ON 16 April 1998, Malaysia launched its National Biological Diversity (NBD) Policy. The document contains a strong pledge and firm commitment by the Malaysian government to transform this country into a world centre of excellence in conservation research and utilisation of tropical biological diversity. One of the two relevant strategies identified in the NBD policy for effective management of biological diversity is the improvement of the scientific knowledge base.

The overarching policy will be achieved through the implementation of two related action plans, which include documentation of species diversity through activities that intensify biological resource inventories, and systematic studies. The policy invariably includes action plans on the need to increase research in biosystematics.  

Towards this end, the government should be sufficiently committed to providing support for the documentation of species diversity through strengthening of existing herbaria and zoological museums at local universities and research organisations.

All the above serves as the most compelling reason why Malaysia must have a biodiversity library in the form of a National Museum of Natural History where specimen collections are professionally curated, stored, and studied to discover potentially useful information inherent in the species. A research institution of sorts would serve as a prerequisite to Malaysia’s biodiversity-based industry.

The year 2020 was the target date to realise the impactful execution of this policy. Two decades on with a couple more years to go, this NBD initiative seems like a snooty, unachievable goal to my mind. Filled with that familiar cynicism, I tend to shrug off the whole thing as just another case in point as being typical of “us Malaysians” – our failure to look at the big picture. We are long with rhetoric and promises, but short on pragmatism and delivery.

We speak of visionary achievements and lofty economic goals, but fail to pay attention to the prerequisites and roadmaps of getting there. It was during the premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that a sudden shift to biodiversity and biotechnology was made from the ITC and multimedia focus. But the post-Mahathir era of economic development hinged on our rich biological resources, sad to say, failed to even make a dent in our national economy. It has been farcical more than anything else.

The academics at the local universities, however, have been expecting this all along. We have failed at the prerequisites.

Here lies the irony of it all. Biodiversity of our lush tropical rainforests and pristine coral reefs is considered to be the highest in the world. Malaysia is indeed one of the 14 megadiverse regions of the world today. Everyone is proudly stating this incredible truism. Our scientists, politicians, industrial leaders and the public at large are beginning to talk about efforts to capitalise on our rich biological resources.

Yet so many of these claims do not add up and pertinent questions about our biodiversity are left unanswered. For instance, we have been blatantly ignoring for so long the begging questions of “how rich is our biodiversity?”, “what are they?”, “where are they found?”, “how are they endangered?” and “how can we save them from extinction?”. To squarely answer these basic questions, we must cement our interest and effort together by first establishing our own National Museum of Natural History. It will serve as an institution to house our richly diverse scientific specimens of flora and fauna for the purpose of research and education providing answers to the above questions.

We have been talking about a biodiversity-based industry which includes programmes on new drug discoveries and innovations in environmental technologies. Unfortunately, our current knowledge on Malaysian biodiversity suffers a particular dearth compared to that of advanced countries. The database on the magnitude of Malaysia’s biodiversity and our scientific knowledge on the services these biological resources provide us is far from complete. For instance, to date, less than 60% of all Bornean plants have been taxonomically identified, much less scientifically investigated. Serious efforts must be taken to develop the inventory of our own flora and fauna in Malaysia and build our knowledge on our own biodiversity through research and education.

Credible scientific documentation of biodiversity inevitably relies on a huge pool of systematists and the availability of large collections of specimens.

The lingering shortage of biological systematists or taxonomists in Malaysia must also be highlighted. Effective steps to address this problem need to start immediately.

Biodiversity can be analogised to a library where the species represent the books on its shelves. The information contained in these books can be likened to the vast amount of genetic information stored in the DNA of the species. A library houses books containing information that may be of immediate need, indispensably useful in the future, or simply able to contribute to the cultural well-being of a society. But in our Malaysian biodiversity library, vast quantities of these books are still hidden, others are in storage waiting to be catalogued, while only a small proportion has been read. Adding to our growing list of worries, the clearance of our rainforests and the destruction of our coral reefs are occurring at unprecedented rates. Our “biodiversity library” is constantly faced with the real threat of being demolished or burned down to the ground together with its books in the name of progress and development.

A National Museum of Natural History will also serve as an institution to raise awareness in our future generations on the importance of our floral and faunal species so that they will be able to care for this planet Earth in a more responsible manner than we have been.  

Currently, a mood of uncertainty prevails amongst academics in the country as to whether our new Pakatan Harapan government can begin to recognise the many contributions a National Museum of Natural History can give to our society. A litany of pleas from them in the past have met with muted dispassionate reactions. Unrelentingly, despite the daunting prospect, I think time is now ripe for a fresh call to be made to the PH government for the establishment of our own National Museum of Natural History Museum. Failing to take this first step in the right direction, our cherished intent of capitalising on biodiversity-based industries will turn out only another pipe dream.

* Professor Dr Ghazally Ismail is a retired vice-chancellor and academic. 

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.