Meet Corona, Malaysia’s first captive-born baby pangolin

In this special edition, we’re introducing our 4-part series of virtual conversations on the wildlife trade

Welcome to the first special edition of Green Echoes, a newsletter from the Environmental Reporting Collective that highlights key investigative stories, data sources, funding, reporting and training opportunities and our projects from across Asia. 

Over the last two years, we’ve published over a hundred articles in several languages, videos, podcasts, and have helped dozens of journalists advance their reporting as everyone chases reports of links to Covid-19. And R.AGE even published an illustrated storybook.

Now, we’re trying one more thing: We want to bring our reporting closer to communities in Malaysia with this series of virtual conversations on the wildlife trade.

We want conversations, not lectures. These are not webinars or panel sessions, but real conversations in an online room of like-minded people. Imagine it as part dinner party, part study group.

You will get to meet fellow enthusiasts and a curated group of experts including journalists and activists, each bringing their own unique experience and perspectives to the conversation.

The series kicks off on June 11 with a “full moon” party to celebrate Malaysia’s first captive-born baby pangolin. Baby “Corona” will be present via video link to virtually meet guests, while her caretaker – Malaysia’s Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) assistant wildlife officer Cosmas Ngau – will be on hand to discuss the challenges of raising these shy, highly-endangered animals in captivity. Also joining:

• Perhilitan Director General Dato’ Kadir Abu Hashim

• Perhilitan Head of Research Dr Jeffrine Rovie Ryan Japning

• Pangolin researcher Dr Chong Ju Lian

• Elizabeth John of TRAFFIC

The conversation will be moderated by award-winning investigative journalist Ian Yee.

June 11, 8 pm Malaysia time. (That’s 1 pm in London, and 8 am in New York.)

This will be the first of four sessions taking place over a month, designed to encourage sharing from all participants, from wildlife experts and journalists to activists and other enthusiasts. Each session will focus on a different aspect of the illegal wildlife trade. Space is limited to 300 participants for each conversation.

The schedule

• The “full moon party”, with Corona and the experts mentioned above
  June 11, 8–9 pm (Malaysia time) - RSVP

• The 1st Conversation, with us and selected experts
  Can farming pangolins curb its illegal trade? 
  June 18, 8–9 pm (Malaysia time) – RSVP

• The 2nd Conversation, with us and selected experts
  Should indigenous peoples be allowed to hunt wildlife? 
  June 25, 8–9 pm (Malaysia time) – RSVP

• The 3rd Conversation, with us and selected experts
  Do we still need Traditional Chinese Medicine, with the demand it creates for wildlife parts?
  July 2, 8–9 pm (Malaysia time) – RSVP

Questions? Would you like to support this initiative? Let us know by responding to this email or emailing contact@investigative.earth.

My usual weekly email will be in your inbox on Wednesday, along with the biweekly Chinese edition, if you’re a lucky free subscriber.

See you soon!
Stay safe and healthy,

Nithin Coca

P.S.: The amazing illustration you see here at the top of the email is by Ooi Hui Qi. You can follow her on Instagram.

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The Environmental Reporting Collective is a group of reporters and editors across Asia and elsewhere, working together to rethink how environmental journalism is done. We support collaborative journalism projects that start new conversations on how our societies impact our planet. Such stories are complex and expensive. That’s why they require new approaches to research, reporting, editing and distribution.

To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. You can also let us know what you would like to see in this newsletter by responding to this email.