Best of our wild blogs: 25 Aug 08

Sustainable Singapore: few voices for our wild places
on the wild shores of singapore blog

A Rare Native Tree 'Uncovered' in Serangoon
on the Flying Fish Friends blog

New nature walk at Labrador Nature Reserve
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Cyrene Calling
a delightful post of a first-time visit on the me(w)andering blog

Chestnut-bellied Malkoha catching a grasshopper
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Site Buddies Briefing
on the News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore blog

Bottomfeeder
a book on ethical eating of seafood on the blooooooooooo blog

New Additions to the Spineless Blogroll
including our very own Star Trackers! on The Other 95% blog

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Public bursting with green ideas

Sustainable Singapore site flooded with over 700 eco-friendly tips in feedback exercise
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 24 Aug 08;

IN JUST one month, the nationwide call for ideas on how to 'green' Singapore has garnered more than 700 suggestions.

Some specific concerns have emerged, indicating what Singaporeans feel passionately about: solar energy, cycling, recycling and energy efficiency.

Respondents have thrown up innovative solutions on how to recycle anything from newspapers to old clothes, and ideas for educational campaigns as well.

The suggestions offer a glimpse into what the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources has received so far regarding the Government's latest green initiative.

Last month, a dedicated website, www.SustainableSingapore.gov.sg, was launched by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development to gather feedback from the public.

The committee, made up of five ministers, was formed early in the year to drive Singapore's green journey. The views gathered will be put into the committee's report to be tabled at next year's Budget.

Topping the public's wishlist were solar panels for HDB estates to power common areas, separate cycling lanes, more recycling bins and more energy-efficient buildings.

Respondent Jesmine Tan mooted the idea of solar-powered heaters for new HDB flats.

Another respondent, Mr Lyon Lim, even provided precise technical instructions on how to replace the current protruding concrete blocks in between the floors of HDB flats with solar panels angled at 45 degrees.

Cycling was a popular idea embraced by many, with people writing in to the ministry to suggest that Singapore model itself on cities such as Paris, which has introduced a bicycle-loan programme that allows commuters to pick up bikes at designated stands outside train stations.

Engineer Anthony Chua, 43, told The Straits Times he is willing to cycle from his home in Punggol to his office at the Science Park in Clementi even if it takes an hour.

'But drivers in Singapore don't watch out for cyclists, so it's really dangerous. We should build lanes just for bicycles,' he said.

The committee also received various suggestions on how to improve energy efficiency. Mr Arthur Yap said the Government could provide free gadgets that monitor electricity consumption in homes, to raise public awareness of how much electricity is being used.

The 43-year-old manager also proposed improving traffic conditions by using technology to feed drivers live data about congested roads to avoid.

Also mooted was the taxing of items that are not environmentally friendly, such as one-time-use batteries, to make them more expensive to consume than eco-friendly rechargeable ones.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, who co-chairs the committee, said in a statement that he was 'heartened to see the enthusiastic response'.

Pointing out that even foreigners in Singapore were contributing ideas, he said this shows that 'everyone cares about building a liveable city in Singapore'.

Speaking at a grassroots event on Saturday, committee co-chair National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said 'all of us are very encouraged by the quality and breadth of the response'.

He noted that solar panels featured highly in the feedback, adding that the Government is considering increasing their use 'on an experimental basis'.

The HDB has already included such features in one project, Treelodge at Punggol, he said.

He noted that solar technology was still very expensive, but that 'it would be useful for us to do some test beddings of this new technology'.

On other issues such as energy efficiency and cycling, Mr Mah said the committee would address all these matters, hopefully by the first quarter of next year when the final report is ready.

The committee is also planning a public forum at the end of this year.

The public has until the end of October to give their views.

Additional reporting by Goh Chin Lian

Green wish-list

SOLAR PANELS: They are popular items mentioned by the public. Some mooted the idea of solar-powered heaters to be built into new Housing Board flats, while others gave suggestions on where to install the panels.

RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES: Some also suggested boosting the use of eco-friendly rechargeable batteries by sticking a tax on one-time-use batteries to make them more expensive.

Over 700 suggestions received on building eco-friendly Singapore
May Wong, Channel NewsAsia 24 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: The government has received over 700 suggestions in less than a month on how to create a more eco-friendly Singapore.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development launched a website on July 29 to gather feedback from the public.

For Lee Swee Mein, he is hoping that the government can heighten the profile of a website that he founded to a national level. Called YouSwop, it allows people to exchange unwanted items such as shoes, clothes and books with one another via the website.

Mr Lee, a business development manager, said: "I have a swop corner, it's actually a corner where I keep my unwanted and unused things, and exchange them for something that I need when the opportunity arises.

"I hope that one day, all Singaporeans will adopt this culture and save the environment by exchanging their unwanted items, instead of throwing them away. By swopping an item with someone who needs it, we are in fact reusing the item."

Another suggestion from the public is to get rid of plastic packaging when selling items like cooking oil, so as to promote the use of refillable packs or bottles.

Arthur Yap, a logistics deputy manager, said: "To save the environment, we can have refillable packs for all the consumable liquids... Instead of buying a container of shampoo, we bring our own container and then they can fill it in for us. That way, we save on logistics cost, we save on containers, we save on plastics, and it's a much more sustainable idea.

"We used to do this a long, long time ago when my parents went to the provision shop with a tin to buy kerosene or to buy rice, and I think it could make a comeback and we could really use much less materials for our daily needs."

Various government ministries are now studying the feedback that they have received on the website. At the end of the year, some of the suggestions will be revealed at a public forum for discussion.- CNA/so

Sustainable development committee encouraged by public's response
Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia 24 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said on Sunday that the ideas received via the have both quality and breadth, and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development has been encouraged by the response.

Suggestions from the public include tapping on renewable energy in their living environment. For now, solar panels will be piloted at the Housing and Development Board's (HDB) eco-precinct Treelodge@Punggol.

Mr Mah said the relevant ministries will study all the ideas and continue to engage Singaporeans. A final report on sustainable development, which will contain a list of recommendations, is expected to be ready in the first quarter of next year.

He said there could be greater use of solar panels in public housing.

"This is one of the issues that is being studied in detail – how far we can go, how fast we can go, what we need to do, (while) bearing in mind that solar panel is still a new technology.

"It is still very expensive, but I think it would be useful for us to do some test-bedding of this new technology," Mr Mah said.- CNA/so

Links

Sustainable Singapore website
Check out the feedback received page where you can actually download all 600+ ideas!

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Injured rare Sumatran rhino rescued in Sabah: wildlife official

Yahoo News 23 Aug 08;

A rare Sumatran rhinoceros, whose species is on the brink of extinction, has been rescued injured in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, a wildlife official said over the weekend.

It was discovered after wandering into an oil palm plantation in a two week operation that saw a team from the state Wildlife Department transfer it to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in eastern Sabah.

The animal comes from the very rare Bornean sub-species of the Sumatran rhinoceros.

"It was obvious that the rhino was injured to some degree as it left its forest...to come out on the flat terrain of the oil palm plantation," the department's chief veterinarian Senthilvel Nathan said in a statement.

"When we first got there, the rhino showed signs of aggression and made mock charges at us but we kept our distance and left leaves and fruits for it to eat as the oil palm environment is not suitable for wildlife," he said.

He said a group of 24 veterinarians, rangers and volunteers from the state wildlife department, SOS Rhino Borneo and the World Wildlife Fund Malaysia monitored the rhino 24 hours a day before moving the animal to its new home.

WWF Malaysia said in the statement it believes the rescued rhino is the same one that was captured on its camera and video trap in February 2007.

The footage showed a rhino eating, peering through jungle foliage and sniffing the automatic video camera equipment used to shoot it.

The Sumatran rhinoceros is one of the world's most endangered species with only small numbers left on Indonesia's Sumatra island, Sabah and peninsular Malaysia, according to the WWF.

The Bornean sub-species is the rarest of all rhinos, distinguished from other Sumatran rhinos by its relatively small size, small teeth and distinctive shaped head.

State wildlife officials say that only 30 of the Bornean sub-species remain in Sabah's wilderness.

Last December, a Sumatran rhinoceros was photographed in peninsular Malaysia in the first sighting for more than a decade.

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Eco-tourists horrified by shark catch

Helen Bamford www.iol.co.za 23 Aug 08;

Eco-tourists who dive with sharks off Miller's Point are up in arms after being confronted by the sight of fishermen offloading tons of dead sharks from boats awash with blood.

Many of the divers are international tourists who travel to South Africa specially to see sharks, which have been wiped out in other parts of the world.

Mike Nortje, owner of Pisces Divers, says his clients were horrified to return from a dive only to see fishermen offloading shark carcasses on to bakkies not more than 50 metres away.

The dive operators share the slipway with commercial fishermen and pleasure boats.

Gemma Pellet, master scuba diver trainer, said the fishermen went out of their way to upset the tourists by joking about the dead sharks.

"They know it aggravates us so they stick gaffs in them and drag them around."

Nortje said the commercial value of having sharks at dive sites was worth far more than their being caught.

According to Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network, the bulk of the demersal or bottom-dwelling sharks caught in South Africa as by-catch are exported to Australia for fish and chips.

But Tony Trimmel of the Kalk Bay Boat Owners' Association said commercial fishermen targeted sharks only when lucrative species like yellowtail and snoek were unavailable.

"They don't target sharks on a daily basis but they have to make a living."

This season had been one of the bleakest fishing seasons for a number of years and daily running costs of the fishing boats had increased dramatically due to fuel hikes.

Trimmel said he could understand the concern from an eco-tourism perspective.

"Unfortunately there are sensitive people out there but a living has to be made."

Lesley Rochat, founder of the AfriOceans Conservation Alliance, said they did not have direct issues with the shark fishers but with Marine and Coastal Management's lack of adequate management and compliance in relation to shark fisheries in general.

False Bay was a white shark hotspot, attracting millions of rands of revenue from film crews, tourists and divers.

White sharks were protected, but other species such as the prehistoric-looking seven gill cowsharks, were targeted by fishers.

"Naturally divers get upset when after enjoying a passive interaction with sharks, they see a boat full of dead sharks at the same slipway they launch from.

"This is not good business for the eco-tourism industry."

Rochat said sharks played a vital role in maintaining the delicate balance of marine ecosystems and if the oceans were purged of them it would have severe repercussions for the millions of people who depend upon the oceans for their food supply.

At present it appeared sharks were a "free for all" and that MCM needed to put more money and effort into research.

"At the same time we cannot wait years for the results of the research as there will be hardly any sharks left by then.

"We therefore urge a precautionary approach applied to shark fisheries where data is lacking."

Monty Guest, chairman of diving and marine conservation organisation Underwater Africa, said the sharks were being caught in what was supposed to be a marine protected area, yet there was very little protection happening.

He said law enforcement officials were too frightened to confront fishermen in case they got aggressive but were happy to hassle divers over permits.

Carol Moses of MCM said both recreational and commercial fishers were allowed to catch sharks except for great whites, basking and whale sharks.

"So they are not doing anything illegal."

Divers and fishers needed to co-exist, she said.

With regard to the managment of sharks, Moses said if they found out certain species were threatened they would put measures in place to protect them.

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Conference splits over deforestation emission cut

Abubakar Aminu, Yahoo News 24 Aug 08;

Trading carbon emission rights between developed and developing nations caused a split Sunday between delegates at protracted international climate change talks in Ghana.

"The issue of reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries under the carbon market mechanism has been a stormy one among delegates and observers," Nicole Wilke, head of German delegation told AFP on the sidelines of the UN framework convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Accra.

She said the negotiations had centred on how developing countries were to reduce emissions and how much developed countries should pay for carbon rights from reduced deforestation emission.

Overall discussions among more than 1,600 delegates from 150 nations have not achieved much since the conference opened Thursday, delegates and observers said.

"There is a point where it will be too late, it is better we speed up to make appreciable progress in the negotiations," Wilke said, expressing hope agreements would be reached in Poland in December which aims to seal a deal on carbon reduction.

Environmentalists have criticized developed countries for shirking their commitments to slash carbon emissions, while questioning whether carbon offsetting schemes in developing countries would be effectively implemented.

"The inclusion of forests in carbon markets enables developed countries to avoid real carbon emission reductions at home", said Emily Brickell, climate and forest officer with Friends of the Earth.

According to experts, deforestation, mostly in developing countries, accounts for 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, consuming 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of the world's 40 billion hectares of forests annually.

The 1991 Kyoto protocol allows countries whose carbon emissions exceed the UNFCCC ceiling to buy the surplus carbon rights of countries that do not reach their approved limits.

Currently the funds in the carbon markets are about 30 billion dollars, according to the conference.

"The negotiations are focusing excessively on finance and not on the root causes of deforestation, such as consumption of biofuels, meat and timber," Brickell said.

Ishaku Huzi Mshelia, head of the Nigeria-based Clean Energy and Safe Environment Initiative, called the deforestation talks "a ploy by developed countries to shy away from their commitments to reduced carbon emissions," by up to 40 percent by 2020.

Some experts also questioned whether carbon trading schemes would be wisely implemented in developing countries.

Carbon trading might give rise to corruption and embezzlement in poorer countries, Brickell said, while increasing the value of land there to the detriment of local communities.

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Biofuels, food crops straining world water reserves: experts

Nina Larson, Yahoo News 24 Aug 08;

Burgeoning demand for food to feed the world's swelling population, coupled with increased use of biomass as fuel is putting a serious strain on global water reserves, experts said

"If we look at how much more water we will need for food and how much more for biomass for energy going forward ... it is quite worrying," said Jan Lundqvist, who heads the scientific programme at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).

Global food needs are expected to roughly double by 2050, at the same time as climate change and dwindling oil reserves are pressuring countries to set aside ever more land for producing biomass to replace greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels.

These parallel global trends risk colliding with "the water-constrained biophysical reality of the planet," according to SIWI, which hosted the the World Water Week in the Swedish capital last week.

"Almost every increase in water used in agriculture will affect water availability for other uses, including that needed to keep ecosystems healthy and resilient in the face of change and perturbation," the institute said in a recent study.

According to Lundqvist, the global population today uses around 4,500 cubic kilometres of water each year to cover all water needs, including for agricultural irrigation, urban use and for energy production.

While that is below the level of what is considered environmentally irresponsible, he stressed that future needs could rapidly push water use to dangerous levels.

"It might be environmentally reasonable to withdraw maybe 6,000 (cubic kilometres), but if we withdraw more water it would be at a very high environmental cost, because we need water to flush the system and for different ecosystem services," he said.

"It is simply not advisable."

According to SIWI project director Jakob Granit, recent studies indicate that "by 2030, the same amount of energy that we produce today with fossil fuels will have to come from biomass."

At the same time, scientists predict we will only be able to "meet food demands by 2050 if we have a much more efficient use of water ... That does not include the water we need for all that biomass," he told AFP.

In addition to questioning whether it is realistic to expect biomass to cover a large share of our energy needs in the future, the best way to address the problem of shrinking water reserves is to better manage water and land use, experts say.

According to Lundqvist, there is a dire need to shift the world's focus away from irrigation systems, which are putting so much pressure on rivers, lakes and groundwater.

"We are at the end of the road when it comes to irrigation, because all the water available in rivers and so on has already been now more or less used up," he said, insisting that much more attention must be paid to the potential of rainfall.

"In a large part of Africa, if you look at the total rainfall throughout the year the amount is usually enough ... to grow many crops," he said.

"If you can capture that rainfall, and store it as soil moisture or in local dams, it would be possible to significantly increase food production in these areas," he added.

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Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study

Yahoo News 24 Aug 08;

Climate change could release unexpectedly huge stores of carbon dioxide from Arctic soils, which would in turn fuel a vicious circle of global warming, a new study warned Sunday.

And according to one commentary on the research, current models of climate change have not taken this extra source of greenhouse gas into account.

Scientists have long known that organic carbon trapped inside a blanket of frozen permafrost covering one fifth of the world's land mass would, if thawed, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

But until now they simply did not have a good idea of how much carbon is actually locked inside this Arctic freezer.

To find out, a team of American researchers led by Chien-Lu Ping of the University of Alaska Fairbanks examined a wide range of landscapes across North America.

They took soil samples from 117 sites, each to a depth of at least one metre, in order to provide a full assessment of the region's so-called "carbon pool."

Previous estimates of the Arctic carbon pool relied heavily on a relative handful of measurements conducted outside of the Arctic, and only to a depth of 40 centimetres (15.5 inches).

The study, published in the British journal Nature Geoscience, found that the stock of organic carbon "is considerably higher than previously thought" -- 60 percent more than the previously estimated.

This is roughly equivalent of one sixth of the entire carbon content in the atmosphere.

And that is just for North America. The size and mix of landscapes in the northern reaches of Europe and Russia are about the same, and probably contain a comparable amount of carbon-dioxide producing matter currently held in check only by the cold, the study said.

And the danger of a thaw is real, note climate scientists.

The Nobel Prize-winning UN panel of climate change scientists project temperature increases by century's end of up to six degrees Celsius (10.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Arctic region, which is more sensitive to global warming than any other part of the planet.

Commenting on the research, Christian Beer of the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany, pointed out that the climate change models upon which future projections are based, do not include the potential impact of the gases trapped frozen Arctic soils.

"Releasing even a portion of this carbon into the atmosphere, in the form of methane or carbon dioxide, would have an significant impact on Earth's climate," he noted in his commentary, also published in Nature Geoscience.

Methane, another greenhouse gas, is less abundant than carbon dioxide but several times more potent as a driver of global warming.

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Games leave behind sleeker, greener Beijing

Jason Subler, Reuters 24 Aug 08;

BEIJING (Reuters) - Huge investment for the Olympics will cement Beijing's place as a world-class city and business centre, and leave a legacy of improvements for its residents.

Unlike Athens and some other past host cities, where the Games led to a mountain of debt and many of the venues now sit unused, Beijing and the Chinese government can comfortably afford the roughly $40 billion they have spent on the Games.

More importantly, less than a quarter of that bill has gone on purpose-built venues such as the Bird's Nest stadium. The rest has been spent on infrastructure such as new subway lines and projects like upgrading buses and boilers to cleaner technology.

"Many of the changes were necessary for Beijing's continued, brisk development, and the Olympics served to substantially accelerate their implementation," said Denis Ma, associate director of research in the Beijing office of property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle.

Ma pointed to the transformation the ever-expanding subway lines will bring about, as they help reduce vehicle emissions and allow the development of residential hubs in the suburbs.

Jing Ulrich, chairman of China equities at JPMorgan Securities, noted a range of other benefits that would help with the city's long-term development.

"With an improved transport system, financial services infrastructure, communications network and hospitality industry, post-Olympics Beijing will be better positioned to fulfill its potential as a world-class metropolis," Ulrich said in a report.

The state-of-the-art venues are also a legacy in themselves.

The new operators of the Bird's Nest, a consortium led by state investment group CITIC, plan to sell naming rights and make it home to one of Beijing's professional soccer clubs, building a complex of hotels, restaurants and shops around it.

COST VS BENEFIT

AEG Worldwide, a U.S. sports and entertainment management firm hoping to tap into a post-Olympics boom, has already teamed up with the National Basketball Association's NBA China to win the right to manage the Wukesong indoor stadium, which staged the Olympics basketball competition.

AEG is also looking at staging events in the Bird's Nest.

"We're interested in the Bird's Nest. We do have content that can fill the Bird's Nest occasionally," President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Leiweke told Reuters, citing a few European soccer clubs, including some from the English Premier League.

Leiweke said that Beijing was unlikely to eclipse Shanghai as a destination for major sporting and entertainment events.

"Shanghai is probably the most important and attractive market in the world for us right now," he said.

With many venues slated to be converted for use by the general public and several located inside universities, they are poised to benefit the broader community in a city of 17 million.

Equally important is the way the Games sparked the construction of new public spaces throughout the city, said Zou Huan, an urban planning expert at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Not only would the Olympic Green likely rival Tiananmen Square as a prime destination for tourists in the future, but the many new parks and green spaces will give ordinary Beijingers a break from often cramped living conditions.

"They resemble European city squares in the sense of how they give people a space outdoors to chat, to meet up. That's very useful, and it is really changing the city life here," said Zou.

Ideally, city officials would have had the time to carry out their plans with more attention to detail, so as to avoid sacrificing some buildings of historical value, he said.

Thousands of people were also forced to move to make way for the venues, parks and light rail lines.

"But you have to look at the costs and benefits," Zou said. "Overall, I think the gains for Beijing's urban landscape are more important."

(Additional reporting by Tara Joseph; editing by Keith Weir)

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