Last dive for 2008 at Pulau Hantu
on the Pulau Hantu blog
Massive reclamation at Tuas continues until Jul 09
on the wild shores of singapore blog
Seletar shore from afar
on the wild shores of singapore blog
Hunter in the dark
on the annotated budak blog
A seven-in-one tree for birds
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog
Closing 2008 and welcoming 2009
on the Water Quality in Singapore blog
The Solomon Star 31 Dec 08;
SINGAPORE has been cautioned not to accept the bottlenose dolphins exported from the Solomon Islands.
Chairman of the Mexican Congress, Committee of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries Senator Jorge Legorreta wrote to the Singapore Minister for National Development Mah Bau Tan on this.
This was after the recent shipment of bottlenose dolphins from here to the Philippines, which will be later transferred to Singapore.
Another consignment is reported to be shipped from here soon.
In the letter obtained by the Solomon Star, which was copied to Prime Minister Dr Derek Sikua and Fisheries minister Nollen Leni, M Legorreta cautioned Mr Tan that there are plans for bottlenose dolphins from the Solomon Islands to be exported to Singapore.
“We understand that plans are underway to import a number of indo Pacific bottlenose dolphins from the Solomon Islands to your country. We wish to share our country’s experience to assist with your decision making process as you consider this import,” he said in the letter.
The senator said the 28 bottlenose dolphins exported to Mexico from the Solomon Islands in 2003 has tainted their country’s reputation.
“In July 2003, Mexico allowed an import of 28 dolphins from the Solomon Islands despite widespread criticism from CITES and non government organisations.
“Twelve of the dolphins eventually died which we see as an appalling mortality rate compared to the life of these friendly mammals living in the wild,” he stated in the letter.
“Mexico’s experience with this single import led to our government imposing an outright ban on importation and exportation of live cetaceans for entertainment purposes and this ban is still in place,” the Mexican senator said.
He said Mexico’s international reputation was damaged because of the negative publicity surrounding the single import from the Solomon Islands.
“We therefore urge the Singapore government to consider our experience and the mortality suffered by these animals when considering permits for the imports from the Solomon Islands,” he said.
By EDNAL PALMER
Melati Mohd Ariff, Bernama 31 Dec 08;
PULAU TIOMAN, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- Its curtains down for phase one of the Coral Reef Camp, an awareness campaign on the need to conserve the nation's marine parks jointly held by the Marine Parks Department (DMPM), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Marine Park Project and Reef Check Malaysia.
The final of the three camps scheduled for 2008 was held last November with the participation of 23 students and 12 teachers from Sekolah Kebangsaan Juara and Sekolah Kebangsaan Mukut of Pulau Tioman, Pahang.
The students were from Mukut and Juara villages located on the island's south and east respectively.
The 3-day camp was held at DMPM's Marine Park Centre located on the west coast of Tioman.
The first of such camps was held with the participation of 20 students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Tekek in Pulau Tioman in May this year.
The subsequent camp was held in July 2008 with participation of 118 students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Sibu (34 students) and Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Tinggi (24 students), both in Johor; Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Redang (20) and Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Perhentian (20), both in Terengganu and Sekolah kebangsaan Kg Tekek, Tioman (20).
According to Communications Officer for UNDP's Marine Park Project, Chua Hooi Dean, the phase two of the Coral Reef Camp would be held between April and August in 2009.
The 2009 programmes, she added would focus on Year 5 students as opposed to 2008's programmes which saw the participation of students from Year 4, 5 and 6.
"The Phase Two camps would be more in-depth and improvisation has been made to suit the level of understanding and age group of the participants.
"Besides the camps, follow-up activities such as beach clean-up, talks and site visits would be planned for the selected students", Chua told Bernama.
Chua said the findings from the outcome of Phase Two would be used for planning Phase Three Camp in 2010.
ENHANCE AWARENESS
The objective of the entire Coral Reef Camp programme is to create and enhance awareness among island children on the importance of conserving marine biodiversity for a more sustained livelihood in the future.
According to Chua, the programme essentially targets school children of the marine park islands who would one day be heir to the homeland.
"The Phase One programme was held with much success, coupled with encouragement from the schools and local communities.
"This is due not only to the education received by the children but also that by the adults, parents and teachers on the importance of concerving marine biodiversity", Chua said.
She said have indirectly gained facilitation skills through all the programmes held.
The Marine Parks Project would continue to work towards enhancing the locals' understanding and knowledge on protecting the nation's marine heritage for a sustainable future.
INFORMATIVE AND INVALUABLE KNOWLEDGE
Headmaster of Sekolah Kebangsaan Mukut, Rahim Johari described the Coral Reef Camp as highly beneficial as it provided first hand information on the conservation of marine life.
In his closing speech, he also said the programme served as a platform to united students from all the three schools of Tioman.
The headmaster of Sekolah Kebangsaan Juara, Abdul Rahman Mat Yunus commented: "I am very thankful to the organisers who have successfully organised this Camp which is I think of paramount importance to the students".
Meanwhile, one of the teachers that took part in the camp, Barkorie Abdullah said the knowledge imparted was invaluable.
"Besides the exposure, we learnt more in-depth knowledge on our national heritage namely the coral reefs which definitely must be conserved for the future", said the teacher who teaches at Sekolah Kebangsaan Juara.
FULL OF EXCITEMENT
As for the school children, the three-day Coral Reef Camp was filled with fun learning.
Excitement for the participants started from the onset of the camp. The 12 students from Kampung Mukut, travelled to the Marine Park Centre by fishermen's boats that took about two hours.
The other 11 children from Kampung Juara were driven in two 4WD vehicles through a newly-constructed road that cut across the hill and the ride took about 30 minutes. The school children were from Years 4, 5 and 6.
The participants for this final Camp enjoyed real camping experience where they pitched their own tents in the compound of the Marine Park Centre.
The camp's module began with an ice-breaking game for the students to allow the students to get to know each other. They were also briefed on the camp's objective and regulations before they were divided into three groups.
Activities at the camp include the talk on the basics of coral reefs, the do's and dont's in the marine parks, animal food chain and the basics of survival where the children were taken for some snorkeling exercise.
"This camp has made me aware of my responsibility to protect and love our marine heritage. I had a lot of fun learning with all my friends at the camp", said Mohd Shazwan, a standard six pupil from Sekolah Kebangsaan Mukut.
"I learnt that corals are half plants and half animals but they are dependent on a kind of algae called zooxanthellae. It was exciting to act as a Marine Park Officer. I will definitely take care of the corals so they would not be damaged", said a standard five pupil from Sekolah Kebangsaan Juara, Rasdatun Aisyah Rabidi.
The Coral Reef Camp programme has indeed achieved its key objective of educating and instilling the importance of protecting the nation's marine heritage among the islands' school children.
The children are the nation's future and in them we must inculcate good habits and deeds, remember the Malay proverb, "Kalau melentur buluh biarlah dari rebung (to bend the bamboo, it should be from its shoot)".
-- BERNAMA
As wealthy homeowners build sandbag walls and plan more extensive, costly measures, scientists say the ocean could eventually defeat all such efforts.
Kenneth R. Weiss, LA Times 30 Dec 08;
Broad Beach has long been a scenic backdrop to Malibu's public access wars. The tranquil rhythm of surf has been routinely shattered by security guards and sheriff's deputies bouncing beachgoers who spread towels on the confusing mosaic of public and private sand.
Today, Broad Beach has shrunk into a narrow sliver of its former self. And like other skinny Malibu icons, its slenderness qualified the beach for a different kind of trend-setting role: How California will deal with rising sea levels.
Sandwiched between the advancing sea and coastal armor built to protect multimillion-dollar homes, the strip of sand is being swept away by waves and tides. Soon, oceanographers and coastal engineers contend, the rising ocean will eclipse the clash between the beach-going public and the private property owners: There will be no dry sand left to fight over.
"If the latest projections of sea level rise are right, you can kiss goodbye the idea of a white sandy beach," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. "You are going to be jumping off the sea wall onto the rocks below."
The rise of sea levels, which have swelled about eight inches in the last century, are projected to accelerate with global warming.
A group of scientists this month once again elevated those projections, suggesting that a rise of up to two feet predicted last year by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change could easily double or more within the next century. The new numbers, outlined in a study commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, take into account the latest data and observations of glacial and land ice melting, which send torrents of fresh water into the ocean.
Although scientists are likely to continue to debate how fast the ice sheets will melt, much of the projected rise results from increasing ocean temperatures. As water warms, it expands and occupies more space.
Depending on the slope of the beach, every inch of sea-level rise claims an average of 50 inches of land. That makes the long-term prospects for California's signature beaches less than promising, as they are caught between the encroaching sea and increasingly fortified oceanfront development.
"As sea level rises, the beaches are going to get narrower and narrower," said Robert T. Guza, a wave and coastal erosion expert at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. "It's not going to be a matter of who owns the beach. It's going to be that there will be no beach."
Adding to the problem is a chronic shortage of beach sand, as rivers and streams have been dammed and lined with concrete to direct sediment-laden flood waters safely out to sea. These flood-control measures, as well as the building of sea walls to protect sloughing seaside cliffs and bluff-top homes, have cut off the natural flow of sand to replenish beaches.
The most sensible long-term solution, scientists say, would be for development to retreat landward and allow oceanic forces to sculpt the coastline as they have for millenniums. Waves and tides gnawing at the land would turn back-beach dunes, cliffs and hillsides into beaches of the future.
Yet that's not likely to happen given the hefty investment in pricey homes and roads now occupying the back part of the beach. So short-term solutions get approved, often as emergency measures. Concrete sea walls and barricades of boulders get thrown up to protect such structures. Sand gets trucked in to backfill the eroded shoreline.
The problem is that imported sand gets swept away over time and the fortification of shoreline with concrete or boulders, while effective in the short term at protecting homes, often accelerates sand erosion. Sea walls act like mirrors, refracting the energy of the waves and magnifying their scouring power.
"You end up with what's called a drowned beach," Guza said. "At low tide, the water comes rushing up the sea wall. At high tide, there's no beach, just water."
Such are the forces at work at Broad Beach, which historically was in better shape than other exclusive Malibu enclaves where homes built on stilts now find these pilings standing amid swirling waters at high tide.
Broad Beach homeowners, operating under emergency permits from the city of Malibu, have shielded their property with 8- to 10-foot-high walls of sandbags, often encased in broad sheets of plastic to increase their durability. The haphazard construction has turned one of Malibu's most beautiful beaches into something resembling a battlefield of makeshift bunkers.
"Everyone thinks of sandbags as soft protection, but these are functioning as if it was a sea wall," said Lesley Ewing, a senior coastal engineer with the California Coastal Commission. "To the waves, they are reflecting the water like they were concrete, and the beach isn't doing well."
So far, the commission has stayed out of the issue, a departure from actions in 2005 when it ordered Broad Beach to remove illegal "No Trespassing" signs and restore the beach after earth movers scooped wet sand off the public beach and piled it in front of private homes. "We are adopting a wait-and-see approach," said Patrick Veesert, the commission's Southern California enforcement supervisor.
Like other longtime Broad Beach visitors, Robert Ferrell, 48, of Santa Monica remains suspicious about the motives behind the sandbags. He said he has spent years standing his ground against what he calls an "intimidation game" by private security guards and sheriff's deputies patrolling the beach on all-terrain vehicles.
"I think they are trying to create a privacy zone," Ferrell said. "They're very possessive around here and don't like the public in their backyards."
Ken Ehrlich, an attorney representing Broad Beach homeowners, said that although no one likes the unsightly sandbags, they are merely a temporary measure to protect homes from an unprecedented pattern of erosion.
"There is no hidden agenda here," Ehrlich said, echoing homeowners who declined to comment on the record. "The owners are trying to protect and widen the beach so these public access issues will go away."
In recent months, the homeowners hired coastal engineers to better understand the erosion and come up with a solution that is likely to include a wall of buried boulders to fortify the beach, rock structures called groins stretching out to sea to retain sand and a regular campaign to re-nourish the emaciated beach with tons of imported sand. The cost is estimated at $10 million to $20 million and the homeowners, who include many Hollywood celebrities, are considering only private funding, Ehrlich said.
"Our hope is that at the end of this process, there is more of Broad Beach for everybody to share," he said. "The homeowners can have their private beach and the public can have its share too."
To scientists like JPL's Patzert, such efforts can buy time. Still, he's betting on the swelling sea to take ultimate control of Broad Beach.
By his calculus, catastrophe will strike when a two- to five-foot rise in sea level is joined by a 7-foot high tide and El Niño-generated storm surf of 10 feet or more.
"These folks in these overly rich communities will be sipping their martinis during some big El Niño and watching their backyards disappear in 5-feet chunks," Patzert said. "In the end, Mother Nature and global warming will win. No matter how much concrete they pour, all of those sea walls and houses will end up in the ocean."blic access wars. The tranquil rhythm of surf has been routinely shattered by security guards and sheriff's deputies bouncing beachgoers who spread towels on the confusing mosaic of public and private sand.
Today, Broad Beach has shrunk into a narrow sliver of its former self. And like other skinny Malibu icons, its slenderness qualified the beach for a different kind of trend-setting role: How California will deal with rising sea levels.
The New Paper 31 Dec 08;
With the opening of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's solar technology centre last month, Singapore is taking another step towards adopting solar technology on a wide scale.
Infographics journalists CEL GULAPA and FADZIL HAMZAH and reporter TEH JEN LEE show you what a sun-powered city of the future will look like.
GIVEN the reality of global warming, it is a good thing that the sun's plentiful energy can be harnessed in a variety of ways.
Solar energy can power anything from personal products like cars and phones to community infrastructure like signboards and traffic lights. As the supply of fossil fuels falls in the coming years, we will see the switch to renewable forms of energy.
Sunny Singapore would be the ideal place for solar power to take off in a big way.
But what type of solar technology works best in the tropics, where high temperatures and humidity would cause solar cells to degrade more quickly than in temperate regions?
Ngee Ann Polytechnic's new million-dollar solar technology centre, which opened on 12 Nov, aims to shed some light on this.
The centre, on the school's Clementi Road campus, is part of the Economic Development Board's $17 million Clean Energy Research and Testbedding programme.
About 100 solar panels of various types and sizes are being tested there to evaluate their efficiency under different weather conditions such as rain, wind and cloud cover.
'For example, wind blowing across a solar panel can cool down its surface, affecting how much solar energy it produces. Cost efficiency will also be considered as a factor,' said the director of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's school of engineering, Mr Koh Wee Hiong.
He explained that solar power can be used in two ways - the first is with the grid-tie system in which the sun's energy supplements the electricity in the national power grid.
Fuel for planes?
Then there are stand-alone systems which function independently. The simplest example is that of a solar-powered calculator. Stand-alone systems can be used in remote locations, and even power cars and planes.
One of the centre's projects involves the study of thin-film solar cells in Singapore's climate. Thin-film cells are cheap but have not been found to be very efficient.
In all, five types of solar panels are being tested. Among them are building-integrated photovoltaic cells in the form of roofing material or glass walls.
While the panels are being tested, whatever electricity they generate is used to power the centre (about 20 per cent of its energy needs can come from solar power) or fed back to the national grid.
They can contribute up to 50 kilowatt-hours-a-day, enough to power a household air-conditioner for two days.
The centre will also showcase projects by students in the engineering school's new full-time diploma course in clean energy management.
The class, which will have a first intake of 40 students, is among six new courses the polytechnic is offering from next year.
The diploma students will get a chance to spend a semester in a German university to join an international team in building the world's best solar car.
The team's car will take part in the biennial World Solar Challenge in Australia, where competitors race their solar vehicles over a 3,000km route from Darwin to Adelaide.
Straits Times Forum 31 Dec 08;
I REFER to Mrs Lee-Huan Ai-Min's letter last Thursday, '2-in-1 textbooks not a good idea'. I agree wholeheartedly. Most parents of schoolchildren are frustrated with the rampant wastage of textbooks we are 'required' to buy each year. Other than the two-in-one textbooks Mrs Lee-Huan described, there is other evidence of wastage:
# For many years, there have been incessant changes in textbooks. While I appreciate that this is because of updates or changes in the syllabus, there have been instances when only minimal changes are made on a few pages. As a result, parents have to buy the new edition, while the older one, though only a little 'out-dated', is no longer usable. Even if the update is necessary, does it justify the waste of resources?
# Many times, books that are 'required' on the booklist are not used, or hardly used. This sometimes occurs because teachers do not have sufficient time to complete the syllabus. But there are also times when unnecessary books are on the compulsory booklist. For example, from 2005 to last year, Use Of The Abacus Workbook was on the booklist of Primary 2 pupils in at least two different primary schools, though it did not appear that any time was planned during lessons to teach the subject.
It is ironic that, while students are drilled on the importance of reducing, re-using and recycling, they see such blatant disregard of the environment.
It is stated in some textbooks that their paper has been manufactured from sustainable forests. While this is commendable, it would be better to use recycled paper. Otherwise, can paper thickness be reduced? Books and schoolbags will be lighter, and cost savings can be passed on to parents.
I appeal to the Ministry of Education, schools and publishers to consider the plight of many poor families who can do without such wastage. I also urge them to act responsibly towards the environment, because we have only one Earth to care for.
Chan Pui Yee (Ms)
The Economist 30 Dec 08;
Man is assaulting the oceans. They will smite him if he does not take care
NOT much is known about the sea, it is said; the surface of Mars is better mapped. But 2,000 holes have now been drilled in the bottom, 100,000 photographs have been taken, satellites monitor the five oceans and everywhere floats fitted with instruments rise and fall like perpetual yo-yos. Quite a lot is known, and very little is reassuring.
The worries begin at the surface, where an atmosphere newly laden with man-made carbon dioxide interacts with the briny. The sea has thus become more acidic, making life difficult, if not impossible, for marine organisms with calcium-carbonate shells or skeletons. These are not all as familiar as shrimps and lobsters, yet species like krill, tiny shrimp-like creatures, play a crucial part in the food chain: kill them off, and you may kill off their predators, whose predators may be the ones you enjoy served fried, grilled or with sauce tartare. Worse, you may destabilise an entire ecosystem.
That is also what acidification does to coral reefs, especially if they are already suffering from overfishing, overheating or pollution. Many are, and most are therefore gravely damaged. Some scientists believe that coral reefs, home to a quarter of all marine species, may virtually disappear within a few decades. That would be the end of the rainforests of the seas.
Carbon dioxide affects the sea in other ways, too, notably through global warming. The oceans expand as they warm up. They are also swollen by melting glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets: Greenland’s ice is on track to melt completely, which will eventually raise the sea level by about seven metres (23ft). Even by the end of this century, the level may well have risen by 80cm, perhaps by much more. For the 630m people who live within 10km (six miles) of the sea, this is serious. Countries like Bangladesh, with 150m inhabitants, will be inundated. Even people living far inland may be affected by the warming: droughts in the western United States seem to be caused by changing surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific.
And then there are the red tides of algal blooms, the plagues of jellyfish and the dead zones where only simple organisms thrive. All of these are increasing in intensity, frequency and extent. All of these, too, seem to be associated with various stresses man inflicts on marine ecosystems: overfishing, global warming, fertilisers running from land into rivers and estuaries, often the whole lot in concatenation.
Some of the worrying changes may not be entirely the work of man. But one that surely has no other cause is the dearth of fish in the sea: most of the big ones have now been hauled out, and the rest will be gone within decades if the pillage continues at current rates. Indeed, over three-quarters of all marine fish species are below, or on the brink of falling below, sustainable levels. Another change is the appearance of a mass of discarded plastic that swirls round in two clots in the Pacific, each as large as the United States. And the sea has plenty of other ills, as our special report this week explains.
Neptune would weep
Each of these changes is a catastrophe. Together they make for something much worse. Moreover, they are happening alarmingly fast—in decades, rather than the aeons needed for fish and plants to adapt. Many are irreversible. It will take tens of thousands of years for ocean chemistry to return to a condition similar to its pre-industrial state of 200 years ago, says Britain’s most eminent body of scientists, the Royal Society. Many also fear that some changes are reaching thresholds after which further changes may accelerate uncontrollably. No one fully understands why the cod have not returned to the Grand Banks off Canada, even after 16 years of no fishing. No one quite knows why glaciers and ice shelves are melting so fast, or how a meltwater lake on the Greenland ice sheet covering six square kilometres could drain away in 24 hours, as it did in 2006. Such unexpected events make scientists nervous.
What can be done to put matters right? The sea, the last part of the world where man acts as a hunter-gatherer—as well as bather, miner, dumper and general polluter—needs management, just as the land does. Economics demands it as much as environmentalism, for the world squanders money through its poor stewardship of the oceans. Bad management and overfishing waste $50 billion a year, says the World Bank.
Economics also provides some answers. For a start, fishing subsidies should be abolished in an industry characterised by overcapacity and inefficiency. Then governments need to look at ways of giving those who exploit the resources of the sea an interest in their conservation. One such is the system of individual transferable fishing quotas that have been shown to work in Iceland, Norway, New Zealand and the western United States. Similar rights could be given to nitrogen polluters, as they have been to carbon polluters in Europe, and to seabed miners on continental shelves. A system of options and futures trading for fish could also help.
Quotas work in national waters. But the high seas, beyond the limits of national control, present bigger problems, and many fear that the tuna, sharks and other big fish that swim in the open ocean will be wiped out. Yet international fishing agreements covering parts of the North Atlantic show that management can work even in such common waters—though the Atlantic tuna commission also shows it can fail. And where fishing cannot be managed, it must simply be stopped. Nothing did so much good for fish stocks in northern Europe in the past 150 years as the second world war: by keeping trawlers in port, it let fisheries recover. A preferable solution today would be marine reserves, the more, and the bigger, the better.
In a world whose demand for protein grows daily, the need to conserve stocks is plain. The remedies are not hard to grasp. Politicians, however, are supine. Few of them, especially in Europe, are ready to stand up to potent lobbies, except in small countries where fishing is so important economically that the threat of mass extinctions cannot be ignored.
Now bind the restless wave
Yet the mass extinction, however remote, that should be concentrating minds is that of mankind. It is not wise to dismiss it where CO2 emissions, the other great curse of the oceans, are concerned. In the long run, the seas are the great sink for nearly all carbon. They may be able to help avert some global warming—for instance, by providing storage for CO2, by providing energy through wave or tidal power, or by somehow taking carbon out of the atmosphere faster than at present. They will, however, continue to change and be changed as long as man continues to put so much carbon into the atmosphere.
So far, the rising sea levels, dying corals and spreading algal blooms are only minor distractions for most people. A few more hurricanes like Katrina, a few dramatic floods in the coastal cities of the rich world, perhaps even the shutting down of a part of the world’s great conveyor belt of ocean currents, especially if it were the one that warms up western Europe: any of these would catch the attention of policymakers. The trouble is that by then it may be too late.
S. Murari, Reuters 30 Dec 08;
CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - More than 15,000 people in southern India protested against the extension of a new tiger reserve Tuesday, despite official assurances that they will not lose their homes to the sanctuary.
Representatives from all parties in Tamil Nadu state, including the state's ruling party, took part in what is the third such protest since November against the extension of the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary, police said.
The state government declared Mudumalai as a tiger reserve earlier this year as part of a federal government initiative, called "Project Tiger," to boost the country's dwindling numbers of big cats.
There were about 40,000 tigers in India a century ago. A government census report published this year says the tiger population has fallen to 1,411, down from 3,642 in 2002, largely due to dwindling habitat and poaching.
A special panel set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in 2006 that thousands of poor villagers inside India's tiger reserves would have to be relocated to protect the endangered animals from poachers and smugglers. Some experts have put the number at around 300,000.
Poachers and smugglers exploit the grinding poverty of forest villagers to keep them on their side. Authorities have tried educating the villagers, handing out monetary incentives and drafting them as informants.
Tuesday's demonstrators were not against the declaration of a 321 sq km (125 sq mile) core area but against the creation of a buffer zone, Rajeev Srivastava, a field director for Project Tiger said.
Around 350 families living in the core area have been given a 1 million rupee ($20,800) payout, but those in the buffer areas fear they will be evicted, Srivastava said.
"We have no intention to dislodge anyone from the buffer zone. In fact, people in this zone will be involved in the project as trackers and guides for eco-tourists to enhance their means of livelihood."
The Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary is part of the larger Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve on a mountain range that spans three Indian states.
There are 48 tigers in the Nilgiri Reserve across which the tigers are free to roam, Srivastava added.
(Editing by Matthias Williams)
Peter Henderson, Reuters 30 Dec 08;
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Charging that the outgoing Bush administration is trying to gut the Endangered Species Act, California has sued to stop the federal government from going ahead with mining, logging and other environmentally sensitive projects without consulting scientists.
This month the Interior and Commerce Departments changed rules to enable federal agencies to decide for themselves whether their actions put wildlife at risk, scrapping a previous requirement that they conduct reviews with scientists to determine whether their actions might hurt endangered or threatened species.
"The Bush administration is seeking to gut the Endangered Species Act on its way out the door," California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement announcing the suit, which was filed Monday in Northern California Federal District Court to force the government to drop the rule changes.
Brown argued that scrapping the scientific reviews would significantly increase the risk that federal agencies would greenlight projects that could harm endangered species and their habitats.
The Interior Department has contended the agencies can make good decisions themselves without the input of scientists, but environmentalists swiftly denounced the move.
Before California weighed in, the Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation and the Center for Biological Diversity had all launched similar actions in court to block the rule changes.
Since President George W. Bush took office in 2001, 58 species have been added to the endangered species list, compared with 522 during the eight years of President Bill Clinton's administration.
(Reporting by Peter Henderson, Editing Chris Wilson)
Mead Gruver, Associated Press National Geographic News 30 Dec 08;
Yellowstone National Park was jostled by a host of small earthquakes for a third straight day Monday, and scientists watched closely to see whether the more than 250 tremors were a sign of something bigger to come.
Swarms of small earthquakes happen frequently in Yellowstone, located in Wyoming in the western U.S., but it's very unusual for so many earthquakes to happen over several days, said Robert Smith, a professor of geophysics at the University of Utah.
"They're certainly not normal," Smith said. "We haven't had earthquakes in this energy or extent in many years."
Smith directs the Yellowstone Seismic Network, which operates seismic stations around the park. He said the quakes have ranged in strength from barely detectable to one of magnitude 3.8 that happened Saturday. A magnitude 4 quake is capable of producing moderate damage.
"This is an active volcanic and tectonic area, and these are the kinds of things we have to pay attention to," Smith said. "We might be seeing something precursory.
"Could it develop into a bigger fault or something related to hydrothermal activity? We don't know. That's what we're there to do, to monitor it for public safety."
No Cause for Alarm?
The strongest of dozens of tremors Monday was a magnitude 3.3 quake shortly after noon. All the quakes were centered beneath the northwest end of Yellowstone Lake.
A park ranger based at the north end of the lake reported feeling nine quakes over a 24-hour period over the weekend, according to park spokeswoman Stacy Vallie. No damage was reported.
"There doesn't seem to be anything to be alarmed about," Vallie said.
Smith said it's difficult to say what might be causing the tremors. He pointed out that Yellowstone is the caldera of a volcano that last erupted 70,000 years ago.
He said Yellowstone remains very geologically active—and its famous geysers and hot springs are a reminder that a pool of magma still exists 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 kilometers) underground.
"That's just the surface manifestation of the enormous amount of heat that's being released through the system," he said.
Yellowstone has had significant earthquakes as well as minor ones in recent decades. In 1959, a magnitude 7.5 quake near Hebgen Lake just west of the park triggered a landslide that killed 28 people.
The Telegraph 30 Dec 08;
2008 was the year man-made global warming was disproved, according to the Telegraph's Christopher Booker. Sceptics have long argued that there are other explanations for climate change other than man-made CO2 and here we look at some of the arguments put forward by those who believe that global warming is all a hoax.
Temperatures are falling, not rising
As Christopher Booker says in his review of 2008, temperatures have been dropping in a wholly unpredicted way over the past year. Last winter, the northern hemisphere saw its greatest snow cover since 1966, which in the northern US states and Canada was dubbed the "winter from hell". This winter looks set to be even worse.
The earth was hotter 1,000 years ago
Evidence from all over the world indicates that the earth was hotter 1,000 years ago than it is today. Research shows that temperatures were higher in what is known as the Mediaeval Warming period than they were in the 1990s.
The earth's surface temperature is not at record levels
According to Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies analysis of surface air temperature measurements, the meteorological December 2007 to November 2008 was the coolest year since 2000. Their data has also shown that the hottest decade of the 20th century was not the 1990s but the 1930s.
Ice is not disappearing
Arctic website Crysophere Today reported that Arctic ice volume was 500,000 sq km greater than this time last year. Additionally, Antarctic sea-ice this year reached its highest level since satellite records began in 1979. Polar bear numbers are also at record levels.
Himalayan glaciers
A report by the UN Environment Program this year claimed that the cause of melting glaciers in the Himalayas was not global warming but the local warming effect of a vast "atmospheric brown cloud" over that region, made up of soot particles from Asia's dramatically increased burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
Temperatures are still dropping
Nasa satellite readings on global temperatures from the University of Alabama show that August was the fourth month this year when temperatures fell below their 30-year average, ie since satellite records began. November 2008 in the USA was only the 39th warmest since records began 113 years ago.
Reuters 30 Dec 08;
LONDON (Reuters) - Next year is set to be one of the top-five warmest on record, British climate scientists said on Tuesday.
The average global temperature for 2009 is expected to be more than 0.4 degrees celsius above the long-term average, despite the continued cooling of huge areas of the Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon known as La Nina.
That would make it the warmest year since 2005, according to researchers at the Met Office, who say there is also a growing probability of record temperatures after next year.
Currently the warmest year on record is 1998, which saw average temperatures of 14.52 degrees celsius - well above the 1961-1990 long-term average of 14 degrees celsius.
Warm weather that year was strongly influenced by El Nino, an abnormal warming of surface ocean waters in the eastern tropical Pacific.
Theories abound as to what triggers the mechanisms that cause an El Nino or La Nina event but scientists agree that they are playing an increasingly important role in global weather patterns.
The strength of the prevailing trade winds that blow from east to west across the equatorial Pacific is thought to be an important factor.
"Further warming to record levels is likely once a moderate El Nino develops," said Professor Chris Folland at the Met Office Hadley Center. "Phenomena such as El Nino and La Nina have a significant influence on global surface temperature."
Professor Phil Jones, director of the climate research unit at the University of East Anglia, said global warming had not gone away despite the fact that 2009, like the year just gone, would not break records.
"What matters is the underlying rate of warming," he said.
He noted the average temperature over 2001-2007 was 14.44 degrees celsius, 0.21 degrees celsius warmer than corresponding values for 1991-2000.
(Reporting by Christina Fincher; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
Wild Geese
on the Flying Fish Friends blog
Stars at Lazarus reclaimed beach
on the wonderful creation blog
Kranji Quickly
on the wild shores of singapore blog
Last Chek Jawa boardwalk tour for 2008
on the Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs blog
Nordmann’s Greenshank catching a crab
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog
Hawking behaviour by a woodpecker
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog
Croak on a rock
on the annotated budak blog
Sultan Shoal Lighthouse - Sentry of the West
on the Mountain and Sea blog
How do fiddler crabs find their way home?
and thus why we shouldn't pick them up, on the wild shores of singapore blog
Why are there banana trees outside Hindu temples?
on the Singapore's Heritage, Museums & Nostalgia Blog
Natural Disasters
on the Psychedelic Nature blog
Corallimorphs and shipwrecks
on the blooooooooooo blog
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post 30 Dec 08;
Protecting the critically endangered silvery gibbon -- a rare primate endemic to a few scattered forests in Java -- is proving to be increasingly difficult with poachers targeting them for their soft and velvety fur while locals remain unsympathetic to their plight.
"If we can't take timber from the forest anymore, then how will our children and grandchildren build houses?" said Iskandar, a villager from Cisalimar village in Sukabumi regency, West Java.
This question was raised during a meeting aimed at sharing information regarding the forest corridor at Mount Halimun Salak National Park.
Representatives from three kampongs, experts, the park head and around 30 others attended the discussion.
The central debate focused on whether or not villagers should be allowed to enter the forest and cut down trees, though other issues such as the restoration of the park's 1,200 hectare forest corridor were also discussed.
If the deforestation of the corridor continues, the habitats and communication patterns for the silvery gibbon (Hylobates moloch) will be further restricted, putting the future survival of their species at risk.
Currently, they are found in Javanese forests, particularly in areas within Mount Gede Pangrango National Park, the Mount Halimun Salak National Park and the Ujung Kulon National Park.
Head of Mount Halimun Salak National Park, Bambang Supriyanto, said the protected area covers around 113,357 hectares of forest.
It has been divided into three sections, located in Sukabumi and Bogor in West Java and in Banten province.
The corridor acts as a home to the silvery gibbon and spans 4,200 hectares, linking Mount Halimun and Mount Salak.
The park is currently working to restore the damaged corridor with Japan's Kagoshima University, primate researchers from Bogor Agriculture Institute (IPB) and botanic researchers and zoologists from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
Together, they have developed programs to conserve trees and conduct research in the corridor.
They have also investigated water catchment areas in the park, with 117 basins impacting on the environment downstream, such as in Depok, Jakarta and Tangerang.
"The environmental issues with the corridor is the biggest challenge we face," Bambang said.
He said large sections of the land have been used for inappropriate causes, such as farming.
"That is why I invited along the researchers from the IPB and the LIPI to help speed up the corridor's restoration using the kind of plants that are good for the community and are also good for wild animals," he said.
The park has introduced a tree adoption project involving the local community, where both individuals or companies can adopt trees.
For companies, the minimum involvement is planting five hectares of land with up to 2,000 trees for three years participation.
The money raised from the adoption program does not go the park but to the Gede Pahala Foundation.
"Through the foundation, we hope the public fund can be managed transparently and used for the benefits of communities living around the area," Bambang said.
The fund, he said, would be used to train the communities and help them grow seedlings, while the trees are maintained by local groups.
"When a tree dies they are also responsible for replanting it," he said.
The community is given assistance creating seedling beds, allowing those wanting to adopt trees to buy from the villagers and in turn, help raise their income.
The villagers are also required to plant trees, especially fruit trees and those of hard wood, in empty plots around their homes so they do not have to enter the forest to seek timber to build houses.
IPB's primate researcher, Dones Rinaldi, said this action in preserving the corridor should continue in a way where the valleys and hill slopes are maintained in their original environments.
The forest is also the habitat for the Javanese eagle and the trees are good for nest building and for supplying prey, predominantly small mammals.
He said the Halimun and Salak zones should not be disturbed and preferably secured to let the original forest grow again, while the cleared zones should be well supervised to ensure there were no more intrusions.
Currently human activities within the corridor are still too high, mainly because there are many roads passing through the passageway from north to south.
Moreover, timber harvesting projects and the cultivation of non-irrigated fields have slowly begun in the corridor, and infrastructure like power lines and pipelines have crept into its zone.
He said situation has disturbed the life of primates and wild animals living in the park.
"Primates are one of the wild animal groups which can serve as indicators of the ecological health of a forest," Dones said.
The primates' knowledge of their territory can provide information about the condition of a habitat, which in turn can be useful in managing and rehabilitating the area.
"Damage to the environment in the corridor between Mount Halimun and Mount Salak ruins the habitat of the primates. This threatens the existence of wild animals because they are then vulnerable to poaching," said Dones.
Tifa Asrianti, The Jakarta Post 30 Dec 08;
With the last car free event of the year held on Sunday, Jakarta will have seen 125 days with "good" air quality in 2008, higher than the 73 days recorded last year, an official said Monday.
Jakarta Environmental Management Board (BPLHD) Chairman Budirama Natakusumah said the car free events helped Jakarta reach the higher number of days with good air quality this year.
The number of days with good quality air has been consistently increasing; from 28 in 2005 to 45 in 2006.
"During the car free day events, the areas usually see a 60 to 80 percent drop in carbon monoxide levels and 50 to 60 percent drop in dust pollution," Budirama told The Jakarta Post.
He said that his agency's target for next year is to hold the event twice a month along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin, as well as twice a year in each municipality.
This year the city administration held car free events in each of its five municipalities. Central Jakarta saw a car free day on Jl. Letjen Suprapto, in East Jakarta it was on Jl. Pramuka, in South Jakarta on Jl. HR Rasuna Said and in North Jakarta Jl. Danau Sunter Selatan was free of motor vehicles. Meanwhile West Jakarta blocked traffic off Jl. Tongkol, Jl. Cengkeh, Jl. Kali Besar Timur, Jl. Pintu Besar Utara and Jl. Pos Kota, all in the Old Town area.
Alfred Sitorus from the Committee for Phasing Out Leaded Gasoline (KPBB) said that his organization believes the event still has room for improvement, as it still allows private vehicles to use one lane.
"We regret that there is no coordination between the police, the BPLHD and the transportation agency. With the private cars using the slow lanes, it won't affect the air quality as much as it could. If there is no improvement in January's car free day, we will help the organizer to keep the area sterile from all private vehicles," he said.
Budirama acknowledged the flaw in the event. He cited that, on last Sunday's car free event, there was a military-clad troop traveling through the area, ignoring the rule. He said the public was angry at the passing of the military truck.
Besides private cars, top officials such as Vice President Jusuf Kalla have also crashed a car free event.
Budirama said that his agency could not punish the perpetrators.
"We always inform government offices and the public of the events. Lack of information is no excuse. I am happy if NGOs want to help us in the event," he said.
Alfred questioned the accuracy of the data because, while a car free day event decreases pollution by 20-30 percent, pollution levels jump by up to 70 percent on the average work day.
"Perhaps they count the quality air days from the number of Sundays and the car free days. Perhaps they count the pollution percentage on Jl. Sudirman - Jl. MH Thamrin and claim it as the whole of Jakarta. As far as I know, the city administration only has five monitoring devices," he said.
Budirama said that his agency planned to buy fixed equipment for Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin this year. The European-made equipment cost Rp 5 billion (US$455,000), he said.
"But due to the late budget, we have to return the money. We hope we can procure the equipment next year," he said.
Green infrastructure will strengthen continent's competitive advantage
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 30 Dec 08;
There's still a disconnect between what is being said and what is done. In Asia, no one is clearly saying 'let's build green infrastructure' and announcing appropriate policies to drive the process.
THE year is 1933. The Great Depression began four years earlier and 'The New Deal' had just been born.
The US economy was beginning its long recovery from the worst slump in its history. Then-United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt unveiled a slew of measures to create jobs and reform businesses and financial practices.
Today, 75 years later, the world finds itself in what has been called the 'worst financial crisis since the Great Depression'. Unsurprisingly, Roosevelt has become a touchstone again and a new version of his 'New Deal' has emerged. This time, however, it's taken on a hue: green.
At the United Nations climate change talks in Poland last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon called for a 'Green New Deal', to both curb global warming and salvage the world economy.
'This is a deal that would work for all nations, rich as well as poor,' he said, urging governments to set aside a chunk of the fiscal stimulus measures they are planning for investment in low-carbon technologies. Such investments would help fight climate change, create millions of green jobs and spur green growth, he argued.
The concept is not new. US President-elect Barack Obama had pledged during his presidential campaign to spend US$150 billion (S$215 billion) over 10 years to build a clean energy economy, one that will create five million jobs.
Some pundits say the call for a Green New Deal couldn't have come at a worse time. With economies struggling with credit crunches, falling demand and rising unemployment, the green agenda is bound to drop off the radar. Plummeting oil prices are also blurring the economic case for investing in clean energy projects.
Yet there are also some voices making a powerful case for the Green New Deal. Mr Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are among the world leaders who have embraced the idea.
Perhaps they recognise what Newsweek magazine said recently: 'Simply put, the world needs a new economic driver', given that the two pillars of the US economy - housing and financial services - are undergoing massive restructuring. What the Green New Deal offers is essentially a means of killing two birds with one stone - stimulating the economy by providing jobs, and laying the groundwork for a more efficient, low-carbon future.
What is striking, however, is the lack of a similar game plan in Asia. Asian governments have focused their economic stimulus on infrastructure-oriented programmes, say economists, as these tend to be good for long-term growth and generate a lot of employment.
But the same analysts also concede that Asian governments are 'not that concerned about the environment', especially since in the short-term, green infrastructure tends to be expensive.
That is a shame. The downturn would be a 'good time to think about both survival and the long-term drive towards efficiency', as Mr Simon Tay, former Nominated Member of Parliament and president of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, puts it.
This is not to say Asian governments are not taking steps to green their economies. China has invested an estimated US$720 million in 2008 alone in clean technology.
Top politicians in Singapore and all over Asia have recognised the importance of moving towards more efficient, sustainable economies and have pledged money to that end.
But there's still a disconnect between what is being said and what is done. In Asia, no one is clearly saying 'let's build green infrastructure' and announcing appropriate policies to drive the process.
Asia has always been a laggard compared to Europe with regard to environmental economic policies. Credit Suisse Asian chief economist Joseph Tan points to two reasons: lack of regulations, and lack of leadership. There is no Al Gore of the East pushing for a Green New Deal.
We need to realise that a green infrastructure would provide us with a competitive advantage. Lower fuel costs would only be one of the many benefits, says Mr Tay.
Economists like Mr Tan agree: There is no reason why economic goals should not be aligned with environmental goals, especially when the latest crisis presents us with an opportunity to do so.
Take Singapore as an example. Layoffs in the electronics sector are expected to total 1,000 in the last quarter of the year, NTUC deputy secretary-general Halimah Yacob disclosed last month. Companies like IM Flash, Adobe, HP, Motorola and Nokia have already announced layoffs, which have affected their Singapore- based operations.
Given how skills in the electronics and semiconductor industry are similar to those required for solar technology, an investment by the Government to beef up our solar energy infrastructure could provide jobs for such retrenched workers.
As the growth potential of the solar sector is massive, these jobs are also likely to have a multiplier effect, creating spin-offs in various industries, from construction to glass-making.
According to the International Energy Agency, greening the world's energy infrastructure would require an investment of US$3.6 trillion in power plants and US$5.7 trillion in energy efficiency from 2010 to 2030. These investments correspond to 0.6 per cent of global GDP per year, but would bring fuel-cost savings of US$6 trillion.
Considering that easy oil will run out sooner or later, these are sobering statistics governments should consider - especially in Asia, as the region is an overall net energy importer.
The planet cannot afford for Asia to develop in the same way Europe and the US did, polluting its way into prosperity. The Green New Deal is the next global revolution and Asia will make history by embracing it.
Straits Times Forum 30 Dec 08;
THE black-and-white houses, like their photographic counterparts, tell an old story plain words cannot describe. The unfathomable peace, unparalleled anywhere else in Singapore, the song of the magpie robins and the occasional caw of parrots playing like soft music in the distance - these have been the days of Seletar Airbase.
A sense of sadness struck as we were told we had to leave the estate by the end of this year. Where would we ever find such a place again? Nowhere else could we find a place with such tranquillity and lush greenery in the urban jungle of Singapore. As some readers may know, there are plans to expand the aerospace hub in Seletar Airbase, hence our need to move out.
As a Seletarian for the past nine years, I have grown fond of this place. As I live out my remaining hours on Seletar soil, I reminisce and, as much as I like my recently bought replacement home, I realise nothing can ever replace what we have in Seletar.
Our dog, Shandy, which has been with us throughout our stay in Seletar, will be devastated for a start - where else can a domestic pet enjoy such nature and greenery in Singapore? Where else can it have a large garden to frolic in, as any happy dog should?
As I sit here on my rusty swing, I take one of my last glances at the place I have called home for almost the past decade. The house will be demolished and the ground piledriven in a matter of days. A saddening thought it may be, but as with everything in life, we must learn to move on and accept change.
Seletar Airbase will be physically demolished, but it will forever have a place in my heart. I am sure other residents who leave will feel the same.
Thank you, Seletar Airbase, for all the great times you have given us. You will be sorely missed.
Jeremy Sim
From factories... ...to Fusionopolis
JTC Corp talks about how it has come this far since its birth in 1968
Joyce Teo, Straits Times 30 Dec 08;
'Private developers won't be holding a lot of land and pumping money into, say, Seletar Air Base, at the start,' he said. 'They will want to see some seeding in place first.' JTC is turning Seletar into a business aviation hub.
MUCH was at stake when Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) workers started hacking away at the uninhabited jungles and marshlands of the Jurong area in 1968.
The fate of not only the future industrial hub of Jurong, but also Singapore itself, might have been in the balance.
'If JTC had failed, Singapore might have failed,' said Mr Ong Geok Soo, assistant chief executive of the body now known as JTC Corp, in a recent interview.
He has been at JTC through almost all of its 40 years, and remembers well the early challenges.
'We seeded the whole process. We developed Jurong town,' said Mr Ong. 'In the early days, JTC built roads, drains, sewers and worked with the Public Utilities Board to bring in power.'
Fortunately, the pioneers at JTC were a gung-ho bunch. There were some 'daredevils' who went all out to get the project done.
Back then, JTC was an all-round developer, building not only factories but even flats and gardens. It practically carved out Jurong town, and also built some of the flats in the area, which were later transferred to the Housing Board.
Although few entrepreneurs were initially willing to invest in Jurong, it eventually attracted huge foreign investment.
'In the early days, we had to build confidence and trust as we had to show investors we were credible. Customers were not yet at our door,' said Mr Ong.
Slowly, more and more customers came. Then began JTC's evolution, from its founding purpose to develop the Jurong Industrial Estate, to a much wider role in Singapore's development.
It began to build more no-frills low-rise factories elsewhere across the island in the 1970s.
Then it moved on to building multi-storey factories and high-tech business parks. 'Customers became more sophisticated. They wanted labs, showrooms, warehouse space.'
Gradually, the private sector was also able to provide and manage the same sort of space that JTC had been providing.
That meant JTC had to do more. It then reclaimed land that was eventually offered to business clusters in need of space. Chemical firms were housed on Jurong Island and pharmaceutical players at Tuas Biomedical Park, for instance.
Then, plans were laid out for the $15 billion one-north - a 200-ha self-contained research hub in Buona Vista promoting a 'work, live, learn and play' lifestyle. It is to be built over 15 to 20 years.
JTC has played a key role in Singapore's move into research and development and product design, helping the nation keep up with the times by offering innovative products to attract investors.
Since 2001, JTC has gone on to build Biopolis and then Fusionopolis at one-north. Media Park will follow.
These clusters of intelligent, cutting-edge 'factories' are striking examples of how far JTC has come since 1968. The high-rise buildings boast green features and combine work with leisure.
Apart from work spaces, the first phase of Fusionopolis, a $560 million two-tower-cum-podium development, has serviced apartments, shops and 13 public sky gardens, for instance. It even has a state-of-the art experimental theatre, which boasts a unique $380,000 timber beads-acoustic wall padding.
Construction of the 30-ha Fusionopolis, which will stretch over at least six phases, started in 2003 when the Sars outbreak was taking its toll on the economy. 'We were prepared to put our money into it but nobody trusted us,' said Mr Philip Su, JTC's assistant chief executive.
Market confidence was then at a low ebb so JTC wasn't sure if there would be takers for the space. Nevertheless, it forged ahead with the project, believing in its long-term potential. 'Now I've got a problem. I don't have enough space. Now, we have to launch phase 4,' said Mr Su.
Due to a lack of space, JTC is also going underground to create more usable space for Singapore. It is building an underground oil storage facility called Jurong Rock Cavern, which will feature over 2.7 million cubic metres of storage space when completed.
There are plans for an underground science city catering to research and development and an underground warehouse.
Among its other new ideas is one which looks at housing business clusters in a high-rise complex. For instance, a car mart can be combined with warehousing and logistics facilities.
These projects, which the private sector finds too big, complex and risky to handle, will be the focus of JTC in future.
It recently sold $1.71 billion worth of its ready-built facilities to Mapletree Investments as it shifts focus to such strategic projects that will help take Singapore into the future.
'In the early days, we had more flexibility as we had plenty of land,' said Mr Ong. 'Now, we are short of land so there's more planning, more thinking... We are less visible because Singapore is more developed now.'
Nevertheless, there is always a place for JTC in Singapore, said Mr Ong.
'Private developers won't be holding a lot of land and pumping money into, say, Seletar Air Base, at the start,' he said. 'They will want to see some seeding in place first.' JTC is turning Seletar into a business aviation hub.
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 29 Dec 08;
SINGAPORE: The Singapore government is proceeding to put in the infrastructure to facilitate the growth of Jurong Lake District. This follows the unveiling of the area's development blueprint in April this year.
Giving an update on Monday, both the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and JTC said the measures include constructing a new spinal road, expanding the Jurong East MRT station and redeveloping the bus interchange.
There will also be upcoming developments at the International Business Park (IBP), Teban and Pandan Gardens.
The existing business cluster in the IBP will be expanded to maximise its potential in the next economic upturn.
Given IBP's proximity to industrial estates in the west and to the major commercial hub at Jurong Gateway, it remains an attractive location for many industrialists to site their headquarter operations.
JTC envisaged that this strong demand for business park space in IBP will continue into the next economic upturn.
It is planning to develop the land parcels along the business park's southern boundary, generating about 5 hectares of land and 125,000 square metres of business park space.
There will also be improvements to the road network in the IBP which was the first business park established in Singapore in 1992.
Teban and Pandan Gardens will be rejuvenated as well to provide attractive waterfront housing and to enhance their connectivity.
On top of that, there will be road improvement works at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills. This will improve current traffic situation in the area and allow more quality low and medium density housing fronting Sungei Ulu Pandan.
All these are part of Master Plan 2008 to develop new growth areas outside the city centre.
- CNA/so
Jurong to get more business space
Expansion of business park will position Singapore for recovery
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 30 Dec 08;
THE economic outlook is all gloom but the Government is already positioning Singapore for the next upturn by unveiling plans to beef up the supply of business park space in Jurong.
Its ambitious move comes even as demand in the property sector has fallen dramatically in recent months while office rents have dipped.
Industrial landlord JTC Corporation said yesterday it will develop 5ha south of the existing International Business Park. This will yield 125,000 sq m, or about 1.35 million sq ft, of rentable space.
The development will help JTC 'secure investments and anchor key companies' in an effort to better place the economy for the next upturn, it said.
Site surveys will start next month and infrastructure work, including improvements to the park's road networks, will begin in March. Two new road linkages to the Ayer Rajah Expressway and Pan-Island Expressway will be created.
Companies can lease space in the business park from 2011, said JTC.
Market watchers told The Straits Times that the Government is stimulating economic activity with the development while also seeking to avoid the kind of office space crunch that has hit businesses in recent years.
The economic boom that preceded the financial crisis saw prime office rents double to almost $19 per sq ft last year. This sparked a scramble to build more office space, including government moves to release transitional office sites to relieve pent-up demand.
While this has now led to concerns that Singapore could face an office space glut over the next two years, some analysts feel that early preparation of sites enables the market to respond faster when the economy does pick up.
Colliers International's research and advisory director, Ms Tay Huey Ying, said she did not think there would be a glut, and that this 'will help in ensuring a U-shape recovery instead of a V-shape one when the global economy recovers'.
CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said government investment in public infrastructure like Jurong Island or Changi Airport during downturns has traditionally 'worked well for Singapore'.
Even though the impact on economic output 'will not be massive', such work will benefit local firms, added Mr Song.
The International Business Park - 21 land parcels of about 25ha - is Singapore's first such park. Established in 1992, it has drawn renowned tech firms such as Dell and Acer to set up shop.
JTC said a review of the park's masterplan was timely as the Urban Redevelopment Authority had recently announced a dramatic makeover for Jurong in its 2008 Masterplan.
The industrial town is to be redeveloped into Jurong Lake District - a 360ha mini metropolis of homes, hotels, shops, eateries and offices linked to the MRT via walkways and waterways.
It will consist of Jurong Gateway, the up-and-coming commercial hub of the West, and Lakeside, which is being developed as a destination for young families, with tourist attractions and parks complemented by water activities.
JTC said 'there is potential' for synergy between the expanded business park and the rejuvenated Jurong Gateway.
Collier's Ms Tay agreed that more business park space will add critical mass and 'aid in the realisation of the Government's vision for the Jurong Lake District'.
To complement the commercial developments, the surrounding housing estates will be rejuvenated by various statutory boards. This will mean upgrades to Teban and Pandan Gardens and the Faber Terrace areas in the next few years.
Wider variety of housing in the west
Straits Times 30 Dec 08;
RESIDENTS in the west can look forward to having a wider variety of homes to choose from in the next few years.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday announced detailed plans to rejuvenate estates such as Teban and Pandan Gardens, and Faber Terrace and Faber Hills - part of a bigger makeover for the Jurong district.
As the existing International Business Park expands, infrastructure upgrading works will also be carried out at surrounding housing estates by national water agency PUB and the Housing Board.
Dredging works by the PUB to deepen Jurong Lake to allow for more recreational water activities, for example, have already begun.
Under its Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme which aims to convert canals and reservoirs into a scenic network of waterways, PUB plans to build a new waterfront promenade with boardwalks, bridges and wetlands at Jurong Lake.
At Teban and Pandan Gardens, the HDB has been rejuvenating these estates through various upgrading programmes and its Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers). Sers involves the relocation of residents in public housing that is about 30 years old to newly developed high-density projects located nearby.
Road improvement works at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills will also allow more quality low- and medium-density housing fronting Sungei Ulu Pandan to be built to support the growth of the Jurong Lake District, said URA.
A 1.9ha private residential and commercial site next to Jurong East MRT was also put on URA's reserve list last month.
Knight Frank's director of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak does not expect the plans to have any immediate significant impact on the market.
But Colliers International's research and advisory director Tay Huey Ying said the plans to enhance residential estates 'will add variety to housing options...and help entice home purchasers'.
'This can help to boost population in this area - a critical ingredient if the Jurong Gateway is to be a success.'
JTC to bulk up space at Jurong business park
Area to be increased by 20%; some parts to see plot ratios raised
Emilyn Yap, Business Times 30 Dec 08;
(SINGAPORE) The economy may be slowing but the government has already set its sights on riding the recovery. To meet future demand for space, JTC Corporation plans to expand the International Business Park (IBP) in Jurong by 20 per cent and will raise plot ratios for some areas in the park.
Property consultants generally welcomed the news and believe that the new supply, which will enter the market only in the mid to long term, will have little impact on the weakening property market.
First established in 1992, the IBP now consists of 21 land parcels spanning 25 hectares, and JTC has fully allocated these plots. The park is home to several global technology firms such as Creative Technology, Acer and Dell.
'We are expecting a surge in demand for business park land in this area in the next economic upturn, which land intensification on existing IBP land alone would not be able to address,' said a JTC spokesman yesterday.
To prepare 'land supply in advance to meet investors' needs, we are planning to develop land parcels adjacent to the IBP for its expansion'.
JTC will be adding five parcels or around five hectares of land along the IBP's southern boundary. With a plot ratio of 2.5, this will generate some 125,000 square metres of new business park space.
JTC has also been receiving requests from existing IBP lessees to intensify land use. The overall occupancy rate for multi-tenanted buildings at the park has been high, at around 90 per cent.
To meet these needs, plot ratios for around 14.8 hectares of land will be increased from 1.4 to 2.5.
In line with the redevelopment, the government is looking to improve the area's road network by creating two road linkages to direct traffic from the IBP to the Ayer Rajah Expressway and the Pan Island Expressway.
It could take another 3-4 years for the IBP's revamp to be completed, estimates JTC. The redevelopment will complement the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) 2008 Master Plan to create a suburban commercial hub in Jurong.
'There is potential to create synergy between the IBP and the proposed developments in Jurong Gateway, the commercial precinct of the Jurong Lake District,' said the JTC spokesman.
JTC's announcement comes amid a cooling economy and a softening property market - consultants are predicting a fall in demand for industrial space and rents in the coming year. But some whom BT spoke to remain sanguine about prospects for the extra IBP space coming up.
'Business park space is still a good alternative for those looking at office space outside the Central Business District (CBD). As long as rentals in the CBD are considered high, interest in business parks will be healthy,' said Knight Frank's head of industrial business space, Lim Kien Kim. 'I don't think this new supply will significantly affect rents for business parks in general.'
According to its website, JTC charges a land rent of around $60.57 per square metre (psm) per annum, or a land price of $913 psm on a 30-year lease for IBP sites with a plot ratio of 2.5.
DTZ's executive director Ong Choon Fah also believes that the new IBP supply will not pose a big concern. 'This is long-term . . . There will always be market cycles, so we must not lose sight of the long- term goals . . . Announcing this now also allows market players to be aware of what is happening in the future, so they can start to plan.'
Cushman & Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han says that the new IBP plots could also be put on the reserve list if they are released in a subdued market. Reserve list sites are launched for tender only upon successful application by a developer with an undertaking of a minimum bid acceptable to the state.
'I don't think (the government) will force feed the market,' he said.
Alongside JTC's redevelopment plans for the IBP, URA also released other updates to its 2008 Master Plan for the Jurong Lake District yesterday. They include the rejuvenation of Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens, and road improvement works for Faber Terrace and Faber Hills.
Rejuvenation for Jurong residential areas
Better connectivity and more housing choices are on the cards
Emilyn Yap, Business Times 30 Dec 08;
MORE residential areas in Jurong are to be rejuvenated as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) 2008 Master Plan to develop commercial hubs outside the Central Business District.
Supporting the growth of the Jurong Lake District, Faber Terrace, Faber Hills, Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens will soon enjoy better connectivity and more housing choices.
Various infrastructure plans in the region will proceed 'notwithstanding the current economic downturn', said URA in a release yesterday.
The government will be enhancing roads at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills. Not only will this improve the area's traffic situation, it will also allow more low and medium-density housing fronting Sungei Ulu Pandan to be built in future, said URA.
Noting that traffic along the Ayer Rajah Expressway in the area can be heavy, DTZ's executive director Ong Choon Fah agreed with the plans. 'If you build up the Jurong Lake District, you will also need to find an accessible way to get there,' she said.
According to URA, new residences at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills will be private and could include landed property as well as low- and medium-density condominiums. The area could be suitable for cluster housing, said Cushman & Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han.
Teban and Pandan Gardens will also undergo rejuvenation. Two public housing sites at Teban Gardens are already under the selective en-bloc redevelopment scheme, and PUB's ABC Waters programme for the Pandan Reservoir will further enhance waterfront living in the area.
There are also plans to improve Teban and Pandan Gardens' connectivity with the Jurong Lake District.
The district - comprising a commercial centre at Jurong Gateway and a leisure hotspot at Lakeside - could attract more large and global companies and the redevelopment of the International Business Park would further support this. As JTC Corporation also said yesterday, it plans to add another five hectares of land and raise plot ratios for some areas in the park.
Knight Frank director of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak pointed out that multinational corporations do pay attention to where the workforce is when they pick a site for their headquarters or factories. 'To know that (workers) are all living around is good, there is a ready pool of labour,' he said.
The announcements are also 'a signal to potential developers and investors that there is still land around the Jurong Lake area available,' he added.
URA also provided more updates on the development of Jurong Lake District yesterday.
For instance, dredging works to deepen the Jurong Lake for more water-based activities are already underway.
The ‘lake district’ just gets bigger ...
Zul Othman, Today Online 30 Dec 08;
IN APRIL, they learnt how nearby Jurong would be transformed into a “lake district” and Singapore’s largest commercial hub outside the city centre.
Yesterday, residents of three estates located a stone’s throw away — including one that made history by being the first to reject upgrading — found out they would be part of the rejuvenation, too.
The 30-year-old public housing neighbourhoods of Teban and Pandan Gardens, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, can expect “attractive waterfront housing”, a feature that has been given top billing elsewhere, such as in Punggol.
With Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Ulu Pandan in the vicinity and water-based activities expected, space for private housing fronting the river has also been set aside at nearby Faber Terrace and Faber Hills.
And to top off the effect of the Jurong Lake District, which promises leisure infrastructure and should be fully developed by 2020, it was announced yesterday the authorities would expand the nearby International Business Park (IBP) so that more jobs and homes go hand-in-hand in the former swampland-turned-industrial town.
JTC Corporation (JTC), which manages the 25-hectare IBP, will add five hectares or 125,000 sq m of business space to the area, which, in its current size, had been fully allocated by the middle of this year.
There is potential to “create synergy” between IBP and the proposed developments in the Jurong Gateway, the 70-hectare commercial precinct (500,000 square metres of office space) of the Jurong Lake District, said JTC.
“We’re expecting a surge in demand for Business Park land in this area in the next economic upturn, which land intensification on existing IBP land alone would not be able to address,” said a JTC spokeswoman.
Tenants of the IBP engage broadly in data centre, engineering, software R&D, info-comm and telecommunication (ICT) activities. It is too early to say if rent at IBP will increase, which would depend on the market, the spokeswoman added. Expansion will start with a site survey next month and site preparation works in March, which will include two road linkages to direct traffic to the Ayer Rajah and Pan-Island Expressways. The targeted completion date is within three to four years.
Across the AYE, road improvement works will also be carried out at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills to support future growth in low- and medium-intensity density housing while more housing choices will be provided in Teban and Pandan Gardens through the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers). The latter estate rejected upgrading works in 2003.
But this time, residents Today spoke to said they were pleased to hear about the coming developments, which in the case of Teban Gardens, already includes two Sers sites. More details will be made known at a later stage, but residents such as clinical nurse Farida Abdul Talib, 46, has her wishlist ready.
She said: “(There’s) not much variety now. I would definitely like to see more shops to liven up the place.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SUFIAN BIN SUDERMAN
Families to get $125m in utility rebates
780,000 households will benefit from help given to offset GST hike
Jessica Lim, Straits Times 30 Dec 08;
MORE than 780,000 HDB households will receive utility rebates in the next seven months, with those in smaller flats getting more.
The 2009 rebates will cost the Government $125 million. They were introduced during last year's Budget as part of the $4 billion GST offset package.
The aim of the rebates is to help Singaporeans, especially those from low-income households, cope with the GST hike implemented in July last year.
The Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates range from $70 to $210 and are pegged to flat type. They will be parcelled out in two instalments - the first next month, and the second in July.
People living in one- or two-room flats, for example, will receive rebates of $210, while those living in five-room flats will receive $110.
Now in its third year, the rebates - which recipients can roll over to the following months if their bills are less than the rebate amount - will run until at least 2011. Over the five years from 2007 to 2011, $550 million will be handed out in total.
The rebate will help Madam Fauziah Ab Samad, a mother of five school-going children who lives in a four-room flat in Jurong West.
'This month, my children had to buy school books and new uniforms. This will really help to offset all these extra costs,' said the housewife, who lives on $1,300 a month from her husband who is a bus driver.
The family has $500 in unpaid power bills.
Mr William Sng, 61, who lives in a three-room flat in Hougang, is also grateful.
'If the Government wants to help me to pay my bills, I am happy,' said the father of two in Mandarin.
'It may not be that much, but the amount saved will cover the amount I spend for four trips to the supermarket.'
The rebate amount will be reflected in utility bills for January and July 2009 for all eligible households.
For more information on U-Save rebates, the public can call SP Services on 1800-2222-333.
Utilities rebates of $70-210 for HDB homes in 2009
Business Times 30 Dec 08;
MORE than 780,000 eligible HDB households will receive $125 million worth of Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates in 2009, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Households will receive between $70 and $210 worth of U-Save rebates, depending on flat type. Part of the rebates will be given out in January, while the rest will be given in July.
Under the schedule of U-Save rebates released yesterday, one-room and two-room HDB flats will get $210 worth of rebates in 2009.
Three-room flats will get $190; four-room flats, $180; and five-room flats, $110. Executive flats will get rebates of $70.
The U-Save rebates are part of the $4 billion GST Offset Package announced in the 2007 Budget to help Singaporeans, especially low and middle-income households, cope with the increase in the goods and services tax (GST) in July 2007. The GST was increased by two percentage points to 7 per cent then.
The rebates will cost the government about $620 million over five years (FY2007-FY2011), it said.
'U-Save rebates will be used to offset utility charges directly. The amount of U-Save rebates will be reflected in the utility bills for January and July 2009 for all eligible households,' said the Ministry of Finance yesterday.
Electricity bills were hiked by about 21 per cent in October - the highest one-time increase in about seven years.
The government's U-Save rebates aim to provide relief for the higher electricity bills.
Julian Siddle, BBC News 29 Dec 08;
Nineteenth Century artwork is a useful tool for studying coastal erosion, according to a retired coastal engineer.
Robin McInnes assessed the accuracy of geological and topological features in more than 400 paintings of the Isle of Wight and Hampshire coastline.
Dr McInnes said such old masters gave engineers the chance to see coastal features before they were changed by industrial development.
He was standing in London's Tate Gallery, admiring a painting entitled Pegwell Bay, Kent - a recollection of October 5th 1858 by Pre-Raphaelite artist William Dyce, when the thought struck him that the detailed accurate depiction of groynes and foreshore, despite being painted 150 years ago, might be of use in his work as a coastal engineer.
Over the years, Dr McInnes had amassed quite a collection of paintings, prints and etchings depicting the coastlines of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, where he ran the island's coastline management strategy.
Combining his interests in paintings of the local environment, geology and coastal erosion, he looked at hundreds of artworks and came up with a method to assess their value as indicators of coastal change - especially erosion.
"From the late 18th Century, Europe was cut off by the Napoleonic wars, this resulted in travellers and artists paying greater attention to the picturesque landscapes of the British Isles," said Dr McInnes.
Artists such as William Turner visited the Hampshire coast and produced panoramic paintings in aquatint and water colour.
Dr McInnes began to examine images from the 1770s to the 1920s. From more than 400 paintings, prints and illustrations he drew up a scale to asses how useful such artworks were as coastal engineering tools.
"The ranking system is based on four or five factors, it is a qualitative assessment," he said.
"I looked at issues such as the material and the nature of the media, oil paintings versus prints; generally, water colour allowed the most accurate depiction.
"The next question was what do they actually show, do they provide understanding of the geology or beach levels? I gave each a score for that.
"Also to time periods, from a coastal engineers point of view, the most relevant period is when rapid coastal development took place."
Dr McInnes said the Victorian era saw a dramatic change in the coastline as towns, such as Portsmouth, grew with the opening up of railway links.
He also gave marks for the accuracy of the artistic style, and whether the painting showed the topography.
"In Italian landscape style accuracy was not the prime consideration, (whereas) traditional Victorian coastal painting was the most accurate as the idea was to provide an exact image to take home.
"Followers of the pre-Raphaelites captured in precise detail this period, it coincided with an interest in geology and natural sciences. "
He added that the paintings of the period were not just a tool for categorising physical change, but also environmental and developmental issues.
"Many artists returned to the same spot to capture the same scenes over a period of years.
"The study shows how Victorian development has radically changed the coastline; it's nice to strip it back because it helps you understand what might be the underlying problems of erosion and instability.
"Natural processes in the past are largely masked by coastal development," Dr Innes explained.
"Looking back 150 years, it's easier to understand the geography and topography when you don't have this coastal development covering the slopes."
The study - carried out with help from Portsmouth University, the Crown Estate and the National Maritime Museum - has been well received by organisations concerned with coastal erosion.
Dr McInnes recently presented his findings at a coastal engineering conference in Venice, where he learned of similar research that used Caravaggio's paintings to asses historic water levels in the sinking Italian city.
"A lot of people think it can be applied to other parts of the coast that are well illustrated," he says.
The study could be extended, he suggested, to cover areas of south-east England where the erosion of soft rocks, combined with human development, has led to dramatic coastal change.
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