Singapore port expansion: impact on Labrador Nature Reserve?

Singapore to spend $2b on port expansion
When completed by 2013, it will increase annual capacity by over 50 per cent.
Bryan Lee, Straits Times 21 Dec 07;

SINGAPORE is spending $2 billion to expand its port, a move that will increase annual capacity by more than 50 per cent.

The project, in anticipation of continued growth in global sea trade, will involve the building of 16 berths in Pasir Panjang.

These will have an annual handling capacity of 14 million standard containers.

Singapore currently has 49 berths serving container ships which can handle up to 26.1 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs).

Work on the expansion began in October and is expected to be completed by 2013.

The Government has also taken extra steps to minimise the ecological impact of the project.

It has spent more than $20 million engaging experts to conduct studies on how the port expansion may affect corals around Labrador Park and has even moved some that would have been hit by the project.

'PSA Singapore Terminals continues to experience strong growth in its container volumes and we expect to handle 27 million TEUs this year,' said a Port of Singapore Authority spokesman.

'We have already fast-tracked our development of Pasir Panjang Terminal Phase 2. The development of Phases 3 and 4 is therefore timely.'

$2b mega project to expand Singapore port
16 additional berths in Pasir Panjang to cope with trade boom
Bryan Lee, Straits Times 22 Dec 07;

SINGAPORE is spending $2 billion to expand its port to beef up annual capacity by about 40 per cent.

The mega project will help ensure that the local docks, already bursting at the seams, can cope with the higher volumes expected from booming global trade.

The expansion plans - known as Phases 3 and 4 - will make space for 16 additional berths in Pasir Panjang, which will have an annual handling capacity of 14 million standard containers, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

Work is expected to be completed by 2013, although certain preparation and conservation initiatives have already been undertaken over the past two years.

The project comes on top of ongoing port expansion efforts as sea traffic here has seen steady growth.

Container traffic grew 6.9 per cent last year to hit 24.8 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) - the term for the freight boxes - making Singapore the busiest container port in the world.

Volumes are forecast to rise even more this year on booming trade between Asia and Europe. PSA, which operates four of the five container terminals here, expects to handle 27 million boxes this year. In the first eight months of the year, volumes were up 13.7 per cent to 17.8 million TEUs.

The Pasir Panjang terminal, the subject of the latest expansion plan, is already doubling its number of berths over the next two years under an initial development project known as Phases 1 and 2.

PSA Singapore Terminals, the terminal's operator, is building 13 berths at Pasir Panjang under the first two phases to bring the total to 26 berths.

The company has spent $5 billion over the past 10 years on the terminal's two development phases. When these are completed in 2009, it expects the annual container handling capacity across its four terminals here to hit 35 million boxes that year.

'PSA Singapore Terminals continues to experience strong growth in its container volumes and we expect to handle 27 million TEUs this year,' said a PSA spokesman. 'We have already fast-tracked our development of Pasir Panjang Terminal Phase 2. The development of Phases 3 and 4 is therefore timely.'

Jurong Port, which runs a much smaller operation, is also beefing up capacity, upgrading quay cranes and extending the length of its five berths, said a spokesman.

The latest expansion plan for Pasir Panjang will have a total quay length of 6km, adding to the current total of 14.2km across all 49 container berths islandwide.

Some major roads in the area will also be lengthened and upgraded in anticipation of heavier road traffic from a bigger port. Harbour Drive will be extended eastwards while the intersection between Clementi Road and West Coast Highway will be upgraded with a flyover.

The contract for the project has been awarded to a consortium comprising civil engineering firms Koon Construction & Transport, Penta-Ocean Construction, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors.

While still early days, industry experts tip PSA to be the likely operator of the new berths.

The company did not confirm this but said: 'PSA is working closely with the Ministry of Transport and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore on this new development. Our customers can be assured that we will have capacity for them to expand their hubbing operations here.'

RELATED LINK

Labrador Nature Reserve: trashed?
Lots of rubbish near the work area relating to the port expansion project
on the wildfilms blog

Read more!

Slow loris trade in Indonesia under scrutiny

Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 22 Dec 07;

Their enormous round eyes and cuddly coats make the Slow loris one of the world's most appealing animals. Unfortunately the same characteristics make it a prime target for poachers who sell the small and vulnerable creature as 'pets'.

The UK animal charity International Animal Rescue (IAR), probably best known for rescuing dancing bears in India, has been investigating the loris trade in Indonesia.

They have just built a new rescue centre on the island of Java which they will use for the rehabilitation of wild animals captured for the pet trade before they are released back into safer areas.

During a trip to Indonesia in November the charity's investigators took shocking photos at an animal market in Jakarta. The images show a terrified slow loris having its teeth cut down with nail clippers to prevent it from using its bite to defend itself.

This is standard practice in Indonesia before putting lorises up for sale for about £10 each and many of them die from the trauma or from septicaemia within days of capture.

Five slow lorises were found in tiny rusting cages behind the scenes at the market. Naturally shy and nocturnal, the little animals were visibly suffering in the bright sunlight and the extreme heat.

IAR's chief executive, Alan Knight, who took the photos said: "These rare and beautiful animals should have been sleeping in the trees of the Sumatran jungle.

"Instead they were in a completely alien environment and could be heard screaming in agony as their teeth were cut down before our very eyes.

"It was all I could do not to step in there and then to help them. But if we are to have an impact on the trade in primates as a whole and encourage the government to crack down on it, I had to take the pictures and raise awareness of the issue."

The slow loris was upgraded from Appendix II to Appendix I in June at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. While species listed on Appendix II may be commercially traded, species on Appendix I are afforded the greatest legal protection and may not be traded for primarily commercial purposes.

However, in spite of the legislation, slow lorises are frequently smuggled from Sumatra by wildlife dealers and sold in their hundreds in the pet markets in Jakarta. Their big round eyes and soft fur make them hugely appealing as pets, and hundreds pass through the Indonesian animal markets every year.

IAR's patron, comedian and musician Bill Bailey, is a frequent visitor to Indonesia and plans to visit the new rescue centre in the New Year.

Speaking of IAR's campaign to end the trade in slow lorises, he said: "Just like the dancing bears in India, the trade in slow lorises is illegal and IAR has the backing of the Indonesian government in trying to stamp it out.

"The islands of Indonesia are full of weird and wonderful wildlife, but no one in their right mind wants to see it caged in a pet market or touted for sale at the side of the road."

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 22 Dec 07

Mindef's Waste of ST Forum Space
questions about red dye on the molly meek blog

Singapore's endemic freshwater crabs needs urgent protection
on the johora singaporensis blog

Jonah and the whale-chasers
BBC correspondent's diary on board the Greenpeace anti-whaling ship

Garden of Eden
Video clips of trips to the Foja Mountains of Indonesia, one of the few places on Earth still untouched by man. on Yahoo 60 minutes

Top green stories in 2007 (in the US)
on gristmill

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher snacks
on the bird ecology blog

Read more!

Sentosa IR: Reclamation is progress

Isle of Dreams just grows bigger and bigger
Cara van Miriah, Electric New Paper 22 Dec 07;

IF size does matter, then Sentosa is on the right track.

Since the island was picked for tourism development back in 1972, it has grown by two thirds of its original size.

Then, the island, known as Pulau Blakang Mati, was 280 hectares. That is about the size of 420 football fields.

By the '80s, it had enlarged to 360 ha.

And from now until next year, it will expand to a total land area of 463 ha.

It has all been in the pursuit of tourism, with bigger and newer attractions forcing the island to spread out.

The latest reclamation programme, which will be along the north shoreline of Sentosa, is to cater to some of the new attractions that Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) has to offer under its integrated resort development.

The expansion includes two stretches of reclaimed land at the IR, with one starting just beside the Sentosa Gateway Bridge. The other is at the IR's west zone.


The reclamation works, which started in June, will be finished next year. Currently, about half has been completed.

An RWS spokesman told The New Paper: 'At the west zone, the reclaimed land covers the stretch of man-made beach area right in front of ESPA, a luxury spa and resort.

'Part of the FestiveWalk - the spine of the resort - and part of the Maritime Xperiential Museum will be located on the reclaimed land just beside the Sentosa Gateway Bridge.'

This spectacular expansion of the island has been in progress since 1972 when the Sentosa Leisure Group (SLG), formerly known as Sentosa Development Corporation, was formed to develop the island as a tourist destination.

ATTRACTIONS

Throughout the '70s, attractions began sprouting up across the island - a cable car service linking Mount Faber and Sentosa, Fort Siloso and a wax museum.

At the same time, reclamation works were being carried out on Pulau Hantu, Pulau Seletar, Pulau Ringgit, Sisters Island, Lazarus Island and Buran Darat.

In the '80s, the developments didn't stop there, with the opening of the iconic Musical Fountain, a Pioneers of Singapore museum and a ferry terminal for a ferry service from the mainland.

By late '90s, three resorts - Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort, Sijori Sentosa Resort and NTUC Sentosa Beach Resort - were rolling out their welcome mats for visitors.

In the last few years, rapid development has also changed the shoreline, with clubs such as Cafe Del Mar, the Siloso Beach Resort with seaview villas and dining amenities along Palawan Beach.

But the rapid mushrooming of these new attractions has led to a boom in the island's infrastructure as it braces itself to open up for more tourists.

The RWS is expecting to draw 15 million visitors in its first year of operations, with about 40,000 visitors a day.

Last year, Sentosa alone saw 5.7 million visitors.

With the opening of RWS in 2010, more than 20 million visitors are expected to visit the island annually.

To cope with the increase in traffic, new roads running parallel to the current Gateway Avenue bridge will be built.

RWS' CEO Mr Tan Hee Teck said the bridge was factored into the resort's blueprint in anticipation of the 'manifold increase' in traffic when the resort opens.

The cost of construction is estimated between $60million and $80m.

On the new roads, a RWS spokesman said: 'There will be two routes with one direct route (with at least two lanes on each side) for those going to and leaving the IR. The roads will lead to the basement carparks at the IR.

'Another route will be used by those visiting Sentosa.'

With a total of 4,100 carpark lots, some will be located at the six hotels in the resort, below the Universal Studios' lake, and the basement of Le Vie Showroom atFestiveWalk.

The rail service will continue to bring visitors to other parts of Sentosa, with the first stop at Imbiah station near The Merlion.

And although the 18-year-old Sentosa Ferry Terminal was demolished in July to make way for the IR, Sentosa Leisure Group told The New Paper that they do not rule out the possibility of building a new one in the near future.

Dream project: More than half of excavation, piling done

ONCE Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) swings its doors open to visitors, it's not just those on the island who will get an eyeful.

Across the Sentosa Gateway Bridge, shoppers at VivoCity will have a bird's eye view of two crane-like structures dancing in a multi-media show at FestiveWalk's waterfront.

That is just one part of the resorts' three-zone plan - FestiveWalk in the central zone, Universal Studios in the east and water attractions in the west.

RWS' CEO Mr Tan Hee Teck expects to spend as much as $6 billion to build the resort, up from an earlier estimate of $5.2b.

This new budget includes a contingency provision of $250 million, which also covers improvements to transport and other infrastructure.

With 1,300 construction workers clocking a 24/7-shift, RWS said the IR is on schedule to open in early 2010.

Already, more than 50 per cent of the overall excavation and piling has been completed.

RELATED ARTICLES

Sentosa's Original Underwater World
the natural shore that was be buried by this reclamation and other blogs about the doomed shore

Sentosa's treasure island of coral
Reclamation works could see some marine works of art go.
Nature lovers call to save
By Teh Jen Lee New Paper 25 May 07

The big reef move
Corals off Sentosa to be relocated to make way for casino resort, but two-thirds will be sacrificed
Daphne Chuah Today Online 7 Jul 07

Corals and other marinelife that was on this shore being reclaimed
on the wildsingapore website

Read more!

Sentosa IR: Captive dolphins to be used for spa therapy

Dolphins at your doorstep?
Cara van Miriah, Electric New Paper 22 Dec 07;
Plans underway for dolphins to be released from oceanarium daily to swim to posh water bungalows on stilts

[wildnews comments: see related links below for more about our own wild dolphins and Acres' "Suffering, not Smiling" campaign for release of captive dolphins in Singapore]

IT is not just a six-star resort.

ESPA - a centre for medical and wellness treatments at Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) - is also exploring the possibility to be the first spa in South-East Asia to offer spa therapy with dolphin interaction.

Already, ESPA plans to build Singapore's first 'water' bungalows built on stilts, commonly seen in vacation spots like Maldives.

At ESPA, there will be 16 such villas, while the rest are beachfront resorts.

And waterways will be constructed to link both the resort and the 8 ha Marine Life Park oceanarium, also located in the west zone.

Every day, the dolphins would be released from the oceanarium and they would swim to the tropical-theme ESPA villas that come with private pools.

The oceanarium - also home to some 700,000 aquatic animals - will also include exotic exhibits, such as the flesh-eating piranhas.

Visitors can see these fishes with rows of razor-sharp teeth that were once on public display in Van Kleef Aquarium in late 1960s.

RIDES & CASINO OPEN FIRST

Although the IR will start operations in early 2010, the west zone with attractions, like the Marine Life Park, Maritime Xperiential Museum and ESPA, will open progressively throughout the year.

Explained a RWS spokesman: 'For the soft opening in early 2010, the Universal Studios Singapore, casino, some hotels and part of the central zone will be opened to the public.'

The central zone - the spine of the resort - is called the FestiveWalk.

Here, visitors can enjoy free admission to this 24-hour entertainment strip, which will offer shopping, dining, nightlife and non-gated 'live' shows.

This is also where Maxims Residences will be located. It will house the 161,458 sq ft casino.

From the FestiveWalk, visitors can walk to the east zone to buy tickets to the Universal Studios Singapore.

It will feature a total of seven themed areas with rides, like the Hollywood Boulevard, Backlot - the Big Apple, Super Hero City, The Lost World, Waterworld and Shrek 4-D.

With seven empty parcels of land located in the east zone, they could be used to develop new attractions later on.

The admission to Universal is not known yet but a day pass to the one in Hollywood, Los Angeles, is priced at US$64 ($93).

For fun, just add water

EQUARIUS WATER PARK

# Water Coaster - a 450m water flume winding through treetops and jungle.
# Snakes and Ladders - water flows upwards in this ride.
# Surf Pool - variety of waves for wannabe and serious surfers.
# The Cliffs - water-based adventure zone.

MARINE LIFE PARK

# Over 700,000 aquatic animals and world's largest coral reef and ocean fish collection.
# A 6.6 million gallon lagoon for visitors to snorkel and dive with whale sharks.
# Piranhas exhibit.
# Dine in 'submerged' restaurant and bar surrounded by marine life.

MARITIME XPERIENTIAL MUSEUM

# Explores maritime Silk Route history.
# Immerse in 360-degree shipwreck experience in Shipwreck Theatre.

RELATED ARTICLES

Dolphin therapy a dangerous fad?
CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network 23 Dec 07;

Singapore's wild dolphins!
Yes we have wild dolphins and you don't have to stay at a six-star resort to see them! Sightings in 2007 include
Dolphins off St. John's Island (12 Dec 07) on the urban forest blog with video clip of leaping dolphin
Dolphins off St. John's Island (19 Jun 07) on the ashira blog and urban forest blog
Dolphins sighted off Sisters Island (13 May 07) on the habitatnews blog
Videos of dolphins off St. John's Island (7 Apr 07) on the habitatnews blog

More sightings listed on wildsingapore with more links to the issue of dolphins in captivity (scroll to the end of the page)

Suffering, not Smiling
Acres campaign for release of captive dolphins in Singapore

Read more!

Preserve the beauty of Clementi Park

Letter from Cole Yee, Today Online 22 Dec 07;

Clementi Park owners are being proactive against a second attempt to sell the condominium en bloc and have formed a group called Save Clementi Park. I am one of them.

The group has launched a website, www.saveclementipark.com, which proclaims the beauty of Clementi Park, one of which is its unique natural hill in the middle of the development (picture).

After one en bloc sale attempt failed to get even 50 per cent of the vote, another attempt is currently being made with the recent set up of a new committee.

The anti-en bloc group is sick of the en bloc sale attempts and wishes to preserve the condominium.

The Clementi Park hill which occupies roughly a third of the condominium land, is well worth conserving. There is nothing like it anywhere else in Singapore. The green ambience and tranquillity of this Sunset Way condominium with 10 blocks that wrap around a hill cannot be replicated anywhere else.

On 1 million sq ft of land sit 490 units with huge "lung areas", park land and wonderful playgrounds for kids.

Many people with allergies or skin problems benefit from living in the condominium due to the freshness of its air. The condominium has a wonderful hilly terrain and mature park land with huge trees.

Read more!

Think twice before buying puppies as festive gifts

Liaw Wy-Cin, Straits Times 22 Dec 07;

IF THAT cute puppy in the pet shop looks good enough to buy as a gift for someone this season, consider this: It may end up dumped six months from now.

Animal welfare groups are bracing themselves to pick up what pet owners toss out once the novelty wears off and caring for a growing animal feels like drudgery.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has been taking in about 40 per cent more dogs since licensing became costlier in September.

Last month, for example, it received 104 abandoned and lost dogs, up from 70 to 80 a month before new licensing costs kicked in.

Only 38 of the rescued dogs were claimed by their owners, said the society's executive officer, Ms Deirdre Moss.

She is also worried about the rising number of pedigree dogs the SPCA is taking in these days.

'In the past, about a third of the dogs we took in - whether they were lost, abandoned or surrendered by the owners - were pedigree ones,' she said.

'In the last couple of years, this has gone up to about half.'

Dogs of all breeds and sizes turn up, but the most common are Jack Russell terriers, huskies and golden retrievers.

Ms Moss fears that more impulse buying this season will result in more dumped pedigree dogs.

Sales go up 15 to 20 per cent during the Christmas season, said pet shop owner and assistant treasurer of the Pets Enterprise and Traders Association, Mr Patrick Loh, 32.

Explaining how cute pups may end up dumped, he said: 'Someone may get a dog as a gift for a friend. The friend takes it home and the parents do not like it, and then the friend will have to give it up.'

He felt not many pet sellers do prudent checks on buyers to find out who the pet is for and how the pet will be cared for.

The shops are anxious to sell because puppies lose their appeal once they hit six months old.

But those who buy can end up getting bored with their growing dog.

Ms Moss said: 'The reality of looking after a pet is very different from what they see in the pet shop. The dog is not going to remain small and cute and cannot remain cooped up in a cage.'

Besides campaigns by SPCA and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, the last line of defence may be the pet sellers themselves.

Mr Loh felt they could do more to check out their customers before they sell.

Pet shop owner Lo Pia Yong said she is not afraid to lose a sale and has turned away people shopping for gifts.

She usually asks who the pet is for. 'If they say it is a gift for the festive season, my guard goes up,' she said. 'If they say it's for a friend, I will talk to them more to make sure the animal will be accepted.'

Bank should not show puppies as 'impulse buy'
Letter from Tan Lay Khim (Ms), Straits Times Forum 28 Dec 07;

I REFER to the article, 'Think twice before buying puppies as festive gifts' (ST, Dec 22).

I am a UOB Platinum Lady's Card member and I would like to register my disgust with the current UOB credit card advertisement on TV with the tagline, 'Everything's a gift with UOB'.

For a respectable financial institution, it seems UOB has gone the way of callousness in suggesting it is perfectly fine to buy a cute pedigree puppy as a Christmas gift, along with other luxury items one can buy with a credit card.

For all the slickness and glamour of the advertisement, sadly, the main message it conveys is one of mindless consumerism that encourages the thoughtless act of buying a pet on impulse.

The power of advertising to influence buying decisions of consumers is very real.

I therefore share the concern of Ms Deirdre Moss, executive officer of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 'that more impulse buying this season will result in more dumped pedigree dogs'.

I appeal to UOB to be circumspect in its choice of images to be used in its credit card advertisements. Tasteless ones like this not only tarnish the bank's image but are also socially irresponsible.

Read more!

$25k Christmas decorations for one Singapore private home

The glow of Xmas at home for $25k
Tiffany Ong, Straits Times 22 Dec 07;

[wildnews comment: While Hong Kongers Say Bah Humbug to Christmas Lights, PlanetArk 20 Dec 07]

MR JULIUS Louis' instructions were to make his boss' home glow as brightly as the Christmas light up on Orchard Road. Money was no object.

He turned to the contractor responsible for the Orchard Road light-up, but he could not do the job before the middle of this month. So the 40-year-old concierge for businessman Leonard Francis decided he would do the job himself.

He said: 'We have been decorating the house every Christmas, but my boss decided to make it exceptionally unique this year. He wanted to do it on a bigger scale, so he gave me a budget of $25,000 and told me to go ahead with it.'

The busy contractor suggested Mr Louis take a look in his warehouse for ideas. There Mr Louis found 70 boxes of icicle lights, and others shaped as bells and trees.

For the nativity scene, Mr Francis ordered statues from Italy through his church, which cost $7,800.

An electrician was engaged to put up the lights. But everything else, from the nativity scene to the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on the roof, Mr Louis installed himself.

He said his employer's grandfather used to string Christmas lights and beautiful decorations around the house and garden. Always having treasured those moments as a child, Mr Francis has continued the family tradition for his own children no matter where their home may be, added Mr Louis.

When The Straits Times visited yesterday, a minor traffic jam formed on the narrow road, as cars slowed down to have a second look.

It is such interest in the message of Christmas that his boss, a Catholic, wants to generate, said Mr Louis, adding: 'He wants the public to know that Christmas doesn't have to be spent with big crowds in Orchard Road. It can be spent at home, with one's family.'

Read more!

Brazil cracks down on illegal Amazon farm products

Raymond Colitt, Reuters 21 Dec 07;

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil has banned the sale of farm products from illegally deforested areas in the Amazon in an attempt to reverse months of increasing destruction in the world's largest rain forest, officials said on Friday.

A decree signed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday imposes fines for buying or trading goods such as beef or soy produced on illegally deforested properties.

"This applies to international traders as much as local butchers in the Amazon," Environment Minister Marina Silva told a news conference in the capital Brasilia.

Seven hundred federal police were sent to the Amazon region on Friday with orders to help combat environmental destruction. They join roughly 1,650 government inspectors there, including Army troops and intelligence officers.

The new decree follows a 10 percent increase in the rate of Amazon deforestation between August and November, Silva said.

An unusually long dry season allowed loggers to cut trees while rising commodity prices encouraged farmers and cattle ranchers to move ever deeper into the forest, she said.

The measure responds to growing international pressure for Brazil to step up Amazon conservation. Rain forests help absorb greenhouse emissions while burning or cutting down trees releases carbon into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming, scientists say.

In August, Brazil celebrated a 50 percent reduction in deforestation over the past two years to the lowest rate in at least seven years. It said an estimated 9,600 square km (3,707 sq miles) were cleared in the year ended July 31.

Environmentalists say the rapid expansion of Brazil's agricultural frontier has caused the destruction of huge tracts of jungle.

The government plans to name in coming months 35 municipalities identified as hot spots of destruction. Land holders who do not legalize their properties will be denied government credit and blacklisted. Anybody buying or trading products from them will face fines.

But Silva said Amazon development would continue on millions of acres (hectares) of unused and cleared land.

"We are not saying nothing will be produced anymore in the Amazon," she said.

(Editing by Alan Elsner)

Read more!

China and Illegal Timber Trade in Tanzania

China Spurring Illegal Timber Trade in Tanzania
Eliza Barclay, National Geographic News 21 Dec 07;

China's growing hunger for timber may wipe out much of Tanzania's commercially valuable forests in two decades, scientists warn.

The Asian powerhouse is the fastest growing importer of Tanzania's indigenous hardwood products, both unprocessed and semiprocessed.

Chinese carpentry companies transform much of the wood into furniture and other wood products for export to the United States and Europe.

In one week in October 2007, officials with Tanzania's Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism confiscated two shipments totaling 73 containers of logs.

Both loads of timber were set to be exported to China by a Dar es Salaam-based company, according to the ministry.

Agency minister Juma Maghembe vowed to take legal action against the export company and the customs officials who oversaw the shipment.

"China is a market that is impossible to satisfy," said Rogers Malimbwi, a professor of natural resources assessment at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania. "They will stay in Tanzania unless they get other alternatives."

(Related news: "Chopsticks Tax to Target China's Hunger for Timber" [March 22, 2006].)

Skyrocketing Value

Tanzania is only one of many African suppliers of timber to China, which include Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique. But the country's contribution has skyrocketed in recent years.

Between 1997 and 2005 Tanzania's timber export market increased by almost 1,400 percent in value.

China accounted for all indigenous hardwood logs and three-quarters of sawn wood and raw material exported between July 2005 and January 2006, according to a report released in May by TRAFFIC International, a joint program of the conservation nonprofit WWF and the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

The report also found that Tanzania lost 58 million U.S. dollars annually during 2004 and 2005 in timber revenue due to poor governance and corruption in the forestry sector.

"For a less-developed country like Tanzania, the opportunities for China coming online are just massive," Simon Milledge, deputy director for TRAFFIC's East/Southern Africa division, told National Geographic News.

"But long-term strategies on trade are needed to ensure the benefits are sustainable."

The illegal activity includes logging without documentation, logging in unauthorized areas, and the use of invalid export documentation.

The report cited the "chronic nature of petty corruption whereby even timber trade activities involving legally-harvested timber products were affected by bribery."

Other observers have noted that the government's regulatory bodies have not been able to keep up with the swift growth of the timber sector.

"The government ha[s] no capacity to monitor the logging taking place in different forests," said Charles Meshack, executive director of the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group, an organization that monitors forest issues.

Meshack also noted that the corruption is evident in the discrepancies between Tanzania's export data and China's import data.

"These Chinese companies are not using proper channels," he said, adding that there is far more timber arriving in Chinese ports than has been registered at the Tanzanian ports.

(Related photos: "African Forests Falling Faster to Loggers" [June 7, 2007].)

Environmental Devastation

In addition to the lost revenue, environmental groups are concerned about the effects of the rampant harvesting on ecosystem health.

Deforestation is already impacting water resources and causing soil erosion. It's also spurring fire outbreaks and decreasing biodiversity in many parts of the country, the groups say. Much of the timber comes from the southeastern coastal forests, which harbor the most diverse species.

Forests and woodlands cover around 40 percent of Tanzania's total land area, and about 87 percent of the country's rural poor depend on forest products like charcoal for their livelihoods.

Tanzania's southern coastal forests, among the top ten global biodiversity "hotspots," are seriously threatened by habitat loss and species extinction.

Forest inventories conducted by the Tanzanian government in 2005 showed that most southern forests "are degraded" or "heavily degraded," and that 224, 865 to 242, 163 acres (91,000 to 98,000 hectares) are lost annually. (Related news: "African Logging Decimating Pristine Forests, Report Warns" [June 7, 2007].)

TRAFFIC predicts that most commercially valuable trees in two southern districts may be gone within 20 years.

Key Development

A key decision in accessing the forests came in August 2003, when the government completed the Mkapa Bridge over the Rufiji River in southern Tanzania.

It is the largest bridge of its kind in east and southern Africa.

"The southern forests have been opened up, and it's now much easier to transport timber and charcoal out of them," said Malimbwi of Sokoine University.

To rein in illegal logging, the government has banned the exportation of logs and sandalwood and suspended tree harvesting in protected natural forest areas on and off since 2004.

TRAFFIC's Milledge said the timber business should not be stopped entirely, however, because it offers poor rural communities rare access to investment and trade opportunities.

While the Tanzanian government must do more to establish accountability for their forests, Milledge said, American and European consumers who buy the finished wood products should also be informed.

"Everyone who consumes these products should be doing more to verify the legality of the trade chain."

Read more!

Uganda's president revives plan to axe rainforest

Reuters 21 Dec 07;

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Friday revived a controversial plan to hand over a swathe of rainforest to a local company to be destroyed and replaced with a sugarcane plantation.

In an address to his party published in newspapers, Museveni called those who oppose his plan to give 7,100 hectares or about a quarter of Mabira Forest reserve to the private Mehta group's sugar estate "criminals and charlatans."

Uganda's government scrapped the original plan in October after a public outcry and violent street protests in which three people died, including an ethnic Indian man who was stoned to death by rioters.

Mehta is owned by an ethnic Indian Ugandan family.

"Mehta wants to expand his factory ... in the under-utilised part of Mabira ... criminals and charlatans kicked up lies and caused death. We suppressed the thugs," Museveni said.

Critics said destroying part of Mabira would threaten rare species of birds and monkeys, dry up a watershed for streams that feed Lake Victoria and remove a buffer against pollution of the lake from Uganda's two biggest industrial towns, nearby.

"This issue should be resolved," Museveni said. "If we do not industrialize, where shall we get employment for the youth? I will mobilize the youth to smash ... these cliques obstructing the future of the country."

Analysts say the plan to lift protection from Mabira is so unpopular that even parliament, which is hugely dominated by Museveni's supporters, would oppose it.

Stopping deforestation was high on the agenda at this month's global conference on climate change in Bali.

Scientists estimate some 20 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change, results from deforestation. Trees suck carbon from the air and experts say Mabira sinks millions of tons of it.

Foresters estimate the value of the wood in the part of Mabira Mehta wants to axe at around $170 million and say it can be logged in a sustainable way. This compares with about $11 million per year from what Mehta expects to be 35,000 tons of sugar.

(Editing by Wangui Kanina and Richard Balmforth)

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