Food Waste Republic
a new resource on food waste in singapore
Special mangrove trees at Pasir Ris Park
from wild shores of singapore
Stealing a peek
from The annotated budak and two-and-a-half hours and bubbles and black faces.
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo perching on a tree trunk
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Dog-Faced Water Snake in Tanjung Rhu
from Nature Is Awesome
The Secrets of Gua Kandu: Revealed
from SiputKuning.com
Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post 12 Apr 10;
What does it take to determine which of the world's 9,800 bird species depend on fresh water for survival? Try devoting two months' worth of evenings and weekends to reading the descriptions of every known avian species, which is what Timothy Boucher did.
"Being a fanatic birder, I decided this could be really fun," recalled Boucher, a senior conservation geographer at the Nature Conservancy who has personally seen and identified 4,257 species of birds in his life. So his "life list," as birders say, covers 43 percent of the bird species that exist.
The result of Boucher's work -- a map showing the wetlands and rivers on which 828 freshwater bird species depend -- is part of the Atlas of Global Conservation, a new publication that shows how nature is faring across the globe.
Environmental researchers evaluate the state of nature in a number of ways -- by listing the most imperiled species, focusing on particular habitats or detailing the pace of human activities that transform the planet. But mapmaking, which provides a visual account of how different ecological regions are faring, provides one of the most easily accessible ways of depicting of the global environment.
The atlas is the work of eight scientists at the Nature Conservancy who three years ago set out to chart everything from the mangroves in Borneo where proboscis monkeys live to the extent of grasslands on Mongolia's steppes, in order to produce 80 detailed maps.
"The atlas is telling us what's where, what state it's in, what people are doing to it now -- the big threats, and what we can do to turn it around," said senior marine scientist Mark Spalding of the Conservancy.
The maps -- all done on the same scale -- depict a dizzying array of ecosystems, plants and animals across the globe in different stages of depletion. One shows how the human demand for water outstrips the natural supply in dry and crowded regions such as the American West and the Mediterranean basin; another shows how large areas of intact forests cover 10 percent of the earth's land surface, while they once spread over nearly half of it.
"The sobering message shouldn't be glossed over," said Boucher. He added that since maps showing where animals are threatened also show that some are surging back to health, "It's a case of sorrow, but also a case of hope."
Eric Sanderson, a senior conservation ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said one of the most significant aspects of the book is that it crosses the three types of habitats that exist: terrestrial, freshwater and marine.
"They're literally covering a hundred percent of the world with the datasets," Sanderson said, adding that while his group focuses on species, the atlas sheds light on how the eco-regions of the world are faring. "It's really important that we conserve not just the places with the most species, which tend to be in the tropics, but conserve places across the gradient of nature."
Evaluating the state of the world's habitats and the living creatures that inhabit them amounts to a daunting task. In order to obtain the level of detail they needed, the atlas's authors delved into centuries-old archives as well as Google maps, and tapped into the work of 70 institutions worldwide. In some cases they sought out experts in Russia, Latin America and Asia who could guide them.
In other cases, finding the right mathematical equation was essential. The Nature Conservancy's senior terrestrial scientist, Michael Jennings, created a map titled "Into the Wild" that examines the impact of increasing human access to remote areas. To do that he relied on a model developed by the Swedish army that estimates how hunters and gatherers move across the landscape, along with a report that calculated how much effort it takes farmers in developing countries to get their products to market.
While the project began as an internal planning exercise for the Conservancy, which has established a goal of conserving 10 percent of the world's nature by 2015, Boucher said the group is now using its mapmaking to inform members of the public "so they really understand what they're doing to our planet, and then figure out what we can do to change it."
The Atlas of Global Conservation will be published jointly by the Conservancy and the University of California Press on April 22.
For all of the atlas's stark images of environmental degradation -- such as one showing the many causes of amphibians' decline -- it also hints at the possibility of recovery with maps charting protected areas that cross international borders.
"We have the technology. We have the tools, we have the mechanisms, the ideas, the plans to turn things around," Spalding said. "We can turn things around."
The Atlas of Global Conservation http://www.nature.org/tncscience/maps/
Bernama 11 Apr 10;
SANDAKAN, April 11 (Bernama) -- We will cross the bridge when we come to it. An orang utan has given new meaning to this oft-said adage, based on photographic evidence obtained last February.
The young male primate spent about 20 minutes at an orang utan rope bridge which was specially-built to re-connect isolated orang utan populations within the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary.
According to Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Project (KOCP) co-director Dr Isabelle Lackman, there was photographic evidence showing the orang utan using the bridge to cross from the Pangi Forest Reserve into Lot 1 of sanctuary.
She said the photographs were obtained from a member of the local community, Ajirun Osman @ Aji, who took snap shots of the primate in February.
"Over the years, we have received numerous eye-witness accounts of the orang utan using these rope bridges.
"However, this is the first time we have received photographic evidence which clearly shows a young male orang utan using the first rope bridge we constructed in 2003, to cross over Rasang river, a small tributary of Kinabatangan," she said in a statement here Sunday.
Dr Lackman explained that in the past, the primates would have used tall old trees in forests as "natural bridges" over small rivers.
Currently however, the orang utan no longer have this luxury since most trees have been logged.
"Today, the orang utan is facing more man-made obstacles such as illegal planting of oil palm all the way down to the river bank, leaving no riparian reserve which are actually required by law under the Environment Protection Enactment of 2002, as well as the Water Resources Enactment of 1998," she said.
Unfortunately, all the great ape species which includes the orang utans are unable to swim, hence are further isolated within forest.
To address such issues and to reconnect isolated populations, KOCP which was established by the Sabah Wildlife Department and the French non-governmental organisation HUTAN in 1998, built six rope bridges.
Camera traps were also set up to capture pictures in the event of orang utan using the rope bridges. However, they either malfunctioned or were destroyed by macaques which used the rope bridges regularly.
-- BERNAMA
No bridge too far for orang utans
New Straits Times 12 Apr 10;
KINABATANGAN: One orang utan has been seen using the rope bridge built specifically to reconnect isolated orang utan populations in the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary to cross the Rasang river and get to another part of the sanctuary.
Snapshots taken in February show a young male primate crossing the bridge from the Pangi forest reserve.
Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Project (KOCP) co-director Dr Isabelle Lackman said this was the first photographic evidence of such an encounter.
"Over the years, we've received many sightings of orang utans using the rope bridges but no visual proof.
"These pictures clearly show that orang utans have used it to cross the Rasang river," she said here yesterday.
The bridge, built in 2003, was the first of six to be built for the orang utan population.
The photographs were taken by Ajirun Osman Aji, who claimed the orang utan spent about 20 minutes on the bridge before crossing it.
Lackman said in the past, orang utans would use giant trees as "natural bridges" to swing from one area to another.
But most of the trees had since been logged and thus made it difficult for the orang utans to move from one area to another.
There are an estimated 1,000 orang utans within the protected and non-protected areas of Lower Kinabatangan.
Sabah has an estimated 11,000 orang utans.
Ape bridge project a success
The Star 12 Apr 10;
KOTA KINABALU: The orang utan bridge project to reconnect isolated populations around Kinabatangan has proven to be successful.
Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Project (KOCP) co-director Dr Isabella Lackman said pictures of an orang utan using the rope bridges built in 2003 confirmed that the project had met its objective.
“Over the years, we have received local eyewitness reports of orang utans using these rope bridges.
“But this is the first time we have received photographic evidence, showing a young male using the first bridge we constructed in 2003 to cross over Resang River, a small tributary of the Kinabatangan,” said Dr Lackman.
Local community member Ajiran Osman Aji, who took the pictures in February this year, said the orang utan spent about 20 minutes at the rope bridge tree before finally crossing over.
“It seemed like once he decided to cross, he did so very fast, going over in about three minutes from the Pangi Forest Reserve into Lot 1 of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Dr Lackman said unlike in the past when orang utans could use tall, old growth forest as “natural bridges” over small rivers,they now no longer had this luxury since most trees had been logged.
Illegal oil palm plantations, she said, also contributed to the isolation of orang utan populations as large drains the size of small rivers were built to draw off excess water.
“Unfortunately, all the great ape species, including the orang utans, are unable to swim. They are further isolated within the forest,” said Dr Lackman.
To address these issues and reconnect isolated populations, KOCP had built six rope bridges.
Wildlife veterinarian and KOCP co-director Dr Marc Ancrenaz said: “Using rope bridges is a quick fix but eventually, the most ideal solution would be to reconnect the forest and we are all working on this.”
Orangutan uses bridge to find mates
Straits Times 11 Apr 10;
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN wildlife activists said on Sunday they have photographic evidence of the endangered orangutan using man-made treetop bridges to find new mates and prevent inbreeding.
Orangutan habitats in Malaysia and Indonesia have been devastated as jungles are cleared by logging companies and to make way for plantations, putting the ape at risk of inbreeding as they are split into smaller populations.
Activists in Malaysia's eastern Sabah state on Borneo island since 2003 began building bridges in a bid to save the species, which could be virtually eliminated from the wild within two decades if deforestation continues. 'Over the years we have received numerous local eyewitness reports of the orangutans using these rope bridges but this is the first time we have received photographic evidence,' Isabelle Lackman from environmental group Hutan said.
She said a group of pictures captured by a local in February showed a young male ape crossed the single rope 20-metre bridge, one of the six built by activists, in the Lower Kinabatangan Sanctuary in Sabah.
Experts say there are about 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans - Asia's only great ape - left in the wild, 80 percent of them in Indonesia and the rest in Malaysian's eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo.
Ms Hutan said the evidence marked a success in efforts to conserve the population but called for the establishment of wildlife corridors that would enable the apes to move across the fragmented landscape and alongside rivers. The group said using rope bridges is a 'quick fix", while Sabah Wildlife Department head Laurentius Ambu said the permanent wildlife corridor will help save other species like Bornean Pygmy Elephants, sunbears and clouded leopards. -- AFP
Budi Otmansyah, Jakarta Globe 11 Apr 10;
Pekanbaru, Riau. Arson could be behind the razing on Sunday morning of a camp set up by Greenpeace in the middle of the Kampar peninsula to help protect against deforestation, the camp’s caretaker said.
“The camp burned down early in the morning [on Sunday]. We could see the fire and smoke from across the river,” said Syamsudin, a 67-year-old resident of Teluk Meranti village who serves as the caretaker of the camp.
“I and other villagers went to that camp and tried to put out the fire but without success. Instead it just kept getting bigger and uncontrollable, causing main building and musholla to completely burn down,” he said, adding that the fire lasted for around one hour.
The 20- by 50-meter Climate Defenders Camp was established in October in Teluk Meranti village, Pelalawan district on the Kampar peninsula, which environmental groups say is threatened by massive exploitation of peat bogs.
In November, Greenpeace handed over the camp, made with coconut trees and dried leaves, to local people to manage.
Syamsudin said he had not seen anything suspicious when he left the camp on Saturday night.
“I usually sleep in the camp but last night I had to tend to a sick family member. I remember that I left the camp in a clean and neat condition. Even the Greenpeace banner in front of the camp’s entrance was placed nicely,” he said.
“However, when the camp was on fire I noticed that the camp had already been torn apart. The Greenpeace banner had already been ripped all over.”
He said he suspected arson behind the fire. “There are people, villagers, who favor the companies, who have been staking out the camp over the past few days,” he said.
The camp served as a base for protests against deforestation in the district by forestry companies that activists say flout national conservation laws.
Demonstrators have specifically targeted Asia Pulp and Paper, a Sinar Mas subsidiary that Greenpeace has accused of being responsible for clearing away an immense amount of forest land over the last three decades, and Singapore-based Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL), the world’s largest pulp and paper producer, which has been granted a huge concession covering most of Kampar’s 400,000 hectares.
Greenpeace staged two controversial protests in the area, one of which involved activists chaining themselves to excavators owned by APRIL, which led to the deportation of their foreign members and the arrest of Indonesian activists.
Zulfahmi, forest campaigner for Greenpeace South East Asia, said the group would leave the investigation into the fire in the hands of the police and urged legal action if the investigation revealed that the camp was deliberately burned.
“If there is evidence that it had been set on purpose, we want the police to investigate that,” Zulfahmi said.
However, Pelalawan police chief Ari Rahman Nafarin said his office had not received any complaints about the fire.
“I haven’t heard about it. There was no report from Greenpeace,” Ari said.
“If there’s any official complaint then we will go through with an investigation. At the moment, we’ll still need to check the site that was reportedly burned,” he said.
Christina Chin, The Star 12 Apr 10;
IT was an exciting affair for dozens of nature lovers as they cheered enthusiastically for more than 100 newly-hatched baby turtles that were struggling to make their way into the open sea.
The hatchlings were released from Pantai Kerachut in Muka Head, Penang.
Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) wildlife conservation ambassador Adifasha Juraimi, who is also an Era radio deejay, said he was “happy and excited” to be at the Turtle Conservation Centre to witness the event.
“I am an animal lover so I am thrilled to be here. This is my first encounter with turtles and they are just so wonderful,” he said.
The release was held in conjunction with the park’s two-day Community Carnival.
Penang Fisheries Department licensing and resource protection branch chief Mohd Rafi Hassan said the centre targeted to release 6,000 turtles into the sea this year under its conservation project.
The young turtles were only released when it was dark to prevent eagles and fishes from spotting them.
“Last year, 5,200 turtles were successfully hatched from 8,543 eggs.
“We hope to collect 10,000 eggs this year and successfully hatch at least 6,000 turtles.
“Since January, we have released almost 700 baby turtles into the sea,” he said, adding that the eggs were collected from Pantai Teluk Ketapang Kecil, Pantai Teluk Kampi and Pantai Kerachut to be hatched at the centre.
The department purchases the eggs from appointed collectors at a price of RM2 each.
“So far, we have not received any reports of people collecting the eggs illegally — which is good news,” Mohd Rafi said.
Department officer Mansor Yobe said the uncertain weather conditions and temperature were the main reasons for the eggs failing to hatch.
“Here at the centre, we prefer to let the eggs hatch in the turtles’ natural habitat (on the beach) rather than in a temperature-controlled hatchery,” he said.
“This is because research has shown that in-situ hatchlings (natural) are healthier than ex-situ (hatchery) hatchlings.
“Here, the main thing we look out for are predators such as monitor lizards, palm civets and crabs.
“We recently built new fences to ensure that the hatchlings are not attacked,” he said.
In September last year, 15 baby turtles had their heads bitten off by what was believed to be a palm civet.
Mohd Rafi said the incident occurred because the eggs had hatched earlier than expected when no one was stationed there that night.
John McBeth, Straits Times 12 Apr 10;
INDONESIA may be home to 28,100 megawatts of potential geothermal power, equivalent to 12 billion barrels of oil or the current capacity of the main Java-Bali grid, but only now is it starting to focus on harnessing it as a major part of the country's energy mix.
Under a US$17.3 billion (S$24 billion) so-called Second Crash Programme, scheduled for completion in 2014, the government wants to build 44 new geothermal plants, adding 3,997MW to the existing output of 1,179MW.
While the initial plan was to add 4,500MW, the boost still represents 40 per cent of the 10,153MW programme, with clean and renewable energy offered by geothermal, natural gas and hydro power taking precedence over coal, which dominated the first fast-track projects.
Geothermal currently makes up only 3 per cent of state-run utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara's (PLN) power generation, behind coal (33 per cent, but soon to rise to 40 per cent), oil (36 per cent), natural gas (18 per cent) and hydro (18 per cent). The national energy policy stipulates that geothermal usage should rise to 9,500MW by 2025.
Mines and Energy Ministry officials hope that an international geothermal conference in Bali later this month will provide an opportunity for Indonesia to attract global investors to a sector that has been largely neglected.
Experts, however, are already questioning whether PLN and private power developers will be able to raise the estimated US$12 billion needed for the new plants.
The order-of-magnitude cost of a geothermal project works out at about US$2.6 million a megawatt, far greater than the US$1.3 million for a coal plant because of the heavy up-front investment needed to develop and pay for the resource.
Much will depend on the government's willingness to issue sovereign guarantees and also on how private developers view the Ministry of Mines and Energy's decision to set a price ceiling of 9.7 cents per kilowatt hour.
While that is double what PLN pays for coal-fired power, it may still not be enough for firms to make a sufficient return in such new 'greenfield' areas as Sulawesi, Maluku and the Nusa Tenggara island chain.
One guide to future pricing may come from the recently concluded negotiations between PLN and an Itochu Corp-Ormat Technologies-Medco Energi consortium over the two-stage 440MW Sarulla geothermal plant in North Sumatra.
When the consortium took over the US$600 million project in 2006 from the original developer, a joint venture between PLN and the Pertamina state oil company, the kilowatt-per-hour price of 4.52 US cents was based on 2004 levels.
The newly negotiated rate is 6.79 US cents, short of the 8 US cents the consortium is believed to have been holding out for, but apparently sufficient to cover a 40 per cent increase in construction costs over the last five years.
The project is crucial in providing future base load power for PLN's electricity-starved 1,130MW North Sumatra- Aceh grid system, with sales revenue expected to top about US$115 million a year when it reaches full capacity.
Sarulla will be Indonesia's second biggest geothermal plant, after the Wayang Windu complex in West Java, where Indonesian-owned Star Energy plans to add a further 240MW extension to its existing 110MW and 117MW units.
Star has similar pricing concerns, but industry sources say the Sarulla deal may fall short as a benchmark because of different contract variables and a greatly reduced price escalation clause in the new 30-year contracts.
Developers are also concerned that while price escalation in earlier contracts kicked in from the date of signing, it now won't begin until the plant goes commercial - a four-year period during which capital costs could change dramatically.
'The government needs to take hard decisions on re-pricing,' says one power executive. 'But nowhere do we see either the leadership or the understanding of what it takes to ensure contract surety.'
Not everyone is sympathetic. 'Risk transfer is the whole idea behind private power,' says one Western financier. 'The independents have to factor all this in. If PLN gives in too much, it could face allegations that it has caused losses to the state.'
While the government is paying commendable attention to the power needs of Sumatra and the outlying islands, analysts believe about half of the 44 plants are not viable because of poor economies of scale.
Among 12 planned projects at 20MW or below each are a 7MW plant on Sabang island, off Aceh's northern coast, and even smaller 5MW plants in Central Sulawesi, North Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara.
Another impediment is the fact that only a handful of specialised companies, including Chevron, Star, Medco and Supreme Energy, have the international financial backing and the expertise to build a geothermal plant.
'There are a lot of cowboys out there with no visible means of support,' says a senior industry executive. 'The government tender committee now tends to put in onerous pre-tender provisions just to weed them out.'
PLN recently announced it was transferring six of its originally planned 11 geothermal projects, with a total capacity of 860MW, to independent producers because of the problems it has had in securing financing.
Three of the projects in East Java were the subject of protest from the provincial government, which correctly argues that under the 2003 Geothermal Law it has the sole right to choose investors and decide on downstream usage.
PLN has yet to issue a draft power purchase agreement to regional administrations which, as designated owners of geothermal resources, are supposed to award the concession agreements.
Geothermal plants take five years to build, which means the government is already facing an uphill struggle to meet a deadline that was hopelessly ambitious in the first place.
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 10 Apr 10;
With a population of 1.4 billion and control the largest oil reserves, Muslims can play a crucial role in the addressing of climate change, an expert told a conference on Friday.
Sead Elgezawi from the World Islamic Call Society said Muslims could take part in a green revolution to replenish nature and educate people on the importance of protecting the environment.
Addressing the international conference on Muslim action on climate change, he said many verses in the Koran promoted an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
“The majority of Muslims are unaware or uninterested in environmental issues even though millions of them worldwide suffer every year from a lack of natural resources,” Elgezawi said.
He said Muslims should get involved and work with Western countries that had invested significantly into research.
“We have to join hands and work together for the sake of humanity such that we leave this world in better shape than we found it for the next generation. There is no alternative,” he said.
The two-day conference, attended by 200 participants from 15 countries, will attempt to formulate concrete steps Muslims can take to tackle climate change.
The first Muslim climate conference held in Kuwait City in 2008 declared a seven-year action plan.
The action plan included initiatives to set up green haj, environmentally friendly mosques and publications of the Koran using paper from sustainable forests.
The action plan being drafted envisions that future haj would be free of plastic bottles.
Environmental expert Emil Salim questioned why many Muslim-majority countries had bad environmental records and were impoverished despite huge oil reserves. Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are home to more than 40 percent of the world’s Muslims. None of these countries are net exporters of oil.
He said Muslim countries also needed a paradigm shift in development by promoting environmental aspects rather than focusing on boosting economic growth.
Emil, who is also advisor to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on environmental and sustainable development, said the surface air temperature in Indonesia increased by 0.5 degree Celsius during the 20th century and predicted an increase by 2 degree Celsius by 2070.
He said climate change was also responsible for raising sea levels, leading to frequent floods and erosion of the coastline.
Founding director of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Science, Fazlun Khalid, said Muslims could support government policies on climate change through real action.
“[Climate change] is the only competition where everyone can win,” he said.
Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said the conference should serve as a milestone to increase cooperation among Muslim-majority countries in the world on climate change.
“It is time for us to conserve our environment based on Islamic perspectives and theology,” Gusti said in a speech read by Henry Bastaman, the deputy for communication and public empowerment at the ministry.
Education Key to Save The Planet: Muslim Leaders
Jakarta Globe 12 Apr 10;
Bogor. After a two-day meeting, Muslim communities from around the world have produced a joint declaration underlining the importance of integrating science and Islamic teachings into policy focusing on better education to address climate change.
The 120 participants from 14 countries gathered since Friday for the first international conference known as Muslim Action on Climate Change agreed to set up a special council that would take the lead in protecting Islamic nations from the impacts of climate change and work hard to promote green cities.
The declaration recognized Bogor as a sustainable green city, joining three others worldwide including Sale, Morocco; Medina, Saudi Arabia; and Sanaa, Yemen.
“There are actually lots of steps that need to be discussed by Muslim communities to save the environment, but we have agreed [through the declaration] that tackling climate change should start with education,” said Ismid Hadad, head of the conference steering committee.
He said environmental issues were closely connected with science, therefore Muslim communities needed to focus on education. He said people will need to be more attuned to experts and scientists who can create solutions to reversing environmental destruction.
“This is just the early step in order to raise more awareness on environmental issues. There are a few decisions [that have been reached] but there are more studies coming up,” he said.
In October 2008, Muslim communities produced the Muslim Seven-Year Action Plan for Climate Change, which listed plans such as establishing an Islamic environmental labeling system, implementing a green hajj, building green mosques, and developing envi.
However, there was no discussion in the conference of key targets such as a plan to reduce the carbon footprint from the hajj. Ismid said representatives expected to talk about the pilgrimage program were not at the meeting. “We didn’t discuss the... hajj program as the details were still unclear,” he said.
Ismid said there would be more meetings to set up governing bodies to implement and monitor the seven-year plan.
At the conference’s opening ceremony, Emil Salim, presidential advisor on the environment and sustainable development, said Muslim communities needed to put science and religion into accord.
“Many years ago, Islamic teachings had close connections with science, for instance, when Muslim people were ordered to pray according to kiblat [always point to the west], Muslim scientists created astrology and astronomy,” Emil said. “But then there were huge gaps created between religious teachings and science.”
JG, Antara, AFP
Muslims urged to tackle climate change
UPI 12 Apr 10;
BOGOR, Indonesia, April 12 (UPI) -- An international Muslim conference on climate change concluded Saturday with The Bogor Declaration, stressing the need to prevent climate change through education.
Approximately 150 people, including environmental experts, scientists, religious clerics and organization leaders, from 14 countries participated in the two-day conference in Bogor, Indonesia.
Participants suggested that sustainability messages could be delivered to followers through the mosques and called for the establishment of eco-friendly Islamic boarding schools, The Jakarta Post reports.
However, they failed to discuss the implementation of the environmentally friendly hajj proposed at the first Muslim climate conference in Kuwait City in 2008.
Groups of environmentalists from Islamic states were formed during the Indonesian conference, with the aim of being a voice for Muslims on climate change at the international level.
"It essentially must start with education … we need experts and scientists who can create a way to prevent the environmental impact," said conference Chairman Ismid Hadad in concluding remarks, Indonesia's state-run news agency Antara reports.
Sead Elgezawi of the World Islamic Call Society told those attending the conference that many verses in the Koran promoted an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
"The majority of Muslims are unaware or uninterested in environmental issues even though millions of them worldwide suffer every year from a lack of natural resources," said Elgezawi, the Post reports.
He suggested that Muslims -- whose worldwide population totals 1.4 billion -- participate in a "green" revolution to restore the world's nature, as well as educate people about the need to protect the environment.
He called for Muslims to get involved and work with countries in the West that had invested in considerable research on such issues.
"We have to join hands and work together for the sake of humanity such that we leave this world in better shape than we found it for the next generation. There is no alternative," Elgezawi said.
Emil Salim, adviser to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on environmental and sustainable development, asked the group why many countries with a Muslim-majority population had poor environmental records. And he questioned why these countries were poor despite their wealth of oil reserves.
Salim said Muslim countries also needed to focus on environmental concerns in addition to boosting economic growth.
He warned that climate change was responsible for raising sea levels, resulting in frequent floods and eroding of coastlines. He pointed out that in Indonesia, the surface air temperature increased by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit during the 20th century. He predicted another increase of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit by 2070.
Gerard Wynn and Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 12 Apr 10;
The prospect of a global climate treaty is fading as the world's top two carbon emitters, China and the United States, avoid legally binding action. Experts say a shift to a less ambitious goal might help.
Less focus on a new treaty might resolve a tangle of disputes over the legal framework and drive concrete action, for example to preserve rainforests or to help developing nations cope with droughts, heatwaves, floods or rising seas.
U.N. climate talks to try to agree a tougher, wider successor to the present Kyoto Protocol entered their third year at an April 9-11 meeting in Bonn, Germany, the first since a fractious summit in Copenhagen in December.
Copenhagen was billed as the world's best chance to agree a new treaty. Failure to achieve a treaty or the smaller goal of binding carbon cuts for rich nations has sapped momentum and is forcing a search for less ambitious solutions.
"We can't afford only to keep coming back year after year, we have to explore other options," said Annie Petsonk, international counsel at the U.S.-based Environmental Defense Fund, adding that a treaty was still possible.
Annual U.N. climate meetings have failed to achieve any major breakthrough since signing the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The present round of that pact expires in 2012.
Experts note a less formal deal, outside a legal framework, may now emerge, building on the actions of individual nations.
More than 100 countries have backed a non-binding Copenhagen Accord to mobilize $30 billion in climate aid from 2010-2012 to help poor nations face the impacts of climate change, underscoring what could be agreed outside a legal framework.
"It used to be said that countries would only act if there was a treaty, but that's not the case," said Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director at Natural Resources Defense Council.
"A lot is happening even though we don't have an international agreement," he said, referring to the accord.
MEXICO
Mexico, which will host the next annual talks after Copenhagen in Cancun in late 2010, said that demands for a legally binding treaty should not get in the way of progress at that meeting.
"We do not want to get ensnared in the legal stuff so that we will be prevented from moving. What we want is to achieve a sensible global mobilization," Mexico's chief delegate Fernando Tudela said.
"If a legally binding treaty is possible and helps, we are all for it. But it's not a pre-condition for moving in the right direction." One senior developing country delegate accepted privately that the U.N. process may never agree a legal pact.
The difficulty of agreeing a binding treaty centers on the United States and China, who "remain in a dance about this issue," said Jennifer Morgan, from the World Resources Institute.
"There's not a legal treaty until you break this Gordian knot of the U.S. and China in particular having very different views of what it means to be legally binding," said Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
U.S. legislation to cut emissions is stalled in the U.S. Senate. And the United States will balk at binding targets unless China makes its own actions accountable in some international way.
Another roadblock to any treaty is a requirement for unanimity in U.N. talks -- absent in Copenhagen and which remained elusive in Bonn, as developing nations notably Cuba, Bolivia and Venezuela rejected any attempt to build agreement in smaller groups.
One of the reasons why a treaty has been the goal, especially of developing countries, was because it allows for sanctions on rich countries which miss their targets. Enforcing a non-binding deal is far more difficult.
Petsonk advocated an approach where rich nations tied developing countries and each other to certain minimum action before benefiting from a $125 billion carbon market.
That would draw upon a voluntary World Trade Organization model which has widened free trade by offering the benefits of WTO membership.
The biggest buyer of carbon offsets, the European Union, has already laid plans to limit its financing of carbon-cutting projects in emerging economies which do not bolster climate action. The United States, Japan and Australia plan cap and trade schemes which would scale up that carbon finance carrot.
Without such an approach the only crutch to a non-binding deal may be international criticism. "Naming and shaming may be what we end up with," Meyer said.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
Jerome Cartillier Yahoo News 12 Apr 10;
BONN (AFP) – Three days of talks aimed at putting a new gloss on UN climate talks ended here late Sunday after new textual trench warfare less than four months after a stormy summit in Copenhagen.
Countries wrangled for hours beyond the scheduled close over the work schedule under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and what blueprint to adopt for further negotiations.
"The negotiations were very tense. There is a lot of mistrust," said French chief negotiator Paul Watkinson.
"Some delegates don't seem to have taken onboard what happened in Copenhagen and the need to gain quick, concrete results."
As the 194-nation forum struggled with a sour mood, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer warned that the process would be dealt a crippling blow if it failed to deliver a breakthrough at a November 29-December 10 meeting in Cancun, Mexico.
Cancun had to yield a "functioning architecture" on big questions, including curbs on carbon emissions and aid for poor countries, de Boer said in an interview with AFP.
"We reached an agreement in Bali (in 2007) that we would conclude negotiations two years later in Copenhagen, and we didn't," he said.
"The finishing line has now been moved to Cancun, and I wouldn't be surprised if the final finishing line in terms of a legally binding treaty ends up being moved to South Africa," at the end of 2011.
"Copenhagen was the last get-out-of-jail-free card and we cannot afford another failure in Cancun," de Boer said. "(...) If we see another failure in Cancun, that will cause a serious loss of confidence in the ability of this process to deliver."
The Bonn talks exposed a rift between developed and developing countries over whether to pursue or quietly bury Copenhagen's main outcome.
This is the so-called Copenhagen Accord, brokered by a couple of dozen countries in frenzied late-night haggling as the summit faced collapse.
It sets a general goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), earmarks some 30 billion dollars in fast-track aid from 2010 to 2012 and sketches a target of mustering 100 billion dollars annually by 2020.
But the agreement came under fire from countries excluded from the small drafting group and failed to gain the endorsement of a 194-nation plenary. Around two-thirds of UNFCCC members have now signed up to it, though.
Some of the faultlines opened up again in Bonn.
The United States and the European Union (EU) said the Copenhagen Accord, despite its flaws, should be included in draft text for negotiations.
"We need a different paradigm and that's what emerges from Copenhagen," said top US delegate Jonathan Pershing to journalists.
Other countries were not keen about incorporating the Copenhagen Accord in the negotiating blueprint, reflecting concern about the document's purely voluntary emissions pledges and the way the deal was brokered.
Left-led nations in the Caribbean and Latin America attacked the Accord as undemocratic and a betrayal of UN principles. They called for negotiations to resume on the basis of a draft that was put on hold halfway through the Copenhagen meeting, delegates said.
After hours of debate, delegates agreed to give the chairwoman of the main working group, Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe, latitude to draw up a negotiating text.
The Copenhagen Accord was not specifically mentioned in this mandate, but Mukahanana-Sangarwe said orally it would be taken into account, along with other documents.
Two extra rounds of talks will take place before Cancun, the conference agreed.
Underpinning the UN talks is mounting evidence that manmade greenhouse gases -- mainly carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels -- are trapping solar heat in the atmosphere.
Within decades, changes to Earth's weather system could spell misery for many millions, hit by worsening drought, flood, rising sea levels and storms, say experts.
New climate talks set for 2010; no treaty seen yet
Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn, Reuters 11 Apr 10;
BONN, Germany (Reuters) - About 175 nations agreed a plan Sunday to salvage climate talks after the Copenhagen summit but the U.N.'s top climate official predicted a full new treaty was out of reach for 2010.
Delegates at the April 9-11 talks, marred by late-night wrangling between rich and poor nations on how to slow global warming, agreed to hold two extra meetings in the second half of 2010 after the December summit fell short of a binding deal.
The extra sessions, of at least a week long each, and a linked plan to prepare new draft U.N. climate texts would help pave the way to the next annual meeting of environment ministers in Cancun, Mexico, November 29-December 10.
"We had an outcome that was pretty positive. That is a good augury for what comes next," said Jonathan Pershing, head of the U.S. delegation. He said it was "a pain in the neck" that it took so long but noted U.N. climate talks were often sluggish.
"We have made substantial progress in the resuscitation of a positive spirit," said Dessima Williams of Grenada, who chairs the Alliance of Small Island States. The disputes showed that "multilateralism is very slow and complicated."
Earlier, the U.N.'s top climate official, Yvo de Boer, said governments should focus on practical steps in 2010, such as aid to poor nations to cope with the impacts of climate change, protection of tropical forests or new clean technologies.
"I don't think Cancun will provide the final outcome," de Boer told Reuters on the sidelines of the talks, the first since Copenhagen and intended to rebuild trust after the summit.
MANY MORE MEETINGS
"I think that Cancun can agree an operational architecture but turning that into a treaty, if that is the decision, will take more time beyond Mexico," he said, predicting "many more rounds" of talks to reach an ultimate solution.
Elliot Diringer, of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said that a climate treaty should remain the ultimate objective but might be years off. "We shouldn't fool ourselves about getting there this year or next," he said.
Delegates asked the chair of the talks, Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe of Zimbabwe, to come up with a draft text by May 17 on ways to combat global warming to help push ahead with negotiations at a meeting scheduled for Bonn May 31-June 11. Two extra meetings are also planned but no venues have been fixed.
All countries could send her input over the next two weeks.
At the heart of the dispute between rich and poor was the role of the non-binding Copenhagen Accord, worked out at the summit and backed by about 120 nations led by the United States.
Mukahanana-Sangarwe said she reckoned she could draw on elements of the Accord in her work, even though it was not adopted by all in Copenhagen and faces bitter opposition from nations such as Sudan, Bolivia and Saudi Arabia.
The Accord aims to limit a rise in average world temperatures to below two degrees Celsius (3.6 F) from pre-industrial times. But it does not spell out how and some poor nations say it is too weak to avert dangerous impacts.
The Accord also pledges $30 billion from 2010-2012 to help developing nations cope with climate change, such as floods, droughts, mudslides and rising seas. Aid is meant to rise to $100 billion a year from 2020.
But almost all delegates say that the current pledges from developed nations for cutting greenhouse gases by 2020 will mean a temperature rise of more than 3 Celsius.
"We don't have a debate happening (about tougher goals) and that's not acceptable," said Kathrin Gutmann of the WWF conservation group.
(Editing by Louise Ireland)
Extra U.N. climate talks agreed after Copenhagen
Reuters 11 Apr 10;
BONN, Germany (Reuters) - About 175 nations agreed a plan on Sunday to revive climate talks after the Copenhagen summit but the U.N.'s top climate official predicted a full new treaty would be out of reach for 2010.
Delegates at the three-day talks, which were held up for hours by bitter splits between rich and poor nations, agreed to hold two extra meetings, each at least a week long, in the second half of 2010 after the Copenhagen summit last December failed to reach a binding deal.
The extra sessions, and a linked agreement to prepare new draft texts about fighting climate change, will help prepare the next annual meeting of environment ministers in Cancun, Mexico, from November 29 to December 10.
(Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Factbox: Climate talks in 2010 on road to Mexico
Reuters 11 Apr 10;
(Reuters) - A U.N. meeting in Bonn, Germany, agreed on Sunday to add two extra meetings this year to help revive talks on a new deal to slow global warming after December's Copenhagen summit fell short of a full treaty.
Following are details of major meetings on climate change due in 2010:
U.N.
BONN, April 9-11 - Session among senior officials from 175 nations to plan for 2010
-- A U.N. group on Climate Change Financing, led by Britain and Ethiopia, is due to issue "initial outputs" before the U.N. meeting in Bonn starting on May 31.
BONN, May 31-June 11 - Senior officials meet in Bonn to review texts compiling ideas for slowing global warming. A draft text will be issued on May 17.
-- Two extra U.N. negotiating sessions, each at least a week long, will be added in the second half of the year. The venues and dates of the talks are not yet known.
CANCUN, Mexico, November 29-December 10 - Annual talks among the world's environment ministers.
-- The pace of U.N. talks marks a slowdown from 2009, when there was also a U.N. climate summit in New York on September 22.
OTHER RELATED MEETINGS:
WASHINGTON, April 18-19 - The United States holds a first meeting in 2010 of the Major Economies Forum, grouping 17 emitters that account for 80 percent of world greenhouse gases.
COCHABAMBA, Bolivia, April 19-22 - Bolivian President Evo Morales hosts a meeting of 15,000 people, including 7-10 foreign leaders, called "World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth."
SOUTH AFRICA, April 25-26 - Ministers from China, India, South Africa and Brazil meet as part of a plan to hold quarterly talks among the so-called BASIC group.
BONN, Germany, May 2-4 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans talks among about 45 environment ministers in the so-called Petersburg Dialogue.
OSLO, May 27 - Norway leads a meeting of ministers about protecting tropical forests, which soak up carbon dioxide as they grow.
MUSKOKA, Canada, June 25-27 - The Group of Eight industrialized nations holds an annual summit likely to touch on climate change, also a summit of the Group of 20.
SEOUL, Nov 11-12 - South Korea to host summit of Group of 20.
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