wildsingapore news: May 17, 2008

Smuggler With 235 Star Tortoises Bound For KL Arrested

P.Vijian, Bernama 17 May 08;

CHENNAI, May 17 (Bernama) -- A Sri Lankan air passenger carrying 235 live star tortoises in his baggage from Chennai enroute to Kuala Lumpur via Colombo was detained at the city's airport yesterday.

Chennai Airport Air Intelligence Unit intercepted the suspect, Mohamed Mohideen Mohamed Murshit, after a tip-off and found the wildlife stock consigned to an unknown buyer in Malaysia.

"We detained him after a tip-off and discovered 235 live tortoises hidden in his baggage. The passenger and the tortoises have been handed over to the wildlife authorities," Commissioner of Customs (Airport) C. Rajan told Bernama.

He said the 26-year-old passenger, who was about to board a Sri Lankan Airline, admitted to the authorities he was merely a carrier but did not divulge further details.

The wildlife stock was valued at about RM30,000.

The Indian star tortoises, one of the most sought after wildlife species, are often smuggled out to Southeast Asian markets where they end up as highly prized pets or killed for their medicinal values.

Most of these tortoises are poached from coastal areas in Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and sneaked out of Mumbai and Chennai airports to Malaysia, where they are sold at high prices, according to Indian investigators.

A recent Times of India report said, from January 2007 until this April, a total of 5,300 star tortoises worth nearly RM500,000 were seized from Chennai Airport alone, all meant for buyers in Kuala Lumpur.

"Despite a ban on trade in the species, every year thousands of them are smuggled out to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand through Chennai, which is being increasingly used as a transit point by traffickers," added the paper.

--BERNAMA

Environment laws bent for new Mumbai airport

Prasad Kathe, NDTV.com 17 May 08;

"The destruction of mangroves could invite long term disaster making the city more vulnerable to flooding each monsoon."

Mumbai's second international airport could soon come up in suburban Navi Mumbai as the Union Environment Ministry finally backed the project.

The ministry partly took the decision under pressure from the state government and Civil Aviation Ministry, even though a portion of the land allotted for the airport is covered with mangroves and falls in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said, ''There was some talk of shifting to an alternative location but now they have given us in-principle clearance. The airport should be ready by 2012.''

The airport project had come to a standstill in March after objections from the environment ministry.

Nearly a quarter of the 2000 hectare plot marked for the project is mangrove area and comes within the CRZ where construction is banned.

But now, the ministry has suggested changes in the CRZ notification, allowing construction in that belt, changes which are still awaiting final clearance.

Environmentalists are outraged at the decision, Debi Goenka, Conservation Action Trust said, ''With passenger traffic growing at the rate of 25 per cent each year. The city desperately needs a second international airport, but the destruction of mangroves could invite long term disaster making the city more vulnerable to flooding each monsoon.''

Best of our wild blogs: 17 May 08

So what happened to global warming?
is it or is it not warming? on the reuters environment blog

Knobbly Babies
They are considered rare! on the star tracker blog

Prof Peter Ng at P5 Science Day
on the raffles museum news blog

Swimming upside down
how horseshoe crabs do it on the urban forest blog

'Snot a flatworm, it's a new jellyfish
what you MAY find if you look closely at seagrasses! on the teamseagrass blog

Beauty of Pasir Ris mangroves
shared by a young blogger on the nature walks blog

Cuke clip on Changi
feeding sea cucumber on the manta blog

Chestnut-bellied Malkohas sunning
on the bird ecology blog

Discovery @ Sungei Buloh
on the discovery blog

Singaporeans' responses to Jurong revamp

Straits Times 17 May 08;
Last week, we asked readers for their reactions to plans to revamp Jurong, and if there were other parts of Singapore that can be re-created for leisure and business. Here are some of their responses.

'A FRIEND who visited Singapore was very impressed with the beauty of Jurong Lake and the gardens. When she heard about the plan to transform Jurong, she said: 'I hope they are not turning it into something like VivoCity!'

To her, VivoCity is an unappealing concrete castle.

She has a point. To enjoy nature, we need open spaces, landscape left in its natural state, and some wildlife.

Today, birdwatchers head for the lakeside on weekends, squirrels scurry, while iguanas measuring a good 1.5m wobble on land, unafraid.

How close will the waterfront hotels and housing be to the water? Will the majestic Chinese Garden entrance have enough vital frontal space?

Will the scenic walking and jogging paths of the lake become private property?

Singaporeans are never short of shopping places, but being able to relax amid nature is another story.

But I am certainly thrilled about the Lake District, and await its transformation.

MADAM TEH KING CHOO, in an e-mail

'MAKE Jurong the Mild, Mild West of Singapore - in contrast to the Wild,Wild East which is saturated with seafood restaurants, eateries and infamous activities.

Good food and conducive outlets are the main ingredients to ensure a spin-off for the cluster of attractions planned for 'newfound' Jurong. No place is too far for Singaporeans who will drive to Johor Baru and beyond for good food and more.'

MR WINSTON CHIN, in an e-mail

'SENGKANG can be transformed into a leisure and business park as well.

It has a growing population that is served by a well-developed LRT and MRT. It is also near Punggol where sea views are available.

Sengkang is just 30 minutes by train to town. It is also close to the airport.

It is easy to develop since land is still available.''

MR RAYMOND TAN, in an SMS

'SOME ideas to make the new Jurong more pleasant:

Build air-conditioned, elevated walkways with shops to link all the major buildings.

This will offer panoramic views and there will be continuous activity, as pedestrians cross from building to building.

A new shuttle bus system can link Jurong Gateway to its surroundings. Security cameras can be set up at the Gateway for investors to feel confident.

And how about a 24-hour foodcourt near the MRT station?

MR CHEW YEW WAH, in an SMS

Honeybear's Ear Leaf: Singapore plant collected for the first time in a century

The National Parks Board and Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research unveil previously unknown plant and animal species they have uncovered here

RESEARCHERS from the National Parks Board (NParks) were thrilled to encounter a species of plant which has not been collected from the wild here for more than a century. It happened during one of their recent surveys in a swampy area in the western part of Singapore.

Before this, the only record of the plant, Thottea dependens, was from a collection by Mr J. S. Goodenough in 1893, from the same area where the researchers found it early last year.

The plant, also known as the Honeybear's Ear Leaf, is a shrub which can grow up to a metre high.

It has deep purple petals at its base, covered with small dense hairs that act like a 'skirt', protecting the reproductive parts within.

The plant was previously thought to be extinct here.

The finding adds another name to the growing list of exciting new records and rediscoveries of Singapore's rich natural heritage amid rapid development and changes going on around us.

TEXT BY YANG SHUFEN, SENIOR PROGRAMME OFFICER, NPARKS AND RAFFLES MUSEUM OF BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH

A tourist in my own country: Singaporeans exploring Singapore

Ravi Veloo, Today Online 17 May 08;

FUNNY how foreigners find Singapore magnetic and exotic enough to blow a chunk of cash winging all the way here to see, sniff and taste it, but somehow we ourselves don't find one of the most famous cities in the world all that interesting.

In Buenos Aires, they serve a Lomito Singapur. You can't find another steak there named after any other country. You can find "Singapore noodles" on the menu in many countries, including Chinatown in Chennai. But not here. The name Singapore seems more saleable abroad.

You hear us mentioned in the movies from James Bond flicks to the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film. Never mind the infamous Saint Jack, which was banned here for decades.

Old-time crooner Bing Crosby and his favourite film buddy, Bob Hope, himself one of the world's most famous and beloved comics, knew our name before most of us were born — they starred in a black-and-white 1940 movie called Road to Singapore, with the sex bomb of their generation, Dorothy Lamour.

It was the first of Crosby and Hope's many other "Road To ..." films, the other cities including, Morocco, Zanzibar, Rio, Hong Kong, Bali, even Utopia!

Yet, we save our cameras for other countries.

Why do we find Singapore so boring?

Maybe one clue is the music we don't play. You don't see our people enjoying each other's tunes. We've built a mental wall against each other, which it takes foreigners to break down.

Even half-a-century ago, you were more likely to see locals wiggling their hips to Latin cha cha cha, singing Guantanamera in Tanah Merah, than enjoying the mesmerising bhangra music of the Sikhs. That is, until some Londoners embraced the ancient music of their Sikh immigrants and mixed it up with Western music. Only then did our young find it cool, as bhangra rock.

Sure, there were some valiant attempts to synthesise the music we get here. There was even a band called Culture Vulture, which included Chinese, Malay and Indian instruments in its original, pioneering music. They failed to find a market. We wanted Led Zeppelin or the Top 40.

But you don't need to synthesise another culture into your own to enjoy it. We go to foreign lands to appreciate their difference.

It's not just ancient music and cultures that Singapore has to offer. All the tourist attractions we have put so much money into producing and promoting abroad should be just as compelling to us. Maybe the Singapore Tourism Board could put some (low-cost) creative effort into promoting our attractions to Singaporeans, notably Sungei Buloh, which should be something more than just a school trip.

And why doesn't somebody start a company offering holidays to Singaporeans — in Singapore.

It's not such a silly idea. The hotels are already doing it with their weekend specials.

There are some small outfits who do try to offer tours with Singaporeans in mind, but the response is lukewarm. From what I understand, these tours are poorly put together in the first place.

There is a bonus to internal tourism. When you like your country, and enjoy it and the various cultures here, you can't help liking its people, too.

The writer is a media consultant.

Questions on UN's green awards

It is time the UN try the carrot-and-stick strategy to 'help' trouble-makers with environmental issues

Kornelius Purba in Jakarta, The Jakarta Post Today Online 17 May 08;

THE United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)'s decision to honour Prince Albert II of Monaco and former Barbados Minister of Energy and Environment Liz Thompson as the winners of the Champions of the Earth Awards 2008 might raise eyebrows in the international community.

The ceremony was held in Singapore recently, where international business people also gathered for the annual Business for the Environment Global Summit. But again, very few Indonesian business people — if any — came to speak at the meeting.

Why Monaco and Barbados? And how about Indonesia, one of the world's top environment trouble-makers? Hasn't the UNEP ever considered using a carrot-and-stick approach with problematic countries like Indonesia?

To add to the irony, a private company whose business activities are concentrated in Indonesia has been one of the largest financial contributors for the UNEP summit in the last three years.

Both Prince Albert II and Liz Thompson fully deserve the honour for their achievements in creating better environments in their countries, but they just represent two tiny territories with far fewer environmental problems compared to much bigger states.

According to the UNEP, the prince has shown remarkable commitment to sustainable development on his home turf of Monaco.

Thompson has also become a key voice in raising awareness of global warming in Barbados — a country where the challenges of climate change and conservation are of particular relevance.

Among other award recipients — there are seven every year — this year were Balgis Osman-Elasha, a researcher from Sudan; Bangladeshi scholar Atiq Rahman; Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal, the secretary-general of the Yemen's People General Congress; former US senator Timothy E Wirth; and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. According to the UN body, they represent each region of the world.

"These inspirational individuals demonstrate not only that action and different development paths are possible but also the abundant opportunities arising as a result of a transformation toward a green economy," said Achim Steiner, the UNEP executive director, in explaining the reasons for honouring these seven champions of environment.

In 2006, Singaporean senior diplomat Tommy Koh won the award. Former US Vice-President Al Gore was also a recipient. Several months later, Al Gore was declared the co-laureate for the Nobel Peace Prize, along with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UNIPCC). The UN agency hosted an international forum on climate change in Bali in December.

Another recipient in 2006 was former Soviet Union president Michael Gorbachev. Neither Gorbachev nor Gore came to Singapore to receive the award.

Although the annual meeting has been held in Singapore since 2006, it seems that neighbouring countries, especially Indonesia, pay little attention to the UN programme, or that UNEP pays little attention to the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations, which is facing major environmental challenges.

Singapore is the only country fully behind the event, although the island-state itself faces relatively fewer environmental dilemmas compared to its larger neighbours.

UNEP launched the award in 2004, and since 2006 it has organised an annual commemoration of Earth Day, which falls on April 22, in Singapore.

A major private company whose business activities are mostly in Indonesia is one of the three largest private-sector sponsors of the UNEP's annual events. The Singapore-based company, Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL), whose subsidiary, Riau Pulp, is one of Indonesia's largest pulp and paper producers, is described by UNEP as a strategic partner, while Dow Chemical Company and lamp manufacturer Osram are quoted as its corporate partners.

UNEP, of course, has its own priorities. But the Indonesian government, especially the Ministry of the Environment, needs to be much more proactive in international forums on environmental issues.

Singapore is near Jakarta, so how come Indonesian State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar did not try to make his own show at the UNEP gathering?

Winning an environmental prize would be very meaningful to encourage Indonesians to be more active in preserving their environment. The Ministry annually honours environmental workers with the Kalpataru Awards. For Indonesians, many of the Kalpataru winners are more impressive than the winners of this year's Champions of the Earth Awards.

April has become a generous partner of the UNEP to boost its international image and, of course, to penetrate more international markets. It has the right to do so.

But how about our own government? Singapore has effectively used the annual event to promote itself. The Indonesian government apparently is only interested in taking part in mega international events like the Bali environment conference to glorify itself. But in this case at least, the Singaporean government is more effective than our government.

Thailand assures Singapore that rice supply can meet global demand

Channel NewsAsia 16 May 08;

SINGAPORE: Thailand expects to harvest an additional one million tonnes of rice this year because of good weather conditions. The country is revising its 8.7-million-tonne export projection upwards by about 9 percent.

In a meeting with Singapore rice importers, Thailand's Foreign Trade Department has said that supply will be enough to meet global demand.

Thailand hopes to export 9.5 to 10 million tonnes of rice this year – about 35 percent of the global demand. On average, the country produces 20.5 million tonnes of rice annually and about 11 million tonnes of it is for its own consumption.

Thai trade officials said rice prices have stabilised in the past weeks and they believe the market is resilient enough to cope with the recent natural disasters in Asia.

Apiradi Tantraporn, director-general, Department of Foreign Trade, said: "With the cyclone disaster in Myanmar, that means about 500 metric tonnes of rice that Myanmar had expected to export this year were wiped out. But we hope it would not have a high impact on the price."

Ms Apiradi added that Thailand's Agricultural Ministry hopes to improve the efficiency of Thai farmers by helping them to build silos to store excess rice stock.

More rice buyers are expected to turn to Thailand, as India and Vietnam have decided to restrict their rice exports.

Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of Thailand Rice Exporter Association, said: "That's 4 or 5 million tonnes out from the export side. I think Thailand can easily fill up those portions left out by India and Vietnam this year. In the first 4 months, we have already exported up to 4 million tonnes."

Singapore imported over 270,000 tonnes of rice last year and 61 percent of that amount came from Thailand. That is about 3 percent of Thailand's total market share.

Local industry players are glad that Thailand has pledged not to limit the export of rice as they hope the move will help to regulate supply and ease the pressure on prices.

Andrew Tan, chairman of Singapore General Rice Importers, said: "There are (natural) disasters, global warming, and so many other uncertainties. Moreover, the oil prices are shooting to record high.

"All these factors will add up and the price of rice that is going to the market will be higher. Even if the price has an adjustment in the future, I don't see it falling back to the level that it was at a year ago."

Singapore importers said the spike in prices also means that more capital needs to be set aside to fulfil the government stockpile.

Importers are required to contribute two packs of rice to the stockpile for every pack that they sell in the market. It is estimated that the local stockpile could last for three months in the event of a global rice shortage.- CNA/so

Prices of Thai rice set to simmer down
Prices still going up but more slowly; Thai farmers planting more crops and exports stable
Jessica Lim, Straits Times 17 May 08;

THAILAND'S Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) has given the assurance that, even though rice prices are still creeping up, they are doing so more slowly and are likely to become more stable.

One reason for this, said its officials at a briefing here yesterday, is that Thailand - the world's top rice-exporting nation - has been able to keep its rice exports at about 10 million tonnes a year.

The other reason is that Thai farmers are planting more crops to keep pace with demand.

The result: premium grades of Thai rice can be expected to hold steady at about US$1,300 (S$1,794) a tonne, said the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

Rice importers here confirmed that price increases have been less drastic, and the panic that seized consumers here a month ago has eased off.

While the price of Thai rice jumped US$100 to US$200 per tonne a week in March and April, the increases have lately been in roughly US$50 quantums.

The importers say, however, that prices are unlikely to return to last year's levels.

Mr Andrew Tan, who chairs the Singapore General Rice Importers Association, said: 'There is still uncertainty due to natural disasters, as well as ever-rising oil and fertiliser prices. This adds to costs, but jumps are not so great now.'

He pointed out, however, that the recent cyclone in Myanmar could dent the 500,000 tonnes of rice it had planned to export this year.

DFT director-general Apiradi Tantraporn said that, with Thailand consuming half its output of 20 million tonnes of rice domestically, the other half was enough to meet the demand from the rest of the world.

Thailand had no plans to restrict rice exports, she added.

Meanwhile, the high prices have spurred Thai farmers to plant rice instead of other crops, and to aim to harvest five instead of four crops every two years, noted Thai Rice Exporters Association president Chookiat Ophaswongse.

This increased output, he said, would put Thailand nearer its goal of 500,000 tonnes more rice for export this year.

Last year, Singapore brought in 271,000 tonnes - 61 per cent of its total rice imports - from Thailand. This makes up about 3 per cent of Thailand's exports, and puts Singapore in 16th place among Thailand's top importers.

Mrs Apirandi reiterated that Singaporeans need not be afraid that exports of Thai rice will be cut.

'We have seen more stability in the past weeks. We hope everything will go back to normal soon,' she said.

No shortage of Thai rice here
Alicia Wong, Today Online 17 May 08;

NOT only will Thailand continue to supply rice to Singapore, it also intends to up its rice exports.

According to Ms Apiradi Tantraporn, director-general at the department of foreign trade in Thailand's Ministry of Commerce, her country will increase its exports to 10 million tonnes this year, to meet foreign demand.

She assured Singapore that the world's largest rice exporter will not restrict rice exports.

Ms Apiradi said: "There has been concern about panic buying … which happens in many countries. We wanted to, but could not, come here earlier."

Asked if there was a timeframe for how long Thailand could refrain from restricting rice exports, she responded: "Not in my lifetime".

But while the situation is stable in Thailand, the same may not be said for cyclone-hit Myanmar, which will not be able to export its expected 500,000 tonnes of rice this year. According to IE Singapore, Myanmar supplied 1.46 per cent of Singapore's rice imports last year. Said Ms Apiradi: "Singapore mostly consumes Thai rice … So this should not have any bearing on Singapore."

China's rice production is unaffected by the recent earthquake.

Ms Apiradi stressed that the recent price hikes were due to demand and supply factors — and not because of price manipulation or profiteering. For instance, demand from African countries has increased.

Ms Apiradi said that as prices rise, the Thai government's wish is that "farmers are able to benefit from the buoyant prices, local Thai consumers have sufficient rice for consumption and the rice is regularly exported to the world".

One big factor that has reduced supply is global warming, she said. "But we have seen more (price) stability in the past few weeks. We hope it will continue."

The president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, Mr Chookiat Ophaswongse, noted that Thailand has "sufficient rice to export to all customers". The country produces about 20.5 million tonnes of rice per year but consumes half that amount.

Singapore is Thailand's 16th top importer. Last year, 180,000 tonnes of Singapore's 271,000 tonnes of rice imports come from Thailand.

Thailand assures it will not restrict rice exports
Ian Poh, Business Times 17 May 08;

THAILAND'S Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) yesterday provided assurances that the kingdom will maintain its policy of not restricting rice exports, despite rising rice prices and a shortage of domestic supply.

This is of note to Singapore: the city-state is Thailand's 16th top customer, importing US$108 million worth of rice from that country last year. A substantial 61 per cent or 180,000 out of 271,000 of Singapore's total rice import came from Thailand.

Worldwide demand for Thai rice has exploded after other top exporters India and Vietnam imposed limits on exports to ensure domestic supply, jacking up export and subsequently domestic rice costs in Thailand. Benchmark Thai rice was priced at around S$1,380 a tonne on May 14.

'As of today, Thailand has not adopted any regulation to restrict rice export and has no plans to do so,' said Mrs Apiradi Tantraporn, Director-General, Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce of Thailand.

'We are confident that the current rice production and stockpile is adequate to meet not only local consumption needs, but also those of the rest of the world.'

She was speaking at a briefing which included representatives from the Singapore General Rice Importers Association and Thai Rice Exporters Association. DFT also gave an update on its rice production figures: Based on cumulative figures from last year and this year so far, about 20.5 million tonnes have been produced. Thailand's domestic consumption is expected to reach 11 million tons, while the quality of rice available for export is between 9.0 and 9.5 million tons.

The problem lies in rising demand and falling supply. Higher fuel costs and more agricultural land being re-allocated for biofuel production, and bad weather in China and Vietnam have aversely impacted supply levels. Together with increasing affluence and worldwide demand in African countries, for example, the recent move by some countries to restrict rice export has also placed pressure on the global rice supply.

'With the continuous increase of rice prices, the government's intention is to ensure that farmers are able to benefit from the buoyant prices, local Thai consumers have sufficient rice for consumption and the rice is regularly exported to the world.'

Filipino rice farmers not reaping more profits

Increase in returns from higher rice prices eaten up by soaring costs of fertiliser and fuel

Alastair McIndoe, Straits Times 17 May 08;

MANILA - FOR many Filipino rice farmers like Andres Canoza, the rising rice prices mean nothing as they have to cope with soaring fertiliser and fuel costs.

For Mr Canoza, 83, the price of the unhusked rice that he sells to millers has risen 40 per cent since last month, thanks to a government-mandated price increase.

But strong global demand for fertilisers, spurred by rising populations, and higher food consumption has seen prices soaring.

'In my life, I've never seen these costs rise so fast,' said Mr Canoza who, like other rice farmers, is bracing himself for further increases in fertiliser prices as he prepares for the next planting season in July.

At Mantri Trading, a farm supply store a few kilometres from Mr Canoza's rice fields in Bulacan province, a 50kg bag of fertiliser costs 1,700 pesos (S$55), more than double the average price in 2006, according to the National Rice Farmers' Council (NRFC), an advocacy group for small-scale rice farmers.

The group added that around 60 per cent of the revenue from a hectare of padi field goes to fertiliser, fuel and other inputs, calculating the yearly income in a two-crop season at just S$1,100.

According to the International Fertiliser Industry Association, world production of the three main fertiliser nutrients - potash, nitrogen and phosphate - is now running at or close to capacity.

Earlier this month, China, a big fertiliser supplier to the Philippines, raised export tariffs by more than 100 per cent to shore up local supplies.

Adding to the woes of the rice farmers is the soaring fuel prices.

'Fertiliser prices in the Philippines have risen a lot more than farm-gate prices in recent years,' said International Rice Research Institute spokesman Adam Barclay.

'So along with higher fuel costs, farmers are taking a significant hit.'

Though hurting from rising costs, better-off rice farmers like Mr Canoza could use their bags of milled rice, instead of cash, to buy fertiliser when needed.

But the majority of the country's 3.5 million rice farmers are small-holders working on around 1.5ha of land, with no ready cash to buy fertiliser.

They thus have to rely on middlemen for credit guarantees to traders.

Once their crops are harvested four months later, the middleman is paid in rice, but the interest on the credit guarantee is a hefty 30 per cent.

Mr Lacsamana Simplicio, 54, who rents a 1ha padi field that has to support a score of his relatives, said: 'Because of the increases in fertilisers and other costs, we will not benefit much from the higher rice prices.'

NRFC national director Jaime Tadeo believes that hard-up small farmers will continue to switch to more lucrative cash crops or sell out altogether.

'The temptation to sell is especially high in this region because it's close to Manila and land is needed for urban development,' he said.

However, some relief is on the way, as a large chunk of a S$1.4 billion government programme to boost production will be allocated in soft loans to farmers.

12 Species on the Brink of Extinction

LiveScience.com Yahoo News 16 May 08;

The Wildlife Conservation Society has released a list of the "Rarest of the Rare," a dozen animals most in danger of extinction.

The eclectic list includes birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Some are well known, such as the northern right whale and Sumatran rhino, while others are more obscure, including Abbot's booby, an ocean-going bird that only nests on Christmas Island.

The animals were highlighted today because it is National Endangered Species Day.

They are:
Abbott's booby: A large black-and-white seabird that breeds on Christmas Island, a remote Australian island in the Indian Ocean.

Addax: A nocturnal antelope species with long spiral horns, found the sand dunes of the Sahara desert.

Angel shark: Bottom-dwelling, nocturnal predators once common throughout the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean and Black seas, but now critically endangered.

Bengal florican: A large terrestrial bustard bird native to Cambodia, Nepal, Vietnam, and India.

Black-faced lion tamarin: A small primate that sleeps in tree holes dug out by woodpeckers and feeds on insects, fruit, and plants. Discovered on the island of Superagui, Brazil, in 1990, there are now only 400 in the wild.

Burmese roofed turtle: One of Myanmar's seven native turtles, once abundant in the major rivers of central and southern Burma, threatened by hunting and egg poaching.

Dragonflies of Sri Lanka: Of the 53 endemic species of dragonfly found in Sri Lanka, at least 20 are threatened.

Golden arrow poison frog: An amphibian native to Panama, threatened by a highly-infectious fungal disease.

North Atlantic right whale: Hunted since the 10th century, only 350 of these slow-moving, 220,000-pound (100,000 kg) cetaceans remain.

Ricord's iguana: A reptile native to two isolated locations in the arid southwestern Dominican Republic

Pygmy hippopotamus: A small hippo from the Upper Guinean Forest of Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone.

Sumatran rhino: Also known as the hairy or Asian two-horned rhinoceros, fewer than 300 survive today in the subtropical and tropical dry forests of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Threats to each species vary widely. In the case of Abbot's booby, the introduction of yellow crazy ants to Easter Island has severely altered their nesting habitat. Meanwhile, the addax has been severely impacted by desertification of its habitat and overhunting. Other species suffer from diseases, as in the case of the golden arrow poison frog, or poaching for the Chinese medicinal trade, which has reduced the population of Sumatran rhinos to fewer than 300 individuals.

The 2007 World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List revealed a continuing rise in the number of species threatened with extinction. Although only a fraction of all plant and animal species have been evaluated, the number of species listed as threatened wstands at 16,306, an increase of 188 species since 2006.

"'Rarest of the Rare' is a snapshot of just a handful of the most critically endangered species that serves to illustrate their plight and inspire the public to join the fight for their continued survival," said Kent Redford, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Institute.

U.N. experts to say 2010 biodiversity target elusive

Madeline Chambers, Reuters 16 May 08;

BERLIN (Reuters) - Nearly 200 governments will say next week they are unlikely to meet a target of slowing the rate of extinctions of living species by 2010, a failure which could threaten future food supplies.

Up to 5,000 delegates and some heads of state, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will try to agree at the Convention of Biological Diversity in the German city of Bonn on ways to save plant and animal species.

U.N. experts say the planet is facing the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago and some say three species vanish every hour as a result largely of human activity causing pollution and loss of habitat.

"We hope to give a wake-up call to humanity. We need an unprecedented effort to meet the challenge of biodiversity loss," convention Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He said consumption had reached unsustainable levels and humans were destroying the foundation of life. Without a change in behavior, feeding up to 9 billion people would be difficult.

A surge in food prices, driven by booming demand in fast-growing economies such as China, has highlighted the problem and experts say the loss of plant species could be catastrophic for long-term food supplies.

Top of the agenda at the two-week meeting, opening on Monday, is an assessment of a U.N. goal set in 2002 to slow the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, which most experts say is nowhere near being met.

Djoghlaf says the latest data, which show more species are being lost more than in the past, is "frightening".

About 2 million species are recorded but some experts believe there could be tens of millions, an unknown which complicates attempts to measure the rate of decline.

"It's a bit like the goal of world peace," said Norwegian Environment Minister Erik Solheim. "Even if we don't achieve it fully, it's important to have a target to strive for."

PROTECTED AREAS

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel will open the meeting and the haggling will peak in the last three days when senior government officials from 191 countries, including Merkel, will join the conference.

Delegates will try to make progress in talks on establishing rules by 2010 on access to genetic resources and sharing their benefits, important for developing countries and pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms keen to tap natural resources.

They will talk about ways to boost and coordinate "protected areas" to conserve natural habitats. The convention has a goal to safeguard at least 10 percent of the world's ecological regions in such areas.

The conservation of oceans, which has lagged terrestrial protection efforts, will be an important focus as will forests.

About 80 percent of the world's biodiversity is found in tropical forests, yet every minute 20 hectares (50 acres) of forest disappear, say experts.

Participants will address ways of tackling "invasive alien species", creatures often inadvertently moved from their natural habitat by global trade which cause environmental damage and cost economies hundreds of billions of dollars.

"For us, the most important element is to make sure we have the ingredients to give us as a global community confidence we are moving in the right direction," said Djoghlaf.

U.N. talks seek to safeguard animals and plants

Reuters 16 May 08;

(Reuters) - Governments will meet in the German city of Bonn from May 19 to 30 to discuss how to safeguard the diversity of life from threats such as pollution and climate change.

The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, which meets every two years, will review a goal set at a U.N. Earth Summit in 2002 of slowing the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010.

Most experts say the goal is out of reach.

WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS?

* Rising human populations, pollution and climate change are threatening to cause the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago, according to U.N. studies. About three species an hour may be going extinct.

* No one knows how many species there are. Between 1.7 and 2.0 million species have been identified, ranging from bacteria to blue whales, and the final total could be somewhere between 5 million and 30 million, according to the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment by 1,300 scientists.

WHY CARE ABOUT BIODIVERSITY?

* The diversity of agricultural crops is vital for food supplies. People rely on free services provided by nature such as insect pollinators or water purification by forests or wetlands.

* Many rare plants or creatures have unexpected value. The southern gastric brooding frog in Australia, found in the 1980s but now extinct, used to incubate its young in its stomach in a technique that could have held clues to preventing human ulcers. Hoodia, a plant in southern Africa, can act as an appetite suppressant that could help curb obesity.

* Many governments see an ethical responsibility to safeguard life on earth. Humans have done more to disrupt life than any species in history.

WHAT CAN THE U.N. TALKS DO?

* More protected areas: 12 percent of the world's land area is set aside for wildlife but only about 0.5 percent of the oceans -- with almost none outside national territorial waters. Developing countries say they need cash to set up protected areas.

* Fairer sharing of benefits of biodiversity: the convention has agreed to negotiate rules by 2010 for ensuring that local people get benefits from biodiversity, for instance medicines developed from plants. In some parts of the world, pharmaceutical companies have been accused of "biopiracy".

* No biofuels subsidies: the secretariat of the convention will issue a report advising against subsidies, import tariffs or other mechanisms to promote biofuels. Such fuels can threaten biodiversity, for instance if forests are cleared or wetlands drained to grow crops for fuel.

* Stop invasive species. The conference will try to prevent arrivals of "alien species", such as zebra mussels from Europe that have damaged the North American Great Lakes. Measures can include better controls of air cargo or of ships' ballast tanks.

* Credits to help protect tropical forests. Under discussion as part of an assault on global warming -- trees soak up greenhouse gases as they grow -- more forests could help safeguard biodiversity.

* Control trade in genetically modified organisms.

Huge project to restore Everglades to be suspended

Brian Skoloff, Associated Press Yahoo News 15 May 08;

Construction on a huge reservoir meant to help restore the Everglades will be put on hold over a lawsuit brought by a group that fears the water could be diverted for other purposes.

The South Florida Water Management District, whose board voted Thursday to stop work, has already spent about $250 million on construction. The delay could cost nearly $14 million.

The 25-square-mile reservoir — the largest of its kind in the world — is estimated to cost up to $800 million and was set for completion in 2010.

No one disagrees that storing runoff water is key to reviving the famed River of Grass. But the Natural Resources Defense Council is suing, claiming the state has not legally committed itself to using the water primarily for restoration.

The state insists that at least 80 percent of the water will be for environmental purposes, but critics fear that without a legally binding agreement, the water could be sent elsewhere for agriculture or development.

Council attorney Brad Sewell said the intent of the lawsuit is not to stop construction, but to bind the district legally to a resolution passed last year by its own board agreeing that the water would be used mostly for the environment.

The water district fears that if a federal judge revokes its permits for the project because of the lawsuit, millions of dollars could be lost.

"It will be much more expensive if we got into the middle of this contract and then all of a sudden it gets shut down," district spokesman Randy Smith said. "The board's decision was made solely on prudent financial responsibility to the taxpayers."

The district board anticipates construction could be halted through the end of the year. The board agreed to stop construction as of June 1 and begin paying its contractors $1.9 million for each month the project is delayed, up to $14 million by the end of 2008.

Water once flowed practically unhindered from the Everglades headwaters south of Orlando all the way to Florida Bay. But now when a hard rain falls, canals direct the overflow into the ocean to keep it from inundating 5 million people who have settled in the area. It also has left the wetlands near ecological collapse.

The reservoir's purpose is to store water that would normally be channeled out to sea and divert it to the Everglades at various times.

Alaska hunters fret about polar bear ruling

Brian Harris, Reuters 16 May 08;

BARROW, Alaska (Reuters) - The U.S. decision to list polar bears as a threatened species has indigenous Alaskans like Aalak Nayakik worried that hunting the animals they rely on for food and warmth could be banned.

Standing on the edge of the receding sea ice-shelf offshore from Barrow, some 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Nayakik, a member of the Inupiat peoples who have inhabited northern Alaska for centuries, says polar bears are a staple food for his family.

"I like to eat bear meat almost every winter, can't go without it," he said. "It is almost like taking the cow away from the white folks."

The Bush administration's ruling on Wednesday left residents of the northernmost point in the United States uncertain about how their lives and customs will change.

Nayakik, who uses polar bear fur for his family's bedding, said news of the listing has him wondering if hunts will lead to sanctions or jail time.

He estimates that about 20 bears a year are killed by authorized Inupiat hunters in the Barrow area.

"The Inupiat have hunted the polar bear for years, not necessarily for trophy matters but for food, and the hide itself is used for clothing materials," said Barrow Mayor Michael Stotts.

"It is considered a delicacy. It is considered an honor in the Inupiat tradition to be able to capture and have a polar bear," he said.

The bears live only in the Arctic and depend on sea ice as a platform for hunting seals. The U.S. Geological Survey said two-thirds of the world's polar bears -- some 16,000 -- could be gone by 2050 if predictions about melting sea ice hold true.

THINNER ICE, AND LESS OF IT

In announcing the government's decision, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne acknowledged that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions contributed to the global warming that has damaged the bears' habitat.

It is something that Barrow is all too familiar with.

"There is less (ice) and it's thinner. It is not really thick like it used to be," Nayakik, 47, said as he stood at the edge of the ice. "It is going to melt right away."

The new protection was not accompanied by any proposals to address climate change or drilling in the Arctic for the fossil fuels that spur the climate-warming greenhouse effect.

Throughout Barrow, a mostly native community of 4,500 people, there was fear that residents would shoulder an undue amount of the burden to protect the polar bear.

"Everyone needs to worry about it," said Nayakik's son Charlie, 14.

Television host Jeff Corwin, who was in Barrow filming a segment on polar bears for his "Animal Planet" show, said it would be unfair to leave Barrow solely responsible for protecting the polar bear.

"These are the iconic, apex pinnacle predator of these lands," he told Reuters. "I don't think one remote community can or should be saddled with responsibility for that species. It should be shared."

(Editing by Daisuke Wakabayashi, Mary Milliken and Xavier Briand)

Stolen whale meat on black market'

Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, news.com.au 15 May 08;

GREENPEACE has accused Japanese whalers of stealing meat from the country's annual research hunt in the Antarctic and selling it on the black market.
The environmental group said it had filed a criminal complaint with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office against 12 crew members, using a box of meat it obtained as evidence.

Greenpeace said a four-month investigation had found that crew of the Nisshin Maru factory ship had smuggled the meat ashore in bags designated as personal luggage and passed it to traders to be sold illegally.

It said the 12 crew members had sent at least 47 boxes containing a total of about one tonne of the meat, worth some $143,200, through a parcel delivery service after the government-sponsored mission in the Southern Ocean.

The ship's operator, Kyodo Senpaku, said there was a decades-old custom of giving crew members "souvenir'' meat to distribute to neighbours.

But the firm was "worried'' that some wrongdoing may have taken place, a company official said.

"There is suspicion,'' said the official who declined to be named.

There was no immediate reaction from the Government, but the state-backed Institute of Cetacean Research, which commissions the whaling, said that crew members were given meat as a "gift''.

"We distribute small amounts of whale meat to all participant crew members to thank them for working hard. I don't think this is a problem in terms of the law,'' the institute's vice-director, Hajime Ishikawa, told broadcaster NHK.

Japan, which kills whales using a loophole in a 1986 whaling moratorium that allows "lethal research'' on the giant mammals, says that it is monitoring whale numbers, but makes no secret that the meat ends up on dinner tables.

Japan argues that the whale meat, a "by-product'' of the research, should be consumed rather than wasted.

The meat is supposed to go to wholesalers at a price set by the Institute of Cetacean Research, with the proceeds helping to fund the mission.

The whaling fleet returned home in April having caught little more than half of its original target of about 950 whales after a series of high-seas clashes with militant environmentalists.

Greenpeace quoted a former employee of Kyodo Senpaku as saying that nearly all members of the whaling fleet each take 200-300kg of meat, which does not appear in the official figures.

It said it had documented the offloading of smuggled whale meat into a special truck when the Nisshin Maru docked, working from information from former and current employees.

Climate change threatens French truffle

Jessica Mead, Reuters 12 May 08;

PARIS (Reuters) - The black truffle, one of the most exclusive and expensive delicacies on the planet, is under threat from climate change.

A mysterious species of underground fungi with reported aphrodisiac and therapeutic properties, the aromatic truffles are also highly fragile and cannot withstand more than three weeks without water.

But prolonged drought in many of their prime growing regions in Europe and predictions about global warming suggest the future is about as black as the truffles themselves, to the despair of the growers.

"The bad harvest years, which used to be the exception, are becoming the norm," Jean-Charles Savignac, President of the Federation Francaise des Trufficulteurs (FFT), told Reuters.

The three main producers -- France, Italy and Spain -- provide about 100 tonnes of the gastronomic luxury per year. In the 19th century it was an estimated 1,000-1,600 tonnes.

In France, this winter's harvest yielded just over 20 tonnes of the high quality black truffle, half what had been expected.

Meteo France forecasts that by the end of the century Toulouse, on the southern fringes of France's truffle growing region, will see temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) on average between 25 and 55 days a year. Today, it registers such heat on average 4 days a year.

The shortage of supply coupled with rising demand has seen prices soar. A kilo of black truffles can fetch as much as 1,000 euros ($1,548), three times the cost at the end of the 1990s.

CHINESE IMPORTS

But the high prices have not calmed the nerves of truffle producers in France's southern growing fields.

"There are a lot of plantations coming to maturity, but at the moment we cannot say what the future will hold for truffle production," said Jean-Pierre Audivert, President of the Departmental Federation of Perigord Truffle Producers.

While changing weather patterns are reducing harvests in the Mediterranean area, global warming has made regions further north better suited to truffle cultivation.

Farmers have even started to spread the spore of the rare fungus in northern England in a bid to cash in on the popularity of the so-called black diamond.

But the truffle's fragility to frost makes it unlikely that these regions will compensate for falling yields in the south.

With demand exceeding supply, wholesalers are trying to meet some of the shortfall by importing truffles from China.

Similar in appearance to Europe's black truffle, but with little of the flavor, purists have decried the Chinese product, which costs a fraction of the price of the French truffle. The FFT has called on the European Union to ban the imports.

Producers believe the answer to the shortages lies with science and are hooking up with researchers to find ways to adapt to the weather and increase yields.

"The idea is not to suffer, but to understand in order to react," said Jean-Marc Olivier, Director of Research at the French National Institute for Agronomical Research.

For now scientific research is investigating ways in which truffles can be better protected from drought and frost. But any changes will take time, with new plantations taking 10 years before they start producing truffles.

In 2007 alone, 300,000 trees were planted in truffle plantations across France, but only 10 to 15 percent of them will eventually yield the fragile tuber.

"The production zones of the Mediterranean plain are on the frontline and will face further difficulties if we do not adapt," Olivier told a conference of truffle producers.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Sustainable coffee program seen booming

Marcy Nicholson, Reuters 16 May 08;

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Rainforest Alliance has nearly doubled the amount of coffee sold every year from its program that certifies coffee as good for the environment and beneficial for farmers, a representative of the conservation group said.

Companies in the group's sustainable coffee program have been making "commitments over time to scale-up the volumes of coffee that they're sourcing and help farms that already supply them, get certified," said Sabrina Vigilante, senior manager of marketing and business for Rainforest Alliance.

Vigilante spoke on the sidelines of the organization's event in New York Thursday.

New York-based Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit conservation group, certifies farms that meet specific criteria aimed to produce what it calls "sustainable" agricultural products. The process is designed to benefit the environment, farmers and their communities.

Coffee purchases from Rainforest certified farms has grown by an average of 93 percent annually since 2003, when the figure sat at 7 million lbs. In 2007, 91.3 million pounds of certified coffee were bought, Rainforest Alliance said.

In January 2007, McDonald's UK began sourcing all of its coffee from Rainforest farms. Since then, the unit of McDonald's Corp has reported a 22 percent increase in units of coffee sold, Rainforest data showed.

"It will continue to grow at that rapid pace for some years to come because the world is a huge market and it's like a snowball effect," Vigilante said about.

Italy's leading coffee roaster Lavazza buys about 2 million 60-kg bags of coffee annually and was accredited by Rainforest Alliance in 2006. In the United Kingdom, 30 percent of the coffee Lavazza purchases is Rainforest Alliance certified, said Barry Kither, Lavazza sales and market director in the United Kingdom.

"The U.K. is particularly keen on ethical products," Kither said, noting the trend moves at different paces in different countries.

"For the U.K. it's a lifesaver because you can hardly talk to a company now without ticking that box, 'Do you have an ethical product available?' We needed it desperately, defensively," Kither said.

The company's overall Rainforest purchases, however, is a small 1 percent, said Mario Cerutti, director of supply chain in Turin.

The trend is global. Privately held Gloria Jean's Coffees International, based in Sidney, Australia, has 850 stores operating in 32 countries with more in the works, said Executive Chairman Nabi Saleh.

Gloria Jean's buys "several millions of pounds of green coffee" and aims to make 85 percent of these purchases Rainforest certified by 2010, up from the current 45 to 50 percent, Saleh estimated.

Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee purchases more than 60 percent of its coffee from Rainforest farms, exceeding the company's 50 percent goal for 2008, said Chad Trewick, Caribou's senior director of coffee and tea.

"It's fostered a spirit of partnership, and a slow and gradual transformation in the mind-sets that these producers and communities think about the environment," Trewick said.

Caribou Coffee has eight permanent blends and three seasonal blends bearing the Rainforest seal, he said.

"We really believe that sustainability ... really resonates with a lot of the consumer base and more and more mainstream people are looking for people to make an impact with their purchasing power," he said.

(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson; Editing by David Gregorio)

Researchers warn of nitrogen hazard to environment

Yahoo News 17 May 08;

While carbon dioxide has been getting lots of publicity in climate change, reactive forms of nitrogen are also building up in the environment, scientists warn.

"The public does not yet know much about nitrogen, but in many ways it is as big an issue as carbon, and due to the interactions of nitrogen and carbon, makes the challenge of providing food and energy to the world's peoples without harming the global environment a tremendous challenge," University of Virginia environmental sciences professor James Galloway said in a statement.

"We are accumulating reactive nitrogen in the environment at alarming rates, and this may prove to be as serious as putting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," said Galloway, author of a paper and co-author of a second on the topic in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

While nitrogen alone is inert and harmless, reactive nitrogen compounds — such as ammonia — have been released by its use in nitrogen-based fertilizers and the large-scale burning of fossil fuels.

Various forms of nitrogen contribute to greenhouse warming, smog, haze, acid rain dead zones with little or no life along the coasts, and depletion of the ozone layer in the stratosphere, the researchers concluded.

The researchers propose ways to reduce nitrogen use, ranging from encouraging its uptake by plants to recovering and reusing nitrogen from manure and sewage and decreasing nitrogen emissions from fossil fuel combustion.

Come the crunch, are ethical funds really all that good for you?

Next week sees the first National Ethical Investment Week, but there are worries about the sector's performance. Think long-term, says Simon Birch

Simon Birch, The Guardian 17 May 08;

Britain's growing battalions of ethically minded consumers will have a new annual date for their diaries with the launch tomorrow of the first National Ethical Investment Week. With a range of public events from Edinburgh to Plymouth, organisers are aiming to emulate the way in which Fairtrade Fortnight has helped to propel fairtrade into the mainstream.

"If you buy fairtrade coffee and organic oranges, then it makes sense to invest ethically. Choosing a green and ethical investment is another way of acting responsibly, but many people are still unaware of this option," says Penny Shepherd from the UK Social Investment Forum, which is co-ordinating the event. "We hope that a wide range of organisations and individuals will use the week to spread the word about the benefits of green and ethical investing."

With the UK's first ethical investment fund launched by Friends Provident in 1984, there are now almost 100 green and ethical funds with a combined value of just under £9bn and 750,000 account holders.

Despite initial scepticism that principles couldn't generate a profit, the sector has, up until recently, proved the doubters wrong by consistently posting healthy returns. Now, though, the ethical sector is facing one of its stiffest tests, with commentators questioning its ability to withstand the fallout from the credit crunch and the ensuing turmoil in the markets.

Initial evidence, based on the performance of ethical funds over the past 12 months does, indeed, point to a downturn in the fortunes of the sector. "The past six months have been difficult," admits Lee Coates from the Ethical Investors Group.

So what sort of a hit has it taken?

In the 12 months to May this year, ethical funds lost an average of 9.1%. However, it is important to point out that it's not just ethical funds which have taken a loss - over the same period, mainstream UK investment funds were down 6.8%, while the FTSE All-Share Index fell by 3.8%.

Plus, not all ethical funds have performed the same: over the same period Jupiter's Ecology Fund, for example, is down 5.36% compared to its sector average, which is down 1.75%, while Henderson's Industries of the Future Fund is down just 0.1%, compared to a drop in its sector of 3.2%, again over the same period.

According to Coates, the main reason for this downturn in performance, is the flight of capital to larger companies in the face of the volatile market conditions resulting from the credit crunch. "Ethical funds tend to be weighted towards smaller and medium-sized companies, which are seen as being riskier when trading becomes bumpier," he says.

The second key factor is, that in the last year, the strongest performing sectors in the market were mining, oil and gas and tobacco, the very areas which few, if any, ethical funds have any presence in. Despite the impact over the past year of what some have called the perfect storm for ethical funds, Coates is unfazed. "None of my clients is looking at pulling out as they are in there for the long-term and aren't going to be concerned with what I believe are adverse short term trading conditions."

Brigid Benson from ethical IFA the Gaeia Partnership, who has almost 20 years' experience, agrees that the current downturn is purely short term. "People need to follow the fundamentals of investing, which are to invest for at least the medium term or, ideally, the long term, then they'll be fine."

Ethical fund managers such as Charlie Thomas, who manages the Jupiter Ecology Fund, believe that with key environmental issues including climate change firmly on the political and public agenda, ethical funds are perfectly placed to benefit from the transition to a low-carbon economy.

"The outlook for companies in the green sector is very strong over the long term, and investors shouldn't be swayed by the current short-term volatility," says Thomas, whose fund has two wind-power companies among its top 10 holdings. "There are many areas, for example, benefiting from legislative shifts - renewable energy currently accounts for less than 3% of power generation in the UK, yet the government has a target of increasing this to 20% by 2020. Even if we don't reach this target, there is clearly potential for very significant growth."

Mark Hoskin, from ethical IFA Holden & Partners, agrees: "Environmental markets are growing by up to 30% per annum ... investors need to see it as solid investment based on sound principles."
What to look for

There are nearly 100 ethical and green funds with each one investing its funds according to a wide range of criteria. But if you're a novice, how do you go about investing?

Get informed

Ethical Investment Research Services offers a comprehensive guide to ethical investments at eiris.org. Investmentuk.org is the unit trust industry's website, run by the Investment Management Association. Click on "investors" for a handy pocket guide for first-timers, plus a factsheet on ethical investing.

Don't overpay

The minimum investment in most ethical funds is £1,000 as a lump sum or £50 a month into a regular savings plan. But avoid paying an initial charge of 5-6% by buying through a discount broker. Try h-l.co.uk or chelseafs.co.uk - both allow you to buy online or by phone, rebating all the initial charge on a wide range of funds, plus a portion of the annual charge (usually 0.25%). Or go to a fund supermarket such as Fundsnetwork.co.uk (run by Fidelity) which will discount most funds to just 0%-1.25% initial charge.

Study performance

You can monitor the performance of an ethical fund on a very easy to use website, trustnet.co.uk, which has details on practically every fund in the UK. You can also try www.morningstar.co.uk.

Find an adviser

There a number of independent financial advisers that specialise in ethical. Try barchestergreen.co.uk; ethicalmoney.org; ethicalinvestors.co.uk; gaeia.co.uk; or holden-partners.co.uk.

Stressed seaweed lives under a cloud of its own making

Times Online 12 May 08;

Brown seaweed is to blame for some of those cloudy days at the seaside, scientists believe. Stress among the plants can alter weather patterns, according to researchers at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and the University of Manchester.

On an overcast day kelp are comfortable when the tide goes out, as they stay damp until it comes in again. But on a bright day they dry, releasing iodide. The iodide rises, causing clouds to form overhead, sheltering the kelp from the unwelcome sunshine.

Frithjof Küpper, of the Scottish Association for Marine Science, who led the research, saidthat the salt helped to neutralise ozone in the atmosphere and, as it rose, “these chemicals act as condensation nuclei around which clouds may form”.

Kelp is found in large quantities in the Hebrides, Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire and Anglesey. Scotland’s kelp beds are among the most extensive in Europe, with the Western Isles and Orkney archipelago among the main centres of soda ash production.

In the 18th century seaweed was burned to obtain soda ash, which was used in glass-making and construction. Alginate is still used to thicken products such as ice cream, jelly, salad dressing and toothpaste.

Kelp plays an important antipollution role in the removal of ozone close to the Earth’s surface.

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