Japan plans to support replacing petrol with wood

Risa Maeda, Reuters 25 Jan 08;

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is set to embark on a five-year plan this year to harness a new form of energy using unused wood biomass to produce auto fuels and other industrial products currently made from imported petrol.

Japan, where two-thirds of the country is covered by forests, can supply a part of alternative fuels made from wood-origin ethanol as well as raw materials for plastic and carbon fibers.

The Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday it was to set aside a total of 1.2 billion yen ($11.2 million) in the next fiscal year's budget to support a few private projects to develop an alternative processing system to that of the petrochemical industry, pending parliament approval.

Satoshi Ishihara, director of the technology development office at the ministry's Forest Agency, said up to 10 billion yen of the total subsidy would be used for a project or projects using the wood for cellulosic ethanol technology.

"We're looking for a cellulosic technology using enzymes and yeasts to cut down the size of such a plant," Ishihara told Reuters on the sideline of a gathering of potential project operators in Tokyo.

Cellulosic is expected to create several billions of dollars in an industry globally in enzymes and fermentation organisms, which help break down the tough bits of the plants into ethanol, as the world seeks economic and environmentally-friendly ways to produce a renewable fuel.

Japan's sole commercial cellulosic plant in Sakai city in Osaka prefecture, western Japan, uses an acid process to produce ethanol from waste wood collected in construction sites.

When the next fiscal year starts in April, the farm ministry also has plans to spend a total of 3.2 billion yen to support a few consortiums comprising farmers, engineers and regional governments to produce ethanol from non-food soft plant parts such as rice stems and use it locally.

Japan, the world's fifth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has a target to replace 500,000 kilo liters in crude oil equivalent of auto use of energy with biofuels in fiscal 2010/11.

Japanese law allows oil distributors to sell gasoline blended with up to 3 percent ethanol. But the circulation of such alternative fuels is so far limited to government-backed test sales.

($1=107.19 Yen)

(Reporting by Risa Maeda, editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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New Zealand PM warns off Japanese whalers

Reuters 25 Jan 08;

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark warned Japanese whaling ships on Friday that surveillance photos of the fleet revealing their location would be published if they entered New Zealand's Antarctic waters.

Japan's six-ship whaling fleet has been trying to avoid anti-whaling protest ships in the Southern Ocean after protesters stopped whaling operations when two activists boarded a whaling ship and another group stopped a whaling ship refueling.

The militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which boarded the Japanese ship, has threatened to find the whalers and stop them whaling.

Greenpeace, which prevented the fleet's factory ship Nisshin Maru from refueling, is also searching for the whalers.

New Zealand air force reports the whalers were heading for New Zealand's Antarctic waters, where it has search-and-rescue responsibilities but not sovereignty, prompted Clark to warn-off the Japanese fleet.

"The government's instructions have been that if the Japanese whaling fleet is discovered in the area where New Zealand is patrolling, then we would like photographs and we will release them," Clark told reporters.

"We won't release co-ordinates for obvious safety-related reasons but we will put information out to the world where we see the fleet," she said.

Clark said the presence of the whalers anywhere near New Zealand's search-and-rescue area was a cause of grave concern.

Last year, the Japanese factory ship was disabled by fire in the Ross Sea after clashing with anti-whaling protesters.

"It's an area that's very difficult to access. If there are problems it's difficult to render assistance," Clark said.

"You don't quickly mount a voyage from the naval dockyard in Auckland to the far south of the Ross Sea. This is very, very awkward."

Japanese whaling officials have said they plan to try to exhaust the fuel supplies of the anti-whaling ships before they resume whaling.

Japan plans to hunt almost 1,000 minke and fin whales for research over the Antarctic summer, but has abandoned the cull of 50 humpback whales after international condemnation and a formal diplomatic protest by 31 nations.

Despite a moratorium on whaling, Japan is allowed an annual "scientific" hunt, arguing whaling is a cherished cultural tradition and the hunt is necessary to study whales. Its fleet has killed 7,000 Antarctic minkes over the past 20 years.

"We think the number of whales they take makes it clear that this is not about science," said Clark.

"It's about maintaining whaling with the hope that some time in the future they could return to commercial whaling."

(Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by David Fogarty)

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UN calls water top priority

Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press Yahoo News 25 Jan 08;

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world on Thursday to put the looming crisis over water shortages at the top of the global agenda this year and take action to prevent conflicts over scarce supplies.

He reminded business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum that the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan was touched off by drought — and he said shortages of water contribute to poverty and social hardship in Somalia, Chad, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Colombia and Kazakhstan.

"Too often, where we need water we find guns instead," Ban said. "Population growth will make the problem worse. So will climate change. As the global economy grows, so will its thirst. Many more conflicts lie just over the horizon."

He said a recent report identified 46 countries with 2.7 billion people where climate change and water-related crises create "a high risk of violent conflict" and a further 56 countries, with 1.2 billion people "are at high risk of violent conflict." The report was by International Alert, an independent peacebuilding organization based in London.

Ban told the VIP audience that he spent 2007 "banging my drum on climate change," an issue the Forum also had as one of its main themes last year. He welcomed the focus on water this year saying the session should be named: "Water is running out."

"We need to adapt to this reality, just as we do to climate change," he said. "There is still enough water for all of us — but only so long as we can keep it clean, use it more wisely, and share it fairly."

Ban said he will invite world leaders to "a critical high-level meeting" in September to focus on meeting U.N. development goals — including cutting by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015 — particularly in Africa.

Ban's call for global action on water got strong support from several top business executives.

"Water is today's issue," said Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical Co., the world's second largest chemical company. "It is the oil of this century, not a question."

E. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Co., said "this is an issue which ranks next to climate change. ... However, water has got lost as part of the climate change debate."

Isdell urged the world to "raise the issue of water to the level that we have managed to raise the issue of climate change."

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman and CEO of Nestle SA, the world's biggest food and drink company, said "time is still on our side but time is running out, just like water is running out."

Ban urged top business executives to join a U.N. project to help poor people gain access to clean water — and he praised Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical and Nestle for their programs and their efforts to be part of the water solution.

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Dead sea turtles in Malaysia worry conservationists

Sean Augustin, New Straits Times 25 Jan 08;

Kuala Trengganu: Conservationists are troubled over the discovery of three dead turtles on the state’s beaches within three weeks.

UMT Turtle and Rehabilitation group leader Professor Chan Eng Heng, who just a week ago pleaded for more work to be done to save the Green and Hawksbill turtles, said the deaths occur in such a sort time span it is worrying.

About 20 turtle deaths were recorded in 2006 and last year, though there could be more that went unreported. The first discovery of an adult Green turtle was made on Jan 6 on the Tok Jembal beach, while the second was that of an adult Giant soft shell turtle in Merang on January 16.

On Wednesday an adult male Green turtle was found washed ashore on the Mengebang Telipot beach, just outside the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu campus.

While the causes of death of the turtles are unknown, Chan believes they may have been making their way to the Terengganu coast to nest, and she suspects they may have been caught in trawling nets.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, she called for the “turtle excluder device” (TED) to be made mandatory for trawlers. The TED is a grid of bars with an opening, usually fitted into the neck of the trawl net.
Small animals pass through the bars and are caught in the bag end of the trawl, while larger animals, such as turtles and sharks, are ejected through an opening when they strike the grid bars.

"TED is now used voluntarily, although it was found to be effective when it was tested in Perak more than a decade ago. Authorities should implement the use of the TED, especially during the monsoon season when restricted trawling zones are opened up," she said.

Third turtle found dead in less than 21 days
The Star 27 Jan 08;

KUALA TERENGGANU: In less than 21 days, three turtles have been found dead in Terengganu beaches.

The latest case was reported late on Thursday evening when a lifeless male green turtle measuring 89.5cm was found on the beach off Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) here.

“The turtle most likely drowned in the fishermen’s net as there are no other visible external signs,” said Prof Chan Eng Heng, leader of Turtle Aid Malaysia .

On Jan 6, a green turtle was washed up at Tok Jembal beach, some two kilometres from the university while on Jan 15, a giant soft-shell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) was found dead along the beach fronting Botanical Course Camp Resort in Merang.

The giant soft-shell turtle was 63cm long and 55cm wide.

Prof Chan said in the last two years, 20 turtles were reported stranded in Terengganu.

“The Fisheries Department can also look into the possibility of enforcing the use of a device that allows a captured turtle to escape when caught in a fisherman’s net,” she said.

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Indonesian perspective: Climate change threatens peace

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, The Jakarta Post 25 Jan 08;

A second challenge is one to our territorial waters: If Indonesia was so worried about the creeping jurisdiction of Singapore's land reclamation projects, has the country also begun auditing the loss of strategic islands due to rising seas which may alter the borders recognized in the archipelagic concept?

The history of conflicts provoked by environmental resource competition are as long and frequent as savagery in the name of God.

The global community is slowly awakening to the impacts of climate change on human conflict.

While apocalyptic scenarios have been scripted on the long term consequence of environmental omission, the immediate threat is much more imminent.

Even before we reach the end count of these dire predictions, the environmental changes occurring in the meantime generate political-security risks for which most governments are ill prepared.

Climate change has thus far been examined mostly under the context of an environmental or economic issue. Few nations have begun to seriously assess the strategic challenges which will occur.

U.S. defense analysts describe the ramifications of climate change as a "threat multiplier of instability".

Even though the Bush administration held out to the Kyoto Treaty, its military planners and politicians were quick to draft contingencies on the security challenges of climate change.

Three years ago the U.S. National Intelligence Council already included global warming as a part of its five-yearly outlook of potential global flashpoints.

The Center for Naval Analysis recently published a lengthy report on the threat of climate change to national security.

In March 2007 a bipartisan bill -- the Global Climate Change Security Oversight Act -- was submitted to Congress and described climate change as "a clear and present danger" to U.S. security.

Britain has also begun to lay the analytical security framework to review these challenges.

Apart from commissioning key studies like the Stern Report, its climate change research office -- the Met Office Hadley Centre -- is funded by the Ministry of Defense, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Then British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett in a move which is redefining the concept of security, in April raised climate change issue at the UN Security Council.

She argued unstable climate risks are some of the drivers of conflict, hence warranting the Security Council's attention.

"Climate change is transforming the way we think about security," she said.

Canada is worried about its sovereignty on an ice-free Northwest Passage which countries like China, Russia and the United States claim is an international strait.

Russia has made feral claims to half the North Pole in anticipation that melting ice caps will make it easier to exploit the huge reserve of oil there.

These countries realize beyond the economic and environmental impacts, new trends in climate change will force realignment in state relations.

Living in a region which will be greatly affected by global warming, Indonesia must conceptualize strategic and defense thinking to face these new threats.

Rising sea levels will effect coastal areas in the Asia Pacific, across which some five million people live in low lying coastal perimeters.

Scientists believe a 50-centimeter rise in sea levels will cause a 50-meter coastline retreat in low-lying areas.

As a country with the world's third largest coastline (54,700 kilometers) and with 85 percent of its population living within 100 kilometers of the coast, the shifting demographics likely to occur in Indonesia caused by rising seas is precarious.

One of the first contingencies Indonesia must prepare in the coming decade is the chaotic events of a large-scale displacement of people.

Imagine rising sea levels inundating traditional coastal farming areas such as those in Karawang and Subang regencies, while low lying basins like Citarum could see cropland flooded.

Large shifts in migration almost always bring societal tensions.

A second challenge is one to our territorial waters.

If Indonesia was so worried about the creeping jurisdiction of Singapore's land reclamation projects, has the country also begun auditing the loss of strategic islands due to rising seas which may alter the borders recognized in the archipelagic concept?

Let us not forget State Minister of Environment Rachmat Witoelar's foreboding remark last year: 2,000 small islands could be submerged in two decades.

The Kyoto Protocol and the Climate Change Conference in Bali are worthy preventive measures to reduce climate change. But occur it will.

As a country saddling global warming's equatorial tension belt, Indonesian security thinkers need to invest in ideas which ultimately provide security-based policy options to contain likely tensions and shifting regional power trends before it is too late.

The author, a staff writer with The Jakarta Post, is currently studying at Harvard University as a research fellow with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

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The toxic legacy of plastic bags

Ian Kiernan, ABC News 25 Jan 08;

At the heart of arguments against introducing a ban on the damaging common plastic shopping bag lies a stubborn refusal to consider anything other than the economic costs of keeping them.

Plastic bags are cheap to make and cheap for shops to buy. We have become used to the convenience of them and think they make our lives somehow easier.

But our easy addiction to plastic bags is destroying our environment, killing our marine life and birds, and is so pervasive and persistent that it is entering the food chain.

How can those who assess plastic bags simply on their economic merits ignore the impacts of the waste left behind? How can any of us afford not to?

In the half dozen decades since plastic became a regular part of our lives and plastic bags a common sight, the natural environment has become full to bursting with plastic rubbish.

Plastic doesn't go away - it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces but it never actually dissolves or disappears completely. Much of it ends up in our oceans.

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii, lies a floating garbage patch twice the size of Britain. It is a place where the water is filled with six times as much plastic as plankton. This plastic-plankton soup is entering the food chain and heading for our dinner plates.

Plastic bags are mistaken as food and consumed by a wide range of marine species, especially those that consume jellyfish or squid, which resemble plastic bags when floating in the water column.

There have been international studies done on the impact of plastic on marine life and birds but unfortunately the statistics on the dead and maimed are often only estimates as it is almost impossible to track where all plastic bags end up and observe what happens to every whale, dolphin and turtle that swallows them.

Stomach-churning

What scientists do have are the contents of marine mammals' stomachs when they wash up dead on our coastlines.

A total of 177 marine species are known to ingest plastic litter. Ingestion of litter such as plastic bags can cause physical damage to the oesophagus, mechanical blockage of the digestive system, and a false sensation of feeling full. This can lead to infections, starvation and death.

In August 2000, an autopsy of an eight-metre bryde's whale beached at Trinity Bay near Cairns revealed a tightly compacted ball of plastic debris in the animal's stomach. The contents included 33 different items made up mainly of plastic bags, as well as noodle packages.

In total there was nearly six square metres of plastic in the whale's stomach.

Sea turtles are especially affected by the presence of plastic debris. They ingest different types of floating objects including condoms, balloons and fishing line, as if they were food.

In 1998, an autopsy carried out on the body of a juvenile green turtle found washed up on Lennox Head Beach in northern NSW revealed a complete bowel blockage caused by a piece of black plastic the size of an open palm.

Above the blockage food putrified and slowly poisoned the animal to death.

The Federal Government's own Threatened Species Scientific Committee has found plastic bags and other marine debris are a direct threat to 20 marine species, including the loggerhead turtle, southern right whale, blue whale and tristan albatross. It has listed plastic bags as a Key Threatening Process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Public support

Eighteen years of Clean Up Australia Day has clearly demonstrated the impact plastic bags are having on the environment.

A survey of the rubbish collected is done each year and plastic bags are among the most common plastic items found on Clean Up Australia Day year after year.

More than half of the tens of thousands of plastic bags collected on Clean Up Australia Day are found on beaches, waterfront areas, in rivers and creeks.

Two national opinion polls in a row have shown overwhelming public support for a ban on plastic bags in Australia and a growing number of communities are introducing their own bans.

The only harm involved in a ban on plastic bags is not doing it.

Introducing a levy on plastic bags has now been shown to not work. In Ireland, a levy produced a dramatic initial decrease but we now know that people simply became used to paying the levy, which led to an increase in plastic bag use by one third in just two years.

There are alternatives to the common single-use plastic bag and the most encouraging progress is being made with biodegradable bags, often made from cornstarch.

But of course you could just not use a plastic bag at all - just as using a plastic bag is a habit, so too would not using one become.

Ian Kiernan AO is chairman of Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World.

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MRT lines to double by 2020, 100 new train stations to be built

Channel NewsAsia 25 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE: The government has unveiled more changes to the country's land transport system.

In the second of three major announcements, after more than a year-long review, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said rail lines will double by 2020.

And the network - which will see 100 new stations being added - becoming even denser than places like Tokyo.

For a start, two new MRT lines will be built.

One of them, the Thomson Line will run from the heart of Marina Bay, through the Central Business District, to Woodlands in the north.

This will connect to another new line, the Eastern Region Line, which will serve residential areas like Marine Parade in the eastern part of the island.

Some existing lines will be extended. The North-South Line will go all the way to the Marina Bay area, while the East-West Line will be extended 14 kilometres into Tuas.

The new rail lines will cost the government some S$20 billion to build. This is over and above the S$20 billion the government has already committed for the on-going Boon Lay extension, the Circle Line and the Downtown Line.

However, the Transport Minister notes that while this complete picture is just 12 years away, people have been asking whether the building of the lines could take place sooner. So certain stages of the Downtown Line and Circle Line will be brought forward.

To cut down on waiting time during peak periods, more trains will be added.

Also in the plans are more barrier-free access, more environmentally-friendly fleets of vehicles, more options for cyclists, and even platform screen doors at all overhead stations.

Mr Lim made the announcement when he visited Kim Chuan Depot on Friday morning. - CNA/ir



2 new lines and $20b to double rail network
Samuel Ee, Business Times 26 Jan 08;

Current projects could also be completed earlier, greater contestability in rail industry to be introduced

(SINGAPORE) The government will spend some $20 billion to build two new rail lines and a couple of extensions to double the length of Singapore's rail network by 2020.

The figure, announced by Transport Minister Raymond Lim yesterday in the second instalment of the sweeping changes arising from the land transport review, is over and above the $20 billion already committed for the ongoing Circle Line, Downtown Line and Boon Lay extension.

Two new underground MRT lines will be built to connect Marina Bay to Woodlands in the north, and Changi in the east. The 27-km long, 18-station Thomson Line will run upwards from Marina Bay through Ang Mo Kio, connecting Kim Seng, Thomson, Sin Ming and Kebun Baru - areas that do not have a direct MRT link. This is expected to be ready by 2018.

Similarly, the 21-km long, 12-station Eastern Region Line will branch out to the right - parallel to the East-West Line - and serve the residential estates of Tanjong Rhu, Marine Parade, Siglap, Bedok South and Upper East Coast. It will be completed by 2020.

In addition, the current North-South and East-West Lines will be extended. The former, which now ends at Marina Bay station, will be extended one kilometre southwards to serve upcoming developments in the area such as the new cruise terminal in Marina South.

As for the East-West Line, it will be extended by another 14 km into Tuas. Both extensions will be completed by 2015.

'Together with the rail lines now under construction, the new rail lines will double our network from today's 138 km to 278 km in 2020,' said Mr Lim. 'We expect our rail network to carry three times as many journeys, rising from today's 1.4 million a day to 4.6 million in 2020.'

The government is also speeding up construction of the Circle Line (CCL) and Downtown Line (DTL). Mr Lim said additional resources will be pumped in to bring forward the completion of DTL Stage 3 by two years - from 2018 to 2016 - so that it would be ready just a year after DTL Stage 2 is ready. DTL 3 serves Bedok Reservoir and Tampines, while DTL 2 the Bukit Timah Corridor.

CCL Stage 3, which was due to open from 2010 onwards, will now be ready in mid-2009 to benefit residents in the north and north-east areas. More CCL stations will be opened, such as the Thomson and West Coast stations. Originally, these two shell stations were to be fitted out only when they were deemed to have sufficient surrounding developments.

With these plans firmly in place, Mr Lim said new extensions or stages of new lines would open almost every other year until 2020.

The minister was speaking during a visit to the $290-million Kim Chuan Depot, an underground MRT depot that is the first of its kind in Singapore and the largest in the world. The 11-hectare, four-storey facility took five years to build. It will provide the stabling and maintenance facilities of the Circle and Downtown Lines, as well as house the two lines' operation control centre.

As for the existing rail network, Mr Lim revealed that all above-ground MRT stations will have platform screen doors installed by 2012 to curb the rising number of train track intrusions.

He also said that as the rail network is expanded, future lines would cost more to build and operate as they would mostly be underground. Mr Lim said his Transport and Finance Ministries would work together to refine the financing framework. A more holistic network approach will be taken when evaluating new MRT lines, instead of the current line or project approach.

'This would potentially enable future new lines to be implemented a few years earlier than otherwise, so long as the entire rail network remains viable,' he explained.

Greater contestability in the rail industry will be introduced as well, in order to enhance efficiency and maintain cost competitiveness.

'A key step in enhancing contestability is to have shorter operating licences, say 10 to 15 years, compared to the existing 30-year licence periods,' said Mr Lim. 'Operators will compete for the right to operate rail services. They will have to meet service obligations or risk being replaced at the end of their term.'

A senior executive at SMRT, the dominant rail operator, called the minister's remarks 'positive'.

'More rail lines is good news for everyone,' he said. 'As for competition, that is to be expected. But we believe we are well-positioned to bid for the lines because of our operation, maintenance and engineering skills. And in terms of cost management, we are already one of the most efficient in the world.'

SMRT's licence to operate the North-South and East-West Lines expires in 2028. As for the contestability policy, the Transport Ministry said this would only apply when the current licence expires. Existing contracts will be honoured and 'any changes will involve discussions with the operator'.

Two new MRT lines by 2020
They will run through estates in north and east; North-South and East-West lines will also be extended by 2015
Maria Almenoar, Straits Times 26 Jan 08;

TWO new underground MRT lines will be built by 2020 - one from Woodlands to Marina Bay via Thomson, and the other from Changi to Marina Bay via Marine Parade.

The 27km Thomson line will run through Sin Ming and Kim Seng, while the Eastern Region Line (ERL) will slice through Siglap and Tanjong Rhu. All are neighbourhoods not served by the MRT now.

The two new lines add 48km of rail and possibly 30 new stations.

In addition, extensions will be made to the East-West and North-South lines by 2015.

The East-West line will stretch 14km out to Tuas with an above-ground track, while the North-South line will be extended underground to Marina South.

These four additions, together with the lines now being built, will extend the rail network from the current 138km of track to 278km.

The tab: $20 billion. This is over and above the $20 billion already committed for the Circle Line, the Downtown Line and the Boon Lay extension.

When completed, cross-city trips will be faster; commuters will have a train stop within 400m, or five minutes' walking distance, said Transport Minister Raymond Lim yesterday.

He was delivering Part Two of his three-part policy speech on improvements to Singapore's land transport system.

He first unveiled a slew of changes to the bus system last week, and will wrap it up next week with what is in store for other road users.

With the Thomson Line in operation, commuters in Sin Ming, for example, will shave 20 minutes off their current 45-minute trip to the city; those in Marine Parade will get to Marina Bay on the ERL in 20 minutes - almost as fast as by car, said Mr Lim.

The extensions to the existing East-West and North-South lines will also shorten commuting time.

Take, for example, a commuter who lives in Clementi and works in Tuas. To get to work now, he will have to take a train from Clementi to Boon Lay, from where it will take him another 35 minutes by bus to his destination. With the extension of the East-West line to Tuas, he will save 20 minutes.

Mr Lim, who toured the Kim Chuan train depot yesterday, said: 'Commuters can look forward to new extensions or stages of new lines opening almost every other year until 2020.'

The next milestone will be marked in the middle of next year, when Stage 3 of the Circle Line opens - a year ahead of schedule - to connect areas such as Lorong Chuan and Bartley.

But commuters will experience improvements from next month, when 93 train trips will be added every week during the rush hours to ease crowding and cut waiting times.

Down the road, new trains will be bought and work done on the two oldest tracks so they can carry 15 per cent more passengers.

As with bus routes, the Government will also open up the rail market to competition. Contracts to run rail services will be 10 to 15 years long, down from 30.

To enhance the commuter's experience, more covered linkways and overhead bridges will be built in the next two years; the elderly and disabled will have full access to buses and improved access to MRT stations. A six-month trial to allow foldable bicycles on trains will also be carried out.

As for taxi commuters, a centralised call booking centre will be set up by July.

Mr Lim gave the assurance that fares will continue to be regulated by the Public Transport Council, and help will be given to those who cannot afford to pay.

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Best of our wild blogs: 25 Jan 08

Otters sighted on Ubin!
on the ubin volunteers blog

Economics don offers unique perspective on nature conservation on the The Battle for Singapore’s Green Spaces with comments on this post on the nature scorned blog

The wilder side of Sentosa, without the alcohol No need to pay, no 10inch plexiglass: nudis and other free sexy stuff on the ramblings of a peculiar nature blog

Sentosa shore near the reclamation site
a visit shared on the wonderful creations blog

Giant boar trap on Ubin
and other finds on the ubin volunteers blog

Pulau Sekudu
a froggy part of Chek Jawa on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Ubin Volunteers orientation
on the ubin volunteers blog

TeamSeagrass at Sentosa
besides lots of seagrasses, also lots of butterflyfishes on the teamseagrass blog

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International Year of the Reef: US launch

Researchers looking at coral threats
Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Yahoo News 25 Jan 08;

Even coral reefs thought to be pristine are facing challenges, researchers said Thursday launching the International Year of the Reef. The year of the reef is a "campaign to highlight the importance of coral reef ecosystems and to motivate people to protect them," Conrad Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a briefing.

Climate warming has become an increasing threat to reefs, added Clive Wilkinson, coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.

Corals have an upper limit of temperatures they can tolerate, he said.

And added carbon dioxide in the ocean water is creating what Wilkinson called the "soda water" effect, increasing the acidity of the water and making it harder for corals to form their shells.

Mark Patterson of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, reported from the Caribbean island of Bonaire that even there, some effects are being seen.

Bonaire "has been viewed as being a pristine environment," he said. But researchers there have found "troubling factors" including the spread of blue-green algae, which may be killing coral.

"We're seeing more dead and dying coral than we should be," he said, though there are also positive signs, with a return of sea urchins, which had been killed by disease and many algae-eating fish present.

The last year of the reef was held in 1997 and scientists are launching another one this year in an effort to increase awareness of the ecological, economic, social and cultural value of coral reefs as well as to learn more about threats to coral reefs and possibly learn how to solve these threats.

The expedition to Bonaire, in the Netherlands Antilles, is seeking to survey the reefs there which are popular with divers. Researchers are scuba diving on the reef and also using three remotely controlled underwater vehicles to extend their study into deeper waters where there is little sunlight and the details of the corals are not well known.

LINKS

International Year of the Reef is also celebrated in Singapore!
more on the Singapore Celebrates our Reefs blog

A year in honour of reefs, Planet Earth and potatoes
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 5 Jan 08;

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Singapore to strengthen expertise in water-related technology with MIT alliance

Channel NewsAsia 24 Jan 08;

"Singapore is a microcosm of all the environmental problems that one can imagine"

Singapore is poised to further strengthen its expertise in water-related technology following its alliance with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Water and marine studies will feature prominently in its research on environmental sustainability.

Families frolicking on Singapore's beaches often take reclaimed land for granted: how this affects coastal erosion, the water surrounding the island, and the water they drink is not often thought about.

Professor Andrew J Whittle, Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, MIT, says: "Singapore is a microcosm of all the environmental problems that one can imagine - you are dealing with an urban environment, a very dense urban environment. It has no natural resources, it is reclaiming land, it's using very carefully what water it has, it's developing land and in fact impounding reservoirs to develop water supplies.

"So there's tremendous shortage of water and tremendous vulnerability to contamination of water supply. And Singapore also have a very active green environmental, coastal environment where the ships all go back and forth. So we are working quite heavily on understanding, detecting contamination in marine waters and spills, for example, trying to understand some of the processes that occur between the ocean and the coast for example, coastal erosion problem for example."

So you can expect to be better informed with more research soon.

The researchers plan to work with Singapore's national water agency, the PUB, and Delft Hydraulics (which has an alliance with the NUS) and focus on collecting data and on environmental parameters such as wind currents around tall buildings.

Singapore is an opportunistic place to do this research.

Palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia are expanding as more companies look for alternative sources of energy.

Hence the researchers will also study the carbon balance in the region.

Professor Whittle says: "The particular balance of work that we are doing is certainly very unique and there are elements in our research that I would say is very imaginative new science and the rest are more applied."

The research done by Singapore and the MIT is a long term commitment and is expected to result in the development of expertise and technology that can be exported to other countries. - CNA/ch

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Turn Singapore into eco-city without sacrificing economic growth: PM

High-quality living the aim
Five ministers to find best way to turn S'pore into eco-city without sacrificing economic growth: PM

Christie Loh, Today Online 25 jan 08;

How can highly-urbanised Singapore adopt 'green' ways of living that won't be burdensome or eat into its economic growth?

That's a question five ministers will be brainstorming on, to form a national strategy that will turn Singapore into an eco-city state without sacrificing economic growth, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

Reflecting the importance of the endeavour, the Committee on Sustainable Development will be an inter-ministerial one. The joint chairmen are National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan and Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources. The other three members are Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Transport Minister Raymond Lim and Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran.

This is in addition to another inter-ministerial committee on tackling climate change, formed last November and led by Law Minister S Jayakumar.

The Committee on Sustainable Development will meet next month to discuss plans for a national framework for high-quality living and to promote Singapore as a "hub for urban and environmental sustainability", according to a Government statement.

The team will solicit ideas and feedback from industry experts at home and abroad, as well as from the public.

"Then, we will be in a good position not only to look after ourselves but, in fact, to share our capabilities with others. This is a business opportunity," Mr Lee said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, where the hot topic is the state of the United States economy.

Mr Lee is accompanied by other Cabinet ministers and his wife, Madam Ho Ching, who is the chief executive of investment firm Temasek Holdings.

Mr Lee met former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Google chairman Eric Schmidt.

He is also scheduled to meet UBS chairman Marcel Ospel, who was recently under fire for massive sub-prime mortgage losses that led the bank to sell an 11-billion-Swiss-franc ($14.5-billion) stake to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.

Today, Mr Lee will speak at a closed-door high-level session on the role of the Association of South-east Asian Nations in a changing East Asia, before leaving for Singapore tomorrow.

High-powered 'green growth' panel to be set up
To be headed by ministers, it will work across govt agencies, says PM
Warren Fernandez, Straits Times 25 Jan 08;

IN DAVOS (SWITZERLAND) - A NEW inter-ministry committee on sustainable development is being set up to take a comprehensive approach to keeping Singapore's economy growing in an environmentally sound way.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the setting up of the committee yesterday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos, where climate change has been a key issue of debate.

The new committee will be jointly chaired by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan and Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.

Others on the panel include Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Transport Raymond Lim, and Minister of State for Trade & Industry S. Iswaran.

Declaring that this will be a national, multi-agency effort, Mr Lee said that the committee would work across government agencies so that planning and development of buildings and towns, transport systems and energy supply networks can be done in a way that is not only economically efficient, but also environmentally sustainable.

The idea was to 'build into our whole development strategy this awareness of the environment, of energy conservation and efficiency'.

'So that your buildings use less energy for air-conditioning, your public transport is made convenient and people use public transport, instead of driving which takes a lot more energy.

'Where you have your whole power supply system, the power grid is developed so that we use sources which are cleaner, rather than sources which pollute the environment.

'Businesses too can benefit from having economical, efficient and environmentally friendly energy and services,' he said.

If Singapore could do this well, it would develop another valuable area of expertise which it could share with the world, offering consultancy services, he added.

'We have already gone far, compared with other cities, our environmental record is good. But we can do more,' he said, noting that the effort would prepare Singapore for the future, when energy is likely to remain costly and climate change will continue to be on the global agenda.

The new committee will give Singapore's push to become an environmental hub a further boost. It has already landed a big investment by the Norwegian Renewable Energy Corporation to build the world's largest solar panel plant, and is seeking to draw more such investments.

A separate committee on climate change, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, is also focusing on international issues related to the debate on how best to tackle global warming.

In a joint statement issued by the Ministry of National Development and Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources last night, the two ministers leading the new committee said their objectives were to spell out a clear national framework and strategy to achieve a sustainable and high quality living environment that is consistent with economic growth.

More details on the committee, which is now drawing up its agenda and plans, will be disclosed during the Budget debate next month, said Mr Lee.

The Prime Minister is also scheduled to speak today at an informal leaders meeting on climate change taking place here, which will also include United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, and former US vice-president Al Gore.


Sustainable development a priority for Singapore: PM Lee
A top-level panel of ministers has been formed to chart the way forward, he says
Anna Teo, Business Times 25 Jan 08;

PURSUE economic growth, but with an eye on the Earth.

Going forward, sustainable development will be a priority for Singapore - and a top-level panel of ministers has been formed to chart the way forward.

On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, where he will today take part in a key session on climate change, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Singapore reporters that an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development will be looking into drawing up a holistic sustainable development strategy for Singapore.

The need to be environmentally friendly is patently clear, 'but at the same time, we don't want to have to sacrifice economic growth', he said. Hence the premise and promise of sustainable development - to 'grow in an environmentally friendly way, where you build into your whole development strategy an awareness of the environment, of conservation, of efficiency, so that your buildings use less energy for air conditioning, your public transport is convenient and people use public transport instead of driving cars'.

While there are no plans to levy any carbon tax, Mr Lee would not rule it out entirely, but emphasised the need to be mindful about cost and competitiveness, particularly in imposing any regulatory requirements that effectively add to business costs.

The committee is co-chaired by Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan and Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim. Other members include Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Transport Minister Raymond Lim and Minister of State for Trade & Industry S Iswaran.

A joint statement by MND and MEWR says the committee will, for a start, 'articulate a clear national framework and strategy to achieve a sustainable and high-quality living environment that is consistent with economic growth'.

It will also seek to build new competencies and encourage mind-share across the public, private and people sectors to develop Singapore as an 'Eco-Hub' - 'an innovative thought-centre and hub for urban and environmental sustainability'.

Noting that Singapore is already a model of urban planning, Mr Lee said that if Singapore's efforts on sustainable development are successful, it will spell one more area of expertise that it can share with other countries.

Mr Lee arrived in Davos on Wednesday afternoon from Paris, where he had been on a three-day official visit. In Davos yesterday, he had a busy day of meetings with various people, including US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Robert Kimmitt; former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Harvard professor Larry Summers, as well as UBS chairman Marcel Ospel and Google chairman Eric Schmidt.

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Singapore forms new government committee to look into sustainable development

Channel NewsAsia 24 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE : A new Inter-Ministerial Committee has been formed to come up with sustainable development strategies for Singapore.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made this announcement at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

He stressed that sustainable development would continue to be a priority for Singapore going forward.

The new committee will be co-chaired by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan and Environment and Water Resources Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.The committee will look into a holistic sustainable development strategy for Singapore.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee also includes Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Transport Raymond Lim, and Minister of State for Trade & Industry S Iswaran.

The committee will first come up with a national strategy to achieve a high quality living environment that is consistent with economic growth in Singapore.

PM Lee cautioned that the strategies developed cannot compromise Singapore's economic growth.

"How do we get economic development and growth, and at the same time, we grow in an environmentally friendly way? That's the idea of sustainable development, where you build into your whole development strategy this awareness of the environment, energy, conservation and efficiency," said PM Lee.

Second, it will seek to build new competencies and facilitate mindshare across the public, private and people sectors to develop Singapore as an "Eco-Hub".

The aim is to make Singapore an innovative thought centre and hub for urban and environmental sustainability.

Mr Lee said businesses will also stand to gain from this national effort on sustainable development.

For example, with efficient energy use, companies can enjoy cost savings.

Mr Lee cited an example: "If you construct an office building, and you design it right from the beginning, you can make it energy-efficient and friendly. The heat load from the sun can be less and air-conditioning can be more efficient. You can have a better environment, at a lower cost."

The committee's co-chairman, Mr Mah Bow Tan, said the plan is to make sure that "people would be happy to stay in Singapore because there are economic opportunities, and it is a great place to live, for them and their children."

The committee would consult widely to tap the ideas of the public and the business community.

According to the committee's other chairman, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, he said there will be efforts to harness expertise, both locally and overseas.

Globally, every country is faced with the challenge of climate change. And if Singapore comes up with good solutions on sustainable development, Mr Lee said the standing committee can also share its knowledge and expertise with other nations.

The committee is expected to convene early next month and Mr Lee said more details can be expected during the Budget debate. - CNA /ls

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Resorts World at Sentosa builds S$80m bridge to ease visitor traffic

Channel NewsAsia 24 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE: Resorts World at Sentosa has started work on a new vehicular bridge which costs S$80 million.

The new bridge is aimed at easing visitor traffic as over 15 million of them are expected to visit the Resort when it opens in early 2010.

The 710-metre, 3-lane bridge will run parallel to the existing causeway which connects Sentosa to the mainland.

And when completed in September 2009, both will be merged.

To help alleviate congestion near the Telok Blangah junction, existing admission booths will be relocated by Sentosa Leisure Group within the island, along Gateway Avenue.

By April, Gateway Avenue will be diverted to make way for the development of RWS.

From the vehicular bridge, drivers will then coast along Gateway Avenue, before the road fans out into seven lanes. Lanes and traffic directions are still being finalised.

The winning bid went to McConnell Dowell, an Australian-based engineering and construction company.

Resorts World at Sentosa said this is the first vehicular bridge of this scale to built by a private developer in Singapore. -CNA/vm

Resorts World to build new $80m bridge to Sentosa
Business Times 25 Jan 08;

RESORTS World at Sentosa (RWS) yesterday announced the award of a $80 million contract to Australian-based engineering and construction company McConnell Dowell to build a new vehicular bridge to Sentosa.

Work on the bridge begins this week and is expected to be completed by end-September 2009.

The 710-metre three-lane bridge will connect Singapore to Sentosa and provide visitors with a smooth and convenient entry into Sentosa and RWS. It will be built parallel to the present four-lane Sentosa bridge. When the new link is completed, the two bridges will be merged.

RWS anticipates 15 million visitors calling on its $5.2 billion resort when it opens in early 2010. 'This is the first vehicular bridge infrastructure of this scale built by a private developer in Singapore,' said RWS's senior director of projects Michael Chin. 'We are committed to provide our visitors with a once-in-a-lifetime holiday experience, and that includes hassle-free access to the resort,' he added.

According to Sentosa Leisure Group executive director for special projects, planning and development Low Tien Sio, the new link is 'set to take on up to four times more traffic when it opens . . . and will not only facilitate travel to RWS, but also drive traffic smoothly to Sentosa's popular destinations and give our Cove residents a welcome ride home'.

To help ease congestion near the Telok Blangah junction, the existing admission booths to Sentosa will be relocated on the island along Gateway Avenue and by April, Gateway Avenue will be diverted to make way for the development of RWS.

From the vehicular bridge, drivers will then travel along Gateway Avenue, before the road fans out into seven lanes to expedite island admission.

Work on new Sentosa bridge begins
Straits Times 25 Jan 08;

WORK started yesterday on a new bridge linking Sentosa to the mainland.

Developer of the island's casino resort, Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) said that the new vehicular bridge will ease traffic for the anticipated 15 million visitors expected at the resort when it opens in early 2010.

The three-lane 710m bridge will be built parallel to the current Sentosa bridge, which currently has four lanes. When completed, the two bridges will be merged. Lanes and traffic directions are being finalised.

RWS awarded the bridge building contract, worth more than $80 million, to McConnell Dowell, an Australian-based engineering and construction company.

The work involves widening lanes at the Harbourfront end of the current Causeway, and the construction of the parallel new bridge from Sentosa.

McConnell Dowell's project director, Mr David Christodoulou said: 'The marrying of the structures into one cohesive roadway is the precise reason why this project is so exciting.'

To help alleviate congestion near the Telok Blangah junction, the existing admission booths will be relocated within the island along Gateway Avenue by Sentosa Leisure Group.

By April, Gateway Avenue will be diverted to make way for the development of RWS. From the vehicular bridge, drivers will then coast along Gateway Avenue, before the road fans out into seven lanes to expedite island admission.

Sentosa Leisure Group's Executive Director for Special Projects, Planning & Development, Low Tien Sio, added: 'Set to take on up to four times more traffic when it opens, the new vehicular bridge will not only facilitate travel to RWS, but also drive traffic smoothly to Sentosa's popular destinations and give our Cove residents a welcome ride home.'

Another bridge to Sentosa by next year
Today Online 25 Jan 08;

A new bridge is being built between Sentosa and the mainland.

Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) began work yesterday on a vehicular bridge in anticipation of the 15 million people expected to visit the integrated resort when it opens in early 2010.

The three-lane, 710-metre bridge is being built parallel to the current Sentosa bridge, which currently has four lanes. When the new link is completed by the end of September next year, the two bridges will be merged.

Lanes and traffic directions are being finalised.

RWS awarded the bridge-building contract, worth more than $80 million, to McConnell Dowell, an Australian-based engineering and construction company.

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A Malaysian view: Clean and efficient Singapore can be exciting

Marina Mahathir, Straits Times 25 Jan 08;

I KNOW we hate to compare ourselves with Singapore as a matter of reflex. And indeed all that antiseptic-ness of the city-state does make you wish for some grime or dirt to make it seem more human.

You yearn for people who don't fall in line so easily, who have an opinion about things.

Of course they have their faults, the prime one being a tendency to condescend to their neighbours; but they do it in an almost innocent way.

I recall hearing one earnest young thing once declare: 'In Singapore, women have equal rights, but I understand in other countries they don't.'

It never ceases to amaze me how the mere matter of a Causeway between us is no deterrent to an astonishing level of ignorance about how Malaysians actually live.

I remember once, after the premiere of a movie I helped produce which featured trendy young KL kids, a Singaporean, wide-eyed in wonder, said: 'I never knew you all lived in houses like that!' (Meaning modern suburban housing estates).

And I thought all this time I should feel guilty about stereotyping Singaporeans!

Still, despite these annoying traits and the fact that wandering around shopping malls ranks as a form of exercise for them, there are some things that Singaporeans do well.

The sheer efficiency of the whole place sometimes comes as a blessed relief after the irritating unreliability of some of our services.

They haven't reached the level of the Japanese, who would almost kill themselves if they imagined they've offended a customer, but there are some things that they do right.

My friend called for a taxi to Changi for me, and I was amazed that she didn't actually have to talk to anyone to book the taxi. It's all done over the mobile phone.

Press certain numbers and voila, you are told that a particular taxi is headed your way in approximately five to 10 minutes. And they actually do arrive within that time!

What's more, it's an extremely clean taxi, they go by the meter, and they even accept credit cards! How very First World!

It sure beats our age-old system where you dial up the taxi company and hang on until they deign to answer, whereupon you have to put up with someone who manages to be rude in a language unknown to most of humankind.

After you've given your details, they then tell you 'No taxi!' and immediately hang up. You then try another taxi company and repeat the whole process.

If you are lucky enough to finally get one, you then have to steel yourself to risk any number of diseases sitting in it. You also have to remind yourself to check that the driver did put the meter on, just to avoid any arguments later on.

All in all, a stressful experience.

At Changi Airport, one of the most noticeable things is the numbers of old people working there. They are mostly directing passengers to taxis or retrieving baggage trolleys.

Not exactly mind-enhancing, but it does keep pensioners gainfully employed in a place where they get to watch people coming and going.

Here we import people just to push trolleys from one end of the airport to the other, a total waste of energy for both the employer and the employee.

While service in the stores in Singapore does tend to make your skin crawl sometimes, at least you do have service. In these desperate retail times, it's not unusual for salespeople to almost literally jump out of their stores to accost you and persuade you to come and look at their merchandise.

It may be more attention than you want, especially when you don't intend to buy anything, but for a brief moment at least you do feel slightly important.

Which is more than I can say for many of our stores. I don't understand why retailers put salespeople who know nothing about their products to work. If you do get any attention at all, this would already be a small miracle.

After that, the decision to buy is left entirely to your mood, not how persuasive your salesperson is. I've left stores simply because salespeople have seemed so disinterested in selling me anything.

Let's not even get started on customer service on the phone. My Internet connection at home has been down for some 10 days and that's because, despite my persistent complaints, the service provider is not interested in coming over to see what's wrong. I am now seriously looking at other providers.

I don't think I could last living in our southern neighbour because I would get bored too quickly. But as for those brief visits, getting things done quicker and more efficiently can really be quite exciting.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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Recognise overseas community service trips for their true value

Letter from Zheng Liren, Straits Times Forum 25 Jan 08;

A RECENT trip to a major city in one of our South-east Asian neighbours reminded me of the articles that have been written to this newspaper regarding 'voluntourism', 'Voluntourism: More tourist than volunteer' (ST, July 28, 2007), 'Do-gooder trips not the best way to volunteerism?' (ST, Dec 11, 2007).

While over there, I overheard some Singaporeans comment: 'Hey. Actually their dressing don't really look very country-bumpkin hor. Actually quite like Singapore.'

In the few days I was there, I could not help but keep hearing these ethnocentric statements of comparison, sometimes even bordering on condescension. While I was not entirely surprised, yet hearing these statements saddened me at the same time.

How does a comfortable, middle-class Singaporean have so little knowledge of our neighbours, and so little appreciation of their history, culture and current affairs?

And then it struck me that perhaps I should not be too harsh on my fellow Singaporeans. I am turning 25 this year, and I have had the privilege of spending time in various countries working on various kinds of projects that would have been categorised as 'voluntourism', having been to Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar. These trips have opened my eyes to a clearer vision of the world and of life itself that one cannot and will not catch if he is holed up on the prosperous island of Singapore.

Firstly, there has been the first-hand witnessing of poverty that is so scarce in prosperous Singapore, yet such a stark reality in countries barely a couple of hours' flight from home. Ask any youth who has been on such a trip and this is probably one of the first things they will share about. Without a doubt, the starkness of the contrast makes our youths appreciate more what they have back here, even though it may not always translate into conscious efforts to volunteer back home. If nothing else, these countries help us to appreciate the value of good governance in the development of a country. An encounter here with a fellow South-east Asian student leader back in 2005 left him remarking to me: 'My friend, it's time my country's politicians start taking the lives of our people seriously'.

Secondly, these trips bring our youths face to face with their own values. They are confronted with their upbringing, their environment at home, their attitudes, as well as how they are living their own lives. In the comfort of their homes, wireless Internet access in any shopping centre they step into, never-ending studies crowding their minds, friends SMS-ing and MSN-ing, our youths live in a culture where there is no room to stop and stare. There is no time to reflect on our values, to think about life, no time to grow. There can be no substitute for such an experience locally, no possibility of re-creating it in our local context.

Here, credit must be given to the Singapore International Foundation and the National Youth Council for coming up with a model that intentionally facilitates service-learning on its Youth Expedition Programme (YEP) trips. Many other organisations, including VWOs, religious groups and student groups, also conduct overseas volunteer trips, and would do good to consult their comprehensive model. If led by a competent team leader, such trips can be times of intense personal growth for our youths.

Thirdly, having worked with various NGOs overseas on these trips, it seems clear that many of these NGOs are greatly dependent on volunteer labour and funding. Many of these organisations are run by a single director and a handful of local staff. They take in volunteers to help out with the work at the centres, even if it is just as simple as taking care of a few children for a week. Let us not discount the labour and effort that our volunteers take to these places. Volunteer-driven NGOs will tell of the importance of volunteers who give of their time sacrificially and their importance to the organisation.

Sure, these overseas volunteer trips may be a means that some use to relieve their middle-class guilt, but I suspect that the alternative suggestion of giving cash directly to these organisations will perpetuate that phenomenon even more, and make donation-givers precisely just what they are - givers of cash; even more aloof and distant from the beneficiaries they are purporting to help.

Many of these youths who go on these trips are changed in the process, having reassessed their own values and relooked at their own lives, myself included. The experience may not always pluck us out of our middle-class comfort to give our whole lives to serve the poor, but many have been inspired by their strength and resilience. Many have found their greatest joy in the service of others, no matter how short these stints are. And many have found enough commitment to the cause they worked on, to go back again and again and again to serve these communities. I know many friends like that.

The comments made by my fellow Singaporeans on my recent trip saddened me because of its narrow-mindedness. Yet, there is hope, especially if we continue to expose our youths to the realities of the wide world out there waiting for us to discover. May our youths, in the process, come to embrace tolerance, mutual understanding and an appreciation of our brethren in a deeper way than ever before.

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Could one bite transmit dengue and chikungunya?

Could one bite transmit two viruses?
NEA to study mosquitoes' ability to transmit dengue and chikungunya at the same time
Lee Hui Chieh, Straits Times 25 Jan 08;

RESEARCHERS here will study local mosquitos in a bid to uncover whether the insects can transmit dengue and a similar disease, chikungunya, at the same time.

Singapore is in the midst of its first outbreak of chikungunya, with at least 10 people infected in the last two weeks.

Dengue, which is endemic here, has infected 390 people so far this year.

Scientists at the National Environment Agency's Environmental Health Institute know that both humans and the Aedes mosquito can be infected with dengue and chikungunya at the same time.

What is not clear is whether the mosquito can transmit both viruses with one bite, said the institute's senior research scientist Christina Liew, an expert on disease-carrying insects.

A mosquito's ability to spread diseases can differ according to its genetic structure, its home territory and even the temperature of its surroundings, Dr Liew said.

Researchers have found mosquitoes in the wild in Maharashtra, India, carrying both the dengue and the chikungunya viruses.

Laboratory studies have also found that mosquitoes can be infected with both viruses at the same time. Scientists, however, were unable to determine if both diseases can be transmitted simultaneously.

Unlucky patients have been hit with the double whammy of dengue and chikungunya, though.

Studies have reported that 1.7 to 3 per cent of the patients in India's 2006 chikungunya epidemic were infected with both diseases.

They could have been bitten by just one mosquito carrying both viruses or by two different mosquitoes.

Both dengue and chikungunya cause similar symptoms such as fever, joint pains, chills, nausea and vomiting.

Chikungunya symptoms usually last three to 10 days, but the joint pain can last for weeks or months.

Chikungunya appears to have a shorter incubation period in mosquitoes and humans.

It takes three to five days to incubate in mosquitoes and one to 12 days in humans, compared to dengue's eight to 12 days in mosquitoes and three to 14 days in humans.

There is some consolation for patients with either disease. While deaths have been reported, they are rare.

All quiet on Clive St
A spate of chikungunya cases has left this street in Little India half-empty

Loh Chee Kong, Today Online 25 Jan 08;

A PALPABLE air of unease filled what was usually a walkway brimming with tourists and eager shoppers looking for a good bargain along the rows of shops selling anything from pre-paid phone cards to handicrafts.

At Clive Street yesterday afternoon — 10 days after Singapore's first locally-transmitted case of chikungunya fever was detected here — the street was half-empty and a couple of eating houses were closed. Regular patrons and visitors seem to have been scared away by the outbreak and the media coverage of this new health threat.

There were sporadic activities — although different from the kind you would expect on a street in bustling Little India: Shopkeepers cleaning their wares, pest controllers prowling the back alleys and bored stall assistants gathering outside for a quick puff and chat.

So far, 10 cases of chikungunya fever, which is transmitted through the Aedes mosquito, have surfaced. Except for one who lived in a neighbouring road, all the patients had either worked or lived on Clive Street.

Since then, Government agencies have mounted massive operations to eradicate mosquito breeding sites and screen those who had set foot there. National Environment Agency (NEA) officers are also checking surrounding streets as a precautionary measure.

But visitors are still giving the street — named after a British commander whose famous victory in Bengal paved the way for the colonisation of India — a miss.

"Singaporeans are so kiasi (afraid to die). Who would want to come here now? It will be worse when your news article comes out," an irate Mr H Kumar told this reporter as he ordered his workers to stack up the messy pile of cardboards lying just outside his karung guni store. Even the crowds during the morning and evening peak periods have dwindled by half, he lamented.

Business, some shopkeepers said, has fallen by between 40 and 50 per cent in recent days. In contrast, just a few metres away, it's business as usual at adjacent Dunlop Street. Mr Ali, 30, who runs a mobile phone accessory shop, said it's hard to stay away when business appears to be especially good these days.

Down at the corner of Clive Street, a group of Chinese retirees were back at their favourite coffee shop for their regular teatime rendezvous. Its 64-year-old owner, who wished to be known only as Mr Wang, said he had earlier closed the shop because he was so disturbed by the outbreak. He reopened it only after the NEA had fumigated the entire street.

"Seeing the environment officers coming down to inspect almost every day makes me less worried now," said Mr Wang, who now routinely sprays insecticide around his stall just before he closes for the day.

Mr Iqbal, a 45-year-old tailor, went for a blood test on Tuesday. Apart from relying on his trusty can of insecticide, he makes it a point to throw out any stale water and overturn any receptacles before he leaves for home.

For others, the health alert has not affected their routine or plans at all — thanks to a combination of ignorance, nonchalance and faith in bureaucracy.

The handful of tourists checking out the shops at Clive Street said they were unaware of the outbreak. The foreign workers taking a leisurely walk on their day off said they either lived in Clive Street or nearby and it would make little difference whether they shunned the area.

For Madam Thia Lai Bing, who is in her 50s, the street serves as a daily shortcut to Tekka Market. "Once I heard about the outbreak, I told my two sons not to take this road," she said.

Noticing the puzzled look on this reporter, she continued: "I'm old already, so it's okay. My sons are young; they should take care of their health."

Another housewife Madam Masnah, who travels from Tampines to Clive Street once a week to stock up on her groceries, remarked: "As long as the Government is doing something about it, it should be safe."

Rain gutters on most buildings in Little India to be removed
Channel NewsAsia 25 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE: The rain gutters on more than half of the buildings in Little India will be removed.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has ordered this in a further bid to contain the Chikungunya virus.

Rain gutters are a breeding ground for mosquitoes. More than 1,400 larvae have been found in Little India.

So NEA said that they will be taken out, as long as building structures are not affected.

NEA added that what should be removed are those which are in poor condition or those whose building owners show clear signs that they are unwilling or unable to maintain them in proper condition.

Removing them will help NEA officers who conduct daily routine checks.

Owners who don't comply with the order to remove the gutters may be fined up to S$20,000 or be jailed for not more than three months or both. The sentence and fine will be doubled for subsequent convictions.

Another problem that NEA officers encounter is the pails that foreign workers use to store rain water.

What's more, over 10,000 foreign workers throng Little India on weekends and this makes cleaning up a challenge.

Officials said they will only stop their daily checks when no new cases are found, in 24 days.

That's the number of days needed for mosquitoes to go through two incubation cycles.

At least eight people came down with Chikungunya fever at Clive Street, near Little India in early January and this has caused business to drop by about 10 per cent.

So shopkeepers too are playing their part to maintain cleanliness.

Johnson Kang, a hotel maintenance staff, said: "Normally when we clean all the rooms, we will try to empty whatever pail there is water in it, and every now and then we will check whichever corner. At the same time we have pest control coming once in a while to spray all and clean up all the rooms." -CNA/vm

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Rights Group Berates Singapore Airlines for Elephant Ad

PlanetArk 25 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE - An animal rights organisation criticised Singapore Airlines on Thursday for an advertisement using an elephant to sell flights.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)said the offending advertisement, calling on travellers to "visit colourful India", featured a man holding a bullhook forcing an elephant to bow.

"There's nothing colourful about tearing elephants away from their families and habitats and forcing them to perform for tourists under the threat of beatings," Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA's president, said in a statement.

Singapore Airlines said the scene was depicted in a drawing and that the ad had not been used recently.

"That this group chooses to pick on a drawing...shows they clearly aren't aware of the work that our airline is supporting, to facilitate well-managed conservation projects," said a Singapore Airlines spokeswoman. (Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)

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Puget Sound orca recovery plan

Donna Gordon Blankinship, Associated Press Yahoo News 24 Jan 08;

Once believed to have numbered 140 or more in the last century, orcas have suffered several periods of major population decline since the 1960s, when the whales were caught for aquariums.

The National Marine Fisheries Service on Thursday released its recovery plan for Puget Sound's threatened killer whales, aimed at lessening the threats posed to the orcas by pollution, vessel traffic and decreased availability of food.

The goal is to enable the "southern resident" population of orcas to be taken off the endangered species list by helping their numbers grow by an average of 2.3 percent per year for the next 28 years. If the population increases for 14 years, the whales could be listed as threatened, a less severe category under the federal Endangered Species Act.

There are 88 orcas in the southern population today.

The federal agency issued its final recovery plan for the whales after taking public comment on a draft plan issued in November 2006. At that time, the fisheries service declared much of Washington's inland marine waters as critical habitat for the orcas. The area covers about 2,500 square miles, including the waters around the San Juan Islands, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and all of Puget Sound.

The plan calls for:

_Supporting salmon restoration efforts already under way.

_Cleaning up contaminated sites in Puget Sound and reducing pollution in the region.

_Evaluating and improving guidelines for vessel traffic in and around protected areas, and minimizing underwater sound.

_Preventing oil spills and improving response plans when spills occur.

_Improving public education about how to help save the whales.

_Improving responses to sick or stranded orcas.

_Better coordination between U.S., Canadian and agencies from West Coast states.

_Continuing research to improve conservation efforts.

Unique in their diet, language and genetic makeup, southern residents were listed as endangered in late 2005.

Once believed to have numbered 140 or more in the last century, orcas have suffered several periods of major population decline since the 1960s, when the whales were caught for aquariums. The population rebounded to 97 in the 1990s, then declined to 79 in 2001.

Killer whales are actually the world's largest variety of dolphin and can reach close to 30 feet and weigh more than 15,000 pounds at maturity.

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Tests find hazardous levels of mercury in tuna sushi in New York

Marian Burros, International Herald Tribune 22 Jan 08;

NEW YORK: Recent laboratory tests performed for The New York Times found so much mercury in tuna sushi that a regular diet of even two or three pieces a week at some restaurants could be a health hazard for the average adult, based on guidelines set out by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Eight of the 44 pieces of sushi The Times purchased from local restaurants and stores in October had mercury levels so high that the Food and Drug Administration could take legal action to remove the fish from the market.

Although all the samples were gathered in New York City, experts believe similar results would be observed elsewhere. "Mercury levels in bluefin are likely to be very high, regardless of location," said Tim Fitzgerald, a marine scientist for Environmental Defense, an advocacy group that works to protect the environment and improve human health. Most of the stores and restaurants in the survey said the tuna The Times had sampled was bluefin.

In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration joined with the Environmental Protection Agency to warn children and women who may become pregnant to limit their consumption of certain varieties of canned tuna because the mercury it contained might damage the developing nervous system. Fresh tuna was not included in the advisory. The tuna sushi in The Times sample contained far more mercury than is typically found in canned tuna.

Over the past several years, studies have suggested that mercury may also cause health problems for adults, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and neurological symptoms.

Dr. P. Michael Bolger, a toxicologist who is head of the chemical hazard assessment team at the Food and Drug Administration, said the agency was reviewing its seafood mercury warnings. Because it has been four years since the advisory was issued, he said, "we have had a study under way to take a fresh look at it."

Tuna samples from the restaurants Nobu Next Door, Sushi Seki, Sushi of Gari and Blue Ribbon and the food store Gourmet Garage all had mercury in excess of one part per million, the "action level" at which the FDA can take food off the market. (In recent years, the FDA has rarely, if ever, taken any tuna off the market.)

The European Union can take tuna and other predatory and long-lived fish off the market at the same mercury concentration, one part per million.

Both Drew Nieporent, a managing partner of Nobu Next Door and Andy Arons, an owner of Gourmet Garage, were shocked by the Times' findings.

"I'm startled by this," said Nieporent. "Anything that might endanger any customer of ours, we'd be inclined to take off the menu immediately and get to the bottom of it."

Arons, whose stores stock yellowfin, albacore and bluefin, depending on the available quality and price, said, "We'll look for lower-level-mercury fish. Maybe we won't sell tuna sushi for awhile, until we get to the bottom of this."

At Blue Ribbon Sushi, Eric Bromberg, an owner, said he was aware that bluefin tuna had higher mercury concentrations. For that reason, he said, the restaurant typically tells parents with small children not to let them eat "more than one or two pieces."

Scientists who performed the analysis for The New York Times said they had been "frankly surprised" at the results and had run the tests several times to be sure there was no mistake in the levels of methylmercury, a form of mercury tied to health problems.

"No one should eat a meal of tuna with mercury levels like those found in the restaurant samples, more than about once every three weeks," said Dr. Michael Gochfeld, professor of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, New Jersey, who analyzed the sushi for the Times with Dr. Joanna Burger, professor of life sciences at Rutgers University.

The work was done at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, in Piscataway, New Jersey, a partnership between Rutgers and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Gochfeld is a former chairman of the New Jersey Mercury Task Force. He also treats patients with mercury poisoning.

More than half of the restaurants and stores surveyed sold sushi with so much mercury that eating just six pieces a week would exceed the amount the Environmental Protection Agency says can be safely consumed by an adult of average weight, which the agency defines as 154 pounds, 70 kilograms. People weighing less are advised to consume even less mercury.

In general, tuna sushi from food stores was much lower in mercury. These findings reinforce results in other studies showing that more expensive tuna usually contains more mercury because it is more likely to come from a larger species that accumulates mercury from the fish it eats.

In the Times survey, 10 of the 13 restaurants said at least one of the two tuna samples purchased had been bluefin. (It is hard for anyone but experts to tell whether a piece of tuna sushi is bluefin by looking at it.) By contrast, other species, like yellowfin, bigeye and albacore, generally have much less mercury. Several of the stores in the Times sample said the tuna in their sushi was yellowfin.

"It is very likely bluefin will be included in next year's testing," said Dr. Bolger of the FDA. "A couple of months ago, FDA became aware of blue fin tuna as a species Americans are eating."

Studies have found high blood mercury levels among people eating a diet rich in seafood. According to a 2007 survey by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the average level of mercury in New Yorkers' blood is three times as high as the national average. The report found especially high levels among Asian New Yorkers, especially foreign-born Chinese, and people with higher incomes.

The report noted that Asians tended to eat more seafood and speculated that wealthier people favored certain fish, like swordfish and bluefin tuna, with higher mercury levels.

The city has warned children and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding not to eat any fresh tuna or Chilean sea bass or several other fish it describes as "too high in mercury."

Kate Mahaffey, a senior research scientist in the office of science coordination and policy at EPA who studies mercury in fish, said she was not surprised by reports of high concentrations.

"We have seen exposures occurring now in the United States that have produced blood mercury a lot higher than anything we would have expected to see," she said. "And this appears to be related to consumption of larger amounts of fish that are higher in mercury than we had anticipated."

Many experts believe the government's warnings on mercury in seafood do not go far enough. "The current advice from the FDA is insufficient," said Dr. Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at the Harvard School of Public Health and head of the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Southern Denmark. "In order to maintain reasonably low mercury exposure you have to eat fish low in the food chain, the smaller fish, and they are not saying that."

Some environmental groups have already sounded the alarm. Environmental Defense, the advocacy group, says no one should eat bluefin tuna.

Others take a less absolute position. "I like to think of tuna sushi as an occasional treat," Gochfeld said. "A steady diet is certainly problematic. There are a lot of other sushi choices."

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In US, Plastic Shopping Bag Still Rules

Christine Kearney, PlanetArk 25 Jan 08;

NEW YORK - Australia and China are phasing them out, Germany and Ireland tax them, but in the United States, the plastic shopping bag is still king.

Outside supermarkets across the country, Americans push shopping carts laden with a dozen or more plastic bags full of groceries to their cars. Even the smallest purchase, such as a magazine at a newsstand, seems to come in a plastic bag.

Americans use 100 billion plastic shopping bags a year, according to Washington-based think tank Worldwatch Institute, or more than 330 a year for every person in the country. Most of them are thrown away.

A handful of US cities and states have made moves to cut that number and Whole Foods Market, a supermarket pitched at the organic and natural food shopper, on Tuesday said it would phase out plastic bags out by Earth Day on April 22. But critics say the United States is years behind countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.

"We are still in the stage of taking baby steps," said Eric Goldstein, a director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a US environmental group.

Plastic bags, favored because they are durable and cheap, have been blamed for clogging drains, filling landfills and choking wildlife. They can take from 400 to 1,000 years to break down, and their constituent chemicals remain in the environment long after that, environmental groups say.

Made from crude oil, natural gas and other petrochemical derivatives, an estimated 12 million barrels of oil are used to make the bags the US consumes each year.

Countries from Taiwan to Uganda, and cities including Dacca in Bangladesh, have either banned plastic bags outright or impose a levy on consumers. Australia aims to phase them out by the end of this year, and China by June 21.

Ireland charges shoppers 22 Euro cents (US$0.29 cents) per bag, a move credited with reducing plastic bag use by 90 per cent. Some European cities first imposed fees as early as the 1980s.

In Britain, which uses 13 billion single-use plastic bags a year, or more than 200 per person, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged the country's biggest supermarket chains to cut use faster than planned and said Britain can eliminate them altogether.


DISMAL SITUATION

But in the United States, the federal government has been reluctant to impose measures that would interfere with competition and be unpopular with consumers.

"Pay for bags? I think we have to pay for enough," said Melvin Perry, a shopper with four or five bags in each hand coming out of a Pathmark supermarket in Brooklyn, a borough of New York city.

Kaitlyn Tycek, pushing a shopping cart full of groceries in plastic bags, said they are so thin that items must be double- and triple-bagged to avoid splitting.

"They end up using three or four bags. They are pointless," said Tycek, who said she would switch to reusable cloth bags given the right incentives such as discounts for customers who bring their own bags.

The US Environmental Protection Agency encourages reduced use, but does not say how it should be done. "Like most waste management decisions, this is one that is made on the local level," said spokeswoman Roxanne Smith.

While reusable cloth bags have gained pockets of popularity, cashiers at most supermarkets still offer "paper or plastic" and the answer is as often as not "plastic."

The few local governments that have taken up the cause favor recycling programs rather than taxes or outright bans.

A law already enacted in California and one just passed in New York City requires stores to set up recycling programs, but critics say they have little faith that shoppers use them.

The average American family of four throws away about 1,500 bags a year, and less than one percent of bags are recycled, according to Swedish furniture giant Ikea. Last March, Ikea introduced a 5-cent charge for each disposable plastic bag, which it credited with cutting usage by a half.

San Francisco became the first and only U.S city to impose an outright ban on plastic grocery bags in April, but the ban is limited to large supermarkets. The state of New Jersey is mulling phasing out plastic bags by 2010.

"It is a pretty dismal situation," said Lisa Mastny of the Worldwatch Institute.


GOVT. & CORPORATE CHANGE

The US plastics and supermarket industries say outright bans lead to a return to paper bags, which cause their own environmental problems. It takes more energy to recycle a paper bag than a plastic bag, according to the plastics industry.

"You have to ask what is the objective? If it is for the environment, then you are not going to achieve that goal," said Karen Meleta, spokeswoman for ShopRite, a US supermarket chain that offers recycling containers and 2 cents back for customers who reuse plastic bags.

Tara Raddohl, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart Stores Inc the world's largest retailer, said its US stores had recycling containers and has begun selling reusable bags for US$1. She declined to say whether there was a specific target for reducing usage like its British subsidiary, Asda.

But environmentalists say recycling and rebates do not curb use and it is up to all levels of government to encourage reduction. "They need to set up convenient mechanisms for that public shift to happen," Goldstein of the Natural Resources Defense Council said.

In pockets of the United States, the reusable cloth shopping bag has become popular and even trendy, but in most supermarkets cashiers still offer "Paper or plastic?" And, as often as not, the answer is "plastic."

"The mentality in America is plastic bags come from plastic bag land," said Mastny, of the Worldwatch Institute. "We don't think about where they come from and where they are going." (Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by Eddie Evans)

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Brazil to crack down on deforestation

Marco Sibaja, Associated Press Yahoo News 25 Jan 08;

Brazil will combat rising deforestation in the Amazon by sending extra federal police and environmental agents to areas where illegal clearing of the rain forest jumped dramatically last year, officials said Thursday.

Authorities will monitor the areas in an attempt to prevent anyone from trying to plant crops or raise cattle there, Environment Minister Marina Silva said.

The new measures were announced after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called an emergency meeting of Cabinet ministers because new data showed an apparent reversal of a three-year slowdown in the Amazon deforestation rate.

The clearing of Brazil's Amazon rain forest jumped in the final months of 2007, spurred by high prices for corn, soy and cattle.

Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes said Latin America's largest nation has plenty of available land for farming and cattle that has already been deforested. Environmentalists fear sugarcane, used here to produce ethanol, could spread through the rain forest, but most ethanol operations are in southern Brazil far from the Amazon.

"It's not necessary to cut a single tree to produce soy or raise cattle," Stephanes said. "There's plenty of land outside of the Amazon to increase the production of soy and beef."

The government says its new push to stop deforestation is different than previous efforts because farmers will now be targeted as well as loggers.

The government will target 36 areas that registered the highest rates of deforestation, environmental officials said. Officials will try to fine people or businesses who buy anything produced on illegally deforested land, the environment minister said.

The plan means a 25 percent increase in the police force assigned to the region, though Justice Minister Tarso Genro did not say how many officers will take part.

Farmers working deforested land in the targeted area will also be forced to reregister holdings with government officials to prove their holdings were not illegally cleared, and there will be no new permits for logging.

On Wednesday, the environment ministry announced that up to 2,700 square miles of rain forest was cleared from August through December.

That puts Brazil on course to lose 5,791 square miles for the year ending in August — a 34 percent increase from the previous 12-month period.

Although preliminary calculations can only prove that 1,287 square miles of rain forest were cleared from August through December, ministry executive secretary Joao Paulo Capobianco said officials are working under the assumption that the higher amount of jungle was cleared as they continue analyzing satellite data.

Environmentalists say an immediate crackdown could be well timed.

Paulo Adario, coordinator of Greenpeace's Amazon campaign, said it's important for the government to act now because slash-and-burn deforestation typically ramps up this time of year at the start of the rainy season.

Jungle is typically cleared in the Amazon to provide pasture for cattle, then soy farmers move in later and cultivate their crops. Brazil also has a booming beef export industry, and cattle ranchers have been expanding operations in the Amazon.

Associated Press Writer Alan Clendenning contributed to this report from Sao Paulo.

Brazil takes action to stop alarming deforestation of Amazon
Yana Marull Yahoo News 24 Jan 08;

Brazil announced a series of measures Thursday aimed at stopping an alarming rise in deforestation of the Amazon over the past five months.

The initiatives reinforced a number of actions unveiled a month ago and called for stepped-up police vigilance, a ban on using deforested areas, and the suspension of public funds for any group or individual found to be breaking environmental laws.

Cattle ranchers and loggers are targeted in the move, which was worked out Thursday in a cabinet meeting between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his ministers in charge of the environment, agriculture, justice, defense, and science, along with the country's police chief.

"What we want to do is install in the Amazon a permanent process of checks," the secretary general of the environment ministry, Joao Paulo Capobianco told reporters.

The issue has become an urgent priority for Brasilia after government figures showed the stripping of trees from the vast Amazon region -- sometimes called the "lungs of the world" for its role in producing oxygen -- had risen sharply in the last five months of 2007.

It is estimated 7,000 square kilometeres (2,700 square miles) have been devastated, with more than half of that occurring in November and December.

The total area deforestated is roughly equivalent to the area of Madrid.

Such destruction could reverse the gains Brazil has made in the past three years to slow deforestation of the Amazon.

The worst historic devastation was between August 2003 and July 2004, when 27,429 square kilometers fell to chainsaws and burning.

After that, the government tackled the problem vigorously and managed to reduce the amount of stripping to 11,224 square kilometers between August 2006 and July 2007.

Environment Minister Marina Silva on Wednesday told reporters that half the deforestation in the last five months was concentrated in the central-western state of Mato Grosso. The other problem states were Para and Rondonia.

Silva noted that "the typical activities of these states was cattle-raising and soya farming" and said: "I don't believe in coincidences."

She suggested the high prices fetched for commodities on the international market were pushing the trend.

In 2007, Brazilian soya exports grew 22 percent over the previous year, bringing in 11.4 billion dollars. Meat exports grew 31 percent and generated revenue of 11.3 billion dollars.

"The situation is alarming," agreed Paulo Adario, a Greenpeace member in charge of campaigning to save the Amazon. "Demand for soya and meat will stay high, with rises in international prices, and consumption in China and the United States," he told AFP.

The matter was all the more urgent because the dry period between May and July during which deforestation traditionally peaked was approaching.

If the government tackled the issue right away," maybe it will manage to keep deforestation under control," Adario said.

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