I launched this website in
2001 and, at the time, it was one of the
earliest online resources focussing on Southeast Asia's wildlife and
environment. Over the years the internet has grown exponentially, but environmental awareness in the region
has grown more slowly. There is no denying, however, the link between the spread of information and the
raising of awareness.
This is still very much a
personal website (some visitors think Ecology Asia is an
organisation, which it is not). The website's main aim is to raise
awareness of the diverse wonders of Southeast Asia's lesser known wildlife,
particularly its vertebrates. Many of the vertebrate species featured here
have no other home on the internet. All wildlife images on this site are taken in native habitat : I dislike images taken in zoos (in fact, I
generally dislike zoos, though there are exceptions). See
eco-focus for over 300 species
factsheets.
Also included in this site is a section
covering some of Papua New Guinea's elusive amphibian and reptile fauna.
An archive of relevant news articles
is available here : though incomplete, the pages captured in the archives
would otherwise
be lost in the depths of various newspaper's servers where most search
engines rarely go. This section has
proven useful to school students and researchers looking for a
preliminary introduction to the ecological challenges facing the countries
of the region. See
eco-news.
Who can deny that much of the
world is in a mess ? A financial mess, a political mess and, of course, an
environmental mess. It is the last of these three which really
concerns me.
Regards
January 2009
Thanks to : Chan Kwok Wai,
Horst Flotow, Con Foley, James Gan, Tim Jackson, Norman
Lim, Leong Tzi Ming, Joseph Lim, Kelvin Lim, Celine Low, Shawn Mathai, Tony O'Dempsey,
Mark O'Shea, Ng Bee Choo, Timothy Pwee,
Stephen Richards, Morten Strange, Ria Tan, Andrew Tay, Robert
Teo, Sivasothi, Yeo Suay Hwee ... I
get by with a little help from my friends.
