Best of our wild blogs: 12 Oct 08

Crocodile killed by abandoned drift net
at Kranji, on the annotated budak blog

Raffles Lighthouse reef survey
on the colourful clouds blog and on HBing's memories with video clips of 'Nemo' and sweetlips.

A simple feeder for the Spotted Dove
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Singapore Poly forest walk
on the urban forest blog

Small claws
a whole world of tiny creatures on the annotated budak blog

Bugs around the house
on the nature walks blog

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Surprises aplenty at Admiralty Park's new trail

Dhany Osman, Straits Times 12 Oct 08;
Keep your eyes peeled when you stroll through the newly opened 20ha nature trail area of Admiralty Park.

A species of the common munia - a tiny bird - may be spotted among the lallang, or tall wild grass. Up in the trees, in the forest area, a squirrel may be watching.

And, in a wink, mudskippers hop from one part of the mangrove area to another.

The 2km trail - part of Phase 2 of the Admiralty Park project - promises a wide variety of flora and fauna, not all commonly seen, as visitors traipse through the three habitats: open grassland, forest and mangrove.
Ms Sharon Chan, National Parks' (NParks') assistant director of conservation, was excited by the prospect of the biodiversity available in the area.

A nature lover who has worked some 15 years with NParks, she readily volunteered her expertise to the park's development.

One concern was ensuring that the new species introduced there would keep the area's eco-system 'balanced'.

This meant careful selection of which areas to clear and which new species to plant, to enhance the environment while not disrupting its natural ambience.

To increase awareness of the area's flora and fauna, signs inform visitors of what to look out for.

Ms Chan pointed out that, for instance, the munias are so small - an adult is no more than 10cm to 12cm tall - that a visitor would normally not notice these tiny birds.

She hopes the nature area of the park will appeal to 'people with a sense of adventure' for such simple joys.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, an MP for Sembawang GRC, attended the Phase 2 opening ceremony as guest of honour earlier this month.

He was joined by other ministers and the chief executive officer of NParks, Mr Ng Lang, for a guided tour of the area.

'The mangrove swamp and lallang areas bring back old memories,' said Mr Khaw, referring to his kampung childhood in Penang.

'In a city like Singapore, I think you need little pockets of the wild and natural.'

Phase 1 was opened in October last year, boasting features such as Wi-Fi hot spots, an amphitheatre and jogging paths.

The entire Admiralty Park project is budgeted by NParks at $8.6million.

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Singapore Zoo starts boat rides on the Reservoir

Water way to enjoy nature
Straits Times 12 Oct 08;

Nature lovers looking for more to do will be excited to know that the Singapore Zoo has just introduced boat rides.

Since the start of this month, adult visitors can pay $4 for a single trip ticket ($2 for children) for a 20-minute guided ride along the Upper Seletar Reservoir to learn about the area's wildlife.

The rides are offered daily. Each of the four boats is named after one of the zoo's animal stars: Pedro the otter, Omar the white tiger, Komali the elephant, and Ah Meng, the zoo's world-famous female orang utan which died in February.

Ms Fanny Lai, group chief executive officer of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said visitors on the rides can expect to see a diverse range of birds and marine life, while also viewing the plants growing by the water.

Birds to look out for include the brahminy kite and the collared kingfisher. In the water, fish such as luohan, tilapia and the South American stingray may be spotted.

Ms Lai said that 11/2 years ago, the zoo and the PUB embarked on the project to educate the public on the importance of water resources.

In keeping with its 'low-impact' approach, the project uses environmentally friendly electric-powered boats that have low noise levels, so as not to disturb the area's denizens.

Visitors have also been told not to throw litter into the reservoir.

'These boat rides will offer a different way for our visitors to appreciate the flora and fauna we have,' Ms Lai said. 'They can now learn a bit more about our local wildlife in its natural environment by hearing and seeing.'

Dhany Osman

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Farmers in Sumatra let oil palm fruit rotten as prices fall

Antara 12 Oct 08;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Thousands of farmers in Rokan Hulu (Rohul) district, Riau province in Sumatra, are now leaving their oil palm fruit unharvested, letting it rotten on the shaft as a result of sharp fall in the prices of the export commodity.

"About 60 percent of farmers who cultivate 118,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in Rohul now do not harvest their oil palm fruit as oil palm fruit has now fallen to Rp250 per kilogram," H Erdiman Daulay, chairman of the Indonesian Oil Palm Association, said here on Sunday.

He said that the price of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (TBS) had dropped since August to Rp250 per kg from the previous price of Rp700 a kg. Several days ago, the price was still Rp350 per kg.

Daulay explained that with a price of Rp350 / kg farmers were not able to cover their production costs. Transportation from the garden to buyers would cost Rp200 per kg, harvest would cost Rp200 per kg and load and unloading would cost Rp20 a kg.

"This leave only about Rp30 per kg for farmers. So, this sale price is quite inappropriate for farmers. Moreover, prices of commodities needed for daily life are now on the rise," he said.

That`s why, farmers in the last two harvesting seasons (two months) did not harvest their oil palm fruit. After all, in the last two days, prices of oil palm fresh fruit bunches had dropped to Rp250 / kg.
(*)

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Philippine scientist named ‘hero of environment’

Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Philippine Daily Inquirer 12 Oct 08

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—“It’s not for me. It’s for the mangroves.”

As always, Jurgenne Primavera thought about her advocacy first before her achievements.

The retired Iloilo-based scientist has been featured by Time magazine in its Oct. 6 special issue on “Heroes of the Environment.” She was among 30 activists, scientists, celebrities, innovators and financiers all over the world who were cited for their contribution to environmental protection.

What they have in common is the passion and resourcefulness to confront environmental threats, Time said.

“They cannot solve climate change alone or save endangered species single-handedly. But by their example, by their willingness to dedicate themselves to what too many still dismiss as a hopeless case, these heroes of the environment provide light in the darkness.”

Primavera, 61, was lauded for her “groundbreaking studies” on the life cycle of tiger prawns in the country which “helped galvanize an aquaculture revolution.”

The magazine cited her campaign for sustainable fish-farming in order to protect the mangrove forests that act as a fish nursery and a crucial buffer zone between land and sea which help block floods and tsunamis.

Recognition

Primavera, who has already received various awards, honors and citations from the academe and scientific community, including an honorary doctorate from the Stockholm University in 2004, said she was happy to be among Time’s choices because this would bring her campaign to a wider audience.

“It’s not I and my peers who will ultimately save the environment. It’s the laymen, the common folk, who will,” she said.

She also hopes that the fame will inspire young people to take up marine biology and focus on mangroves. She stressed the importance of educating children about environmental issues and preservation efforts.

“Start with the children because the values they learn will stay with them for a lifetime, the same way my experiences shaped my beliefs,” she said.

She remembered growing up surrounded by native trees in her hometown in Buenavista, Agusan del Norte. She would spend hours with her siblings climbing mango, avocado and other tropical trees in their backyard.

But she also recalled the yearly floods caused by rampant logging that denuded forests in her province and often made roads impassable.

And on the day she took a scholarship examination of the National Science Development Board in 1961, floodwaters damaged or destroyed many bridges in Agusan del Norte, forcing her and her father to cross rivers on coconut trunks or bamboo poles to get to the testing center.

Her fondness for nature and experiences helped develop her interest on sciences and the environment. She eventually took zoology at the University of the Philippines in Diliman under an NSDB scholarship and graduated cum laude in 1966.

Primavera said her college life was mostly field trips for her course. “I was surprised that I couldn’t find a photo of me in a party. They were all taken in the field,” she said, laughing.

After graduating, she decided to go back to Mindanao and teach biology at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City until 1975. She enjoyed her work and going back to her roots and a pristine environment, and bringing her students to field trips.

“Teaching was a high point in my life,” Primavera said.

She developed her awareness of the environmental impact of development projects, especially those in Lake Lanao.

Passion

Her passion was also greatly reinforced by her participation in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972.

But the intensifying armed conflict between government troops and Moro rebels in the 1970s prompted her and several other scientists in Mindanao to relocate to Iloilo and join the Southeast Asian Fisheries and Development Center (Seafdec).

She spent her early years in the center back in its field station in Leganes town, spending hours on fishponds to work on brood stocks and study mangroves.

A few years later, she obtained a master’s degree in zoology at the Indiana University.

In 1990, she was granted a scholarship for her doctorate studies by the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development. Her thesis at UP Diliman focused on the impact of aquaculture on mangroves which also shaped her lifetime commitment to the preservation of mangroves.

While working on her thesis, she spent two years researching on Guimaras Island, which has one the richest varieties of mangrove species in the country.

After her studies, Primavera returned to research work at Seafdec, focusing on environment aquaculture.

She spoke out on threats of the booming shrimp and prawn industry on mangroves, and pointed at the destruction of mangrove areas or their conversion to fishponds.

She also expressed concern over the adverse impact of fishponds on municipal fishing, the means of livelihood of the majority of fishermen.

At a time when aquaculture was booming, Primavera rang warning bells on the perils of unregulated shrimp farming.

She has pushed for the maintenance of a health balance between areas developed for aquaculture and those preserved for mangroves. For every unit area developed for ponds, there should be at least four unit areas for mangroves (1:4) to help protect the environment.

She admits being ostracized in aquaculture circles for her advocacy but she was later vindicated by the impact of the boom-and-bust nature of the shrimp industry that brought long-term damage to the environment.

Her work on mangroves was given a significant boost in 2004 with the publication of the “Handbook of Mangroves in the Philippines-Panay,” which she coauthored with other scientists and mangrove specialists. The manual was released to help students, nongovernment organizations and environmentalists better appreciate the country’s mangrove resources.

“We wanted people to look at mangroves through our eyes,” Primavera said.

Active in retirement

Now a grandmother of two, she remains one of the most active advocates of the protection of mangroves and the conservation of natural resources.

She cited the alarming state of mangroves, with only a fifth remaining from the 500,000 hectares at the turn of the 20th century. On the other hand, brackish water ponds have increased almost fourfold, from 61,000 ha in 1940 to 230,000 ha.

In between giving lectures and speeches, attending conferences here and abroad, and joining causes, Primavera tends to a nursery of native trees she has started to developed.

But she said bringing environmental issues to the common folk can be challenging. “People would always say at first that the issues we advocate are ‘indi makaon’ (not edible) and that economic and immediate needs should be prioritized.”

People would, however, easily make the connections between the environment and its impact on their lives when they attend workshops.

“The real challenge lies in changing the mind-set of policymakers and politicians,” Primavera said.

With the recent destruction brought by natural calamities, discussing the importance of taking care of the environment has become easier, she said. But she fears that the increase in awareness may not keep pace with the escalation of degradation.

“We need a few well-placed fearless fighters for our environment,” Primavera said.

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Tsunami funds spent on a surf reef for tourists

Keralan villagers made homeless by the 2004 tsunami claim funds spent on tourist projects
Chris Haslam, Times Online 12 Oct 08;

Angry Keralan villagers made homeless by the 2004 tsunami have accused authorities in the southern Indian holiday hot spot of diverting desperately needed redevelopment aid to “beach beautification” projects aimed at increasing the region’s tourism potential.

Sun-seekers arriving in Kerala this winter will notice a marked improvement in facilities, with the previously undeveloped white-sand beaches now sprouting toilet blocks, walkways, souvenir kiosks, an amphitheatre and even ornamental flower displays.

More than £10m from the Indian government’s Tsunami Rehabilitation Programme has been allocated to areas that were not affected by the tsunami. Kerala Tourism has disguised the diversion of the funds as “coastal protection” in an attempt to quell local outrage, but the works consist almost entirely of extravagant construction projects designed to maximise the profit potential of the once sleepy resort of Kovalam.

One of these projects is the construction of an artificial surf reef that has been designed to increase the size of the waves hitting the coast. Local opposition groups claim that turning the bay into a playground for westerners will put 500 fishermen out of work and put fish breeding grounds at risk.

In the meantime, neighbouring communities remain vulnerable.

After suffering Kerala’s greatest loss of life in the disaster, villagers on the Allapad peninsula campaigned for a bridge to be built to provide an escape route in the event of future emergencies. As building work funded by development aid continues apace in the holiday resorts, work on the bridge has been suspended.

“To spend funds meant for the rehabilitation of tsunami-affected communities on tourism projects that will bring them no benefits and will undermine coastal-protection measures will make a mockery of the huge donor support provided by individuals and governments across the world, ” says Tricia Barnett, of the pressure group Tourism Concern.

Kerala Tourism argues that the developments will enrich local people through an increase in beach tourism, but tsunami survivors say they have not been consulted about the role tourism should play in the rebuilding of their livelihoods.

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Large population of endangered dolphins found off Bangladesh

Shafiq Alam, Yahoo News 11 Oct 08;

The world's largest population of vulnerable Irrawaddy dolphins -- famed as aquarium attractions -- has been found in Bangladesh's waters, according to a five-year wildlife study.

Until now, it was believed the small light-grey mammal was threatened and the International Union of Conservation of Nature had put five of its Southeast Asian populations on its list of critically endangered animals.

But the study, launched in 2003 by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and the Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project, has counted 5,832 Irrawaddy dolphins along Bangladesh's coast and estuaries.

"It's by far the biggest population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the world," said project director Brian Smith of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

"It's very good news for all of us," he said.

The researchers surveyed the waters along Bangladesh's 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) of coastline, said Rubayat Mansur, who led the research team.

"We're absolutely thrilled to make such an important discovery... We don't know any other place where these dolphins are found in such large numbers," he told AFP.

In other areas where the dolphins are known to converge, such as the Mekong delta, populations have been estimated at less than 100.

"It's great news if the researchers have in fact found such a huge number of Irrawaddy dolphins off the Bangladesh coast," said Switzerland-based Liz McLellan of environmental group WWF.

"We'll look into the study because we know only a very small population of Irrawaddy dolphins now live in Southeast Asia," she told AFP.

Although its name is derived from Myanmar's biggest river, the two-metre (six-foot) long Irrawaddy dolphin is mainly an oceanic mammal that favours coastal waters and estuaries.

They are found in small, geographically isolated populations from Australia to India to the Philippines.

One of the main threats to their survival is drowning in fishing nets, says the WWF. They are also fished for their oil and meat.

The dolphins' ability to live in both salt water and fresh water makes them popular with dolphin shows, where fresh water tanks are cheaper to maintain.

Mansur said many of the dolphins had been found in the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans which straddles Bangladesh and India. The forest is also home to 400 Ganges sweet-water dolphins which also are on the endangered list.

Despite the welcome discovery of the larger than expected number of Irrawaddy dolphins off Bangladesh, Smith of the Wildlife Conservation Society said their long-term future was far from secure.

"During the study, we have seen that because of fishing with long nets, accidental deaths of dolphins along Bangladesh coast and estuary rivers is common," Smith said

"They get entangled in the fishing nets and die," Smith said.

And Mansur said the construction of new dams along Bangladesh's coastal rivers to stop flooding, pollution and habitat was also cause for concern.

The researchers urged the government to take immediate steps to create small networks of protected zones in order to prevent the Irrawaddy dolphin following the Yangtze river dolphin down the path of extinction.

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Endangered US frogs get a break in the weather

Janet MacConnaughey, Associated Press Yahoo News 11 Oct 08;

Pick up a Mississippi gopher frog and it covers its eyes with its forefeet, like someone afraid to see what's coming next. And for at least a decade, it's had a good reason not to look.

This year, for a change, nature gave a bit of a break to one of the nation's most endangered species.

The frogs breed only in ponds so shallow they dry up in summer. Hot, dry springs have stranded tadpoles every year since 1998, when 161 froglets hopped out of Glen's Pond in coastal Harrison County, Miss.

The pond held water longer this year. And 181 tadpoles survived a deadly parasite, made it through metamorphosis and headed into the surrounding DeSoto National Forest.

Biologists saved seven generations. They wash some eggs in well water, apparently removing the parasite, hatch them in a lab and put the tadpoles in screen-covered outdoor tanks.

Scientists believe fewer than 100 mature adults live in the wild. Five zoos — in New Orleans, Memphis, Detroit, Miami and Omaha, Neb. — have another 75 frogs.

"Our efforts have managed to stave off likely extinction but there's a long way to go," said Joe Pechmann, an associate professor of biology at Western Carolina University who has studied the frogs since 2002.

Mississippi gopher frogs once lived in longleaf pine forests from western Alabama to southeast Louisiana. Timbering all but eradicated those forests.

Scientists estimate the population from those breeding each year. This year, 50 came to Glen's Pond. Thirty of them were tank-raised; the other 20 had hatched in 2001 and 1998.

Other counts are next to impossible: the frogs live underground, in stump holes and burrows dug by other animals.

They have other oddities. Their breeding call sounds like snoring. And, rather than the smooth backs of many frogs, theirs have bumps which secrete a bitter, milky fluid. Pechmann thinks their "see-no-evil" pose may protect frogs' faces until predators taste the liquid and drops them.

Mississippi gopher frogs face dangers common to all amphibians — predators that eat most of their young, human destruction and pollution of their habitat, and parasites more devastating to amphibians than the Great Plague was to humans.

Scientists estimate that the world has lost up to 170 frog species just in the last decade, and another 1,900 are threatened.

Until 2004, when a much smaller colony was found and a third was created, Glen's Pond was the Mississippi gopher frogs' only known breeding spot.

"People look at temporary ponds and they think there's something wrong with them," either filling them in or digging them deeper for fish ponds or cattle watering holes, Pechmann said. "But the reality is, there's a lot of species such as gopher frogs that depend on temporary ponds; they can't live anywhere else."

The ponds are on ridges, prime development targets. Scientists worry that a housing development near Glen's Pond could keep the U.S. Forest Service from making controlled burns needed by the forest and its animals. But Nathan Watson, senior vice president of development for Tradition Properties Inc., said it is making firebreaks and other provisions to let the burns continue.

No tadpoles survived drought in 1999 or 2000. In 2001, authorities called the National Guard. Crews trucked in water and dug a well from which water was pumped into the pond.

Pechmann first set up tanks in 2002. Since then, scientists have released about 2,000 tank-raised froglets at Glen's Pond and another 3,000 or so at a colony scientists are starting. It's on land owned by The Nature Conservancy, which also owns a 292-tract including the second natural colony.

Researchers used the pump at Glen's Pond in 2005 but only 42 frogs emerged, Pechmann said.

The species' first captive breeding was in March, when in vitro fertilization produced 93 tadpoles at the Memphis Zoo. They all died, apparently from the parasite that kills tadpoles in Glen's Pond. A second lab-fertilized group hatched recently, said Andy Kouba, head of the Memphis zoo's research department.

"We'll probably end up trying to breed them several more times this fall," he said.

Twenty-one egg masses were laid in Glen's Pond this year, and one each in the other two, biologist Mike Sisson said.

Each year's froglets get marked. This year, 480 are in large individual enclosures to learn whether new colonies could make it in less than ideal habitat.

The Audubon Zoo in New Orleans got 36 tadpoles. Sixteen survived.

"They were smaller than a pea when we put them in the tanks," said Nick Hanna, assistant curator for reptiles and amphibians.

The inch-long froglets may grow to 3 1/2 inches.

Any chance of breeding is years away. Males may mature sexually in less than a year, but it can take up to four years for females to become fertile.

The wild froglets alone would nearly triple the wild population if all of them survived.

That won't happen.

"Those little frogs are snack food or finger food for a lot of things in the woods," Sisson said. "The vast majority ... will not make it to adult frog. That's the nature of the business if you're an amphibian."

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U.N. says credit crisis could enable "green growth"

Patrick Worsnip, Reuters 11 Oct 08;

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Instead of sidelining the fight against climate change, the global credit crisis could hasten countries' efforts to create "green growth" industries by revamping the financial system behind them, the U.N. climate chief said on Friday.

But that would depend on governments helping poor countries -- who are key to saving the planet's ecology -- tackle their problems, instead of spending most available money on rescuing the financial world, Yvo de Boer told reporters.

De Boer said the financial "earthquake" that has seen markets plunge worldwide in recent weeks could damage U.N.-led climate change talks, but only "if the opportunities that the crisis brings for climate change abatement are ignored."

"The credit crisis can be used to make progress in a new direction, an opportunity for global green economic growth," de Boer, who heads the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told a news conference.

"The credit crunch I believe is an opportunity to rebuild the financial system that would underpin sustainable growth ... Governments now have an opportunity to create and enforce policy which stimulates private competition to fund clean industry."

De Boer said a successful outcome to climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009 would create new markets, investment opportunities and job creation.

But he warned that "if available global capital is used primarily to refloat the financial world, we literally will sink the futures of the poorest of the poor.

"And I hope that the credit crunch will not mean that people in the South will have to wait for those in the North to have repaid their credit card debts and mortgages before attention is again turned to the South."

Without reaching out a hand to developing countries, it would be very difficult to make advances on the rest of the environmental agenda, De Boer said.

Environment ministers will meet in two months' time in Poznan, Poland, to prepare for the Copenhagen summit, which is due to agree on a new global-warming accord to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Ministers in Poznan must make clear they were "willing to put financial resources, the architecture, the institutions in place that will allow developing countries to engage in a global approach on both mitigation and adaptation," he said.

Funding did not have to all come from governments and he foresaw "an approach where we very much use the market".

De Boer said the financial crisis had not so far affected the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, which allows rich countries to offset their carbon footprints by investing in clean energy projects in developing countries.

"I don't see a slowdown in the CDM pipeline at the moment," he said.

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

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