Best of our wild blogs: 5 Jul 10

Bats in Singapore: one new record and two rediscovered
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

From Botanic Gardens to Sungei Buloh
from Biodiversity Singapore

Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve - Field Studies Trip 1
from Psychedelic Nature

Lower Peirce Reservoir
from Singapore Nature

A family of Chestnut-breasted Malkoha
from Bird Ecology Study Group

This is our story, this is our hope!
from Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Raffles Museum Treasures: Common tree nymph
from Lazy Lizard's Tales

Monday Morgue: 5th July 2010
from Lazy Lizard's Tales

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Going batty over new findings

NParks team scours jungles to study bats; they find one new species and rediscover 2 more
Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 5 Jul 10;

RIGHT in central Singapore, under a flyover, is the home of a colony of more than 1,000 cave nectar bats.

They have been included in a survey of the island's bat population, which has uncovered a new species of bat and two other species which were previously thought to be extinct here.

Over the past two years, about 20 volunteers have joined forces with the National Parks Board (NParks) to scour the jungles of Bukit Timah and the Central Catchment Nature Reserve every Saturday night. Led by chief researcher Leong Tzi Ming, 37, the study was intended to look at the possible effects of climate change on flora and fauna here.

'As rainfall is at an all-time low, historically quite a number of animals can be affected, especially frogs which need water,' Dr Leong said. 'We're taking the opportunity to see how things are doing and if there are any sharp drops since the last survey, which was done in the 1990s.'

Its key findings surprised him, with several new discoveries. The last study cited 17 species of bats here. The latest put the number at at least 26.

Among them is the newly discovered Hardwicke's woolly bat. Covered in greyish-brown fur, it ranks as one of the smallest bats here, with a wingspan of just 10cm, and weighs up to only 6g.
Between July 2008 and February last year, nine of the bats, of both genders, were caught in Upper Seletar and Upper Peirce reservoir areas.

Dr Leong's group also rediscovered two bat species, one of which was last seen over a century ago.

Sightings of the bicoloured roundleaf bat were last recorded over 130 years ago, but the group discovered three females at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The bats, which have a wingspan of 20cm, weigh between 7g and 10g.
Associate Professor Vilma D'Rozario from the National Institute of Education, who is the co-founder of environmental education group Cicada Tree Eco-Place and has volunteered her time to help with the surveys, said: 'These bats can consume up to 600 mosquitoes in one night. They are unseen and unappreciated pest-busters.'

The other elusive species - the naked bulldog bat - was also found at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, where four were caught.
It is South-east Asia's largest insect-eating bat with a wingspan of 60cm, and weighs up to 200g.

The creatures appear hairless, but are actually covered with short fur. They have tails, large canine teeth, and feed on large, hard-shelled insects which are too big for other bats to devour.

The first recorded sighting here was in 1878. In 2005, Dr Leong encountered a small flock in flight at dusk in the forest near Rifle Range Road.

'I have heard so much about this bat. It was a gold mine of information having one in our hands, despite the smell,' he said.

It has glands in its throat which secrete a yellow, oily substance, which Dr Leong described as smelling like 'stale socks drenched in engine oil'.

'It stays on the hands, particularly fingernails, for days. We are not sure what it's for, but it could be used to keep the wings and skin in good condition,' he said, adding that the team hopes to establish how large its population is in Singapore.
He acknowledged that bats could spread diseases, but explained that they are vital in the polli-nation and seed dispersal of fruit such as durians and bananas. That is why his group keeps the locations of bat enclaves secret from the public.

'People have been known to hunt bats for food, and there is a fear that they carry disease.'

The fieldwork aspect of the survey, sponsored by HSBC, has been completed, and Dr Leong expects the results to be compiled next year.

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Outdoor classes for pre-schoolers

More such centres go beyond books and let children learn from play
Leow Si Wan Straits Times 5 Jul 10;

OUTDOOR learning is fast catching on in pre-schools here.

Several of these schools - catering to children between 18 months and six years old - told The Straits Times they are increasingly looking at how children can acquire knowledge and skills through innovative play outside the classroom.

Just last month, at the annual Ministry of Education Kindergarten Conference, Senior Minister of State for Education Grace Fu urged teachers to 'bring the wonders of the outdoors back to your children and inspire them to go out and learn'.

The conference's theme centred on how educators can go beyond the classroom to enrich children's development.

And schools are heeding the call.

At Singapore's largest childcare chain NTUC First Campus, for instance, children go on walks around their neighbourhood to identify key landmarks such as the supermarket or library. They expand their vocabulary and build on their observation skills by finding out, for example, where to buy items from the various shops in their neighbourhood.

Then it is time for them to head back to the classrooms where they come up with maps showing what they have seen and learnt about the area.

At St James Church Kindergarten in Harding Road, pupils plant and water their own seeds in a vegetable garden so they can observe and record the growth of the plants.

Principals interviewed said there has been growing awareness about the benefits of outdoor learning over the past two to three years.

Mrs Janette Chong, one of the directors at Aces Montessori Kidz Kindergarten, said: 'Childcare providers and parents have realised that children learn very naturally and best when playing.'

The school, in Pasir Ris, plans to increase structured play time from two half-hour sessions a week to at least four sessions weekly.

'We want to make play more purposeful,' said Mrs Chong. 'For example, rather than children learning about dinosaur eggs through books, teachers will make eggs using different materials and hide them in the garden so children can find them.'

In this way, she added, children can also pick up social and motor skills.

Said Living Sanctuary Kindergarten principal Elsie Tan-Chua: 'The outdoor environment is a very rich teaching resource. When immersed in nature, children are more observant, ask better questions and show stronger interest.'

Despite the benefits of outdoor learning, industry professionals such as kindergarten operator PAP Community Foundation said there are constraints in terms of space and the kind of outdoor environments to take the children.

It said: 'The safety of our children is of utmost concern to us. We are currently still reviewing our curriculum to explore ways of improving active learning through playing.'

Mrs Tan-Chua said: 'We have a smaller space, so we have to think out of the box and see what can best be done in our concrete jungle.'

Educators also said they face the challenge of completing the curriculum.

Parents welcome such moves by pre-schools to give children more opportunities to learn in an outdoor environment.

Said housewife Betsy Wang, 42, whose five-year-old son attends Bethesda Kindergarten: 'The teachers are taking the kids to the park and beaches to learn about scientific concepts like how waves are formed in the sea.

'It is different from me taking them out because the teachers are specially trained to highlight certain ideas or things the children should learn.'

LEARNING FROM NATURE

'The outdoor environment is a very rich teaching resource. When immersed in nature, children are more observant, ask better questions and show stronger interest.'

Living Sanctuary Kindergarten principal Elsie Tan-Chua

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Making desalinated water cheaper

Challenges remain in finding best way to boost capacity 10 times by 2060
Grace Chua & Lester Kok Straits Times 5 Jul 10;

DESALINATION, the process of removing salt and other minerals from water to make it drinkable, is set to play a growing role here.

By 2060, Singapore aims to boost its desalinated-water capacity 10 times, to meet 30 per cent of water demand, which will double to some 760 million gallons (3.5 million cubic m) a day.

National water agency PUB last week put out a tender for the building of Singapore's second water desalination plant, which will add 318,500 cubic m of water a day to the nation's water supply when it is completed in 2013.

The Republic's first such plant, the $200 million SingSpring facility in Tuas, began operations in 2005, and currently produces 136,000 cubic m of fresh water daily.

Desalinated water is also known as Singapore's fourth 'national tap', along with catchment areas, water bought from Malaysia and reclaimed water Newater.

But it is costly, the most expensive of the four 'national taps'. As Singapore gradually moves towards self-sufficiency in its water supply, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim has already warned that higher water tariffs can be expected down the road.

Producing 1 cubic m of drinking water from seawater costs about 65 US cents (90 Singapore cents) to US$1.20, said the International Desalination Association's former president Lisa Henthorne. She is now the association's spokesman and treasurer.

In comparison, Newater from Sembcorp's plant, which started operations earlier this year and is the fifth such plant here, had a first-year price of just under 30 cents per cubic m. Water from Malaysia comes at a price of 3 sen (1.3 Singapore cents) per 1,000 gallons.

About 30 per cent to 40 per cent of desalination costs comes from energy, Ms Henthorne said, depending on the local costs of power and what kind of power (conventional or renewable) is used.

Another 40 per cent comes from capital costs, and the remainder from operation, maintenance, labour and so on.

Desalination is energy-hungry because the filtration method of reverse osmosis uses pressure to push water through a membrane and takes about 3kwh to produce a single cubic m of water.

About 60 per cent of global desalination is done by reverse osmosis, while multi-stage flash distillation (turning water into vapour at very high temperatures) accounts for another quarter of the desalination market. Both of these are very energy intensive.

Even Singapore's new desalination plant will use reverse osmosis to remove salt and other impurities from water.

So researchers and companies are experimenting with new, and cheaper, ways to get the salt out of seawater.

One way is membrane distillation, which, instead of flushing water through a membrane, heats the water so it turns into vapour first.

That operates at lower temperatures and leaves less residue on membranes than reverse osmosis, so membranes have to be cleaned less frequently.

Currently, PUB is working with local firm Keppel Seghers on a technology called Memstill. By using waste heat to push water vapour through a membrane, the Memstill technology cuts two- thirds of the energy needed for desalination.

A Memstill demonstration plant is currently being built on Jurong Island, while Memsys Clearwater, another membrane desalination firm, is building a small pilot plant, powered by solar energy at the Marina Barrage.

The trial, supported by PUB and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), will last 12 months, from now till next July, and begin its production of 1 cubic m of water per day in September.

Unlike current reverse osmosis systems, which are made of steel, Memsys uses mostly plastic, which needs less maintenance and so lowers cost.

However, Memsys director Florian Bollen - who is also the chairman of the Singapore Flyer - declined to comment on the overall cost of the pilot, as test-beds tend to be more costly per unit of water produced, than commercially operating plants.

The distilled water produced at the Marina Barrage will be either used in nearby water fountains, for watering plants, or sold to the public.

Another desalination method, biomimicry, uses technologies that mimic nature. For instance, some research methods use a molecule called aquaporin, which shepherds water across a membrane while blocking other contaminants out.

Aquaporins are naturally found in red blood cells and in the kidneys, where the flow of water molecules in and out has to be controlled.

But aquaporin desalination is about 10 to 15 years away from testing and commercialisation, said Professor Ng Wun Jern, executive director of the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute at NTU.

However, Singapore's push to increase desalination and Newater treatment offers opportunities for businesses.

Companies which carry such cutting-edge technology, Prof Ng said, would have a commercial advantage in the region and further afield.

As Asian cities grow, their natural aquifers and catchments may not be enough to support their burgeoning populations, and so 'water reclamation will become a part of life', he added.

Still, when salt and minerals are removed from water, they have to go somewhere and this could have an environmental impact.

Typically, this waste is discharged back into the sea, so an environmental impact assessment has to be done before a desalination plant is sited and built.

Plant sites are often chosen based on the quality of the surrounding water - the higher quality the water, the less waste is produced, explained NTU researcher Chong Tzyy Haur.

But as desalination needs grow worldwide, lower-quality water sources may have to be used, he said.

To address that problem, the International Desalination Association started an Environmental Task Force this year to study discharge and energy issues, said Ms Henthorne.

In December, it will hold its first conference in Bahrain and come up with a Blue Paper that addresses such issues.

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Singapore looking at intensifying land use for offshore and marine industry

JTC Corp seeks consultant to study sector involving over 3,000 companies
Ronnie Lim Business Times 5 Jul 10;

(SINGAPORE) Having already ventured underground, Singapore is looking at how it can further intensify the use of industrial land here. It will take a close look at the growing offshore and marine (O&M) sector, given the general shortage of sites, especially those with waterfront access.

JTC Corporation, which is seeking a consultant for this, says the study will cover a sector involving over 3,000 companies, broadly involved in two clusters: marine engineering (including shipbuilding, rigbuilding and ship or FPSO conversions) and offshore oil and gas exploration and production support services.

The feasibility study by the appointed consultant 'will not just be restricted to existing oil and gas activities here, but also those that are currently carried out overseas and have the potential to be done in Singapore,' the tender document said.

'The purpose of the study is to establish the viability of intensifying land usage for these oil and gas activities,' it added.

JTC's land-intensification study - starting with the O&M industry and also for the aerospace industry - clearly marks a new phase in the corporation's attempt to carve out more industrial space here.

It has already embarked on building underground projects, like for oil storage on Jurong Island, and possibly for science parks, and logistics and data processing centres later. JTC is also currently studying building very large floating structures for various industrial purposes.

Its latest study to intensify land usage for the O&M industry follows the planned development of a 13-hectare offshore marine support base at the new hockey-stick shaped Tuas View Extension area.

The support base, replacing an earlier one at Shipyard Road in Jurong, will cater to a strong pipeline of customers for waterfront land. All the earlier offshore suppliers there have since relocated to Loyang Offshore Supply Base in the east.

Construction of the Tuas View base is slated to start this month, with the multi-million dollar project expected to be operational by end-2011.

In line with its land intensification effort, the multi-user facility will provide common waterfront and berthing facilities for O&M companies involved in the manufacturing and fabrication of heavy equipment, components and structures, a JTC spokeswoman earlier told BT.

'It is aimed at attracting new and quality types of manufacturing activities which will generate high economic value in terms of value-add and fixed asset investment,' she added.

JTC said that while companies within the O&M sector have vastly different facility requirements, the sector nevertheless 'shares certain common characteristics in terms of the space/land utilisation of its facilities, which is generally low'.

For instance, the sector commonly uses computer numerical controlled machines, which because of their weight and high-specifications require low-vibration and are usually located on ground-floor areas. Because most of their materials and products are heavy and bulky, these are also usually stored in the open or on the ground rather than stacked within warehouses.

The consultant will be required to study existing value-chain activities in O&M operations and come up with conceptual designs for each of the two industry clusters that can increase the plot ratio or reduce the land required. This includes the possibility of their having multi-tenanted buildings with shared facilities, among other solutions.

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Steps taken to tackle air pollutants: NEA

Straits Times Forum 5 Jul 10;

WE REFER to Mr Ng Ya Ken's letter ('Are we prepared?'; June 21) and the articles by Ms Victoria Vaughan ('Haze 'is bad for your heart''; June 14) and Dr Andy Ho ('Clear the air on pollutant levels'; June 19).

Fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 is an air pollutant that poses a concern to public health. Current research on it does not identify any threshold levels where adverse health effects start to occur.

Nevertheless, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set an annual average standard of 15 micrograms per cubic m whereas the European Union's (EU) standard is 25 micrograms per cubic m. Under the Singapore Green Plan 2012, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has set a target to reduce ambient PM2.5 levels to within an annual average of 15 micrograms per cubic m by 2014. We intend to reduce it further to 12 micrograms per cubic m by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Blueprint.

The NEA has been monitoring PM2.5 levels since December 1997. The annual average ambient PM2.5 levels comply with the EU's standard but not the EPA's. However, it should be noted that 18 out of the 50 US states are unable to comply with the EPA's standard.

As a significant portion of PM2.5 emissions here comes from diesel vehicles, measures such as the implementation of Euro IV standards for new diesel vehicles (since Oct 1, 2006) and the adoption of the chassis dynamometer smoke test during the mandatory periodic inspection of diesel vehicles (since Jan 1, 2007) have helped to reduce ambient PM2.5 levels from 21 micrograms per cubic m in 2005 to 19 micrograms per cubic m last year. The introduction of ultra low sulphur diesel in December 2005 and the use of natural gas by industries and vehicles have also helped.

To deal with smoke haze from fires in the region, which contributes to PM2.5, Singapore has been actively engaging neighbouring countries, including Indonesia, to prevent the spread of forest fires.

An inter-ministry Haze Task Force was formed in 1994 to coordinate the actions of various agencies to put in place measures to protect the public during a smoke haze episode. Under this plan, the NEA provides hourly air quality updates and, when necessary, health advisories.

The NEA is aware of the findings of recent health studies on the short-term impact of air pollutants, including PM2.5, and also the recent revisions of ambient air quality standards by the EPA. We will take these into account in our efforts to review air quality standards as well as the Pollutant Standards index to ensure they remain relevant.

Tan Quee Hong
Director
Pollution Control Department
National Environment Agency

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Rhino conservation center being built in Ujung Kulon

Antara 4 Jul 10;

Pandeglang, W Java (ANTARA News) - A Java rhinoceros conservation center is being set up at Gunung Honje in the Ujung Kulon National Park (TNUK), Banten, at a cost of Rp6 billion to be provided by two non-governmental orgnizations, the park`s manager said.

"All the costs to build the center will be borne by the International Rhinoceros Foundation (IRF) and the Indonesian Rhinoceros Foundation (YABI)," TNUK chief Agus Priambudi said here Saturday.

If everything went well, the center and its 4.000-hectare conservation area would be ready in 2010 when people would also be able to visit the facility to observe the Java Rhinoceros in its natural habitat, he said.

At present there were about 50 one-horn rhinos in the park but they did not breed easily and most of them were male. So far, the park management had not encountered any illegal rhino hunting case while all rhinos found dead over the years had died of natural causes or disease, he said.

The big animals that can reach the age of 40 years old can only be found in Ujung Kulon although 10 of the same species, mostly female, are reported to be also living in Vietnam.

The park management was often counting the existing rhino population in cooperation with such organizations as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

A total of 30 surveillance cameras had been installed at many points across the animals` habitat to observe their condition and movements.

Agus also explained that there are only five rhino species in the world, namely the black rhinoceros (diceros bicornis), white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), Indian rhinoceros (rhinoceros unicornis), Sumatran rhinoceros (dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus).
(Uu.A050/HAJM/H-YH/P03)

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Foreign NGOs supporting local activists asking Malaysian PM to scrap Sabah power plant

Roy Goh New Straits Times 5 Jul 10;

KOTA KINABALU: Some foreign non-governmental organisations and individuals are lending support to a local group that is protesting a plan to build a coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu.

Letters have been sent to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and websites have been highlighting the appeal from Green Surf (Sabah United to Re-power the Future) in its campaign to scrap the proposal.

Among those who wrote to the prime minister were American environmentalist Julia Butterfly Hill, best known for staying in an ancient redwood for two years to prevent loggers from cutting down an old growth forest, and Australian environmentalist John Seed, the founder of Rainforest Information Centre, which has campaigned to save sub-tropical rainforests.

International environment organisation 350.org, which works on building global grassroots movements to cut carbon dioxide emissions, Four Years.Go and Wiser Earth are mobilising their networks to support the letter campaign.

In a statement, Green Surf said that the World Land Trust, Women's Earth Alliance and portal mongabay.com are among at least 30 organisations which have expressed concern over the construction of a coal plant between the Coral Triangle and the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

The Sabah coal story was the top most read story, with almost 9,000 hits on the mongabay.com site in May.

Green Surf's Cynthia Ong said copies of some of the letters were sent to her. There was deep concern globally about the proposal to build a 300 megawatt plant in Sabah which is known for its orang utan, rare rhinos and marine sites like Sipadan.

"In their letters, the organisations were positive about our prime minister's commitment to reduce the carbon emission intensity by up to 40 per cent by 2020. They admire his leadership in the Coral Triangle Initiative.

"They commended Datuk Seri Najib for his commitment to exploring alternative energy sources following his acknowledgement that Malaysia's current fuel mix for power is skewed too much in favour of natural gas and coal."

Ong said those who had written to Najib stressed the fact that the developing world does not need to repeat the damaging mistakes of the developed world, which now need huge resources to repair.

"The developing world can lead the way for the world into the 21st century and beyond. Malaysia has strong potential to blaze that trail.

"The opportunity exists now for you to be a champion for Malaysia and for the world -- to move forward into a clean energy future," she said, elaborating on details in the letters.

The organisations have offered to stand by Malaysia if it decides to build a clean energy economy.

"There are many organisations and individuals who are concerned about this project. They have been asking us about the government's proposal," Ong said.

Green Surf is a coalition of five NGOs and individuals which are asking the government to opt for clean energy options to solve power woes in Sabah. Coalition members include WWF-Malaysia, Land Empowerment Animals People (Leap), Sabah Environment Protection Association (Sepa), Malaysian Nature Society-Sabah and Partners of Community Organisations (Pacos)

Global call to scrap coal plant
The Star 5 Jul 10;

KOTA KINABALU: International conservationists are calling on Malaysia to lead the way towards green energy by scrapping the controversial coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu.

They have written to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak asking him to scrap the 300MW plant.

Sabah’s coalition of NGOs - Green SURF spokesperson Cynthia Ong said some of the letters made available to them reflected global concerns over the power plant.

“In their letters, the organisations were positive about our PM’s commitments to reduce carbon emission intensity by up to 40% in 2020 and admired his leadership in the Coral Triangle Initiative.

“They commended Najib for his commitment in exploring alternative energy sources following his own acknowledgement that Malaysia’s current fuel mix for power is skewed too much in favour of natural gas and coal,” Ong said.

Ong added that those who had written to Najib highlighted that the developing world should not repeat the costly and damaging mistakes of the developed world.

Among those who had written to Najib were American Julia Butterfly Hill, best known for staying in an ancient redwood for two years to prevent loggers from cutting down an old growth forest, and Australian John Seed, the founder of Rainforest Information Centre which successfully campaigned to save sub-tropical rainforests.

International environment organisations 350.org, Four Years. Go and Wiser Earth are mobilising their networks to support the letter campaign.

Ong said the World Land Trust, Women’s Earth Alliance and portal mongabay.com were among at least 30 organisations that also expressed their concern.

The Sabah coal story was the most read story, with almost 9,000 hits, on mongabay.com in May, she added.

The organisations have offered to stand by Malaysia if it decided to build a clean energy economy.

Ong said SOS Borneo has sent e-mails to hundreds of thousands worldwide to drum up support to stop the proposed plant which is to be built at the apex of the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Eco-region.

Conservationists protest Malaysia coal plant plan
Julai Zappei, Associated Press Google News 5 Jul 10;

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Conservationists criticized a plan Monday to build a coal-fired power plant in an environmentally fragile state on Borneo island, but energy officials said the project will provide a much-needed electricity supply boost.

Energy projects have often generated protests in Malaysia's two states in Borneo, with activists alleging authorities and companies ignore the rights of indigenous tribal communities and cause environmental harm by cutting down swaths of jungle.

Green Surf, a coalition of nongovernment conservation groups, including the World Wildlife Fund, said a proposed coal plant near a wildlife reserve in Sabah state would displace villagers and threaten endangered orangutans and other animals like rhinoceroses and elephants.

"They cannot say that the impact is very small and isolated," Green Surf official Cynthia Ong said. "We really feel we have to stand firm on this no-coal message."

Sabah Electricity, the state's main power supplier, has said the 300-megawatt plant is needed to meet electricity demand, which is expected to increase up to 8 percent annually.

The plant has not yet been formally approved by the Malaysian government's Department of Environment, said Ahmad Faraid Yahya, the director of the project's main developer, Lahad Datu Energy Sdn. Bhd.

If it is approved, construction could begin by the middle of next year at an estimated cost of 1.7 billion ringgit ($529.5 million), he said. The plant could then start operating by March 2013.

Ahmad Faraid pledged that developers would use equipment to reduce harmful emissions and monitor air and water quality regularly. He added the plant would be located in a palm oil plantation so that no wildlife or villagers would be affected.

In Malaysia's neighboring Sarawak state in Borneo, conservationists have criticized the construction of various dams that have displaced thousands of indigenous people and triggered land rights disputes.

Malaysia urged to scrap coal plant in eco-sensitive Borneo
Yahoo News 6 Jul 10;

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Environmentalists on Tuesday condemned a plan to build a coal-fired power plant on Malaysian Borneo, saying it will harm the island's fragile coral reefs and rainforests.

The 300-megawatt plant in Lahad Datu, in the east of Sabah state, will face the Coral Triangle which is one of the world's most biodiverse marine environments.

The area, which spans the seas around East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands, is home to 75 percent of all known coral species.

The opposition is led by Green Surf, a coalition of groups including the Malaysian Nature Society, which says the proposal will displace villagers and threaten endangered species including orangutans and Bornean rhinos.

"There is deep concern globally about the proposal to build a 300-megawatt plant in Sabah which is known for its orangutan, rhinos and renowned marine sites like Sipadan," said Cynthia Ong from Green Surf.

"We are saying no to the coal plant. Borneo is a bio-diversified hotspot, and it will have an impact on the coral reefs," she told AFP.

News reports said construction of the 1.7 billion ringgit (532 million dollar) power plant could start in mid-2011 if government approval is granted. The station could begin operating in two years.

Masidi Manjun, minister for tourism, culture and environment in Sabah, said the coal plant would meet local electricity demands and help drive economic growth.

"One of the problems in Sabah is insufficient power to fuel growth. Sabah is facing a severe under-capacity of energy," he said.

The government will "make a decision soon" but will listen to suggestions from the public, he added.

The plant is the latest energy project to stir controversy in Borneo. The vast Bakun dam in neighbouring Sarawak which saw swathes of rainforest cleared and thousands of indigenous people displaced also drew intense criticism.

Sabah and Sarawak states make up Malaysia's half of Borneo island, which is shared with Indonesia.

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Put a price on the carbon culprit

Warren Fernandez , Straits Times 5 Jul 10;

BY THE time your copy of The Straits Times lands on your doorstep tomorrow morning, another 120,000 people will have joined the millions already inhabiting the world's burgeoning cities. In line with this, poverty is being urbanised, with more and more of the world's poor inhabiting slums on the fringes of cities.

Painting this sobering scenario, United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Dr Noeleen Heyzer, added: 'As if these cities do not have enough problems, they will also have to worry about the impact of climate change.'

Rising global temperatures that cause sea levels to rise might result in flooding, as well as a higher incidence of disease. The world's developing cities are likely to be both harder hit and less equipped than richer ones to cope with these challenges.

Little wonder then that policymakers gathered in Singapore last week for the World Cities Summit were agog about the trends toward rapid urbanisation. By 2050, more than three in four people will live in cities, up from one in two today.

The consensus on the way forward called for an easy-to-describe-but-harder-to-deliver mix of good governance, strong leadership, proper planning and tough-minded choices on how to make cities liveable in the years ahead. 2

Mr Jim Clifton, chairman and chief executive of the polling organisation Gallup, summed up the case best. Based on its surveys of more than a million people around the world, Gallup had arrived at a seemingly arcane conclusion: The one thing on most people's minds at any one time was simply jobs, namely, how to get one, keep it, or make more out of it.

This globally shared obsession with jobs gives rise to an S-shaped curve of needs. It begins with a quest for safety, or the ability to walk a city's streets without being mugged. Raise residents' sense of safety and growth would follow, Mr Clifton argued. More people would go to work or play in the city, thereby generating economic activity.

The same could be said for efforts to boost confidence in the city's institutions or its residents' sense of well-being. Improvements on these scores would draw talent to a city, and with it would come greater prosperity.

Singapore's Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan concurred, noting that Singapore's experience had followed a similar path. The two critical issues that Singapore has had to grapple with over the years have been how to make a living, and how we should live - in that order.

The number of times foreign delegates highlighted Singapore's success in managing its traffic, overcoming its water woes, or integrating its disparate races, was enough to make local officials' ears ring. Thankfully, though, they did not appear to let this go to their heads.

Business leaders who joined in the discussions offered some answers. Shell Singapore chairman Lee Tzu Yang touched on the need for smarter mobility as a critical part of any effort to tackle cities' growing energy demand and carbon dioxide (C02) emissions.

Getting smarter about mobility includes improved efficiency of vehicle engines; smarter usage, such as by improved driving habits; and smarter infrastructure, for example, by using specially developed products such as Instapave that allow roads to be laid at lower temperatures, thereby cutting C02 emissions.

Better planning of cities to minimise the need to travel to and from work, as well as co-locating of transport systems so journeys could be made more seamlessly would also help.

Others noted that cars and aircraft could be built with carbon fibres, making them lighter. Technologies also exist to track and guide drivers to the most efficient routes, thereby cutting their travel.

This prompted panel moderator, law lecturer and environmentalist Simon Tay, to wonder aloud: If technologies, products and services were already available, what was preventing their adoption on a wide scale?

Bureaucratic silos, lack of political will and a reluctance among consumers to change ingrained habits, were among the reasons suggested by those who spoke. No one, however, pointed to the elephant in the room: that colourless, odourless - and therefore priceless - culprit: carbon dioxide.

Consider this: Depending on the size, make and age of your car, for about every 5km or so you drive, you are effectively chucking 1kg of C02 out the window into the atmosphere, where it remains for decades.

If only we could see its effects. In 19th century London, when the dominant mode of transport was horse-drawn carriages, people could see the natural by-product piling up in stinking heaps on roadsides. Before long, this led to a clamour for the authorities to take action.

Today, however, while many agree on the need to curb C02 emissions, consumers in most cities do not pay for the emissions. Nor are they given much incentive to choose lower C02 options. As Dr Heyzer put it, ways to 'internalise the cost of C02, energy and water usage' are urgently needed.

Putting a price on carbon emissions will be key. Not only will it ensure that those who put C02 into the air bear the social cost of doing so, it will also encourage businesses to innovate and develop technologies, products and services to minimise its impact.

Solutions to help curb C02 emissions are at hand. Political leaders should not wait for an elusive global agreement on climate change before deploying them.

The writer, a former deputy editor of this paper, is regional director (Asia-Pacific) for global communications strategy with Shell, and a board member of the Energy Studies Institute.

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