Best of our wild blogs: 27 Jul 09

Singapore Map exhibition @ NLB, 01 Aug – 31 Oct 2009
from Otterman speaks

Hantu Dive Log, 26 July 2009
from Pulau Hantu

MAD lessons go to School
from Cicada Tree Eco-Place

Coral garden at Tanah Merah
from wonderful creation

Semakau - Edwardsid country
from Singapore Nature and wild shores of singapore

Semakau over the last weekend of July
from Where Discovery Begins

TeamSeagrass at Pulau Semakau
from teamseagrass and from isn't it a wonder, how life came to be

The snaked truth
from The annotated budak and it don't mean a sting

Blue-throated Bee-eater: 10. The chicks
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Highlight of the tank
from Psychedelic Nature

Firefly of Semakau
from Manta Blog

Spiders, insects and other stuff
from Mendis' World

Monday Morgue: 27th July 2009
from The Lazy Lizard's Tales

Bornean Sun Bear on youtube
from Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

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No wedding gifts please, donate a tree

Guests oblige with more than 150 trees for couple
Victoria Vaughan, Straits Times 27 Jul 09;

TWO lawyers had an unusual request for their guests on their wedding day - do not come bearing traditional gifts.

Instead, lawyers Susan de Silva, 50, and Chandra Mohan K. Nair, 60, asked their 200 guests to donate to the Plant-A-Tree scheme.

The scheme is an initiative by the Garden City Fund, a charity supported by the National Parks Board, and the Singapore Environment Council, a charity that champions green causes.

Since their wedding in Sentosa last December, the couple have planted more than 150 trees pledged by their guests. Yesterday, they planted the last 10 in Bukit Batok Nature Park.

Their wedding trees, which cost $15,400 in all, are planted across Singapore in various parks.

'We wanted something that would be a gift for us but also beyond us - for our guests, the community and future generations,' said Ms de Silva. 'Ten years from now, people can sit under the trees we planted to celebrate our wedding.'

Having grown up in Malaysia and climbed many trees back then, she added: 'I can even remember studying in the crook of a tree.'

At her home in Pandan Valley, she has a tree house. Her love for nature led her to campaign to save five trees from a developer's axe in 2001.

The keen environmentalist does pro bono work for the Singapore Environment Council and the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore.

At home, she recycles cans and paper and refrains from turning on the air-conditioner whenever possible.

She admits she was the driving force behind the tree-planting idea for the wedding. 'I think I have influenced my husband, but he is very open to environmental issues and he's a nature lover, so it wasn't difficult.'

Mr Chandra Mohan is a former Nominated Member of Parliament.

Since the Plant-A-Tree programme began in November 2007, nearly 60 organisations and 210 individuals in Singapore have planted young trees across the island to improve the environment.

To find out more about the scheme, visit www.gardencityfund.com.sg

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Rethink shooting of crows

Letter from Bhaskaran Kunju, Today Online 27 Jul 09;

I WRITE with regard to the culling of crows as carried out by the National Environment Agency (NEA). I live in an HDB estate in the northern part of Singapore where the culling of crows is carried out about once a month. The amount of noise the gunshots generate is enough to startle anyone, especially since no warning or notice is given beforehand.

There are a number of schools in the vicinity. Culling has even been carried out directly in front of a primary school, while school children were on their way home.

While the shooter may be a marksman, I find it discomforting that the NEA has allowed firearms to be used in such locations.

The culling process was started in the 1980s to reduce the crow population. I strongly believe that the numbers have dropped significantly given the culling process and our rapid urbanisation.

It is time the NEA reconsider the status of crows as pests. Apart from the population numbers, which the NEA should make public to justify its actions, the other contributing factors for the culling have been the supposed noise from the birds and their being scavengers. Crows, however, are not the only scavengers. Any bird that becomes accustomed to living in densely-populated areas with few natural preys resorts to scavenging.

It is common to see sparrows and mynahs eating the leftovers in eateries and leaving behind their droppings. Is this not also a nuisance and unhygienic?

In addition, crows do not breed as much as has been mistakenly repeated. They brood once a year and only an average of three eggs are hatched successfully. In comparison, pigeons brood as many as eight times a year.

We should also not be paranoid about the possible spread of bird flu, which is more likely to be spread by migratory birds. Pigeons are known to spread diseases as well.

I am not asking the NEA to switch its culling focus to other intrusive birds but pointing out the flawed rationality in its programme. If the issue is about aggressiveness or incessant noise, then the NEA should only act on such instances of disturbances.

I do not wish to launch into a plea of humanity against the killing of animals but it is indeed inhumane to be shooting birds when alternative methods are available to deal with them. One method is for people to be more responsible in the disposal of trash and in the clearing of leftover food in eateries.

The real cause for the population explosion of birds, if any, are these food sources. Another alternative method is to install plastic owls to scare the crows away.

If the NEA is pressing on with its culling programme and the culling has not reduced the bird population, then obviously there is a fundamental flaw in its methodology.

I am also appalled that an annual crow- hunting competition is held by the Singapore Gun Club and endorsed by the NEA. This seriously goes against the very values of the NEA as an environmental-protection agency.

Sparrows, pigeons can be a nuisance, too
Letter from Thomas Phua, Today Online 28 Jul 09;

I refer to the letter "Rethink shooting of crows" (July 27). Yes, sparrows and pigeons can be a nuisance, too, but I have never seen them attacking people.

Crows do attack people when it is their breeding season. If sparrows and pigeons would attack people, too, I am sure they would be dealt with more harshly.

Crows: Why not consider alternate and humane options first?
Letter from Jeslyn Long Jielin, Today Online 28 Jul 09;

I refer to "Rethink shooting of crows" (July 27) and agree with many points made by Bhaskaran Kunju.

Firstly, the noise from the guns is extremely disturbing. In my opinion, the sound of gunshots, coupled with the shrieking of the wounded birds, is infinitely more unpleasant than any possible disturbance created by the crows each day.

Secondly, I see no reason to single out crows for persecution as opposed to other bird species that are commonly found in the urban environment. The public impression of these racuous black birds may be that of vermin and disease carriers, yet there is no scientific evidence to prove that their presence is significantly detrimental to human health. Certainly, there is no evidence to indicate that they are more likely to spread disease than any other species of bird.

Thirdly, I agree that crows are attracted to an area as long as there are available food sources. Even if the crows are removed, another kind of animal or birds be it pigeons, mynahs or rodents would move in.The solution in this case would be to eliminate food sources through more secure and efficient disposal of trash.

Lastly, I would like to say that indiscriminate killing of animals /birds is not something that befits a civilized society. In this day and age, surely there are more sophisticated methods of dealing with human-animal/birds conflicts? I have heard of companies that make use of a variety of creative solutions, such as netting, visual and auditory deterrents in dealing with unwanted avian guests.

In any case, the relevant authorities should consider alternate options. Lethal control of problem animals/birds should be a last resort, not the first.

Not true that crows attack at random
Letter from Bhaskaran Kunju, Today Online 29 Jul 09;

I refer to "Sparrows, pigeons can be a nuisance, too" (July 28), a reply to my letter "Rethink shooting of crows" (July 27).

The writer mentions that "Crows do attack people when it is their breeding season" unlike sparrows or pigeons. This is a fallacious statement. Firstly crows do not attack people at random when it is breeding season, they only do so if they believe they are under threat while roosting. This is not a unique trait to crows and can be seen in sparrows and pigeons as well. In fact the oriole, which is another common species in Singapore, is just as aggressive if not more ,and is a threat to other birds as well.

I think there is a need for us to break out of this misinformed mentality of crows as devious and dangerous cretins. Apart from that I await a reply from the National Enviroment Agency over the other issues I have raised.

Address root cause
Letter from Melissa Lim May Lin, Today Online 30 Jul 09;

I WRITE with regard to the plan to cull pigeons in various constituencies, including Marine Parade GRC.

Pest control companies have been hired by the Town Council to control the pigeon population in the area.

I have seen dead pigeons lying around, resulting not only in unsightly surroundings, but more importantly, a danger to the children and pets around the area.

As I understand, pigeons have gathered in the area because residents throw food either out from their windows or at street level. The pigeons would not have otherwise congregated and hence become pests.

I find it appalling that instead of addressing the root cause - by conducting ample investigations into finding who these errant residents are and issuing them a warning or punishing them for littering - the Town Council is utilising collective funds to hire pest control companies to cull the pigeons.

I would imagine that a proper investigation into the perpetrators of littering would be more cost-efficient than addressing the symptoms of the problem. The Town Council should take measures to deal with the littering problem, rather than add to it by culling pigeons.

I need not emphasise the inhumanity in the act of culling.

Aside from that, I hope the Town Council understands that the use of funds for such a purpose which does not address the root cause of the problem is worrying.

This is especially so because of what I term the vacuum effect, where a population of animals (pigeons in this case) are removed but because the root cause (i.e. food) remains present in the space, another population will enter - thus resulting in a never-ending cycle of culling, and no ease to the situation at hand.

Funds should be spent on addressing residents' real problems, not symptoms.

Some people litter, some throw them food
Letter from Grace Wong Public Relations Manager Marine Parade Town Council
Today Online 6 Aug 09;

WE WOULD like to thank Ms Melissa Lim for her views on "Address root cause" (July 30).

We share Ms Lim's comments that littering is the root cause of pigeons congregating and becoming pests within the estate.

Over the years, we strive to educate the public against poor social habits, such as littering and feeding the pigeons out of their windows through our publicity drives.

We have taken on public education programmes through displaying of messages on the town council's noticeboards and newsletters and taking part in the Island-wide Cleanest Estate Competitions to promote community ownership in keeping the environment clean.

While the majority do exercise personal responsibility in caring for the environment, there is a minority who do not do so.

Efforts have been put in to spot them in action but it requires much manpower and resources.

Our town council will continue to work with the relevant agencies and will not hesitate to take action against those who are found littering.

The culling of pigeons will only be carried out when the population is high so as to prevent the risk of people contracting birds' transmitted diseases.

We wish to assure residents that the town council is committed in sustaining a clean and green environment and we seek all residents' cooperation not to litter or throw food out of their windows.

Should members of the public wish to provide further feedback or suggestions, they may contact us at 1800-241 6487.

Proper disposal of waste will help
Letter from S Satish Appoo Director, Environmental Health Department National Environment Agency
Today Online 6 Aug 09;

WE refer to the letter "Re-think shooting of crows" (July 27).

The National Environment Agency (NEA) adopts a multi-pronged approach to controlling the crow population in Singapore given the public health concerns they pose.

This includes encouraging proper waste management at food establishments to deny crows their food sources, pruning of trees to reduce potential roosting sites and removal of crow nests where they can pose a nuisance.

The culling of crows is done when we need to keep their numbers in check. Through such efforts, this has allowed us to maintain the crow population in Singapore at a manageable level of 10,000 to 15,000 in recent years as compared to some 120,000 eight years ago. Members of the public can play their part through proper disposal of waste.

We appreciate Mr Bhaskaran Kunju's concerns on this matter and thank him for the feedback.

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Foreigners on Segways a curious sight as they trundle down Orchard Road

Zip and zoom, they draw odd looks
Shree Ann Mathavan, The New Paper 27 Jul 09;

FIRST there are the stares, then out come the camera phones.

Slovenian Bojan Tercon, 36, is no celebrity - it is his mode of transport, a two-wheeled battery-powered Segway, that makes heads turn.

He uses it daily to run errands in town.

Mr Tercon, an artiste manager, is among a growing number of Segway users here, who are drawn to the two-wheeler because of its eco-friendly nature and ease of use.

The Segway, which starts at around $12,800 here, is self-balancing and has zero emissions.

It was first introduced in the US in 2001 and started selling here in 2003.

But two years ago, a different distributor, HT Advanced Mobility (HTAM) took over and collaborated with action superstar Jackie Chan, to form GoGreen Holdings.

The transporter consequently saw a sharp upswing in sales this year.

Mr Tom Navasero, managing director of GoGreen Holdings attributed the spike in interest to the setting up of a Segway rental service in Sentosa earlier this year by his company, which provides guided tours of the island on the transporter.

Jackie Chan was in town to help launch the service.

The Segway tours, he said, helped create more awareness of the transporter, which can travel distances of about 38km when fully charged.

The vehicle's battery needs to be charged for several hours, preferably overnight.

Mr Navasero declined to provide figures of the rise in demand, but said that around 300 Segways have been sold to both individuals and organisations since its launch here.

Currently the profile of his clientele in Singapore are working professionals - evenly split between expatriates and locals.

Nevertheless, seeing someone zip by using the Segway in town is still fairly rare.

Drawing attention

When The New Paper on Sunday caught up with Mr Tercon and his business partner, Mr Robin Lokerman, 46, who run an events company, the duo certainly attracted a fair bit of attention even early on a Thursday morning.

Gliding along the pavement in front of Ion Orchard, the duo, both already standing over 1.8m, literally dwarfed the milling pedestrians when perched on their respective Segways.

Said Mr Lokerman, a Dane: 'People ask us questions about it, they wave and I've even had taxi drivers giving me the thumbs-up sign.'

Seeing the duo navigate, turn, and circle effortlessly using their i2 models, one would think they've had the personal transporters for years.

But their models, each priced at $12,800, are both new acquisitions, which were delivered to them only last week.

Mr Lokerman had first found out about the personal transporter three months ago in Washington when he went on a Segway city tour with a relative.

He recalled: 'I found it so mobile and easy to use.'

Intrigued, he did some research online and found that Segways were available here.

But before taking the plunge, he and Mr Tercon first did a test drive at Segway hub on Sentosa. This was followed by a trial for four days to see if the Segway could fit in with their daily lives.

Mr Lokerman now uses his Segway every day during his daily commute from his apartment along Grange Road to his office in Bukit Timah, and back.

Cheaper in long run

This 4.5km journey typically takes him 20minutes, which is about the same as taking a cab in peak-hour traffic, he points out.

This saves him money, he said.

'It gets me from my apartment straight to my office desk thanks to good sidewalks and slopes along the way.'

However that isn't to say that navigating the Segway doesn't come with its own set of challenges.

While Segway users are allowed to trundle along on roads with certain speed limits in the US, the European Union, China and Korea, the machine is only allowed on public sidewalks, private roads and private compounds in Singapore, said Mr Navasero.

Hence, navigating narrow paths with plants, steep steps or curbs can be tricky, said the pair.

There are also Singaporeans like Ms Grace Ler, 29, an account manager, who remain skeptical of the Segway's viability in Singapore.

She said: 'I would think the Segway is a hazard for pedestrians in crowded areas like Orchard Road.

It took me just five minutes to enjoy the ride

MR ROBIN Lokerman, 46, the boss of an events company, gallantly offered me a 10-minute ride on his $12,800 i2 model.

Stepping gingerly on his Segway, I half expected to tip over and fall flat on my face, but the Segway holds steady, even though I'm not known for my poise or balance.

The great thing about the Segway is the intuitive way it reacts to your body.

There's no need for buttons, the personal transporter just reacts to your body.

Want to head left? Simply tilt the handlebar to the left; ditto if you want to turn right, go back or go forward.

Pretty soon, I was gliding freely and thinking that this must be what it's like if I had wheels instead of legs.

The good thing about the Segway is there is immediate gratification, without a need for lengthy how-to tutorials.

You get onboard, muck around for five minutes or so and you pretty much get to enjoy the ride immediately.

While I'm pretty sure I wasn't going at the i2's top speed of 20km per hour, I got my kicks all the same - whizzing by bemused pedestrians along the Orchard Road shopping belt.

So, contrary to concerns that it may be a hazard in urbanised areas, I think the Segway works in the hands of a responsible rider.

It's stable, eco-friendly, speedy, but not too crazy fast.

And if you don't like to stand...

IF you don't like the idea of standing on a Segway, keep your fingers crossed that the Puma (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) makes it to the market soon.

The Puma is essentially a Segway with two seats and a roof.

The 136kg prototype runs on a lithium-ion battery and uses Segway's two-wheel balancing technology, along with dual electric motors.

It is designed to reach speeds of up to 56kmh and can cover 56km on a single charge.

Also, it will be linked to a vast communication network that allows vehicles to interact with each other, regulate the flow of traffic and prevent crashes.

The Puma, which is expected to be 75 per cent cheaper than the average car, is currently being developed by General Motors and Segway and is touted to be the solution to the world's urban transportation problems.

But some observers are not buying into the hype. InformationWeek writer Cora Nucci called the Puma 'bizarre', adding that 'the photos tell you all you need to know about this misbegotten vehicle.'

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Energy Market Authority carves out new role

It will look at developing industry apart from its regulatory function
Ronnie Lim, Business Times 27 Jul 09;

THE Energy Market Authority - which recently took over development and ownership of the $1 billion-$1.5 billion LNG terminal - has unveiled its new corporate vision, which includes taking on industry development in addition to its present regulatory and operational responsibilities.

Announcing this last Friday, EMA said that its new 'Smart Energy, Sustainable Future' focus reflects 'the need to be smarter about our energy choices, and to work out robust solutions that will endure over time'.

When it was first formed in 2001, EMA's main focus was to liberalise the electricity and gas markets and ensure power system security. This has been largely achieved.

'EMA's mandate today has been broadened to include overseeing the energy market and enabling its growth. EMA will thus take on industry development and promotional functions, in addition to its regulatory and operational responsibilities,' it said on its website.

Its newly announced corporate mission comes just a month after the EMA took over the development of the liquefied natural gas terminal project on June 30 so as to ensure timely and sufficient natural gas supplies for power stations and industries here.

This is because the earlier-appointed project developers Singapore Power subsidiary PowerGas and GDF Suez had found it challenging to develop the Jurong Island project on a commercial basis and on time, amid a slowdown in gas demand and 'more difficult and costly' financing over the past 12 months due to the credit crunch.

The EMA's takeover was to ensure the LNG terminal is completed and operational by 2013, which puts the critical project already a year late.

LNG, which can be shipped in from anywhere in the world, will help supplement current piped gas supplies from neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia whose own growing economies increasingly need gas for their needs.

EMA has since set up the new Singapore LNG Corporation to drive the LNG terminal, and plans to recruit as many as triple the current 20 staff seconded from PowerGas and also EMA. This will also include foreign LNG talent, which is lacking here, for the project.

Under its new mission statement of forging 'a progressive energy landscape for sustained growth,' EMA said that this includes having a competitive energy market with a sound regulatory framework that encourages investment and prevents the exercise of market power.

It also wants secure energy supplies, and to develop and support R&D efforts to secure Singapore's energy future.

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Climate change: New study backs UN panel on ocean rise

Yahoo News 26 Jul 09;

PARIS (AFP) – The UN's climate panel has been backed over a key question as to how far global warming will drive up sea levels this century, a study published on Sunday says.

The UN experts are right that the oceans are unlikely to rise by an order of metres (many feet) by 2100, as some scientists have feared, it says. But, its authors caution, low-lying countries and delta areas could still face potentially catastrophic flooding if the upper range of the new estimate proves right.

In a landmark report in 2007, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted oceans would rise by 18-59 centimetres (7.2 and 23.6 inches) by 2100.

The increase would depend on warming, estimated at between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees Celsius (1.98-11.52 degrees Fahrenheit) this century, which in turn depends on how much man-made greenhouse gas is poured into the atmosphere.

It based the calculation on thermal expansion of the seas -- when a liquid is warmed, it grows in volume.

Harder to calculate, the IPCC admitted, was how far meltwater from glaciers and icesheets on land would boost sea levels.

It ventured a provisional calculation, suggesting contributions from those sources could push the upper limit to 76 cms (30.4 inches).

The new paper, led by Mark Siddall of Britain's University of Bristol, used data from fossilised coral and from ice-core measurements to reconstruct sea-level fluctuations over the past 22,000 years, from the height of the last Ice Age to the balmy era of today.

This century, they calculate, the seas will rise by between seven and 82 cms, all sources included, on the basis of a 1.1-6.4 C (1.98-11.52 F) warming -- an estimated increase that is in the same ballpark as the IPCC's.

The study appears in the journal Nature Geoscience.

"Given that the two approaches are entirely independent of each other, this result strengthens the confidence with which one may interpret the IPCC results," said Siddall.

But, he said, no-one should be kidded into thinking the flooding threat was over.

"The fact that this number is smaller than other numbers does not mean that this is not potentially a massive and very important sea level rise," Siddall told AFP in a telephone interview.

"Fifty centimetres (20 inches) of rise would be very, very dangerous for Bangladesh, it would be very dangerous for all low-lying areas. And not only that, the 50 centimetres (20 inches) is the global mean. Locally, it could be as high as a metre (3.25 feet), perhaps even higher, because water is pushed into different places by the effect of gravity."

He added: "Extreme flood effects will definitely become more frequent. If you rise by 50 centimetres (20 inches), floods that once happened every 100 years then become once a decade."

Siddall also pointed out that sea levels would inevitably rise even higher after the 21st century because of inertial effect.

It takes decades for atmospheric warming to translate into a warming of the seas because of the vast volume of the ocean, he said.

Thus the 22nd century and beyond will feel the impacts of the warming of the 21st century.

The IPCC's estimates on sea levels have been repeatedly challenged since the Fourth Assessment Report was published in 2007.

Several studies have suggested that runoff from the Greenland and Antarctic icesheets -- which hold the world's biggest stores of freshwater -- will be much higher than the panel suspected.

One paper, published in April by Paul Blanchon, a geoscientist at Mexico's National University, said that, in the distant past, the seas suddenly rose by three metres (10 feet) within a very time.

There was "a distinct possibility" that a step change of this kind could happen within the next 100 years, said Blanchon.

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Climate change 'threatens' Pacific isles

The Age 27 Jul 09;

New Zealand and Australia need to take urgent action against climate change to stop neighbouring Pacific Islands becoming uninhabitable, Oxfam says.

Millions of people from developing Pacific nations faced increased risk from cyclones, storm surges, king tides and ecosystem destruction due to climate change, the development agency said in a report released on Monday.

"Without a significant effort by developed countries now, some island nations in the Pacific face the very real threat of becoming uninhabitable in the decades ahead," the report's writers said.

People living in poorer Pacific nations already faced higher rates of malarial infection, more frequent flooding and were losing land and being forced from their homes, Oxfam said.

"It makes financial sense to act now, given that for every dollar spent on disaster preparedness and risk reduction, two to ten dollars is saved in disaster response."

The report called for New Zealand and Australia to reduce carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 and by 95 per cent by 2050.

On Sunday, New Zealand's Climate Change Minister Nick Smith said a 40 per cent cut by 2020, compared to 1990, was neither achievable nor affordable and would have too great an economic impact.

However, the Oxfam report recommended urgent action to avoid being forced into making more drastic choices in coming decades.

"It is in Australia and New Zealand's best interests to take this action now.

"The more frequent disasters caused by climate change will require Australia and New Zealand to respond, and the displacement of people in the Pacific due to rising sea levels will force them to look for new homelands," the report's writers said.

By 2050, eight million people in the Pacific Islands may need to find new places to live, along with 75 million people in the Asia Pacific region, it said.

Oxfam advised the governments of developed nations to begin considering how to deal with the looming issue.

The development agency supported a "polluter pays" scheme where New Zealand should pay $NZ792 million ($A637.3 million) and Australia $A43 billion to help repair the environmental costs of developing their economies.

Oxfam called for more resources to be directed toward tapping into local knowledge, as well as a renewed focus on sustainable livelihoods, food sources and water supplies.

Oxfam also warned of increasing coral bleaching, where climatic change kills the organisms making up the coral, causing the surrounding ecosystem to collapse.

Also, Pacific reefs faced a "significantly reduced ability" to provide food - for both local people and fishermen coming for tuna and other high-value fish.

The report writers also called attention to research probing the link between climate change and health, specifically mentioning the spread of malaria and dengue fever.

In Papua New Guinea's Western Highlands, researchers had recorded a large jump in the number of reported cases of malaria, from 638 in 2000 to 4,986 in 2005.

"For countries like Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau, the Marshall Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia, climate change is not something that could happen in the future but something they are experiencing now," Oxfam said.

Pacific needs help to combat climate change: Oxfam
Yahoo News 27 Jul 09;

WELLINGTON (AFP) – Developed countries need to act urgently to help vulnerable Pacific island nations cope with climate change, international aid group Oxfam said Monday.

By the year 2050, about 75 million people could be forced to leave their homes due to climate change in the Asia-Pacific region, the Oxfam report said.

"Climate change has the potential to affect almost every issue linked to poverty and development in the Pacific," said Oxfam New Zealand executive director Barry Coates.

"Without immediate action 50 years of development gains in poor countries will be permanently lost," he said.

Coral atolls are particularly vulnerable, including countries such as Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands, which consist solely of atolls that often rise only two to three metres (six to nine feet) above sea level.

Climate change is expected to worsen storm surges, cyclones and high tides.

"Scientists have also projected an increase in diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, together with significant soil and coastal erosion as a result of climate change," Oxfam said.

Unless wealthy, developed countries like Australia and New Zealand take urgent action to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, some island nations in the Pacific could become uninhabitable, Oxfam said.

Oxfam estimated that around 150 billion US dollars would be needed every year to fund adaptation and emissions reductions in developing countries on top of existing aid.

Wealthy, polluting countries must reduce their emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020, and at least 95 percent by 2050 to prevent potentially catastrophic climate change, Oxfam said.

The report also said Australia and New Zealand had to be prepared to take refugees from Pacific islands.

Australia, New Zealand and other developed countries are expected to face renewed calls for more help over climate change from island countries when the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum meets in Cairns, Australia next week.

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Freshwater crabs under threat

Pollution and habitat loss are wiping out the freshwater crab, one of the essential guardians of the world's river systems, according to researchers from the Zoological Society of London.

The Telegraph 27 Jul 09

A sixth of all the world's freshwater crab species are now considered threatened with extinction.

The scavenging creatures help to keep tropical aquatic ecosystems healthy by recycling animal and plant remains. But now the crabs are said to be feeling the pinch.

Their disappearance would break the nutrient cycle and have knock-on effects on water quality, animal populations, and human communities.

Freshwater crabs are the main catch for small-scale fisheries in many parts of the tropics and often provide a primary source of protein for local people.

They are also an important food source for fish and other animals.

Dr Ben Collen, from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), who co-led a new assessment of freshwater crab populations worldwide said: "The loss of freshwater crabs threatens to interrupt the processes that provide benefits to humans such as nutrient cycling and maintaining water quality.

"We must set clear goals to reverse these trends and ensure that our enduring legacy is not to wipe out the small things that provide us with great benefits, such as nutrient cycling and even climate regulation."

Colleague Dr Neil Cumberlidge, of Northern Michigan University in the US, said: "A wide range of predators - such as mongooses, herons, snakes, and catfish - depend on freshwater crabs for their survival, and when the crabs go, these species may follow. For example, we know that the disappearance of crabs from a river ecosystem in Kenya caused the otter population that fed on them to crash."

The British and US scientists conducted the research for the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species.

The Red List categorises different animal and plant species according to extinction risk.

Species falling into the "vulnerable", "endangered" and "critically endangered" categories are said to be threatened with extinction.

Freshwater crabs 'feel the pinch'
Matt Walker, BBC News 27 Jul 09;

Two thirds of all species of freshwater crab maybe at risk of going extinct, with one in six species particularly vulnerable, according to a new survey.

That makes freshwater crabs among the most threatened of all groups of animals assessed so far.

The study is the first global assessment of the extinction risk for any group of freshwater invertebrates.

Crab species in southeast Asia are the most at risk, from habitat destruction, pollution and drainage.

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London and Northern Michigan University led the survey, which produced the first World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List assessment of the 1280 known species of freshwater crab.

Of those, the survey found that 227 species should be considered as near threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

For another 628 species, not enough data exists to adequately assess their future, says the survey published in the journal Biological Conservation.

However, while the most optimistic scenario is that 16% of all species are at risk, the worst case scenario suggests the figure could be as high as 65%, or two-thirds of all species.

Keystone species

Freshwater crabs are essential to many freshwater ecosystems. Some feed on fallen leaves and algae, while other species help cycle nutrients by eating vast quantities of detritus.

The crabs themselves are an important source of food for a range of birds such as herons and kingfishers, reptiles such as monitor lizards and crocodiles and amphibians such as frogs and toads. Mammals that like to dine on freshwater crabs include otters, mongooses, civets as well as wild boar and even macaque monkeys.

Because most species require pristine water to survive, they are also excellent indicators of good water quality.

But species are increasingly being impacted by habitat destruction and pollution.

Most vulnerable are crabs living in southeast Asia, which is also home to the greatest diversity of species.

For example, 40 of 50 species living in Sri Lanka are threatened.

Those species that live a semi-terrestrial life, breathing air, living in burrows and dividing their time between water and land, appear most at risk, possibly because their habitats are most easily disturbed by human activities.

No species are yet known to have gone extinct, but some species such as the terrestrial crab Thaipotamon siamese and the waterfall crab Demanietta manii from Thailand have not been seen alive for over a century, and their original habitats have since been built over by urban developments.

The loss of natural forest to land development and agriculture has also impacted almost every habitat in which freshwater crabs live, the report notes.

The proportion of freshwater crabs threatened with extinction is equal to that of reef-building corals, and exceeds that of all other groups that have been assessed except for amphibians.

"We must set clear goals to reverse these trends and ensure that our enduring legacy is not to wipe out the small things that provide us with great benefits, such as nutrient cycling," says Ben Collen, one the survey scientists from the Zoological Society of London.

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Hope of freedom for orang-utans dashed

248 endangered primates left in cages after mining company pulls out of rescue
Martin Hickman, The Independent 26 Jul 09;

A world-renowned programme to return hundreds of orang-utans threatened with extinction to the wild has been thrown into disarray by the withdrawal of Britain's biggest mining company from Borneo.

Dozens of orang-utans that had been due to be released this month have been left locked in cages after BHP-Billiton warned it could no longer guarantee the safety of the animals on forests it had been surveying for coal.

With BHP's support over the past two years, orang-utans from a rehabilitation centre – made famous by the BBC TV series Orang-utan Diary – have been released onto BHP's land in Kalimantan. But last month the world's largest mining company told investors it was withdrawing from the area for "strategic reasons" which it declined to explain.

A planned airlift of 48 adult orang-utans scheduled to take place on 20 July was cancelled a week before it had been due to take place.

Lone Dröscher-Nielsen, the former air stewardess who cares for 650 orang-utans at the Nyaru Menteng Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre, said BHP had warned that the Indonesian government was likely to hand its coal concessions to other companies who would not match its environmental stewardship of the land.

She added that it now seemed unlikely the Anglo-Australia mining giant would fund a plan to a create a 250,000-hectare wildlife reserve in central Borneo that could have sited 1,000 orang-utans, a genetically viable long-term population.

Some conservationists fear that orang-utans could be wiped out in the wild in little more than a decade due to the destruction of their habitat for logging, mining and palm oil plantations.

After cancelling the airlift, Ms Droscher -Nielsen, who has spent years trying to re-introduce animals rescued from destroyed habitats elsewhere on Borneo, sent supporters an anxious message saying she was at the end of her tether.

Workers at the sanctuary, funded by the Borneo Orang-utan Survival Foundation (BOSF), spend months preparing for the release of orang-utans, ensuring they are free of illness and scouting for remote forests free of other orang-utans, poachers and human contact.

An emergency working party of British conservationists has been meeting at Prince Charles's official residence in London, Clarence House, backed by the Prince's Rainforests Project to try to save the airlifts. The group hopes BHP-Billiton will still assist BOSF despite pulling out of the area.

With the company's helicopters, mapping and other logistical support, BOSF released 36 orang-utans in 2007 and 25 last year.

Speaking to The Independent on Friday, Ms Droscher-Nielsen said: "There has been a lot of stress, because BHP is pulling out. We have got 650 animals living in cages and 48 we wanted to release. They are wild animals. They have been in cages for over a year waiting to be released. It's very difficult to find sites, because when you do they are usually have a logging or mining concession."

BHP has been considering if it can help with an airlift next month, providing the right homes for animals can be found. "BHP Billiton made an offer to the Nyaru Menteng Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre to potentially assist with their planned relocation at a more suitable time in August, and have also assisted in the identification of suitable relocation sites," the company commented.

Tree fellers: The story of orang-utans

*Orang-utans once lived across swaths of south Asia. Now two species remain, the Bornean orang-utan (pongo pygmaeus) and the Sumatran orang-utan (pongo abelii).

*Sharing 97 per cent of their DNA with humans, orang-utans keep detailed mental maps of the location of forest fruit, and they can distinguish between 1,000 plants.

*It is believed they can spend their lives without touching the ground, but their highly arboreal nature makes them vulnerable to deforestation for logging, mining and palm oil plantations. Babies are often sold as pets.

*Between 2004 and 2008, their numbers fell to 49,600 on Borneo and to 6,600 on Sumatra.

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In Sri Lanka, a gift of life for endangered turtles

The Economic Times 26 Jul 09;

KOSGODA (Sri Lanka): It's 6.30 p.m. Dusk begins to give way to nightfall when a man walks up to the beach here with a big box containing a
special load -- three-day-old turtles. The box is tipped over, the hatchlings scamper towards the ocean and within minutes they are bobbing away into the waves.

Yet another 'regular' day for 47-year-old K. Chandrasiri Abbrew who has released 3.5 million turtle hatchlings in the past three decades.

As the baby turtles moved further away into the sea, Abbrew said: "It gives me immense happiness to save the lives of these baby turtles."

Abbrew, who runs the Sea Turtle Sanctuary and Research Centre that was started by his father, says that the baby turtles have to be released only after the predatory birds are no longer flying in the sky.

"When we release them, the baby turtles make a dash for the sea. However, some of them find it difficult and we gently help them," he says with a beatific smile.

Dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, Abbrew said that from 1979 to 1982, they used to pay Rs.5 for 100 eggs to the fishermen who brought the turtle eggs to them.

"The fishermen would find the turtle eggs and we paid them money so that the eggs were not sold in the market. We want to save the turtles," he explains while standing at the palm-fringed beach in Kosgoda, about 80 km from Colombo.

From 1986 to 1990, they paid Rs.25 for 100 eggs. The rates for the turtle eggs have constantly gone up with Abbrew today paying Rs.800 for 100 eggs. The eggs are laid by the turtles under the sand on an eight-kilometre stretch of the Kosgoda beach.

Turtle eggs are considered a delicacy in Sri Lanka with exotic dishes being prepared specially during weddings. Turtle meat is in great demand in the island nation. "Green turtles face a threat as it is used for preparing soup."

"Animals are not dangerous. People are dangerous," Abbrew says emphatically.

He stated that the survival rate of the turtles has gone up following their efforts.

The turtles taken care of at the sanctuary include green turtles, loggerhead turtles, leatherback turtles, hawk's bill turtles and Olive Ridley turtles.

Explaining the method from the laying of the eggs to the release, Abbrew said that the hatching period varies from 48 days for the green turtles to about 60 days for the leatherback turtles.

"Once the eggs hatch, the day-old turtles are put in a water cubicle. On the third day, we release them."

Abbrew said that their research has revealed global warming is having an impact on the green turtles. "We have noticed that the scales of the green turtles are changing."

The centre does more than release hatchlings; it also takes care of wounded turtles. "Turtles get injured by boats. Right now, we have a turtle whose both front flippers were cut in a boat accident. We are taking care of it. Also, we have a blind loggerhead turtle."

They apply ayurvedic medicines to heal the injuries.

He rues that there is no government help for running the centre. "We raise money through tickets to see the turtles. We have also received support from an international company."

As the next big wave hit the Kosgoda coast, it wiped off the tiny flipper prints left on the sand by the turtle hatchlings and Abbrew began preparing for another day of saving the turtles.

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Hawai'i: From pristine reefs to coral wastelands

In Hawaii, climate change's impact is raising alarms
Rob Perez, Honolulu Advertiser 26 Jul 09;

The scientific projections are ominous.

If substantial steps aren't taken globally to counter the effects of climate change, reefs in Hawai'i and around the world eventually could become coral wastelands, decimated by increasingly acidic and warming ocean waters.

Some scientists say such a scenario, which would wreak havoc with Hawai'i's fisheries and the state economy, could come by the end of the century, perhaps even a few decades sooner.

But the projections are just those — projections.

Although they are based on computer models and reams of scientific data, much uncertainty remains.

No one knows, for instance, how a complex marine ecosystem, such as a reef in the middle of the Pacific, will be precisely affected by the increasing temperatures and higher levels of acidity brought on by the burning of fossil fuels.

One wild card is whether corals, resilient organisms that can rebound from some major stresses, will be able to adapt to climate change-related chemical alterations in the environment that are occurring at rates not seen for millions of years.

Scientists also are uncertain whether the predicted effects will happen as quickly or as severely as the models indicate.

"The thing to worry about is not that it will be as bad as we think," said Paul Jokiel, researcher at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology. "It's that it will be much worse than we think."

Developments in Hawai'i waters already are raising alarms.

In recent years, several major bleaching events, linked to increasing ocean temperatures, have killed corals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, an indication that climate change is affecting even Hawai'i's most remote, pristine reefs.

Over the past decade, rising temperatures also have led to an expansion of an area considered the Pacific's biological desert, or its least productive waters, according to ocean biologist Jeff Polovina, who has studied the trend using satellite data. The expansion has encroached into part of the Hawaiian archipelago, and if the trend continues, the pristine conditions of the northern-most atolls could start to become more like the conditions off O'ahu, he said.

Researchers also recorded an expansion of the least productive waters in the Atlantic.

What is worrisome, Polovina said, is that the expansions occurred at a pace much quicker than what the models predicted.

"It's something we've started to focus on now," he said of the accelerating impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. "It's sort of taken us by surprise."
Fossil fuels

In the complicated link between climate change and reefs, the burning of fossil fuels is the main culprit.

Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide that remains in the environment for years. The carbon dioxide tends to trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet. Some of that gas — as much as half by some estimates — eventually is absorbed into surface waters.

Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the oceans lead to greater acidification, which slows coral growth and affects the ability of other calcifying organisms to form their shells. If the acidity gets too high, corals actually start to dissolve, a tipping point that some scientists say could be reached in roughly 65 years.

Adding to the seriousness of the climate change or global warming phenomenon is time. Even if no more fossil fuels were burned, a completely unrealistic scenario, so much human-generated carbon dioxide already is in the environment that normal conditions wouldn't return for thousands of years, scientists say.

"The scary part is the effects are compounding," said oceanographer Rusty Brainard, chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's coral reef ecosystem division in Hawai'i.

Part of the uncertainty surrounding the impact on reefs is due to the relative infancy of the efforts to study those effects.

Ocean acidification, for example, was barely considered a serious threat as recently as several years ago.

At an international conference of coral reef experts in 2004, they ranked ocean acidification as one of the least significant threats — 37th out of 38. When the group gathered again four years later, acidification was ranked No. 1.

Yet the scientists acknowledged much more research was needed to understand the threat.

"What we know (about acidification) is dismally low," said NOAA's Brainard. "It's a science that is just exploding."
Rising seas

Hawai'i actually plays a key role in increasing the understanding of climate change.

Two of the longest-running efforts to monitor the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ocean are in the state, and the numbers from those studies are cited frequently by researchers around the world.

Atop the Big Island's Mauna Loa summit, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased more than 20 percent since 1959, according to a landmark monitoring effort that was started by the late Charles David Keeling, considered the first scientist to confirm the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

And at an ocean monitoring site about 60 miles north of O'ahu, Hawai'i scientists since the late 1980s have recorded substantial increases in carbon dioxide in the water. The data from Station Aloha also show a corresponding spike in acidification levels. The Hawai'i initiative and a similar one in Bermuda are considered the best data sets for showing the steady rise of acidity in the ocean.

Though skeptics question whether humans are contributing to global warming or whether the problem is as serious as the models suggest, scientists, environmentalists and others continue to sound the alarm as more becomes known.

The White House recently released a report that said global warming was unequivocal, primarily human induced and the cause of changes throughout the United States. The report said Pacific and Caribbean islands face unique challenges.

Due to climate change, the islands will continue to experience rises in ocean surface and air temperatures, and in the Pacific, the number of heavy rain events and the intensity of hurricanes likely will increase, according to the report. In addition, flooding will become more frequent due to higher storm surges, and coastal land will be lost to a rising sea level.

The authors said the low-lying Northwestern Hawaiian Islands will be particularly vulnerable to the rising sea.

Also, they noted that Honolulu's harbor experienced the highest daily average sea level ever recorded in September 2003 and that the intervals between such extreme events has declined to about five years, compared with more than 20 previously.

What's the outlook for coral reefs?

Not good, according to the authors.

Reefs are especially vulnerable to climate change because even small increases in water temperature can cause bleaching, the report said. Higher acidity adds to the carnage.

"These impacts, combined with changes in the occurrence and intensity of El Ni—o events, rising sea level and increasing storm damage will have major negative effects on coral reef ecosystems," the report said.
Not too late

While some fallout from climate change is irreversible, many scientists say the damage can be reduced if substantial steps are taken soon to curb the burning of fossil fuels by switching to renewable energy.

Hawai'i this year enacted a law requiring electric utility companies to produce at least 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020 and at least 40 percent by 2030.

Scientists also say that effectively addressing sediment runoff, overfishing, invasive species and other more short-term threats to reefs will better position the marine ecosystems to weather the longer-term impacts of climate change.

"There is a lot of reason for being optimistic," Jokiel said. "We can turn this thing around."

Yet mustering the political will and financial resources to turn things around will be difficult, in part because the creeping effects of climate change can be tough to detect. Many people see the problem in abstract terms, not connected to their daily lives or too big for any one person or community to address.

But that kind of thinking is dangerous, experts say, given the stakes involved. Because Hawai'i relies so heavily on its environment, they add, the state cannot afford to take a lax approach to the issue and should be a model for other islands and coastal areas to emulate.

"Even if (climate change) seems far away, it's not. We're talking about irreversible losses," said Maxine Burkett, director of the Center for Island Climate Adaptation and Policy at the University of Hawai'i.

"We have to be the best stewards we can be from here on out."

"The thing to worry about is not that it will be as bad as we think. It's that it will be much worse than we think."
Paul Jokiel
researcher at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology


"What we know (about acidification) is dismally low. It's a science that is just exploding."
Rusty Brainard
chief of the NOAA's coral reef ecosystem division in Hawai'i

Read more!

Global warming may impede eelgrass growth

Michelle Ma, The Seattle Times The Miami Herald 26 Jul 09;

SEQUIM, Wash. -- Scientist Ron Thom probably knows more than anyone else about the growth of eelgrass, the humble marine plant commonly found in sheltered bays, inlets and other shallow waters.

Each summer, he and other researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory here tread patiently along the muddy tidal flats of Sequim Bay counting, snipping and tagging strands of the plant that's so crucial to shoreline ecosystems.

Thom, a staff scientist at the Marine Sciences Laboratory, started the research almost 20 years ago. It's become the world's longest-running study measuring eelgrass growth.

Pollution and shoreline development have killed much of the world's eelgrass. Now, Thom's work has attracted widespread attention for data that suggest the plant's growth also could be vulnerable to changes in climate.

"Growth rate is so important with these plants because they are producing habitat for so many things," Thom said. "We typically don't have these long-term data sets to evaluate these things."

Eelgrass, native to Puget Sound, is found along the entire West Coast and throughout the Northern hemisphere.

The plant provides habitat for young salmon, shellfish and birds, and helps prevent shoreline erosion.

It grows in large clusters or as individual plants. In Puget Sound the thin, ribbonlike plants grow everywhere from shallow waters to depths greater than 30 feet.

Thom's study suggests that yearly eelgrass growth changes according to variations in climate. For example, during warmer, wetter years, eelgrass plants in shallow water grow faster. But when temperatures in the Northwest are cooler, Thom's data has shown less growth.

"The bottom line is, climate affects plants," Thom said, adding that eelgrass is most sensitive to changes in temperature and sea level.

The variations in climate known as El Nino and La Nina have caused different growth rates in eelgrass, the study has found.

During El Nino, scientists have measured higher sea levels and warmer temperatures in the Northwest - changes similar to those predicted under global warming. So scientists can look at how eelgrass responds during El Nino to see how it might behave as the Earth warms, Thom said.

But it's still unclear whether a warmer Earth will help or hurt eelgrass. Shallow-water eelgrass tends to grow faster when sea level is higher, Thom said. But for eelgrass that grows deep below the surface, a rise in the sea level could diminish its access to light, killing the plants, he said.

Thom started keeping track of eelgrass growth in Sequim Bay nearly two decades ago as a project for summer interns. Over the years, he has returned to the same plot of tidelands to collect more data. Thom started noticing a strong connection between eelgrass growth rates and different climate patterns.

At the mouth of Sequim Bay, researchers and interns measure eelgrass every two weeks during the summer. They poke a hole at the base of each plant using a hypodermic needle, then return two weeks later to harvest each plant.

Back in the lab, they find the marked spot in each plant. They snip and save all of the new plant growth, dry it in an oven, then weigh it for a precise biomass reading. Those numbers go into the database to be compared with past and future measurements.

Eelgrass is declining worldwide and has disappeared completely from a number of sites in Puget Sound, said Jeff Gaeckle, a sea-grass ecologist with the state Department of Natural Resources. Its Soundwide eelgrass-monitoring program is the largest on the West Coast and seeks to track changes in eelgrass abundance.

The good news is that overall in Puget Sound, eelgrass isn't declining year to year. But several locations, mostly in Hood Canal and the San Juan Islands, are seeing decreases, which has scientists concerned, Gaeckle said.

"It's hard to pinpoint what's causing the changes," he said. Scientists suspect development, polluted runoff, commercial fishing, and now changes in climate as possible reasons.

Thom plans to submit his findings on eelgrass growth for publication later this summer. He said he's concerned that a large-scale eelgrass die-off could happen in Sequim Bay, like in other parts of the Sound. He also will continue the study, with the hope that his data will help provide more answers on what's affecting the plant.

Losing eelgrass could hurt the future survival of fisheries and impact the economy worldwide, Thom said.

"There is a big, big concern," he said.

Read more!

Australia gets the hump – and reaches for the gun to settle its camel question

Brought to the country as beasts of burden in 1840, today there are one million camels eating the outback
Roger Maynard, The Independent 26 Jul 09;

There are more than a million of them and they pose one of the greatest social and environmental challenges to Australia's outback.

They munch their way through desert vegetation, further denuding this arid nation's heartland and threatening its sensitive ecosystem. They damage Aboriginal communities in their search for water, fracturing pipes and knocking air conditioning units off walls. And their population is more than doubling every eight to nine years.

The camel – which was introduced to Australia in 1840 to help transport heavy goods to the remote interior of the country – has now become one of its greatest pests. Dealing with the alarming population growth of one-humped Camelus dromedarius has been vexing governments, conservation bodies and scientists for years.

Now the federal government is to set aside nearly £10m to address the problem, which will almost certainly be solved at the barrel of a gun.

One option being considered is a mass aerial shoot – which experts regard as the most effective and humane method of culling the animals.

But killing camels is not quick or cheap, with costs of a cull estimated at around £50 an animal. And even if a cull removed 80,000 camels a year, it would do no more than match their birth rate.

The Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre at Alice Springs, in the centre of the country, is masterminding how the federal funding will be spent. Its research general manager, Professor Murray McGregor, says previous efforts to deal with camel numbers have been hindered by the enormous scale of the problem.

In the outback, the animals leave a trail of destruction which costs property owners and Aboriginal communities nearly £7m a year, and much more in unmeasured social and environmental costs. "They'll eat anything up to 80 per cent of the plants available," Mr McGregor told The Sydney Morning Herald. This deprives indigenous desert animals of a food source, and indigenous people of a source of plants for traditional medicine and bush food.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett describes the government's latest move as "the most significant commitment to tackle feral camels since they were introduced".

The landmark initiative will be spread over four years, with the money divided between Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, where the camel population occupies a massive 3.3 million square kilometres of land.

But the federal government's strategy may not be the only answer.

On the sidelines of the great dromedary debate are those with commercial interests – the shooters and butchers who are also keen to get their hands on Australia's expanding camel population.

Some claim the market could be worth as much as £500m a year, but its success would depend on Aboriginal authorities allowing access to their sacred lands. With the use of mobile abattoirs, the processing of camel meat could create hundreds of jobs for indigenous people in areas where there is little or no work.

But while live camel exports have been successful on a small scale in the past, the industry has enjoyed only modest success in selling camel meat to domestic and overseas markets.

Pet food companies and leather makers have been good customers. However camel meat has never been a hit as a source of food for people – though it is not for lack of trying. Senior public servants in Canberra were served camel burgers at a barbecue last year, as part of a campaign to promote camel meat to consumers.

While Australians have developed a taste for kangaroo, emu and crocodile meat, camel has never made it onto the menu. Yet for the health conscious, it meets all the right criteria – lean, low in fat and with little cholesterol.

Specialist restaurants describe it as gamey in flavour, and a little tougher than beef. Despite the best efforts of the bushtucker industry, camel meat is rarely found on supermarket shelves or the nation's dinner plates. As a foodstuff, the ship of the desert has been cast adrift.

Counting the cost of camels

Camels were first imported to Australia in 1840 from the Canary Islands, and over the next half-century some 12,000 followed.

Most of them came from India and Palestine and were used as pack and riding animals by early outback pioneers. Under the care of Afghans, Camelus dromedarius made a major contribution to the early development of Australia's dry interior.

They helped with the construction of roads and railways and the Afghans, who were nicknamed "pilots of the desert", acted as guides for several major expeditions.

Twenty- four camels were hired for the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition across the country's arid interior in l861.

While camels were still being worked as recently as the 1950s, they were largely replaced by trains and motor vehicles by the 1920s.

Redundant and allowed to run wild, they thrived and multiplied in their desert habitat and half a century later, Australia is counting the cost.

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Canada urges EU rethink on seal products ban

Yahoo News 26 Jul 09;

OTTAWA (AFP) – Canada appealed to the European Union (EU) on Sunday to "reconsider" the adoption of a ban on the sale of seal products, and warned it would consider bringing the issue with the World Trade Organization.

"We are calling on the European Union to reconsider the proposed seal products trade ban," said a statement from International Trade Minister Stockwell Day and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea.

"Canada has clearly lived up to its obligations, and our position remains that any ban on a humanely conducted hunt such as Canada's is completely without cause," the statement said.

The European Parliament in May voted to endorse an EU ban on seal products in protest against commercial hunting methods, but it will only become law once it is adopted by the Council of the European Union.

The statement Sunday said the Council could take up the proposed ban as early as this Monday. If approved, it would come into force by 2010's seal hunting season.

Ottawa argues that the ban should not target its seal products because it imposes regulations ensuring humane hunting inside its borders.

"Should the EU choose to adopt a seal products trade ban that does not contain an acceptable derogation for humanely harvested seal products, Canada will defend its rights and interests under the relevant World Trade Organization agreements," the statement said.

Around 6,000 Canadians take part in seal hunting each year along the Atlantic coast.

The Canadian government authorizes the slaughter of 338,000 seals per season, and says the survival of the species is not in danger. The popularity of seal hunting has dropped along with a decline in demand for seal products.

However, seal hunting is a particular feature of Inuit communities in the country, and the ministers' statement Sunday made reference to the ban's impact on that population.

"We are particularly concerned that no one in the European Union has listened to the Inuit on this matter. This misinformed and ill-considered regulation will strike at some of Canada's most vulnerable communities," the statement said.

Read more!

If you want to go green, buy Spanish strawberries

The belief that local is best when it comes to measuring the environmental impact of our food is often wrong, says new research
Jonathan Owen, The Independent 26 Jul 09;

Millions of Britons who think they are doing their bit for the environment by choosing home-grown food over produce imported from thousands of miles away could actually be having the reverse effect, according to a startling new report.

The "food miles" philosophy that decrees anything transported over distance is worse for the environment than something closer to home is frequently flawed, according to researchers funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The reality is more complex: while some foods may well be better on grounds of transport alone, they may be less kind to the environment when it comes to the amount of energy used in producing them.

Next time they are at the supermarket, green enthusiasts may want to think twice before opting for British strawberries and tomatoes over those grown in Spain. British-grown varieties fare badly compared with Spanish imports in terms of energy use and global-warming potential. Much more energy is needed to heat greenhouses here – not an issue in sunny Spain – so there is a trade-off between the increased use of gas and electricity, and the longer transport distance and greater demands on water in Spain.

And if transport is taken out of the equation, lamb from New Zealand is a more sustainable choice than that farmed in Britain – with less energy used for farming in a climate where there is less need for feed supplements and heated farm buildings.

"The global-warming potential arising from production of tomatoes and strawberries in Spain, poultry in Brazil and lamb in New Zealand remained less than from those foods produced in the UK despite the greenhouse gas emissions that took place during transport," says the Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Food Commodities report.

If Britons want to continue to have a choice of food all year round, it may be better to import some staples and avoid the emissions otherwise caused by keeping British produce in chilled storage for long periods, according to researchers.

Dr Adrian Williams, an agriculture expert from Cranfield University and one of the report's authors, said: "There's no question that foreign-produced food can have a lower footprint than British-produced food. Home-production is by no means the answer to minimising the environmental impacts of food." He added: "It is ironic that people could be buying certain things with the best of intentions but actually making a poorer environmental choice."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the findings, the report has not been released to the media, and only recently surfaced on an obscure part of Defra's research website. It is the result of a two-year study into the environmental impacts of New Zealand-produced apples and lamb, beef and poultry from Brazil, potatoes from Israel, and strawberries and tomatoes from Spain, versus British varieties.

Although chicken imported from Brazil loses out when it comes to emissions through transport, it is better in terms of the energy used to farm it. And even the greenhouse gas emissions are lower, because the electricity comes mainly from renewable sources. Similar things apply to beef from Brazil, although it is worse in terms of land use compared with cattle farmed in Britain.

But there's little confusion over potatoes from Israel and apples from New Zealand – both are worse for the environment than home-grown varieties on just about every measure used.

Jeanette Longfield, co-ordinator of the food and farming pressure group Sustain, said: "My worry is that people will throw the baby out with the bathwater, and say we thought local was better and now it's not. It is complicated, and it's the job of government and industry to plough through the complexity to ensure that we don't have unsustainable products in our shops, irrespective of where they happen to come from."

In an attempt to reduce emissions from food production, Defra will publish Britain's first draft sustainability indicators for food, as part of a wider package on food policy, later this year.

Read more!

GM crop trials start again in Britain in 'secret': report

Yahoo News 26 Jul 09;

LONDON (AFP) – Genetically modified crops are being grown in Britain for the first time in 12 months after controversial trials were resumed without alerting the public, a newspaper reported Monday.

Cultivation of a field of potatoes designed to be resistant to pests was abandoned more than a year ago when environmental protesters ripped up the crop, the Daily Telegraph said.

But, without alerting the public, the project near Tadcaster in northern England has been restarted, prompting warnings from green groups that local farms and residents could be put at risk, the newspaper said.

One group accused the government of trying to "slip it under the radar."

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the potatoes would be grown in a safe environment, where there is no risk of contamination. They would not be used for human or animal consumption, it said.

The trial, run by Leeds University, is looking at potatoes that are resistant to a parasite worm that costs British farmers millions of pounds a year in lost and damaged crops.

Genetically-modified crops have a gene, or genes, inserted into them in the lab so that they acquire traits that are useful to farmers.

They are widely grown in North America, South America and China.

But in Europe they have run into fierce resistance, led by green groups who say the crops carry risks through cross-pollination, potentially creating "super-weeds" that are impervious to herbicides.

Only a handful of genetically modified crops have been approved for cultivation in the European Union, but of them only MON810, approved in 1998, is so far being grown.

France this month rejected a report by the European Union's food safety watchdog that said a controversial strain of genetically-modified corn was safe.

Read more!

Permafrost Could Be Climate's Ticking Time Bomb

Amanda Morris, livescience.com 26 Jul 09;

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.

The terrain of the North Slope of Alaska is not steep, but Andrew Jacobson still has difficulty as he hikes along the spongy tundra, which is riddled with rocks and masks multitudes of mosquitoes.

Jacobson, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Northwestern University, extracts soil and water samples in search of clues to one of global warming's biggest ticking time bombs: the melting of permafrost.

Permafrost, or frozen ground, covers approximately 20 to 25 percent of the land-surface area in the northern hemisphere, and is estimated to contain up to 1,600 gigatons of carbon, primarily in the form of organic matter. (One gigaton is equivalent to one billion tons.)

By comparison, the atmosphere now contains around 825 gigatons of the element as carbon dioxide.

"Permafrost historically has served as a carbon sink, largely isolating carbon from participating in the carbon cycle," says Jacobson, whose research is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. "However, global warming could transform the Arctic into a new carbon source by accelerating the rate of permafrost melting. This undoubtedly would have a dramatic effect on the global carbon cycle."

Jacobson says the key concern is that permafrost carbon will oxidize to carbon dioxide as melting accelerates, causing a positive feedback to global warming. A vicious cycle is created as a warmer climate facilitates more carbon release, which in turn favors more warming.

So Jacobson and his colleagues collect river water and soil samples near NSF's Toolik Long-Term Ecological Research station, approximately 250 km north of the Arctic Circle. The Dalton Highway - built as a supply road to support the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System - provides the only access to the site.

"Planning constitutes a large part of our day - looking at maps, figuring out where to go and how to get there," he laughs. "Fieldwork is typically fraught with vehicle problems, poor roads and bad weather. One thing you can always count on is that every expedition is exciting."

While a logical first step for modeling global warming is quantifying carbon flow, unresolved complexities surrounding the Arctic carbon cycle make it difficult to create models for that element.

Jacobson and his team take a complementary approach by analyzing naturally occurring isotopes of other elements, such as calcium and strontium, which track permafrost melting and therefore provide insight into carbon release.

Initial data show that rivers and permafrost have distinctly different calcium and strontium isotope compositions.

When permafrost thaws during the summer and melts into rivers, the rivers show calcium and strontium isotope compositions that approach those for permafrost. Jacobson hypothesizes that in a warmer world, the permafrost signature in rivers will be more pronounced for longer periods of time.

Changes in the isotope composition of rivers can relate to changes in the release of carbon. So the calcium and strontium isotope composition of Arctic rivers can track the impact of warming on permafrost stability and carbon dioxide release.

"The ultimate goal is to establish a baseline to which future changes can be compared," Jacobson says. "Several years from now, we can compare real changes to model predictions and improve our understanding of how the system works."

The sampling season lasts for only a short time when permafrost thaws in the spring until it refreezes in the fall. Although he visited Alaska in May and will return in October, Jacobson has a team of colleagues and students who will conduct fieldwork throughout the season and again next year. Samples are shipped from the field to Jacobson's laboratory in Evanston, Ill., where he analyzes them in the off-season.

He received NSF funding in 2007 to acquire a multi-collector thermal ionization mass spectrometer for measuring isotopes of calcium, strontium and other elements.

Northwestern currently is building a state-of-the-art "metal free" clean laboratory that will house the instrument and support Jacobson's research.

For more on his research, visit Jacobson's laboratory website here.

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