wildsingapore news: Mar 25, 2008

Price of paper up by as much as 40% in Singapore

Channel NewsAsia 25 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE : The price of paper around the world has gone up by as much as 40 percent over the past year.

This has caused the price of recycled paper to increase by 100 percent. Raw pulp now costs almost US$1,000 per tonne.

Industry players said the higher prices are due to higher inflation.

There is also a bigger demand for paper this year, because of the US Presidential Elections and Beijing Olympics.

Many local printing companies have been affected by the price increase, so they are looking for alternatives to remain competitive.

Since the price of imported waste paper is now US$275 per tonne, local waste paper companies have raised their buying price to attract more waste paper collectors. And this has worked.

Companies said they have seen a 25 percent increase in the amount of waste paper collected.

This has led to stiffer competition between waste collectors.

Jimmy Tay, Managing Director, SembEnviro Tay Paper Pte Ltd, said, "We observed that (during) the weekends (and) the public holidays, we can see a lot of these foreign workers, they also go out and become collectors...which is unhealthy competition for our regular collectors." - CNA/ms

Millions seen at risk in South Asia from warmer world

Reuters 25 Mar 08;

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Rising seas and water shortages will displace about 125 million people living along the coasts of India and Bangladesh by the turn of the century, Greenpeace said on Tuesday.

In a study on rapidly warming South Asia, the global environment group said climate change would also trigger erratic monsoons and break down agricultural systems in the vast and densely populated Gangetic delta.

India, whose economy has grown by 8-9 percent annually in recent years, is one of the world's top polluters and contributes around 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions as its consumption of fossil fuels grows.

"We cannot wait for the inevitable to happen and hope to adapt to it," Vinuta Gopal, the group's climate and energy campaigner in India said, releasing the report on the ecologically sensitive region, one of the poorest in the world.

"We need policies that reduce the risk of destructive climate change, and moves towards economic development through decarbonization," Gopal said.

The U.N. Development Program in its latest report has also warned climate change will hit the world's poorest countries, increasing risks of disease, destruction of traditional livelihoods and triggering massive displacement.

Together, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan have nearly 130 million people living along coastal areas less than 10 meters (33 feet) above sea level, the Greenpeace report said.

"We are already seeing the effects," said Sudhir Chella Rajan, the author of the report and a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology.

He said the effect of rising temperatures was already apparent in the recurrent floods in coastal Bangladesh.

The number of people displaced by global warming could dwarf the nearly 10 million refugees and almost 25 million internally displaced people already fleeing wars and oppression.

Christian Aid has predicted there will be one billion people displaced by climate change globally by 2050.

India, Bangladesh and Pakistan have a total population of about 1.4 billion people.

(Reporting by Tamajit Pain; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and David Fogarty)

Land deal could open Alaska wildlife refuge to oil

Yereth Rosen, Reuters 25 Mar 08;

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A controversial land swap proposal could open portions of an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, dividing Alaska natives and stoking opposition from environmentalists seeking to protect the bears, moose and birds that live there.

Supporters of the plan to exchange land in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, which lies just south of the more-famous Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, say they would like the plan to be approved by the administration of President George W. Bush before the election in November.

"The window is the election," Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, a staunch backer of the plan, said at an Anchorage news conference. "We'd like to have an executive order out of the administration before they leave office."

The proposed land trade would give 110,000 acres of hydrocarbon-prone uplands within the refuge, plus mineral rights to another 97,000 acres, to Fairbanks-based Doyon Ltd. In exchange, the refuge would gain 150,000 acres of bird-friendly wetlands now owned by Doyon, plus 56,500 acres on which Doyon has pending land claims.

Doyon, owned by Athabascan Indians of interior Alaska, has long envisioned such a trade to give economic benefits to its shareholders while preserving traditional culture and the environment on which it depends.

"You can have both the subsistence lifestyle and the protection of that lifestyle, and you can have oil and gas exploration," said Norm Phillips, Doyon's resource manager.

But many people living closest to the potential development -- many of them Doyon shareholders -- oppose the plan because of the likelihood of oil pollution and the possibility of social upheaval such as a flow of drugs, alcohol and poachers over new roads.

"Usually, the indigenous people are at the losing end of any sort of oil development," said Dacho Alexander, first chief of the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich'in Tribe in Fort Yukon, a village of 600 near the proposed exchange parcels.

Alexander said the dispute illustrates the perennial clash between corporate goals and noneconomic Native values.

The Yukon Flats basin holds an estimated 173 million barrels of oil -- accounting for less than nine days of U.S. consumption at current rates -- along with 5.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 127 million barrels of natural-gas liquids, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It also holds unique ecological values.

Straddling the Arctic Circle, cradled by two mountain ranges and bisected by the Yukon River, the refuge encompasses boreal forests that support moose, grizzly and black bears and many other mammals.

Its network of lakes, streams, ponds and sloughs attract Alaska's highest concentrations of breeding ducks. It has some of Alaska's coldest winter days and, thanks to around-the-clock sunlight, scorching summer temperatures as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest for this latitude in North America.

Fran Mauer, a retired Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and prominent critic of the land exchange, says the trade plan violates the refuge's conservation mission.

"I just don't see that it's in the public's interest to do it," he said.

But Doyon officials say that no matter what land the corporation ends up owning, oil and gas drilling is inevitable in the Yukon Flats.

"Even if the land trade doesn't happen, Doyon is still going to move forward with exploration out there," Phillips said.

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; editing by Jim Marshall)

Effect of dredging in an Australian bay

Troubled waters
Richard Cornish, The Age 25 Mar 08;

The die has been cast. But what effect will dredging have on the fish and seafood stocks of Port Phillip Bay, asks Richard Cornish.

SAM GEORGIOU powers his fishing boat through the water near Geelong. He grins as we ride across the choppy wake of another boat. "I love this," Georgiou shouts over the din of the motor. "I am one of the men who puts the fish on your table. Fresh, local fish. And we love what we do."

Fisherman Georgiou is also chairman of the Western Port and Port Phillip Professional Fishermen's Association. Hundreds of fishermen once worked in the bay selling their catch from the jetties and piers to which they tethered their boats.

Now there are just a dozen or so full-time licensed operators still fishing the 1950 square kilometres of the bay on a regular basis.

Although Port Phillip Bay is a relatively small catchment, producing about 400 tonnes of fish (worth roughly $2.5 million), its real importance lies in the fact that it is so close to Melbourne. A fish caught in the bay in the early hours of this morning could well be on your plate tonight.

Our city's bay of plenty has always been a reliable source of food. Scientist and author Tim Flannery has described its upper reaches at the time of settlement as being a "temperate Kakadu" - wetlands teeming with "brolgas, Cape Barren geese, swans, ducks, eels and frogs".

The middens of shells in the dunes along our beaches are evidence of the great feeds of native oysters the Bunurong and Wurundjeri tribes once ate. Today, Georgiou is testament to the edibles we reap from Port Phillip Bay.

Georgiou first fished the bay when he came to Australia from Cyprus 34 years ago and knows every sandbar, reef, rock, and, most importantly, where the fish are - King George whiting, flathead, garfish, snapper and squid.

He starts his working day in the late afternoon and continues until the break of dawn, ending up at the Melbourne Wholesale Fish Market in Footscray with his haul.

As he works, the Port of Melbourne Corporation is deepening the channels of the bay to make way for larger and deeper container ships. Opponents believe the dredging to be unnecessary, environmentally destructive and that by disturbing silt in the Yarra, the bay could be contaminated by buried agricultural and industrial chemicals.

But for now, according to Fisheries Victoria, fish stocks are healthy.

"It is in its best state for 30 years," says Peter Appleford, Fisheries Victoria executive director.

"We're looking forward to a good whiting season this year and the snapper looks good as well."

But what do the men who spend their every working day on the bay think of its most recent visitors - the dredgers?

While we wait for the net to be hauled in, Georgiou heads to another part of the bay. Underneath the boat, glimmers of green seagrass beds and sand flash by. Georgiou points to where we have arrived on his satellite navigation monitor. It reads: "spoil grounds".

"Over 10 years ago they dredged the Geelong Channel and dumped the waste right where we are now," he says. "The seagrass hasn't grown back.

"I'm not against dredging in the bay. But what I am worried about is what they are going to do with the toxic silt they are going to dredge up from the Yarra. The Government is not telling us, fee-paying licence holders, what they are up to."

He hands over the binoculars and points towards the shore in the distance. "We are not the only ones making a living out of the bay," he says, pointing to a cluster of buildings and tanks on a piece of land near the old Cheetham salt works at Avalon Beach, one of three abalone farms operating on Port Phillip Bay. Seawater is pumped into the farm channels from an inlet 350 metres from the beach, through 60 concrete tanks and then returned to the sea.

The farmed abalone are bred from hardy Port Phillip Bay natives used to the great temperature variations and natural turbidity of the water.

The three farms produce 150 tonnes of abalone annually, valued at $4.5 million, and employ about 25 full-time workers and a larger number of casual workers. Most of the abalone are sold live to the Asian restaurant market in Melbourne or flown to Japan and China. The rest are either canned or vacuum-packed.

Unlike the abalone farms to the west of Cape Otway, the dreaded abalone herpes virus hasn't reached Port Phillip Bay. The owner of Avalon farm, Peter Rankin, has been operating for 10 years and believes the dredging will have no effect on the industry.

There are also about 20 mussel growers producing the 1000 tonnes of mussels sold annually at markets and supermarkets across the state. But these growers take up just a portion of the nearly 2000 hectares the State Government has set aside for further aquaculture. It is possible the industry could expand tenfold.

Producers say a far bigger worry than the dredging is the spread of a natural parasite, the Japanese starfish.

Tiny baby wild mussels, or spat, are spawned from the breeding mussels that carpet large areas of the bay floor. The spat are captured on ropes and then grown out. The harvest of wild spat in recent years has been "hopeless", according to Lance Wiffen of Sea Bounty Mussels.

The Portarlington mussel farmer points the finger at the swarms of starfish that have invaded the bay in the past decade. "They decimate everything, including the wild mussel population, then they start to eat each other," he says.

The long-term viability of the industry could be ensured, however, if a new mussel breeding operation at Queenscliff, run jointly by the industry and the Department of Primary Industries, proves successful, he says.

Back on Georgiou's boat there is an urgent call on the radio that ends all talk of dredging. He has a more urgent worry. A seal has come across the net cast by his business partner Angelo Xenos and deck hand Chris Nicholson. Greek curses come through the radio's speaker, thankfully distorted. Georgiou speeds back to Xenos' boat. If he gets there in time he may be able to lure the seal away by trailing some net behind his boat.

By the time we reach the nets the seal is inside. Cormorants, terns and pelicans that have been picking off the trapped fish one by one have flown to safety. The seal rolls and snorts on the surface, diving below and reappearing with a black bream in his mouth.

"He'll scare all the fish out and eat the rest," says Georgiou.

"Send the bitch the bill!" shouts Xenos.

The men grab a quick bite to eat. Xenos opens a container filled with dried meats, olives, cheese and spanikopita, made by his wife that morning.

The sun drops behind the horizon flooding the sky with pinks and mauves. Pelicans wait nearby. Just as the catch is hauled in, the seal surfaces, snorts and jumps over the net. Waders on and standing chest high in the warm water, Georgiou and Xenos sort the fish. Measuring stick in one hand they throw their fish into bins on board. Undersized fish go back into the bay. "I'll see you next year," says Xenos to a little garfish. The catch is not great. Nicholson throws a single Moreton Bay bug on to the deck. "When I was working with the scallop boats 20 years ago we used to see lots of these," says Georgiou. "But not so many these days. The bay is much cleaner than it was back then. Then there was so much more algae, now it is the sun-bleached seagrass that is the problem."

A large flathead is landed, a slight discolouration on its head. "Remember a few months back there was the lesions scare with the bay fish?" asks Xenos. "That was due to the hot weather," he says. "Sunburned fish! Now they have recovered."

The sorting goes on. High-value fish, King George whiting, flathead and garfish are separated into boxes. The team motors on in the dark further down the bay. They shoot another net in the still water near Clifton Springs. A fat moon rises over the Bellarine Peninsula. There's a familiar snort. The seal has followed them. The catch is dismal.

They head back to shore and wash and sort their catch. Within the hour they'll drop the fish off at the fish market. It's 2am.

Georgiou looks at the boxes. "Bloody seal," he says. "But you know what? There's nothing we can do. His kind have been here long before we got here. It's everybody's bay."

OUR FISH BOWL - WHAT WE EAT FROM THE BAY

King George whiting

Considered the king of the bay with its delicate, sweet-tasting flesh.

Fillets rolled into rosettes and gently steamed offer an interesting way of sampling its flavour. Alternatively, lightly dust in seasoned flour and quickly shallow pan fry in a little butter and a sprinkle of salt.

Snapper

Snapper are best on the bone.

Steam whole by seasoning the inside, adding a few pieces of peeled ginger. Score the outside, place on a large heatproof plate, pour over a tablespoon of soy sauce and place in a large steamer over hot water and simmer for 15-20 minutes. When done, remove plate from steamer and heat three tablespoons of peanut oil in a small saucepan until smoking. Place a handful of coriander on the fish and carefully pour over the oil.

Flathead

There are many different flathead caught in Australasia, much of it coming from Gippsland, NSW or New Zealand. Flathead have lovely moist flesh with an annoying row of bones that creates the need for the "Y"-shaped fillet.

Bake whole, dress with some olive oil, lemon and salt, then lift the flesh away from the bones. For a Friday night favourite, mix a stubby of Coopers Pale Ale with two cups of self-raising flour, a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of saffron and let the mixture rest for an hour. Dip the fillets in beaten egg, seasoned plain flour then batter. Deep-fry in hot olive oil, drain then season with salt.

Flounder

An ugly bottom dweller with a twisted face but wonderfully gelatinous flesh.

Small flounder can fit perfectly in a frying pan. Rinse, pat dry, dust with well-seasoned flour and gently shallow fry in a mixture of butter and oil for a few minutes each side. Try seasoning a larger fish inside and out and drizzle with a little oil. Place in a very hot, preheated oven then turn it off. Allow the remaining heat to cook the fish for about 10-20 minutes. Dress with lemon and melted butter with capers.

Garfish

Wonderful little silver streaks with pronounced bills.

Cooked over coals and dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, garfish are a sweet delight. If you don't like the fine bones, ask the fishmonger to prepare the fish, leaving the head and tail on. These can be dusted in seasoned flour and lightly fried on the barbecue.

Squid

Fresh squid is a joy.

It must be just-cooked for a few minutes or slow cooked with liquid. Any way in between, you hit the dreaded rubbery zone. Cut into squares and score diagonally, it can then be dusted in seasoned cornflour, deep fried for a few minutes then served with aioli. Or marinate in oil, lemon and garlic for half an hour and grill over hot coals and sprinkle with salt.

How macaques and humans can live together in Singapore

Michael D. Gumert, Straits Times 25 Mar 08;

PEOPLE come to Singapore for many reasons - the glitz, the shopping malls, the food, the entertainment, the conveniences. When I moved to Singapore, it was for none of these reasons.

I came to learn about a small population of long-tailed macaques that live in the few forest patches that remain on this once lushly forested island.

The Victorian naturalist and co-discoverer of the theory of evolution Alfred Russel Wallace once said that Singapore was one of the most species-rich locations in Southeast Asia.

Today, Singapore's rainforests are nearly gone and there's a new forest canopy of concrete, glass and steel. This human jungle has sprawled all over the small island, bio-diversity has been replaced with market diversity, and the space for one of our simian cousins, the long-tailed macaque, is dwindling.

That scarcity of space has sparked conflict between humans and macaques. And the humans are 'hitting back' in response to macaque food raids.

Recently, a few residents near Bukit Timah decided to catch macaques on their own and, according to The New Paper, the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority provided them with a trap. The trappers succeeded: They captured a baby macaque!

Naturally, the other macaques got mad and the humans became hysterical. This agitated the macaques even more and a simian rumble ensued.

Media reports of the event contained several alleged facts that struck me - a primatologist who has studied the long-tailed macaque for 10 years - as odd.

First, the macaques were said to have bared their teeth in a sign of aggression. But this display is known as the 'fear grin'. Macaques don't display such a grin when they are about to attack; they display it when they are surrendering. The grin is similar to the fake smiles that humans show sometimes, assuring their superiors they know their place.

Also odd was the report of a fear-grinning macaque chasing humans into their bedroom. Macaques just don't run full speed into unfamiliar places unless forced.

Finally, the reports claimed the macaques were howling. Macaques don't howl. They grunt, scream and bark but they don't howl.

The media reports would seem to have been exaggerated. They probably reflected how 'terrorised' people perceived things rather than reality. Moreover, it is altogether likely that humans helped provoke the simian riot by acting inappropriately in a dangerous situation.

First rule when faced with a dangerous macaque situation: Remain calm. The more emotional and distraught one becomes, the more agitated macaques get.

Second rule: When macaques are riled up, it's best to move slowly. Do not turn your back on them. Stand your ground, but don't stare.

Macaques rarely make contact aggression while you face them. If you turn and run, you may get chased.

So if you get into a stand- off with a macaque, walk backwards slowly but keep facing the assailant. Turn only when you are about 5-6m away from the macaque, and then walk away briskly. Check if the animal is following you. If it is, and you cannot get away quickly enough, turn and face the animal again.

Imagine if I trapped my neighbour's children because they had been disturbing me. Would you feel bad if the father slugged me and took his children back? I would think not.

So why would humans be surprised when macaques get mad when their infants are trapped? In many ways, their reaction shows courage.

How many creatures stand up to formidable foes to protect their kind? How many would not turn tail and run in the face of danger, as the 'terrorised' humans did when the macaques revolted?

As a whole, macaques stand little chance against humans. But if the situation demands it, they do stand up. One has to respect them for that - and learn how not to trigger macaque revolts.

We are lucky no one was hurt in this poorly planned 'hit back' against the food-raiding macaques. The surest way to get a macaque to attack a human is to mishandle its young. This recent simian rumble could have been avoided with different tactics.

Even to watch macaques in behavioural research, scholars must obtain ethics approval and park permits. So why were inexperienced residents provided with equipment and permitted to capture macaques? They endangered themselves and others in their communities. Monkey revolts are far more dangerous than monkey food raids.

How do we avoid conflicts with macaques? One key is urban planning. Building homes at forest fringes causes difficulties. People living near forests all over the world face wildlife problems. White-tailed deer eat ornamental plants in the United States, elephants trample houses in Africa and macaques raid homes in Singapore. All this happens mostly within 200m of forests. The only way not to get into conflicts with macaques is not to live near forests.

That does not mean, however, that those who have moved close to forest fringes - because they are nature enthusiasts, perhaps - are doomed to fight endless macaque wars.

First, never feed macaques. Once they know you are a food patch, they will visit you daily. Second, keep your house shut, don't leave food in open places and secure your trash. Lastly, keep large sticks, a hose or water-sprayer and an air horn. You can use any of these to scare macaques away. With a little effort, macaques will learn that your house has little to offer them.

Singapore has 4.5 million people and 1,400 long-tailed macaques. Scientists suggest Singapore's macaques may be distinct from other breeds of long-tailed macaques. Conservation biologists recommend animal populations should be greater than 5,000 to be genetically viable. But a population greater than 500 can be maintained through active management.

The macaque population in Singapore is small but viable. Some countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have millions of macaques. Maybe nowhere on earth is human-macaque conflict so well controlled as it is in Singapore, thanks to the National Parks Board's good management.

Most Singaporeans are not aware of this, but the species name Macaca fascicularis was coined by none other than Sir Stamford Raffles in 1821. I doubt he would be happy if Singaporeans were to turn the lights off on a species that he officially named.

The writer, a primatologist, is an assistant professor of psychology at the Nanyang Technological University.

Article gave macaques a human face
Letter from Chua Shuyi (Miss), Straits Times Forum 1 Apr 08;

I READ with great interest Dr Michael D. Gumert's article last Tuesday, 'How macaques and humans can live together'.

Wildlife and conservation articles are often dry and dull, yet Dr Gumert managed to convey his message by giving the macaques a human face, while not compromising on facts.

I have been a victim of teeth-baring macaques during runs in MacRitchie Reservoir. I've had energy drinks stolen and emptied by these creatures. These unhappy experiences caused me to fear long- tailed macaques and see them as a nuisance.

Never did I realise macaques bare their teeth to show submission, nor did I realise they steal our food because we first feed them and inadvertently cause them to become dependent on us. Imagine, these poor creatures have lost the ability to find their own food in the wild.

Who's the savage one? Man or beast?
Letter from Dudley Au, Straits Times Forum 5 Apr 08;

I REFER to Ms Chua Shuyi's letter on Tuesday, 'Article gave macaques a human face'. Whales, elephants, the American bison and a host of others are either on the threshold of extinction or have passed into extinction.

At present, the American bison is being nurtured (bred) in national reserves to try to pull it from the threshold of no return. The pitbull was bred on purpose by genetic mixture to produce a savage animal to fight the bull in the arena. If we look at it, in its proper perspective, both the bull and the pitbull are not enemies and would rather go their way in peace. Man, arbitrarily, brings them together in the ring, to satisfy his sadistic craving in the form of such 'entertainment'. When the pitbull is kept as a pet and it attacks or kills a human, the animal is killed.

Where does the culpability for savagery lie? Does it lie with the dog which was programmed to be this way or does it lie with the human species which programmed the animal? Ms Chua got it right when she said we feed the macaque until it becomes dependent on us and then we blame the macaque for this dependency.

There is a growing awareness of certain sections of the human population who are dedicated to the saving of animals from cruelty and from pushing them into extinction. The numbers are growing and it is hoped in time there will be great eradication of cruelty and killing. There can be no absolute eradication given the human species' irresistible compulsion to kill even each other. To believe otherwise would be specious.

Indonesia to ban trade of live poultry in Jakarta

Straits Times 25 Mar 08;

JAKARTA - INDONESIA will ban the trade of live chickens in the capital in 2010 to sharpen the fight against bird flu in the world's hardest-hit nation, a livestock official said yesterday.

Poultry will have to be killed at government-licensed slaughterhouses outside Jakarta before being transported to the market, said Mr Edy Setiarto, adding that the authorities would need two years to prepare regulations and business owners for the changes.

Currently, many customers prefer to buy live chickens, which are then slaughtered to order to ensure the meat is fresh.

Mr Setiarto noted that 70 per cent of Indonesia's soaring bird flu cases occur in Jakarta and its surrounding districts.

Last year, city residents were told that they could no longer keep backyard chickens, but the order appears to have been largely ignored.

'The government will improve efforts to stop the spread of bird flu,' said Mr Setiarto.

Bird flu started sweeping through poultry populations across Asia in 2003 and has since jumped to humans, killing at least 236 people, nearly half of them in Indonesia, where 105 people have died.

It remains hard for people to catch, but experts worry the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily among humans, sparking a pandemic.

So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said this month that the virus was entrenched in 31 of Indonesia's 33 provinces despite millions of dollars in international aid.

It warned of an increased possibility that the virus may mutate into a deadlier form.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Australia facing threat of wildlife catastrophe

Kathy Marks, The Independent 25 Mar 08;

From the tiny tree kangaroo via the greater bilby to the quoll, some of Australia's unique and rare wildlife could disappear in the coming decades as a result of climate change, according to a report by the WWF published today.

The species, already under threat because of wide-scale land clearance and the introduction of exotic predators, could be pushed into extinction by rising temperatures and the knock-on effects, including drought and more frequent and devastating bushfires.

Australia already has the worst record in the world for conserving its beautiful and unusual wildlife. Of all the mammal species that have become extinct in the past 200 years, nearly 40 per cent are Australian. Many surviving creatures are in a precarious state.

Tammie Matson, head of the species programme at WWF Australia, said yesterday: "Australian animals are under so much pressure already that they're not going to be able to adapt to climate change fast enough.

"This is potentially catastrophic. With species like rat kangaroos, hare wallabies and frogs, it could be enough to tip them over the edge."

Rising temperatures are expected to reduce already meagre and fragmented habitats still further. Prolonged droughts could prompt agricultural expansion into wetter areas of northern Australia, which currently provide relatively intact ecosystems.

Conservationists also fear that warmer conditions could favour predators such as cane toads. And marine turtles could find themselves in populations with few or no males, since the sex of hatchlings is determined by the temperature at nesting beaches – the warmer the conditions, the more females are produced.

The report calls for larger areas of the country to be protected as national parks or nature reserves. Otherwise, it says, there will be nowhere for wildlife to move when their environment becomes uninhabitable – which could occur with a temperature rise of just 0.5C.

Burrow-dwelling bilbies (nocturnal marsupials), which are already under threat from foxes, rabbits and feral cats, are likely to find the seeds and fruit on which they feed in short supply, as a result of more frequent and intense bushfires. The loss of vegetation in which to take cover will also make them more vulnerable to attack.

Frogs are particularly sensitive to temperature change, and seven species that dwell in the Australian rainforest could lose more than half of their living space if the temperature increases by one degree.

Birds, too, are expected to suffer from reduced food sources and habitat, with the brilliantly hued Gouldian finch and several species of black cockatoo regarded as vulnerable. As well as predators, weeds are predicted to thrive in warmer conditions, wiping out native plants that provide food for wildlife.

The report points out that if greenhouse gas emissions were reduced to zero overnight, temperatures would still rise by 0.4C by 2050, according to current forecasts. That would be devastating for many Australian species, according to Dr Matson.

"If we were protecting more habitat for these species, there would be a place for them to go," she said. "But we're only protecting 11 per cent of the country. With species like wallabies, frogs and kangaroos, their core climatic habitat will become unsuitable with an increase of just 0.5 degrees in temperature.

"Where a species is already dropping off, climate change is that extra element," she said. "It's a disaster waiting to happen, and it will happen unless we act now to cut emissions."

US Jaguars Threatened By Mexico Border Fence

Tim Gaynor, PlanetArk 25 Mar 08;

SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS, Ariz. - Jaguar biologist Emil McCain stoops over a remote-sensing camera attached to a tree in these rugged mountains a few miles to the north of the Arizona-Mexico border.

The researcher is checking for images of a handful of extremely rare jaguars that prowl up from Mexico over mountain trails in some of the wildest country in the southwest, although they are now under threat.

Scrolling through images of bobcats and deer snapped by the camera, he explains how the habitat for one of the United States' most elusive predators is being pressured by illegal immigration from Mexico and the controversial remedies sought by the US government to curb it: building fences.

In this election year, Washington hopes to complete 670 miles (1,070 kilometres) of pedestrian fencing and vehicle barriers in a bid to seal off some of the most heavily crossed areas of the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200 km) border, despite opposition from some landowners and environmentalists.

"The low flat valleys are effectively walled off to wildlife. As a result everything is funnelled up through the high mountain ranges that span the border" McCain said, standing by the camera box in an area spotted with trash tossed by illegal immigrants.

"The border barriers are directly linked with the funnelling of people into the last remaining habitats. Jaguars are very solitary animals, they can't move freely where there are a lot of people."

SOLITARY HUNTERS

Jaguars are powerful, solitary hunters that were revered by ancient cultures including the Aztecs and the Maya who believed they had supernatural powers. They roam over a vast habitat ranging from northern Argentina in the south to the rugged, borderland wildernesses of Arizona and New Mexico, although they are rarely seen.

The sturdy, spotted cats -- which are the only roaring felines in the Americas -- were believed to have become extinct in the United States until an Arizona rancher photographed one he encountered while hunting mountain lions in the far southwest corner of New Mexico in 1996.

"It was unforgettable, probably the most exciting day I have had in my life," Warner Glenn said of his brush with the burly, roaring male jaguar, which his hounds briefly brought to bay on a pillar of rock in the Peloncillo Mountains.

Proof positive of their presence in the United States was gained six months later when another Arizona cougar hunter, Jack Childs, treed and photographed a second jaguar in the distant reaches of the Baboquivari Mountains southwest of Tucson.

"They were on the brink of extirpation and to find out they were still here was a really great thing," Childs said of the animal, another male, which his hounds chased up into an alligator juniper tree.

"It was indescribable, a life-changing experience. We tipped our hats to it, thanked it for the experience and it went on its way."

NO BREEDING POPULATION

Neither jaguars were harmed. The photographs taken by Glenn and Childs helped win federal protection for the animals as an endangered species the following year and stirred interest from researchers eager to find out about their population and movements.

Childs, his wife Anna Mary and McCain subsequently founded the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project, a non-profit which set up some 40 to 50 cameras to photograph jaguars roaming through a highland wildlife corridor in the southwest known as the "Sky Islands."

The mountainous archipelago linking Arizona with the Sierra Madre Mountains in northwest Mexico is a unique zone where temperate species like the wolf and black bear mingle with Neotropical animals such as the jaguar and coatimundi, a sociable raccoon-like animal sometimes mistaken for a monkey.

Over the past seven years researchers repeatedly photographed four or five jaguars. They found that all were males straying north from breeding populations in Mexico, a discovery with considerable implications for their survival in the US southwest.

"Because there are no females and no reproduction, jaguars in the United States are totally dependent on cross-border movement," Said McCain. "That connectivity with Mexico is absolutely crucial."

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

As the construction of barriers continued to pressure that connectivity, the US government decided at the start of the year to abandon the recovery of jaguar populations as a federal goal, further calling into question the future of the animals.

McCain says he is concerned that there is no conservation plan to protect the big cats and their core habitat in the United States, which, he says, leaves them increasingly vulnerable should any decision be taken in the future to secure remaining areas of the border with fencing.

"After the Border Patrol finishes securing the lowland areas they will be forced to extend those walls out across the mountain ranges and totally seal off any hopes of jaguars crossing back and forth," he says.

While jaguars would not die out as a species -- fewer than one percent of their total number live in the United States -- losing this elusive predator would signal a retreat on protecting this fragile borderland wilderness for posterity.

"The jaguar is a great emblem of wildness and an example of a healthy ecosystem," McCain said.

"It really inspires people and creates a sense of wonder at the natural world. And in today's world, we really need that."

(Reporting by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Eddie Evans)

China Urged To Shift Urban Growth To Supercities

PlanetArk 25 Mar 08;

BEIJING - Shifting China's model of urbanisation to favour huge supercities could boost per capita output, improve energy efficiency and help contain the loss of arable land, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) said on Monday.

Rapid urbanisation has been a major driver of Chinese growth over the past two decades and will become more so over the next 20 years; cities will account for 95 percent of China's gross domestic product by 2025, up from 75 percent today, MGI said.

But the institute, the economics research arm of consultants McKinsey & Co, said in a report that China could reap even greater economic benefits by adopting a more concentrated pattern of urban growth.

By enforcing land acquisition rules more strictly and by tweaking incentives for local officials, national policy makers could nurture 15 supercities with average populations of 25 million people, the report said.

Alternatively, planners could develop 11 clusters of cities with combined populations of more than 60 million people.

China currently only has two cities of more than 10 million people, Beijing and Shanghai.

China's urbanisation rate doubled between 1980 and 2005 to 44 percent and will climb to 66 percent by 2025, driven by the influx of an additional 240 million rural migrants, MGI said.

This flight from the land will impose huge strains.

Urban China will need to find double the energy and water resources they now consume. Arable land could shrink 20 percent in the worst case, and pollution, no matter what, will be severe.

But MGI said supercities would be better equipped to handle the challenges than a rash of smaller cities: energy productivity would be almost 20 percent higher; public transport would be more efficient; air and water pollution would be easier to control and farm land losses could be kept to less than 8 percent.

"China's leadership has an opportunity to shape the path that urbanisation takes to maximise economic outcomes and most effectively mitigate the pressures that urbanisation will create.

"We find that shifting China to a more concentrated pattern of urban expansion would achieve both objectives," said Richard Zhang, a senior partner in McKinsey's Shanghai office.

THINK BIG

What's more, concentrated urbanisation would boost GDP per capita growth by as much as 20 percent above the current trendline, thanks to scale effects and productivity gains.

Big cities also lure skilled workers, which would enable China to move more rapidly up the value ladder.

Whatever the model of urban growth, construction over the next two decades will be unprecedented as the number of city dwellers rises by over 350 million -- more than the US population -- to 926 million in 2025 from 572 million in 2005.

By 2025, China will have 221 cities with more than 1 million people, compared with 35 in Europe today.

China will need to build between 20,000 and 50,000 new skyscrapers -- the equivalent of up to 10 New York Cities.

China will pave up to five billion square metres of road and as many as 170 cities could meet criteria for mass-transit systems, more than twice the current number in Europe.

"This could promise to be the greatest boom in mass-transit construction in history," the report said.

(Reporting by Alan Wheatley; editing by Ken Wills)

Best of our wild blogs: 25 Mar 08

SG Recycle
a new blog for all you need to know about recycling in Singapore

The Importance of Biodiversity in Singapore's Context
from the Singaporean Attitudes to Biological Conservation blog

Last episode of Once Upon A Tree tonight
on the wildfilms blog

The Joy of (Marine) Sex
in pictures, on the wildfilms blog

What mantis shrimp see
on the fins online blog

The Tragedy of the Commons
a graphic explanation on the reuters environment blog

Researchers trace the first farming ant

Associated Press, 25 Mar 08

WASHINGTON - Ants took up farming some 50 million years ago, according to researchers who traced the ancestry of farmer ants. An analysis of the DNA of farmer ants traced them back to an original ancestor — a sort of adam ant, at least for the types that raise their own food, according to a paper in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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In the last 25 million years ants have developed different types of farming including the well-known leaf-cutter ants, according to entomologists Ted Schultz and Sean Brady at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Leaf-cutter ants don't eat the leaves they collect. Instead, they grow fungus on the leaves and eat the fungus.

Only four types of animals are known to farm for food — ants, termites, bark beetles and, of course, people. All four cultivate fungi.

By studying the fungus-growing ants the researchers hope to learn more about the development of ant agriculture.

China to spend $5.9 billion on environment

Reuters, 25 Mar 08

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has earmarked 41.8 billion yuan ($5.9 billion) to fund environmental protection and energy-saving projects this year, the finance ministry said on Monday.

In a statement posted on its Web site, www.mof.gov.cn, the ministry said the funds would be used to scrap obsolete capacity, improve sewerage in central and western China and clean up several rivers across the country.

It also said that China would consider setting up a "pay to pollute" regime and a trading system for pollution quotas.

The investments underscore the growing political emphasis on sustainable development in a country with some of the world's most polluted air and rivers.

In 2006, China set a goal of cutting energy intensity, or the amount of energy needed to produce each $1 of output, by 20 percent by 2010, but it has already fallen well behind schedule. Energy intensity fell 1.33 percent in 2006 and 3 percent in 2007.

China has also cracked down on loans to polluters and raised the bar for investment in heavy industries such as cement, steel and smelting that consume large quantities of energy and belch out pollution.

Animal group files suit to stop sea lion killings

Teresa Carson, Reuters, 25 Mar 08

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - Animal protection groups filed a lawsuit on Monday to prevent Washington state and Oregon from killing sea lions that feed on dwindling U.S. Pacific Northwest salmon populations.

The Humane Society of the United States and others filed the suit in a federal court in Oregon after the National Marine Fisheries Services granted permission last week to the states to target up to 85 sea lions a year near the Bonneville Dam.

Jonathan Lovvorn, a vice president with the Humane Society, said in a statement it was "outrageous and patently illegal" for the government agency to allow the killing of sea lions while at the same time increasing harvest quotas for fishermen.

Salmon-gobbling pinnipeds have been a problem in West Coast waters for over a decade and at the Bonneville Dam for about five years. About 100 California sea lions make the 150-mile (241-kilometre) trip upriver to feast on spawning salmon channeling into the dam's fish ladders.

State and federal governments have spent billions trying to protect once-abundant salmon and fishery managers have also proposed a virtual shutdown of salmon fishing this year in California and Oregon coastal waters.

The Humane Society said killing sea lions is unnecessary since this year's salmon run on the Columbia River is expected to be triple last year's migration, prompting authorities to raise human fishing quotas on the river.

Officials have tried to drive the sea lions away using non-lethal methods such as protective barriers, firecrackers and rubber bullets. The Humane Society has pushed for authorities to continue with these methods.

The suit names the Secretary of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service director as defendants.

Spokesmen for both the federal agency and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife declined to comment, saying they have not had a chance to look at the lawsuit.

Big cities run short of petrol and diesel

Drivers urged to stay calm and not hoard fuel as long queues form at filling stations
Associated Press, 25 Mar 08

SHANGHAI - CHINA'S leaders are facing renewed pressure over shortfalls in diesel and petrol, with lines growing at filling stations in major cities yesterday.

The shortages, first reported in southern and inland China, appeared to be spreading to the wealthier coastal areas as filling stations struggled to get shipments from refiners.

Four stations contacted yesterday in Shanghai said their daily diesel shipments had not yet arrived. 'You could try your luck later in the day. Now we have no diesel available at all,' said a filling station attendant in the city's eastern Pudong district.

The authorities downplayed the shortages and urged drivers to remain calm and not hoard fuel. Shanghai, China's commercial centre and a key trade transportation hub, has enough diesel to last more than 10 days, the city's Economic Commission said in a statement yesterday.

'Prices are set by the government, so consumers should not panic over fears of surging prices or try to stockpile fuel,' it said.

Shortages in the second half of last year briefly affected Shanghai and other major cities. But those shortfalls disappeared after the government ordered oil companies to ensure supplies, and then raised fuel prices by about 10 per cent.

Now, as the gap widens between international crude oil values and centrally controlled fuel prices and with inflation at its highest level in a dozen years, China's economic planners are resisting pressure from refiners for price hikes.

The consumer price index saw an 8.7 per cent jump in February over a year earlier, prompting Premier Wen Jiabao to vow more stringent controls to help rein in inflation.

China supplied its own energy needs for decades from domestic oilfields but became a net importer in the 1990s as its economy boomed.

Imports, which now cater for nearly half of demand, rose 12.3 per cent last year to 1.1 billion barrels. With crude prices at over US$100 (S$139) a barrel, independent refiners have cut back or stopped production.

Major state-owned suppliers Sinopec and PetroChina have been ordered by the government to ensure supplies to major cities and key sectors such as farming and public transport.

Urgent appeal by UN food agency for funds

WFP says rations will be cut unless donor nations give $700m by end of April
AFP, 25 Mar 08

LONDON - THE UN agency charged with relieving world hunger has launched an 'extraordinary emergency appeal' for at least US$500 million (S$700 million), it was reported yesterday.

A letter sent to donor countries by the World Food Programme (WFP) at the weekend said the money was required by the end of April, otherwise it would have to reduce food rations because of rapidly increasing commodity prices, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

'We urge your government to be as generous as possible in helping us to close this gap - which stood at US$500 million on Feb 25 and has been growing daily,' WFP executive director Josette Sheeran wrote in the letter obtained by the FT.

She added that if sufficient money was not received by May 1, the WFP may have to cut 'the rations for those who rely on the world to stand by them during times of abject need'.

The letter also quoted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who said: 'This is the new face of hunger, increasingly affecting communities that had previously been protected.'

Food prices have been spiralling higher globally because of rising population, strong demand from developing countries, the use of certain foods in biofuels to combat climate change and the increasing frequency of floods and droughts as a result of climate change.

The FT, citing unnamed officials, said the WFP's funding gap was now between US$600 million and US$700 million.

The WFP provided nearly 88 million people in 78 countries with food aid in 2006.

Echoing the concerns of the UN experts, the head of Nestle, the world's biggest food and beverage company, warned in Zurich on Sunday that the growing use of crops such as wheat and corn to make biofuels is putting world food supplies in peril.

'If, as predicted, we look to use biofuels to satisfy 20 per cent of the growing demand for oil products, there will be nothing left to eat,' chairman and chief executive Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said.

While the competition is driving up the price of maize, soya and wheat, land for cultivation is becoming rare and water sources are also under threat, he said.

UN food expert Jean Ziegler had made an appeal at the UN General Assembly that a five-year moratorium be imposed on all initiatives to develop biofuels in order to avert what he said might be 'horrible' food shortages.

But diplomats from countries pursuing such fuels, such as Brazil and Colombia, disputed his forecast.

Pricier cupppa

Consumers paying more as prices of coffee beans, sugar, milk go up
Chia Yan Min, Straits Times, 25 Mar 08

ENJOYING a regular kopi at neighbourhood coffee shops has become a bit pricier in recent months, with the prices of some brews shooting up by as much as a third.

Supermarket shoppers have not been spared either, with prices of some 3-in-1 brands up 15 to 20 per cent. Upmarket cafes have hiked some prices as well.

Reality hit customers of Ya Kun Kaya Toast recently when prices rose by 10 cents across the board. Its regular coffee now costs $1.30.

A check by The Straits Times on heartland coffee shops shows that they have upped prices, with one in Toa Payoh charging 20 cents more for a regular kopi - a rise of 33 per cent - bringing the price to 80 cents.

The increases are partly due to local suppliers passing on the costs of pricier beans. Mr Tan Kok Hui, who supplies neighbourhood shops, raised the price of a 9kg barrel of beans by $3 to $5 last December. A barrel costs about $55.

'I believe the coffee shops are probably thinking of raising prices again soon,' Mr Tan said in Mandarin.

Mr Hong Poh Hin, chairman of the Foochow Coffee Restaurant and Bar Merchants Association, said coffee shops and smaller retailers may raise prices within the next six months, although other factors, such as pricier electricity, will also play a part.

'Utility prices have gone up almost 100 per cent in the past year,' said Mr Hong. 'The prices of sugar and milk are also increasing, and all of these will probably have a greater impact on coffee prices than the beans.'

He said any price increase would likely be between 10 and 20 cents a cup 'because coffee shops have to remain affordable for the masses'.

Supermarket chains have been gradually hiking prices.

In the past six months, the price of a 40-sachet bag of Nescafe 3-in-1 Regular Coffeemix has risen by 14 to 19 per cent across most major supermarkets. It costs $5.20 at Cold Storage and NTUC FairPrice. Super 3-in-1 Coffeemix is up 5 to 9 per cent, and now costs $4.95 at Cold Storage and $4.80 at NTUC FairPrice.

A spokesman for a major coffee supplier, who declined to be named, said his firm increased supply prices to supermarkets by 6 to 7 per cent last year, primarily due to the rising cost of coffee.

However, hikes at high-end cafes have been minimal. A latte at Spinelli has edged up 4 per cent to $4.50. But Gloria Jean's and Coffee Club have both held fire so far.

'Coffee is only one ingredient in a brew,' said Gloria Jean's spokesman James Donald. 'Unless we see a major increase in the price of all ingredients, we should not need to raise the price.'

Coffee drinkers, of course, will not give up their cuppa. Housewife Ang Poh Choo, 52, said: 'I still have to have my coffee regardless of the price hikes. Coffee drinking is a habit for me.'

Mrs Ang had just bought a packet of Gold Roast Instant Coffee at NTUC FairPrice for $3.50, a product that used to cost under $3.

Regular Starbucks patron Eric Leong, 35, a manager who spends about $350 a month on coffee, said his latte has increased by about 20 to 30 cents recently.

But as Mr Leong admits: 'Coffee drinking is a habit for me; if all the coffee chains increase prices, I guess I'll just have to pay more.'

chiaym@sph.com.sg

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ONG BI HUI

Better eyesight for kids? Let them go out and play

Jessica Jaganathan, Straits Times, 25 Mar 08

STUDIES have shown that children who spend time outdoors have better eyesight than their computer-obsessed counterparts.

With that in mind, the government-run Health Promotion Board (HPB) has launched a new programme designed to detach children from video games and the television.

During this year's Eye Care Week, which began yesterday, HPB is organising a slew of outdoor activities for about 4,000 children aged four to six.

Held next to the Singapore General Hospital, the activities are aimed at promoting good vision among children.

Preschoolers planted sunflower seeds in mini-flower pots, each bearing an eye-care message. They also played games that highlighted the outdoors as a fun alternative to computer games and television.

'We feel that organising games and activities will make it more interesting for the children,' said MrsCheong-Lim Lee Yee, deputy director of the preschool and primary school outreach department at the HPB.

Six-year-old Rachel Leow from kindergarten PCF Punggol South was happy to take part in the activities with her classmates.

When asked what she learnt,

she said: 'We cannot play too much Game Boy or sit too close to the television.'

Data from studies in 2001 and 2004 found Chinese children in Singapore who spent much of their spare time indoors were more than four times more likely to develop myopia than kids from Sydney who went outside regularly.

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