Britain's sushi craving puts Japan's fish stocks under strain

Leo Lewis, The Times 28 Mar 08;

Britain’s growing passion for take-away raw fish looks like wiping Japan’s most famous cuisine off the menu as worldwide fish stocks strain to meet the demands of “supermarket sushi”.

The founder of Britain’s first conveyor-belt sushi restaurants told a forum of Japanese chefs and food suppliers yesterday that the appetite they had stimulated was not sustainable.

The warning came as, only a few miles across Tokyo, representatives from the 13 nations who consume the most tuna met scientists to discuss chronic overfishing and the possible extinction of sushi’s most critical ingredient.

High on their agenda, said insiders at the closed-door talks, was the explosive “sushi effect” on national eating habits around the world. The talks, which end today, are expected to result in a global agreement to tighten fishing rules.

Caroline Bennett, the founder of the Moshi Moshi sushi chain, said that expanding global appetites for sushi and the rapid emergence of fast-food sushi would not be met by the available natural resources.

While she applauded the speed with which Britain has developed a taste for a well-rolled tekka-maki, she questioned its role as anything other than an occasional treat.

“Can the sea really let us eat sushi in these numbers?” she asked, adding that London now had more than 300 Japanese restaurants and the British market for Japanese food is worth more than £500 million a year.

The problem is not restricted to rising appetites for sushi in Europe and the US. Although Japan is, by a long way, the world’s most voracious consumer of tuna, it has met a potentially hungrier rival in the economically blossoming China. Japanese buyers unhappily report the growing phenomenon of kai-make or “deal-blowing” where the Chinese have snapped up the very best tuna at prices that Japan is not prepared to pay.

Ms Bennett was talking to members of the JRO – an organisation formed to promote Japanese restaurants abroad. Opposing plans for a global “sushi police” who would issue authenticity certificates, the JRO hopes instead to help to train nonJapanese chefs working in supposedly Japanese restaurants. The fewer stomach upsets that result from people eating badly made Japanese food, runs the JRO’s logic, the better will be the global reputation of Japan and its national dishes, especially the ones served raw.

But the efforts of the JRO may be in vain. The 13 nations that met yesterday were left in no doubt that current levels of fishing and persistent violation of existing rules would end in disaster. Fisheries operators in the Mediterranean, where bluefin tuna quotas are regularly flouted, were opposed to the idea of tighter regulations.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which also gathered at the meeting, is expected this year to issue a master-plan for increasing world tuna stocks. Some, including the United States, believe that the only solution lies in a temporary ban on all tuna catches.

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Million acres of Guyanese rainforest to be saved in groundbreaking deal

Daniel Howden, The Independent 27 Mar 08;

A deal has been agreed that will place a financial value on rainforests – paying, for the first time, for their upkeep as "utilities" that provide vital services such as rainfall generation, carbon storage and climate regulation.

The agreement, to be announced tomorrow in New York, will secure the future of one million acres of pristine rainforest in Guyana, the first move of its kind, and will open the way for financial markets to play a key role in safeguarding the fate of the world's forests.

The initiative follows Guyana's extraordinary offer, revealed in The Independent in November, to place its entire standing forest under the protection of a British-led international body in return for development aid.

Hylton Murray-Philipson, director of the London-based financiers Canopy Capital, who sealed the deal with the Iwokrama rainforest, said: "How can it be that Google's services are worth billions but those from all the world's rainforests amount to nothing?" The past year has been a pivotal one for the fast- disappearing tropical forests that form a cooling band around the equator because the world has recognised deforestation as the second leading cause of CO2 emissions. Leaders at the UN climate summit in Bali in December agreed to include efforts to halt the destruction of forests in a new global deal to save the world from runaway climate change.

"As atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide rise, emissions will carry an ever-mounting cost and conservation will acquire real value. The investment community is beginning to wake up to this," Mr Murray-Philipson added.

Guyana, sandwiched between the Latin American giants Venezuela and Brazil, is home to fewer than amillion people but 80 per cent of its land is covered by an intact rainforest larger than England. The Guiana Shield is one of only four intact rainforests left on the planet and at its heart lies the Iwokrama reserve, gifted to the Commonwealth in 1989 as a laboratory for pioneering conservation projects.

Iwokrama, which means "place of refuge" in the Makushi language, is home to some of the world's most endangered species including jaguar, giant river otter, anaconda and giant anteater.

Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo, a former economist, has appealed for state and private sector help for the country to avoid succumbing to the rampant deforestation currently blighting Brazil and Indonesia, in an effort to raise living standards in one of Latin America's poorest countries.

"Forests do much more for us than just store carbon ... This first significant step is in keeping with President Jagdeo's visionary approach to safeguarding all the forests of Guyana," said Iwokrama's chairman, Edward Glover.

The deal, drawn up by the international firm Stephenson Harwood, is the first serious attempt to pay for the ecosystem services provided by rainforests.

"We should move beyond emissions-based trading to measure and place a value on all the services they provide," said Mr Glover.

In addition to providing shelter to half the world's terrestrial species and one billion of the earth's poorest people, forests such as Iwokrama act as pumps, drawing water from the Atlantic Ocean inland to the Amazon and Guiana Shield where they help to seed clouds and deliver moisture over vast distances.

The Amazon generates the rain that falls on the vast soya estates of Sao Paulo, helping to make Brazil the second biggest agricultural exporter in the world.

Guyana's attempt to secure its entire standing forest has received the backing of the British environment minister Phil Woolas and Downing Street has told The Independent that it is "considering the offer". President Jagdeo met with Gordon Brown on the sidelines of a recent Commonwealth Summit in Uganda where they discussed the proposal. The UN road map to a deal to replace the Kyoto protocols foresees payments from wealthy climate-polluting nations to developing countries to compensate for potential income lost through avoiding deforestation. But there are fears that this formula may simply displace the demand for timber and cheap agricultural land.

Andrew Mitchell, head of the Global Canopy Programme, an alliance of rainforest scientists, said: "The decision on forests at December's conference in Bali is a major step in tackling climate change but it fails to reward countries such as Guyana that aren't cutting down their forests."

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Plan to allow sea to flood Norfolk villages

Nick Allen, The Telegraph 28 Mar 08;

Large swathes of Norfolk, including six villages, could be flooded under a controversial plan to deal with the effects of climate change.

The proposal would see Britain effectively admit defeat in the battle to maintain coastal defences and around 16,000 acres (25 square miles) of land in the Norfolk Broads would be allowed to flood.

Six villages, hundreds of homes and thousands of acres of farmland would be wiped out over the next 20 to 50 years under the plan put forward by environmental group Natural England.

Villagers who face losing their homes have described it as "devastating" and "horrifying". The area is also one of England's favourite holiday spots.

Experts doubt that coastal defences in the area will stand up to rising sea levels caused by global warming and the plan to "realign the coast" is seen as a less expensive long term option.

The sea would be allowed to breach 15 miles of the north Norfolk coast between Eccles-on-Sea and Winterton and would flood low-lying land to create a new bay.

Seawater would destroy the villages of Eccles, Sea Palling, Waxham, Horsey, Hickling and Potter Heigham along with five fresh water lakes.

Two new "retreated" sea walls would be erected further back from the original coast line.

According to the Natural England report 1.2 per cent of Norfolk would be flooded and the area would revert to saltmarsh to create a new habitat for wildlife.

Opponents say the plan would involve relocating hundreds of people from their homes and compensating them. In the short term property would be unsellable.

The move would also see a millennium of history vanish under the sea. The village of Hickling is typical of what would be lost. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Hikelinga and a priory was founded there in 1185.

The village has been flooded many times before including in 1287 when 180 people lost their lives.

Potter Heigham has similar historical value with a medieval bridge dating from 1385 and a church with a round tower dating from the 12th century. A number of its other buildings are listed by English Heritage.

The flooding proposal was discussed at a meeting in Norwich between Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Broads Authority and Norfolk County Council. No final decision has been made.

But North Norfolk Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, who would see a significant part of his constituency disappear under water, said: "The implications are pretty horrifying for the communities involved. What shocks me is that profound, devastating implications are being discussed at a conference between delegates without the communities affected being part of the decision at all."

Dr Martin George, of the Broads Society, said: "I'm extremely concerned at the prospect of houses effectively finishing up in the sea and I think it's very sad that agricultural land is going to be lost. I am just horrified by the proposal."

He said one eighth of the area thought of as The Broads would be lost, including Hickling Broad, the largest and most popular.

Even if the plan didn't go ahead for years the effect on the value of properties would be devastating, he said.

Steve Hayman, project manager for the Environment Agency, said his organisation was committed to "hold the line" by maintaining existing sea defences for the next 50 years.

"It's going to get more difficult and expensive to hold the line but we're going to do our damnedest to maintain the defences in the best possible conditions because there are people living directly behind."

A Natural England apokeswoman said the "surrender" option was one of many and their report was intended to start a debate about facing up to climate change.

She said: "We have got to face up to the issue. We have got to have discussion. There are difficult decisions to be made and we have produced this report after lengthy research.

"It's one of a number of options for consideration and we're in the early stages of trying to decide what options to take."

The Broads span 74,000 acres to the north and east of Norwich and are based around 63 shallow lakes, most of which were dug in medieval times by people gathering peat for fuel.

The largest is the 350-acre Hickling Broad which one of Britain's most popular holiday and boating areas and contains a wealth of wildlife.

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At toxic Montana dam, a river now runs through it

Jeff Hull, Reuters 29 Mar 08;

MILLTOWN, Montana (Reuters) - Engineers breached a hydroelectric dam in Montana on Friday, the first time an American dam was removed to clean up toxic sediments captured behind it from years of mining upriver.

The intent was the restore some of the pristine beauty of the water as portrayed in "A River Runs Through It," Norman McLean's classic novel about fly fishing later made into a film directed by Robert Redford.

In the novel, the Blackfoot, one of the rivers dammed in Milltown, is portrayed as a frontier of unspoiled outdoor recreation.

In reality, the reservoir behind the 720-foot-(220 meter)wide, 21-foot-(seven meter)high Milltown dam east of Missoula held 6.6 million cubic yards of sediment laden with arsenic, zinc, copper and other heavy metals. The sediments came from a century of mining at the river's headwaters in Butte, 120 miles upstream.

Its breaching represents the first time a dam has been taken out specifically as part of a multiyear process to clean up a toxic river bottom. The lower water level with the dam gone will allow engineers easier access for cleaning.

Contractors will spend several years digging up toxic sediments 25-feet-(eight meter)deep in some places. Eventually, the former reservoir is slated to become a recreation area.

In Montana, as in many Western states, cleaning up after mining has become a big business. The Milltown dam's removal is part of a $500 million Superfund clean up project, led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"They used to say it's jobs or the environment," said Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. "Take a look at those yellow tractors. Those are jobs restoring the environment."

Since 1999, 253 U.S. dams, mostly small irrigation dams, have been removed, 54 in 2007 alone, according to American Rivers, a conservation group. The Milltown dam, spanning the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers, was one of the largest removed in recent years.

Gov. Schweitzer spoke moments before the breaching, which was started when an excavator scooped away the last remaining plug of a temporary dam put up to remove the main dam. The rush of water gradually eroded the rest of the dam.

Montana Senator Max Baucus, also speaking at the dam site, noted its importance in the economic development of Montana and the nation.

Built in 1907, the dam powered a timber mill owned by William Clarke, one of three mining magnates known as the Copper Kings. Timbers from the mill built mines which yielded the copper that served as the country's first electrical and phone wires networks.

"But the jobs of restoration, and also the jobs of hunting and fishing, those are the jobs of the future of Montana," Baucus said.

The Stimson Lumber Company closed a timber mill that occupied the same site as Clarke's just 10 days ago as the region focuses more on tourism and recreation. Another large timber producer, Plum Creek, is subdividing its forest land holdings for sale in Montana's lucrative recreational real estate market.

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Sumatran tiger population in Indonesia's Seblat park down to 136

Antara 28 Mar 08;

Muko Muko, Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - The population of the Sumatran Tiger (Phantera Tigris Sumaterae) in the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) has continued to decline, a foreign nature conservation worker said.

The tiger population in the park now was only 136, down from 150 spotted in 2007, coordinator for Sumatra of Flora Fauna International (FFI), Debby Martin, said in a report on the results of her research here Thursday.

Hunting and land clearing had become the main threat to the rare animal`s population, she said.

The research was conducted by FFI in coordination with the TNKS administration and some universities in a Sumatran Tigers` Monitoring (MHS) project.

The research had also shown that conflicts between humans and tigers which ended in the tigers` death had also reduced the population of the endemic species.

"Based on our last research, the current tiger population is not more than 136 or some 25 percent of the total number of existing Sumatran tigers. Land clearing and conflicts will become the main threat after hunting has been stopped," she said.

Debby said land clearing for plantations had recently triggered conflicts between tigers and local residents.

Land clearing activity had narrowed the territory where the tigers usually hunt for prey and forced them to encroach on farmers` lands.

"Recently in South Lebong, Lebong District, a tiger was seen in a farmer`s rubber plantation. We tried to make sure that both the tiger and the farmer remained safe," the British researcher said in fluent Bahasa Indonesia.

According to Debby, her team had helped to settle more than 20 conflicts between tigers and humans in the region.

Usually, she said, a tiger appears in a village to prey on livestock.

An FFI official, Agung Nugraha, said the FFI had monitored Sumatran tigers` movements in four provinces within the national park, namely Jambi, West Sumatra, Bengkulu and South Sumatra.

Since 2004, the monitoring team had installed tracking cameras in 88 sample areas.

Based on the survey, 90 percent of Sumatran tigers` activity was taking place inside TNKS conservation forests.

"Currently we are focusing on four locations in the southern coast of West Sumatra to Musi Rawas, Lubuk Linggau," he said.

Taking part in the research were students from Dice University of Kent, UK as well as local students and institutions.

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Weekend worry at East Coast Park

Letter from Michael Shen, Straits Times Forum 29 Mar 08;

I WAS astonished by the influx of beach-goers during weekends and public holidays while jogging at East Coast Park.

This is certainly a good sign. But I wish to highlight the importance of physical safety. Though this was addressed some time back following some serious mishaps, I urge cyclists and roller-bladders to use the path designated for them.

Children riding tricycles on jogging paths should be accompanied by adults as they tend to stray towards the fast moving path of cyclists. Families strolling along the footpath should not occupy the entire width of the path.

It is frustrating for joggers to hop, step and jump many times to sidestep them. Something has to be done before accidents happen.

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SembCorp in tie-up to set up China water plant

Fiona Chan, Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

SEMBCORP Industries has entered into a joint venture to set up and run an industrial water recycling facility in China's Jiangsu province.

The $22.4 million plant will be located in the free trade zone of Zhangjiagang city, SembCorp said in a statement.

The conglomerate yesterday signed a joint venture agreement with Zhangbao Industries, an investment arm of the Zhangjiagang city government.

SembCorp will own 80 per cent of the joint venture company, Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone SembCorp Water Recycling Co. Zhangbao Industries will hold the rest.

The joint venture company will construct an industrial water-recycling facility to treat 40,000 cubic m of waste water a day. It will have exclusive rights to supply recycled water and demineralised water to industries in the free trade zone.

As the zone expands, the plant is also expected to grow, SembCorp said.

This facility will be the conglomerate's third water management project in Zhangjiagang.

Its first project was a plant capable of treating 20,000 cubic m of waste water a day. It serves industrial customers in the free trade zone and surrounding industrial parks.

SembCorp is also building its second project, a facility to treat 15,000 cubic m of high concentration industrial waste water.

This project, and the new 40,000 cubic m facility, have been selected by the governments of China and Singapore to showcase Singapore's expertise in water management.

SembCorp, Singapore's largest water company, manages about four million cubic m of water a day worldwide.

Rush to tap China's clean-water market
Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

Foreign investors lead push into potentially lucrative treatment sector
SHANGHAI - WELL aware of its shoddy environmental image, China has opened the door to foreign firms eager for a piece of the fast-growing US$14.2 billion (S$20 billion) water treatment market.

China, which has made cleaner water a major policy goal, is one of Asia's most promising investment destinations for water treatment, drawing in the likes of the French Veolia Environment company and Suez Environment.

Local rivals such as China Water Industry Group and Guangdong Investment have also sprung up.

The government's stance on water has given China an edge over regional rival India in wooing foreign funds.

'India has decided to invest in the water sector mostly through public money, but China has decided to allow private companies, including foreign investors, to participate in water supply and sewage products,' UBS analyst Christopher Wong wrote in a research note.

But problems abound.

Fierce competition for projects means margins may be squeezed.

Opaque rules and a government price freeze on public utilities, including water, are also red flags.

'One challenge is frequent regulatory changes in the acquisition of land, in the usage of land, the end-right use of a particular piece of land,' said Mr Sam Ong, chief financial officer of Singapore-listed water treatment firm Hyflux.

More than half the water in China - the fourth-largest economy in the world - is unfit to drink. Last year, about 48 million Chinese lacked sufficient drinking water.

China, which boasts a fifth of the world's population, has only 7 per cent of global water resources, says Fusion Consulting.

Its per-capita water resources are a mere fifth of the world average. More than 70 per cent of China's rivers and lakes are polluted, says Macquarie Research.

'China is experiencing one of its most severe water shortages. We believe this is one of the key issues that will determine China's future in the next 20 years,' Macquarie analyst Leah Jiang wrote in a recent note.

Since the 1990s, Beijing has been slowly prising open the water industry from the grips of state-owned enterprises. It plans to invest US$130 billion in water and waste water treatment (from 2006 to 2010).

Foreign firms hope this will translate into healthy growth prospects and are keen to get a foothold.

Suez Environment, for example, will invest 100 million euros (S$218 million) annually in sewage treatment and water projects in China over the next five years.

Sino French Water Development, a venture between Hong Kong's NWS Holdings Ltd and Suez, aims to boost daily output from its Changshu plant near Shanghai by more than 40 per cent to 850,000 cu m by 2010. It plans a sludge treatment centre to match that capacity.

'The return of our company is long term. We have a profitable business with revenues that experience double-digit growth every year,' said Mr Steve Clark, executive director of Suez's China subsidiary and Sino French Water Development.

Singapore's Hyflux expects its China revenues to jump 30 per cent this year, said CFO Ong.

Investors are optimistic, boosting shares in China Water Affairs Group Ltd by 61 per cent and China Water Industry Group Ltd by 43 per cent last year.

Rising water prices in China - in many cities they have doubled in the past four years - are a main reason foreign companies are counting on significant future returns.

But Beijing is wary of stoking already-high inflation. In January, the State Council set an immediate price freeze on all public utilities, including water.

'We think this is a key risk to private investment in the water industry as the tariff remains a politically sensitive area for most local governments,' says Macquarie.

REUTERS

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Protecting Indonesia's Forests: Mine those rules

John McBeth, Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

IT IS always intriguing to hear Indonesian officials and environmental groups use the term 'protected forest', particularly when it comes to allowing mining in such supposedly pristine surroundings.

In the Moluccan island chain in eastern Indonesia, for example, part of French nickel producer Eramat's rich Weda Bay 950ha concession is in protected forest, yet all of it is little more than hilly scrubland.

Freeport Indonesia's main mining zone was never part of protected forest, but much of its surrounding 2,000 sq km concession is - if you ignore the broad swathes of terrain laid bare by the shifting agriculture practices of tribal farmers.

The fact is 'protected forest' has little to do with soaring tropical hardwoods and fragile eco-systems.

Struggling to explain all this to foreign journalists recently, senior Forestry Ministry official Syaiful Anwar acknowledged there was a flaw in the widely used interpretation of hutan lindung, the Indonesian term for protected forest.

What it really applies to is tracts of land classified as 'protected' for hydrological reasons: to preserve upland watersheds, the catchment basins that feed rivers and streams. Protected is basically land above 2,000m with a slope of more than 45 deg, well-defined soil characteristics and a minimum level of rainfall.

Is this important? Absolutely. But if the authorities are incapable of protecting Jakarta's watershed from developers - the reason for the city's ever- worsening flood problem - why should they have any more success in far-flung places where loggers have already laid waste to the landscape?

Hardline environmental groups, whose claims often go unchallenged in the media, have used the 'protected forest' categorisation as a mechanism to manipulate public opinion against the mining industry and blame it for much of the rampant deforestation over the past three decades.

The issue erupted again recently with a controversial new Forestry Ministry rule that at first glance appears to further relax a provision in the 1999 Forestry Law - passed in the blush of the reform era - that prohibited open-cut mining in protected areas. There was never going to be a good time to introduce the new regulation. But coming only two months after the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, where saving forests was a major issue, it drew a predictable response from activists.

The main antagonists are the Indonesian Forum for the Environment and the Mining Advocacy Community Network, which claim that mining over the past seven years has ravaged 11.4 million ha of protected forest. But that refers to areas open to exploration, which has only a minimal impact on the environment.

It also belies a more important fact that has been lost in the emotion-charged debate: Mining is not a major contributor to the loss of forests.

'Mining is not a serious driver of deforestation,' says Mr Krystof Obidzinski, an experienced researcher with the Centre for International Forestry Research, an independent think-tank based in Bogor.

The government's rowback on the issue began when former president Megawati Sukarnoputri issued a decree, later made part of the Forestry Law, allowing 13 mining companies with existing contracts to resume open-pit operations in protected areas.

Industry sources say that in 11 of the 13 cases, they occupy areas previously classified as 'production forest' but since converted to 'protected forest' after being logged over by timber concerns.

The rule, issued last month, requires miners - along with the builders of highways and electricity towers - to cough up an annual tariff of between 1.8 million rupiah and 3 million rupiah (between S$270 and S$450) a ha for the forest land they occupy.

The Forestry Ministry hopes to recover up to 1 trillion rupiah from the new fee structure to compensate for a slide in revenue resulting from a corresponding decline in legal logging. But critics claim it will open the door to a flood of other mining companies.

Forestry experts share those fears and say that in addition to the new fees, far higher than those imposed on timber firms in the past, miners should also be charged a hefty deposit to guarantee their adherence to environmental rehabilitation and regeneration. After all, in areas where loggers have been at work, little has been done to return watersheds to their natural function - one of the main causes of a growing number of fatal landslides.

The tariff obligation replaces an earlier rule under which mining companies in 'protected' and also 'production' forest had to provide land double the size of their concession as a form of compensation.

Executives believe the new system will not make it any easier to acquire mining permits, noting the rigid conditions that apply and the fact that companies already have to pay nine different fees - with a new export tax coming down the pike.

The 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers' survey of the industry shows mining contributed 3 per cent to Indonesia's GDP last year, with taxes and royalties alone rising to US$4 billion (S$5.5 billion) - more than at any time in recent memory.

For all that, 80 per cent of local mining companies which contributed to the survey say the conflict between mining and forestry regulations and the slow passage of a long-debated mining law hold the key to any real surge in investment.

Three world-class nickel projects - Papua's Gag Island (BHP Billiton), Weda Bay (Eramat) and Central Sulawesi's La Sampala (Rio Tinto) - are in various stages of development, with a potential combined annual output of 168,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile, annual exploration investment in Indonesia is around the US$160 million mark, a fraction of the US$7.5 billion spent worldwide in an industry seeing a remarkable bull run on the back of historically high prices for copper, gold and nickel.

Given its geological potential, one recent study found that global players would rate Indonesia among the world's 10 top destinations if a 'best practice' investment regime was put in place. It is now languishing in the bottom 10.

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Ah Meng: Man, mate and memories

The grand ol' dame was a pain in the butt, but she saved the Singapore Zoo!
Bernard Harrison, Today Online 29 Mar 08;

WHICHEVER animal eventually becomes the Singapore Zoo's next icon and ambassador will have it tough because Ah Meng is a real classy act to follow. For she always had class.

This made her somewhat of a diva — and like most divas, she was often a pain in the butt!

Ah Meng and I go back a long way. We first met in 1973 when I joined the Singapore Zoological Gardens as curator of zoology. Thus, I was Ah Meng's de facto boss. But really, that title was reserved for Sam (or Alagappasamy), who was section head of primates then. Ah Meng adored Sam and he adored her.

In the early days, Ah Meng visited a lot of schools and met visitors through photo-taking sessions at the Zoo. During those days, we would set up photo shoots of Ah Meng with singers such as John Denver, Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond, and others such as actress Isabella Rossellini, Britain's Prince Edward and tennis star Bjorn Borg.

Someone who was really fascinated with Ah Meng was sex symbol Bo Derek, who would make unannounced stops in Singapore, and go straight from the airport to the Zoo to see Ah Meng and then leave.

But Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor's meeting with Ah Meng was the most bizarre. I had received a call from Mr Ong Beng Seng — who brought Jackson's concert to Singapore in 1993 — asking me to close the whole Zoo so that Jackson could visit.

I explained that we could not do that and suggested that we take Ah Meng down to the Raffles Hotel, where Jackson was staying, for a private visit. I asked Sam to get her ready and told him I would come along. When I got into the zoo minibus, there were six orang-utans and four keepers. What's going on, I thought, as I had only asked for Ah Meng?

These guys wanted to see Jackson and knew the only way to do that was if they each took care of an orang utan.

He and Elizabeth Taylor met us at the swimming pool and spent about 45 minutes with Ah Meng. He said absolutely nothing, just observing with fascination as young orang-utans crawled all over him. Elizabeth Taylor was far more interesting than he was!

In the early days of the Zoo, in the mid-1970's, we had good local support but few tourist visitors. I used to visit tour operators and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and asked why they did not send tourists to visit the Zoo. Instead, tourists were sent to the Jurong Bird Park.

The answer was always the same: Every city has a zoo, but there are only a few bird parks in the world.

On one occasion, I had a drink with STB director for Australia Dennis Pile and lamented about our frustrating position with the tourist market. He suggested combining a visit to the Zoo with a meal with an orang-utan. It was a unique selling proposition and the concept of dining with an orang-utan would make a great advertising visual.

I thought the idea was brilliant and we launched Breakfast at the Zoo in 1982 to the Australian market; I went to Sydney with posters of Ah Meng having breakfast with a beautiful woman and did Breakfast on live television shows.

Breakfast became so successful we decided to add a similar tour called High Tea at the Zoo (with a young orang-utan). During its heyday, Breakfast and High Tea attracted more than 66,000 guests per year. That's about 180 guests each day. We used to have two breakfasts running simultaneously, one conducted in English and the other in Japanese.

While it was immensely popular, the programmes had the odd hiccups.

One day, Ah Meng was outside eating and posing for photographs with guests, when there was a sudden downpour. Everyone moved to the adjacent shelter and Ah Meng saw an Australian tourist sitting in her favourite chair. So, she walked to where he was and pushed him. Thinking it was a game, the tourist pushed her back. Ah Meng then grabbed his leg and bit his calf.

We looked at the bite, which the tourist agreed was superficial and said: "No worries mate." But the next week, we received a letter and damages for a spoilt holiday. The Australian tourist was a lawyer. We settled out of court.

Breakfast at the Zoo was the turning point for the Zoo. It put the Singapore Zoological Gardens on the world map and on the top 10 list of the best zoos worldwide. And credit must go to the grand old dame!

Ah Meng was constantly in demand. The term Ah Meng and orang-utan became synonymous to Singaporeans. She was a superstar. During her time, she was the highest paid model here, commanding a modelling fee of $5,000 for half an hour.

In 1992, Ah Meng was awarded the STB's Special Tourism Ambassador Award at the annual tourism equivalent of the Oscars. By then, she had appeared in more than 30 travel films and had been interviewed by more than 300 journalists. It was a touching moment for everyone at the Zoo because it was such a special occasion. She went on stage and collected the award like a true prima donna.

Ah Meng had it pretty good her whole life. She was probably the most pampered orang-utan in the world.

Ah Meng was also an ambassador for her wild counterparts. She lived in captivity and met humans, showing them how lovely and adorable orang-utans are.

Orang-utans live in the forest of Borneo and Sumatra, which is being logged and burnt at an alarming rate. It is projected that rainforests in South-east Asia will be destroyed by 2020 and so will the populations of orang-utans, gibbons and the multitude of wildlife and flora.

As an ambassador, Ah Meng raised much-needed awareness for this issue.

The writer is principal partner of Creativity and Design, Bernard Harrison and Friends.

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Best of our wild blogs: 29 Mar 08

Clearly Hantu
seems like the good visibility is here to stay! on the ashira blog

For My Sky: a poem by a child
The mood of the sky depends on you,
Whether you care and love it too,
more on the flying fish friends blog

Wah! So Big!
Huge fungus in our forest on the future of our forest blog

Another Javan Myna orphan
on the bird ecology blog

Switch off for Earth Hour
on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

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Earth Hour: Power of small changes

Tiny Singapore can help change world, says WWF chairman
Sheralyn Tay, Today Online 29 Mar 08;

IT MAY not seem much, but a 2-degree-Centigrade increase in global temperature will lead to a 1-m rise in sea levels, causing widespread drought and destroying crops and livestock. For tiny Singapore, it will mean most of the East Coast will be underwater.

That is why the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has committed itself to the ambitious target of focusing on the little things to keep at bay the dire consequences of global warming. This, said Dr Chris Hails (picture), chairman of WWF Singapore, is what sets the WWF apart from many other campaigns more focused on awareness issues.

"There's always going to be a certain amount of 'noise' in the world as different people campaign for different things," he said. "At the end of the day, getting people to do something is what counts."

This is where Earth Hour — "one small element" in a much larger WWF campaign to reduce the greenhouse effect — comes in, said the British biologist, who is also WWF International's director of network relations. Earth Hour (see box) encourages people to turn of their lights between 8pm and 9pm on Saturday, to promote electricity conservation and lower carbon emission.

But this does not mean that smaller campaigns or grassroots actions should be written off, he stressed. Rather, is should be given space to grow.

The Brit, who was environmental adviser to the Ministry of National Development here in the 1980s, said the growth of local green groups was inspiring. While he acknowledged that these may appear small and piecemeal, he saw these causes as the critical "experimental bed" where good ideas would emerge and take root.

"It's how social change happens, isn't it?" he said.

Earth Hour is an example, growing from a Sydney-based action last year to a global phenomenon involving more than 371 cities and communities around the world this year. It is meant to inspire and answer the question of what an individual can do, said Dr Hails. It highlights the fact that if one takes public transport instead of driving or sets the air-conditioner a few degrees higher — it will all add up, making a huge difference in the fight against rising world temperatures.

Even small Singapore can exert a "large influence" on the region, he said, because it is a leader in political thinking, social motivation and technology.

"Singapore is a great consumer of resources, so the responsible and sustainable use of these resources is vital to its future," he noted.

And as for the common argument of climate versus economy, Dr Hails said: "There's going to come a day when we realise we cannot afford not to make these changes because economies are going to be affected anyway. There's no point in saying we cannot afford to do this, when we're already hurting in so many different ways."

Given the scale of the problem, there cannot be half measures.

"Climate change is the single biggest threat that we face right now. It affects our security on so many fronts," he said.

With the very forces driving climate change deeply rooted in our economy, lifestyles and behaviour, ambitious targets are vital to evoke change. Take WWF's "ambitious" 2-degree-Centigrade target.

"It's a very ambitious target," Dr Hails noted. "But then again, most worthwhile things in life are only worthwhile because of that."

LIGHTS OUT
A bright idea that began in Sydney, Australia is catching on here.
Teh Jen Lee, The New Paper 29 Mar 08;

A bright idea that began in Sydney, Australia is catching on here.

Singapore is joining Earth Hour 2008, an initiative that was started by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) last year to raise awareness about climate change.

Lights will be switched off tomorrow between 8pm and 9pm in the homes of individuals, such as Miss Chuah Yin Yin's, and buildings such as Raffles City Singapore will switch off their facade lights.

Retail business will go on as normal because shops will still be lit. Swissotel the Stamford and Fairmont Singapore (formerly Raffles the Plaza), which are not under the same management as Raffles City, are not taking part.

Companies in Suntec Exhibition and Convention Centre, office buildings such as the NTUC building along the Marina Bay waterfront, and 14buildings under CapitaLand will be dark for an hour.

Organisers said the exercise will not infringe on safety protocols - in places like emergency exits that need to be lit, the lights will be dimmed, not turned off completely.

Mr Baey Yam Keng, vice-president of corporate social responsibility for CapitaLand, said: 'Switching of our building lights for one hour is more than just a symbolic gesture as we are taking the opportunity to encourage our 2,000 staff members in Singapore and many thousands of tenants to play their part in protecting the environment.'

SENDING A MESSAGE

Mr Baey, who is also a Member of Parliament, added that cost savings have not been estimated, because the important thing is to send a message through the darkened facades of buildings such as Raffles City and Bugis Village.

In Sydney previously, the one-hour event reportedly saved energy by 10 per cent.

The NTUC building houses the Microsoft office, one of the sponsors of Earth Hour 2008.

Mr Craig Law-Smith, marketing director for Microsoft's online services group in South-east Asia, said: 'Singaporeans are becoming increasingly interested in the environment. Earth Hour is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness as it gives people the opportunity to get involved and share their experiences.

'MSN and Microsoft Windows Live can help people share and discover more about the environment as well as the things they're passionate about.'

One such passionate person is Miss Chuah Yin Yin, 26, a life-science trainer who lives in a landed property in Seletar.

She said: 'All of us have a part to play in conserving our environment for the future, so I decided to take part in Earth Hour. I have also been encouraging my friends to support it.'

She said she will turn off all lights at home during the time period.

Mr Wilson Ang, president of the Environmental Challenge Organisation (ECO), said Earth Hour is a 'first step forward'.

'It shows that everyone can make a difference collectively by making small changes in their daily lifestyle.

'Turning off the lights is not a dramatic thing. It's a small action that collectively makes a big difference.'

ECO helped to coordinate the grassroot movement among resident committees and schools.

During the day tomorrow, 300students will be going door to door in Hougang to raise awareness about the exercise.

There will be a countdown to the Earth Hour in Punggol involving Minister George Yeo.

There will also be stargazing sessions in the east and west.

For more information on Earth Hour in the heartlands, go to www.earthhoursingapore.blog spot.com.

Mr Ang said: 'Switching off lights is a symbolic action to us. What we want subsequently is for people to think of what else they can switch off while it is not in use.

'We want to focus on reducing consumption.'

A dozen major cities around the world, such as Manila, Toronto, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Copenhagen and Chicago, will also be turning off the lights to save energy during Earth Hour tomorrow.

The impact of one hour of darkness:

ON 31 Mar 2007, more than 2.2 million people and 2,100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour.

It cut normal energy use by 10 per cent.

If sustained for a year in Sydney's central business district, it will equal taking more than 48,000 cars off the road for a year.

It made the world take notice when icons such as Sydney Harbour Bridge turned dark.

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$360m green centre to draw top minds here

Part of plan to push commercialisation of ideas, R&D among institutes of higher learning
Liaw Wy-Cin, Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

IN AN effort to encourage the world's top universities to set up research labs in Singapore, the Government is going green.

A future research centre costing $360 million in Clementi Road could come equipped with solar panels, a system that recycles water and corridors bathed in natural light, officials revealed yesterday.

Once built, officials hope the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (Create) will attract top universities to set up research centres here. The centre would have corridors located near the perimeter so that these areas can be lit by sunlight, reducing the need to use lights during the day.

Architects are also exploring installing photovoltaic panels on the building's walls and roofs, so that the latest solar technologies can be tested.

To reduce water use, rain and water from showers and toilets could be recycled.

Besides that project, the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council, which charts Singapore's research direction, has also just approved a budget of $350 million from this year to 2012.

The aim is to push the research, development and commercialisation of novel ideas among institutes of higher learning.

A sum of $50 million will go towards supporting entrepreneurship in the universities, including an Innovation Fund for entrepreneurship programmes.

Some $160 million will go towards encouraging the formation of start-up companies by institutes of higher learning.

Another $125 million has been set aside to help commercialise research and development. Some of this money will go towards grants to encourage polytechnics to build on technologies from the universities and public research institutes, helping to take research closer to the marketplace.

The money will also fund 'innovation vouchers', which will help small- and medium-size enterprises pay for research work done by universities, polytechnics and public research institutes.

A final $15 million will help set up a national centre for innovation studies. It will propose policies to encourage innovation in the private and public sectors.

wycin@sph.com.sg

Where money will go

THE Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council will spend more than $1 billion to push research and development as well as commercialise innovative ideas. Here's where the money will go:

# $256 million - Cancer Research Centre of Excellence

# $287 million - Earth Observatory of Singapore

# $360 million - Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise to attract top universities around the world to set up research centres here

# $350 million - National Framework for Innovation and Enterprise. The money will support the Government's efforts to promote innovation and enterprise in Singapore. Some of the funds will go to institutes of higher learning to push entrepreneurship and to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to tap research and development.

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New award to recognise Singapore SMEs for going green

Business Times 29 Mar 08;

AN award was launched yesterday to recognise small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have gone green.

The Edge (Efficiently Developing Growing Enterprise) Award was launched at the 4th SME Credit Bureau Conference by Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.

Organised by Dun & Bradstreet (Singapore), the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), the Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (ASME) and IBM, the award aims to identify and exemplify environmentally conscious SMEs that have cut costs by using green technology and business practices.

William Lim, executive director of Dun & Bradstreet (Singapore), said: 'By recognising SMEs that are ahead of the curve in eco-friendliness, the Edge Award aims to promote environmental awareness among the SME community and highlight the benefits of going green.'

ASME executive director Bryan Teh said: 'Enterprises must realise that the benefits of going green go beyond preserving the environment and minimising waste - it also entails promoting efficiency and reducing costs.'

The winner of the Edge Award, chosen based on criteria set by the organisers, stands to receive Green Assessment Consultancy Services from IBM worth US$10,000.

But SEC executive director Howard Shaw stressed: 'The award is not a competition.' The idea is to bring SMEs with cost efficient, eco-friendly business practices to light, so they can serve as examples to the general SME community, he said.

The 4th SME Credit Bureau Conference saw a greater emphasis placed on the environment, with presentations by Singapore Environmental Achievement Award winner Origin Exterminator on sustainable green business practices and the National Environment Agency on energy efficiency.

SMEs who wish to take part in the Edge Award can find further details at www.dnb.com.sg. Applications close on May 1.

Going green with Ease
Grant to help fund companies' investments in energy-efficient equipment
Cheow Xin Yi, Today Online 29 Mar 08;

To help companies overcome energy inefficiencies, the government has pledged monetary help, while driving home the message that going green can reduce costs in the long term.

More details will be revealed later, but the new Grant for Energy Efficient Technology (Greet) will help fund companies' investments in energy-efficient equipment, said senior parliamentary secretary for Environment and Water Resources Ministry Dr Amy Khor (picture) on Friday.

"We found that companies that have taken up the energy efficiency improvement assistance (Ease) scheme or done their energy audits … actually deferred implementation of energy-efficient measures because they felt the investment to replace inefficient equipment is too costly," said Dr Khor, referring to the National Environmental Agency's (NEA) scheme to co-fund companies' energy audits.

"In our effort to encourage more take-up and adoption of energy efficient measures, we felt that it'll be good to come out with this scheme to offset part of the investment to replace these inefficient energy equipment."

Out of 98 companies under the Ease scheme, 17 have implemented energy conservation measures while the rest are "in the process" or still at the energy audit phase, said an NEA spokesperson. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are tougher targets, making up only five of the total companies involved in audits.

While SMEs tend to overlook green solutions in their attempts to cut cost, Dr Khor said it is an area with "untapped potential" that they need to exploit.

"Increasingly, adopting green solutions is not just a matter of choice for social reasons but really a matter of necessity because that will help reduce business costs, especially in the environment of rising energy costs," said Dr Khor, who was speaking at the launch of the EDGE Awards, a private-sector-driven initiative spearheaded by Dun & Bradstreet Singapore to identify SMEs at the forefront of eco-friendliness.

To Aalst Chocolate's Chan Ying Soon, the main obstacle is still the initial cost needed for implementation — $52,000, although his estimated annual cost savings is 9 per cent in electricity costs with a payback period of less than one year.

His company is one of the five SMEs that have undergone energy audits with NEA's help but has deferred most measures requiring an "initial investment".

With Greet, however, he will "definitely" consider implementing the changes, such as replacing his old, energy-guzzling air-conditioners.

Grant gives companies a leg up in green race
It will offer SMEs incentives that cut costs of investing in energy efficiency
Tania Tan, Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

A NEW green carrot is being offered to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore to help them cut their power bills.

Under the grant for energy efficient technology, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will provide funding to help companies offset part of their investments in energy-efficient equipment.

The NEA will release details of the scheme later.

Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, yesterday told an audience of SME businessmen that going green is not just for multinationals with deep pockets.

Speaking at the opening of the fourth SME credit bureau conference, she said local businesses increasingly need to go green to remain cost-effective.

Dr Khor, who is also the chairman of the National Climate Change Committee, pointed to a number of green incentives available to companies here.

These include a three-year-old energy efficiency improvement assistance scheme designed to help companies pay for energy audits.

Of the 98 companies that have used the scheme so far, however, only five are SMEs, noted Dr Khor. Among the five is Aalst Chocolate, which is saving some $52,000 - or 9 per cent off its electric bill - annually after implementing energy-saving measures recommended under the audit.

Dr Khor acknowledged that after conducting energy audits, companies could be put off by the amount of money needed to make the switch to more energy-efficient technologies.

This is where the new NEA grant will help reduce the financial burden. The grant is part of a wider $50 million fund the Government made available to promote energy efficiency.

As a further incentive to help companies go green, Dr Khor also unveiled a new award - the Efficiently Developing Growing Enterprise, or Edge, yesterday.

'This is timely, as feedback has shown that companies in the commercial sector are looking at better managing their rising business costs, especially energy costs, to stay competitive,' she said.

The winner - to be announced in two months - will receive US$10,000 (S$13,900) worth of consulting fees from computer giant IBM.

But are companies taking up these incentives, grants and awards? A total of $85 million has been set aside by various ministries to encourage industries and businesses to go green.

'It's a good start, but I doubt it will help much,' said Mr Edwin Khew, president of the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation.

'Most SMEs are struggling with very fundamental problems, like rising overheads and labour costs.

'Many don't have the luxury of worrying about the environment.'

Read more!

Asian rice-producing nations curb exports

Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

Vietnam and India join Cambodia in securing domestic supplies as prices hit record highs

BANGKOK - RICE prices soared to all-time highs this week, prompting a scramble among Asia's producing countries to assure their own supplies.

The price of Thai rice, a global benchmark, shot up 30 per cent from US$580 (S$800) to US$760 a tonne on Thursday, according to Reuters data. That was more than double its price of US$360 a tonne less than three months ago.

As a result, Vietnam and India, the world's second- and third-largest exporters, said yesterday they will curb overseas sales. Cambodia earlier announced an export ban on the commodity.

Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, might lower the hammer on exports in the second half of this year if the price continues to increase, the Bangkok Post reported yesterday.

The skyrocketing prices have encouraged Thai traders to substantially increase their exports, stoking fears about supplies within the country, said Mr Prasert Kosalwit, director-general of the Rice Department.

'A rice shortage in the local market is very likely,' he said.

Indonesia, South-east Asia's biggest economy, was also considering a rice export tax to protect its domestic supplies and discourage exports, senior government officials said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, China announced that it will pay farmers more for rice and wheat, in an attempt to raise output and cool surging inflation.

And South Korea is releasing more rice from state reserves to boost supplies.

The price of rice surged on Thursday after Egypt, a leading exporter, imposed a ban on selling rice abroad to keep local prices down, and the Philippines announced plans for a major purchase of the grain in the international market to boost supplies.

Global rice stocks are at their lowest level since 1976, and foreign sales restrictions have removed about a third of the rice traded in the international market.

Nearly half of the world's 6.6 billion people depend on rice to survive, and it is a staple for more than 2.5 billion people in Asia. With rising populations and economic growth, the world is already eating more of the grain than is harvested.

'I have no idea how importing countries will get rice,' Mr Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, told the Financial Times. He predicted that prices would rise further.

Anxiety is running particularly high in the Philippines, the world's largest buyer of the grain. Manila said on Thursday it wanted to buy 500,000 tonnes of rice after failing to buy a similar amount earlier this month.

The Philippines is struggling to import up to 2.2 million tonnes this year, in what could be the biggest overseas purchase in a decade, to cover a production shortfall.

While consumer nations such as the Philippines fret over food security, big producers are aiming to tame inflation by keeping more supplies at home to drive down domestic prices.

In Vietnam, consumer prices rose by nearly 20 per cent this month, the highest in more than 12 years. In a bid to stabilise prices, Vietnam will limit rice shipments to 3.5 million tonnes, down from 4.5 million tonnes last year, a government statement quoted Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as saying.

Hanoi imposed a limit for the first 10-month shipment last week.

'Vietnam will save one million tonnes of rice for northern provinces and will see prices easing after this cut,' said a rice trader at a foreign firm in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's largest grain trading market.

In India, wholesale price inflation is close to a 14-month high, posing a major policy challenge at a time when economic growth is slowing.

New Delhi's response is to raise the minimum sale price for rice exports by more than 50 per cent, effectively ending overseas sales of all but the highest grades.

'The government's move is aimed at a complete halt of non-basmati rice exports,' said Mr Prem Garg, managing director of Lal Mahal Group, a leading rice exporter.

Said All India Rice Exporters' Association president Vijay Sethia: 'There is no shortage of rice in India, but any scarcity in global markets will lead to higher exports.'

World rice inventories now stand at about 72 million tonnes, enough to cover only about 17 per cent of global annual consumption, data from the US Department of Agriculture shows. Just eight years ago, stockpiles were equal to 35 per cent of demand.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM REUTERS AND ASSOCIATED PRESS

World may be hit as Asia's looming dearth threatens exports
Today Online 29 Mar 08;

WITH the spectre of a rice shortage looming, Thailand — the world's largest rice exporter — may introduce measures to control the amount of grain sold to other countries in the second half of this year.

If this comes to pass — the measures have been floated by Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Wiroon Techapaiboon — the rice crisis, which has affected not only Asia but also the rest of the world, looks set to escalate. Already, India has banned the export of rice while China and Vietnam have reduced export volumes. Thailand, India and Vietnam are the top three rice exporters to Singapore (see box).

On the other hand, in rice-buying Philippines, the government appears to be preparing its people for a possible rice shortage by urging restaurants and eateries to cut the regular serving of rice in their meals to a half-cup .

"Food prices all over the world are going through the roof … It doesn't matter where, everybody has to pay higher prices for food and that's causing a problem," investor Jim Rogers told Bloomberg in Singapore.

In Thailand, the skyrocketing prices of rice have encouraged traders to substantially increase their export volumes. As a result, "a rice shortage in the local market is very likely," Mr Prasert Kosalwit, the director-general of the country's Rice Department, said.

Mr Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Rice Exporters Association, said that Thailand could face problems only when it exports more than nine million tonnes a year, he said.

Over the past five months, the country sold more than one million tonnes a month to other countries. If this export volume continues, a shortage is possible, he added.

Mr Chookiat said he supported measures to stamp out excessive exports, such as introducing a minimum export price system. "If the rising rice price continues, the measure may be needed in the second half of this year."

In the Philippines, the government may use taxes collected from rice importers to distribute coupons to poor families to help them buy the grain amid soaring prices, said Finance Secretary Gary Teves.

It is also considering reducing the import tax on rice to between 10 and 40 per cent, from 50 per cent, to encourage traders to make purchases overseas, helping boost domestic supply, Mr Teves said.

Rice, a staple food for the country, is especially important for poor Filipinos, who often eat just rice with some salt to ease their hunger.

While Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap insisted that there is no rice shortage, he had triggered the alarm about the country's precarious rice supply when he asked restaurants recently to reduce the amount of rice served.

Peasant leader Jaime Tadeo said that the country's rice problem was just starting. The former government rice technician said that the April and May harvests will only yield supply enough for two months. He blamed the problem on the government's policy.

"Instead of improving local production, the government focused on importation since they found it cheaper to buy outside rather than subsidise our farmers," Mr Tadeo said. "Now, that the price of imported rice has gone up and the supply is scarce, we have nowhere to go to satisfy our needs."

In Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter, the government said it will cut rice exports by one million tonnes this year as part of official efforts to rein in soaring inflation and ensure food security.

"To stabilise food prices, rice exports this year must not exceed 3.5 million tonnes," Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was quoted as telling a government meeting on Thursday. — AGENCIEs

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Leaders of Mekong nations to discuss dam proposals

Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

But critics say tapping river for hydropower threatens its ecology and lifeline of millions

HANOI - THE Mekong River, the world's 12th largest waterway crossing six countries, may soon be tamed by a cascade of mega dams.

However, critics say the plan will harm the fish stocks on which millions of people rely.

Plans for a series of Mekong mainstream dams have been made and scrapped several times since the 1960s.

But now, with oil priced above US$100 (S$138) a barrel, the projects look more appealing than ever to their proponents.

The river's future will be a key issue when prime ministers of the Mekong countries meet tomorrow and on Monday in Laos' capital, Vientiane, for a summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), with the Asian Development Bank.

The 4,800km river originates in the Tibetan plateau of China, where it is called the Lancang, before running through Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam into the South China Sea.

To the pro-development lobby, the Mekong is a dream of hydropower potential for an energy-hungry region.

To environmentalists, it is a nightmare.

Laos, Cambodia and Thailand have all allowed Chinese, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese companies to study at least seven mainstream hydropower projects.

Mr Carl Middleton of environmental watchdog International Rivers said the projects on the drawing board were a serious threat to the river's ecology and the millions who depend on it for water, food, income and transport.

'By changing the river's hydrology, blocking fish migration and affecting the river's ecology, the construction of dams on the Lower Mekong mainstream will have repercussions throughout the entire basin,' he said.

Many of the river's tributaries have already been dammed, including several in Laos, which plans to ramp up hydropower exports to its more industrialised neighbours Thailand and Vietnam.

Only China has so far dammed the mainstream, at Manwan and Dachaoshan in Yunnan.

It is already building three more dams and is planning three others.

China's existing dams, along with the blasting of rapids to allow all-year navigation, have angered Thai and Laotian villagers. They claim they have suffered declining fish quantities and unnatural fluctuation in water levels.

Mekong expert Milton Osborne said the seven new projects being considered in Laos would affect fish catches.

'These catches are vital for the populations of Laos and Cambodia but also for Vietnam,' he noted.

In the Mekong delta, Vietnam's main rice basket, officials say upstream water extraction for farm irrigation has already led to oceanic salt water intrusion, which has destroyed fields.

China's Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei, however, has said: 'China, as an upstream country, will never do anything that will harm the interests of downstream countries.'

While damming the Mekong could prove to be a touchy issue at the coming GMS summit, the meeting could also see the six Mekong countries work on closer integration as they discuss topics such as new transport corridors and a regional power grid.

Six premiers are expected to attend the mostly closed-door summit - China's Wen Jiabao, Thailand's Samak Sundaravej, Vietnam's Nguyen Tan Dung, Cambodia's Hun Sen, Myanmar's Thein Sein and the Laotian host, Mr Bouasone Bouphavanh.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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