Green Volunteer Network update 14 Feb 08

From Grant Pereira, volunteers needed at Ubin Green House, nature guiding at Pasir Ris Park. Help also needed with whale shark campaign, carpentry, topiary, saplings and planting, rat infestation. As well as with Orang Aslis in Johor.

1) ORANG ASLI NEED HELP....

A friend of mine is helping a group of Orang Aslis (about 600 of them) near Gelang Patah, Johor. They live near the mangrove/sea shores so I figure they could be Orang Laut (Sea people).

Because of the pollution they are unable to make a living catching fish and crabs. As since the cutting of mangroves for firewood is banned there is no regular income to speak of.

Many are undernourished and are infected by lice (even their homes). We need canned food, cereals, noodles, mlio/horlicks, coffee, tea, sugar milk, medicated soap/shampoo, lice powder, toothbrushes and toothpaste, vitamins (especially “C”).

No need T-shirt as my friend in Johor is collecting them. Cash would also be appreciated as we can buy lice powder/shampoo at Giant supermarket Johor Baru where its cheaper and we don’t have the hassle of lugging it across the causeway etc.

I do not drive so appreciate very much if stuff can be delivered to our office at Cluny Road. If any of you have a car or van you could help by providing transport to collect stuff and send to our office.

I intend to visit them soon to see how we can help them. Develop some sustainable income (anyone for a very basic Orang Asli homestay? After we get rid of the bugs of course!).

This collection would make a great school project. Eventually would need volunteer doctors/dentists to visit.

2) UBIN GREEN HOUSE NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

We need volunteers to help man our Ubin Green House on Sundays and Public Holidays (10.00 am to 6.00 pm). Please email grace_ang@singnet.com.sg if you can help.

3) NATURE GUIDE TRAINING PASIR RIS PARK

We are starting another nature guide training for Pasir Ris Park. Pasir Ris Park is the 3rd most popular park in Singapore and has a good variety of fauna and flora. There are spice and native tree gardens, mangroves and many interesting species of trees.

Dates: All Saturdays, meet 10.00 am SHARP Pasir Ris MRT station control. March 1st, 15th , 22nd and 29th. You have to attend at least 3 of these 4 walks and after these walks you will owe us 3 walks as nature guides and do 3 pieces of research on Fauna, Flora, cultural or historical (our choice). You will also required to purchase a copy of Dr. Wee Yeow Chin’s “Tropical Tress and Shrubs” at $25 per copy (outside $30 percopy). Its really a good book both for reference and research, I use it often and highly recommend it.

It’s also your way of showing that you’re serious about being a nature guide. Training restricted to 20 participants and first come first served. Email me your full name, DOB and Mobile number if you can commit to the above dates.

4) ADEX 2008 SHOW 18TH TO 20TH APRIL 2008

Volunteers needed 10.00 am to 9.00 pm. (two shifts) 10.00 am to 4.30 pm or 3.30 pm to 9 pm. Check out (www.asiadiveexpo.com). If you want to help, email grace_ang@singnet.com.sg your name, mobile, dates and times you can help.

5) ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT TOPIARY

Needed expert to help us design and set up a topiary of a large elephant. Email me if you can help. Thanks.

6) ANY CARPENTERS OUT THERE

At Pulau Ubin we have been given 2 vey old coffee shop tables (more than 50 years old). They are in bad shape and need a good carpenter. Anyone can help? We probably have to cannibalise one table for the other.

7) VOLUNTEERS LIVING AROUND PASIR RIS

Elias Park Primary School is the first primary school to join our S.P.R.O.U.T.S. project. We also have been given a small plot of land near Block 512 Pasir Ris Street 52. If you live around Paris Ris and want to help, let me know.

8) SAPLINGS NEEDED.....

For our S.P.R.O.U.T.S. programmes we are looking for the following saplings: Curry leaf, Weeping willow, Cherry tree, Guava, Java plum. If you have any to spare or know where we can dig up some please let me know. Thanks.

9) A BETTER MOUSE TRAP

We have a major rat infestation at our Ubin Green House. This is because of the dog and cat food we keep in the house (from now on, only canned food donations please).

Besides the bloody snap traps, poisons, gums etc... Do any of you know a less messy (and smelly) way of catching these critters? As we only open the house once a week, we need to trap them alive. Any suggestions? (house locked up so we cannot keep cats in the house).

10) WHALE SHARK EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN

In my capacity of Asian Educational Coordinator of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, we shall be doing an educational project on the whale shark. I need volunteers and researchers to help to put this project together. If you want to help please email me your name, DOB and mobile number, use Whale shark as header.

11) GARDENING TIP

When you boil eggs or vegetables do not throw away the water as its rich in vitamins and minerals. Instead let it cool down completely and use it to water your plants.

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Kiribati creates world's largest marine reserve

David Fogarty, Reuters 14 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The Pacific island nation of Kiribati has created the world's largest protected marine reserve, a California-sized wilderness brimming with reefs, fish and birds, conservation groups said on Thursday.

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area, covering 410,500 square kilometers, is one of the planet's last intact coral archipelagos and is threatened by over-fishing and climate change, the groups say.

It lies near the equator about half way between Fiji and Hawaii.

"The creation of this amazing marine protected area by a small island nation represents a commitment of historic proportions," said Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International.

The U.S.-based group, along with the New England Aquarium, is helping the Kiribati government develop a management and funding plan for the largely uninhabited area.

Studies led by the U.S. aquarium have found more than 120 species of coral and 520 species of fish, some new to science.

The area also has some of the most important sea bird nesting sites in the Pacific, large fish populations and sea turtles, the aquarium and Conservation International say.

The protected zone is more than double the area Kiribati originally pledged to protect at a U.N. biodiversity conference in Brazil in 2006.

"The new boundary includes extensive seamount and deep-sea habitat, tuna spawning grounds and as yet unsurveyed submerged reef systems," said Greg Stone, the aquarium's vice-president of global marine programs.

SURVEILLANCE

Kiribati says it needs more money to pay for surveillance against illegal fishing as well as develop a trust fund, possibly as large as $100 million, to pay for running costs and compensate the government for lost income from commercial fishing licenses.

"A major part of the operational cost is the surveillance and we have a patrol boat donated by Australia," Tebwe Ietaake, secretary of Kiribati's environment ministry, told Reuters.

"We are also looking at the cooperation of Australia and New Zealand in aerial surveillance flights over the region," he said.

He said the government would still allow subsistence fishing by local fishing communities.

Conservation International said it was crucial to protect the area from over fishing because healthy reefs and fishing grounds helped the area better withstand the impacts of climate change.

The reefs were already facing the threat of warming seas, which has caused repeated coral bleaching around Kiribati and elsewhere in the Pacific, such as the Great Barrier Reef.

Parts of Kiribati, too, are already suffering from the effects of rising seas, including coastal erosion in the vast archipelago and salt water intrusion into fresh water supplies.

The expanded Phoenix islands reserve is closely matched in size to the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, the single largest conservation area under the U.S. flag, covering 137,797 square miles of the Pacific Ocean.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park covers about 345,000 sq km, and extends more than 2,300 km along the Queensland coast.

(Editing by Alex Richardson)

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Rare sandpipers found in Myanmar

Michael Casey, Associated Press Yahoo News 13 Feb 08;

Eighty-four spoon-billed sandpipers have been discovered in a coastal stretch of Myanmar, offering hope for saving the endangered birds, a conservation group said Thursday.

The discovery in early February comes only months after Russian researchers reported that numbers of the tiny birds — with speckled brow feathers and a distinctive spoon-shaped bill — had dropped 70 percent in the past few years in their breeding sites in Siberia and none had been seen this year in their traditional wintering sites in Bangladesh, Britain-based conservation group BirdLife International said.

The World Conservation Union lists the bird as endangered with only 200 to 300 pairs left in the wild.

The discovery of 84 birds wintering in Myanmar — only one of which appears to have come from Siberia — raises the prospect of breeding grounds elsewhere, BirdLife said. The birds' migration route takes them from Siberia down through Japan, North Korea, South Korea, mainland China and Taiwan, to their main wintering grounds in South Asia.

"This is an important piece of the jigsaw," Simba Chan, senior conservation manager at BirdLife's Asia Division, said in a statement. "If present trends continue, the spoon-billed sandpiper faces extinction in the next few years. If we are to save the species, we need to identify and conserve not only its breeding sites, but its migration stopover sites and wintering grounds too."

Spoon-billed sandpipers face a myriad of threats because of their complicated migration routes, from expanding shrimp farms and salt pans in Bangladesh to coastal development in China and South Korea. Their eggs are often eaten by foraging dogs and foxes in Russia.

Armed with historical records, satellite data and reports of sightings, researchers set out three years ago to search for other winter grounds for the shorebird in South Asia.

After finding nothing in India and only a handful of birds in Bangladesh, they turned to Myanmar, where they found the birds at Arakan in the Bay of Bengal, and Martaban Bay near the Thai border.

"It was a big relief that we finally have come close to solving the mystery of the wintering sandpipers," said Christopher Zockler, part of the international survey team that also included Thai, Japanese and Russian bird experts.

Zockler said spoon-billed sandpipers are just one of a string of rare birds found recently in Myanmar, putting it on the map of birders worldwide. Two years ago, experts found the only other known population of Gurney's Pitta outside of Thailand in Myanmar.

"Its coastlines have the potential for many more surprises," Zockler said, adding that his team talked with the government about designating protected areas where the spoon-billed sandpipers were found. "It hasn't been surveyed at all before and it's less developed. It's the last oasis in a very fast developing region."

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Nano-fibers could power your iPod: study

Yahoo News 13 Feb 08;

US researchers have created a nano-fiber textile that harvests energy from movement, paving the way for clothing that could one day power an iPod or other wearable electronic devices, according to a study published Wednesday.

Using the same mechanical principle as a self-winding watch, but on scale measured in billionths of a meter, tiny nano-generators can scavenge "wasted" energy from sound waves, vibrations, or even the human heart beat.

The fibers, developed by a team of scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology led by Zhong Lin Wang, are covered with pairs of zinc oxide nanowires that produce tiny pulses of electricity in response to friction.

"The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching," converting the mechanical motion into electrical energy, explained Wang.

"Many of the devices could be put together to produce a higher output," he said.

This method of generation energy from friction is called the "piezoelectric effect."

The fibers could also be woven into curtains, tents or other structures to capture energy from wind motion, sound vibrations or other mechanical energy, according to the study, published in the British journal Nature.

The human body contains many sources of energy that could drive nanogenerators, including blood flow pumped by the heart, exhalation from the lungs, and walking.

Even the act of typing on a computer is a potential source of nano-scale energy.

So far, Wang and his colleagues have made more than 200 of the microscopic nano-generators. The fibers assemblies were each tested for 30 minutes to check durability and power production.

Other kinds of nano-generators driven by scavenged energy aim to power biosensors to monitor a patient's glucose levels, strain sensors for bridges, and environmental sensors to detect toxins.

There remains at least one significant problem before Wang's nano-fibers can become part of our daily wardrobes.

Zinc oxide is sensitive to water, which means that clothes made from these fibers could never be washed, the study said.

Microfiber fabric makes own electricity: study
Julie Steenhuysen, Yahoo News 13 Feb 08;

U.S. scientists have developed a microfiber fabric that generates its own electricity, making enough current to recharge a cell phone or ensure that a small MP3 music player never runs out of power.

If made into a shirt, the fabric could harness power from its wearer simply walking around or even from a slight breeze, they reported on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"The fiber-based nanogenerator would be a simple and economical way to harvest energy from the physical movement," Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who led the study, said in a statement.

The nanogenerator takes advantage of the semiconductive properties of zinc oxide nanowires -- tiny wires 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair -- embedded into the fabric. The wires are formed into pairs of microscopic brush-like structures, shaped like a baby-bottle brush.

One of the fibers in each pair is coated with gold and serves as an electrode. As the bristles brush together through a person's body movement, the wires convert the mechanical motion into electricity.

"When a nanowire bends it has an electric effect," Wang said in a telephone interview. "What the fabric does is it translates the mechanical movement of your body into electricity."

His team made the nanogenerator by first coating fibers with a polymer, and then a layer of zinc oxide. They dunked this into a warm bath of reactive solution for 12 hours. This encouraged the wires to multiply, coating the fibers.

"They automatically grow on the surface of the fiber," Wang said. "In principal, you could use any fiber that is conductive."

They added another layer of polymer to prevent the zinc oxide from being scrubbed off. And they added an ultra-thin layer of gold to some fibers, which works as a conductor.

To ensure all that friction was not just generating static electricity, the researchers conducted several tests. The fibers produced current only when both the gold and the zinc oxide bristles brushed together.

So far, Wang said the researchers had demonstrated the principle and developed a small prototype.

"Our estimates show we can have up to 80 milliwatts per square meter of this fabric. This is enough to power a little iPod or charge a cell phone battery," he said.

"What we've done is demonstrate the principle and the fundamental mechanism."

Wang said the material could be used by hikers and soldiers in the field and also to power tiny sensors used in biomedicine or environmental monitoring.

One major hurdle remains: zinc oxide degrades when wet. Wang's team is working on a process that would coat the fibers to protect the fabric in the laundry.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Alan Elsner)

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Aquarium's swim with whale shark programme will endanger the animals

Whale sharks turned into carnival ride
Georgia Aquarium endangering its animals with new program
Lori Marino, Randy Malamud and Ron Broglio, Atlanta Journal-Constitution 14 Feb 08;

The aquarium has produced no credible evidence supporting the claim that visits to their whale shark exhibit (or any other exhibit, for that matter) translate into better understanding of whale sharks (or any other species).

Recently, the Georgia Aquarium sponsored a contest whereby visitors won a chance to swim or dive with the whale sharks. In fact, NBC touted this exploit on "Today," showing the three winners diving in the tank with the whale sharks. Now the aquarium has announced an ongoing program to provide paying customers an opportunity to swim with these animals.

We are disturbed that, after the deaths last year of two whale sharks in its charge, Ralph and Norton, the Georgia Aquarium has so little concern for the welfare of the remaining animals. A careful professional stance would have been for the Georgia Aquarium to minimize all possible negative impacts on the remaining sharks in order to maximize their chances of survival, which, we already know from Asian aquariums, are not good in captivity.

Instead, the Georgia Aquarium chose to promote a highly commercial circus atmosphere and make the animals into an amusement park ride. How could anyone concerned about the welfare of these animals support the risks of contamination and stress associated with having people (who may carry diseases and germs) invade these animals' delicate environment? While divers in the Pacific occasionally swim alongside whale sharks, entering the enclosed space of captive animals has very different implications and consequences for the animals, who have no escape.

We wonder if anyone at the aquarium has considered the psychological effects of this intrusion into the whale sharks' already compromised personal space.

On its Web site the aquarium presents 25 frequently asked questions about the dive program. We would add one more: How do you think the animals feel about the paying guests who pop into their water every afternoon?

The aquarium markets this contest as a way to educate the public and preserve whale sharks. The sincerity of this claim is belied by the blatant exploitation of these animals at a price of $190 to $290 a swim or dive for nonmembers.

The aquarium has produced no credible evidence supporting the claim that visits to their whale shark exhibit (or any other exhibit, for that matter) translate into better understanding of whale sharks (or any other species). Also, there is no evidence that swimming with captive animals (such as fish and mammals) increases understanding and appreciation for them. Even if there were such evidence, would it be a risk worth taking?

Whale sharks live in deep water, swim for hundreds of miles to feed and mate, and do not typically interact with people. It seems to us that the truly important conservation message that people need to learn is how to value these animals without needing to commodify them.

P.T. Barnum once said, "Clowns and elephants are the pegs on which the circus is hung." Were he alive today and in Atlanta, he might add "30-foot sharks" to his equation.

— Lori Marino is a senior lecturer at Emory University's Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology program. Randy Malamud is professor and associate chair of Modern Literature, Ecocriticism and Cultural Studies at Georgia State University. Ron Broglio is an assistant professor in the School of Literature, Communication and Culture at Georgia Tech.

Dives with the sharks will inspire
Dave Santucci, Atlanta Journal-Constitution 15 Feb 08;

When I was 5 years old, my parents brought me to the New England Aquarium. I was wowed by the amazing animals, and there was one experience on that trip I will never forget. One of the volunteers picked up a horseshoe crab and handed it to me to hold. Seeing these animals on TV is one thing, meeting them face to face through glass is inspiring, but an engaging experience with an animal can change someone's life.

More than 25 years later, I still look back at that experience as having a major influence on the educational and environmental path my life has taken. At Emory University, I majored in environmental studies. After graduating, I worked for CNN as a producer covering environmental stories, and now I work as the communications director for the Georgia Aquarium.

Thursday's opinion article "Whale sharks turned into carnival ride" (@issue) claimed there was no value to the Georgia Aquarium's new program to allow people to swim or dive with the whale sharks. I take personal issue with that because, aside from my story, I work alongside hundreds of people with similar stories and see thousands of people come to the aquarium every day who walk away with a greater appreciation for aquatic animals.

The staff and volunteers who work at the Georgia Aquarium care deeply for the animals here, and we would never do anything that we felt would put the animals in jeopardy. Every day, we put divers into what the Guinness Book of World Records calls the world's largest exhibit, Ocean Voyager. The animals are accustomed to divers being present and are not stressed by their presence. I know this because at every opportunity, I volunteer to dive in the exhibit and clean the windows for our guests.

When I look through the windows from underwater, there are children on the other side with an excitement to learn things that are rarely seen in a classroom, and children who are inspired by their experience to become marine biologists and make a positive difference for the animals and all of us in this world. And when I leave the water, I feel motivated to go out and spread the word about the amazing aquatic world. The aquarium wants nothing more than to share that experience with everyone and to create an army of ambassadors for aquatic environments.

There is an elitist view that these animals should only be observed in the oceans, but very few of us could afford the thousands of dollars and weeks of time it would take to get a glimpse of the elusive whale shark. However, many of us can afford the $171 price for aquarium members to swim with whale sharks.

And if just holding a horseshoe crab shaped my life into caring deeply about the environment and the aquatic world, imagine what this experience will do for thousands of people in the years ahead.

Ga. Aquarium helps spur research into little-known whale shark
The Associated Press, Access North 16 Feb 08;

ATLANTA (AP) In captivity, a 25-foot whale shark glides gracefully above a throng of enthralled tourists who hurriedly snap pictures from inside a clear tunnel at the Georgia Aquarium's giant six-million-gallon Ocean Voyager tank.

In the wild, whale sharks live much more hidden lives. Little is known about how much they eat, where they swim and where they give birth.

But since the Atlanta attraction opened in 2005, more than 5 million guests have helped generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for new research into whale sharks.

The research has new details about their nutrition, roaming habits and numbers.

The aquarium has invested in research projects on the whale shark in Mexico and Taiwan. Satellite tags on the Mexico whale sharks have helped track them from the Yucatan Peninsula across the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Caribbean.

Chief science officer Bruce Carlson said the research helps the aquarium learn more and allows for better care of the whale sharks.

Carlson declined to say exactly how much the aquarium has spent on whale shark research but said it was in the ``hundreds of thousands of dollars.''

He and other researchers hope other studies answer more questions about whale sharks' lives: Where do they travel and how much do they eat? The mating behavior of the animals has never been observed, nor do researchers know where the whale sharks give birth.

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Dead sea turtles in Terengganu, Malaysia

R.S.N. MURALI, The Star 14 Feb 08;

KUALA TERENGGANU: Four turtles have been found dead on Terengganu beaches within the last five weeks.

The latest case was reported late Tuesday evening when a lifeless female hawksbill turtle measuring 1.5m in length was found on the beach off Gong Balai in Merchang, near here. A villager, Abdul Halim Ariffin, 39, believes the reptile could have been killed after getting caught in a fisherman's net.

"Based on the injuries, I believe the turtle could have died several days before being washed ashore," he said when met here.

On Jan 25, a lifeless male green turtle measuring 89.5cm was found on the beach off Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) in Kuala Terengganu.

A green turtle washed up on Tok Jembal beach some 2km from the university on Jan 6, while on Jan 15, a giant soft-shell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) was found dead along the beach fronting the Botanical Course Camp Resort in Merang.

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

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Best of our wild blogs: 14 Feb 08

Nominate someone for the EcoFriend Award 2008
more on the leafmonkey blog

Blue-tailed Bee-eater makes a splash
on the bird ecology blog

So, What’s in that Happy Meal Besides the Cheap Toy?
on the eco child's play blog

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Former dynamite fishers’ den now turtles’ haven in the Philippines

Delfin Mallari Jr., Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 Feb 08;

LUCENA CITY – Once a marine habitat ruined by destructive fishing practices, the Tayabas Bay off Quezon and Batangas provinces is now a safe haven for endangered sea turtles, locally called the “pawikan.”

Its 16-kilometer coastline in Lucena City, Sariaya town and the Bondoc Peninsula in Quezon and in San Juan town in Batangas are the favorite nesting sites of the gentle creatures, according to Zenaida Bernal, community coordinator of the Tanggol Kalikasan (TK) coastal and marine program.

Last week, residents of Lucena’s coastal village of Barra released into the sea more than 50 Hawksbill hatchlings. Barra used to harbor fishermen engaged in dynamite fishing.

“The experience was glorifying,” village chair Elmer Adversario told local journalists. “It was the first time that I witnessed baby turtles racing back to the sea.”

The nesting site, which contains some 100 eggs, was accidentally discovered by children. “The entire village all served as guardians to the turtle eggs until they were hatched. Unfortunately, some of the eggs got spoiled,” Adversario said.

According to Bernal, the presence of the “pawikan” indicates a balanced marine ecosystem. To fishermen, it also meant a school of fish in the vicinity,

Since the TK launched the “Save the Endangered Species Campaign” in 2003, more than a hundred turtles have been released, Bernal said. “More reports have been reaching us that endangered marine creatures had been found and eventually released by fishermen,” she said.

On Dec. 28 last year, a Hawksbill was freed by fishermen off Macalelon town.

Last week, a four-meter juvenile whale shark (Rhincodon typus), locally known as “butanding,” was also rescued after getting trapped in a “baklad” (fish pen) in Macalelon.

Aware that it is endangered, local fishermen freed the whale shark. “To the delight of the coastal residents, the creature came back the next day and was spotted feeding on plankton in the shallow area of the Tayabas Bay,” Glenn Forbes, TK coastal and marine program officer, said.

Citing popular belief among the villagers, Forbes said the appearance of the “butanding” meant a bountiful fish catch. “A good and encouraging sign for 2008,” he said.

Five whale sharks were spotted in different areas of the bay last year.

The Tayabas Bay now has 22 fish sanctuaries which are rich spawning grounds, he said. He attributed the bay’s rehabilitation to the partnership initiated between the TK and businessman-environmentalist Proceso Alcala eight years ago. Alcala is now a congressman representing Quezon.

Forbes, however, lamented that some local officials were undermining efforts to protect and rehabilitate the water body. “It’s really depressing, considering the bright prospects ahead,” he said. He declined to identify the officials.

In some instances, he said, the officials did not give priority to the program because the volunteer watchmen were not political allies.

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Turks and Caicos Islands launches Year of the Coral Reef

caribbeannetnews.com 13 Feb 08;

GRAND TURK, Turks and Caicos Islands: The Ministry of Natural Resources, Fisheries and the Environment in the Turks and Caicos Islands has declared 2008 as the Year of the Coral Reef under the theme: "Achieving the Right Balance: Protecting our Reefs- Prosperity for our future".

This declaration is expected to bring attention to one of this country's most prized assets, the Coral Reef; to which an official launching ceremony was held on Friday, February 8, 2008 in Providenciales.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are home to coral reefs worth some $47.3 million to its economy and supports the second largest export market of conch in the world.

The Ministry of Natural Resources has planned a number of activities in celebration of the Year of the Coral Reef. They include: a public Awareness campaign, the use of literature and the creation of programs aimed at creating awareness of coral reefs and their associated systems such as mangroves and seagrass beds.

Minister of Natural Resources, McAllister Hanchell, in declaring 2008 as the year of the Coral Reef noted that his ministry will host underwater cleanups in April for Earth Day, and a delegation from his Ministry will also be attending the International Coral Reef Symposium scheduled for this coming July. This symposium is expected to allow officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources to network and learn of new monitoring methods and ways to protect coral reefs.

Hanchell added that along with other government ministries and departments, there will be an increased focus on land-based sources of pollution including non-functioning sewage plants.

"Already we are working on mitigating where impacts have occurred on our reefs; artificial reefs reduce the pressure on natural systems allowing them to recover, and two such projects have been the BioRock project in Grand Turk and the Beaches Reef Ball Project in Providenciales," stated Hanchell.

He continued: "The year 2008 will be challenging. We have demonstrated to the world our commitment to the environment so therefore we must be ready to put these words into action to manage the country's natural resources: the mainstay of our economy."

According to Hanchell, the Ministry of Natural Resources has already prepared a road map for the future and will introduce a number of initiatives aimed at promoting environmental awareness. They include:

1. No plastic bags campaign - through a collaborative effort with the private sector promote public awareness about the detriments of plastic bags

2. Increasing Public use of Protected Areas - The Ministry of Natural Resources through the DECR will enhance and highlight the opportunities to use these areas

3. Greening of Businesses - The MNR is working with consultants to increase the opportunities and expertise needed for increasing the use of green technologies in both residential and commercial developments.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Finance, Floyd Hall, reiterated the government's commitment to protecting the environment.

"Last year was tremendous for the Turks and Caicos Islands as we celebrated the Year of the Environment which culminated with a speech by former US President al Gore. The environment is our most important resource and we must do all we can to protect it," noted Hall.

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Cats vs cars: who's the real 'victim'?

Letter from Tan Chek Wee, Today Online 14 Feb 08;

My car is parked in a Housing and Development Board (HDB) car park. I accept the unavoidable "damages" from intentional or unintentional vandalism such as being hit by the doors of adjacent cars or the occasional bird droppings.

Most of us are unaware of the disclaimer clause on the back of a car park disc (the old paper version, not the current electronic one) attributing such damage to "acts of nature".

Community cats, too, are part of "nature" but why are they "victims" of Town Council officers, who will have the cats removed to be killed when they receive complaints from car owners who see cats on the roofs or bonnets of their cars?

One of my friends who lives in Tampines teams up with several resident volunteers in the neighbourhood "cat management" group which helps sterilise community cats and assist the Town Council to resolve feedback about cats.

Recently, they were told by their Town Council officer to remove a sterilised cat that has been living in a car park for a long time because a resident complained of the cat sitting on his car bonnet.

The resident refused to speak with the volunteers who wanted to present him with a car cover.

The paint on a car — if it is in a decent condition — is extremely hardy as it has been baked in high heat to withstand daily wear and tear.

Cats' claws are as hard as our fingernails. Unless you can scratch the paint off with your fingernail, it is impossible for a cat to scratch the paint off the surface of a car.

Furthermore, cats retract their claws when walking on smooth surfaces, hence there will not be any scratches on the car when the cat walks on it. The only way that a cat can scratch the car is when it tries to get traction on the surface, by — dare I say — running for its life.

This action of the Town Council officer only encourages ungracious living by pandering to unreasonable complaints.

It is also a waste of public funds as removal of sterilised cats will create a vacuum for other cats to move in.

The action of the officer is also unfair to the volunteers, who are also residents of the estate but who put in effort, time and their own money to manage a community problem.

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Valentine's Day: your footprint

Poll shows Singaporeans the biggest spenders in Asia for Valentine's Day
Channel NewsAsia 13 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE : Singaporeans are the biggest spenders in Asia for Valentine's Day. This is according to a survey which found that 60 percent of Singaporeans would spend up to S$500 to mark this occasion

Besides respondents from Singapore, those in Korea and China are likely to be big Valentine's Day spenders.

50 percent of the Chinese surveyed indicated that they would spend up to S$500. 78 percent of Koreans who took part in the survey said they would spend up to S$250.

The survey was conducted by GE Money Asia, which had polled 3,115 GE Money Asia and Joint Venture partner employees.

Besides Singapore, China and Korea, the survey also covered India, Thailand, Japan and the Philippines.

The poll showed that 60 percent of Singaporeans used their credit cards to splurge on their loved ones, and only started shopping for the gifts a week before February 14.

Three in four Singaporeans felt that Valentine's Day is a commercial exercise.

90 percent of the women surveyed said that Valentine's Day is here to stay. 67 percent of men support Valentine's Day and do not think it should be cancelled.

Throughout Asia, the survey indicated that Asian women would spend slightly more than men for Valentine's Day.

In Singapore, all of the women surveyed said they would spend below S$500.

However, 19 percent of Singaporean men said they are willing to spend between S$500 and S$5,000.

63 percent of women in Singapore prefer to receive jewellery rather than cash as a Valentine's Day gift.

25 percent of the women rated a spa or luxury resort as their preferred activity for Valentine's Day.

39 percent of men here said they prefer travel packages. - CNA/ms


Buying a Valentine's Day gift? Think again
Business Times 14 Feb 08;

(WASHINGTON) There was a time, long ago, when a lover would buy diamonds, chocolate or roses for his beloved on Valentine's Day with a clear conscience.

But life has become more complicated.

For some, the romance is being overshadowed by concerns that the diamonds may have financed wars, that the cocoa beans were harvested by children and that the roses were kept perfect with mists of pesticides.

Let's start with roses, especially the red roses traditionally used to show passion.

'Most roses sold in the US are grown in Latin America. And they are grown in a way that uses a lot of chemicals,' said Rene Ebersole, a senior editor of the environmental Audubon Magazine.

'DDT is used,' she added, saying that workers who applied the pesticides often complained of irritated eyes and other ailments that they blamed on the chemicals.

And what about soft melty bonbons, dusted with cocoa powder? Ivory Coast, which grows 40 per cent of the world's cocoa, has a persistent child labour problem, according to the 2006 State Department Human Rights report, which was released in March 2007.

'The controversy over child labour in the local cocoa sector continued,' the report said, citing an earlier survey by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.

That group had found that perhaps 5,000 to 10,000 children were trafficked to or within the country to work in the cocoa sector, the State Department said.

'The (institute's) research showed that approximately 109,000 child labourers worked in hazardous conditions on cocoa farms in the country in what the study described as the worst forms of child labour,' the State Department said.

Then there's the problem of blood diamonds, which refers to gems mined under brutal conditions and sold to support a war effort.

The problem is apparently one of the few things that Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush agree on.

Mr Clinton issued an executive order in January 2001 barring Sierra Leone from exporting diamonds to the United States. When Liberia began to be used to get around the ban, Mr Bush acted in 2001 to bar rough diamond imports from Liberia.

A mechanism called the Kimberley Process was supposed to help buyers identify conflict-free diamonds, but there is criticism that it has fallen short.

Sigh. Lingerie anyone? - Reuters

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Orang utan dies in freak accident at Singapore Zoo

Straits Times 14 Feb 08;

Tragedy struck the zoo's primates a second time in a week, when a young female orang utan died of a dislocated neck in a freak accident yesterday.

At mid-day, Atina, aged two-and-a-half years, caught her neck in a hanging noose, which was part of a hammock in the apes' enclosure.

Her mother Anita and other orang utans, in their haste to free her, tugged at her neck, dislocating it. She died instantly, said a zoo spokesman.

Zookeepers could not reach Atina on time because her mother kept pushing them away.

All hanging nooses have since been removed from the enclosure.

The death comes just three days after the zoo buried Ah Meng, its matriach and star attraction, who died at age 48 last Friday.

With these two deaths, the zoo is left with 23 orang utans.

Another orang utan dies at Singapore Zoo
Channel NewsAsia 13 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE : Another orang utan has died at the Singapore Zoo.

30-month-old Atina died when her neck snapped after her mother Anita and other orang utans tried to free her from a nylon rope support. Her head was entangled by the rope while she was playing.

The Singapore Zoo said she died instantly.

Atina's mother, Anita, is an orang utan that singer Anita Sarawak found at the doorstep of her condominium in Pandan Valley 23 years ago.

The Zoo said that it is greatly distressed to lose Atina in the freak accident.

The tragedy comes just less than a week after Ah Meng, Singapore's famous orang utan, died of old age. - CNA/de

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Singapore food prices up 4.3% but some dips too

Jessica Lim, Straits Times 14 Feb 08;

Industry players attribute the rise in prices to spiralling raw material prices. Globally, prices of items like wheat and milk are at historic peaks. Suppliers The Straits Times spoke to said droughts in Australia, crop failures in the US, reduced milk production and higher cost of tin cans are all contributing factors.

PRICES of items commonly found in kitchen larders have generally gone up by 4.3 per cent since last April.

That is more than twice the 2 percentage point increase in the goods and services tax which kicked in last July, a survey by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) has revealed.

The 4.3 per cent figure, however, belies the range of price increases - and decreases.

A 330ml can of Pokka carrot juice, for example, now costs 92 cents, up from 60 cents last April - a 53 per cent jump.

Other canned beverages like Coca-Cola and Jia Jia herbal tea now cost about 30 per cent more - or about 20 cents more per can.

The price checks were initiated by the SCCCI as part of its annual pre-Budget survey of 84 products, the prices of which were logged on April 9 last year and last month, on Jan 22.

The items, from NTUC FairPrice supermarkets, included rice, milk, condiments and snacks.

About half the items - 43 - showed price increases of under 10 per cent.

These included the canned soft drink, Sprite and Khong Guan assorted biscuits.

Another 12 items went up by between 10 and 20 per cent.Five were up by 20 to 30 per cent, while three went up by more than 30 per cent.

Industry players attribute the rise in prices to spiralling raw material prices. Globally, prices of items like wheat and milk are at historic peaks.

Suppliers The Straits Times spoke to said droughts in Australia, crop failures in the US, reduced milk production and higher cost of tin cans are all contributing factors.

A spokesman for Tai Hua Food Industries, which brings in an estimated 10,000 tonnes of sugar each year, said it is now paying about $650 to import a tonne of sugar, compared to about $450 two years ago.

Mr Thomas Pek, its managing director, said: 'We are forced to increase our prices, then manufacturers have to increase theirs too. It is a never-ending cycle. It is a bad time for us.'

Singapore Food Manufacturers' Association president Allan Tan said the costs of raw materials have risen between 30 and 100 per cent across the board.

The most drastic jump is in the cost of soya beans, which are now going for about $1,200 per tonne, up from about half the price a year ago.

'These price increases have to be passed on to consumers. The only way a company can keep prices the same is to absorb it. Still, few companies will be able to absorb such drastic increases,' he said.

Coffee beans, for instance, has gone up in price by 30 per cent over the past year, said the Foochow Coffee Restaurant and Bar Merchants Association. So, for example, customers are now paying more for the 3-in-1 packs of coffee mix.

Amid these rises, the prices of eight items have stayed unchanged. They include a Carlsberg six-pack of beer, Myojo instant noodles and Maggi chilli sauce. Another 13 items dipped in price during the same period.

The largest drop: about 15 per cent for Nissin cup noodles and a 1.5 litre bottle of F&N soda. Both cost $1.60 last April and their price is $1.35 now.

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Major hydrocarbon reserves find off Aceh

Dow Jones, Today Online 14 Feb 08;

An Indonesian agency has discovered potentially massive hydrocarbon reserves off the western coast of Aceh.

The State Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) said the forearc basin near the Simeulue Island could hold between 107.5 billion and 320.79 billion barrels of hydrocarbon reserves.

Saudi Arabia, which has the world's largest hydrocarbon reserves, has proven reserves of 264.21 billion barrels.

Officials at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources declined to comment on BPPT's finding. If the reserves are confirmed by further tests, it could enable Indonesia to revert to being a net oil exporter.

It is the only South-east Asian member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries currently producing slightly above 900,000 barrels of oil a day, but rising domestic consumption of petroleum products has made Indonesia a net oil importer in recent years.

Indonesia's last major oil discovery in the past 30 years was the 450-million-barrel Cepu oil field by Exxon Mobil.

The agency discovered the forearc basin when it conducted a geological and geophysical research after the giant killer tsunami wave on Dec 26, 2004, which destroyed beaches around the Indian Ocean. The study was conducted with Germany's Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources.

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London to slap $70 charge on polluting vehicles

Today Online 14 Feb 08;

LONDON — Mr Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, will triple the city's daily congestion charge to £25 ($70) for the most-polluting cars and sport utility vehicles, his latest plan to cut carbon emissions by boosting driving costs.

Owners of vehicles that emit more than 225g of carbon dioxide a kilometre — the so-called "G-band" rating used for calculating UK vehicle tax — will pay the increased fee to enter central London's congestion zone starting on Oct 27. The charge will be waived for owners of the least-polluting vehicles, Mr Livingstone said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The mayor introduced the charge in 2003 to reduce traffic, improve air quality and raise cash for public transportation. Milan, Stockholm and Singapore have similar systems, and New York is considering one.

The mayor, who says London's air quality is the worst in western Europe, imposed a 200-pound daily charge on the most-polluting commercial trucks starting on Feb 4. Traffic tie-ups are increasing even though the charge has reduced the number of drivers entering the zone. The city's transport department reported "a sharp increase in congestion" inside the zone in a report last year.

The vehicles that will pay the £25-charge include: Ford Mondeo cars with V6 gasoline engines; BMW 335i convertibles and 540i and 730i sedans; and Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover sport utilities, according to the UK Department for Transport website. — Bloomberg

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