Best of our wild blogs: 10 Mar 10

Return to Semakau
from Butterflies of Singapore

A close look at an Oriental Pied Hornbill
from Bird Ecology Study Group

三月华语导游Mandarin guiding walk @ SBWR II
from PurpleMangrove

Singapore Botanic Gardens
from Singapore Nature

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Bush fires worsen air quality in Singapore

PSI climbs into moderate range for first time since Nov
Amresh Gunasingham & Linus Lin Straits Times 10 Mar 10;

AIR quality dropped into the moderate range for the first time in four months as bush fires raged around the island yesterday.

Singapore's Pollution Standards Index (PSI), which measures air quality, inched up to 53, the highest since November when the air here was tainted by the haze from forests burning in Indonesia.

This is just inside the moderate range, which means the public does not have to take any special precautions to stay healthy. A reading of 0 to 50 is considered good, while 51 to 100 is moderate. A figure above 100 is unhealthy.

The National Environment Agency's (NEA) Meteorological Services Division said in a statement that the burning of vegetation here and abroad means there are 'higher levels' of particulate matter in the air.

Yesterday, firefighters tackled three bush fires in Tampines throughout the day. The worst one was near the Tampines Service Road where vegetation over an area of about three football fields was razed.

It took 90 firefighters more than three hours to bring the flames under control. Twenty officers stayed overnight to ensure that all the embers were fully put out.

Mrs Susan Lee, 52, who often jogs around the area, cut short her jog yesterday evening. 'I was afraid I would become breathless from the smoke,' she said.

Students at Serangoon Secondary School, just minutes away from the fire, were asked to leave the school if they had nothing else on. Its head of department for physical education and co-curricular activities, Mr Low Sing Ngan, explained: 'We wanted to take precautions to ensure the safety of our students.'

There have been 206 bush fires here so far this year, with more than half occurring last month. In 2008 and last year, there were 950 such fires in total.

Last month was the driest ever February and one of the hottest on record. But there could be some respite on the horizon.

On Monday, rain fell over western and northern parts of the island, with 42.6mm falling around Mandai alone. The NEA said showers with thunder could be expected on some afternoons over the next few days.

Experts have blamed the recent bush fires on the El Nino weather pattern which is linked to the warming of the Pacific Ocean.

Air quality slips into moderate range
Today Online 10 Mar 10;

SINGAPORE - With El Nino casting its hot, dry spell on the region and contributing to fires here and abroad, the air quality in Singapore has slipped into the moderate range for the first time in four months.

Yesterday's 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) stood at 53, and only the eastern part of the island remains well within the "good" range with a PSI reading of 42. This came as 50 firefighters battled a large bush fire at Tampines Service Road from late morning. Twenty officers stayed overnight to ensure all the embers were put out. As of Monday, the Singapore Civil Defence Force has responded to 206 cases of grass, lalang and vegetation fires this year.

Forest goes up in smoke
Today Online 10 Mar 10;

Five fire engines were dispatched to Tampines Service Road, towards Buangkok East Drive, shortly before noon after a forest fire broke out in the area. A total of 12 water jets were set up to bring the blaze under control. No one was injured from the fire, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

There's no way the air is 'good'
More frequent updates would give a more realistic picture of air quality here
Letter from John Lucas, Today Online 10 Mar 10;

FOR the past two days, the air quality on the East coast has been excruciatingly bad, yet the National Environment Agency's Ambient Air Quality report (available at app2.nea.gov.sg/psi.aspx) continues to publish an Air Quality Descriptor of "good".

The air pollution is so bad, the ships out at sea can barely be seen, and there is a distinct smell of burnt wood in the air.

I requested information from the NEA regarding the number of sensors, and the number of readings for each of the five regions, but never received a reply.

There are two obvious problems with their report.

First, the air pollution index should be updated at least every four hours, and not just every 24 hours at 4pm. Singapore is the unfortunate victim of heavy air pollution from Indonesia, and historic data does little for asthmatics who want to determine if it is safe to leave their homes, or need to make special arrangements when they return from work.

Second, sensors should be located every 20 sq km, and a matrix of all the readings and locations should be available online covering a three-day period. Having an inadequate number of sensors, taking readings during low pollution periods, and averaging the results over a 24-hour period will only mask the problem.

This is a serious problem and it needs to be fixed. With today's technology, providing an accurate air quality report should be straightforward, and easily justifiable. The NEA should increase the number of sensors and upgrade their Ambient Air Quality report.

The public should also be educated on the dangers of air pollution. People must know that it is hazardous to the health to exercise strenuously when the air is polluted. Many continue to exercise downwind of a raging forest fire - and this can't be good for the lungs.

Air quality gauge meets global guidelines: NEA
Letter from Tan Quee Hong Director, Pollution Control Department National Environment Agency
Today Online 12 Mar 10;

WE REFER to the letter, "There is no way the air is good" (March 10).

The National Environment Agency (NEA) follows strict international guidelines in the monitoring of ambient air quality through a network of 11 air monitoring stations that are strategically located to accurately assess the ambient air quality in the whole of Singapore.

The 24-hour PSI reported by the NEA daily at 4pm is an internationally recognised and health-based index developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for assessing ambient air quality.

We would like to assure the writer and the public that the NEA monitors the air quality very closely and will provide regular updates on air quality and early warning with health advisory to the public if our monitoring shows that the air quality is expected to deteriorate to unsafe levels.

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Human Appetite Threatens Sea Turtles in Malaysia

WWF Malaysia 9 Mar 10;

9th March 2010, Petaling Jaya - The prevalence and tradition of turtle egg consumption amongst locals may contribute to the eventual extinction of our turtles unless urgent action is taken according to a report by WWF-Malaysia.

The report commissioned by WWF-Malaysia and prepared by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, entitled “Marine Turtle Egg Consumption and Trade in Malaysia”, shows that the market demand for turtle eggs exceeded the supply. It was estimated that a total of 422,000 eggs were traded in Terengganu alone in 2007, indicating a trade volume that is two times higher than the number of green turtle nestings in the state. It has been reported that turtle eggs from outside the state were being sold at markets in Kuala Terengganu.

The report aims to provide a better understanding of consumer profiles and to identify the source and trade routes of the eggs to further enhance WWF-Malaysia’s efforts in marine turtle conservation.

The study team focused on consumer surveys in Terengganu where turtle egg consumption is widespread and eggs are openly sold in markets, to obtain a more in-depth understanding of turtle egg consumption patterns as well as the profile and perceptions of egg consumers.

“One of the contributing factors to the leatherback turtles’ disappearance from our shores is egg consumption. We wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to our green and hawksbill turtles,” said WWF-Malaysia Executive Director/CEO Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma.

Out of the 396 households surveyed, 245 (about 61%) are of Malay ethnicity and had consumed turtle eggs before. According to the results of the survey, people who eat turtle eggs come from all walks of life - irrespective of gender, age groups, professions, educational levels and income levels.

The majority of the survey respondents consumed turtle eggs once or twice annually and bought between one to five eggs each time. The consumption of turtle eggs is a family affair with each family member eating one to two eggs at a time. Turtle eggs are sourced from local markets with 91% sourced from Pasar Payang in Kuala Terengganu.

Most consumers eat turtle eggs as a “delicacy” and for pleasure and less so as a source of protein or for traditional and medicinal reasons as well as an aphrodisiac, contrary to popular belief.

Turtle egg consumers, though aware that turtle populations are declining, believed that consumption would not cause population decline as turtle eggs were still abundant. Nonetheless, a majority of them would stop consuming if they knew that egg consumption would adversely affect the turtle population


In 2008, the Department of Fisheries launched “The National Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sea Turtles in Malaysia” to strengthen sea turtle conservation and management in Malaysia.

“All the time and effort spent on doing research and putting together an action plan that is supposed to show results by 2012 will be of little value if action is not taken soon – Malaysia’s sea turtles need our help right now,” said Noorainie Awang Anak, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia’s Senior Programme Officer.

It is hoped that the results from this study will contribute towards the key priorities of the action plan which include a national ban on consumption and commercial sale of turtle eggs and other products, as well as enhancing public awareness and facilitating participation of local communities in conservation programmes. However, a national ban on consumption and trade can only be put into effect if there are Federal Laws allowing such an action. This is the reason why WWF-Malaysia is advocating for an amendment to the Federal Constitution that would give the Federal Government jurisdiction over turtles and thereby be allowed to impose such actions.

“A change in attitude and behaviour is needed to turn the tide if we want to ensure the survival of turtles,” added Dato’ Dr Sharma.

To download the full report, please visit: wwf.org.my

WWF: Stop eating turtle eggs to save species from extinction
The Star 11 Mar 10;

PETALING JAYA: Increased consumption of turtle eggs among locals may contribute to the extinction of the species, a report by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia states.

The report commissioned by the organisation and prepared by Traffic Southeast Asia, entitled Marine Turtle Egg Consumption and Trade in Malaysia has shown that market demand for the eggs exceeds supply.

About 422,000 eggs were traded in Terengganu in 2007, indicating a trade volume which was two times higher than the number of green turtle nestings in the state.

WWF-Malaysia executive director and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma said one of the factors which contributed to the leatherback turtles’ disappearance was consumption of their eggs.

“We do not want the same thing to happen to our green and hawksbill turtles,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Out of the 396 households surveyed, about 61% had consumed turtle eggs before.

The majority of the respondents had consumed turtle eggs once or twice annually and bought between one and five eggs each time.

Turtle eggs were sold at local markets with 91% obtained from Pasar Payang in Kuala Tere-ngganu.

Most consumers eat turtle eggs as a delicacy, as a source of protein or for traditional and medicinal purposes.

Traffic South-East Asia senior programme officer Noorainie Awang Anak said the time and effort spent on research and putting together an action plan would be of little value if action was not taken soon.

“We hope that an action plan will include a national ban on the commercial sale of turtle eggs as well as their consumption,” she said.

Gourmet diners 'may spell extinction' for sea turtle
Yahoo News 10 Mar 10;

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysians' voracious appetite for turtle eggs could drive the marine creatures to extinction on its shores, conservationists warned on Wednesday.

According to a report by environmental group WWF-Malaysia, hundreds of thousands of turtle eggs are eaten in Malaysia every year, despite campaigns to get them off the menu.

"One of the contributing factors to the leatherback turtles' disappearance from our shores is egg consumption," said WWF-Malaysia executive director Dionysius S.K. Sharma.

"We wouldn't want the same thing to happen to our green and hawksbill turtles."

Turtles once arrived in their thousands to lay their eggs on Malaysian beaches, which are collected and sold on markets. But they are now increasingly rare due to poaching and coastal development.

The report, prepared by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia showed that the market demand for turtle eggs exceeded supply.

It estimated that 422,000 eggs were traded in the northeastern state of Terengganu alone in 2007, more than twice the number of green turtle eggs laid in the state, and that eggs were being brought in from outside to meet demand.

Most consumers consider turtle eggs a "delicacy" and eat them for pleasure, not as a source of protein or for reputed medicinal or aphrodisiac effects, the report said.

"A change in attitude and behaviour is needed to turn the tide if we want to ensure the survival of turtles," Sharma said.

Conservationists have urged the government to impose a nationwide ban on the consumption and commercial sale of turtle eggs.

Sharma said that some 10,000 leatherback turtles nested in Terengganu every year in the 1950s but that this had been reduced to just 10 a year at present.

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Increase In Turtle Landings Expected This Year

Bernama 9 Mar 10;

KUALA TERENGGANU, March 9 (Bernama) -- The Terengganu Fisheries Department expects the number of turtle landings in the state to increase this compared to last year, as the reptile has been sighted earlier this year.

State Fisheries Department Director Zakaria Ismail said their surveillance discovered turtles landing on Feb 22 in Ma'daerah near here, compared to in March last year.

"This is a sign that turtle landings will increase this year and we plan to buy all the eggs for incubation to prevent turtle extinction in the future," he said when met by Bernama here Tuesday.

He said the department would cooperate with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to continue incubation efforts and ensure the continuation of these species by buying as many eggs from sellers.

Zakaria said till yesterday them department had bought 1,000 turtle eggs from sellers in Kemaman in stages since early this year.

-- BERNAMA

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Expanding Melbourne city puts bite on reptiles

Bridie Smith, The Age 10 Mar 10;

THE largest study of its kind to reveal how Melbourne's frogs, lizards and snakes have fared after European settlement has identified species that are most susceptible to urbanisation, and therefore most threatened by development.

Coinciding with the UN's International Year of Biodiversity, Melbourne University analysis of data dating to the 1800s has found many of the 16 frog species and 39 reptile species studied have been pushed to the urban fringes as bushland becomes bitumen.

Among them is the brown toadlet, which once called the south-eastern suburbs home, but no longer exists in Melbourne, having been pushed out to north of the Great Dividing Range.

Like many species, its disappearance from greater Melbourne is largely due to habitat loss. According to the study, just 1.66 per cent of the land within 10 kilometres of the city is still covered by remnant vegetation, while outer-suburban areas have retained nearly 16 per cent coverage.

"It is essential to keep some native remnant areas which are as structurally complex as possible," said Andrew Hamer, research associate at Melbourne University's botany department.

But despite what popular opinion might suggest, urban life has benefited some species.

Tree frogs, such as the southern brown tree frog, which inhabits a lot of the ornamental ponds in the city's gardens, have adapted to the urban environment - their ability to climb giving them access to steep-sided pools and ponds.

The results of the study by Dr Hamer and Mark McDonnell, to be published in Austral Ecology, found these tales of triumph over adversity were rare. Overall, Melbourne's lizard, snake and frog populations have declined dramatically since European settlement.

The proliferation of paved areas has done little for the common spadefoot toad, which likes to burrow into soil and sand. Roads, traffic, buildings and fences also block the path of species that like to travel to feed and breed - making the threatened growling grass frog and tree goanna particularly sensitive to urban development.

Dr Hamer, lead author of the paper, said reptiles had been hit hardest.

"We really need to keep an eye on some of these reptiles, especially the smaller ones like skinks which require specialised habitat with rocky outcrops or native grassland," he said.

White's skink, which has weathered a shrinking habitat, has not proved an urban adaptor. Similarly, species such as the grassland earless dragon and striped legless lizard, which called grassland environments home, have had to move out as developers move in.

Among the few reptile "urban survivors" are the delicate skink, the garden skink and the blue-tongued lizard.

After being settled by Europeans in 1835, greater Melbourne by 1960 covered 97,851 hectares and by the 1990s this had swelled to more than 202,600 hectares, according to the paper. The greater Melbourne area now covers 393,000 hectares.

Read more!

Superweed predator to be released in the UK

Rebecca Morelle, BBC News 9 Mar 10;

A tiny Japanese insect that could help the fight against an aggressive superweed has been given the go-ahead for a trial release in England.

Since Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK it has rapidly spread, and the plant currently costs over £150m a year to control and clear.

But scientists say a natural predator in the weed's native home of Japan could also help to control it here.

The insect will initially be released in a handful of sites this spring.

This is the first time that biocontrol - the use of a "natural predator" to control a pest - has been used in the EU to fight a weed.

Wildlife Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: "These tiny insects, which naturally prey on Japanese Knotweed, will help free local authorities and industry from the huge cost of treating and killing this devastating plant."

Alien invaders

Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK by the Victorians as an ornamental plant, but it soon escaped from gardens and began its rampant spread throughout the UK.

It grows incredibly quickly - more than one metre a month - and rapidly swamps any other vegetation in its path.

It is so hardy that it can burst through tarmac and concrete, causing costly damage to pavements, roads and buildings.

But removal is difficult and expensive; new estimates suggest it costs the UK economy £150m a year.

However, in Japan, the plant is common but does not rage out of control like it does in the UK, thanks to the natural predators that keep it in check.

Scientists at Cabi - a not-for-profit agricultural research organisation - used this as their starting point to track down a potential knotweed solution.

They looked at the superweed's natural predators - nearly 200 species of plant-eating insects and about 40 species of fungi - with the aim of finding one with an appetite for Japanese knotweed and little else.

After testing their candidates on 90 different UK plant species, including plants closely related to Japanese knotweed such as bindweeds and important crops and ornamental species, they discovered a psyllid called Aphalara itadori was the best control agent.

The little insect feeds on the sap of the superweed, stunting its growth.

Dr Dick Shaw, the lead researcher on the project from Cabi, told BBC News: "Safety is our top priority. We are lucky that we do have an extremely specific agent - it just eats invasive knotweeds."

Following peer review by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment and a public consultation, the UK government has now given the go-ahead for release of Aphalara itadori , under licence, in England.

The Welsh Assembly is expected to announce its decision on the psyllid soon.

The insects will initially be released on a handful of sites.

These will be isolated and, in addition to as having the superweed present, will also have UK species that are closely related to Japanese knotweed planted there to check that the psyllid only targets the invasive species.

Dr Shaw said: "In the early stages, a contingency plan is in place so that should, in the unlikely event, any unintended consequences be detected, we will be able to do something about it.

"Insecticide and herbicide treatment will be on standby for rapid response."

If this phase is successful, the insect will be released at further sites, where it will undergo an intensive monitoring programme over the next five years.

Dr Shaw said: "On the localised sites, I would expect to see damaged knotweed this season.

"However, biocontrol is a long-term strategy - it could take five to 10 years to have a real impact."

The government believes that if the plan is successful it will reduce the costs to the building and engineering industries of clearing the plant.

However, some critics say that it is impossible to be certain that the Japanese insect will only target the superweed and could attack other species once in the wild.


Hailing the arrival of alien predators
Matthew Cock, BBC Green Room 9 Mar 10;

Europe is about to release its first non-native "biological control" species to curb the spread of Japanese knotweed, and about time too, says scientist Dr Matthew Cock. In this week's Green Room, he sets out the case in favour of introducing natural predators to halt the march of invasive species.

For the first time in Europe, the UK government has granted approval for an insect from Japan to be released in order to control the invasive plant, Japanese knotweed.

It is the first time a "biological control" approach has been used in Europe against a plant.

But the concept is far from new, and Europe has been lagging behind other regions that have had more challenging experiences with invasive non-native species.

Japanese knotweed is a notorious plant, famed for its ability to burst through tarmac and crack concrete. Just finding it on a development site can result in huge additional costs or force developers to find alternative sites.

There have even been reports of mortgage companies refusing to lend to house buyers whose dream homes have Japanese knotweed in the garden.

In contrast, in its native range in Japan, it is just another member of the Japanese flora and it is fed upon by over 200 natural enemies, mostly plant-eating insects and plant diseases.

It is amongst these natural enemies that scientists believe the answer lies.

Counting the cost

Alien plants in the UK cost a vast amount of money and this expenditure, like the plants themselves, tends to expand at an ever-increasing rate.

It has been estimated that to manage Japanese knotweed in the UK, without successful biological control, would leave farmers, gardeners and local councils facing a bill of at least £13.5bn ($20.4bn; 15bn euros) by the end of the century.

This does not include the less obvious costs to the environment and those species that are displaced by these invaders.

The rate at which new plant invasions are happening is accelerating, as a result of factors such as increasingly mobile human populations, larger volumes of traded goods and climate change, all of which make it easier for plants to reach new areas.

Europe needs to find new ways to combat the most damaging species that become established.

The majority of these newcomers arrive without their natural enemies that can keep them in check in their native range, and this may give the exotic plants a great advantage over their new neighbours.

Biological control - the use of living organisms to control pest populations - can be thought of as a means of levelling the playing field by introducing some of the specialist natural enemies that exert control on the pests in their native range.

However, this can only be done with extreme care.

Safety first

I am an environmental scientist. The first question I ask before proposing to import a new organism is: "Is it safe?"

Worldwide, there have been more than 7,000 introductions of biological control agents to date, about 1,300 of which were for weed biological control. The remainder was for control of invertebrate pests, mostly insects.

Of the 1,300 releases against weeds, more than 400 different agents have been released against more than 150 different target weeds over the last 110 years. Of these, only nine produced any collateral damage such as feeding on native species.

I imagine that some readers will be asking: "What about the cane toad?"

The cane toad was introduced into Australia from South America by the sugar cane industry in 1935 because it was known to eat some of the most important sugar cane pests.

There was no consideration of what the potential food range would be, or what impact the cane toads might have on the native fauna.

Not surprisingly, the toads - which grow to 20cm (8in) - turned their carnivorous attention to anything that moved. They will eat anything that they can get into their mouths.

The toads went on to become a significant problem, having a detrimental effect on native fauna, including amphibians and reptiles, as well as poisoning domestic and wild animals that tried to eat them.

Today's practitioners of biological control consider this release an ecological disaster, but one which demonstrates very clearly what can happen when a generalist predator is introduced without considering the risks that they present to species other than the target pests.

Those who regulate the introduction of biological control agents have learnt this lesson.

The methodology of science and predictability of introducing an exotic insect or plant disease for biological control has improved greatly, so that tests carried out by scientists allow good predictions to be made of what will happen in terms of safety when a weed biological control agent is introduced.

No introduction of an exotic organism can be entirely risk free, but the risk of a highly studied, specialist natural enemy feeding outside its experimentally evaluated host plant range is extremely low.

Overall, the safety record of weed biological control has been exemplary and the beneficial impact has been enormous.

Making up lost time

In the last 50 years, five countries have led the world in implementing successful weed biological control: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the US.

In countries like these, research into biological control is always considered and often prioritised when a new and problematic invasive plant species get out of hand.

Between them, they have tackled more than 100 weeds and achieved partial or substantial control of more than 50, with at least 30 programmes active at the moment and too early to judge.

To give just one example, the alien invasive rubber vine weed was successfully brought under control in Australia.

Introduced from Madagascar in the 19th Century, this aggressive climber was considered the single biggest threat to natural ecosystems in tropical Australia.

By the late 1980s, infestations were vast, covering 40,000 square kilometres. A rust fungus, Maravalia cryptostegiae was identified as a highly promising biological control agent and after extensive trials to assess it safety, aerial releases were made in Australia in 1995.

It is promising to be one of the most successful biological control programmes ever carried out, with heavy damage to the weed allowing regeneration of native forests. It was estimated to have provided a net value of £140m by 2005 - a saving that is growing year on year.

The UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) decision to grant a licence to release a biological control agent for Japanese knotweed is a milestone decision for Europe that will open the way to assess the scope for biological control of other alien weeds such as floating pennywort and Himalayan balsam, themselves very obvious and damaging invaders.

Europe can now start to catch up with the rest of the world and gain the benefits of sustainable, environmentally safe biological control of some of its most environmentally damaging alien invasive weeds.

Dr Matthew Cock is chief scientist for Cabi, a not-for-profit science-based development and information organisation

The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website

What is the psyllid?
Millions of sap-sucking insects are to be introduced to control Japanese knotweed. But what kind of insect is the new gardener's friend?
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 9 Mar 10;

The psyllid is the name given to a whole family of jumping plant lice that are found all over the world. But the different species tend to be very "host specific" meaning they will only eat one type of plant.

This makes them very useful in biocontrol because they can be released to kill one type of plant without affecting other wildlife.

The psyllid Aphalara itadori, to be released in Britain, only eats Japanese knotweed. The insects were brought to the UK from a specific location in southern Japan where the plant grows on rocky volcanic slopes and the climate is similar to the UK.

The aphid-like insect is about 2mm long and is an orange or brown colour. Typically the psyllid will only live for a few weeks and go through two or three life cycles in one summer. It lays thousands of eggs which hatch and immediately start sucking sap from the plant through its sharp mouth.

The winged insects are currently being bred in captivity in Britain but could spread once they are released, using the wind to carry them further.

However psyllid will be eaten by native predators like spiders and wasps and should die out once Japanese knotweed is brought under control.

Cabi, the not-for-profit organisation that is rolling out the introduction of the psyllid, put eggs on around 90 other plants like the knotweed but none were able to develop as adults.

They concluded that this made the species the "perfect candidate" for the first release of a non-native species to control another pest.

Plantlife, the plant charity, has suggested that three additional plants (Northern Knotgrass, Tasteless Water-pepper and Small Water-pepper should also be tested prior to release amid concerns the psyllid may affect these species.

Read more!

Disease threatening endangered Iberian lynx: conservationists

Yahoo News 9 Mar 10;

MADRID (AFP) – The Iberian lynx, the world's most endangered feline species, is under renewed threat from a disease affecting animals born in breeding centres in Spain, the conservation programme said Tuesday.

Three of the 72 animals in captivity have died since December from Chronic Kidney Disease, the most recent last week, the lynx Conservation Programme said in a statement.

More than one third of the animals in the two breeding centres have also shown symptoms of CKD, which only affects those in captivity.

Veterinarians from the programme "are working and consulting with experts to try to find the possible origin of the CKD, as well as trying to put in place measures that could prevent the emergence of new cases.

"For now, the focus is on maintaining and providing palliative care to the high percentage of the population affected by this disease."

The programme, launched in 2003, is aimed at producing enough lynxes in captivity so they can be reintroduced to the wild, a project that was to start this year.

Barely 200 Iberian lynxes are believed to remain in the wild, mostly in protected areas of southern Spain. At the start of the 20th century there were around 100,000 in Spain and Portugal.

But urban development, hunting, and most of all a dramatic decline due to disease in the number of wild rabbits, the lynx's main prey, have sharply reduced the numbers of the spotted cats, which can grow to about one metre (three feet) in length.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature now lists the species as "critically endangered" -- the highest category of risk for a wild animal.

Read more!

Philippines maps disaster hazards

Zones prone to landslides and floods marked
Alastair McIndoe, Straits Times 10 Mar 10;

MANILA: Four years ago, a massive landslide buried the village of Guinsaugon in the eastern Philippines, leaving more than 1,800 people dead.

Pounding rain had loosened the soil and boulders on a nearby mountainside and a section collapsed, entombing parts of Guinsaugon in mud 10m deep.

The tragedy galvanised the government into mapping the entire archipelago for natural hazards such as landslides and areas prone to flooding. The project began in the early 1990s, but progressed at a slow crawl because of lack of funding.

'The mapping is now almost completed,' said Mr Antonio Apostol, who heads the geological survey division of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

'After Guinsaugon, the President (Gloria Arroyo) gave the order to finish the project by the time she leaves office in June and we got the funding to do this.'

The only parts of the Philippines that have yet to be mapped are several municipalities in conflict areas affected by Muslim and communist insurgencies.

The maps - to a scale of 1:50,000 - cover more than 1,600 municipalities; high-risk areas are shaded in red and moderate-risk ones in yellow.

Funding for the project rose to 60 million pesos (S$1.8 million) a year after the Guinsaugon landslide, from an annual budget of just 5 million pesos.

A similar project to identify communities living in quake-prone areas has also been completed by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

The maps will be made freely available on the MGB's website as a tool for urban planners, builders and home buyers.

'We've even had problems with developers complaining the mapping will depress land prices,' said Mr Apostol.

According to a World Bank report, 866 people on average were killed every year in the Philippines between 1970 and 2000 by landslides, flooding, cyclones and other hazards. It called the country 'one of the most disaster prone' in the world.

The archipelago covers an area of intense volcanic activity and geological faults called the Ring of Fire, and is in the path of typhoons from the Pacific Ocean.

'Mapping the hazards was the mechanical part; the challenge now is to raise public awareness to the dangers,' said MGB assistant director Edwin Domingo.

As an accountability measure, local officials have to initial maps of their municipalities so that they cannot claim ignorance if a disaster strikes.

Past bids to relocate communities from danger zones had been strongly resisted by residents, for livelihood reasons, and by local politicians.

'Safe spaces are not necessarily scarce but are inaccessible and expensive for the local people living in disaster- prone areas with limited income,' said a report by Earthsavers Movement Philippines.

An early warning system is already in place at the community level to alert the authorities to telltale indicators of an area becoming prone to landslides. These include cracks appearing in the land surface and trees on slopes growing at skewed angles, a sign of soil erosion.

Even so, there is understandable frustration in Mr Apostol's department when warnings go unheeded - as they were when Typhoon Parma last October triggered deadly landslides in several communities in the mountainous municipality of La Trinidad in the northern Philippines.

'A few months before, we warned people that they were in danger from landslides and they should move out of the area,' said Mr Apostol. 'They refused and so we put up signs telling them to evacuate their homes if there was heavy rainfall.'

More than 160 people died in the multiple landslides. MGB geologists visiting the area after the disaster found that one of their warning signs had been placed directly in the path of a landslide.

Read more!

Drought ravages famed Philippine rice terraces

Yahoo News 9 Mar 10;

MANILA (AFP) – A worsening drought is exacting a terrible toll on the world-famous mountain rice terraces of the northern Philippines, local officials said Tuesday.

A state of calamity was this week declared for the Banaue area that is home to many of the ancient stone-walled paddies and one of the Southeast Asian nation's most popular tourist destinations, the officials said.

"The tourists still come here, but all they see are parched fields and forest fires and leave disappointed," Abriol Chuliba, chief aide to the Banaue mayor, told AFP in a telephone interview.

The rice terraces, a United Nations World Heritage site and known locally as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", were built between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago using huge rocks for each step and a complex trickle-down irrigation system.

Banaue tourist information bureau officer Juliet Mateo said the rice paddies most frequented by tourists at Batad and Bangaan had dried up completely as much of the country suffered from an El Nino-induced drought.

Mateo said the rice harvest, which takes six months in the mountains compared with three months on the flats, was in danger of being ruined completely by the drought.

"The mountain rice was planted in December and January, but the way things are going there won't be anything left to harvest in June and July," Mateo told AFP.

She said Ifugao province governor Teodoro Baguilat had declared the state of calamity for Banaue on Monday. This allowed local authorities to tap into emergency funds to help farmers.

Chuliba said seasonal rains ceased completely last month, causing the mountain springs upstream of Batad and Bangaan that water the terraces to dry up.

"Not all areas are affected, but if this will continue until next month they won't be able to plant anything anymore," he said of the other terraces in Ifugao.

He said it was the worst dry spell he could remember in the area since another El Nino-induced drought in 1998.

The national government has said the drought, caused by cyclical warming of the waters of the Pacific Ocean, is set to last until the middle of the year.

The government expects the rice output of the Philippines, already the world's top rice importer, to decline further due to drought, forcing it to ship in more of the staple grain from abroad.

However the Ifugao rice terraces, which cover an area of 22,000 hectares (53,000 acres), are more important to the country as a tourism attraction than a source of rice.

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IMF boss defends plan for 'green fund'

Yahoo News 9 Mar 10;

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – The head of the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday defended plans to create a 100 billion dollar fund to help countries mitigate the effects of climate change.

"The problem of climate change itself is not really in the mandate of the IMF," Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a group of students in South Africa's economic hub Johannesburg.

"What is in the mandate of the IMF is to help financing, in a sustainable way, what has to be done -- especially in the developing countries -- to deal with it."

Climate change "has a lot of macro-economic consequences", he said, including "consequences on the social security, a threat to democracy and sometimes a threat to peace."

"This is why the Fund has undertaken a mechanism sophisticated enough and innovative enough to allow the unblocking of the considerable sums necessary to deal with questions of climate change," he said.

The late January announcement of the "Green Fund" had raised worries that the Strauss-Kahn was trying to extend the IMF's mandate beyond its traditional sphere.

He said the IMF would in about two weeks release a working document to explain the proposed scheme.

The document will be sent for discussion by a high-level climate advisory panel set up by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in mid-February.

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China And India Endorse Copenhagen Climate Deal

Matthias Williams, PlanetArk 10 Mar 10;

China and India joined almost all other major greenhouse gas emitters Tuesday in signing up to the climate accord struck in Copenhagen, boosting a deal strongly favored by the United States.

More than 100 nations have now endorsed the Copenhagen Accord, a non-binding agreement reached after two weeks of tortuous wrangling at a 194-nation summit in December.

The accord plans $100 billion a year in climate aid for developing nations from 2020 and seeks to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F) above pre-industrial times, but produced no timetable of emission limits to reach that goal.

Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told parliament that India would also let its name join the list of "associated" countries on the three-page document.

"This will strengthen our negotiating position on climate change," Ramesh said.

Chinese negotiator Su Wei wrote a one-sentence letter to the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat in Bonn saying that it could "proceed to include China in the list."

China, the United States, the European Union, Russia and India are the main emitters of the greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming -- mostly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Only Russia has yet to associate with the deal.

The endorsements are a small boost for the Accord, which environmentalists say was a bare-minimum outcome from a summit that many nations hoped would end with a broad, legally binding pact to fight climate change.

But they offer little indication of how, or when, rich and poor nations might agree on a binding mechanism for combating climate changes that scientists say will multiply droughts, floods, storms and heatwaves, and dramatically raise sea levels.

China and India have preferred since Copenhagen to stress the supremacy of the 1992 U.N. Climate Convention, agreed in Kyoto, which puts the emphasis on rich nations cutting emissions.

LUKEWARM

Ramesh reiterated that India's support for Copenhagen was lukewarm.

"The Accord is a political document. It is not a template for outcomes," he said, adding that it could not supplant years of U.N.-led talks meant to yield a new, binding treaty.

In contrast, the United States, which wants to bind the major developing economies such as China and India into commitments to limit emissions, has said that the Accord could guide talks on a new treaty.

It has urged "further formalization of the Accord" at the next major U.N. climate meeting at the end of 2010 in Mexico.

Progress on a new treaty has stalled, partly because the U.S. Senate has yet to decide whether to cap greenhouse gas emissions. President Barack Obama wants a cut of 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, or about 4 percent below 1990 levels.

Few countries want to commit to a costly shift to renewable energies unless Washington joins in. Skeptics are questioning the 2007 conclusions by a U.N. panel of scientists that blamed mankind for global warming after errors in the report.

At the end of the Copenhagen summit, the BASIC group of nations -- China, India, South Africa and Brazil -- joined the United States, the European Union and a small number of other countries in agreeing to the Accord.

But the text was only "noted" by the summit as a whole after objections from a few developing nations such as Sudan, Ecuador and Venezuela. In a compromise, it was decided nations wishing to "associate" with it would be listed at the top of the text.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Factbox: China and India endorse Copenhagen climate plan
Reuters 9 Mar 10;

(Reuters) - China and India signed up to the Copenhagen Accord for fighting climate change on Tuesday, joining almost all other major greenhouse gas emitters in endorsing the non-binding pact.

Russia is the largest greenhouse gas emitter yet to make clear if it wants to be associated with the deal, reached at a summit in December, which has strong backing from the United States.

The accord sets a goal of limiting a rise in world temperatures to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F), but does not set out how to achieve the target. Rich nations also aim to give $100 billion a year in climate aid from 2020.

The number of backers has risen to just over 100 of 194 member states. Of these, more than 60 have also issued domestic goals for reining in climate change by 2020. A U.N. analysis indicates these pledges will only be sufficient to limit global warming to 3 degrees Celsius (5.4F).

Following are details of national plans published on the website of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat -- an asterisk (*) shows nations wanting to be listed at the top of the text.

INDUSTRIALISED NATIONS -- EMISSIONS CUTS BY 2020 (FROM 1990

LEVELS UNLESS STATED)

* UNITED STATES - 17 percent from 2005 levels, or 4 percent from 1990 levels.

* EUROPEAN UNION (27 nations) - 20 percent, or 30 percent if others act.

RUSSIA - 15 to 25 percent.

* JAPAN - 25 percent as part of a "fair and effective international framework."

* CANADA - 17 percent from 2005 levels, matching U.S. goal.

* AUSTRALIA - 5 percent below 2000 levels, 25 percent if there is an ambitious global deal. The range is 3-23 percent below 1990.

* BELARUS - 5 to 10 percent, on condition of access to carbon trading and new technologies.

* CROATIA - 5 percent.

* KAZAKHSTAN - 15 percent.

* NEW ZEALAND - 10 to 20 percent "if there is a comprehensive global agreement."

* NORWAY - 30 percent, or 40 if there is an ambitious deal.

* ICELAND - 30 percent in a joint effort with the EU.

* LIECHTENSTEIN - 20 percent, or 30 percent if others act.

* MONACO - 30 percent; aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

DEVELOPING NATIONS' ACTIONS FOR 2020

* CHINA - Aims to cut the amount of carbon produced per unit of economic output by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 levels. This "carbon intensity" goal would let emissions keep rising, but more slowly than economic growth.

* INDIA - Aims to reduce the emissions intensity of gross domestic product by 20 to 25 percent from 2005 levels.

* BRAZIL - Aims to cut emissions by between 36.1 and 38.9 percent below "business as usual" levels with measures such as reducing deforestation, energy efficiency and more hydropower.

* SOUTH AFRICA - With the right international aid, South Africa says its emissions could peak between 2020-25, plateau for a decade and then decline in absolute terms from about 2035.

* INDONESIA - Aims to reduce emissions by 26 percent by 2020 with measures including sustainable peat management, reduced deforestation, and energy efficiency.

* MEXICO - Aims to cut greenhouse gases by up to 30 percent below "business as usual." A climate change programme from 2009-12 will also avert 51 million tonnes of carbon emissions.

* SOUTH KOREA - Aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below "business as usual" projections.

OTHERS' PLEDGES

* ARMENIA - Increase renewable energy output, modernize power plants, restore forests.

* BENIN - Develop public transport in Cotonou, better forest management, methane recovery from waste in big cities.

* BHUTAN - Already absorbs more carbon in vegetation than it emits from burning fossil fuels; plans to stay that way.

* BOTSWANA - Shift to gas from coal. Nuclear power, renewables, biomass and carbon capture also among options.

* CONGO - Improve agriculture, limit vehicles in major cities, better forestry management.

* COSTA RICA - A long-term effort to become "carbon neutral" under which any industrial emissions will be offset elsewhere, for instance by planting forests.

* ETHIOPIA - More hydropower dams, wind farms, geothermal energy, biofuels and reforestation.

* GABON - Increase forestry, bolster clean energy

* GEORGIA - Try to build a low-carbon economy while ensuring continued growth.

* GHANA - Switch from oil to natural gas in electricity generation, build more hydropower dams, raise the share of renewable energy to 10-20 percent of electricity by 2020.

* ISRAEL - Strive for a 20 percent cut in emissions below "business as usual" projections. Goals include getting 10 percent of electricity generation from renewable sources.

* IVORY COAST - Shift to renewable energies, better forest management and farming, improved pollution monitoring.

* JORDAN - Shift to renewable energies, upgrade railways, roads and ports. Goals include modernizing military equipment.

* MACEDONIA - Improve energy efficiency, boost renewable energies, harmonize with EU energy laws.

* MADAGASCAR - Shift to hydropower for major cities, push for "large scale" reforestation across the island, improve agriculture, waste management and transport.

* MALDIVES - Achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2020.

* MARSHALL ISLANDS - Cut carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent below 2009 levels.

* MAURITANIA - Raise forest cover to 9 percent by 2050 from 3.2 percent in 2009, boost clean energy.

* MOLDOVA - Cut emissions by "no less than 25 percent" from 1990 levels.

* MONGOLIA - Examining large-scale solar power in the Gobi desert, wind and hydropower. Improve use of coal.

* MOROCCO - Develop renewable energies such as wind, solar power, hydropower. Improve industrial efficiency.

* PAPUA NEW GUINEA - At least halve emissions per unit of economic output by 2030; become carbon neutral by 2050.

* SIERRA LEONE - Set up a National Secretariat for Climate Change, create 12 protected areas by 2015, protect forests.

* SINGAPORE - Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 16 percent below "business as usual" levels if the world agrees a strong, legally binding deal.

* SIERRA LEONE - Increase conservation efforts, ensure forest cover of at least 3.4 million hectares by 2015. Develop clean energy including biofuels from sugarcane or rice husks.

TOGO - Raise forested area to 30 percent of the country by 2050 from 7 percent in 2005; improve energy efficiency.

Other nations asking to be associated, without outlining 2020 targets: Albania, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Fiji, Guatemala, Guyana, Kiribati, Laos, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Montenegro, Namibia, Nepal, Palau, Panama, Peru, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay.

Ecuador, Kuwait and Nauru reject association. The Philippines will support the Accord if developed nations make deep and early cuts.

(Compiled by Alister Doyle in Oslo; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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