Oriental Dollarbirds@the Civic District
from Life's Indulgences
Third Linnaeus Lecture, Nagoya – ‘Biodiversity and Cities’ by Prof Tommy Koh from Raffles Museum News
Launch of Reef Creature Identification Tropical Pacific
from wild shores of singapore
Rainforest conservation in Papua New Guinea and why indigenous people do not like it from Raffles Museum News
New aerospace hub to keep its roots
Mature, heritage trees will be conserved
Lester Kok Straits Times 26 Oct 10;
AMID the bustling construction now going on at Seletar Aerospace Park, work is also being carried out to conserve 30 trees in the area.
Seven are 'heritage' trees and are protected by law. They are of historical or cultural value and cannot be chopped down nor have excavation work done near their roots.
The others are classified 'mature' trees. The Straits Times understands that these are commonly found species and while they are not protected by law, they should be conserved as far as possible.
JTC Corporation, the park developer, has been working with National Parks Board (NParks) to protect these trees.
'It is our intention to have a park with as much greenery as possible,' a spokesman said.
He said the masterplan for the aerospace hub was modified to save as many trees as possible. An earlier plan would have seen some mature trees cut down to make way for roads.
It was not easy to build around the trees as there were concerns such as that of road safety, he added.
So far, road works have been diverted to skirt around some mature trees. Some roads have also been raised to avoid injuring the trees' roots.
By 2018, the area will have been transformed into the 300ha Seletar Aerospace Park.
Although there were 378 colonial-era black-and-white houses that were leased out as offices and residences, only 204 such buildings remain in the area.
Companies such as British engine- maker Rolls Royce and helicopter manufacturer Eurocopter will have their facilities up by the end of the year.
Three heritage trees - which residents say are at least 60 years old - are within the park.
One is a raintree with an especially broad canopy. It stands at Old Birdcage Walk, where it will continue to provide shade to the buildings there. There are currently no plans to further develop that part of the park.
The other two heritage trees are broad-leafed mahoganys, standing about 100m apart and located at the old Bayswater Road, which has made way for the new Seletar Aerospace Drive.
JTC decided to also preserve a nearby mature tree which was slated to be cut down. A major six-lane road under construction has been shifted slightly to accommodate it.
Other old trees being kept include a cluster of mature and heritage trees beside West Camp Road. Some were slated to be chopped down to make way for a newly upgraded expressway, but JTC adjusted the road plans to accommodate them, even though the law did not require it.
JTC said it will try to keep as many trees there as long as possible.
Residents and those who work in the area are naturally pleased.
New Zealander Christina Vye, 38, who lives in a bungalow off Piccadilly Road, said she and her neighbours love the greenery.
'When you drive through the gates, it is like a little oasis; it's gorgeous,' said Ms Vye, who has been in Singapore for 15 years.
A ground handler at one of the aerospace companies there, who would give his name only as Mr Farruk, 39, said the heritage trees and the colonial buildings provide a 'kampung' feeling, even as the ultra-modern aerospace hub takes shape all around.
Maria Almenoar Straits Times 26 Oct 10;
SINGAPORE is likely to be haze-free for the next three days, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).
With the region expected to see an increase in rainfall during the week, the haze situation will improve across the region as well as in Singapore.
Over the weekend, showers across the island brought the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) to the lowest level in at least four days. Yesterday, the PSI reading at 7am stood at a low 13 and climbed up to 30 at 8pm, which is still in the 'good' range.
The NEA said it could not determine the number of hot spots in Sumatra from satellite images because there was cloud cover over many parts of the region.
However, satellite images over northern Riau, a southern province of Sumatra, showed no hot spots or smoke haze.
Associate Professor Matthias Roth, deputy head of the geography department at the National University of Singapore, cautioned that the haze could come back if the dry weather persists, along with winds from the west or the south-west, or if there are a large number of forest fires.
'However, we should soon enter a period with variable winds, during the transition from the south-west monsoon to the north-east monsoon cycle,' he said. 'So the likelihood of the haze returning will also reduce with time.'
Assistant Professor Koh Tieh Yong of Nanyang Technological University's School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences said there was a small risk of the haze coming back.
While it is the end of the burning season in Indonesia, it has also been drier than expected over the last 20 days and would continue to stay dry over the next 10 days, he said.
'Fires could still start accidentally, if someone throws a lighted cigarette butt, for example,' said Prof Koh, who specialises in atmospheric science.
Singaporeans can breathe easier, with PSI in good range
Wayne Chan Channel NewsAsia 25 Oct 10;
SINGAPORE : Singaporeans can breathe easier, with the haze gone and the PSI staying in the good range on Monday.
Showers over the past two days have cleared the skies.
The 3-hour PSI reading stood at 32 at 9pm. It had dropped to 13 at 7 in the morning.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said Singapore is unlikely to be affected by the haze over the next three days.
The region is expected to get progressively wetter, with an increase in shower activities over the week, the NEA added.
This should reduce the hotspots and improve the air quality.
- CNA/al
Haze-free days likely for Singapore
wayne chan Today Online 26 Oct 10;
SINGAPORE - The Republic is unlikely to be affected by the haze over the next three days, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).
The region is also expected to get progressively wetter, with an increase in shower activities over the week. This should improve the hotspot and haze situation, it added.
Yesterday, Singaporeans breathed easier, with the haze gone and the PSI continuing to stay in the good range. Showers over the past two days helped clear the skies.
The three-hour PSI reading was 31 at 6pm yesterday. It had dropped to 13 at 7am.
The NEA said the exact number of hotspots in Sumatra could not be determined from satellite images due to cloud cover over many parts of Sumatra.
However, the latest satellite image yesterday of northern Riau was relatively cloud-free and no hotspots or smoke haze were detected there, the NEA said. WAYNE CHAN
Hanim Adnan The Star 26 Oct 10;
THE recurring forest fire in the oil palm concession area of Sumatra causing massive haze and air pollution has certainly added another issue to Western environmental NGOs.
The 200 hotspots detected, mostly in the province of Riau, is said to be Indonesia’s highest rate of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from land use.
No doubt anti-palm oil lobbyists and green activitists are having a field day over this latest turn of event while Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, is trying its best to contain the hotspots.
While Malaysian oil palm growers symphatise with the plight of their peers in Indonesia, some have voiced out their concern over the spillover effect from the forest fire to Malaysia, which is the world’s second-largest oil palm producer.
There were concerns that oil palm planters in Malaysia might again be labelled by Western NGOs for being equally irresponsible – by resorting to open burning as a short-cut method to clear land for oil palm cultivation.
In the past, some Malaysian plantation companies with big operations in Indonesia had been accused as culprits to forest burning in the republic.
It is important to note that oil palm plantation companies and even smallholders in Malaysia had been adopting zero-burning policy for quite sometime.
In Malaysia, even though the Government had strictly imposed a ban on open burning in 1998, the practice of land clearing for oil palm sector by clean-burnt method has been largely replaced by no-burn method from 1993.
The idea was initiated in 1989 when large Malaysian plantation companies began developing zero-burning technology because of their own environmental concerns.
Many had come to realise that apart from preserving the environment, no-burn land clearing added benefits through nutrient recycling, soil improvement, faster plantation establishment and cheaper cost.
In addition, the zero-burning method was in response to persistent haze back in1990s that peaked in late 1997. Since 1998, a stricter regulation carrying a hefty maximum fine of RM500,000 were imposed on open-burning offenders.
On the other hand, perhaps one lesson learnt from the recurring forest fire in Indonesia is that local oil palm players should continue to double their efforts in surveillance to avoid similiar mishaps from happening in their estates, given the global climate change.
Another suggestion would be to encourage more environmental NGOs to join the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) grouping to familiarise themselves with the strict sustainability criteria imposed on plantation companies wanting to be certified as sustainable palm oil producers.
Currently, whether or not faced with constant pressure from the NGOs, more oil palm plantation companies and countries, including Malaysia, have allocated funds to protect the endangered wildlife habitats and preserve the forest for the sake of the environment.
# Deputy news editor Hanim Adnan believes it will be an ongoing battle between oil palm companies and NGOs when dealing with environmental issues.
Antara 25 Oct 10;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Rain has helped extinguish forest and plantation fires in Riau Province, and cleared haze from the air, an official said.
"Thanks to the rains and efforts to extinguish the fires, the sky is now clear," Arief Yuwono, deputy for environmental affairs minister in charge of the climate change and environment damage control, here Monday.
Arief Ywono and his team from the environmental affairs ministry last Saturday had visited Bengkalis, Riau Province, to personally see the hot spots which had caused haze blanketed up to Singapore and Malaysia.
The worst haze had been reported particularly on October 19 and 20, 2010, and had crossed to the neighboring countries.
The ministry`s official said his team was investigating a possible violation which had caused the fires and promised to bring to justice those responsible.
The Pekanbaru meteorological and geophysics office reported that there were only 6 remaining hot spots on Sumatra Island, including two in Riau on Sunday (Oct 24).
The environmental affairs ministry`s data showed that there was a decrease of 80 percent of hot spots in Ria province this year compared to last year`s.
During the period of January-October 2010, there have been 1,606 hot spots in Riau Province, and the highest is in October with 517 hot spots.
Meanwhile, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan in Bandarlampung on Sunday (Oct 24) said that the haze was caused by fires in oilpalm plantation areas.
Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo phoned his Indonesian counterpart, Marty Natalegawa, on Friday morning (Oct 22) to express his country`s concern about the worsening haze situation in Sumatra.
In his phone call, Yeo also reiterated Singapore`s immediate readiness to help Indonesia put out some of the fires in the island, the Singapore Foreign Ministry said in a statement.(*)
Haze-Covered Riau Sees Spike in Health Problems
Budi Otmansyah Jakarta Globe 26 Oct 10;
Pekanbaru. The haze that has blanketed the Riau capital, Pekanbaru, for the past two weeks has resulted in an almost 2,000 percent rise in the number of respiratory ailments, a local health official said on Monday.
Napiri, who heads the Epidemic Mitigation Division at the Pekanbaru Health Office, said there were only 10 patients with respiratory tract infections before the haze hit the city.
“But in the last two weeks, there have been at least 197 people suffering from respiratory tract infections because of the haze,” he said.
He said he obtained the data from 10 community health centers, or puskesmas , adding that most of those affected were children under the age of 5.
The patients complained of difficulty in breathing, dry and painful or itchy throats, and coughing. Last year, 2,000 residents in Dumai city reported haze-related respiratory problems.
Ernawati, head of the health office’s Disease Control and Environmental Hygiene Division, said they had distributed 7,500 masks to Rokan Hilir, Bengkalis and Dumai districts.
The three districts have been the most badly affected by the thick haze blamed on forest and ground fires.
“We are still short some 10,000 more masks and we have asked for additional supplies from the central government,” Ernawati said.
Heavy rain in the province over the last few days has helped put out most of the fires, resulting in a thinning of the haze.
Edi Sukiatndi, head of Pinang Kampai Airport in Dumai, said visibility had returned to normal.
“Visibility [for flights] is now very good. Rains have thinned out the haze, if not made it disappear altogether,” he said.
The haze has been blamed on the illegal practice of burning land to clear the way for plantations.
Authorities have been unable to curtail the practice due to lack of funds and manpower.
Hot spots: Imagine five Toa Payoh towns burning
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times 26 Oct 10;
BENGKALIS REGENCY (RIAU PROVINCE): The road from the provincial capital Pekanbaru to the coastal town of Dumai cuts through kilometres of scorched land. An acrid stench fills the air, and faint crackling sounds can be heard in some areas, suggesting that the dense peat soil is still smouldering below the surface.
Two weeks after raging fires erupted across Riau province, the landscape remains largely charred, the expanse of black broken only by the odd patch of greenery that had been spared the flames.
The provincial authorities estimate that over 5,000ha of land in Riau caught fire this year - equivalent to more than five times the size of Toa Payoh town.
This is not entirely uncommon. Despite efforts to ban the slash-and-burn method of farming, the practice has continued relatively unabated.
The impact of burning is lessened if the rains arrive soon after the fires are started. But this year's spate of dry weather fuelled the fires, which in turn raised a blanket of smog and haze that blew over to Singapore and parts of Malaysia, prompting their governments to complain to Jakarta.
The fires have since been mostly put out by the local authorities - and a bout of rain over the weekend.
But residents in Riau are still complaining of ailments brought on by the smoke, including shortness of breath and chest pains.
'This is the worst haze we have experienced and I am worried for my children,' said oil palm plantation worker Zainar, who, like many Indonesians, goes by just one name.
The 43-year-old father of two lives just 30km away from two villages - Tanjung Leban and Sepahat - where the fires were especially bad. A mix of small plots owned by local farmers and larger plantation concessions owned by big conglomerates dot the area. Oil palm is the prevalent crop.
When The Straits Times visited yesterday and the day before, the villagers interviewed were unable to pinpoint the source of the fires.
Some said that farmers who wanted to clear their land before the coming planting season had started some fires, as it was the cheapest, quickest way of clearing trees. But the hot, dry weather had fanned the flames, and the fires had spread uncontrollably to other estates, burning down countless oil palm trees and ruining livelihoods in their wake.
Unemployed youth Dedi Ciputra, 19, described the fires as 'scary'.
He can still recall the panic that ensued when orange flames and thick smoke filled his friend's oil palm estate.
'We had to use water pumps to put out the fires... but the plots further away from the water source kept burning, as the hose was not long enough to reach them,' he said.
His friend, fertiliser factory worker Sapi'i Ibrahim, 20, said he skipped four days' work to help his family put the fires out.
'Part of our estate has been flattened and the trees gone. Someone near here cleared their land by burning, and they were the ones who started this fire,' he said, his tanned face hot with anger.
Ms Nurhayati, 40, was among those who lost almost everything. At least 190 of 200 oil palm trees on her land were burned to the ground. Her plantation was only a year old, she lamented.
'One of my neighbours started the fire. But I don't know for sure. Even if I do know, what can I do?' she said, her face downcast as she continued to plant cassava on the edges of her ruined land.
She said she had followed the instructions of the local authorities who told her that burning was banned.
'We were told not to burn anything, not even trash or dead leaves. We were told that if we burn, the police would come,' she said.
Indeed, Indonesia has had a national no-burn policy for years, but some areas still have local by-laws that allow farmers to clear land by burning. The national law itself has been poorly enforced in far-flung villages.
Activists also allege that big-plantation companies had slyly urged smaller landholders to burn their land, so that they could take the fall if the police came around.
Ms Syamsidar of the World Wildlife Fund in Riau said the burning practice is likely to continue as long as the demand for oil palm, a lucrative crop, continues to rise.
'Some village heads have even given away land - which is in the forest - to satisfy this demand for oil palm cultivation. This is against the law,' she told The Straits Times.
Motorcycle repair shop owner Indra Mardanil, 28, said that farmers had also found ways to circumvent the law. Well aware that they could be thrown in jail for burning their land, some had turned to a practice known as 'partial burning'.
'They build ditches around the land and fill it with water. Then after a day of burning, they use the water to put the fires out, and then bring in an excavator to flatten the land,' said Mr Indra, who lives down the road from Sepahat village.
Mr Efrizal, 31, confirmed the practice - having operated an excavator on some plots before. 'This also helps to cover the burnt stumps of trees, so that the authorities don't realise what has happened,' he explained.
But this method does not always work, especially since peat fires continue burning and are hard to put out.
Much of the ground here contains peat soil, which is made up of decomposed plant material and burns easily, often smouldering underground.
With no rain falling in the area yesterday, fires began to re-emerge in some areas, forcing fire engines to cut through curtains of smoke as they raced to tackle the flames.
For plantation worker Miswan, 38, who lives near Sepahat village, it meant yet another round of suffocating smoke.
'I've been having chest pains for the past week even though I've been wearing a face mask daily,' he said with a grimace. 'I don't know how much more I can take.'
Seeing through the haze to clear the air
Letter from Goh Si Guim Today Online 26 Oct 10;
I AM baffled that the annual haze has been described as a transnational problem. I think that there are two parts to this issue.
The uncontrolled fires in many parts of Indonesia are a national problem that needs to be tackled with its national resources. The smoke from these fires has crossed borders and has become a transboundary problem, adversely affecting both human and environmental health, as well as the economy of Indonesia and its neighbours.
The impact on the region's biological diversity is difficult to ascertain but can be no less severe.
The haze's country of origin needs to responsibly devote adequate and appropriate resources to control such fires.
The measures could include educating land users in alternative farming methods, improving and strengthening forestry regulations and implementing corporate environmental responsibility in conglomerates that tap natural, non-renewable resources.
The government could work with local non-government organisations (NGOs) and international organisations to explore better or benign ways for industries to harness the resources with minimal impact on the environment and people.
One immediate step, if not already implemented, could be to step up the fire control capacity in the country.
Indonesia has a sizeable population. A large civilian unit, backed by various agencies with the abovementioned roles, can be created to control fires at local levels.
They can be funded by the central government, Asean or international financial institutions.
A part of the military could, alternatively, be re-outfitted to accomplish the fire control role, with ground units and air-waterbombing capability.
The upgrading of military hardware beyond replacement or depreciation should take a backseat, with the resources diverted to extinguish the numerous fires.
Importers and manufacturers worldwide should establish a framework to determine the sources of their raw material as having originated from an environmentally and ecologically-sound production process.
On the other hand, the NGOs in various countries can act as watchdogs.
Overall, these proactive steps could help to ensure that the general direction we take, going forward, does more good than harm.
Every time, an issue such as this should spur us beyond convening another international meeting to talk about tackling the problem.
By now, the international community should already have effective measures to deal with the fires.
Where There’s Smoke
Aris Ananta Jakarta Globe 25 Oct 10;
Indonesia is again feeling the heat for being unable to stop forest fire haze over the Malacca Strait, this time originating from slash-and-burn farming in Riau province. Many solutions have been offered to extinguish the fires, but very little has been done to probe its root causes.
The most salient question is just why people continue to burn their own forest. Or in broader terms: Why do our citizens ignore the destruction of their own environments?
This is not only a question related to the haze, of course, but also to many environmental issues around the world.
Oftentimes people do not realize the cost of environment destruction, or they have been compensated (or bribed) by companies to make the destruction worthwhile.
In many cases few people are aware of the fact that there are other options, and other employment opportunities.
An example is found in a village near coal mining activities in Meratus Mountains, South Kalimantan.
Rivers in the region, which the population heavily depend on for daily activities, are polluted, while agricultural lands have been converted for mining activities.
Residents live within earshot of noise from the mining activities.
Where once they used to work as farmers, with the arrival of mining activities today the villagers work for the new companies and earn much higher incomes than they otherwise might.
The companies have also been good to locals, providing them with benefits in the form of educational, recreational and religious facilities.
The head of the village even helps the companies in recruiting villagers for employment.
People in the area are thus are thankful for the mining activities, though they know the boom times will not continue forever.
One day the abandoned mines will leave residents with infertile land and polluted rivers.
But for most, that day is far in the future, and the most important thing is their current ability to climb up the economic ladder.
There are many similar cases where people benefit from the destruction of their environment.
What this means for policy makers is that serious attention needs to be given to the people who live in endangered environments.
A mechanism for enforcing the rules against environmental destruction is of course important, but without support from locals, there will always be a black market to destroy the environment, and companies will continue providing handsome compensation to the people who support their activities.
What’s the solution?
Education is key. We need to be able to convince those most intimately connected to the environment that they do not benefit from its destruction.
We have to work from the demand side. For example, people in the United States are very aware of the health risks posed by smoking.
Demand for cigarettes in the US consequently is relatively low.
Cigarette companies in many cases have marketed more aggressively in other countries where people are not as aware of smoking risks.
They go to Indonesia to enjoy a market of consumers who are less health-conscious.
Similarly, companies in need of forest areas go to the countries where the people are not aware of the cost of destroying the environment — or to where they can be compensated to allow it.
Companies continue burning forests because this method gives them lucrative profit.
One way to convince them to adopt different methods is to cut into this profit. In the case of the haze, this would mean drawing attention to those products that result from slash-and-burn agriculture.
A conscientious consumer is part of the solution.
At the same time, we must support the local people.
We must create alternative employment, so that populations dwelling near forests know that there are other opportunities that can give them at least as good an income as those that are harmful for the environment.
A third step we can take is to create productive employment that depends directly on the healthy biodiversity of the local environment.
If these three policies are well implemented, companies will find burning forests a less attractive option because of lack of demand for their goods and a lack of compliance on the part of local populations.
The people in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia would no longer suffer from the haze of forest fires, and the people responsible for making them would no longer have special incentive to do so.
Aris Ananta is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
The New Straits Times 26 Oct 10;
KUALA LUMPUR: Mup, the 3-month-old tiger cub that was rescued from the illegal wildlife trade last week, may have been caught from the wild in Malaysia.
However, authorities have been unable to pinpoint its exact location.
The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) is trying to locate where the cub was caught in order to find its mother and possibly other cubs, too.
Tigresses usually give birth to a litter of two to three cubs. For the first six to eight weeks, the cubs survive solely on their mother's milk.
By 16 months, tiger cubs would have become fully developed canines, but they only begin to kill on their own around 18 months.
It is understood that Mup would have been forcefully taken from its mother as juveniles only leave their parents when they are between 11/2 years and 3 years old.
Mup was rescued on Oct 15 when Perhilitan officials raided a couple's premises in Simpang Chini-Tun Razak Highway in Pekan following a public tip-off. The couple had wanted to sell the cub for RM30,000.
The cub was sent to Malacca Zoo and is now adapting well.
A Perhilitan source said it is believed that the couple, who were arrested but released on RM5,000 police bail on the day of the raid, have been involved in illegal wildlife trade for some time.
They are expected to be charged early next month, and face a maximum fine of RM6,000 or up to six years in jail if convicted under the Protection of Wild Life Act 1972.
In a joint statement yesterday, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and the Worldwide Fund for Nature Malaysia highlighted the importance of the public's involvement in the fight against wildlife crime.
"All too often, trafficked tigers are seized only after they have been killed and butchered into nothing more than chunks of meat, bone and fur.
"Timely information from members of the public will make a world of difference and help enforcement agencies ensure that these endangered animals stay alive, as it did in this instance. Without public information, who knows what might have become of this cub?"
The conservationists hoped that enforcement of the new Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 at the end of the year would be a greater deterrent on the ground.
"Without such deterrent sentencing, poaching will continue and Malaysia will lose its remaining tigers to brazen thievery. Certainly this is not a fate this country wishes for its most potent national symbol."
Couple caught trying to sell tiger cub
Jason Gerald John, Evangeline Majawat and Noor Hazwan Hariz Mohd
The New Straits Times 25 Oct 10;
KUALA LUMPUR: A couple in Pekan were arrested recently for trying to sell a tiger cub for RM30,000.
Pahang Wildlife and National Parks Department officers raided their premises in Simpang Chini-Tun Razak Highway on Oct 15 following a tip-off.
They found a 3-month-old male tiger cub in the couple's possession. The couple own a restaurant.
Tigers -- along with elephants, rhinoceros, orang utans and sun bears -- are protected species in Malaysia.
It is illegal to trade, breed, kill or keep these animals or any of their parts. Only those holding a special permit issued by the department under strict conditions can keep these animals.
The department released the couple on the same day they were arrested on a RM5,000 police bail. The authorities may charge them early next month.
The department confiscated the cub, nicknamed Mup, and sent it to Malacca Zoo.
Malacca Zoo director Ahmad Azhar Mohammed said it received the cub from Perhilitan on Oct 15 at 11.30pm.
"Mup was weak when it arrived at our zoo from Pahang . It weighed just above 2kg.
"We put it under intensive care and 24-hour observation.
"We gave it special milk and supplementary food every two to three hours."
The cub, which now weighs 3.5kg, is under observation at the zoo's veterinary clinic.
It drinks about 226g of milk every meal, eight times a day.
Ahmad Azhar said two veterinary staff take care of the cub, which can move about in a small confined jungle area near the clinic.
"It has shown tremendous improvement since Oct 15 and can walk by itself in the space provided.
"We release Mup into the small space every day to roam as it needs sunlight. We also want it to learn about its natural habitat from young."
He said the zoo would continue to give the cub milk and special food until it was strong enough to eat solid food.
"The zoo will take care of it until it can survive on its own. The authorities will then decide whether to keep it here or elsewhere."
The New Straits Times visited the clinic yesterday and saw the cub playing with its caretakers. It then roared as a signal that it wanted milk.
Mup drank the whole bottle of milk in just a few minutes before laying down lazily. It was taken into its cage at the clinic where it fell asleep minutes later.
There are fewer than 5,000 wild tigers in the world and only about 500 are left in Malaysia, a sharp decline from an estimated 3,000 in the 1950s.
The department is investigating where the cub was taken from and where it was headed for.
A few months ago, Customs officers at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport discovered a heavily-sedated cub in a check-in bag of a Thai woman. An X-ray revealed the animal's beating heart and other organs inside the woman's oversized luggage. She was on her way to Iran.
Environment News Wire 22 Oct 10;
NEW DELHI, India, October 22, 2010 (ENS) - India's Environment Ministry has declared the elephant a National Heritage Animal in order to increase protective measures for the country's nearly 29,000 elephants.
The government made the declaration in a notice signed Thursday by A.N. Prasad, inspector general of forests and director of Project Elephant.
The notice follows a recommendation for the protective status issued October 13 by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife.
The ministry's Elephant Task Force recommended the special status for elephants in a report August 31, saying the move will help in protecting Asia's largest mammals.
"Declaring it the National Heritage Animal will give it due place as emblem of ecological sensitivity. It will also mark recognition for its centrality in our plural cultures, traditions and oral lore," the task force wrote in its report.
Announcing the Elephant Task Force report, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that elephants have been "part of our heritage since ages" and they should have the same degree of conservation importance given to them as is given to the tiger.
The 12-member task force, which included Prasad, recommended establishing a National Elephant Conservation Authority parallel to the National Tiger Conservation Authority with a substantial increase in funding.
Calling the elephant by its local name, "Gajah," the report declares, "The Task Force is crystal clear on one point. India can secure the future for Gajah and its forest home."
"An India without elephants is unacceptable. But an India with elephants requires sustainable approaches that work on the ground," the task force wrote.
Sixty percent of elephants in Asia live in India, where 18 states host elephant populations making up an estimated national total of 26,000 in the wild plus about 3,500 in captivity.
Elephants die as a result of train hits, as did seven elephants in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district in September. Dozens of India's wild elephants have been killed in recent years by trains - some in the same area as this collision.
There are the problems of human-elephant conflict, the diversion of land for mining, the destruction of habitat, and the loss of forest cover.
"It is not immediate extinction as much as attrition of living spaces and the tense conditions of the human-elephant encounter on the ground that require redress," the task force wrote in its report.
"As a long lived and sociable animal familiar to all of us since childhood, elephants may seem to require little help. But the shrinking of habitat and the selective killing off of tuskers in key populations by ivory poachers are cause for grave concern," the Task Force wrote.
To provide redress, the task force recommends that within the new National Elephant Conservation Authority will be a new Consortium of Elephant Research and Estimation that will develop and apply the best methods for enumeration.
The task force also recommended a new land conservation category of Elephant Landscapes. "These, 10 in number will include the existing and proposed 32 Elephant Reserves," the task force wrote.
While no new reserves were proposed, there will be a consolidation of the existing reserves. Over 40 percent of the land within Elephant Reserves does not have Protected Area or government forest status.
The task force favors Ecologically Sensitive Area status under the Environment Protection Act to regulate activity that may be ecologically negative in these areas reserved for elephants.
India should take the global lead in elephant conservation, with an International Elephant Congress and broader cooperation with Asian neighbors, the task force recommended.
"To secure the future for Gajah, the key is in our perceptions as much as in policies and programmes," wrote the task force in its report. "Declaring it the National Heritage Animal will recognize its dual identity as our symbol of ecology and of culture."
"Taking Gajah back to the people through a host of outreach programmes, most of all in and around its habitats, will bring on board children and young people who will share their lives with this remarkable animal in the 21st century."
The Elephant Task Force report, "Gajah" http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/ETF_REPORT_FINAL.pdf
Kuwait: Pollution, heat, oil slicks cause death of corals reefs
Maha Karim Global Arab Network 25 Oct 10;
Dr. Mohammad Al-Saraawi, professor of sciences at Kuwait University, said in a study that currents are rarely visible off Kuwait for a long period of time during the year; from May to August. "This causes stagnation of the water and condensation of residues, factors that are harmful to the corals," he wrote.
Studies conducted by the Faculty of Sciences, during the summer, showed that the coral settlements around the islands of Kubbar and Umm Al-Maradem were still colored and drawing diverse species of fish and marine creatures. However, the whitening symptoms started to appear over the past four months, due to the soaring heat.
The bleaching of the corals, viewed by scientists and experts as death or deterioration of the corals, is also attributed to various other causes, such as oil spills, sewage water, the red tide and random dumping works.
This phenomenon has been seen not only off Kuwait but in other areas of the Gulf, said Dr. Al-Saraawi.
Kuwaiti authorities during the summer time declared that special teams discovered bleaching at several coral settlements off Kuwait. However, they have recently said that some of the affected corals showed signs of recovery and re-coloration.
(KUNA)
Straits Times 26 Oct 10;
JAKARTA: Senior officials from Norway and Indonesia were meeting in Jakarta yesterday to assess progress in executing a US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) climate deal that would impose a two-year moratorium on the clearing of natural forests.
Norway's Environment Minister Erik Solheim has already expressed optimism that Indonesia could match Brazil's 'fantastic' success in slowing deforestation provided it received more aid from other developed countries.
Norway has signed a US$1 billion climate deal with Indonesia, under which Jakarta agreed to impose a two-year ban on new permits to clear natural forests. Norway has released US$30 million of the funds, with the bulk to be paid out later after Indonesia proves greenhouse gas emissions have gone down and an independent audit is done.
'US$1 billion is a huge amount of money but Indonesia needs quite substantially more to be able to conserve and sustainably manage its forests,' Mr Solheim told Reuters in an interview yesterday.
'The United States should come in, Japan, other European nations could come into this scheme to make it robust enough,' he added.
So far, Norway has been the biggest donor in the protection of tropical forests. At last year's Copenhagen climate summit, the United States, Australia, France, Japan, Britain and Norway agreed to provide a combined US$3.5 billion from this year to 2012 to help save forests.
Total pledges by rich donor nations rose to US$4 billion in May, when members of a forest partnership met in Oslo.
Indonesia's vast tropical forests soak up enormous amounts of greenhouse gases but are threatened by agriculture and biofuel cultivation. Worldwide, deforestation is responsible for up to a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions from human sources, according to UN data.
'The logic in the past was that you can make money from destroying the forest, you cannot make money from protecting the forest. That logic must be changed,' said Mr Solheim.
Oil-rich Norway has also allocated US$250 million and US$1 billion to forest conservation projects in Guyana and Brazil respectively.
'Brazil has reduced its deforestation rate by 80 per cent from 2003 until 2010. That's a fantastic result. I think the prospects for Indonesia are of the same magnitude,' Mr Solheim said.
While Indonesian officials have said they would prefer that the US$1 billion be handled by an internationally reputable Indonesian institution, Mr Solheim said Norway preferred an international institution such as the World Bank.
'This is a matter we have to discuss with the government of Indonesia,' he said.
REUTERS, JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Norway says more aid needed to save Indonesian forest
* Norway urges rich nations to fork out to save forests
* Indonesia may match Brazil on curbing logging with more aid
* Market-based forest carbon credits scheme a decade away
Sunanda Creagh Reuters AlertNet 25 Oct 10;
JAKARTA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Indonesia could match Brazil's success in slowing deforestation but needs far more aid from rich nations such as the United States, Japan and the European Union, Norway's environment minister said on Monday.
Norway has signed a $1 billion climate deal with Indonesia, under which Jakarta has agreed to impose a two-year ban on new permits to clear natural forests.
Norway has already released $30 million of the funds, with the bulk to be paid out later after Indonesia proves greenhouse gas emissions have gone down and an independent audit is done.
But more aid is needed to save Indonesia's forests, said Norwegian environment minister Erik Solheim.
"$1 billion is a huge amount of money but Indonesia needs quite substantially more to be able to conserve and sustainably manage its forests," Solheim told Reuters in an interview in Jakarta, where he is meeting Indonesian officials.
"The United States should come in, Japan, other European nations could come into this scheme to make it robust enough."
So far, Norway has been the biggest donor to protect tropical forests. At last year's Copenhagen climate summit, the United States, Australia, France, Japan, Britain and Norway agreed to provide a combined $3.5 billion from 2010-12 to help save forests.
Total pledges by rich donor nations rose to $4 billion in May, when members of a forest partnership met in Oslo.
Indonesia's vast tropical forests soak up enormous amounts of greenhouse gases but are threatened by agriculture and biofuel cultivation. Worldwide, deforestation is responsible for up to a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions from human sources, according to U.N. data.
"The logic in the past was that you can make money from destroying the forest, you cannot make money from protecting the forest. That logic must be changed," said Solheim.
Oil-rich Norway has also allocated $250 million and $1 billion to forest conservation projects in Guyana and Brazil respectively.
"Brazil has reduced its deforestation rate by 80 percent from 2003 until 2010. That's a fantastic result. I think the prospects for Indonesia are of the same magnitude," he said.
Solheim said it was up to Indonesia, not Norway, to define which forests would be saved under the moratorium or whether existing permits to clear valuable forest would be honoured.
"If Indonesia came to Norway to tell us how to do our oil and gas production, Norwegians would laugh," he said.
Palm oil firms such as Wilmar
While Indonesian officials have said they would prefer for the $1 billion to be handled by an internationally reputable Indonesian institution, Solheim said Norway preferred an international institution such as the World Bank.
"This is a matter we have to discuss with the government of Indonesia," he said.
MARKET-BASED OFFSETS DISTANT
Part of Norway's donation will be used to set aside forests for pilot projects under a planned U.N-backed forest carbon offset scheme, called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
So far, most REDD pilot projects are funded by governments. A market-based REDD scheme -- under which rich polluters could offset their emissions by paying poor countries not to chop down their trees -- was a distant prospect, Solheim said.
"That may come in 10 years time or so. It's much more likely we will get a market-based system in other areas such as energy," he said. "Some who are arguing that it should not be market-based can sleep peacefully because we are very far from a market-based system. Every single cent will come from taxpayers."
(Editing by Alister Doyle and Andrew Marshall)
The A-Z Electronic Guide to Assist Business to Navigate Maze of Nature
UNEP 25 Oct 10;
Nagoya, Japan, 25 October 2010 - What is a 'Key Biodiversity Area'? Why is it important, how was it established and what is its relevance to business? The answers to these and other key questions can be now found on the 'A-Z Areas of Biodiversity Importance' website, which was launched today at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Nagoya, Japan.
Spotlighting some 35 important areas worldwide -such as Ramsar, World Heritage sites and Protected Areas -this electronic guide also explains the species and habitats they seek to protect as well as in their legal status and the extent to which local communities are present.
"The A-Z guide is a useful reference to support business and other sectors with their biodiversity commitments to mark our contribution to the Year of Biodiversity," said Jon Hutton, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) which created the guide in partnership with the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The guide, the first of its kind, is geared to assist the business community, governments as well as NGOs by providing useful expert reviewed information, links to tools with spatial data, and further online resources to raise awareness and support decision-making about areas important for biodiversity conservation.
"The A to Z guide is a useful tool to inform decisions by businesses on the siting of projects so as to minimize the environmental footprint and maximize conservation opportunities associated with infrastructure development," said Ernani Pilla, Natural Resources Senior Specialist of the IDB.
The guide also covers the criteria behind the management practices for protecting different areas and important information, like legal and compliance aspects as well as the biodiversity and socio-cultural values that need to be upheld in each location.
"For the mining and metals sector, this practical and easy-to-access tool will help those in the industry better understand the many different areas of biodiversity significance," said Andrew Mackenzie, Senior Program Director ICMM.
The A-Z is a one-stop information shop on over 30 different areas of biodiversity importance. It can be used by all sectors including business, government and environmental agencies and is easily accessible via the website - www.biodiversityA-Z.org.
"This online tool is a useful resource for the oil and gas sector. Whilst explaining the different types of areas protected for their biodiversity importance, it also provides informative business context for managing operations," added Ruth Romer, Biodiversity Project Manager of IPIECA.
"The A-Z will add value to the increasing biodiversity management toolbox by providing information and knowledge to help the private sector better address the risks and opportunities associated with the business-biodiversity interface," said Peter Carter, Associate Director, Head Environment and Social Office of the EIB.
More information about the areas of biodiversity importance can be found at www.biodiversityA-Z.org
Water, land use change and invasive species are key factors that must be addressed alongside greenhouse gas cuts
UNEP 25 Oct 10;
Nagoya, Japan, 25 October 2010 - Water could determine the degree to which bioenergy can contribute to combating climate change by reducing the world's reliance on fossil fuels, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in an Issue Paper presented at the Convention on Biodiversity meeting (CBD COP10) in Nagoya, Japan, today.
Increasing water demand for biofuels production in areas where water is already scarce could increase environmental and social pressures, the paper entitled Water and Bioenergy (pdf), stated.
Bioenergy development can have an impact on biodiversity on a number of levels: by changing land-use, introducing invasive species for use in biofuel production, overusing water and pushing agricultural production into areas with high conservation value (indirect land use change). But there can be beneficial impacts as well: for instance, replacement of firewood use can decrease deforestation.
A joined-up approach to bioenergy development, one that balances greenhouse gas emissions with impacts on biodiversity, water and food security, is needed. Proper planning and management will be essential at the national level, as well as in individual projects.
"There is no doubt that we need to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and move to cleaner, more environmentally friendly options, but we need to make sure we are not creating more problems than we solve" said Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and UNEP Executive Director.
"Biofuel production has risks and opportunities. We need to examine all the risks, so that we can take full advantage of the opportunities, for emissions cuts, for new green jobs, and for raising the standards of living for some of the world's poorest communities," he added.
UNEP spells out some of those considerations in four issues papers circulated today, which compliment a landmark report-Accessing Biofuels- launched last year by the UNEP-hosted International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management.
In Water and Bioenergy, the second in the bioenergy paper series, UNEP cites research which shows that two per cent, or 44 km3, of the global water withdrawals for irrigation are being used for bioenergy production.
But if current bioenergy standards and targets were fully implemented, a further 180km3 of irrigation water would be needed, creating additional pressure on water resources and potentially impacting on food production and water supplies, especially in those areas already experiencing water stress.
As the water footprint of bioenergy can be up to 400 times greater than that of traditional fossil fuels, the greatest challenges will be to determine how to meet future bioenergy demand without overexploiting or damaging water resources, and how to better manage bioenergy supply chains to reduce the pressure on water use and minimize impacts on water quality.
So important are the links between water and biofuel production that the UNEP is preparing a report
which for the first time examines in depth the links between biofuel production and water availability, use and quality. The report, called Zoom on the Bioenergy and Water Nexus, draws on the work of more than 40 experts and will be released early next year.
Measures that help reduce the impact of bioenergy on water include:
* Matching bioenergy feedstocks with locally available water resources, favoring those that require less irrigation and added agrochemicals, which through run-off can contaminate water supplies.
* Using sustainable agricultural techniques and technologies to minimize water use, and encouraging the switch to sustainable agriculture.
* Conducting life-cycle analyses of total water use and water quality of biofuels.
* Fostering market mechanisms that encourage sustainable water use and reduce potentially harmful effluents and take into account regional needs and contexts.
In another issues paper circulated today, Gain or Pain- Biofuels and Invasive Species, UNEP, UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) say that while many of the currently available biofuels are produced from food crops that have been grown for centuries, some of the plant species being considered for advanced biofuels are potentially invasive.
The very qualities that make these plants ideal for biofuels - fast growth, ability to outperform local vegetation, abundant seed production, tolerance of and adaptability to a range of soil and climatic conditions, resistance to pests and diseases, a lack of predators - mean they could become invasive in a given landscape.
Invasive species can do serious damage to the environment, local livelihoods and economies. Careful risk assessment that weighs up the likelihood of impacts on biodiversity, and measures preventing spread are needed.
So far, in the rush to pursue the benefits of biofuels, the risk of invasive species being introduced for biofuels production has received too little attention.
The paper highlights the need for more research and sharing of information about these plants, and methods to assess the likelihood to which invasiveness could materialize.
In Beyond the Talk: Engaging Stakeholders in Bioenergy Development, UNEP examines the critical link between biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities around the world, building on a recent Decision Support Tool prepared with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the framework of UN Energy, a mechanism to coordinate the work on sustainable energy.
As bioenergy projects creep into the backyards of these communities, they need to be properly engaged and communicated with to ensure that these practices are not harmful to them, that land tenure is secured, and that local biodiversity providing ecosystem services is maintained.
And in Land Use, Land Use Change and Bioenergy, UNEP points to global estimate that, on current trends and with current technologies, bioenergy could compromise up to 36 per cent of arable land by 2030. This could have a serious impact on biodiversity.
The challenge is to create processes and methodologies that help designate areas that are suitable and available for bioenergy development,and those where special care needs to be applied. Comprehensive land-use planning and management systems need to be enacted.
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