wildsingapore news: Jan 30, 2008

Restoring wetlands in the UK 'reduces flood risk'

The Telegraph 30 Jan 08;

Recreating wetlands and restoring peat bogs and free-flowing rivers could dramatically reduce the risk of flooding, according to Natural England.

The conservation agency said England's national parks and farm landscapes could hold the key to sustainable and cost-effective flood prevention through increasing the natural capacity of the countryside to absorb and hold excess water.

Traditional flood defences of concrete and earth embankments may no longer be an adequate or sustainable solution, Natural England said.

Ahead of giving evidence today to the Environment, Flood and Rural Affairs select committee's inquiry into last summer's floods, Natural England executive director for evidence and policy Andrew Wood said the countryside's capacity to absorb water needed to be increased.

"To do this we must start by reversing changes made to landscapes," he said.

"Restoration of peat bogs in northern uplands would slow water reaching the streams and lowland rivers, reducing the threat to towns such as Ripon, Hull and Sheffield - all of which have experienced severe flooding.

"The recreation of wetlands will increase the capacity of flood plains at times of peak risk and help to protect some of our larger towns such as Peterborough, which is downstream of the Nene Washes, an area used as overspill for the river channel."

He said that with climate change bringing an increased probability of extreme rainfall, such as the deluges seen last summer, there was a strengthened case for well-managed landscapes.

"'Flood friendly' land management also benefits biodiversity, woodland management, pollution reduction and carbon storage.

"They are not a replacement for, but a necessary complement to existing flood defences," he added.

Natural England also believes that restoring rivers by removing structures such as redundant mill weirs will reduce flooding upstream - for example on the River Wensum in Norfolk.

Elsewhere the agency cites the Lincoln Washlands scheme as an instance of washland creation for flood defence and biodiversity, while work in the Peak District and Bowland Fells has demonstrated successful peat bog and moorland restoration.

The Efra committee is hearing evidence in Lincoln today as part of its inquiry into the devastating floods which hit the West Country, Midlands and Yorkshire in June and July last year.

Britain's important seaweed hotspots identified

Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 30 Jan 08;

Britain's seaweed hotspots have been identified for the first time. Scientists have pinpointed the most important sites for different native species of seaweeds and freshwater algae.

Dismissed as weed and slime by most people they are used extensively in fertilisers and cosmetics and have the potential to help in the treatment of human illnesses including cancer.

Because of its position on the Atlantic the UK's seashores have a variety of species which in turn support a rich communities of wildlife.

A joint report from Plantlife, the British Phycological Society and the Natural History Museum is the first step in identifying the prime sites so they can be protected and conserved.

The report's authors, Dr Juliet Brodie and Dr David John from the Natural History Museum, say the UK is home to very rare species and unusual algal habitats and more needs to be known about them.

"This report brings together an immense wealth of knowledge from the UK's algal experts, some of which has not been documented before," said Dr Brodie. "Identifying and then recognising the importance of these important algal sites is crucial."

Dr John said: "Our position on the Atlantic seaboard makes the UK one of the richest areas in Europe for seaweeds and freshwater algae.

However, the algae in freshwater sites are often vulnerable to degradation by nutrient enrichment and other pollutants, while threats to marine habitats include coastal development, dredging and fish farming, so there is a need to safeguard the diversity of all these special algal sites."

"For seaweeds, nine sites around the UK are listed as being of international importance, with sites including Falmouth and Helford in Cornwall, Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire, the Isle of Cumbrae off the Scottish coast and Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. These seaweed diversity hotspots are also included in a longer list of 55 sites nominated as being of national importance.

There are six sites of international importance for the freshwater green algae known as desmids - four in the Lake District, one in the St Just area of Cornwall, and one in Sutherland. A further 12 sites are nominated as being of national importance for desmids, and another 27 potential sites for desmids and freshwater algae in general are listed as needing additional data.

"Whilst it is important to conserve these sites for their biodiversity value alone, they also have potential for future human exploitation," said Dr Brodie.

"Seaweeds are used commercially as food and have many other uses, including in fertilisers, cosmetics, as biofuels and potentially as treatments for human ailments such as cancer and high cholesterol."

"Desmids - beautiful microscopic green algae - are characteristic of acidic standing water bodies that abound in northerly and westerly parts of the British Isles," said Dr John. "They often dominate the plankton in these habitats and are therefore important as the base of the food web."

Dr Deborah Long, Plantlife Scotland's Conservation Officer, said: "This new report is a great tool. We now know where the really important sites are and why they are important. This is the sort of information that helps us identify appropriate site management and also to recognise when activities could be detrimental.

"The UK is hugely rich in algae, both the seaweeds around the coast and the algae in our freshwater pools and lochs, and we hope this report will make more people aware of this."

China's crops badly damaged by icy storms: AgMin

Reuters 30 Jan 08;

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday that the unusually harsh winter had dealt a serious blow to the country's wheat and vegetable crops and warned that damage could rise because of persistent cold.

The ministry said in a statement on its Web site that 103 million mu of farm crops had been hurt by the freak weather, which has plagued southern, central and eastern China over the past week.

Of that total, it said 11 million mu had been ruined, while another 53 million mu were badly damaged.

The crops affected included rapeseed, vegetables, wheat, tangerines and tea leaves, although the ministry did not specify how much of each had been damaged.

Beijing is sending out experts to the most damaged areas: Hunan, Guizhou, Hubei, Anhui, Shaanxi, Henan, Jiangxi and Jiangsu.

"They will survey the damage and lead rescue work, to guide these areas to resume winter production as quickly as possible and ensure efficient market supply of farm products," it said.

Grains traders and industry officials were most nervous about damages to rapeseed, an oilseed grown mainly along the Yangtse River that is harvested after March.

While record vegetable oil prices have raised the country's rapeseed acreages this year by possibly as much as 30 percent from a year earlier, any crop loss would lead to higher imports of edible oils or oilseeds, including soybeans.

"The most important thing to watch out for is the local rapeseed crop," said a trader at an international house in Shanghai.

"This year, if the weather is normal, the crop should be around 11 million. If bad weather continues in the next 1-2 weeks, we'll have to cut our forecast."

A small 2007 rapeseed crop, which some traders estimated at 8-9 million metric tons -- or well below the government think-tank estimate of 12 million -- has helped push up the country's imports of soybeans and vegetable oils last year.

The Shanghai trader added that so far China had booked 6-7 cargoes of canola, or rapeseed from Canada, for December to February shipment at $570-620 per metric ton, including costs and freights.

The traders and industry officials said though the icy weather would reduce the country's 2007 winter wheat crop, they expected the damages to be small. It was also unlikely to lead to any supply shortages due to its ample stocks in the grain.

"I do not have great concern about wheat supply at this moment," said one industry official in Beijing. "The Chinese government has enough wheat stocks."

He said the top wheat producing in the north, such as Shandong, Hunan, Hebei should be fine, though damages might be done in less crucial producers such as Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei.

"According to weather department forecasts, rain and snow is persisting in most southern areas and some are still experiencing snow storms, so the disaster may continue to develop," the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement.

The NDRC said in a separate statement that prices of some vegetables, including cabbage, carrots, eggplant and cucumbers, have risen by more than 50 percent in some regions because of the storms.

(Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch and Nao Nakanishi in Hong Kong; editing by Dominic Whiting)

The Big Freeze
Tracy Quek, Straits Times 31 Jan 08;

Half million troops battle snow chaos
Harsh Chinese winter deals blow to crops and factory output; exports likely to suffer

IN BEIJING - CHINA, in disaster-relief mode, yesterday dispatched half-a-million army troops and twice that number of police to do battle with the snow chaos in blizzard-hit regions.

Soldiers shovelled snow off icy roads and distributed cotton quilts and coats. Military helicopters ran rescue missions and 14,000 medical personnel fanned out to tend to the injured and sick.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday continued his mission to shore up the morale of frustrated rail passengers, travelling from Changsha in central Hunan province to southern Guangzhou city, where several hundred thousand travellers remain stranded.

But even as Beijing boosts efforts to alleviate the people's frustration and suffering and restore transport links, fears are growing over the extent of the economic fallout from the worst winter to hit southern China in decades.

Some believe the effects will be felt long after the skies clear.

The big freeze has struck 17 of China's 31 provinces and provincial-level regions. Some of the worst-hit areas include the country's farming heartlands where freezing temperatures are a rarity.

Underscoring the freakish nature of the cold spell, the country's north, where harsh winters are common, is enjoying clear weather.

Beijing, for example, is experiencing sunshine and blue skies.

The unexpected winter has dealt a serious blow to wheat and vegetable crops, drastically reducing yields, said the Agriculture Ministry. Deliveries of fresh food have also been disrupted because of highway and rail closures.

All this is resulting in shortages that are driving up food prices, and complicating the government's efforts to rein in inflation, which is already at an 11-year high.

Vegetable prices have spiked in 11 provinces due to the weather, more than doubling in some areas, as trucks have been unable to deliver their loads, officials said.

The supply crunch and price increases come at the worst possible time, just days before the Chinese New Year holiday, when millions return to their home towns for celebrations and feasting.

Heavy industry and the manufacturing sector, the backbone of China's blistering economic growth in recent decades, have also been hit by power outages and transport delays due to snow.

Factories including steel makers and auto plants have had to cut back on or halt production. The drag on domestic production could affect exports, a major driver of the economy, in the coming months.

Beijing will have its hands full dealing with the slowdown in exports, as well as repairing the extensive damage inflicted by blizzards on infrastructure, say observers.

Since the onset of the blizzards on Jan 10, economic losses from damage to property and farmland have hit 22 billion yuan (S$4 billion), according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Losses are expected to snowball with the winter storms forecast to continue.

All this could mean a less spectacular economic start to the new year.

Meanwhile, the death toll from weather-related accidents has risen to 55.

Speaking to the crowds at Guangzhou's train station yesterday, Premier Wen sought to give them hope, saying trains would be up and running soon.

'Currently every level of government is working on getting electricity restored, after that transport will resume,' he said.

India to spend $150 million to save tigers

Reuters 30 Jan 08;

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will spend an estimated 6 billion rupees ($150 million) over the next five years in an attempt to save its endangered tigers, the cabinet said on Wednesday.

The number of tigers in India has plummeted to between 1,300 to 1,500 from about 40,000 a century ago, according to provisional government survey results, as humans either kill them for their body parts or encroach on their habitat.

India's tiger conservation authority had a budget of only 1.5 billion rupees for the previous five years.

"It's a big jump which shows the government has given much importance to the issue of conserving tigers," said Rajesh Gopal, head of India's National Tiger Conservation Authority.

"If the pressures on tigers are reduced then the animal numbers can recover readily."

Some of the new money will be spent on shifting villages and tribal communities away from tiger habitats, according to a statement issued by the cabinet.

"One particular thing there's always been a lack of money for is moving people," said Vivek Menon, the executive director of the Wildlife Trust of India, a conservation charity. "If the money is used for that purpose, then it is a good thing."

India will also establish eight new tiger reserves, the statement said.

Although conservationists welcome the extra resources, some critics say a lack of money has not been the only problem so much as bad management and outright corruption at some of India's tiger reserves.

In 2005, the government announced that there were no tigers left in Sariska Tiger Reserve, more than 30 years after it had set up Project Tiger, a national effort to protect the species.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; editing by Simon Denyer and Sanjeev Miglani)

Human Viruses Kill Great Apes

Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience Yahoo News 30 Jan 08;

Common human viruses are killing endangered great apes.

A new study reveals a dark side to research and ecotourism, both of which ironically are aimed to help the apes and which may still do more good than harm.

Scientists investigated chimpanzees hit by five outbreaks of respiratory disease between 1999 and 2006 in Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. Nearly all the endangered chimps became sick and many died.

All available tissue samples gathered from chimp victims tested positive for one of two germs — human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) or human metapneumovirus (HMPV). These viruses often cause respiratory disease in humans and, in developing countries, are a major source of infant mortality.

"The viruses we found are very common," said researcher Fabian Leendertz, a wildlife epidemiologist at the Robert Koch-Institute and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. "Antibody prevalence in humans is almost up to 100 percent, meaning almost everybody has had contact with these viruses" and developed antibodies, naturally, designed to fight the germs.

These cases represent the first confirmed evidence of viruses transmitted directly from humans to wild great apes.

"Virtually all diseases that can harm us can harm the great apes since we share so many genetic and physiologic properties," Leendertz told LiveScience.

Swapping diseases

There is a long history of diseases spreading from great apes to humans, and perhaps from humans to great apes:
Ebola is a widespread threat to gorillas and chimps in Central Africa, and may have spread to humans from people who ate infected animals. Ebola and SARS may both have originally come from bats. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, originated from chimps and other primates. Gorillas may have given humans public lice, or "the crabs." There have been suspicions that chimps at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania contracted polio from humans, Leendertz said. There have also been concerns that gorillas contracted yaws, a disease related to syphilis that is not sexually transmitted, from humans, Leendertz added. Gorillas and chimpanzees in West Africa have been killed by outbreaks of anthrax. This may have originated from cattle herded by humans, although Leendertz noted these may have been natural events that just exist there in the forests.

Although research and ecotourism efforts have brought people into greater contact with endangered great apes in the wild, potentially threatening the primates, "research and tourism has a strong positive effect on great apes' survival since it reduces poaching activities in these areas and gives more 'political weight' to the apes and protected areas," Leendertz added.

Indeed, studies suggest the protective effect researchers have against poachers outweighed the substantial chimpanzee death rate caused by human diseases, said Christophe Boesch of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "However, it comes with some hygienic problems which need to be addressed," he added.

Keeping a distance

The scientists have already stepped up guidelines to help minimize the risk of infection to chimpanzees, and they urge others to do the same. For example, Leendertz said, he and his colleagues now wear masks, keep a distance of at least 20 feet from the chimps, and disinfect their boots regularly.

"We need to be much more proactive about instituting strict hygiene precautions at all ape tourism and research sites," Leendertz said. "One possibility for promoting compliance is a certification process similar to the green labeling system now used in the timber industry."

Human diseases that could attack the great apes include germs "that are easily transmitted, such as respiratory disease or diarrhea-causing pathogens, and also those that persist long in the environment, since this creates a higher chance of transmission," Leendertz said.

The researchers will detail their findings in the Feb. 26 issue of the journal Current Biology.

Butchered tigers, leopards seized on Thai-Lao border: navy

Yahoo News 30 Jan 08;

Six slaughtered tigers and five leopards have been seized along with 275 live pangolins as traffickers tried to smuggle them across the Mekong River into Laos, the Thai navy said Wednesday.

The animals were being loaded off trucks and onto a boat when a navy patrol discovered them late Tuesday, Lieutenant Commander Teeranan Dangpun told AFP.

At least six people escaped into the forest, while others on the boat fled into Laos carrying four sacks believed to contain more animal remains, said Teeranan, who led the operation.

The six Bengal tigers discovered on the riverbank had been sliced in half, while the leopards had had their organs removed, he said.

"This is the second time we have intercepted wildlife being smuggled across the river to Laos. We suspect that the smugglers are all part of the same ring," Teeranan said.

In the operation last month, Teeranan said his team arrested seven smugglers and rescued 30 live pangolins.

All trade in Asian pangolins has been illegal since 2000. Their meat is regarded as a delicacy in China and their scales are believed to cure a wide range of ailments.

"Information from those smugglers led us to this case. Otherwise, we would never have caught any of them," he said.

The remains were sent to the conservation department for analysis to determine where they were taken from, he said.

The pangolins probably originated in Malaysia or Indonesia and were being trafficked through Thailand, he said.

According to Teeranan, a wild cat can be sold for 100,000 to 200,000 baht (3,000 to 6,000 dollars), while live pangolins are worth around 2,200 baht (66 dollars) per kilogram.

Each pangolin weighs about four kilograms (nine pounds).

Hannarong Yaowalers, a Thai wildlife activist, said the butchered felines were likely raised in captivity, because catching so many big cats in the wild was difficult.

Tiger hunting is illegal worldwide.

Chinese dams threaten Cambodian eco-systems: group

Yahoo News 29 Jan 08;

Cambodia's two largest dam projects threaten to flood huge swathes of protected forests, a conservation group has said, urging reform in the country's burgeoning hydropower sector.

International Rivers Network, in a report released late Monday, said that the Kamchay and Stung Atay dams, which seek to provide much-needed electricity to the country, will instead wreak havoc on local communities and slow development.

The US-based group targets in particular Chinese investment in the sector, which it said is powering forward through close ties between Cambodia's government and Beijing, unchecked by public scrutiny.

The projects highlight the "growing interest in large-scale hydropower dam development by Cambodian decision makers backed mainly by Chinese project developers and financiers," the group said.

"Chinese investment in Cambodia's hydropower sector is threatening some of the country's most precious eco-systems and the livelihoods of thousands of people."

Funded largely by a 600-million-dollar Chinese aid package, the Kamchay Dam is located entirely inside Cambodia's Bokor National Park and will flood 2,000 hectares of protected forest, the group said.

Once completed in 2010, it will also force local residents from the area, stripping them of their livelihoods, and could threaten downstream tourist sites, International Rivers said.

Protected forests in Cambodia's Cardamom mountains will also be submerged by the Stung Atay Dam, which is expected to come online in 2012, and four others currently under consideration.

"Cambodia's free-flowing rivers and abundant natural resources are invaluable assets," said Carl Middleton, Mekong program coordinator with International Rivers.

"Poorly conceived hydropower development could irreparably damage these resources and undermine Cambodia's sustainable development."

Only an estimated 20 percent of households have access to reliable electricity in Cambodia, one of the world's poorest countries.

Spiralling utility prices, driven by this lack of supply, are a major obstacle to attracting foreign investment, and the government has struggled to find a way to bring down the cost of power.

International Rivers urged Cambodia to seek alternate power sources, or adopt international standards within its own utilities sectors.

"Cambodia has many choices for meeting our electricity needs, including renewable and decentralised energy options that must be explored" said Ngy San, deputy executive director with the NGO Forum on Cambodia.

Experts say latest Indonesian bird flu case shows disease may be out of control

Channel NewsAsia 30 Jan 08;

JAKARTA : Confirmation of the 100th human bird flu death in Indonesia shows the virus is out of control in the country most ravaged by outbreaks of the disease, experts said Tuesday.

Indonesia's health ministry on Monday confirmed the death of Virda Sari, a 23-year-old woman from eastern Jakarta who died in hospital early Sunday morning.

Her death brought Indonesia's death toll to the symbolic milestone, highlighting the deadly nature of a virus that has infected a confirmed 124 people in the country, according to the ministry.

More than half of all bird flu deaths worldwide since 2005 have occurred in Indonesia, World Health Organisation figures show. More than twice as many Indonesians have died of the disease than in Vietnam, which with 48 deaths is the second most affected country.

"The virus is uncontrollable in Indonesia ... it means that viral contamination of the environment is quite high," said Ngurah Mahardika, a virologist at Udayana University on the resort island of Bali, which recorded its first two human deaths from the disease last year.

"The reason is that the virus is not under control in animals right now," he said.

The H5N1 virus is mostly spread to humans through contact with infected poultry, but scientists fear it could mutate into a form easily transmittable between humans. The resulting pandemic could kill millions.

Avian influenza has been particularly prevalent in areas surrounding Jakarta, Mahardika said, with the satellite city of Tangerang in neighbouring Banten province of particular concern with its large population living close to poultry.

Tangerang has seen eight confirmed human infections since October last year, all of them fatal.

A quarter of Indonesia's bird flu deaths have occurred in Jakarta, with another 45 percent striking in Banten and the nearby province of West Java, according to health ministry figures.

Both provinces abut the massive capital and receive the overflow of its urban sprawl.

A lack of coordination between government agencies means authorities are not sharing disease samples, raising the possibility of missing detecting strains of the virus that have adapted to humans, Mahardika said.

"The people working in this field never come to the table to talk about it and analyse it together," he said.

Devolution of power over the last 10 years since the fall of authoritarian president Suharto has also hindered coordination efforts, Australian National University Indonesia expert James Fox said.

"You have an area that will try to contain the bird flu epidemic, but there's no guarantee the neighbouring area will do the same. So (bird flu) will always just come back," Fox said.

Unlike other Asian nations which have managed to contain the bird flu virus, Indonesia's gross oversight was to not begin exterminating poultry three or four years ago when the disease first began spreading, he said.

"Most of the other nations decided they would not vaccinate, they would exterminate. The problem is on a veterinary level, (Indonesian authorities) were in denial," Fox said.

"(Exterminating poultry) is not possible anymore, you can only do that when there's a small outbreak, when it first begins. It is now endemic," Fox said.

Muchtar Ihsan, the doctor at the head of the avian influenza team at Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital -- one of two bird flu referral hospitals in the capital -- said Indonesia's long practice of families living close to their poultry has proved hard to break.

"This is the habit of the people since hundreds of years ago, it's hard to convince people that it's dangerous," he said. - AFP/ch

Best of our wild blogs: 30 Jan 08

Vote for your favourite Singapore school green video for the Schools Digital Media Awards. Our favourite is Dollar for your Oxygen Please: When a girl mistakes bottled water for bottled oxygen in a supermarket, she came to realise the need to stop fouling our own air, or we will soon have to literally 'pay' for clean air to breath.

More young shore bloggers
featured on the flying fish friends blog with a new enty on the nautifish blog! so cute!

Comment on Pangolin sighting at Bukit Panjang
reported in the Straits Times, thoughts shared on the singaporean attitude to biological conservation blog

East Coast shores are alive too!
Sand dollars, carpet anemones and giant crabs on the nearly lucid blog

Sharkwater!
a review on the ashira blog

Going Green is Good Business
some examples from Singapore, do you agree? on the champions of the environment blog

Saraca and Sunbird
glorious photos and story on the bird ecology blog

How to Boil a Frog presents Peak Oil
a colourful introduction on how to boil a frog

Pangolin at Bukit Panjang

Hanging out in Bukit Panjang
Straits Times 30 Jan 08;

The residents of Saujana Road in Bukit Panjang got a surprise yesterday when a pangolin was found hanging from a branch beside the canal next to Block 501. The animal was less than a metre long and is considered endangered here.

By 10am, it had attracted a small crowd trying to take a closer look or snapping pictures with their mobile phones. Some residents said that it had been sighted as early as 5am. Nobody knew where it had come from.

At about 3pm, National Parks Board officers managed to retrieve the pangolin. 'We transported it to the zoo, where it was inspected and microchipped for identification purposes. It will be released back into the nature reserves,' said Ms Sharon Chan, NParks' assistant director of the Central Nature Reserve.

She added: 'The animal found at the Bukit Panjang housing estate was a healthy, adult male Malayan pangolin.' Also known as the scaly anteater, it has a termite diet and lives in forested areas.

LINKS

More thoughts about reactions to this sighting shared on the singaporean attitude to biological conservation blog

NEW Publication: Field Guide to the Mammals of South-east Asia

Message from Nature's Niche

The new A Field Guide to the Mammals of South-east Asia by Charles Francis is now available. Nearly 500 species are illustrated in 72 top quality colour plates with distribution map and full description for each species.

The book includes Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia, this is the first time ever that we have a modern field guide to the mammals of our area, including the bats. All nature enthusiasts should have a copy.

The price at the Botanic Garden Shop is $93.60, members of the Nature Society of Singapore enjoy 5% discount.

Volunteers needed at Acres: get involved with wildlife issues in Singapore

Exciting volunteer opportunities with ACRES are open this year. Contact the relevant person as soon as possible as the individual teams will be holding their first meeting soon.

Volunteers needed for these teams:
Fundraising Team
Education Team
Wildlife Guardians Team
Events Team
Creative Team
Wildlife Trade Team
Cruelty-Free Team

Fundraising Team

Role: To raise funds for the general operations of ACRES as well as for specific campaigns and projects, such as the ACRES Wildlife Rescue Centre (AWRC).

Tasks: Researching potential sources of funding. Assisting with approaching companies for sponsorship of events and projects. Securing new locations for donation tins and collecting and replacing donation tins from various locations (drivers critically needed!) Developing new ways of raising funds.

Contact: louis@acres.org.sg

Education Team

Role: To deliver the new HEAL (Humane Education for All Life) programme to primary school students, to instill a sense of compassion and respect for animals in young people and to raise awareness of animal welfare issues in the younger generation.

Tasks: Delivering the HEAL programme to schools- acting in skits, supervising activities, giving talks etc. Assisting with school visits to the AWRC.

Contact: amy@acres.org.sg

Wildlife Guardians Team

Role: To assist with the daily operations of the ACRES Wildlife Rescue Centre (AWRC).

Tasks: Assisting with animal care and general maintenance work at the AWRC. Assisting with educational programmes at the AWRC for school students, as well as giving tours to the public.

Contact: anbu@acres.org.sg

Events Team

Role: To organise fundraising events and activities. To organise regular educational roadshows.

Tasks: Developing ideas for regular fund raising events, organising the events, securing venues, approaching companies for sponsorship of events etc. Securing venues for regular public educational roadshows throughout Singapore.

Contact: leanora@acres.org.sg

Creative Team

Role: To create new ACRES merchandise in order to raise funds. To use creative skills to develop new materials to promote ACRES, raise funds and relay information to the public on animal welfare issues. To explore new methods of promoting ACRES and the animal welfare message in Singapore.

Tasks: Creating new ACRES merchandise. Designing new ACRES awareness materials such as brochures, posters, advertisements, campaign videos etc. as well as fundraising materials.

Contact: charlene@acres.org.sg

Wildlife Trade Team

Role: To monitor and document levels of illegal wildlife trade in Singapore. To collaborate with the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) community to eliminate the use of wild animals in TCM.

Tasks: Conducting undercover investigations into the illegal trading of wild animals and wild animal parts throughout Singapore e.g. by pet shops and TCM shops. Liaising and working with traders towards the elimination of illegal practices. Collaborating with the TCM community on the elimination of the use of wild animals in TCM.

Contact: james@acres.org.sg

Cruelty-Free Team

Role: To promote the concept of a “Cruelty-Free Lifestyle” and produce resources to empower the public to make more humane choices in their everyday lives. To create a demand for “Cruelty-Free” products in Singapore and make companies aware of this demand.

Tasks: Producing materials exposing the truth about the ways animals suffer for everyday products used by humans and for human entertainment. Researching the availability of “Cruelty-Free” products in Singapore, e.g. writing to companies asking about their animal-testing policies. Writing to supermarkets/shops asking them to stock cruelty-free/more humane products (such as free-range eggs).

Contact: amy@acres.org.sg

More details on the Acres website

Volunteering Oppotunity: Youth Speak Up! Dunk It @ NDP 2008 with ECO Singapore

The National Day Parade is hail as the largest national event in Singapore and preparation often takes one year . It attracts more than 15,000 ticketed audience and many more performers and others gathered to watch at the Marina Promenade area.

Often after the event , litters are thrown left around the site with it is a disgrace to see that we as a Garden City, famous for our clean environment does not practice keeping it clean.

ECO-Singapore , for the past 2 years have led a groups of 200 - 400 students volunteers ,during the NDP shows to encourage the public to bring back or properly dispose of their trash.

The Organising team will plan and conceptualise the whole event, manage and train , volunteer leaders and students and also liaise with the authorities to make this event happen .It is a great learning experience. You will be put to the test and it would be an unforgettable experience for you .

More details on the ECO Singapore facebook

'We mimic the ecosystem within the concrete walls'

Sayantani Kar thescientist.com 30 Jan 08;

Ecology has been on the agenda of award-winning architect Ken Yeang since he started his career in the 1970s. An IT park with an eco-friendly tower at Manesar, promoted by the Millennium Spire Limited, a Singapore-based investment company, is the latest in Yeang’s efforts at greening the concrete jungle in India. The ecologist, author and professor tells Sayantani Kar how a “green tower” ceases to be a misnomer with his design innovations.

Why make green high-rises rather than any other concrete structure?

Skyscrapers are an inevitable response to the urban sprawl as they cover less land area than horizontal campuses, leaving more space for greenery.

But they are accused of using more energy and materials. We offset that by building them in an ecological manner. It makes them sustainable and green.

Which of your designs are you most proud of?

There are many. The IBM building (Menara Mesiniaga) in Kuala Lumpur and the Singapore National Library are two of them. I also enjoyed drawing up the master-plan for a waterfront site on Vancouver called the West Kowloon Waterfront.

What are the environmental innovations that you have introduced in your designs and how does each help?

Wind-wing walls is one of our innovations. These channel wind into the building, thereby enhancing cooling. They can reduce the load off artificial air-conditioning.

The National Library building in Singapore, for example, uses just 170 kWh per square metre per annum of power against the 230 kWh usually consumed by office buildings that are open 24 by 7.

We have used laser-cut light pipes to bring daylight into the buildings. We also often use optimised day-lighting and solar orientation for harnessing maximum solar energy; sun-shading and window glazing reduce solar heat and pressure on mechanical cooling systems.

How do your innovations reduce the stress on the environment that high-rises are wont to put?

We try to mimic the ecosystem within the concrete walls, thereby seamlessly connecting the inorganic building to the organic natural environment. Our methods also help preserve biodiversity and create healthier lifestyles within. The demand for non-renewable energy can be slashed by almost 40 per cent.

When you start, what are the factors that you base your design on and why?

We always start by looking at the ecology, including the soil, groundwater levels and biodiversity of the location. We look at the local climate like the sun and wind paths and shape the building to take advantage of these. We also keep in mind whether the materials can be reused and integrated back into nature.

What kind of growth do you foresee in demand for such buildings in the next 5 years?

I see exponential growth

Will the signature tower at Millennium Spire’s IT park in Manesar be your first Indian project?

No, I have been associated with projects in India for the last one year. I have designed a master-plan and a tower (both are yet to be built) for Reliance Industries, a large retail project in Chennai and a master-plan in Bangalore.

Do you think India will contribute more to the demand for green buildings?

Certainly. The green tower at Manesar will bring eco-friendly construction into mainstream real estate.

Hankering for shark's fin? See Sharkwater first

Letter from Alpana Ahuja (Mrs), Straits Times Forum 30 Jan 08;

AFTER reading a review in The Straits Times, I went to see the film Sharkwater. The film is amazing and an eye- opener.

As a lay person, what I understood is that if sharks are wiped off the face of the earth (they have been around for four million years), there would be an explosive growth of the small fish they eat and these will eat away the plankton. Plankton is precious and important because it takes in carbon dioxide and gives the world most of the oxygen. A more qualified person would be able to confirm these facts.

The appalling cruelty of the shark's-fin industry (a well-known fact) is graphic in its detail.

Sharks are responsible for five human deaths each year. On the other hand, drugs and road accidents are responsible for over 100,000 human deaths.

What a pity that there were only five people in the theatre. A film like this should be well promoted and shown to school children at discounted prices.

What is the use of showing such a powerful film to empty seats? School and junior-college principals, CEOs and theatre owners should sponsor shows for students/employees.

The oceans are being depleted at an alarming rate. The need of the hour is to create awareness of the facts.

Please do see the film before you reach for that bowl of shark's-fin soup. Or is it just an 'inconvenient truth', especially with the festive season round the corner?

Swimmers' Sunscreen Killing Off Coral

Ker Than, National Geographic News 29 Jan 08;

The sunscreen that you dutifully slather on before a swim on the beach may be protecting your body—but a new study finds that the chemicals are also killing coral reefs worldwide.

Four commonly found sunscreen ingredients can awaken dormant viruses in the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside reef-building coral species.

The chemicals cause the viruses to replicate until their algae hosts explode, spilling viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can infect neighboring coral communities.

Zooxanthellae provide coral with food energy through photosynthesis and contribute to the organisms' vibrant color. Without them, the coral "bleaches"—turns white—and dies.

"The algae that live in the coral tissue and feed these animals explode or are just released by the tissue, thus leaving naked the skeleton of the coral," said study leader Roberto Danovaro of the Polytechnic University of Marche in Italy.

The researchers estimate that 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen wash off swimmers annually in oceans worldwide, and that up to 10 percent of coral reefs are threatened by sunscreen-induced bleaching.

The study appeared online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Activated Viruses

Danovaro and his team studied the effects of sunscreen exposure on coral samples from reefs in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.

Even low levels of sunscreen, at or below the typical amount used by swimmers, could activate the algae viruses and completely bleach coral in just four days, the results showed.

Seawater surrounding coral exposed to sunscreen contained up to 15 times more viruses than unexposed samples.

Several brands of popular sunscreens were tested and all had four ingredients in common: paraben, cinnamate, benzophenone, and a camphor derivative.

Dangerous Dose

Robert van Woesik, a coral expert at the Florida Institute of Technology, was not involved in the research.

He questions whether conditions in the study accurately reflect those found in nature.

For example, the coral samples were exposed to sunscreen while in plastic bags to avoid contaminating the reefs. But van Woesik worries this prevented dilution of the chemicals through natural water circulation.

"Under normal situations on a coral reef, corals would not be subjected to these high concentrations because of rapid dilution," van Woesik said.

But according to study author Danovaro, the effect is not dose dependent—so coral's exposure to a very small dose of sunscreen is just as dangerous as a high exposure.

"It is more like on-off," he said. "Once the viral epidemic is started, it is not a problem of toxicity."

Alarming Trend

Rebecca Vega Thurber, a marine virus and coral researcher at San Diego State University in California, said the new results are further evidence of an alarming trend.

"Other [human-induced] factors such as coastal pollution, overfishing, and sedimentation all contribute to coral reef habitat degradation, and this work continues in that vein," said Vega Thurber, who was also not involved in the research.

"But before we ban sunscreens, we must first determine if local ambient concentrations of sunscreens are positively correlated with coral bleaching events."

Danovaro says banning sunscreen won't be necessary, and points out two simple things swimmers can do to reduce their impact on coral: Use sunscreens with physical filters, which reflect instead of absorb ultraviolet radiation; and use eco-friendly chemical sunscreens.

Australian researchers are also working to develop a sunscreen based on a natural ultraviolet-blocking compound found in coral.

Dengue under-reporting in Singapore?

Whyy the numbers went missing
Loh Chee Kong, Today Online 27 Jan 08;

As eyebrows rise over the under-reporting of dengue deaths, MOH pledges to plug loophole

A NEWS report clarifying that the country had 20 dengue deaths last year, instead of eight as originally reported, would not have looked out of place in a newspaper from a Third World country — where the healthcare system and overall communications are bogged down by inefficiencies.

But when the under-reporting of deaths relating to a dengue epidemic occurred in Singapore, more than a few eyebrows were raised, even as the Ministry of Health (MOH) pledged to act swiftly to plug the loophole in the Infectious Diseases Act (IDA).

Incidentally, the news of the much higher dengue deaths, which was reported earlier this month, came less than two months after the MOH completed a public consultation process on amending the Act.

The planned amendments to the 31-year-old law, which is jointly administered by the MOH and the National Environment Agency, are aimed at strengthening Singapore's capabilities to respond effectively to outbreaks.

But with the dengue virus being no stranger to our public health agencies — they have been grappling with it for the past two decades — the under-reporting poses a question mark over Singapore's readiness to deal with an endemic outbreak.

For the record, last year's 20 dengue deaths were just five fewer than in 2005, when Singapore saw its worst dengue outbreak in recent memory.

How did it happen? The MOH had explained that the additional dengue deaths turned up only after it had "obtained inputs from the Registry of Births and Deaths".

Dengue — along with 28 other diseases including Sars, cholera and nipah — is gazetted under the Infectious Diseases Act, which makes it compulsory under the law for medical practitioners to inform the MOH when they are aware or suspect a patient "is suffering or has died from or is a carrier of an infectious disease".

But in response to media queries, the MOH explained that the law had one loophole — there was "no requirement for medical practitioners to report deaths from these infectious diseases".

This means that doctors are required by law to notify — by fax, post or via an online notification system — the ministry when they come across infected cases but not when such patients die subsequently. However, it is compulsory for doctors to notify the MOH when a patient, who was not previously identified as a dengue carrier, dies from dengue.

"To ensure more complete and timely information on dengue deaths, MOH will soon be revising the Infectious Diseases Regulations to make deaths from infectious diseases specified under the IDA notifiable," the ministry said.

While the legal loophole explains how the authorities got it all wrong, doctors who spoke to Today said that such a lapse should not have occurred. They believe that doctors have a duty to inform the health authorities on any dengue deaths even if the law, as it exists, does not require them to do so.

One of them, Dr Wong Sin Yew, told Today that he makes it a point to immediately notify the Health Ministry upon the death of any of his dengue patients.

As an infectious disease expert at Gleneagles Medical Centre, Dr Wong has been treating patients in advanced stages of dengue.

Said Dr Wong: "It's quite clear and important for me to make the ministry aware of such cases. I don't do things only based on whether it's compulsory to do so by law."

Dr Wong also pointed to the existence of forms which are used by doctors to notify the MOH of cases of infectious diseases, or to jot down any other diseases or illnesses that they suspect the patient to be suffering from. These forms, he said, are an important channel of communication to alert the MOH of any potential outbreaks of diseases though it is based only on doctors' suspicions and preliminary diagnosis.

Said Dr Wong: "The information that doctors give to the ministry should be information relevant to the ministry, whether it's required by law or not."

For Member of Parliament, Mdm Halimah Yacob, common sense should prevail in cases where the law might be found wanting.

"Even if the law is not explicit enough, common sense would tell us that such instances should be reported," said Mdm Halimah, who heads the Government Parliamentary Committee on Health.

She was "surprised" at the magnitude of the under-reporting but as this was the first time she has heard of such a lapse, the issue of under-reporting "does not appear to be widespread".

Still, Mdm Halimah noted that the World Health Organisation has already identified infectious diseases as a global security threat.

And at a time when the Government is putting together a more robust National Registry of Diseases, accurate and up-to-date data are critical for national planning, she reiterated.

"It is important that these loopholes have to be addressed. Otherwise, we may get the impression that the problem is less serious than what it actually is," Mdm Halimah added.

As Dr Yeo Chor Tzien — a general practitioner — put it, such errors are uncharacteristic for a country like Singapore, which prides itself for its efficiency and transparency. "If this had happened in a Third World country, I would not be surprised," he said.

First World or otherwise, the lapse in the reporting system serves as a red flag to Singapore's reputable public health system.

If nothing else, the erroneous reporting of dengue deaths drives home the point that there's no room for complacency throughout the ranks — especially when lives are at stake.

Ready to fight dengue
Letter from Ministry of Health, Today Online 30 Jan 08;

Ability to curb outbreaks not affected by under-reporting

In the Weekend xtra article, "Why the numbers went missing" (Jan 26-27), Loh Chee Kong questioned the under-reporting of dengue deaths and asked if this would compromise Singapore's ability to respond effectively to disease outbreaks.

The answer is no.

All doctors are required by law to notify the MOH as soon as they come across any dengue or suspected dengue patients.

Upon receipt of any such notification, the MOH and the National Environment Agency will commence public health measures and vector control operations immediately.

This is how we manage dengue outbreaks.

In all the 20 dengue deaths reported for 2007, public health action was never compromised as the MOH had been notified of all the cases within 24 hours of diagnosis.

Letter from Julie Sim
Deputy Director (Media Relations),
Corporate Communications Division,
Ministry of Health (MOH)

Singapore PowerSeraya keen on building big-scale desalination plants

Company opens cutting-edge reverse osmosis desalination plant
Ronnie Lim, Business Times 30 Jan 08;

POWERSERAYA (PS) - the second-largest generation company here which has grown into an integrated water, heat and power player - is interested in building large-scale desalination plants if Singapore opens up the water market. It is also keen on expanding overseas.

'If the PUB decides to open up the water market we would be interested in expanding our capability,' PS managing director Neil McGregor said at the opening of its 10,000 cubic metre per day reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant.

PS's plant is the first worldwide to use the cutting-edge 16-inch membrane which results in a higher water yield and also cost savings, as it uses 30 per cent less electricity than conventional small membrane plants.

Primarily aimed at giving PS self-sufficiency in its water and steam (to drive its electricity turbines) needs, the $20 million desalination plant also has spare capacity allowing PS to sell steam to others such as Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore on Jurong Island.

While the RO plant has enough spare capacity for another year or two of market growth, PS is already planning a second RO plant to supply steam to even more petrochemical customers there. 'Jurong Island has a huge need for water,' Mr McGregor said.

'The more high-grade steam we sell, the more water we need,' he said, adding however, that no decision has yet been made on building a second RO plant.

Further down the road, if the water market here, currently controlled by PUB, is liberalised, then PS would also look to scale up and build bigger desalination plants, which would typically be at least six times the size of its current RO plant - or a 30 million gallon per day plant, Mr McGregor said.

'Water gives us a new platform to grow the company in future,' he told a press conference ahead of the opening ceremonies.

To optimise use of its existing facilities, the RO plant taps about 26,000 cu m of seawater from PS's existing seawater intake facility to produce 9,000 cu m of high-grade service water and 1,000 cu m of potable water daily.

Praising PS's new plant, Parliamentary Secretary (Environment & Water Resources) Amy Khor said that its cost savings in electricity consumption to produce the water will eventually translate to even more affordable utilities supply to Jurong Island customers.

On PS's regional diversification plans, Mr McGregor said that this was the next logical step for PS, but stressed that this 'was not imminent'.

'It has to be done in tandem with our shareholders and at this point of time they are considering privatisation and not regionalisation,' he said, referring to Temasek Holding's ongoing divestment of the three big gencos here.

Temasek, which is expected to pick the winner for Tuas Power - the first to go - in March, will proceed with the sale of PS and Senoko Power next, with the entire divestment exercise scheduled for completion by the first half of next year.

No need to buy water

Desalinated water feeds energy firm's own industrial needs
Lin Yanqin Today Online 30 Jan 08;

IT WILL help energy retailer PowerSeraya be self-sufficient in its water needs, improve energy efficiency and create more cost savings — which could mean more competitively-priced utilities for its customers.

Such is the promise of the firm's new $20-million reverse osmosis desalination plant, which can produce 10,000 m3 of high-quality service and potable water from seawater each day. This is more than enough to meet its industrial needs, including making steam for electricity generation and equipment washing.

The plant on Jurong Island uses the larger 16-inch reverse osmosis membranes — the first desalination plant in the world to do so — which provide more water yield and a smaller carbon footprint. This helps it reduce water costs by up to 30 per cent and improve overall thermal efficiency.

The energy retailer used to buy water from the Public Utilities Board. The desalination plant will also allow the firm to expand its range of commodities to buyers, such as selling its desalinated water to customers.

"Our move into water production is primarily aimed at self-sufficiency but if a water market were to evolve in the future, we would be interested in expanding our capacity," said PowerSeraya managing director Neil McGregor at the plant's official launch yesterday.

Firms with desalination facilities — such as Senoko Power — currently produce enough water for their own industrial use, not enough to supply others.

On the possibility of a water retail market, guest-of-honour Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Ministry Dr Amy Khor said it was not being considered now. "(But) whether the private sector has the capability to do it … We'll have to see how the market develops."

Energy firm scores a first with $20m water plant
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 30 Jan 08;

POWERSERAYA now has its own desalination plant, making it the first combined heat, water and power supplier in South-east Asia.

The energy company officially opened the $20 million plant at its Jurong Island facility yesterday.

Managing director Neil McGregor said the plant consumes 30 per cent less electricity than conventional desalination plants.

When the plant runs at full capacity, about 10,000 cubic m of water, enough to fill four Olympic-size pools, can be produced per day.

Ninety per cent of the water will be used to clean floors, flush toilets and the like. The rest is clean enough to drink.

The drinking water has not been licensed for sale by regulators, but the firm may get the rights to sell it to water barges.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor opened the plant. When asked if the supply of water could be deregulated, Dr Khor said the idea, while a good one, was not currently being considered.

24-hr petrol stations a waste of resources

Letter from James Wong, Today Online 30 Jan 08;

In our effort to conserve energy and save the planet, I wonder if there is a need for petrol stations to stay open for 24 hours.

After midnight, especially on weekdays, few motorists go to the stations. I am quite sure the additional cost of operating stations past midnight is not cost-effective.

Singapore is not a big country. You can find a petrol station every kilometre or two.

In the end, consumers are paying, or are being "penalised", for this wastage in resources in the form of higher petrol prices. Many years ago, petrol stations stayed opened until late only on Chinese New Year's eve.

I suggest that petrol stations stay open past midnight only on Saturdays and on the eve of public holidays. They should be closed between midnight and 6am on other days.

Alternatively, the authorities could look into the option of having only one station in a certain area open for 24 hours on certain days of the month.

There are 13 petrol stations from Newton Circus to Eng Neo Avenue, along Bukit Timah and Dunearn roads.

Isn't this a waste of land use in land-scarce Singapore? Singaporeans are very adaptable and I'm sure we will get used to the new opening hours.

Petrol-station opening hours best left to market forces
Reply from MTI, Straits Times Forum 1 Feb 08;

IN THE letter, 'Do petrol stations have to open 24 hours?' (ST, Jan 30), Mr James Wong Joo Sin suggested that as part of our efforts to conserve energy, the opening hours of petrol stations should be regulated by the Government.

The Government takes seriously efforts to conserve energy. However, it should not micro-manage how people or businesses use energy, and decide for them what activities which use energy are or are not justified.

Businesses are in the best position to make their own commercial decisions on where, when and how to serve the needs of their customers. They will need to balance the additional cost of operating 24 hours against the extra revenue they expect to generate in making such decisions.

For petrol kiosks sited in close proximity to each other, commercial sense must similarly prevail. If there is a lack of demand, those which do not make sufficient returns will have to close, leading to an optimal number of operators.

The Government provides the market with good infrastructure and a conducive business environment. For enterprise to thrive, the rest is best left to market forces and free competition. This is the way to build an efficient economy which responds flexibly to changing conditions.

Lim Bee Khim (Ms)
Director
Corporate Communications
for Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Trade and Industry

Bangladesh's majestic dolphins at risk

Alastair Lawson, BBC News 28 Jan 08;

Seeing the river dolphins of Bangladesh is not something that is easily forgotten. They rise arc-like and majestic out of the water only inches from boats that ply the rivers of the country's south.

In a country where the wildlife population has been denuded because of over-crowding and pollution, dolphins provide visitors with a beautiful and memorable surprise.

But conservationists say they are increasingly concerned over the future of the country's river dolphin population, some of which they warn may even be at risk of extinction.

They say that it is rapidly declining because of over-fishing, a shortage of prey, pollution and declining freshwater supplies.

'Isolated'

Experts are particularly concerned over the fate of two species - the Ganges river dolphin and the Irrawaddy dolphin whose numbers they say have significantly reduced over the last decade.

"This is probably because of intense human activities - such as farming and fishing - that takes place in their river and near shore water habit," said dolphin expert Elisabeth Fahrni Mansur.

"But they are also at risk because of the clumped nature of their overall distribution, which results in a patchwork of relatively small groups demographically isolated from each other."

While Bangladesh currently supports relatively large populations of Ganges river dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins, conservationists argue that it's crucial to address the threats they face now, while the potential for long-term survival of both species is still relatively high in comparison to other areas in Asia.

While other species such as Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins are not currently threatened, their future can by no means be taken for granted. But it's the Ganges river dolphin and the Irrawaddy dolphin which give the most cause for concern.

"The most dire threat to them comes in the form of accidental deaths caused fishing nets," said Ms Mansur.

"Fishermen don't target the animals, but when they often become entangled in nets they easily drown because they are breathing mammals.

"A more long term threat comes from declining freshwater supplies - primarily due to water extraction upstream in India - and sea-level rises which have led to profound changes to the ecology of their habitat."

The bulk of the country's freshwater dolphin population live in the south-west of the country, especially in the rivers and waterways of the Sunderbans mangrove forest.

Experts point out that these rivers are particularly affected by toxic and industrial waste which is dumped in the water further upstream.

"Rising salinity through both climate change and declining freshwater supplies is also a real and a long-term challenge to the ecology of the Sunderbans," said Ms Mansur.

Dolphins in the forest tend to partition themselves according to the level of salinity - Ganges river dolphins for example are found in mangrove channels with high freshwater inputs, while Irrawaddy dolphins live in more salty mangrove channels further downstream.

Ominous development

Experts say that the level of salinity in these areas is crucial to the survival of the animals and to the livelihoods of over 30,000 fishermen in the Sunderbans. Already at least 11 species of fresh water fish are extinct.

In what many environmentalists see as an ominous development, the finless porpoise - primarily a coastal species - has recently been discovered in the Sunderbans which provides another indication of rising salinity.

Steps are now being taken to combat the problem.

The Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project (BCDP) and the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) are proposing a protected area for dolphins, which would consist of three priority sites in the Sunderbans.

In addition to monitoring salinity levels, accidental killings of dolphins by fishermen would also be surveyed.

"The idea is that fishermen will be provided with relatively inexpensive global positioning systems and depth sounders, in addition to being trained how to use them so that they can navigate safely to shore during storms," said Ms Mansur.

"In return the fishermen would safely release live animals found entangled in their nets, and collect samples and basic information on animals found already dead.

"But the battle to save these animals is not going to be easy. Salinity and over-fishing are in many respects facts beyond our control. We are the local end of a global battle."

California salmon population declines

Terence Chea, Associated Press Yahoo News 30 Jan 08;

The number of chinook salmon returning to California's Central Valley has reached a near-record low, pointing to an "unprecedented collapse" that could lead to severe restrictions on West Coast salmon fishing this year, according to federal fishery regulators.

The sharp drop in chinook or "king" salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in the Sacramento River and its tributaries this past fall is part of broader decline in wild salmon runs in rivers across the West.

The population dropped more than 88 percent from its all-time high five years ago, according to an internal memo sent to members of the Pacific Fishery Management Council and obtained by The Associated Press.

Regulators are still trying to understand the reasons for the shrinking number of spawners; some scientists believe it could be related to changes in the ocean linked to global warming.

Only about 90,000 returning adult salmon were counted in the Central Valley in 2007, the second lowest number on record, the memo said. The population was at 277,000 in 2006 and 804,000 five years ago.

In an e-mail to council members, Donald McIsaac, the agency's executive director, said he wanted to give them "an early alert to what at this point appears to be an unprecedented collapse in the abundance of adult California Central Valley ... fall Chinook salmon stocks."

"The magnitude of the low abundance ... is such that the opening of all marine and freshwater fisheries impacting this important salmon stock will be questioned," he said.

Rare tortoise threatened as last of Spain's unspoiled coast falls prey to developers

Fiona Govan, The Telegraph 29 Jan 08;

It has survived wars, disease and famine, but the spread of residential tourism across its natural habitat may prove too much for the spur-thighed tortoise.

Small populations of Testudo graeca survive in only two small pockets in Spain; the national park of Doñana in Andalusia and a strip of as yet unspoiled coastline between Almeria and Murcia in the southeast.

But now one of the last remaining stretches of undeveloped coast on the Spanish Mediterranean is falling prey to the same kind of mass construction that has buried the Costa del Sol under a layer of concrete.

Environmentalists fear a new 5,000 acre development, that promises to be one of the largest purpose built tourist resorts in Europe, heralds the end of the protected species of tortoise.

"The development will destroy one of the last unspoiled corners of the coastline of the Murcia region - an area of incalculable environmental value - and will endanger the survival of the protected spur-thighed tortoise," said a statement from environmentalist group Ecologists in Action.

They are protesting against plans by the regional government to allow the construction of Marina de Cope, a development that when completed will include 9,000 holiday homes, hotel accommodation for 20,000 guests, five golf courses and a 2,000 berth marina.

Jose Pablo Ruiz Abellán, the regional head of tourism for Murcia, claimed the initiative was a necessary step for the region to become an "international reference point for quality tourism".

The project near the town of Águilas controversially encompasses land that forms part of a Natural Park and was protected until the regional government introduced an amendment to allow the construction to go ahead.

"Taking steps backward in the protection of natural spaces cannot be allowed in any civilized country," claim organisers of the campaign to Save Cabo de Cope Natural Park.

Of the threat to the survival of Spain's tortoises, Ruben Vives, the Murcian regional secretary for Ecologists in Action, told Spain's El Pais newspaper: "This species' habitat is very reduced, so its ecological value is huge.

"The key to their future lies in how much habitable surface they have, and this area keeps shrinking due to land declassifications, new roads, agriculture and so on. So right now, the tendency is for them to disappear."

The construction process itself causes great harm to the reptiles with many crushed by the mechanical diggers.

Even those that survive the process are likely to face further problems. Because they are cold-blooded, slow-moving animals, a road represents a much bigger obstacle to them than to swifter and more robust animals such as deer or boar.

"When groups become isolated from the main population due to a project that cuts through their terrain, they often simply die out," said Mr Vives, underscoring that even though the EU Habitats Directive has set aside protected land for them, these areas are insufficient and unconnected.

This could mark the end of a species that, although not indigenous to Spain, has for centuries made its home here, according to Christian Wiesner, a vet and tortoise specialist who works out of the Mediterranean coast.

"This area is ideal because they are extremely well adapted to the arid climate, supporting long periods of water deprivation and food scarcity," said Mr Wiesner.

"Mediterranean tortoises have already disappeared from most of their original biotopes; almost none are left in France and Italy due to human pressure, and they can only survive in remote and sparsely populated areas. One of these important residual habitats, Águilas, is now about to be destroyed."

Rare 3-Foot Spitting Earthworm Found in Legal Battle

Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience Yahoo News 29 Jan 08;

A rare 3-foot-long spitting earthworm that smells like lilies is at the heart of a legal battle between conservationists and the U.S. government.

When taxonomist Frank Smith discovered the giant Palouse earthworm (Driloleirus americanus) in 1897 by, he described it as "very abundant." Nowadays, however, sightings of the worm are rare.

The only recent confirmed worm sighting was made in 2005 by a University of Idaho researcher. Before that, the giant worm had not been spotted in 17 years, since 1988.

It reportedly grows up to three feet long and has a peculiar flowery smell (Driloleirus is Latin for "lily-like worm"). The cream-colored or pinkish-white worm lived in permanent burrows as deep as 15 feet and spat at attackers.

"This worm is the stuff that legends and fairy tales are made of. A pity we're losing it," said Steve Paulson, a board member of Friends of the Clearwater, a conservation group based in Moscow, Idaho.

Unlike the European earthworms now common across the United States, the giant Palouse earthworm is native to the Americas. Specifically, the giant worm dwelled in the prairies of the Palouse, the area of the northwest United States. The Palouse has been dramatically altered by farming practices, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noted.

"The giant Palouse earthworm is extremely rare and faces substantial risk of extinction," said Noah Greenwald, a conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group based in Tucson, Ariz.

Conservation groups had petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2006 to protect the worm as an endangered species. The World Conservation Union currently ranks the worm as "vulnerable" — one step away from "endangered" in terms of conservation status.

Last October, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided the worm did not warrant protection as an endangered species. Still, "we share the petitioners' concern for the species," said Susan Martin, supervisor for the Upper Columbia Fish and Wildlife Office in Spokane, Washington, in a press release.

"They do seem to be rare, but rarity doesn't mean endangered," U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Tom Buckley told LiveScience. "They may be in trouble, but we'd need more information to know, and based on the information we received, there's not enough scientific data out there to make a determination."

Greenwald countered, saying, "Rarity is certainly a factor in species endangerment. It's possible to have a species that is rare but not endangered, that only occurred naturally in one or two places, with those places being entirely secure, but that is not at all the case here with the giant Palouse earthworm. Its presumed habitat is almost gone — something like 3 percent of the native Palouse prairies is left."

Now conservation groups have filed suit to overturn the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. "The earthworm needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act to survive," Paulson said.

The conservation groups note that in seeking protection for the worm, they are also hoping to defend the prairies of the Palouse.

"In order to protect endangered species, you have to protect the places in which they live," Greenwald told LiveScience. "In seeking to protect the earthworm, we want to protect those remnants of the Palouse prairie that still exist."

British Nuclear Cleanup: Costs and Problems Rising

Jeremy Lovell, PlanetArk 30 Jan 08;

LONDON - The costs of cleaning up waste from Britain's first civil nuclear power programme are still rising and uncertainties abound, the National Audit Office, the country's public spending watchdog, said on Wednesday.

Its report comes three weeks after the British government finally gave the green light to a new fleet of nuclear power stations to replace the retiring plants and help the country meet its carbon emission commitments.

But the current 73 billion pound cost of decommissioning the 19 existing nuclear sites over the next century is 18 percent above initial estimates, and the costs of even near-term actions are still rising when they should have stabilised.

Added to that, pressure on the finances of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the need to sometimes divert funds for unforeseen circumstances had led to significant uncertainty for site operators, the NAO said in its comprehensive report.

"Whilst the scale of the task is now better defined, estimates of costs to the taxpayer have continued to rise," said NAO head John Bourn.

"At the same time, the start and stop nature of decommissioning work at some sites lessens the value for money of the significant resources invested to date," he added.

"One of our primary roles going forward is to provide a level of certainty for our stakeholders on agreed plans for all our sites," the NDA said in a statement.

"We remain confident that through innovation and world-class performance by our contractors we will first stabilise and then ultimately reduce the UK's nuclear liability," it added.

Britain's nuclear power plants provide 18 percent of the nation's electricity. All except one are scheduled to be taken out of service within 15 years -- and most well before then.

Opponents of nuclear new build point to the spiralling costs of decommissioning old plant and the problems of dealing with waste that remains deadly for thousands of years.

Advocates note that most of the existing plants were built well before any serious thought had been given to taking them out of service and that modern designs did incorporate that facility and in any case produced far less waste.

They also note that the bulk of the estimated decommissioning cost -- more than 45 billion pounds as currently stated -- applied to Sellafield in northwest England, the first and by far the biggest nuclear site dating back to the 1950s.

The National Audit Office accepted that the Decommissioning Authority's task had been greatly complicated and its costs multiplied by the fact that nuclear bookkeeping had been very poor in the early days of atomic power.

This meant that there were in some instances only very sketchy records of what nuclear waste had been stored where and in which ponds on the Sellafield site. (Editing by Andrew Roche)

High Oil Prices Boost Energy Efficiency - Report

Tom Bergin, Planet Ark 30 Jan 08;

LONDON - High oil prices have spurred countries to use energy more efficiently, a report by an energy industry group said, but the authors say concerted government action is still needed to encourage less waste.

The World Energy Council, whose members include energy companies and government bodies in 90 countries, said a study it commissioned showed the long-standing trend of countries using less energy to generate each dollar of GDP had accelerated in the period 2000 to 2006, when oil prices hit new highs.

Over the period 1990 to 2006, energy productivity increased at an average rate of 1.3 percent, but from 2000 to 2006, productivity grew 1.5 percent per year.

China was the principal exception, with its improvement in energy productivity falling to 1 percent per annum in 2000-2006 from 7.5 percent per annum in 1990-2000, as its economic growth soared to double-digit levels.

The development of more efficient technologies over time generally allows countries to use less energy to perform the same tasks. However, total energy use still tends to rise as increased wealth prompts greater overall consumption.

Governments need to adopt a range of measures to reduce energy waste and unnecessary CO2 production, the report said, including tax breaks for energy-saving technology, rises in energy prices and tougher regulations for cars and houses.

Few countries around the world have so far managed to generate a material portion of their energy needs from sustainable or "green" sources, leading to increased hydrocarbon use and higher CO2 emissions.

Many analysts believe that until cleaner technologies are developed and adopted, energy efficiency is the easiest way for the world to significantly curb CO2 emissions.

The WEC also encouraged governments to promote the labelling of products to highlight their energy efficiency and to lead by example in reducing unnecessary energy use. (Editing by David Holmes)

'Green' cars could save motorists £300 a year

Charles Clover, The Telegraph 30 Jan 08;

Motorists could save £300 a year by choosing a "greener" car instead of a nearly identical gas-guzzling model, according to a study.

Yet greener cars - such as the 74.3 mpg Volkswagen Polo Blue Motion diesel and the 65.7 mpg Toyota Prius hybrid - are likely to account for only 0.2 per cent of cars on the roads this year.

The running costs of the six most eco-friendly cars, according to the Department for Transport's own figures, were compared with standard cars from the same manufacturers by researchers from the independent price-switching website, uSwitch.com.

Apart from the Prius, all the "green" cars chosen were diesels. As a family car, there was a 57.6 mpg Renault Laguna Hatch; as an estate car, a 61.4 mpg Skoda Fabia estate; and, as an MPV, a 58.9 mpg Ford Focus C-Max with a 1.6 litre engine.

Researchers found that motorists covering 12,000 miles a year would save an average of £165 a year on fuel compared to the gas-guzzling equivalent from the same manufacturer (though this was often much less gas-guzzling compared with luxury cars and 4x4s).

The green car driver could also save as much £125 in road tax - in the case of the Polo super-mini, by avoiding it completely as the car came into the A band, which applies to vehicles emitting under 100 grams of CO2 per kilometre.
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Drivers of green cars also emitted an average of 17 per cent less than people driving the gas-guzzling equivalents, which in the case of the Toyota Prius was calculated as the 39.8 mpg petrol-engined Toyota Auris.

Over five years of ownership, the study found that green drivers saved an average of £1,092 on fuel and tax compared with drivers of "standard" cars.

The study also found that it was a myth that "green" cars cost more to buy. In fact, the "green" cars studied worked out £130 cheaper to buy than the standard equivalent, bringing the savings over five years to £1,222.

On top of that, the study found that "green" cars depreciate by £562 a year less on average than standard cars, so offer more savings.

Last year, the number of "green" cars sold rose by 70 per cent, from 10,000 the year before to 17,000.

If this trend continues, there will be more than 28,900 green cars bought this year, bringing the number of "green" cars driving on Britain's roads to 55,900, according to uSwitch.

Ashton Berkhauer of uSwitch said: "A vehicle's green credentials are fast becoming a major selling point when it comes to buying a new car. However, it is not just a matter of motorists blindly jumping on the green bandwagon.

"With fuel prices soaring to a record high, motorists are becoming attracted to these fuel-efficient, lower-tax green vehicles, finding them to be kind on their pockets as well as the environment."

He said that to be truly green, however, motorists would need also to insure with a company that was carbon neutral and offset their emissions by donating to a charity that worked on environmental projects.

Meat industry needs to return to pasture-fed cattle

Farming should return to its roots
Graham Harvey, BBC News 39 Jan 08;

The meat industry needs to return to its roots of pasture-fed cattle, says Graham Harvey. In this week's Green Room, he argues that traditional farming methods can deliver more sustainable and healthier food as people become more aware of what ends up on their plates.

The best beef I ever tasted came from a small farm just three miles from where I live in Somerset, England.

I'd heard from a foodie friend that the farmer sometimes took a beast back to sell in freezer packs direct from the farm.

When I called to collect my meat I was struck by how old-fashioned the farm looked. For a start, the pastures were full of clovers and wild flowers, a rare sight in an age of chemically-fertilised monocultures of most beef farms.

The pastures were grazed; not by one of the big, continental breeds so popular with modern farmers, but by traditional Red Ruby Devon cattle, once the universal breed on Exmoor.

This was the way beef had been produced for thousands of years in the UK. This supplier had stuck with this way of farming even though his neighbours, one-by-one, switched to the big cattle and the intensive methods so favoured by the supermarkets and giant abattoirs.

No doubt they had a quiet chuckle at this quaint style of farming as they looked over the hedge. But they don't laugh any more.

As scientists continually uncover more health benefits from this natural, pasture-fed beef, there's a growing queue of customers waiting to buy it.

Research has shown that, in contrast to most supermarket meat, this beef contains more anti-oxidants including vitamin E, more iron and other minerals, more omega-3 fatty acids and more of the powerful anti-cancer compound known as conjugated linoleic acid.

As a result, it doesn't simply supply high-quality protein and other nutrients; It can actually help protect the body against heart disease, cancer and a host of other diseases.

The "commodity beef" that fills the supermarket chill cabinets fails to provide these health benefits. Yet this is the kind of beef western governments continue to support through their agricultural policies.

Where's the beef?

On any rational grounds, pasture-fed beef ought to be the norm in countries like Britain that have the climate to grow good grass.

As well as producing healthy meat, pasture-based production systems require no chemical fertilisers, especially when they contain nitrogen-fixing clovers.

The great beef-raising countries of the world - South America, central and eastern Europe, and on the Great Plains of the US - all based their production on semi-natural grasslands.

It is a system of food production that is sustainable, efficient in resource use and good for the environment.

Semi-natural grassland absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and builds up soil carbon reserves.

Higher levels of organic matter boost the uptake of valuable trace elements by plant roots, so the whole system made up a virtuous circle from which healthy food and a healthy planet were the chief products.

It has been destroyed by political measures to promote worldwide grain production. For more than 30 years, governments in the US and the EU have poured subsidies into the production of wheat and other grains.

They have maintained a permanent global grain surplus that has made the production of healthy, grass-fed beef uneconomic.

Traditional beef producers are unable to compete with the inferior meat produced by animals confined in sheds and feedlots and fed on the subsidised grain. This is an unnatural food for ruminants.

The meat it produces is the kind that's more likely to lead to heart attacks and cancer. European and American taxpayers have unwittingly degraded a staple food.

Chief beneficiaries of the change have been the agri-business corporations who supply chemical fertilisers, pharmaceuticals and a host of other inputs needed to keep the current system going.

Pasture-based production with its healthy animals and fertile soils required none of these things.

The natural grassland of the US prairie states supported 50 million bison. Without inputs they would have supported a similar number of cattle. Today those same states are mainly under corn and soya crops, which require huge inputs of chemical fertiliser, pesticide, irrigation and government subsidy to keep on producing.

Most of the crops are fed to livestock from which the food products are far less healthy than the original grass-fed version.

This damaging form of food production is backed by intensive lobbying from agri-business companies and large farmers.

In Britain, the influential National Farmers' Union - whose president is a commodity cereal grower - pledges support for family farms.

Yet the union has for decades fought to keep the grain subsidies that destroyed pasture-based livestock production, the mainstay of the family farm.

With western industrial countries suffering an epidemic of degenerative diseases, there's an urgent need to return to the healthier foods from animals raised on pasture.

At the same time, it's important to reduce the environmental impact of nitrate fertilisers which are major contributors of greenhouse gases. Switching livestock production from grain to pasture-based would help achieve both objectives.

Ironically, US and EU backing for biofuels may lead to a global renewal of pasture farming.

Government aid for bioethanol and biodiesel production from temperate crops - essentially a new form of subsidy for arable farming - has led to a doubling in grain prices.

For the first time in decades there are no surpluses of cheap grain for intensive animal production. The traditional production of meat and dairy foods from grassland begins to look viable again.

Western consumers can speed to switch to healthier foods by giving pasture-fed foods a higher priority. In doing so they'll protect not only their own health, but the long-term health of the planet.

Graham Harvey is author of We Want Real Food, published by Robinson

The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website

U.N. aid chief worried by food inflation, weather

Reuters 29 Jan 08;

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Rising food prices and extreme weather are sparking more humanitarian disasters around the world, the United Nations' top official for emergency relief warned on Tuesday.

Fourteen out of 15 U.N. "flash appeals" for help last year were a response to devastation caused by droughts, floods and hurricanes, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said.

"That is five more than in any other year," Holmes said during a visit to European Union headquarters in Brussels.

"We are seeing them (disasters) increase in intensity and number," he told a news conference, saying weather events could not always be directly linked with climate change.

Holmes cited growing demand for food in China and India, a shift towards more meat-oriented diets and the use of foodstuffs in biofuels as driving what he called a structural change in food prices that put some staples beyond the reach of the poor.

A recent rise in wheat flour prices in Afghanistan had hit poor people hard, and similar humanitarian consequences of food price inflation were feared in Pakistan and Bangladesh, he said.

"This poses a double challenge for the World Food Program. Not only is the price increasing but the need is going up because of the hunger," he said.

The U.N. body is overseeing an international target of halving the proportion of hungry people in the world.

(Reporting by Mark John; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)

Arctic Ice Fields 'Receding Like Mad'

Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Yahoo News 29 Jan 08;

Ice fields on an Arctic island have shrunk 50 percent in the past 50 years and will be gone in 50 more, scientists said this week.

Located just west of Greenland, Baffin Island is the fifth largest island in the world, with an area of 196,000 square miles (about 508,000 square kilometers). That's larger than California.

A study published in the Jan. 28 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters reveals the expanses of ice blanketing Baffin's northern plateau in the Canadian Arctic are smaller than at any time in at least the last 1,600 years.

"Even with no additional warming, our study indicates these ice caps will be gone in 50 years or less," said study researcher Gifford Miller of the University of Colorado, Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.

Temperatures across the Arctic have been rising substantially in recent decades as a result of the buildup of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, say the researchers. It's this warming trend they say is behind Baffin's meltdown.

Ice domes

Baffin's ice caps, which are domes of ice too small to be labeled ice sheets as those on Greenland are, span just four miles (about six kilometers) long.

What makes the ice fields such great study sites is the fact that they are very thin, generally less than 300 feet (91 meters) thick, and they're very cold, so they don't flow and erode the landscape beneath as most glaciers do.

"It's so cold that there's no water at their bed, and they're basically completely frozen to the bed," Miller said. "They preserve beneath them the landscape exactly intact upon which the first snow fell that eventually became the ice cap."

Miller and his colleagues analyzed radioactive carbon in dead plant material emerging from beneath the receding ice margins, which would tell them the last time these plants had been exposed to the atmosphere.

The oldest dates are from about 1,600 years ago, suggesting the ice fields have remained intact for that long, that is, until 2005 when the scientists sampled the now-exposed plant material.

In addition, they extrapolated other radiocarbon data along with satellite imagery to calculate the historical ice-cover and ice-free area in the same area. Toward the end of Little Ice Age, in the mid-1800s, permanent snow and ice covered 1,351 square miles (3,500 square kilometers) in this area. In 2002, coverage was just 41 square miles (107 square kilometers).

Warmer than normal

While researchers have known that the Earth is much warmer than 150 years ago, when the Northern Hemisphere was stuck in the Little Ice Age, they are less certain about how today's temperatures compare with a warmer period in our planet's past. For instance, Miller notes there has been a debate over whether today's climate is warmer than it was during the Medieval times, about 1,000 years ago.

Some of the ice fields studied formed in pre-Medieval times, Miller said, and persisted until now.

"That tells us right there that the warming of the 20th century is the warmest sustained period of warming in that time," Miller said. "It clearly says we're now warmer than we were in Medieval times."

Hidden behind this short-term warming and ice-cap melting, Miller explained, is a long-term period of relative cooling.

"The general trend has been cooling for the past 10,000 years," Miller told LiveScience. "The fact that they are now receding like mad just makes it even more unusual because the large-scale forcing, how much energy comes in from the sun during the summer months, is getting less and less."

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