Dr Xavier Jayakumar, Malaysian Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources
Further Listening and Reading:
Pangolin trading routes in Vietnam and across the globe: The Pangolin Reports
R.AGE reporting on wildlife and pangolins in Malaysia (audio used in podcast):
R.AGE video on Malaysia illegal wildlife trade
R.AGE video interview with Dr. XavierJayakumar
Interactive storybook on Pangolins
The Pangolin Reports: https://globalstory.pangolinreports.com/
Production credits:
Executive producer: Marcy Trent Long
Producer: Bonnie Au
Assistant producer: Amber Hou
Sound engineer: Chris Wood
Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin
Teaching Guide for Educators here
Subscribe for the latest episodes and review us on listennotes!
Transcripts in Mandarin and English at chinadialogue and chinadialogueocean.
