Best of our wild blogs: 30 Apr 09


CITES to scrutinize Solomon Islands dolphin trade
on the wild shores of singapore blog

16 May 2009: Second Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium @ NUS on Habitatnews

The Grass Yellows of Singapore (Part 2)
on the Butterflies of Singapore blog

Weird snails at Changi
on the wonderful creation blog and crabs, fishes and echinoderms

Starry day at Cyrene Reef
on the Urban Forest blog

Back to Normal
on the Pulau Hantu blog and eagle eyes in turbid water

Shooting prawn
on the annotated budak blog and new-dibranchs and unevenly matched

Lesser Coucal drying feathers
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Oriental Pied Hornbill Nesting
on the Garden Voices blog

Red wattled lapwing
photo on flickr by Mendis

Snake on the loose slithers down Woodlands street
on the Lazy Lizard's Tales blog

Marina Coastal Expressway work started
on the wild shores of singapore blog


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More 'sky gardens' set to blossom

New URA plan makes landscaping a must for new projects downtown
April Chong and Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 30 Apr 09;

EXPECT to see more 'gardens in the sky' in Singapore, especially in areas like Orchard Road, Raffles Place and along the Singapore River.

A new plan launched yesterday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) makes it a must for new developments coming up in several areas from December to have landscaping.

This can take the form of rooftop gardens, planter boxes and sky terraces on the upper levels. Developers will also be encouraged to landscape their grounds.

The areas affected by this new ruling are the Downtown Core - which encompasses Raffles Place, Shenton Way, and Marina Centre - along the Kallang River, and Jurong Gateway, the upcoming commercial hub in the west.

Existing buildings will not be left out.

Those in Orchard Road and the business district will be allowed to open outdoor refreshment areas on their rooftops. To do this, they will be given additional gross floor area of half the roof area or up to 200 sq m.

This complements a programme launched on Monday by the Building Construction Authority (BCA) and URA. Under it, private buildings which are eco-friendly enough to achieve high standards under BCA's Green Mark scheme get additional gross floor area.

The new URA initiative, launched yesterday, is called Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises (Lush), and is part of a national sustainability blueprint launched by an inter-ministerial committee on Monday.

The blueprint sets national targets for pollution standards, energy usage and green areas over the next 20 years, and aims to create a more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient nation.

In addition to the Lush programme, the National Parks Board also announced yesterday an $8 million fund that developers can tap to create rooftop gardens on existing buildings.

To be launched in September, the fund will offset up to $75 per sq metre for landscaping costs - about half the $150 to $180 per sq m usually charged by gardening companies.

Landlords in the Orchard Road and downtown areas can apply to the fund.

In announcing the plans yesterday, the URA said that encouraging private developers to include greenery in their buildings is becoming increasingly important as Singapore becomes more built up.

Developers that The Straits Times spoke to yesterday welcomed the moves, but had suggestions to make the scheme more attractive as URA had said that the the usual development charges (DC) would apply.

The DC rate is pegged at 70 per cent of a building's enhanced land value.

Managing director of City Developments Kwek Leng Joo felt that while developers can make use of the additional area, they would have to grapple with the additional costs.

'We would suggest that the DC rate be pegged at the previous rate of 50 per cent instead of the current 70 per cent, which most developers find too high.

'This could make the incentive more attractive and effective to help the policy take off quickly,' he said.

Rooftop landscaping gets $8m boost
NParks launches 3-year co-funding scheme; URA starts landscaping for urban spaces plan
Emilyn Yap, Business Times 30 Apr 09;

(SINGAPORE) Hot on the heels of a sustainable development blueprint released on Monday, the National Parks Board (NParks) yesterday announced a three-year $8 million scheme to co-fund rooftop landscaping in the city.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) also launched its landscaping for urban spaces and high-rises (Lush) programme to help meet the blueprint's goal of creating another 50 hectares of 'sky-rise' greenery by 2030.

'Despite Singapore being land scarce, greenery can be pervasive in our urban spaces,' said URA chief executive Cheong Koon Hean. From September this year, NParks will give cash incentives to owners who install green roofs on existing buildings in the downtown and Orchard planning areas. The scheme will first target low- to mid-rise developments that are highly visible, and those surrounded by little street-level greenery.

NParks hopes to create nine hectares of green roofs over the next three years. The incentives will cover up to half of installation costs, capped at $75 per sq m. According to the agency, the typical cost of installing a green roof ranges from $150-$180 per sq m.

Gardens on the roof cost more than those on the ground for every square metre, said Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects' president Henry Steed. 'But once you have built it, the asset is there and the land usable, whereas a plain roof is not.'

In conjunction with NParks' scheme, URA will offer owners who install green roofs bonus gross floor area (GFA) above the master plan permissible intensity. The additional space - limited to half of the roof area or 200 sq m, whichever is lower - can be used for outdoor refreshment areas.

Developers will have to pay a development charge (DC) or differential premium, but URA believes the bonus GFA offer is sufficiently attractive.

The current DC calculation formula creams off 70 per cent of the enhancement in land value, but 'there's still a 30 per cent gain for developers,' said URA's urban design deputy director Cheng Hsing Yao.

The GFA incentive scheme is part of URA's Lush programme, which includes other existing and revised measures to enhance the urban landscape.

For instance, developers applying to exclude sky terraces from GFA computations now have to submit detailed plans on landscaping and communal facilities at the terraces.

Developers housing car parks within raised decks must also put up earth berms for plants on at least 60 per cent of each side of the deck wall, and should surround the area with see-through fences rather than solid walls.

In the strategic areas of the Downtown Core, including Marina Bay, Kallang Riverside and Jurong Gateway, new developments also have to put in place 'sky-rise' greenery or ground-level landscaping equivalent to the site area in size.

For very small plots where buildings have to be tall to maximise the plot ratio, 'replacement is typically not too difficult,' said Singapore Institute of Architects immediate past-president Tai Lee Siang.

Both Mr Steed and Mr Tai believe more can be done to promote urban greenery.

Mr Steed, for instance, envisions it will ultimately be possible for all roofs to have green features ranging from gardens, water catchment areas and even mini-farms.

URA, NParks introduce schemes to promote more sky gardens in Singapore
Timothy Ouyang, Channel NewsAsia 29 Apr 09;

SINGAPORE : Singapore developers will enjoy new incentives to include skyrise greenery in their projects.

The government wants to see more sky terraces and rooftop gardens, as part of a multi-billion dollar sustainable development blueprint for Singapore for the next 20 years.

The initiative is known as Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-rises (LUSH).

Fun Siew Leng, group director of Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), said: "A lot of people place premium on having greenery at their doorstep. And it doesn't mean that by going high-rise you don't have access to greenery.

"So, one of these ways is to encourage and require more greenery to be built in the development itself, either at the ground level or even at the upper levels."

Come December 1 this year, new projects and re-developments within the central business district, Kallang Riverside and Jurong Gateway areas will be required to have green landscape at least equivalent in size to the development site area.

These can include ground floor landscape areas, as well as roof gardens and sky terraces. As a guide, 40 per cent of these areas are to consist of permanent planting.

Developers will also be given additional gross floor area of up to 200 square metres of roof space or 50 per cent, whichever is lower, for greening their rooftops for use such as outdoor refreshment areas.

This will be allowed over and above the Master Plan maximum allowable gross floor area for the site.

And it is not just new buildings that will stand to benefit from the initiative. NParks is introducing a pilot scheme later this year to encourage existing building owners to green-up their roof tops.

NParks is spending S$8 million over the next three years in cash incentives to co-fund up to half the cost of installing green roofs.

A green roof is defined as a lightweight growing system, which requires a proper selection of plant material for easy maintenance. The cost of installing a square metre of green roof typically ranges from S$150 to S$180.

"There are also benefits in reduction of heat as well. The green roof reduces the heat load going into the building as well as the ambient temperature of the roof itself," said Simon Longman, director of National Parks Board.

So far, there are more than 100 developments in Singapore with approved sky terraces.

NParks will start giving out the cash incentives in September 2009.

NParks plans to transform some 9 hectares of existing rooftops into green roofs over the next three years.

The URA is targeting to add 50 hectares of skyrise greenery by 2030. - CNA /ls

Lush incentives for high-rise greenery
Esther Ng, Today Online 30 Apr 09;

SINGAPORE the Garden City is reaching for the skies — and that is why, to emulate cities like Stuttgart, Portland and Tokyo that plume their buildings with greenery, the Government is tossing more carrots to developers here to do the same.

Under the Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises, or Lush, programme launched by the Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday, developers will get additional gross floor area (GFA) — subject to a maximum of 50 per cent of the roof area or 200 sq m — if they provide more rooftop greenery and compatible commercial use, such as an outdoor refreshment area.

This extra GFA is on top of what the developer is allowed to build on the site.

To encourage existing building owners in Downtown and Orchard to green up their rooftops, the National Parks Board will, from September, fund half the installation costs up to $75 per sq m of green roof. The works typically cost between $150 to$180 per sq m.

The benefits include, for building occupants, thermal insulation which keeps the interior naturally cool — and for the city environment, urban biodiversity in the form of more birds and insects.

But would building users welcome bird droppings, and would these green spaces encourage mosquito breeding?

NParks’ director of Streetscape Simon Longman said that the board “would have to educate the public” and it will work with the National Environment Agency to do so.

Other measures include fine-tuning existing building guidelines — such as getting developers to enhance planting around landscaped decks, and GFA exemption for communal sky terraces.

From December, the URA will also require that new developments replace the greenery and landscape areas equivalent to the area of the development site, either at the ground level or vertically. This applies to all new developments and redevelopments within the Downtown Core, Kallang Riverside and Jurong Gateway.


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Marine Pollution: Increased coastal regulation likely

Sam Bateman, Straits Times 30 Apr 09;

IN MARCH 1989, the large American oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska's King William Sound, creating massive marine pollution. The major cause of the accident was human error. Investigation found that the third mate did not properly manoeuvre the vessel, and that the master failed to provide navigation watch, possibly because he was under the influence of alcohol.

The Exxon Valdez incident became a defining moment in efforts to prevent pollution of the marine environment by ships. It caused a huge public furore in the United States and led to the introduction of the Oil Pollution Act in 1990, placing extensive controls over oil tankers and other vessels in US waters.

Now, almost 20 years to the day since the Exxon Valdez disaster, there is another similar case.

While the amount of oil spilt is far less, the consequences may be as far-reaching. As with the Exxon Valdez, the main cause of the latest incident is probably human error - a factor hard to control, much less eliminate.

On March 11, the Hong Kong-flagged container ship Pacific Adventurer, while in heavy seas off the south-east coast of Queensland, lost 31 containers overboard. These were loaded with the chemical fertiliser ammonium nitrate. To make matters worse, the ship apparently rolled on the containers, fracturing the hull and spilling over 200 tonnes of bunker fuel. This created a 60km oil slick, resulting in extensive pollution of the sensitive marine environment of nearby Moreton Island and the popular tourist beaches of Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Hundreds of workers were engaged in cleaning up these beaches and two mine hunters from the Royal Australian Navy have been searching for the lost containers. They must be recovered: Apart from the problems the ammonium nitrate pose, the area is a rich prawning ground, and trawlers could snag containers, leading to the loss of fishing gear, and possibly even a prawn trawler.

The incident attracted huge public attention in Australia. Australians are addicted to their beaches and are committed to protecting their marine environment. Incidents of marine pollution by ships inevitably lead to calls for new restrictions on vessels in Australian waters, particularly in the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait.

The cause of the disaster is being investigated. While the waters at the time were rough, they were not exceptionally so. The ship was still some distance from the centre of Cyclone Hamish and a well-operated ship should not have lost cargo in that way. The decision of the ship's master not to slow down or alter course may have been due to a wish to get into the sheltered waters of Moreton Bay ahead of the cyclone, as well as the desire to maintain his schedule.

Press reports suggest the ship's officers had instructed the stevedores loading the containers in Newcastle, the ship's previous port of call, to apply normal securing arrangements rather than storm lashings, even though weather forecasts showed the ship was likely to pass near Cyclone Hamish. The Pacific Adventurer is a multi-purpose vessel, not a dedicated container ship, and containers are carried on deck on top of general cargo holds. This can make securing them more difficult.

The disaster is likely to have far-reaching implications. It will almost certainly galvanise the Australian government into reducing the risks of shipping accidents in Australian waters by whatever means possible. For example, we are less likely now to see any softening of its position on compulsory pilotage in the Torres Strait. This was introduced in 2006 because the government thought that unpiloted ships passing through the hazardous waters of Torres Strait posed an unacceptable risk to a very sensitive marine environment. Both the US and Singapore have protested against this arrangement.

Ship owners are caught between the desire to contain costs and the need to operate safe ships. Shipping accidents are caused by badly maintained ships, human error, or both. While regulations and enforcement can reduce the risks of poor maintenance, it is harder to tackle human error, particularly when there is already concern about the professional standards of seafarers and the attractiveness of seafaring as a vocation.

The risks of human error could become greater as the global economic recession deepens, international trade declines, ships are laid up and ship owners seek to cut costs, possibly by employing less experienced and qualified crews.

We can expect restrictions on navigation to continue due to greater international concern for the marine environment. This concern has increased enormously over the last 20 years or so. While major ship-owning nations such as Singapore may oppose new coastal regulations on shipping, the trend towards increased regulation is inevitable. Incidents such as the Pacific Adventurer disaster will only accelerate this trend.

The writer is a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.


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China’s grand plans for eco cities lie abandoned

Christina Larson, People and Planet 29 Apr 09;

Mostly conceived by international architects, China’s eco-cities were intended to be models of green urban design. But the planning was done with little awareness of how local people lived, and the much-touted projects have largely been scrapped.

If all had gone as planned, “the world’s first eco-city,” as press releases billed it back in 2005, would now be well on its way to completion. The visionary project called for a grassy island near the crowded metropolis of Shanghai to be transformed from a marshy backwater into a gleaming community of energy-efficient buildings housing 50,000 people.

Waste was to have been recycled as fuel and the waterfronts were to be lined with sleek micro-windmills. The original timetable called for the first phase of construction to be completed by the Shanghai Expo in 2010, enabling the city to showcase its commitment to building a green future. Within 30 years, the planned community, Dongtan, would grow to accommodate half a million people.

Today, almost nothing has been built. Some residents have been moved off the island, many of them becoming cab drivers in bustling Shanghai. Although the project was widely publicised internationally, most locals knew little about it. The political leaders who championed the project were ousted in a corruption scandal, and their successors have allowed construction permits to lapse.

Meanwhile local environmentalists and academics have recently spoken out against the project in the Chinese press, noting that the planned construction site happened to be located on the last extant wetlands outside Shanghai, home to rare migratory birds.

A farmer with fields near the project site told a reporter in 2007 that he hadn’t been informed, let alone consulted, about intentions to transform the area. What you will see if you visit the site today, according to Paul French, a Shanghai-based partner in research publisher Access Asia, is that “no construction has occurred there — indeed it's gone backwards as a visitor centre previously built is now shut.”

Foreign firms

Dongtan and other highly touted eco-cities across China were meant to be models of sustainable design for the future. Instead they’ve become models of bold visions that mostly stayed on the drawing boards — or collapsed from shoddy implementation. More often than not, these vaunted eco-cities have been designed by big-name foreign architectural and engineering firms who plunged into the projects with little understanding of Chinese politics, culture, and economics — and with little feel for the needs of local residents whom the utopian communities were designed to serve.

“What I have always found amazing about these eco-towns is how seemingly easy it is for people to, first, tout these as a sign of China’s commitment to the environment and then, second, be surprised when things fail,” writes Richard Brubaker, founder and managing director of China Strategic Development Partners.

Shannon May, a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley who has studied the troubled eco-city of Huangbaiyu, wrote in comments posted on The Christian Science Monitor website, “While such highly lauded projects garner fame and money for the foreign firms, and promotions for the local government officials, they leave the population they were supposed to serve behind.”

The Huangbaiyu project sought to transform a small village in northeast China’s Liaoning province into a more energy-efficient community. Part of the vision was to use special hay and pressed-earth bricks for construction. Unfortunately, of the first 42 homes completed in 2006, only a handful were built with the custom bricks. As the magazine Ethical Corporation has reported, cost overruns made the homes unaffordable to many villagers. In other instances, although homes were available, the farmers refused to live in them, complaining that the new yards weren’t large enough to raise animals and sustain a livelihood.

Among the problems besetting the project were “technical inexperience, faulty materials, lack of oversight, and poor communication,” says May, who has studied the site. Oddly, some of the homes were built with garages, although villagers don’t have cars.

Aspirational culture

While disappointing, these results shouldn’t be surprising. In China, hype comes easy, as foreigners dearly want to believe that anything is possible in this booming country. Initial expectations often aren’t well grounded, and people make easy pronouncements with little familiarity of how things work in China.

In the cases of Dongtan and Huangbaiyu, the stumbling blocks encountered were not inevitable, and lessons for the future can be gleaned in examining the projects’ fate.

Some of the problems are common to high-profile, visionary projects across China. Richard “Tad” Ferris, a Washington, D.C., lawyer for the firm Holland & Knight, explains that there exists in China, especially in Chinese law, an “aspirational culture” rather than a “compliance culture” — meaning that implementation and oversight of regulations and plans frequently fall short of reality. Anyone who has ever walked down the streets of Beijing, where sidewalks slabs with raised bumps for blind pedestrians suddenly veer into open manhole covers, knows that paths paved with progressive intentions can be strewn with peril.

But there’s another side of the story. The most highly publicized eco-cities, including Dongtan and Huangbaiyu, drew upon expertise from some of the most vaunted international architectural and design firms.

The vision for an eco-city on the outskirts of Shanghai was first hatched by the international consulting firm McKinsey & Company. The well-regarded UK-based design, engineering, planning, and business consulting firm, Arup, designed what its website describes as the “master plan” for Dongtan. In 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair even hailed collaboration on Dongtan as a sign of strong UK-China relations.

And William McDonough — a US architect, author of Cradle to Cradle, and a celebrated figure in the American green architecture movement — worked on the design of Huangbaiyu, as well as “conceptual plans” for other eco-projects across China.

As Wen Bo, a Beijing-based environmentalist and co-director of Pacific Environment’s China programs, observes: “I know that some very experienced international firms, including a UK-based construction company and the American architecture firm of William McDonough, were involved in planning; it seems to me that they should share some of the responsibility for any problems encountered.”

Futuristic visions

China has become a laboratory for new technology and global talent seeking to realize their futuristic visions.Like it or not, China has become a workshop for the world, a laboratory for new technology and global talent seeking to realize their futuristic visions. Foreign architects have designed many of Beijing’s most famous architectural landmarks, including the Olympic “Bird's Nest,” “Aquacube,” and CCTV towers. This international spotlight helps explain both the high hopes — and, in this case, great disappointment — connected with these eco-cities. As Wen tellingly notes, these particular projects were always much better known outside China than inside.

The sentiments voiced by McDonough several years ago typified the grand aspirations of the eco-city planners. In a slideshow presentation now available on YouTube, he said, “I will finish by showing you a new city we’re designing for the Chinese government. We’re doing 12 cities for China right now, based on Cradle to Cradle, as templates. Our assignment is to develop protocols for the housing of 400 million people in 12 years …”

Today, with increasingly critical coverage of eco-cities in the press, McDonough’s architecture and community design firm, William McDonough + Partners, is downplaying its involvement in China. According to Kira Gould, the firm’s director of communications, “While we have in the past done some very limited conceptual planning work in China, we are not doing any community design/planning work there at this time.”

Even after problems came to light, Arup continued to promote its involvement in the Dongtan eco-city, although the language of recent press releases and public statements is carefully worded to leave unclear whether the project has been built. A spokesperson from Arup was not available for comment.

Stumbling blocks

So why did these plans not come to fruition?

In the case of Dongtan, as Paul French explains in a podcast posted on the Ethical Corporation web site, one problem was a feud over who would actually fund the project. “Both sides — Arup, on one side, who call themselves the ‘master builders’ of the project — and Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (the Chinese government arm that owns the land) — thought the other was going to pay for it. So Arup thought they were brought in on a project that they would then be able to design, the Chinese would build it, and pay them a large amount of money. The Chinese thought that Arup was going to build the project and that they would get themselves a free eco-city.”

A second stumbling block has been the highly politicised nature of the project. When former Shanghai Communist Party chief Chen Liangyu, a well-known backer of the project, was sentenced in 2008 to 18 years in prison for bribery and abuse of power, the process stalled. According to Peggy Liu, chairperson of the Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy, “Dongtan got stuck mainly due to the transition of Shanghai mayors.”

In the case of Huangbaiyu, a lack of understanding of local needs presented problems. So, too, did a lack of sound oversight: no one effectively ensured that plans on paper were consistently translated into projects on the ground. The small plots and mix-up with the eco-bricks are telling examples of the confusion in construction.

Lately, there is more enthusiasm in China for better green building codes than for designing new cities.In order for a green community to succeed, it not only has to limit carbon emissions but actually be livable — and adapted to local circumstances.

Without extensive consultation with local people, it’s a challenge for foreign planners, even with the best of intentions, to understand what is required to transplant a farmer who grew up ploughing fields into a city dweller. (One of McDonough’s blueprints, for another planned eco-city in Liuzhou, called for farmers to use rooftop fields, connected by tiny bridges. Whether or not it’s a workable ecological solution, one wonders how well recent transplants from the countryside would tolerate vertiginous crisscrossing between buildings.)

This is one reason Brubaker stresses the need for more community consultation and a “locally guided process.”

Hopeful trends

Other, less-publicised approaches to building eco-cities are now underway in China that so far seem to be making more progress. A partnership between the Singapore government and the local government to build an eco-city near Tianjin looks more promising, in part because money is coming from both sources and the project is expected to earn not only global kudos but money, making a greater level of supervision and follow-through more likely.

On the whole, within China, there has lately been more enthusiasm for expanding green building codes than building new cities from scratch. “Enforceable green building codes, with the designers’ and planners' willingness to follow them, is very important,” says Wen Bo. “Such grand eco-city plans themselves are not eco-friendly.”

Christina Larson is a journalist focusing on international environmental issues, based in Beijing and Washington, D.C. Her reporting has brought her to seven provinces across China, as well to Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand, and her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, and The Washington Monthly, where she is a contributing editor.

This article is reproduced by special arrangement from the Yale University website e360.yale where additional comments may be seen.


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Conserving biodiversity to reduce impacts of climate change

Rodrigo U. Fuentes, Executive Director
ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity 29 Apr 09;

A recent study conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) found that the ASEAN region will be hit hard by climate change, causing Southeast Asia’s agriculture-dependent economies to contract by as much as 6.7 percent annually by the end of the century. It also identified Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam as the most vulnerable countries.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) shares the ADB report’s advice to invest in tree planting programs, better forest management, programs that pay governments to keep trees in the ground, as well as protection of coastal mangroves.

More than painting a grim picture of climate change’s impact on developing economies, the ADB study shows us that climate change is real, and that it presents serious environmental, economic, and social threats to the planet.

A least discussed issue is the relationship between climate change and biodiversity. For us at the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, our partners at the European Commission, and our stakeholders in the 10 ASEAN Member States, the link between the two is a key concern.

There is ample evidence that climate change affects biodiversity. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, climate change is likely to become the dominant direct driver of biodiversity loss by the end of the century. Climate change is already forcing biodiversity to adapt either through shifting habitat, or changing life cycles. The ASEAN region’s rich biodiversity composed of 20 percent of all known plant and animal species will be under grave threat if no action is done to mitigate climate change.

The loss of biodiversity will have far-reaching impacts on all of us. Food insecurity and loss of livelihood are only some of the horrors that we stand to face. In many parts of the globe, these are already grim realities.

The relationship between climate change and biodiversity is a two-way street. While climate change is a driver of biodiversity loss, the deterioration of habitats and loss of biodiversity also worsen climate change. Deforestation, for example, is currently estimated to be 20 percent of all human-induced CO2 emissions.


As citizens of ASEAN, we all must to take part in efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Fighting global warming and its impacts is a shared responsibility among all of us who stand to lose so much – our planet and its various natural treasures that sustain our very existence.

The risk of climate change’s damage to ecosystems can be significantly reduced by implementing ecosystems-based strategies.

One effective way to do this is by protecting forest ecosystems and increasing the size of existing carbon pools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Robust marine ecosystems are also substantial carbon reservoirs. Conserving marine ecosystems is important as oceans are substantial reservoirs of carbon with approximately 50 times more carbon than is presently in the atmosphere. Strong mangrove areas can also protect coastal communities from sea level rise and strong typhoons.

ACB supports the promotion of farmer-centered participatory approaches and indigenous knowledge and technologies toward cycling and use of organic materials in low-input farming systems.

We encourage citizens to conserve and protect plants, animals, and their habitats. If biodiversity loss and climate change are addressed together, the prospects for adapting to these twin challenges will be greatly improved.

Let us protect biodiversity and do our share in fighting climate change.


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Future of Indonesia's Coral Reefs Need Joint Action Plan

Fidelis E. Satriastanti, Jakarta Globe 29 Apr 09;

Indonesia’s coral reefs are still in good shape but with global warming already making its presence felt, an intensive adaptation scheme is necessary to ensure their preservation, said a scientist on Wednesday.

“Coral reefs are like trees in the forests — if too many trees are cut down then there will be no more forests and the biodiversity nurtured in those forest will be lost forever,” said Suharsono, head of the oceanographic research center at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI.

He said coral reefs play a major role in preserving the marine ecosystem because reef formations are where fish lay their eggs, raise their young, seek protection from predators and forage.

“Once coral reefs die, many species of fish will disappear thus robbing we humans of an important food source,” he said. “That reason alone is enough for us to fight for food security issues linked to climate change.”

He said two big threats for coral reefs were destructive fishing and coral bleaching.

“Corals are destroyed when fishermen use bombs to catch fish,” and the corals take three months to seven years to recover, he said. “Meanwhile, as global warming causes sea temperatures to rise, coral reef formations undergo a process called bleaching, where high acidity turns the coral white, leading to its death.”

He said indications at the moment showed that Indonesia’s coral reefs were still absorbing carbon instead of releasing it because of their good condition.

Meanwhile, Rili Djohani, Indonesian director of The Nature Conservancy, an environmental conservation group, said the expectations lie in the upcoming declaration on coral reefs in Manado.

Indonesia together with Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and the Solomon Islands — also known as CT6 — will sign a declaration outlining an agreed combined approach on coral reefs, fisheries and food security at the Coral Triangle Initiative Summit, to be held in Manado, the provincial capital of North Sulawesi, on May 15.

The CTI is an Indonesian initiative introduced by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the APEC leaders meeting in September 2007.

The so-called Coral Triangle region is home to 53 percent of the world’s coral reefs and boasts an abundant variety of sea life, with more than 600 coral species and 3,000 fish species. It is also the food source of over 15 million people in the six countries.

“We hope that this will be the first of many international agreements on conservation efforts for coral reefs,” Rili said. “Every country has their own plans to deal with the problems but the Manado commitment could become a benchmark for the countries on how to answer issues related to oceans, coastal areas and climate change.”

She said there were still various opinions on the condition of Indonesia’s coral reefs, however, and urgent action on the issue was critical.

“We have to start now to pay attention for coral reefs because if there is still no action, these coral reefs are going to be destroyed soon or later,” she said adding that huge threats for coral reefs were still coming from destructive fishing and climate change.


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Economic woes may damage moves to slow deforestation

Niluksi Koswanage and Aloysius Bhui, Reuters 29 Apr 09;

KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA, April 29 (Reuters) - Growing economic pain may increasingly force consumers to turn to palm oil, one of the cheapest cooking oils, a move that could scupper nascent plans to slow deforestation in Southeast Asia.

With rising output in Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer and home to the eighth largest expanse of forests, and tight land supplies in Malaysia, the world's second largest supplier, conservation's economics look even less appealing.

Under a United Nations scheme to slow deforestation, countries that preserve forests could be paid up to $2,077.50 per hectare, but that compares with the $4,826.11 per hectare that could be earned at current prices on a well-managed palm estate, Reuters calculations showed.

The UN plan, called the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), was supposed to allow investors to buy carbon credits and bring in $10 billion to $30 billion yearly to over 60 developing nations with forests.

"REDD has no chance. Malaysian palm oil yields are high and better estate management is key," said an official with a listed Malaysian planter with holdings in Indonesia as well as Malaysia, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

"Even in Indonesia, which many thought would revert back to keeping forests, yields are going up and above the usual 3-4 tonnes because Malaysians are buying up these estates and Indonesian companies are developing very fast," he said.

For a related factbox on REDD, see [ID:nSP409319]

Last month, environmental lobby group Greenpeace accused Indonesian planter Sinar Mas (SMAR.JK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) of cutting down virgin forest, sparking an angry denial from the company.

Even companies that use degraded farm land say that the economics of palm and growing demand mean that there is simply no choice but to expand.

"It's hard to resist expansion when (palm oil) prices go up," said Velayuthan Tan, chief executive of Malaysia-listed IJM Plantations (IJMP.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which bought land in Indonesia last week.

"It would be suicide to buy up and clear forests so we bought some degraded agriculture land in Sumatra (island)," he said.

STILL PROFITABLE

Current palm prices of 2,464 Malaysian ringgit ($686) a tonne, although still way below their $1,239 record peak hit in 2008, are 77 percent more than the costs involved in setting up a new palm oil estate.

This means planters can quickly recoup their initial outlay of $22,000 per hectare that officials in Malaysia and Indonesia say is needed to clear forests, grow oil palms and put up mills once the palms have matured three years from planting.

REDD credits are only traded on the Chicago Climate Exchange (www.chicagoclimatex.com) where prices of $1.50 per tonne of CO2 are at a more than 80 percent discount to benchmark European carbon prices of 13.61 euros ($17.74) CFI2Z9.

"Demand for REDD credits today is on a voluntary or speculative basis," said Suzanne Chew, senior broker with Singapore-based emissions trading firm TFS Green.

"In general the regulatory and project risks involved are higher compared to credits from approved methodologies under the Kyoto Protocol, that's why there's a significant discount in the price," she said.

For a graphic on palm oil and REDD earnings from a hectare of land, click here

CONVERTING FORESTS "BY DESIGN"

Indonesia has defended forest clearing for palm oil, saying high conservation value forests are being left alone as it prepares to boost oil palm estates by 125 percent to 18 million hectares (45 million acres) by opening up more forests.

"If we convert forests, it is something by design," said Achma Mangga Barani, plantations director-general at the agriculture ministry, although he did not give a time frame for the palm planting.

So far, despite promises, Indonesia's decree on implementing REDD is still at the draft stage and focuses only on how the government can benefit from carbon investment, says Greenpeace.

"The draft decree just does not explain how to stop deforestation," said Bustar Maitar, team leader of Greenpeace Southeast Asia's forest campaign.

Indonesia has 88 million hectares of forests and recorded the second biggest net loss of forest cover during 2000-2005 at 1.5 million hectares annually, 2005 data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation showed.

Palm-driven deforestation has accelerated as Indonesia's planters and foreign firms rushed to increase estates during a two-year price rally from 2007, more than doubling the expansion rate to 1 million hectares a year from the 400,000 hectares norm.

For a graphic on Indonesian and Malaysian palm expansion, click on: here

ILLEGAL OIL PALMS

Malaysia has 100,000 hectares left for expanding palm oil plantations without touching forest to add to existing 4.5 million hectares under oil palms.

Even so, wildlife officials say that there is significant illegal encroachment into Malaysia's 14.3 million hectares of forests.

Much of this happens in Sabah state on Borneo island, the country's top palm oil producing region with large tracts of pristine forests where officials say that small palm companies have illegally cut down trees.

That process might now accelerate as people lose their jobs as the global economy slows.

"The recession is a worry. Companies might shift priorities to saving themselves first. There could be less interest in carbon credits, conservation schemes and reforestation plans that we have in place," said Sam Mannan, director of the forestry department in Sabah.

It is less than clear how the billions of dollars under REDD could trickle down to poor people who have few economic alternatives than to try and clear a small patch of jungle to feed and house their families.

"God has given us ample land and oil palms and we should make use of it," said Munir, an Indonesian worker in a plantation in central Malaysia who wants to use his savings to set up a small estate in his hometown in Kalimantan on Borneo island.

"I am suspicious of this (forest saving) scheme. I don't think I will see the money from it. It is more honest to work the land on your own and the government in Indonesia encourages us," said Munir, who goes by one name like many Indonesians. ($1=.7674 Euro) ($1=3.595 Malaysian Ringgit) (Additional reporting by Ed Davies; Editing by David Chance and Sambit Mohanty)


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Sir David Attenborough calls for more protection for orang-utans

Sir David Attenborough has called for greater protection for the wild habitat of orang-utans amid fears "emotional" television programmes about rescued apes have failed to raise awareness of the need to protect the rainforests where the animals live.
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 29 Apr 09;

Programmes like the BBC's Orang-utan Diary, following the lives of orphaned and rescued orang-utans at a refuge centre in Borneo, have recently raised awareness of rehabilitation schemes helping the great ape be reintroduced into the wild.

However conservationists argue the money would be better spent protecting the rainforests where the orang-utans live.

Even if the animals are rescued many do not survive in the wild and can even spread disease in the existing population.

At a debate at the Linnaean Society of London, conservationists will argue over the best way to save the orang-utan. The great ape, which is one of man's closest evolutionary cousins, could be extinct in ten years largely due deforestation because of demand for palm oil and timber in Indonesia.

Programmes like Orang-utan Diary has followed orphans rescued from traders, who can fetch a high price for the animals as pets or for use in entertainment.

However John Burton, Chief Executive of the World Land Trust, said such series risks sentimentalising the issue.

"Orang-utan Diaries has raised public awareness but the negative effects is that it makes people think having cuddly baby orang-utans in captivity is a way of conserving them.

"It is very, very emotional. I do not have a problem with that, but it is a welfare issue; it has no mainstream value to conservation."

Mr Burton pointed out that by 2020 there will be so few animals in the wild, the population in the rainforest will no longer be viable.

"There is something like 1,000 orang-utans in captivity on the island of Borneo alone and 200 are being kept in zoos but there is nowhere for them in the wild. We need to distinguish between welfare and conservation. Keeping them in captivity is welfare because people to do not want to see them die, but it is not conservation."

Even if you rescue the orang-utans, he argued they are at risk of spreading infection in the wild population and argued that the money would be much better spent buying land for orang-utans to be protected in the wild.

"Millions of pounds are being spent on maintaining orang-utans in captivity. If the same amount of money was spent on protecting the wild ones, it would be much better spent."

Sir David said the protection of the rainforests must run alongside any rehabilitation.

He said: "Every bit of the rainforest that is knocked down is less space for orang-utans. They have been reduced very seriously in the past decade, and we must do all we can to reverse this devastation. I fully support World Land Trust in its bid to save this important land!"


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Bangladesh Fears Rising Seas "Devastating"

Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 30 Apr 09;

TROMSOE - Low-lying Bangladesh risks devastating impacts from rising world sea levels caused by climate change with risks that millions will be forced from their homes this century, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said.

She told Reuters that rich nations would have to help the densely populated country of 150 million people, possibly by opening their borders to environmental refugees.

Bangladesh faces threats from cyclones from the Bay of Bengal and floods inland along the vast mouth of the Ganges River.

"Bangladesh is going to be one of the worst affected countries as it is a low-lying delta," she said on the sidelines of a two-day conference on melting ice and the Arctic Council in Tromsoe, north Norway.

"As one of the most densely populated in the world, (climate change) is going to be unbearable almost for the country, for the people. It's going to be devastating," she said.

The government was working on a plan targeting better food security, social protection and health, disaster management, better infrastructure, research and a shift to greener technologies.

But there were limits to Bangladesh's ability to cope with global warming stoked by emissions of greenhouse gases in other countries from factories, power plants and cars.

"It's already a very densely populated country so moving people inland -- how many can you do? So...the world will have to come together and decide how should we accommodate these people who will be environmental refugees," she said.

"Our people are known to be very hard working...they are already working as migrant workers all over the world and contributing to many economies of the world. Maybe the world will have to think about taking some of these people and relocating them?" she said.

"This is not an official plan, but we have to be open in our thinking about how to accommodate these people. We are talking about huge numbers," she said.

She added that the problem of climate refugees was also an issue for many other low-lying states and not the focus of government work. River deltas are hard to shore up against rising seas.

The U.N. Climate Panel projected in 2007 world sea levels would rise by between 18 and 59 cms (7-23 inches) this century, but omitted risks of an accelerating melt of Greenland or Antartcica.

The Panel listed Bangladesh among the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Millions of people live less than a metre above sea level. And from 1980 to 2000, 60 percent of 250,000 deaths worldwide from cyclones occurred in Bangladesh.

Moni said that rising seas and storms would bring more salinity to farmland, affecting crops and changing the types of fish able to survive.

"Climate change will give rise to more flooding, more cyclones, not just the frequency but the severity will be more. Bangladesh is already prone to natural calamities," she said.

She said that Bangladesh had a fund for adaptating to climate change worth $45 million and an international donor trust fund totalling $100 million.


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Whale sharks on the rise in Australia

Narelle Towie, Perth Now 30 Apr 09;

POPULATIONS of the world's largest fish, the whale shark, are increasing at WA's Ningaloo Reef, scientists report.

Researchers made the discovery using an online photo-identification technology called ECOCEAN which they used to track the sharks around the world.

The system works by encouraging members of the public to submit photos of whale sharks to the library’s database.

Scientists then identify the fish using pattern-recognition software which is then used to illustrate the whale sharks migratory habits.

More than 500 new whale sharks, considered vulnerable, have been discovered at Ningaloo reef since the project first began in 1993.

The team’s findings have been published in the journal Endangered Species Research (ESR).

Whale sharks migrate up to 12,000km and prior to the 1980s there had been only 350 confirmed sightings of the giant fish.

In some countries whale sharks are still harvested commercially.

Lead author on the ESR study Jason Holmberg says smaller whale sharks have also been discovered feeding at the reef during the study.

“Why are more and more juveniles arriving on the reef? It’s unclear, but it’s positive news,” Mr Holmberg said.

Founder of the ECOCEAN whale shark project and Murdoch University scientist Brad Norman says the research shows that whale sharks can increase where they are well-protected.

“We have also demonstrated the power of citizen-science, that ordinary people around the world can make a real contribution to serious research and conservation.”

“Thanks to increasing levels of data collection, we’re finally able to estimate how many whale sharks appear annually, how long they typically remain at Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP), their patterns of arrival and departure and shifts in their population structure,” he said.

Mr Norman recently discovered that whale sharks swim much faster than thought, nose-diving to the ocean floor for food and using their enormous weight and gravity for speed.

Curtin University researchers have also showed that whale shark ecotourism is a boon for local communities.

“Our results indicate that without whale sharks at Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP) up to $4.6 million would be lost from the local economy,” Mr Norman said.

“Similar economic benefits could be available at other whale shark ‘hotspots’ around the world,” he said.

The researchers hope now to use this technology to analyse data from other study sites and obtain a broader picture of the species.

Mr Norman warns that fundamental information on the whale sharks remains a mystery.

“Of over 1300 whale sharks we have tagged with our partners in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, very few have been sighted at other study locations, even though some whale sharks have been tracked for thousands of kilometres,” Mr Norman says.

He also cautions against making assumptions of how this may affect broader Indian Ocean populations, especially considering the migratory nature of whale sharks.

”Our models provide information only about the whale sharks visiting the northern region of NMP annually. While the number of sharks returning to that area in multiple seasons appears to be growing, we cannot make assumptions of how this may affect broader Indian Ocean populations, especially considering their migratory nature,” he said.

The success of the online survey has prompted scientists to issue a worldwide call to holiday-makers and divers to join in a global effort to monitor and protect the largest fish in the sea - thought to be at risk in the waters off many countries.

For further information on whale sharks visit www.whaleshark.org or call Earthwatch on 03 9682 6828.

Tourists help save whale sharks
ECOCEAN on ScienceAlert 1 May 09

Numbers of the whale shark ‐ the world's largest fish and one of its rarest – are steady and may even be increasing in one of its vital habitats, a revolutionary study by scientists and the general public has revealed.

The remarkable success of the online survey of whale sharks carried out by Earthwatch volunteers, tourists, divers and researchers at Ningaloo, WA has prompted scientists to issue a worldwide call to holiday makers and divers to join in a global effort to monitor and protect the largest fish in the sea - thought to be at risk in the waters off many countries.

"Besides showing that whale sharks can increase where they are well-protected, we have also demonstrated the power of citizen-science, that ordinary people around the world can make a real contribution to serious research and conservation," says Brad Norman, Project Coordinator and who founderd of the ECOCEAN whale shark project.

ECOCEAN, a not-for-profit group with offices in Australia and USA, has pioneered this new program – aimed at engaging members of the public to help monitor and ultimately protect wildlife - both in the sea and potentially recently on land through the development of similar programs for other endangered species.

“Thanks to increasing levels of data collection,” saysid Project Coordinator Brad Norman, “we’re finally able to estimate how many whale sharks appear annually, how long they typically remain at Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP), their patterns of arrival and departure, and shifts in their population structure.”

The team’s new findings have been published in the journal Endangered Species Research (ESR) and Jason Holmberg, lead author on the ESR study states that “Using an unprecedented number of photographs and video collected from the public and from the dive industry at NMP, we have been able to create statistical models demonstrating a modestly increasing annual population of around 150 sharks. We’re also seeing an increase in the number of smaller whale sharks feeding at the reef and returning in subsequent years. Why are more and more juveniles arriving on the reef? It’s unclear, but it’s positive news.”

This study complements a collaborative study with Curtin University, Western Australia, the results of which were published this month in the Journal of Ecotourism (JE), acknowledging the whale shark ecotourism industry as a boon for local communities working to protect this threatened species.

“Our results indicate that without whale sharks at NMP, up to AUD 4.7 6 million would be lost from the local economy” notes Norman “and similar economic benefits could be available at other whale shark ‘hotspots’ around the world. Therefore, providing it is well-managed, this form of non-consumptive exploitation should continue to be promoted as a sustainable alternative to unsustainable hunting of this threatened species”.

The team’s findings and techniques are useful beyond Western Australia. “For the first time, our recent study demonstrates a set of population models that can be expanded to incorporate other whale shark aggregations in the Indian Ocean if and when sharks can be linked between them.” saysid Mr. Holmberg.

“We are constructing a regional research framework. Community monitoring using the ECOCEAN Library has recorded more than 500 individual whale sharks visiting NMP since the industry began in 1993. A related study in the Philippines in collaboration with WWF has so far recorded 250 individual animals there, while another in Mozambique, conducted by the Manta & Whale Shark Research Centre, has confirmed sightings of more than 350 identified individuals.

Data from Ningaloo represent only a snapshot of the migrations of these sharks, but it’s a significant, long-term baseline. Moving forward, we can now begin to cooperatively integrate and analyze data from other study sites and obtain a broader picture of the species. For such a long-lived, far-ranging animal, a big-picture view is important – especially to promote global protection. It is important to note that the whale shark is still considered ‘vulnerable to extinction’, and with such a small population, continuing caution and protection is imperative.”

However, the research team notes that despite the sophisticated tools pioneered at Ningaloo, some fundamental mysteries remain.

“There is still a large amount of mystery surrounding these sharks, and there remains a fair amount of fundamental exploration ahead. Of over 1,300 whale sharks we have tagged with our partners in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, very few have been sighted at other study locations, even though some whale sharks have been tracked for thousands of kilometers. We couldn’t conduct our research on any meaningful scale without the public’s help,” saysid Mr. Norman, “and we’re looking forward to a continued partnership with ecotourism at Ningaloo and elsewhere to take this project forward.”

ECOCEAN (USA) President Dr Zaven Arzoumanian notes that “Without the direct contribution of data by the public, we would never have been able to perform our analysis and get such an in-depth look at the whale sharks of Ningaloo. Tourists and tour operators there are part of a small army of individuals collecting and sharing data globally for the species. Our framework at www.whaleshark.org supports collaborative research and provides the public with the opportunity to view and contribute data. They can also contribute home computing power to our grid computer at www.sharkgrid.org, in a similar way to the SETI@home (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) project. This allows even those who have never seen a whale shark to help protect them by participating in a global, online research community.”


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Sea turtles get protection from fishing lines in Gulf of Mexico

Temporary ban on longlines in Gulf of Mexico during feeding season
MSNBC Associated Press 29 Apr 09;

NEW ORLEANS - In a move to protect sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, federal regulators announced Wednesday they are restricting a fishing technique used to catch red grouper in waters off the Florida west coast.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the use of long fishing lines with hooks and squid bait would be banned from May 18 to Oct. 18, when sea turtles feed in the warm Florida coastal waters.

The ban comes after studies showed that as many as 1,000 sea turtles were being snagged every 18 months in longline gear. The practice involves baiting lines and laying them on the bottom of the ocean bottom. Of the 1,000 sea turtles caught, scientists estimate that about 800 were loggerheads, a threatened species.

Roy Crabtree, NOAA's southeast regional administrator for fisheries, said the ban was a temporary solution and that the agency was working with fishermen and conservationists to come up with a more permanent fix.

"I hope we can identify options that not only provide sea turtles the protection they need, but minimize the economic affects to the fishing industry," Crabtree said.

There are about 100 boats in the Gulf that use the long-line gear to catch red grouper and most of those dock in the Tampa Bay area. About 7 million pounds of red grouper are caught a year for about $8 million in dockside revenues.

Glen Brooks, the president of the Gulf Fishermen's Association and a long-line fisherman in Cortez, Fla., said the ban threatens his industry and the hundreds of fish-house workers, truckers and deckhands that rely on it.

"This may not be something anyone can recover from," Brooks said.

Regulators are looking at cutting the fleet of long-line boats and banning the long-line gear during the prime feeding months for sea turtles between June and August.

Crabtree said studies this summer would determine what to do.

The temporary ban was praised by conservationists.

"This is going to be a major benefit to sea turtles, especially the loggerheads that are threatened with extinction," said David L. Allison, a senior campaign director at Oceana. "This is a prime feeding area for sea turtles that nest all the way up to the Carolinas."


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EU Promises Tighter Fishing Laws To Protect Sharks

Jeremy Smith, PlanetArk 30 Apr 09;

LUXEMBOURG - European Union ministers called on Thursday for urgent action to tighten hunting controls on sharks, which are seriously threatened by chronic overfishing and one of the world's most vulnerable predators.

Only two out of dozens of shark species in EU waters have annual catch quotas, instituted about a year ago, and scientists say around a third of the shark species found in European waters are at risk due to persistent overexploitation.

The EU barely regulates shark fishing, despite its role as a major importer and exporter of shark meat and products.

EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg has suggested putting limits on shark catches, stricter rules on fishing tackle, and reductions in the number of days on which trawlers may hunt for sharks in sensitive areas.

Borg's suggestions, still far from being formal proposals for changing EU law, also cover related species such as skates and rays. They would apply wherever the European fleet operates, including outside EU waters, and attempt to regulate the controversial practice of slicing high-value fins off sharks.

"The council (of EU ministers) is pressing the (European) Commission to do something because this isn't an actual proposal, more of a wish-list. In reality, they're not going to come up with anything until next year," one EU diplomat said.

Since the mid-1980s, sharks have come under increasing pressure from fishermen lured by soaring demand and high prices.

They are hunted mainly for their fins, used to make shark fin soup, a traditional Asian dish. Fins fetch up to 1,000 euros ($1,300) each in Hong Kong, the world's main market for fins.

Other parts such as meat, skin, cartilage and liver oil are also valuable as they can be used to make cosmetic ingredients, medicinal supplements and jewellery.

In 2003 the EU banned "finning" -- cutting fins off the living shark and dumping the low-value carcass at sea -- though environment groups say the law is still not strict enough.

Sharks are often scooped up as a by-catch with other species and thrown back into the sea, where they usually don't survive. They have low fertility rates and become sexually mature only late in life; the spurdog shark has a two-year gestation period.

Spain is a leading exporter in the shark fin market, followed by France, Portugal and Britain.

(Editing by Farah Master)


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Climate Change Menaces Galapagos - Scientists

PlanetArk 30 Apr 09;

WASHINGTON - The unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands -- penguins, fur seals, swimming iguanas and flightless birds -- is profoundly threatened by climate change, scientists said on Wednesday.

Animals and plants are likely to face specific threats from invasive species and disease, reduced food sources and damage to coastal habitats from warming oceans and rising sea levels, the scientists said after a workshop on the impact of global warming on biodiversity on these Pacific islands.

"If we want the unique biodiversity of the Galapagos to survive for future generations we have to help it to adapt to climate change," said Emily Pidgeon of Conservation International, which convened the workshop in the islands last week.

The Galapagos Islands, located about 600 miles (970 km) off South America's coast along the equator and a province of Ecuador, are volcanic islands with a vast array of native species.

One of the species most at risk is the Galapagos fur seal, which could be threatened by an expected drop in the number of fish, their main food source, and an increased threat of disease, the scientists said in a statement.

Galapagos penguins may require "apartments" to recreate their preferred nesting conditions and provide shade and protection from introduced predators in areas outside their usual nesting sites, the statement said.

Coral reefs are threatened by changes in ocean temperature and acidity, while warmer waters are also causing more tropical Pacific fish to swim into the northern part of the Galapagos.

The Galapagos marine iguana, already considered vulnerable, could face high mortality levels, and the flightless cormorant could be threatened by nest flooding and other environmental fluctuations.

English naturalist Charles Darwin developed his evolution theory in the 19th century after studying the islands' unique animal population.

(Editing by Eric Beech)


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Food Scare Sparks Developing World Land Rush: Think Tank

Charles Abbott, PlanetArk 30 Apr 09;

WASHINGTON - High food prices fueled a land-buying spree in developing nations, particularly in Africa, by countries and private investors wanting to assure food supplies for themselves, a think tank said on Wednesday.

The International Food Policy Research Institute said 15 million to 20 million hectares of farmland in poor nations were sold since 2006, or were under negotiation for sale to foreign entities.

Global recession may slow, but not end, the drive for farmland as a safeguard, said IFPRI Director General Joachim von Braun.

"Food prices will rise again and investment opportunities from a commercial perspective will increase again," he said during a telephone news conference.

The spate of land purchases "is truly a consequence" of the abrupt increase in food prices in 2007 and 2008, and by fears that stockpiles would run short, von Braun said.

The purchases increased local land prices, he said, because comparatively small amounts of land go on sale each year.

IFPRI listed more than four dozen land deals in a report about the "land grabbing." Most were in Africa and some in Asia.

"Food-importing countries with land and water constraints but rich in capital, such as the Gulf states, are at the forefront of new investments in farmland abroad," the report said.

"In addition, countries with large populations and food security concerns such as China, South Korea and India are seeking opportunities to produce food overseas," it said.

Foreign investment may result in improved productivity and more income for residents, said the report, but it also can be seen as an intrusion and a threat to local food output.

An attempt by a South Korean company to buy 1.3 million hectares in Madagascar "reportedly played a role in the political conflicts" before a government overthrow last month, the report said.

IFPRI recommended a code of conduct for investors and host governments.

"Free, prior and informed consent is the standard to be upheld" in deal-making, said the report, with "particular efforts" toward fair treatment of land users who have traditional access to land but do not own it.

The World Bank has said it will soon publish guidelines to help investors and countries make mutually beneficial deals.

"The majority of agricultural land in Africa is not titled," said Ruth Meinzen-Dick, a senior research fellow at IFPRI. "If these rights are not respected in these transactions, the livelihoods of millions of people will be put at risk."

(Editing by Christian Wiessner)


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How Much Is Too Much?: Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Two new studies aim to quantify limits on the amount of greenhouse emissions necessary to avoid dangerous global warming
David Biello, Scientific American 29 Apr 09;

To avoid catastrophic climate change, the world will need to emit less than one trillion metric tons of carbon between now and 2050, according to two new papers published in Nature today. In other words, there is only room in the atmosphere to burn or vent less than one quarter of known oil, natural gas and coal reserves.

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have reached 386 parts per million—and rising, because every year, human activity spews more than 30 billion metric tons of CO2. So far, that's led to warming of roughly 0.8 degree Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The question is: How much more can we safely emit? The two new papers attempt an answer.

"There is a simple and predictable relationship between the total amount of carbon injected into the atmosphere and peak projected warming," says physicist Myles Allen of the University of Oxford in England and lead author of one of the studies. "Releasing a trillion [metric] tons of carbon into the atmosphere may cause a most likely peak warming of 2 degrees C [3.6 degrees F], which many identify as the danger point." An average temperature rise of 2 degrees C or lower has been adopted by the European Union and other countries—110 in all—as a goal for any treaty to control climate change, and has been identified by scientists, including the authors of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, as a point at which most climate changes become damaging.

But CO2—and the carbon at its molecular core—is not the only greenhouse gas. Others—ranging from methane to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—"could contribute as much as 10 to 40 percent of the warming induced by CO2 alone," says climatologist Malte Meinshausen of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, lead author of the second study appearing in Nature. That drops the overall budget for atmospheric emissions to roughly 750 billion metric tons of carbon between the years 2000 and 2050. "To limit the risk to a one-in-four chance [of 2 degree C warming], then total CO2 in the first half of the 21st century has to be kept below [one trillion] metric tons."

Put another way: humanity can only afford to burn and vent less than one quarter of known oil, natural gas and coal reserves. Already, between 2000 and 2006, the world emitted roughly 234 billion metric tons of CO2—and roughly one third of the total trillion metric ton "budget" has already been spent to date. "We can burn less than a quarter of known economically recoverable fossil fuel reserves between now and 2050," says co-author and climatologist William Hare, also of the PIK. "Not much at all of coal reserves can be burnt and still keep warming below the 2 degree [C] limit."

Meeting that target will require global emissions to peak and begin to decline before 2020—unless countries desire drastic cuts later in the century. "If you burn a [metric] ton of carbon today then you can't burn it tomorrow, you've got a finite stock," says co-author and physicist David Frame of Oxford. "How would you apportion that finite stock of carbon?" That is a decision the world's governments will have to make in coming months and years.

Global greenhouse gas emissions will need to be at least 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050—that means cuts by industrialized countries such as the U.S. of more than 90 percent—and on a path to zero emissions. A market for carbon—charging emitters for the ability to pollute—could help. A $50 price for a metric ton of CO2 by 2020 might do the trick based on economic modeling, Frame says, allowing emissions to peak some 25 percent above 1990 levels. "After that the carbon price would need to progressively increase to push carbon emissions down globally to where you would stay within this budget," he adds. "The 80 percent reduction [by 2050 pledge] from the U.S. is a good start but it's not enough to limit warming in order to meet [the] 2 degree [C increase] with high confidence."

Of course, 2 degrees C warming—a further 1.2 degrees C from the current level of heating—will in and of itself have a host of unpleasant effects, such as ongoing sea-level rise that will swamp coastlines and island states. Since 1750 humanity has added 520 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and we're on pace to add that much again within 40 years—a scenario that is likely to result in catastrophic climate change.

"The longer we let [emissions] rise, the harder and costlier reductions become," Allen notes.

'Safe' climate means 'no to coal'
Richard Black, BBC News 29 Apr 09;

About three-quarters of the world's fossil fuel reserves must be left unused if society is to avoid dangerous climate change, scientists warn.

More than 100 nations support the goal of keeping temperature rise below 2C.

But the scientists say that without major curbs on fossil fuel use, 2C will probably be reached by 2050.

Writing in Nature, they say politicians should focus on limiting humanity's total output of CO2 rather than setting a "safe" level for annual emissions.

The UN climate process focuses on stabilising annual emissions at a level that would avoid major climate impacts.

But this group of scientists says that the cumulative total provides a better measure of the likely temperature rise, and may present an easier target for policymakers.

"To avoid dangerous climate change, we will have to limit the total amount of carbon we inject into the atmosphere, not just the emission rate in any given year," said Myles Allen from the physics department at Oxford University.

"Climate policy needs an exit strategy; as well as reducing carbon emissions now, we need a plan for phasing out net emissions entirely."

Forty years

The UN climate convention, agreed at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, commits countries to avoiding "dangerous" climate change, without defining what that is.

The EU proposed some years ago that restricting the rise to 2C from pre-industrial times was a reasonable threshold, and it has since been adopted by many other countries, although some - particularly small islands - argue that even 2C would result in dangerous impacts.

Temperatures have already risen by about 0.7C during the industrial age.

Dr Allen's analysis suggests that if humanity's CO2 emissions total more than about one trillion tonnes of carbon, the 2C threshold is likely to be breached; and that could come within a lifetime.

"It took us 250 years to burn the first half trillion," he said, "and on current projections we'll burn the next half trillion in less than 40 years."

Inherent uncertainties in the modelling mean the temperature rise from the trillion tonnes could be between 1.3C and 3.9C, Dr Allen's team calculates, although the most likely value would be 2C.

Oil change

The "trillion tonnes" analysis is one of two studies published in Nature by a pool of researchers that includes the Oxford group and scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Impact Research in Germany.

The second study, led by Potsdam's Malte Mainshausen, attempted to work backwards from the 2C goal, to find out what achieving it might mean in practice.

It suggests that the G8 target of halving global emissions by 2050 (from 1990 levels) would leave a significant risk of breaching the 2C figure.

"Only a fast switch away from fossil fuels will give us a reasonable chance to avoid considerable warming," said Dr Mainshausen.

"If we continue burning fossil fuels as we do, we will have exhausted the carbon budget in merely 20 years, and global warming will go well beyond 2C."

If policymakers decided they were happy to accept a 25% chance of exceeding 2C by 2050, he said, they must also accept that this meant cutting emissions by more than 50%.

That would mean only burning about a quarter of the carbon in the world's known, economically-recoverable fossil fuel reserves. This is likely to consist mainly of oil and natural gas, leaving coal as a redundant fuel unless its emissions could be captured and stored.

Both analyses support the view of the Stern Review and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in suggesting that making reductions earlier would be easier and cheaper than delaying.

But according to Potsdam's Bill Hare, a co-author on the second paper, some key governments appear to favour pledging milder cuts in the near term in return for more drastic ones in decades to come.

"We have a number of countries - the US, Japan, Brazil - saying 'we will emit higher through to 2020 and then go down faster'," he said.

"That might be true geophysically, but we cannot find any economic model where emissions can fall in the range that this work shows would be necessary - around 6% per year."

Major intervention

Myles Allen's group has made the argument before that focussing on humanity's entire carbon dioxide output makes more scientific and political sense than aiming to define a particular "safe" level of emissions, or to plot a pathway assigning various ceilings to various years.

Some greenhouse gases, such as methane, have a definable lifetime in the atmosphere, meaning that stabilising emissions makes sense; but, said Dr Allen, CO2 "doesn't behave like that".

"There are multiple levers acting on its concentration and it does tend to accumulate; also models have to represent the possibility of some feedback between rising temperatures and emissions, such as parts of the land turning from carbon sinks into sources, for example."

The Nature papers emerge in a week that has seen the inaugural meeting of President Obama's Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, a new version of a body created under President Bush that brings together 17 of the world's highest-emitting countries for discussion and dialogue.

During the opening segment, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton re-affirmed the administration's aim of cutting US emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050 - a target espoused by some other developed countries.

But according to Malte Meinshausen's analysis, even this reduction may not be enough to keep the average global temperature rise within 2C, assuming less developed nations made less stringent cuts in order to aid their development.

"If the US does 80%, that equates to about 60% globally, and that offers only a modest chance of meeting the 2C target," he said.

Last week saw the publication of data showing that industrialised countries' collective emissions rose by about 1% during 2007.

To meet climate goal, cut fossil fuels use: study
Yahoo News 29 Apr 09;

PARIS (AFP) – Meeting a widely-supported goal to tackle global warming means that humanity will be able to burn less than a quarter of the proven reserves of fossil fuels by 2050, a study released on Wednesday said.

The paper, published by the British journal Nature, implies only a revolution in energy use can achieve the aim of limiting warming to less than two degrees Celsius (3.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

To achieve the objective -- embraced by the European Union (EU) and many scientists -- means that only 1,000 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) can be emitted between 2000 and 2050, it said.

By comparison, the world has emitted a third of that amount in just nine years.

"If we continue burning fossil fuels as we do, we will have exhausted the carbon budget in merely 20 years, and global warming will go well beyond two degrees," said the study's lead author, Malte Meinshausen of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Berlin.

Fossil fuels -- coal, gas and oil -- provide the backbone of the world's energy supplies.

But they are also the main source of heat-trapping carbon gases blamed for warming Earth's atmosphere and driving changes to weather patterns.

Boosting efficient use of these fuels so that they are no longer dangerous or switching to cleaner alternatives carries an economic cost, and this is the biggest stumbling block in efforts to defuse the threat.

Meinshausen said the change should not be delayed and cautioned that even with a 2 C (3.8 F) warming, there would still be unprecedented risk.

"Only a fast switch away from fossil fuels will give us a reasonable chance to avoid considerable warming," he said in a press release.

"We shouldn't forget that a 2 C [3.8 F] global mean warming would take us far beyond the natural temperature variations that life on Earth has experienced since we humans have been around."

"To keep warming below 2 C [3.8 F], we cannot burn and emit the CO2 from more than a quarter of the economically recoverable fossil fuels up to 2050, and in the end, only a small fraction of all known fossil-fuel reserves," said co-author Bill Hare, also of the Potsdam Institute.

The study said world emissions of greenhouse gases have to be cut by more than 50 percent by 2050 levels compared to 1990 levels if the risk of busting the 2 C (3.6 F) ceiling is to be limited to 25 percent. In addition, reductions would have to be made from 2020.

The Group of Eight (G8) countries have pledged an emissions reduction of at least 50 percent by 2050.

But they have not identified a benchmark year against which this should be measured nor set an intermediate date by which emissions cuts should start.

Negotiations are underway under the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for agreeing on emissions cuts beyond 2012, when current pledges under the Kyoto Protocol expire. The UNFCCC wants to wrap up a deal in a conference in Copenhagen in December.

The world has already warmed by about 0.8 C (1.44 F) since the start of the Industrial Revolution, and another 0.5 C (O.9 F) or so is considered inevitable over coming decades given past greenhouse gas emissions.

To keep warming low, deeper pollution cuts needed
Seth Borenstein, Associated Press 29 Apr 09;

WASHINGTON – If the world is going to limit global warming to just a few degrees, it has to slash carbon dioxide pollution much more than now being discussed, two new science studies say.

Carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — is the chief cause of global warming.

The studies found there's a limit to how much manmade carbon dioxide can be added to the air before warming exceeds an increase of 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit — the level that many governments have set as a goal. World average temperatures going higher than that may be dangerous, some scientists say.

To keep under that danger level, the world has to spew less than 1.1 trillion tons of carbon dioxide in the first half of the 21st Century, according to studies published in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature.

In the first nine years of the century, the world has already emitted one-third of that amount and is on pace to hit that trillion ton limit in just 20 years, said climate researcher Malte Meinshausen of Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and lead author of one of the studies.

Even if the world ducks under that emissions limit, there is still a 25 percent chance of temperatures exceeding the dangerous mark, he said.

President Barack Obama said he wants to cut U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide by 80 percent. That is a "good start but it's not enough to limit warming," said Bill Hare, a study co-author who is also at the Potsdam Institute.

Assuming that other countries cut their per-person emission levels to match the United States, the United States has to cut its overall pollution by 90 to 95 percent to keep the world from exceeding the 1.1 trillion ton mark, Hare said.

Cutting emissions means not burning as much fossil fuels, leaving about three quarters of the known reserves in the ground, the study authors said.

"Not much at all of coal reserves can be burnt and still keep below" the 3.6 degrees of warming, Hare said.

World emissions must start dropping by 2015, otherwise cuts will have to be too draconian, Meinshausen said.

The studies, which used computer models, take a different approach than other research on figuring out how much carbon dioxide in the air is too much. Instead of the proportion of carbon dioxide in the air at any given time, they looked at the total amount spewed out over many decades to arrive at a tipping point of 1.1 trillion tons.

Stephen Schneider of Stanford University who paints a worst case scenario for global warming in a commentary in the journal, said the studies make it seem like scientists know where there's a solid danger line for emissions, when they don't. The papers acknowledge there is a 25 percent chance the limit should be lower. Schneider said that's a pretty big risk when the consequences of being wrong are severe.

"If you had a 25 percent chance that walking into a room would give you serious flu, would you?" Schneider asked.


Climate countdown: Half a trillion tonnes of carbon left to burn
To avoid dangerous climate change of 2C, the world can only burn another half a trillion tonnes of carbon, climate change experts warn
David Adam, guardian.co.uk 29 Apr 09;

The world has already burned half the fossil fuels necessary to bring about a catastrophic 2C rise in average global temperature, scientists revealed today.

The experts say about half a trillion tonnes of carbon have been consumed since the industrial revolution. To prevent a 2C rise, they say, the total burnt must be kept to below a trillion tonnes. On current rates, that figure will be reached in 40 years.

Myles Allen, a climate expert at Oxford University who led the new study, said: "Mother Nature doesn't care about dates. To avoid dangerous climate change we will have to limit the total amount of carbon we inject into the atmosphere, not just the emission rate in any given year."

The scientists say their research could simplify political attempts to tackle global warming, which encompass a range of targets and timetables. Such proposals usually set future limits on the amount of carbon dioxide allowed to build up in the atmosphere, such as 450 parts per million (ppm), or as future emission rates, such as the UK's pledge to slash emissions 80% by 2050.

The new study effectively re-frames such targets as an available budget - to avoid dangerous climate change of 2C the world can only burn another half a trillion tonnes of carbon.

Writing in today's Nature, Allen and colleagues say a trillion tonnes of carbon burnt would be likely to produce a warming of between 1.6C and 2.6C, with a "most likely" 2C rise.

Chris Huntingford of the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology said: "Research often reveals new complexities, but this analysis could actually simplify matters for policy makers. The relationship between total emissions and future warming can be inferred largely from quantities we can observe, and is remarkably insensitive to the timing of future emissions."

The key implication of the research, the scientists say, is that access to fossil fuels must somehow be rationed and eventually turned off, if the 2C target is to be met. "If country A burns it then country B can't," said Bill Hare, a climate expert with the Potsdam Institute in Germany. "It's like a draining tank."

The research also highlights that continued high rates of fossil fuel use in the next decade will demand extraordinary cuts in emissions in future decades to hit the 2C target. Allen said: "If you use too much [carbon] this year, it doesn't mean the planet will come to an end. It means you have to work even harder the next year."

A separate study, also published today in Nature, led by Malte Meinshausen at the Potsdam Institute, use a similar approach and sets a different carbon budget. They say the world can only emit 190bn tonnes of carbon between now and 2050 if it aims for a 2C rise. Emissions over 310bn tonnes in that time lead to a 50% chance of going over 2C.

The new research does not say anything about the likelihood of reaching the 2C target. They simply change the way progress towards the target is measured.

In an accompanying commentary article, the scientists behind both studies say: "These results are not incompatible with current proposals for near-term emission targets -- the small size of the cumulative emission budgets to 2050 reinforces the need for global CO2 emissions to peak around or before 2020 so that emission pathways remain technologically and economically feasible."

They add: "Having taken 250 years to burn the first half trillion tonnes of carbon we look set, on current trends, to burn the next half trillion in less than 40. No one could credibly suggest that we should carry on with business as usual to the 2040s and then somehow suddenly stop using fossil fuels, switch to 100% carbon capture or just shut down the world economy overnight."


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