Best of our wild blogs: 22 May 09

Biodiversity consultation @ Envirofest
on Otterman speaks

Envirofest 2009 and the handing over of The Blue Plan
on the habitatnews blog

Biodiversity Day talk on alien invasives - twitter coverage on the Biodiversity crew @ NUS blog

Major port projects to continue
Pasir Panjang and Changi plus dredging on the wild shores of singapore blog

Death by stonefish
on the annotated budak blog and back to the blue and I won't bite

Wildfacts: Shared sightings updated
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Water Quality Modelling: "Ngee Ann Stream"
on the Water Quality in Singapore blog

Munia eating seeds of grasses III
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Red-winged Starling, another escapee for Singapore
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Read more!

International Biodiversity Day sounds the alarm on invasive species

IUCN 22 May 09;

International Biodiversity Day, celebrated each year on May 22, pays tribute to the global importance of biodiversity, both as an asset for posterity and a vital resource for people and their livelihoods.

This year, International Biodiversity Day focuses on alien invasive species as major threats to biodiversity. Biological invasions are the result of species that are introduced to a new ecosystem in which they are not indigenous. They often cause great harm to their new environments.

These invasions are high on the list of current threats to biodiversity, ecosystems, species and the protected areas which support them. This has knock-on effects on the livelihoods of people that depend on them for their survival.

“The impact of alien invasive species is increasing both in the sea and on land, particularly with global change brought about by climate change,” says Jane Smart, Director of IUCN’s Biodiversity Conservation Group. “We all need to be aware of this link and consider it in our many activities to combat climate change.”

The IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is a network of leading specialists who provide technical advice to policy makers. The ISSG manages the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) and disseminate the most current and reliable information on invasive species ecology, their impacts on biological diversity and ways to prevent and control their spread. The GISD is recognized globally as a key resource by our many partners in conservation action against invasive species.

The 2009 International Biodiversity Day marks the start of the celebrations around biodiversity that will intensify as we get closer to 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity. 2010 will be a very important year for biodiversity conservation.

The United Nations General Assembly will host a special session on biodiversity and the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will meet on several occasions during the year culminating in its 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

Other biodiversity-related processes, like the discussions around the development of an Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the advancement of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study, will support and strengthen conservation work.

Many eyes will be looking closely at these processes and it is expected that by the time of the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in October, governments and stakeholders will have made up their minds about new biodiversity targets to replace the 2010 biodiversity target.

Time to Get Tough on Alien Species
UNEP 22 May 09;

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

22 May 2009 - International Biological Diversity Day 2009 spotlights perhaps one of the least know threats to biodiversity and economies-alien invasive species.

Some governments such as New Zealand are facing up to the challenge with tough customs controls on foreign plants and animals.

Others such as South Africa have well-funded eradication programmes. But far too many countries have failed to grasp the threat or are far too casual in their response.

This is a mistake of profound environmental and economic proportions. By some estimates alien invasive species may be costing the global economy $1.4 trillion or more while representing a further challenge to the poverty-related UN Millennium Development Goals.

So where are they coming from? In HG Wells' celebrated sci-fi saga, "The War of the Worlds" aliens invaded in space ships to wreak havoc and mayhem.

In the real world they are spread from one Continent to another via the global agricultural, horticultural and pet trades or by hitchhiking lifts in ballast water and on ship's hulls.

Free from natural predators and checks and balances, alien invasive spaces can explode in numbers in their new homes ousting native species, clogging waterways and power station intakes, bringing novel infections including viruses and bacteria, poisoning soils and damaging farmland.

Take water hyacinth. A native of the Amazon basin, it was brought to Continents like Africa to decorate ornamental ponds with its attractive violet flowers.

But there is nothing attractive about its impacts on Lake Victoria where it is thought to have arrived in around 1990 down the Kigera River from Rwanda and Burundi.

Hyacinth can explode into a floating blanket, affecting shipping, reducing fish catches, hampering electricity generation and human health.

Annual costs to the Ugandan economy alone may be $112 million. The plant has now invaded more than 50 countries world-wide.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the invasive witchweed is responsible for annual maize losses amounting to US$7 billion: overall losses to aliens may amount to over $12 billion in respect to Africa's eight principle crops.

The challenge is both a developed and developing economy one and the more scientists look at the issue the more concerned they become.

In the United States researchers believe they now know why a weed from Europe - garlic mustard - is damaging native hardwoods. The alien produces a poison which kills native fungi which the trees need to grow.

The scale is perhaps only now unfolding. One of the most comprehensive Continent-wide assessments to date has just been completed.

The Delivering Alien Species Inventories for Europe or DAISIE says there are now 11,000 invaders in Europe of which 15 per cent cause economic damage and threaten native flora and fauna.

Globalization and international trade will, when the economy recovers, increase the chances of new aliens to travel from one part of the world to another.

Meanwhile climate change is likely to favour some alien species currently constrained by local temperatures.

Scientists have termed them 'sleepers'-foreign agents who become embedded in a community to be activated some years later. Introduced rainbow trout into the UK is a case in point.

In War of the Worlds the Martians are defeated by an Earthly infection - perhaps a bout of flu - to which they have no resistance. Real world aliens are often made of sterner stuff.

Improved international cooperation through the UNEP-linked Convention on Biological Diversity is needed and stepped up support for the Global Invasive Species Programme.

Important too to boost the capacity of the responsible national customs and quarantine agencies, especially in developing countries and to accelerate via the UN's International Maritime Organization.

Preventing alien species entering a new country is going to be demonstrably cheaper than the cure of trying to eradicate a well-entrenched species.

Alien invasive species have for too long been given a free ride - raising awareness among policy-makers and the public and accelerating a comprehensive response is long overdue.

The DAISIE network of scientists is clear. Inaction "is becoming increasingly disastrous for Europe's biodiversity, health and economy". They could be speaking for the whole world.

Ban Ki-moon's message for the International Day for Biological Diversity
UNEP 22 May 09;

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Message On The International Day for Biological Diversity

22 May 2009 - The global decline in biodiversity remains alarming, despite agreement at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to significantly reduce the rate of loss by 2010.

The main causes include deforestation, changes in habitat and land degradation, often linked to the growing impact of climate change. Another threat – the focus of this year's observance of the International Day for Biological Diversity – is the spread of invasive alien species.

An unwanted by-product of globalization, non-native species are harming ecosystem services, livelihoods and economies throughout the world. The Government of South Africa alone is spending as much as $60 million per year in an attempt to eradicate plants, such as wattles, that are invading valuable farmland, river systems and economically important tourist sites such as the Cape Floral Kingdom.

In the Great Lakes of North America, zebra mussels are affecting shipping, fisheries and electric power generation. Throughout the islands of the Pacific Ocean, rats from foreign ships are exterminating indigenous birds. In many countries in Africa, water hyacinth is clogging lakes and rivers, to the detriment of aquatic wildlife and the communities and industries that profit from it.

There are many other examples of how invasive alien species can affect native biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and even human health. Such threats stand to be exacerbated by the other drivers of biodiversity loss, and climate change in particular. The implications for poverty reduction, sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals are profound.

The Convention on Biological Diversity is addressing the threat of invasive alien species by setting global priorities and guidelines, sharing information and expertise, and helping to coordinate international action. The most cost-effective and feasible method of control is prevention. To be successful, this strategy requires collaboration among Governments, economic sectors and non-governmental and international organizations. A country can only prevent invasions if it knows which species may invade, where they may come from and the best management options for dealing with them.

Individuals, too, have a responsibility. Abiding by local and international quarantine and customs regulations will prevent the spread of insect pests, weeds and diseases. A simple rule applies: leave living organisms in their natural habitats and bring home only memories.

Next year is the International Year of Biological Diversity. Highlights include a high-level segment of the United Nations General Assembly and the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in Nagoya, Japan. These events will help to shape future strategies to preserve the planet's ecosystems. Controlling invasive alien species and addressing the other causes of biodiversity loss is an increasingly urgent task. I urge all Governments, organizations and individuals to renew their efforts to protect life on Earth.

Read more!

Government spending S$68m to test-bed solar projects

Ryan Huang, Channel NewsAsia 21 May 09;

SINGAPORE: Singapore has achieved significant progress in its effort to become a "living laboratory" for solar energy.

Nine new solar test-bed projects in the private and public sector were unveiled on Thursday.

This brings the total commitment from the government for such projects, which allow the testing of new technology, to S$68 million.

This will also increase its installed base of solar systems to about 5 megawatts from just 200 kilowatts last year.

Singapore had earlier identified the development of clean technology as a key strategic growth area.

The nine new projects feature innovations such as a solar air-conditioning system which does not require electricity - a first in Singapore.

Another innovation being used in the testbed projects is the integration of solar panels into the building facade, by combining building materials with solar photo voltaic cells.

Another company specifically engineered roof clamps for its solar panels.

These were among the technologies used by the five private sector projects which were chosen by the Economic Development Board for their creative design and effectiveness.

The chosen projects are City Developments Limited's Tampines Grande, Lend Lease's 313@Somerset, Robert Bosch's regional headquarters building, Lonza Biologics's manufacturing facility, and Applied Materials' manufacturing facility.

The EDB said these projects will create opportunities for players in the cleantech industry - such as architects, engineers, developers and technology providers - to hone their expertise and track record which can position them for entry into the global energy market.

The EDB said Singapore is making good progress in its efforts to attract such test-bedding activities.

EDB's deputy managing director Manohar Khiatani said: "Singapore is looking at being the location where companies will find it attractive to carry out these activities here, be it foreign or local...

"If they can work together to come up with solutions, it really provides a win-win (situation) for both. The end-benefactor will be Singapore. We are positioning Singapore as a living lab."

The clean technology sector is expected to help Singapore generate S$3.4 billion in value-added and create 18,000 jobs by 2015. The fast-growing sector was estimated to be worth over US$150 billion globally in 2008, according to research firm New Energy Finance.

There is also potentially plenty of money to be saved. By adopting green features, a building such as the Tampines Grande is estimated to be able to cut its electricity bills by over half a million dollars annually.

The demand for green technology is expected to grow as it becomes cheaper and more efficient.

- CNA/ir

$68m war chest to grow solar industry
SOLAR panels of different shapes and sizes are finding their way onto Singapore's buildings as the nation bids to grow its solar industry.
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 21 May 09;

The Economic Development Board (EDB) said yesterday that it has handed out $8 million in grants for public and private solar projects which will develop Singapore's expertise in the technology.

The Government will spend a total of $68 million to test-bed solar projects and develop local skills in preparation for mass adoption when the technology becomes cheaper, said EDB managing director Beh Swan Gin.

The EDB-led Clean Energy Programme Office (Cepo) yesterday gave the Solar Pioneer Award under the $20 million Solar Capability Scheme to the first five private-sector projects. The scheme was launched last year.

They are City Developments' office building Tampines Grande, Lend Lease Retail's shopping complex 313@Somerset, Robert Bosch's regional headquarters building, and manufacturing facilities at Lonza Biologics and Applied Materials.

The EDB funds up to 40 per cent of the costs of certain solar projects.

The test-bed projects were chosen based on innovation, design, effectiveness and skills development, said the EDB.

Tampines Grande, for example, raised the bar by being the first private commercial building to use building integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV. This integrates solar panels into the facades of buildings.

It also built Singapore's first solar thermal air-conditioning system, which works by heating up water needed by chillers to produce chilled water.

The building, which won a platinum green building award for its green features, saves an annual 2.7 million kilowatt-hours and reduces carbon emissions by 1,400 tonnes a year.

Cepo also announced a second batch of public-sector projects under its $17 million Clean Energy Research and Test-bedding programme.

These are Ngee Ann Polytechnic, the Changi Airport Budget Terminal, National Environment Agency's Meteorological Station and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Separately, the Housing Board is committing $31 million to testing solar panels on its flats.

Altogether, Singapore's installed base of solar systems will increase by 25 times, from 200 kilowatts last year to about 5MW, when all the test-bed projects are up and running.

A new National Solar Data Repository centre was also announced, jointly set up by Singapore Polytechnic and the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore.

Data will be collated and studied to improve the efficiency of solar systems in the tropical climate, said its chief executive, Professor Joachim Luther.

EDB deputy managing director Manohar Khiatani said some firms have expressed interest in being 'solar utilities' where mass solar systems are aggregated and operated to achieve cost savings, although there are no details yet.

The EDB is also in talks to attract more 'key solar players' to further grow Singapore's solar ecosystem of firms, he said.

5 buildings get grants to install solar panels
Jamie Lee, Business Times 22 May 09

FIVE commercial buildings for office, retail and manufacturing use have received grants from a $20 million scheme to install solar panels, the Economic Development Board said yesterday.

It did not reveal the amount disbursed from the fund, saying that it is a small percentage. It noted that firms can receive grants of up to 40 per cent of the cost for solar panels.

Grants to 14 private and public solar projects so far total $8 million. or 21.6 per cent, of $37 million of funds, EDB said. The $37 million combines the $20 million solar capability scheme and $17 million set aside for clean energy research and test-bedding (Cert).

The five private sector projects that have received grants are: City Developments Ltd's Tampines Grande, Lend Lease Retail's 313@Somerset, Robert Bosch's regional headquarters building, Lonza Biologics' manufacturing facility and Applied Materials' manufacturing facility.

By year-end, Applied Materials is set to put up the largest solar installation in Singapore at its operations centre at Changi. The 5.7 sq metre panel to be installed - about the size of a Western king-size bed - can generate 430 megawatt hours (MWh) per annum. This is enough to power 95 four-room HDB flats.

CDL's office building Tampines Grande will incorporate a solar power system to provide air-conditioning to the atrium, the company said. It expects to save 2.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year.

Besides the five commercial projects, EDB has given grants to four public sector projects under Cert - Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Changi Airport budget terminal, the National Environment Agency's Meteorological Station and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

With the earlier five public sector projects, Singapore's total installed base of solar power systems stands at 5MWh, up from 200kWh in mid-2008.

Singapore as a living laboratory for solar energy
By TODAY | Channel NewsAsia 21 May 09;

SINGAPORE: The Clean Energy Programme Office has awarded the Solar Pioneer Award to the first five private sector projects under the S$20 million Solar Capability Scheme (SCS).

The five are City Developments Limited's Tampines Grande, Lend Lease's 313@Somerset, Robert Bosch's regional headquarters building, Lonza Biologics' manufacturing facility, and Applied Materials' manufacturing facility.

The Economic Development Board (EDB) says the projects were chosen for their innovative design and effectiveness. For instance, combining building materials with solar photo voltaic cells and using solar thermal air-conditioners.

In addition, four public sector projects have been added to the Clean Energy Research and Test-bedding (CERT) programme.

These are Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Changi Airport Budget Terminal, the National Environment Agency's Meteorological Station and the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Altogether, the government has committed S$68 million for solar testbeds, and this includes the Housing Board's solar test-bedding project which aims to fit solar panels in 30 HDB precincts by 2015.

With the latest projects, Singapore's installed base of solar systems will increase from just 200 kilowatts last year to about 5 mega watts. And this will go towards making 80 per cent of buildings here BCA Green Mark certified by 2030 as part of the Blueprint for a Sustainable Singapore.

The EDB says these projects will create opportunities for players in the cleantech industry - such architects, engineers, developers and technology providers - to hone their expertise and track record which can position them for entry into the global energy market.

The cleantech industry is expected to generate 3.4 billion dollars in value-added and create 18,000 jobs by 2015.

The Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO) is Singapore's key inter-agency workgroup responsible for planning and executing strategies to develop Singapore into a global clean energy hub where clean energy products and solutions are developed here for the global market.

- TODAY/ yt

A bright future
Esther Ng, Today Online 22 May 09;

GRID parity — when solar power prices cost the same as retail electricity — may still be far away, but Singapore is already positioning itself as a solar test-bedding hub for when that day arrives.

Yesterday, five private sector projects were given the Solar Pioneer Award — under the $20-million Solar Capability Scheme (SCS) — for investing and integrating solar energy solutions in building design and test-bedding.

The awards were given out by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) to City Developments Limited’s Tampines Grande, Lend Lease Retail’s 313 at Somerset, Robert Bosch’s regional headquarters building at Bishan, Lonza Biologics’ manufacturing facility at Tuas, and Applied Materials’ manufacturing facility at Upper Changi.

These were chosen for their innovative design and effectiveness. For instance, Tampines Grande combined building materials with solar photo voltaic cells and is the first commercial property in Singapore to use solar thermal panels to power its air-conditioning system. Though not enough togenerate electricity for the entire building, it is enough to cool the atrium and two lobbies.

Four public sector projects have also been added to the existing five in the $17-million Clean Energy Research and Test-bedding (Cert) programme. These are Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Changi Airport Budget Terminal, National Environment Agency’s Meteorological Station and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Out of the $37-million fund from Cert and SCS, $8 million has been given out to 14 projects — nine from Cert and five from SCS. These projects complement the Housing Development Board’s $31-million solar test-bedding project which aims to fit solar panels in 30 HDB precincts by 2015. With these new projects, Singapore’s installed base ofsolar systems will increasefive-fold from 200 kilowattslast year to about 5 megawatts.

The performance and climatic impact data from these test-bed sites will be captured by the newly-launched National Solar Data Repository — jointly set up by the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore and Singapore Polytechnic.

The cleantech industry is expected to generate $3.4 billion in value-added and create 18,000 jobs by 2015.

Read more!

Egg=Life Turtle Conservation Campaign

Help Save Turtles with Just One Signature
WWF 21 May 09;

Petaling Jaya, 21st April 2009 – WWF-Malaysia today launched the “Egg=Life” campaign aimed at improving the protection of marine turtles in Malaysia. The campaign, which will run from Earth Day 22nd April to 30th September 2009, targets to gain pledges from 40,000 members of the public. People who sign up in support of WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” campaign will pledge to:

• support laws that will ban the sale and consumption of all turtle eggs throughout Malaysia
• support the call for comprehensive and holistic Federal legislation to conserve marine turtles
• never consume turtle eggs, or trade in turtles or their parts

Anyone can sign up to support the campaign and help our marine turtles at wwf.org.my. Organisations and colleges that would like to undertake signature drives in support of the campaign can contact WWF-Malaysia for educational materials and postage-paid hardcopy sign-up forms.

At today’s launch, WWF-Malaysia Executive Director/CEO Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma said, “Turtles play a critical role in keeping marine ecosystems healthy; the same ecosystems which sustain our fisheries and tourism industries that provide food and livelihoods for millions of people. Marine turtles are threatened with extinction due to various factors, including: the practice of consuming turtle eggs, becoming accidentally caught in fishing gear, poorly planned coastal development, marine and nesting beach pollution as well as illegal trade of turtles and their parts.”

He explained that leatherback turtles have already been declared functionally extinct in Malaysia. In the 1950s, there were 10,000 leatherback nests in Rantau Abang each year; now there are less than 10. Moreover, turtle protection laws are inadequate. Current Federal law on turtles are limited. Under the Federal Constitution, it is the states that have the authority to make laws on turtles. State laws vary from state to state and are simply inadequate.

Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma appealed to the public and said, “Comprehensive and holistic Federal laws, additional resources and heightened enforcement are needed to effectively protect our turtles. Each signature in support of WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” campaign will lend weight to efforts aimed at improving turtle protection legislation in Malaysia, and I hope that everyone will log on to wwf.org.my and help save turtles with just one signature.”

In Peninsular Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia works with partners including the Department of Fisheries Malaysia to conserve turtles at key nesting rookeries including Kem Terendak, Pulau Upeh and Padang Kemunting beaches in Melaka as well as Ma’Daerah and Setiu beaches in Terengganu. Melaka’s beaches are home to the peninsula’s largest population of hawksbill turtles – with 20 to 30% of the state’s total nestings occurring on the 120 meter strip of beach in

Pulau Upeh, the densest nesting beach in Melaka – while a significant population of green turtles nests on Terengganu’s beaches. These nesting beaches must be protected from pollution and development because they are critical to the survival of our marine turtles.

Read more!

Traditional whaling at Lamalera

It’s Just a Matter of Saving a Way of Life
Bernard L. Krova, Jakarta Globe 21 May 09;

Last week at the World Oceans Conference, the government officially declared 3.5 million hectares of critical marine habitat in the Savu Sea for conservation. Though government representatives have assured that traditional whaling — which has been supporting the surrounding communities’ means of living — will not be banned in the area immediately outside the zone, concerns still remain.

Residents of Lefo Lamalera, a fishing community in East Nusa Tenggara with a population of more than 1,700, have hunted whales for centuries using traditional methods. In what was agreed upon during the formation of the conservation area, Lamalera residents will still be allowed to hunt whales, their primary source of livelihood.

The concern now is that outside parties will attempt to transform the village’s economy from subsistence whale-hunting to commercial whale-watching. This possibility has been mentioned in three separate reports by Apex Environmental written for The Nature Conservancy, as well as in a joint report by the World Wildlife Fund and TNC.

However, tourism based on whale-watching is not likely to provide a sustainable enough substitute for whale-hunting for two key reasons.

First is the remoteness of Lamalera from the tourist center of Bali.

Getting to Lamalera from Bali takes a minimum travel time of three days by air and land. If there are already whale-watching tours operating in Bali, which, being a popular tourist destination, offers way more amenities, why will tourists still hassle themselves to get to Lamalera? Besides, the hundred or so tourists who visit Lamalera each year do so to see a unique way of life, not to see whales.

The other reason is revenue generated by whale-watching won’t be sufficient to sustain Lamalera. The only people benefiting primarily from whale-watching have been some losmen operators in the village. The alternative is to the advantage of a few, but whale-hunting can feed an entire village.
Besides the reasons mentioned, outsiders must understand that there is more to Lamalera’s whale-hunting than it appears.

Before the beginning of the hunting season, Lamalera people carry out a traditional ceremony, requesting blessings from their ancestors and paying respects to those who have died at sea. The ceremony is held every May 1 which signals the beginning of the whale-hunting season. According to tradition, hunters are not allowed to seize whales during their breeding phase, as well as young whales and pregnant ones. Hunters also avoid killing specific species such as minke whales because according to belief, this particular whale once came to the village’s aid. If hunters break these strict rules, it is believed that the hunting season will turn out a failure.

In short, whaling in Lamalera is not some mere form of recreation or mere profit venture; it is a way of life. And transforming this way of life will prove costly to the people who depend on it.
With limited farmland that can be tilled to serve a whole village’s needs, residents of Lefo Lamalera like myself depend on marine resources. There is no doubt that we agonize as well at how whales appear when they are killed, but Lefo Lamalera has no choice.

When a whale is caught, it is first distributed to those holding a share-right in the boat. These include crewmen, craftsmen and members of the clan who own the boat. From a single boat, there may be 40 or more share-right holders. When two or more boats cooperate to catch a whale, as is common, the number becomes twice as large. Most residents of Lamalera enjoy the whale captured through a method of reciprocity known as bfene and lamma, or joy in sharing and trade. We also believe that a whale is sent to support the life of widows and the poor living around Mount Labalekan. This belief system has existed for a long time, even before our Indonesian founding fathers.

Also, the people of Lamalera aren’t the only ones who benefit from whale hunting, but also the residents of the interior areas of Lembata Island, Adonara Island and even parts of Flores Island.
Because Lamalera residents have very little agricultural land, they acquire products such as maize, bananas, manioc and other fruits and vegetables by trading with farmers from the interior areas. For these farmers, Lamalera’s whales supply them with a source of protein.

To add, recent research at the University of Indonesia has shown that without whale meat, the traditional barter market will collapse, with detrimental effects for both the whale hunters of Lamalera and farmers from interior land.

Lamalera is one of the last remaining Indonesian whaling communities; it is categorized by the International Whaling Commission as aboriginal whaling.

Under the terms of the 1986 moratorium on whaling, the IWC allows aboriginal groups to whale but only on the basis of subsistence. The WWF went to Lamalera to conduct a survey to determine that the limited hunting does not endanger the world whale population or other endangered species. The global population of sperm whales — the kind caught in Lamalera — has been estimated at 360,000. The average number of whales being caught each year in Lamalera in the past 30 years has been about 21. The highest number of whales captured? It is pegged at 59, which occurred in 1969.

The cessation of whaling in Lamalera, therefore, will affect thousands of people, not just in Lamalera but in neighboring villages as well. We do not believe that tourism hinged on whale-watching can provide a sustainable alternative to traditional whale hunting. It is our hope that outside parties will grasp the drastic change that will entail the people of South Lembata. We hope the rights of the people of Lamalera will be respected, a right to pursue a way of life they have maintained for centuries.

Bernard L. Krova is the coordinator of Save Lamalera.

Read more!

Some 55 percent of coral reefs in South Sulawesi damaged

Antara 21 May 09;

Makassar, South Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Around 55 percent of coral reefs in South Sulawesi waters are damaged due to destructive fishing practices by fishermen.

The use of explosives to catch fish has damaged marine ecosystem, including coral reefs at Takabonerate marine park, in Selayar Island District, South Sulawesi Province, Iskandar, head of the South Sulawesi marine and fishery service, said here on Wednesday.

The condition of the coral reefs in the national marine park was bad and only 45 percent of them were in good state, he said.

The Destructive fishing practices not only destroying the coral reefs at Takabonerate but also other marine species, he said.

The Indonesian Naval personnel had arrested fishermen in South Sulawesi waters for using bombs to catch fish, he said.

Takabonerate is considered the world`s third most beautiful marine park and has received an award from the World Ocean Conference (WOC) which was held in Manado, North Sulawesi, May 11-15, 2009.

Meanwhile, six heads of state/government participating in the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit organized as part of the WOC, signed a declaration here on May 15, 2009, approving the CTI Program.

Under the cooperation the six countries located on the 5.7 million square kilometers area agreed to coordinate protection of marine resources.

With its width only two percent of the world`s ocean, the Coral Triangle is home to 76 percent of the world`s known coral species.

The region is full of various fish species because of its coral diversity. More than 120 million people directly depend their livelihood on the riches of the sea in the region.

The invaluable resources however are now under threat due to climate change, overfishing, illegal fishing, unsustainable coastal development and pollution.

All of them have caused a fish supply decline and destruction of mangrove forests in a large scale and degradation of coral system. (*)

Read more!

Wader populations decline faster than ever

UNEP 20 May 09;

Netherlands, 20 May 2009 - More than half the populations of waders in Europe, West Asia and Africa are declining at an accelerating rate. There is a need for better protection of the key wetlands along their flyways, especially in Africa and the Middle East. This is the conclusion of the Wetlands International's Wader Atlas, the first comprehensive overview of key site networks for waders in Europe, West-Asia and Africa, launched in London today.

Waders are relatively small waterbirds including species like lapwings, plovers, godwits, curlews and sandpipers. Many of them undertake long distance migrations from their Arctic breeding grounds to wintering areas as far away as Southern Africa. Some concentrate in huge numbers at just a few sites, making these critical wetlands for their survival.

Incomplete network of protected areas

The European Union has established a comprehensive network of protected areas for waders in Europe under the Birds Directive. Outside the EU however, the protection and management of key sites is still far from adequate. A string of wetlands concentrated on the western coast of Africa, (Sahel zone along the Senegal and Niger rivers, around Lake Chad), and in East Africa in the Sudd, along the Rift Valley and eastern coast of Africa, is crucial for the survival of many migratory waders.

Therefore, if EU investment in protecting waders is to be effective, these crucial sites must also be included in its conservation strategy. Wader Atlas author Simon Delany said: "Waders such as the Ruff are heavily protected in the EU; farmers receive thousands of Euros for nest protection. These same birds are for sale in the markets of Mopti, Mali for just 25 cents each! If just a part of the finance available in the EU for waterbird protection were to go to the areas where these same birds winter, a huge difference could be made".

Pressure on wetlands

The wetlands of the African west coast are under enormous pressures. The sparse water resources in the Sahelian zone are tapped by dams on the Niger or Senegal rivers, which have turned formerly shallow wetlands into permanently dry lands. Irrigation schemes for growing human population disrupt the water flow in wetlands such as the shrinking Lake Chad. Often wetlands themselves are converted to agricultural use, such as in the Tana River Delta in Kenya, which is threatened by conversion to sugar cane plantations.

A similar story can be told for the Middle East. Many waders migrate from the Arctic and

Scandinavia to the coastal zones along the Persian Gulf. These coastal areas are now suffering from rapid development which threatens the habitat of the scarce and declining Broad billed Sandpiper, for example.

Highlighting important wetlands

The Wader Atlas highlights the most important wetlands to be protected for each wader population.

It will thus provide decision makers across the Africa-Eurasian region with crucial information so that they can increase and better focus their efforts for wetland conservation. Better water management preserving the Sahelian wetlands benefits not only waders, but also local people.

Indeed, involving local people in protection strategies for waders has been successful in many regions.

Simon Delany
Senior Technical officer Waterbird Conservation Wetlands International

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UN study advises caution over dams

Michael Casey, Associated Press 21 May 09;

BANGKOK – A dam-building spree in China poses the greatest threat to the future of the already beleaguered Mekong, one of the world's major rivers and a key source of water for the region, a U.N. report said Thursday.

China is constructing a series of eight dams on the upper half of the Mekong as it passes through high gorges of Yunnan Province, including the recently completed Xiowan Dam, which — at 958 feet (292 meters) high — is the world's tallest. Its storage capacity is equal to all the Southeast Asia reservoirs combined, the U.N. report said.

Laos, meanwhile, has started construction on 23 dams expected to be finished by 2010 on the Mekong and its tributaries, the U.N. said, as a means to spur development and lift the country from poverty. Cambodia and Vietnam also have ambitious dam-building plans.

"China's extremely ambitious plan to build a massive cascade of eight dams on the upper half of the Mekong River, as it tumbles through the high gorges of Yunnan Province, may pose the single greatest threat to the river," the report said.

The report went onto to say that the impacts of the proposed dam development include "changes in river flow volume and timing, water quality deterioration and loss of biodiversity."

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a regular briefing the government pays equal attention to the development of the Mekong and its protection. The Mekong is known as the Lancang river in China.

"I would like to point out that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the exploration and the protection of cross-border rivers and conducts the policy of equal attention to development and protection," Ma said.

The proposed dams would add further pressure to the Mekong, which runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The 307,000-square-mile (795,000-square-kilometer) river network is home to dozens of rare bird and marine species, including the Mekong giant catfish, and is a source of food and jobs for the 65 million people who live in the river basin.

The river and its vast tributary network already face threats from pollution, climate change and the effects of earlier dams that were built in China and have caused water levels to drop sharply on the upper Mekong.

Still, the U.N. report said for the time being, the Mekong's pollution levels were not at "alarming levels" while water shortages and conflicts over water on the Mekong have so far not emerged.

"The Mekong is in good condition at this time and can take more pressure such as irrigation development or industrial development," said Mukand S. Babel, one of the reports' authors.

The report, however, found several river basins in the Mekong that are under threat, including the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, Nam Khan in Laos and Sekong-Sesan Srepok in Vietnam and Cambodia due to increasing development and demand for water.

It called for countries bordering the Mekong to work more closely together to ensure that the region's growing population and expected economic development doesn't further strain the capacity of the delta.

"The time to tackle these challenges is now, otherwise the projected growth and development may impact on the basin's ability to meet future water needs," said Young-Woo Park, a U.N. regional director.

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Tread Heavily: China's Tire Demand Rolls over Southeast Asian Forests

China's thirst for rubber is destroying the environment -- and livelihoods -- in Southeast Asia.
Brendan Borrell, Scientific American 21 May 09;

Geographer Jefferson Fox thought he was on to something big when the Chinese military stripped his team's weather monitoring equipment from a montane rubber plantation in the run-up to last year's Olympics. How big? In the past 20 years, more than 1.2 million acres (485,000 hectares) of evergreen broadleaf and secondary forests have been cleared throughout Southeast Asia to make way for rubber plantations to fuel China's growing appetite for automobile tires.

Fox—who is based at the East West Center in Honolulu—warns in Science this week that the environmental consequences of these massive land use changes, particularly on water resources, could be devastating.

Economists are also sounding the alarm, cautioning in a series of articles set to be published in Human Ecology that government policies that have forced these farmers to abandon traditional agriculture practices will leave them vulnerable to future fluctuations in rubber prices.

Swidden, or slash-and-burn, agriculture was once practiced throughout the world as a means to cultivate on otherwise infertile soils. But with the rise of modern agricultural techniques, Europeans began to view it as an abominable and primitive practice. As Capt. P. Cupet, a member of France's Pavie Mission to Indochina in the late 19th century once wrote, "These savages are the greatest destroyers of forests I know."

But Fox and his two coauthors believe these "savages" were better at preserving biodiversity than current land-use practices encouraging monoculture, or single-crop, agricultural development in Southeast Asia. Today, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand—with international encouragement—have adopted laws that criminalize swidden agriculture, or otherwise restrict land-use options to make the practice impossible. As a result, Fox says that Chinese investors have been able to move in and secure sometimes questionable deals that allow them to develop rubber plantations on lands once populated by leopards, monkeys and tigers.

Rob Cramb, an economist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, agrees that the environmental fallout from the shift is striking, but he is most concerned about the livelihoods of small farmers who have been forced to change their traditional methods. He acknowledges that some may be successful in the short term, but notes that "Having so many livelihoods tied to a single commodity (that is rubber) is potentially very dangerous."

As it turns out, Fox says that he and his colleagues were the victims of a new Chinese government policy that prevents foreigners from collecting meteorological data. Fox's research, funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA, was designed to test his theory that rubber trees, which are exotics from the South America, differ from native vegetation in that they suck up most of their water when the soil is the driest at the beginning of the monsoon season.

This phenomenon could lead to water shortages in the future, and he recommends that farmers continue to cultivate rubber but combine it with other crops and forest types. Because their experiments were cut short, he has set up new weather towers in Thailand and Cambodia to monitor how much water rubber trees absorb compared with native species.

Despite the warnings, Fox says it is unlikely the governments in Southeast Asia will change tack.

"We can report that this is not a good trend for the environment and for people's livelihoods," he says, "but I don't think it's going to stop."

Rubber plantations could have 'devastating' impact in Asia
Yahoo News 21 May 09;

CHICAGO (AFP) – The expansion of rubber plantations in southeast Asia could have a "devastating" environmental impact, scientists warned Thursday as they pressed for a substantial increase in forest preserves.

More than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) may have already been converted to rubber plantations in the uplands of China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

And researchers predict the area of land dedicated to rubber and other farming systems could more than double or triple by 2050, replacing lands currently occupied by evergreen broadleaf trees and secondary vegetation growing in areas subjected to slash-and-burn farming.

That could result in a significant reduction in carbon biomass, dessicate the region's water systems, and increase the risk of landslides through erosion, researchers from China, Singapore and the US warned in an essay in the journal Science.

"The unrestricted expansion of rubber in montane mainland southeast Asia could have devastating environmental effects," wrote lead author Alan Ziegler of the National University of Singapore.

Ziegel and his colleagues warned "time is too short" to wait for results from studies aimed providing reliable assessments of the impact on water systems.

"A substantial increase in natural reserve areas could help to reduce the threats to biodiversity and carbon stocks," they wrote.

The authors also suggested promoting "diversified agroforestry systems in which cash crops such as rubber and oil palm play important roles, but are not planted as monocultures."

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Will the Nuclear Power "Renaissance" Ever Reach Critical Mass?

Scientific American 21 May 09;

Despite an abundance of plans and applications, new nuclear reactors outside of Asia are few and far between, which puts nuclear's contribution to fighting greenhouse gas emissions at risk

This month, Finland's Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor was supposed to begin generating power, a tangible sign of the revival of the nuclear industry outside of Asia after nearly 30 years of no new construction because of accidents, cost-overruns and other issues. Instead, the reactor won't be completed for more than three more years, its price is nearly 60 percent more than anticipated, and it is mired in costly legal squabbles between the builder, Areva, and the Finnish utility, Pohjolan Voima.

In the U.S., since 2003, 17 applications for 26 new reactors have been filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but not one is yet under construction.

Despite dozens of new nuclear plants ordered or built in Asia in recent years, "increased deployment of nuclear power has been slow both in the United States and globally," wrote the authors of a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology review of the state of nuclear power.

Those figures, say the authors of the report, an update on a similar report in 2003, mean that "even if all the announced plans for new nuclear power plant construction are realized, the total will be well behind that needed for reaching a thousand gigawatts of new capacity worldwide by 2050."

One thousand gigawatts is the number the M.I.T. professors estimated would be needed to ensure that nuclear power provided 20 percent of global electricity needs as well as cut emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants. In the U.S., the number would be jumping from 100 to 300 gigawatts of nuclear-sourced electricity by 2050.

After all, once operating, nuclear power plants burn nothing and therefore emit no carbon dioxide as fossil fuel–burning power plants do. (There are, of course, significant greenhouse gas emissions associated with building and fueling nuclear facilities).

But the price of new nuclear power has "escalated dramatically," according to the report, jumping by 15 percent a year to reach as much as $4,000 per kilowatt compared with $2,300 for coal-fired generation and just $850 for natural gas. And the industry is asking for at least $100 billion in federal tax subsidies and loan guarantees for the 26 reactors currently planned.

The situation is no better in Europe, according to Steven Thomas, a professor of energy studies at the University of Greenwich in London: Finland cannot complete its new reactor; the U.K. has yet to get started on any projects; and a new nuclear reactor in France, after 18 months of construction, is 20 percent overbudget and requires complete subsidy by the French government.

"The nuclear power industry in Europe is in the midst of the same kind of regulatory and financial uncertainty that makes the future of the industry murky at best in this country," Thomas said during a conference call with reporters. "We've been waiting for the renaissance for 10 years."

Nor has there been a solution to the issue of nuclear waste. In the U.S., the plan to use Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert as a repository for spent nuclear fuel rods is in limbo, opposed by the Obama administration. Reprocessing nuclear fuel, currently underway only in France, has proved prohibitively expensive, and it raises concerns about the proliferation of plutonium for nuclear weapons.

"We do not believe a convincing case can be made on the basis of waste management considerations that the benefits of partitioning and transmutation [conversion of fuel into less radioactive form] will outweigh the attendant safety, environmental [and] security considerations, and economic costs," wrote the researchers, who included President Obama's now science advisor John Holdren, in 2003.

The update? "There is no basis to change that conclusion today," the professors, not including Holdren, wrote in the new report.

Ultimately, the M.I.T. authors warned, "if more is not done, nuclear power will diminish as a practical and timely option for deployment at a scale that would constitute a material contribution to climate change risk mitigation."

Adds Thomas: "It seems to me highly unlikely that [investing in nuclear power] is the most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Put that money in other sources, such as energy efficiency and renewables, and get a much better return on your money."

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Australian wildfires like 1,500 Hiroshimas: expert

Yahoo News 21 May 09;

MELBOURNE (AFP) – Australia's deadly wildfires generated energy equivalent to 1,500 Hiroshima atomic bombs, a judicial inquiry into the disaster was told Thursday.

Melbourne University fire behaviour specialist Kevin Tolhurst said the fires, which killed 173 people in February, created their own weather systems, whipping up winds of 120 kilometres (74 miles) an hour.

When the high levels of fuel on the ground were taken into account, the force from the fires equalled "1,500 atomic bombs the size of Hiroshima," Tolhurst said.

"It's an enormous amount of energy," he added.

Tolhurst said the swirling winds generated by the fires were strong enough to snap tree trunks in half and send burning embers in all directions, causing spot fires up to 35 kilometres away.

He said attempting to control such an inferno was impossible.

"There's no way you would be able to stop the fire," he said.

Entire towns and more than 2,000 homes were razed in early February as record high temperatures, strong winds and drought-parched countryside combined to create the worst fire disaster in Australia's history.

The commission, headed by former Supreme Court judge Bernard Teague, is examining how the blazes raced out of control so quickly and why the death toll was so high.

It is due to present interim findings by August.

The southwestern Japanese city of Hiroshima was obliterated by a US nuclear bomb on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II, killing more than 140,000 people.

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Flash flooding, winds whip Australia's northeast

Yahoo News 21 May 09;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Tens of thousands of homes were without power and hundreds of schools closed on Thursday as a wild storm front lashed Australia's northeast coast.

A state of emergency was declared overnight in Queensland state, which was pounded by gale-force winds exceeding 100 kilometres (62 miles) an hour and torrential rains.

A 46-year-old was killed when freak winds ripped a sheet of metal from a building on the Gold Coast tourist strip and it smashed through his office window, police said.

Up to 75,000 homes and businesses suffered blackouts as gusting winds felled trees and power lines, and the region received one-third of its annual rainfall in a single day, sparking landslides and causing roads to collapse.

Enough rain fell over 48 hours in Brisbane, the state's capital, to supply drinking water for more than a year.

Massive ocean swells up of up to 15 metres (50 feet) hammered the coastline, with waves at Currmbin so powerful a car was swept from a beach carpark into the surf.

The state's premier Anna Bligh said it was likely to be among the highest damage bills Queensland had ever seen, with the worst flooding since 1974.

"We are certainly not out of the woods yet, all the weather reports are indicating there is certainly more to come," Bligh said.

"There's a very high chance that what's coming will be as bad, if not worse, as some of what we've seen."

Almost 250 schools were closed and hundreds of homes were evacuated in the neighbouring state of New South Wales (NSW), where emergency services said they were bracing for flash-flooding and severe winds.

"This (storm) system will bring very heavy rain, high winds and large waves to northeast NSW over the next few days before weakening and moving away later Saturday," the weather bureau said.

"Destructive wind gusts exceeding 125 kilometres (78 miles) an hour are possible along the coastal fringe during the next few days."

More than 300 millimetres (12 inches) of rain was likely to fall, with low-lying coastal areas expected to be swamped by tides exceeding the year's highest mark, it said.

Floods unleashed by cyclonic rains in February saw much of Queensland declared a disaster area, with more than one million square kilometres (385,000 square miles) deluged and 3,000 homes damaged.

Further floods hammered the region last month, washing a number of motorists to their death and claiming the life of a 12-year-old girl who was swimming in a swollen weir.

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City chiefs seek bigger say in UN climate summit

Yahoo News 21 May 09;

SEOUL (AFP) – Leaders of the world's biggest cities called for a bigger say in upcoming UN climate change talks as they wrapped up a three-day summit on ways to combat global warming.

"The fight against greenhouse gas emissions will be won or lost in cities," said Toronto Mayor David Miller, chair of the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in the South Korean capital.

The leaders in a summit declaration stressed that half the world's population lives in cities, which account for 75 percent of global energy consumption and 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

"In the run-up to the... UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, the leading role of cities in the global effort against climate change must be recognised," the declaration said.

The conference in the Danish capital is meant to approve a new treaty for the period after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's obligations to cut carbon emissions expire.

Miller told a press conference that all C40 member cities decided to have "a strong presence" in Copenhagen. Representatives from 36 smaller cities, in addition to the biggest 40, also attended the Seoul summit.

"If countries wish to succeed, they have to include cities," Miller said.

The Toronto mayor strongly urged national governments to engage, empower and resource the world's cities so they can successfully combat climate change.

"We occupy only two percent of the area of the world but represent 80 percent of the emissions," he added.

"You must resource cities. So, help us have the tools and financing necessary because that's how to defeat the climate change in those areas. That's what we'll be saying in Copenhagen."

In their declaration, the city leaders "set a common goal of transforming themselves into low-carbon cities" by cutting emissions and making themselves less vulnerable to climate change.

Mayor Gilberto Kassab of Sao Paulo in Brazil, which will host the next C40 summit in 2011, said his city can show the way.

Kassab said Sao Paulo is successfully turning 15,000 tons of its garbage into energy every day -- enough for 700,000 people.

He said it has shifted from one of the most polluted cities into "one of the cleanest cities -- visually speaking -- of the world."

On Tuesday former US President Bill Clinton warned that if the world fails to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050, it would pay a high price in food shortages, drought and public health dangers.

"It is absolutely certain (that) if we let the worst happen, then the consequences will be so severe that we won't be able to save the planet for our grandchildren unless we are willing to undertake enormously expensive projects which can now be avoided," he told the Seoul summit.

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