Best of our wild blogs: 15 Dec 10

Job opening: RA position with the Freshwater Biomonitoring team
from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

Black Swan family
from Life's Indulgences

Flowers, shrubs and a millipede at Tanah Merah
from sgbeachbum

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Animal-parts smuggling on the rise in Singapore

my paper AsiaOne 15 Dec 10;

THE authorities here are seeing more cases of exotic animal parts seized at land, sea and air checkpoints.

A check with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) revealed that 14 seizures were made this year up to last month, compared with 11 in the whole of last year. There were only two such cases in 2008.

Smugglers usually attempt to bring in parts such as reptile skin, sea-turtle eggs and coral skeletons.

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An AVA spokesman told my paper that exotic animal parts may be used to produce luxury leather goods, collectors' items and medicine. They could also be meant for consumption.

For example, the authorities seized 6.6kg of water monitor- lizard meat in August at Changi Airport. The meat was brought in for consumption.

And in September, a man was caught illegally importing 40 sea-turtle eggs for consumption. They were brought in from Indonesia by sea, said the AVA spokesman.

Live animals have also been seized. Last August, the authorities found 50 Oriental white-eye songbirds - known as mata puteh in Malay - hidden under trays of otak-otak. They were being smuggled in by an Indonesian man caught at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.

Two Singaporeans were nabbed overseas last Saturday for allegedly smuggling 92kg of raw ivory from Kenya to Thailand.

Singapore is not known to be a market for raw ivory as it does not have a carving industry, said the AVA spokesman, who added that the trafficking of raw ivory is a lucrative global business - 1kg of ivory can fetch between US$1,500 (S$1,950) and US$2,000.

Mr Louis Ng, executive director of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, said the amount of seized contraband represents "just the tip of the iceberg".

"I sense that a lot more are going through undetected," he said. "We're no longer talking about small-time dealers. Smugglers are becoming more daring."

Confiscated animal parts are usually donated to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at the National University of Singapore. The AVA may also keep the parts for educational purposes.

Under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act, the import, export or re-export of endangered species - whether dead or alive, and including their eggs - is illegal in Singapore without an AVA permit.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) of Wild Fauna and Flora subjects international trade of about 5,000 species of animals and 28,000 species of plants to certain controls. Singapore is a signatory of Cites.

Those convicted of smuggling protected flora or fauna here face a maximum fine of $50,000 for each species, up to a maximum total of $500,000, or up to two years' jail, or both.

Mr Ng proposed the use of sniffer dogs at checkpoints to discourage would-be smugglers, as the dogs are "almost 100 per cent" effective.

"Coupled with the current heavy penalties, we can ultimately wipe out this trade," he said.

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Two synthetic rubber plants to be set up on Jurong Island

Sumitomo Chemical, Asahi Kasei to keep Lanxess company on Jurong Island
Ronnie Lim Business Times 15 Dec 10;

THE seeds planted at Jurong Island for synthetic rubber have germinated. Two more investors, Sumitomo Chemical and Asahi Kasei Chemical, are setting up their latest S-SBR plants there - believed to cost hundreds of millions of dollars each - joining Germany's Lanxess which is building a 400 million euros (S$712 million) butyl rubber facility on the island and also considering a second plant for Nd-PBR there.

Like the butyl rubber to be produced by Lanxess, the two Japanese companies' solution styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) is used mainly by tyre makers to produce fuel-efficient (abrasion-resistant), high- performance tyres. Other uses include for industrial hoses, conveyor belts, flooring and gloves.

All three incoming synthetic rubber plants here will start up in 2013, which is none too soon given the rapidly-growing demand for synthetic rubber from tyre makers, most of whom have shifted their global production to Asia.

It is perhaps ironic that Singapore - where the first natural rubber tree in this region was successfully transplanted to in 1877, from seedlings taken from Brazil to the Kew Gardens in the UK - is now hosting the slew of synthetic rubber plants, which will produce a substitute for more-expensive natural rubber.

The Japanese S-SBR plant investments - confirmed over the last few weeks in Tokyo - are complementary to that by Lanxess, an industry source said. Building of the latest plants is set to start next year.

What attracted them to Jurong Island is the availability of raw materials like butadiene and styrene from the petrochemical crackers here, including Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (PCS) and Shell's recently-started US$3 billion complex, which includes a butadiene extraction unit.

'Another important factor is the intellectual protection which Singapore provides for the technology,' the source told BT.

Sumitomo Chemical's plant at Merbau sector will produce 40,000 tonnes per annum of S-SBR starting in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The Japanese group, which has one S-SBR plant back home, decided to invest in a second plant in Singapore because of its proximity to the growing Asian market, especially China, India and Thailand, as well as 'secured stable supply of butadiene raw materials, which is likely to be in tight supply in coming years'.

Its Merbau facility will also be able to leverage on the group's existing operations here, like in PCS in which a Sumitomo-led Japanese consortium holds a half share.

Asahi Kasei's S-SBR Singapore facility, which will be built at the new Tembusu sector of Jurong Island, will be larger - starting with a first phase 50,000 tpa facility due to start production in June 2013.

Explaining the rationale for its investment, the company said that 'with tightening environmental regulations and heightened environmental awareness, demand for high-performance tyres which provide improved fuel efficiency is growing worldwide'.

It therefore decided to expand its current synthetic rubber production of 140,000 tpa of S-SBR at two Japanese plants in Kawasaki and Oita by investing in Singapore.

Asahi Kasei said that it eventually intends to double its Singapore production of S-SBR to 100,000 tpa under a planned second phase expansion which could see commercial production in the first half of 2015.

Lanxess, whose 100,000 tpa butyl rubber plant here is expected to start production in Q1, 2013, indicated in September that it was meanwhile studying a second plant in Asia for Nd-PBR, another hard-wearing synthetic rubber used for making tyres.

It needs butadiene feedstock for this, and BT reported that Lanxess is discussing this with petrochemical companies here. A decision on the plant site is expected by Q1 next year.

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Timor Sea Oil Spill: PTTEP Australasia accepts blame

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post 15 Dec 10;

Thailand-based oil and gas producer PTTEP Australasia has finally acknowledged responsibility for an oil spill in the Timor Sea that occurred in 2009, an Indonesian minister said, clearing conditions for trillions of rupiah in compensation for Indonesia.

“We met with them and they confessed. Actually, we needed that confession,” Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The company will hold another meeting with the Indonesian government to discuss the extent of the contamination, Freddy said.

“We’re still demanding Rp 23 trillion [US$2.56 billion] in compensation from the company for the damage,” he said.

Previously, Rote Ndao Regent Leonard Haning said he was seeking more than Rp 7 trillion in compensation for environmental damage and economic losses to the regency, which has been worst hit by the disaster.

PTTEP, however, has never publicly acknowledged it would pay, although a number of Indonesian officials had claimed that the company was willing to pay.

An Indonesia negotiator said the acknowledgment would allow Indonesia to claim trillions of rupiah in environmental damages and economic losses if not the maximum demand, even if the case was brought to international court.

“It can be used as our argument in the negotiations,” he said.

PTTEP Australasia’s oil platform in the Montara field off Australia’s northern coast exploded and spilled more than 500,000 liters of crude oil per day into the Timor Sea in August 2009.

The spill reportedly affected 38 percent of Indonesia’s marine territory in the Timor Sea. Local fishermen’s catches reportedly dropped and thousands of tons of shallow water fish died, while marine mammals, including whales, also fell victim.

Chief Indonesian negotiator Masnellyarti Hilman earlier said the total area affected by the oil spill continued to increase.

“Satellite imaging shows the impacted area is only 28,662 square kilometers but our field findings indicate the spill has spread to more than 70,341 square kilometers,” she said.

Masnellyarti said Indonesia had spent Rp 1.9 billion on operational costs such as surveys, meetings and visits to Perth.

The proposal the government will send to PTTEP includes calculations on the damage to the ecosystem, she said.

“We have computed the need for the restoration of ecosystems such as mangrove, coral reefs, sea grass and seaweed,” Masnellyarti said.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said it would take 10 years for the coral reef and mangrove ecosystems to recover while marine life would require two years.

Oil Spill Reached Indonesia, Australian Firm Said to Admit
Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 15 Dec 10;

Jakarta. An Australian company whose offshore platform blew out in August last year has finally admitted that the resulting oil spill reached Indonesian waters, Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said on Wednesday.

Freddy said the admission was made in an official letter from the company, PTTEP Australasia, a subsidiary of Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production.

“The company sent out an official letter to me admitting that Indonesian waters had been contaminated, in this case the Timor Sea, by the oil spill,” said the minister, who heads the country’s team handling the spill.

“With this, we are hoping that the company will be able to work out the compensation mechanism and its stages.”

PTTEP Australasia, in its initial findings released on Nov. 19 following a joint study with the Australian government, said the oil spill had not reached the Indonesian coast. It added that 98.6 percent of the spill was contained in Australian waters.

Indonesia claims that the spill affected 78,000 square kilometers of its waters, disrupting the livelihood of thousands of East Nusa Tenggara residents.

Indonesia has claimed Rp 23 trillion ($2.5 billion) in damages.

A few days after the findings were announced, Canberra said it had found that the company had failed to observe “sensible” practices at its Montara oil platform.

It also criticized the Australian regulator overseeing the project, saying its “minimalist approach” to its responsibilities gave it little chance of discovering the company’s poor practices.

Freddy said the Indonesian government, the company and Australian representatives would meet today to discuss the latest findings.

Anthony Albanese, Australia’s minister for infrastructure and transportation, said two senior officials — the deputy head of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the deputy secretary of the Australian Department of Resources — would meet with Indonesian officials to discuss the results of the inquiry.

On compensation, Albanese said that it was a matter for the Indonesian government and the company to settle.

“What Australia will do is to make sure that we will make available to the Indonesian government the facts and findings of the inquiries that have taken place,” he said.

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Malaysia to conduct acoustic survey of fisheries resources

Dept to 'sound out' fisheries
Audrey Dermawan New Straits Times 15 Dec 10;

GEORGE TOWN: The Fisheries Department will conduct a five-year acoustic survey beginning next year to determine the amount of marine resources left in Malaysian waters.

The survey, under the 10th Malaysia Plan, covered the waters of Sabah, Sarawak and the east coast of Malaysia, Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Ahamad Sabki Mahmood said yesterday.

The last such survey was carried out more than three years ago.

"We need to conduct the study to know whether we still have enough fishery resources left to meet the demands of our people in the future.

"We don't want to come to a time where we run out of the resources. As it is, we have exploited it to the optimum."

Ahamad was here to launch the three-day international conference on underwater acoustics for sustainable fisheries in Asia.

More than 60 participants from eight countries participated in the seminar, jointly organised by the Fisheries Department and the Asian Fisheries Acoustics Society.

Ahamad said to ensure a sustainable management of the fishery resources, the department had limited the number of boats fishing in Malaysian waters in 1984.

"We are fully aware that if we do not do anything now, our future generation will be left with zero marine resources.

"The sustainability of the fishery resources as well as maintaining a pristine marine environment is the delicate foundation that underpins the sustainable of marine resources.

"Exploitation of marine resources must be supported by research, monitoring and assessment."

Ahamad said more officers in the department would be trained to use underwater acoustic devices such as echo-sounders and sonar, which were compulsory equipment on fishing vessels.

He said acoustic devices were no longer used to merely record water depth of ponds, lakes, rivers and other water bodies, but also to track migration patterns of marine fauna and most importantly, estimate fish stocks.

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Asia Pulp&Paper targets Sumatra forest: tigers and orang utans threatened

Unique orangutan reintroduction project under imminent threat
World Wildlife Fund EurekAlert 14 Dec 10;

JAMBI, Indonesia – A Sumatran rainforest named a global priority for tigers and home to a unique orangutan rescue project is targeted for clearcutting by one of the world's largest paper suppliers.

An investigation found that since 2004, companies affiliated with Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group have sought out selective logging concessions with dense natural forests in the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape.

The companies obtained government licenses to switch the forest status to industrial timber plantation concessions, sometimes under legally questionable circumstances. This allows for clearcutting and planting of commercial plantations, making homeless the indigenous forest-dwelling tribes and endangered species. This is in breach of the company's claims that it doesn't clear high-quality forest.

"Our investigation found that in the last six years, the company in this landscape alone contributed to loss of about 60,000 hectares of forest without appropriate professional assessments or stakeholder consultation," said Susanto Kurniawan of Eyes on the Forest. "This is one of very few remaining rainforests in central Sumatra; therefore we urge the Government not to give it away to APP/SMG, who will mercilessly eliminate it and devastate local communities and biodiversity."

Bukit Tigapuluh harbors close to 320,000 hectares of natural forest, with around 30 tigers, 150 elephants and 130 rescued orangutans that were released here. "These great apes are the survivors of the illegal pet trade who were confiscated and are finally getting a chance to live and breed again in the wild," said Julius Paolo Siregar of the Frankfurt Zoological Society. "Forest conversion plans mean certain death for many of them."

It is also home to two forest-dwelling tribes -- the Orang Rimba and Talang Mamak – who are "being driven off their ancestral land by APP and other companies," said Diki Kurniawan from WARSI. "Many must now beg for rice handouts to survive."

Bukit Tigapuluh has been deemed one of 20 landscapes critical to the long-term survival of tigers by international scientists. In November, Indonesia pledged at a global tiger summit to make it a focal area for tiger conservation.

"The Bukit Tigapuluh landscape is a major test of Indonesia's $1 billion climate agreement with the Kingdom of Norway," said Aditya Bayunanda of WWF-Indonesia. "We stand ready to help the Government find ways to protect the forest and Indonesia's natural heritage."

Pulp and Paper industry still damaging key tiger territory, investigation finds
WWF 15 Dec 10;

One of the world’s largest paper suppliers is still clearcutting the rainforest of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, a habitat critical to the survival of the tiger, an investigation by local NGOs found.

The enquiry found that in the dense natural forests of the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape companies affiliated the Asia Pulp & Paper/Sinar Mas Group (APP/SMG) have sought out selective logging concessions..

The companies obtained government licenses to switch the forest status to industrial timber plantation concessions, sometimes under legally questionable circumstances. This allows for clearcutting and planting of commercial plantations, destroying the home of local tigers and other endangered species. It is also in breach of the company’s claims that it doesn’t clear high-quality forest.

“Our investigation found that in the last six years, the company in this landscape alone contributed to the loss of about 60,000 hectares of forest without appropriate professional assessments or stakeholder consultation,” said Susanto Kurniawan of the environmental conservation group Eyes on the Forest.

“Bukit Tigapuluh is one of very few remaining rainforests in central Sumatra; therefore we urge the Government not to give it away to APP/SMG, who will mercilessly eliminate it and devastate local communities and biodiversity.”

Bukit Tigapuluh has about 320,000 hectares of natural forest, and harbors about 30 of the 300 Sumatran tigers which still survive on the island. It has been deemed one of 20 landscapes critical to the long-term survival of tigers by international scientists. In November, Indonesia pledged at the Global Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia to make it a focal area for tiger conservation.

Approximately 150 elephants and 130 highly endangered Sumatran orangutans also live in the area.
The area is also home to two indigenous forest-dwelling tribes -- the Orang Rimba and Talang Mamak – who are “being driven off their ancestral land by APP and other companies,” said Diki Kurniawan from WARSI, an Indonesian community conservation organization. “Many must now beg for rice handouts to survive.”

After a $1 billion pledge from Norway, Indonesia announced this year a moratorium starting in 2011 on all new forest and peatland concessions. The moratorium includes Sumatra.

“The Bukit Tigapuluh landscape is a major test of Indonesia’s $1 billion climate agreement with the Kingdom of Norway,” said Aditya Bayunanda of WWF-Indonesia “We stand ready to help the Government find ways to protect the forest and Indonesia’s natural heritage.”

Green Groups Accuse Pulp Giants of Illegal Logging in Indonesia's Sumatra National Park
Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 16 Dec 10;

Jakarta. Environmental groups on Wednesday accused one of Indonesia’s largest pulp and paper companies of logging in national parks and threatening both indigenous people and wildlife.

An investigation by nongovernmental groups based in Sumatra found that since 2004, companies affiliated with Asia Pulp and Paper and its parent company, the Sinar Mas Group, had systematically sought out inactive selective logging concessions on densely forested land in the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, straddling the provinces of Riau and Jambi.

“Despite APP’s claims that it doesn’t pulp high-quality forest, our investigation found that in the last six years, the company in this [area] alone contributed to the loss of about 60,000 hectares of high-carbon and high-value conservation forest without appropriate professional assessment or stakeholder consultation,” said Susanto Kurniawan of Eyes of the Forests, a coalition of green groups based in Riau.

The coalition’s study shows the companies obtained government licenses to switch the land status to industrial timber plantation concessions, which allows for clear-cutting and replacing the natural forest with commercial plantations.

The NGOs also claim that two firms linked to APP/SMG — Artelindo Wiratama and Tebo Multiagro Corporation — continued to clear Bukit Tigapuluh’s natural forest in 2010, while SMG’s Rimba Hutani Mas was planning to clear close to 43,000 hectares of natural forest.

They add that Lestari Asri Jaya, owned by the Barito Pacific Group, could soon begin clearing 36,000 hectares of dense natural forest in its newest industrial timber plantation concessions to supply wood to APP/SMG.

Aida Greenbury, managing director of sustainability at the APP Group, said the company would review the reports in detail to determine if there was any evidence that an APP pulpwood supplier was operating outside of areas defined by Indonesian spatial planning for pulpwood concessions.

“At this point we strongly believe the allegations are completely baseless,” she said.

“All concessions managed by APP pulpwood suppliers are developed in full compliance with Indonesian spatial planning and permit requirements.”

Funding for such programs, she said, came from public-private partnerships, community stakeholders and NGOs closest to the people.

Bukit Tigapuluh spans almost 320,000 hectares of natural forest and is home to two indigenous tribes, the Orang Rimba and the Talang Mamak, who number less than a thousand combined.

The forest also houses an estimated 30 critically endangered Sumatran tigers, as well as 150 Sumutran elephants and 130 orangutans that had been released back into the wild.

Aditya Bayunanda of WWF Indonesia said the protection of Bukit Tigapuluh would be a major test of Indonesia’s climate change mitigation agreement with Norway.

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Philippines clamps down on wildlife trafficking

DJ Yap Philippine Daily Inquirer 15 Dec 10;

Filed Under: Animals, Conservation, Smuggling, Air Transport, Environmental Issues

MANILA, Philippines—No more snakes on planes. No more turtles, geckos, parrots, mynah birds and bear cats, too.

Environment officials and airport authorities will clamp down on the smuggling of rare and endangered animals at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in line with a Southeast Asia-wide campaign against wildlife trafficking.

Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) launched Tuesday the “Wildlife Trafficking Stops Here” campaign together with the Manila International Airport Authority and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN).

The advocacy program is part of an ASEAN-wide effort to combat wildlife trafficking through international airports in the region, starting with Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport in March 2009, then expanding to airports in Laos and Vietnam.

Wildlife trafficking

On Tuesday, the Philippines became the latest country to join the campaign, officials said.

“Thousands of wild animals and plants flow through hot spots, such as airports, every day,” said Manop Lauprasert, senior officer of the ASEAN-WEN Support Program at the launch of the campaign at the departure lobby of the NAIA Terminal 1.

From January until September, ASEAN-WEN reported that about 95 arrests had been made, 13,000 live animals had been rescued, and over 63,000 animal parts and derivatives had been recovered in the region.

All in all, that amounted to more than $10 million, Lauprasert said.

In the Philippines, he said an estimated 1,887 live animals—parrots, mynah birds, doves, turtles, geckos, leopard cats, bear cats, otters and snakes—had been rescued during that period.

Paying off

Philippine authorities had also intercepted more than P7.2 million worth of illegally obtained timber and an estimated $2 million worth of African elephant tusks.

Steven R. Galster, director of Freeland Foundation and chief-of-party of the ASEAN-WEN Support Program, said the wildlife protection and conservation efforts have been paying off, with 500 wildlife traffickers arrested and 100 charged and prosecuted since the campaign began.

The campaign targets the illicit trade on endangered and threatened species lists, although it also strongly discourages trade of any wild animal to be sold off as pets.

Under Republic Act No. 9147, no person is allowed to collect, possess or hunt wildlife, unless he meets specific conditions, such as having the financial and technical capability and facility to maintain wildlife. Indigenous people may collect wildlife for traditional purposes, but not for trade.

Exportation and importation of non-threatened wildlife species may be allowed under strict conditions, such as the recipient having the technical and financial capability to maintain them.

But Galster said so much still is needed to be done, considering the sheer volume of endangered species bought, sold and smuggled through the airports.

‘Don’t buy’

The campaign also has a message for the public: “Don’t buy” endangered wildlife.

The Philippines will assume chairmanship of ASEAN-WEN, taking over from Thailand, next year.

Ambassador Wilfrido Villacorta, the Philippines’ permanent representative to the ASEAN, said Southeast Asia and the Philippines stood much to lose if wildlife trafficking went unabated.

“The ASEAN region comprises only three percent of the Earth, but contains over 20 percent of all known plants, animals and marine species,” many of which are endemic, or not to be found elsewhere, he said.

The Philippines, for its small size, has the fifth highest number of endemic birds and mammals in the world, he said.

“Wildlife trafficking should indeed be a major concern of ASEAN and the Philippines as well,” he said.

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Artificial reefs: Community asset or underwater junkyard?

Veronica Buck ABC Net 15 Dec 10;

Within just two years big concrete structures could be submerged off Western Australia's pristine coastline in a bid to enhance the local recreational fishing experience.

That is, if the state's peak fishing lobby group can convince the community that creating artificial reefs would be an environmental brainwave and not an underwater garbage site.

Recfish West's Cane Moyle says new technology and improved designs mean artificial reefs are now something to be embraced.

"Artificial reefs have evolved from previously just a mentality of dumping any sort of surplus material, be it boats or even tyres, in the marine environment to create extra habitat," he said.

Mr Moyle is joining scientists from the Fisheries Department in examining whether artificial reefs can be designed to successfully promote biodiversity and sustainability in WA.

The department's Stuart Smith says a delegation has just returned from a research trip to Asia where artificial reefs have been around for four decades and are largely used in the commercial sector.

"At the moment we would be looking at deploying reefs on a relatively small scale in Western Australia and conducting substantial research on the impacts of those reefs for recreational fishers," he said.

"And then looking at any potential applications for the commercial sector; at the moment the focus is very much in recreational fishers here."

It's music to the ears of Mr Moyle.

"One of the key questions we were looking at was were artificial reefs production devices or aggregation devices, meaning do they simply just aggregate fish and make them easier to catch or do they produce extra fish and productivity?

"The body of evidence that we saw, particularly in South Korea and China, was that these devices produce fish and are maintaining a number of fisheries over there.

"It's not something we see being required to recover fish stocks, it's about making the fishing experience even better for recreational fishers."

Authorities will also investigate whether fish stocking could be used for the benefit of recreational fishers.

Aesthetics

Mr Smith says there are two types of purpose built artificial reefs.

The first are large steel structures designed for deeper water and the second are concrete creations which have already been introduced on the east coast of Australia.

"Typically recreational fishers want them relatively close to the shore where the smaller boats can access them," he said.

"Because it's in shallower water the most suitable designs are usually the concrete structures which can be designed for specific fish species or different purposes, including shellfish and molluscs or for fin fish.

"They are around about two metres by two metres by three metres and a number of them are deployed in an area over 800 square metres normally."

Mr Smith says resource sector companies in the north of the state have registered interest in funding artificial reefs, to counter their impact on local marine environments.

"Because often they will go into a regional town centre and they'll have a large workforce during the construction phase of their projects and that construction workforce will spend some of their spare time fishing and so there can be pressure on the local community's fish stocks.

"We are finding local fishing communities in areas where new boat ramps are going in are also interested in artificial reefs because when you put in a boat ramp the increased accessibility of those locations means there's additional pressure on the fishing stocks and artificial reefs can help in that regard."

Mr Moyle suggests artificial reefs could be placed in areas near Broome, Karratha, Carnarvon and even the metro area.

He says if you look at some of the marine habitat in those areas, it's quite devoid of structure and fish require structure in terms of growth and production.

"Off the west coast, the metro coast it could be quite useful in areas like Cockburn Sound which has suffered a lot from developments and habitat destruction; Geographe Bay."

Money well spent?

An artificial reef would costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Recfish West suggests that could be funded from revenue generated by fishing boat licences and the mining sector.

The Conservation Council's Tim Nicol says whoever funds it is irrelevant.

"It sounds like an excessive waste of money considering how much reef we have out there and there's no fish on it," he said.

Mr Nicol says marine sanctuaries are the way forward.

"By creating marine sanctuaries you end up with spillover of fish into surrounding waters and you actually repopulate the reefs we have before we try to build new ones," he said.

The Fisheries Department says no trial would commence without extensive community consultation and environmental assessments of any potential impacts.

But if a suitable site is identified, WA could have its own purpose-built reef within two years.

Read more!

Wild elephants ruin 44 houses in East Aceh

Antara 14 Dec 10;

Banda Aceh, Aceh province (ANTARA News) - At least 44 houses in Serbajadi subdistrict, East Aceh district, were ruined by wild elephants during the past one month, a local source said.

Bukhari Muslim, Ketibung Musara village chief, said on Tuesday the number of wild elephant attacks had increased since November 2010. He said the animals entered human settlements and ruined people`s houses and plantations several times.

Bukhari said local people had become concerned about the wild elephants` attacks
"Fortunately, there have been no casualties so far. But the whole village remains on alert in case the elephants come again," he said adding that several people whose houses were damaged by the elephants had to evacuate and had not yet returned.

Last week, three elephants were found dead in Ketibung Musara village, East Aceh. The elephants seemed to have been killed with poison.

Aceh Province has recorded a total of 99 cases of human-animal conflicts from 2007 to 2009 which have caused some of rare animals such as Sumatran Tiger and Sumatran elephants to perish.

"Due to the human-wildlife conflicts, the number of animals in Aceh has decreased, as wild animals such as elephants were hunted by people," Yakob Ishadamy, head of the Aceh Green Secretariat, said.

There were 33 cases of human-animal conflicts in 2007, 46 cases in 2008 and 30 cases in 2009, he said. People used to take a short-cut by hunting the wild animals, such as elephants and tigers.

In 1996, there were 600-700 elephants in Aceh Province, and the number was estimated to decrease to 350-450 elephants in 2007. The population of elephants in Aceh had depleted by almost 40 percent during 1996-2006. From 2007 to September 2008, 39 elephants were captured or killed, he said.

On Sumatra Island as a whole, the population of elephants was estimated to reach between 2,400 and 2,800 heads in 2007. Some of the elephants lived in small blocks of forests which could not support the survival of elephants in a long term, he said.

The decreasing acreage of forests as habitats for tigers and elephants is also a main factor that helps reduce the number of these rare animals. (*)

Read more!

Dubai Builds a New Reef Coral by Coral

Michael Grubb The Media Line 14 Dec 10;

With a barge, cap rocks and a lot of glue, divers aim to restore an underwater treasure

In Dubai, a city known for vast manmade landscapes in the form of palm-shaped islands and indoor ski slopes, a group of hotels and private citizens are joining up to try and restore some of the emirate’s lost natural environment.

Work officially began this past week on the Al-Murjan Dubai Reef Rehabilitation project, a painstaking effort to reconstruct by hand a reef coral by coral. Financed by Shangri-La Hotel Dubai, Traders Hotel Dubai and the Dubai Ladies Club, and conducted by the Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEG), the organizers are starting on a trial basis before going ahead with a large-scale project.

“A lot of the development has disrupted the natural coral community, and a lot of people who know that would like to see corals brought back to Dubai,” Keith Wilson, marine program director of EMEG, told The Media Line.

Around the world, coral reefs are endangered by rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, coastal pollution and physical damage. In Dubai and the other Gulf emirates, breakneck development and desalination have created coral graveyards, threatening tourism and fishing. Nevertheless, some experts question the long-term effectiveness of coral reef transplantation.

The project was originally proposed by the Dubai Ladies Club, whose activities include a Ladies Dive, the only organized dive available to local women. Development in the area of the groups’ beach has damaged the underwater scenery for which divers go under. The idea is to bring back some of the natural life back to the area.

The initial stages of the project include placing 42 tons of cap rock stones, naturally occurring rock formations of cemented sand each weighing two tons, which will be transported from nearby Ghantoot beach by barge. They will be placed at a site five meters under water and over 100 meters offshore. Using epoxy glue, some 400 corals of various species will be affixed to the stones, where EMEG hopes they will grow and thrive on their own.

Wilson said this is the second time that they have undertaken such a project in Dubai. In 2008, EMEG, which is a non-profit dedicated to preserving the region’s marine biodiversity, transplanted some 11,000 corals to a location on the Palm Jebel Ali, one of three artificial archipelagos built along the Dubai coast. He deemed the project a success.

“After almost three years, 95% of the corals there are alive and thriving,” he said.

However, some experts have raised doubts about the long term viability of transplanted corals. Maoz Fine, coral reef ecology expert at the Bar Ilan University Institute for Marine Biology in Israel, says the incredibly high biodiversity supported by natural coral reefs is difficult, if not impossible, to imitate.

“It’s almost impossible to recreate the true diversity of a living reef,” Fein said. “It won’t support the millions of species that are so dependent upon corals. You need a high diversity of invertebrates and fish, and you need a high diversity of corals. That’s not usually the case when you transplant and propagate corals.”

Jack Silverman, a marine biologist with the Israel National Institute of Oceanography, echoed Fein’s concerns that our knowledge of coral reef ecology is still too limited to be able to reproduce the natural biodiversity of these environments.

“To the best of my knowledge, we don’t know the full list of components that define a healthy and viable coral reef,” he said.

By beginning with a small scale pilot project, the scientists at EMEG hope to address concerns. According to Wilson, the project will undergo a full evaluation at three months, six months and one year. Only if the pilot reef thrives will they continue on to the larger-scale phase of the project, which will include an artificial reef built in a star shape and measuring 100 meters across.

The shape of the projected reef isn’t to create a tourist attraction. Wilson said a star formation provides the best environment for the ref to develop on its own. Once the test site is completed, volunteer divers from the Dubai Ladies Club will monitor their health.

“This is the ideal way to do it,” John Burt, assistant professor of biology at New York University Abu Dhabi, told The Media Line. “By doing a pilot project they are trying to ensure that the techniques used will be effective in maintaining survivorship and that the donor site will be suitable.”

The immediate concerns of the Al-Murjan project have to do with the process of transplantation itself. “The issue with coral transplantation is that coral is fairly sensitive to being handled,” Burt told The Media Line. “A great deal of care has to be taken in the logistics of moving and the selecting of a site that is adequate to the needs of the coral.”

“A lot of it has to do with technique,” Wilson said. “You have to be careful so as not to stress the corals too much, and also during the process of placement, but we have a good track record.”

For Wilson and others involved the fundamental question is what would happen if this project, and others like it, didn’t happen at all.

The coral specimens being transplanted will come from natural reefs that will soon be destroyed to make way for Dubai’s continued development.

“There are a number of sites that are earmarked for dredged channels and they [the corals] will be coming from the impact area of these dredged channels,” Wilson said. “We are only taking from areas where they would have been lost anyways.”

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Non-native species cost British economy £1.7bn

BBC News 15 Dec 10;

Invasive non-native species such as the grey squirrel and Japanese knotweed cost the British economy £1.7bn a year, a report has suggested.

Researchers said crops, ecosystems and livelihoods can be damaged when such species take hold. The study found that the rabbit was the most economically damaging species, followed by Japanese knotweed.

The research was conducted for Defra, the Scottish government and the Welsh Assembly Government.

'Significant impact'

The cost was significantly higher at £1.3bn in England where invasive non-native species have become more established.

The price was put at £251m in Scotland and £133m in Wales.

The cost to British agriculture and horticulture was £1bn alone, according to the research carried out by international scientific organisation Cabi.

Other damaging species included the rat, the house mouse and the mink, and plants such as the rhododendron and giant hogweed.

Defra Minister Richard Benyon said: "Invasive non-native species have a significant impact on the British economy and damage our own wildlife.

"The costs of controlling these species will rise unless society takes steps to prevent them taking hold and spreading."
'Serious threat'

He added: "It becomes increasingly difficult and costly to control invasive non-native species as they become more established.

"Taking early action may seem expensive, but this report shows that it is the most effective approach, saving money in the long run and helping our native wildlife to thrive."

Scottish Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said: "We all know about the serious threat to our native wildlife from invasive non-native species, and this report confirms the huge cost to businesses and individuals in Great Britain every year."

Welsh Environment Minister Jane Davidson said the assembly government was "committed to protecting and enhancing our biodiversity and to understanding its relationship with, and impact on, our economy".

Rabbits named Britain's most costly invasive species
Britain's 40m rabbits cost more than £260m a year in damage to crops, businesses and infrastructure, report says
James Meikle The Guardian 15 Dec 10;

They were introduced to Britain by the Romans, are hated as pests and celebrated in children's books. Britain's estimated 40m rabbits cost the economy more than £260m a year including damage to crops, businesses and infrastructure, a report says today.

Their near 2,000-year survival as a non-native species makes them the costliest natural invader, according to research for the English, Scottish and Welsh governments by CABI, the international agriculture and environment organisation.

Japanese knotweed, introduced in the mid-19th century as an ornamental garden plant, has had far less time to rack up its own costly threats to the economy as it colonises roadsides, riverbanks and derelict land.

The total cost of such invasive species now reaches £1.7bn a year, mostly to the English economy, more than £250m in Scotland and £133m in Wales.

But the report also provides justification for the high costs of controlling non-natives. It is estimated that the current eradication programme for water primrose, a group of South American aquatic weeds which grow rapidly and can block waterways, will cost £73,000 – significantly less than the estimated £242m it would cost if the weeds were to become widely established as they have in in countries including France and Belgium.

Eradicating the grey squirrel, the North American 19th-century import which has put the native red in peril, may no longer be possible, the report concedes. An attempt to remove the species from Anglesey alone has so far cost £440,000. A conservative estimate puts the cost of a similar programme across Britain at £850m.

Even that would be relatively small if the Asian long-horned beetle, a wood-boring menace from Japan, Korea and China, and now threatening North American trees, became established in this country. The report suggests it would cost over £1.3bn to remove it from hardwood forests alone, let alone clear it from parks, gardens and hedgerows.

Richard Benyon, minister for the natural environment, said: "Invasive non-native species have a significant impact on the British economy and damage our own wildlife. The costs of controlling these species will rise unless society takes steps to prevent them taking hold and spreading."

"It becomes increasingly difficult and costly to control invasive non-native species as they become more established. Taking early action may seem expensive, but this report shows that it is the most effective approach, saving money in the long run and helping our native wildlife to thrive."

Roseanna Cunningham, Scottish minister for environment and climate change, said: "A better understanding of the negative impacts of invasive non-native species can help us raise awareness to help prevent introductions in the first place and to better respond to problems."
Top 10 economic menaces

Rabbits £263m a year

Japanese knotweed £179m

Common field speedwell/wild oat £100m

Rat £62m

Potato cyst nematode £50m

Non-native deer £35m

Varroa mite (a parasite of bees) £27m

Floating pennywort £25m

House mouse £18m

Grey squirrel £14m

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Maps predict future floods for Australian cities

ABC Net 15 Dec 10;

Rising sea levels are likely to cause serious and regular flooding in Australian coastal cities by the end of the century, according to maps released by the Federal Government today.

The maps for low-lying areas in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Newcastle, the New South Wales' central coast and south-east Queensland show significant levels of inundation by the year 2100.

The maps show three different scenarios, with the lowest rise of 50 centimetres representing a situation which is likely to be unavoidable.

The medium level map shows a rise of 80cm and the highest level of 1.1 metres shows the flooding risk identified in the most recent climate change research.

The Government says the flooding shown in the maps is likely to occur at least once a year.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says the maps will help communities prepare for the effects of climate change.

"The Government recognises that coastal areas of Australia are a priority for adaptation action, with many communities vulnerable to impacts such as erosion and sea inundation," Mr Combet said.

"Developed in partnership with the Co-operative Research Centre for Spatial Information, these maps are an important product for the community to understand potential risks to infrastructure and properties and to prepare for the climate change impacts of sea level rises."

Mr Combet says the maps show rising sea levels may affect existing infrastructure.

"We need to face the challenge of starting to prepare for impacts to existing developments, where past decision-making did not address climate change impacts and where areas may be vulnerable to inundation as the sea level rises," he said.

"Early engagement with communities in these areas will be critical to the development of workable adaptation solutions for local areas, so they are able to avoid risk.

"Where this is not possible, this engagement will help ensure they are as prepared as possible to cope with climate change impacts as they arise."

Rising sea levels will swamp parts of Sydney
Tom Arup Sydney Morning Herald 16 Dec 10;

A number of Sydney suburbs will be inundated regularly because of climate change-driven sea-level rises, threatening homes and community infrastructure worth billion of dollars by the end of the century, new projections show.

In the first detailed attempt to study the impacts of sea-level rises on low-lying coastal areas and help local government planning, the government has released high-resolution maps that show the areas in Sydney and the central coast most under threat from sea-level rises.

Sydney suburbs facing significant danger of inundation, even with limited rises, include Caringbah, Kurnell, Cromer and Manly Vale. Significant parts of Newcastle and the central coast are also potentially in harm's way.

And the problems associated with rising sea levels are not limited to coastal areas. Flooding could occur along the Parramatta River, threatening homes and infrastructure around Homebush Bay, Newington and Silverwater.

Along the Cooks River, Arncliffe and Marrickville could suffer, with the threat of significant inundation at Sydney Airport, too The maps show projected inundation for sea-level rises of 0.5 metres, which is likely to be unavoidable, 0.8 metres and 1.1 metres by 2100.

The projections combine rising sea levels and king tidal events, which can occur many times a year. The maps do not factor in protective infrastructure such as sea walls or show local effects such as beach erosion.

Tim Flannery, who sits on the federal government's Coast and Climate Change Council, said he had been struck by the significant effects on inland suburbs from river flooding in all major Australian cities.

Professor Flannery said he hoped the maps would drive a national strategy to co-ordinate Australia's approach to sea-level rises, including universal planning laws.

Bruce Thom, the chairman of the Australian Coastal Society, said the next stage of projections would deal with localised studies, including the potential damage from flooding events on land and storm surges from the sea, which he said would show the real risks of rising sea levels.

The Climate Change Minister Greg Combet, who launched the maps in Newcastle yesterday, said in a statement the government recognised ''that coastal areas of Australia are a priority for adaptation action, with many communities vulnerable to impacts such as erosion and sea inundation''.

Last year the government released data revealing that an estimated 247,600 buildings valued at $63 billion could be damaged or lost due to sea-level rises.

In the same data, up to 62,400 homes in NSW - worth $18.7 billion - were estimated to be under threat from inundation, mainly in the local government areas of Lake Macquarie, Gosford Wyong, Wollongong, Shoalhaven and Rockdale.

The maps released yesterday also include projections for low-lying areas in other heavily populated centres, including Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth.

See the maps at www.ozcoasts.org.au

Tides to reach new highs in suburban Brisbane
Marissa Calligeros Sydney Morning Herald 17 Dec 10;

One in 100-year floods could instead become annual events among new predictions for how rising sea levels will affect Brisbane over the rest of this century.

Maps released this week show low-lying Brisbane suburbs, including Hemmant, Northgate, Strathpine, Bald Hills and Tingalpa, are most likely to be affected by sea level rises by the year 2100.

Suburbs along the Brisbane River, including Bulimba, New Farm and Woolloongabba, are also at risk of being flooded more frequently.

The maps calculated future water levels across all major capital cities with the use of laser technology, and were developed by the federal Department of Climate Change and the Co-operative Research Centre for Spatial Information.

The projections measured the impact of high tides resulting from seas rising various levels between 0.5 metres by 2100, which is considered unavoidable, and 1.1 metres.

The maps show low-lying suburbs alongside Brisbane's creeks and lakes are most at risk of being inundated by king tides, rather than oceanfront areas.

While the ocean is shown to encroach on some bayside suburbs, areas between Hemmant, Murarrie and Tingalpa are completely underwater.

Most of Brisbane Airport could also be regularly submerged by the end of the century, according to the maps.

Bruce Thom, the chairman of the Australian Coastal Society, said the impact of sea-level rises would be similar to the "Venice effect".

"You do not see one big flood, but a greater frequency of inundation due to high tides," he said.

"Seventy years ago St Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, would only be flooded just a few times a year. Now the square is flooded a couple of hundred times a year."

Research centre chief executive Peter Woodgate warned the maps were only showing the predicted tidal rise and did not take into account the impact of flooding rains and storms, which would occur much more regularly.

“One in 100 year [flooding] events would be occurring once a year,” Dr Woodgate said.

"... If you get flooding coinciding with a high tide, as we do, then the impact will be even worse."

Dr Woodgate said he hoped that within two years the centre would be able to predict flooding levels for every backyard in high-risk Brisbane suburbs.

"We will be able to go door-to-door and talk to residents about what the implications are and what needs to be done," he said.

"It may show that there are homes which are [unsustainable] but we cannot reach that conclusion until will do further detailed analysis.

"We need to think about the protective infrastructure we can put in place, for example, higher levy banks, better drainage systems and different building materials."

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman again warned new residents yesterday of the flooding risks in the city.

"My concern is that over the last 15 years we have had a very dry period and we are now seeing a return to the conditions that prevailed during the 60s and 70s," he told 4BC Radio.

"Since then we have had a lot of people [move to Brisbane] and they have chosen to live near this beautiful, idyllic little creek in suburbia. I'm afraid they don't know that it could turn into a raging torrent and it could actually threaten their property."

Cr Newman encouraged residents to make themselves aware of the flooding risk to their property and take out adequate flood insurance.

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New atlas maps future of the environment in Latin America and Caribbean

UNEP 14 Dec 10;

Panama City, 14 December 2010 - From deforestation in Guatemala to the effects of mining in Colombia, a new atlas produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) uses over 200 striking satellite images to highlight the most pressing environmental issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Latin America and the Caribbean - Atlas of our changing environment represents the first effort to analyze changes taking place in the region's environment, combining precise and striking satellite images with analysis based on rigorous data. The Atlas is an indispensable tool in formulating the future actions and public policies needed to achieve more sustainable development in the region.

The images highlight the region's richness and diversity of environments, ecosystems, species and landscapes. They also show, however, that this natural wealth is currently under considerable pressure as a result of the prevailing economic development models - which, while leading to growth, have also produced significant social and environmental changes.

The Atlas is divided into three parts. The first two bring together regional information, while the third outlines relevant environmental issues in each country, analysing 65 specific national cases. The more than 200 satellite images, maps and graphs provide a clear sense of the rapid urbanisation that has taken place, often without adequate planning, in places such as the Metropolitan Area of San José (Costa Rica) and San Salvador (El Salvador).

The effects of climate change are evident in satellite images of glaciers in Chilean and Argentine Patagonia. Deforestation can be seen in countries such as Brazil, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala and Haiti. The impact of mining is illustrated through pictures of La Guajira (Colombia) and Cerro de Pasco (Peru), while high-resolution images show the impact of the natural disasters that struck Haiti in January 2010. Other environmental problems highlighted by the Atlas include changes in land use, loss of biodiversity and degradation of coastal areas.

The State of the Region's Environment: Principal Findings

* The growth of cities: The absence of proper urban and land-use planning has created major problems in the cities of the region. Latin American cities are the most compact in the world, have the highest-density urban centres and present major challenges such as waste management and waste water treatment.

* Land Degradation: Although the region still has areas of lush vegetation, and houses one of the world's foremost reserves of biocapacity, land degradation - including desertification and the erosion of soils and coastlines - is evident throughout the continent. Desertification currently affects more than 600 million hectares in arid, semiarid and subhumid areas in the region.

* Profound changes in agriculture: Land for agricultural use increased at a rate of 0.13% per year between 2003 and 2005, resulting in the loss of forests and other habitats. This change has been accompanied by an even more profound one: major food crops such as potatoes, cassava, rice and wheat have decreased on a per capita basis, while there has been an increase in crops used for industry, fuel and animal feed.

* Mining: Of the world's regions, Latin America devotes the largest share (23%) of its budgets to exploration by major mining companies. More than US$10 billion dollars are invested every year in mining activities in the region, with Chile accounting for approximately 20% of the total.

* Freshwater: The region accounts for more than 30% of all available fresh water on the planet; nearly 40% of the region's water resources are renewable. The pressure exerted by agricultural use has increased steadily since mid-1990; total irrigated area doubled between 1961 and 1990.

* Glaciers: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), most of the tropical glaciers in the region will melt between 2020 and 2030. South American glaciers are a vital source of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial use.

* Coastal development: A large percentage of the region's population and economic activities are concentrated in coastal areas. Tourism, unplanned urban sprawl, urban and industrial waste water, and aquaculture are among the factors responsible for the degradation of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, wetlands and coral reefs.

* Forests: Deforestation is widespread and, in some places, rampant. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Latin America and the Caribbean lost approximately 43,500 km2 of forests per year between 2000 and 2005. This corresponds to an annual loss greater than the surface area of Switzerland. The most severe deforestation is occurring in South America, particularly in the Brazilian Amazon, although recent efforts have reduced the annual rate of deforestation in this ecosystem.

* Natural disasters: The number of people affected by floods, droughts and other hydro-meteorological events has increased in the region since 2000. Between 1995 and 2006, approximately 20 million people were affected by such occurrences - particularly climatic events such as hurricanes.

Latin America and the Caribbean is a region with a rich natural environment. However, this environment has been deteriorating. As shown in the Atlas, the most acute problems facing the region are accelerating urbanization without adequate planning, climate change, deforestation, land use change, loss of biodiversity and degradation of coastal areas.

View online: Latin America and the Caribbean - Atlas of our Changing Environment

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After Cancun: Australia, Japan, US positions

U.N. Talks Up Pressure On Australia's Climate Target
James Grubel and David Fogarty PlanetArk 15 Dec 10;

Australia's fragile government is under increasing pressure to deepen its target to cut carbon emissions after U.N. climate talks in Mexico ended with an agreement to step up the fight against global warming.

Failure to harden the target would anger the Greens, whose support is vital to Australia's ruling Labor Party, but risks enraging the powerful mining sector and conservative opposition.

The Greens have piled on the pressure since the end of the talks in Cancun at the weekend, saying Labor's target to cut emissions by 5 percent from 2000 levels by 2020 is far too weak.

"Mexico put the mojo back into the U.N. climate talks," said John Connor, CEO of the Climate Institute think tank. "What came out of Cancun made it quite clear that we're talking about beyond 5 percent because we are talking about a world taking action."

Australia is the world's top coal exporter, generates more than 80 percent of its electricity from coal and its per-capita emissions are among the highest in the developed world.

The government has said putting a price on carbon is the only way to cut carbon emissions growth from the A$1.2 trillion economy. But it has struggled to win backing from powerful industry lobbies and the issue has proven politically poisonous.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pledged to speed up a decision on how to price carbon, either by a tax, emissions trading scheme or a combination, by next year and the Greens are demanding tougher action to match Europe's 20 percent cut and Japan's pledged 25 percent reduction.

"The Cancun agreement keeps the global negotiations alive on the understanding that everybody needs to lift their sights to stronger action if we are to deliver a safe climate," Greens deputy leader, Senator Christine Milne, said in a statement.

She called for Australia to deepen the cut to 25 to 40 percent by 2020. The government in the past pledged to cut by up 25 percent if other big emitters such as China and the United States signed up to a tough climate pact.

FIRST CUT NOT THE DEEPEST

The mining industry, however, said Australia's reliance on resource exports exposed the country to higher costs than other developed countries when it comes to curbing emissions.

"Even a 5 percent cut for Australia costs us much more in lost gross domestic product than a bigger cut in Europe," Minerals Council of Australia deputy chief executive Brendan Pearson told Reuters.

He said government modeling found a 5 percent cut would cut economic growth by more than 1 percent, and would be double the impact of a cut of up to 20 percent in Europe.

But analysts say the government faces pressure to act.

"We can no longer assume the government will simply be able to proceed on its own terms, especially if that is a minus-5 percent target," said Martijn Wilder, global head of Baker & McKenzie's climate change practice in Sydney.

"We should also not dismiss the fact that if the government wants to get its legislation through the parliament, it may be the case that the Greens and the independents insist on having a higher target of 10 or 15 percent," he told Reuters.

From July 2011, the government will need support from the Greens to pass laws through the upper house Senate. The government also relies on support from three independents and a Green lawmaker in the lower house, who want action on climate change and are part of a multi-party panel on carbon pricing.

Tough action on pricing emissions and a tougher target would pit the government against big polluters, such as miners.

"The real test for the government is whether the presence of the Greens, independents and experts in the Multi Party Climate Committee will give them the strength to stand up to the rent-seekers and commit to good policy with the ambitious goal to transform Australia's economy," Milne said.

The Cancun talks put off a decision on the final shape of an agreement but put the troubled U.N. negotiations back on track with a package of modest agreements.

Under the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, Australia was among the few rich nations allowed to increase its emissions during a 2008-12 first phase.

Emissions are now about 8 percent above 1990 levels and the government, and industry groups, say even a 5 percent cut by 2020 will be tough.

"Australia's 5 percent minimum target is a big ask for a growing, inherently emissions-intensive economy," said Heather Ridout, chief executive of Australian Industry Group, which represents manufacturers.

"The 5 percent cut to 2000 levels equates to around 21 percent below the business-as-usual projection for 2020. That means our economy would have to reduce, avoid or offset more than one in every five emissions it would otherwise make."

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

Japan: Will Keep Seeking Wider Climate Pact Than Kyoto
Risa Maeda PlanetArk 15 Dec 10;

Japan will continue to push for a broad climate treaty, that would include major greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States, as an accord reached last week in Mexico left the door open to such a possibility, its environment minister said.

Minister of the Environment Ryu Matsumoto, who headed Japanese delegates at the U.N climate talks in Cancun, said on Tuesday Japan would continue to push for a wider framework than the Kyoto Protocol whose current round ends in 2012 and obliges almost 40 rich countries -- except the United States, which never ratified it -- to cut emissions blamed for warming the planet or face penalties.

At Cancun, Japan, along with Canada and Russia, opposed extending Kyoto, a position which developing countries blamed for causing a major delay in U.N.-led climate talks.

Matsumoto reiterated that Japan would prefer a broader agreement, based on pledged emission-cut goals by 140 countries including the United States and China under the Copenhagen Accord, reached last year. He said Kyoto is out-dated as it covers less than 30 percent of current global emissions.

"We held bilateral talks with dozens of countries (at Cancun) in which we said we should keep up with the Copenhagen Accord," Matsumoto said.

"I think Japan's argument to some extent has been understood."

He also said Japan would stick to its plan to introduce a compulsory emissions trading system and other green steps included in a climate bill Tokyo has submitted to parliament.

The government, which doesn't have a majority in the upper house, will need to rely on other parties to pass the climate bill next year.

(Editing by Joseph Radford)

Despite Cancun deal, US shifts away on climate
Shaun Tandon Yahoo News 14 Dec 10;

CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) – A new international accord on global warming has heartened environmentalists, but casting a shadow is the political shift in the United States where legislative climate efforts died in 2010.

President Barack Obama's administration played an active role brokering the December 11 deal in Cancun, Mexico, which pledged deep cuts in carbon emissions blamed for climate change and set up a new global fund to administer aid.

But in Washington, a bill to impose restrictions on carbon died in the Senate. That was even before mid-term elections in which Obama's Democratic Party was trounced by the Republicans, some of whom doubt most scientists' view that the world is heating up.

"Obviously, whether or not the US can live up to its commitment is an issue that is stuck in the back of people's minds," said Jake Schmidt of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

It marks a sharp turnaround from just two years ago, when Obama's election particularly cheered the European Union which was deeply at odds with previous president George W. Bush, who rejected efforts to curb climate change.

Chief US negotiator Todd Stern, whom other envoys welcomed with applause when he replaced Bush's climate team, was cautious on whether the Cancun accord could turn around the mood in Washington.

Stern said the accord should satisfy US political players who have insisted on verifiable action on climate change by other nations -- especially China, which has surpassed the United States as the largest carbon emitter.

"It doesn't mean I think you're suddenly going to get the votes to pass last year's bill, because that's not going to happen right away. But I think it's generally a helpful development," Stern said.

Senator John Kerry, who spearheaded the climate bill, welcomed the Cancun accord and said that far more action was needed "to prevent catastrophe," with experts pointing to growing storms and disasters as evidence of climate change.

"The United States needs to get back in the game today instead of being held back by obstructionism and broken politics at home, which have hurt us not just in the race to address climate change, but which have set us back in the race to define the clean energy economy and all the good jobs that come with it," the Massachusetts senator and former presidential candidate said.

But Republican lawmakers have criticized one of the key planks of the Cancun accord -- a 100 billion-dollar-a-year fund starting in 2020 to assist the poorest countries worst affected by climate change blamed largely on industrial nations' emissions.

In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Cancun talks, four Republican senators, led by John Barrasso of Wyoming, raised questions about the science behind climate change and noted that the United States was confronted by high unemployment and a spiraling debt.

"It makes no sense for the United States to now spend billions of taxpayer dollars to fight climate change in other countries," they wrote.

"If the administration is serious about listening to the American people, they will cancel this international climate change bailout."

Japan and the European Union have led pledges to the proposed fund, with Clinton saying last year at the Copenhagen climate summit that the United States would also contribute.

The Cancun accord set up the practicalities for administering the aid. In a point pushed by the United States, the new Green Climate Fund will be administered by the World Bank.

Alden Meyer, a climate talks watcher at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said it would be impossible to convince climate skeptics but that the Cancun accord was welcome after the widely criticized Copenhagen accord.

A collapse of talks in Cancun "could have been used by opponents saying, 'The world isn't serious and we told you so,'" Meyer said.

"So we avoided a negative, and we got a small positive," he said.

Despite the shift in Washington, a number of US states are moving on their own against climate change. California, the most populous state, is putting together a cap-and-trade system after voters rejected a referendum to stop it.

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