Best of our wild blogs: 28 May 10

What can shore lovers do about the oil spill?
from wild shores of singapore

Aftemath Of The Oil Spill - Tanah Merah...
from colourful clouds

Crude cruelties: Oil spill victims on Tanah Merah
from wild shores of singapore and Clinging on at Tanah Merah.

What is being done about the oil spill? (27 May)
from wild shores of singapore and does crude oil evaporate?

Ongoing damage control to clear slick on East Coast beach
from Lazy Lizard's Tales

Upcoming: NSS Kids' Fun at ACRES Wildlife Rescue Centre
from Fun with Nature

A Short Afternoon Walk Along MNT
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Cattle Egret associating with water buffalo
from Bird Ecology Study Group

18,225 new species discovered in 2008
from Mongabay.com news

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Oil spill spreads to Chek Jawa & Changi Beach

Joanne Chan Channel News Asia 28 May 10;

SINGAPORE : The oil spill caused by the collision of two vessels at sea on Tuesday has spread to Chek Jawa.

The area on Pulau Ubin, an island just off Changi Point, boasts of several different ecosystems, as well as plants and animals that are no longer common in Singapore.

Portions of the oil slick have also affected Changi Beach between car parks 6 and 7.

Some 700 metres are affected.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said it is looking out for new spots, although the situation at East Coast has stabilised. - CNA /ls

Oil slick keeps Singapore beaches closed for holidays
Channel NewsAsia 28 May 10;

SINGAPORE : Singapore's most popular stretch of beaches remained shut on the first day of the city state's June school holidays Friday as emergency crews continued their cleanup of an oil slick.

Despite the mess and the closure, residents flocked to the seaside East Coast Park for picnics, jogging and cycling, even though they could not swim or frolic on the sand.

Signs on the tree-lined park advised the public to stay away from the affected beaches, warning them that the water was "contaminated" by the slick, from an oil tanker damaged in a collision off Singapore on Tuesday.

However, the chocolate-coloured sludge that tainted the seawater and sand in parts of the park had begun to thin, witnesses said, and the strong, kerosene-like smell in the area over the past two days had dissipated.

Emergency crews continued cleaning up the beaches Friday, shoveling oil-slickened sand into black plastic bags.

Officials estimate that some 7.2 kilometres (4.5 miles) of beach and rock bunds, or embankments, along the east coast were affected after winds and tides made containing the slick at sea difficult.

The slick came from the Malaysian-registered tanker MT Bunga Kelana 3, which was carrying nearly 62,000 tonnes of crude when it collided with the MV Waily, a bulk carrier registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

About 2,500 tonnes of crude leaked from a gash on the double-hulled tanker's port side, officials said. Such tankers are designed to limit spillage in case of a rupture.

Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said most of the leaked crude had been contained at sea.

Chona Garciano, a Singaporean of Filipino descent visiting East Coast Park, told AFP her daughter was disappointed that she could not swim.

"Since we are already here, we will just have a picnic. My daughter is quite disappointed at not being able to swim," said Garciano, a 49-year-old engineer who pitched a tent at the park with her family.

Hannah Mei, 13, a secondary school student, said she and her three friends decided to come to the park on the first day of their school holidays.

"The smell is pretty bad but not as strong when we smelled it in our school a few days ago," Mei told AFP.

While they will not be able to enjoy the beach, "we'll still continue to cycle and play games and stay here until the evening," she added.

Khim Siong, 32, visited East Coast Park with his wife and 14-month old baby, despite reading about the oil slick.

"It didn't occur to me it was that bad," he said, adding that he and his family would nevertheless linger there.

Stuart Jay, a 49-year-old expatriate working in Singapore, was on his routine morning jog at the park.

"It isn't that uncomfortable," he said. "I'm not worried about the health effects because it's just the same as jogging in the city."

Environmentalists said they were continuing to monitor the slick.

"We did find a lot of dead crabs covered in oil... and four to five dead fish," said Anbarasi Boopal of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), who led a team that combed the beaches Thursday. - AFP/jy

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Oil spill off Changi East: Malaysian reports

Leaking Malaysian Tanker Moved To Johor Waters
Zakaria Abdul Wahab, Bernama 28 May 10;

SINGAPORE, May 28 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian oil tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3, which was involved in a collision with a bulk carrier in the Singapore Strait on Tuesday, has been moved to a Johor anchorage Friday.

This was after she was certified safe to be moved by the classification society, American Bureau of Shipping, according to the Maritime Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore Friday.

It said, no significant patch of oil was spotted at the collision site in the Traffic Separation Scheme off Changi East and within the anchorages of Singapore's port waters.

The collision spilled about 2,500 tonnes of crude oil which was swept across the strait by winds and tides in the days later, and some slick managed to reach a 7.2km stretch of coastal areas in southeast of Changi, polluting public beaches.

MPA said there were isolated patches of oil close to East Coast Park and Changi East and it was working to contain and clean them up.

It said efforts to clean up the waters off Changi East and East Coast Park were continuing for the fourth day, with 21 craft equipped with six skimmers and 1,915 metres of containment booms deployed.

Traffic in the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Singapore Strait remains unaffected.

MPA said it continued to work with the Indonesian and Malaysian authorities, in line with the standard operating procedure for joint oil spill combat in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and offered its assistance, if need be.

-- BERNAMA

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Singapore oil spill spreads to Malaysian waters

Farik Zolkepli The Star 28 May 10;

PENGERANG: Some of the 2,000 tonnes of crude oil which spilled into the Singapore Strait following the collision of two tankers on Monday has spread to Malaysian waters.

Efforts to contain the spill have failed. The oil slick reached Tanjung Ayam in Pengerang yesterday.

Johor Department of Environment (DOE) director Dr Zulkifli Abdul Rahman said about a 1.6km-wide oil slick was detected 1km off Tanjung Ayam yesterday.

“We are doing our best to prevent the slick from reaching the beach area with the cooperation of the Southern Region Marine Department. We are installing booms at the affected area,” he said.

He said officers were monitoring the situation closely and hoped to be able to clear the slick within a week.

The mt Bunga Kelana 3, a Malaysian-registered tanker, and bulk carrier MV Waily, which was registered in St Vincent and The Grenadines, collided in the strait, about 13km southeast of Changi East on Monday morning, causing the oil spill.

The Singapore Maritime and Port Authority is actively cleaning the slick by sucking the oil into the empty tanks of mt Bunga Kelana 3.

The Marine Police have also deployed three boats to Pengerang waters as a security measure.

They are expected to patrol the border between Singapore and Malaysian waters to prevent boats from going into the affected area.

The area affected by the slick is about four nautical miles off Tanjung Stapa in Pengerang and 3.7 nautical miles off Singapore waters.

Oil Spill Enters Malaysian Waters
Bernama 27 May 10;

JOHOR BAHARU, May 27 (Bernama) -- The oil spill caused by a collision involving the tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3, and bulk carrier MV Waily in the Singapore Strait, about 13km southeast of Changi East last Tuesday, has spread into Malaysian waters.

Johor Department of Environment director Dr Zulkifli Abdul Rahman said the spill measuring 1,600-metre long and 960-metre wide, was now 960 metres from the Tanjung Ayam beach in Pengerang, Kota Tinggi.

"Currently, the Southern Region Marine Department is in the midst of preventing the spill from reaching the beach," he said in a statement here Thursday.

He said the 'boom' or equipment to prevent the spill from spreading had been installed.

-- BERNAMA

Oil spill spreads further
The Star 28 May 10;

PENGERANG: Some of the 2,000 tonnes of crude oil, which spilled into the Singapore Strait on Monday, has spread further to Teluk Ramunia.

Department of Environment director-general Datuk Rosnani Ibarahim said Friday that patches of oil had reached Teluk Ramunia after these were earlier spotted at Tanjung Ayam.

“However, it is not a major cause for concern as only a few patches were seen there as compared to in Tanjung Ayam.

“Some of the oil that had turned into tar balls has also reached the shores of Tanjung Ayam,” she said when contacted here Friday.

Rosnani said the department personnel were using the dispersant technique to clean up the oil patches at sea as well as manually collecting the tar balls washed ashore.

“We have also installed booms to prevent the oil from spreading elsewhere. The situation is under control as DOE personnel had anticipated that the oil would spread to Malaysian waters due to the changing sea current,” she said.

Rosnani, who was in Singapore on Thursday to meet its authorities, said the republic’s Maritime and Port Authority had already transferred the remaining oil from the damaged tanker into one of its functioning tanks.

“We are confident that the situation will not worsen. Our department is cooperating with the Southern Region Marine Department, the Marine police and the Maritime Enforcement Agency to contain and clean up the oil in our waters,” she said.

Rosnani said the oil reached Tanjung Ayam due to the current as well as it being the location nearest to the oil spill, which was about four nautical miles off Tanjung Stapa in Pengerang and 3.7 nautical miles off Singapore.

Malaysian registered tanker MT Bunga Kelana 3 had collided with bulk carrier MV Waily in the strait, about 13km southeast of Changi East on Monday morning, causing the spill.

The Marine Police have deployed three boats to Pengerang waters to patrol the border between the Malaysian and Singaporean waters to prevent boats from going into the affected area.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said he was informed daily of the development in Pengerang and Singapore.

“We hope the situation will be solved soon to prevent further pollution to Malaysian waters,” he said.

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Oil spill off Changi East: Singapore reports on local situation

Rain could hamper oil spill clean-up
Liew Hanqing & Grace Chua Straits Times 28 May 10;

SHOWERS over the weekend could impede efforts to contain the oil spill from Tuesday morning's collision between two large vessels off the Changi coast.

Mr Foong Chee Leong, the National Environment Agency's (NEA) director-general of meteorological services, said weather conditions over the weekend could result in 'rough seas' carrying more oil patches towards the coastline.

The collision spilled 2,500 tonnes of crude oil which has been swept towards shore by winds and tides, coating beaches in a 7.2 km stretch from East Coast Park's Big Splash water park to Changi.

Short intervals of rain with thunder are expected this afternoon, with rain also expected in the late mornings and early afternoons tomorrow and Sunday, Mr Foong said.

At a joint press conference with national water agency PUB yesterday, Mr Foong said conditions over the last two days had not helped things. 'The wind has been blowing the oil slick towards land,' he said.

Mr Joseph Hui, NEA's director-general of environmental protection, said 'full resources' had been deployed in the clean-up effort.

Yesterday, more than 40 cleaning staff from NEA and 125 workers from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) continued to clean up the spill.

Dispersants were used to break up the oil into smaller globules, and contaminated sand was removed from the beach.

Some 8.6 tonnes of sand was removed from East Coast beach and taken to the Semakau landfill, Mr Hui said. But oil continues to wash ashore, said Mr Tai Ji Choong, NEA's head of operations.

The MPA explained that the oil tanker Bunga Kelana 3 had to move about 4.5 nautical miles westwards from the site of the collision, some 13km offshore, to anchor in a safe area.

That spread the oil over an area the size of Tampines New Town (four sq km).

Containment booms have held in the oil leaking from the tanker, which was loaded with 62,000 tonnes of crude oil, but not the oil that had spread into the slick, said an MPA spokesman.

The agency could not estimate how much oil had been cleaned up, but said it was 'monitoring our waters closely'.

Aside from the oil already on shore, several patches of oil afloat off the eastern coast are being buffeted in different directions with tides and winds and have to be cleaned up as well, the MPA said.

The NEA promised to 'carry out a thorough study later on' of the impact of the spill on wildlife.

Conservationists from the WildSingapore website and the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society have found oil-slicked creatures like crabs, some of them dead, and bleaching corals in Tanah Merah and East Coast Park.

Nine canals and outlet drains close to the affected stretch at East Coast were also oil-slicked. To prevent more oil from entering the canals and drains, PUB booms were placed yesterday across all nine affected conduits.

The PUB said the oil would not pollute Singapore's water supply, as the canals and outlet drains are not connected to catchment areas, and Singapore does not get drinking water from these conduits.

Vapour from oil 'not toxic'
Air samples show no unsafe chemicals: NEA
Grace Chua Straits Times 28 May 10;

IT STINKS but it will not hurt, the National Environment Agency (NEA) yesterday assured residents still catching whiffs of the noxious vapours in the air from Tuesday's oil spill.

Workers scooping up oil-soaked sand into garbage bags at East Coast Park yesterday. Some residents had complained of a smell coming from the oil spill. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

The agency said its twice-daily samples of the air along oil-soaked stretches of the East Coast beach have not shown up any chemicals to be concerned about.

These include toluene, benzene, xylene, styrene and 1,3-butadiene, solvents or components in the manufacture of plastics or other materials.

Crude oil, such as that from Tuesday's spill, contains these compounds.

The human nose can perceive foul odours at very low levels, before they can be picked up by instrumentation and well before they reach dangerous levels, said NEA.

For example, the chemical toluene can be smelled at 0.16 parts per million, it added.

But it can be detected only at one part per million - the equivalent of one drop of water in a 50-litre tank. The safe limit for toluene is 50 times that, or 50 parts per million.

'Our nose is an extremely sensitive instrument,' said NEA director-general of environmental pollution Joseph Hui. 'It can detect these chemicals at concentrations that cannot be detected by other instruments.'

When vaporised, oil can irritate the airways and trigger asthma. Exposure to high levels of volatile chemicals can cause irritation, nausea, dizziness and other effects, said allergy expert and paediatrician Lee Bee Wah.

The chemicals can constitute an occupational hazard for people who often work with these compounds in confined spaces, such as professional house painters.

Dr Lee commented that the current spill was not in an enclosed area, so the fumes from the spill were likely to disperse quite fast.

'Also, the spill is finite - it's not like the haze which can linger for a long time. Probably, the effects on the ecosystem are worse,' she added.

So far, she said, she had not seen any patients who complained of oil-related respiratory problems.

Singapore's water supply safe from oil spill
Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid Channel NewsAsia 27 May 10;

SINGAPORE : Singapore's water supply is safe from the oil spill, following the collision of two vessels on Tuesday.

The oil spill has seeped into some drains along the East Coast Park, but Singapore's water agency PUB said water quality has not been affected.

Officials from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have also met to discuss clean-up efforts.

The oil slick has affected drains along East Coast Park - one of which is the Siglap Canal.

But there is no reason to worry that contaminated water will flow to your taps at home.

Goh Chong Hoon, deputy director, Catchment & Waterways, PUB, said: "The outlet drains are all not linked to any reservoirs. So the water quality of the is are not affected by this oil spill incident.

"Yesterday, when PUB was informed of the oil slick coming into the beach, we immediately deployed our contractors, and about 5pm, we started laying oil absorbents booms at the outlet drains."

An outlet drain at Bayshore Road has been the one most affected so far. Efforts to remove the oil slick from the drain took place on Thursday morning.

Mr Goh said: "We also brought in a vacuum tanker to pump the thick oil that was found in one of the canals (at Bayshore Road) this morning. We will continue to monitor the situation and continue to clean up the outlets drains."

The authorities said the oil slick is unlikely to spread to more parts of Singapore.

The beach areas at Changi and Sentosa, for example, are safe.

The slick is still limited to the 7.2-kilometre stretch along East Coast beach and rock bund near Changi Naval Base. And affected beach areas remain closed to the public.

Joseph Hui, director-general, Environmental Protection, National Environment Agency (NEA), said: "We managed to clean up quite a fair bit of what came in yesterday, but a new oil patch came in around 2 this afternoon, so the situation now is similar to what it was yesterday. But efforts to clean up are continuing and we are sparing no efforts."

NEA said the situation is still fluid as new oil patches may come in, depending on currents and wind situation. So, officers have been deployed at East Coast Beach, Changi Beach and Pulau Ubin to carry out surveillance.

NEA said some 8.5 tonnes of sand contaminated by the oil were been removed during cleaning operations on Wednesday.

NEA added that the smell coming from the oil slick does not pose any harmful effects.

Meanwhile, efforts to contain and clean up the oil slick surrounding ground zero are ongoing.

The Maritime and Port Authority said there has been no further report of oil leaking from the vessel.

But as a precautionary measure, the containment boom placed around the vessel will remain in place until the tanker is certified safe to be moved.

Some 2,500 tonnes of oil had leaked into the sea.

Traffic in the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Singapore Straits remains unaffected. Containment booms have also been laid at Changi Naval Base, off Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and South of Pulau Tekong.

Officials from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia also met to discuss the incident, and cooperate in the clean-up efforts. - CNA/ms

Water supply safe from spill
Water quality unaffected despite oil spill seeping into some drains, says PUB
Hetty Musfirah Today Online 28 May 10;

SINGAPORE - As patches of oil drifted further inland - appearing in some drains and canals along the East Coast following the oil slick which hit Singapore's shoreline on Wednesday - PUB, the national water agency, has said Singapore's water supply is safe. This assurance came as clean-up operations continued for a second day on beaches in the East Coast, with some 230 workers mobilised for the task.

Mr Goh Chong Hoon, PUB's deputy director for catchment and waterways, said there was no reason to worry that contaminated water would flow to taps at home. "The outlet drains are all not linked to any reservoirs."

When PUB was informed of the oil slick reaching the beaches, it immediately deployed its contractors and "started laying oil absorbents booms at the outlet drains", said Mr Goh. At one of the most affected drains at Bayshore Road, workers could be seen yesterday morning removing the oil slick. Mr Goh said: "We brought in a vacuum tanker to pump the thick oil found in one of the canals (at Bayshore Road)."

The 7.2-kilometre stretch along East Coast beach and the rock bund near Changi Naval Base affected by the oil spill remain closed to the public.

Mr Joseph Hui, director-general for environmental protection at the National Environment Agency, said: "We managed to clean up quite a fair bit of what came in yesterday, but a new oil patch came in around 2pm this afternoon, so the situation now is similar to what it was yesterday, but we are sparing no efforts."

The authorities said it is unlikely that other coastal areas like Changi and Sentosa will be affected.

But NEA said the situation was still fluid as new oil patches could reach the shore, depending on the wind and currents

So far, some 8.5 tonnes of sand contaminated by the oil have been removed.

The slick came from 2,500 tonnes of crude oil which leaked into the sea following the collision between a tanker and a bulk carrier on Tuesday morning.

While there has been no further report of oil leaking from the damaged tanker, the Maritime and Port Authority said as a precautionary measure, the containment boom will remain in place around it until the tanker is certified safe to be moved.

In the meantime, members of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore Revolving Fund Committee (RFC) which held its 31st meeting here yesterday, noted that the incident underscored the importance of having the Standard Operating Procedures for Joint Oil Spill Combat in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

They acknowledged that quick action and co-operation have helped to mitigate the impact of the incident. The RFC consists of members from the littoral states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

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Littoral States Meet On Oil Spill In Singapore Waters

Zakaria Abdul Wahab, Bernama 27 May 10;

SINGAPORE, May 27 (Bernama) -- Top officials from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia met here today to assess the extent of oil pollution caused by the collision between an oil tanker and a bulk carrier in the Singapore Strait about 13km southeast of Changi East on Tuesday.

The officials who are members of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore Revolving Fund Committee (RFC) were briefed on the measures and efforts taken by the littoral states, their respective agencies and oil spill response companies from the private sector to contain and clean up the spill in Singapore waters.

About 2,500 metric tonnes of crude oil leaked out from the ruptured hull of the Malaysian-registered oil tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3, after it was hit by St Vincent and Grenadines-registered bulk carrier, MV Waily.

Although the main oil slick has largely been contained out at sea, the city-state's environment authority estimated that some 7.2km of beaches and rock bunds along Singapore's east coast as well as a canal, have been affected by the slick.

Public beaches affected by the oil slick have been closed to the public for cleaning up by local authorities.

The members of the RFC are the Assistant Chief Executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Capt Khong Shen Ping, who is also the current committee chairman, Indonesia's Director-General for Sea Transportation Sunaryo, and Malaysia's Environment Department Director, Datuk Rosnani Ibarahim.

The RFC agreed to continue to co-operate closely to clean up the oil spill, and noted that the incident underscored the importance of having a standard operating procedure in place for dealing with such incidents in order to prevent environmental damage and disruption to shipping traffic in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

The RFC also acknowledged that quick action and co-operation had helped to mitigate the impact of this incident.

The RFC re-affirmed the continued close co-operation among the three littoral states in combating oil pollution in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and pledged to work together to further enhance joint responses in the future.

-- BERNAMA

MPA won't use special fund for clean-up
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 28 May 10;

THE Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said yesterday it will not tap into pooled fund resources - such as the Revolving Fund - to offset the cost of the final clean-up bill for Tuesday's oil spill off the Changi coast.

The fund, set up in 1981 with an initial 400 million yen deposit from the Japanese government, can be used by Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia to draw a cash advance for use in combating oil pollution caused by ships. The amount drawn must be repaid to the fund when the state recovers the cleanup costs from the parties responsible.

But an MPA spokesman said there is no intention to tap on the Revolving Fund.

Leading maritime officials from the Strait of Malacca and Singapore Revolving Fund Committee (RFC) also met yesterday to discuss the extent of the pollution from Tuesday's vessel accident and agreed to work closely to combat it.

The 31st meeting of the RFC, a working group that brings together Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia to discuss oil spill incidents, meets annually.

Singapore has an agreement with its neighbours to work together to clean up pollution along the busy strait, a key channel for international shipping with some 900 ships passing through each day.

On Tuesday, when the incident occurred, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the MPA offered assistance to Malaysia and Indonesia to contain and clean up the oil spill, in line with the Standard Operating Procedure for Joint Oil Spill Combat in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

It is not known at this stage what the final cleanup bill from Tuesday's oil spill will amount to.

But the MPA spokesman said the owners of both vessels involved in the spill - Malaysian owned AET and Hong Kong-based Treasure Maritime - 'are jointly and severally liable for the cost of the clean-up efforts'.

Experts say that the clean-up costs alone will run into several hundred thousand dollars given the scale of the operation so far.

Any potential compensation that may have to be paid to those impacted by the slick could increase this further.The cost of the cleaning up here is a far cry from that in the Gulf of Mexico, where petroleum giant BP estimates that a leaking well there will cost an estimated US$6 million (S$8.4 million) a day to clean up.

Straits of Malacca & RFC to cooperate to clean up S'pore oil spill
Lin Jiamei Channel NewsAsia 27 May 10;

SINGAPORE : Members of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore Revolving Fund Committee (RFC) have agreed to cooperate to clean up the oil spill resulting from Tuesday's collision of two vessels at sea.

The RFC consists of members from the littoral states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The committee holds annual meetings to discuss issues relating to oil spills and also hold regular joint exercises.

It held its 31st meeting in Singapore Thursday and was briefed on the extent of the oil pollution from the collision.

During the meeting, the committee noted that the incident underscored the importance of having the Standard Operating Procedures for Joint Oil Spill Combat in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

The SOP will help prevent environmental damage and disruption to shipping traffic in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore when such accidents occur.

The RFC also acknowledged that quick action and co-operation have helped to mitigate the impact of this incident.

They also re-affirmed the continued close co-operation among the three littoral states in combating oil pollution in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

They also pledged to work together to further enhance joint responses in the future. - CNA/jy

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NParks' green commitment

Straits Times 28 May 10;

I REFER to Mr Chong Kwek Yan's Forum Online letter on Monday, "Face up to the green fact".

While we agree with Mr Chong that it would be more fruitful to focus on what can be done moving forward, we would like to make the following clarifications.

Analysis shows that 47 per cent of Singapore is under vegetation cover. Dense vegetation cover makes up 14 per cent of Singapore's land area, and this includes forest cover which makes up 9.2 per cent of the land area.

A city is, by definition, a built-up area with high population density. It is not realistic for cities to have a high proportion of forested area. Singapore's coverage of forest and dense vegetation is considered good compared with other cities.

Furthermore, biodiversity is not confined to forests. Grasslands, parks, mangroves, mudflats and so on have distinct assemblages of native plants and animals. A city with a wide range of ecosystems will have a high diversity in plants, animals and micro-organisms.

On Mr Chong's point that half of Singapore's bird species are non-residents, ornithologists include both resident and migratory bird species in their bird lists because migratory birds use the habitats they migrate through to refuel.

Much of Singapore's original forest cover and native species were lost before independence in 1965. Since then, we have made concerted efforts to protect what is remaining and enhance the habitats and biodiversity.

We note that, in a recent paper, Mr Chong praised Singapore's efforts to build an ecological corridor between Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Nature Reserve, saying "it is instructive that a nation as small, land-scarce, resource-poor and highly urbanised as Singapore is leading this promising initiative". We would like to inform Mr Chong that in this regard, the development of the City Biodiversity Index as a tool to measure the progress of biodiversity conservation in cities further underscores our commitment.

Wong Tuan Wah
Director, Conservation
National Parks Board (NParks)

Related links

• Why researchers included Singapore in green study Straits Times Forum 21 May 10;
• Green study disregards Singapore's circumstances Straits Times Forum 19 May 10;
• Is Singapore the worst environmental offender? Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 14 May 10;
• Singapore No. 1 in global ranking of environmental degradation New study ranks countries on environment impact University of Adelaide, EurekAlert 4 May 10;Singapore No. 1 global eco-destroyer? on wild shores of singapore.

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Nuclear Energy Debate: Rethinking for a new generation

Dickson Yeo, Valerie Choy & Michael Quah Straits Times 28 May 10;

THE possibility of using nuclear energy in Singapore and elsewhere in the region has generated debate, with many raising the spectre of nuclear catastrophe. Perhaps it is time to demystify nuclear technology, so it can be considered objectively.

Nuclear energy carries the stigma of mushroom clouds and radioactive contamination. But the visions of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island that tend to dominate public discussion are outdated. Nuclear power generation also needs to be distinguished from nuclear weaponry, a link that is historically correct but is often used to rouse negative reactions rather than reasoned consideration.

Other sources of energy - from fossil fuels, water or the sun - come with environmental and human costs as well. Manufacturing solar panels produces toxic tailings which, if not processed properly before disposal, cause ecological damage. Renewable energy sources, such as the sun and wind, need storage systems that require heavy metals to manufacture. The mining and processing of these metals leave an environmental footprint that is seldom discussed.

As for coal mining, recent accidents in China and the United States demonstrate once again its dangers. In addition, coal mining leaves heavy ash residue around mining areas.

The mishaps in the oil and natural gas industries have also received widespread media coverage of late, while hydropower dam projects in India, China and South-east Asia are associated with mass population displacement, damage to precious primary forests and the loss of biodiversity.

The price we pay for modern energy generation of every kind is steep. Hence, we need to consider all the various options objectively. The energy debate has to be informed by facts, not sentiment.

We need to give top priority to conservation and energy efficiency, but given that mankind's current energy consumption is much greater than that of our agricultural ancestors, all the options have to be explored.

The safety of any nuclear power plants that may be built in South-east Asia has become a cause for concern. There is a view that Asean governments still have a long way to go before they can guarantee a safety culture in nuclear plants.

There is indeed not enough administrative experience to prevent commercial lobbying from weakening efforts to ensure safe reactor operations or adequate provisions when the sites for nuclear plants are chosen.

But these concerns can be opportunities to push for innovation and new business development rather than hinder the development of nuclear technology in the region. Malaysia's recent decision to construct a reactor has provoked controversy, but the debate should lead to a more robust system of checks and balances for nuclear energy operations.

The potential fallout from nuclear accidents underscores the urgent need for regional collaboration and consultation on this issue. This could prove beneficial, as collective bargaining with private-sector suppliers and contractors could dramatically reduce the costs and risks involved in nuclear energy.

Nuclear power plants are no longer as prone to operator and process flaws as they used to be, but their detractors hold to past perceptions. Technical failings that allowed for design shortcomings, as in the Chernobyl accident, and for process and operator errors, as in the Three Mile Island case, have been corrected.

Modern control technology has also improved significantly, giving rise to more robust and cost-effective nuclear reactors. Passive core systems that rely on natural forces to cool reactors have been supplemented with other safeguards to prevent the kind of fatal chain of errors that led to the catastrophes at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

State-of-the-art light water reactor systems now available are designed to run for 60 years, and can extract more energy content out of uranium with 15 per cent less waste. Small modular reactors, with their advanced technology and added safety features, are suitable for areas where it is physically impossible to provide the large buffer zone that traditional nuclear plants need.

A shift is necessary in the debate about the advantages and disadvantages of all types of power generation as Singapore searches for the energy portfolio mix most suitable for its future. Civilian nuclear technology has changed rapidly since the dark days of Chernobyl, and renewed regional interest in this form of energy should be cautiously encouraged.

Michael Quah is the chief scientist and principal fellow at the Energy Studies Institute, NUS. Valerie Choy and Dickson Yeo are energy analysts at the institute.

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'Green grand prix' to promote eco-friendly transport in fun way

Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 28 May 10;

FORMULA One (F1) cars win the race when it comes to speed, but each litre of petrol takes them only as far as 1km.

Their emissions also fail just about every standard that has been implemented.

Throw in the much-hyped, 130-decibel roar of their engines and the inescapable conclusion is that F1 is not a terribly eco-friendly sport.

But a new event this year seeks to introduce race fans to green transport via a series of eco-car races, timed to take place five days before the Grand Prix here.

Cheekily called G1, short for Singapore Green One, the event will introduce the soapbox race, popular in the United States, to the region.

Drivers will build their cars from a kit comprising recycled plastic and wood, take it to the top of a ramp and zip down a 100m track.

The fuel of choice: gravity.

The event, organised by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), will take place near the Marina Bay floating pontoon, where Turns 17 and 18 of the annual F1 race are.

Mr Peter Ho of engineering company Hope Technik, which will provide technical support during the race, explained that the maximum allowable weight of car and driver will be 100kg, and the top speed will be 30kmh.

The cars will set off in pairs down the ramp, and 30 finalists from schools and other interested organisations are expected to take part.

A separate race will be held for eight to 10 eco cars built by student teams from the universities and polytechnics.

Their challenge is to build a car that can go as many times as possible round a 0.5km track - on just 30cc of fuel.

The eco car holding the world record travelled more than 3,000km on one litre of fuel.

Mr Howard Shaw, SEC's executive director, said: 'We've heard so much about climate-change doom and gloom and we've been prescriptive in saying what people need to do - such as turning out lights - but we want this event to inspire people and win their hearts.'

Besides these races, the G1 will feature buggy and trishaw races as well as walking, skating and cycling events, for which prizes will be given out.

Transport accounts for about one-fifth of Singapore's total carbon emissions of just over 40 million tonnes; it will be an area to tackle if emissions here are to be trimmed by the targeted 16 per cent from business-as-usual levels by 2020, noted Mr Shaw.

Ms Toh Lay Hoon, general manager of North West Community Development Council (CDC), which is supporting the event, said: 'Green issues are seen as highbrow and academic by ordinary Singaporeans, but we want them to understand that they can be adrenaline-pumping and fun.'

The $500,000 cost of the event will be sponsored by the Land Transport Authority, Singapore GP and the CDC.

The SEC hopes to make the G1 an annual event and invite foreign race participants next year. A website, at www.singaporeG1.com, will be up and running soon.

Green gets the fast track
Singapore Environment Council organising first G1 race in lead up to Formula 1
by Ng Jing Yng Today Online 28 May 10;

SINGAPORE - Come September, it will not only be high-powered Formula 1 cars competing against one another at the Marina Bay racing circuit.

In the first race of its kind in Asia, green cars will also be tearing up the track, with the aim of promoting the use of green energy.

The Singapore Green One (Singapore G1) race - organised by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) - will feature cars assembled by students and will take place on Sept 19, the weekend before the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix begins.

The Soap Box car race, a highly popular game in the United States, involves gravity as the propelling force for the vehicle.

About 30 groups of students will make their own racing cars out of recyclable materials such as pine wood in school. They will then be taken to the tracks where they will be pitted against each other.

Besides schools, the community can get involved with activities such as a buggy race, road shows and performances. Other green modes of transport are featured in skating and trishaw competitions.

Ms Toh Lay Hoon, general manager of North West Community Development Council, said that most people see going green as something "highbrow", and she hopes that this event will help them to see it as being fun instead.

SEC executive director Howard Shaw said the council hopes the event will provide a push for people to use public transport.

"There's still the perception that public transport is inconvenient and, for car-users, it is very hard to break out of the mould, " he said.

Singapore plans to cut carbon emissions levels in 2020 by 16 per cent. Currently, the transport sector here accounts for 20 per cent of emissions.

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Singapore has strong interests in success of global effort to tackle climate change

Channel NewsAsia 27 May 10;

SINGAPORE : Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister, Yaacob Ibrahim, has said Singapore has strong interests in the success of the global effort to address climate change.

Speaking at the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference, he said Singapore fully recognises the importance of addressing deforestation, which accounts for about 20 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions.

Dr Yaacob said Singapore is also concerned about the other impacts of uncontrolled deforestation on the environment, such as biodiversity and air pollution.

He said that in Southeast Asia, forest fires caused by unsustainable land clearing practices have resulted in annual transboundary haze.

This has affected public health, tourism, transportation and the economies of the regional countries.

While Singapore is not a forest nation, it has on a regional basis collaborated with ASEAN countries on sustainable forest management and biodiversity.

In its bilateral cooperation with the Jambi Province in Indonesia, it has worked with the authorities to encourage sustainable forest management and land clearing practices.

These include conducting capacity building programmes, developing capabilities for air quality and weather monitoring, and promoting alternative livelihoods for farmers.

Dr Yaacob thanked the Indonesian government for its cooperation in Jambi, which will help to reduce the annual haze problem. - CNA/ms

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Australia to start legal action against Japan over whaling

Yahoo News 28 May 10;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia will start legal action to stop Japan hunting whales next week, officials said on Friday, following years of tensions over the annual slaughter in waters near Antarctica.

Documents will be submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague "early next week", after repeated threats of proceedings during recent months.

"We want to see an end to whales being killed in the name of science in the Southern Ocean," said Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett.

"Today's announcement of legal action shows the government is taking steps to bring a permanent end to whaling in the Southern Ocean."

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith denied the action would affect relations with Japan, Australia's top export market.

"We always reserved the right to initiate legal proceedings -- that's what we've announced today," said Smith.

"We will treat this matter as an independent legal arbitration of a dispute amongst friends."

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Rosewood trees face extinction amid Madagascar's chaos

Duke University EurekAlert 27 May 10;

DURHAM, N.C. -- Political and social chaos and a lack of international protections have put several species of rosewood trees in Madagascar in danger of becoming extinct from illegal logging, according to a policy forum paper in the latest issue of Science.

"Forty-seven of Madagascar's 48 species of rosewood (Dalbergia) are found nowhere else in the world," said Duke University graduate student Meredith Barrett, the lead author on the May 27 article.

Madagascar's military-backed change in leadership last year and a lucrative rosewood market based largely in China have created a dangerous situation for the endangered trees and the habitat that surrounds them, Barrett said.

Duke researchers performed a sophisticated mapping and modeling study with the help of a French botanist to estimate historical and current distributions of the reddish hardwood, and to support their call for greater protections and enforcement.

Barrett, whose dissertation research concerns the effects of human development on lemur health, has seen the illegal logging first-hand. "When we went there in October, it had become obvious that Madagascar's tourism had collapsed and that unrestricted logging was accelerating," she said. The market for lemur "bush meat" also has increased dramatically, particularly in the country's northeastern rainforests.

Barrett and Duke Lemur Center director Anne Yoder, who is the senior author on the policy paper, hope they can call the international attention of scientists and conservation groups to protect the rosewood trees. Ideally, this would take the form of increased public pressure on the Malagasy government to step up enforcement and a formal listing under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Barrett said.

Brazilian rosewood gained CITES protection in 1992, which is believed to have put more pressure on the forests in Madagascar.

The slow-growing rosewood trees are found in relative isolation from each other. They are too dense to float very well, so loggers will fell several trees along river banks to make skids and rafts for bringing the logs to market. Once the logs are floated and trucked to Malagasy ports, they are loaded onto container ships and hauled to China to make highly prized furniture and musical instruments. There are an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 metric tons of felled rosewood trees awaiting shipment from Madagascar's ports.

The Malagasy logger who fells the tree is paid about 50 cents for "backbreaking work," Barrett said. A Chinese rosewood armoire retails for about $20,000.

Enforcement of the Malagasy government's on-again, off-again policy against rosewood logging is pretty much nonexistent, Barrett said. Logging interests have threatened the safety of villages and at least one park office has been burned down.

"If you protect the trees, you're also protecting habitat," Barrett said. "Seventy percent of Madagascar's species live in these forests."

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Indonesia government to involve local communities in Redd+ program

Antara 27 May 10;

Oslo (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government was committed to involving customary communities in the implementation of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) scheme.

"To manage the program, the government will involve all sides including communities living near forests," Yudhoyono said after the signing of a letter of intent (LoI) between Indonesia and Norway on forest conservation here on Wednesday.

The LoI was signed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development Erik Solheim at the guest house of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

The LoI is part of the REDD+ scheme in which Norway will provide up to US$1 billion in grants to Indonesia to protect its forests.

By involving all sides in the REDD+ scheme it would become a public movement, Yudhoyono said.

"By doing so, it will be fair for all sides, particularly those living near forests," he said.
To carry out the REDD+ program the government would set up a special body responsible to the president, he said.

The body would coordinate efforts to develop and carry out REDD+ related activities besides receiving funds from donor countries, he said.

It would also coordinate efforts made by Indonesia at national, regional and local levels, he said.

In view of the REDD+ program`s importance, the body would consist of representatives of the central and regional governments, civil society and local communities, he said.

Indonesia has set itself the target of reducing greenhouse emissions by 26 percent in 2020.

REDD+ refers to efforts to establish a global scheme to reduce greenhouse emissions by preventing deforestation and degradation, and enhancing forest-based carbon stocks.

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Palm oil, paper firms 'destroying Indonesia's forests'

Many clearing land illegally, say green groups
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times 28 May 10;

JAKARTA: Palm oil and paper producers are the biggest threats to Indonesia's vast forests, according to environmental groups and other watchdogs.

Many cut timber illegally, clearing large tracts for easy profit from the raw material to make paper, they say. They also destroy entire forests to make way for oil palm plantations.

Aggressive expansion of palm and timber cultivation, coupled with weak enforcement of existing laws already on the books in Indonesia, have made the country the world's third worst polluter after China and the United States.

Greenpeace alleges that Indonesia's largest palm oil business group, the Sinar Mas Group, violated laws by clearing forests in Kalimantan without following proper environmental protection procedures.

The Jakarta-based business group has repeatedly denied that claim.

The group, which also has forest concessions in Riau province near Singapore to support its pulp and paper business division, is also facing accusations that it has damaged the environment there.

Greenpeace estimates that carbon emissions associated with the group's operations in Riau province alone are responsible for releasing 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the earth's atmosphere each year.

Another giant, the Raja Garuda Mas Group, operates in Riau and has been battling similar accusations from the green groups.

Deforestation has cut the forest area in Riau province to only about 30 per cent of its total land area now, according to Greenpeace. That is down sharply from 78 per cent back in 1982, according to Greenpeace.

Riau is often one of the areas worst affected by smoke haze from fires caused by slash-and-burn farmers who are clear land, plant on it and then sell the crops to companies.

The thick haze from forest fires can spread to the skies above Singapore and Malaysia. This has led to complaints from Indonesia's neighbours since smog started to envelop the region almost annually for 13 years.

The government says only 6.8 million out of the country's 133 million ha of land - or about 5 per cent - have been planted with oil palm. But non-government organisations say the figures are much higher: According to independent monitor Sawit Watch, a further 18 million ha have been cleared, on top of the land already planted.

Some analysts, however, say illegal loggers deserve their share of the accusations levelled against these palm oil and paper companies.

Mr Lin Che Wei from Independent Research & Advisory Indonesia told The Straits Times that in many cases, oil palm trees or other trees to support pulp and paper industries were planted on vacant land left by illegal loggers.

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Oil palm industry no threat to forest conservation: Indonesian president

Antara 28 May 10;

Oslo (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhohyono said that the palm oil industry in Indonesia would not threaten Indonesia-Norway forest conservation agreement concluded under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) scheme.

Speaking to the press after the opening of a forestry and climate Conference at Holmenkollen Park, Rica Hotel, here on Thursday the Indonesian president said that Indonesia had a special policy to synchronize the two matters.

"We already have our own plan to fulfill the obligation which has become our part in the cooperation between Indonesia and Norway in reducing our emissions from deforestation and forest degradation," the president said.

President Yudhoyono said that Indonesia would not stop its palm oil production, neither would it indiscriminately open up new forests for that purpose.

He said that Indonesia had taken a policy to use degraded land for the continuation of its oil palm industry.

The president said that Indonesia has identified specifically what had become its obligation in the forest conservation scheme with Norway, which among others included moratorium on the issuance of peat land cultivation permit, avoid deforestation and forest fires.

The governments of Indonesia and Norway signed here on Wednesday a letter of intent (LoI) on forest conservation worth US$1 billion as part of their joint commitment to overcoming climate change.

The letter was signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa and Norwegian Minister of Environmental and International Development Erik Solheim at the guest house of Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

The LoI is part of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation plus (REDD-Plus) scheme in which Norway will provide up to US$1 billion in grant for Indonesia to protect its forests.(*)

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Indonesian government to form institute to oversee emission reduction

Antara 27 May 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is to establish an independent national institute to oversee, report on, and verify emission and emission reduction efforts, according to an official source.

The Indonesian delegation at the international conference on climate change and forests in Oslo, Norway, said in a written statement here on Thursday, the formation of the independent national institute was a follow-up to a cooperation agreement on the implementation of Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) between Indonesia and Norway.

The cooperation agreement was signed in the presence of visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo on Wednesday.

Besides the independent institute, the government would also form another institute tasked with reporting the former`s performance directly to the president.

The new institute would also be responsible for coordination to develop and apply the steps of REDD.

The formation of the new institute would help speed up paradigm shift in Indonesian effort to manage its natural resources and valuable heritage.

Administrative structure in the new institute will include representatives from central and regional governments, civilians, and local people.

Indonesian government will also step up the law enforcement and existing forest regulations, creation of degraded land database, land ownership process and compensation claim.

Indonesia to set up trust fund to reduce emissions
Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post 26 May 10;

Indonesia plans to set up a multinational trust fund led by the President's trusted man Kuntoro Mangkusubroto as part of a bilateral agreement between Indonesia and Norway to reduce carbon emissions, a minister said.

Under the letter of intent to be signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg at the latter's guest house in Oslo, Indonesia will receive US$1 billion in grant to preserve its forests.

The grant will be disbursed in phases under some requirements, including establishment of the trust fund and selection of priority forests, said Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

"The Foresty Ministry has offered (forests) in Papua, East Kalimantan, Riau and Jambi. But it will be chosen depending on MRV that will be our responsibility. We will select (which forests) together with Norway," he said.

MRV stands for measurable, reportable and verifiable, meaning every ton of emission cuts will be assessed by independent auditors.

Zulkifli said Riau has approximately 700,000 hectares of forests and Jambi 100,000 hectares. He did not mention the scales in Papua and East Kalimantan.

Zulkifli said Kuntoro, chairman of the Presidential Working Unit for Development Supervision and Control, would lead the trust fund, the members of which may include the World Bank or equivalent institutions.

On board the Garuda Indonesia Airbus A 330 airplane from Jakarta to Oslo, Yudhoyono urged the central and local government to manage grants or funds awarded to Indonesia to preserve its forests appropriately.

"Use the funds appropriately without any misuse. There shouldn't be any cheating," he said.

Zulkifli said Indonesia would try to seek grants from other donors, including South Korea, Japan, the US and Germany.

Such grants are different from the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) Plus scheme, which provides incentives for forestry countries that manage to preserve their forests, as part of the Copenhagen Accord agreed upon by parties to the climate change conference who met in Copenhagen last December.

The incentives are expected to reach $4-5 billion after discussions in Thursday's Oslo Climate and Forest Conference, said presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal.

Thursday will see the conference opening session on "A Global Partnership on Climate and Forests: The Way Ahead", followed by bilateral meetings between heads of state and government.

Yudhoyono is set to attend a dinner Wednesday evening for heads of delegation hosted by Stoltenberg to be attended by representatives of about 50 countries at Holmenkollen Park Hotel Rica, where Yudhoyono stay.

The President's entourage also include First Lady Any Yudhoyono, Environment Minister Gusti M. Hatta, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa, Investment Coordinating Board Head Gita Wirjawan.

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Rich countries up deforestation aid to $4bln

Pierre-henry Deshayes Yahoo News 27 May 10;

OSLO (AFP) – Rich countries agreed Thursday to boost funds for fighting deforestation to four billion dollars up to 2012, despite facing problems of their own due to the financial crisis, Norway announced.

"In today's global markets, forests are more worth dead than alive. Today we commit to change that equation," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said at an international climate conference in Oslo.

The amount includes the 3.5 billion dollars pledged by the United States, Norway, Japan, Britain, France and Australia at Copenhagen's UN climate summit in December.

Norway said new pledges had been made by Germany -- which promised about 350 million euros -- and Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the European Union helped bring the amount up to 4.0 billion dollars.

The funds will partly go on financing and facilitating the reduction of emissions from deforestation in developing countries, including compensating populations that agree to give up deforestation-linked activities.

"It must pay off not to cut the trees," Stoltenberg told reporters.

The Oslo conference, a follow-up to the Copenhagen summit, drew ministers from around the world as well as international figures such as legendary financier George Soros and Britain's Prince Charles.

"The time we have available to translate aspiration into action is fast running out," Prince Charles said. Soros, meanwhile, agreed to contribute to the anti-deforestation fund.

Officials at the conference urged participating nations to stick to their pledges to deforestation efforts even though many are cutting government spending to reduce deficits.

"We should take care not to use the crisis as an excuse to downgrade ambitions in the climate field," EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said.

"The climate crisis will not disappear because we have an economic crisis."

French environment minister Jean-Louis Borloo said it would not be a problem to come up with the funds, adding: "It has been budgeted, it is public."

Deforestation accounts for 17 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than all the world's modes of transport combined, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Combating deforestation could account for a third of all measures needed by 2020 to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), Norway said.

The Scandinavian country and France are at the forefront of the fight against deforestation and Paris hosted a conference on the matter earlier this year.

"Reducing deforestation and forest degradation can provide us with the largest, the fastest, the cheapest cuts in global emissions," Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg mentioned carbon taxes, taxes on airplane tickets and private donations as other ways to collect funds to fight deforestation.

In Copenhagen, Norway and the United States each pledged one billion dollars, France said it would give 375 million dollars, Japan 500 million, the UK 480 million and Australia 120 million.

The Oslo conference also saw the formation of a 50-country partnernship which aims to creat a data bank of anti-deforestation measures, how they are financed and what results they bring.

Of a global forest area of four billion hectares, the world lost 13 million hectares, not counting replanting, per year between 2000 and 2010 -- down from 16 million the previous decade, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The net forest lost over the past decade was equivalent to the land area of Costa Rica, the FAO says.

On Wednesday, Indonesia, which boasts one of the world's largest rain forests, said it would introduce a two-year moratorium on deforestation, as part of an agreement with Oslo.

Norway, which owes its prosperity to its vast oil and gas reserves, has already signed similar agreements with Brazil and Guyana.

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U.S. Farm Group Sees Gains From Deforestation Halt

Peter Henderson, PlanetArk 28 May 10;

Stopping global deforestation would boost U.S. agricultural revenue by $190 billion to $270 billion through 2030 by cutting unfair competition, a U.S. farm group and a nonprofit focused on climate change argued on Wednesday.

Deforestation accounts for about a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, chiefly from the destruction of tropical forests. Proponents of climate change legislation are mustering their forces for what is seen as an uphill fight to pass a bill in the U.S. Senate.

The study commissioned by the National Farmers Union and Avoided Deforestation Partners calculates that climate change legislation which would support international efforts to end tropical deforestation can be good for the U.S. economy.

Many climate change legislation proponents see a boom in green industries, such as alternative energy, and cutting energy costs through better efficiency, but farmers have been skeptical about the benefit to them from such a law.

Eliminating deforestation would cut into the flood of cheap commodities and also slow the expansion of agriculture on land cleared by the age-old slash-and-burn method. U.S. timber, soybean, oilseed and beef industries in particular would benefit, the report said.

It calculated higher production would boost U.S. agricultural revenues $141 billion to $221 billion and lower energy and fertilizer costs would add another $49 billion between 2012 and 2030.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

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Green Energy Investment Surviving Crisis, Says IEA

Muriel Boselli, PlanetArk 28 May 10;

Investment in renewable energy is faring better than initially expected despite the economic crisis, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.

IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said the agency was maintaining its forecast for carbon dioxide-free power generation to make up 60 percent of the electricity mix by 2030, a target set in the IEA's World Energy Outlook last year.

The current share is 33 percent. "Our projection for investment in renewables may not necessarily be as pessimistic as initially thought," Tanaka told the Global Reuters Energy Summit.

"Of course it can't grow too high but it might not decline as much as we had expected," Tanaka added. The Paris-based IEA, which advises 28 industrialized nations on energy issues, sees various forms of renewable energy making up around 1-2 percent of the energy mix by 2030.

Green policies in the stimulus packages that were decided by governments during the economic turmoil in 2009, would trickle through in 2010, helping investment, he said.

China's economic stimulus package includes the world's largest green investment programme, earmarking $230 billion compared with the United States' $80 billion and about 25 billion euros ($30.70 billion) in the EU, according to the International Institute for Environment and Development.

IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said on Wednesday in Paris that governments should create a framework for renewable energy. Otherwise renewables would not establish themselves due to their high costs and competition from cheap gas as well as because of low economic growth prospects.

But Tanaka said that the agency had observed a historical transition in the green technology sector.

"We are seeing real changes and a historical transition in low carbon technology," he said, citing rapid evolution in electric vehicles as well as solar and wind power.

Tanaka also said that some Group of 20 countries were making rapid progress in their pledge to progressively erase fuel subsidies, which would make alternative fuel sources more attractive.

Governments in several G20 countries, including China, Russia and Indian subsidize fuels such as coal and oil to keep prices artificially low for consumers, boosting demand for hydrocarbons and emissions from them.

Subsidies total $310 billion annually in non-OECD nations.

"We need to phase out fossil fuel subsidies," Tanaka said, adding that China and Russia were making good progress.

(Editing by Anthony Barker)

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Australia On Track To Meet Kyoto Target: Government

David Fogarty, PlanetArk 28 May 10;

Australia is on track to meet its greenhouse gas emissions target under the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol climate pact in part because of the global economic downturn, the government said on Thursday.

Australia, among the developed world's top greenhouse gas polluters on a per-capita basis, generates about 80 percent of its electricity from coal.

Emissions from some sectors have soared over the past two decades, particularly power generation and transport. The government hoped an emissions trading scheme would push industry and consumers to boost energy efficiency and switch to greener power.

But that plan has been shelved because of fierce political opposition, although the laws backing greater renewable energy investment have won wider support.

The government, in a regular greenhouse gas emissions report to the United Nations, said emissions fell by about 13 million tonnes between 2008 and 2009.

"The latest National Greenhouse Accounts show Australia's emissions declined for a brief period in the early part of 2009, due largely to the global economic downturn," the Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, said in a statement.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, which uses 1990 as a base year, Australia must limit its greenhouse gas emissions to 108 percent of 1990 levels during the pact's 2008-12 first commitment period. The pact binds about 40 industrialized nations to emissions targets during the 2008-12 period.

The government said annual emissions, excluding those from land use, land use change and forestry, for the four quarters to Dec 2009 fell 2.4 per cent, or from 550 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent in 2008 to 537 million tonnes in 2009.

"However, for the most recent quarter emissions were estimated to have increased by 0.6 per cent on a trend basis," the statement said.

Australia, with a rising population and growing economy largely driven by a mining boom, is struggling to rein in the pace of its greenhouse emissions mainly from burning fossil fuels that scientists blame for heating up the planet.

The government has set a target of cutting emissions by 5 percent from 2000 levels by 2020. But emissions from the energy sector, which includes power generation and transport, grew 43 percent between 1990 and 2009.

"These results show that we still have the challenge of reducing emissions in all sectors of the economy," Wong said.

Australia's Climate Institute said on Monday the country, the world's top coal exporter, would not meet the 5 percent emissions cut target without a market system that puts a price on pollution.

(Editing by Michael Urquhart)

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Global Floating Ice In "Constant Retreat": Study

PlanetArk 28 May 10;

The world's floating ice is in "constant retreat," showing an instability which will increase global sea levels, according to a report published in Geophysical Research Letters on Wednesday.

Floating ice had disappeared at a steady rate over the past 10 years, according to the first measurement of its kind.

"It's a large number," said Professor Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds, lead author of the paper, estimating the net loss of floating sea ice and ice shelves in the last decade at 7,420 cubic kilometers.

That is greater than the loss of ice over land from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets over the same time period, highlighting the impact of warming oceans on floating ice.

Ice melt ebbs and flows from winter to summer. The report's calculations referred to the net loss over the past decade.

"There's a constant rate of retreat (annually)," said Shepherd. "It's a rapid process and there's no reason why it won't increase over the next century."

NORTH POLE ICE-FREE BY 2050?

The study did not shed new light on how soon the North Pole may be ice-free in summer, which many climate experts say could happen by 2050, perhaps even earlier.

Melting of floating sea ice and ice shelves adds little to sea level rise, because their entire mass is already in the water. By contrast, ice on land which melts into the sea will add to levels according to the equivalent of its entire weight.

If all the world's floating ice melted it would add about 4 centimeters to sea levels. But this could have a bigger effect by unblocking glaciers over land, which could then slide faster into the sea, and also because open water reflects less sunlight than ice, warming the local area.

If all the world's polar ice melted it would raise sea levels by about 70 meters, scientists estimate. "We're moving into an era where the sea ice and ice shelves are being eroded away because of temperature rise," said Shepherd.

Floating ice adds very little to sea levels, because it does not add to the total weight of water already in the sea, but it does add a little because ice contains no salt and so dilutes the ocean as it melts, causing the sea to expand in volume.

Melt of floating ice in the past decade had increased the volume of the world's seas by 193 cubic kilometers in this way, said Shepherd. Directly, that would add to sea level rise by the width of a few human hairs, he added.

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US Government Warns Of Worst Hurricane Season Since 2005

Christopher Doering, PlanetArk 28 May 10;

The Atlantic storm season may be the most intense since 2005, when Hurricane Katrina killed over a thousand people after crashing through Gulf of Mexico energy facilities, the U.S. government's top climate agency predicted on Thursday.

In its first forecast for the storm season that begins next Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast 14 to 23 named storms, with 8 to 14 developing into hurricanes, nearly matching 2005's record of 15.

Three to seven of those could be major Category 3 or above hurricanes, with winds of more than 110 miles per hour (177 km per hour), the agency said, echoing earlier predictions from meteorologists for a particularly severe season that could disrupt U.S. oil, gas and refinery operations.

"If this outlook holds true, this season could be one of the more active on record," said Jane Lubchenco, NOAA's administrator. "The greater likelihood of storms brings an increased risk of a landfall."

In addition to the risk that major hurricanes can pose to about one-quarter of U.S. oil production and more than a 10th of natural gas output offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, this year's storms could threaten to complicate efforts to combat the environmental disaster of BP's gushing oil well.

The hurricane season officially starts on June 1 and typically peaks between late August and mid-October. An average Atlantic hurricane season brings 11 tropical storms with six hurricanes, including two major hurricanes, NOAA said.

The 2009 season, which had only three hurricanes and was the quietest year since 1997 due in part to the weather anomaly El Nino, followed several years of unusually intense activity that was particularly disruptive for U.S. energy supplies.

Other U.S. weather forecasters, including private and university researchers, also are predicting an active hurricane season.

Private forecaster WSI and Colorado State University's hurricane-forecasting team so far expect the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season to produce at least eight hurricanes, four of them major, posing a heightened threat to the U.S. coastline.

CSU forecasters are expected to ramp up their prediction for the 2010 season in a report due out on June 2.

"The numbers are going to go up quite high," William Gray, the hurricane forecast pioneer who founded CSU's storm research team, said on Wednesday. "This looks like a hell of a year."

Despite being off target in recent years, hurricane forecasts are closely watched by energy, insurance and commodities markets. Interest surged following damaging hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005 that hammered Florida, the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas fields.

A record four major hurricanes hit the United States in 2005, including Katrina, which killed around 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast and caused $80 billion in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

(Additional reporting by Tom Brown; Editing by Walter Bagley)

2010 hurricane season may be worst on record
Yahoo News 27 May 10;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season may be one of the worst on record, US officials warned Thursday, amid fears it could deepen an oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico and bring new misery to Haiti.

An "active to extremely active" hurricane season which starts on June 1 is expected for the Atlantic Basin this year, US officials said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) predicted 14 to 23 named storms, including eight to 14 hurricanes, three to seven of which were likely to be "major" storms, with winds of at least 111 mph.

This is compared to an average six-month season of 11 named storms, six of which become hurricanes, two of them major.

"If this outlook holds true, this season could be one of the more active on record," said NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco.

"The greater likelihood of storms brings an increased risk of a landfall. In short, we urge everyone to be prepared," he said.

Hurricane fears are particularly acute this year in the Gulf of Mexico, where millions of gallons of oil from a leaking BP undersea well is pushing into ecologically sensitive marshlands.

And in Haiti, hundreds of thousands of people are still living in makeshift camps more than five months after a devastating earthquake.

NOAA said the prediction that there will be more and bigger storms this year than average was based on several factors.

President Barack Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs said the government is mobilizing for the potential impact of any hurricanes.

"The president stressed that the government must ensure we consider the effects the BP oil spill could have on storms, response capabilities, and recovery efforts in planning for this year's season," Gibbs said.

He added however that "those considerations do not change the primary mission of emergency management officials during a response, which is to support state efforts to protect lives and property."

Forecasts said that windshear, which helped suppress hurricane activity in 2009 by tearing up storms before they developed, is expected to be weaker this year as the El Nino effect dissipates in the eastern Pacific.

El Nino is a cyclical phenomenon that brings unusually warm ocean temperatures to the equatorial Pacific, but cooler temperatures to the Caribbean and the Atlantic.

Its opposite is La Nina, when Pacific temperatures are unusually cold. In those years, the US southeast is unusually warm, enabling storms to grow and move.

Sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic are already up to four degrees Fahrenheit above average, NOAA said.

"Whether or not we approach the high end of the predicted ranges depends partly on whether or not La Nina develops this summer," said Gerry Bell, a hurricane forecaster at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

"At present we are in a neutral state, but conditions are becoming increasingly favorable for La Nina to develop."

And NOAA said the period since 1995 has been one of unusually high storm activity with eight of the last 15 seasons ranking in the top ten for the most named storms. In 2005, there were 28 named storms.

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World Warms As Public Cools To Climate Action

Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 28 May 10;

This year is on track to be the warmest worldwide since records began in the 19th century yet voters seem to be cooling to strong action to combat climate change.

Their doubts may be quietly sapping the will of governments and companies to cut greenhouse gas emissions after the Copenhagen summit in December failed to agree a treaty meant to slow more droughts, floods and rising seas, analysts say.

"There has been a resurgence of skepticism" that humans are to blame for global warming, said Max Boykoff, an assistant professor and expert in environmental policy at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Yet so far in 2010 there has been record warmth especially in many tropical regions, Australia and parts of the Arctic -- despite a chill start to the year in western Europe and some eastern parts of North America.

"It's more likely than not -- greater than a 50 percent chance -- that it will be the warmest year on record," said Vicky Pope, head of climate change advice at the British Met Office Hadley Center, referring to global temperatures.

That would eclipse 1998 and 2005 as the warmest years since records began and undermine an argument used by some skeptics that warming has peaked. The decade just finished was the warmest on record, ahead of the 1990s.

"It's a very consistent ongoing warming trend," said Tom Karl, director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center.

"Right now it would be extremely unlikely to see this year falling below the top three warmest years on record," he said, saying it was too early to say exactly where 2010 would rank because of an early 2010 El Nino warming of the eastern Pacific.

MERCURY RISING

In the first four months, land and ocean temperatures were 56 degrees Fahrenheit (13.3 C) and 1.24 F (0.69 C) above the 20th century average, the warmest on record in NOAA data.

But public perceptions do not track global temperatures.

Economic slowdown, skepticism about climate science after the U.N. panel of climate experts exaggerated the melt of Himalayan glaciers and a scandal over leaked e-mails from a British university have all dimmed public enthusiasm.

Scientists say many people wrongly judge global warming by temperatures at home. Karl said he would be rich "if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me: 'global warming? We had record snows and cold temperatures'."

Among examples of widening public doubts, a YouGov opinion poll published this week in Britain showed that the number of people interested in the problem of global warming had fallen to 62 percent from 78 percent in 2007.

In December, a global poll by the Nielsen Institute showed a global average of 37 percent of people were "very concerned" by climate change, down from 41 percent in 2007.

"The economic slowdown has a real big influence on thinking in the United States," Boykoff said, with fears of job losses and the impact of possible carbon capping legislation probably figuring far larger than worries about the science.

Less public interest in climate change means an opportunity for some "politicians to move it down the list of priorities", especially with mid-term U.S. elections in November, he said.

Legislation in the U.S. Senate to curb emissions is stalled. The United States is the number two emitter of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, after China.

Christopher Monckton, a British skeptic associated with the U.S. Science and Public Policy Institute, said that many more people this year were finding reasons to doubt findings by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

An independent panel is looking into the IPCC, partly after it exaggerated the melt of the Himalayas in a 2007 report.

IPCC leaders reject suggestions of any bias, such as a charge by Monckton that they also over-estimated the warming effect of carbon dioxide.

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