Best of our wild blogs: 28 Aug 10

Pulau Ubin : 20th March
from The Borg's Hideout

Encounter with a family of Dark-necked Tailorbird
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Singapore presents model of sustainable city at Venice Biennale

Seema Gupta Channel NewsAsia 27 Aug 10;

VENICE : If the world was built like Singapore, the entire global population could be housed on less than one percent of the world's land area.

This is the premise behind Singapore's pavilion at this year's International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.

The island-state is presented as an effective model of a compact and sustainable city of the future at this renowned exhibition.

The architectural wonder that is Venice is once again playing host to the world's leading talent in building design.

The 12th International Architecture Biennale in Venice showcases cutting edge cities and concepts.

And the theme this year is People Meet in Architecture.

In taking on this theme in Venice, Singapore looked to its unique brand of urban planning and housing in a high density state.

And so right in the heart of Venice is a little slice of Singapore.

A 35 metre long tube represents a cross-section of Singapore.

Jointly commissioned by the Design Singapore Council and the Singapore Institute of Architects, it was launched by Lui Tuck Yew, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts.

The pavilion showcases the diverse lives and experiences that make up a compact city like Singapore.

So compact and efficient that the exhibit proposes that 1,000 Singapores could theoretically house the entire world's population in a space just twice the size of Italy.

Lui Tuck Yew, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, said: "1,000 Singapores because in our planning parameters we're planning for a population of 6 and a half million people and you multiply that by a 1000, you have 6.5 billion which is roughly the population of the world."

From the ventilation blocks so common in Singapore's tropical architecture to the one thousand postcards that capture the island's physical and social landscape - the data, diagrams and detailed portraits aim to give the visitor an idea of the components that make up Singapore - highlighting the urban sustainability of this experience.

Khoo Peng Beng, Architect and Lead Curator, said: "We have made a lot of design and engineering and all sorts of different innovations, to fit so many people onto such a small land area.

And in future if more and more people move in the city as what we see the pattern of growth in the world is today, there would be a lot of pressure on resources and on the planet so we are provoking thought and maybe discussions on the different ways that we can become more efficient."

A panel discussion with the curators explored some of these themes at the pavilion's opening.

It was a chance to discuss the idea that people are themselves the architecture of a nation.

Jeffrey Ho, Director, DesignSingapore Council, said: "People are very used to talking about design in terms of aesthetics, in terms of products, things and tangibles that you have.

But perhaps Singapore is presenting a model right, that we're designing systems, the financial systems, the social systems, the cultural systems that makes up planning and makes up architecture."

For those who cannot make it to Venice, the entire exhibit will be shown in Singapore after it finishes its run in Venice in November. - CNA/ch

Singapore, the ideal 'compact city'
Paul Gilfeather Today Online 27 Aug 10;

VENICE - Singapore declared itself the ultimate "compact city" yesterday at the Biennale exhibition for international architecture in Venice.

Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, travelled to the Italian city to officially open Singapore's pavilion.

The Biennale event, part of a wider arts and film festival, allows countries to showcase their achievements in city planning.

And talking to Today ahead of the launch, the Minister said the pavilion's thought-provoking concept, "1000 Singapores - A Model of the Compact City", would prove a massive hit by demonstrating how the country had coped with housing such huge numbers over a relatively small area of land.

He said: "This is a very interesting way of presenting Singapore and it gives people a very rich introduction to our way of life.

"When I saw the pavilion I was completely intrigued as to how the organisers put this concept together and overall I think it's a very interesting and captivating presentation.

"It is vital Singapore takes part in such global events. It puts Singapore on the map and shows we have people who are able to showcase the richess of our country's past and the promise of the future."

The exhibit focuses on the idea that "1000 Singapores" could house the entire world population using just 0.5 per cent of the Earth's land.

Those behind the theme said they hoped their concept would stimulate a fresh discussion into ways of housing a high-density populations over small areas.

Mr Khoo Peng Beng, lead curator and founder of Singapore-based architects ARC Studio, said: "Cities all over the world are growing at phenomenal rates and the world is struggling with the impact of this growth.

"Our concept of '1000 Singapores' is an invitation to look at how compact cities might reduce our demand for land and consequently how human beings might inhabit this planet of ours with the smallest footprint possible."

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More firms in carbon trade setting up shop in Singapore

Grace Chua Straits Times 28 Aug 10;

MORE companies trading in carbon offsets and those financing emissions reduction projects are setting up shop in Singapore.

More than 30 such carbon-related firms have done so in the last three years or so.

The trade in carbon credits, worth US$153 billion (S$208 billion) globally last year, is driven by various requirements to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions. These include cap-and-trade regulations in Europe and countries scrambling to fulfil carbon emissions obligations under the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday for the Carbon Forum Asia conference in October, Sustainable Energy Association Singapore chairman Edwin Khew said more firms were setting up here because of access to carbon offset projects, as well as suitable legal and financial services.

Access to research and development will also improve with the establishment of a 50-ha cleantech park near Nanyang Technological University, he added.

One company that has moved here in recent months is the climate sourcing arm of European energy company EON.

Ms Julie McLaughlin, South-east Asia regional director for EON Climate & Renewables, said Singapore's stable regime allowed for investment in renewable energy. She added that it was a convenient location for meetings with other carbon companies and project directors.

In South-east Asia, she said, the firm was eyeing 'win-win-win' projects with a greenhouse-gas abatement component, such as bio-gas and capturing usable methane from landfills.

More than 2,300 offset projects are registered with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, up from 700 or so in 2007. They are concentrated in Asia, with nearly 70 per cent in China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Other firms that have based themselves here include Climate Resources Exchange (CRX), Carbon Conservation, Sindicatum Carbon Capital, and Asia Carbon Exchange.

Their activities include financing, developing, consulting on and managing clean energy and low-carbon projects in the region.

Singapore first stated its aim to be a carbon trading hub in 2007, when it also put $350 million into the clean energy industry and introduced incentives such as tax holidays for carbon firms to set up shop here.

But for all that, few carbon credits are actually traded here, noted CRX chief executive Vinod Kesava.

The Singapore Mercantile Exchange, a new commodities exchange here which was touted as a carbon trading platform, will not trade carbon credits yet when it goes live on Tuesday.

And in last month's auction by the Asia Carbon Exchange, just 250,000 carbon credits were traded, with a market value of €2.1 million (S$3.6 million).

In order for carbon trading to take off here, said CRX's Mr Kesava, Singapore must figure out whether to position itself as an Annex 1 country, with binding greenhouse gas targets, or as a non-Annex 1 country - in which case it should be developing more local carbon reduction projects.

Not all is lost, he added, as Singapore has room to develop local projects, and has experience in trading other commodities such as oil and gas.

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Dugong, two dolphins drown in nets in Thailand

Bangkok Post 28 Aug 10;

A pregnant dugong and two dolphins have drowned at sea, say scientists and environmental advocates who are blaming fishing gear for the deaths.

The death of the dugong and her unborn calf drew an emotional response from Marine and Coastal Resources Department chief Adisak Thongkaimook who admitted officials have not been vigilant enough and "have so far mostly waited for people to report carcasses of the rare species", he said.

The dead dugong, which was brought from Surat Thani's Chaiya district, underwent a post-mortem at Chumphon Marine Biological Centre yesterday.

The discovery of the fully-grown foetus left some of the scientists at the centre in tears.

Veterinarian Patcharaporn Kaewmong assumed the dugong had become trapped in fishing gear and because she was frail and being so near to her delivery, she failed to save her calf and herself.

She is believed to be among the last group of 10 dugongs living off Surat Thani's coast in the Gulf of Thailand, scientists said. On the western coast in Trang facing the Andaman Sea, the country's other group of dugongs was last numbered at 20.

Their sharply dwindling numbers has spurred Mr Adisak into ordering officials to focus on areas where both dugongs and fishermen go, he said.

Also in Trang, two dead dolphins have been found floating off Ban Mai Rut and Ban Laempo, two seaside villages in Muang district.

A male Irrawaddy dolphin was taken ashore by a conservation group in Ban Mai Rut after a fisherman spotted it in a terrible condition with its bowels hanging out of a severe wound in its stomach.

"It's probably a kind of fishing gear [that caused the death]," said the group's representative Kritpas Srisaengjorn. "He got injured, choked and drowned."

The other dolphin was also believed to have died after being caught in a push net.

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Ivory and rhino horn seizure highlights Malaysia’s role as transit point in illicit trade

TRAFFIC 26 Aug 10;

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26th August 2010—The recent seizure in Kenya of five rhino horns and two tonnes of elephant ivory bound for Malaysia is raising concerns about the country’s role in the illegal trade of these items.

While Malaysia does not possess the open ivory markets of other countries in the region, it was identified in the latest Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) report as a country of concern because of its role as a significant transit point in the global ivory trade.

ETIS is the world’s largest database of elephant product seizure records, comprising more than 15,400 ivory seizure cases compiled over the last 21 years and is compiled by TRAFFIC on behalf of CITES.

The data show a growing number of illegal ivory shipments passing through Malaysian ports, particularly Pasir Gudang in Johor, where in August 2006, 2,910 kg of ivory was seized in Japan, after transiting the port.

In 2009, another large shipment of 5,647 kg of ivory was seized in Viet Nam, also having passed through Pasir Gudang, while on 12th May 2010, 1,665 kg of ivory was seized in Hai Phong Port, Viet Nam, again having come via Malaysia.

On Tuesday, Wildlife officers seized two tonnes of elephant ivory and five rhino horns at Kenya’s international airport, which were to be illegally shipped to Malaysia.

African Elephants and rhinos are threatened by poaching, the latter for their horns, valued in traditional Asian medicines.

Worldwide, all five rhino species are in crisis, with declining numbers throughout their ranges in Africa and Asia.

However, it is Africa that has borne the brunt of the latest poaching surge; 180 rhinos have been slaughtered for their horns in South Africa this year alone, with animals killed on an almost daily basis.

Earlier this week, a new committee to co-ordinate the fight against rhino poaching was formed in Johannesburg, South Africa, where a summit was being convened to find new ways to reduce poaching and demand for rhino horn from the East.

Viet Nam in particular plus other countries in the region have already been in the spotlight as hubs for the illegal rhino horn trade, but this seizure demonstrates, Malaysia also plays a role.

In the wake of the most recent seizure, TRAFFIC calls for urgent investigations to identify the players involved in the illegal rhino horn and elephant ivory trade in Malaysia, and for stern action to put them out of business.

“Tackling the poaching is just one end of the supply chain, every effort must be made to close down the middlemen and buyers too,” said Kanitha Krishnasamy, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia Senior Programme Officer.

TRAFFIC applauds the agencies in Kenya for making the seizure, and urges the authorities there and in Malaysia to increase co-operative efforts to end such trade in endangered species between the two countries.

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Green group slams Cargill over SMART palm oil

Sunanda Creagh Reuters AlertNet 27 Aug 10;

JAKARTA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Environmentalists on Friday criticised a decision by agribusiness giant Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] to continue buying palm oil from Indonesian firm PT Smart Tbk after SMART received a mixed score in a green audit.

Greenpeace has alleged in its reports that SMART -- which is controlled by Indonesia's Widjaja family, owners of the Sinar Mas conglomerate -- cleared forests in Kalimantan without completing the proper paperwork and destroyed carbon-rich peatlands.

Big palm oil buyers Nestle and Unilever have already delisted SMART as a supplier and Cargill said in March it would do the same if Greenpeace's allegations were borne out in an independent audit of SMART's operations and if the firm did not take corrective action.

The audit, released earlier this month, said SMART had not cleared primary forests but also showed that it had, in some cases, failed to complete necessary environmental impact statements and had planted on some areas of peatland that were deeper than three metres -- a breach of Indonesian law.

SMART said the incidents of deep peatland planting were small and sporadic, that some peatlands had been repaired and that it had since got all the necessary paperwork for its concessions.

Peatlands release vast amounts of greenhouse gases when disturbed and their preservation is seen as crucial to slowing down climate change.

Cargill said on Friday it was satisfied with the audit.

"Cargill has consistently stated that if the allegations were proven correct and PT SMART did not take corrective action we would delist it as a supplier," it said in an email to Reuters.

"(But) we are encouraged PT SMART has acknowledged areas of non-compliance... (and) that it has committed to taking corrective actions and to strengthening its standard operating procedures to address these," it said.

U.S-based environmentalist group Rainforest Action Network (RAN) on Friday issued a statement condemning Cargill's decision to keep buying from SMART.

"It's now clear that Greenpeace's evidence against PT SMART was justified, and that Sinar Mas remains a controversial supplier," said Ashley Schaeffer of RAN. (Editing by Sara Webb and Alex Richardson)

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