YH Law

Listen to the Birds to Save Mangroves When birds disappear from back mangroves, the mangrove forest’s very survival could be at stake.

Every day, hundreds of satellites take snapshots of Earth. From above, a patch of healthy tropical forest looks lush with a complex, uneven canopy. It would reflect light very differently from bare land or a uniform plantation. Scientists train computers to use such differences and scan satellite images to identify mature forests. A well-trained computer could tell accurately where and when mature forests turn into something else.

Last year, a villager, Din bin Janja, was killed in an elephant encounter. Macaranga spoke with Din’s wife, Jaerah binti Muda, and son, Endi bin Din, to learn what happened. Din loved fishing. For over 20 years, he had always gone fishing after he finished tapping rubber. Elephants were not uncommon, but they ran from humans. “But [we] don’t know what went wrong that morning. We never expected it,” says 58-year-old Jaerah.