Best of our wild blogs: 24 Jun 08

Upcoming walk at the Chek Jawa boardwalk this sunday
on the adventures with the naked hermit crabs blog

A walk on Cyrene
the Chek Jawa of the South! on the wildfilms blog

Singapore's neglected heritage
about our reefs, with Cyrene Reef as an example on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Sea of trash
New York Times article on the News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore blog

Spectacled Spiderhunter collecting nectar
from Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Nerites of Labrador
video clip on the sgbeachbum blog

What happens to reef life when fishing is banned?
on the wildfilms blog

Read more!

Barrier Reef 'no-take' zones see leap in fish numbers

Rachel Nowak,
NewScientist.com 23 Jun 08;

A controversial decision to halt commercial and recreational fishing across vast areas of the Great Barrier Reef has proven remarkably effective for reviving coral trout numbers.

"Everyone is a little surprised," admits Garry Russ, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Townsville.

"We've seen a consistent pattern of recovery of coral trout from just north of Cairns to as far south as Heron Island," he says. "It's an extraordinarily large area."

In mid 2004, the Australian government rezoned the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to create the world's largest network of marine "no-take" zones.
No fishing

Fishing was totally banned across a third of the park – more that 100,000 km2 – including parts of 70 biologically distinct "bioregions".

At the time, surveys found that the majority of Australians wanted protection for the reef, but the move was also highly controversial among both commercial and recreational fishers who primarily target coral trout.

Surveys carried out by Russ's team now show that coral trout numbers have increased by over 60% in no-take areas around two groups of inshore islands – Palm Island and the Whitsundays – 18 months to two years after rezoning.

By contrast, Coral trout numbers in nearby fished areas did not change. "In the long term, the hope is that as numbers build up in protected areas, more fish will spawn successfully, enhancing numbers in fished areas," says Russ.
Full recovery

A second team led by Hugh Sweatman of the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville, has also found that coral trout numbers had increased significantly in no-take zones around reefs from 32 to 200 kilometres off-shore.

In four of these offshore regions, numbers of coral trout were between 31 and 64% higher compared to unprotected regions nearby, just two years after the zoning took place.

The consistency of the results, combined with the finding that in-shore coral trout numbers did not decrease, suggests that the differences are indeed due to decreased fishing in the off-shore no-take zones, rather than increased fishing elsewhere, says Russ.

"It's a very positive start, but full recovery of coral trout will take 10 to 15 years of really effective protection," says Russ. The two teams are monitoring 160 different species of fish, but so far only numbers of coral trout have changed since the rezoning.

Journal reference: Current Biology (vol18, p 514)

Coral trout hooked on fishing ban
Dani Cooper, ABC 24 Jun 08;

Coral trout numbers on the Great Barrier Reef have bounced back in areas where fishing is banned, a new study shows.

Writing in today's Current Biology journal, researchers from James Cook University (JCU) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), say their study shows no-take marine reserves, in which fishing is completely banned, are effective in protecting exploited species.

Study author Professor Garry Russ, from the School of Marine and Tropical Biology at JCU, says the numbers of coral trout, a favoured target of commercial and recreational fisheries, bounced back in no-take reserves within two years or less of the area being rezoned.

On 1 July 2004 the Australian Government threw a protective net over the Great Barrier Reef by banning fishing in about a third of the marine park.
Worth the controversy

The move, which locked fishermen out of 100,000 square kilometres of the reef, created intense community debate with the Government offering compensation packages to those affected by the ban.

Russ says his study shows the controversial move was worth the pain.

He says the team has documented increases in coral trout density between 31% and 68% in two years or less.

"The big surprise was that we detected a consistent, rapid increase in multiple large reserves spread over 1000 kilometres offshore and 700 kilometres inshore," he says.

The team used an underwater visual census survey to monitor numbers in the new coral reef reserves and in control areas that remained open to fishing before the ban took effect and one and a half to two years after rezoning.
Significantly higher

They found that coral trout numbers were significantly higher in no-take reserves than in sites that remained open to fishing in four of five offshore regions and two of three inshore regions.

Russ says the figures are probably due to a decrease in fishing mortality inside the new reserves rather than an increase in fishing outside.

"Our results provide an encouraging message that bold political steps to protect biodiversity can produce rapid, positive results for exploited species at ecosystem scales," Russ says.

"It is an important lesson for the entire world."

Down Under, Fish Numbers Climb Up
Lauren Cahoon, ScienceNOW Daily News 23 Jun 08;

In a time when positive news for the planet is rare, scientists announced today some promising ecological findings from Australia. The coral trout, a key fish species in the Great Barrier Reef, has made a stunningly rapid comeback--a turnaround the researchers credit to a sweeping conservation policy that banned all fishing in protected areas. As a keystone species of coral reefs, the trout's return could signal the improving health of the entire ecosystem.

In 2004, the Australian government designated a network of no-take zones--areas where all forms of fishing are prohibited--in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The park, spanning 344,400 square kilometers and recognized as an international icon of natural beauty, houses the world’s largest collection of coral reefs and supports abundant diversity and many endangered species. The no-take zones encompassed 33% of the park's area--a controversial move that was sparked by a growing concern over the health of the region. This sweeping approach to conservation was the first of its kind--such a large-scale ban on fishing was unprecedented--but were these efforts worth the trouble?

To find out, fisheries biologist Garry Russ of James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, and colleagues compared fish populations right before and 2 years after the fishing ban was established. They surveyed 46 no-take preserves and 46 preserves where fishing was still allowed. Of the organisms surveyed, the coral trout staged the strongest comeback in the no-take marine preserves. The fish's numbers increased by 31% to 68% in the span of only 1.5 to 2 years, the team reports in Current Biology. What's more, the boost in coral trout numbers was widespread, occurring wherever a no-take preserve had been established. "I was personally stunned by the sheer scale of the positive response" to the ban, says Russ.

Although coral trout are the only species to have bounced back definitely, the researchers believe it could be a good sign for marine conservation. "Our findings show that large-scale reserve networks, set up to protect biodiversity and ecosystems, can produce rapid positive responses for targeted species," says Russ. "It is an important lesson for the entire world."

Tropical ecologist Leanne Fernandes, director of Earth to Ocean, a marine resource management consulting firm in North Queensland, Australia, agrees that the study is encouraging, but she says that no-take areas are only part of the solution. "The risk is that this may not be adequate, in the long run, to sustain the ecosystem as a whole," says Fernandes, who notes that pollution, climate change, and water quality can also drive down fish numbers. Marine ecologist Stephen Palumbi of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, praises the scope of the research. "It's like the Hubble telescope for coral science," he says, "and this study is the first snapshot from this telescope."

Ban Spurs Dramatic Fish Recovery in Australia
Anne Minard, National Geographic News 24 Jun 08;

Australia's coral trout have thrived under a fishing ban on the Great Barrier Reef, showing that no-take reserves can spur dramatic comebacks in overfished ocean habitats, new research suggests.

But the bold move to ban fishing to save fish would be hard to replicate along most other coasts, said the Australian study's lead author.

Coral trout is the common name of about a half-dozen fish species from the grouper and cod family targeted by commercial and recreational hook-and-line fisheries in Australia.

Scientists behind the new study found that the fish bounced back within two years after no-take reserves were established.

Garry Russ, a marine biologist at James Cook University who led the research, said his team was "surprised" to find coral trout population increases of up to 68 percent in such a short period of time.

"This represents a positive and unprecedented response to reserve protection," he said.

The study appears in today's issue of the journal Current Biology.

Largest No-Fish Zone

Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park generates about five and a half billion U.S. dollars annually from tourism and fisheries.

Four years ago the Australian government rezoned the park, placing nearly one-third of it into the world's largest network of no-take marine reserves. They cover more than 62,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometers).

To monitor the new reserves, researchers used underwater imaging techniques to survey coral reefs inside and outside protected areas, where fishing was still allowed.

The scientists found that coral trout numbers were significantly higher in no-take reserves than in sites that remained open to fishing.

Researchers say the increase is probably due to decreased fish mortality inside the new reserves, rather than increased fishing outside.

"Although preliminary, our results provide an encouraging message that bold political steps to protect biodiversity can produce rapid, positive results for exploited species at ecosystem scales," Russ said.

"No Surprise"

Enric Sala, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego, said it's intuitive that a fishing ban would help fish survive.

"This rebound is great news, but it is not 'new' news," he said. "When you truly protect a species from fishing or create a no-take marine reserve, large fishes come back."

Sala notes that Florida jewfish and Mediterranean dusky grouper rebounded under similar conditions.

Study co-author Hugh Sweatman, a reef ecologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, agrees.

"My 10-year-old son saw the graphs and said, If you stop fishing, don't you expect to find more fish? And he is right," Sweatman said.

He noted that while individual reserves have resulted in quick increases of target species before, "what is new about our study is the rapid, fairly consistent effect in multiple reserves over a huge area."

The ecologist says the Great Barrier Reef fishing ban has offered a rare chance to test whether the largely theoretical idea of marine reserve networks actually works, adding that many questions remain.

Among them: the long-term effects of no-take reserves on coral trout populations, as well as other species on the Great Barrier Reef food chain.

Russ, the lead study author, is currently investigating whether juvenile coral trout from protected areas will migrate to help repopulate stocks in less-protected areas over time.

Bold Strategy

Sweatman says the bold strategy to protect coral trout in Australia would be hard to replicate elsewhere.

The Great Barrier Reef is "a large area with a small and relatively rich coastal human population that is not depending on the reefs for the next meal," he said.

Read more!

Singapore to share urban planning experience at summit

Channel NewsAsia 23 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE: Singapore will share its experience in urban planning and housing with cities which are facing similar challenges.

Population growth and urbanisation are putting city planners here and abroad under pressure to find solutions for housing, transport, waste disposal and other needs.

And Singapore, with some successes in areas like resource management and housing policy, hopes to work with other foreign cities in mutual areas of cooperation.

Chan Heng Kee, CEO of Civil Service College, co-organiser of World Cities Summit, said: "I won't say Singapore has the answer or the model, but beyond providing just the platform where people can come together for conversations and learning, I do think that in some areas, Singapore has done fairly well - for example, water management.

"And I think our housing policy is something that is very well regarded around the world. Urban planning – (the ability) to plan long term and safeguard land for future growth and development – that's something we have done very well.

"These are areas that, I think, we can share some lessons and experiences with other cities and at the same time, we can also learn from other cities which do well in other areas."

Mayors from cities like Melbourne and Yokohama will present their perspectives on environmentally friendly land transportation and management of green spaces at the World Cities Summit.

With more than 700 high-level participants attending the summit, organisers hope that this can lead to innovative solutions to key challenges facing world cities today, especially East Asian cities which are experiencing rapid population growth and economic development.- CNA/so

Read more!

Haze likely in next three months

The cause: hotter weather plus burning activities in region; Singapore to run 2 new anti-haze programmes in Jambi, Indonesia
Liaw Wy-Cin, Straits Times 24 Jun 08;

BRACE yourselves for bad-air days ahead.

The smoky haze is likely to be back in the next three months as a result of a combination of hotter, drier weather and burning activities in Malaysia and Indonesia.

However, Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said the number of hot spots in Indonesia has come down considerably.

'I wouldn't say there will be no haze. I think the hot spots have come down. Indonesia's own plan of action is to reduce the number by 50 per cent. That means there will still be hot spots, but the number will be reduced.'

He added that his own sense of the situation was that efforts on the ground were already in place, but that 'like all plans, there is always a weakest link that we don't understand until it gets implemented'.

The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre has noted a weakening of the La Nina weather phenomenon, which would have brought wet weather to douse the smoky fires that the region's farmers set.

With the phenomenon weakening, the next three months are expected to be drier than in the same period last year.

The south-west monsoon winds, expected to blow rain away from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, will also bring drier weather, which could set the scene for Singapore to be enveloped in the choking haze.

Dr Yaacob gave this forecast at a press conference following a meeting with his counterparts from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand yesterday.

It was the group's fifth meeting since the setting up of a task force in late 2006 to tackle the problem, which has hit the five countries almost annually since 1997.

Farmers and plantation owners in Indonesia's Sumatra and Borneo islands clear the land by slashing its vegetation and burning it in the middle of the year, ahead of the planting season.

Dr Yaacob and Indonesia's Deputy Minister for Nature Conservation Enhancement and Environmental Degradation Control, Mrs Masnellyarti Hillman, said the containment measures discussed at the meeting centred on involving local communities in combating the haze.

Malaysia, for example, is working with Indonesia to train communities in fire-fighting in Riau province. Both countries are also installing haze-monitoring equipment there.

Dr Yaacob unveiled two programmes Singapore will run with Indonesia's Jambi province in north Sumatra. One is to train farmers to rear fish for export instead of growing crops, to turn them away from slash-and-burn cultivation; the other is aimed at keeping the water level in the area's peatlands up. This is because when they dry out, they catch fire easily.

The two programmes, expected to cost $800,000, come on top of the $1 million set aside earlier for seven Singapore-Jambi programmes.

Of the seven, two have been completed. These provided training for Jambi officials in reading satellite pictures for hot-spot information, and for farmers and officials on eco-friendly farming.

The ministers will meet again in Phuket, Thailand, in October.

ASEAN environment ministers hopeful haze won't be as bad this year
Channel NewsAsia 24 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE : Drier weather over the next three months may trigger more hot spot activities and spell the return of the haze.

But with some measures to contain the Indonesian forest fire situation already in place, regional environment ministers attending the fifth meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution are hopeful the situation will be better compared to 2006.

At any top-level haze meeting this time of the year, there is always one burning question - will the haze be back?

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister, said: "I wouldn't say there is no haze. I think the hot spots have come down. Indonesia's own POA (Programme of Action) is to reduce it by 50 per cent. That means there will still be hot spots, but the number will be reduced.

"My sense is that the efforts on the ground are already in place. Like all plans, there is always a weakest link that we don't understand until it gets implemented."

Indonesia has budgeted some US$87 million on land and forest fire control.

Masnellyarti Hilman, Indonesia's Deputy Minister for Nature Conservation, Enhancement and Environmental Degradation, said the government has informed the people not use fires to clear their land.

"... we'll do the monitoring. We'll come to the district level to check... and (work) together with the local government," the minister added.

Indonesia is also receiving help from its ASEAN neighbours.

Singapore is concentrating its efforts on an area called Jambi, which - if successful - can be used as a model for other Indonesian regions tackling the haze problem. It has already committed over US$700,000 for some seven projects there.

Singapore and Indonesia are now looking at two new action programmes, costing over half a million US dollars.

In the first programme, Singapore Food Industries will train farmers in fishing, so they can develop an alternate livelihood. The second involves managing the vast tracts of peatland in Indonesia, which can smoulder and burn for a long time.

Malaysia, one of five other countries at the meeting, has been focusing its efforts in Riau Province. From next month, it will spend US$600,000 to train farmers in zero-burning techniques and fire-fighting, and install an air monitoring station.

The ministers will meet again in October in Phuket, Thailand. - CNA/ms

Goodbye haze, hello fresh fish?
Singapore expandsprogrammes in Jambi to tackle forest fires
Neo Chai Chin, Today Online 24 Jun 08;

IT IS a first for the Jambi Master Plan — and it may mean not only :curbing the threat of haze to the region during the dry season, but also a fresh source of seafood for Singapore from the Sumatran province.:

Yesterday, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim announced two new programmes under the master plan, which will see Singapore involved in the management of fire-prone peatland and the development of alternative livelihoods for Jambi natives.

Both programmes will, for the first time, involve the private sector — Dutch firm Delft Hydraulics will conduct peat management training on the “ground, managerial and scientific levels” at Jambi, while Singapore Food Industries (SFI) will help raise aquaculture standards with the help of experts engaged by the company.

SFI will help Jambi’s farmers improve the size and quality of their yields to meet Singapore’s Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) import requirements, said Mr Roger Yeo, SFI’s chief executive, when contacted by Today.

SFI imported 1,173 metric tonnes of seafood last year — just 0.7 per cent of Singapore’s total consumption — so, “if the project goes well, it will allow SFI to trade competitively”, said Mr Yeo.

Both projects are expected to cost about $800,000 and should be ready for implementation by the year’s end, said the National Environment Agency.

Dr Yaacob addressed reporters together with his Malaysian, Indonesian, Bruneian and Thai counterparts at the Pan Pacific Hotel after talks on transboundary haze pollution. The ministers praisedIndonesia’s efforts in reducing the numberof hotspots by half since 2006 and agreed that continued vigilance was needed to prevent land and forest fires, which contribute to the region’s haze each year.

Malaysia is also lending its expertise to Indonesia. It signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indonesia’s Riau government on June 3 to build capacity in zero-burning techniques, fire-fighting and the installation of an air-quality monitoring system. The programmes will begin next month.

Indonesia will also hold a simulation exercise in forest and land fire control in central Kalimantan next month, and will work with the local authorities in Riau province on peatland management.

Airplanes are also on standby to put out fires, said Ms Masnellyarti Hillman, Indonesia’s Deputy Minister for Nature Conservation Enhancement and Environmental Degradation Control.

When asked to predict the haze situation this year — which typically surfaces during the dry months of May to October — Dr Yaacob said the various governments would “work very hard and hope for the best”.

“I wouldn’t say that there will be no haze,” he said, but added that if all goes well, “the situation will be slightly better than what we had in 2006” — the last time our Pollutant Standards Index hit a high of 128, a level considered unhealthy.

Measures taken to combat haze in South-east Asia
Lynn Kan, Business Times 24 Jun 08;

MEASURES are in place to ward off a bad bout of haze during the coming dry season, Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday at a meeting of regional environment ministers.

The two-day meeting, which ended yesterday, brought together environment ministers and officials from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei. With latest updates showing an encouraging 51 per cent reduction in hot spots in Sumatra and Kalimantan, they are pressing on to include private sector companies in plans to combat the haze.

In the past two years, Singapore and Malaysia have aided Indonesia financially and technologically to combat haze on the ground. Singapore has partnered Jambi province by committing $1 million to various programmes, such as training in the interpretation of satellite photos and educating villagers on sustainable land clearing.

Dutch company Delft Hydraulics will soon provide expertise and consultation on managing peatlands in Jambi, as peat fires are extremely difficult to extinguish and susceptible to burning out of control.

Singapore and Jambi officials are looking at ways to wean farmers off of slash-and-burn agriculture to encourage them to take up aquaculture instead. Singapore Food Industries has been roped in to help provide commercial channels for agriculture products.

Aside from Jambi, Riau province has worked with the Malaysian government to prevent forest fires. In June, Riau and Malaysia signed a Memorandum of Understanding that included a commitment to promote zero burning and train community fire-fighting units to handle small fires.

'We have the necessary plans in place and we've worked very hard,' said Dr Ibrahim. 'We won't say there will be no haze, because every plan has a weak link that will not show until it is executed - but we certainly hope for the best.'

Indonesia`s haze plan praised by region
Antara 24 Jun 08;

Singapore (ANTARA News) - Regional officials on Monday praised Indonesia's efforts to reduce a haze caused by forest fires which regularly choke Southeast Asia.

The blazes, set by large plantations and farmers, send smoke into Indonesian skies and across boundaries into neighbouring countries each year during the May to October dry season.

"I wouldn't say that there will be no haze," Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, was quoted by AFP as telling reporters after talks among regional officials on ways to tackle the haze.

"But having said that, we also noted the efforts of our Indonesian counterparts, where they have set a target and reaffirmed the target to reduce the hotspots by 50 percent -- which we welcome."

Yaacob said the target gave cause for optimism that "the situation will be slightly better" than in 2006, the last severe outbreak of the haze.

Singapore joined representatives from Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand for Monday's talks.

"Over the next few months, increased hotspot activities may occur in the fire-prone areas of Sumatra, peninsula Malaysia and Borneo, particularly during extended periods of dry weather," the committee said in a statement.

It said parts of Southeast Asia "can expect drier weather in the next three months as compared to the same period last year."

Indonesia's Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said in April that hotspots had been reduced by 51 percent last year in key provinces and that improvement should continue.

Firefighting helicopters will be put on standby in the most fire-prone provinces, said Masyud, director of the information centre at Indonesia's ministry of forestry.

"Indonesia is highly concerned with land and forest fires and we are prepared to manage it if it happens this year," Masyud said.

"So far the weather has been kind. There has been a lot of rain."

The worst haze outbreak in 1997-98 cost the region an estimated nine billion dollars by disrupting air travel, tourism and other business.

Officials will hold further talks in Thailand in October. (*)

Read more!

Japanese jogger lost after taking a wrong turn at MacRitchie

FOUND 18 hours later, after spending night in forest
Crystal Chan, The New Paper 24 June 08

HE had been to MacRitchie Reservoir to jog, in April.

So Dr Brian Takei, 48, felt nothing would happen to him on his next visit.

But just half an hour into his jog on Saturday, Dr Takei, who is the Royal Bank of Scotland's Japan representative, tried taking another route towards the reservoir.

He said: 'I thought of viewing the reservoir from an inlet, so I decided to take that route.'

That turned out to be a bad decision.

It caused him to be lost for more than 18 hours and he had to spend the night in the forested area, scared and alone.

Dr Takei, who was rescued by the police and National Parks rangers at 9.40am yesterday, said: 'I was afraid of finding corpses and being bitten by poisonous snakes as I kept stepping into holes in the ground.

'In Japan, it is common to find corpses in remote areas near Mount Fuji as people tend to choose such places to commit suicide.'

Dr Takei, who is married with a daughter, said he often travels to the region to do internal audits.

Knowing he is a regular jogger, a colleague recommended he visit the MacRitchie Reservoir.

He said: 'Previously, when I visited Singapore, I jogged around the city area as it was near the hotels I stayed in. But at MacRitchie, the air is fresher.'

On Saturday, three days after arriving in Singapore, he decided to go MacRitchie Reservoir for a jog after eating nasi goreng for lunch.

He took a train to Novena and from there, he took bus 162 to MacRitchie Reservoir, arriving there around 3pm.

OVERCONFIDENT

As he had jogged around the eastern part of the reservoir on his previous visit, Dr Takei decided to try the Yellow Trail, an 11km path near the western part of the reservoir.

He said: 'After jogging close to the rangers' station, I stopped to rest for 10 minutes.

'I spotted what seemed to be a half-done path behind four big rocks.

'I assumed it was another route towards the reservoir, so I walked along the path. I didn't think there would be any danger and I was overconfident of my ability to trek through the area.'

Bad move.

The path was isolated and Dr Takei had to make some detours as there were some fallen trees.

Determined to get back to where he was, he tried to turn back, only to lose his sense of direction after making a wrong detour.

Realising he needed help, he called a colleague in Singapore to get the police's number.

He said: 'I didn't know if it was 911, 919 or 999. I called the police and I was transferred to the rangers, who said they would look for me.'

That was around 3.20pm. Instead of staying put, Dr Takei continued walking through the woods, hoping to return to his point of origin.

He said: 'I thought it would be easier for them to find me if I got out of the forested area.

'I ventured further into the forest and I kept calling the police on my handphone.

'The police told me to try to get near the reservoir as they were ferrying the rangers around by boat.'

By sunset, Dr Takei's handphone battery had gone flat, and he had suffered cuts and scratches on his arms and legs after walking through thorny vegetation.

For safety reasons, he also stopped moving about when darkness fell.

He said: 'I lay on the soil and each time I heard human voices in the distance, I shouted to tell them where I was. But I guess they were too far away to hear me.

'I shouted till my voice became hoarse.

'It was hard to sleep and I only had an hour of sleep around 6am, until it began raining around 7am.

'I was also afraid of snakes as I could hear animals moving about. Luckily, nothing happened to me.

'I was also very thirsty so I licked up the rainwater that fell on my face.'

When the rain stopped around 8.30am, he began walking around until he finally came near the reservoir at 9.30am.

He said: 'At that time, I saw the rangers coming off the boat and I shouted to them.'

WIFE BERATES HIM

He was taken to the rangers' station, where he was given crackers and energy drinks, before being taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for outpatient treatment.

After that, the first thing Dr Takei did was to call his wife, who berated him for being too adventurous.

He said: 'She said that I am no longer a teenager and I should have been more cautious.

'She said I was lucky my curiosity didn't kill me.'

Still, the experience will not stop Dr Takei, who will return to Japan on Friday, from visiting MacRitchie Reservoir again.

He said: 'I think it's a very good nature reserve but I'll not take that same route again.'

Read more!

Cancel National Day Parade flypast and save fuel

Letter from Denis Distant, Today Online 24 Jun 08;

NATIONAL Development Minister MahBow Tan has said the Government cannot reduce petrol taxes despite the soaring oil prices.

He added that motorists should try to cut down the number of trips to reduce energy consumption.

So, how about the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) adopting this practice as well and cancelling the flypast portion at this year’s National Day Parade?

Several evenings each week, the RSAF conducts low-flying practice flights across the island, using up very expensive jet fuel while creating noise pollution.

The Government must take the lead if it expects its citizens to follow its advice. There are still seven weeks left to save that expensive jet fuel.

Read more!

Health Promotion Board plans 'Healthy City' network to address urban health issues

Channel NewsAsia 24 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE: The Health Promotion Board (HPB) plans to form a 'Healthy City' network to address health, social and environmental issues that arise from rapid urbanisation.

This network will comprise the five community development councils, government agencies and community groups.

Urban lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, cancer and stroke account for 60 percent of the total deaths in Singapore.

HPB wants to tackle these risk factors by collaborating with the network's partners and the Alliance for Healthy Cities.

The Alliance – which HPB has just joined – is a network of 88 cities and institutions that was formed by the World Health Organisation in 2003.

On the sidelines of the World Cities Summit on Monday, Alliance members met to share their strategies and to learn from one another. Issues discussed included housing, sanitation, congestion and pollution.

Amy Khor, South West District Mayor, said: "We have got a number of programmes to address these concerns and issues in terms of personal health and hygiene, as well as public health threats.

"What we do here is really to encourage all the stakeholders, whether they're tenants, building owners, occupants or residents themselves, to have a litter-free environment."- CNA/so

Read more!

New-concept JTC factory aims to save cost and space

'Practical' hoisting system to replace expensive cargo lifts
Emilyn Yap, Business Times 24 Jun 08;

(SINGAPORE) In a move that could optimise land use and help businesses save on rentals, JTC Corporation has come up with a new concept for a 'small footprint high plot ratio' standard factory to cater to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).

This factory is likely to be three storeys high, and take up a floor plate of 400 sq m.

With a total floor area of 1,200 sq m, the standalone facility would have a plot ratio of 1.3.

In contrast, JTC's standard factories today stand at two-and-a-half storeys, with a total floor area of between 1,200 and 4,200 sqm. Plot ratios range from 0.8 to 1.1.

Businesses, particularly those in heavier industries, tend to prefer larger ground floor space for the movement and storage of goods.

To address this need, JTC's concept includes a hoisting system that goes through every floor, to facilitate the movement of goods.

This system replaces the more expensive cargo lifts. The hoist is 'a practical and more economical option', says Colliers International managing director Dennis Yeo.

'For the new prototype factory, land rentals will definitely be lower than that of the existing standard factory in view of its smaller footprint and therefore smaller land take-up,' says a JTC spokesperson.

'The actual rentals will depend on the market situation when the new factory is launched.'

The building rent for JTC's standard factories ranges from $7.35 per sq m per month to $14 psm pm, and comes on top of land rent. Rents vary according to location.

To help reduce outfitting costs, the new factory concept would come with bolting points and corbels for companies to install customised handling systems, without having to obtain structural approvals.

And the switch room would be located on the roof top to free up more ground floor space.

'Small footprint high plot ratio' factories target SMEs which require smaller floor areas but cannot fit their operations into high-rise environments.

'Hence, this new factory design serves a different market segment from those in the flatted factories,' the JTC spokesperson says.

According to Soilbuild Group Holdings executive director Low Soon Sim, the design may be suitable for light engineering industries.

The concept is still under feasibility study. JTC will seek industry feedback in the third quarter before working out the details.

Knight Frank's senior manager of industrial business space Chow Kok Seng points out that heavier industries tend to handle bulkier goods, so a conventional hoisting system may not be suitable for them.

For instance, a company in a three-storey facility, Dynasty Lift Trucks Services, told BT that its hoisting system cannot carry items heavier than two tonnes.

It is looking to shift to a factory with a larger ground floor space to facilitate the handling of its goods.

The new factory concept comes as JTC looks for cost- and space-saving real estate solutions to maximise Singapore's limited land resource.

The idea could also catch on in the private sector. 'By coming up with this new concept, JTC will help to encourage private developers to adopt such a design for their standard factories,' says Mr Yeo.

Read more!

Cheaper way found to make sea water drinkable

WORLD CITIES SUMMIT/INTERNATIONAL WATER WEEK
Siemens' energy- efficient method bags it $4m S'pore grant
Tania Tan, Straits Times 24 Jun 08;

A TEAM of researchers has come up with a way of producing drinking water from sea water using half the amount of energy.

For its breakthrough, the Siemens Water Technologies team yesterday bagged a $4 million grant from the Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI).

Taking the salt out of sea water to make it drinkable is now a famously energy-guzzling - and expensive - process.

Professor Lui Pao Chuen, who chairs the EWI's evaluation panel, noted that over 80 per cent of the current costs of desalination goes into paying for the energy required.

The Siemens team, responding to the EWI's challenge issued last year to design a more energy-efficient desalination technique, beat 34 other teams in coming up with its desalination method.

It used electricity instead of high pressure or heat to remove salt from sea water, and produced a cubic metre of pure drinking water on 1.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power.

Desalination methods around the world now use twice that amount of power.

While conventional desalination methods push water through a membrane, the Siemens team's method involves passing sea water through electric fields to draw out its salt, explained Siemens vice-president of R&D Ruediger Knauf.

PUB technology director Harry Seah described the novel approach as one which 'blows convention away'.

Prof Lui agreed, saying: 'This is what we call disruptive technology - and it's exactly what we're looking for.'

Siemens will work with national water agency PUB over the next three years to put the technology through further tests.

Sea water, though an abundant resource, has yet to be tapped as a viable source of potable water worldwide because of the high costs of desalination.

Most countries have thus turned to rainwater, while a handful have embraced recycled water.

Singapore's reclaimed water, Newater, needs only 0.7 kWh to produce one cubic metre of ultra-pure water.

More energy-efficient desalination will be a boon to coastal cities like Singapore, said Prof Lui.

Desalination is now one of this country's four 'national taps'. The process supplies up to 10 per cent of the national usage, with the other three taps - reservoir water, imported water and Newater - providing the rest.

Mr Seah said that if the new energy-efficient technology passes more rigorous tests, desalination could become more widely used here to make Singapore more self-reliant in water.

News of this new technology is a prelude to the cutting-edge technologies that will be on show at the Singapore International Water Week, which officially opens today.

The four-day event at the Suntec convention centre has attracted over 5,000 delegates and 390 companies in the water-technology business.

German, Japanese firms embark on water R&D programmes in Singapore
Channel NewsAsia 23 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE: Singapore is strengthening its efforts to be self-sufficient in tackling water needs.

National water agency PUB is working with two international players to develop more energy-efficient technologies for the benefit of consumers, and S$10 million has been ploughed into this research.

Currently, the republic has four 'national taps' – water from Malaysia, its own water catchments, NeWater and desalinated water – and more steps are being taken to harness technology in NeWater and desalination.

Japanese manufacturer Nitto Denko is pumping in S$6 million over the next five years into an R&D facility here to develop cheaper water membrane solutions. With its US unit, Hydranautics, Nitto Denko will work with engineering firms like Hyflux and Keppel, and the universities in Singapore.

Brett Andrews, president and COO of Hydranautics, said: "The focus of the R&D plant would be to look at new innovation technology for water reuse and desalination.

"For example, we'll be looking at using our membrane bio-reactor technology to treat waste water to RO (reverse osmosis) for recycle, which will greatly improve the performance and reduce the cost of recycling water."

Germany's Siemens is also up to a challenge from Singapore's Environment and Water Industry Development Council.

It is getting S$4 million to develop an innovative seawater desalination technology which will be at least 50 percent more energy efficient than existing technologies.

Dr Ruediger Knauf, vice president of R&D, Siemens, said: "We will establish a team of roughly fifteen people working out of Singapore and globally. The 15 people will also work with the local research organisations to develop the technology."

The research outcomes are expected to benefit the man in the street.

Professor Lui Pao Chuen, Environment and Water Industry Development Council, said: "If we can make use of this technology for desalination, then the price of water from this source will be lower.

"When you use this technology, the carbon footprint will be lower too because you consume less energy. Lower cost also means it will be more viable economically."

During the week-long Singapore International Water Week and the World Cities Summit, participants will be able to find out some of the vast business and investment opportunities that are available in urban development and water technologies in different parts of the world.

Some of the countries which intend to go big with business forums include India, China and the Middle Eastern region.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will open the summit on Tuesday.- CNA/so

Japanese firm to invest $6m in water R&D centre
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 24 Jun 08;

JAPANESE firm Nitto Denko announced yesterday that it will invest $6 million here over the next five years in a water research and development (R&D) centre.

The centre - the first of its kind set up by a Japanese firm - will be allied to Singapore's own growing water-treatment industry and the national water agency PUB.

It will be sited at WaterHub, the agency's R&D centre in Jurong East. Initially, 10 engineers - local and foreign - will be employed.

Nitto Denko, a leading diversified materials company, is a long-time partner of PUB. The firm supplies the reverse osmosis membranes used in various Newater projects.

It plans to have the R&D centre established by August, with the aim of forging closer ties with local water-related engineering companies such as Hyflux and Keppel Corporation.

'The centre will carry out practical-use evaluation tests of products developed in Singapore,' said Mr Minoru Kikuoka, global head of Nitto Denko's membrane unit.

'We firmly believe that Singapore's water technology development will be further enhanced through our activities here.'

The 300 sq m facility will bolster the thriving water industry here and underline Singapore's claims as a 'global knowledge hub in water technology...and bring us closer to our aspirations of being a global hydrohub', said Economic Development Board's assistant managing director, Mr Kenneth Tan.

It will also 'pave the way for strong ties between Japan and Singapore in water-related R&D', he added.

Nitto Denko's announcement was made on the first day of the four-day inaugural Singapore International Water Week at Suntec.

The event brings together about 5,000 government officials and policymakers to discuss water issues.

Towards a cheaper sip of seawater
Cheow Xin Yi, Today Online 24 Jun 08;

IT MAKES up just 10 per cent of Singapore’s water supply, but desalinated water could constitute a bigger pipeline for the island’s needs — given a new technology that could bring down production costs within three years.

This is thanks to a partnership forged between the Government and Siemens Water Technology. The latter will get a $4-million grant from the Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) to develop a technology that cuts :desalination’s energy consumption by half. Siemens is expected to pilot-test the technology on Public Utilities Board (PUB) facilities within the next three years.

Would a successful outcome — meaning a 20-per-cent cost reduction for desalination based on current electricity prices — pave the way for a second desalination plant here?

Desalinated water — often known as the “fourth national tap” — may not make up the bulk of our water supply, but Professor Lui Pao Chuen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs chief scientific adviser, said: “There may come a time when we need desalination. So, it’s about making options available instead of finding an immediate solution.”

The other three “taps” are imported water from Malaysia, which contributes about 40 per cent of our supply, rainwater collected in local catchment areas, and recycled sewage water, or Newater. The first water agreement with Malaysia is up for renewal in 2011.

PUB director for business capability Harry Seah said Newater is “still a very big focus for the PUB”. It supplies 15 per cent of the nation’s needs, a figure that will rise to 30 per cent in 2010 with the fifth Newater plant.

“NEWater can be cleaned up, used and recycled again” with less energy than producing the same amount of water through desalination, Mr Seah pointed out. Integrating both approaches — with water produced from a desalination plant later renewed through recycling — is the “most sustainable way” of managing our water supply, he added.

But the PUB is “always open to options”, given that “Singapore is an island”, Mr Seah noted.

Singapore opened its first desalination plant, one of the region’s biggest, in Tuas in 2005. A public-private partnership between Hyflux and the PUB, it supplies 10 per cent of Singapore’s water consumption.

Besides cutting costs, the new technology would also lower the carbon footprint of desalination processes, said Prof Lui, who chairs the EWI’s evaluation panel that picked Siemen for the project from among 35 proposals.

“The two benefits — lower carbon dioxide emissions and lower costs — means economically, it’ll be more viable,” said Prof Lui.

Siemen’s proposal is based on the belief that the future of desalination lies with electrically-driven processes instead of the conventional reverse-osmosis method.

“Electrodialysis and electro de-ionisation are already widely known. What’s new is the integration of the different technologies in a way that results in higher performance and low energy demand,” said Dr Ruediger Knauf, vice-president of research and development at Siemens.

Siemens will also pump its own money and work with local research organisations to develop the technology. Dr Knauf said the concept for the technology has been patented, and that the PUB will be the first to make use of it.

And if Singapore decided to build a second plant, would Siemens be keen on having a hand in it?

“It is going to take about three years before we start commercialising the new technology. And it also depends on the Government. If everything goes well, it might be a option,” said Mr Jagannath Rao, president of Siemens Water Technology in Asia.

Siemens Water gets $4m for desalination R&D
Business Times 24 Jun 08;

SIEMENS Water Technologies will get almost $4 million to research and develop seawater desalination technology at its Singapore R&D Centre. The Environment & Water Industry Development Council (EWI), set up by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources to push the development of the industry in Singapore, launched a request for proposal for seawater desalination last July.

The challenge is to develop energy-efficient desalination to produce potable water. Thirty-five proposals were received and that from Siemens stood out 'due to its novelty and fundamentally sound scientific principles', said Lui Pao Chuen of EWI. 'As the global community turns increasingly towards seawater desalination for the production of potable water, we are confident the development of this technology will bring benefits to many parts of the world.'

Chuck Gordon, chief executive officer of Siemens Water Technologies, said: 'This industry-advancing research and development effort will point the way forward to more efficiently manage this valuable resource.'

The company said its process, which involves electrodialysis and ion exchange, requires less energy than thermal or pressure-driven processes.

Separately, eight scholarships will be given out tomorrow. The scholarships, for post-graduate study, aim to train specialist manpower for the environment and water technology industry and research organisations.

PUB lends water firms a hand
Business Times 24 Jun 08;

Huber Technology and PulverDryer Technologies benefit from observations and results of tests, reports OH BOON PING

DESPITE developing innovative products with plenty of potential, most water technology companies had no way to test them to assess their strength.

But not anymore, thanks to national water agency PUB. It has opened up its water reclamation plants, NEWater factories and water treatment plants for companies to do test-bedding and run trials and pilot projects for their products.

For example, Huber Technology Asia-Pacific has run trials of its Huber vacuum rotation membrane at PUB's Jurong water reclamation plant to showcase the membrane to potential customers in Singapore and South-east Asia.

Another example is that of PulverDryer Technologies, which uses patented non-thermal technology to dry municipal sludge. To help the company test and market the technology, PUB has allowed it to set up and operate a pilot plant using the PulverDryer system at Bedok water reclamation plant.

Both companies have benefited from observations and results during the trials.

Huber was able to prove to potential customers that its membrane could reliably produce good effluent. After the trial, Huber was in a position to produce booklets that clearly illustrated the set-up, results and problems of the VRM plant. It eventually used these booklets to explain the technology to prospective customers in Singapore and the region.

Managing director Franz Heindl said: 'Thanks to the excellent cooperation of PUB, and especially its staff at Jurong water reclamation plant, we could not only showcase the Huber VRM membrane system's excellent performance at the site. It also allowed us to explore further possibilities to adapt it to specific local conditions and be even more competitive eventually.

'Due to the fact that the waste water in Jurong is particularly difficult to treat because of the high content of industrial origin, we are even more pleased to have shown an extremely reliable performance and outstanding results.'

As for PulverDryer Technologies, a pilot plant allowed the company to fine-tune the design and operating parameters of the PulverDryer System. PulverDryer technology offers an alternative to the conventional thermal sludge-drying methods. It has the potential to achieve high energy-efficiency and cost-effectiveness in drying sludge.

Harry Seah, PUB director for technology and water quality, said: 'Singapore is well-placed to take the lead as an R&D base. By providing PUB's installations as a test-bedding and piloting base for new innovative water technologies, we have helped to create a conducive environment that encourages generation, testing and adoption of new ideas, boosting Singapore's reputation as a global hydro-hub and provider of waters solutions for the world.

'The Singapore International Water Week that is taking place this week will provide an ideal platform to showcase such technologies, which offer effective and sustainable solutions in water management.'

Businesses can gain first-mover advantage by developing ideas that maximise the use of a government asset under the First Mover Framework. Championed by The Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP), the framework provides a way for state agencies to recognise and encourage the development of innovative ideas that maximise the use of public assets such as land and buildings. Interested parties can apply at www.firstmover.gov.sg.

The Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP) was established in 2000 to solicit feedback from businesses on how government rules and regulations can be improved to create a more pro-enterprise environment in Singapore. The panel is chaired by the Head of Civil Service, Peter Ho, and comprises mainly business leaders from the private sector.

Read more!

Last chance to save the tuna?

As demand soars and stocks dwindle, conservationists say time is running out for the fish

Michael McCarthy, The Independent 24 Jun 08;

Urgent measures to save falling stocks of tuna in the world's second-biggest tuna fishery, the eastern Pacific, must be launched at a key international meeting this week, conservationists are demanding.

Closures of the fishery, both by area and by time, must be brought in to protect tumbling Pacific populations of skipjack and bigeye tuna, leading environmental groups warn.

They are calling on the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) to follow the advice of its own scientists and adopt forceful conservation measures at its annual meeting in Panama City, which started yesterday.

Tuna stocks around the world, especially of the five main commercially harvested species – skipjack, bigeye, yellowfin, bluefin and albacore – are running into trouble from increasing fishing pressure, because of the high value of the catch. Tuna is not only one of the world's favourite fish, being a major diet item for millions of people, it is also at the core of the luxury sushi and sashimi markets, especially in east Asia.

The Pacific Islands fishery is the world's biggest, taking more than 1.2 million tonnes of tuna annually, with the eastern Pacific second, with a yearly catch of more than half a million tonnes. But the latter's regulatory body is failing in its job, say the US-based green groups.

In the past, disagreement among the IATTC's 16 member states has blocked the consensus necessary to bring binding conservation resolutions, but the situation facing tuna stocks is increasingly serious, they say, stressing that the commission now has an opportunity to reverse a trend of inaction and take concrete steps to stop the decline of tuna stocks.

"Bigeye and yellowfin tuna populations are falling and the average size of captured fish is shrinking, a clear sign that those tuna are in dire need of conservation measures," the environmental groups say.

"At the same time, the size and efficiency of fishing fleets continue to increase. As fish become less abundant, their market value rises, and operators invest more in technology resulting in more pressure on the stocks. In the face of declining populations, some nations are demanding the right to increase the size of their fishing fleets."

Action must be taken now, the groups say. Scott Henderson, director of marine conservation at Conservation International, said: "Despite a clear legal mandate and declining tuna stocks, three international meetings of the IATTC held over the past year have failed to produce measures to protect the very resource upon which not only the tuna industry, but the health of the Pacific marine ecosystem depends."

"The IATTC once had an enviable track record of following scientific advice, conserving tuna populations and tackling major conservation issues like dolphin mortality," said Bill Fox, the WWF's vice president of fisheries. "It needs to recapture that spirit and dedication, perhaps using the new management ideas and methods it is exploring, like property rights for fishermen."

Meghan Jeans, Pacific fish conservation manager for Ocean Conservancy, said: "The health of the ocean environment, the long-term sustainability of tuna stocks and the interests of many are being put at risk by the short-sighted self interests of a few."

Humane Society International's vice president Kitty Block said: "As it currently stands, there's every incentive to block consensus and none to reach it. If, instead, the fishery was shut down until consensus is reached, member countries would undoubtedly work harder to agree on effective management measures."

In 2007, representatives of the IATTC agreed to be more proactive in mitigating and preventing tuna stock reductions, and to undertake a comprehensive review of its performance. This review has yet to begin.

How to eat sustainably

Opportunities for consuming tuna in an environmentally friendly way are steadily diminishing. In the past the concern was for the "bycatch" species – that is, where other marine creatures such as dolphins were being accidentally caught. Accordingly, tuna could be certified as "dolphin-friendly". But now concern has moved on to the tuna itself. There is only one tuna fishery – the American Albacore Fishing Association in San Diego, California – which is certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. Other fisheries are cause for concern, but the worst is thought to be the Mediterranean and Atlantic fishery for bluefin tuna, which conservationists consider to be close to collapse. Recently the World Wide Fund for Nature called for a boycott by retailers, restaurants and consumers of Mediterranean bluefin tuna so that the species might have a chance to recover before it is too late.

EU confirms closure of industrial tuna fishing season
Yahoo News 23 Jun 08;

The industrial bluefin tuna fishing season in Europe has closed early, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said Monday after a meeting with angry French and Italian fishermen.

"Tuna fishing in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic is closed simply because the commission had enough facts and figures," said Nathalie Charbonneau, spokeswoman for EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

On June 13, the commission called an early halt to industrial fishing of bluefin tuna at the peak of the season over fears quotas were being filled too quickly.

The move triggered a wave of fierce criticism from Europe's leading tuna fishing nations France, Italy and Spain, which accused the commission of using faulty figures and demanded the decision be dropped.

Dismissing their accusations, the commission hit back last week arguing that its critics were failing to keep track of catches, running the risk of overfishing.

"It's instant death" for fishermen, fumed Mourad Kahoul, president of the tuna fishing union in the Mediterranean, after the meeting at the commission in Brussels.

"They have no viable scientific data, they only have guesses," Kahoul said. "They're killing families with guesses, we're dealing with Bolsheviks, it's worse than the 1940s."

The season would usually have run to the end of June, when the fleet normally hauls in 90 percent of its catches, taking as much as 550 tonnes of tuna per day.

The early closure will mean the commission facing fresh friction with France, Italy and Spain at a meeting in Luxembourg with EU fisheries ministers on Tuesday focusing on soaring fuel prices which have sparked waves of protests from trawlermen.

In theory, the ministers could overturn the commission's decision if a qualified majority is reached, which is unlikely to happen.

French Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier for one said in Luxembourg that he would not seek to overturn the commission's decision.

"I'm not of a state mind to take on the commission and launch a guerrilla war," Barnier said.

"What I'm interested in is that the commission clearly explains why it has decided what it's done. There's currently several of us fisheries ministers who don't understand the commission's unilateral decision," he added.

The commission's decision to close the tuna season early inflamed tensions with the fishing industry all the more because fishermen have been leading waves of protests against high fuel prices.

Chronically overfished, Mediterranean tuna are the victims of their success with fish lovers, especially with the growing demand for sushi. About 70 percent of the Mediterranean catch goes to Japan and prices keep rising.

"Without any fish there won't be any fishermen," said commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger.

Read more!

Fisheries, not whales, to blame for shortage of fish

WWF website 23 Jun 08;

Santiago, Chile: The argument that increasing whale populations are behind declining fish stocks is completely without scientific foundation, leading researchers and conservation organizations said today as the International Whaling Commission opened its 60th meeting in Santiago, Chile.

The Humane Society International, WWF and the Lenfest Ocean Program today presented three new reports debunking the science behind the ‘whales-eat-fish’ claims emanating from whaling nations Japan, Norway and Iceland. The argument has been used to bolster support for whaling, particularly from developing nations.

“It is not the whales, it is over-fishing and excess fishing capacity that are responsible for diminishing supplies of fish in developing countries,” said fisheries biologist Dr. Daniel Pauly, director of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre.

“Making whales into scapegoats serves only to benefit wealthy whaling nations while harming developing nations by distracting any debate on the real causes of the declines of their fisheries.”

Who’s eating all the fish? The food security rationale for culling cetaceans, the report co-authored by Dr Pauly for the Humane Society International contrasts “the widely different impacts of fisheries and marine mammals” with fisheries targeting larger fish where available and marine mammals consuming mainly smaller fish and organisms.

“The decline of the mean trophic levels of fisheries catch over the past 50 years is a signature of fishing down marine food webs and leaves marine mammals exonerated,” the report said.

The report also probes the culling whales increases food security for the poor argument by examining the final destination of catches of coastal fisheries in the South Pacific, Caribbean and West Africa. With less than half the catch going to domestic markets and the majority “gravitating toward the markets of affluent developed countries, one can speak of fish migrating from the more needy to the less needy”.

Also presented to the IWC Scientific Committee was the preliminary results into analysis of the interaction between whales and commercial fisheries in north west Africa. The modeling, funded by the Lenfest Ocean Program, shows no real competition between local or foreign fisheries and great whales.

The whales spend only a few months in the area during their vast seasonal migrations, eat relatively little while breeding and tend to consume fundamentally different types of food resources than the marine species targeted by both local and foreign fisheries. Inserting modelling assumptions to presume that whales are not breeding in the area and eat species important to the fishing industry still fails to show whales are a significant source of competition to fishing.

Also released today is review of the scientific literature originating from Japan and Norway - the two countries most strongly promoting the idea that whales pose problems for fisheries. The review, funded by WWF, found significant flaws in much of the science and concluded that “where good data are available, there is no evidence to support the contention that marine mammal predation presents an ecological issue for fisheries.”

Dr. Susan Lieberman of WWF said “These three reports provide yet more conclusive evidence that whales are not responsible for the degraded state of the world’s fisheries. It is now time for governments to focus on the real reason for fisheries decline – unsustainable fishing operations.”

"Dr. Pauly's findings should refute, once and for all, the misconception that whales are eating all the fish and need to be killed to protect the world's fisheries," said Patricia Forkan, president of the Humane Society International

Read more!

Baltic Sea gasps for air as marine dead zones spread: WWF

Yahoo News 23 Jun 08;

The World Wildlife Fund cautioned Monday that the spread of so-called marine dead zones, where nothing can survive due to lack of oxygen, could cause the Baltic Sea ecosystem to collapse.

"In the Baltic Sea, the marine dead zones could cause a total collapse of the entire ecosystem if their spread is permitted to continue," head of the WWF's Swedish branch Lasse Gustavsson said in a statement.

Ironically, marine areas are drained of life when they receive excess nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and other runoff, that act as fertilisers and enhance plant growth.

When the excess algae and other organisms die and sink to the bottom, they are decomposed by bacteria that suck up all the available oxygen, in a process called eutrophication.

Since 1995, the number of such dead zones around the world have soared from 44 to 169, according to WWF.

Around the world last year "marine dead zones covered an area double the size of arable land in Sweden, or 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles)," the group said, citing data from the World Resources Institute.

Of the world's 10 largest marine dead zones, seven are according to WWF located in the Baltic Sea, which has long been considered to be on the verge of environmental catastrophe.

The semi-enclosed Baltic, which was in 2004 designated as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, takes far longer than many other large bodies of water to flush out toxic and other harmful substances.

"WWF demands quick and decisive action to reduce emissions, not least from agriculture around the Baltic Sea," the statement said.

Read more!

The Water Shortage Myth

Benjamin Radford, LiveScience's Bad Science Columnist
Yahoo News 23 Jun 08;

The two main environmental news stories of the past year or so have been the twin impending disasters of global warming and water shortages. There is a scientific consensus that global warming is occurring, and many governments (including, belatedly, the Bush Administration) have taken steps to address the problem.

But the more pressing issue is water; people can live with global warming (and have been for some time), but people cannot live without water.

While drinking water is the most obvious need, everything around us takes water to produce, from food to telephones to tires. Not only is agriculture dependent on water [the U.S. Geological Survey estimates it takes about 1,300 gallons of water to grow a hamburger] but so is virtually every industry. Even energy production needs water, in hydroelectric dams and nuclear reactor cooling towers.

Demand soars

The barrage of news reports warn of a dire water shortage, and provide sobering statistics:

The global demand for water has tripled over the last 50 years, while water tables are falling in many of the world's most populated countries, including the United States, China, and India. Many of the world's great rivers are a fraction of the size they once were, and some have dried up completely. Earth's lakes are vanishing at an alarming rate; the Aral Sea, for example, is less than a quarter its original size. Nevada's Lake Mead is half its original capacity; a recent study concluded that there is a 50/50 chance that the lake will be gone in less than fifteen years.

It's true that there is cause for alarm, but to understand the problem people need to read behind the headlines to understand one little fact: There is no water shortage.

Our planet is not running out of water, nor is it losing water. There's about 360 quintillion gallons of water on the planet, and it's not going anywhere except in a circle. Earth's hydrologic cycle is a closed system, and the process is as old as time: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, and so on. In fact, there is probably more liquid water on Earth than there was just a few decades ago, due in part to global warming and melting polar ice caps.

The problems

No, there is plenty of water. The problem is that the vast majority of Earth's water is contained in the oceans as saltwater, and must be desalinated before it can be used for drinking or farming.

Large-scale desalination can be done, but it is expensive.

But nor is the world running out of freshwater, either. There's plenty of freshwater on our blue globe; it is not raining any less these days than it did millennia ago. As with any other resource, there are of course regional shortages, and they are getting worse. But the real problems are availability and transport; moving the freshwater from where it is plentiful (such as Canada, South America, and Russia) to where it is scarce (such as the Middle East, India, and Africa). Water is heavy and costly to transport, and those who can afford it will always have water.

Water, not global warming, is likely to be the greatest environmental challenge facing the world in the coming decades and centuries.

To find solutions, it's important to understand the problem. Water is never really "wasted." It simply moves from one place to another. If you let your faucet drip all day, that's clean water going back into the system, the water isn't "lost." What is lost is usefulness, money, and energy, because it takes energy to purify and distribute the water.

Water conservation is very important, but not because there is a shortage of water; it is the ultimate renewable resource. As with any resource, the issue is getting it to those who need it.
How Much Water is on Earth? Americans to Drink More Treated Sewage Why Can't We Drink Saltwater?

Benjamin Radford is author of three books, including "Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us." This and other books can be found on his website.

Read more!

Massive construction project aims to bring Florida's wetlands back to life

Channel NewsAsia 23 Jun 08;

MIAMI: A massive construction project in the southern US state of Florida will try to breathe life back into the state's wetlands as large parts of the state's ecosystem have dried up following decades of flood control measures.

The Kissimmee River flood basin is part of a 47,000-square-kilometre ecosystem that includes the Everglades, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States.

Chuck Wilburn, who leads the US Army Corps of Engineers' effort to restore the basin, said channels built during the 1960s and early 70s to prevent flooding caused serious damage to the ecology of the Everglades and southern Florida's wetlands.

"What that has done is - it has changed the flood basin, it has taken the flood basin and actually dried it up," he said.

The channels drained two-thirds of the flood basin, so in 1992, the US Congress approved work to restore more than 100 square kilometres of flood basin.

"The Kissimmee River basin is supposed to be fully restored by 2012 so there's a lot to do in the next four years," Mr Wilburn explained.

Further south, an enormous reservoir is being built in Florida's vast sugar cane fields. The reservoir will be used to restore almost a million hectares of the Everglades ecosystem by collecting almost six billion litres of water per day, which is currently channelled out to sea.

Grey May, who heads the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force that coordinates the work of agencies, said: "We have got to make sure we've got a place to store the water, that we can clean the water, and that we can ensure that the flood protection that is necessary to protect the seven million people that surround the remaining Everglades is all in place".

The reservoir is part of an US$8-billion comprehensive restoration plan for the Everglades.

An environmental group, however, has filed a lawsuit, temporarily halting the work.

The Natural Resources Defense Council wants assurances that the reservoir will be used mostly to restore the Everglades, not for development.

Brad Sewell, an attorney for the council, said: "While the title is Everglades restoration, there is a very strong set of interests in Florida that want many of these projects to also be used for water supply. They're expecting a 30 per cent increase in water demand over the next 20 years."

Many experts believe recent growth in this part of the United States means it will be impossible to fully restore the Everglades to their former glory, but the program still aims to try. - CNA/ac


Healing Florida's 'River of Grass'

By Kathryn Westcott
BBC News

Florida's Everglades - the world-renowned wetland area that has been under siege for more than a century - has been offered a lifeline.

This week, the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, announced plans to buy more than 800sq km (300sq miles) of land used for growing sugarcane, and restore it to its natural state.

The state of Florida will pay the firm US Sugar $1.7bn for the land, which will be turned into marshes and waterways.

The aim is to restore the fabled "river of grass", a 160-kilometre (99-mile) long, shallow river flowing unimpeded from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay.

Lake Okeechobee is the second-largest freshwater lake wholly within the continental United States.

Water management

Environmentalists hope the latest moves will restore a fragile ecosystem that supplies fresh water to the aquifers of southern Florida.

They have described the proposal by Mr Crist as the largest ecological restoration project in the history of the US.

Jeff Danter, Florida state director of Nature Conservancy, told the BBC how the project could revitalise the region.

"As humans moved into the Everglades over the last more than 100 years, they've continually diverted the water through ditches and canals for a variety of reasons: agriculture, drinking water and that sort of thing," he said.

"It has got to the point where the system no longer works the way it used to and that's had a really detrimental effect on most of the life in the Everglades. The government has committed billions of dollars to try to restore the Everglades but this, we're very hopeful, will make that job a lot easier."

According to Michael Grunwald - journalist and author of The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise - the Everglades, which once covered four million acres of swampland, has shrunk to half its original size.

"Half of it has gone, the other half is in an ecological mess," he said.

Change

He welcomed this week's proposals, which he says aim to recreate the region's natural flow of water.

"This could bring real political and economic change," he told the BBC News website, speaking from Florida.

In 2000, Congress passed the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (Cerp), which called for the construction of reservoirs, back-filling of canals and rerouting of water to rescue the Everglades.

Mr Grunwald said the 2000 plan prioritised water for agriculture and expanding cities.

"It was not going to provide much water for the Everglades itself," he said. "The latest proposals by Governor Charlie Crist will help send the water south again."

Lobbying power

He describes how growing sugar cane has irreversibly altered the environment.

"Sugar fields like to be wet when the Everglades like to be dry and vice versa," he said. "And, when it rained hard, the growers had to blast the water east to west to get rid of it, dumping millions of gallons of water and ravaging the estuaries."

Land sitting below the sugar plantations was not getting enough water, he said.

He blames what he calls the sugar industry's "spectacular lobbying power" for the fact that not enough has been done to restore the natural balance.Mr Grunwald said that while it was too late to entirely restore the Everglades, the purchased land could provide hundreds of square miles of water storage. Water could be filtered and then moved to the southern end of the Florida peninsula.

Environmentalists have dreamed of the restoration of a direct lake-Everglades connection for decades.

Jack E Davis, history professor at the University of Florida described this week's announcement as an "historic move" by Mr Crist.

"It shows remarkable commitment," he told the BBC News website. "He is putting the state ahead of the federal government in terms of providing money. The 2000 plan made the federal government and Florida 50-50 partners but under President [George W] Bush, the federal government has not lived up to its part of the bargain."

He said that for many Americans, the protection and restoration of the Everglades was of the highest priority.

"It has become an indicator of how well the US is doing in its relations with the environment - particularly the wetlands," he said. "Providing clean, drinking water has become a priority."

Mr Grunwald agrees: "There is an understanding that one day water will be as precious as oil.

"Many environmentalists see this as a test - if we pass we may get to keep the planet."

Read more!

Bangladesh's rivers giving and taking life away

Azad Majumder, Reuters 23 Jun 08;

SHARIATPUR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - The mighty rivers that give Bangladesh life are slowly taking it back again. With the monsoon rains yet to start, hundreds of families living along the banks of the Padma and other rivers are having to uproot themselves as the powerful waters erode their homes and land from almost under their feet.

In Shariatpur, about 240 km (145 miles) south of the capital, Dhaka, villagers were seen on Monday fleeing their homes on the banks of Padma, one of dozens of major rivers that meander through the country to the Bay of Bengal.

"No one can assure us of a safe living as the Padma often turns treacherous and can take away everything we have," said villager Tara Miah.

Rivers that offer millions of Bangladeshis a living as fishermen and merchandise carriers also pose a great danger, especially during the monsoon season and the onrush of floodwaters from their source, upstream in India.

Thousands of villagers are forced each year to migrate to higher ground or overcrowded cities after losing their homes and farms to erosion or floodwaters. Government officials and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) estimate at least 10 million people have been displaced in the past decade.

WORSE IS YET TO COME

But worse may be yet to come.

Experts say a third of Bangladesh's coastline could be flooded if the seas rise one meter in the next 50 years, creating an additional 20 million displaced Bangladeshis -- about the population of Australia.

"It seems the erosion will not spare anyone this year," said Humayun Kabir, Miah's neighbor in Shariatpur.

Kabir has bee forced to move home twice in the last few years before finally taking shelter in a century-old Muslim shrine, which also has also become vulnerable to heavy erosion.

A part of shrine has already been devoured by the Padma and local residents said on Monday they feared the whole structure would be lost during this year's monsoon.

The monsoon starts in Bangladesh in middle of June and lasts until the end of September, flooding large parts of the country almost every year and killing hundreds of people.

Villagers near the Padma said they sometimes couldn't sleep at night as huge chunks of the banks fell into the river with giant splashes.

Officials with the Bangladesh Water Development Board said they had tried to tame flooded rivers by dumping stones and sandbags every year, but they proved mostly futile.

"The rivers' fury is too strong to control. Often we just look helpless," said one Shariatpur official, who asked not to be named.

(Writing by Anis Ahmed; Editing by David Fox)

Read more!

Major Cities Can Take Climate Change Lead - Study

Jeremy Lovell, PlanetArk 23 Jun 08;

LONDON - The world's major cities are also among the planet's worst polluters but they have the solutions to most of their problems at their fingertips, a leading environmental consultancy said on Monday.

To make the case more compelling, consultancy McKinsey said that most of the available solutions would save more than they cost so made economic sense while the remainder still made environmental sense despite their higher cost.

"Most of this is dooable and cost effective and worth doing irrespective of climate change," director Jeremy Oppenheim told a conference in London's City Hall to present the findings of the research sponsored by German industrial giant Siemens.

The study focused on London, a leading light in the international C40 grouping of major world cities which have joined forces to cut their contribution to global warming.

The United Nations says cities already account for three-quarters of global energy consumption and produce 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

It is a figure set to grow as the percentage of the world's population living in cities rises from 50 percent now to 60 percent of the total by 2025 and 70 percent by 2050.

The McKinsey study noted that London, measured against four other major cities -- New York, Rome, Stockholm and Tokyo -- on six key environmental factors, performed relatively well on most counts.

Stockholm performed best on per capita carbon emissions from buildings, industry and transport as well as municipal waste and water but was worse than everyone but New York on air pollution.

Overall New York was the worst performer in all but transport and waste where it was overtaken by Rome.

"London's score is probably six out of 10. The question is how to get all the way to the 10," said Oppenheim.

He said using available technologies, and with a bit of inducement and guidance from government locally and nationally, London with a population of some eight million people could cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 44 percent relatively easily.

And the best part was that two-thirds of the measures including better boilers, more efficient appliances, buildings insulation and low energy lighting actually paid for themselves.

This was especially true with crude oil prices having doubled in the past year and with domestic energy prices already up 15 percent this year and forecast to rise by up to 45 percent by December.

He accepted that the 44 percent cut from 1990 levels by 2025 would fall well short of the 60 percent London has set itself as a target but said it was a major step in the right direction.

But Oppenheim warned against fashionable green solutions such as hybrid cars and solar heat and power, all of which were currently expensive when costed against the carbon they cut.

"We need to be thoughtful. It is very easy to get seduced by some headline technologies," he said. "Go for the low cost things first and make this work in terms of the economics."

Read more!

European forests carbon sink could shrink: study

Reuters 23 Jun 08;

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Carbon capture by European forests has increased by about 70 percent since the 1950s, but this trend might be coming to an end, a joint European study said on Monday.

The increase was due to favorable climate, raised levels of carbon dioxide in air the and nitrogen fallout, but logging for bioenergy use as well as climate change are threatening carbon sink capacity.

"The European Union (EU) is trying to increase the production of bioenergy, and the target can be reached only if logging is considerably increased," the Finnish Environment Institute said. "As a consequence, the carbon sink may be reduced almost down to zero."

EU targets cutting CO2 emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and having at least 120 percent of energy demand come from renewable sources. Transport fuels should include 10 percent biofuel by then.

Planting new trees is not going to be as effective for carbon capture as old forests which can capture 100 to 240 tonnes of carbon per hectare, while new tree stands capture about 40 tonnes.

Thus, to maintain the efficiency of the carbon sink, logging rate should be considerably lower than the growth rate, the study said.

Droughts, storms and pest invasions due to climate change will slow forest growth and thus also reduce carbon capture, and the warmer the ground, the more it will release carbon dioxide.

(Reporting by Sakari Suoninen; editing by James Jukwey)

Read more!

Activists outraged by Kenyan biofuel plans on fragile wetland

Bogonko Bosire, Yahoo News 23 Jun 08;

Outraged conservationists Monday protested Kenyan plans to grow biofuel crops on a coastal wetland, warning that they will ruin the environment home to 350 species, including endangered ones.

Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Nature Kenya said allowing the planting of sugarcane on more than 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres, 80 square miles) of the Tana River Delta will damage the fragile ecosystem.

Handing over of the delta to state-owned Mumias Sugar Company for sugarcane plantation endangers more than 350 bird species, lions, hippos, nesting turtles and Tana red colobus, one of 25 primates facing extinction worldwide, they said.

The groups commissioned a study in May that concluded there would be "irreversible loss of ecosystem services" if the project goes ahead to establish an estate sugarcane plantation, outgrower system, a sugar factory and 34 megawatt power plant as well as an ethanol production plant.

"We feared this project would turn much of the Delta into an ecological desert and this report shows its impact on local people, on wildlife and on the Kenyan economy would be quite horrific," said Nature Kenya chief Paul Matiku.

"The huge disparity between the scheme's value to Kenya in the future and the worth of what we have now means the government should dismiss these plans immediately."

RSPB African specialist Paul Buckley warned of a "disaster" if the biofuel project fails and the environment suffers at the same time.

"Africa boasts spectacular and invaluable wildlife assets with unquantified benefits for her peoples. Biofuel developments have already caused the widespread destruction of many unique habitats without necessarily cutting greenhouse gas emissions."

"Loss of the Tana Delta for another unproven biofuel and to a scheme which could well fail, would be a disaster both to hopes of tackling climate change and for those so dependent on the area for their livelihoods," Buckley added.

A Kenya environmentalist agreed, telling AFP: "The move will ruin the environment and given that big companies target profit, then we expect the worst in coming years."

The decison should be reversed and "the most important parts of the Delta made a national protected area so that future development proposals take account of the value of wildlife," the groups added.

Mumias Sugar Company estimates that sugarcane farming in the area, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of the Indian Ocean city of Mombasa, could raise 37 million dollars (24 million euros, 19 million pounds) over two decades.

But the activists' report indicated the value of farming, fisheries, tourism and other incomes derived from land and wildlife is already more than 59 million dollars, (39 million euros, 30 million pounds) over the same period.

"The huge disparity between the scheme's value to Kenya in the future and the worth of what we have now means the government should dismiss these plans immediately," Matiku explained.

The activists complained that the company ignored charges of water extraction levied under Kenyan law and the effect of the loss of grazing and crops, leading to overgrazing and eventual land damage.

The rising demand for biofuels, alongside inflation and steep oil prices, has been blamed for the global food crisis that has sparked riots in many poor nations, including Kenya.

Kenya biofuel plans threaten wetland: eco-groups
Daniel Wallis, Reuters 23 Jun 08;

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya should reverse a decision to grow biofuel crops which will threaten wild life on an important coastal wetland, two conservation groups warned on Monday.

More than 80 square miles of the Tana River Delta will be planted with sugarcane, threatening 350 species of birds, lions, elephants, rare sharks and reptiles, Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said.

"This decision is a national disaster and will devastate the Delta," Paul Matiku of Nature Kenya said in the same statement.

"The Tana's ecology will be destroyed yet the economic gains will be pitiful. It will seriously damage our priceless national assets and will put the livelihoods of the people living in the Delta in jeopardy."

The RSPB said the proposal was approved by the Kenyan government's National Environment Management Authority, which it accused of ignoring an environmental assessment that showed irrigation in the area would cause severe drainage of the Delta.

Matiku said that would also leave hundreds of local farmers with nowhere to take their livestock for dry-season grazing.

Kenyan officials were not immediately available for comment.

The RSPB said a report it commissioned in May with Nature Kenya found that the biofuel plans overestimated profits, ignored water use fees and pollution from the sugarcane plant, and disregarded the loss of income from wildlife tourists.

It said developers estimated income from sugarcane farming at 1.25 million pounds ($2.5 million) over 20 years, but that their report showed revenues from fishing, farming, tourism and other lost livelihoods would be 30 million pounds over the same period.

"This decision is a very serious blow to Kenyan wildlife and to wildlife worldwide since many migrating species use the Tana Delta in internationally important numbers," said Paul Buckley, an Africa specialist with the RSPB.

The society said targets set by Western governments to increase their biofuel use as part of plans to fight climate change were actually driving the destruction of valuable environments.

European Union leaders have agreed renewable energy sources -- such as ethanol made from grains and sugar crops -- should make up 10 percent of road transport fuels in the bloc by 2020.

But the plan has been attacked by some scientists, politicians and conservationists who say growing biofuel production is curbing food supply at a time of soaring prices.

Critics say fuels derived from crops compete with produce from farmland and helped to push up food prices.

(Editing by Mariam Karouny)

Read more!