Best of our wild blogs: 17 Jun 09

Mon 20 Jul 2009: 5.00pm – Stuart Pimm on “Saving Biodiversity”
from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

Sea turtle connection: Sentosa and Pulau Upeh
from wild shores of singapore

Blue-throated Bee-eater: 6. Tragedy
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Dead whale shark caught in net off Penang coast, Malaysia

M. Sivanantha Sharma, The Star 17 Jul 09;

BUTTERWORTH: Four fishermen on a deepsea fishing trip found a dead whale shark measuring 5.36m in their net 50 nautical miles off the coast.

The fishermen, from Kuala Muda near here, made the discovery at 1am yesterday.

Salleh Hussin, 48, said they tried to release the one-tonne creature back into the sea after realising that it was dead but failed to do so as it was too heavy.
He said they then towed the shark back to the Kuala Muda jetty and informed the Penang Fisheries Department at 7.15am.

Department deputy director Khairul Anwar Mohamad, who went to the scene with three staff members, said the department would use the whale shark carcass for research as it was a protected species.

“Our initial investigation found that the fishermen did not catch the fish intentionally,” he said, adding that a decision would be made after the investigation was completed.

It was the second whale shark found in a fishing net in Penang in seven months.

On Jan 2, several fishermen found a 7m-long whale shark in their net 10 nautical miles off Teluk Bahang.

One of them said they found the dead fish when they tried to pull up their net and decided to tow it back to shore as they feared that the carcass if dumped at sea would pollute the waters.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a filter-feeding shark and is the largest living fish.

The slow-moving creature is known for its playful character and poses no harm to humans.

Whale Shark Attracts Crowd To Kuala Muda Jetty
Bernama 16 Jul 09;

KEPALA BATAS, July 16 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Muda fish landing jetty was today abuzz with curious onlookers trying to get a close look at a 5.36 metre whale shark weighing more than one tonne.

The whale shark (scientific name Rhincodon typus) was brought home by fishermen who found the fish entangled in their net early today.

Whale sharks which usually inhabit deep waters can grow up to 12 metres and weigh up to 14 tonnes.

Fisherman Salleh Hussin, 48, said the whale shark got entangled in his net while fishing 50-60 nautical miles off Penang at 2.15am.

"I and three friends tried to pull up the net at 2.15am after finding a whale shark trapped inside. Since we could not release it, we pulled it back to the beach to save our net from being ruined."

Salleh said he had never seen such a big fish in his 11 years experience as a fisherman.

Meanwhile, Penang Fisheries Department investigating officer Khairull Anwar Muhamad said the fish species could be found in Malaysian waters and that three were found off Penang.

He said fishermen who intentionally caught the fish was committing an offence under the Fisheries regulations (control of endangered fish species) 1999.

"The fish must be returned dead or alive and the meat can't be sold. Our study shows that this fish species will die quickly if trapped in fishing nets.

Khairull said the Fisheries Department would take back the carcass to the research centre at Batu Maung to be studied and later disposed.

-- BERNAMA

Body of whale shark found off Penang coast
M. Sivanantha Sharma, The Star 16 Jul 09;

BUTTERWORTH: Four fishermen on a deep sea fishing trip found a dead whale shark measuring 5.36m long entangled in their net some 50 nautical miles off the coast.

The fishermen, from Kuala Muda near here, made the discovery at about 1am Thursday.

Salleh Hussin, 48, said they tried to release the one-tonne creature -- also known as Rhicondon Typus -- back into the sea upon realising that it had died but failed to do so as it was too heavy.

He said they then towed the fish back to the Kuala Muda jetty and called the Penang Fisheries Department upon reaching there at about 7:15am.

Department deputy director Khairul Anwar Mohamad, who went to the scene with three staff members, said the department would take possession of the shark for research as the fish was a protected species.

“Our initial investigations showed the fishermen did not catch the fish intentionally but we will conduct further investigations,” he said.

It was the seocnd reported landing of a whale shark in Penang.

In Jan 2, four fishermen had a surprise catch when a whale shark got into their nets, 10 nautical miles off the coast of Teluk Bahang.

The whale shark, a filter-feeding shark, is the largest living fish.

The slow-moving creature is known for its playful character and poses no harm to humans.

Read more!

Brown tap water still safe for drinking

Rusty look may be from iron silt in a building's older pipes but is not health hazard: PUB
Victoria Vaughan, Straits Times 17 Jul 09;

IT JUST looks dirty. On average, two Singapore households a day have been reporting brown or rusty tap water, but the Public Utilities Board (PUB) says it is still safe to drink.

Older buildings are more likely to be affected as they could still be using iron water pipes. PUB stopped the use of such pipes in 1980.

'Over time, iron sediment can accumulate in these pipes. Water flowing through the pipes may pick up the sediment,' said a PUB spokesman.

Such water is not a health hazard. Most complaints can be traced to pipes inside the customers' premises, PUB added.

Customers are advised to let the water run until it is clear and call PUB if the problem persists.

Mr Chia Wai Chon, the operations manager of the Singapore Plumbing Society, said: 'Buildings that are 30 or 40 years old may still have galvanised iron pipes. If the pipe is disturbed, or new sections are installed incorrectly, rust can get in the water.'

A plumber and former PUB employee, who did not wish to be named, said rare instances of discolouration could be caused by improper maintenance of water tanks that serve as an indirect water supply for public housing estates.

Both said the water was still fit to drink.

Earlier this week, reader John Kreamer wrote in to the Forum page to raise concerns about the cleanliness of his pipes. The retired United States Navy oceanographer had found copper sediment in his water filter.

'I always drink filtered or bottled water when I'm out. I don't give even my dog tap water. But I don't think the problem is unique to Singapore. In the US, I used a filter,' said the Singapore permanent resident, who was living at Spring Grove Condominium in Grange Road when the problem arose.

Mr Hari Kumar, 31, a resident at nearby Beaumont Condominium, also sees water discolouration every few months.

The professional said: 'At certain times, the water looks like milky tea. The condo management tells me it's caused by low pressure in the tank and pipes. I just run the water until it's clear.'

Although water is safe to drink here, Singapore's water provider has racked up 396 complaints from the 4.8 million people it serves. In London, water provider Thames Water has seen fewer complaints. It serves 8.4 million water-drinking customers and has had 137 complaints so far this year.

Toxicologist Peter Chan offered assurances regarding heavy metals in water.

'Copper, for instance, is actually an essential element for our existence. Still, too much can be toxic just as too much zinc or vitamin A can be. A certain trace amount can be found in water.'

PUB maintains the water pipes up to the meter for landed properties, and the master meter for residential and commercial blocks. The maintenance of the water supply system between these meters and the sub-meters is managed by town councils for HDB homes and the building management for condos and commercial buildings.

Home owners are responsible for pipes in their own premises and should get them checked yearly.
from Straits Times PDF.

Tap water's clean, but are the pipes?
Straits Times Forum 15 Jul 09;

ONLY half the story was addressed in Tuesday's report, 'Bottled water: People should be told the facts'. The other half is what comes out of your tap at home. There is no doubt that the treated water leaving PUB facilities is 'well within World Health Organisation guidelines'.

The question is what happens to the water once it leaves PUB and travels through the network of water mains and into homes?

From personal observation, which speaks louder than lab results, quite a lot. I use a water filter at home; one had a clear plastic cover so you could see what was being filtered - mud, silt, numerous unknowns and copper. The copper was from the deterioration of the water pipes in the condominium where I used to live and was easy to detect due to its colour.

An online report states that other people who are highly susceptible to copper toxicity include people with liver damage or Wilson's disease. It goes on discussing other associated health problems including vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea and stomach cramps.

What happens when the water pipes are worked on somewhere between the PUB and your tap?

Dirt and other contaminants enter your water, including micro-organisms that cannot be seen. The next time the plumber pays a visit, ask him to cut a section of your water pipe out. It could look like a clogged artery. The pipes where I was living did. So can yours.

John Kreamer


WATER PIPES: They're safe, replies PUB
Straits Times Forum 18 Jul 09;

NATIONAL water agency PUB thanks Mr John Kreamer for his letter, 'Tap water's clean, but are the pipes?' on Wednesday.

The PUB has a stringent water quality monitoring programme in place to assess and ensure that our water meets the World Health Organisation's (WHO) guidelines. Over 80,000 tests are conducted monthly, based on more than 290 parameters, surpassing about 130 specified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the WHO.

They include the testing of representative water samples taken daily from the distribution network and customers' taps at different locations throughout Singapore.

Apart from independent checks by the Director General (Public Health), National Environment Agency, PUB's management of water quality is reviewed twice a year by an independent external audit panel comprising foreign and local experts.

Corrosion-resistant materials such as lined ductile iron and steel pipes with a lifespan of 50 to 70 years are used for PUB's water supply network. PUB requires building owners conducting works on pipes to engage licensed water service plumbers who must ensure that the water supply system is sterilised before being put back into service.

Management corporations and town councils must engage a licensed water service plumber at least once a year to inspect and, where necessary, clean and disinfect their water tanks and certify that the tanks are fit for drinking water storage. The plumber must submit his certification and water sample test reports to PUB. In addition, the PUB conducts spot checks and water sample testing to ensure that the tanks are properly maintained.

The discolouration of water filters is caused by the accumulation of minerals, including iron, over time. Although the iron content in PUB water is almost negligible, the discolouration will eventually be noticeable when large quantities of water pass through the filter. PUB water naturally contains a small amount of minerals and their concentrations are monitored and kept well within WHO guidelines.

Over time, sediment can also accumulate, especially on older premises which use iron pipes and fittings. If this is disturbed, it can be picked up as water flows through. Discoloured water caused by sedimentation is not a health hazard.

Customers are advised to let the tap run until the water is clear should they encounter discoloured water from their taps. However, if the discolouration persists, customers can call PUB on 1800-2846600 for assistance.

Chong Hou Chun
Director, Water Supply Network
PUB

Doctor: Contamination unlikely, no reason to worry medically
Straits Times Forum 18 Jul 09;

MR JOHN Kreamer raised a very intriguing subject in his letter on Wednesday ('Tap water's clean, but are the pipes?') when he posited that tap water may possibly not be salutary to health, as the treated PUB water may become contaminated during its journey through water pipes to our homes.

Indeed, I would imagine that microbiological, chemical and physical contamination will occur should the integrity of the pipes be breached either through the use of outmoded pipe material - like lead, which has since been replaced with other materials like steel, copper or plastic - or actual physical interruptions caused by man or nature.

Short-term complications due to this must be rare since doctors here hardly ever diagnose gastroenterological disturbances due to consumption of tap water alone.

Since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, I anecdotally presume that the water straight from our faucets is almost entirely free of contaminants with the exception of the odd case here and there.

As for long-term complications arising from drinking tap water, especially since Newater has been recently added to our diet, I suggest that the medical fraternity be on the lookout for this; although, with the increasing lifespan of the local populace, doctors will be hard put to attribute any long-term morbidity solely to the act of drinking potable water from taps.

Very often, vendors of water filters demonstrate sludge and impurities from our taps by showing the inordinate amount of debris trapped in them when the filters are used over some duration.

Unlike static filters, our alimentary canals remove detritus regularly from our bodies. Even in octogenarians who have consumed nothing but tap water since the day they arrived in this world, examination of their bowels during surgery and post-mortems never show the accumulation of slurry sediment which one finds in old pipes. I conclude that Mr Kreamer worries unnecessarily.

Dr Yik Keng Yeong

Query over coating of Newater pipes
Straits Times Forum 22 Jul 09;

I REFER to Saturday's Forum letter by Dr Yik Keng Yeong, "Doctor: Contamination unlikely, no reason to worry medically", in which Dr Yik mentioned about Newater having been recently added to our diet.

The specification for the coating of Newater pipes allowed for polyurethane to be used for the lining of the pipes and fittings. Stringent tests were also supposed to have been carried out to ensure that it is suitable for potable water. Yet for whatever reasons, primer has been approved for use in Newater pipes.

Primer is manufactured with xylene and chlorinated rubber and xylene is a hazardous material. There is approved polyurethane material for potable water like those used for London, but primer is not allowed. I would like to know how PUB can allow it.

Goh Guek Cheng (Ms)

Newater pipes lined to ensure long-term integrity
Straits Times Forum 27 Jul 09;

PUB, the national water agency, refers to the Forum Online letter by Ms Goh Guek Cheng last Wednesday, 'Query over coating of Newater pipes'.

The pipes used to convey Newater adhere strictly to standards for potable water. These include Singapore Standard SS375 and United States National Science Foundation Standard NSF61. The pipes are lined to ensure long-term integrity and durability. For the lining to adhere strongly to the pipes, primer is used to prepare the pipe surfaces to receive the lining.

But the xylene present in the primer, if any, is a volatile compound and will evaporate as it dries and cures. The primer will not come into contact with Newater as there is an additional polyurethane lining on top of the primer within the Newater pipe.

Our routine tests carried out on both Newater and reservoir water do not show traces of xylene.

PUB thanks Ms Goh for her feedback.

Chong Hou Chun
Water Supply Network
PUB

Read more!

Life is a beach, and then you renovate

Business Times 17 Jul 09;

By next March, Tanjong Beach at Sentosa will be revitalised by the 20,000 sq ft Tanjong Beach Club, reports MELISSA LWEE

SENTOSA looks set to be quite the destination next year, and it's not just the integrated resort that's creating the most buzz. While much smaller in scale, the revitalisation of Tanjong Beach - thanks to The Lo & Behold Group (of Loof, The White Rabbit, and OverEasy fame) - isn't to be sniffed at, especially with the group's track record of creating uber hip F&B destinations.

Tanjong Beach used to be home to the popular beach club KM8 but come March 2010, the 20,000 square feet of space there will be turned into the Tanjong Beach Club (TBC), its name for now.

'We saw huge potential in the location, given that it is situated on what is arguably Singapore's most tranquil and picturesque beach,' explains the group's spokeswoman, Cheryl Ho. 'We liked that Tanjong Beach is hugely popular on the weekends with a crowd that wants to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life and the more bustling high tourist traffic areas within Sentosa.'

Miss Ho adds that the plan is to make TBC 'an iconic and world class beachside destination' that will combine a restaurant, an outdoor bar, infinity pool and deck-chaired beach space. 'In designing TBC, we wanted to steer clear of overly sleek and ultra-modern elements which can look stiff,' says Miss Ho. 'We decided to combine retro-modernist architecture with warmer and natural raw materials to blend with the beach surroundings.'

Designers Takenouchi Webb will draw inspiration from iconic 1950s beach homes and fashion a contemporary space that will be exciting yet timeless and intimate, adds Miss Ho.

In the interim, the group erected a temporary bar called The Shack in May with the aim of creating a 'distinctive, uncontrived beach hideaway that is a departure from the many polished options in Singapore', she says.

A quirky homage to Robinson Crusoe, The Shack is an unpretentious beach bar perfect for those looking for some sun-soaked fun and fruity cocktails, away from the humdrum drone of office life. Though simple in its concept, it is a welcome throwback to the more laid-back days of Sentosa before it grew more commercial and is the ideal location for beach bums looking to play ball or throw some frisbees around.

To create the rustic, raw look that the bar now boasts, they transformed a used 20-foot shipping container by cladding it with wood recycled from the previous KM8 building structure. They also modelled used shipping pallets into day beds and created temporary bars and high tables from recycled oil drums and wooden planks.

Miss Ho reveals that the decision to launch The Shack rather than concentrate fully on renovations was made as 'Tanjong Beach has a loyal following and is a naturally thriving location, so we wanted to continue to service these regulars and also market The Shack to a broader audience who wanted to enjoy Singapore's best beach.

'In fact, the Shack has proven to be so favourable with patrons, we are actually considering integrating it into TBC's concept as a more rustic option to the main bar.'

Read more!

"The Age of Stupid" - An Alarm From 2055: Act Now to Save the Earth

Stephen Holden, The New York Times 17 Jul 09;

In “The Age of Stupid,” a frightening jeremiad about the effects of climate change, the craggy-faced British actor Pete Postlethwaite plays the Archivist, a finger-pointing, futuristic voice of doom in 2055. Peering into a retrospective crystal ball that shows scenes from the early 21st century, he scolds the human race for having committed suicide.

The curator of the Global Archive, a storage site of human knowledge in what is now a melted Arctic, the Archivist presses a rewind button on a touch screen to show documentary scenes related to climate change that were shot when there was still time for humanity to save itself. At the end of “The Age of Stupid,” which uses crude animation that depicts London underwater, Sydney burning and Las Vegas buried in sand, the Archive is sent into space.

A much sterner and more alarming polemic than “An Inconvenient Truth,” “The Age of Stupid,” directed by Franny Armstrong, will be taken by some as an emergency wake-up call to do everything possible to avert impending catastrophe. In the film Mark Lynas, the British environmental activist and author of “Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet,” warns of a tipping point around 2015 if the world doesn’t immediately act to reduce carbon emissions. Once global temperatures warm more than two degrees, he says, all will be lost.

Others may find the challenges to humanity posed by the documentary so daunting that “The Age of Stupid” (the Archivist’s sarcastic nickname for our time) may convince viewers that, practically speaking, it is already too late to act. Cynics may assume that the ethic of consumerism is too deeply instilled in us to be changed, as is the faith in capitalism, which depends on continuous growth. If so, we might as well put the coming horrors out of our minds and live for the moment, while hoping for a miracle.

The personal stories among which the film hopscotches examine specific situations. Two involve big oil. We meet a retired paleontologist, who worked for Shell Oil, discovering new resources off the coast of New Orleans, but who also helped rescue more than 100 people after Hurricane Katrina. This was a disaster that the Archivist, looking back, says was only the first of many similar meteorological catastrophes related to climate change.

A young woman who dreams of becoming a doctor lives in an impoverished Nigerian village where Shell operates a drilling operation. She fishes in the oil-polluted waters to raise money for her education. She laments the paradox of “the resource curse,” in which oil wealth contributes to a country’s poverty by putting riches in the hands of a greedy, corrupt few who neglect the education and health of a country while contaminating the environment.

An octogenarian mountaineer in the French Alps observes how the melting of glaciers has necessitated the construction of longer ladders for climbers to reach them. Another vignette revolves around Iraqi children who hate the United States and blame the American lust for oil for the war.

The two stories that best exemplify the difficulties faced by environmentalists have to do with a fledgling Indian airline and a proposed wind farm in the English countryside. Jeh Wadia, an entrepreneur in Mumbai who is starting a low-cost airline, believes he is doing good by helping the economy in India. But as Piers Guy, a wind-farm developer in England who carefully measures his carbon footprint, says, air travel is a major contributor to global warming. Mr. Guy’s campaign to build turbines that would produce wind energy in Bedfordshire is vehemently opposed by residents because it will spoil their views and lower their property values.

A thread of needling gallows humor runs through “The Age of Stupid.” Near the end of the film the Archivist wonders: “Why didn’t we save ourselves? Was the answer that we weren’t sure we were worth saving?” He may have a point.

Read more!

Settle this burning issue of haze, now

Question Time by P Gunasegaram, The Star 17 Jul 09;

Something’s in the air these days and it’s not really very nice – in fact it’s downright dangerous and I am not talking about the swine flu. It is the particulates from burning taking place across the Straits of Malacca in Sumatra and in the Riau archipelago carried into Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand by the winds.

It irritates the throat, waters the eyes, increases the risk to asthma patients, multiplies respiratory ailments, raises the air pollution index to unhealthy levels, discourages tourism, puts a pall of gloom in the air and probably has resulted in more direct and indirect deaths than the total number of people killed throughout the world from the A (H1N1) or swine flu virus.

In 1997/98, a particularly bad period when visibility was so low that one could not see the building sitting across the road in Kuala Lumpur, total damage to the environment, health, tourism and other activities was estimated at a staggering US$9bil (RM32bil), most of it to Indonesia itself.

Since that year, the haze has recurred yearly in our part of the world. In addition to fires in Sumatra and Riau, there are others in Kalimantan. Mostly, the fires are due to clearing of land for agriculture.

Using fires to clear land is illegal in Indonesia, but many plantations and farmers routinely use this method for agriculture because it is the cheapest way. The perpetrators don’t care for the health, economic and environmental damage they cause.

They are in effect aided by Indonesian authorities who routinely turn a blind eye to this practice and allow it to go on during the dry season. This burning has recurred every year since 1997 and sometimes has become extremely serious, such as in 2006.

Every year, the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore are blanketed in smoke from burning in Sumatra while parts of Sarawak and Brunei are affected by similar burning in the Indonesian part of Borneo.

Every year, when we are supposed to be enjoying blue skies and sunshine, and the sometimes unwelcome hot weather, we get instead gloomy skies, haze and smoke with unseasonably, intense thunderstorms from moisture in the air.

For weeks and months on end from June to September, we have to endure this until the advent of rains from October quells the fires and we move into the rainy season.

The thing that grates is that this whole episode repeated year in and year out is so easily preventable and this will benefit not only countries affected by the Indonesian burning but is most beneficial to Indonesia itself.

Following the major haze in 1997/98, Asean countries signed an agreement called the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002. That agreement provides a comprehensive basis for the control of haze in the region, imposing obligations on the countries to take appropriate measures where the haze could affect other countries.

However, to date, Indonesia, although a signatory, has not ratified the agreement, which means that the provisions of the agreement are not binding yet.

Thus, the main perpetrator of cross-border pollution is not clearly held to account.

Indonesia’s stance previously has been that it tries to stop the fires but because of the dry weather and the nature of the fires, it is often very difficult to put out once the fires start. The truth is probably somewhere in between, and even by accounts in the Indonesian press itself, fires are most often started by farmers and plantations deliberately and then subsequently rage out of control.

While the short-term costs are lower when debris from land clearing is burnt, the long-term damage to the environment, health, tourism and other economic activities are much, much bigger than the costs.

While unremitting pressure should be put on Indonesia by all the other Asean countries to ratify the agreement, there should be a plan to help Indonesia as well.

Asean countries should seriously consider the setting up of a fund not just to put out fires after they start but to prevent it altogether. That means to stop the people whether farmers or plantations from starting the fires to burn the waste in the first place.

There are measures which can be employed to get rid of organic waste in an environmentally friendly manner. They can for instance be broken up into small pieces and spread on the ground in plantations and farms, providing a source of nutrients as they rot.

A properly administered system of incentives, subsidies and severe penalties will quickly shift plantations and farmers into adopting more environment-friendly measures as they directly gain or lose according to the methods they use.

But for all this to take place, Indonesia must be willing to be part of the process. Asean countries must do their part to pull Jakarta into the circle by applying pressure and by standing ready to provide technical and financial help as and when required.

Admittedly it’s a delicate act which requires not just diplomacy, tact and negotiation but toughness, too. We cannot be pussyfooting around this issue forever as we have not had a haze-free dry season for more than a decade now.

We must extinguish this smouldering, burning issue once and for all.

Managing editor P Gunasegaram says take care of the environment and it will take care of us, too.

Read more!

"Blogging" For Orang Utan

Rohana Mustaffa, Bernama 16 Jul 09;

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) -- Blogs are known today as one of the popular medium of expression among the younger generation, and what a better way to engage them into a campaign than using this approach.

BOH Plantations Sdn Bhd, (World Wildlife Fund) WWF-Malaysia and TV9 in their effort to get the youths involved in spreading the message of conservation for the orang-utan have encourage the establishing of blogs to document the campaign.

They are joining forces to raise awareness on the plight of the 'Man of the Forest' through the 'New Hope For Orang-utan School Programme" holding to the belief that young people play a huge part in conservation efforts for the future.

"We want to empower them to play a role in spreading the message of conservation of these primates," said Caroline Russell, the chief executive officer of BOH Plantations at the launch of the programme recently.

ADVOCATE OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

She said BOH Plantations has long been an advocate of wildlife and environmental conservation, with a particular interest in recent times in the conservation of the orang-utan.

For BOH, these primates are a natural choice because they are a key part of Malaysia's natural heritage.

The species, according to Russell, is iconic to Malaysia and there is a dire need to ensure not only their survival, but also the forest ecosystems in which they live.

"We firmly believe that Malaysia's young people can be instrumental in creating change and providing an impetus towards a more sustainable future.

"We hope that the school programme will empower our young people with the knowledge of issues threatening the survival of the orang-utan and encourage them to make a difference by being 'voices' for orang-utan conservation, now and in the future," said Russell.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

The "New Hope for Orang-utan School Programme" utilises blogs as a medium of engagement and enable participants to express their creativity online.

BOH, WWF-Malaysia and TV9 believe that this medium would attract participation from among the youths as the younger generation is more IT savvy and opinionated, preferring to use social mediums and networks such as blogs to voice their opinions.

The programme is essentially an avenue for their expression to create a change for the orang-utan in their own special way and to encourage the public to take notice, said Russell.

She said the 'New Hope for Orang-utan School Programme' was named as such because it was an extension of BOH's main Coprorate Responsibility programme - New Hope for Orang-utan, which was initiated in 2002 to highlight issues threatening the primates and the loss of their habitat.

As BOH Plantations celebrate its 80th anniversary this year, they want to ensure that they include both the nation's young people and their key corporate responsibility initiatives in the celebration in some way.

Russell said combining them into the programme was the perfect solution.

WORKING TOGETHER

Together with WWF-Malaysia and TV9, BOH aims to build consciousness among the youths and the community alike by engaging them through various platforms to give hope to Malaysia's orang-utan.

Noor Amy Ismail, the head of Brand Management Group, Business Development and Corporate Communication, TV9 said at the launch, that the youths of today would be further motivated to gain knowledge on this species when information was made available at their fingertips, such as via online platform.

This also serves as an excellent platform for TV9's corporate responsibility in conserving the environment and endangered species.

Meanwhile executive director/CEO of WWF-Malaysia Datuk Dr Dionysius S.K. Sharma said that the programme empowered youths to use their skills and interest in the latest technology to help protect a crucial part of their homeland's history and natural heritage.

Once, orang-utan were found all the way from southern China to the foothills of the Himalayas and south to the island of Java, Indonesia, he said.

And now, Borneo and Sumatra are the last two places on Earth where orang-utan live.

"We cannot help but feel a protective kinship to this great ape that is more than 96 per cent genetically similar to humans. It would be an unimaginable loss if our iconic 'Men of the Forest' were to disappear from our trees, and live only in our legends," he said.

OPEN TO ALL

The programme is open to all students from the ages of 14 to 17.

To participate in the contest, students are required to complete three key tasks which include creating an awareness campaign aimed at highlighting the issues surrounding the survival of orang-utan, implementing activities to promote the awareness of orang-utan conservation and soliciting ground level support,and also establishing a blog to document the campaign.

The Kawan 9 team from TV9 will embark on a school roadshow by visiting 30 schools in the Klang Valley to create awareness on the orang-utan and the school programme.

Coverage on the roadshow will be aired over TV9. The contest will run from July 13 to Aug 31.

Interested students can visit www.orangutan.com.my /www.tv9.com.my for further information or send their enquiries on the contest to adikdi9@tv9.com.my

-- BERNAMA

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The Cheonggyecheon, Once a Highway, Now a Haven

Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times 16 Jul 09;

Cities from San Antonio to Singapore have been resuscitating rivers and turning storm drains into streams.

SEOUL, South Korea — For half a century, a dark tunnel of crumbling concrete encased more than three miles of a placid stream bisecting this bustling city.

The waterway had been a centerpiece of Seoul since kings of the Choson Dynasty selected their new capital 600 years ago, enticed by the graceful meandering of the stream and its 23 tributaries. But in the industrial era after the Korean War, the stream, by then a rank open sewer, was entombed by pavement and forgotten beneath a lacework of elevated expressways.

Today, after a $384 million recovery project, the stream, called Cheonggyecheon, is liberated from its dank sheath and burbles between reedy banks. Picnickers cool their bare feet in its filtered water, and carp swim in its tranquil pools.
Since its opening in 2005, hundreds of thousands of people have visited Cheonggyecheon with friends and family. (Photo by Jean Chung for The New York Times)
The restoration of the Cheonggyecheon is part of an expanding environmental effort in cities around the world to “daylight” rivers and streams by peeling back pavement that was built to bolster commerce and serve automobile traffic decades ago.

In Yonkers, a long-stalled revival effort for the city’s ailing downtown core that could break ground this fall includes a plan to re-expose 1,900 feet of the Saw Mill River, which currently runs through a giant flume that was laid beneath city streets in the 1920s.

Cities from San Antonio to Singapore have been resuscitating rivers and turning storm drains into streams. In Los Angeles, residents’ groups and some elected officials are looking anew at buried or concrete-lined creeks as assets instead of inconveniences, inspired partly by Seoul’s example.

By building new green corridors around the exposed waters, cities hope to attract affluent and educated workers and residents who appreciate the feel of a natural environment in an urban setting.

Environmentalists point out other benefits. Open watercourses handle flooding rains better than buried sewers do, a big consideration as global warming leads to heavier downpours. The streams also tend to cool areas overheated by sun-baked asphalt and to nourish greenery that lures wildlife as well as pedestrians.

Some critics have derided Seoul’s remade stream as a costly simulacrum, given that nearly all of the water flowing between its banks on a typical day is pumped there artificially from the Han River through seven miles of pipe.

But four years after the stream was uncovered, city officials say, the environmental benefits can now be quantified. Data show that the ecosystem along the Cheonggyecheon (pronounced chung-gye-chun) has been greatly enriched, with the number of fish species increasing to 25 from 4. Bird species have multiplied to 36 from 6, and insect species to 192 from 15.

The recovery project, which removed three miles of elevated highway as well, also substantially cut air pollution from cars along the corridor and reduced air temperatures. Small-particle air pollution dropped to 48 micrograms per cubic meter from 74 along the corridor, and summer temperatures are now often five degrees cooler than those of nearby areas, according to data cited by city officials.

And even with the loss of some vehicle lanes in this city of 10 million people, traffic speeds have picked up because of related transportation changes like expanded bus service, restrictions on cars and higher parking fees.

“We’ve basically gone from a car-oriented city to a human-oriented city,” said Lee In-keun, Seoul’s assistant mayor for infrastructure, who has been invited to places as distant as Los Angeles to describe the project to other urban planners.

Some 90,000 pedestrians visit the stream banks on an average day.

What is more, a new analysis by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found that replacing a highway in Seoul with a walkable greenway caused nearby homes to sell at a premium after years of going for bargain prices by comparison with outlying properties.

Efforts to recover urban waterways are nonetheless fraught with challenges, like convincing local business owners wedded to existing streetscapes that economic benefits can come from a green makeover.

Yet today the visitors to the Cheonggyecheon’s banks include merchants from some of the thousands of nearby shops who were among the project’s biggest opponents early on.

On a recent evening, picnickers along the waterway included Yeon Yeong-san, 63, who runs a sporting apparel shop with his wife, Lee Geum-hwa, 56, in the adjacent Pyeonghwa Market.

Mr. Yeon said his family moved to downtown Seoul in the late 1940s, and he has been running the business for four decades. He said parking was now harder for his customers. But “because of less traffic, we have better air and nature,” he said.

He and his wife walk along the stream every day, he added. “We did not think about exercising here when the stream was buried underground.”

The project has yielded political dividends for Lee Myung-bak, a former leader of construction companies at the giant Hyundai Corporation. He was elected Seoul’s mayor in 2002 largely around his push to remove old roads — some of which he had helped build — and to revive the stream. Today he is South Korea’s president.

Even strong critics of the president tend to laud his approach to the Cheonggyecheon revival, which involved hundreds of meetings with businesses and residents over two years.

A recent newspaper column that criticized the president over a botched police raid on squatters ended with the words “Please come back, Cheonggyecheon Lee Myung-bak!” — a reference to the nickname he earned during the campaign to revive the stream.

The role of Seoul’s environmental renewal in Mr. Lee’s political ascent is not lost on Mayor Philip A. Amicone of Yonkers, a city of 200,000 where entrenched poverty had slowed a revival project. Once the river restoration was added to the plan, he said, he found new support for redevelopment.

Yonkers has gained $34 million from New York State and enthusiastic support from environmental groups for the river restoration, which is part of a proposed $1.5 billion development that includes a minor-league ballpark. The river portion is expected to cost $42 million over all.

A longtime supporter was Gov. George E. Pataki, who helped line up some of the state money in his last year in office, Mayor Amicone said. “Every time he’d visit, he’d say, ‘You’ve got to open up that river,’ ” he added.

Part of the plan would expose an arc of the river and line it with paths and restaurant patios that would wrap around a shopping complex and the ballpark. Another open stretch would become a “wetland park” on what is now a parking lot.

Mr. Amicone, who has a background as a civil engineer, said the example of Seoul’s success had helped build support in Yonkers. In an interview, he recalled the enthusiasm with which Mr. Lee, then Seoul’s mayor, toured Yonkers in 2006 and discussed the cities’ parallel river projects with him.

“Whether it’s a city of millions or 200,000, the concept is identical,” Mr. Amicone said. “These are no longer sewers, but aesthetically pleasing assets that enhance development.”

URBAN RENEWAL IN SOUTH KOREA: From grey concrete to green banks
Goh Sui Noi, Straits Times 22 Jul 09;

WHENEVER civil servant Lee Ji Young, 32, and her friends meet for dinner downtown, they would make for the nearby Cheong Gye Stream after they have eaten.

It is soothing to walk along the river or sit amid the greenery there. When darkness falls and the lights come on, the combination of the natural landscape and the city lights is a delight. Most of all, the cool breezes are a relief during the summer months. Indeed, in the part of Seoul's downtown through which the restored stream runs, the temperature has dropped by 2 to 3 deg C.

It is hard to imagine - even for Seoulites who live or work in the area - that only six years ago, much of the stream was 5.8km of tarmac with an elevated highway over it.

On July 1, 2003, then Seoul mayor and now South Korean President Lee Myung Bak presided over a ceremony that kicked off the audacious project to tear down the elevated expressway and dig up the eight-lane street below to uncover the stream that had lain buried for more than 30 years. Mr Lee had promised in his mayoral campaign to restore the Cheong Gye Cheon ('cheon' is Korean for 'stream'), and he was fulfilling his pledge.

The US$386 million (S$560 million) project was not without controversy. Where was the traffic borne by the two-tier thoroughfares to go? What would the 200,000 merchants whose warren of 60,000 shops flanked the project do for a living while work was going on? Was it worth it to spend so much money and cause so much upheaval just to recover an old stream?

Merchants took to the streets to protest against the project. The city's government held numerous public hearings - and conducted 4,000 interviews with merchants - to explain the project to people and hear their views.

The elevated expressway and the road below it had become unsafe due to the obsolescence of the supporting structures underground, which were being corroded by gases emitted by sewage, the city officials said. Tearing down the expressway and restoring the stream was in the circumstances the best option.

Uncovering the stream, around which ancient Seoul was built, would also restore an important part of the city's 600-year history. There were plans to restore cultural relics such as the Gwanggyo, a bridge built in 1410 that lay buried under the road. The project was aimed at revitalising a part of Seoul's downtown around the buried stream that had become depressed, the city government explained.

Some of the public's ideas were incorporated in the project - including a so-called 'wall of proposal' on which couples can inscribe their pledges of love. The private sector was also involved, with private companies building some of the 22 bridges that now span the stream.

Merchants whose businesses were affected by the project did not receive outright compensation but were given low-interest loans. The city government built a special business section in another district for those who wanted to leave the Cheong Gye Cheon area.

New roads were built elsewhere to compensate for the torn-down highway. Motorists were encouraged to use public transport and the capacity of the mass rapid transit system was increased. Car owners were urged to leave their cars at home on one out of five working days.

The project was completed in October 2005. The restored stream was a far cry from the putrid open sewer that it had become in the 1950s. It could again live up to its name - 'clear valley stream'.

Seoul was founded in 1394 as the capital of the Joseon Dynasty. The Cheong Gye Cheon, fed by tributaries flowing down from the surrounding mountains, was a place where women did their laundry, a playground for children - and also the city's sewerage system. Its bridges became venues for folk festivities, including the lantern festival. Korean rulers dredged the stream from time to time through the centuries to alleviate the problem of flooding. They widened it and altered its course into a straight one. The Cheong Gye Cheon had been central to life in the old city for centuries.

But in the middle of the last century, its banks became a place where the poor congregated. The stream itself became a threat to the health of the people living along it, bringing disease into homes whenever it overflowed its banks. Covering it up was actually an expeditious way to resolve a health hazard.

Today, the Cheong Gye Cheon is a green artery running through downtown Seoul. Its waters are clear, the fish have returned and the birds feed and nest among its reeds. The stream has become the symbol of Seoul's transformation from a polluted metropolis into an eco-friendly city - an ongoing project with its roots in a 1995 policy plan called Green Vision 21.

Mr Lee's stream recovery project was not popular when it began. But its success helped him win hearts and minds - enough for him to go on to win the presidential election of 2007. Now he has embarked on an even more ambitious plan: Setting South Korea on a new growth path based on ecological sustainability.

It all began with the uncovering of the stream that ran through the heart of old Seoul.

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The time for biodiversity business

IUCN 16 Jul 09;

What do ecotourism excursions, wild flowers, medicinal and aromatic plants, essential oils, herbal teas and jams have in common? They are all products of healthy ecosystems.

Many conservation organizations are now developing businesses based on biodiversity as part of their conservation strategies, according to a survey of 80 IUCN members.

Such businesses include sustainable rattan production, animal plasma manufactured for agricultural fertilizer and handmade paper made from invasive plants.

All the products have a common bottom line – the conservation of biodiversity. They also involve local communities in the management of the businesses and the sharing of benefits.

“Conservation organizations have traditionally played an active role in supporting the development of sustainable alternative livelihoods for communities when those communities were engaged in the unsustainable use of natural resources,” says Giulia Carbone, of IUCN’s Business and Biodiversity Programme. “They have therefore a good tradition in developing biodiversity businesses.”

In an effort to strengthen IUCN Members’ capacity to develop even more successful businesses, the IUCN Business and Biodiversity Programme embarked on a project to determine IUCN Members’ experiences in developing biodiversity businesses as part of their conservation programmes.

The project, funded by the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Town and Country Planning, assessed IUCN Members’ needs and determined how to enhance the success of their efforts. It also allowed the members to share their experiences, lessons learned and challenges encountered in developing such businesses.

Approximately 80 IUCN Members were identified as using business development as part of their conservation programmes. Of these, approximately 63 were short-listed based on further research into their work and subsequently contacted for interview.

In this selection process, an effort was made to ensure a fair representation of the countries and regions in which IUCN works. A total of 40 IUCN Members then provided input into the research through semi-structured telephone interviews and by sending reference material whenever this was available.

The interviewed Members originated from more than 20 countries worldwide, from Honduras and Botswana to Jordan and Lao PDR.

This project resulted in the publication The Time for Biodiversity Business, illustrating a selection of the many great businesses developed by the conservation organizations that participated in this study.

The 22 biodiversity businesses described in this publication range from the more traditional ecotourism operations to natural ingredients that support the growing wellness industry. The products are located in all regions of the world. To complement the specific stories, the point of view of ten experts on issues such as the role of governments, the need to share benefits with communities and the experience of multinationals are provided.

A Guide to Enterprise Development for Conservation Organisations, providing initial ideas on how to set up biodiversity businesses, and a report on the Lessons learned from building biodiversity businesses for conservation, were also produced.

To download the documents, available in English and French, click here http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/business/bbp_our_work/biobusiness/

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WWF rewards Pakistan for tree planting world record

WWF 16 Jul 09;

Lahore, Pakistan - Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a healthy and productive international competition contributing to preserving fragile and endangered forests.

With 541,176 young mangroves trees planted by 300 volunteers from the local fishermen communities just in one day, the country broke the previous 447,874 record held by historical rival India.

In response to the achievement WWF awarded Pakistan’s Environment Minister Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi the Leaders of the Planet title, an award recognizing individuals making a significant personal contribution to the conservation of the natural world and sustainable development.

"This is a wonderful example of partnership between government, local communities and the private sector for a common cause, for conservation,"said Richard Garstang, the head of WWF Pakistan Wetlands Programme.

"It is good to see a productive competition between Pakistan and India. We hope that tree planting competitions will become as popular as cricket matches,"he said.

The mangrove tree planting event was held in the vast wetland ecosystem of the Indus River Delta in the Southern Sindh Province, some 150 km south east from Karachi - a unique sanctuary of biodiversity designated in 2002 by the Government of Pakistan as a Ramsar Site (Wetland of International Importance), with support from WWF International Freshwater Programme.

Covered in mud and sweating, the 300 volunteers who have been trained to plant record numbers without using any mechanical equipment, worked all day in a temperature of up to 37° before breaking the score.
Their efforts were also a special contribution to the global fight against climate change.

Scientists say deforestation contributes to about 20 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and that reducing deforestation is one of the quickest ways to fight rising temperatures. Forested Wetlands such as mangroves, flooded forests and many peatlands play a crucial role in this respect.

"Mangrove reestablishment strongly correlates with climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and improving community livelihoods," said Anada Tiega, Secretary General of Secretary General of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

A planting interval of just over 2 m was used in order to give the young Red Mangroves plenty of room to spread their canopies as they grow. Planting was confined to the mudflats of the inter-tidal zone - the area between the high and low tide marks. The trees are expected occupy approximately 325 ha of the island.

Mangroves are being cut in Pakistan and other countries for fodder, fuel and timber but their over- utilization has very damaging consequences. Apart from their crucial role in providing habitat for many organisms including fish, shrimps, lobsters, oysters and algae, mangroves also protect the coast from erosion, as well as hurricanes and tsunamis.

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France, UK, Monaco press for global ban of bluefin tuna sales

Britain takes up tuna's cause
Government joins forces with France to press for global ban on sale of bluefin
Martin Hickman, The Independent 16 Jul 09;

Britain is to join France lobbying governments around the world for an international ban on the sale of the bluefin tuna, which is on the brink of extinction after years of over-fishing.

The fisheries minister Huw Irranca-Davies told The Independent the UK would back and seek support in Washington and other international capitals for a proposal to ban the fish at Cites (the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species).

France, which has a bigger bluefin fishing fleet than anyone else, also announced yesterday it would back a Cites ban, bringing a a real prospect that the fish – which will be wiped out in the Mediterranean by 2012, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) – may be saved.

Speaking of the need to protect global fish stocks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said: "Ours is the last generation with the ability to take action before it's too late."

Wildlife groups were elated at support for the ban, which would bypass management by the fisheries body in charge of the bluefin tuna, Iccat (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas), which has been roundly derided for its failure to protect the fish.

However it is almost certain to put the UK on a collision course with Japan, where bluefin is highly-prized as sushi and sashimi. A single fish can fetch $100,000 [£60,800] in Tokyo, making it the most expensive food on earth.

Motivated by the bounty, organised crime in Italy is believed to be involved in the Mediterranean fishery, which is believed to land 60,000 tons of bluefin a year, almost treble the legal catch and four times the amount recommended by scientists. Concern has grown this summer following the screening of the docu-film The End of the Line, which presented the bluefin as the starkest example of 21st Century over-fishing.

Nobu, the Japanese restaurant chain, attracted criticism for continuing to serve the fish at its eateries in London, despite acknowledging on its menu that it was a "vulnerable" and advising diners to choose an alternative.

Monaco, the tiny Mediterranean principality, has been privately canvassing support for a Cites ban during recent weeks. Speaking to The Independent, Mr Irranca-Davies said: "We've been in some discussions with Monaco to see how that proposal is progressing. Our biodversity unit has been talking with their counterparts in Monaco and other Cites member states – the US and Canada – to see whether there's any appetite for proposing this action and what form it might take.

"Now we've had sight of the proposals in the last day or so, I can confirm that the UK will support a Cites listing of bluefin tuna. We do think this is not a substitute for Iccat and the work it does, but we are pleased to give that proposal for Cites listing our strong support. We hope that others will come on board as well."

Providing it attracts sufficient support, Monaco will table its resolution by 17 October for Cites's meeting in Doha, in Qatar, in March. A ban – requiring a two-thirds majority – would take effect 90 days later, ending the annual summer bluefin hunt.

Asked whether he was braced for a fight with Japan, Mr Irranca-Davies said: "I don't think we need to get into a fight over this. There will be people for whom this bluefin tuna is important either as a consumer nation or as a fishing nation, but what we cannot get away from is the stark evidence that is staring us in the face."

Willie MacKenzie, Greenpeace oceans campaigner, said: "It's fantastic the UK is taking such a strong stance on bluefin by backing the listing on Cites, and it's one that an increasingly-aware British public will welcome. Not only does this show the UK's understanding of the severity of the problem, but it must compel other countries, notably the US, to follow suit. Bluefin tuna are the blue whales of our time, and have been relentlessly over-exploited for far too long."

"This iconic species has long disappeared from UK waters and we need to ensure the same does not happen in the Mediterranean," said Sally Bailey, marine programme manager at WWF, who praised the UK's "great step forward."

Charles Clover, author of the book The End of the Line, while also welcoming the action, said there was evidence that bluefin tuna of breeding age had already been fished out.

"France is one of the nations principally responsible for wiping it out," he said. "There are no mature spawners on the Japanese market. A third of the fish that are being sold are under the legal size."

"What's coming together now is that everybody knows there's no fish left in the sea. They probably caught them all in 2007, while we were filming it. This is Europe's great fisheries disaster."

France joins Monaco in call for international trade ban for endangered bluefin tuna
WWF 16 Jul 09;

Rome, Italy/Paris, France – President Nicolas Sarkozy of France today announced his country’s support for a ban of international trade in endangered Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, joining a growing call to list the overexploited fish under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) – before it disappears forever from the sea and our plates.

Speaking at the close of a national stakeholder consultation on France’s future sustainable fisheries and maritime policy, the ‘Grenelle de la Mer’, President Sarkozy said today: “France supports listing bluefin tuna on the CITES convention to ban international trade.”

Mr Sarkozy put this in the context of France’s support for a broader sustainable fisheries policy. “Ours is the last generation with the ability to take action before it’s too late – we must protect marine resources now, in order to fish better in future. We owe this to fishermen, and we owe it to future generations,” he said.

The Principality of Monaco was first to communicate its willingness to sponsor a proposal to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna, and has this week launched a formal CITES consultation process to seek the support of other range states – countries through whose waters the species swims.

“WWF welcomes the Monaco initiative and the position of France, whose fleets have traditionally caught more bluefin tuna than any other country,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “We now urge France to put its words into action and be the first country to formally sign up to Monaco’s proposal for CITES Appendix I, which would ban international trade.”

“WWF also appeals to other range states to follow this lead and support the proposal to list Atlantic bluefin on the CITES convention – if they want to give bluefin tuna a break and see a healthy fishery again in years to come. This iconic species is simply at the end of its tether.”

CITES contracting parties next confer in Doha, Qatar 13-25 March 2010, but proposals need to be submitted by 17 October to be eligible for consideration at the Conference of the Parties.

Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna is in big trouble, and the fishery is insufficiently policed. Contributing to the species’ dramatic decline are the huge overcapacity of fishing fleets, catches that far exceed legal quotas, pirate fishing, the use of illegal spotting planes to chase tuna, under-reporting of catch, fishing during the closed season, management measures that disregard scientific advice – all driven by the insatiable appetite of the world’s luxury seafood markets where bluefin tuna fetches record prices.

“In terms of eligibility for a listing on CITES Appendix I, Atlantic bluefin tuna ticks every box – and then some,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF’s Global Species Programme. “CITES contracting parties would surely regret failing to protect this commercially overexploited species, and an icon of the oceans, from collapse on their watch – while they have this historic chance.”

“Fisheries managers have failed to get to grips with the complex fiasco of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery,” added Tudela. “WWF hopes to see a sustainably managed and thriving fishery in future, but to enable this recovery the species must be given a breather – if the world does not put the brakes on its voracious appetite now, an amazing species and fishery could be lost forever.”

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Two foreign reporters arrested in Namibia for filming seal slaughter

Yahoo News 16 Jul 09;

WINDHOEK (AFP) – Two foreign reporters were arrested Thursday by Namibian police for filming the annual clubbing to death of small seal pups for their fur along the coast.

British investigative journalist Jim Wilckens and South African cameraman Bart Smithers were arrested by police whilst documenting the controversial Namibian seal cull.

"The two have been arrested today (Thursday)," police spokesman Angula Amulungu told AFP, alleging that they had contravened the Fisheries and Marine Resources Act.

They were being held in police holding cells at Henties Bay some 400 kilometres (250 miles) west of the capital Windhoek.

They would appear in court on Friday, he added.

Wilckens, a reporter with the British-based Eco-Storm agency, and Smithers were working with the Dutch non-governmental organisation Bont Voor Dieren.

Andrew Wasley, co-director of Ecostorm, alleged that the two had been beaten up by workers involved in the cull.

"We are working with the British High Commission in Namibia to establish the full picture and secure the release of our team," Wasley said in a statement. "Clearly this was a violent and unwarranted attack on two journalists doing their job -- their cameras and video footage were also seized, which should be returned."

The annual commercial seal harvesting season officially opened on July 1 with a quota of 85,000 pups due to be clubbed to death on the Namibian coast.

Pair convicted in Namibia for filming seal hunt
Yahoo News 17 Jul 09;

WINDHOEK (AFP) – Two European journalists were fined on Friday by a court in Namibia for filming the annual seal hunt along the coast of the southern African nation, their lawyer said.

British investigative journalist Jim Wilckens and South African cameraman Bart Smithers were found guilty of violating the Marine Resources Act by entering a restricted area without permission, lawyer Raywood Rukoro said.

Both were released after paying a fine of 5,000 dollars (625 US dollars) each, he said, adding that they intended to leave Namibia soon, even though they are not being deported.

"We are happy this is over and we will leave as soon as possible," Wilckens told reporters afterwards.

The duo was arrested by police whilst documenting the Namibian seal cull. They were kept at police cells at Henties Bay, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the capital Windhoek.

Wilckens, a reporter with the British-based Eco-Storm agency, and Smithers were working with the Dutch non-governmental organisation Bont Voor Dieren.

Andrew Wasley, co-director of Eco-Storm, alleged that the two had been beaten up by workers involved in the cull.

"One of the two reporters laid a charge of physical assault, but no one has been arrested yet", a police officer told AFP.

The annual commercial seal harvesting season opened on July 1 with a quota of 85,000 pups due to be clubbed and killed for their fur on the Namibian coast.

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Greenlight given for first UK eco towns

Yahoo News 16 Jul 09;

LONDON (AFP) – The government gave the green light Thursday to four so-called "eco towns," claiming it is playing a leading role globally in promoting carbon neutral communities.

The green towns are designed as the first of 10 such projects Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government wants to set up by 2020, despite criticism and local opposition in some cases.

"The revolutionary concept of eco towns is a unique opportunity for us to confront two of the most urgent priorities" facing Britain, namely providing more cheaper housing and fighting climate change.

Housing Minister John Healey added: "We are leading the way on the world stage with these developments by radically rethinking how we design, plan and build our homes."

The towns chosen are in Whitehill-Bordon in Hampshire; Rackheath in Norfolk; Bicester in Oxfordshire, and a development near St. Austell in Cornwall.

The "first wave" communities will notably be able to apply for a share of 60 million pounds in funds to develop low-carbon infrastructure).

Charging points for electric cars, solar and wind power infrastructure, and so-called smart meters to track energy use will all be built in, while 40 percent of their area will be devoted to parks, playgrounds and gardens.

The main opposition Conservatives, which hopes to oust Brown's Labour government next year, have slammed the projects.

"Underneath the thick layers of greenwash, many of these schemes are unsustainable, unviable and unpopular, but Gordon Brown wants to impose them... irrespective of local opinion," said Conservative housing spokesman Grant Shapps.

"All the low-flush toilets in the world can't make dumping a housing estate on green fields somehow eco-friendly," he added.

Healey countered: "I recognise that the proposals can raise strong opinions, but climate change threatens us all and... we are taking steps to meet this challenge and help build more affordable housing."

The four chosen projects will all now be subject to further local planning procedures.

Four ecotowns given the green light
Towns to tackle Britain's housing shortage while minimising damage to the environment by showcasing energy efficient homes and green transport
Alok Jha, guardian.co.uk 16 Jul 09;

The government today gave the go-ahead for the construction of four eco-towns, offering 10,000 homes overall, which, it hopes, will showcase environmentally friendly living in the UK.

The settlements, to be built by 2016, will include the latest in energy efficiency measures, streets with charging points for electric cars and numerous cycle routes as well as easy access to public transport.

The locations are Whitehill Borden in Hampshire, the China Clay Community at St Austell, Cornwall, Rackheath in Norfolk and north-west Bicester, in Oxfordshire. Each site will be allocated a share of £60m for their "green" infrastructure.

The towns are designed to tackle Britain's housing shortage while minimising damage to the environment – more than a quarter of the UK's CO2 emissions come from energy use in houses.

Launching the initiative Gordon Brown said earlier today: "Eco-towns will help to relieve the shortage of affordable homes to rent and buy, and minimise the effects of climate change on a major scale. They will provide modern homes with lower energy bills, energy efficient offices and brand-new schools, community centres and services."

But eco-towns have been criticised ever since Brown announced his plan to build up to 100,000 homes in five green towns, soon after succeeding Tony Blair as prime minister in 2007.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England wanted the government to scale back the programme to one or two showcase towns, arguing that officials should concentrate on refurbishing existing properties and redeveloping derelict brownfield sites as well as bring 800,000 empty homes in England back to use.

The eco-towns will still require planning permission and could face opposition from residents anxious about the impact on rural areas.

The housing minister John Healey said: "I recognise that the proposals can raise strong opinions, but climate change threatens us all and with our commitment to the eco-towns we are taking steps to meet this challenge and help build more affordable housing."

He said Britain was leading the world in designing zero-carbon buildings. "One in three of Britain's homes in 2050 will be built between now and then, so we have to set clear, green, standards for the future. I am confirming that all new homes from 2016 will have to meet a tough zero-carbon standard, so they are cleaner, greener and cheaper to run."

In addition to the four eco-towns, a further two, Rossington, in South Yorkshire and North-East Elsenham, Essex, are on the cards for the scheme's second wave. The government wants up to 10 eco-towns completed or under way by 2020.

Friends of the Earth's executive director, Andy Atkins, welcomed the plans. But he said: "The bigger challenge is to ensure that all new housing is built to the highest environmental standards. Ministers must ensure that all the two million homes that they plan to build across the country are truly green and help meet UK targets for tackling climate change."

Grant Shapps, the Tories' housing spokesperson and MP for Welwyn Hatfield, dismissed eco-towns as a gimmick. "Underneath the thick layers of greenwash many of these schemes are unsustainable, unviable and unpopular, but Gordon Brown wants to impose them from Whitehall irrespective of local opinion."

John Alker, of the UK Green Building Council, said that although eco-towns had had a rough ride, the idea behind them was sound. "The current economic climate is very challenging for new house building in the short-term, but zero carbon homes, sustainable transport, a robust local economy and access to green space are all vital ingredients of new places fit for the 21st century.

He added: "The eco-towns brand has taken a battering, but if these developments go through the interrogation of a proper planning process, are linked to existing communities, have local support and are built to the very highest environmental standards, then it can only be a good thing. Building green homes on a large scale … will also reduce the green cost premium and help provide a blueprint for the homes of the future."
Inside an eco town...

• Community-scale heat sources, possibly using combined heat and power plants
• Charging points for electric cars
• All homes within 10 minutes walk of frequent public transport and everyday services
• Parks, playgrounds and gardens to make up 40% of towns
• Individual homes must achieve 70% carbon savings above current building regulations in terms of heating, hot water and lighting
• Zero-carbon buildings including shops, restaurants and schools
• Ensuring a minimum of one job per house can be reached by walking, cycling or public transport to reduce dependence on the car
• Car journeys to make up less than half of all journeys
• Locating homes within ten minutes walk of frequent public transport and everyday neighbourhood services
• Homes fitted with smart meters and solar and wind generation. Residents will be able to control the heat and ventilation of their homes at the touch of a button and sell their surplus energy into the grid

Go-ahead for eco-towns in England
The Government has announced the go-ahead for four eco-towns - in Rackheath, Whitehill Bordon, north west Bicester and the China Clay Community in Cornwall.
Christopher Hope, The Telegraph 16 Jul 09;

The successful bids, which will still have to go through the planning process, were named as Rackheath in Norfolk, Whitehill Bordon in East Hampshire, north west Bicester and the China Clay Community scheme near St Austell, Cornwall.

The eco-town project was intended to meet housing needs and tackle climate change, with as many as 10 environmentally-friendly settlements built by 2020, but has been dogged by controversy and opposition from local communities.

The four successful bids are all supported or proposed by local authorities and meet the standards for "eco-towns" laid down by the Government, officials said.

In addition to the four locations given the go-ahead today, a further two - Rossington in South Yorkshire and North-East Elsenham in Essex - still have potential to be eco-towns but need more work to address certain issues with the bids.

It is also hoped more eco-towns will come through regional and local plans in the future.

The four "first-wave" settlements given the green light today will be able to bid for a share of £60 million in Government support for local infrastructure.

John Healey, the housing minister, said he wanted to see at least six "second-wave" developments and up to £5 million was being made available for councils to conduct further planning work on proposals.

Gordon Brown, who expanded the eco-town scheme from the original five towns to up to 10 when he first became Prime Minister, said the environmentally-friendly settlements were "a unique opportunity" to address housing and climate change.

"Eco-towns will help to relieve the shortage of affordable homes to rent and buy and to minimise the effects of climate change on a major scale.

"They will provide modern homes with lower energy bills, energy efficient offices and brand new schools, community centres and services," he said.

Mr Healey said: "We are leading the way on the world stage with these developments, by radically rethinking how we design, plan and build our homes we can create zero carbon developments, which combine affordable housing with new green infrastructures and a higher quality of life.

"I recognise that the proposals can raise strong opinions, but climate change threatens us all and with our commitment to the eco-towns we are taking steps to meet this challenge and help build more affordable housing."

But the Conservatives accused the Government of presiding over an "eco-con" which was mired in controversy.

Grant Shapps, the shadow housing minister, said: "Underneath the thick layers of greenwash, many of these schemes are unsustainable, unviable and unpopular, but Gordon Brown wants to impose them from Whitehall irrespective of local opinion.

"All the low-flush toilets in the world can't make dumping a housing estate on green fields somehow eco-friendly.

"At best, this scheme is a distraction from the more important task of reducing carbon emissions from our existing housing stock.

"At worst, it's a discredited gimmick from a discredited Government that's run out of ideas and run out of steam."

From 15 down to four: eco-towns get go-ahead
Michael McCarthy, The Independent 17 Jul 09;

Four new eco-towns, designed to meet housing needs while using the highest green standards, were given the go-ahead by the Government today after a two-year selection process which has been mired in controversy and opposition.

The four locations have been whittled down from an original list of fifteen, many of which were deeply unpopular with local residents and also with environmental campaign groups who accused the Government of using the idea to get round the planning process and build on greenfield countryside.

The four proposed new settlements announced yesterday, which will have up to 20,000 homes each and will be the first new towns built in Britain for more than 40 years, were among the least controversial on the list as they do not represent egregious examples of countryside destruction.

They are Whitehill Bordon in Hampshire, north west Bicester in Oxfordshire, Rackheath in Norfolk and the China Clay Community scheme near St Austell in Cornwall. All are supported by their local authorities, who will now be able to bid for a share of £60 million in Government support for their local infrastructure. They will have to go through the planning process.

"From a list of deeply worrying and unsustainable locations, the Government has chosen to go with the least damaging, which is encouraging," said Kate Gordon, Senior Planning Officer for The Campaign to Protect Rural England.

The new eco-towns will be built to meet the highest standards of sustainability, with low and zero carbon technologies, state-of-the-art recycling and water systems, and good public transport, and they will also have to consist of between 30 and 50 per cent social housing, as part of the Government's drive to tackle the housing crisis.

The whole eco-towns idea has been strongly associated with Gordon Brown personally: the Prime Minister announced the scheme in one of his first speeches after taking office in 2007 and personally expanded its scope, and yesterday Mr Brown gave the announcement by the Housing Minister, John Healey, his own welcome, saying the new settlements represented "a unique opportunity" to address housing and climate change.

"Eco-towns will help to relieve the shortage of affordable homes to rent and buy and to minimise the effects of climate change on a major scale," Mr Brown said. "They will provide modern homes with lower energy bills, energy efficient offices and brand new schools, community centres and services."

However, it was evident that the cross-party consensus on climate change does not extend to eco-towns, as the proposal was strongly attacked by both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats. "All the low-flush toilets in the world can't make dumping a housing estate on green fields somehow environmentally friendly," said the Conservative shadow housing minister Grant Shapps, who called it an "eco-con". He said: "Underneath the thick layers of greenwash, many of these schemes are unsustainable, unviable and unpopular, but Gordon Brown wants to impose them from Whitehall irrespective of local opinion."

The Liberal Democrats housing spokeswoman Sarah Teather echoed the criticism and said the scheme was doomed to failure because central Government had imposed the eco-towns on local communities. "Local areas should be given the power to plan and build the homes they need, and every new home should be built to meet the highest environmental standards," she said.

In addition to the four locations given the go-ahead yesterday, a further two - Rossington in South Yorkshire and North-East Elsenham in Essex - still have potential to be eco-towns, the Government said, but need more work to address certain issues with the bids.

Some of the proposals in the list of 15 put forward in April last year were so deeply unpopular that the Government would have faced major protest campaigns had they gone ahead: they included the greenfield sites at Weston Otmoor in Oxfordshire and Long Marston, near Stratford on Avon, the latter attracting the ire of Stratford luvvies from Dame Judy Dench down.

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Retail titan Wal-Mart launches 'sustainability index'

Yahoo News 16 Jul 09;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US retail giant Wal-Mart on Thursday announced plans to develop a database that it said would revolutionize shopping by putting information about products' sustainability at consumers' fingertips.

The database, dubbed the sustainability index, could put information about how environmentally-friendly suppliers, manufacturers and their products are, just a garment label or barcode-scan away for shoppers, according to Wal-Mart executives speaking at a webcast gathering of their suppliers.

The index would be put together in three phases, the first of which involves surveying Wal-Mart's 100,000-plus suppliers about how they operate, where a product is made and what goes into it.

That stage got under way Thursday, when the 15-point survey was sent out to some US manufacturers.

The questionnaire covers everything from a manufacturer's greenhouse gas emissions and location of factories, to water use and solid waste disposal.

The next step in compiling the index will be to create a consortium of universities that would work with suppliers, retailers, NGOs and governments to develop the database.

A technology company is being sought by Wal-Mart to create an open platform to power the index, Wal-Mart chief executive Mike Duke told the meeting at the retail giant's headquarters in Arkansas.

Wal-Mart pledged to put up funds to get the index off the ground but Duke stressed that the database is not intended to benefit only the retail titan.

"It is not our goal to create or own this index. We want to spur the development of a common database that will allow the consortium to collect and analyze the knowledge of the global supply chain," Duke said.

The third and final phase would see the index up and running, and consumers accessing and benefiting from it.

John Fleming, chief merchandising officer for Wal-Mart, outlined how the index might work, while stressing that the end product was several years down the line.

Consumers might point their multi-application handheld devices at a product while shopping online or in-store to get information about the product.

With a T-shirt, they might see the field where the cotton came from, probably with a picture of the farmer, Fleming said.

"There would be information about how much cotton was used, how many 'product miles' were consumed to get that T-shirt into the store.

"That will make a difference in terms of what products customers consider," especially with future generations of consumers who care deeply about the environment and sustainability, he said.

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UK retailers miss plastic bag target

BBC News 16 Jul 09;

Efforts to cut by half the number of plastic carrier bags supermarkets give their customers have narrowly failed.

Last year seven supermarkets signed up to the voluntary scheme which aimed for a 50% cut in bags given out compared to figures recorded for 2006.

However figures suggest 346m fewer carrier bags are being used every month than they were in 2006.

Plastic bags harm the environment because they take a long time to decompose and can endanger wildlife.

In May 2006, 718m bags were being given out but by May 2009 this had almost halved to 372m, which amounts to a reduction of 48%.

In Scotland, the reduction was 49% representing 39m bags less in May 2009 compared to the same month is 2006.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: "This is a great achievement by the seven supermarkets and their customers and it shows that by working together, we really can change our bag habits."

He praised retailers for putting a lot into the scheme, and said he was looking forward to further reductions in the months ahead.

Mr Benn added: "This means that several hundred million fewer carrier bags are going to landfill every month and we're using less raw materials to make them, which is great news."

The British Retail Consortium believes consumer behaviour has now changed, helped by supermarkets giving out free re-usable bags and awarding loyalty points to customers who bring their own bags.

As a result, some environmentalists are now calling for a charge of up to 15 pence for each disposable carrier bag.

Supermarkets miss target to cut carrier bag use
Leading supermarkets have failed to meet a target on cutting the use of carrier bags given to customers despite Government campaigns.
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 17 Jul 09;

Seven supermarkets signed up to a voluntary agreement to reduce the number of bags given out by half.

Plastic bags are the scourge of environmentalists as they take hundreds of years to decompose despite typically being used only once.

Discarded bags blight the landscape and kill small animals and birds that become snared up in them.

And bags that make it into the sea are eaten by turtles and marine mammals, who mistake them for jellyfish, with disastrous consequences.

Last year, the seven supermarkets signed up to a voluntary agreement with the Government to achieve a 50 per cent cut in the number of bags given out compared to 2006.

In May 2006, 718 million bags were being given out - by May 2009 this had almost halved to 372 million, a reduction of 48 per cent.

However Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said it was still a great achievement.

"The target of a 50 per cent reduction was only narrowly missed and retailers have really put a lot into this in the last six months," he said.

"This means that several hundred million fewer carrier bags are going to landfill every month and we're using less raw materials to make them, which is great news. I look forward to seeing further reductions in the months ahead."

Supermarkets in Britain slash plastic bags
Yahoo News 17 Jul 09;

LONDON (AFP) – Supermarkets in Britain are giving out almost half as many plastic shopping bags as they were three years ago after a campaign to slash use of the environmental hazards, officials have said.

Shoppers were handed 372 million plastic bags at seven major supermarkets in May this year, down from 718 million bags at the same time in 2006, the environment secretary said.

The figures suggest supermarkets are now using 346 million fewer carrier bags every month than they were in 2006, a drop of 48 percent.

"This is a great achievement by the seven supermarkets and their customers and it shows that by working together, we really can change our bag habits," Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said.

The reduction narrowly misses a voluntary target set by the supermarkets, including Sainsbury's and Tesco, at the end of 2008 to halve the number of plastic carrier bags handed out compared to May 2006.

"The target of a 50 percent reduction was only narrowly missed and retailers have really put a lot into this in the last six months," Benn said.

Plastic bags can take decades to decompose and are blamed for clogging waterways, farms and fields, as well as damaging marine life when they are dumped in the sea.

Governments, retailers and consumers around the world are under pressure to reduce the number of plastic bags, which are also piling up landfills.

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Quebec report seeks to divert water, generate power

Nina Lex Reuters 15 Jun 09;

TORONTO (Reuters) - Quebec could raise up to C$9.5 billion ($8.5 billion) a year by reversing the flow of three northern rivers to generate power and export water to the United States, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The Montreal Economic Institute said Quebec could divert floodwaters from the three rivers in the spring, pumping the excess water higher, and then letting it flow south through the Ottawa River to the St. Lawrence.

The rivers currently flow into James Bay in northern Canada and then into Hudson Bay, a 316,000 sq mi (818,000 sq km) expanse of water that's bigger than Chile.

The report said that diverting the floodwater from north to south would boost levels on the St Lawrence River and let U.S. and Canadian authorities increase their use of fresh water from the Great Lakes without any risk to St Lawrence itself, a major international seaway.

"The revenue generated by exporting freshwater would be the result of complex negotiations between state, provincial and federal governments," said the report, compiled by former hydro-electric power engineer Pierre Gingras.

"Whatever the outcome of negotiations, and given the probable increase in the value of water in the coming years, this revenue from the sale of water would contribute significantly to the financial health of the Quebec government and the general prosperity of Quebecers."

The idea of bulk water exports from Canada has always been controversial, for political, environmental and security reasons.

But Gingras said the scheme could net the French-speaking province some C$7.5 billion a year, assuming the extra water supplied some 150 million people who paid a "very reasonable" C$50 a year for the water.

The project, which Gingras calls Northern Waters, would also build 25 hydro-electric plants and dams along the Ottawa River, generating electricity worth C$2 billion a year.

He put the cost of the project at some C$15 billion and said it could be completed by 2022. "It should be a very profitable project for Quebec," he said.

But environmental group Great Lakes United said a project like Northern Waters could be devastating to the environment.

"The seasonal runoff is not surplus water. The rising and lowering of the rivers and lakes is critical to protecting the marsh which is home to so much wildlife," said program director John Jackson.

He said the project was contrary to legislation that forbids the bulk export of Canadian water from any of the five major basins, including the Hudson Bay Basin.

"There would be huge legal fights. There is no way you could win those battles," said Jackson.

The report, available here, said the environmental impact would be relatively small because the project would only capture "seasonal surplus waters",

($1=$1.11 Canadian)

(Reporting by Nina Lex; editing by Janet Guttsman)

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Warning on scramble for world's farm land

Business Times 17 Jul 09;

(SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt) A scramble by wealthy states to snap up developing world farm land to ensure their own food security - especially in Africa - could trigger conflict in poorer countries, a UN official said on Wednesday.

Sheila Sisulu, World Food Programme's deputy executive director, told Reuters that she would prefer that at least some of the crops produced on land leased to foreign governments stay in the country of origin to contribute to local food security stocks.

'The arable land in Africa is not that plentiful if you consider that desert is growing. Arable land is diminishing because of floods, of droughts. So I fear . . . conflict,' she said on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt.

'If they grow food, and the food is taken away . . . it can be a destabilising issue,' she added.

Large swathes of arable but fallow land in Africa have proved attractive investments for rich countries, such as Saudi Arabia, seeking greener pastures to help ensure their own food supplies, especially after sharp price hikes in 2008.

But the land acquisition phenomenon has been labelled exploitative by activists and prompted calls for guidelines.

'It would be better if countries really got good advice on the contractual arrangements that they make. Maybe . . . part of the produce must stay to make sure there is food security, rather than just the cash,' Ms Sisulu said.

Close to 2.5 million ha of farm land in five sub-Saharan African countries have been bought or leased since 2004, an investment of US$920 million, according to a May report co-authored by international agencies.

Ms Sisulu said that the global financial crisis is likely to further swell the already growing ranks of the hungry, especially as the downturn bites in poorer countries following a drop in worker remittances from abroad.

The United Nations said that the number of malnourished people has risen in the past two years and is expected to top 1.02 billion this year, reversing decades of declines. The global recession is expected to make 103 million more go hungry - a figure that Ms Sisulu said may be too low.

'It will grow . . . I would say another 50 million, and that is very modest. The additional could easily double (to 100 million) in my estimation,' she said. 'It wouldn't be in 2009 . . . but it will begin to rise from now.'

She said that the World Food Programme had collected less than US$2 billion of the more than US$6.4 billion that it estimated is needed this year to meet the urgent hunger needs of 105 million people.

She said that US$20 billion in farm aid pledged by G-8 leaders last week to help poor nations feed themselves was a welcome development, but cautioned that it might not help all at risk.

'The US$20 billion should focus also on alleviating suffering of the vulnerable,' she said. 'Urban people will not be assisted by agricultural development . . . Agricultural development assumes land, capability to work the land. Urban people don't have that.' - Reuters

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