Best of our wild blogs: 7 Mar 10

Butterfly of the Month - March 2010
from Butterflies of Singapore

Grey Tailed Tattler
from Mendis' World

Oriental Pied Hornbill nesting in earthern pot
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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From landfill ash to road material

NEA studying feasibility of setting up a plant to recycle Pulau Semakau's burnt waste
Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times 7 Mar 10;

Ash can be recycled too, and the bonus is Singapore's only landfill will last longer.

A study is being done to see if it makes sense to build the country's first commercial plant to recycle the waste ash currently being dumped at the Pulau Semakau landfill.

By reducing the amount of waste that ends up at the landfill, its lifespan can be extended beyond its projected 2045.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) wants to know if the residue from its incinerators - known as incineration bottom ash - can be converted here into useful material for construction work.

A consultant will do a cost-benefit study.

The technology is there. The NEA told The Sunday Times that several countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Britain, have already used recycled ash for road construction.

The consultant will also look at a regulatory regime for the recycling plant, NEA tender documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal.

The idea is for a private sector company to develop, build and run the plant - as well as sell and market the processed ash.

The NEA said: 'A decision on setting up a recycling plant for incineration bottom ash will be made only after the completion of the study.'

It declined to say when a decision will be made, but the agency has set aside eight months for the submission of reports on the costs and benefits, technology and regulatory regime.

It also allocated seven months for tender documents to be submitted for the plant and for bids to be evaluated.

The NEA said that if a go-ahead is given, the plant will likely be located on the mainland to avoid double handling and to minimise transport cost.

Waste ash here comprises mainly inert substances like silica, ceramics, glass, stones and trace amounts of heavy metals and organic material.

In 2008, about 1,605 tonnes of waste ash were produced daily here.

Singapore Environment Council executive director Howard Shaw lauded the study, saying it was important to find innovative ways to recycle the ash.

'Semakau's lifespan is limited and the waste material can't be exported.

'So, rather than dump the ash on Semakau, finding ways to commercialise it would be a good thing for Singapore,' he said.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has tried using ash as the foundation layer for new roads. Typically, raw material such as granite is used.

Ash was used successfully on a 150m section of Jalan Buroh in Jurong in 2002, but a recent trial involving a 200m stretch of Tampines Road between Hougang Avenue 7 and Defu Avenue 2 has run into some hiccups.

The trial, announced in March last year, was to have lasted six months. If successful, the ash would have been used to build other roads.

The LTA told The Sunday Times that while there were some positive results, more tests and evaluation were needed before it could conclude if such recycled material was feasible and practical for all roads.

The NEA also announced last month that it is funding a Nanyang Technological University research project to use the ash to cover, line and stabilise landfill sites to enable large structures to be put up.

The landfill sites, when filled up and no longer able to accept any waste, can then be redeveloped in 10 to 15 years, instead of the usual 30 to 40 years.

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PUB shares water-saving tips as Singapore faces dry spell

Fry Days
Shuli Sudderuddin, Straits Times 7 Mar 10;

Brown grass patches, like at this Sengkang field, are a common sight as NParks has stopped routine watering of plants to conserve water. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

The dry weather has brought a deluge of PUB officers - they knock on doors to tell households how to save water.

Staff from PUB, the national water agency, have been visiting homes from 2003 under the Water Efficient Homes scheme to teach conservation and money-saving tips.

But as the rains have stubbornly been keeping away - partly because of El Nino - the number of calls has trebled to about 5,000 a week.

El Nino is a climate phenomenon that disrupts weather patterns in many parts of the world, including South-east Asia. It usually leads to drier and warmer conditions in many parts of the region.

Singapore's current dry weather - 5.3mm of rainfall from Feb 1 to 23 - has led to a surge in water usage. About 322.5 million gallons a day were used from Feb 1 to 13. The lowest rainfall for any month was 8.4mm, recorded in February 1968 and February 2005.

PUB told The Sunday Times that the water levels at Singapore's 15 reservoirs are within the normal range.

The figures show that for the months of December last year to February, the capacity in the reservoirs fluctuated from 91 per cent to 96 per cent of the total storage in Singapore.

This was similar to the levels a year ago for the months of December to February.

Still, water conservation is prudent.

PUB will send staff to homes if requested to share tips and install free water-saving devices. But it encourages residents to install the devices themselves as far as possible.

The Sunday Times tagged along on Friday when PUB staff visited housewife Margaret Chen, who lives in a terrace house in Serangoon Gardens.

PUB technician Sapari Arsid, 57, advised watering plants in the early morning or evening to minimise loss from evaporation.

He also fixed thimbles on Mrs Chen's taps to reduce water pressure.

Mrs Chen, in her 50s, said she already saves water by using it only for necessities like bathing and cooking, but was looking to cut her usage further.

She said: 'Singapore's water supply is so precious because it's of World Health Organisation standards and drinkable straight from the tap. We should really treasure it.'

She stressed that education is important for children and older people. She is pleased that PUB goes door-to-door to teach water-saving tips.

Said a PUB spokesman: 'We visit those who make requests, but we also visit those whose consumption is above the national average.'

For example, the average national water consumption for an HDB flat is about 18 to 20 cubic m.

Meanwhile, the patches of brown grass observed in many parts of Singapore may be here to stay for a while.

Mr Simon Longman, director of streetscape at NParks, said it has stopped routine watering to conserve water. It has left the bulk of plants to survive through natural resilience.

NParks waters only selectively - for example, special stretches of landscape like those at the East Coast Parkway - during a prolonged dry season.

However, the president of the Nature Society, Dr Shawn Lum, noted that most plants are quite hardy.

He said: 'There have been dry periods before. Most of the plants made it through okay then, as they did in previous dry spells and El Nino years, and I suspect that they'll green up again when the rains return.'

The forecast for the first two weeks of this month is generally dry weather, with showers of short duration expected on three to four days in the afternoon.

But rainfall is expected to be below average for most parts of the island.

Save water with this thimble
Straits Times 7 Mar 10;

A hot topic now is the dry weather. Water usage has gone up but staff from national water agency PUB can go to your home to help you save money. PUB technician Sapari Arsid (left) shows housewife Margaret Chen how to install a thimble to slow down the flow of water from the tap.

The thimble, which comes in PUB's free water-saving kit, can help a typical household save about 5 per cent of its water consumption by altering the water pressure in sink and basin taps and showerheads. It was invented by Mr Chong Hou Chun, now PUB's director of water supply network, and his team of officers in the 1990s.

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Elephants destroy houses in Riau

Antara 7 Mar 10;

Bengkalis, Riau (ANTARA News) - A number of wild elephants destroyed three houses in Petani village, Mandau sub-district, Bengkalis, on Thursday and Friday, local risidents said.

But there were no fatalities in the wild elephants` attacks as the house tenants could escape in time, Poiman, 45, told ANTARA here Saturday.

"We (local residents) have agreed to drive the wild elephants out of the village," he said.

Over the past week, the herbivorous animals have been entering the Petani village area -- home of more than 200 families.

On Friday night, the wild elephants destroyed the villagers` crops and two houses, he said.

The villagers had tried to drive them out by turning on lanterns, burning used tires and firing bamboo canons but failed to expel them.

Instead the animals approached the people, causing them to get panic and run away.
According to another villager, Sonia, 43, the elephants had also damaged crops on five hectares of the locals` farm land and a house on Thursday.

Patris, whose house was seriously damaged by the wild elephants, said the people`s safety was at stake so that 11 families had taken refuge in safer places.

Some of the displaced families moved to their relatives` houses, which were far away from their village, the 40-year-old Patris said.

Besides destroying three houses, the wild elephants also caused minor damage to at least 20 other houses. (*)

No Relocation for Rampaging Elephants Who Trampled Homes in Riau Village
Budi Otmansyah Jakarta Globe 8 Mar 10;

Pekanbaru, Riau. Despite the threat of more elephant attacks in the Bengkalis district of Riau, an official said on Sunday that there was little chance of relocating about 40 wild Sumatran elephants that went on a rampage a day earlier and destroyed at least three houses in the village of Petani.

“At this stage, there is no way we can do a large-scale relocation of the elephants because, as territorial animals, they would find it difficult to adapt to a new habitat, wherever that may be,” said Trisnu Danisworo, head of the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Center.

Trisnu said that there had been suggestions of relocating the pachyderms to the Tesso Nilo National Park, the native habitat of the Sumatran elephant that stretches across the Pelalawan and Indragiri Hulu districts in Riau and is home to hundreds of endangered flora and fauna, including about 80 Sumatran elephants.

The 40-odd elephants began entering Petani village a little over a week ago before going on a rampage on Saturday, destroying at least three houses and leaving 20 other homes with minor structural damages. Although no fatalities were reported, 11 families, fearing for their lives, have moved from the village since the attack.

Trisnu said on Sunday that the center had already dispatched a special taskforce to drive the elephants away from the villages as a short-term solution.

“We were able to scare off the elephants, which should minimize the conflict,” said Trisnu, adding that the taskforce consisted of five people who burned tires and cakes made of elephant dung that emit a pungent smoke to deter the animals.

Trisnu acknowledged however that these methods could not guarantee that the elephants would stop entering villages, stating once again that dwindling forests are the main cause of the increasing deadly conflicts between man and animal.

The forests that once covered Riau are disappearing, and this has seen the province’s elephant population plunge from over 1,500 in the 1980s to 350 today.

Darori, the Forestry Ministry’s director general of forest protection and nature conservation, said the attacks on Saturday occurred because more and more people were cutting down trees.

“The movements of the elephants are actually very ordered. They will always walk along the same paths and eat at the same places over and over again. They will even litter at the same spots,” Darori said, adding that the local administration had failed to discipline companies or officials who cut down trees on land that is known to be vital for the elephants’ survival.

“People invade their areas, chop down trees and cause confusion among the elephants. So they end up entering villages,” Darori said.

“Local governments are supposed to sanction those — mostly companies — who encroach on conservation areas. But nothing is ever done. So it’s the villagers who feel the impact,” he said.

Additional reporting by Fidelis E Satriastanti.

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Tanzania to seek nod to sell ivory stockpile

Yahoo News 6 Mar 10;

DAR ES SALAAM (AFP) – Tanzania said Saturday it will press for permission to sell around 100 tonnes of elephant tusks to reduce its huge stockpile and use the money to combat poaching.

"Our go-down in Dar es Salaam is full and we need to dispose of some of the tusks to create space for new stock," Natural Resources and Tourism Minister Shamsa Mwangunga.

"Proceeds from the proposed sale of 100 tonnes of elephant tusks will be used to buy equipment and finance anti-poaching operations," she said, adding that around 15 billion shillings (11 million dollars) could be raised.

The Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) will hold its 15th session of the conference of parties on March 13-25 in Doha, where Tanzania and Zambia intend to apply for permits to sell ivory stockpiles.

But Tanzania's neighbour Kenya is opposed to allowing the sale of ivory arguing that it encourages poaching.

According to the Kenya Wildlife Service poaching for elephant and rhino tusks has been on the rise in Africa since the 2007 partial lifting of an international trade ban to allow a one-off sale to China and Japan by Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

"We have good reasons to be presented at the CITES meeting and we expect a fair and sober decision," Mwangunga said.

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U.S. to protect bird, oil drilling likely restricted

Ed Stoddard and Tom Doggett, Reuters 5 Mar 10;

DALLAS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The iconic sage grouse that once roamed the western U.S. plains in great numbers needs protection, a move that will still curtail some energy development, the U.S. Interior Department said on Friday.

The bird will not be listed under the Endangered Species Act, but the department will put special emphasis on preserving the chicken-sized bird on lands where oil companies want to drill and wind companies want to erect their massive turbines.

The bird which feeds off the sage brush in states such as Wyoming has lost about half of its habitat over the past several decades, with its numbers slashed by 90 percent to between 200,000 and 300,000.

Bob Abbey, director of the Bureau of Land Management, said the agency will review drilling permits that have already been approved.

"Certainly, we would be reviewing those applications with a lot more scrutiny in areas where we have determined they are major populations of sage grouse and as a result of that determination...we would likely attach some additional stipulations on that drilling," he said.

It was not immediately clear which projects will be affected, but efforts to protect the bird have already thrown some projects into uncertainty, including a 198-turbine, $600 million wind farm in Wyoming proposed by Horizon Wind Energy.

The Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States said it was concerned about how energy development would be affected but was relieved that a full listing of the bird was avoided.

"We're concerned that land managers will nevertheless implement this decision by introducing very restrictive policies that prevent companies from investing and creating high-paying jobs in local communities," the group said.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he wanted to move ahead with energy development while working with the states and private landowners to ensure the sage grouse thrives.

POLITICAL FLAP?

Republicans, who have branded President Barack Obama's attempts to pass a climate change bill as a job killer, said efforts to protect the sage grouse was another example of a green agenda that was bad for workers.

"Wyoming is still left with a black cloud over our job market," said the state's U.S. senator, John Barrasso.

With an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent, the economy will be a politically charged issue in a congressional election year where Democrats are seen in trouble in many districts.

The bird did not attain full endangered status but as a candidate species, federal and state government agencies will be expected to work harder to protect its habitat, so industry could still face restrictions.

Wyoming had already taken steps to protect the bird in a bid to stave off an endangered species listing, which the sage grouse could still attain down the road.

The Bureau of Land Management in early January issued guidelines to protect the bird, which Wyoming officials and environmentalists say will effectively preclude wind power development in about 20 percent of the sprawling state.

According to National Geographic, the bird's range is spread over 11 western states but is concentrated in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Nevada.

(Editing by Jim Marshall and Rebekah Kebede)

Energy groups relieved sage grouse won't be listed
Mead Gruver, Associated Press Yahoo News 5 Mar 10;

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – An Interior Department announcement Friday that it won't list sage grouse as an endangered or threatened species opens the way for continued development of the West's wind energy and oil and gas industries.

Those industries will still face scrutiny in sage grouse habitat but much less so than if the bird were listed.

The government concluded that listing the chicken-sized brown bird as threatened or endangered is warranted but precluded by higher priorities — other species considered in greater danger.

But Interior will classify the bird among species that are candidates for federal protection, which are assigned a priority number between one and 12. The sage grouse has been given an eight, putting it two-thirds of the way down the scale as a priority for federal protection.

Sage grouse have experienced a 90 percent decline in their numbers and a 50 percent decline in their sagebrush habitat from a century ago, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at a news conference.

But the bird populations have been relatively stable over the last decade thanks to efforts by states such as Wyoming, Idaho and Montana to protect the species and its habitat, he said.

"Frankly, it is the states in the Western part of the United States that have developed the right kind of strategies to confront this challenge," Salazar said.

Sage grouse inhabit large portions of Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Idaho, and smaller areas of Colorado, Utah, California, Washington, South Dakota, North Dakota and western Canada.

Especially in Wyoming, large areas of sage grouse habitat also are prime spots for natural gas development that has boomed in recent years. In Nevada, the birds are challenged by an invasive species, cheatgrass, which is prone to frequent wildfires that burn up native sagebrush.

Wyoming, home to an estimated one-half of North America's sage grouse, has been mapping the bird's habitat, studying it and taking other steps to better understand how to protect the species and avoid an endangered listing — efforts that Gov. Dave Freudenthal said have paid off.

"The candidate listing gives us a fighting chance, while an endangered or threatened listing would have taken the wind out of our sails," he said in a release.

Some environmentalists were less pleased.

The finding shows the government is willing to protect sage grouse but not willing to do what's necessary, said Jon Marvel, executive director of the Hailey, Idaho-based Western Watersheds Project.

"None of the actions proposed to date are mandatory, and that undermines the commitment for improving conditions for sage grouse," Marvel said.

Friday's announcement results from a lawsuit that Western Watersheds filed in 2006. A federal judge in Boise, Idaho, ruled the following year that political pressure tainted an earlier decision not to list the sage grouse.

The finding effectively ends the group's lawsuit, Marvel said.

Other groups expressing disappointment included the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and the American Bird Conservancy.

Laurie Milford, executive director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council, said the finding "makes a certain amount of sense," while Frank Gill, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society, said Interior is "on the right path."

The Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States worries the finding could inhibit oil and gas development on public lands in the West, said the group's director of government affairs, Kathleen Sgamma.

"But it appears that Interior plans to balance implementation so that restrictions on energy development do not apply with a broad brush across the entire region," she said.

The Interior Department recognizes the need to develop the nation's energy resources, said Assistant Interior Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland.

"We know that without good planning, energy activities can impact the sage grouse," he said. "The emphasis here is on smart from the start. We plan in advance."

For the wind energy industry, sage grouse are a concern because the birds don't nest near tall structures such as wind turbines and power lines for fear they could be perches for eagles and other predators.

The Interior announcement is a relief and offers more certainty for wind power, said Craig Cox, executive director of the Interwest Energy Alliance, a wind energy industry group.

"I do hope that as we gain more experience with the impact of wind on sage grouse, that we can develop plans accordingly," Cox added.

The oil and gas industry has been backing important sage grouse research and will continue to do that to help ensure that the species isn't listed, said Cheryl Sorenson, vice president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.

"For us, it's not like, `Whew, we've won one.' It's like, `OK, we need to keep rolling on this,'" Sorenson said.

___

Associated Press Writer Todd Dvorak contributed to this report from Boise, Idaho.

US stops short of protection for western sage grouse
Yahoo News 5 Mar 10;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US officials Friday stopped short of giving endangered species status to the sage grouse, an iconic bird that is at the center of a dispute over oil drilling in the western United States.

The Interior Department said the bird merits protection but will not receive it for now because of a backlog of other species which are a higher priority, a move that is expected to allow oil drilling to continue.

The agency "will expand efforts with state, local and tribal partners to map lands that are vital to the survival of the greater sage grouse... while guiding and managing new conventional and renewable energy projects to reduce impacts on the species," a statement from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

"The sage grouse's decline reflects the extent to which open land in the West has been developed in the last century," Salazar said.

"We must find common-sense ways of protecting, restoring and reconnecting the Western lands that are most important to the species' survival while responsibly developing much-needed energy resources."

Environmentalists lamented the decision.

"These magnificent birds need Endangered Species Act protection now," said Michael Connor, California Director for Western Watersheds Project.

"Without this added protection the Mona Basin sage grouse will continue to decline."

Sage grouse have dwindled to about half of their historic range due to habitat destruction, and some scientists warn that the birds could disappear within the next 100 years or less.

The Environmental Defense Fund said the decision "is a wake-up call for landowners, industry, and conservationists to work together to reverse the decline of the bird and the land it inhabits."

"An endangered species listing is no one's first choice as a tool to fix broken landscapes," said Ted Toombs, a spokesman for the fund. "It is really a last resort option to keep species from going extinct.

"The first, best option to protect species is for conservationists, farmers, ranchers, energy companies, the recreation industry, and other stakeholders to work together on habitat conservation and restoration, so that an endangered species listing can be avoided."

The greater sage grouse currently live in only 11 western states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Oil and gas companies have said a designation could freeze drilling in areas of Wyoming and other states that are also sage grouse habitat.

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