Best of our wild blogs: 28 Jul 08

Blog later. See this first!
latest on the hantu dive on the Pulau Hantu blog

Our cool clams!
featuring our beautiful bivalves on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Red-bearded Bee-eater: Black inner feathers?
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Butterfly Photography at our Local Parks
Featuring Alexandra Hospital Butterfly Trail on the Butterflies of Singapore blog

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Poachers leave animal traps in Lim Chu Kang forest

NOBODY WILL HEAR YOU SCREAM IN DESERTED FOREST IF YOU'RE STUCK IN... TRAP SNAP
Zaihan Mohamed Yusof, The New Paper 28 Jul 08;

ALL around, rotting leaves and branches lay on the damp forest floor.

Fruit pickers on weekend forays go looking for durian trees in the area.

And what The New Paper on Sunday discovered there this week can send a chill down the spine of any of them.

Hidden among the leaves in the Lim Chu Kang forest were hazardous animal traps left by poachers.

All it takes is one wrong step and trekkers may find themselves with serious injuries from these illegally setup traps.

Said Mr Ben Lee, 46, of Nature Trekkers Singapore: 'The snare is dangerous because the metal wire can cut into your shin.

'You'll be in so much pain that I don't think you'll have the strength to shout for help.'

Much care had been taken to make the trap 'blend in with the surroundings', said Mr Lee.

He had walked past the snare without even noticing it at first.

The three traps we saw were all within 50m of one another.

We came to know about the hazards from a concerned father, who gave his name only as Mr Teng.

He was worried that during the durian season, unsuspecting fruit pickers may spring the traps by accident. The traps were located off Neo Tiew Road, along Turut Track.

This road leads to the BBC's Far Eastern Relay Station and Kranji Transmitting Station, easily recognised by the huge aerial structures.

We found the traps to the right of lamp posts 41 and 42, some 30m from the one-lane road.

Said Mr Teng, 45: 'People normally look up when searching for fruits. But the danger is below (on the ground).

'This part of Lim Chu Kang is deserted on weekdays. You can scream all you want, nobody will help you if you are hurt.'

Mr Teng, a retired businessman, loves trekking.

It was his 10-year-old daughter, Rachel, who first spotted a cage-like trap. In the rusted cage, coconuts and rotting durians were left as bait.

Moving the fruits would cause the suspended cage to fall to the ground.

Luckily, Rachel did not touch the trap, which was big enough to hold four squatting adults.

Mr Teng took Rachel there on 22 May because it was her birthday wish to go hiking.

Said Mr Teng: 'I would not have been able to react if the trap had fallen onto her because she was walking 2m ahead of me. I'm angry poachers do not consider that there may be people wandering in the forest.'

Mr Teng has since marked the traps with coloured plastic bags. When he told his hiking buddies, one of them warned Mr Teng to avoid the area.

'When my friend told me he had seen a bear trap there, it gave me goose bumps,' said Mr Teng. 'This type of trap will maim you badly. Why would any one put up such a dangerous trap when there are no bears here?'

Mr Teng now uses a stick to probe the ground when he hikes in Lim Chu Kang forest. We could not speak to Mr Teng's friend as he was overseas.

From what we understand, a bear trap is a metal contraption with sharp 'teeth' that will clamp shut if stepped on.

Mr Lee said the public should always be alert when hiking in forested areas.

Said Mr Lee, 46: 'This is a serious matter and it shows that trapping is not a problem seen only on Singapore's smaller islands like Pulau Ubin.

'The existence of the traps on the mainland shows there are wild animals in our forests. The problem with poachers' traps is that they do not care who steps on them.'

LOITERING

Mr Lee intends to dismantle the traps. But that may also be a dangerous thing to do as he found out this week.

On Thursday, when Mr Lee went to look at the traps near Turut Track, a group of men, suspected to be poachers, had stared at his approaching taxi.

The three men, who came in a small lorry, had been loitering near one of the traps. They later walked towards the taxi, but Mr Lee told the cab driver to drive away.

Mr Lee then called the police.

As soon as the police were seen driving up the road, the men fled in their lorry, said Mr Lee.

Since the discovery of the traps, we have visited the site three times.

We noticed that in the cage trap, somebody had added ripe durians and cut-open coconuts.

Nevertheless, we did not spot any trapped animals or poachers there.

Others who frequent the area, like retiree Johnny Loh, 62 said: 'We always carry sticks to feel our way and scare off wild animals.

'Maybe we should scare the poachers too.'

Animal traps are 'wrong and cruel'

OVER the years, Mr Ben Lee of Nature Trekkers Singapore has seen 20 wild boar traps of varying sizes in other places.

Most of these traps had doors which would shut once an animal enters.

But there are times when the intended victim escapes and another animal, perhaps of an endangered species, gets caught instead.

Pangolins, leopard cats and flying lemurs, have been killed in this way, said Mr Lee.

'It's sad when you sometimes see an animal carcass dumped in a ditch by poachers,' he said.

'I have heard stories but it's hard to verify the numbers (of animals killed in traps) because people simply don't report such matters.

'As nature activists, we want to tell poachers that we're watching. We also want to tell them that what they're doing is wrong and cruel.'

There are many reasons why people trap animals.

Some eat the meat, while others make a profit selling the meat.

Said Mr Lee: 'It's hard to find wild boar meat in the market. But if it's rare and exotic, it will always be sought after.'

Poaching of wild animals is illegal in Singapore and under the law, any person who kills or keeps any wild animal or bird without a license, can be fined up to $1,000.

Poaching in nature reserves carries a more severe penalty.

You can be jailed up to six months and fined up to $50,000, or both.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it had received reports of poaching in areas like Changi, Dempsey Road, Tampines, Ubi and Lakeview this year.

In February, another man was fined $50 for setting up a net in Choa Chu Kang.

Last year, a man was fined $500 for trapping spotted doves.

Any person who encounters poaching activity should contact AVA at 6227 0670.

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Rooting for a million trees in the south-west

Serene Luo, Straits Times 28 Jul 08;

A MILLION trees will be planted in the areas under the care of the South West Community Development Council (CDC) over the next 10 years.

The plan calls for more gardening than is going on now. The current target is to put 100,000 native plants into the soil over three years.

The CDC's greening attempts are part of its ECo Plan, or Environment and Community Plan South West, unveiled yesterday. The CDC looks after estates such as Bukit Batok, Boon Lay and Telok Blangah, to name a few.

The one million trees and native plants to be cultivated include tapioca, yam and fruit trees, which are expected to provide shade and attract more birds and butterflies.

Another thrust of the ECo Plan South West, announced by South West CDC Mayor Amy Khor, lies in the cutting of energy consumption by both residents and offices.

Offices can expect to get help through the CDC's Cool & Green Office Certification programme, which will set benchmarks for eco-friendly workplace practices and produce guides to help them organise 'greener' events.

Residents will also be encouraged to recycle while litterbugs will be counselled. Programmes will be run to foster neighbourliness.

All these proposals, to be put up during a two-month consultation with people living in the area, will complement the National Sustainability Development Plan that the Government is drawing up.

While the national plan will focus on legislation, policies, infrastructure and technology, the South West CDC's plan will focus on the 'soft issues', such as 'rallying...and motivating residents to change habits and lifestyles', said Dr Khor.

Going greener and cleaner
South West CDC launches draft environment plan
Alicia Wong and Esther Ng, Today Online 28 Jul 08;

MORE community gardens and trees, cleaner toilets and increased neighbourliness, these are what residents in the South West District could see in the next 10 years, with the launch of the draft Environment and Community (ECo) Plan South West for public consultation yesterday.

The first ECo Plan ever to be rolled out at the district level, it is a ground-up initiative to ensure a cooler, greener, cleaner, more caring and proactive community.

While “sustainability is very much in vogue”, said Mayor of South West District Dr Amy Khor, “it is not just about reducing our environmental footprint but also about strengthening the community to improve the quality of life.”

The plan seeks to complement the National Sustainability Plan. Said Dr Khor, who is also the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, the national plan — to be launched next year — would likely focus on policies and infrastructure development.

But sustainability is also about the actions of businesses and community, she said, so the ECo Plan looks at both environmental and social sustainability — three goals focus on the environment and two focus on the community. The first goal is to reduce energy consumption by at least 10 per cent, using initiatives such as an office certification programme to encourage organisations to reduce their carbon footprint. This would also help create a sustainable cost of living, said Dr Khor, by reducing energy consumption people can reduce energy costs.

The CDC also intends to step up its existing 100,000 native plants programme to plant 1 million plants and trees. And it will train community members to assess the cleanliness and hygiene of toilets to provide feedback for toilet operators.

District level campaigns and dialogues will encourage a more caring society and volunteerism. The CDC further plans to launch a scheme to recognise good neighbours and highlight community role models.

Building on previous initiatives, the plan is “a lot more comprehensive and ambitious,” Dr Khor said, and more programmes are likely to be rolled out.

Most residents Today spoke to were supportive. Student Dee Zey, 20, was all for greater youth involvement: “There has to be a renewal of leadership among volunteers. The current crop of volunteers will become or already are senior citizens.”

President of Presbyterian Community Services childcare centre at Bukit Batok,Ms Lee Siew Chin, suggested teaching children to nurture plants to inculcate a sense of environmental ownership from young.

Other CDCs, also have plans to go green. For instance, South East CDC will be encouraging households to reduce electricity consumption and allow needy families to switch to energy efficient light bulbs.

The public consultation will be held from next month until October. After the trial, South West CDC will submit the final plan for incorporation in the National Sustainability Plan in November.

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We donate to humans but not to animals

Letter from Calvin Teo, Today Online 28 Jul 08;

I REFER to “The stray dilemma for animal groups” (July 25).

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) does have a Responsible Pet Ownership project. Perhaps the AVA can enlighten the public as to how effective the campaign has been?

How has it contributed toward educating the public? What steps have been actively taken to curb the stray population?

Are the penalties imposed for abandonment effective? In effect, has its policies on micro-chipping also contributed to animals being abandoned?

AVA has rightly pointed out sterilised dogs should be re-homed and licenced. How many strays rounded up have actually been re-homed and given a second chance in life? Has an effort been made at all? Or is culling to be the first course of action given the constraints of space?

The fact is this: While we as a nation generously give to charitable causes; even getting someone to part with $10 in aid of animals is difficult.

And the onus falls upon a small group of people who truly embrace animal welfare to take matters into their own hands.

Should we not be supportive and encouraging and work hand in hand with these private individuals and groups rather than adopt the armchair judgmental attitude of condemning strays released back into the environment?

Can more be done?:
Relaxing pet ownership rules might be an answer
Today Online 27 Jul 08;

I REFER to “The stray dilemma for animal groups” (July 25) and “Reader: You should not cull strays as you please, AVA” (July 26-27).

While I agree we should not be releasing sterilised animals back where they came from, there needs to be a solution to the problem.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has a Responsible Pet Ownership project. Perhaps the various authorities, individuals and groups could work in tandem, review the effectiveness of this campaign and come up with some more positive measures to supplement them?

For a start, most strays are mongrels. Perhaps we could consider more laxity for ownership of such dogs in public housing or temporary dog ownership schemes for “factory” dogs.

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Surabaya mangrove forests home to 140 species of Java`s biggest birds

Antara 27 Jul 08;

Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - The mangrove forest conservation area in Wonorejo on Surabaya`s east coast has 140 species of Java island`s biggest birds.

Bambang DH, mayor of Surabaya, said here Saturday of the 140 bird species, about 84 are categorized as sedentary, 12 species as protected and 44 as migrant species.

"We should thank God that we have a good environment here. We hope the bird diversity can be maintained," he said after launching a drive to plant 15,000 mangrove trees on Surabaya`s east coast.

Surabaya`s east coast also constitutes a mangrove conservation center area and a buffer zone in the seaside ecosystem which is protected by the provincial government.

"Initially we issued a provincial administration regulation to protect the mangrove conservation center to avoid misuse of the conservation area," he said.

Thus, he asked all members of the local community to continue protecting the area.

If the mangrove conservation center area can be maintained well, there will be an added value, for instance, as a tourist object, he said, adding his office was preparing to implement the so called family tourism concept in the area.

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Illegal fishers target rare Napoleon wrasse in Quezon

Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Philippine Daily Inquirer 28 Jul 08;

LUCENA CITY—The good news is that the presence of the endangered fish species Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulates sp.) popularly known as “mameng,” has been confirmed in the seas off Polillo Islands in Quezon.

The bad news: This rare fish is now being caught by illegal fishers.

Glenn Forbes, marine program officer of Tanggol Kalikasan (Defend the Environment), said the Quezon police maritime group based in Real, Quezon, recovered 11 “mameng” weighing an average of 1.7 kilos on July 21. The fish, locally known as “dugsong laot,” were being kept by maritime police in a water container.

On the day the group received the report, Forbes rushed to Real to oversee the return of the fish back to the sea.

Staff members of “Task Force Sagip Likas Yaman,” which was formed by Gov. Rafael Nantes to go against environmental criminals, supported the TK in the effort.

The team immediately released the “mameng” somewhere near the fish sanctuary of Infanta town.

Earlier, it apprehended three fishermen onboard two fishing boats in the act of dynamite fishing. About 100 kilos of blasted big-eyed scad and other juvenile fish were seen floating in the water, said Forbes.

The TK also e-mailed several close-up photos of the “mameng” to Dr. Perry Alinio, executive director of the University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute, who confirmed that the recovered species were indeed the popular but rare fish.

“We have long been receiving reports about the presence of “mameng” off Polilio Island. This is our first time to see one. But these fish poaching activities are quite disturbing,” Forbes said.

“We’re afraid that the illegal catching and trading of this species will continue unless local officials and enforcers act on it,” said Forbes.

“Mameng” used to be found only in the Tubbataha Reef in the seas off Palawan. Known for its exquisite taste, it sells for $200 dollars a kilo live in Hong Kong.

Studies made by the World Wildlife Fund-Philippines disclosed that Napoleon wrasses could easily become extinct in Philippine waters if illegal fish trading was not stopped.

Napoleon wrasse is listed under Appendix 2 of the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species.

The collection, possession, transport or trade of these fishes are illegal under Philippine law. Mere possession of a single fish carries a fine of P120,000 with a prison term of between 12 and 20 years.

A follow-up investigation found that the smuggled fish belonged to a certain Nony Avellaneda from Patnanungan town in Polillo, said Forbes.

Avellaneda is a known dealer and transporter of live fish from the area, according to Forbes.

Forbes recalled that past operations in Polillo resulted in the arrest of dynamite and cyanide fishers, some of whom admitted to selling their catch to Avellaneda.

Trading of live tropical fish caught through illegal cyanide fishing is rampant in Polillo. Cyanide fishing uses toxic chemical sodium cyanide. Fishermen dive into the sea and spray the poison between the individual layers of coral reefs to stun fish, making them easy to catch. The impact on the reef ranges from coral bleaching to death.

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Japanese sushi rage threatens iconic Mediterranean tuna

Isabelle Wesselingh, Yahoo News 27 Jul 08;

The rage for sushi and sashimi, Japan's raw fish dishes that overtook the West and have now spread to increasingly prosperous China, risks wiping out one of the Mediterranean's most emblematic residents: the bluefin tuna.

Experts say too many of these majestic fish prized since Greek and Roman times -- each one of which can weigh up to 900 kilos (nearly 2,000 pounds) -- are ending up on the platters of restaurants around the globe.

"Japanese consumption was already a threat to bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. The European craze for sushi bars has added to that," said Roberto Mielgo Bregazzi, a Spanish expert and author of several reports for Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.

And "if the Chinese market continues to grow, that will be the end of the stock," he said.

Eating Japanese-style raw fish in rice packages spread to Europe and the United States in the 1990s and quickly grabbed palates there.

China seems to be next, according to Bregazzi who said there had been a significant increase in tuna consumption there in the past six years. Even though there are few official figures on Chinese consumption, the trend has also been observed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), a body responsible for managing bluefin tuna fishing.

Japan, however, remains the main consumer of bluefin tuna. "Around 80 to 85 percent of bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean is exported to Japan," said Jean-Marc Fromentin, a leading worldwide expert on the subject at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER).

Sushi consumption took off after World War II, largely using southern bluefish tuna then found in huge numbers off the coast of Australia.

"This stock has now collapsed thanks to over-fishing, and the Japanese turned their attention to the Atlantic bluefin tuna," said Fromentin, adding that despite its name, Atlantic bluefin comes mainly from the Mediterranean.

Prices began to climb. Fishing fleets were modernised in Europe, and new fishing fleets created in Turkey and northern Africa. The result -- a huge over-capacity in fishing.

Today more than 50,000 tonnes of bluefin tuna are caught every year in the Mediterreanean. To prevent stocks from collapsing, that figure should be limited to 15,000 tonnes in the short term, according to ICCAT.

"The bluefin tuna industry is in the process of fishing itself to death," said Greenpeace oceans campaigner Karli Thomas.

The risk now is that the depletion of tuna will wipe out the fishing sector, and cost thousands of jobs in the Mediterranean region.

-- The big firms push fishermen into over-fishing --

----------------------------------------------------

In May and June, fishermen from France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey are under pressure to maximise their catch. Most use a net called a "purse seine", which is weighted to reach the sea floor, with hoops and ropes which allow the fishermen to pull the drawstrings and trap the bluefin tuna within the net.

They work out of ultra-modern trawlers, up to 60 metres (196 feet) long and costing around five million euros (eight million dollars).

At this point in the chain, a kilo of bluefin tuna fetches the fisherman between eight and 10 euros.

The catch is sold to tuna fattening farms, many located in Cypriot, Croatian, Maltese, Sicilian, Spanish and Tunisian waters and many owned by Japnese companies like Mitsubishi, Maruha or Mitsui or the Spanish group Ricardo Fuentes e Hijos.

The tuna are transported to these offshore farms in huge circular cages 50 metres in diameter and 23 metres deep. Once in the tuna farms, or ranches as they are sometimes known, the tuna gorge on tonnes of sardines, mackerel and herring.

This boosts their weight to the demands of the Japanese buyers. Some farms also feed the tuna freeze-dried garlic to stimulate their blood circulation, or prawns to boost their reddish tinge.

It takes between nine and 20 kilos of small fish to put a kilo of weight on to a bluefin tuna, according to a co-owner of the Fish and Fish Farm in Malta, Joseph Caruana.

The fattened tuna are then sold at around 13 euros (20 dollars) a kilo to Japanese buyers, who in turn sell them for a much higher price in Tokyo -- where a good quality, 200-kilo tuna can fetch up to 20,000 euros.

"It is the big firms that push the fishermen into over-fishing," said Bregazzi.

In theory, the bluefin tuna harvest is monitored so that the ICCAT quotas are respected. But there are numerous flaws.

This year, the European Commission -- the EU executive -- has clamped down somewhat. Fishing was even put on hold for 15 days for some countries -- a decision which infuriated French and Italian fishing fleets in particular.

"But the Turkish tuna seiners continued to fish, and there is always the illegal fishing by Japan and Korea," said French fisherman Andre Fortassier.

Fishing and farms have also developed in non-EU countries in recent years, including Libya, Tunisia and Algeria where quota controls tend to be looser, industry sources say.

For Sergi Tudela, a Spanish marine biologist with Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the responsibility lies with ICCAT.

"If important parties in ICCAT such as the US, the European Union and Japan decide to put an end to this unsustainable situation and to adopt real recovery measures, the other countries should accept them," he said.

"Japan is the key market. If there is a real willingness from Japan to ensure that only real sustainable production is being imported, they can implement that," he added.

"The potentiality is there, it only lacks political will."

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Spanish warship joins battle to protect Europe's tuna stocks

Yacine Le Forestier Yahoo News 27 Jul 08;

Equipped with long-range cameras and ultra-sophisticated electronic equipment, a helicopter stands ready on the deck of the Tarifa, a Spanish navy frigate at the forefront of Europe's attempts to rein in illegal fishing of the threatened bluefin tuna.

Increased sea patrols, satellite surveillance and reconnaissance flights are just some of the unprecedented steps the European Union has deployed this year to try to control fishermen in the Mediterranean and Atlantic -- and protect this threatened species.

But with prices soaring -- mainly in Japan which alone imports at least 70 percent of bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean, according to European Commission officials -- the chase shows no sign of ending.

Catching illegal fishermen in the act is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack "because there is no foolproof system," said Marcelo Vasconcelos, the head of the European Fisheries Control Agency which inaugurated its new headquarters this month in the Spanish port of Vigo.

All the same, the chances have "increased a lot" because of the steps taken, he said with a smile.

For the 2008 campaign, 49 ships, 16 planes and 78 inspectors have been mobilised. The biggest operation was at the end of June, but monitoring will continue until the end of the year.

A control centre in Brussels gathers all the tracking data from satellites and radar.

"It has become hard to cheat these days," said Isabelle Perret, who is finishing her work at the centre.

The tracking, and the cross-checking of data between countries, led the European Commission -- the EU executive -- in mid-June to order a halt to large-scale tuna fishing in the Mediterranean, 15 days before it was due to end. The move triggered an outcry from French and Italian fishermen, who were backed by their governments.

-- Fisherman declare the catch, and the real catch --

The tuna vessels claimed they had caught only half their quotas. But the European inspectors were certain the quotas had been reached.

Surveillance has also detected boats spending up to 10 days at sea and then declaring nothing on their return -- a scenario that is considered hardly credible.

In another example two ships, one Spanish, the other French, were spotted fishing together to catch a school of tuna.

"The first declared twice the catch of the second. That's hard to believe when you know that at the end of the day they share the catch," said Cesar Deben, a top European Fisheries Commission official.

"The declared catch and the real catch, they're two different things."

Despite the tougher surveillance, the lure of money is proving even stronger.

The prices for bluefin tuna have been climbing for more than 10 years. On the wholesale markets, they tripled in just one year.

Japanese distributors, fond of bluefin for sushi, transport the fish direct by plane.

Faced with such demand, the number of fishing vessels far outweighs available fish stocks.

"The basic problem causing this fraud is the over-capacity of the fleet," said Cesar Deben.

European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg believes it is time to start having real-time information on the catch.

For bluefin tuna "every day counts" when a fisherman can reach his quota in just one day.

"We are going to look into this problem in the 2009 season," he said, adding that officials are considering an electronic system of declaring catch details that would have to be filled in immediately and sent by satellite.

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