Oil and coal mining firms pollute Balikpapan Bay

Nurni Sulaiman, The Jakarta Post 30 Jan 09;

The Balikpapan Bay is one of the city's landmarks, a place where foreign and domestic companies, mostly in the coal and oil sectors, have been carrying out their business for dozens of years.

It is also a place that traditional fishermen and small-scale businesses rely on for their livelihood.

However, the companies have not paid enough attention to the environment and the water quality in the Balikpapan Bay is deteriorating.

The Office of the State Minister of the Environment's Kalimantan Regional Environmental Management Center (PPLH) has noted that oil, gas and coal production had played a significant role in polluting the bay.

"The exceeded level of phenol indicated the presence of pollution caused by oil refineries and the coal oxidation process," B. Widodo, PPLH head, told The Jakarta Post.

Pollutants in the bay area also originated from domestic activities, pesticide use in agriculture, fuel leaks in ships and other activities using organic chemicals.

"Domestic waste has also contributed significantly to the problem," Widodo said.

"These activities have further increased the phenol, or the carbolic acidic level of water, indicating that spatial planning around the Balikpapan Bay should be reviewed immediately.

"The rising level of phenol is attributed to activities at the coal docks, oil refineries, domestic activities and shipping traffic."

The PPLH conducted a water quality analysis in the Balikpapan Bay on Dec. 6 last year and took water samples from a number of observation points, such as at the Semayang Port, the Penajam Port, Baru village and the oil refinery of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina.

According to Widodo, the water quality test referred to the Environmental Ministerial Decree No. 51/2004 on field parameters, comprising the water alkaline level, the turbidity, dissolved oxygen and temperature.

Based on lab tests, the turbidity and temperature at Pertamina's waste water cooling outlet had exceeded tolerable levels.

Analysis indicated that total suspended density (TSS) and phosphate content at every observation point had surpassed tolerable levels.

The highest concentration of TSS was at the Semayang Port and the highest concentration of phosphate was at Pertamina's waste outlet.

The high water temperature near Pertamina's waste outlet was caused by the high temperature of waste water that flows from their cooling towers into the sea.

"The oil refinery contributed to these environmental problems. Pertamina should improve its environmental management, especially its waste cooling system, which have made it harder for everyone to cope with this environmental damage," Widodo said.

He added that the high levels of TSS and phosphate at every observation point indicated a high level of pollutants, especially those from domestic waste.

He said the level of phosphate was a concern because it could cause algae booming, which has also occurred in the Jakarta Bay and reduced water quality by limiting oxygen content and decimating marine life.

"This is an early warning sign so stakeholders can coordinate with the local administration and other related agencies to prevent environmental damage," Widodo said.

Meanwhile, Balikpapan Pertamina spokesperson Fety said water quality at the oil refinery continued to meet the required standard.

"We always measure the water standard every day and report it to the Balikpapan Environmental Impact Management Agency," she said.

"The water quality still meets the port's standards and there are no leaks at the oil refinery or with the cooling process.

"However, we are grateful to the PPLH for the warning and we will take action immediately."

Fety added that Pertamina used the water standard parameter for the port while PPLH used the standard for marine tourism.

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Best of our wild blogs: 30 Jan 09

4 Feb (Wed): Get the latest update on Singapore reefs and beyond!
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Resident Black-winged Kite defending its territory
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Blue-tailed Bee-eater landing on a twig
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Seen on STOMP: Dead fish clog Toa Payoh waterway
on the Lazy Lizard's Tales blog also bird poop and fire and ash dumping and deadly falling leaves and ash dumping again.

How to eat live sotong if you have no hands?
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Sign Of The Times
curbing exotic lionfish on the Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets blog

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Kampong Buangkok: First World urbanites and their contempt for Third World urbanization

Telescopic Philanthropy
Sahil Mahtani City Journal 29 Jan 09;

Not only Seth Mydans, but countless other Singaporeans, have romanticized that stupid village

There are many ways to hate the tiny island nation of Singapore, but faulting it for overdevelopment is perhaps the cruelest. And when the New York Times makes the criticism, the cruelty slides into absurdity: a newspaper in America’s largest city is accusing Singapore of having too many buildings?

Earlier this year, Seth Mydans filed a report for the Times about Singapore’s redevelopment of its last village, a “secret Eden . . . hidden in trees among the massed apartment blocks, where a fresh breeze rustles the coconut palms and tropical birds whoop and whistle.” The village was “Singapore’s last rural hamlet, a forgotten straggler in the rush to modernize this high-rise, high-tech city-state,” wrote Mydans. “When it is gone, one of the world’s most extreme national makeovers will be complete.”

The editors titled the piece SINGAPORE PREPARES TO GOBBLE UP ITS LAST VILLAGE, and the accompanying picture showed a distraught woman standing amid unruly foliage, looking into the distance. “To make more space, neighborhoods are razed, landmarks are sacrificed and cemeteries—an inefficient use of land—are cleared away,” Mydans wrote, summing up Singapore’s long history of land reclamation. The reporter clearly considered this government-initiated redevelopment a bad thing, and he described villagers happy with their lot and wary of the vast anonymity of the beckoning city. In keeping with the Edenic vision, he noted that “snakes and lizards scurry through the undergrowth, and tiny fish swim in a tiny stream.”

The fish are a nice touch. As it happens, fish need water, which the flood-ridden, low-lying village, Kampong Buangkok, has in abundance. In fact, the settlement’s Malay name means “to lift a skirt,” in reference to raising one’s sarong to pass through floodwaters. Flash floods, it turns out, have long been a problem there: most recently, a multimillion-dollar drainage project was deemed not cost-effective for the village’s barely three dozen houses. And a tropical flood is not a cheerful affair. A Singapore paper recently told of a 47-year-old Kampong Buangkok resident suffering from kidney failure while struggling to build a brick wall to keep floodwaters out. Natural disasters are a constant presence in the literature on Kampong Buangkok, and before or after romanticizing the place, Mydans could have acknowledged them.

But perhaps doing so would have interfered with the reporter’s pre-industrial view of the village, a kind of garden-variety Rousseauism that willingly trades other people’s poverty for certain idealized notions of naturalness. The truth, as the history of floods indicates, is that life in Eden is often precarious. Disease is common—the Singapore government recently deemed the village’s surrounding area one of several “hotspots” in a recent dengue outbreak—and ambition is often stifled, which may explain why many young people have left in recent years. That’s another fact that Mydans neglected to mention, and it explains why the residents he spoke to wished to stay; all the others had left already. Redevelopment, of course, might solve some of these problems.

Mydans’s piece raises substantive issues that go far beyond Singapore. Pre-industrial romanticism plays a role in every debate about the meaning of progress, from drilling in protected spaces in Alaska to imposing a gas tax. As a general rule, participants in these discussions become more myopic the farther they are from the place under consideration. Alaskans have shown overwhelming support for drilling, for instance, but many Americans have been unwilling to follow suit. Ted Kennedy backs wind farms, so long as they aren’t anywhere near his Cape Cod mansion. Does anyone doubt that a village hamlet at the edge of Manhattan would be happily bulldozed?

Your idea of Eden, it seems, depends on where you stand. Singapore’s neighbors in Southeast Asia view it as an island of normality, with an honest civil service, good medical care, and a bright future. By contrast, First World sophisticates see Singapore as a bossy little republic-behemoth flattening everything in sight, only to produce sterile—no, “soulless”—apartment blocks and polluted air. The same disparagement often greets its doppelgänger Dubai, another emerging nation that’s allowing talent, freedom, and some semblance of normality to thrive. Many in the educated classes greet its rise with condescension and alarm, seeing the upstart emirate as a tacky and congested playground for the plutocracy. We will put aside the question of whether London or New York meets that description equally well, or whether those cities’ residents would have it any other way. The broader issue is the sheer loss of nerve about industrial development among those who have profited most from it.

The economic historian Joseph Schumpeter made this point back in the 1940s, warning of a fundamental contradiction in many thinkers’ opposition to capitalism. Because economic rationalism destroyed most of the underpinnings of civil society—village, clan, craft guild—and did not replace them with any similar organic enterprise, more and more people would eventually yearn for a kind of moral authority that capitalism could not provide, Schumpeter predicted. With little direct responsibility for practical affairs, intellectuals would be especially prone to this tendency; they could support vague moral or cultural ideas with few of the tradeoffs that ordinary people face. As a result, the bourgeoisie would underwrite its own gravediggers, subsidizing an intellectual class hostile to itself. Capitalism’s long-run benefits were very much worth fighting for, Schumpeter argued: for those outside the system, they provided a path in, and for everyone else, a constant improvement in living standards through innovation. But capitalism’s negative consequences—constant volatility and income disparity, to name two—would remain stark, and intelligent people would often fail to grasp its redeeming values. Defending capitalism, even in the best of times, would always be an uphill battle.

There’s much truth to this. After all, not only Seth Mydans, but countless other Singaporeans, have romanticized that stupid village. They’re welcome to enjoy the pre-industrial world—provided they choose to live in it. Many such places still exist in neighboring Malaysia, and rents, I hear, are cheap.

Sahil Mahtani is a reporter-researcher at the New Republic.

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Mystery over dead fish in canal

Straits Times 30 Jan 09;

DOZENS of dead fish were found in a canal off Balestier Road yesterday, though officials are not sure what killed them.
They were removed from the canal by two workers from Veolia Environmental Services who regularly clean the waterway, which cuts through the Central Expressway and ends at Marina Reservoir. The men said the number of dead fish has been rising over the past five days.

One passer-by was so shocked by the scene yesterday that she called The Straits Times. 'There were so many dead fish, I was afraid it was because of pollution. I have children who play around the area,' said Ms Chia Kum Ling, 39, who lives at the nearby Jalan Dusun estate.

A statement by national water agency PUB yesterday said investigations have revealed that the fish were mainly tilapia, and that water samples from the canal show water quality is normal. It said it would continue to monitor the situation.

Members of the public can call PUB's 24-hour call centre on 1800-284-6600 to provide feedback.

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No easy solution for strays in Singapore: AVA replies

A combination of measures are used to manageanimal population here

Today Online 30 Jan 09;

Letter from Goh Shih Yong
Assistant Director, Corporate Communications for Chief Executive Officer,
Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority

We refer to the article “The outspoken doc” (Jan 20).

Stray animal population control is a complex issue and there are no easy solutions.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is fully committed to ensuring animal health and welfare and has adopted a balanced approach in the management of strays.

For dogs, all must be licensed for the purpose of rabies control. Rabies is a disease fatal to man. It is endemic in this region. AVA culls stray dogs to manage the risk of rabies transmission should the disease be introduced into Singapore.

As all dogs, whether sterilised or not, are susceptible to rabies, sterilised strays should be properly homed and licensed, and not be returned to the environment.

For cats, AVA encourages sterilisation as a way to help prevent the proliferation of strays.

This alone, however, is not enough. It is a fact that stray cats, including sterilised ones, create numerous disamenities to the public, ranging from nuisance to hygiene concerns, even physical threat.

It is thus inevitable that culling has to be carried out as an additional measure to keep the stray population in check.

AVA and the Town Councils (TC) are open to working together with the community and the caregivers in looking at keeping the stray cat population manageable.

In any precinct, caregivers wanting to start a sterilisation programme for stray cats should approach and work with the TC, as the TC is in a better position to understand the concerns of the majority of its residents.

We believe, above all, that public education on responsible pet ownership is key to reducing the problem of strays.

To this end, AVA actively promotes and organises campaigns on responsible pet ownership. We are confident that with perseverance, there will be an improvement to the stray animals problem in the longer term.

We thank Dr Tan Chek Wee for his passion and commitment in helping in the management of stray cats in the community.

We are equally appreciative of the same effort put in by many other caregivers in their own communities.

While the AVA and TC will continue to work together with the community and the caregivers, we must also balance the interest of all sectors in the community, including those who are adversely affected by stray cats.

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Coffee shop vs temple over bees

Hive in Jurong West temple destroyed by NEA after coffee shop owner's complaint
Vivien Chan, The New Paper 30 Jan 09;

A BEE hive has become a stinging issue between a coffee shop owner and officials from a temple next door.

Madam Lim Siew Choo, 60, claims that swarm of bees have been flying into her coffee shop and that four people, including herself, have been stung.

But officials from the Jin Fu Gong Temple were reluctant to destroy the hive, which is at the top of one its external pillars. They said they do not believe in killing indiscriminately because the bees are harmless.

Madam Lim eventually contacted the National Environment Agency (NEA). Officers from the agency investigated the matter and found a bee hive within the temple's compound.

An NEA spokesman said that NEA officers advised the temple authorities to engage a pest control operator to destroy the bee hive. The temple authorities complied, and the bee hive was destroyed on 19 Jan.

Madam Lim said that about three weeks ago, hundreds of bees would fly into her Jurong West St 91 coffee shop, throughout the day.

She said: 'The bees terrorised my customers by buzzing around them. Some even landed on their cups or drink cans. It would get worse around lunchtime, when there are more drink cans on the tables.'

Two weeks ago, she decided that enough was enough when four people, including herself, got stung.

She said: 'I was waving off some bees that were irritating my customers when I got stung. I was not the only one who was attacked. The bees attacked small children too.'

According to Madam Lim, a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy were stung.

Luckily, no one fell sick from the sting. All four who were stung self-medicated and suffered nothing more than a swelling.

The fourth person who was stung was a coffee shop helper.

Madam Lim said that two years ago, a similar incident occurred, and she had called the NEA. It traced the bees to a bee hive to the Taoist temple next door.

She said that the temple complied when told to remove the hive then.

However, she added that after this incident, relations between her and the temple officials began to sour.

She claimed that a few months later, when she tried to enter the temple to offer incense, she was chased away. This was disputed by the temple officials.

That was why she refrained from pointing fingers at the temple this time. She said she decided to check her own coffee shop first.

Checked the roof

On 9 Jan, her husband climbed onto the roof of their coffee shop but did not find any hive there.

Then, that night, one of Madam Lim's workers saw the bees flying back into the temple. The worker told Madam Lim and she informed the NEA.

Her actions upset temple officials.

One of them, Mr Goh, in his late 60s, said that he had never quarrelled with Madam Lim.

'We didn't even have the chance to discuss or disagree because she went straight to NEA,' he said.

He said that there was no need to destroy the hive because the bees do not attack unless they were provoked.

Clearly upset when asked how he felt about the bees, he said: 'We believe that we should not harm anything that has life. These bees have been here for many years. Some of the devotees even said that the bees bring luck.'

However, he said that if the authorities insisted that the bee hive had to be removed, he would not oppose it.

An NEA spokesman said that the responsibility to remove bee hives lies with the owner or stakeholder of the premises or structures where the beehives are found.

If the owner refuses to remove the hive, the Director-General of Public Health may, in writing, require the owner or occupier of the premises to destroy the bees at his own expense. The owner could face a fine not exceeding $5,000 should he fail to comply.

When The New Paper visited the coffee shop last Friday morning, there were no bees buzzing about, though some customers said that they had seen the bees on their previous visits.

When we visited the temple, there was a different and smaller bee hive, about the size of a child's fist, outside the temple's compound.

That same evening, NEA activated its own pest control operator-contractor to destroy the second hive.

A customer at the coffee shop, who declined to be named, said that he saw the bees on a previous occasion but did not feel very threatened because he sat a distance away.

He added: 'If they attack, then the hive should be removed.'

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NEA monitoring recent dengue spike

Jessica Jaganathan, Straits Times 30 Jan 09;

SINGAPORE is keeping a close watch on dengue fever, with the number of deaths from the disease in neighbouring Malaysia doubling this month compared with the same period last year.

According to Malaysian news reports, dengue cases spiralled to 4,221 with 12 deaths in the first 23 days of this month, compared with 2,103 cases, including five deaths, during the corresponding period last year.

In Singapore, the number of dengue cases increased in the first three weeks over the same period last year.

A total of 509 people were infected, compared with 341 during the same period last year.

Last week, however, 126 people were infected, down from 144 cases in the previous seven days.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said it was monitoring whether the spike in cases in the first three weeks was due to short-term fluctuations, which are to be expected.

It added that while a surge in the number of cases in the region may have an impact on Singapore, 'there is at present no evidence to show that the recent rise in dengue cases in Malaysia could lead to a corresponding increase in cases in Singapore'.

An NEA spokesman said that Singapore's key strategy to prevent dengue outbreaks is still to keep the mosquito population low to reduce their chances of transmitting the disease.

'The weather in Singapore is conducive to Aedes mosquito breeding all year round. Therefore, it is important that we do not let our guard down,' she said.

Dengue cases usually follow a six to seven year cyclical trend, with each year surpassing the one before. Singapore is in the third year of a cycle that began in 2007.

Overall, while the rest of the region saw an upswing in cases last year, Singapore bucked the trend, recording 7,032 cases, compared with 8,826 in 2007, according to the NEA.

It said its integrated dengue control programme that combines laboratory work and surveillance with aggressive vector control worked to contain the disease last year and will continue to do so this year.

But with Singapore's proximity to dengue-endemic countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, a regional approach to eradicating dengue is important, said the head of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School's emerging infectious diseases research programme, Professor Duane Gubler.

He said: 'Yes, you can eliminate mosquitoes, but that is a major job. The best way is to use a regional approach.'

Last year, Singapore joined 21 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region to draw up an eight-year battle plan to combat the disease.

Search on for antibody to fight all strains
Straits Times 30 Jan 09;

A SINGAPORE scientist plans to use her US$1.5 million (S$2.2 million) research grant to study how antibodies produced by the body stop the dengue virus from entering cells.

Dr Lok Shee Mei, 35, from the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, received the grant from the National Research Foundation earlier this month. The grant is to be used over three years.

People infected with one of the four strains of the virus can fall sick again if exposed to a different strain.

Dr Lok is hoping to be the first person to develop an antibody that can fight all four strains.

Viruses can get into cells by latching on to specific structures on the cell surface and unlocking them.

Dr Lok has found a particular antibody that changes the locks so that the virus cannot bind to the cell any more.

She is researching whether this can be developed into a 'humanised' form to be injected into someone with dengue to help destroy the virus. Overseas studies have been done on tissue culture, but not on animals, as they do not fall sick with dengue.

Dr Lok expects the research to take up to five years.

She also plans to extend this research to chikungunya with fellow local scientists.

JESSICA JAGANATHAN

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Bird discovery shows China's ecological potential

Michael Casey, Associated Press Yahoo News 29 Jan 09;

BANGKOK, Thailand – A new species of the fist-sized, babbler bird has been found in network of underground caves in southwestern China, raising the prospect the country could become a hot spot for other new discoveries, a conservation group said Thursday.
Ornithologists Zhou Fang and Jiang Aiwu first spotted the dark bird, which has with white specks on its chest, in 2005 and have since confirmed its identity as an undescribed species. They named it the Nonggang babbler, or Stachyris nonggangensis, for the area of China in which they discovered it.

A formal description was published last year in The Auk, which is the quarterly journal of the Virginia-based American Ornithologists' Union.

"This is exciting evidence that there could be many more interesting discoveries awaiting ornithologists in China," said Birdlife International's Nigel Collar, which announced the discovery.

The new species resembles a wren-babbler of the genus Napothera in that it prefers running to flying, and seems to spend most of its time on the ground foraging for insects between rocks and under fallen leaves, Zhou said. About 100 Nonggang babblers have been identified so far in the Nonggang Natural Reserve in southwestern China.

A similar habitat exists straddling the border of northern Vietnam and southeast Yunnan, China, and it is possible the species may also be found there, Zhou said.

"I'm very pleased to be able to make some contribution to the ornithology research by discovering Stachyris nonggangensis," Zhou said in a statement. "The discovery shows that there are still some birds that haven't been (identified) yet in China, such a vast territory that is rich in biodiversity."

Xi Zhinong, the founder of conservation group Wild China, said he was "very glad, excited and surprised" when he learned about a new bird being found.

Xi said finds like Zhou's and Jiang's are likely to become even more common in China as laymen join professionals in the search for new species.

"In recent years, more and more bird lovers and photographers are participating in the research of wild birds," Xi said. "Without a doubt, the participation of those nonprofessionals has pushed forward the research of wildlife in China."

But Zhou warned the country's rapid development and worsening pollution could threaten many biologically rich areas like the karst — a network of limestone sinkholes marked by underground streams and caverns — before further discoveries are made.

"The fragility of the karst ecosystem and its destruction by people pose great threats to the bird's existence," he said. "Research and conservation of the birds in this habitat is very urgent."

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17 new reptile and amphibian species discovered in Tanzania

In pictures: Tanzania's toad haul
BBC News 29 Jan 09
This toad from the Nectophrynoides genus is one of 15 amphibian species in Tanzania that have been described for the first time. They were found during research led by UK conservation charity Frontiers.

17 new reptile and amphibian species discovered in Tanzania
mongabay.com 4 Jan 09

17 previously unknown species of reptiles and amphibians have been discovered in the rainforests of eastern Tanzania, report Italian and Tanzanian scientists.

Conducting surveys of the ‘virtually unexplored’ forests of the South Nguru Mountains between 2004 and 2006, Michele Menegon of the Natural Science Museum of Trento in Italy and colleagues recorded 92 species of ‘herps’, of which 17 had never before been documented. The new species — which include chameleons, tree frogs, and snakes, among others — are believed to be endemic to the region.

“These results, documenting the high species richness and the outstanding number of putative endemics of the forests, strongly highlight the biological importance of the South Nguru Mountains and place them among the most important sites for the conservation of herpetofauna in Africa,” wrote Menegon and Nike Doggart, a co-author of a report published in the journal Acta Herpetologica

The discoveries highlight the region’s rich biodiversity, but Menegon and Doggart, together with Nisha Owen of the Frontier Tanzania Forest Research Program in Dar es Salaam, warn that the ecosystem is already under threat from fire, logging, fuelwood collection, and clearing for agriculture including cardamom cultivation. Nevertheless the authors are encouraged by the efforts of a Tanzanian NGO, the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG), to work with local stakeholders to improve conservation planning in the region.

“Villagers and government have identified a series of actions required to address the issue of forest loss,” the authors write. “This includes a combination of direct forest management activities such as developing and implementing forest management plans and boundary demarcation; and activities aimed at reducing local people’s dependence on unsustainable activities such as the current methods of cultivating cardamom.

"The program represents an opportunity to reverse the current trend of forest loss and degradation. To succeed the program will need sustained commitment from the Government of Tanzania, civil society organizations, the local communities and development partners to conserve the unique biodiversity of this area," they conclude.

CITATION: Michele Menegon, Nike Doggart, Nisha Owen. The Nguru mountains of Tanzania, an outstanding hotspot of herpetofaunal diversity. Acta Herpetologica 3(2): 107-127, 2008

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Indonesian NGO backs villagers in fight against palm oil

Cecilia Castilla Yahoo News 29 Jan 09;

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (AFP) – Deep in the forests of Indonesian Borneo, a small environmental group is using education and common sense to arm villagers against the devastating onslaught of palm plantations.

Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia (Yayorin) was founded in 1991 with the goal of saving Indonesia's endangered orangutans and other wildlife as well as the forests that those species need to survive.

Since then the spread of palm oil plantations into forests and peatlands on Sumatra and Borneo islands have helped make Indonesia the world's third-highest greenhouse gas emitter, thanks partly to the craze for "eco-friendly" biofuels.

They have also wiped out habitats of threatened species like orangutans and Bornean clouded leopards.

But the plantations are also hurting people whose traditional communities depend on the forests and the biodiversity they contain, and that is where Yayorin director and founder Togu Simorangkir sees hope for change.

"We think that above all the problem of deforestation is human," said the 32-year-old biologist in Pangkalan Bun village in the heart of Central Kalimantan province.

"That's why 80 percent of our programme focuses on education. It's not enough just to give the message 'stop cutting down trees'. You have to explain the consequences of deforestation in the short and long term."

Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil, which is used in a range of products including soap, cooking oil and biodiesel.

Vast tracts of forest have already disappeared under palm plantations and the government is encouraging more despite its stated commitment to lowering greenhouse gas emissions by preserving the carbon stored in jungles.

In 1990 there were 1.1 million hectares (2.7 million acres) of land under palm oil plantation in Indonesia, according to official figures. This year there are 7.6 million hectares.

"We've heard some terrible stories," said Daryatmo, the chief of Tumbang Tura village in Central Kalimantan.

"Our neighbours (who sold their forested land to palm planters) can't grow ratan anymore or harvest rubber. Fishing is impossible because the river is polluted," he said.

"These are our principal sources of income. What kind of legacy are we going to leave our grandchildren?"

Lured by immediate "wealth" in the form of a few thousands dollars in cash, people in forest-dependent communities often are not aware of the consequences of selling out to the palm planters, Simorangkir said.

"Last year a plantation company offered a village two billion rupiah (176,000 dollars) to exploit its land. Every family calculated that that would bring them 30 million (2,640 dollars) each," he said.

"The village authorities sought our advice and we told them the consequences for the environment in the medium term. Despite the bait, they concluded by refusing the project."

The NGO followed up by helping the villagers improve their subsistence-level agriculture techniques, he said.

With projects spread across several villages as well as plantations, companies, schools and government agencies, Simorangkir said he hoped Yayorin could help make a difference in the battle to save Indonesia's forests.

But will such initiatives be enough to save the "man of the forest," the orangutan?

There are currently an estimated 40,000 wild orangutans on Borneo but the United Nations estimates there could be fewer than 1,000 by 2023.

Palm oil companies have been clearing orangutan habitats on Borneo despite signing up to voluntary standards under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a talking shop for industry and environmental groups.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association, in rejecting a moratorium on new plantations proposed by Greenpeace last year, argued that the RSPO standards were enough to protect the species.

But the Centre for Orangutan Protection says orangutans living outside Central Kalimantan's conservation areas could be wiped out within three years. Of the roughly 20,000 individuals in Central Kalimantan province, close to 3,000 die every year, it says.

"Their future is in the north of the Central Kalimantan region, which at the present time is preserved. The belt of palm oil plantations must not extend to the north," said Stephen Brend of Orangutan Foundation International.

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Deadly attacks shed light on Indonesia's human-animal conflicts

Yahoo News 29 Jan 09;

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) – A spate of recent deadly animal attacks in Indonesia has thrown the spotlight on growing conflicts between humans and animals triggered by the rapid dwindling of the country's forests.

In the latest attack, two women were trampled to death by a pair of elephants in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra island Tuesday after the elephants entered an illegally cleared field from nearby jungle.

The attack, from which another six villagers narrowly escaped with their lives, came just days after a rubber-tapper was reportedly killed by two rare Sumatran tigers as he urinated outside his hut in Jambi province, also on Sumatra.

The attacks are called human-animal conflicts, and they are a rising problem in Indonesia, an archipelago nation with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests and a swelling population of 234 million people.

As people spread into previously untouched forests, big animals such as tigers, elephants and orangutans are being robbed of the large habitats needed to sustain their populations, Arnold Sitompul, the head of environmental group Elephant Forum, told AFP.

"The main reason (for conflicts) is habitat loss. There is a lot of habitat loss going on in Indonesia for plantations, mining," Sitompul said.

Without their habitats, animals such as elephants turn up on newly settled areas at the forest's edge, devouring and trampling crops and terrorising villagers. The result is often deadly for both humans and animals.

"Elephants can tolerate some disturbances but if you go there and set up settlements it will lead to conflict... Why is that? Because elephants don't like humans and humans are scared of elephants, because they're big," Sitompul said.

Poisonings and shootings of animals in conflict areas are a common occurrence. At least 45 elephants were killed in mass poisonings between 2002 and 2006 in Sumatra's Riau province alone, according to environmental group WWF.

"In places like Aceh, conflict between humans and elephants and humans and tigers is increasing," said WWF forest program director Ian Kosasih, who added that there are no solid figures on how many conflicts are happening nationwide.

"In some areas you can't say it's increasing but it's still there ... I'm sure it's not getting better anywhere."

Sumatra island, blanketed in forests until just decades ago, is the hotspot for the clash between humans, elephants and tigers, Kosasih said.

Kalimantan on Indonesia's half of Borneo island is the centre of a more uneven conflict, with the killing of orangutans who stray onto rapidly expanding palm oil plantations and farms.

Local governments and non-governmental organisations are working hard to mitigate the conflicts, but so far have met with mixed success.

In response to the most recent attack in Aceh, the local conservation authority sent a team of 15 people -- and four tame elephants -- to scare the wild elephants back into the jungle.

But such measures, which in the case of elephants also include techniques such as planting barriers of acacia trees and spiky shrubs, are only a stop-gap so long as forest habitats are being destroyed, Aceh conservation agency head Andi Basrul said.

"If we don't all together protect the forest, then it will be difficult to overcome the elephant attacks, because it is their homes that are being interfered with," Basrul said.

"If, for comparison, it were our homes and yards that were being destroyed, of course we'd be angry. It's the same with elephants."

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350,000 deer must be culled in UK each year

An annual cull of 350,000 deer is needed to keep the population under control to prevent the growing number of accidents on the roads and damage to the countryside.
Nick Britten, The Telegraph 29 Jan 09;

The deer population in Britain has risen sharply in recent years and is now between 1.5 and 2 million.

The boom in numbers has lead to an increasing number of motorists being injured in collisions with the animals on the road.

They are also causing damage to the countryside.

Now conserviationists say a cull is the only viable option.

Ashdown Forest, in East Sussex, which has several thousand Fallow Deer, about two dozen Roe Deer, large numbers of Muntjac and a small herd of Sika, has the highest number of deer-vehicle collisions in Britain.

In 2000 rangers attended 100 collisions involving deer compared to 266 in 2008, despite having fewer staff in 2008. The actual number of collisions is believed to be around 500 a year.

Dr Hew Prendergast, Clerk to the Conservators of Ashdown Forest, said: "The damage the deer are doing in the countryside and the numbers of casualties there are on the roads mean that something must be done.

No-one wants to blast deer to kingdom come for the hell of it but its better to have them killed humanely and sensitively than to let them die in agony on the side of a road."

He added: "The logistics of fencing off all the roads are impossible really to consider so a reduction of the population as a whole needs to be done."

Peter Watson, executive director of the Deer Initiative, said to keep the deer population static, 25 per cent needed to be culled every year.

With the deer population in Britain rising to up to two million, that requires around 350,000 deer to be culled.

Mr Watson said: "The impact of DVCs is far too high in relation to the number of deer. Deers have value but in some areas there are too many accidents and the balance is wrong."

Culling is not seen as the only answer but is hugely effective.

A culling programme in Herefordshire in 2005 reduced the number of DVC on the A49 from 50 to zero the following year.

Mr Watson added: "Sometimes it's the only way. There is no doubt that if you significantly reduce the deer population you can influence road traffic accidents."

DVC hotspots include Ashdown Forest, The New Forest, Thetford Forest in Norfolk and Cannock Chase, Staffs.

Trevor Banham, Chief Wildlife Ranger for the Forestry Commission East of England, said at Thetford Forest, which has a deer population of around 14,000, they cull 25 per cent every year to keep numbers down.

Forced to deal around 200 DVCs, he said there was no need for an extra cull.

He added: "We do have accidents but deer are wild animals. You can't fence them in."

Deer by numbers:

100 - types of deer worldwide

310 - the number of degrees a deer can see thanks to eyes on the side of its head

40 - miles per hour, the average speed a deer can run

200 - the number of days a deer is pregnant for

20 - years, the average life expectancy

2 - the average sized litter

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Seed Bank For The World Threatened By Financial Crisis

Georgina Cooper, PlanetArk 30 Jan 09;

ARDINGLY - A seed bank that is trying to collect every type of plant in the world is now under threat from the global financial crisis, its director says.

The Millennium Seed Bank Project aims to house all the 300,000 different plant species known to exist to ensure future biodiversity and protect a vital source of food and medicines, director Paul Smith said.

The project is on track to collect 10 percent of the total by 2010 but the financial crisis is drying up funding, casting serious doubts on future collections, he said.

About half the funding comes from the National Lottery and the rest from corporate donations.

But with businesses tightening their belts in the economic downturn and preparation for the 2012 London Olympics sapping lottery money, the pot is about to run dry.

Smith hopes government money and international groups will come through with the nearly 10 million pounds per year needed to keep the bank going. But if that does not happen, new collections and research will stop, he said.

"We would say that this is an exceptional bank and that the assets within it, the capital that we have built up, is unique and we can't squander this," Smith told Reuters Television during a tour of the facility south of London.

Each seed costs about 2,000 pounds to collect and store.

The Millennium Seed Bank Project is the only project of its kind in the world which aims to collect and conserve all the planet's wild plant diversity, Smith said.

Human activities, such as clearing forests, have put flora and fauna at risk. Because most of the world's food and medicines come from nature, protecting plant species is critical, scientists say.

For example, it was only 30 years ago that Catharanthus roseus, a small pink plant also known as the Madagascan periwinkle, was found to contain compounds used in cancer drugs.

"Thirteen million hectares of forest are cleared every year -- that's an area the size of England -- and of course the plant species which occur there are going the same way," Smith said.

There are 1,400 other seed banks in the world that store about 0.6 percent of the world's plant diversity. The Millennium Project run by Kew Gardens -- one of the world's oldest botanical gardens -- aims to collect the rest, he said.

Managing the deposits involves far more than simply filing them away for safekeeping. Seeds from across the globe arrive at the bank in packets of all sizes, where they are catalogued, tested and experimented on.

They are separated from husks, cleaned and dried again before final storage in an underground vault at minus 20 degrees Celsius, where they can last for up to thousands of years. The vaults are designed to withstand a nuclear accident.

A third of the planet's plants are categorized as threatened with extinction, which could have dramatic effects on human life, trade and the environment, Smith said.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Angus MacSwan)

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Grains of truth about price rises

Tion Kwa, Straits Times 30 Jan 09;

RECENT declines in the price of food are temporary. Once we recover from the economic crisis and fuel prices rise again, food costs will spiral into higher orbits. The future is ominous; this is no time to stop worrying about food security.

And so on. All courtesy of a report this month by Chatham House, a research institution in Britain. And all of it blindingly obvious.

The report's preamble, however, was meant only as a hook to more substantive sections on what governments should do to forestall another rise in food prices. Too bad that many news reports went no further than the sensational, though strictly pedestrian, preamble. If they had bothered to look into the background, they might have discovered some interesting issues over the shorter term that would affect food prices.

The food item that's most important is rice. In middle-income countries, more expensive rice will strain family budgets during already difficult times; in poorer parts, it can be a disaster. Of course, prices now are nowhere near levels where they caused riots last year. And in the foreseeable future, it's unimaginable that they would reach those highs of around US$1,000 (S$1,500) a tonne. But that doesn't mean prices will stay moderate.

The irony is that while financial-world speculation helped drive prices up last year, and then down again when wholesale deleveraging brought the cost of everything to floor level, the credit crisis once again is about to influence the price of rice. And consumers won't be happy with the outcome.

First, when rice was fetching higher and higher prices, farmers rushed to plant more of the crop. The higher price of fertiliser and pesticide - caused by the then-increasing cost of fuel - would be more than offset by higher returns after harvesting.

But when crop prices began to falter, as did fuel prices, fertiliser and crop protection costs did not fall into line immediately. Small-farm operators in the developing world then reacted by reducing their use of inputs.

Tight credit conditions didn't help either, as farmers now not only had difficulties getting loans, but also had to pay more for credit when they got it. So farmers used even less fertiliser and pesticide. As a consequence of all this, yields are expected to decline.

What often is insufficiently acknowledged is that the ability of farmers to get and pay for agricultural chemicals is crucial to the well-being of a vast number of people for whom food expense is the largest part of their budget - the poor.

For despite all the fuss about organic farming, this is really an indulgence of the rich, the privileged and those excruciatingly irritating foodies. There isn't enough manure in the world to grow enough food for every mouth that needs feeding. Nor for that matter is a tonne of horse, cow, pig or whatever dropping as efficient as a tonne of chemical fertiliser.

And neither can anything nature provide be as effective against weed, insects and infection as chemical crop protection. 'Sustainable agriculture' is great advertising, but it can't come up with enough calories for six billion people.

Agricultural chemicals are the bulwark against hunger, and ultimately against ever-higher prices. Estimates are that without chemicals to protect crops, we would need to increase the size of land under cultivation by 65-200 per cent, depending on the crop, to harvest as much food as we get now. This is particularly important to rice farmers, who are more often small cultivators in the developing world. If they can't afford chemicals, they can't produce enough of the staple on which half the world depends.

Right now, these farmers are being pinched. And if they get squeezed harder, they will plant even less. A combination of reduced yield and less planting would then put fresh pressure on prices.

Of course, prices can be mitigated by ending the export bans that some countries imposed last year. Still, restrictions have greater impact pushing up costs than their removal has on reducing prices. Moreover, there is the likelihood that demand could rise as countries like China, which had been consuming more meat, begin to bulk up on starch again as a result of the economic crisis.

Even without these considerations, supply and demand conditions have long been finely balanced. Changes to either side of the equation could vastly alter the maths. For example, a deal by the Philippines earlier this month for a million tonnes of rice from Vietnam sent prices up about 5 per cent in the latter's market.

The upshot is that farmers deserve a little more attention and assistance than they've been getting, particularly in the past four months. Otherwise, a credit and economic crisis might spark a problem even more elemental. And that, by the way, was basically the point of the Chatham House report.

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How Green Is My Wallet? Organic Food Growth Slows

Nigel Hunt and Brad Dorfman, PlanetArk 30 Jan 09;

LONDON/CHICAGO - As recession drives consumers to cut costs, their commitment to organic food has been tested with sales growth slowing -- but so far, sales are not falling. How green are our wallets?

Grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, organic food has been booming, driven by claims it is healthier, tastes better and its production does less damage to the environment than conventional agriculture.

The global market for organic food and beverages was worth $22.75 billion in 2007, after more than doubling in five years, according to market research firm Euromonitor International. The United States accounted for about 45 percent of that total.

With economies in crisis, the trend is slowing in the United States, Britain, France and Europe's most important market for organic food, Germany. So far, Britain is the market tipped for a fall as shrinking incomes force the newly green to save money.

Typical growth rates of 20 to 30 percent for organic food sales in the United States eased in the second half of 2008 as middle- and upper-income families felt the strain of layoffs and declining investment portfolios, said Tom Pirovano, director of industry insights at market research firm The Nielsen Co.

Sales in December were up 5.6 percent, year on year, against a 25.6 percent rise a year earlier.

Even though growth is slowing, Pirovano noted that most people who purchased organic foods were very committed.

"I'm not convinced that we are going to see big declines in organics any time soon," he said.

Nielsen data measures packaged foods with bar codes at many retail outlets. Discount retailer Wal-Mart does not participate in the market research.

Late on a Friday in London's South Kensington, shoppers at the Whole Foods store owned by the U.S.-based organic and natural foods supermarket were sparse.

"I always try to buy organic if I can. But I definitely have cut back," said Mary Boynton, 20, adding that she buys more organic produce from supermarkets which have a cheaper offer.

Shares in Whole Foods Market Inc. have been on a broadly weakening trend since 2006 and trades around $11, down from nearly $80 in late 2005.

But Michael Besancon of Whole Foods, which claims the world-leading slot in the sector with more than 270 stores in North America and Britain, says there is a hard core.

"It is not a fad," said Besancon, the company's senior global vice-president of purchasing, distribution and marketing. "I'm 62 and my mother is still waiting for me to shave my beard and stop eating organic food. That isn't going to happen."

Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association, said occasional buyers of organic produce were cutting back, but regular buyers were lightening up on processed food in favor of organic whole fruits, vegetables and meats.

"They are trying to stretch their money but they are not willing to stop buying organic," he said. "We think in the long run the prognosis is good. The energy crisis and climate change can only really be addressed with organic production."

Wholefoods' Besancon argued consumers were treating organic purchases differently from those of other premium products.

"When you buy organic you believe it is inherently better for you and the planet," he said. "Who can afford to get sick? So people are becoming more introspective about what they eat. There is growth in the category. It is just less than it was."

GERMAN CARROT SHORTAGE

If the relative cost of healthcare is one significant factor keeping well-educated Americans with organic produce, in Germany producers argue organic foods are being helped out of a niche into the mainstream.

Growth in Germany's organic food sales in 2008 to 5.8 billion euros did slow to about 10 percent, the German organic food industry association BOLW estimates.

This compared with 14 percent growth booked in 2007.

Alexander Gerber, the association's chief executive, argued that Germany's giant discount food supermarket chains were increasingly introducing organic food, which was underpinning the market.

Germany had a shortage of organic carrots in 2008 as major discounter Aldi suddenly introduced them into its product range, buying up most available supplies, Gerber said.

"Consumers want healthy food produced in an environmentally friendly and humane way," Gerber said. "They are not simply throwing this concept overboard because of the difficult economic times."

In France, the sector continued to grow last year and the head of "Agence Bio," the main organic food group gathering officials and producers, said she was confident it would continue to do so, albeit more slowly, in 2009.

"For the moment sales are keeping up, consumers are still interested and demand is rising," said Elisabeth Mercier.

Although official data will not be available until next month, she said her comments were based on wide and recent contacts with producers, specialist shops and supermarkets.

"In Europe, apart maybe from the U.K. where the market seems more fragile, I do not believe there will be a drop in consumption this year although growth rates may be less spectacular," Mercier said.

DEEP GREENS

In Britain, growth in sales of organic products has slowed dramatically, to an annual rate of about 2 percent from 16 percent, according to Nielsen data for the year to early November 2008.

"What I would expect is for this year to see a small single- digit decline for organics," said Jonathan Banks, U.K-based business insight director with Nielsen.

The challenge boils down to quality. "Organic producers must show their products taste better, are more nutritious and better for the environment. If they tick all those boxes they can sustain a (price) premium," he said.

In the London Whole Foods store, shopper Jonathan Daniels agreed. "Eventually, it has got to hit home. I think I'll cut back," he said, checking his mobile phone near the cheese display, a pack of green beans tucked under his arm.

"It all hinges on: 'Is organic all it's reputed to be? Is it really better for you?'"

Patrick Holden, director of Britain's leading organic certification body the Soil Association, said he was getting mixed reports, with some consumers switching from organic to cheaper free-range products.

Demand for many products is, however, holding up well: some are benefiting from growing demand for locally produced food.

"Organic food with a local story is bucking the recession," he said. "This recession has destabilized things a little, but not catastrophically."

Holden said about 20 percent of organic food sales were vulnerable, being bought by "light green" purchasers who had been influenced by the actions of other consumers.

These he contrasted with the "deep greens" -- who make up 80 percent of demand and are committed to the benefits for health and the environment.

"Storm and tempest won't affect their buying habits," he said. "I think that rump of committed consumers are with us to stay."

(Editing by Sara Ledwith)

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Arctic's thaw brings security risks for NATO

David Stringer, Associated Press Yahoo News 29 Jan 09;

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – NATO will need a military presence in the Arctic as global warming melts frozen sea routes and major powers rush to lay claim to lucrative energy reserves, the military bloc's chief said Thursday.

NATO commanders and lawmakers meeting in Iceland's capital said the Arctic thaw is bringing the prospect of new standoffs between powerful nations.

"I would be the last one to expect military conflict — but there will be a military presence," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters. "It should be a military presence that is not overdone, and there is a need for political cooperation and economic cooperation."

The opening up of Arctic sea routes once navigable only by icebreakers threatens to complicate delicate relations between countries with competing claims to Arctic territory — particularly as exploration for oil and natural gas becomes possible in once inaccessible areas.

De Hoop Scheffer said negotiations involving Russia, NATO and other nations will be key to preventing a future conflict. The NATO chief is expected to meet Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov next week for talks.

The United States, Russia and Canada are among the countries attempting to claim jurisdiction over Arctic territory alongside Nordic nations. Analysts say China is also likely to join a rush to capture energy reserves.

"Several Arctic rim countries are strengthening their capabilities, and military activity in the High North region has been steadily increasing," de Hoop Scheffer told delegates.

Some scientists predict that Arctic waters could be ice-free in summers by 2013, decades earlier than previously thought. De Hoop Scheffer said trans-Arctic routes are likely to become an alternative to passage through the Suez or Panama canals for commercial shipping.

"Climate change is not a fanciful idea, it is already a reality, a reality that brings with it certain new challenges, including for NATO," de Hoop Scheffer said.

The NATO chief said an upsurge in energy exploration — and the likelihood of more commercial ships needing emergency rescue — would require a larger NATO presence in the Arctic.

"The end of the Cold War resulted in a marked reduction in military activity in the High North — Iceland would like it to stay that way," Iceland's outgoing Prime Minister Geir Haarde told the conference.

Haarde tendered his resignation Monday amid the country's economic crisis and said the one-day conference was among his final duties before he steps down on Saturday.

Lee Willett, head of the maritime studies program at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based military think tank, said that as routes open up, warships from nations seeking to defend claims on energy resources will follow.

"Having lots of warships, from lots of nations who have lots of competing claims on territory — that may lend itself to a rather tense situation," Willett said. "We may see that flash points come to pass there more readily than elsewhere in the world."

Russia and Canada have already traded verbal shots over each other's intentions in the Arctic, and Canada has beefed up its military presence in the region, announcing plans to build a new army training center and a deep-water port in contested Arctic waters. Norway, the U.S. and Denmark also have claims in the vast region, while Russian President Dmitry Medvedev seeks to lay claim to Arctic territory the size of France.

Six people were arrested on Wednesday outside the Reykjavik conference venue — two for burning a NATO flag. Many Icelanders oppose the volcanic island's membership in the military bloc, fearing it compromises the nation's independence.

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Snow Study Shows California Faces Historic Drought

Clare Baldwin, PlanetArk 30 Jan 09;

SAN FRANCISCO - A new survey of California winter snows on Thursday showed the most populous state is facing one of the worst droughts in its history, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said.

The state, which produces about half the United States' vegetables and fruit, is in its third year of drought and its main system supplying water to cities and farms may only be able to fulfill 15 percent of requests, scientists said.

The snowpack on California's mountains is carrying only 61 percent of the water of normal years, according to the survey by the state Department of Water Resources. Last year the snowpack held 111 percent of the normal amount of water, but spring was the driest ever recorded.

"California is headed toward one of the worst water crises in its history, underscoring the need to upgrade our water infrastructure by increasing water storage, improving conveyance, protecting the (Sacramento) Delta's ecosystem and promoting greater water conservation," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

"We may be at the start of the worst California drought in modern history," added Water Resources Director Lester Snow in a separate statement.

Schwarzenegger has pushed for new dams and reservoirs to catch melting snow which feeds rivers, although environmentalists have opposed the measures. The Sierra snowpack alone provides two thirds of California's water supply.

December through January tend to be the wettest months but thus far the Sierra has only received one third of its expected annual snowfall.

"A third of normal is devastating," said Elissa Lynn, a meteorologist with the state. "January is the biggest month for precipitation in the Sierra."

"Climate change does indicate the possibility of more frequent droughts," said Lynn, "but it's hard to tell over a short time span."

This year ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific are cooler than normal in a weather system called La Nina. In northern California, that means less precipitation. Last year was also a La Nina year, but precipitation didn't slow until March and April.

"This could be a crisis situation," said Lynn. "In addition to conservation and rationing we could be paying higher prices for produce." Lynn said that some farmers have left fields unplanted based on expected lack of water.

Twenty-five local water agencies are already mandating rationing. The state Department of Water Resources is arranging water transfers through its Drought Water Bank program and expects to release a full snowpack runoff forecast in two weeks.

(Editing by Peter Henderson and Eric Walsh)

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Australian Heatwave Sign Of Climate Change

Michael Perry, PlanetArk 30 Jan 09;

SYDNEY - A heatwave scorching southern Australia, causing transport chaos by buckling rail lines and leaving more than 140,000 homes without power, is a sign of climate change, the government said on Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a total of six days of 40-plus Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) temperatures for southern Australia, which would equal the worst heatwave in 100 years.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the heatwave, which started on Wednesday, was the sort of weather scientists had been warning about.

"Eleven of the hottest years in history have been in the last 12, and we also note, particularly in the southern part of Australia, we're seeing less rainfall," Wong told reporters.

"All of this is consistent with climate change, and all of this is consistent with what scientists told us would happen."

The maximum temperature in southern Australia on Thursday was 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 Fahrenheit) in four towns.

While uncomfortable for residents in towns and some of Australia's biggest cities, the heatwave was seen as having little effect on Australia's commodities-driven economy, with the worst of the weather away from the nation's grain belt.

Health officials in South Australia and Victoria states have advised people to stay indoors, use air conditioners and keep up fluid intake. More than 140,000 homes were without power in southern Australia as the heat took its toll on the power grid.

National power regulator NEMCO told electricity companies to start load-shedding, temporarily taking customers off power to lighten the load.

In Melbourne, which recorded its hottest day in 70 years at 44 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, rail lines buckled and trains were canceled, stranding thousands of hot and angry commuters.

Free bottled water was handed out to train travelers in Adelaide to help them cope with the delays and heat.

The heatwave forced the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne to suspend outside matches, with officials closing the retractable roof over the main stadium for the past two days.

Australia is one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change due to its hot, dry climate and is already gripped by drought. Fire bans have been declared in southern Australia to prevent major bushfires but small fires are already burning.

The extreme temperatures were threatening Melbourne's parks and gardens, said Mayor Robert Doyle, who announced an increase in water supplies to counter a 40 percent drop in soil moisture.

"The signs are there that our precious trees are struggling in this brutal weather," said Doyle.

Melbourne has 60,000 trees in its parks and streets and officials said they were most concerned about 15,000 trees growing in irrigated turf.

"Our parks staff have indicated a number of trees are defoliating and canopies are thinning. Once defoliation takes place it is very hard to save the tree," said Doyle.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said the public transport breakdowns underscored the need to upgrade the nation's aging transport infrastructure to cope with climate change.

"Taxpayers deserve public transport infrastructure that's resilient and able to withstand the changing climate," he said.

(Editing by Paul Tait)

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U.S. Global Warming Satellite Seeks Missing Carbon

Peter Henderson, PlanetArk 30 Jan 09;

SAN FRANCISCO - The United States next month will launch a satellite to study global warming by measuring carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- and search for some the climate-changing pollutant scientists cannot find.

Carbon dioxide is the main cause of global warming. Burning fossil fuels and deforestation has shot concentrations to levels that are causing global alarm about a changing climate, but measurement of the gas outside Europe and the United States is spotty -- and sometimes limited to closing a jar of air and mailing it to a lab, NASA said on Thursday.

Scientists, meanwhile, cannot figure out where all the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere goes, a critical detail for forecasting the speed and reach of pollution's effect on climate. After vehicles and factories release the gas into the air, the world's oceans and land absorb much of it.

"While we understand approximately how much carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere each year due to human influences, we can only account for about half of the carbon dioxide that doesn't remain in the atmosphere," Eric Ianson, National Aeronautics and Space Administration program director for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, told a news conference.

The $278 million program launches its satellite on February 23. Over two years the satellite will cover the earth every 16 days. Each 16-days sweep will take 8 million measurements.

Japan this month launched its own satellite to measure carbon dioxide and methane, another greenhouse gas. Both launches come as about 190 nations try to agree on a successor climate change treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which binds wealthy nations -- not including the United States -- to emissions targets through 2012.

NASA described the Japanese and U.S. satellites as using different technology, flying in different orbits, and had slightly different missions -- the Japanese satellite is more focused on monitoring sources of carbon dioxide for treaties, while the U.S. effort focuses on where the gas goes.

The U.S. technology measures light bounced off the planet. Carbon dioxide absorbs light in some frequencies, so that the less light detected, the higher the concentration of carbon.

"What we want to understand is exactly why and how and where these sinks of carbon from the atmosphere to the oceans and plants are taking place. And the reason we want to know this is we want to be able to better predict how these sinks or these outtakes will evolve in the future," mission scientist Anna Michalak said at the news conference.

(Editing by Stacey Joyce)

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Clean Energy Spending Needs To More Than Triple: Report

PlanetArk 30 Jan 09;

DAVOS - Clean energy investment needs to more than triple to $515 billion a year to stop planet-warming emissions reaching levels deemed unsustainable by scientists, the World Economic Forum said in a report on Thursday.

The hefty investments required in renewable energy sectors such as solar and wind energy need to be made between now and 2030, the report, which was co-written by research group New Energy Finance, said.

"Clean energy opportunities have the potential to generate significant economic returns," the World Economic Forum said in a statement accompanying the report.

Clean energy investments were $155 billion last year, up from $30 billion in 2004 but still far below the $515 billion the report's authors say is needed to combat climate change.

Eight sectors are expected to contribute to the shift toward green energy, the report said. They include onshore wind, offshore wind, photovoltaic solar power, solar thermal energy, municipal solar waste-to-energy, sugar-based ethanol, cellulosic and other second-generation biofuels and geothermal power.

Also on Thursday, top climate change officials including Yvo de Boer of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change urged governments to use a portion of fiscal stimulus packages to invest in clean energy.

The also warned against complacency in UN climate talks. Governments from around the world will meet in Copenhagen later this year to try to reach a deal to replace the Kyoto protocol, which sets targets for cutting carbon emissions.

(Editing by Simon Jessop)

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BP's Hayward Says World Needs A Carbon Price

Denis Balibouse, PlanetArk 30 Jan 09;

DAVOS - The world must establish a price for carbon emissions as part of the drive to ensure diverse and secure energy supplies, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said on Thursday.

"We need the world to put a price on carbon," he told the World Economic Forum.

Carbon pricing involves penalizing every ton of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, whether using a carbon tax or a carbon market which allocates a fixed quota of emissions permits which countries or companies must redeem permits for every ton of emissions.

The idea is to tilt competitiveness in favor of clean energy compared to carbon-emitting fossil fuels.

Businesses broadly favor carbon markets because they view these as more flexible than a tax.

A European Union scheme has come under mounting criticism for handing out most emissions permits for free instead of forcing businesses to pay for them, thereby actually benefiting many polluters.

European utilities are earning up to 20 billion euros ($26.16 billion) annually in windfall profits from the EU emissions trading scheme, analysts estimate, by passing on the cost of free permits to electricity consumers, a practice the EU will stamp out from 2013 in western Europe.

Oil refiners also benefit, where their allocation of free permits is broadly in line with their emissions.

Recession has cut industrial output and increased surpluses of free permits which some factories have started dumping on the European carbon market in the past two months to raise cash.

(Editing by Gerard Wynn and Sue Thomas)

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Davos: "Green" Energy Sought As Fix For Economy And Planet

Nichola Groom and Ben Hirschler, PlanetArk 29 Jan 09;

DAVOS - Investments and policies to combat climate change will put the world economy on the road to recovery and help cool the planet in the process, delegates at the World Economic Forum said on Wednesday.

Although the meeting is dominated by the global recession, climate change is a central issue for policymakers and business leaders who want to reduce reliance on dirty and imported fossil fuels and support growing industries capable of creating jobs.

"Climate change in some ways is more in the center," said Frances Beinecke, president of U.S. environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Designing a new energy future is much more central to the conversation than it was in the past, where it was considered sort of an add-on."

If there is any optimism around the potential for aggressive new environmental policies and big investments in renewables to create "green collar jobs," U.S. President Barack Obama could be given much of the credit.

Money for solar and wind power projects, which flowed at a booming rate for most of the last two years, dried up at the end of last year because of the credit crunch and a fall in the price of oil that dampened investor interest in green energy.

Obama, however, has committed to making clean energy and efficiency part of his $825 billion economic stimulus package.

"The bad news for us is the very low oil prices that we see right now, but... we are very encouraged by what we hear Obama say," said Steen Riisgaard, chief executive of Denmark's Novozymes, a maker of enzymes for ethanol production.

The International Energy Agency said all governments should also seek to green their stimulus plans.

"If governments are spending money for a stimulus package, why not spend it on renewables?" IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said. "It stimulates the economy short term and in the long term it's sustainable. You kill two birds with one stone."

But many energy projects are unlikely to be finished quickly. Analysts have said Obama's plan to upgrade the nation's power grid, for example, faces lengthy approval processes.

LOW-CARBON GROWTH

Some delegates cautioned against believing that emissions are declining because of recession-invoked cutbacks at factories.

"That shouldn't give us a cause for celebration," Steve Howard, CEO of environmental organization The Climate Group, said. "When the economy gets going, emissions will start to rise. All growth needs to be low-carbon."

In addition to his stimulus plan, Obama pledged earlier this week to start reversing former President George W. Bush's environmental policies with steps to allow states to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars.

Environmentalists described the move as a sea change in U.S. policy. Under Bush, Europeans viewed the United States as a roadblock to global action on climate change.

Even so, some environmentalists said Obama's plans do not go far enough.

Obama wants to cut U.S. emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020, but South African environment minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said this fell far short of the cuts needed.

"It's still way off 25-40 percent but at least the signs are encouraging," he said.

Many d3legates said they expected the momentum to continue.

Jim Rogers, chief executive of U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp, said he expected legislators and the new U.S. government to push forward with plans for mandatory cuts in emissions through a cap-and-trade scheme.

"If legislation gets passed in 2009, then the 'ready' period could be two to four or three to five years," he said. "That squares up well with the end of Kyoto."

The first period of the Kyoto protocol, which set targets for cutting carbon emissions, expires in 2012. Governments from around the world will meet in Copenhagen at the end of this year to try an agree a deal to replace it.

For full coverage, blogs and TV from Davos go to www.reuters.com/davos

(Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Davos: A Green New Deal for a Post-Crisis World
UNEP 29 Jan 09;

This year's World Economic Forum has brought together world leaders to dicuss the ongoing economic crisis and shape the global post-crisis agenda, with a focus on economic reform and climate change.

The meeting, which takes place in Davos (Switzerland) until 1 st February, brings together more than 2,500 people – a number unparalleled in the Forum's forty-year history – including 40 heads of state, senior UN officials, including the Secretary General, and 1,400 business leaders and civil society representatives.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), is urging delegates to embrace a transition to a low carbon Green Economy.

Davos comes in advance of a meeting next week with senior economists in New York where Mr Steiner will discuss and flesh out an a response the the immediate economic crisis via UNEP's Global Green New Deal initiative.

The report will be launched at the upcoming UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum taking place in Nairobi from 16 to 20 February.

The Global Green New Deal, seeks to mobilize and refocus the global economy towards investment in clean technologies and natural infrastructure to combat climate change and trigger a green employment boom, which may provide sustainable solutions to benefit both the economy and the environment in the twenty-first century.

So far the US, China, the Republic of Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan have announced 'green deals' and the G-20 meeting in April in London is looking to a low carbn future.

Catalyzing Resources for a Low Carbon Economy

One of the sessions in Davos on Wednesday, entitled 'Catalysing Resources for a Low Carbon Economy', brought together experts from industry, finance and policy to discuss practical innovations that can help stimulate the finance and technology flows required to make low-carbon investments scalable and create a viable carbon market.

In his address to participants at the session, Achim Steiner pointed out the importance of tackling the issue of climate finance in order to help the private sector play a more dynamic role in mobilizing the necessary international investment and technology flows needed to help move the world to a low-carbon economy. He said it was necessary to encourage public-private initiatives that aim at helping international institutions address finance and technology issues more adequately.

Speakers at the session included former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Yvo De Boer, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group.

Shaping the Message About Climate Change

The role of the media in raising awareness about climate change in the build-up to the UN Climate talks in Copenhagen, was discussed on Thursday 29 in a workshop entitled 'Shaping the Message about Climate Change'.

The workshop brought together leaders from the media and entertainment industry as well as other business sectors, international organizations, academia and NGOs to discuss improved communications around the climate change agenda.

The aim of the workshop is to gain consensus and support for a global communications programme which will be rolled out during 2009 with the support of the UN Secretary-General, and that will build momentum for a positive outcome at the UN climate meeting in Copenhagen in 2009.

Addressing the session, Steiner referred to the UN-wide campaign 'UNite to Combat Climate Change', launched in November 2008, which calls on UN entities, governments, civil society, businesses and industries to support the call for a post-2012 definitive agreement on climate change. The campaign urges world leaders to reach an inclusive, comprehensive and ratifiable deal during the Copenhagen talks in December 2009.

The session included special addresses by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo De Boer and London School of Economics expert Nicholas Stern.

Aviation, Travel & Tourism's Route to Copenhagen project

The global travel & tourism sector can proactively contribute solutions to the twin challenges of climate change and poverty alleviation. By providing an overview of climate change impact on the entire travel & tourism sector, the Forum's Climate Change project aims to highlight how governments, industry and consumers can collectively make the travel & tourism sector and destinations more sustainable. The key project findings and recommendations will be presented at the UN Conference on Climate Change that will take place in Copenhagen in December 2009.

The session brought together the CEOs of leading businesses in the travel & tourism sector, policy-makers, climate change experts, and national regulators from developed and developing countries to discuss the innovative cross-sector emissions reduction opportunities, highlighting the key implementation challenges and the overall CO2 emissions abatement impact.

Special Guests included the President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias Sánchez, Achim Steiner, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio de Oliveira Cabral, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, and former US Vice-President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore.

In the course of the next few days, the environment and climate change will continue to feature high on the Davos agenda, culminating in a session entitled "Building Leadership Momentum Towards Copenhagen".

This high-level session, which will be attended by the Secretary General of the United Nations, senior government representatives, business leaders and climate experts, will explore how the private sector can best support the climate discussions of the major economies over the next twelve months.

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