Greek authorities probe death of 800 tonnes of farmed fish

Yahoo News 29 Feb 08;

Authorities in western Greece are investigating the death of around 800 tonnes of farmed fish in a protected wetlands from an apparent lack of oxygen, an official said Friday.

"This is an unprecedented incident in Greece and probably in the whole Mediterranean basin," said Sotiris Saxamis, deputy prefect of Aetoloakarnania province.

"We're still looking into what happened," he told AFP. "The tests showed the fish died from lack of oxygen but there was no sign of toxic contamination."

The fish died on February 18 at three fish farms in the Gulf of Amvrakikos during a period of heavy snowfall around the country.

Fisheries on the other side of the gulf were unaffected.

A statement from the prefecture said that between 600 and 900 tonnes of fish had died, possibly from a disturbance in the water's temperature and salinity levels.

"There was an influx of sweet water from one of the gulf's tributary rivers," Saxamis said. "This may have been caused by melting snow or perhaps too much water was released from the Arachthos dam four kilometres upstream."

Local authorities now face a race against time to remove the dead fish before decomposition starts to infect the surrounding waters.

"We got the largest net we could find but there are still problems with removing all this fish from a depth of up to 19 metres (50 feet)," Saxamis said.

"We still have to remove around 300 tonnes, I expect the operation to continue until Sunday."

The gulf is a wetlands listed on the international Ramsar convention that aims to protect sensitive habitats from environmental disasters.

Ecologists and local citizen groups have protested that the fish farms constitute a threat to the gulf's marine environment and should be removed.

Around 80,000 people live in the area in 17 municipalities, many of whom dump untreated sewage into the gulf, Saxamis said.


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Brown gets tough with UK retail over plastic bags

Jeremy Lovell, Reuters 29 Feb 08;

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday warned retailers they had to start charging shoppers for the 13 billion plastic bags they currently get for free each year or the government would step in to force them.

Most bags end as landfill waste or being blown across the countryside, littering the landscape and harming wildlife. They can persist in the environment for centuries. Producing them involves petrochemicals and climate-damaging fossil fuels.

"I am convinced we need to act -- and the time to act is now," Brown wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper. "And I want to make clear that if government compulsion is needed to make the change, we will take the necessary steps."

"We do not take such steps lightly -- but the damage that single-use plastic bags inflict on the environment is such that strong action must be taken," he added.

International moves to curb the use of plastic bags are gathering momentum, with China and Australia announcing crackdowns last month. Ireland, Denmark and South Africa are among countries where customers must pay for bags.

Last year Brown struck a deal with British supermarkets to reduce the number of bags and increase their recycled content to cut the environmental impact by 25 percent.

But he said more needed to be done. "I have already made clear that over time we should aim to eliminate the single-use plastic bag altogether," he wrote.

The warning comes a day after retailer Marks & Spencer said it would start charging five pence (10 cents) for every single-use bag a food shopper took from next month, with the money going to improve parks and play areas across the country.

Critics accused Brown of tokenism, but the government says it is serious about getting people to change their lifestyles to protect the environment.

A climate change bill currently going through parliament and expected to become law within three months sets the government a legally-binding target of cutting emissions of carbon dioxide by 26-32 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2050.

Brown has said he wants a committee that will be set up by the bill to see whether raising the end target to 80 percent is necessary or feasible. Environmental groups say it is both.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)


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Antarctic boulders may point to sea level rise

Alister Doyle, Reuters 29 Feb 08;

OSLO (Reuters) - Boulders as big as soccer balls show that a thinning of West Antarctic glaciers has become 20 times faster in recent decades and may hold clues to future sea level rise, scientists said on Friday.

Rocks trapped in glacier ice start to react like clockwork when exposed to the air because of a bombardment of cosmic rays. Scientists studied boulders by three glaciers to find how long they have been out of the ice and so judge the pace of thinning.

"Boulders the size of footballs could help scientists predict the west Antarctic ice sheet's contribution to sea level rise," according to scientists at British and German research institutes in a report in the journal Geology.

"Initial results show that Pine Island Glacier has 'thinned' by around 4 centimeters (1.6 inch) per year over the past 5,000 years, while Smith and Pope Glaciers thinned by just over 2 cm per year during the past 14,500 years," they said.

"These rates are more than 20 times slower than recent changes: satellite, airborne and ground based observations made since the 1990s show that Pine Island Glacier has thinned by around 1.6 meters per year in recent years," it said.

No one even saw Antarctica before sailors spotted the coast in 1820 so there are scant historical records and little understanding of how ice sheets might react to rising temperatures linked to global warming.

The area of West Antarctica studied, the Amundsen Sea Embayment, is of especial concern because much of the bedrock under the ice is below sea level. The weight of the ice keeps it in place but scientists fear it could float loose.

SEAS RISE

If that happened, world sea levels would rise by 1.5 meters. If all of Antarctica melted over thousands of years it would raise sea levels by 57 meters, drowning many of the world's biggest cities and many low-lying islands.

"We've seen a much quicker rate of thinning over the last few decades and we're wondering if that's going to continue or if it will slow down," the British Antarctic Survey's Joanne Johnson said of the West Antarctic glaciers.

"It's possible that there may have been some very fast periods of thinning in the past," Johnson, who was lead author of a study, told Reuters.

"We don't have the data to know," she said, adding that scientists were worried that "the acceleration seems to be increasing." Scientists at Britain's Durham University and Germany's Alfred Weener Institute also took part.

Mike Bentley from the University of Durham said "when rocks are left high and dry by thinning glaciers they are exposed to high energy cosmic rays which bombard the rocks."

"This creates atoms of particular elements that we can extract and measure in the laboratory -- the longer they have been exposed the greater the build-up of these elements," he said in a statement.

(Editing by Mary Gabriel)


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Iceland lifts capelin ban a week after imposing it

Reuters 28 Feb 08;

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Icelandic fishermen began reeling in capelin again on Thursday after a ban on the fish was lifted just a week after it was imposed.

Iceland's minister of fisheries, Einar Gudfinnsson, lifted the ban after the Icelandic Marine Research Institute (IMRI) said it had discovered far more of the fish in Iceland's waters than previously thought.

The ban -- which had been expected to last through the year -- had sparked worries about its impact on the economy, with leading Icelandic bank Kaupthing estimating the move could have shaved 0.4 to 0.7 percent off economic growth this year.

But the institute says its research indicated about 470,000 tonnes of capelin were available, more than the 400,000 that are meant to be left each year for spawning.

Icelandic fishermen had already caught an estimated 30,000-40,000 tonnes of the fish, a member of the smelt family, so far this year when the ban was imposed. They now have a quota to fish for as much as 100,000 tonnes.

Gudfinnsson, speaking on Icelandic radio late on Wednesday, said he left open the possibility of another quota increase.

"If the IMRI finds there is even more capelin in Icelandic waters, then of course I will take it under consideration to increase the quota even further," the minister said.

The usual yearly quota for capelin is 250,000 tonnes.

The ban, had it remained, could have cost Iceland as much as 10 billion Icelandic crowns ($150 million) in lost exports, Kaupthing estimated.

(Reporting by Kristin Arna Bragadottir, editing by Mary Gabriel)

Related articles

Iceland bans capelin fishing

Reuters 21 Feb 08;


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India builds $12.5 million force to guard its tigers

Krittivas Mukherjee, Reuters 29 Feb 08;

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will spend $12.5 million to create a special force to guard its last surviving tigers, as numbers dwindle in the face of rampant poaching and destruction of their habitat.

Poorly armed and badly paid guards, mismanagement and corruption undermine the protection of tigers in India. There are thought to be just 1,411 left in India, according to a new survey that cut numbers by half since 2002 census.

The decline is even more alarming considering India had about 40,000 tigers a century ago.

Conservationists say it is unlikely the dwindling population will ever recover, but the government is not giving up just yet.

On Friday, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram announced a $12.5 million one-off grant, mainly to raise, arm and deploy a special Tiger Protection Force.

"The number 1,411 should ring the alarm bell. That is the number of tigers in India," he told parliament, presenting his budget for 2008/09. "The tiger is under grave threat."

A severe lack of funds has meant forest guards and other staff have to wait up to a year to be paid and key positions have been left vacant.

Some of those money problems are being addressed, but experts say wildlife planning needs to be much better.

For instance, experts say around 300,000 of India's poorest people living in its 28 tiger reserves need to be shifted out because many of them help poachers kill tigers and cut down forests.

Conservationists say recruits for the tiger protection force should come from tribesmen and forest communities, to help wean them away from poachers and use their expertise.

"Any benefit of a program has to show on the ground," said A. Johnsingh, wildlife expert and adviser to World Wildlife Fund-India.

In January, India said it would spend an estimated $150 million to save its tigers over the next five years, using some of the money to shift villages and tribal communities out of tiger habitats.

It will also establish eight new tiger reserves.

(Editing by Simon Denyer and Jerry Norton)


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Bird flu could strike again in India, FAO warns

Virus under control in West Bengal – intensive surveillance required
FAO website 27 Feb 08;

27 February 2008, Rome - India is to be commended for its successful efforts to control the recent worst-ever outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the state of West Bengal, FAO said today. The agency warned, however, that intensive surveillance should continue in high-risk areas as the possibility of new outbreaks remains high.

“Intensive culling in the predominantly backyard poultry sector appears to have stopped the disease in its tracks,” said FAO veterinary expert Mohinder Oberoi after a recent field trip to the affected areas.

“The political and financial commitment from the government of India and the state of Bengal to stamp out the disease was instrumental in this success. Public awareness campaigns, a strong command chain from districts to villages, compensation payments and an effective collaboration between animal and human health departments at field level, have been the key factors for the success,” Oberoi said.

No new disease outbreaks have been discovered since 2 February 2008.

FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech urged to maintain intensive surveillance in high risk areas as the possibility of new outbreaks remains high. “The virus could still be present in the environment despite heavy slaughtering and extensive disinfection of affected areas, or it could be reintroduced from other countries,” he said.

In order to achieve rapid control, prevent virus spread to other states and to avoid the risk of human infection the government of India had to cull over 3.9 million chickens and ducks, mainly belonging to poor backyard poultry farmers.

The socio-economic impact of this control campaign should be urgently assessed in order to better define and apply the necessary mitigation measures regarding the negative impacts of massive culling on poor small holders, FAO said. Live bird markets, migration of wild birds and transportation routes of birds and poultry products should be mapped to better understand and control the spread of the disease.

Public awareness campaigns should continue over the next months introducing rural communities to safe poultry production and basic biosecurity measures with the ultimate goal of reducing the risk of human infections.

The recent outbreak of avian influenza in West Bengal, and the ongoing spread of the disease in Bangladesh require close collaboration between affected countries, FAO said. FAO, in collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), has invited India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar to participate in a regional meeting to better coordinate avian influenza control campaigns. The Government of Nepal has agreed to host the meeting in Kathmandu.


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NEW publication: A world without biodiversity? in the IUCN magazine, Jan 08


World Conservation magazine, January 2008
a magazine of the IUCN

This issue's theme is "A world without biodiversity?" How can we expect to tackle poverty and climate change if we don’t look after the natural wealth of animals, plants, microorganisms and ecosystems that make our planet inhabitable?

Other featured articles include...

Doctor Nature
Cures for AIDS and some cancers could be at our fingertips if we did a better job of looking after biodiversity, says Eric Chivian

Bioprospecting: securing a piece of the pie
The commercial use of biodiversity has become a highly contentious area of policy. Sarah Laird and Rachel Wynberg say the arguments are far from being settle

Keeping it clean
Chief Executive of Air New Zealand Rob Fyfe explains why the company has such a high stake in protecting the environment

Talking diversity
Luisa Maffi explains how cultural, linguistic and biological diversity are interlinked

Food heroes
Local communities have conserved the diversity of agricultural species for thousands of years. Supporting them is key to achieving global food security, says M.S. Swaminathan


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Renewable Energy Accelerates Meteoric Rise

2007 Global Status Report Shows Perceptions Lag Reality
UNEP website 28 Feb 08;

Washington, D.C. - The renewable energy industry is stepping up its meteoric rise into the mainstream of the energy sector, according to the REN21 Renewables 2007 Global Status Report. Renewable energy production capacities are growing rapidly as a result of more countries enacting far-reaching policies.

Prepared by the Renewable Energy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) (www.ren21.net) in collaboration with the Worldwatch Institute (www.worldwatch.org), the Renewables 2007 Global Status Report (PDF file) paints an encouraging picture of rapidly expanding renewable energy markets, policies, industries, and rural applications around the world.

In 2007, global wind generating capacity is estimated to have increased 28 percent, while grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity rose 52 percent.

"So much has happened in the renewable energy sector during the past five years that the perceptions of some politicians and energy-sector analysts lag far behind the reality of where the renewables industry is today," says Mohamed El-Ashry, Chair of REN21.

Renowned researcher Dr. Eric Martinot led an international team of 140 researchers and contributors from both developed and developing countries to produce the report. He says renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and small-scale hydropower offer countries the means to improve their energy security and spur economic development.

Citing the report, Martinot says the renewable energy sector now accounts for 2.4 million jobs globally, and has doubled electric generating capacity since 2004, to 240 gigawatts. More than 65 countries now have national goals for accelerating the use of renewable energy and are enacting far-reaching policies to meet those goals. Multilateral agencies and private investors alike are integrating renewable energy into their mainstream portfolios, capturing the interest of the largest global companies.

Worldwatch President Chris Flavin says the report shows that renewable energy is poised to make a significant contribution to meeting energy needs and reducing the growth in carbon dioxide emissions in the years immediately ahead. "The science is telling us we need to substantially reduce emissions now, but this will only happen with even stronger policies to accelerate the growth of clean energy," he says.

El-Ashry emphasizes that many of the trends described in the Renewables 2007 Global Status Report are the result of leadership and actions launched since the major renewable energy conference held in Bonn, Germany, in 2004. "This leadership has never been more important, as renewable energy has now reached the top of the international policy agenda under the United Nations and the G8," said El-Ashry.

Commenting on the dramatic rise of renewables, Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said: "The findings come in the wake of UNEP's annual gathering of environment ministers in Monaco last week. It is clear from ministers in Monaco and from reports like REN21 that we are beginning to see elements of an emerging Green Economy, fueled by the existing climate change agreements and the prospect of even deeper and more decisive emissions reductions post 2012."

The Renewables 2007 Global Status Report is being released ahead of the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC), taking place March 4?6 in Washington, D.C. WIREC will be the third such international conference following those in Bonn in 2004 and Beijing in 2005.


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Best of our wild blogs: 29 Feb 08


Sustainable development is still about development?
thoughts about the recently announced Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development on the AsiaIsGreen

Educate her? She knows!
thoughts on feeding animals at the zoo from Hell Hath No Fury Like Nature Scorned

Amazing underwater Singapore!
fabulous photos on the urban forest blog

Coppersmith barbet in love
bonks for berries, on the bird ecology blog

Marinelife at Boat Quay
sublime snails and such on the budak blog

Are marine fishes important to our survival?
and other updates on our reefs and seas on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Spiny spiders

on the manta blog


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Roadmap to make Singapore a leading eco-city

Clarissa Oon, Straits Times 29 Feb 08;

'Singapore way' of sustainable development' was not out of choice but necessity, because of its small size and scarce resources.

A GOVERNMENT panel will release a 10-year roadmap next year for Singapore to grow its economy in an environmentally sound way, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.

This inter-ministerial committee aims to make Singapore the leading eco-city in Asia and will look at green solutions in transport, housing and industry, he added.

Mr Mah is co-chairing this recently formed committee on sustainable development, along with Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim.

Other members include Finance and Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Transport Minister Raymond Lim and Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran.

Sustainable development has become a global buzzword as countries try to develop their economies while minimising fallout on the environment.

While the term 'sustainable development' began to catch on only from the late 1980s, Singapore had already adopted such principles from the start of nation building, said Mr Mah in Parliament.

This ''Singapore way' of sustainable development' was not out of choice but necessity, because of its small size and scarce resources.

Now, its strengths include integrated township planning and maximising land use, as well as breakthroughs in water and waste management. Still, Singapore can do better and create an even cleaner and better-quality living environment, he said.

However, Mr Mah stressed this would not be at the expense of economic growth. 'We need to remind ourselves that sustainable development is still about development... We still want growth and we still want good jobs.' Without economic growth, he said, there would not be enough resources to invest in renewable energy or implement cuts in energy consumption.

Renewable energy comes from sources such as the sun, wind and waves, as opposed to fossil fuels like coal and oil. Burning fossil fuels has been blamed for releasing harmful greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

Singapore has also formed another inter-ministerial panel on climate change, with which Mr Mah said his committee would work closely.

Mr Mah was earlier asked by Nominated MP Edwin Khew if more financial incentives would be offered to companies and individuals to encourage green practices. Mr Mah said he would not rule it out.

But it would be one of a slew of measures to address sustainable development, including public education, research and development, and possibly legislation.

This drive would also not be complete without partnerships with community and grassroots organisations, non-governmental organisations and other ground-up movements, he added.

At the end of the day, 'sustainable development is as much about changing lifestyles as it is about new technologies or green buildings'.

Apart from doing more at home, Singapore hopes to share with other cities its model of sustainable development, he added.

It has embarked on a project with China to create an eco-city in the northern port city of Tianjin.

Blueprint on sustainable development to be launched in 2009
Channel NewsAsia 28 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE : Singapore's development into a vibrant and distinctive city will be done in a sustainable way.

And the newly-formed Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development will be launching its blueprint on this next year.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said this will provide a comprehensive road map of initiatives and measures to sustain Singapore's development for the next 10 years and beyond.

Mr Mah was speaking in Parliament on Thursday in response to questions from MPs on Singapore's sustainable development policies.

He also said the government is making plans to rejuvenate the Central Business District.

Land will be released around the Tanjong Pagar area and the Ophir/Rochor corridor will be developed into a vibrant office cluster.

But he stressed the Marina Bay Financial Centre will remain the centrepiece of Singapore's push for more economic growth.

Mr Mah said it will be a "seamless extension of Raffles Place, offering high-quality office spaces along a lively waterfront".

The area generated will be equivalent to two Canary Wharfs in London.

The new financial district is expected to take more than 15 years to materialise depending on demand.

And Mr Mah gave the assurance the government will continue to release land in a calibrated manner to meet such demand. - CNA/ch


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Singapore third in managing environmental challenges

SingaporeSnippets
Today Online 29 Feb 08;

Singapore has been ranked as one of the top three cities in managing environmental challenges such as air pollution, infectious disease and the potential impact of natural disasters, according to a report by MasterCard.

Among 21 key centres of commerce, Melbourne took first place and Johannesburg second. Singapore's placing is partly a result of the Government's action to manage the quality of water, air and waste removal systems. Another contributing factor was the low risk of unpredictable environmental events such as earthquakes.

But Singapore could be susceptible to effects of climatic change, such as permanent flooding due to a rise in sea-level.

Melbourne's Environment Quality Highest, Mumbai Lowest (Table)
Patricia Chua, Bloomberg 28 Feb 08;

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The following table shows the results of MasterCard's Worldwide Insights Report on Urbanization and Environmental Challenges in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

Cities are ranked highest to lowest in terms of environmental quality as measured by water potability and availability, sewage system, waste removal, air quality, infectious diseases, potential climate change impact and natural disasters.

Note 1: # Combined ranking is weighted as follows:

Dimension 1 - 70%; dimension 2 - 20%; dimension 3 - 10% Note 2: * Dimension 1 - factors largely under government's control
- water potability & availability, sewage system, waste removal, air quality, infectious diseases

* Dimension 2 - factors not considered under government's control and subject to climate change
- sea levels rising, water scarcity, severe storms, fires

* Dimension 3 - factors linked to unpredictable environmental risks
- earthquakes, typhoons/hurricanes, volcano eruptions

Source: MasterCard Worldwide



India's big cities are worst for air quality

Raphael Minder, Financial Times 28 Feb 08;

India's two leading cities are at the bottom of an environmental ranking due out today that suggests water and air quality will become an ever bigger challenge for the development of Mumbai and New Delhi.

The report, undertaken by MasterCard but based on a compilation of scientific data, puts China's leading cities above their Indian counterparts, even though Hong Kong and Beijing in particular have come under intense criticism over air quality in the run-up to this year's Olympic Games.

"The fact that China is now under a constant magnifying glass does not mean we should ignore other places and some objective facts," said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic adviser to MasterCard and author of the report.

"India really has to move fast to prevent slipping down any further," he added.

Over the past five years China has invested about 15 times more than India in transport, sewerage and other infrastructure that contribute to improving living standards in urban centres, according to Mr Yuwa.

Additionally, India's democratic system and policymaking process make it harder to implement reform, while "China can clearly mobilise".

The study ranked 21 leading cities in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Melbourne led the ranking ahead of Johannesburg and Singapore. Among Chinese cities, the worst performer was Shenzhen, the industrial hub next to Hong Kong, which itself was the best-ranked Chinese city.

Mr Yuwa said the weighting given by MasterCard to different environmental problems was subjective and debatable.

But MasterCard used data from the World Health Organisation, other United Nations agencies and national agencies such as the US geological survey and Mercer, the consultancy. The study gave three waterrelated issues - potability, availability and the sewage system - a combined weighting slightly above that of air quality.

However, on air quality alone, Mumbai and New Delhi also came equal bottom, below Jakarta, Cairo, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

The study also takes into account natural phenomena and Johannesburg's high ranking in part reflects its favourable location in terms of limited vulnerability to natural disaster.

In contrast, Tokyo was ranked lower because of the risk of earthquake, typhoon and volcanic eruption. Sydney also ranked down the list because of the risk of rising sea levels, water scarcity and fires.


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Singapore students and their creature comforts

Total Defence Day shows some S'pore students are TOTALLY DEFENCELESS
Teo Chin Ghee, The New Paper 29 Feb 08;

Teacher, how to eat this?
Some don't even know what sweet potatoes are

WHAT? Eat sweet potatoes? Have lessons in classrooms without lights, fans or aircon? Drink water that's not cold?

This was how some students reacted when asked to forgo their creature comforts for a few hours, as part of the Total Defence Day activities in some schools recently.

And their complaints have prompted some educators and school counsellors to question: Are our children too soft and too spoilt?

The New Paper understands that students from some schools complained when they found out they had to eat sweet potatoes for recess - even though it was only for a day.

The 'sweet potato only' policy was to simulate the Japanese Occupation, when it was a staple for many of these students' grandparents.

Some students had never even heard of sweet potato and wondered how it was to be eaten.

The complaints did not end there.

When lights in the classrooms were turned off, they grumbled that they couldn't make out what was written on the whiteboard, even when natural sunlight was streaming in at 9am.

And going without fans or air-conditioning was a major inconvenience for most.

Some resentful students asked their teachers why the central air-conditioning in the staff room and the general office had not been turned off, questioning why teachers had the luxury of returning to the air-conditioned staff room.

This, even though the teachers had spent most of their time with the students in the classrooms.

Another common complaint: The water from the water coolers was not cold enough.

'BLACKOUT' DAY

To commemorate the day on 15 Feb this year, some secondary schools had organised a 'blackout' day, complete with 'food rationing' to let students experience what their forefathers went through during World War II.

At one school, the blackout lasted from 9am to 11.30am, with the power supply cut off at the classroom blocks.

Students were informed about the surprise blackout only on the day itself.

They had to sit through lessons without lights and go without the cooling comfort of fans.

During recess, the students were given ration coupons for sweet potatoes, the only food sold in the canteen that day.

One of the school's National Education committee members said: 'The theme for this year emphasises the individual's responsibility and how total defence is personal.

'We wanted to personalise the experience for our students so they can play their part.'

However, it seems that the lessons failed to resonate with some students.

When asked by The New Paper, one student's response was: 'We had PE lessons that day and after the lesson, we were just so thirsty.

'No drinks were provided and the drink stalls were closed.

SO HOT

'We could only drink from the water coolers, which had long queues. To make it worse, the fans in the canteen were also turned off. It was so hot.'

While sweet potatoes may not be a favourite food among teenagers, what particularly shocked one teacher was learning that some students had never eaten it before.

He said: 'We actually had some students coming up to us, asking, 'How do I eat them?'.'

A similar food-rationing activity conducted two years ago at another school on Total Defence Day was also poorly received by the students.

The school's Total Defence Day co-ordinator recalled: 'It was a one-off event. The students didn't exactly like sweet potatoes and it was rather wasteful because we had leftovers.'

Some parents and teachers approached by The New Paper believe the students are spoilt.

Mrs Grace See, a parent of three children, said: 'From young, they have led such pampered lives. They have 24-hour air-conditioning and a maid to meet their every need.

'I know of a friend's nephew who simply refuses to go to non-air-conditioned places to eat.'

Teachers, who spoke to The New Paper on condition of anonymity, generally agreed.

One of them gave an interesting example: 'I know a 10-year-old student who goes home on the school bus.

'There was a time when he simply stood there after getting off, refusing to go home because his maid wasn't there to carry his bag and take him home.'

Another teacher said: 'Students these days are definitely spoilt. When you take away certain privileges that they are used to having, then they appear handicapped and cannot cope.'

One vice-principal noted that students these days are not used to such hardships because of a different lifestyle.

She added: 'They are, therefore, not able to appreciate the programmes that schools have planned for them.'

However, another teacher said some students today are becoming more independent in their search for knowledge, with the help of computers.

'So while they depend on their parents for some basic needs, they are now less dependent in other areas, like their academic work,' she added.

Others, like Shuqun Secondary School principal Tan Chin Eng, warned against generalising.

He said: 'Sometimes, it depends on the family background of the students.

'The students who complained could be those who have the basic necessities in life and have not gone through any hardships.

'However, it is also not wise to generalise that students these days are spoilt.'


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The human cost of palm oil boom

Mata Jeli: A perspective on Indonesian Affairs
Bruce Gale, Business Times 29 Feb 08;

LAST July, about 1,500 angry villagers attacked the grounds of an oil palm plantation company in South Sumatra. Overwhelming police, they burned several buildings and at least 30 machinery units, including tractors and dump trucks, as well as a number of cars. According to police, some threw Molotov cocktails while others stole computer units, cash boxes and car accessories.

The incident, which took place in the Ogan Komering Ulu regency, was the culmination of a lengthy land ownership dispute with Laju Perdana Indah, a subsidiary of the Salim Group. It was also typical of the unrest being reported throughout the archipelago in recent years as plantation companies seek to increase their acreage in response to high international commodity prices.

Agriculture Ministry data show that oil palm plantations have grown by more than 200 per cent during the last decade - from 2.7 million ha in 1998 to 6.1 million ha in 2006. And with the price of crude palm oil in Rotterdam hitting a record high of US$1,000 (S$1,400) per tonne last month, the demand for more plantation acreage is likely to grow.

A joint report issued earlier this month by a group of nongovernment organisations, including Friends of the Earth and local NGO Sawit Watch, assessed the human cost of this oil palm boom. Entitled Losing Ground, the 108-page study argues that while talk of climate change has created a growing market for biofuels that can be produced from crops such as oil palm and sugar cane, it is not just virgin forests that are under threat. Local communities in Indonesia's outer islands are also paying a heavy price.

Although many indigenous communities have lived on the same land for generations, their rights are not clear under Indonesian law. Land alienation for plantations has also been made easier by recent legislation that allows companies working with local governments to take over traditional lands if they show that their business is in accordance with official development plans.

The Losing Ground report alleges that while Indonesian law requires plantation companies to consult local communities and carry out an environmental impact assessment before obtaining a land use permit, this rarely happens. And when such consultation does take place, it is often tainted by allegations of intimidation and corruption.

One community liaison officer employed by an oil palm developer allegedly told researchers he was given a fund for bribing village chiefs. Demonstrations against plantation companies by local residents are also common, says the report, often triggering a heavy crackdown by local police and the company's own security forces.

Then there are the broken promises. According to one unnamed West Kalimantan villager quoted in the report: 'They promised to set up irrigated rice fields, a school, (provide) electricity, build a road, fish ponds. As it turns out, none of that was true. Now they do not even want to build our school or repair the track leading to the longhouse - so we are beginning to have second thoughts about them and not trust them any more.'

Sawit Watch said that in January it was monitoring 513 such conflicts between plantation companies and local communities around the archipelago.

Independent assessments appear to back up at least some of the report's findings. The November 2006 issue of the Asia Food Journal (a trade publication), for example, warned potential investors about the problem of land ownership, adding that 'local opposition to the establishment and expansion of plantations may lead to heightened social tension, causing unrest, security issues, and the disruption of operations'.

And in 2007, Ms Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairman of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, predicted that millions of people in West Kalimantan alone were likely to become 'biofuel refugees' over the next few years.

Supporters of the oil palm plantation expansion argue that the industry has provided employment to large numbers of poverty-stricken Indonesians. Official plans call for the biofuel industry to provide job opportunities for 3.5 million people by 2010.

Opponents counter that plantation labourers are often brought in from other parts of the archipelago, a move which raises the prospect of ethnic tensions while doing nothing to benefit local communities. Moreover, many such workers only receive daily wages, and usually have no access to insurance or social security schemes.

There is, however, another way of looking at the problem.

Dr H. S. Dillon, a former member of the National Human Rights Commission and an independent commissioner of Astra Agro Lestari (one of Indonesia's largest government-run plantations companies), points out that many NGO criticisms lack historical perspective.

'The current situation,' Dr Dillon told me last week, 'is not as bad as it was during the Suharto era.' In president Suharto's time, the oil palm sector was dominated by state-run companies that could act with impunity, calling on the support of the police and military whenever they faced local opposition.

Dr Dillon does not deny that such abuses still occur. But he argues that, as a result of democratisation, they are now more likely to be reported in the national and international media.

'The big players are far more vulnerable now,' he says. 'Most are private companies, many of which are run by local ethnic Chinese conglomerates.'

Historically, such groups have not been known for their corporate social responsibility. But the situation is changing.

Last year, at least 10 Indonesian plantation companies joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Established in April 2004, the RSPO is a joint initiative of companies and global NGOs which support the production and trade in palm oil while minimising its negative social and environmental effects.

But last month's Losing Ground report was a reminder that Indonesia still has a long way to go.


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Letters on dealing with abandoned pedigree dogs: Ban import of pets

If you want pets, please adopt one that has been abandoned
Time for pet owners to reflect on their actions

Today Online
29 Feb 08;
Letter from TAN CHEK WEE
Letter from MARIANNE MAES

I REFER to the report, "More abandon pedigree dogs" (Feb 28).

My work as a homecare doctor brings me to homes across the social strata.

I see dogs tied to fences with short leashes. I see rabbits confined in fish tanks. I see turtles swimming desperately to keep afloat in pails of water.

I once saw a poodle kept in a cage with its paws on a base of grills so that it is easier for the domestic helper to clear the excrement from the bottom tray.

With animal welfare shelters filled beyond the brim, I hope the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore will now consider the many appeals by those concerned about the welfare of animals: Ban the import of pets, stop local breeding and impose compulsory "pet responsibility" classes before a dog licence is issued.

There are more than enough abandoned animals to satisfy the needs of genuine adopters.

I appeal to people seeking animal companionship to adopt pets from shelters instead of buying them from pet shops.

I COULDN'T agree more with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chief Deirdre Moss' view that too many people in Singapore are buying pedigree dogs on the spur of the moment.

That there are more purebred dogs being abandoned is a reflection of the nonchalant attitude of a certain section of society towards pet ownership.

There is a saying that goes: One is judged by the way he treats an animal.

Looking at the disturbing trend of more strays being picked up, I'd say that the public should start reflecting on their actions.

How to prevent the dumping of pedigree dogs
Letter from Tan Ai Ling (Mdm), Straits Times 29 Feb 08;

I REFER to the article, '1,521 pedigree dogs dumped'.

With the stricter laws on pet licensing, the problem will only worsen. May I suggest the following to tackle the problem?

Pet shops should be microchipping and completing the registration of microchip numbers to buyers who are able to prove that their abode is approved for the type of dog purchased.

Immediate registration should be part of the service and the duty of responsible pet shops which should then send details to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority for licensing. This should curb impulsive buys.

Also, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should seriously consider campaigns that avoid depicting animals as cute. After all, most animals that end up there are euthanised, not candidates for resort-living.

I appeal to everyone considering a dog - the cost is not the initial outlay, but the thousands of dollars spent on vet bills and damaged furniture as well as the hundreds of hours spent cleaning, training and integrating a dog into your family.


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Wildlife Trade Booming in Burmese Casino Town

Stefan Lovgren, National Geographic News 28 Feb 08;

In a run-down casino town in northern Myanmar (Burma) market-goers can find everything from bear paws to tiger parts—evidence of a booming wildlife trade. However, recent crackdowns by governments in Southeast Asia may slow the illegal business, experts say.

On a 2007 trip to Möng La, on Myanmar's border with China, wildlife photographer Karl Ammann found a vast array of animal body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine, including bear paws and gall bladders, big-cat teeth—and even a freshly dismembered tiger penis.

Some of the animals will become "bush meat," often-endangered species not commonly consumed by people that are killed illegally and eaten as delicacies.

"What I had not seen anywhere else in Southeast Asia was the amount of animals sold for food," the Swiss-born Ammann said in a telephone interview from his home in Kenya.

"There were cages stacked on top of each other with captured animals: black bears, macaques, small primates, pangolins, rare birds, all kinds of reptiles, and tables filled with butchered animals with bullet holes through their heads and their throats cut.

"It's one of the worst scenes I've ever seen," he said.

Ammann has traveled on his own dime several times to wildlife-trade hot spots throughout Asia and Africa. He often poses as a buyer and photographs what he calls animal abuse in the hope that others will take notice.

"I'm an activist who likes to document things and show them to the rest of the world, so that people can't say they didn't know this was going on," he said.

Time Magazine recently named Ammann a Hero of the Environment. He has been credited as almost single-handedly raising awareness of the bush-meat trade.

Wildlife Trade

Some experts say bush-meat and illegal wildlife trade may be worth U.S. $8 to $10 billion in Southeast Asia alone—a reasonable guess, according to Steven Galster, the Bangkok-based director of the conservation group Wildlife Alliance.

Wildlife trade further endangers already threatened or endangered species and often damages their habitats in the process, according to TRAFFIC, an organization that monitors the industry.

For instance, trade operators often dump cyanide in the ocean to kill fish or log trees to gain access to animals in protected areas, damaging the environment.

What's more, people who handle wildlife and wildlife parts—from the traders to the consumers—are put at greater risk of contracting infectious diseases such as SARS, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its Web site.

An international agreement, CITES, was created in 1973 to encourage member countries to stop illegal wildlife trade within their borders.

In 2005 Southeast Asian countries formed the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) with the same goal of stamping out wildlife crime, Galster said.

His organization's encouragement of the network's member countries—such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia—to stick to the agreement is already influencing the market, he said.

For example, more raids and confiscations have taken place, and some traffickers who just years ago sold tiger skins on the open market are now hiding their wares, Galster said.

Las Vegas in the Jungle

Nestled in the hills of northern Myanmar, Möng La is not under control of the country's military junta but is instead part of an autonomous fiefdom run by the militia leader and alleged reformed drug lord Sai Leun.

The town used to be known as "Las Vegas in the Jungle" for its many casinos that catered mostly to Chinese citizens and tourists who traveled across the border to gamble.

But most of the casinos had to close in 2005 after the border was shut down by the Chinese government, who also imposed a ban on their officials and citizens against visiting Möng La.

Now it appears that wildlife trade has replaced other illicit industries—such as drug-dealing, prostitution, and gambling—as one of the most lucrative economic activities in the area. New roads built mostly by Chinese logging companies reach previously inaccessible parts of the forest where more wildlife can be taken.

"Before there was a lot of subsistence hunting, and it was hard to get stuff to markets," Ammann said.

"Now traders go by motorbike to pick up whatever they can. The hunters have totally new houses, all paid for by profits from wildlife."

China Influence

The close proximity to China also makes Möng La a hub for the global wildlife trade.

Colin Poole, director of the Asia program at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, said China's booming economy fuels the industry, which includes endangered species.

Animals are not only being used in traditional Chinese medicine but also being exported to large food markets in Guangzhou and other Chinese cities, where affluent Chinese can now afford to purchase imported wildlife products.

"The increasing wealth in southeastern China is dramatically increasing demand, particularly for exotic food species," he said.

Though China is a "huge driver" of wildlife trade in Southeast Asia, Wildlife Alliance's Galster said, the European Union and North America are also players in the business.

"We're seeing exotic species being poached and smuggled out of this region to parts of Europe and the United States," he said.

Liquid Gold

In Möng La, most animals for sale are openly displayed. Food stalls advertise dishes of pangolin, or "scaly anteater," and bear meat.

On back streets, dealers keep some animal items out of public view, according to Ammann.

"In one of the dealer rooms, I was offered a huge tiger skin and a corresponding box of tiger bones," Ammann said.

"In another place, a woman came by to buy four bear paws [used to make soup] for a restaurant. They sold for U.S. $150 a piece."

Bear bile, which is taken from the gall bladders of sun bears and Asiatic black bears and referred to as "liquid gold," is popular in traditional Chinese remedies and is thought by some to cure eye irritations, fevers, and liver problems.

On his trip, Ammann visited a bear-bile farm outside the town, in a place known as Möng La Paradise.

"I've seen badly kept chimps and gorillas, but I've never before seen 80 bears kept in a commercial setting in totally disgusting conditions ... never having a hope in hell of getting out of there alive, and every day getting milked through a catheter in their stomachs."

At the Chinese border, Ammann found dozens of bears locked in cages for sale.

"These bears are mostly used for meat and electrocuted when a dealer comes along and buys a bear for a banquet in China," he said.

Brink of Extinction

Richard Corlett is a tropical ecologist at the University of Hong Kong.

"There is now a market for almost any volume of any vertebrate species," he said.

"It is easier to name the species without a trade value, [such as] tapirs, in most areas."

Myanmar's forests are rapidly shrinking due mostly to China's growing demand for timber. Unless pressure from the international community convinces the Chinese and Burmese governments to make changes, these forests will continue to get smaller as wildlife trade increases, experts predict.

Already many species, including freshwater turtles, are simply disappearing.

Two of the three species of Asian rhinos in southern Asia are locally extinct in many places, and some countries have lost them altogether, experts say.

For example, less than 60 Javan rhinos, one of the rarest large mammals in the world, remain in the wild.

"Apart from the obvious animals—big cats and rhinos—I worry most about the less obvious [species] such as pangolins," Corlett said, "where huge numbers are traded and we know nothing about [the] impacts."


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Japanese schoolkids have whale of a lunchtime

The Herald Sun 28 Feb 08;

JAPAN'S whaling researchers dumped 10 tonnes of unsold whale meat into primary school lunches, labelling the event "traditional school lunch week".

In a desperate attempt to revive the flagging market, the Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) supplied the research by-product to 254 Yokohama schools over two days last month, hoping to give their young palates a taste for whale meat.

Faced with a reported 3000 tonne inventory of unsold meat from last year's cull, the ICR contacted the Yokohama City Education committee, suggesting the department include research meat in their school lunches.

A total of 200,000 lunches of whale meat salad marinated in sesame sauce were served on January 21 and 22. Yokohama children have not eaten whale meat as part of school lunches in 26 years.

The ICR refused to comment on its controversial programs.

Following the delivery of a 131,267 name petition to the Democratic Party of Japan on Thursday, ICR spokesman Gabriel Gomez refused to take calls yesterday, accusing The Daily Telegraph of "activism".

The ICR shares an office with the private whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, who contract staff for the research fleet and manage the sale of the meat in Tokyo's Toyomi Bay area. The cold storage facility housing the inventory of unsold meat is also located nearby.

Manager of health education at the Yokohama City Education Committee, Ms Atsukjo Ito, who co-ordinated the lunch days, would not say whether the schools bought the meat, but said there were no plans for a second program.

Proving once again that the scientific program is a facade for commercial scale hunting, leading Liberal Democratic Party Upper House member Yoshimasa Hayashi, who chairs Japan's International Whaling Commission committee, yesterday admitted there was a deliberate attempt to revive the domestic market for the meat.

He said he saw no problem with feeding the meat to children as part of a public relations campaign.

"We are trying very hard to regain a market for whale eating," Mr Hayashi said.

But, in a surprise concession, Mr Hayashi said Japan would seriously consider ending whaling operations in the high seas if they were allowed to extend its coastal whaling program.

"There is a chance of an agreement. It will depend largely on US leadership to bridge the differences at the IWC," he said.

Mr Hayashi said Japan's withdrawal from the IWC was still an option should this week's meeting fail to make any progress on legitimising their whale cull.


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US Horseshoe crabs and threatened shorebird

Groups seek to protect the shore bird
Yahoo News 29 Feb 08;

A migratory bird environmentalists say is threatened because of horseshoe crab fishing should be listed under the Endangered Species Act, a coalition of environmental groups say in a letter to federal officials.

The letter was sent by the American Bird Conservancy, American Littoral Society, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, Delaware Audubon, Delaware Nature Society, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, National Audubon Society, and New Jersey Audubon Society. The groups ask Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall to list two subspecies of Red Knot under the act.

"The science was clear years ago that the Red Knot faces imminent extinction yet the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to list this bird. The causes of the Red Knot's decline have only gotten worse in the two years since that decision. The most recent information leaves no doubt that the Service should list it immediately," said Jason Rylander, staff attorney for Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife.

The medium-sized shore bird flocks to the Delaware Bay each spring after flying nonstop from South America. They feast on horseshoe crab eggs to nearly double their body weight in less than two weeks before flying to their breeding grounds in the Arctic.

Environmentalists say harvesting of horseshoe crabs for bait is threatening the birds' survival. Fishermen say other factors could be affecting the birds — such as habitat destruction or global warming — and that a limited harvest or a harvest in which only male crabs are collected would not hurt the birds.

In New Jersey, some state lawmakers have proposed a bill that would ban the harvesting of horseshoe crabs, the red knot's prime food. Earlier this month, New Jersey's Marine Fisheries Council rejected a proposed moratorium on the harvest of horseshoe crabs, setting the red knot on what bird-lovers say is a path to certain doom.

The letter sent Wednesday cites a new report that found smaller populations and lower body weights of both subspecies.


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Indonesia faces power crisis

Poor planning, ageing plants, rising demand could lead to more outages
Business Times 29 Feb 08;

(JAKARTA) Sudden blackouts on two key Indonesian islands last week may be just the start of a spiralling two-year power crisis that could stymie economic growth, curtail resource exports and trigger social unrest.

Outages on the main commercial islands of Java and Bali, the country's worst since a day-long blackout brought Jakarta to a halt in August 2005, were due to storms that hit coal deliveries and exposed the precarious balance of Indonesia's power supply.

After chronic underinvestment and steadily growing demand from an economy growing at its fastest pace in a decade, analysts now see a crisis on the horizon for the world's fourth-most populous nation, which holds elections next year.

'The situation in Indonesia is worse than anywhere else in Asia,' said Joseph Jacobelli, head of Asia-Pacific utilities research at Merrill Lynch.

Jakarta has managed to stave off the kind of supply crises seen in China and India in recent years, but as growth picked up after the 1997-98 financial crisis, plants built in the previous decade are showing their age and straining to meet demand.

Officials said the blackouts were due not to a lack of power plant capacity but of fuel - ships carrying coal from Kalimantan were unable to reach port and unload their cargoes due to stormy weather, forcing two major power plants to cut production as their coal stocks dwindled to only two or three days' supply.

State electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) staged planned power cuts in Jakarta's commercial and residential areas over the weekend in order to save precious supplies.

Critics blamed the crisis on poor planning, and said that PLN should have been better prepared, with larger stockpiles.

The firm may now require plants to double stocks to 30 days.

But even with sufficient fuel supplies, Indonesia is struggling to meet peak period demand, officials say, a situation set to worsen until new plants are built by 2010 - provided the government can overcome a legacy of investor resistance.

'Indonesia will inevitably face more power shortages. The political will to tackle the problem is there, but efforts are too few and too late,' said Citigroup economist Anton Gunawan.

The interim choices are clear but costly - buy more diesel and fuel oil to revive expensive oil-fired generators; limit coal exports to ensure domestic supplies; or reduce the government's popularity by instituting more rolling blackouts.

Of the 17,500-megawatt (MW) installed capacity on Java and Bali - about three-quarters of the country's total - only about 15,500 MW are in operation since many of the plants are old and inefficient, said a PLN official who declined to be named.

With evening demand peaking at 15,200 MW, the plants operate at a razor- sharp 2 per cent supply cushion, a dire situation made worse when plants shut for maintenance or repairs. At peak times, demand can exceed capacity, the PLN official said.

Given its abundant natural resources, Indonesia should be well placed to meet its own energy needs. It is Asia's only Opec member, the world's second-biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer, and the biggest thermal coal exporter.

But last week's blackouts showed the need to address energy policy urgently to keep Asia-Pacific's sixth-largest economy ticking along after last year's 6.3 per cent growth - its fastest in a decade but still trailing giants China and India.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants to attract billions of dollars of investment for infrastructure, including the power sector, to spur economic growth and reduce high unemployment.

But the power industry is one of many infrastructure woes plaguing this sprawling archipelago of 226 million people, along with unsafe ferries, single-track railways and scruffy airports.

In August last year, PLN signed power plant deals worth around US$2 billion with China's Shanghai Electric Corp and Dongfang Electric Corp as part of Indonesia's plan to build 10,000 MW of additional capacity, an increase of 42 per cent nationwide.

The vital tourism industry on Bali is also alarmed, fearing a further blow to a reputation already tarnished by deadly bomb attacks in recent years, on top of higher costs if the island's hotels and restaurants have to buy stand-alone diesel generators to keep the lights on.

'There were losses, and the smaller hotels and restaurants are the worst hit,' said Perry Markus, secretary-general of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association's Bali chapter.

If the blackouts continue, 'it would affect our image as a tourism spot', he said. -- Reuters


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No impact from UK Energy Saving Day

Richard Black, BBC News 28 Feb 08;

The UK's first Energy Saving Day has ended with no noticeable reduction in the country's electricity usage.

E-Day asked people to switch off electrical devices they did not need over a period of 24 hours, with the National Grid monitoring consumption.

It found that electricity usage was almost exactly what would have been expected without E-Day.

Colder weather than forecast in some regions may have led to higher use of heating, masking any small savings.

The event also received very little publicity, despite having backing from campaign groups such as Greenpeace, Christian Aid and the RSPB, and from major energy companies such as EDF, E.On and Scottish Power.

"I am afraid that E-Day did not achieve the scale of public awareness or participation needed to have a measurable effect," said E-Day's organiser Dr Matt Prescott in a message on his website.

The Grid's final figures showed national electricity consumption for the 24 hours (from 1800 Wednesday to 1800 Thursday) was 0.1% above the "business-as-usual" projection.

Lofty aims

The E-Day concept started life as Planet Relief, an awareness-raising BBC TV programme with a significant comedy element.

But in September the BBC decided to pull the project, saying viewers preferred factual or documentary programmes about climate change.

The decision came after poor audiences for Live Earth, and public debate over whether it was the corporation's role to "save the planet".

Dr Prescott then decided to see whether he could mount E-Day as an independent operation, and secured the backing of important partners such as the National Grid and the UK's major energy companies.

They are obliged by the government to offer customers ways of improving energy effiency, and some used E-Day to contact people interested in loft and wall insulation.

The event was launched on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral in central London by Dr Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, who described climate change as a "moral issue".

"Let us remember people in the Ganges delta who are already feeling the effects of sea level rise and climate change," he said.

"The science changes year by year - though rarely in the right direction - but the moral imperative remains the same."

Lessons learned

Dr Prescott had hoped E-Day might bring a small but measurable reduction in electricity use, perhaps in the order of 2-3%, equivalent to the output of one or two fossil fuel fired power stations.

The idea was to demonstrate that numerous small personal actions could make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions.

But, he acknowledged on his website: "E-Day did not succeed in cutting the UK's electricity demand.

"The drop in temperature between Wednesay 27 February and Thursday 28 February probably caused this, as a result of more lights and heating being left on than were originally predicted."

"I will do my best to learn the relevant lessons for next time."


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Wood industry in Riau on brink of collapse

Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 28 Feb 08;

The wood processing industry in Riau, including sawmills and molding firms, is on the brink of collapse due to a scarcity of raw material supplies, said the head of Riau's Indonesian Wood Community (MPI), Hotman Butar-Butar.

Hotman said on Wednesday that wood supplies were falling because many forest concession holders were involved in rampant illegal logging practices in the province.

"The (illegal logging) cases involving a number of forest concession holders are being investigated by the Riau Police," he said.

"There is no clear information as to when the investigation will be completed. The problem is that we depend heavily on them."

Hotman said nearly half of the 150 sawmills registered at MPI had stopped operations and "similar hardships" were affecting 35 registered molding firms in the province.

Nearly 30 percent of 35,000 workers employed at the wood processing industry had been laid off, he said.

"If the log scarcity prevails until next month, more companies will go bankrupt and thousands of other workers will be jobless."

Hotman further said since January 2007 the Riau Police had frozen some 175,000 hectares of forests owned by 18 forest concessionaires.

He said the "problematic causes" that led to the forests being frozen included the extension of logging licenses, annual working plans and unlicensed machinery.

Jhony Setiawan Mundung, head of the Riau office of the Forum for the Indonesian Environment (Walhi), said he deplored the slow pace at which police investigations took place around illegal logging cases.

He rejected an opinion which said freezing forest concessions would cause an increase in unemployment in the sector.

"It was just disclosed by a man who is in need of wood in a large quantity," Mundung said.

A report by WWF conservation group released Wednesday said that Riau province had lost 65 percent of its forests in the past 25 years as companies used the land for pulpwood and palm oil plantation.

Indonesia has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, driven by voracious demand for commodities and weak law enforcement.

Emissions from deforestation, and in particular peatland -- which is made up of deep layers of semi-decomposed vegetation -- have made Indonesia the world's third-largest carbon emitter, behind the United States and China.


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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Feb 08


International Year of the Frog 2008
funky frogs and why they are important on the leafmonkey blog with lots of froggy links; also on the budak blog.

Pacific Reef Egret
a black one spotted on the bird ecology blog

Plants and Espionage
a common plant with an uncommon use on the garden voices blog

Tamarind
the sweet and sour of it on the budak blog

Announcing David Bickford’s new webpage!
on The Biodiversity crew @ NUS blog

The bird and the spider
strange behaviour on the urban forest blog

Dancing crabs
on the urban forest blog


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SPCA requests AVA to restrict import, breeding, sale of pedigree dogs

Channel NewsAsia 27 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) wrote to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) last week to call for tighter restrictions on the import, breeding and sale of pedigree dogs.

Last year alone, the SPCA took in some 3,000 unwanted dogs, and more than half of them were pedigree dogs.

In its reply, AVA said it would not be appropriate to restrict the number and type of dogs imported, bred and sold. It, however, has to approve the type and number of dogs pet shops can sell.

It also pointed out in its reply that since last September, AVA has introduced several measures to discourage abandonment of pet dogs, which include compulsory microchipping and the introduction of a differential fee for sterilised and unsterilised pet dogs. There are also tighter controls on breeding dogs on dog farms.

Last year, the AVA impounded 2050 dogs.

Deirdre Moss, executive officer of SPCA, said: "We definitely have a surplus. And you know we are limited in the number of homes that can be found also. We have 250 dogs coming in every month, of which half are pedigree, and we have got 30 to 35 homes to adopt them."

SPCA figures indicated that the number of lost or unwanted pedigree dogs rose from 30 to 50 per cent over the past two years, and the most common reason cited when dogs are given to the society is that the owners have no time to look after them. - CNA/ac

1,521 pedigree dogs dumped
Carolyn Quek and April Chong, Straits Times 28 Feb 08;

SINGAPOREANS are dumping their pedigree dogs, once prized for their rarity, at an 'alarming' rate, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

More than half of the 3,002 unwanted dogs the society took in last year, or 1,521 animals, were purebreds.

According to the society's executive officer Deirdre Moss, purebreds made up a quarter of the unwanted dog population in the 1980s and grew to almost one-third in the 1990s.

The increase comes as more owners import pedigrees from outside the country.

Leading the pack of breeds that showed up at the society last year were golden retrievers and Jack Russell terriers.

The pedigree dogs the SPCA sees now are younger than before, with most being one to four years old, she said.

Not having the time to look after their pet was the most common reason owners cited for surrendering the animals, the SPCA said.

To curb the the increasing numbers of pedigree dogs being imported, bred and sold here, the SPCA had suggested that the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) restrict their supply.

But the AVA, in a response to the society, said it 'would not be appropriate' to restrict the number and type of dogs.

'We understand the SPCA's concerns but would like to reiterate that Singapore operates on a free market system,' said AVA's head of the centre for animal welfare and control, Mr Madhavan Kannan.

The SPCA warns against impulse pet purchases and urges potential pet owners to carefully consider the implications of dog ownership.

More abandon pedigree dogs
As number rises to alarming levels, SPCA calls for action
Leong Wee Keat, Today Online 28 Feb 08;

AS THE number of abandoned pedigree dogs shot up alarmingly last year, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has urged the authorities to tighten the import, commercial breeding and sale of such dogs.

Three years ago, about one in four lost and unwanted dogs was a purebred. This number rose to "alarming levels" last year, with one in two unwanted dogs a pedigreed. Overall, the SPCA received an average of 250 lost or unwanted dogs each month last year.

The trend shows no signs of abating. Last month, the SPCA received 125 lost and unwanted pedigreed dogs alone. Some reasons cited by owners giving up their canines included leaving the country, moving house, expecting a child and — a frequent excuse — no time to look after it.

In light of this, SPCA has written in to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) asking for curbs to be placed on the import and commercial breeding or sale of pedigree dogs.

"It's time to take stock of the number being bred, sold and imported annually and to see if there are enough homes for them," SPCA executive officer Deirdre Moss told Today. "There is definitely a surplus (of pedigreed dogs) and too many people buying on the spur of the moment."

Another animal welfare group, Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), supported SPCA's call. Over the last six months, ASD president Ricky Yeo said the society has seen a 20 to 30 per cent increase in pedigreed strays being picked up.

Even more worryingly, he notes, this trend means that the chances of rescued local mongrels being adopted have also eroded, as pedigreed dogs are seen as being "superior". At ASD, the adoption rate for pedigrees is on the rise, while that for mongrels has been slipping, said Mr Yeo.

An AVA spokesperson said the authority understands SPCA's concerns but reiterated that Singapore operates on "a free market system". He said: "It would not be appropriate to restrict the number and type of dogs imported or bred and sold commercially as long as the pet business is legal and complies with the regulations and applicable conditions."

With the revision of the Animals and Birds (Licensing and Control) Rule last September, the spokesperson said AVA has also introduced several measures — such as compulsory microchipping and introduction of a differential fee for sterilised and unsterilised pet dogs — to discourage abandonment. Tighter controls on breeding dog populations on dog farms were also put in place.

Ms Moss urged would-be owners to think long-term before getting a dog. "Dogs require a lot of attention, socialisation and training," she said. "Your part of the bargain also has to be fulfilled — you have to spend time with them and communicate with them. It is not unlike having a child."

Under the Animals and Birds Act, a person found guilty of abandonment of an animal could be fined up to $10,000 or jailed a year, or both.


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Needed: Greater ownership of environment

Straits Times Forum 28 Feb 08;

WE REFER to the letter, 'Singapore sadly lax over cleanliness now' (Feb 19). Over the years, educational efforts have been taken to make environmentally friendly practices, such as not littering, a part of our lives.

Indeed, the National Environment Agency's (NEA) surveys have shown that most people dispose of their litter in refuse bins. Sadly, the results also showed that a minority think that littering is acceptable. Singaporeans, therefore, need to have a greater sense of environmental ownership.

The NEA has been working with various partners to strengthen this sense of environmental ownership among Singaporeans. Working with kindergartens and childcare centres, it has developed creative teaching aids to help children learn about good personal habits, such as keeping the environment litter-free.

The NEA also works with the Ministry of Education to integrate environmental issues into the school curriculum. In addition, it has introduced Environment Champions and Litter-Free Ambassadors programmes to train students to promote the green message among their peers.

The NEA works with grassroots organisations, non-governmental organisations and youth groups to reinforce the anti-littering message. For example, it is working closely with the Environment Challenge Organisation (ECO) to urge participants of public events to keep public areas clean.

We will also act against the minority who litter.

The letter writer, Ms Maria Kleyman of the United States, lamented that cleanliness in the streets of Ang Mo Kio has declined since her last visit in 1988. Within the Ang Mo Kio estate, the Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang Town Council has been actively stepping up conservancy efforts.

The town council will continue to step up cleaning and constantly monitor and review the performance of its conservancy and cleaning contractors.

It will continue to promote environmental ownership and combat littering through advisories, posters and educational articles in our newsletters.

Ultimately, no one should take the present clean and green environment for granted, and everyone should be committed to adopting an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

S. Satish Appoo
Director, Environmental Health Department
National Environment Agency

Wan Chong Hock
Chief Executive Officer
Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang Town Council


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Singapore corporations increasingly finding green is profitable: PwC

Amit Roy Choudhary, Business Times 28 Feb 08;

WHILE today's business managers have become more environmentally conscious, easily measurable economic benefit is still the key driving force behind corporate green initiatives, both in Singapore and the rest of the world, according to a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The joint study by PwC and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) looked at the green technology movement by exploring the key drivers for change; the effect green initiatives have on collaboration and innovation across the technology value-chain; green-oriented regulations; and opportunities for growth.

The study shows that 40 per cent of technology executives claim the green movement creates significant market opportunities for their companies, as evidenced by a noticeable increase in customer demand for green products and services.

Additionally, 60 per cent cite energy savings as one of the most important factors in their company's environmental decision-making process.

'The growing demand for environmental products and services could translate into one of the biggest new markets in recent memory,' says Greg Unsworth, PwC Singapore partner and Asia Pacific technology industry leader, told BizIT. 'Technology companies can exploit this opportunity to drive growth, but they must ensure their green initiatives are in line with their business strategy.'

He noted that given Singapore's status as a leading financial centre, companies based here cannot afford to ignore the issues arising around climate change and the international momentum towards environmental awareness.

Mr Unsworth said that apart from the broader social objective to reduce the impact of business on the environment, companies here need to be aware of potential consumer and investor backlash due to a perceived lack of green initiatives.

'The survey shows that nearly one-in-five companies in the technology sector already assess environmental policies and track records of their suppliers in making purchasing decisions, and this figure is expected to increase,' the PwC official noted.

He added that in future sound environmental policies may become a prerequisite to generate business in some instances. In a number of countries, for instance, government customers are increasingly mandated to purchase green where available.

Mr Unsworth also noted that while there has been a relatively light touch to date in Singapore regarding regulation, there will be an increasing interest in the experience of those countries that are introducing carbon taxes and other regulatory measures - 'many companies are moving now to be prepared for risk of potential future regulation'.

The survey showed that technology organisations are taking steps to safeguard themselves from stringent government legislation and regulations in the future by proactively imposing their own green-oriented controls.

'Twenty per cent of the survey respondents say their companies maintain a formal and widely distributed environmental policy,' Mr Unsworth noted.

He added that this figure will increase significantly over the next two years, jumping to 48 per cent. 'To further reduce the risk of government regulations, technology companies are implementing a range of other environmental processes such as auditing internal green practices, appointing senior executives to oversee green programmes, and creating a clearer linkage between green initiatives and performance,' he said.

Mr Unsworth noted that the measures that should be taken by individual companies in Singapore will vary, based on the nature of their business operations, scale and current initiatives in place. 'The current carbon footprint could be assessed and an understanding of the opportunities to either generate revenues or save costs should be explored.'

Specifically, Mr Unsworth suggests measures like IT infrastructure and server consolidation, exploring alternative energy sources and automated technologies that regulate energy consumption and increased use of video or Web conferencing to cut down on travel requirements.

The PwC official noted that as a small city state with little natural energy resources, Singapore is vulnerable to the impact of a volatile energy market. So the republic would do well to think of introducing innovative fiscal incentives to tackle climate change issues, he added.


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SM comments on IR, F1 as part of creating a new buzz for Singapore

When going for a buzz triggered an economic boom for Singapore ...
Today Online 28 Feb 08;

In an interview with the English-language newspaper, Korea Herald, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who visited South Korea last week, spoke on the challenges facing the Singapore economy. Below are edited excerpts from the interview.

"If we can't attract investments into Singapore, then how do you create jobs? So the No 1 priority for him (Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong) would be economic growth.

"An example I can give will be our Integrated Resorts (IRs), which include casinos. That was a very tough decision for him to take, because morally, we were against casinos.

"So he had to decide, how do you grow the tourism sector? … The Ministry of Trade and Industry suggested that maybe we should go for casinos, as part of the IRs.

"Half the country was against it … The other half were quite practical … So there was a huge debate in the country. In the end, he had to decide and he decided: 'Let's find ways to cope with the evils of casinos, and let's try and maximise the benefits'.

"I cite this as an example of how he has to take decisions to restructure the economy … And when he took this decision, the people — meaning investors and businessmen — were triggered by Singapore's boldness and pragmatism.

"And that triggered a boom in construction — because when you have these two big IRs, the construction industry took off … Financial services also boomed. So that decision caused us to grow by a huge 7.7 per cent last year.

"So there was a new buzz, a new excitement in Singapore — and then we said, well, from there what do we do? 'F1', somebody suggested — let's host Formula One. A city race, a night race. So we got excited — a night race within the city, but it's expensive … Again some people got unhappy, and he's got to decide.

"Then we were able to attract the Volvo Open — this is the sea race. Then we bidded for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games — again very expensive … If Singapore could succeed in hosting the first Youth Olympics, we'd get a lot of media attention … So, these are the decisions which he took to revitalise the economy and give it a new boost."


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Singapore growth plan not a 'grow-at-all-costs' policy

Alvin Foo, Straits Times 28 Feb 08;

THE Government's economic expansion strategy is the right one and not a 'grow-at-all-costs' policy leading to an overheated economy as suggested by Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) on Monday.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday that while Mr Singh's speech made for 'very entertaining listening, it was in fact Inderjit's analysis that is flawed'.

Mr Tharman said: 'The Government has not pursued a 'grow-at-all-costs policy' as (he) suggested.

'We 'went for growth' not by over-stimulating the economy with fiscal spending, but by making Singapore more competitive by building up our capabilities, keeping taxes competitive and investing in infrastructure.'

Mr Singh told Parliament on Monday that the Government's strategy of growing the economy as fast as possible in good years was partly to blame for rapidly rising costs.

Responding yesterday, Mr Tharman said that Singapore needs to capitalise on the boom years to offset the bad ones to ensure healthy long-term growth.

'We have to take advantage of the opportunities when external conditions are favourable, so that the good years can offset the down years when the global cycle turns.'

The economy was able to grow at an average of 5 per cent over the past 10 years because it had grown rapidly in the last four years by about 8 per cent on average, he noted.

Mr Tharman said Singapore should seize the economic opportunities and not turn away big investors to avoid rapid growth.

He said: 'When they are ready to invest, and we say no, they go elsewhere. If we miss them, we miss the whole cycle. And we lose not just one investment. We lose the whole cluster.'

Many MPs, including Mr Singh, Ms Jessica Tan (East Coast GRC), Mr Michael Palmer (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) and Ms Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), have expressed concern that the Budget did not do enough for businesses facing rising costs.

Mr Tharman said although costs have increased, so has the overall demand for goods and services.

The Government's approach is to provide the conditions for companies to grow over the long term.

'We will help our companies to move up the value chain so that they are more competitive in a higher cost environment,' said Mr Tharman, who added that short-term bottlenecks affecting labour and space are being addressed.

For example, the Ministry of Manpower raised the quota for skilled foreign workers from 15 per cent to 25 per cent last month.

The Budget also contained measures to deal with the temporary shortages in office space, he said.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has also been conducting an orderly release of industrial land which should relieve pressure on rents.

Mr Tharman also rejected suggestions from two MPs - Mr Singh and Ms Tan - to offer businesses rebates to cope with rising costs.

'Providing rebates would not solve the imbalance of supply and demand, which is the source of the problem. In fact, it might even accentuate the problem,' he said.

Mr Tharman noted that giving tax rebates on rentals may drive rents up further as they would boost demand without adding to supply in an already strong rental market.

He added: 'The real solution is to relieve the bottleneck in supply, which is what the Government has been seeking to do.'

Inderjit's analysis 'flawed', Kum Hong's 'reckless'
Christie Loh, Today Online 28 Feb 08;

AFTER two days of hearing criticisms about the Government's pursuit of economic growth at the cost of social cohesion, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has stepped forward with strong rebuttals.

Zooming in on points raised by two parliamentarians — Mr Inderjit Singh and Mr Siew Kum Hong — the minister sought to address what he dubbed "the most important debate" that arose during the discussion of Budget 2008: What is "the basic ethic that we want to sustain in our society"?

Is it, as Mr Singh suggested on Monday, a "growth-at-all-costs" policy that aims to expand as fast as possible in good times but inevitably leads to rising inflation and lower-income Singaporeans being worse off?

"This is plainly wrong," Mr Shanmugaratnam said yesterday. "It made for very entertaining listening, but it is in fact Inderjit's analysis that is flawed."

The minister explained that growth came about not because of the Government pumping in money to stimulate the economy, but due to measures to build up capabilities and infrastructure and to keep taxes competitive. This enables the people and businesses to take advantage of good times to offset weak years when the global economic cycle turns. Rejecting investors in the name of avoiding rapid growth would not make food more affordable or Singaporeans better off today, he said.

In fact, he said, buoyant 2007 was a good year for low-wage workers, as retrenchments sank to the lowest level since 1994.

Small businesses have also benefitted. Despite higher costs, their sales have risen due to the strong growth of Singaporeans' wages, he said.

"Our approach, therefore, is to provide the conditions for Singaporeans and our companies to succeed and to grow over the long term," said Mr Shanmugaratnam.

But he stressed that this strategy did not mean neglecting the less fortunate, contrary to the "impassioned speech" by Mr Siew, a Nominated Member of Parliament (MP).

On Tuesday, Mr Siew had said that the Government, being more concerned about not eroding the work ethic rather than caring for Singaporeans, was providing a minimal level of aid.

Mr Shanmugaratnam disagreed.

"His description does not square with the reality of the Government's interventions to support the lower-income group," he said, citing housing subsidies, Central Provident Fund top-ups, Medifund, ComCare schemes and the Workfare Income Supplement, recently introduced to cover the bottom 30 per cent of the population.

Whether the Workfare scheme needs to broadened — as some MPs have suggested — remains to be seen, as the first payments were given out just last month , said the Finance Minister.

But the basic philosophy of encouraging people to work, he stressed, cannot be shaken — which is why he said Mr Siew's "exhortation that we should ignore waste, ignore dead-weight loss, ignore disincentives to work, is reckless".

To help the poor, said Mr Shanmugaratnam, it is first necessary to expand the economy, create wealth and provide the incentive for Singaporeans to work.

"If our policies harm that, for the noblest of reasons, we will be in serious trouble, as many other countries have found," he added.


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Sungei Buloh: Dead fishes seen


Dead in the water
Straits Times 28 Feb 08;

Nature lovers were shocked to discover this scene at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on Monday.

Straits Times reader Edmund Chan stumbled upon about 80 dead catfish and mullets in a brackish pond near the reserve, and sent this shot to The Straits Times' online portal, Stomp.

The National Parks Board said a combination of scorching temperatures and low rainfall made the fishes' natural surroundings too hot to live in, something that happens once every few years. The fish will now become food for the area's scavengers, or be washed out to sea.


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