Sleeping behaviour of the Common Tailorbird
from Bird Ecology Study Group
A little bugged
from The annotated budak
家燕 House Swallow
from PurpleMangrove
Singapore Tourism Board encourages offices to leave lights on for captivating nightview during F1 season? from Green Drinks Singapore
Lighting up the track
Neo Chai Chin Today Online 25 Sep 10;
Leave your lights switched on - that is the message the Singapore Tourism Board has for tenants and property managers of office buildings near the track. The aim is to showcase the city for international broadcast and photography,
STB encouraged the light-up to begin on Wednesday, to "cater for coverage of race preparations", said its executive director (F1 and sports) Justin Chew.
And Singapore Environment Council executive director Howard Shaw thinks it is a "good thing" for the F1 atmosphere. As for the energy consumed, he said efforts to make buildings energy efficient are far more important.
Straits Times 25 Sep 10;
MORE children will get out and about to enjoy nature, with two new schools joining the Special Projects To Understand Nature Club, or Sun Club, for young people with special needs.
They and existing members will also get a chance to do more hands-on nature activities.
Joining the club this year are the Asian Women's Welfare Association and Delta Senior School.
Some 1,200 young people aged five to 18 will take part in the nature appreciation programme this year.
Gardening hub HortPark is the newest venue the children can visit. Aside from getting up close to nature, they will also try their hand at gardening in nature reserves, weeding and coastal clean-ups.
The Sun Club will continue to organise such activities as observing plants and animals in their natural habitats at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves and East Coast Park, and handicraft sessions for the children.
At the club's fifth anniversary celebration yesterday at the wetland reserve, Singapore Press Holdings Foundation chairman Tony Tan said: 'We hope that through this programme, the children can step out of their homes and schools to explore the great outdoors.'
The club was set up in 2006 by the SPH Foundation, the National Parks Board and the Garden City Fund, which promotes conservation efforts in Singapore.
More than 13 schools have taken part in the Sun Club to date.
Dr Tan was later presented with a homemade patchwork quilt by representatives from the schools.
Garden City Fund chairman Leo Tan said children with special needs should be given the chance to experience nature with their own hands.
'We do not want to just create awareness of nature in these children; we know they can also take on things that are hands-on, like horticulture and clean- ups,' he said.
The holistic activities are in line with the club's belief that respect for nature goes hand in hand with respect for human beings, regardless of disabilities or challenges, he added.
IN TOUCH WITH NATURE
'We hope that through this programme, the children can step out of their homes and schools to explore the great outdoors.'
SPH Foundation chairman Tony Tan
Rachel Lin Straits Times 25 Sep 10;
GLOBAL problems such as climate change and economic crises require global solutions, but what can be done if international institutions are not up to scratch?
Chief adviser to the China Banking Regulatory Commission Andrew Sheng and Oxford University economics professor Paul Collier offered a controversial answer to that question: An empowered civil society could step up to the plate.
Their suggestion sparked a lively debate during a panel discussion on global governance, the third in yesterday's session of the Singapore Global Dialogue.
Both Mr Sheng and Prof Collier contrasted the ineffectiveness of international institutions with the robustness of a citizenry that is increasingly well-informed and well-connected through technology.
Mr Sheng felt that existing multilateral organisations, such as the International Monetary Fund, were inflexible and had proved incapable of dealing effectively with the global financial crisis.
'I have actually increasingly lost faith, since this crisis, in traditional forms of government dealing with major complex issues today,' Mr Sheng said. 'I am a great believer that civil society needs to deal with all these problems.'
The Internet has allowed an ever-growing number of individuals to connect with one another, making concerted action on global issues possible, he said.
Prof Collier agreed, noting that the Internet has given citizens the means by which to access and disseminate accurate information.
He raised the example of fish stocks, which have come under threat worldwide. The Internet has made it possible for ordinary people to educate themselves about the issue and prod their governments into action.
Prof Collier cited a project he is involved in, the Natural Resource Charter, as another example of an international citizen-led movement. This non-governmental initiative sets out guiding principles for the use of natural resources.
'Forget government cooperation - we're in a new world,' said Prof Collier. 'The empowered knowledge across citizens can then discipline governments to pursue the global interest.'
Their ideas were immediately questioned by Dr Harry Harding, who is dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, and senior diplomat Tommy Koh.
Dr Harding expressed scepticism that the Internet would necessarily throw up accurate information, while Prof Koh argued that civil society activism was not enough and that states would need to get involved as well.
In response, Prof Collier emphasised the role of academics in providing good information. Mr Sheng said government should work in tandem with civil society: 'It has to use their taiji, their silat, use their energy for the public good.'
ACTING FOR PUBLIC GOOD
'Adam Smith used to say, 'private greed is compensated for by state or public good'. Unfortunately, if private greed captures public good, we are in for a real disaster. So the only alternative, as I see it, is private action for public good.'
Mr Andrew Sheng, chief adviser to the China Banking Regulatory Commission, on how civil society can succeed where international organisations fail
MISMANAGING NATURAL ASSETS
'The management, or mismanagement, of natural assets, I think, will be the defining challenge of the 21st century. What we are seeing, with our present behaviour, is a race to the bottom, and that race to the bottom takes the form of the plunder of nature.'
Professor Paul Collier of the University of Oxford's economics department, and the director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford, on how countries have turned natural assets into natural liabilities
NATIONAL INTERESTS COME FIRST
'The permanent members of the Security Council are on the council to look after their national interests. They will occasionally do the right thing by the world, but their primary responsibility is to look after their own countries' interests... The reality is that we live in a selfish world.'
Professor Tommy Koh, chairman of the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore, and Ambassador at Large, on the limitations that will face any reform of the Security Council
West Nusa Tenggara`s coral reefs damaged
Antara 24 Sep 10;
Mataram, W.Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - Most of transplanted coral reefs in Jambianom sea waters, Mendana village, Tanjung sub district, North Lombok district, West Nusa Tenggara were damaged or died due to hot sea water, a local fisherman has said.
Suasto of the Lestari Bahari fisherman group said here Thursday besides coral those transplanted, some of natural ones in Jambianom sea waters were also damaged.
"We don`t know exactly the cause why the sea water was hot that damaged both transplanted and natural coral reefs. When checking the coral growth on 25 March 2010 we found many corals dead," he said.
His sides have reported the damage of the transplanted and natural corals to North Lombok district`s marine and fishery office but there was no response until now, Suasto said.
He said rehabilitation of damaged coral reefs needed much cost while assistance from the local administration until now had yet been available.
"We will keep trying to rehabilitate the coral reefs with funds available to help preserve marine environment because if they are left in damage conditions fishermen will have difficulty catching fish," Suasto said. (*)
Ismira Lutfia The Jakarta Globe 24 Sep 10;
Jakarta. Indonesia’s abundant biodiversity has once again been highlighted with the discovery of two new species of orchid in Kalimantan.
An article on the new orchids belonging to the Dendrobium calcariferum section was published in the September edition of Malesian Orchid Journal by Destario Metusala, from the Indonesia Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Peter O’Byrne, an orchid expert from Singapore, and J.J. Wood, a researcher from England’s Kew Botanical Garden, a LIPI statement said.
Destario researched in Kalimantan while O’Byrne and Wood were working in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
Dendrobium flos-wanua was named after Vincent Wanua, an orchid enthusiast from Malang, East Java, who contributed to the research. The species is yellowish green in color with squarish petals and two to eight flowers bloom in a single inflorescence.
Dendrobium dianae was named in honor of Dian Rachmawaty, an orchid conservationist. It has plain pale green to shiny deep yellow coloration with red stripes on its sepals and petals and from four to 12 flowers appear in a single inflorescence.
Destario, who is also a botanical researcher based at the Purwodadi Botanical Garden in East Java, said Dendrobium dianae’s uniqueness lay in its variety of colors, something rare for the calcarifera section.
“We discovered that there are at least five color variations of this species and their colors could vary widely,” he told the Jakarta Globe.
He also said that they found more members of the Dendrobium calcariferum section on the island than originally believed. The species were thought to be concentrated on the western part of Indonesia, mainly in Sumatra.
Kuswata Kartawinata, an expert on plant ecology at LIPI, has said that based on the geographical aspect, Indonesia is part of a “coherent floristic region” called Malesia, consisting of Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Timor Leste, whose vegetation is distinct from the surrounding regions within Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Australia.
Of the estimated 40,000 species of Malesian plants, Kuswata said, 30,000 grew in Indonesia. “This is equal to roughly 10 percent of the world’s flora,” he said.
However, he added that only 60 percent of the country’s native flowering plants have been systematically recorded.
Daily Express 24 Sep 10;
Kota Kinabalu: A new species of orchid was discovered recently on Mount Kinabalu and the Crocker Range.
This species, Dendrobium datinconnieae, has been named in honour of Datin Connie Wong Mui Yun, a Director of Kota Kinabalu-based Natural History Publications, which has been responsible for many authoritative books on the biodiversity of Sabah and the Malesian region.
It also publishes the bi-annual Malesian Orchid Journal.
This unusually outstanding species of Dendrobium was also described in the most recent issue of Malesian Orchid Journal by botanist Jeffrey Wood, Curator of the Orchid Herbarium at the world-renowned Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London.
The stems of this beautiful epiphytic species attain 35cm in length, the short inflorescences bearing three to five large yellow flowers usually borne on the older, pendulous leafless growths.
A much rarer, orange-flowered form is only found in the Sayap area of Kinabalu Park.
Nearly 1,000 species of native orchid have been recorded in Sabah - which is about two-thirds of the entire orchid flora of Borneo. More than 800 species are found on Mount Kinabalu alone, 90 of which are endemic to the mountain.
The richness of Sabah's orchid flora is reflected in the continual emergence of new species, and taxonomists in renowned botanical institutions in Europe have been systematically describing them over the past two decades.
The announcement of this new species is particularly timely as the much anticipated Borneo Orchid Show, jointly organised by the Borneo Orchid Society Sabah, Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, Sabah Tourism Board and City Hall will be held from Oct. 1 to 5 at the Suria Sabah, Sabah Tourism Board Chairman cum Borneo Orchid Society President, Tengku Dato' Seri Zainal Adlin.
The show is also of particular significance as it is organised during the World Tourism Conference when several hundreds of key tourism players from all over the world would be here.
A one-day seminar is also being organised on the orchids of Borneo and the Malesian region which will place strong emphasis on their conservation in South East Asia.
Seven experts in various disciplines from Denmark, the Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, as well as the capital, have been invited to speak on their specialist subjects.
Joniston Bangkuai New Straits Times 25 Sep 10;
KOTA KINABALU: Researchers in Malaysia and Indonesia have found that some forests which are sustainably logged and those used for harvesting pulp and paper can still serve as habitats for the orang utan.
This is welcome news for conservationists because the endangered species is facing extinction.
"Their natural habitats in Indonesia and Malaysia have been much reduced in size and fragmented, while the hunting of these apes continue," said Dr Erik Meijaard, the lead author of a study on orang utans in acacia plantations which was recently published in the journal, PlosONE.
The study had found that orang utans in the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan used secondary forest and protected areas as well as acacia plantations for feeding and nesting.
Meijaard said with 75 per cent of the orang utans found outside the protected areas, the species would have to be managed in a multitude of different areas from timber concessions to plantations as well as forest corridors which allowed them to migrate through them.
Sabah-based Dr Marc Ancrenaz of the French non-governmental organisation Hutan, who was also one of the co-authors on the acacia study, had led another study on timber concessions in Sabah.
The results, published in PlosONE in July, showed that orang utans survived in high numbers in sustainably managed timber concessions.
However, if logging was done without using sustainable practices, the orang utans' survival rate would drop dramatically.
Meijaard, who is with People and Nature Consulting International, warned against over-simplifying the message from the two studies.
"For general biodiversity conservation, well-protected natural forests are still the best.
"This new finding will help us work with the government to optimally design land use outside protected areas to support both conservation and development objectives."
Sustainably Logged Forests Can Still Serve As Orang Utan Habitats
Bernama 23 Sep 10;
SANDAKAN, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Researchers in Indonesia and Malaysia have found that some forests which are sustainably logged can still serve as habitats for orang utans.
The studies done in the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan and in Sabah were recently published in the PLoS ONE journal.
Lead author Dr Erik Meijaard of People and Nature Consulting International said this was important news for orang utan conservation as the iconic species was highly endangered with extinction in the wild.
"Their native habitats in Indonesia and Malaysia have reduced in size and are fragmented, and hunting for this ape continues in many parts of their habitats.
"With 75 per cent of all remaining orang utans occurring outside protected areas, the species will somehow have to be managed in a multitude of different areas like timber concessions, plantations and forest corridors that allow orang utans to migrate through these areas," Meijaard said in a statement, here, Thursday.
Meijaard, however, warned against over-simplifying the message from the two studies, as well-protected forests are still the best option for general biodiversity conservation.
He said new understanding from the studies helped conservationists to work with government authorities to optimally design land use outside protected areas to support conservation and development objectives.
Dr Marc Ancrenaz of Sabah-based French non-governmental organisation HUTAN is one of the co-authors o the paper.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said the findings of the studies had given his department better tools to design landscapes consisting of protected core areas, forest corridors, timber concessions and plantations.
"As the de facto guardians of the orang utans and Borneo Pygmy elephants, such vital scientific data allow us to design management plans for wildlife in a manner that would contribute to their survival," he said.
-- BERNAMA
See also Orangutans can survive in timber plantations, selectively logged forests Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com September 23, 2010
Three rogue elephants captured
New Straits Times 25 Sep 10;
HULU TERENGGANU: State Wild Life and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) officers captured three wild elephants believed to have been on a rampage in several villages here since the past one month.
In a three-day operation that began on Monday and carried out in the jungles of Kampung Durian Badol here, the elephants, aged between 10 and 12 years, had been subdued with tranquilliser darts.
They were then chained and are expected to be transferred to the elephant sanctuary in Sungai Ketiar, near Kenyir Lake, today.
State Perhilitan director Jamalun Nasir said his officers tranquillised the first elephant on Tuesday, and the other two in the following two days.
The wildlife team were sent to the village following complaints by the villagers that a herd of elephants had been encroaching their area and damaging their crops.
"This is our biggest (wild elephant) capture of the year," he added.
Forest-damaging activity reducing elephants` habitat in West Lampung
Antara 21 Sep 10;
Liwa, Lampung (ANTARA News) - Forest-damaging activity in West Lampung District is causing the shrinking of the natural habitat of the Sumatran Elephant (Elephant maximus sumatranus) and as a consequence the animals often stray into human settlements.
"The elephants often become a threat to people living near forests when they roam near or around villages," a resident of Bandar Dalam Village, Ismanto, said.
The threat had become so serious that residents of Bandar Dalam Village, Bengkunat Belimbing Sub-district, were now conducting patrols around their village every night, he said.
The increasing number of elephants that often came near the village was troubling its residents because the animals always damaged crops and, when agitated, could even destroy houses and attack people.
"This is happening because the animals natural habitat is shrinking as a result of human activity that damage forests," he said.
Several days ago, a number of elephants invaded the village but the locals, equipped only with simple tools, were able drive away them away.
Meanwhile, West Lampung District Chief Mukhlis Basri said the conflict between humans and elephants was caused by forest damage.
"We can say with certainty that the major cause of the conflict between humans and elephants is forest damage by various sorts of human activity," he said.
The local administration was quite aware of the problem but was not able to do much to solve it, Mukhlis said.
"We don`t have enough personnel and funds to solve the problem. However, we frequently tell the local people to protect and preserve the forests," he said.
He hoped the central government would help the Lampung administration to solve the problem of damaged forests and prevent more conflicts between humans and elephants.
Rohul authorities considering wild elephants relocation
Antara 23 Sep 10;
Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - The local government of Rokan Hulu (Rohul) district in Riau province is considering the possibility of relocating four wild elephants to solve the problem of conflicts between residents and the animals.
"The relocation of the elephants should be carried out very carefully and the cause of the conflict in the area should be studied," Director for Forest and Nature Conservation of the Forestry Ministry, Daruri said.
He made the statement when he opened a workshop on the conservation of Sumatran elephants here on Wednesday.
Daruri said the plan to relocate the elephants needed to be studied comprehensively. His side would not relocate the elephants from the conservation area.
He said that if the conflict between residents and elephants was caused by human behaviors his office would rehabilitate the conservation area and maintain the elephants there.
The regional government of Rohul through the plantation and forestry services has sent in 2009 a letter of request to Riau Natural Resources Conservation Office (BBKSDA) for the relocation of wild elephants from the Pemenuhan elephant enclave.
The same letter has also be sent to the forestry Minister last July.
Daruri said that if the elephant enclave was located in the conservation area, then there would be no relocation for the elephants.
He said that relocation of elephants could be done only if it was through a save procedure and the new location for wield elephants had been prepared well.
"This is not to repeat the mistake made in 2007 when the BBKSD Riau relocated 10 elephants from the Balai Raja Preserve Animal Area.
He said that the relocation was a mistake where the new habitat even served as if it was a "torture" place for the elephants.
The Jakarta Post 25 Sep 10;
Four districts on the north coast of Jakarta could be submerged within a century if the city administration does not address environmental issues in its spatial planning policies, an expert said.
“Research shows that the sea level on Jakarta’s coast has increased at a rate of 57 millimeters per year because of the effects of global warming on the polar ice caps,” Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) oceanology department chief Safwan Hadi said Friday.
The districts of Pademangan, Penjaringan, Tanjung Priok and Cilincing in North Jakarta would be flooded by a half-meter of sea water by 2100, Safwan said.
“However, the city will probably lose those areas sooner as we also find that soil in the area is subsiding by between 5 and 12 centimeters each year,” he added.
The Indonesian Water Society previously stated that Jakarta was slowly sinking, warning that North Jakarta will be completely submerged within 50 years when the sea would reach Jl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta, around 5 kilometers inland.
Safwan criticized the Jakarta administration’s decision to continue development plans in North Jakarta despite expert suggestions to put the plans on hold pending a reassessment to better cope with deteriorating environmental conditions.
If the administration wanted to continue its development plans in North Jakarta, he urged officials to start making plans to prevent the city from sinking, Safwan said.
“The administration can build strong dikes following the Dutch example, where their country’s landscape and features are similar to Jakarta,” he said, adding that about 40 percent of the area in Jakarta was below sea level. (rch)
Many government policies not environmentally friendly : expert
Antara 22 Sep 10;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Many policies pursued by the government have not been environmentally friendly and thus caused environmental damage, an urban and environmental development expert of Tarumanegara University, Dr. Darrundono. said.
He made the statement in a discussion on the threat of collapse Indonesia`s coastal cities are facing, organized by Institut Hijau (Green Institute) here Wednesday.
The environmental damage was worsened by climate change, he said.
The construction of flats or apartments and shopping centers in Jakarta had drastically reduced areas which were supposed to absorb water and serve environmental buffers, he said.
Villas built in the Puncak region had taken 30 percent of farming land, he said adding that of the 226 lakes existing in the Jabodetabek (Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi) region, only 33 were still functioning maximally economically and ecologically.
As a result, Jakarta was often hit by floods and sea water intrusions.
It was now also hard to find ground water in the capital and some part of Jakarta were now actually sinking, Dr. Darundono said.
Citing an example, he mentioned the recent collapse of Jalan Martadinata due to the intrusion of sea water into soil on which the street leading to Tanjung Priok port was built.
He predicted that similar incidents would happen in other coastal cities in Indonesia in time to come.
Due to climate change, the sea level in Jakarta Bay would rise and push the coastline 15 meters inland, he said.
Meanwhile, Green Institute chairman Chalid Muhammad said other cities in Indonesia might collapse ecologically and also economically due to the massive exploitation of natural resources and unorganized urban development.
Climate change could also cause a sinking of the ground surface and a sea level rise at the same time, he said.
"The sea level in the Jakarta Bay has already undergone a significant rise and sea water is already permeating the sub-soil in certain parts of the capital. Semarang, capital of Central Java, is already seeing high tides on its coasts almost every day," he said.
Land reclamation would not be a solution and cause other problems, he said, adding that a fundamental change needed to be made in the current environment management paradigm to save the environment.(*)
Plans for hydropower plant on the Mekong River threaten habitat of four of the world's largest freshwater fish, says WWF
Jonathan Watts, Asia guardian.co.uk 24 Sep 10;
Despite the risks to the world's biggest freshwater fish, Laos has rejected calls for a dam moratorium on the lower reaches of the Mekong because it wants cheap power to develop its economy.
The south-east Asian nation moved this week to secure regional approval for the first major hydropower plant on its stretch of the river in the face of protests from international conservation groups.
Catfish the length of cars and stingrays that weigh more than tigers are threatened by the proposed 800m barrier, but the government said the economic benefits outweigh the environmental risks.
"We don't want to be poor any more," said Viraphone Viravong, director general of the country's energy and mines department. "If we want to grow, we need this dam."
In a submission to the Mekong river commission (MRC) on Wednesday, Laos said it wants to build a 1.26GW-hydropower plant at Sayabouly in northern Laos to generate foreign exchange income.
If approved, about 90% of the electricity would be sold to neighbours Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
It is part of a major plan to expand the economy through the utilisation of natural resources. According to Viravong, 20% of Laos' GDP will come from hydropower and mining by 2020, up from about 4% today.
Sayabouly is the first of 11 proposed dams on the lower reaches of the Mekong, a river that is already heavily dammed upstream in China.
The MMRC – made up of representatives from Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand – will now assess the environmental impact of the project, but conservation groups fear the procedure is flawed and have called for a 10-year moratorium on hydropower on the river.
"This dam is the greatest challenge the MRC has faced since it was formed. It is the most serious test of its usefulness and relevance," said Marc Goichot, of the WWF. "It is already very clear this dam would amplify and accelerate the negative impacts of Chinese dams to the Mekong delta. What are the other impacts?"
Concerns have been raised about sedimentation, fisheries and the migration patterns of endangered freshwater species.
Four of the world's 10 biggest freshwater fish migrate up the Mekong to spawn. Among them is the Mekong giant catfish, which is the size of a bull shark, and the Mekong stingray, which can weigh up to 600kg.
The dam – which is being designed by Swiss company Colencois and the Thai contractors Karnchang – is also likely to affect the flow of nutrients along a delta that sustains tens of millions of people.
The Laos authorities insist the dam will be designed to mitigate the impact on food security, ecosystems and wildlife, but officials acknowledge that no solution is ideal for the environment.
"It won't be 100% perfect, but we believe mitigation measures will be effective. We must balance out the costs and benefits," said Viravong.
He felt there was no alternative. "We have done studies on micro-energy and renewables, but they are expensive. I don't think the world can subsidise that. If we do it ourselves, only cheap energy from hydropower will do."
Mekong dam proposal goes under the microscope
WWF 23 Sep 10;
WWF is seriously concerned about the negative impacts posed by the Sayabouly hydropower dam proposed for the Mekong river in northern Laos, following the Lao Government’s notification of the dam to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) on September 22.
The Lao Government’s engagement with the MRC on the Sayabouly dam is a positive first step in the three-stage assessment process. The Sayabouly dam is the first of the 11 proposed lower Mekong river mainstream dams to be critically assessed by member countries of the MRC.
“There must be a rigorous and transparent assessment of the impacts of this dam,” said Marc Goichot, Sustainable Infrastructure Senior Advisor for WWF Greater Mekong. “It is already very clear this dam would amplify and accelerate the negative impacts of Chinese dams to the Mekong delta, what are the other impacts?” he said.
If built, the Sayabouly dam will block the sediment and nutrients that build the delta and feed its immense productivity, which provides more than 50 percent of Vietnam’s staple food crops. Moreover, the dam would alter habitats downstream in Laos and Cambodia potentially having devastating impacts on wild fisheries and causing the likely extinction of critically endangered Mekong giant catfish.
A workshop organized by the MRC Secretariat concluded that with current technologies it would be impossible to build a dam that would allow for such a large and diverse fish migration as takes place in the Mekong river.
The third MRC Basin Development plan grossly underestimated the negative impacts on biodiversity and sediment flows of lower Mekong river mainstream dams proposed north of Vientiane, including Sayabouly. The Basin Development plan will guide the MRC assessment of all lower Mekong river mainstream dams.
WWF supports a ten-year delay in the approval of lower Mekong river mainstream dams to ensure a comprehensive understanding of all the impacts of their construction and operation. Immediate electricity demands can be met by fast tracking the most sustainable hydropower sites on the lower Mekong’s tributaries.
“This dam is the greatest challenge the MRC has faced since it was formed. It is the most serious test of its usefulness and relevance,” said Mr Goichot.
The CH. Karnchang Public Company Ltd. of Thailand has been contracted by the Lao Government to construct the Sayabouly dam if it is approved. Karnchang has hired Swiss company Colenco to produce the design of the Sayabouly dam. WWF has tried to engage with both parties to highlight the risk and promote sustainable alternatives. Neither party has elected to engage with WWF on the matter.
To promote sustainable hydropower development, on September 24 in Bangkok, WWF and other development partners convened a conference of leading Asian, US and European financial institutions to highlight the financial, social and environmental risks and responsibilities of hydropower development on the lower Mekong river.
The meeting also explored ways to avoid, manage and mitigate these risks supporting the conclusions of the MRC Summit held in Hua Hin on April 5 that was attended by all governments of the Mekong and endorsed sustainable development of the Mekong river basin.
Yahoo News 24 Sep 10;
OSLO (AFP) – European countries agreed Friday to create six protected marine areas in the northeast Atlantic in a bid to step up the protection of the region's environment.
The decision was taken at a meeting in the southwestern Norwegian city of Bergen of the OSPAR Commission, a body through which 15 regional countries, along with the European Union, work to protect the environment of the northeast Atlantic.
They defined six zones or marine protected areas (MPAs) over a total area of 185,000 square kilometres (71,400 square miles) where human activity should be limited.
These zones comprise "a range of vulnerable deep-sea habitats and species", the OSPAR Commission said in a statement, adding that it wanted to create "a precedent" worldwide.
"This moment is historic, it is a world first," French Ecology and Marine Affairs Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said in a statement.
"We are going to show that we are finally capable of protecting oceans in their entirety and not be closed in by our legal limits," he said in a statement.
However the environmental group Oceana criticised European governments for pushing back the creation of the MPAs to 2012, when they were obligated to do so this year under international law, and for still only having a third of the protected areas needed.
Oceana said the six new areas will take the total MPAs to 165, but that will make up "less than three percent of the marine surface area of the northeast Atlantic OSPAR region, and significantly less than the 10 percent minimum required by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity".
European countries' failure to meet their obligations "endangers the health and future of an ecosystem on which millions of Europeans depend", explained Ricardo Aguilar, Director of Research at Oceana Europe.
At the same meeting, European countries rejected a German proposal to ban deep-sea offshore drilling in order to avoid an environmental disaster comparable to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The proposal was quickly withdrawn following pressure from the region's oil-producing countries -- Britain, Denmark and Norway, Greenpeace said.
"Deeply concerned by the accident on the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year, we reaffirm our commitment to take all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution from offshore oil and gas activities," participants said in a ministerial statement.
The countries said they would review the existing frameworks as a precautionary measure, "including the permitting of drilling activities in extreme conditions".
Environmental organisation Greenpeace, which is also pushing for a ban of deep-sea offshore oil drilling, said the failed proposal was a "total victory for the oil industry".
Officials meeting in Bergen "did not have the political courage to protect us against another accident like Deepwater Horizon, while it was in their reach to do so", said Truls Gulowsen of Greenpeace Norway.
Shortly after the BP-leased Deepwater Horzion oil rig exploded in April, killing 11 and causing a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, US President Barack Obama ordered a six-month freeze on deepwater offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Activists from Greenpeace have since Tuesday occupied a Chevron-operated oil drilling ship anchored off the Shetland Isles to push for a ban on deepwater drilling in the North Sea.
At the end of August, Greenpeace activists climbed on to an oil rig operated by Scottish oil exploration group Cairn Energy off the coast of Greenland and halted drilling for more than a day.
World's 10 largest marine protected areas
Reuters AlertNet 24 Sep 10;
Sept 24 (Reuters) - European nations agreed on Friday to safeguard marine life in the Atlantic Ocean by setting up the world's first network of protected areas in the high seas. [ID:nLDE68N0KE]
Six protected zones in the Atlantic would cover 285,000 sq kms (110,000 sq mile), roughly the size of Italy or the U.S. state of Arizona.
The network is novel because all areas are more than 200 nautical miles (370.4 kilometres) from land, the limit of each country's exclusive economic zone.
About 1.2 percent of the surface area of the Earth's oceans is already in protected areas, far less than 12 percent of the planet's land area set aside, according to Caitlyn Toropova, an expert on marine protected areas at international conservation group IUCN.
Following is a ranking of the world's largest marine protected areas, previously passed into law (areas in square kms): 1) Phoenix Islands Protected Area in Kiribati in the central Pacific 408,342 2) Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park 343,480 3) U.S. Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off Hawaii in the Pacific 334,154 4) U.S. Mariana Trench Marine National Monument in the Pacific
247,179 5) U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
212,788 6) South Africa's Prince Edward Islands Marine Protected Area
180,633 7) New Zealand's Kermadec Benthic Protection Area
164,840 8) Australia's Macquarie Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve
161,895 9) Ecuador's Galapagos Marine Reserve in the Pacific
137,975 10) Franz Josef Land Zakaznik off northern Russia
123,877
(Source: Toropova, C., Meliane, I. Laffoley, D. Matthews, E. & Spalding, M. (Eds) "Global Ocean Protection: Present Status and Future Possibilities", 2010. The project is a joint publication between IUCN, WCPA, TNC, UNEP-WCMC, UNEP, UNU, WCS and the French MPA Agency)
(Compiled by Alister Doyle in Bergen, Norway, editing by)
Reuters AlertNet 24 Sep 10;
* China unyielding on issues of "principle" - negotiator
* United States is biggest obstacle to treaty - negotiator
BEIJING, Sept 24 (Reuters) - China wants the world to seal a binding climate change treaty by late 2011, a Chinese negotiator said in a newspaper on Friday, blaming U.S. politics for impeding talks and making a deal on global warming impossible this year.
Li Gao, a senior Chinese negotiator on climate change, said his government would remain unyielding on issues of "principle" in the talks aimed at forging a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The first period of that key treaty on fighting global warming expires at the end of 2012.
Li also vowed to keep pressing rich countries to promise deeper cuts to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from human activity that are stoking global warming, said the China Economic Times, which reported his comments.
Many governments and experts have already dismissed hopes for a full climate change treaty at the next major negotiation meeting, to be held in Cancun, Mexico at the end of this year.
Li underscored that gloom, but also said his government hoped Cancun could be a stepping stone to negotiations next year that will culminate in a meeting in South Africa in November.
"China hopes that based on the outcomes from Cancun, we'll be able to settle on a legally binding document at the meeting in South Africa," Li said, according to the Chinese-language newspaper.
"After the South Africa meeting, we'll move to concrete implementation."
Li oversees the international climate change negotiations office at China's National Development and Reform Commission, a sprawling agency that steers economy policy.
The deadline for a new binding global pact was originally set for late 2009, but a final round of negotiations in Copenhagen ended in acrimonious failure, with some Western politicians saying China was not willing to compromise.
China will be a crucial player in the follow-up talks.
With its 1.3 billion people, it is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases from human activity, but is also a developing country with average emissions per capita well below those of wealthy economies.
The United States, European Union and other governments want China to take on stronger commitments to control and eventually cut its emissions.
But Li said it was U.S. political uncertainty that had stymied any hope of the Cancun meeting agreeing on a treaty to succeed Kyoto.
"The biggest obstacle comes from the United States," he said. "Without any (climate change) legislation, it can't possibly join in a legally binding international document."
The U.S. Senate has dropped efforts to put emissions curbs in an energy bill now focused on reforming offshore drilling.
Negotiators from nearly 200 nations are haggling over a complex draft accord on climate change, and a further round of talks at the northern Chinese port of Tianjin opens on Oct. 4.
Li said Beijing would keep pressing for certain principles, including that developing countries like China should not shoulder the same absolute caps on emissions that rich countries must take on. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Jonathon Burch)
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