Athyrium accedens: New Record of Fern for Singapore
from Flying Fish Friends
Been to Cyrene: Succulent Drumstick and Mystery Tentacles
from Cyrene Reef Exposed!
Raffles Museum Treasures: Clown anemonefish
from Lazy Lizard's Tales
Seagrass-Watch Magazine Issue 40 March 2010
from teamseagrass
Paddyfield Pipit’s failed nesting
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Vong Sokheng The Phnom Penh Post 9 Jun 10;
Ships have reportedly bolstered operations in area, and there are also concerns on the Mekong
SAND-DREDGERS have resumed large-scale operations in Koh Kong province’s salt-water estuaries since June 2 after a drop-off in dredging activities as a result of a sand-export ban last year, local fishermen said Tuesday.
Matt Sen, a 47-year-old fisherman from Village 4 in Smach Meanchey district’s Dong Tung commune, said Tuesday that about 10 transport ships are now waiting in the ocean to transport sand offshore.
He added that fishermen were using around 8 litres of gasoline per day in order to access deepwater areas where the fish are still plentiful, and blamed the dredgers for fish declines in shallow areas.
“I don’t know about the environmental impact. I only know that when there are sand-dredging companies in the sea there are no fish,” he said.
Last month, London-based watchdog Global Witness released a report on Cambodia’s sand trade that said that up to 796,000 tonnes of sand was being removed from Koh Kong each month.
The group estimates that the annual value of these shipments is US$28.7 million in Cambodia and $248 million once the sand reaches Singapore, and that the trade is being conducted with little regard for international standards or local laws.
Last month, fishermen and local officials told the Post that dredging – including one large-scale operation run jointly by Hong Kong’s Winton Enterprises and the local LYP Group – had stopped in the area following the sand-export ban, which was announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen in May and July of last year.
Pech Siyon, director of the Koh Kong provincial Department of Industry, Mines and Energy, also said last month that only one company, Udom Seima Trading, was dredging in the area. He added that the LYP/Winton operation had shut down pending the renewal of its sand-export licence.
When contacted Tuesday, he denied the fishermen’s claims that dredging had increased, saying the situation remained unchanged.
“I have no information about whether the company will have its licence for export renewed or not, but the sand-dredging companies are still operating as normal,” he said.
Fresh dredging concerns have also been raised by villagers living along the Mekong River in Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district.
On Sunday, around 200 villagers from Chong Koh village protested against operations that they say are eroding riverbanks and threatening farmland.
Khsach Kandal Governor Kong Sophon said an unnamed sand company had received a dredging licence from the government, but that some of its operations had been undertaken in areas where dredging was not permitted
“Our local authorities, village representatives and the company will meet tomorrow to resolve the complaints filed by the villagers,” he said.
Ex-AVA chief working on project to create vast food bowl in China
Chang Ai-Lien, Straits Times 9 Jun 10;
YOU'D think Dr Ngiam Tong Tau has had enough on his plate over the past 30 years given his job to ensure the food we eat is safe, but that mission is small beer compared to his new project.
It is, to put it simply, to create a vast food bowl in China that can produce a reliable source of healthy veggies, fruit, milk and meat for the ever-demanding palates of Singaporeans far into the future.
As national initiatives go, this one deserves a seat at the top table.
The multi-billion-dollar undertaking will involve creating an agricultural space twice the size of Singapore that can churn out everything from pork, beef and milk to rice, strawberries and ginseng.
Dr Ngiam, the former chief of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), tells The Straits Times: 'From production and processing to research and safety, the idea is that we will be turning out food that's ready to market, whether it's fresh, frozen or canned.
'It's our most ambitious project to date; it could well fill a very significant portion of Singapore's future food needs.'
If that is not enough to digest, the proposed 1,450 sq km food zone in Jilin in north-eastern China can serve another purpose as well - as a showcase for Singapore's renowned standards in food hygiene and its embrace of all things high-tech.
Dr Ngiam, 67, says that while Jilin's wind-swept grasslands are fertile, technology could help boost yields.
This could mean using better-quality seeds and merging small farms through cooperatives to create economies of scale.
And animal waste would be put into 'biodigestors' to produce methane for cooling and heating and to generate the farm's electricity. Any excess would go into China's national grid.
This would also prevent pollution of the waterways, adds Dr Ngiam, who is a senior consultant to Singbridge International Singapore, a Temasek Holdings subsidiary and one of the key local agencies involved in the effort.
Singapore's tough approach to disease control would be used to create an area free of foot-and-mouth disease and other livestock scourges.
Bio-security checkpoints would be set up to ensure that people disinfect their hands, clothes and footwear when going into or out of farms.
'Singapore is well known the world over for its tough safety regime and Jilin is very keen to replicate this,' he says. 'They have had sporadic outbreaks and the problem is that once this occurs, it's a big blow because you cannot export for at least six months.
'For us, sourcing for beef, pork and mutton has been very difficult precisely because our meat sources have been limited by such outbreaks.'
Turning a vision into reality
THE scope and scale of the agri-vision are certainly impressive and no one underestimates the difficulty of turning it into reality.
And so far, a vision is all there is. Work is still being done to study whether the China Jilin (Singapore) Modern Agricultural Food Zone, as it will be called, can be commercially viable, he says.
An ongoing feasibility study will take about nine months and if the project gets the nod, Singbridge and the Jilin municipal government will jointly invest in the food zone, which will take 15 years to build.
Chinese officials have said they will invest $22.7 billion in the venture. Singapore has not indicated how much it will fork out.
The project will see the Jilin city municipal government collaborating with local agencies such as the AVA and local firm Singapore Food Industries, which has taken the lead by signing a $32 million deal to set up a pig farm in the area over the next six years.
Singapore Food Industries aims to be able to produce a million pigs each year for Singapore - more than half the pork eaten here - by as early as 2020.
The Jilin project has a special resonance for Dr Ngiam, who for decades has been lobbying for Singapore to buy farmland overseas to widen its food safety net. His efforts to purchase overseas plots in the 1990s, whether Australian farmland or Argentinian pastures, fell flat because investors were uninterested. And the AVA, as a regulator, could not invest in farms.
It left him worried that when it came to the crunch, Singaporeans would go hungry.
'We needed to have an area large enough and to secure this food source for Singapore in times of a worldwide shortage,' says Dr Ngiam, a Colombo Plan scholar and a veterinarian who spent 36 years at the AVA.
'Farming is a long-term proposition. If you get the basics right, it can be sustainable for a very long time, but it's not for those looking for fast returns.'
He likens the land in Jilin to the prairies of Canada, and Iowa in the United States.
While the province is snowed under four months of the year, its rich soil and vastness make it ideal for growing all the animal feed needed for the livestock, which means lower transport costs and a smaller carbon footprint in meat production.
Jilin also has a good track record in logistics and is near the port of Dalian. The mountains in the east and south and wetlands and rivers in the north make it easier to control diseases.
One area of possible concern is China's poor reputation in food safety but Dr Ngiam is confident that will not tarnish the Jilin project.
'This problem can be overcome because we're going to enforce Singapore's stringent safety standards and give it the Singapore mark of safety and quality. That's how people will trust us.'
While this could be its biggest overseas project, the AVA is not one for putting all its eggs in one basket.
It has thrown its food security net far and wide, netting fish from Namibia, harvesting rice from Vietnam and eggs from the US to complement the usual regional sources.
The food watchdog has also been working to provide Indonesia with the technology to produce vegetables for export to Singapore, to add to its traditional food sources such as Malaysia and Thailand.
Besides Jilin, Dr Ngiam is also in negotiations to use a 70 sq km area in Sichuan, one-tenth the size of Singapore, to produce cheap organic fruit, vegetables, milk, herbs and even tea for another Singapore-based supermarket chain here.
The food safety adviser for NTUC FairPrice, who helped the supermarket chain develop its own successful brand of Pasar Organic vegetables ranging from sweet potato to kangkong sourced from Thailand, says: 'It's all about giving people a wider choice for their food.'
But this has been possible because of his sustained efforts over the years in setting up a rigorous inspection structure to check for contamination and react to any animal disease outbreak.
'With disease, it's all black and white, because if you allow for grey areas then something will slip in, not only bird flu but other threats as well,' he says.
'We put in such stringent checks because it's much easier to anticipate or prevent an outbreak than to deal with it after it happens.'
Funding agricultural research
NO ONE is happier than him to see more money now being pumped into agricultural research, which he feels is as important as biomedical research because it could lead to potential money-spinners like quick tests for contaminants to new me-thods of harnessing small spaces to maximise yields.
The AVA has set up a $5 million food fund to support people here who venture into farming, particularly to produce chicken, pork, fish, eggs, leafy vegetables or rice.
It will also help pay for feasibility studies on investments in overseas food zones, contract farming and sourcing from places that are not major exporters to Singapore.
The aim of all these is to eventually help Singapore meet its goal of raising local production of fish from 4 per cent of domestic demand now to 15 per cent, eggs from 23 per cent to 30 per cent and leafy vegetables from 7 per cent to 10 per cent.
Dr Ngiam is confident these quotas can be met and exceeded.
'What we need is a multi-pronged approach, to bring engineering companies here to work with our farms to develop efficient land-based 'fish factories' or come up with treatment facilities for poultry to convert waste into fertilisers, minus the stench.
'I believe we can do enough so that even if our outside supplies are cut off, we will have enough to live on for six months in terms of fresh vegetables, eggs and fish at least.'
Veteran veterinarian
Straits Times 9 Jun 10;
VETERINARIAN Ngiam Tong Tau has been at the forefront of Singapore's agriculture and veterinary developments for the past 26 years.
Dr Ngiam, 67, worked at the Primary Production Department (PPD) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) for 36 years.
He joined PPD in 1969 and was appointed director of primary production in 1984.
He became chief executive officer and director-general when PPD was restructured into a statutory board, AVA.
Dr Ngiam established a food safety programme to ensure a safe and sustained food supply and was instrumental in developing agrotechnology parks and aquaculture in Singapore.
He also helped build up Singapore's lucrative ornamental fish and orchid industries.
His efforts were instrumental in keeping Singapore free of exotic infectious diseases in plants, animals and fish, such as rabies and bird flu. He retired in 2005.
A Public Administration Meritorious Medal winner, he was adjunct professor at the National University of Singapore's school of biological sciences from 1993 to 2005.
He now sits on the boards of five food and agriculture-related companies, and chaired the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee - the national GM watchdog - from 2000 to April this year.
Dr Ngiam is executive vice-president (special projects) at United Engineers, a listed environmental engineering and construction company.
He also provides consultancy and technical support services in areas such as veterinary medicine, food safety and agrotechnology, and waste management and treatment to five companies in Singapore, Vietnam and China.
These include integrated food company Singapore Food Industries and Temasek Holdings subsidiary Singbridge International Singapore.
He is the younger brother of former top civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow, 73. His wife, Nina, is a housewife, and they have two children: a daughter, 38, a doctor, and a son, 35, an architect.
Of cats and dogs
Straits Times 9 Jun 10;
Q Speculation is rife as to whether Singapore allows in genetically modified (GM) foods and why. Care to explain?
Yes, it does, mainly corn and soya beans and products made from them. I think most Singaporeans accept GM produce here is safe.
So far we have not seen any reports pointing to GM foods causing harm to human beings; in the United States, people have been eating such crops for 20 years.
Q Are bird flu and other such diseases a thing of the past now?
The threat is always there; that's why biosecurity is so important in Singapore.
It hasn't always been easy.
During the bird flu outbreak, we initially had to work very hard to persuade the chicken farms just to provide netting so that wild birds could not enter.
Now they have done much more to ensure the farms are safe, such as perimeter fencing and restricting visitors.
Having said that, diseases are unpredictable. Now and then, they strike even countries with very strict measures in place.
Q Why are cats still not allowed to be kept in HDB flats?
If we want to do so, then owners will need to have the discipline to make sure the cats do not get out and create a nuisance to their neighbours.
If they can do that, then why not?
My feeling is that cats, in that sense, are no different than other pets such as dogs, which also cause problems because of barking. It all boils down to educating people and being considerate.
Bangkok Post 9 Jun 10;
Coral bleaching in the Andaman Sea is expected to ease with the arrival of the rainy season, officials say.
Wannakiat Thubthimsaeng, director of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC), said the average sea temperature in the Andaman Sea had fallen because of the influence of the southwestern monsoon that brings cooler water from the Gulf of Bengal.
The decreasing sea temperature would ease the coral bleaching in the area, he said. Coral normally lives at temperatures of between 28C and 29C.
Severe bleaching in the Andaman began to be noticed early last month when temperatures jumped as high as 31C.
Coral reefs in the Andaman Sea off Phangnga, Krabi and Phuket, including popular diving sites such as the Similan, Phi Phi and Surin islands, have been damaged by the phenomenon.
Between 50% and 90% of coral reef inside the marine national parks boundary has been bleached.
The affected national parks include Had Chao Mai and Mu Koh Lanta in Trang province and Petra and Tarutao in Satun.
"Forty percent of coral reef in the affected area has already died," Mr Wannakiat said.
"But it doesn't mean that we will lose the coral reef forever. If the ecological system returns to normal, there is a high chance it will recover."
In a bid to allow the bleached coral to recover, the PMBC has asked for the cooperation of diving operators to avoid organising trips to the affected sites to reduce disturbance to marine life.
"We do not worry much about coral reef inside marine national parks because the parks will be closed during the monsoon season, but coral reefs outside the protected area are prone to human disturbance," he said.
If the bleaching was not too severe, the coral would take at least four months to recover, but in serious cases, it might take up to five years, he said.
A PMBC survey found coral species hardest hit were staghorn, mountain, mushroom, boomerang, ring, fine spined and cauliflower corals.
Ubaidillah Masli Brunei Direct 9 Jun 10;
Bandar Seri Begawan - What the largest coral reef formation in the world boasts, Brunei has, in just 50 square kilometres or 0.12 per cent of its waters, The Brunei Times learned yesterday.
"You have as many species of coral as the Great Barrier Reef," said Dr Lyndon DeVantier, a freelance coral ecologist who has carried out marine reef studies for various countries in the Indo-Pacific region for more than 25 years.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which stretches some 2,300km along the Queensland coastline is home to about 350 to 400 species of soft and hard coral, supporting a rich, complex system of marine biodiversity. Meanwhile, a past study on Brunei's waters found that the Sultanate's coral reef cover, although comparably smaller, had over 400 species living in an ecosystem so bountiful that the country was invited into the multi-nation Coral Triangle Initiative.
Dr DeVantier, who was involved in Brunei's marine biodiversity research carried out in 2008 and 2009, and is currently a consultant for the Department of Fisheries, said in an interview yesterday that the living, calcium-carbonate structures faced threats such as coral bleaching, being preyed upon by carnivorous starfish and damage from fishing activities.
The coral ecologist was among the experts on hand to show and explain to a delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources the state of some of Brunei's reefs at Two Fathom Rocks, located about five nautical miles off the Sultanate's shores. The viewing of the reefs via a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) and scuba-divers was among the activities organised by the Fisheries Department to commemorate World Oceans Day.
Dr DeVantier said that the reefs in the area were "very representative" of Brunei's reefs. with the high diversity of reef species and the good, high coral cover.
He said that they had observed a "small" amount of coral bleaching, or whitening of the coral indicating the loss of the living counterpart of the symbiotic system, which was likely due to high water temperatures.
This is a big problem in Thailand and part of the Philippines, but not so much in
Brunei as yet," he said.
There was also an issue of coral deaths from the crown-of-thorns starfish, a large, venomous spine-covered sea star which preys upon coral polyps. Dr DeVantier said that the problem was found throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Although at the moment the coral ecologist said that it was mostly Brunei's offshore reefs that were affected by the starfish.
He also stressed the need to restore fish stock in the reefs, which, he noted, the Department of Fisheries have been actively pursuing.
This included initiatives such as placing temporary fishing bans at reef areas where fish numbers were low, implementing a quota system and issuing fishing licences to
control fishing in these areas as well as zonation of Brunei's sovereign maritime territories.
The Two Fathom Rocks itself has also been the site of reef rejuvenation operations. The Fisheries Department has had the assistance of the Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd in sinking a total of seven decommissioned oil platforms in the area to serve as artificial reefs or "reef duplicates".
"These reef duplicates perform similar function to their original (counterparts) in enriching marine life sources in the waters of Brunei Darussalam. They also function as barricades for commercial fishing boats (from) entering the restricted areas such as Zone 1 (located three nautical miles from the shore)," the Fisheries Department said in a statement.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
Brisbane Times 8 Jun 10;
Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett will not support a moratorium on killing dugongs, believing better policing and education will stop the gentle animals being hunted to extinction.
Mr Garrett was in Cairns today to commit $15 million to measure water quality improvements made through a federal program that supports farmers to cut the amount of nutrients that leave their farms and flow into the Great Barrier Reef.
Calls for a crackdown on illegal dugong netting in far north Queensland have been growing since the bodies of three of the endangered creatures were discovered near Cairns in April.
Only one could be saved.
Former federal Liberal MP Warren Entsch, who is contesting the next election, believes indigenous people have taken advantage of laws that allow them to hunt dugong and have set up a lucrative dugong meat industry.
Traditional owners can hunt the animals using traditional means, but netting is banned.
Conservationist Bob Irwin, father of the late "crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin, is calling for a moratorium.
But Mr Garrett said it was unnecessary at this point.
Compliance officers and training programs to ensure dugongs were hunted in sustainable numbers would take time to have an effect, he said.
"I am confident that if we put those measures in place and see them through then it's an issue that can be properly addressed without a moratorium," Mr Garrett told reporters.
Traditional land owners would welcome the support, Mr Garrett said.
"We recognise that some indigenous people have specific rights, they are cultural rights, they are not commercial rights," he said.
"It is just a question of making sure that everybody understands what their rights and responsibilities are and make sure that they put them into practice."
AAP
UNEP 8 Jun 10;
8 June 2010, World Oceans Day – Billions of dollars and thousands of lives can be saved if we address the loss of marine and coastal biodiversity and ecosystem services through improved governance. This is a key theme of World Oceans Day, celebrated on 8 June 2010 for the second year running.
In his message for World Oceans Day, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "If we are to safeguard the capacity of the oceans to service society's many and varied needs, we need to do much more. On this second annual commemoration of World Oceans Day, I urge Governments and citizens everywhere to acknowledge the enormous value of the world's oceans - and do their part in ensuring their health and vitality."
Ocean ecosystems are under great stress from multiple challenges including exposure to land and marine based pollution, habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change, unsustainable harvests and the introduction of exotic invasive species.
Coastal ecosystem services are valued at around US$25,000 billion per year through areas like food production, storm and flood regulatory services, climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration. Yet these values are often overlooked when national development policies are prepared, much to the detriment of the poorest.
Because of the weakening of these key ecosystems, about 270 million people are affected annually and some 124,000 killed worldwide every year by natural disasters including floods and droughts. Yet these can be prevented by reducing deforestation of catchments as well as restoring wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs.
This year, the UN Environment Programme is commemorating World Oceans Day at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi with the screening of Ωcéans, a film by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud film. The documentary is designed to raise awareness of the need to protect our oceans,
Using new underwater cameras that followed sea life over the course of four years in 50 locations around the world, Ωcéans is a timely reminder of the incredible beauty of a little-known, but fragile world. The crews – including some of the world's most experienced underwater cinematographers – captured about 200 species of fish, dolphins, whales, squid, lizards, crabs, turtles and creatures that defy classification.
Coasts of life: helping tropical seaside communities cope with climate change
UN Media Release 8 Jun 10;
Climate change is hitting coastal areas hard: rises in sea levels, ocean acidification, extreme events, bleaching and death of coral are all climate impacts which will require adjustments socially and economically. A new IUCN report, published today, provides practical guidance for coastal communities and industries to adapt to climate change.
By 2015 half of the world's population will be living within 100 km of the coast. Some 500 million people, mostly in developing countries, depend on coral reefs for food and income. However a fifth of coral reefs have disappeared and another 35 percent are under threat because of climate change. Intensive fishing, inappropriate coastal construction and pollution further increase the vulnerability to climate change of such ecosystems and of the people who depend on them.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge faced by coastal communities and industries around the world,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of IUCN’s Global Marine Programme. “Setting a reliable and sustainable framework for adaptation is an urgent necessity.”
As talks under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) are currently ongoing in Bonn, the IUCN report “A Framework for Social Adaptation to Climate Change: Sustaining Tropical Coastal Communities and Industries” is a guide to assess the vulnerability of coastal communities and provides economic and social tools to build resilience and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Adaptation to climate change is at the heart of negotiations towards a post-2012 climate deal, and building resilience of societies and ecosystems through economic diversification and the management of natural resources is considered key in this regard.
"We must increase our understanding not only of how nature responds to climate change, but of the factors that enable people and industries to cope and adapt," says Jerker Tamelander, Oceans and Climate Change manager at IUCN and one of the authors of the report.
For example, as traditional sources of income are being depleted in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll, one of the places on earth most threatened by climate change, a coping and adaptation strategy has been put in place to provide business and marketing training to complement existing handicraft production skills. An initiative in the Bar Reef area of Sri Lanka has helped communities develop livelihoods consistent with their culture while reducing the dependence on wild capture fisheries, by helping people analyze available natural resources, local economic patterns, services available to the community and other characteristics.
By learning how people assess and manage risks, how they learn, plan and take decisions, their access to and ability to utilize networks, and what assets are at their disposal, more effective development strategies can be devised.
"People and policymakers increasingly comprehend the implications of climate change and are embracing the need for adaptation. This publication helps direct adaptation initiatives on the ground," Tamelander adds.
To download the report: http://www.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2010-022.pdf
Note to editors:
The report was prepared through a working group on Climate Change and Coral Reefs, hosted by IUCN, in collaboration with Coastal Ocean Research Development Indian Ocean (CORDIO), the Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO) of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence on Coral Reef Studies, with the support of the MacArthur Foundation and the Government of Finland.
Yahoo News 9 Jun 10;
PARIS (AFP) – Distinct populations of snake species on three continents have crashed over the last decade, raising fears that the reptiles may be in global decline, according to a study published Wednesday.
The pattern across the eight species monitored was alarmingly similar despite their geographical isolation, which points to a common cause such as climate change, the researchers said.
Other factors known to play a role include habitat loss, pollution, disease, lack of prey and over-exploitation, either for food or trade.
The study showed that 11 of 17 snake populations in Britain, France, Italy, Nigeria and Australia dropped off sharply over a four-year period starting in the late 1990s.
"Our data revealed an alarming trend," the authors reported in the British Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
"Two-thirds of the monitored populations collapsed, and none have shown any sign of recover over nearly a decade since the crash. Unfortunately, there is no reason to expect a reversal of this trend."
Snakes are top predators among reptiles, and a sharp decline in their numbers would likely have serious consequences for many ecosystems.
Earlier studies have turned up dwindling numbers for certain species and in some regions, especially the Mediterranean basin.
But the new study presents the first evidence that snakes in the tropics are also in trouble.
Depending on the continent, population declines varied depending on sex, with females disappearing significantly more rapidly than males in most cases.
So-called 'sit-and-wait' foragers -- snakes that lie motionless, waiting for prey to come within striking distance -- are also more severely depleted in numbers than counterparts which are active hunters.
The fact that the declines observed happened in different corners of the globe over the same short time points to a single problem.
"We suggest that there is likely to be a common cause at the root of the declines, and that this indicates a more widespread phenomenon," the study concluded.
Snakes in mysterious global decline
Richard Black, BBC News 9 Jun 10;
Snakes may be declining across the world, according to a global study.
Researchers examined records for 17 snake populations covering eight species over the last few decades, and found most had declined markedly.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, some populations shrank in number abruptly around 1998.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the researchers describe the findings as "alarming" but say much more work is needed to understand the causes.
"This is the first time that data has been analysed in this way, and what we've shown is that in different parts of the world we seem to have this steep decline in a short period," said project leader Chris Reading.
"It surprised us when we realised what we were looking at," he told BBC News.
"And we don't have a clue what it was about that period of time (around 1998)."
Dr Reading's team at the UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology ran the study with institutions in Australia, France, Italy and Nigeria.
Data deficiencies
The main problem for anyone wanting to conduct a global survey such as this is simply lack of data.
Monitoring snake populations means marking the individuals in some way - typically by snipping a pattern into their scales, or implanting a microchip.
Field seasons can last for many months, and have to be repeated annually.
The researchers believe they amassed most, if not all, long-term datasets for this study - although "long-term" in this context means going back more than one decade, in some cases more than two.
Nevertheless, within this relatively short timeframe, eight of the 17 populations were seen to fall markedly in size - some by more than 90% - with only one showing any sign of a rise.
Species in decline include the asp and the smooth snake from Europe, the Gabon viper and rhinoceros viper of West Africa, and the royal python.Populations shrank even in protected areas, suggesting that the progressive loss of habitat for wild animals being seen all over the world is not the only cause.
Similar steep declines observed in frogs and newts in an earlier period were eventually found to be caused by the fungal disease chytridiomycosis.
The year when many of the snake declines began - 1998 - raises the question of whether climatic factors might be involved, as very strong El Nino conditions contributed to making it the hottest year recorded in modern times.
Dr Reading's research group suggests many causes might be involved, and is appealing to other researchers to come forward with any more long-term datasets that might broaden the picture.
"The purpose of this paper was to say 'this is what we've found', and to say to other herpetologists 'now go and look at your own data'," he said.
"But I think that with so many populations in different places showing decline, it's more than co-incidence."
The Star 9 Jun 10;
TEMERLOH: Pahang has gazetted 76,000ha of the Kuala Krau Forest Reserve near Lanchang as the state bio-valley.
Logging would be prohibited in the area, said state Information, Innovation, Science and Technology Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Sharkar Shamsuddin.
With the move, he said any encroachment, felling of trees and poaching would banned in the 1,000-year-old forest.
“The forest is rich with wildlife such as rhinoceros, deer, antelope, napuh and wild ox,” he told reporters after attending the Biodiversity Goodwill Programme hosted by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) in Bukit Rengit, Lanchang, yesterday.
Mohd Sharkar, who is also Lanchang assemblyman, said the state government was also planning to turn Lanchang into a natural food production centre with a honey processing factory and a mineral water plant being earmarked for the area.
“Lanchang has enough resources for the production of honey and mineral water. The projects will not only be a source of income for the local community but also the state government,” he said. — Bernama
Plans have been dropped to penalise those with overstuffed bins, but the emphasis should be on unnecessary packaging
James Garvey guardian.co.uk 8 Jun 10;
What is the best way to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfills: the carrot or the stick? The Labour government considered both, taking some heat just for proposing the stick. Under pay as you throw schemes, electronic chips fitted to bins monitor and fine households which throw away too much. There was talk of Big Brother sifting through your rubbish and an unfair tax on large families. Unsurprisingly, the scheme was never taken forward.
Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, says that the new government will not go ahead with penalties for overstuffed bins. Instead, individuals can earn points for putting out more recyclable waste – points worth up to £130 in local shops. It's the same chip and bin technology, but now you earn points rather than pay fines. In a reward scheme piloted in Windsor and Maidenhead, 70% of the families offered the chance to take part did so. With every kilo of recycled waste worth 5.5 reward points, almost 6m points have been racked up so far. Instead of protests over sinister, automated bin inspectors, the good people of Windsor and Maidenhead voluntarily and possibly happily increased their recycling by 35% in six months. By January 2011 the scheme will be up and running for all households in the community – 60,000 people will get the chance to join in.
There's not much to choose between these two forms of behaviour modification. We've known for a while about reinforcing desired behaviour with rewards and extinguishing unwanted behaviour with punishments. A painful stimulus (a penalty charge) accompanying waste will lead to less wasteful behaviour. A pleasant stimulus (free stuff) accompanying recycling will lead to more recycling behaviour. There's almost no limit to what you can do with rewards and punishments. You could make a rat recycle the paper in its cage – it's just a matter of voltage.
What you can't do with this method is convey an understanding of the importance of recycling to your subject and change behaviour based on reasons rather than reactions. That's precisely the trouble with the carrot and stick approach to dealing with waste, and that's precisely why aspects of this scheme are a little suspect. It rewards people to produce more recyclable waste, rather than take steps to reduce the amount they produce in the first place. It rewards individuals for recycling disposable stuff by giving them the chance to buy yet more disposable stuff. It does nothing at all about the behaviour of the source of most of our household waste: the unnecessary packaging used by shops and suppliers. What's needed from the government isn't behaviour modification with a system of rewards and punishments. What's needed is an understanding of the problem and some help to solve it.
The point of recycling has to do with understanding the importance of reducing waste in a finite world. It costs energy and resources to make a plastic bottle, fill it with water, package it and ship it to your local shop. We currently get almost all of that energy by burning fossil fuels and doing damage to our climate. The resources which go into the bottle's production, distribution and disposal might have been used in other, better ways. Once empty, the bottle might take up space in a landfill or end up in the ocean. If you understand the value of reducing waste in a finite world – if you want to avoid a hand in wasting energy, causing climate change, squandering resources, poisoning oceans – you might think twice about buying a bottle of water. If you recycle because you earn reward points for doing so, you might just buy a lot of plastic bottles.
What is the best way to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfills? Something more subtle than carrots and sticks is needed. Recall that old bit of hippy wisdom: reduce, reuse, recycle. Recycling is third on the list. It's our last resort, the worst option. It's what we do if we can't help but use recyclable stuff in the first place. But there's a very great deal we can do instead. If the government is serious about meeting EU targets and cutting the waste we send to landfills by two thirds by 2020, it knows that it must do better than reward points for plastic bottles. It has to do something about the source of plastic bottles and the vast amount of waste produced by supermarkets each day. That's not to say it can ignore us. It also has to do something about the ordinary person's thought that buying a cabbage wrapped in plastic is a reasonable thing to do.
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