Best of our wild blogs: 27 Sep 10

The wonderful spirit of the Independents @ Sungei Ubin
from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

ICCS 2010 @ Kranji bund
from isn't it a wonder, how life came to be

Nothing but lice
from The annotated budak

A Quiet Morning @ Wild Wild West
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

小逛裕廊湖 Jurong Lake
from PurpleMangrove

Read more!

Singapore-Johor eco-tourism package deal

Singapore and Malaysia are in talks to link Sungei Buloh with 3 Johor sites rich in biodiversity
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 27 Sep 10;

THE sleepy seaside village of Kukup, a short hop across the Causeway, stirs to life only on weekends when tourists descend on its famous seafood eateries.

But all that could change if an eco-tourism project combining the lure of Malaysia's biodiversity spots with Singapore's Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve takes off.

The two countries are in talks to look at how three gazetted nature sites in Johor - Pulau Kukup, Tanjung Piai and Sungai Pulai - can be marketed with the popular Sungei Buloh wetlands, to tap the burgeoning eco-tourism market.

The 647ha Kukup island, a five-minute boat ride from the mainland, is one of three Ramsar-accredited nature reserves in Johor state teeming with rich

biodiversity such as flying foxes, bearded pigs and long-tailed macaques.

The title is granted by the Swiss-based Ramsar Convention Bureau to identify wetlands of international importance.

In total, Sungei Buloh with the three spots in Johor will mean more than 1,300ha of lush green reserves, full of flora and fauna, that can be managed holistically and can attract tourist dollars.

The tourism agencies of both countries are conducting a feasibility study, separated into four phases, which includes looking at the environmental impact of visitors on these sites and the best modes of transport between the spots, said Ms Jeannie Lim, tourism concept development director at the Singapore Tourism Board.

She added that Malaysia and Singapore are now studying examples of cross-boundary eco-tourism products overseas.

The collaboration, first mooted last year as part of Singapore's involvement in the Iskandar Malaysia development region, was reiterated during talks between the two countries' prime ministers last week.

The talks secured a historic land swop deal to settle the issue of Malayan Railway land in Singapore, and the leaders also agreed to cooperate on projects such as a rapid transit system link between Johor Baru and Singapore, and an iconic wellness project in Iskandar.

While the feasibility study is on, the lure of Kukup remains a cheap weekend getaway where a mere RM85 (S$36) gets a night's stay and three meals at one of the sprawling holiday chalets overlooking dozens of fish farms dotting the sea.

Fishing remains the main source of income for most locals here, but for years Kukup has crumbled under the weight of a declining fish industry. The busy Strait of Malacca is riven by pollution that has dwindled the supply of red snappers and garoupas in the waters. The issue has been compounded by soaring food prices and a weakening economy.

Kukup is expected to benefit greatly if the eco-tourism plan succeeds. So, too, is the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve here.

Already, more than 140,000 visitors passed through its gates last year, more than three times the number visiting the three Johor sites.

Tourism experts such as travel consultant Subaraj Rajathurai, 47, who for the past 20 years has toured the nature sites in Johor, sees the initiative between the two countries as a 'win-win' situation.

Singapore can leverage on its world-class hotels and efficient transport networks - attributes that already make it a strong tourist hub regionally, while tapping a market dominated by neighbours with bigger and lusher green spaces, he said.

'Many of the roads in Johor are narrow and riven with potholes. A lot of work must be done to make it more attractive to international tourists,' he added.

Experts point to a largely untapped market of eco-tourists who can be wooed - estimates put the number of bird watchers in the United States, for example, in the millions.

Then there are the environmental benefits. Protecting wetlands which are separated by small stretches of water could also slow the loss of mangroves and allow birds to migrate back and forth, noted Assistant Professor Edward Webb from the department of biology at the National University of Singapore.

He said: 'The old school way of managing ecosystems, in which each country takes care of its own spaces, is outdated.

'Ecosystems do not respect national boundaries.'

Biodiversity boost to sleepy spots
Straits Times 27 Sep 10;

Amresh Gunasingham susses out the three Johor sites, which may be linked with Sungei Buloh if an eco-tourism project between Malaysia and Singapore takes off.

SUNGEI BULOH

THREE decades ago, a visitor to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve would be greeted by a smattering of prawn ponds situated within acres of wasteland.

Today, through a concerted effort to protect the 138ha green space, which was gazetted as a nature reserve in 2002, the area now teems with a variety of flora and fauna, including more than 220 species of birds.

Concerns have been raised about the need to protect the site from excessive public exposure.

Some 140,000 visitors walked through the reserve's gates last year. To try and alleviate the crowds, the authorities want to lower the number to 100,000 by channelling some of them to a 38ha park that will be built soon surrounding the reserve.

Linked to the nearby Kranji trail, the new park will be replete with facilities such as observation pods, coastal boardwalks and wireless learning trails.

The prospect of developing a cross-border tourist attraction involving the reserve and the three Ramsar green spaces in Johor has caught the attention of researchers and nature enthusiasts alike.

'It makes both economic and ecological sense,' said Assistant Professor Edward Webb from the department of biology at the National University of Singapore.

SUNGAI PULAI

JOHOR is a state blessed with an abundance of natural wonders and Sungai Pulai is a good example.

Spanning 9ha, it is the second-largest mangrove area in the state and was gazetted by the state government in 1923, the first mangrove forest to receive that distinction.

For years, the reserve has played an important economic role in supplying wood products such as timber.

It is also home to the rare small tree, Avicennia lanata, and animals such as the smooth otter and flat-headed cat. Threatened bird species like the mangrove pitta are known to live there.

The reserve, much of which remains protected and open only to environmental groups and researchers, sits at the mouth of a lowland tropical river basin, teeming with animal life.

Yet over the years, the mangroves there, like those in the rest of Malaysia, have fallen victim to illegal logging, the clearing of upland vegetation and land reclamation.

It is estimated that, between 1980 and 1990, 12 per cent of the country's mangrove forests disappeared.

TANJUNG PIAI

LOCATED at the southern tip of Malaysia, the Tanjung Piai National Park is home to more than half of the 40 known freshwater mangrove species in the world.

Named after a local fern known as 'Paku

Piai', the park supports many threatened species, such as the pig-tailed macaque, and birds such as the mangrove pitta.

The site has been conferred the status of a state park for eco-tourism by the Johor government, meaning it is funded by an estimated RM5 million (S$2.15million) annual budget that is shared with four other such parks.

The park is easy to navigate - a raised boardwalk network runs through the mangroves, while an ample number of maps and directional signs are also provided.

The site already appears to be popular with Singaporean nature lovers and schools alike, with schools taking students on annual nature trails and rubbish clean-ups there. More than 70 per cent of the 35,000 visitors to Tanjung Piai annually are from overseas.

Said Mr Yeo Suay Hwee, a nature guide: 'The reserve supports 23 species of mangroves. Considering there are only 30 known freshwater mangrove species in the region, that is a substantial number.'

PULAU KUKUP

A CENTURY ago, the seaside town of Kukup in south-west Johor was a famed fishing hub. Yet, just a stone's throw away from its coast, the 647ha island of Pulau Kukup holds the distinction of being the world's second largest uninhabited mangrove forest.

Local legend has it that the island is cursed - it was once home to five celestial princesses until one of them committed the forbidden act of falling in love and eloped with a sailor.

Gazetted as a national park in 1997, the lack of human intervention has seen it become home to more that 70 bird species and 30 mangrove species, crabs and wild boars, while the mudflats are rich with shellfish.

A thriving marine cage industry exists in the coastal waters between the island and the mainland. Its geographical position enables it to shield the mainland from the elements.

'Kukup has huge mudflats, which are important for the stabilisation and maintenance of mangroves,' said assistant professor Edward Webb from the department of biology at the National University of Singapore.

However, the western part of the island has been eroding in the last 15 years, leading to some mangroves vanishing.

Read more!

UN biodiversity chief warns of 'difficult' North-South talks

Yahoo News 27 Sep 10;

MONTREAL (AFP) – Just a month before a major international meeting on biodiversity, talks remain "difficult" between northern and southern countries, the Convention on Biological Diversity chief said Saturday.

CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf noted that southern countries generally want northern countries to share with them the advantages they gain from exploiting national resources.

"These benefits can be monetary or non-monetary, such as technology transfers or sharing research results," Djoghlaf told AFP in an email exchange.

For their part, northern countries want to establish "clear procedures" in exporting countries, he added.

But neither group "has yet agreed on the reach of the (new) international regime or the type of measures that need to be taken to ensure that benefits are shared," the Montreal-based CBD chief acknowledged, before urging more "flexibility."

A meeting of the 193-nation CBD in Nagoya, Japan next month is due to discuss the question of how to pay for the "equitable sharing" of the benefits from natural resources.

But many experts and ministers say the world cannot afford to delay setting up a new panel to assess Earth's biodiversity, a plan that has bitterly divided world powers.

The mooted organization, the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), would list Earth's species at global and regional level, and spell out the value of them.

Yet Djoghlaf denied that the differences were prompting the global south to block the creation of the IPBES panel, which is slated to be modeled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"I was lucky to participate in several high level events on the IPBES and I can assure you that no developing country is opposed to this momentous idea," he added.

The CBD chief said "procedural errors" had damaged the credibility of the initiatives, noting that developing countries have requested that a decision be taken on the panel during the Nagoya meeting so that it may be approved by the UN General Assembly before the end of the current 65th session in December.

Read more!

Biodiversity investment key to green profits for Indonesia: LIPI

The Jakarta Post 27 Sep 10;

Indonesia must promote conservation and research on biodiversity and develop green economic policies, Endang Sukara, deputy chairman of the life and sciences division for the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said during a discussion in Jakarta on Friday.

Indonesia has some of the richest biological diversity of any nation on earth, but lack of investment in biological research has undervalued the riches and economic potential of biodiversity in the country, he added.

“It takes a great deal of research to understand not only the biota but also the value of biodiversity, and we seem to be ignoring this,” Endang said, adding that better understanding was crucial to conservation decisions and “bio-prospecting”.

Endang cited the example of Waigeo, Papua province, where scientists discovered six new varieties of sago growing in water with unusually high salinity. The government could develop these into major cash crops with the right agricultural and food processing technology, he said.

“It’s so unfortunate that we don’t have sago plantations in Indonesia. Sago normally grows in wild forests, which makes more in-depth research difficult to conduct,” he said.

Another example was breadfruit, or sukun, which has leaves that produce a red sap that has been scientifically proven to be an effective medicine for cardiovascular diseases, Endang said.

“This could be a project that could potentially generate billions of dollars in profit. However, neither the government nor the local pharmaceutical industry is interested in tapping this resource,” Endang said.

There is still a long list of species, from microbes to large biota — either already identified or undiscovered — that science must explore and preserve to help Indonesia achieve a sustainable green economy, he added.

Indonesia occupies only 1.3 percent of the world’s land surface, but has roughly 12 percent of the world’s mammals, 16 percent of the world’s known reptiles and amphibians, 17 percent of the world’s birds, and 25 percent of the world’s fish — and each year scientists find more.

However, Indonesia holds the grim distinction of having the largest number of vertebrate species under threat of extinction (128 species of mammals and 104 species of birds). It is estimated that US$67 billion worth of biodiversity is being lost each year.

Synchronizing regulations and policies among ministries was required to conserve biodiversity and make the green economy initiative successful in Indonesia, Environment Ministry assistant for global environmental affairs and international cooperation Liana Bratasida said.

“Activities related to the initiative are still sporadic and lack coordination, thereby making their impacts difficult to measure,” she said. (tsy)

Read more!

Malaysia's misunderstood mangroves

New Straits Times 26 Sep 10;

Mangroves are dank, dark and eerie, places we might imagine foul creatures call home. They are neither interesting nor glamorous for most people but they are important. We cannot afford to lose them, writes CHAI MEI LING.

WHY are mangroves so important? What's so appealing about a place with roots jutting out from the mud? Mangroves are dark and eerie, places where creatures like the Swamp Thing, if it existed, would feel at home in.

Not many know, however, that from mangroves we get more than RM5.5 billion worth of services and products -- delicious seafood, potable water and clean air, among others. And that's from along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia alone, a study has revealed.

If the ecosystem were an employee, we would have to pay it a handsome sum of RM40,000 per hectare a year.

For the longest time, mangroves have been "one of the most unlikeable if not misunderstood places on Earth", says mangrove expert Professor Dr Chong Ving Ching.

He says few can walk there without sinking deep into foul smelling mud or be beset by insects.

"It's perhaps for this reason that one-third of the world's mangrove forests have been lost to development over the past 50 years. Yet mangroves provide for us in so many ways."

Chong was speaking at a lecture in Universiti Malaya recently.

Interestingly, some of the most prominent roles of mangroves are not visible -- nurturing fishery, storing carbon and protecting the west coast from erosion.

This "invisible work" is worth nothing less than RM2.2 billion -- almost 10 times the value of mangroves' direct roles in the tourism, seafood and charcoal trade.

The 2004 tsunami helped spark appreciation for mangroves as coasts naked of mangroves were ravaged.

Since then, researchers, policymakers, green groups, coastal folk, fishermen, students and members of the public have taken part in mangrove rehabilitation exercises to increase their cover.

Mangrove wetlands occupy 567,000ha in Malaysia, comprising some three per cent of the world's mangroves of 18 million hectares.

Chong says the role of mangroves in fisheries is the most economically important one. Fish, prawn and mud crab harvests from its habitat along the west coast are worth some RM30 million.

The ecosystem's nursery role for inshore and offshore fish and prawns is valued at another RM1 billion, hence the linkages between mangroves and fish production are "real and strong".

Studies of the Matang mangroves in Perak and Klang mangroves in Selangor indicate that between 50 and 70 per cent of fish and more than 95 per cent of prawns caught depend on the mangroves to get them through their juvenile stages.

Many are commercially important, like the sea perch (siakap), banana prawn (udang putih) and mud crab (ketam batu).

Mangroves do not just feed young marine life, but also act as shelter, its gnarly roots home to prawns.

In a study three years ago, Chong found that the prawns penetrated as far as 56m inside the mangrove forest of Matang during high tide.

Scientists believe that Malaysia is "the centre of origin of mangrove evolution and dispersal", says Chong.

"The origin of the word 'mangrove' is also Malaysian, its root word is manggi-manggi. Mangroves, therefore, have a special meaning to us."

Fast vanishing

WHEN the mangroves go, so, too, will our fishes.

In a study this year which documented threats to Malaysian fishes, Prof Dr Chong Ving Ching and colleagues found habitat loss accounted for three-quarters of our dwindling stock. Other causes, such as over-harvesting, by-catch, pollution and human disturbance, did not come close to the danger posed by habitat degradation.

The country has some 567,000ha of mangroves. Sabah tops the list, followed by Sarawak, Perak and Johor.

Of the total cover, 23 per cent or 130,000ha are on state land. Some three-quarters of Sarawak’s mangroves are on state land.

As states are not legally bound to preserve tracts of this ecosystem, the mangroves are especially vulnerable to development.

They can be wiped out “with just a stroke of the pen”, says Chong.

Kelantan and Perlis have very little mangrove, with a cover of 744ha and 13ha respectively, but neither has been gazetted as a forest reserve.

Gazetting serves as a form of protection, although not permanent.

The country lost 69,000ha, or 14 per cent of its mangrove forest reserve, between 1980 and 2004.

During that period, Negri Sembilan degazetted 85 per cent of its forest reserve, Terengganu, 57 per cent, and Selangor 47 per cent.

Penang and Johor lost a third of theirs, and Sarawak one-fifth.

Read more!

'Reduce use of plastic bottles' at Sabah island national parks

New Straits Times 26 Sep 10;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Parks, the government agency in charge of of Sabah's national parks, has been asked to come up with a plan to reduce the use of plastic bottles in the islands under its care.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said a set of long-term guidelines was important to reduce the plastic bottle waste in Sabah's islands gradually as an outright ban was too drastic.

"It isn't easy to ban the use of plastic bottles. So, some plan should be in place to stop its use in stages."

He added that he hoped there would eventually be no plastic bottle waste.

He explained that plastic bottle waste is hazardous to marine life.

Masidi was speaking to reporters after launching a campaign to reduce the use of plastic bottles on Mamutik island, about 15 minutes from here.

Also present at the event were the ministry's permanent secretary Datuk Suzannah Liaw, state environmental protection department director Yabi Yangkat, Sabah Parks deputy director Daring Laban and managing director of Borneo Divers Clement Lee.

Meanwhile, an underwater and land gotong-royong effort at the same place saw some 811.5kg of thrash collected from surrounding areas.

The two programmes were participated by some 150 people from several departments and agencies as well as students.

Masidi said that in the same campaign last year, a large percentage of the rubbish collected were plastic bottles.

Read more!

Study soon on impact of sand mining on Malaysian wetlands

Sean Augustin and Koi Kye Lee New Straits Times 27 Sep 10;

PUTRAJAYA: A team of ecologists will study the ecosystem at Paya Indah Wetlands within two months to find out if its ecosystem has been affected by sand-mining activities nearby.

Landskap Malaysia general manager Othman Suleiman said the team, headed by a professor from Universiti Putra Malaysia, would study whether pollution had affected the 220 species of aquatic plants, 14 species of fish, 10 species of amphibians, 26 kinds of mammals and 20 types of reptiles.

"They will come up with a report by December. The team of ecologists is being assembled," he told the New Straits Times.


Environmental concerns were raised when it was reported that sand mining in Kampung Olak Lempit, just 20 metres from the southern boundary of the wetlands, was taking place.

It is feared that some of the 210 bird species have been unsettled by the dust and noise from the sand mining and might have left.

Some are migratory birds, such as the Greenshank, Redshank and various species of sandpiper, which are known to stop at the wetlands for food before continuing to Australia.


A source at the Paya Indah Wetlands told NST that the condition of the wetlands remained the same, but there was worry about damage in the long run.

"We are taking care of our boundary," the source said, adding that there had been no noticeable decline in tourists arrivals since the issue was first highlighted.

A quick way to asses any damage to the environment, though, would be to study the birds that flock to the wetlands now that the migratory season has begun.


Avid bird watcher Anuar McAfee said birds were a great indicator of environmental health as the slightest decrease in the number of birds in the area could mean that "something wrong has happened to the environment".

Migratory birds are expected to arrive in Paya Indah from the middle of next month.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) has yet to review the environment management plan (EMP) on the sand-mining activities near the wetlands.

MNS head of communications Andrew Sebastian said it had yet to receive the EMP, and two reminders had been sent last week to Selangor Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment Committee chairman Elizabeth Wong's secretary.

The EMP, prepared by independent consultancy firm Enviro Enhance Sdn Bhd, details the mitigating measures that can be taken to reduce the adverse environmental impact from the sand mining at the site.

Read more!

Sarawak offers $1.94 bln for problem Bakun dam

Yahoo News 26 Sep 10;

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – The Malaysian state of Sarawak has offered the federal government 1.94 billion dollars to acquire the problem-hit Bakun dam in Borneo, a report said Sunday.

Condemned as a catastrophe for the environment and tribal people, the mega-dam, which is nearing completion, has been battling suggestions it could become a giant white elephant in the relatively undeveloped state.

"We have made our bid. The bid is flexible in the sense that if the method of payment can be made lighter we can increase a bit more, but there is limit to what we can pay," chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

Sarawak state offered 6.0 billion ringgit (1.94 billion dollars), the report said. The Star daily reported in July that the federal government was seeking 8.0 billion ringgit.

Veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said that the offer would effectively constitute a bailout of the troubled project.

"In all appearances it seems it is a bailout. If it is so, it is at the expense of state coffers in Sarawak. I think Malaysians are entitled to full details of the sale," he told AFP.

Transparency International has labelled Bakun a "monument of corruption", while newspaper reports questioned how Malaysia's government can ever recover the money it has sunk into the project.

The dam, which involves flooding an area the size of Singapore, has been dogged by delays and setbacks since its approval in 1993.

Most recently, it has struggled to get the state government's permission to begin flooding.

There has also been fierce criticism over its environmental impact and over the botched relocation of 15,000 indigenous people.

Read more!

Britain Must Act Now To Save Wildlife Habitats: Study

Peter Griffiths PlanetArk 27 Sep 10;

Britain needs to spend up to one billion pounds a year to protect fragile English wildlife habitats from climate change, intensive farming and population growth, a government-backed report said on Friday.

It urged the government to transform conservation policy in the next 40 years to avoid a devastating loss of the countryside that supports thousands of important plants, trees and animals.

British ecologist John Lawton, who led the year-long study, said England's wildlife habitats are too small and isolated to protect many species from increased strains in coming decades.

Creating a stronger, better connected network of well-managed habitats will cost between 600 million pounds and 1.1 billion pounds each year, the report estimated.

At a time of big public spending cuts, the study urged the government to resist taking money away from the environment.

"It is easy to say we cannot afford it. We fundamentally disagree," it said. "We are ... despite current difficulties, a wealthy nation."

Failure to act could lead to the loss of areas rich with diverse species, such as meadows, heathland, woods and rivers, the report said. Centuries of human activity have helped to shape these habitats and they will need ongoing management if they are to survive, it said.

The United Nations called on world leaders this week to take bold action to preserve animal and plant species. It says the world is facing the worst losses since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.

England has at least 55,000 species, including significant numbers of bats, bumblebees, wildfowl and mature oak trees.

The pace and scale of environmental change over the last 50 years was worrying and is likely to get worse, the report said.

Future threats include extreme weather, droughts, rising sea levels and the loss of areas like wet grasslands to farming to feed a growing population, the report said.

Its authors made 24 recommendations to create stronger habitats. The measures include better management of habitats, setting up new ecological restoration zones and improved water quality and flood protection.

Read more!