Putting the Great Back into a Reef

Published on Apr 29, 2015 by Luke Hunt

This story first appeared in The Edge ReviewBy LUKE HUNT / Lady Elliot IslandAustralia’s reputation as the Lucky Country blessed by sunshine and idyllic beaches has taken a cyclonic beating over recent years. Massive storm systems over Southeast Queensland hammered the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), devastating coral cover and it has struggled to recover ever since.But scientists also noticed that the reef’s ability to rehabilitate itself was beinghampered by dredging and harmful farming practices with excess nutrients in the water leading to coral bleaching and encouraging the reef’s biggest threat, the coral-eating crown of thorns star fish, to breed in uncontrollable numbers.Then plans for a major expansion of the port facilities at Gladstone to handle increased coal exports upset environmentalists....

Hunt for Rare Indochina Wildlife

Published on Apr 19, 2015 by Luke Hunt

Way out on the remote borders that divide Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam sits the Virachey National Park (VNP), one of the last bastions for endangered Indochinese wildlife and the focus of scientific attention for groups like HabitatID.Greg McCann, a field coordinator with HabitatID, said his latest field trip into the region to retrieve photos from a batch of 21 camera traps hidden in the forests had been a success, with his finds countering arguments that the park had been poached into an “empty forest.”Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Fight to Save the Reef

Published on Apr 19, 2015 by Luke Hunt

In the coming months, the United Nations and the Australian government will square off over whether to list the Great Barrier Reef as endangered. Environmentalists said the unique marine park is threatened by development and needs stronger safeguards. The Australian government insists it is already a responsible caretaker of the landmark.Read and hear more from Luke Hunt at Voice of America .

Fight to Save The Great Barrier Reef

Published on Apr 12, 2015 by Luke Hunt

In Australian political parlance “robust discussions” often borders on gang war typified by self-interest and an armada of lawyers, politicians, and lobby groups whose inability to find common ground is too often undermined by a win-at-all-costs mentality.In recent years, attitudes to asylum seekers arriving unannounced along the coastline, drastic spending cuts by the ruling conservatives, and even drugs in sport have bought out the worst in a nation that thrives on immigration, government subsidies, and Olympic success.There are, however, exceptions. The Great Barrier Reef is one. The World Heritage Committee has managed to bring stakeholders together in a rare display of unity, with the result that an A$2 billion ($1.5 billion), 10-year plan has been announced to ensure the future....

Stunning Honesty From Sarawak's New Chief Minister

Published on Nov 30, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Finally, after decades of allegations and overwhelming evidence, the new chief minister of Sarawak in East Malaysia Adenan Satem, has called a spade a spade and denounced the state’s illegal timber merchants and some of its law enforcement officers as “corrupt.”Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Cambodia Looks to Put Its Rice on the World’s Plate

Published on Aug 3, 2014 by Luke Hunt

For as long as Cambodian rice farmers can remember, their product has had an unsavory reputation. Tough, dirty and unmilled, it was impossible to cook evenly, and even farmers traded it as pig feed in exchange for cash or better-quality rice from Vietnam or Thailand.Read more from Luke Hunt in The New York Times.

Indiana Jane and the Looted Temples of Koh Ker

Published on Jun 8, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Cambodia has begun to see the return of national treasures looted during its Civil WarWritten by Luke Hunt for The Diplomat.In what has been a long time coming, three 1,000-year-old statues looted in the 1970s were sent back to Cambodia this week after U.S. authorities used their collective clout and had them returned from auction houses Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and the Norton Simon Museum in California.Critical to their return was Tess Davis, a U.S. art lawyer and affiliate researcher at the University of Glasgow, who stressed Cambodia had only won the first in a series of battles, in what could prove to be a protracted war over the return of looted art.“The kingdom has taken on the art market, an....

Politicians and Corporates Ensure Acrid Haze Returns

Published on Apr 10, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Each year, about 200 million people across large swathes of Southeast Asia are forced to choke on dreaded smog caused by massive burning off in Indonesia, where the culprits have enjoyed a long-standing impunity. Each year there are promises by politicians that the issue will be dealt with, yet each year the haze returns.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .

Dengue Fever on the Rise in Southeast Asia

Published on Feb 17, 2014 by Luke Hunt

In Malaysia, the signs are ominous. The coming wet season is already shaping up as potentially the worst on record for dengue fever with regional governments stepping up efforts to limit the spread of the potentially deadly disease.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Malaysia, Indonesia, spoilers in ASEAN anti-haze deal

Published on Sep 29, 2013 by Luke Hunt

This article first appeared in The Edge ReviewBy LUKE HUNT / Kuala LumpurExpectations that Southeast Asian governments would find a united and workable approach to dealing with the dreaded haze that annually blankets the region have again been undermined by self interest amid a deal struck by Indonesia and Malaysia to withhold critical information regarding the causes of the fires.Their agreement to withhold information on the fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has upset Singapore, Thailand and Brunei, all key players in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) charged with ending the annual scourge.The deal also became known in the wake of the second appearance of the haze this season after Indonesian fires fuelled the worst smog....