Best of our wild blogs: 18 Sep 10

Butterfly of the Month - September 2010
from Butterflies of Singapore

Another myna fight
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Kusu Island: Anemone City
from wonderful creation

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Singapore G1: Diplomats race to spread green message

Esther Ng Today Online 18 Sep 10;

SINGAPORE - Some get around by bus, others by car or the bicycle, but the trishaw?

On Sunday, 36 consulate staff from 12 different foreign missions will, in teams of three comprising two passengers and a rider, manoeuvre their trishaws across various obstacles in a race.

The race is one of the many activities of the Singapore G1, to raise awareness of green transport technologies and green alternative energy through educating and engaging the public.

The Singapore G1 is a family event organised by the Singapore Environment Council at The Float@Marina Bay.

Mr Ole Sorensen, the head of the Royal Danish Embassy's trade department, is adequately prepared for the race.

He swims every morning, runs at MacRitchie once a week and also mountain-bikes.

Mr Sorensen, who does not have a car, takes the bus to work.

"I would cycle to work if there were special lanes for bikes like in Denmark," said Mr Sorensen, who is in his 50s. "You don't really need a car in Singapore because public transport here is good."

He also tries to reduce his carbon footprint by limiting long-haul overseas trips to only three a year, now that he is based here.

Pedalling in the hot seat for the Embassy of the Republic of Korea is Defence Attache Lee Jong Chul.

"He's a military man and I'm sure he has been keeping fit," said Mr Lee Yong Hwan, the embassy's Commercial Counsellor.

"However, the focus for us is not on speed but our costumes and our green message of 'Low Carbon, Green Growth', which in 2008, was declared as a Korean national catchphrase," said Mr Lee.

Asked how this message would be displayed during the race, Mr Lee said it will be a "surprise" to be revealed on race day.

What he would say, however, was that the trishaw's passengers - two female staff members - will be in Korean national attire.

The British High Commission, on the other hand, is fielding an all-female team.

Its team captain, Ms Julia Sutherland, has been using her bike as her main mode of transport since her university days in Cambridge but this will be her first experience on a trishaw, said spokesperson Nicola Hawdon.

Ms Sutherland is the commission's First Secretary and Head of Chancery.

"Our strategy is to have fun," said Ms Hawdon.

"To optimise our speed for the race, we have chosen as passengers the most petite staff members that we could find, so as to maintain the lightest load possible."

Other events happening at the G1 include a soap-box car race, a buggy race and an eco-car race.

When 2 wheels are better than 4
Cycling enthusiasts say pedal power is the way to go
Paul Gilfeather Today Online 18 Sep 10;

AS A geography teacher, Mr Muhammad Rezal Ramli peddles the environmental benefits of cycling to his pupils at every opportunity.

A regular bike commuter for the past three years, Mr Rezal believes his message is beginning to filter through to the next generation. Talking ahead of Sunday's Singapore G1 event to promote greener ways of travel, he said: "As a geography teacher, I focus on environmental and conservation issues, which I can combine with my interest in promoting cycling.

"But, it's important that people don't see the promotion of green issues as just a cliché and I try to make the point that cycling is one of the best and easiest ways to make a contribution to the cause.

"Cycling is a more effective way than most because it is something which can be a daily activity. I don't tell my pupils that with cycling you can single-handedly save the planet, so to speak, but you can certainly make a small, significant contribution.

Mr Rezal, who teaches at Ping Ti Secondary School in Bedok, believes the Government is genuinely on board with the idea of getting people out of their cars and on to their bikes.

He added: "I think this was a movement that was always going to have to come from the grassroots up. But now the Government can see that there are enough numbers to support the idea of cycling, ministers will begin to make the necessary changes."

But, he reckoned, road conditions have to be improved for cyclists in Singapore. And greater promotion of the benefits is needed as well.

"There is no doubt Singapore can adapt and make the necessary changes but what's even more interesting is waiting to see what kind of original solutions are implemented.

"Singapore has a tremendous track record for sound solutions to problems and I am sure the issue of cycling will be tackled in the same way."

Mr Rezal, who is also president of the Singapore Tchoukball Association, hailed the G1 event.

Previously known as the Green Transport Week, and organised by the Singapore Environment Council, the event is designed to raise awareness of alternative energy solutions and promote green technologies in transportation. It is all part of the move towards a cleaner, greener Singapore, in which the Government has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 16 per cent within 10 years.

Paediatrician Janil Puthucheary is another avid cyclist keen to see Singapore improve its green credentials.

The consultant at Kandang Kerbau Women's and Children's Hospital is a firm believer that the scientific case will eventually see greater numbers convert from four wheels to only two in the near future.

"The figures on pollution and energy consumption become more and more convincing all the time," he said.

Singapore, according to him, is in a great position to address this problem in a positive way.

"We can capitalise on the fact that we are such a compact society to promote the idea of integrated travel through cycling and public transport. In some ways it's easier to sell the idea of cycling because there are no huge distances to cover, like with other cities around the world.

"Coupled with the fact that we have very good public transport infrastructures here, it's not such a hard sell. Cycling does not just have to be the domain of a small group of enthusiasts. I would like to see a greater chunk of the population use it as way to travel, in conjunction with buses and the MRT."

Dr Puthucheary, who also works as a lecturer at Duke-NUS medical school, is keen to dispel the notion that Singapore is a difficult place to commute on a bike.

He added: "I've commuted on my bike while living and working in London and Sydney and that was far more treacherous.

"In a way, when it comes to promoting the bicycle, Singapore has been a victim of its own success. The reason cities like London and Barcelona ploughed so much investment into initiatives like cycle lanes was because its roads were struggling to cope with chronic traffic buildup.

"So far, Singapore has dealt with such congestion issues, so promoting cycling has been tougher in that respect."

The dad of three, who was born in Malaysia but is now a Singapore citizen, started bike commuting in 1997 but gave up in 2003 due to family and work commitments.

He took up cycling again last year in an attempt to make his contribution to the environment and also because it meant he could exercise while travelling to work, freeing up more time to spend with his family.

"I think we have to concentrate on the positive effects of cycling by promoting how good it is for your health and the environment. It's that simple."

Members of the public can head down to the Float @ Marina Bay on Sept 19, between 2pm and 8pm, to watch Asia's first Soap Box Derby. For more information, please visit www.singaporeg1.sg or call SEC on 6337 6062.

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New $1b fund for research to tackle Singapore's challenges

Straits Times 18 Sep 10;

THE Government has set aside $1 billion for the next five years to study large, complex national challenges such as energy and environmental sustainability.

The National Innovation Challenge was announced yesterday at the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council's press conference.

The challenge hopes to attract projects studying long-term solutions to major issues facing Singapore such as sustainable urban development, efficient city transportation systems or cost-efficient clean energy, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

'These are major challenges where if we can mount a coordinated effort to tackle them, then we can marshal diverse expertise which we have built up to produce innovative and impactful solutions and make a real difference to Singapore,' he said.

'These would solve Singapore's own problems, make life better for Singaporeans and also spawn new industries to exploit opportunities abroad.'

The first National Innovation Challenge will seek to gain energy resilience through increasing Singapore's energy options, reducing carbon emissions and boosting energy efficiency.

Already, Singapore has pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 16 per cent from projected business-as-usual levels by 2020, contingent on a global agreement about the greenhouse gas.

It currently has a host of schemes to fund energy research and efficiency, such as the Clean Energy Research Programme, a $50 million kitty launched in 2007 to study such technology.

But the National Innovation Challenge has much wider scale and longer-term focus, which energy researchers applauded.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic senior lecturer Tuti Mariana Lim, 42, who studies ways to improve electric vehicle batteries, noted the programme could help scientists work on significant breakthroughs as well as nascent clean-energy technologies such as algal biofuel and hydrogen which may not be immediately viable in the near term.

Singapore Polytechnic senior lecturer Jiang Fan, 52, said: 'This is very long-term planning.'

GRACE CHUA

$16 billion govt boost for R&D
20% increase reflects its growing importance to development: PM Lee
Chua Hian Hou & Grace Chua Straits Times 18 Sep 10;

THE Government is setting aside more money to fund deserving research and innovation projects over the next five years.

The $16.1 billion is a 20 per cent increase over the $13.55 billion it had intended for the previous five years to this year. The Straits Times understands that not all the allocated funds had been spent.

The new funds, which work out to about $3.2 billion per year, represents about 1 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP).

The rise in R&D spending, announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, 'reflects the growing importance of R&D in Singapore's development as a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy'.

The end-goal is to transform Singapore into one of the 'most research-intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economies in the world in order to create high-value jobs and prosperity for Singaporeans', said PM Lee, who chairs the Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC).

The RIEC, a high-level committee set up in 2006 to help Singapore chart a new course in development, includes Cabinet ministers such as Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang as well as international experts like Professor Paul Herrling of drug giant Novartis.

Mr Lee said the funding was a sign of the Government's commitment to research, and acts as a stabiliser, especially during bad times, when private sector money might dry up. The private sector is estimated to contribute some $6 billion to research every year.

Firms like Microsoft and Google spend heavily on research to ensure they have a constant pipeline of new projects and opportunities - as does Singapore, he said.

But research takes time to show results, and the Government would like to avoid a 'feast and famine situation', said Mr Lee. 'This is very disruptive, and we won't get results. So we decided to commit this steady amount which we can afford over a long period,' he said.

However, the funds do not represent a 'blank cheque', and projects that draw from it will need to justify their existence through a rigorous review every three to five years, he said.

Mr Lee also gave an update on the three sectors the Government had previously identified as key to Singapore's growth.

He said there had been significant progress in Singapore's interactive digital media, environmental and water technology, and biomedical sciences industries over the past five years.

The interactive digital media sector, which grew by 15 per cent last year, contributed $867 million, or 0.3 per cent, of Singapore's GDP last year.

Jobs grew by 500, and there are now more than 8,100 game developers, artists, animators, writers and other digital media professionals in some 730 firms.

In the biomedical sciences sector, Singapore has successfully made a name for itself as a recognised centre for clinical research, and many big pharma companies, including Novartis, are coming here to exploit this expertise, said Prof Herrling, Novartis' corporate research head.

The environmental and water technologies sector is also 'growing very nicely'. said Mr Lee.

In the past four years, the number of water companies here has grown from 50 to 70. As at 2007, the water industry employed 9,000 people and contributed $823 million to Singapore's GDP.

Govt allocates S$16.1b for R&D over next 5 years
By S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 17 Sep 10;

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government plans to spend S$16.1 billion over the next 5 years from 2011-2015 on research, innovation and enterprise.

This was announced on Friday by the Research Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC), chaired by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and also comprising several cabinet ministers as well as international leaders in science and technology.

The new allocation is a 20 per cent increase over the S$13.55 billion which was committed from 2006 to 2010.

The council said this reflected the growing importance of research and development (R&D) in Singapore's development as a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy.

Singapore's emphasis on R&D is already paying off with some of the leading names in the biomedical industry like Swiss healthcare firm Roche setting up here.

And the country aims to increase gross expenditure on R&D to 3.5 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product by 2015.

Giving details at a news conference, Mr Lee said Singapore's long term aim is to be among the most research intensive and entrepreneurial economy in the world in order to create high value jobs for Singaporeans.

Mr Lee said: "We hope that these R&D investments will create high quality jobs and prosperity for Singaporeans.

"A large part of the R&D money will be awarded competitively to support the best proposals and at the same time we will promote closer collaboration between industry and research institutions."

He said research and innovation underpin the competitiveness of industries, catalyse new growth areas and transform the economy.

Companies like Lucasfilm have set up here.

And members of the Research Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) noted that there has been substantial progress made in strategic research programmes like the interactive digital media (IDM).

"When the IDM programme was first announced, I was sceptical because I wasn't sure whether Singaporeans were diverse, creative and weird enough for the world of interactive media. Having spent time last summer here, and seeing the fruits both economically and technologically produced, let me say Singaporeans are weird enough," said Peter Schwartz, chairman of Global Business Network.

The challenge now is to be prepared for what Mr Lee calls the white space.

PM Lee said: "Because we cannot tell what we will need to do, and which way the science will go, and where the new opportunities will be all in advance. (But) it doesn't mean scientists get a blank cheque, they have to be held to account. But at the same time, we need to have enough scope and room for creative work and in the long term, to deliver results."

A major new thrust in R&D is to look for complex national challenges for Singapore. The National Research Foundation aims to make life better for Singaporeans and also create business opportunities which can be exploited abroad.

And for this, the National Innovation Challenge will be launched. Its first project will look into areas like tapping into the power of solar energy and developing cost-competitive energy solutions. - CNA/fa/ls

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Financing green technologies a challenge for companies in Singapore

Rachel Kelly Channel NewsAsia 17 Sep 10;

SINGAPORE : Companies can save over S$1.5 billion annually by implementing energy efficient technologies.

But retrofitting your office building, and reducing your carbon footprint don't always come cheap.

In Singapore, analysts estimate that energy efficiency projects can cost between S$1 billion and S$9 billion.

Business adviser ReEx is studying energy efficient opportunities in six regional countries.

"It could give ideas about how a new or innovative financing mechanism could be set up, how we can address this financing gap and come up with some innovative ways. And that would require a public private partnership," said Frederic Crampe, MD of ReEx Capital Asia.

Another way to raise funds for energy efficient projects is to sell carbon credits on the carbon trading market.

Companies that have exceeded the amount of emissions they can release can buy or trade carbon credits with other firms.

However, individual projects may not generate enough carbon to be traded.

Therefore, industry watchers said several groups in the region want to bundle such projects to create a bulk of carbon credits.

While experts maintain that there is still a firm future for carbon trading, with a wide variety of new developing markets such as Southeast Asia and Africa, what is needed is international policy for further clarity on pricing.

"Unless you put a price to these emissions, you do not set the right economic tone. A lot of people have talked about subsidies/taxes. When you talk about carbon pricing, you have a trading issue and a taxation issue," said Professor Michael Quah at National University of Singapore.

Industry watchers said governments need to introduce more policies to get companies to buy into carbon trading. - CNA /ls

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Record Temperatures Killing Caribbean Corals

Stephen Leahy IPS 17 Sep 10;

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Sep 17, 2010 (Tierramérica) - The waters of the Caribbean Sea are the warmest on record and the region's imperilled corals are bleaching and beginning to die, experts warn.

This year many corals are already bleached and dying in the southern Caribbean Sea, especially in the Lesser Antilles, according to Mark Eakin coordinator of Coral Reef Watch at the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The waters are even warmer than they were in 2005 when a severe bleaching occurred across much of the Caribbean. More than 60 percent of corals around the U.S. Virgin Islands died, Eakin told Tierramérica.

Water temperatures in this region reach their annual peak between September and October.

The area affected by bleaching and dying corals will likely extend to the region east of Nicaragua, past the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) to Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles, and south along the Caribbean coasts of Panama and South America, according to a warning issued by Coral Reef Watch last month.

"There is the potential that this will be worse than 2005, unless some tropical storms come through and mix the warm surface water with deeper, cooler water," Eakin said.

Coral reefs are found in less than one percent of the world's oceans but are home to 25 to 30 percent of all marine species. Some one billion people depend directly and indirectly on reefs for their livelihoods.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers coral reefs one of the life-support systems essential for human survival.

A colourful piece of coral is made up of thousands of tiny animals called polyps, which create cup-like limestone skeletons around themselves using calcium from seawater.

Reefs form as generation after generation of coral polyps live, build and die, creating habitat for themselves and many other plants and animals.

Coral gets its colours from algae called zooxanthellae, which cover the polyps and produce sugars and amino acids to feed them. In exchange, the algae get a safe place to live with just enough light to grow through photosynthesis.

This 250-million-year-old partnership is disrupted when the polyps are stressed by too-warm sea temperatures or by pollution. They lose their colourful zooxanthellae coating and look white or bleached. Without the food that the algae provide, corals slowly starve and become vulnerable to disease.

Prior to the 1980s only one large-scale bleaching event had ever been recorded. An increase in water temperature of just one or two degrees Celsius above the average summer peak period is enough for bleaching to begin.

The longer the water temperatures remain above normal, the greater the bleaching. Those corals can recover if the stress is temporary -- lasting weeks, instead of months.

The greenhouse effect resulting from carbon emissions, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, is trapping more heat in the atmosphere and is gradually heating up the oceans. In July, the global ocean surface temperature reached a record 0.62 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average, according to NOAA.

In Southeast Asia, ocean temperatures were 4.0 degrees above normal in May. Sixty to 80 percent of corals in various regions near Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia bleached, and some died, according to surveys done by the Wildlife Conservation Society, based in Indonesia.

Scientists there expect 2010 will be worse than the 1998 bleaching that killed 30 percent of reefs in the Indian and the western and central Pacific Ocean. That year, 16 percent of the world's corals died due to bleaching.

Until the last decade or so, overfishing, pollution and coastal development were the biggest killers of coral. Those threats still exist, although there have been attempts to protect corals in marine protected areas (MPAs) and "no- take" fishery reserves.

But despite best intentions, those efforts have largely been ineffective, says Peter Sale, of the United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

"Most MPAs do not work. We call them 'paper parks'," Sale told Tierramérica. They suffer from poor management and from design that fails to take into account the fact that reefs do not exist in isolation.

If coastal development results in pollutants or sediments flowing into the ocean, the nearby reefs are done for, even if they are in an MPA, he said.

There is also a stunning shortage of scientific data. "We don't know how big an MPA should be to be effective," said Sale.

In the Caribbean, the most important local fishing sector is lobster. But, according to Sale, no island fishery knows where its lobster comes from, so how could lobster be properly managed?

After hatching, lobster larvae are free-floating for an average of nine months, which enables them to travel hundreds of kilometres away from where they hatched, according to new research.

This new data is part of a larger project that has produced an MPA management guide: "Preserving Reef Connectivity: A Handbook for Marine Protected Area Managers".

He stressed that proper local protection and management of corals is absolutely essential to help them withstand the effects climate change: bleaching and ocean acidification, a process that weakens reef's calcium skeleton.

In the early 1980s, the residents of two small islands in the Philippines brought their coral reefs and fisheries back from the brink of extinction by setting up and managing no-fishing reserves.

Today, they catch more fish with less effort, while earning a good tourist income, Sale said.

In the Caribbean, MPAs need to be managed as a regional network that is connected to the continental coastal zone.

"Done well, corals, fisheries and the coastal environment will all benefit," he said.

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Orang Laut’s plight documented in exhibition in Malaysia

Brendan Vive Suppiah The Star 18 Sep 10:

THE plight of the Orang Laut or better known as Orang Seletar, one of the orang asli tribes in Johor facing challenges due to the rapid development in Iskandar Malaysia economic growth corridor have been documented in photography by four amateur and one professional photographer.

They spent the whole day capturing the day-to-day life of the Orang seletar at their village at Kampung Bakar Batu in Perling and Kampung Simpang Arang in Gelang Patah and ended up with 500 images of these people.

One of the amateurs, Dennis Yan who is also a lawyer, said the group decided to photograph the ethnic people as ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’ to create awareness on the plight of the Orang Seletar who have been suffering in silence due to lack of publicty or news about them.

He said many are not aware that the livelihood of the Orang Seletar, majority of them fishermen, were badly affected from water pollution due to land reclamation activities in the Danga Bay waterfront opposite Kampung Bakar Batu.

Yan said the fish population has declined in the area due to the loss of mangrove trees and breeding ground for fishes, ketam bangkang (mud crabs) and prawns.

The public now have the opportunity to view the works by these photographers. 24 photographic prints are on display at an on-going exhibition at the Lost Malaya Gallery until Oct 23.

Yan said they are hoping to raise funds from photographs that are up for sale with prices from RM150 to RM600 per piece and the proceeds will be donated to the Orang Seletar.

One of the Orang Laut, fisherman Jahan Tom, 43, said his earnings are affected due to a lesser catch from the sea and to be able to get RM500 a month was a blessing.

The father of 12 said he is not able to send his children to school because he could not afford to pay the school fees and books.

“I have to provide for my family, pay bills and fuel for my boat to go fishing but with a meagre income, how am i going to survive,” said Jahan.

He said the Orang Seletar have lots of stories about their hardship but lamented nobody was interested to listen or even share their problems.

Fellow villager Bajum Awang, 28, said things have gotten from bad to worse as he could not afford to provide medical attention to his children whenever they are sick.

“We hope the relevant authorities will look into our hardship and give us some kind of assistance including ensuring our fishing grounds are not polluted,” he said.

Event organiser and Malaysian Society of Marine Science council member Choo Chee Kuang said the society would organise a cultural night performance featuring activites such as folk songs, dances, and handicraft for the Orang Seletar at the gallery.

For details on the photo exhibition and the cultural show, contact Choo at 019-9815940 or email msms.gef@gmail.com or visit the Lost Malaya Gallery at 9, Jalan Skudai, Johor Baru (next to Johor Japanese Club).

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The last of the sea nomads

For generations they have lived on the ocean, diving and fishing, and rarely setting foot on land. But now they risk destroying the reefs that sustain them…
Johnny Lagenheim The Guardian 18 Sep 10;

Diana Botutihe was born at sea. Now in her 50s, she has spent her entire life on boats that are typically just 5m long and 1.5m wide. She visits land only to trade fish for staples such as rice and water, and her boat is filled with the accoutrements of everyday living – jerry cans, blackened stockpots, plastic utensils, a kerosene lamp and a pair of pot plants.

Diana is one of the world's last marine nomads; a member of the Bajau ethnic group, a Malay people who have lived at sea for centuries, plying a tract of ocean between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. The origins of the Bajau diaspora are recounted in the legend of a princess from Johor, Malaysia, who was washed away in a flash flood. Her grief-stricken father ordered his subjects to depart, returning only when they'd found his daughter.

Over generations, the Bajau adapted to their maritime environment and, though marginalised, their knowledge was revered by the great Malay sultans, who counted on them to establish and protect trade routes. They are highly skilled free divers, plunging to depths of 30m and more to hunt pelagic fish or search for pearls and sea cucumbers – a delicacy among the Bajau and a commodity they have traded for centuries.

Since diving is an everyday activity, the Bajau deliberately rupture their eardrums at an early age. "You bleed from your ears and nose, and you have to spend a week lying down because of the dizziness," says Imran Lahassan, of the community of Torosiaje in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. "After that you can dive without pain." Unsurprisingly, most older Bajau are hard of hearing. When diving, they wear hand-carved wooden goggles with glass lenses, hunting with spear guns fashioned from boat timber, tyre rubber and scrap metal.

The number of Bajau living on traditional lepa-lepa boats (narrow, high-prowed vessels, highly prized among the region's coastal populations) is dwindling fast, however. Nomadism has always been at odds with the fixed boundaries of the nation state, and over the last few decades controversial government programmes have forced most Bajau to settle on land. Today, many live in stilt villages such as Torosiaje, though the settlement is unique in that it lies a full kilometre out to sea.

Ane Kasim and her son Ramdan spend six months at a time on their lepa-lepa, subsisting on whatever they can harvest from the reefs. At dusk, they gather with the other boats in the lee of a small island, beside a mangrove forest where the water is calm. They build small fires in the sterns, grilling crustaceans and boiling thin mollusc stews. Their connection with the natural surroundings is vital: "I love being at sea – fishing, rowing, just feeling everything, the cold, the heat," Ane says.

It's not an easy life. Most lepa-lepa have rudimentary engines, but Ane can't afford one. "When I go to Torosiaje, I have to row. We don't have anything; my husband died from the cramp." She means decompression sickness, or the bends. These days, those who can afford it dive using compressors. Air is pumped through a garden hose so divers can go deeper for longer – 40m or more. Unaware of the need to restrict their exposure to pressure, countless Bajau have ended up crippled or killed by deadly nitrogen bubbles in their bloodstream.

The practice continues, however, because it's lucrative – especially when potassium cyanide is involved. Cyanide fishing was first introduced in the Philippines by Hong Kong fishing boats looking for reef species such as grouper and Napoleon wrasse to satisfy seafood restaurants' rising demand for live fish. It quickly spread throughout the Coral Triangle, a bio-region that spans six south-east Asian countries and is home to the planet's greatest diversity of marine species, including 76% of all known corals. Divers use plastic bottles to puff poisonous clouds at target species, stunning them and damaging the coral habitat. Today, the industry is worth upwards of $800m a year, according to research by WWF.

Torosiaje used to be flanked by teeming reefs; now there are only wastelands of broken coral, the legacy of years of dynamite and cyanide fishing. It's a common story throughout the Coral Triangle – communities destroying the environment that sustains them, driven by voracious global markets. Thankfully, things are beginning to change. Charities such as WWF and Conservation International are helping create marine management programmes that encourage sustainability through no-fish zones and a return to traditional fishing methods. It is often the Bajau who pass on such programmes to local communities.

Traditional Bajau cosmology – a combination of animism and Islam – reveals a complex relationship with the ocean, which for them is a multifarious and living entity. There are spirits in currents and tides, in coral reefs and mangroves. Such reverence and knowledge could be used to conserve rather than destroy.

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Northern Brisbane coral reefs get clean bill of health

Diamonds in the rough: Coast coral reefs get clean bill of health
Greg Swain Sydney Morning Herald 18 Sep 10;

Amid gloomy forecasts for the future of the Great Barrier Reef due to global carbon emissions, coral reefs just north of Brisbane have received a clean bill of health from scientists.

In the first major marine biodiversity survey of Sunshine Coast inshore reefs since 1993, good and bad news has emerged on its underwater natural assets - conservatively worth tens of millions of dollars annually to the region.

Noosa Integrated Catchment Association's (NICA) Marine Biodiversity Assessment of inshore reefs from Caloundra to Noosa has found rich, healthy and "surprisingly diverse" species of corals, molluscs and other marine life.

At a public meeting in Coolum this week, an audience of around 100 people was given its first glimpse of the findings of NICA's biodiversity assessment, undertaken by specialist marine scientists in July.

In stark contrast to the glowing report on Sunshine Coast reefs, the news was far less positive about the region's current fishing stocks, adding momentum to a push for protection from overfishing through the declaration of a new marine park.

"Targeted fish species, including both food and ornamental species, are noticeably low in abundance," the meeting was told by Fish ecologist David Williamson of James Cook University in Townsville, a member of NICA's assessment team.

Dr Williamson identified recreational fishing as placing the greatest pressure on Sunshine Coast fish stocks, particularly snapper species.

"There has been an exponential rise in numbers of recreational fishing boats along the Queensland coast over the past few decades and these are taking a toll on pink snapper stocks in particular," he said.

"This species is near the northern end of its range here, and has recently been listed as overfished by the Queensland Government.

"We found just one small snapper in 14 dives, and while larger snappers are still caught further offshore, the rapidly increasing fishing pressure on the Coast will cause further depletion if we're not careful."

Studies by Dr Williamson and colleagues on the Great Barrier Reef and elsewhere around the world have demonstrated the value to fisheries of setting aside relatively small areas for conservation of stocks.

Recent research by CSIRO and EPA Queensland in Moreton Bay, where 16 per cent of the area is closed for fishing, found between four and 11 times more legal-sized male mudcrabs in sanctuary zones, a trend also shown by fishes.

These protected stocks can contribute to continued replenishment of nearby areas open to fishing, through reproduction and "spill-over", a crucial element of sustainability, and a key strategy of local, state and federal governments.

NICA Education Officer Catherine Cheung said there was a misconception that marine parks were all "no take no go" areas.

"Only a small proportion of these areas are closed to fishing," she said.

"Combined with effective fishery management and education, marine parks will provide for sustainable fishery in the long term."

Another member of NICA's assessment team was Dr Lyndon DeVantier, a long-term Noosa resident and coral ecologist with more than 25 years' experience in Great Barrier Reef and international coral survey work.

"The NSW and Queensland and federal governments have already taken significant steps in developing a multiple-us network on marine parks along our east coast, although a large gap presently exists off the Sunshine Coast," Dr Devantier said.

"But for coral species, we're happy to report that they're in pretty good shape on the Sunshine Coast.

"There's no sign of coral bleaching and little sign of coral predators or diseases."

Dr DeVantier said the assessment team was "particularly thrilled" that local dive enthusiasts had discovered a previously unrecorded species of mollusc off Mooloolaba.

"The Sunshine Coast forms part of a biological transition zone along the East Australian coast, with a dynamic mix of species from both tropical and temperate regions," he said.

"There are indications that species preferring cooler waters are becoming rarer, and tropical species more common, as our coastal waters have warmed over recent decades. A trend that is predicted to continue.

"With this (Sunshine Coast) work, we have established a baseline from which future changes can be assessed."

Information collected during the survey, which was supported by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Norman Wettenhall Foundation, will be made available to governments and the general public through the South East Queensland Catchments organisation database.

The information will also help inform the work of the Sunshine Coast Marine Conservation Alliance, comprised of 15 different community organisations.

Leigh Warneminde from Coolum Coastcare said: "The alliance has made submissions to both state and federal governments for establishment of a multiple use marine park between Caloundra and Double Island Point, and is working towards long-term sustainability of the coast's marine environment."

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The Threat to Burma's Environment

Asia Sentinel 17 Sep 10;

NGOs charge multinationals with wrecking the ecosystem in the search for resources

More than 20 mega-dams are being constructed or planned on Burma's major rivers, including the Salween and Irrawaddy, by multinationals without consulting local communities, a wide range of NGOs charged in a statement Friday. In addition, the group charged, mining, oil and gas projects are creating severe environmental and social problems.

Several papers are to be delivered on Sept. 18 in an all-day seminar in Bangkok on the impact and consequences of overseas investment in large-scale projects in Burma that say as many as 30 companies from China alone are investing in dam projects on the two rivers.

The NGOs include Towards Ecological Recovery; the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, the Shan Women Action Network; the Pa-O Youth Organization, Arakan Oil Watch, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland and the Burma Rivers Network.

On the Salween, according to the group, Thai, Burmese and Chinese investors are planning to build at least six dams, including the Ta Sang and Hutgyi dams, which will produce electricity to be sold to the Asean power grid.

"It has been well documented that dams in Burma exacerbate conflict, cause forced displacement and threaten biodiversity," the group said in a prepared release. "Several Asean actors, including from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, are involved in gas exploration and extraction in Burma. The Yadana and Yetagun gas projects, which provide fuel for 20 percent of Thailand's electricity, have been linked to forced relocation, forced labor, torture and extrajudicial killings."

In addition, the activists said, South Korean, Indian and Chinese companies are financing and constructing new trans-Burma oil and gas pipelines that have already led to the loss of peoples' livelihoods and various forms of violence.

Large-scale mining of coal, iron and other minerals and gems by foreign investors is devastating areas of agricultural importance and rich biodiversity. Thai companies are planning to import 1.5 million metric tons of lignite annually for 30 years from Mong Kok, an active conflict zone in eastern Shan State, while Russian and Italian companies are involved in a massive iron mining project that will displace thousands of people and pollute agricultural waterways near the Shan capital of Taunggyi.

Currently, the largest foreign investors in Burma are Thailand, Singapore, China and the UK, according to the release.

"As the largest investor, Thailand invested a total value of US$7.4 billion in 59 projects during the period 1989 to 2008, equivalent to 47 percent of the total foreign direct investment in Burma," the group said. "The UK and Singapore ranked as second and third largest investors, investing US$1.86 billion in 17 projects and US$1.5 billion in 71 projects respectively."

China is also emerging as major investor in Burma, with US$1.8 billion invested as of January 2009. Most of the benefits go to the Burmese military regime and investing companies, while the people of Burma gain little, the group argued. In Burma, they said, "there are no accountability or transparency mechanisms. "

"The social and environmental costs of these projects are borne disproportionately by the most vulnerable groups of people living near the projects, including women and indigenous peoples, and have caused increased flows of refugees and migrants to neighboring countries."

The group called on the international community, particularly Asean, to recognize the social and environmental threat from the development. "Asean needs to review its heavy focus on trade and investment, recognize the differing political and economic situations of Asean member countries," the group said, "and promote equal benefit-sharing and sustainable development, especially with regard to the region's shared natural resource base."

The group also called on Asean to develop an effective legal framework that requires full corporate social and environmental accountability to reduce the social and environmental consequences of their investments in natural resource extraction projects, including large-scale hydropower dams, and mining, oil and gas project as well as to develop an extractive industry framework to guide member countries; governance of their resources.

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Calls for African biodiversity centre

Yahoo News 17 Sep 10;

LIBREVILLE (AFP) – Non-governmental organisations have called for a biodiversity centre to be set up in Africa to study species and control their exploitation, on the sidelines of a pan-African ministerial meeting.

"On behalf of civil society, we insisted on the establishment of a regional African centre on biodiversity" when experts met in Gabon from Monday to Wednesday, ahead of the ministerial conference, Nicaise Moulombi, the head of the High Council of Non State Parties, told AFP on Friday.

"One of Africa's deficits is its real knowledge of its genetic resources (...) This centre would enable us to conduct monitoring because (...) we don't know what the resources are," added Moulombi, who also heads the Gabonese NGO Growth for a Healthy Environment.

"There are big laboratories which earn enormous amounts of money in Africa from taking samples of species. So there really is a need for a centre on biodiversity."

According to the organising committee, 36 countries are taking part in the Libreville conference aimed notably at agreeing on a common African stance on biodiversity before the UN General Assembly meets next week, and before a UN summit on biological diversity due to take place at Nagoya in Japan on October 18-19.

The ministers' meeting in Gabon was due to end later Friday.

Mouloumbi said that NGOs he represented also called for "a strengthening of the regulatory and legislative frameworks covering access to genetic resources" and the means of "enabling indigenous populations, which still live off hunting and gathering, to have their share. Unfortunately, at the moment there is no equitable distribution."

He added that in looking ahead to the Nagoya summit, NGOs were concerned because of the failure of Copenhagen, where a global summit on climate change took place at the end of 2009. Mouloumbi hoped that the Nagoya meeting would be different.

During last-minute negotiations in Copenhagen, an agreement was reached to help the countries most vulnerable to climate change to the tune of 30 billion dollars (23 billion euros) over three years (2010, 2011 and 2012), then more funds to reach the sum of 100 billion dollars by 2020.

At the beginning of May, African leaders warned that they would oppose a global accord on climate change if the developed nations did not keep their financing commitments.

African Countries To Set Up Wildlife Research Body
Gualbert Mezu PlanetArk 20 Sep 10;

African environment ministers pledged Friday to set up an international research body to study and protect the continent's wildlife, aiming to reverse the loss of its biodiversity.

Africa is famed for the lions, elephants, rhinos and leopards that attract millions of tourists each year, but its wildlife is threatened by population pressure, poaching and deforestation.

A declaration late Friday at the end of a week-long conference on biodiversity in Gabon's capital Libreville said the proposed body would draw on scientists from around Africa.

It would "gather knowledge about biodiversity and its protection ... research into the migration routes of key wildlife species and their habitats and areas vulnerable to climate change ... regional biodiversity centers."

They also pledged to improve cooperation across borders.

The United Nations environment program says Africa houses 1,229 species of mammal, a quarter of all mammals on earth, and about 2,000 bird species, a fifth of the world total.

The Congo basin is the world's second largest rainforest, after the Amazon.

Since taking power in Gabon after his father died last year, President Ali Ben Bongo has cast himself as a staunch environmentalist, banning raw wood exports, expanding protected zones and creating 13 new national parks.

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World examines "impossible" goal to halt extinctions

Alister Doyle, Reuters 17 Sep 10;

OSLO (Reuters) - World leaders will next week consider a target for halting extinctions of animals and plants by 2020 that many experts rate impossibly ambitious given mounting threats such as climate change and loss of habitats.

"Biodiversity losses are accelerating," said Anne Larigauderie, executive director of the Paris-based Diversitas Secretariat, which groups international scientists and reckons the goal laid out in a draft U.N. plan is out of reach for 2020.

At the United Nations headquarters in New York on September 22, nations will discuss how to protect the diversity of plants and animals -- vital to everything from food to fresh water -- after failing to reach a goal set in 2002 of a "significant reduction" in losses by 2010.

The world has made some progress since 2002, such as in expanding protected areas for wildlife. But U.N. studies say extinction rates are running up to 1,000 times higher than those inferred from fossil records in the worst crisis since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago.

Larigauderie said scientists had been largely left out of defining new goals. "Until we have an organised process we will continue to have these sort of feel-good objectives that we are going to miss again," she said of halting losses by 2020.

A draft U.N. strategic plan for 2020, to be formally adopted at U.N. talks in Japan in October, calls for "effective and urgent action" either "to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2020" or "towards halting the loss of biodiversity" with no deadline.

IMMENSE STRUGGLE

"Our goal has to be to halt the loss of biodiversity," said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Programme.

"Can we already agree on targets and timelines that lead us to that over the course of a decade? It will be an immense struggle," he told Reuters, urging tough goals.

Apart from the overall target for 2020, some targets in a draft strategic plan are more measurable -- such as an option of "ending overfishing" or "halving" deforestation by 2020.

A rising human population, spread of cities, pollution and global warming are adding to problems that are damaging nature and vital free services ranging from insect pollination of crops to coral reefs that are nurseries for fish stocks.

Environmental group Greenpeace said the world should set the strictest possible goals for 2020.

"We favour halting the loss of biodiversity by 2020," said Nathalie Rey of Greenpeace. "We are at a crossroads where we are at a point of no return. You have to stay ambitious."

A U.N. study this year said the world risked "tipping points" of no return such as a drying out of the Amazon rainforest, a build-up of fertilisers that bring dead zones in the oceans or ocean acidification linked to climate change.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which groups governments, scientists and environmentalists, believes it is too ambitious to set a goal of halting losses by 2020.

It has argued for a vaguer target of "putting in place by 2020 all the necessary policies and actions to prevent further biodiversity loss". Beyond that, it wants a 2050 deadline for conserving and restoring biodiversity.

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Clean Up the World Volunteers Safeguard Diversity of Life

Environment News Service 17 Sep 10;

SYDNEY, Australia, September 17, 2010 (ENS) - This weekend Boy Scouts in the Philippines will help restore a protected mangrove forest, divers will remove marine debris from Jordan's Gulf of Aqaba, while 27,000 young people across Zimbabwe embark on a campaign against grassland fires.

These are a few of the 35 million volunteers in 120 countries who will go to their local parks, waterways and forests from now through Sunday to take part in the annual United Nations-backed Clean Up the World campaign.

Activities and long-term environmental projects are undertaken throughout the year with the campaign culminating in the Clean Up the World Weekend in third weekend of September each year.

This year's three-day event, held in partnership with the UN Environment Programme, is in support of the 2010 UN International Year of Biodiversity. Clean Up the World's 2010 theme is "Communities Caring for Nature."

Australian builder and yachtsman Ian Kiernan, who founded Clean Up the World 18 years ago and serves as its chairman today, is concerned about the global loss of biodiversity.

"The current species extinction rate is between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than it would naturally be," Kiernan said, citing information from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which maintains the Red List of threatened Species.

"Sadly we, people, are the main contributing factor," Kiernan said. "It's a scary fact but there is plenty we can do to turn this around, starting in our own backyards. That's why we're encouraging our participants to focus their Clean Up the World activity on biodiversity in their community - protecting the variety and wonder of plant and animal life.

"In every corner of the globe, we are seeing this take place," he said. "From clean ups in Europe to reforestation in Africa, tree planting in Asia to marine restoration in West Asia, it's a weekend we unite to prevent any more nature loss."

The Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan joined the Clean Up the World campaign 14 years ago to prevent further damage to the Gulf of Aqaba from underwater garbage and marine debris. Last year, 75 divers collected 1010 kilos of garbage from Aqaba Marine Park and more divers are expected to participate this year.

To protect the endangered forest of Africa's second highest mountain, volunteers from the group Save Mount Kenya Forest From Extinction are planting thousands of seedlings again this year. They aim to improve Kenyan forest cover from two percent to 10 percent over the next 10 years, restoring ecosystems degraded by logging and land mismanagement. The next step is to educate local communities on environmental issues, reforestation and income-generating activities from trees, such as bee keeping.

Ecologia y Reciclaje de Sonora, a recycling and ecology organization in Mexico, constructed a house out of discarded plastic and glass drink bottles for the indigenous community of San Pablo del Monte municipality in Tlaxcala. The community as well as government, business groups, media and schools are partners in the project.

The Scout Association of Guyana is working to preserve a local turtle population by clearing marine debris from beaches.

In India, 100 families are joining forces to plant tree saplings across three different areas of Vasundhara in Ghaziabad.

In northeastern Romania, the Association Iubim Natura is educating the city of Bacau on conservation and recycling through festivals and films.

"The current state of biodiversity and the implications of its continued loss threaten human well-being and economies, North and South," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

"By acting locally, we can work towards reducing the impacts of land-based pollution and unsustainable consumption patterns, two of the factors underlying environmental degradation and the loss of natural capital," Steiner said. "It is our responsibility, as custodians of the planet today, to conserve and to promote sustainable use and to hand over a healthy, functioning and productive natural world to the next generation."

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Corruption could jeopardise Indonesia's climate deals

Sunanda Creagh Reuters 17 Sep 10;

(Reuters) - Billions of dollars Indonesia stands to earn every year in climate change deals could be at risk if it fails to stamp out corruption in its forestry sector, long notorious for graft and focus of an ongoing investigation.

Norway is preparing to pay the first $30 million of $1 billion it agreed to give Indonesia in return for a commitment to preserve valuable forests, part of a UN scheme in which rich nations will pay developing countries not to chop down trees.

"Our emission reduction potential from forestry and peatland is about 1.5 gigatonnes by 2030. So if the price of emissions reductions is around $10 per ton in 2030, then our potential revenue is $15 billion per annum by 2030," Agus Purnomo, head of Indonesia's National Council on Climate Change, told Reuters.

But considerable obstacles stand in the way. Indonesia's lucrative palm oil, plantations and mining sectors say the moratorium on land conversion will hinder expansion and profits. And the forestry sector has a legacy of mismanagement and graft.

"It's a source of unlimited corruption," said Chandra M. Hamzah, deputy chairman at the KPK anti-graft agency set up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to combat corruption.

An Ernst and Young audit found that in just 4 years between 1993/94 and 1997/98, Indonesia's reforestation fund lost $5.25 billion through systematic financial mismanagement and fraud. Anti-graft officials are concerned that the vast sums on offer under the UN scheme could lead to further corruption and theft.

Adding to concerns, a forestry official who helped negotiate the Norway deal and represented Indonesia at global climate talks in 2009 is a suspect in a multi-million dollar corruption case.

Adnan Topan Husodo, deputy coordinator of the NGO Indonesia Corruption Watch, said that while all corruption suspects are innocent until proven guilty, a graft suspect should not have been part of the team that negotiated the deal with Norway.

"The credibility of the team involved in the agreement is at stake," he said. "This is huge money we are talking about."

That's one reason top reformers in the government say they are putting in safeguards to ensure that Norway's funding isn't misused. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who heads of the president's delivery unit and oversees implementation of the deal, said the money would be kept separate from the government budget.

FINDING $10,000 ON A TABLE

The KPK has spent two years investigating allegations that forestry officials, lawmakers, and businessmen at a firm called PT Masaro Radiokom conspired to ensure the firm won a lucrative

radio procurement project. The KPK estimated this led to state losses of at least 70 billion rupiah ($7.75 million).

Wandojo Siswanto, one of Indonesia's top negotiators at last year's climate talks in Copenhagen and a member of the team that negotiated with Norway, was named a suspect in September 2009, but has continued to work as a senior Forestry Department official. He an architect of Indonesia's laws on the UN scheme, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).

The KPK allege that Siswanto, who was in charge of the radio procurement project, received a bribe of about $10,000 from Anggoro Widjojo, a director of PT Masaro Radiokom, to ensure that the project was included in the department's budget that year.

It says Siswanto awarded the contract directly to Masaro, instead of putting it to public tender as required by law. A traval ban was imposed on him last year after Copenhagen.

Siswanto told Reuters he was innocent. He said that he found the $10,000 in question on his table, and then called Widjojo to ask who the money was for, and what it was for.

"It was just put on my table. I was not brave enough to make a report to the KPK at that time," he said, adding that he held onto the money for about four months, then gave it to the

KPK.

"I never asked for that kind of money," Siswanto said, adding that he didn't think it was a bribe because it was given after the budget had already been arranged.

"The money didn't make me do something."

Siswanto said his staff advised him to award the contract to Masaro without putting it to public tender. "I was advised by my committee that it was conducted every year this way," he said. "I need to prove I was just a victim of the situation."

THE CHALLENGE OF CORRUPTION

As part of the same investigation, the KPK last year raided the office of the department's secretary general, Boen Purnama, where they found $20,000 in cash, allegedly also from Widjojo.

Purnama told Reuters he did not want to comment on the allegations. He has not so far been named a suspect by the KPK.

The KPK told Reuters there was no evidence to suggest forestry officials would try to steal any of the Norwegian money, but added Norwegian government officials had asked the KPK to play an oversight role to ensure the funds were used properly.

In a statement emailed to Reuters, the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative, part of the Norwegian environment ministry, said the $1 billion climate deal was designed in such as way as to reduce the risk of corruption:

"It is an unfortunate fact that there are significant governance challenges, including issues of fiduciary management, in most tropical forest countries," the statement said. "Clearly, dealing with these challenges is a priority."

(Additional reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Sara Webb and Andrew Marshall)

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Malaysia sees solar sector recharging economy

Country is third-largest maker of solar parts, with 11% of global market
Carolyn Hong, Straits Times 18 Sep 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: Amid the gloom of bad news on the stagnating Malaysian economy, the solar industry has become an unexpected bright spark.

In the last three years, foreign investments in this sector totalled RM12.3 billion (S$5 billion) and created 10,000 new jobs, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Mukhriz Mahathir said.

'There is a lot of potential in this area as only a few countries have the manufacturing capacity. It is truly a sunrise industry,' he told The Straits Times.

He said that of the world's top six solar equipment manufacturers, three have set up plants in Malaysia.

'That was an unexpected achievement,' he said, adding that Malaysia had capitalised on its existing strengths in semiconductors.

Malaysia has identified the solar industry as a new growth sector following a growing global demand for clean sources of energy, rising costs of conventional fuel and technological improvements that helped popularise solar energy.

It is among the sectors earmarked to pull the manufacturing sector to a higher level, as part of Malaysia's drive to double incomes in 10 years and propel the country into the ranks of high-income nations.

Malaysia is now the third-largest producer of solar components, after China and Germany. It holds 11 per cent of the global market share.

This sector is part of the new economic roadmap to be unveiled by the government next week. The roadmap has identified 12 economic areas of focus, and 131 specific projects that can drive new economic growth.

The government is attempting to restructure an economy that has stagnated in recent years as Malaysia's low-cost model lost out to cheaper destinations.

Experts have said that Malaysia's headstart in manufacturing 25 years ago had failed to progress beyond the assembly plant process. It did not move into product development or upstream into building components, as it should have.

The United Nations' World Investment Report, released recently, shows that foreign direct investment fell by 80 per cent last year from the previous year. The figures have since picked up for the first half of this year.

Mr Mukhriz said a different approach is being taken now, as evident with the solar industry which was targeted by the government.

Foreign manufacturers are being encouraged to venture beyond the assembly process, and to collaborate with local universities on research and development.

The big global solar companies in Malaysia include First Solar, Q-Cells and SunPower. These firms are based in the United States, Norway and Germany, and their plants are in Kedah, Selangor, Malacca and Sarawak.

He said three new players have moved upstream to set up plants in material and wafer fabrication, and one has set up collaboration with a local university.

'It's a new technology, and the kind that we want,' he said.

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