Best of our wild blogs: 23 Feb 09

A Shocking Find!
about Nature Reserves and masting on the spotlight's on nature blog

First Pulau Hantu Dive For 2009
on the colourful clouds blog

Terumbu Raya Pan
video clip on the sgbeachbum blog

Western Central Catchment
on the Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature blog

Natural and Human Impacts on Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
on the Running with the Wind blog

Shrewed
on the annotated budak blog and cycle of eights

Olive-backed Sunbird: A tragic ending
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher taking a spider
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Monday Morgue: Knobbly sea star
on the Lazy Lizard's Tales blog

Online tide tables for Singapore
on the wild shores of singapore blog

The Fishy Workshop... recapped
on the Leafmonkey Workshop blog

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Big forest fire in Tampines

Cheryl Frois, Channel NewsAsia 22 Feb 09;

SINGAPORE: A large forest fire broke out near Tampines Ave 9 at around noon Sunday.

The blaze, about the size of three football fields, took about 45 minutes to put out.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that the blaze was one of the many vegetation fires that have hit the country since January.

The vegetation fires were one reason behind hazy skies on some days.

Over 100 such fires have happened this month alone.

No injuries were reported in the fire on Sunday.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are going on.

- CNA/ir

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Human role in Indonesian forest fires traced

Atmospheric scientists trace the human role in Indonesian forest fires
EurekAlert 23 Feb 09;

TORONTO, ON – Severe fires in Indonesia – responsible for some of the worst air quality conditions worldwide – are linked not only to drought, but also to changes in land use and population density, according to a new study in Nature Geoscience led by Robert Field of the University of Toronto.

"During the late 1970s, Indonesian Borneo changed from being highly fire-resistant to highly fire-prone during drought years, marking the period when one of the world's great tropical forests became one of the world's largest sources of pollution," says Field, a PhD student of atmospheric physics.

"Ultimately, this abrupt transition can be attributed to rapid increases in deforestation and population growth. The resulting occurrences of haze currently rank among the world's worst air pollution episodes, and are a singularly large source of greenhouse gas emissions."

Sumatra has suffered from large fires at least since the 1960s, but Indonesian Borneo seems to have been resistant to large fires – even in dry years – until population density and deforestation increased substantially and land use changed from small-scale subsistence agriculture to large-scale industrial agriculture and agro-forestry.

"We've had a good understanding of fire events since the mid 1990s, but little before this due to the absence of fire data from satellites," says Field, who collaborated with Guido van der Werf of VU University Amsterdam and Sam Shen of San Diego State University. "However, one of the major impacts of large-scale fires is a reduction in visibility due to the smoke produced. Visibility is recorded several times a day at airports in the region, and these records proved to be an excellent indicator of severe fire activity. We were able to piece together visibility observations back to the 1960s, and hence develop a longer term record of the fires."

Having a long-term record of the fires allowed the scientists to better understand their causes. "Using weather records, we were able to estimate the specific rainfall level below which large fires have occurred in the previous two decades. In turn, we found that the rainfall over Indonesia was influenced equally by the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño Southern Oscillation phenomena. Hopefully, this information can be used to better anticipate and prevent future haze disasters in Indonesia."

Field says that there is a direct link between the increased prevalence of severe fires and haze disasters and the man-made change in land use. "The visibility record also showed, quite strikingly, the impact of human settlement on a previously pristine tropical forest. This should give pause to further agro-forestry expansion in Indonesia, particularly for oil palm as a source of biofuel."

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The findings are presented in a paper titled "Human amplification of drought-induced biomass burning in Indonesia since 1960", which is to be published in the March issue of Nature Geoscience, available online February 22. The research was funded with support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

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Health experts fear Tamiflu may be useless in pandemic

Salma Khalik, Straits Times 23 Feb 09;

BANGKOK: The rapid resistance of the flu virus against Tamiflu, a popular influenza medicine, has 'stunned' experts.

Several speakers at the 11th symposium on respiratory viral infections expressed their grave concerns over this.

First seen in the winter of 2007, the resistance to the drug in many countries in Europe, as well as the United States and Australia, was almost complete for the H1N1 strain of flu by early this year.

The implications, the experts said, are serious. It might mean that the huge stockpiles of this medicine that countries around the world have been building up, could be virtually useless should there be a bird flu pandemic.

Singapore has more than one million courses of this medicine, and is getting a further 650,000. Other countries have also been buying and keeping large amounts of Tamiflu on the advice of the World Health Organisation.

The medicine is meant for use against the anticipated next flu pandemic - with the bird flu or H5N1 virus as a current front runner for this major health disaster. Previous pandemics have killed millions of people.

Tamiflu, an antiviral, can be used to prevent a flu attack if taken daily, or to ameliorate the severity of the attack with two daily doses for five days. It has 90 per cent of the market for flu medication.

Dr Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, a specialist in infectious diseases with Thailand's Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health, said that resistance in Thailand built up from zero at the start of last year to 75 per cent by the end of the year.

This has spurred the Thai government to provide, for the first time, two million free flu vaccines for the elderly, very young and the sick who are more likely to suffer badly if they get the flu.

Professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose work in 'reverse genetics' is now used in new generation flu vaccines, said that similar resistance has surfaced among a small number of people with bird flu. 'New flu drugs are needed,' he pointed out.

Professor Frederick Hayden of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, a member of WHO's global influenza programme till last August, said that up to 25 per cent of H5N1 victims are now resistant to Tamiflu. 'There is persistent replication of the virus with fatal outcomes.'

However, it is not all gloom and doom on the flu front. Another antiviral, Relenza, remains effective.

Dr Jennifer McKimm-Breschkin, who gave a closed-door presentation to about 30 policymakers from several countries, including Thailand and Vietnam, told The Straits Times that her advice is to keep 'a balanced stock of both medicines'.

The researcher from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation said the two drugs are very different, although both inhibit the virus from reproducing.

Relenza is inhaled and works extremely well if the virus only replicates in the airways, since that is where the drug is mostly concentrated.

Tamiflu, on the other hand, is swallowed, is dispersed throughout the body and is good to stop the virus if it also replicates in other organs.

But change in the inhibiting factor needed to make Tamiflu into a capsule that can be taken orally is also the reason it allows resistance. This does not happen with Relenza, which should continue to work with all flu types.

Singapore has 50,000 courses of Relenza as part of its anti-flu arsenal.

Dr McKimm-Breschkin said that influenza viruses generally replicate in the airways, but some people fear this might change in future.

Tamiflu would remain useful if the pandemic is caused not by bird flu but by a different flu strain.

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Cameron Highlands - A Legacy Borrowed

Melati Mohd Ariff, Bernama 18 Feb 09;

CAMERON HIGHLANDS, Feb 18 (Bernama) -- The water crisis that hit Cameron Highlands in the late 1990s prompted several concerned residents to form the Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands (REACH).

Against the many challenges that came its way, REACH continues to gain momentum, garnering support especially from the local residents in making its stance on the many environmental issues plaguing the highlands.

REACH president Ramakrishnan Ramasamy, 43, born and bred in Cameron Highlands, has been at the helm of this community-based body since the organisation took shape in 1998.

And he has seen it all, the degradation and the deterioration of the highland he grew up with.

A LEGACY BORROWED

"Our main concern is the fast pace of development that is taking place in Cameron Highlands and its future if there is no proper check and balance," he told Bernama in an interview here recently.

Ramakrishnan strongly maintained that the highland is a legacy that is not inherited but borrowed from the future generations. Hence, its well-being needs to be protected and preserved.

This deep-rooted conviction is equally shared by his fellow committee members and also other supporters of the organisation including those from abroad.

With many on-going sustainable programmes, REACH does not only get the much needed support and assistance from the people of Cameron Highlands but it also receives helping hands from volunteers from Kuala Lumpur and as far as Singapore.

Cameron Highlands is a popular holiday getaway for Singaporeans.

REFORESTATION

Deeply concerned with the repeated rape of the virgin jungles around Cameron Highlands, REACH with the support of Forestry Department has initiated a reforestation project in 2001.

According to Ramakrishnan, the project involved 17 hectares of area in Gunung Brinchang.

A local farmer cleared the site for agricultural activities and part of it was a forest reserve of Ulu Bertam.

The forest does not only contain diverse biodiversity of flora and fauna but also forms part of the water catchment area for the Sungai Burung water treatment plant.

According to Ramakrishnan, the treatment plant supplies drinking water to the population of Brinchang and its surrounding areas.

"So you can imagine what happened when the site was cleared. Not only the forest was cleared, both its flora and fauna were also gone and the quality of drinking water was also affected.

"We managed to convince the Department of Forestry to have a smart-partnership with us, them giving us the technical assistance and we would reforest the illegally-cleared site," he said.

PAINSTAKING JOB

To date, REACH with the help of volunteers has managed to cover about 60 percent of the said site.

At some locations, coconut husks had been added to create as the topsoil. Ramakrishnan described the replanting job as arduous.

"When the forest was cleared, the rain washed away the top soil consisting humus and organic materials. The land is almost barren and that slows down the growth of the plants. There is also the high altitude factor," he said.

Some of the local species that have been replanted including 'podo bukit' (podocarpus neriifolia), 'medang' (lauraceae spp), 'meranti bukit' (meranti bukit) and 'merapuh daun runcing' (swietenia penagiana).

In 2004, REACH started planting 'symingtonia (exbucklandia) populnea' at the site.

All the seedlings, according to Ramakrishnan were obtained from the nearby-forested area and other locations.

"We hope with this reforestation project, it would instill not only a sense of awareness and responsibility but also ownership, at least within the community of Cameron Highlands.

"They must appreciate that they, too, have a role in safeguarding the forests and the water catchment areas," said Ramakrishnan.

LOVE OUR RIVERS

Rivers of Cameron Highlands are receiving the full brunt of the uncontrolled clearings of lands for agricultural activities particularly on steep slopes and water catchment areas as well as over-development or urban areas.

And according to Ramakrishnan, because of the deteriorating conditions of the rivers, REACH has taken onto itself to educate the people of Cameron Highlands on the importance of good river water quality. The project took off in 2005.

"First we started out by creating awareness and condition of the rivers. We began ith the secondary school children and this year, we will get the primary schools to be involved as well," he said.

Ramakrishnan is not deterred by the fact that the 'Love Our River' campaign mooted by the government has been dubbed a failure.

"That is why we are focusing on the children, at least they can go back and convince their parents about the river programme.

"We are making the programme more attractive. The kids will be Community Stream Investigators (CSI). They would go out in groups to investigate the health of our rivers.

"By searching for specific small animals in the river and simple testing, they will learn whether the stream is healthy or polluted. This kind of teaching is more appealing to kids and is cheaper," explained Ramakrishnan.

He said the simple water testing kits given to the school children under the programme are provided by Water Environment Federation under its World Water Monitoring Programme.

RECYCLING PROJECTS

Another on-going sustainable programme by REACH is the recycling project initiated in 2003.

"We started with an awareness programme that involved school children and the local community which includes housing areas and villages. We also went to the Orang Asli settlements," said Ramakrisnan, adding that educational activities at schools involve bringing 5.0 kg of recyclable materials each week.

REACH also established collection centres for all the recycled items including newspapers, aluminum cans and plastics at specific location at Bertam Valley, Ringlet, Brinchang, Tringkap, Kuala Terla and Kampung Raja.

For this recycling project, REACH received good support from Cameron Highlands District Council which later provided a site for a compacting plant.

"The compacting plant is located on the lowland, near Simpang Pulai. It was opened last year. At the plant, all waste collected from the collecting centres are taken to be compacted before being sent to factories in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.

"This project is moving on in a very positive manner. In a way, we are helping the local authorities to properly manage waste items," said Ramakrishnan.

FARMERS THE NEXT TARGET

He said this year REACH plans to proceed with the recycling programme on a much bigger scale.

"We are targeting the farms this year. We visited some previously but our efforts were hampered due to shortage of staff," he said.

According to Ramakrishnan, the farms use a lot of plastics and some have been indiscriminately dumping plastics and other wastes into the rivers.

"We are very much concerned with this lackadaisical attitude on the part of the farmers. I have caught many doing this. They even threw pesticide containers into the rivers.

"One farmer even had the cheek to tell me that he threw rubbish into the river because many farmers are doing that when I caught him and his workers dumping rubbish into Sungai Parang after closing his temporary stall set for the Chinese New Year festival recently!" Ramakrishnan said.

THE ORCHID BOOK

Meanwhile, REACH would be coming out with a book on Wild Orchids of Cameron Highlands next month. The A4-size book is 205 pages thick, full colour with over 400 photographs of wild orchids, amidst the backdrop of some of the more untouched and unspoilt areas of the highlands.

"This project involves a team of volunteers and many individuals who have supported this effort.

"Proceeds from the sale of this book will be channeled to our conservation projects in Cameron Highlands," said Ramakrishnan.

The book's selling price is RM98.

He said REACH began documenting the wild orchids in Cameron Highlands about six years ago.

"Now we have a collection of 15,000 photographs and so far we have been able to describe 605 different orchids. Prior to this, there were only 305 orchids known in Cameron Highlands.

"The orchids are intact but their very existence is threatened by logging and also by indirectly local climate change brought about by immense clearing of lands for agricultural activities," he added.

More information on REACH is available by either calling 012-589 8684, email reach@reach.org.my. or visit http://www.reach.org.my/).

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Box turtles face knockout as Indonesian traders flagrantly ignore quota

WWF 23 Feb 09;

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Unregulated trade—at 10 to 100 times legal levels—has caused Southeast Asian Box Turtles almost to vanish from parts of Indonesia where they were once common, according to a new report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

The turtles are used for meat and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, with major markets in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Malaysia, mostly supplied from Indonesia. Box turtles are also in demand as pets in the US, Europe and Japan.

The study found at least 18 traders operating in Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantan dealing illegally in Southeast Asian Box Turtles.

Each trader handled an average of just under 2,230 turtles a week, adding up to a combined total of 2.1 million Southeast Asian Box Turtles per year. The vast majority is destined for export, although Indonesia’s official annual export quota for this species is just 18,000 turtles—a figure set without a scientific basis.

“The number of Southeast Asian Box Turtles currently traded is certainly ten times the official export quota, and probably nearer 100 times it,” said Dr Sabine Schoppe, author of the new report, “Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia”.

Thirteen of the 18 traders investigated were registered for some trade in reptiles, but not in box turtles, with the provincial offices of the Government’s Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA), which is required to inspect such businesses regularly. TRAFFIC has previously presented the results of the study to PHKA.

Collectors in Riau and Sulawesi reported huge falls in Southeast Asian Box Turtle numbers in the wild, and registered pet traders said they had experienced difficulties in obtaining turtles compared to a decade ago.

“The current level of illegal exploitation will result in Southeast Asian Box Turtles being systematically wiped out across Indonesia, indications of which are already obvious at collection and trade centres, ”said Schoppe.

In 2000, the Southeast Asian Box Turtle was listed in Appendix II of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), a measure intended to regulate its international trade. However, the report found that following CITES-listing, trade in the box turtles had increased, with the largest numbers being smuggled through the ports of Makassar, Medan, Pekanbaru, Tembilahan and Banjarmasin.

“Authorities should concentrate on eradicating illegal trade, and in setting realistic limits on what numbers can safely be harvested,” said Chris R. Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer with TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

Weak enforcement of existing laws is a key problem, caused through a combination of factors including non-inspection of shipments, falsification of CITES export permits, and lack of training amongst enforcement officers.

The report recommends better training and more co-operation between Indonesian enforcement authorities and those in importing countries to tackle illegal wildlife trade, for example through initiatives like the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), and research into populations of box turtles.

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Super-size rodents at risk in Colombia

Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times 22 Feb 09;

Reporting from Hato Corozal, Colombia -- They look like hamsters on growth hormones, bark like dogs and swim as fast as otters -- all reasons why chiguiros, the world's largest rodents, are an object of unending fascination for zoologists and wildlife enthusiasts.

But ranchers here in northeastern Colombia fail to see the attraction. They claim that the rodents, which stand knee-high to humans and weigh as much as 120 pounds, consume valuable pasture, foul drinking water and spook their horses and cows.

That antipathy, plus a booming market for chiguiro meat in neighboring Venezuela, has prompted open season on the rodents and landed them on Colombia's endangered species list.

Rancher Magali Delgado says chiguiros, which were visible recently from the veranda of her house in this isolated settlement in Casanare state, are a costly nuisance.

"They are like having a pack of rats in your home," said Delgado, who complained that she has to buy expensive antibiotics for her cows when they drink the spoiled water.

"I have to defend my cattle. They are what I live from," said Delgado, a mother of three whose husband was killed by paramilitary fighters several years ago. She says she doesn't kill the rodents herself but doesn't stand in the way of hunters who do.

Chiguiro meat is considered a delicacy in Venezuela. Demand is especially strong this time of year, when Roman Catholics eat it during lent and Holy Week as a church-sanctioned substitute for fish and red meat. Chiguiros have been wiped out in Venezuela, which prompted the sharp increase in poaching in Colombia.

Over the last two years, 28 tons of chiguiro meat has been confiscated in illegal shipments by truck or plane to Venezuela, said Maj. Maria Antonio Sanchez of the Colombian environmental police. That's more than double the 12 tons the police seized in the previous two-year period, 2005 and 2006.

Biologists are concerned that continued killing of the rodents, which are also known as capybaras, will not only lead to their extinction but do irreversible harm to the savanna ecosystem.

Chiguiros eat plant life that might otherwise overwhelm the savannas, which are flatlands that receive enormous amounts of rainfall, attracting hundreds of species of migratory birds as well as mammals and reptiles, said Olga Montenegro, a biologist at the National University of Colombia.

At the same time, scientists such as Montenegro and government officials say the chiguiros are a resource that can be managed -- they reproduce fast enough that their herds can be culled at a rate of 10% to 30% a year and still remain viable.

The trick is in how to manage such a culling.

"The laws surrounding controlled killing of chiguiros are very rigorous, so people avoid them," said Saulo Orduz of the government's Corporinoquia environmental management agency. "We're trying to come up with another model to facilitate people taking advantage of the animals while observing environmental needs."

Legal killing and dressing of chiguiros would require an investment of as much as $15,000 in a temporary slaughterhouse that would abide by existing sanitary rules, Delgado said, a cost that makes legal killing uneconomical. So freelance hunters kill the animals and ship them to Venezuela as contraband.

Biologists are dismayed by the threat to the chiguiros, which once ranged over much of South America's Amazon basin and surrounding plains.

"If the chiguiros are lost, it's part of our natural heritage gone forever," university professor Montenegro said.

"They have a right to exist. After all, they were there before the cattle."

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Poachers put Balkan lynx on brink of extinction

Jasmina Mironski Yahoo News 22 Feb 09;

GALICICA MOUNTAIN, Macedonia (AFP) – The camera sits hidden in a field ready to track every move of the Balkan lynx, a wild cat both revered as an icon and reviled as a pest that has teetered on extinction for nearly a century.

"The lynx has no natural enemy except man," said Georgi Ivanov, an ecologist working on a project to monitor lynx numbers in western Macedonia's Galicica National Park, where 30 such cameras have been set up.

Poaching is one of the biggest threats to the survival of this Balkan subspecies of the European lynx, the largest wild cat found on the continent.

Though its overall numbers are uncertain, they seem to hover dangerously around the 100 scientists say are needed for their population to remain stable.

In Albania and Macedonia, foreign experts put their number at less than 80 though local counterparts say there are fewer than 40. The estimates in neighbouring Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia are even worse.

Lynx are killed by villagers in the impoverished region mainly for their prized fur, a spotted golden-brown. But dwindling forests and a lack of prey are also factors in their decline, experts say.

"The main cause of the extinction threat is illegal hunting, as well as environmental destruction and, above all, uncontrolled forest cutting," said biologist Dime Melovski of the Macedonian Ecological Society.

The monitoring scheme is also underway in Mavrovo National Park, also in western Macedonia, and in Albania in cooperation with the Swiss-based research group KORA, Germany's Euronatur and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA).

Adeptly maneuvering his jeep along Mount Galicica's winding roads, Zoran Celakovski said members of the Ohrid Hunting Society, which he heads, are also doing their part to protect the Balkan lynx.

"We have information that there are some lynx here so we help the ecologists in their work, patrols and file-keeping," he said.

In addition to determining the cats' status, via camera date, research and interviews, the project aims to establish protected areas for the animal and help local authorities develop a conservation strategy. It is due to wind up at the end of 2009, Melovski said.

Long seen as an unofficial national symbol in Macedonia, the Balkan lynx -- whose scientific denomination is "lynx lynx martinoi" -- features on both a postal stamp and a coin. With a short tail, long legs, and thick neck, its defining characteristic may be the striking tufts of hair on both ears. They grow to an average one metre (three feet) in length and 65 centimetres (two feet) in height and can weigh up to 25 kilograms (55 pounds).

The wild cat prey mainly on roe deer, the mountain goat-like chamois and hares, but never attack its greatest threat -- human beings.

Although hunting lynx is punishable by prison terms of up to eight years, poachers continue to pursue the animal with impunity, knowing that no one has ever been prosecuted for doing so.

Lynx-advocates like Macedonian ecologist Aleksandar Stojanov have been pushing to have areas where the cat roams proclaimed as national parks, to "reduce threats and increase the number of protected mountainous areas".

Raising awareness among villagers is also needed, he said. Local lore holds that lynx are "pests that kill livestock and that is why they do not like it."

"But our data has shown that in only four cases has the animal actually caused any damage, and it was minimal," said Stojanov.

Experiments in other parts of Europe have been encouraging. Conservationists reintroduced wild lynx to Switzerland after its eradication there at the end of the 19th century, raising the population to 140 in the last two decades.

Similar action has seen the lynx population recover in the Baltics, in the Carpathian mountains that run from Slovakia to Romania, and in Scandinavia.

Some experts involved in the Balkans project, like John Linnell of NINA, warn this success might be difficult to repeat here because "poaching is obviously a factor that is limiting their ability to recover."

Another, Manuela von Arx of KORA, stressed that improving law enforcement and stepping up efforts to educate locals about the animal was the key to the Balkan lynx' survival.

"Legal protection is meaningless if violations are not persecuted," she said in a statement.

"In the long run co-existence between large carnivores and people can only be achieved and secured if the local people and land users are willing to tolerate animals such as the Balkan lynx in their vicinity."

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