Huge Pangolin haul shows crackdown is working

WWF website 5 Aug 08;

Indonesian officers last week raided the warehouse of a suspected illegal wildlife trader in Palembang, South Sumatra and have uncovered 14 tonnes of Malay Pangolins Manis javanica, leading to the arrests of 14 people.

The raid, which is the largest ever seizure of Pangolins in Indonesia, is being linked to two operations earlier this year by Vietnamese customs authorities that uncovered more than 23 tonnes of Pangolins.

Pangolins are reminiscent of armadillos with razor-sharp scales for protection, and are found in tropical regions of Africa and Asia, but demand for their scales and skin in traditional Chinese medicines, as well as their meat for eating, is placing heavy pressure on their dwindling populations.

In 2000, signatories to CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora) signed up to a complete ban on Pangolin trade, with some countries placing harsh penalties on those engaging in any such activities.

“WCS commend the Indonesian authorities on their laudable actions in this case. The illegal trade in wildlife is now a multi-million dollar international business. Endangered wildlife is being traded for food, medicines, ornaments, pets and more. This trade is already driving many species to the brink of extinction, If we don’t act soon it will be too late,” said Elizabeth Bennett, Director of the Hunting and Wildlife Trade Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

This latest seizure comes following a workshop held in early July by Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) & TRAFFIC South-East Asia, that saw governments, conservationists and researchers to discuss the plight of pangolins in Asia.

Increasing the rate of successful enforcement efforts was a key issue raised during this workshop, and the recent efforts by the Indonesian authorities seem to show that progress is being made.

“The police in Indonesia have done an excellent job and should be applauded.” says Chris R. Shepherd, senior programme officer with TRAFFIC. “We hope that these criminals are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Yet despite full protection under Indonesian law, illegal trade has continued to push Pangolins ever closer to extinction.

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN.

14 Tons of Frozen Scaly Anteaters Seized in Indonesia
Dan Morrison, National Geographic News 7 Aug 08;

Last week Indonesian police seized 14 tons of frozen Malayan pangolins—a kind of scaly anteater—bound for China and arrested more than a dozen suspected smugglers, conservationists announced Tuesday.

The July 30 warehouse raid in Palembang on the island of Sumatra is the latest sign of China's skyrocketing demand for pangolin meat, blood, and scales.

"The pangolins were packed and ready for export to China via seaports in Sumatra and Java," Commissioner Didid Widjanardi of the Indonesian National Police said in a statement.

The black market trade in pangolins is soaring along with China's wealth, conservationists say.

"It appears to be huge—professional and at an industrial scale," said Elizabeth Bennett, director of the wildlife-trade program at the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Despite a global trade ban, pangolins are the most frequently seized mammals in Southeast Asia, according to TRAFFIC, the wildlife-trade monitoring network that announced the seizure.

Shipments of pangolins bound for China are regularly intercepted in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Prestige Animals

Though their medicinal benefits are unproven, pangolin scales are said to help women lactate and treat ailments such as asthma and the skin condition eczema. Pangolin blood is thought to cure high blood pressure.

Pangolin meat is also considered a popular delicacy.

But the biggest factor driving the pangolin craze and price increase is the animal's scarcity. Though the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the Malayan pangolin as only "near threatened," pangolin species have been hunted nearly out of existence in China and its neighboring countries.

Hunters typically use dogs and nets to track down the shy, nocturnal animals.

"They're incredibly rare to see in the forest," Bennett of WCS said.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, hunters are paid between U.S. $40 and $50 for a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of pangolin scales and $60 for a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of pangolin meat.

That same meat will sell for nearly $600 per kilogram at a restaurant in China, according to some estimates.

Hunting "is having a very great impact" on pangolin numbers, in part because the animals have a very low reproduction rate, said Mark Auliya, TRAFFIC's science officer, and a National Geographic Conservation Trust grantee. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)

A female pangolin reaches maturity relatively late in life and gives birth to one offspring at a time. Overall "very little is known" of the pangolins feeding, mating, and ranging habits, Auliya said.

"They're overlooked scientifically. A lot has to be done or these animals will be wiped out."

Vietnam Connection

Recent pangolin seizures range from small busts involving a few live animals to massive shipments containing tons of dead and skinned pangolins.

On July 20 police at a checkpoint in Shenzhen, China, seized 11 live pangolins hidden inside a white minibus. On June 5 police in Guangdong Province arrested two men for illegally transporting 82 live pangolins.

But those arrests pale in comparison with seizures that Vietnamese customs officers made in late February and early March—totaling more than 24 tons of pangolin meat and scales.

The pangolins were chilled in Styrofoam boxes—shipping documents listed them as frozen fish. Conservationists in Vietnam tracked the shipment back to an exporter in Indonesia.

Next Stop: Africa

Raids like the one on July 30 are the result of increased cooperation between law enforcement agencies and conservation groups, TRAFFIC's Shepherd said.

In recent years TRAFFIC has trained more than a thousand police, customs, and wildlife officers in Southeast Asia in an area of enforcement that has traditionally been a low priority.

But there is little optimism that the increased crackdowns will come in time to save Asia's pangolins.

Conservationists now fear that African pangolins may be next on the menu once Asian pangolins are gone. Shepherd said there are already indications that "pangolins from Africa are appearing on the Chinese market."

Trade in African pangolins could be eased by China's extensive investments on that continent, Bennett of WCS added. "As things become increasingly rare, we're seeing the demand increase," said Chris Shepherd, who heads TRAFFIC's Southeast Asia program.

"You have luxury restaurants that serve prestige animals. It's a status symbol to show you're above the law."

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Best of our wild blogs: 5 Aug 08

Position at NParks with the Coral Nursery
Applications close 16 Aug, more details on the NParks website

Update on recovery at Chek Jawa
on the cj project blog and the importance of friends and volunteers in shore work on the wonderful creations blog

Volunteer for a day at ACRES
on 16 Aug, more details on ACRES facebook event and the wildsingapore happenings blog

TeamSeagrass at Cyrene Reefs
with the Straits Times team to cover seagrass monitoring on the teamseagrass blog and lots of amazing sightings including 'Blondie' the sea star, on the wildfilms blog and the can you sea me blog

Seagrasses of Singapore
on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Reef animals of Raffles Lighthouse
on the wonderful creations blog

More TeamSeagrass experiences on Semakau
video clip of dogfaced water snake on the sgbeachbum blog and more about the landfill too on the can you sea me blog

More Changi creatures
Changi's hungry ghosts and tentacles of sea cucumbers on the budak blog

Yellow-vented Bulbul: Tissue paper nest
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Midnight Underground Army
a student blog

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Temple devotees liberate 300,000 cockles

Kimberly Spykerman, Straits Times 5 Aug 08;

DEVOTEES of a local Buddhist temple yesterday released 300,000 shellfish into the waters off Pulau Ubin as part of a traditional practice known as animal liberation.

The rite, which is tied to the Buddhist belief in reincarnation, commonly involves the release of birds, fish and turtles.

Members of the Thekchen Choling Temple in Beatty Lane, though, chose to liberate cockles instead.

Venerable Ani Thubten Chodron said devotees chose the shellfish because they are more likely to wind up on the dinner table.

'People will not think of releasing these animals,' she said. 'They will not bother about these small lives. We release animals that people neglect. We hope that these animals will have a very good rebirth and good life after this.'

According to Buddhist lore, liberating an animal makes a positive imprint on its mind and frees it from being reborn as a lower being.

The temple community pooled together $3,000 and managed to buy two tonnes of cockles from a distributor.

'We buy cockles because they are cheaper and we can save more lives,' Venerable Chodron added.

'For example, $1 can buy us 10 cockles but one bird can already cost $2.'

Four boats, each distinguished by a colourful temple flag, carried 40 devotees and sacks of cockles to Pulau Ubin yesterday. There, a visiting Nepalese monk, Rinpoche Namgyal, together with three other temple leaders, presided over the ceremony. Prayers were recited and the sacks of cockles were blessed.

Before the sacks were emptied into the sea, symbolic gifts of incense, flowers, rice and milk were lowered into the water to create auspicious conditions for the rebirths.

The temple liberates animals every few months. The practice acts as another way for laypersons to gain merit and pave the way for a good rebirth. It is also supposed to help them succeed in earthly endeavours.

The Nepalese monk said: 'For them, this is a very good opportunity if they cannot follow strict academic ways, or go on long retreats.'

But for Mr Joshua Tan, a senior accounts manager and temple member, animal liberation is an act of selflessness.

'I hope to inspire people to have compassion and to feel for the sufferings of these beings. We also hope people will learn to respect lives,' he said.

Related articles

Cockle liberation may harm environment
Letter from Brandon Seah, Straits Times Forum 8 Aug 08;

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Crocodile spotted at Pasir Ris Beach

Straits Times 5 Aug 08;

RETIREE Ong Wee Lee, 70, was taking a walk at Pasir Ris Beach on Sunday when he spotted a crocodile near a mangrove swamp.

Mr Ong's daughter, who rushed down after a call from her dad, took a photograph of the crocodile, which they estimated to be more than 1m long.

The reptile crawled back into the water when the camera flash went off.
A Public Utilities Board (PUB) spokesman confirmed the sighting, and said it was working with the National Parks Board to trap it.

The crocodile was spotted at an area near the mangrove swamp beside the Tampines River canal in Pasir Ris Park.

'When anyone tries to approach the crocodile, it will go into the water and swim a distance away,' Mr Ong said.

His daughter, who did not want to be named, added: 'The crocodile may attack beachgoers.'

On a separate occasion a few days ago, Mr Ong spotted a smaller crocodile about 0.5m long.

Recreational fisherman Japrey, 32, who is in the construction line, fishes at the Pasir Ris Park mangrove area three to four times a week. He said: 'I started fishing here two years ago, but it was only about a year ago that crocodiles started appearing.'

He said he had seen up to three crocodiles at one time, and that they usually appeared in the late afternoons during low tide.

The PUB said there were already signs around the swamp and canal cautioning the public against entering the river as there could be rapid water flow.

ANG YIYING & KIMBERLY SPYKERMAN

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Some Singapore households to try device that monitors power consumption

Hasnita A Majid, Channel NewsAsia 4 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) is piloting the use of a tracking device that will help consumers know exactly how much they are paying for various appliances in the house.

With the device, the NEA hopes more households will cut down their energy consumption and save on their utilities bills.

To use it, the device needs to be linked to the circuit breaker. The device not only shows the total energy consumed by the household, it also shows how much power up to three selected appliances use and even calculates the dollar value of the energy consumed.

The NEA hopes such devices will help households change their consumption habits.

K Suresh, senior engineer with NEA's Resource Conversation Department, said: "Through this device, we hope to create awareness among the households about saving energy."

Households which have already started using the device reported significant savings due to awareness.

Home owner Tommy Ng said: "Before that, we didn’t know, because there's no dollars and cents. I have nine rooms and if no one is in the rooms and all (of us are) in the hall watching TV and all the nine room lights are on, it consumes a lot of electricity."

With 12 people in Mr Ng's household, this bottom-line awareness, along with initiatives to switch to energy-saving appliances, have translated into savings of about S$400 a month.

The device will soon be found in more homes. The NEA is conducting a pilot project in 200 homes in the North West and South West Community Development Councils, to help households in these areas monitor their energy consumption.

The six-month pilot project will begin this month, and focuses on families in four- and five-room flats.

The devices will be installed free of charge by NEA and Bridex, the company behind the device.

Mr Ng's energy-saving ways, together with those of 11 other families will be featured in a new programme titled "Energy Savers", which will start running this Thursday on MediaCorp's Channel 8 at 8pm.

The show will challenge the 12 households to reduce their energy consumption by at least 10 per cent and invent creative ideas on how to save electricity. The winning household stands to win S$5,000.

Those not involved in the trial can buy the S$200 device at Home-Fix stores from next week.

- CNA/yb

The energy detective
Device to track power-thirsty appliances on trial in 200 flats
Esther Ng, Today Online 5 Aug 08;


LIKE many customers, Madam Teo Meow Eng, 62, was confounded when her electricity bill showed her usage had shot up from her monthly average of 417kwh to 681kwh in June, despite what she thought were her best efforts to conserve energy.

Now, a new device soon to hit the market could throw light on such mysteries for ordinary householders, and help them be more specific in efforts to shave dollars off their power bills.

The device, developed by Bridex Harwal with the support of the National Environment Agency (NEA), taps into your circuit box and records — in kilowatts, as well as in dollars and cents — exactly how much you are spending on, say, air-conditioning in the master bedroom or on your fridge.

You choose which appliances or which combination of appliances to measure. The device keeps records for up 12 months.

Already, 200 households in the South West and North West districts are being fitted for a six-month trial.

When the ETrack was described to Mdm Teo — who had earlier voiced her confusion over her bill in Today’s report on July 3 (“As temperatures rise, so do power bills”) — she thought it impressive. Yet she is hesitant to fork out $200 to have one installed in her home. “It’s a good idea but I don’t want to spend more money to see how much I’m spending on electricity bills,” she said.

But some families have seen for themselves the huge savings that could accrue. Twelve families have been testbeds for the device over two months.

For Mr Tommy Ng, 50, ETrack helped chop their energy costs from $162.65 over two weeks to $90.46. “My daughter saw on television a call for entries to join a reality show, Energy Saves,” said the financial adviser. “Since being on the programme, we’ve managed to monitor our expenditure and switched to energy-efficient appliances.”

Mr Ng, his wife and their four children live in a nine-bedroom apartment (it originally came with six rooms which they partitioned) in Eunos, with their maid and Alaskan husky.

Mr Ng, who used to spend $450 a month on electricity, figured his air-conditioning unit, three fridges and a freezer consumed a lot of energy. He has since switched to a four-tick refrigerator and a systems 4 air-conditioner with an inverter.

The most surprising discovery he made was just how much power was consumed on standby mode. ETrack revealed it cost Mr Ng 0.73 cents per hour to leave his air-con on standby — and 0.04 cents per hour if he turned the switch off at the compressor.

Other steps the Ng family took to reduce their power consumption include changing their CRT television to an LCD one, using compact fluorescent lights, having their ceiling painted with insulator paint to reduce heat in the home, and attaching skirting to the bottom of their doors to prevent the air-conditioning from escaping.

ETRACK came about because Mr Lawrence Lee, president of Bridex Harwal, wanted a way to keep track of how much energy his household was using.

When he approached NEA last year about introducing the device to households, it only measured energy in amperes and not in kilowatts, the measurement used the calculation of our electricity bill.

On NEA’s suggestion, Brindex included more friendly features such as tariff rate and hourly rate of usage. Mr Lee said the benefit of ETRACK is that by telling you how much energy each appliance drinks, “it will motivate you to use energy more efficiently and thus help you to reduce your utility bill”.

At press time, the HDB had not confirmed if it would be adopting ETRACK for future HDB flats. The NEA said that the 200 households now being installed with the device will track their consumption over the next six months, at the end of which there will be a review of whether to introduce ETRACK to more homes.

Tracking device can help cut power use
He Zongying, Straits Times 5 Aug 08;

ELECTRICITY prices may be hitting record highs, but wasting power is a hard habit to break.

But a new gadget, jointly launched by the National Environment Agency and local electrical equipment developer Bridex Harwal, will help.

The ETrack (energy consumption tracking device) can:

# Monitor household consumption;

# Detect which appliances consume the most; and

# Put a dollar value on energy usage.

First to try it were residents in the North West Community Development Council (CDC).

In June, 200 households with relatively high electricity consumption volunteered to take part in the Energy Audit@Bukit Panjang, a conservation contest. The device was fitted in their electrical circuit boxes to track consumption.

Until October, grassroots leaders, together with student volunteers from the National Junior College, will track significant changes recorded.

North West District Mayor Teo Ho Pin recalled using a similar device in Britain as a student: 'We used to have to put coins in for the heater and that really makes you conserve.'

Similar devices are available overseas but Bridex Harwal is the first to introduce one here. It is expected to retail at Home-Fix stores later this week for between $160 and $200.

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Jurong Town Corporation: Creating an industrial hub from swampland

Business Times 5 Aug 08;

JTC has helped to spring Singapore to life, starting with the 'lost region' of Jurong, says CLARISSA TAN

IT TAKES guts, not to mention imagination, to look at hectares of crocodile-infested swampland and picture a thriving industrial centre.

Guts and imagination were what Singapore pioneers such as Goh Keng Swee and Hon Sui Sen had in spades, as they surveyed an area nicknamed the 'lost region', whose major tributary was a sluggish, silted river.

It was also how the Jurong Town Corporation, or JTC - now celebrating its 40th year - came into existence.

JTC was incorporated on June 1, 1968, but its story can be traced back to 1961, with the formation of the Economic Development Board. The EDB was created with Mr Hon, then permanent secretary of the finance ministry, as chairman. It was given a starting budget of $100 million and tasked with coordinating the development of the 'lost region', Jurong.

Such was the audacity involved in developing this hilly jungle-covered area that Dr Goh, then finance minister and the person who had hatched the idea, joked that if the endeavour should fail, it would forever be known as 'Goh's folly'.

Quips notwithstanding, he laid the foundation stone of the first factory in the project, the National Iron and Steel Mills (today's NatSteel) on Sept 1, 1962.

Throughout the 1960s, JTC's founders and staff ploughed ahead even as Singapore went through a rocky period.

The island, granted full internal self-government in 1959, was facing great economic and political change. Unemployment was rising, and strikes, arson and rioting were common. The government was also anxious about the growing influence of communism. Singapore had to provide jobs for its burgeoning population, and fast. The People's Action Party under Lee Kuan Yew bet - rightly, as it turned out - on massive industrialisation to pull ahead.

Thus the Jurong Project, as it was initially called, never had the luxury of resting on its laurels. Its mandate became all the more urgent when, in 1965, Singapore separated from the Federation of Malaysia and, in 1967, the British announced the withdrawal of its troops. The two events left Singapore vulnerable both on the economic and military fronts.

Still, by 1963, 728 hectares of land had been prepared and 24 factories granted pioneer-status certificates, including protective levies and no tax. Jurong Wharf started operations in 1965. Lost region though it might have been, Jurong had been chosen precisely because it was situated near waters deep enough for ocean-going vessels, and its relative isolation meant that there were fewer residents to relocate and land reclamation would be easier.

By 1968, the EDB's workload had grown so much that it had to spin off the Jurong Project, delegating it to the newly formed JTC.

'It is because of the rate of expansion of industrial estates that the work associated with their management and development has become so large and complex,' said Dr Goh at JTC's inaugural meeting. 'It is now necessary that responsibility for this work be removed from the economic development board and assigned to a specialist agency, the Jurong Town Corporation.'

Breaking all the rules

By this time, 14.78 sq km of industrial land had been readied, while about 150 factories were fully functioning and some 45 more being constructed. Although the corporation was named after Jurong, it was actually in charge of industrial space and development throughout Singapore. Eleven more estates were put into its care, including Kallang Basin, Kranji, Redhill, Tanglin Halt, Tanjong Rhu and Tiong Bahru.

Orders for factories, both standard and flatted, as well as investments flowed in. Such was the demand that in 1968, JTC had to build its own pre-fabricated Box-Beam type factories in the Kallang Basin as a temporary measure.

The late Woon Wah Siang, JTC's first chairman, was known for adopting unconventional approaches, since building an industrial estate had no precedence. Chairman until 1977, it is said that he distinguished himself by breaking all the rules laid down in the Civil Service manuals.

Mr Woon spearheaded land preparation in Jurong, which included selecting suitable plots of land, acquiring it, clearing squatters and resettling residents, felling jungle, levelling hills and reclaiming land. He then introduced infrastructure such as roads, utilities, amenities and adequate housing for workers.

In June 1969, JTC announced plans to turn part of the British Naval Base area into an industrial town. Land development in that area started that very month, long before the British finally pulled out all troops in 1971. Mr Woon explained that this was to plan ahead and save time. By the time the British left for good, reclamation of the area had been completed and some factories, shipyards and housing built. In the 1960s, JTC staff first worked in temporary offices at Malayan Banking Chambers in the city, then moved to Corporation Road in Jurong. In 1974, they finally transferred to the corporation's first proper premises at Jurong Town Hall. (Today, JTC's headquarters are at The JTC Summit in the Jurong East Regional Centre.)

Throughout the Opec oil crisis of the early 1970s, which brought about a global recession, JTC continued to acquire tracts of land. By 1977, with world business still weak, the corporation exceeded its annual target of 405 hectares by completing 787 hectares across Singapore.

The optimism bore fruit - 1978 proved to be a record year for the manufacturing sector, which grew 12 per cent in real terms. Industrialists flocked to Singapore in even larger numbers.

JTC's pioneer tenants include BRC Asia, one of the first to introduce the use of prefabricated steel mesh in Singapore; GKE, which changed the purpose of its Jalan Besut premises to warehousing from engineering, to adapt to market conditions; Chemical Industries; Exxon Mobil; Shell and SembCorp Marine (previously Jurong Shipyard).

Eng Poh Tzan, current senior vice-president at NatSteel, said that today, 'Singapore's steel technology stands among the more efficient steel producers in the world in terms of productivity and resource consumption'.

The mills produced their first lot of steel from the meltshop in the second half of 1963, followed shortly by the rolling mill.

'The basics of steelmaking do not change with time, but what has changed is the plant and equipment which has become more efficient,' he said. 'Less energy and manpower are consumed to melt and roll steel products such as bars and wire rods.'

Not all the early tenants were in heavy industries - food companies Nestle and Meiji, for instance, became tenants in the 1960s and 70s.

By the end of the 1970s, there was a shift away from space- and labour-intensive manufacturing towards technology and capital driven operations. JTC, having made Singapore spring to life, was gearing up for its next challenge.

This is the first of a four-part series brought to you by JTC Corp

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Haze: Time to get radical

Straits Times 5 Aug 08;

LAST year Singapore got off with a moderate case of the haze, although a richness of hot spots in Sumatra and Kalimantan promised worse. But 2006 was bad. The gold-medal year remains 1997, when even fit and healthy Singaporeans were forced indoors for fear of respiratory damage. For weeks that year, the greyish muck accompanied by an acrid miasma hung over the island like an ancient curse.

There was a decent stretch of relatively haze-free years after that, which encouraged the foolish thought that forestry companies and corrupt officials overseeing enforcement of environmental laws in Indonesia were at least being mindful of the neighbouring countries' censure.

Singaporeans should have known better.

What has accounted for the discordance between haze thickness and hot spot activity is wind direction, always blithely capricious. It has little to do with the Indonesian authorities gradually gaining control of the situation, for they are themselves prey to administrative inertia and the contempt the powerful agri-sector has for officialdom. Laws? These are essentially for window-dressing to show complainants - who include Indonesians suffering from the air pollution - that action is being taken to overcome the health threat. Singaporeans have in recent weeks been forewarned by their own officials that hot spots lighting up again in Riau, Kalimantan and Sumatra - the result of wanton forest clearing before the rains come - could bring the haze back. The skies here have been clear although Indonesian officials and the Jakarta environmental lobby have been giving out warnings since May that the burning season is approaching its climax. So far, wind shifts have carried the pollution away from the island. The winds could as well blow full-blast Singapore's way - and then what? The 1997 record will not stand for all time. This is no way to live.

Neighbourliness requires that Singapore, along with Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand, continue to keep faith with the Indonesian government in its efforts at managing the problem. But they conceivably could cut the Gordian knot by considering two possibilities. One is to push for the development of a mechanism within the legal framework of United Nations climate-change protocols to force compliance. Carbon emissions from questionable forestry activity are no different from pollution from vehicles and factories. They impose a liveability tax on future generations. Another approach is more drastic: Reduce purchases of Indonesian lumber and other forestry products. A consumer rearguard action has drawbacks, not least because it runs counter to the spirit of Asean economic cooperation. We know it's too radical and impractical but, alas, nothing else seems to have worked.

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Indonesia Reports More Than 500 Fire Hot Spots in Sumatra

PlanetArk 5 Aug 08;

JAKARTA - More than 500 hot spots have been spotted across Indonesia's Sumatra island, signalling the annual dry-season forest fires and the haze it sometimes carries, a Forestry Ministry official said on Monday.

Forestry ministry official fear the number of hot spots could exceed last year's record as the current dry season will be marked by less rain than usual, Sonny Partono, the director of forest fire control, told Reuters.

"According to the Meteorology agency, this year's dry season is very dry, not wet like last year. That's the problem," Partono said. "Looking at the fluctuation of hot spots, this year could be worse than last."

Partono said he had recorded 8,000 hot spots since January. Last year's dry season was wetter than usual, resulting in 35,000 hot spots, down from 144,000 in 2006.

In the past, Indonesia's neighbours have grown increasingly frustrated by the annual fires, most of which are deliberately lit by farmers or timber and palm oil plantation companies to clear land for cultivation.

Malaysia's Meteorological Department said worsening haze has cut visibility in the busy Malacca strait to below 5 km (three miles) and said that it could be dangerous to ships that do not have navigational aids.

A report last year by the World Bank and Britain's Department for International Development said Indonesia was among the world's top three greenhouse gas emitters because of deforestation and forest fires.

Forest and land fires account for 57 percent of Indonesia's non-industrial greenhouse gas emissions, the report said. (Reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu; Editing by Sara Webb and David Fox)

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Untouched Forests Store 3 Times More Carbon - Study

Michael Perry, PlanetArk 5 Aug 08;

SYDNEY - Untouched natural forests store three times more carbon dioxide than previously estimated and 60 percent more than plantation forests, said a new Australian study of "green carbon" and its role in climate change.

Green carbon occurs in natural forests, brown carbon is found in industrialised forests or plantations, grey carbon in fossil fuels and blue carbon in oceans.

Australian National University (ANU) scientists said that the role of untouched forests, and their biomass of green carbon, had been underestimated in the fight against global warming.

The scientists said the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Kyoto Protocol did not distinguish between the carbon capacity of plantation forests and untouched forests.

Yet untouched forests can carry three times the carbon presently estimated, if their biomass of carbon stock was included, said the ANU report released on Tuesday.

Currently, forest carbon storage capacity is based on plantation forest estimates.

The report "Green Carbon, the role of natural forests in carbon storage" said a difference in the definition of a forest was also underestimating the carbon stock in old-growth forests.

The IPCC defines a forest as trees taller than 2 metres (six feet) and a canopy cover greater than 10 percent, but in Australia a forest was defined as having trees taller than 10 metres (33 feet) and a canopy cover greater than 30 percent.

The report said southeast Australia's unlogged forests could store about 640 tonnes per hectare (1,600 tonnes per acre), yet the IPCC estimate put it at only around 217 tonnes of carbon per hectare.

The scientists estimated that around 9.3 billion tonnes of carbon can be stored in the 14.5 million hectares of eucalypt forests in southeast Australia if they are left undisturbed.

The IPCC estimates only one third of this capacity and only 27 percent of the forests' biomass carbon stock.


"MORE RESILIENT"

Not only did natural forests store more carbon but because they remained untouched, they stored the carbon for longer than plantation forests which were cut down on a rotation basis.

The report found that "natural forests are more resilient to climate change and disturbances than plantations".

Co-author of the report Brendan Mackey said protecting natural forests served two purposes: it maintained a large carbon sink and stopped the release of the forest's stored carbon.

"Protecting the carbon in natural forests is preventing an additional emission of carbon from what we get from burning fossil fuel," Mackey told Reuters.

The carbon stored in the world's biomass and soil was approximately three times the amount in the atmosphere, said the report. About 35 percent of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is a result of past deforestation and 18 percent of annual global emissions is from continued deforestation.

The report said logging resulted in more than a 40 percent reduction in long-term carbon compared with unlogged forests.

"The majority of biomass carbon in natural forests resides in the woody biomass of large old trees. Commercial logging changes the age structure of forests so that the average age of trees is much younger," it said.

"The carbon stock of forests subject to commercial logging, and of monoculture plantations in particular, will therefore always be significantly less on average than the carbon stock of natural, undisturbed forests."

The scientists said preventing further deforestation of southeast Australia's eucalypt forests was the equivalent of preventing emissions of 460 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year for the next 100 years.

Allowing logged forests to regrow to their natural carbon storage capacity would avoid emissions of 136 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year for the next 100 years -- about 25 percent of Australia's total emissions in 2005.

"In Australia and probably globally the carbon carrying capacity of natural forests is underestimated and therefore misrepresented in economic valuations and in policy options," said the report. (Editing by David Fogarty)

Scientists warn forest clearing more harmful than thought
Yahoo News 5 Aug 08;

Clearing natural forests in Australia would pose a greater danger to the global climate than previously thought because they hold three times as much carbon as estimated, a report released Tuesday said.

The Australian National University report warns that all nations, not just those in the developing world, should prevent the clearing of their forests because this could release huge amounts of harmful carbon into the atmosphere.

"From a scientific perspective, green carbon accounting and protection of the natural forests in all nations should become part of a comprehensive approach to solving the climate change problem," the report said.

While current international talks focussed on reducing the destruction of forests in developing countries only, the forests of nations such as Australia, Canada, Russia and the US also needed to be protected, it added.

"Protecting the carbon in Australia's and the world's natural forests is no longer an option -- it is a necessity," report co-author Professor Brendan Mackey said.

"If natural forests continue to be cleared and degraded then the carbon dioxide released will significantly increase concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."

The scientists found that unlogged natural eucalypt forests in Australia's southeast stored about 640 tonnes of carbon per hectare.

That compares with the 217 tonnes per hectare estimated by the world's leading scientific body on the issue, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In some areas, the storage levels are estimated to be ten times higher than previously thought.

Mackey said the findings highlighted the need for a new approach to account for carbon stored in natural forests.

"To date, in climate change discussions in the forest sector, all the attention has been on reforestation and afforestation," he told AFP.

"At the Bali climate change conference (in December) everybody kind of woke up and realised that natural forests store a vast amount of carbon and that we can't afford to allow further emissions from deforestation and forest degeneration because these are on top of fossil fuel burning."

Mackey said deforestation accounted for 17.5 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions globally.

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Nearly half of all the world's primates at risk of extinction

James Randerson, The Guardian 5 Aug 08;

Nearly half of all primate species are now threatened with extinction, according to an evaluation by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The study, which drew on the work of hundreds of scientists and is the most comprehensive analysis for more than a decade, found that the conservation outlook for monkeys, apes and other primates has dramatically worsened.

In some regions, the thriving bushmeat trade means the animals are being "eaten to extinction".

The 2007 IUCN "red list" has 39% of primate species and sub-species in the three highest threat categories - vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered. In today's revised list, 303 of the 634 species and sub-species - 48% - are in these most threatened categories.

The two biggest threats faced by primates are habitat destruction through logging and hunting for bushmeat and the illegal wildlife trade.

"We've raised concerns for years about primates being in peril, but now we have solid data to show the situation is far more severe than we imagined," said Dr Russell Mittermeier, the chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission's primate specialist group and the president of Conservation International.

"Tropical forest destruction has always been the main cause, but now it appears that hunting is just as serious a threat in some areas, even where the habitat is still quite intact. In many places, primates are quite literally being eaten to extinction."

The picture in south-east Asia is particularly bleak, where 71% of all Asia primates are now listed as threatened, and in Vietnam and Cambodia, 90% are considered at risk. Populations of gibbons, leaf monkeys and langurs have dropped due to rapid habitat loss and hunting to satisfy the Chinese medicine and pet trade.

"What is happening in south-east Asia is terrifying," said Dr Jean-Christophe Vié, the deputy head of the IUCN species programme. "To have a group of animals under such a high level of threat is, quite frankly, unlike anything we have recorded among any other group of species to date."

In Africa, 11 of 13 kinds of red colobus monkey have been listed as critically endangered or endangered. Two - Bouvier's red colobus and Miss Waldron's red colobus - may already be extinct.

Overall, 69 species and sub-species (11% of the total) are considered critically endangered, including the mountain gorilla in central Africa, Tonkin snub-nosed monkey in Vietnam and grey-shanked douc langur from Asia.

In the endangered category are another 137 species and sub-species (22%) including the Javan gibbon from Indonesia, golden lion tamarin from Brazil and Berthe's mouse lemur from Madagascar. Species are judged to be in these categories if they have a small population size, are suffering rapid population declines and have a limited geographic range.

The apparent jump in the numbers of threatened primates from 39% to 48% has not in reality happened in the course of one year. The major new analysis has filled in missing data that was not available previously, according to Michael Hoffman at Conservation International. The last major assessment was carried out in 1996.

"The situation could well have been as bad as this, say, five years ago, we just didn't know. But now we have a much better indication of the state of the world's primates - and the news is not good," he said.

The review, which is funded by Conservation International, the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, Disney's Animal Kingdom and the IUCN is part of an unprecedented examination of the state of the world's mammals to be released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona in October.

However there was some good news for primates. In Brazil, the black lion tamarin has been brought back from the brink of extinction and shifted from the critically endangered to endangered category. This is the result of a concerted conservation effort which has also benefited the golden lion tamarin - it was downlisted to endangered in 2003.

"The work with lion tamarins shows that conserving forest fragments and reforesting to create corridors that connect them is not only vital for primates, but offers the multiple benefits of maintaining healthy ecosystems and water supplies, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change," said Dr Anthony Rylands, the deputy chair of the IUCN primate specialist group.

The scientists also came close to downlisting the mountain gorilla to endangered following population increases in their forest habitat that spans the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. However, political turmoil in the region and an incident in which eight animals were killed in 2007 led to the decision to delay the planned reclassification.
Primates under threat

There are 634 species and sub-species of primate including apes, monkeys, tarsiers and prosimians. Of these, 69 are now categorised as critically endangered, 137 as endangered, 97 as vulnerable and 36 as near threatened.

In Africa, 63 species or subspecies are in the top three categories (37% of African primates). The new assessment moved L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus l'hoesti), which is found in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, from vulnerable to endangered, for example.

In Asia, 120 species or sub-species are threatened (71%). The grey-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix cinerea) in Vietnam has been moved from endangered to critically endangered.

In Madagascar, 41 species and sub-species are threatened (43%). The black-and-white ruffed lemur, (Varecia variegata) for example, was endangered and is now considered critically endangered.

In Mexico, south and central America 79 species and sub-species are listed as threatened (40%). The cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) is now critically endangered, but was endangered.

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Plastic Fish Traps a Hit in Malaysian Villages

New Straits Times 4 Aug 08;

KOTA KINABALU: Two more villages within the eco-sensitive Lower Kinabatangan region have adopted an environmental friendly fishing method.

This helps to protect the forests at the Kinabatangan wildlife sanctuary in eastern Sabah.

The method, which employs the use of plastic wire mesh instead of tree barks found within the protected forest, has won over the hearts of fishermen at Kampung Sukau.

It is now becoming a hit with other villages on the banks of the Kinabatangan river, ever since it was introduced as an alternative by the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project (KOCP) in 2004.

"It used to take us a week to make one traditional bubu (fish trap) as we would have to walk a day or two into the forest to find the material from trees," Kampung Sangau headman Damsi Sabtu said.

He added the plastic alternative only took a few hours to complete.

"Everyone in this village is interested. Even the women are trying their hand at making this new type of fish trap," he said, thanking KOCP for providing loans to the fishermen from Kampung Sangau and neighbouring Kampung Lokan to venture into the alternative method.

The method was designed and first launched in Kampung Sukau four years ago.

This followed the pressing need to stop fishermen from entering the forest to cut trees to make fish traps.

KOCP alternative fish trap programme head Johry Bakri said the method was introduced to protect the forest.

"We had to search other environment-friendly alternatives," he said in a statement yesterday.

The KOCP, which was jointly established by the Sabah Wildlife Department and French non-governmental organisation Hutan, provided the expertise and loans to the fishermen to cover the cost of materials needed to make the plastic wire mesh fish traps.

Kinabatangan district officer Abdul Latiff Kandok and Hutan director Dr Isabelle Lackman-Ancrenaz handed over materials to make the wire mesh fish traps to several villagers recently.

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Poached Tusks Point to Killing Fields

Virginia Morell, ScienceNOW Daily News 4 Aug 08;

Poachers are once again decimating African elephants. But a team of researchers is tracing confiscated ivory to particular African elephant populations. The new information should help direct law enforcement officials to poaching hot spots and may allow them to head off the slaughter.

Usually when illegal ivory shipments are intercepted, law enforcers can only target the smuggler and the importers who bring the goods to market overseas. Rarely can they link a shipment to the place where the elephants were poached.

But now, scientists are matching DNA extracted from elephant tusks with certain elephant populations across Africa, thus identifying the areas where the elephants were killed.

"Our method tells law enforcement officials, 'This is where you need to be looking for poachers,' " says Samuel Wasser, a conservation geneticist at the University of Washington, Seattle, and the lead author of the new study published in this month's Conservation Biology.

Wasser's team analyzed 5.9 metric tons of ivory seized in Singapore in 2002, which had been shipped from Malawi via Mozambique and South Africa. The haul included 532 large tusks and 42,000 carved cylindrical signature seals, called hankos. Before that seizure, police had also raided an ivory factory in Malawi, collecting more than 100 ivory scraps left over from carving hankos. "We suspected that the ivory scraps from that raid and the tusks and ivory hankos in Singapore came from the same population of elephants," says Wasser. His team also analyzed 3.5 metric tons of ivory seized in Hong Kong in May 2006, as well as one small ivory chip found in a shipping container in Cameroon; they believed that these two were also connected.

The DNA analysis confirmed the researchers' hunches. Wasser's group then searched for a match between the ivory and elephant populations in Africa, using a database based on scat and tissue samples collected across the continent. They found that the Singapore and Malawi shipments came from savanna elephants in Zambia. The Hong Kong–Cameroon ivory, on the other hand, came from forest elephants along the border between Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville.

Documents from the Malawi factory indicate that it had made some 19 similar shipments over the preceding 3 years, says Wasser. If each had been about the same size--5.5 metric tons in weight--then some 17,000 adult elephants in total were killed, he estimates. His analysis for the Hong Kong–Cameroon shipments suggests that 5500 elephants were poached. Wasser says the soaring price for ivory--now worth as much as $850 per kilo wholesale--is fueling this round of killing, which he argues is worse than that of the 1980s.

"Wasser is doing what's needed, figuring out where on the ground the poaching is happening," says Ken Goddard, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, a researcher with Save the Elephants in Nairobi, Kenya, says the approach is "new and very important" and should help direct law enforcement to poaching hot spots before all the elephants are killed.

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Porpoise Deaths Unexplained Off California Waters

Alexandria Sage, PlanetArk 5 Aug 08;

SAN FRANCISCO - A wave of porpoise deaths in Northern California has puzzled scientists and more of the dead mammals may wash ashore onto beaches in August, animal researchers said on Sunday.

At least 24 harbor porpoises have been discovered dead and washed ashore since May, according to the Marine Mammal Center. While scientists have diagnosed pneumonia, asphyxiation, trauma, malnutrition and maternal separation as reasons for death in most cases, eight deaths are still unexplained.

"This is the time period every year where we do see porpoises and dolphins washed up ashore, it does happen," said Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Mammal Center in Sausalito, across the bay from San Francisco. "There are a few more numbers this year."

Researchers are testing those carcasses for domoic acid poisoning from toxic algae in Pacific waters, which can cause neurological damages, such as seizures, in marine mammals.

The center has studied the toxic algae issue since 1998, and learned that sea lions can pass along the poison to their unborn fetuses.

"We want to take a look and see if that's possible (in harbor porpoises) -- is that occurring here?" Oswald said.

The National Marine Fisheries Services cites 13 harbor porpoise deaths last year and 26 in 2006.

The Marine Mammal Center rescues up to 800 ill, injured or orphaned marine mammals annually along the California coast and returns them to the wild after rehabilitation.

Harbor porpoises, which are related to whales, stay relatively close to shore as they feed in shallow waters on fish, squid and crustaceans. They are found in North Pacific and Atlantic waters off the United States.

In 2003, the National Marine Fisheries Services investigated the stranding of 11 harbor porpoises following Naval sonar exercises in Washington state, but did not find evidence of acoustic trauma linked to those operations.

Five of those animals died of blunt-force trauma or illness, the investigation found, but the remaining six deaths could not be explained.

Last year, the World Wildlife Foundation and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society published a report that said the rising temperature of oceans due to climate change was a threat to marine mammals -- from the increased likelihood of toxic algae in waters; to lower populations of krill, a key source of food for these mammals; to lower rates of conception.

That is in addition to the numerous threats the various species already face, the report found, from pollution to ensnarement in commercial fishing nets. (Reporting by Alexandria Sage; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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"New" Killer Whale Types at Risk From Antarctic Warming

John Roach, National Geographic News 4 Aug 08;

Two newly identified types of killer whales that hunt prey off of Antarctic sea ice risk losing food sources to global warming and melting, according to a new study on the whales' movement patterns.

The study reveals that killer whales that feed primarily on fish that congregate under ice shelves are more or less "homebodies," sticking close to the ice, whereas seal-eating killer whales wander wide and seemingly aimlessly.

The differences in movement patterns likely correlate to differences in the whales' foraging strategies and how they interact with their prey, according to the study.

For example, fish-eating whales can stay local because the main anti-predator strategy of fish is to bunch up into schools, often under the ice shelves, according to researchers. On the other hand, the seal-eating whales chase prey with a wider range, as seals wash off of ice floes and travel farther.

Both types of killer whales tracked are heavily dependent on ice cover, according to Robert Pitman, a study co-author and marine biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in La Jolla, California.

"If there are changes in the amount of ice cover [in the Antarctic] then it means there are going to be changes in the amount of habitat that [the whales] have available to them," Pitman said. "And we're not sure how adaptable they are to living in a different kind of habitat."

The new research, published online this month in the journal Polar Biology, highlights the need to unravel the whale's basic biology, noted Pitman.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Geographic Society (which owns National Geographic News).

New Killer Whale Species?

Pitman and his colleagues have spent nearly ten years compiling evidence to show that three species of killer whales, not one, ply the icy Antarctic waters.

To date, the researchers have identified three "types" of killer whales, each with distinct looks, habits, and diets, and perhaps even unique genes.

One type swims under the cracked ice and eats fish and another feeds on seals and other mammals, such as penguins, from ice floes. The third, a more transient and more studied species, swims in the open ocean and preys primarily on minke whales, which are a small filter-feeding species of marine mammal.

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It's basa-and-chips as shoppers choose sustainable fish

Jasper Copping, The Telegraph 3 Aug 08;

A catfish from the murky depths of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam is becoming an unlikely favourite of British diners.

New figures show that sales of the fish - which is known as basa, tra or panga - are increasing at a far faster rate than any other species.

Over the last year, Britons have eaten more than 555 tons of the fish, 42 times more than over the previous 12 months.

It is one of a series of unusual types of seafood which are growing in popularity, as shoppers and retailers look for alternatives to the threatened stocks of more traditional staples like cod, tuna, haddock and monkfish.

Basa is a freshwater fish with a tender, mild flavour, and is farmed in the Mekong delta - an area which saw heavy fighting during the Vietnam War.

It is sold in the UK as fillets or in processed meals, and has proved popular in restaurants and chip shops. It has featured in recipes from the television chef Anthony Worrall Thompson. Sales last year totalled more than £4 million.

The figures, produced for Seafish, the trade body that represents the seafood industry, also show continued increases in sales of pollock (up 144 per cent to 5,511 tons), a relative of cod, which is caught in UK waters but also imported from the Pacific; and sea bass (up 27 per cent to 1,628 tons), most of which is farmed in the Mediterranean.

Squid sales have also risen sharply, up by 57 per cent to 628 tons, as climate change has led to a large increase in the numbers caught in UK waters. Sales of Tilapia, a freshwater fish from East Africa, have risen by 55 per cent to 179 tons.

Although cod remains the most popular fish, with 54,000 tons eaten last year, its sales fell by more than 12 per cent. Sales of haddock and tuna also declined, while plaice sales remained largely static.

Experts believe consumers are turning away from the traditional species because of concerns over the long-term sustainability of some stocks.

The Marine Conservation Society is expected to publish this month its latest guide of ethical fish to eat. Its Fishonline website currently suggests fish to avoid include Atlantic cod, halibut, wild salmon and turbot from the North Sea.

Philip MacMullen, head of environment for Seafish, said: "Choosing alternative species helps to ease the pressure on stocks of more traditional fish. Basa has had a meteoric rise. Our palate tends to appreciate fish that are not strong-flavoured, and basa is one those. It has a texture and taste that is quite similar to a white sea fish.

"People are becoming more adventurous, partly in response to TV chefs happy to cook different types of fish and partly because retailers and processors are much more focused on sourcing fish responsibly."

Seafood supplier Young's was the first to introduce basa as an alternative species, and now offers a range of products made from the Vietnamese fish. Basa is also sold in restaurants, as well as battered in chip shops. Arthur Parrington, from the National Federation of Fish Friers, said: "People are experimenting with more fish and basa is a very acceptable type of fish. There is no bone and it fries very well."

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Indian Ocean Tuna Catch Drops, Experts Differ on Why

George Thand, PlanetArk 5 Aug 08;

VICTORIA, the Seychelles - Tuna catches across the Indian Ocean have fallen sharply in the last two years but experts are split over what is threatening the region's US$6 billion industry.

Conservationists blame years of unchecked exploitation while processors say climatic conditions may be driving the fish deeper away from their nets.

Tuna catches in the Indian Ocean, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the global haul, dropped by about a third last year to their lowest level for more than a decade.

Early indicators for this year show catches to be markedly below recent averages, Alejandro Anganuzzi, head of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, told Reuters.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that overfishing has occurred," he said.

Other forces such as changes in wind patterns, currents or the impact of predators might also play a part, he said.

Similar falls in catches are seen in the Pacific, where environmental groups say decades of overfishing has slashed some stocks by as much as 85 percent. European fishing firms now chase tuna in the Pacific after numbers fell in the Atlantic.


RICH REWARDS

Last month, EU fisheries regulators banned trawling for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean to stop overfishing of a species that was approaching complete collapse.

Rewards for fishermen remain high.

Market prices for the delicacy have roughly tripled since last year. In Japan, where there is huge demand for tuna to make sushi, top quality fish can sell for up to US$100,000 each.

In the Seychelles, tuna canning is worth US$180 million a year and accounts for more than 90 percent of export earnings.

One of the biggest canners in the region, Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT) Ltd, says its volumes have dwindled by about 18 percent to 70,000 tonnes processed annually for the last two years.

IOT's general manager, Alain Olivieri, said the Indian Ocean had seen a "terrible" fall in catches, which he blamed on higher water temperatures pushing fish deeper out of reach of nets.

Experts are divided over whether these warmer warmers are the result of climate change or of cyclical ocean conditions.

Olivieri said most of the fish had descended from their normal level of around 250 metres below the surface, where they could be caught, to depths of 400 metres, where they were safe.

"I believe the fish are there and they will not stay permanently down, so when the temperatures improve they will move higher up where fishermen can catch them," he said.

David Ardill, a Mauritius-based expert, said tuna fishing in the southwest Indian Ocean was worth up to US$6 billion a year, with Mauritius alone earning nearly US$400 million annually.

(Additional reporting and writing by Ed Harris in Port Louis; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Angus MacSwan)

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Ancient moss, insects found in Antarctica

Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press 4 Aug 08;

Mosses once grew and insects crawled in what are now barren valleys in Antarctica, according to scientists who have recovered remains of life from that frozen continent. Fourteen million years ago the now lifeless valleys were tundra, similar to parts of Alaska, Canada and Siberia — cold but able to support life, researchers report.

Geoscientist Adam Lewis of North Dakota State University was studying the ice cover of the continent when he and co-workers came across the remains of moss on a valley floor.

"We knew we shouldn't expect to see something like that," Lewis said in a telephone interview.

The moss was essentially freeze dried, he said. Unlike fossils, where minerals replace soft materials, the moss tissues were still there, he said.

"The really cool thing is that all the details are still there," even though the plant has been dead for 14 million years. "These are actually the plant tissues themselves."

Lewis' findings are reported in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

While some mosses have been found near the coast of Antarctica, as well as insects living on sea birds, this site is well inland.

Further study uncovered remains of tiny crustaceans known as ostracodes, small midges and beetles, and pollen from southern beech trees and pink plants.

"The existence of wet-based glaciers, proglacial lakes, tundra vegetation and insect remains all indicate that the climate of the western Olympus range ... was warmer and wetter that that of today" about 14 million years ago, the researchers report.

It's important to know that because it adds to the understanding of the Earth's climate system, Lewis explained.

For 50 million years the Earth has been cooling, he said. "As it cools it crosses thresholds. This is one, when Antarctica became permanently frozen and locked up."

"You have to understand where these thresholds are," he added, "Because, if human beings are unfortunate enough to push climate over one of these thresholds, it could be a total catastrophe."

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

Lost world frozen 14m years ago found in Antarctica
The Telegraph 4 Aug 08;

A lost world has been found in Antarctica, preserved just the way it was when it was frozen in time some 14 million years ago.

The fossils of plants and animals high in the mountains is an extremely rare find in the continent, one that also gives a glimpse of a what could be there in a century or two as the planet warms.

A team working in an ice-free region has discovered the trove of ancient life in what must have been the last traces of tundra on the interior of the southernmost continent before temperatures began to drop relentlessly.

An abrupt and dramatic climate cooling of 8°C in 200,000 years forced the extinction of tundra plants and insects and brought interior Antarctica into a perpetual deep-freeze from which it has never emerged, though may do again as a result of climate change.

An international team led by Prof David Marchant, at Boston University and Profs Allan Ashworth and Adam Lewis, at North Dakota State University, combined evidence from glaciers, from the preserved ecology, volcanic ashes and modelling to reveal the full extent of the big freeze in a part of Antarctica called the Dry Valleys.

The new insight in the understanding of Antarctica's climatic history, which saw it change from a climate like that of South Georgia to one similar to that seen today in Mars, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We've documented the timing and the magnitude of a tremendous change in Antarctic climate," said Prof Marchant.

"The fossil finds allow us to examine Antarctica as it existed just prior to climate cooling at 13.9 million years ago. It is a unique window into the past. To study these deposits is akin to strolling across the Dry Valleys 14.1 million years ago."

The discovery of lake deposits with perfectly preserved fossils of mosses, diatoms and minute crustacea called ostracods is particularly exciting, noted Prof Lewis. "They are the first to be found even though scientific expeditions have been visiting the Dry Valleys since their discovery during the first Scott expedition in 1902-1903," he said.

"If we can understand how we got into this relatively cold climate phase, then that can help predict how global warming might push us back out of this phase. For the vast majority of Earth history there was no permanent ice like is common today at the poles and even the tropics at high elevation. There's been a progressive cooling going on for 50 million years to get us into this permanent-ice mode; the formation of a permanent ice sheet on Antarctica plays a big role in that cooling.

"Studies like ours that establish when and how climate thresholds were crossed along the way can be used to predict climate thresholds going the opposite direction, from cool to warm.

"Although, to be fair, we're looking at one that is very far away; warming would have to be greater than what is predicted for the next one or two centuries to cause a melting of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The west Antarctic Ice Sheet is much more vulnerable.

Prof Ashworth is struck by how species of diatoms and mosses are indistinguishable from living ones. Today they occur throughout the world - except Antarctica.

"To be able to identify living species amongst the fossils is phenomenal. To think that modern counterparts have survived 14 million years on Earth without any significant changes in the details of their appearances is striking. It must mean that these organisms are so well-adapted to their habitats that in spite of repeated climate changes and isolation of populations for millions of years they have not become extinct but have survived."

What caused the big freeze is unknown though theories abound and include phenomena as different as the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and tectonic shifts that affected ocean circulation.

Read more!

Tokyo's 2016 Olympics bid offers blueprint for mega-cities

Business Times 5 Aug 08;

(BEIJING) Tokyo will offer a blueprint for the regeneration of the world's mega-cities for the 21st century if it is successful in its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Japanese officials said yesterday.

The Japanese capital, which was the first Asian city to host the games in 1964, is up against Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Chicago in the race to stage the Summer Games after London 2012.

Bid chief executive Ichiro Kono, in China to study this month's Beijing Games and lobby International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, said Japan was at the cutting edge of the resolution of many of the problems facing large cities.

'We will provide tangible solutions to the 21st century challenges of urbanisation, mature economies, ageing populations and how to safeguard and improve the environment,' he said.

'We will be very happy if we can possibly deliver a model for the mega-cities which wish to host mega events,' he added.

One of the weaknesses of the Tokyo bid was considered to be the low level of support among locals but Tsunekazu Takeda, president of the Japan Olympic Committee, said that was changing.

'Two recent independent surveys show that 70 percent of Japanese - close to 100 million people - already support our bid and this figure is rising all the time,' he said.

The Tokyo bid promises to deliver on many of the themes the IOC are keen to encourage for future Olympics such as increased participation in sport for the young, legacy, environmental awareness and compactness of venues.

'The 2016 Games will be a catalyst for our greatest ever drive for sports participation, especially at both ends of the age spectrum. . . (and) result in the world's greatest metropolitan makeover,' said Mr Kono.

Rules over IOC members visiting applicant cities were tightened after the bribery scandal around Salt Lake City's bid for the 2002 Winter Games so this week is one of very few chances to lobby the people who will decide the 2016 hosts next year.

Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will be here later this week to back Tokyo but the other committees will also wheel out big- name supporters for their own campaigns, with US President George W Bush expected to speak up for Chicago.

'The games coming to China is a remarkable step in the history of the Olympic movement,' Mr Kono said. 'We firmly believe Tokyo in 2016 would allow the Olympics to make another step forward.' - Reuters

Read more!

Pollution curbs turn Beijing into urban laboratory

Tini Tran, Associated Press Yahoo News 3 Aug 08;

Like everything else done for the Olympics, China's quest to clear up notoriously polluted skies in time for opening ceremonies this week has been marked by gargantuan effort.

In what scientists are calling the single largest attempt ever made to improve air quality, scores of heavily polluting factories were shut down and some 2 million vehicles were pulled off roads across Beijing and a huge swath of northern China — an area roughly the size of Alaska. During the weekend, the hazy skies finally gave way to swirling blue.

Beijing's massive experiment with controlling pollution is offering international researchers a one-of-a-kind chance to study the large-scale effort in a uniquely urban laboratory.

"It has never been done before. I doubt it will be repeated. This is it. We've got a golden opportunity to fast-forward our research," said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, an atmospheric scientist from the University of California, San Diego, who is part of a multinational research project to track Beijing's pollution during and after the Olympics using unmanned drones, satellite data and ground-level readings.

He is one of dozens of scientists from around the world who are gathering in and around China to conduct experiments ranging from monitoring how pollution travels across continents to sampling particulate pollution over time to testing the impact of dirty air on cardiovascular functions.

Ramanathan said he first learned about China's plans to restrict cars and shut down factories last year from reading a newspaper article. As a scientist who studies pollution clouds over Asia, known as atmospheric brown clouds, he was thrilled to hear that China planned to cut back on pollution in a major way; in essence, conducting large-scale experiments he could observe.

"I immediately jumped off my seat. I thought, this is what I've been waiting for. I said, 'Thank God for the Olympics.' For me, this is 10 times better than winning the lottery," he said.

The Associated Press has been compiling its own pollution data since mid-July, recording snapshot readings of Beijing's worst pollutant — tiny dust particles known as particulate matter 10 — using a commercially available handheld monitoring device.

With China's polluted air ending up over Korea or landing in California, the data being collected now may have larger ramifications beyond these games. If China's efforts can be shown to have had a major impact, then other countries could consider taking similar actions.

Whether its current efforts actually result in clear skies for the Summer Games remains to be seen. Since the factory closures and traffic restrictions kicked in on July 20, Beijing's air pollution levels have gone up and down, though the general trend is decreasing.

What is increasingly clear is how much of a role meteorological conditions play in cutting down pollution.

"If Mother Nature cooperates, I expect there would be an impact. But it all depends on the wind directions," Veerabhadran said.

In the past two weeks, four days failed to meet the national air quality standard, with pollution levels classified as unhealthy for sensitive groups. On those days, the capital was cloaked in sweltering temperatures and a thick, grayish haze that reduced skyscrapers to ghostly outlines.

But strong winds and rainfall in the last week helped scatter much of the smog, giving Beijing residents a rare spate of sunshine and blue sky over the weekend. The air pollution index showed a decrease in pollutants, dropping to a level considered healthy by the World Health Organization.

The pollution levels are similar to findings that the Associated Press collected. Last Friday marked the clearest change visually, with the persistent haze giving way to clear skies and the lowest recorded air pollution levels. The AP's data showed that Beijing had lower levels of particulate matter than New York City on that day.

From a researcher's point of view, China's attempts to ensure blue skies for the Olympics are of huge scientific interest, said Staci Simonich, an associate professor of chemistry and toxicology at Oregon State University.

"It's a giant science experiment on air pollution. As far as I know, it's the biggest case where a city that had air quality problems took strong measures to improve air quality. They've taken it very seriously. It's exciting from a science standpoint," said Simonich, who is collaborating with Peking University professors to take samples of particulate matter.

Though Los Angeles and Atlanta both took measures to improve their air quality when they hosted the Olympics, neither city has had the same obstacles as the Chinese capital. "They didn't have to go to quite the extremes that Beijing has. Beijing has had to come a long way further than L.A. or Atlanta," she said.

If it can be proven that China's efforts made a major impact, then other countries may consider taking similar environmental actions, she said.

"It's not just about China. It's about megacities across the world. What's learned here can perhaps be applied to other cities," Simonich said.

Other scientists chose to focus on the health impact of the dirty air, a huge concern that was raised earlier by Olympic athletes. Several countries, including the U.S., has already said they will provide their athletes with an air mask that they have the option of using.

Qinghua Sun, an assistant professor at Ohio State University's College of Public Health, is working with two Chinese universities to collect data on the mechanics of how air pollution affects human health, especially cardiovascular diseases.

Sun, who will be conducting experiments on both mice and humans, said he is looking specifically at the impact of ultrafine particles, known as PM 2.5., on diabetic patients since preliminary data has shown that there is a clear link between cardiovascular disease and PM 2.5

"Hopefully, with our data, China can see the need to take a dramatic policy strategy to continue the good policies they conducted during the Games," he said.

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Niger Begins Building Dam for Food, Electricity

Abdoulaye Massalatchi, PlanetArk 5 Aug 08;

NIAMEY - Niger began building its Kandadji dam at the weekend, launching a project expected to cost several hundred million dollars and boost power generation and farming in the landlocked African country.

The Kandadji dam will be funded by the Islamic Development Bank, which has pledged US$236 million for a project that has been discussed for nearly 40 years but is now urgently needed by one of the world's poorest and fastest growing populations.

Niger, a uranium-producing desert nation, often faces food shortages and imports 90 percent of its electricity from neighbouring Nigeria, which itself suffers frequent power cuts. Niger's untapped oil reserves are due to be developed in a US$5 billion Chinese-funded programme.

"No other development project will have sparked so much long term interest or such high expectations," Prime Minister Seini Oumarou said in comments broadcast by state television.

President Mamadou Tandja laid the first brick on Sunday at the site, some 180 km (110 miles) northwest of the capital. The dame is due for completion in 2013.

The dam is the initial stage of a broader project that will cost some 300 billion CFA francs (US$709 million) and, the government hopes, will improve food security through irrigation, provide electricity and regenerate the environment.

Financing for the hydropower station itself is due to come from a public-private partnership, the government has said.

Drought and desertification, which is reducing the area of usable farmland by 200,000 hectares every year, mean that some 3 million people face food shortages every year in Niger.

A 3.3 percent annual population growth -- one of highest rates in the world -- is adding the pressures.

Niger's government is battling to put down a northern rebellion led by light-skinned Tuareg nomads who are demanding a greater share of the country's revenues from resources.

Some 70 government soldiers and 200 rebels have been killed since the rebellion last year. But the Kandadji site is not in a part of the country that has been affected by the violence so far. (Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Alistair Thomson)

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