Best of our wild blogs: 5 Jan 11

Job Opportunity: Project Officer at the Raffles Museum
from Raffles Museum News

Job: RAs for marine biodiversity survey with TMSI/RMBR (closes 21 Jan 2010)
from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

Watch this grow - Flora Singapura by Tony O'Dempsey
from Habitatnews

Singapore latest water attraction - Sengkang Floating Wetland
from Water Quality in Singapore

110104 Kranji
from Singapore Nature

Mangroves at Sungei Pandan
from wild shores of singapore

Calendar of World Environmental Events 2011 and UN International Year of Forests from EcoWalkthetalk

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Australian floods affect food prices in Singapore

Vimita Mohandas Channel NewsAsia 4 Jan 11;

SINGAPORE: Erratic weather conditions in the US and Australia have affected the supply and prices of flour, sugar and wine in Singapore.

According to a bread supplier, flour prices will increase by 10 per cent next week.

And to cope with this, bread prices at the traditional bakery will cost more from February.

The price of sugar has also doubled over the past year due to poor sugarcane harvest.

The price of wine has not been spared either.

At My Wine Shop, 30 per cent of its wine comes from Australia.

And with the recent floods affecting grape produce there, prices are expected to escalate.

My Wine Shop manager Edwin Chong said: "The harvest in Australia is between March and April. So by the time they are actually into the harvesting, fermentation and bottling, we should see an increase of about 20 to 30 per cent of the wine prices towards the end of the year.

"And indirectly, logistics and transportation will be affected as well".

-CNA/wk

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Malaysia delays GM mosquito trial after protests

Yahoo News 4 Jan 11;

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia has delayed a landmark field trial to release genetically modified mosquitoes designed to combat dengue fever, an official said Tuesday, following protests from environmentalists.

In the first experiment of its kind in Asia, 4,000-6,000 male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were originally scheduled to be released by last month in a bid to fight dengue, which killed at least 134 people last year in Malaysia alone.

The insects have been engineered so that their offspring quickly die, curbing the growth of the population in a technique researchers hope could eventually eradicate the dengue mosquito altogether. Females of the Aedes species are responsible for spreading dengue.

The trial however prompted widespread concern among environmental groups, which asked the government to call off the tests, saying the GM mosquito could fail to prevent dengue and have unintended consequences.

A senior official from the Biosafety Department told AFP that the trial, which was to be carried out in two Malaysian states, has been postponed pending further discussion with residents in the trial areas.

"There are a lot of protests. We are now aiming to carry out the trial in the first half of 2011," said Mohamed Mohamad Salleh, the department's director of research and evaluation.

"The (health authorities) must get approval from the residents in those areas where the residents will be affected. If it is uninhabited site, approval must be granted by state government officers," he said.

Mohamed added that public forums will be held to explain the trial. The Environment Ministry has said it received more than 30 responses from local and international groups on the controversial trial.

Two weeks ago, 22 non-government organisations on public health and the environment wrote an open letter to the government asking it to cancel the trial and "instead invest in safer approaches to addressing dengue".

"While dengue is a very serious problem in Malaysia and needs to be urgently addressed, going down the GM path takes us into risky territory. Genetic engineering often results in unintended effects," the letter said.

"We do not know enough about the GM mosquitoes and how their interactions with non-GM mosquitoes in the wild, other species in the ecosystem, the dengue virus and human populations, will be affected."

Authorities have dismissed the fears and said the trial would be harmless as the GM mosquitoes could only live for a few days.

Dengue infection leads to a sudden onset of fever with severe headaches, muscle and joint pains, and rashes, which can lead to death if left untreated.

Weather delays mosquito release
Azura Abas The Star 5 Jan 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: The genetically modified (GM) male mosquitoes will be released into designated forests in Malacca and Pahang soon, said Biosafety Department director-general Letchumanan Ramanatha.

He said the exercise could not be carried out last month as scheduled because of the weather factor.

He denied claims that the delay was because of protests from some quarters. He was responding to a report yesterday, saying that Malaysia had delayed the release of between 4,000 and 6,000 male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes following protests from environmentalists.

Malaysia has decided to combat dengue using GM mosquitoes after looking at the increasing number of cases of dengue fever that led to fatalities.

A total of 38,330 people have been infected with dengue between January and October last year with 117 deaths.

There were 32,560 cases and 72 deaths in the same period in 2009.

"To gauge the effectiveness of using such mosquitoes, we have to observe them in their natural environment and not only in labs.

"We have to collect the data for us to decide the next course of action. Without data, we cannot progress scientifically," Letchumanan said yesterday.

Meanwhile, a Malaysia Nature Society spokesperson said the authority must exercise great caution in the GM mosquito project.

"It cannot be done hastily and strict protocols must be followed before releasing these mosquitoes."

He added that the people, who were the stakeholders, must be educated about GM mosquitoes and dengue so they could decide whether to be subjected to such researches.

Reports had been saying environmentalists were sceptical about the GM mosquitoes out of fear of possible irreversible impact it would have on the environment and the eco-system.

Rain delays release of genetically-modified mosquitoes
The Star 6 Jan 11;

PETALING JAYA: Last month’s rainy season resulted in the delay of genetically-modified (GM) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes being released in Bentong and Alor Gajah, said a senior official from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

Dr Mohamed Mohamad Salleh denied the postponement had anything to do with protests from 23 local non-governmental organisations who sent an open letter last month protesting the plan to release these mosquitoes.

“The field trial has already been approved by the Government and we can start anytime. We are just waiting for a more suitable time,” said Dr Mohamed, who is director of research and evaluation at the Biosafety Department.

The trial has attracted international concern and 87 international civil society organisations signed a petition urging Malaysian authorities to reconsider their decision.

“As an NGO, we are very concerned and object to the release of GM mosquitoes,” said Lim Li Ching from Third World Network.

She urged the Government to discuss the matter with the local community as well as NGOs.

“There are many less risky ways to deal with dengue. GM mosquitoes are not the way to go,” said Lim.

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Indonesia: Half of Bengkulu`s coral reefs damaged by fish trawls

Antara 5 Jan 11;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - About 40 to 50 percent of Bengkulu province`s coral reefs have been damaged by trawls used by fishermen to catch fish, a local fisheries official said.

"The condition of coral reefs along the coast from Kaur to Mukomuko districts has deteriorated so much dues to the use of trawls by fishermen." Bismalinda, head of Bengkulu`s marine and fisheries office, said here Tuesday.

Most local fishermen were not aware of the adverse consequences of the use of trawls for the marine ecosystem, he said.

The damaging process had been going on for a long time and repairing it would take decades. Meanwhile, the degraded condition of the coral reefs had reduced fish` hauls, especially hauls of reef fish and lobsters along the Bengkulu coasts, he added.

The situation was currently being compounded by uncertain weather conditions which further depressed fishermen`s income, he said,

Coral reef damage was also caused by the use of explosives by the fishermen. The practice killed not only big but also small fishes.

Nowadays, he added, it was difficult for fishermen to catch fish near the coastline and they had to go farther out to sea to get fish while their boats could not do that.

To overcome the problem, local fisheries authorities were continuously informing fishermen of the hazards of using trawls and dynamite to catch fish, he said.

The government was making serious efforts to conserve and rehabilitate the coral reefs but they would succeed only with the participation and awareness of the people to preserve the ecosystem of coral reefs, he said. (*)

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Study tracks turtles journey across South Atlantic

Sylvia Hui, Associated Press Yahoo News 4 Jan 11;

LONDON – Leatherback turtles swim for thousands of miles across the South Atlantic to get to their feeding grounds, a trip that takes some of them 150 days to complete, researchers said Wednesday.

The findings are important for conservationists looking to protect the turtles from threats such as fishing nets and hooks, which have been blamed for the dramatically depleted population of leatherbacks in the Pacific Ocean, researchers said.

"All of the routes we've identified take the leatherbacks through areas of high risk from fisheries, so there's a very real danger to the Atlantic population," said Brendan Godley, a professor in conservation biology at the University of Exeter.

The five-year study followed the movement of female turtles from the world's largest breeding colony in Gabon, central Africa, as they swam to feeding grounds across the South Atlantic. Once the turtles reach a food-rich habitat, they will stay there for up to five years to build up reserves to reproduce and return to Gabon once they are ready to mate again.

Researchers attached electronic satellite tracking equipment to the backs of 25 female turtles, as they finished nesting on beaches and were returning to the sea.

One female was tracked making a 7,563 kilometer (4,699 mile) journey traveling in a straight line across the South Atlantic from Africa to South America, said Matthew Witt, a marine biologist who took part in the study. At a pace of 50 kilometers a day, that trip took about 150 days of consistent swimming, he said.

"Despite extensive research carried out on leatherbacks, no one has really been sure about the journeys they take in the South Atlantic until now," Witt said. "From a human perspective, the South Atlantic is a vast, vast area. When challenged with that path, how is it that you can get across it and not get lost? I think that's fantastic."

The study identified three migratory routes, taking the turtles from Central Africa to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and down the coast off southern Africa. But why individual turtles choose one route over another remains one of the biggest questions in sea turtle biology, Witt said.

There are more leatherback turtles in the Atlantic than in the Pacific, where populations have declined dramatically over the past three decades. The exact cause of the dwindling numbers is not clear, although turtle egg harvesting, coastal net fishing and longline fishing have been blamed.

Witt said that the study helped identify 11 nations in the South Atlantic whose territorial waters the turtles pass through, and that those countries could take the lead on marine conservation efforts.

The research was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Wednesday.

Tracking a Mysterious Giant: Epic Turtle Migrations
Andrea Mustain LiveScience.com 4 Jan 11;

The leatherback turtle is the colossus of the turtle world. They can grow up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) long and weigh in at 1,190 pounds (540 kilograms). Yet despite their heft, these giant reptiles are elusive.

Leatherbacks spend years at sea, and, although populations in the Pacific and North Atlantic oceans have been tracked, the ocean whereabouts of the world's largest population of leatherbacks in other ocean basins has remained a mystery.

"Nobody really had any idea of where they were going in the South Atlantic," said Matthew Witt, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Exeter in England.

Now, with the help of satellites, Witt has provided researchers with the first glimpse of the critically endangered turtles' epic migrations in the region.

Nighttime searches

Even with the high-tech space tools, tracking the gigantic turtles was a hands-on business for Witt.The turtles had to be tagged with transmitters before they could be tracked.

Witt spent several weeks a year walking deserted beaches in Gabon, on Africa's central Atlantic coast, searching through the dead of night for his large quarry - nesting female leatherbacks.

Gabon's coast is home to more than 40,000 leatherbacks, according to some estimates, yet finding females to tag with a satellite transmitter wasn't easy. Witt would typically walk 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) a night, finding his way by starlight and moonlight - artificial lights disturb the turtles, Witt said - in search of disturbances in the sand, a telltale sign a female was nearby.

"They're huge, great things," Witt told OurAmazingPlanet. "Even at a few hundred meters you can see their tracks coming out of the sea and onto the beach."

Sending sand flying, and accompanied by a fair amount of noise - they grunt a lot, Witt said - the turtles dig nests about 3 feet (1 meter) down into the sand, chambers that typically contain about 100 eggs.

While a turtle is actually laying its eggs, it goes very quiet and still, Witt said, providing 20 or 25 minutes in which to attach a transmitter to a female's leathery back.

During a reproductive season, female leatherbacks lay about 1,000 eggs in about 90 days, an energy-intensive process.

Once finished, the females return to the high seas, where they must spend three or four years feeding and building up strength before they again return to land, for another exhausting round of nest-digging and egg-laying.

Three routes

Over the course of his five-year study, Witt tracked 25 females along three distinct routes in the Atlantic. Witt said he hopes that the new findings on where these massive turtles spend their time will be used to better focus conservation efforts.

Although some Atlantic populations appear to be doing well, the Pacific leatherback population has dropped a staggering 98 percent since the 1980s.

Much of the decline is due to human interference - egg collection is a problem, and the turtles are also snared in fishery lines.

Tracking the turtles with satellite transmitters is key for researchers, Witt said, but also creates a sort of dilemma.

"You need to collect this information, because you need it to help manage and conserve them," Witt said, "but you don't want to be too invasive, because there are such a limited number of them."

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"Eat' Em" Stratagem For Lionfish Invasion In Florida

Pascal Fletcher PlanetArk 5 Jan 11;

Florida marine conservationists have come up with a simple recipe for fighting the invading lionfish that is gobbling up local reef life -- eat them.

The Key Largo-based REEF conservation organization has just released "The Lionfish Cookbook," a collection of 45 recipes which is the group's latest strategy to counter an invasion of the non-native reddish brown-striped fish in Florida waters.

"It's absolutely good eating -- a delicacy. It's delicately flavored white meat, very buttery," Lad Akins, director of special projects for Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), told Reuters. He authored the cookbook along with a professional chef, Tricia Ferguson.

Red lionfish, a prickly predator armed with flaring venomous spines like a lion's mane that give them their name, are native to the South Pacific, Indian Ocean and Red Sea.

With few natural predators, they have been rapidly expanding in Caribbean and Atlantic waters, voraciously preying on local fish, shrimp and crab populations across the region and in Florida, which has world-famous coral reefs.

Some scientists are now listing the invasive lionfish species among the top 15 threats to global biodiversity.

While REEF has organized local fishing "derbies" to hunt the lionfish, including handling tips and tasting sessions, Akins said making humans the invading species' top predator was the best way to fight back against the threat it posed.

"Fishermen and divers realize it's a danger to our native marine life, through its predation. But there really aren't government funds to provide bounties or removal programs. So creating a demand for the fish, a market for the fish, is in effect a de facto bounty," he told Reuters.

U.S. government researchers believe the red lionfish was introduced into Florida waters during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 when an aquarium broke and at least six fish spilled into Miami's Biscayne Bay.

"CARIBBEAN'S NEW DELICACY"

The front section of the cookbook, which calls the lionfish "The Caribbean's New Delicacy," gives useful tips on collecting, handling and preparing the colorful species, as well as providing expert background on its ecological impact.

Akins says the fish, which lives among coral, can be netted, speared or caught by rod and reel, but he recommends handling them with puncture-proof gloves to avoid a painful prick from the mantle of venomous spines.

"They can be quick over a short distance, but they're not a free-swimming ocean fish like a tuna or a mackerel," he said.

Unlike the toxic Fugu pufferfish or blowfish, which is an expensive delicacy in Japan but requires careful expert preparation to avoid potentially fatal poisoning, Akins says lionfish meat is safe to eat and contains no venom.

"The venom is only in the spines. Cooking the fish would denature the venom, even if you left the spines on. It's simple enough just to cut the spines off," he said.

Akins said he hoped the cookbook could help create a commercial market for lionfish that would speed their eradication. But he wasn't sure whether the brightly colored invader would appear on the menus of Miami Beach eateries.

"It certainly is on the menu in many other countries -- the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, Mexico," he said, adding that orders for the recipe book, which can be purchased online at www.reef.org, were coming in fast.

(Editing by Eric Beech)

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Indonesian government to emphasize adaptation in dealing with climate change

Antara 5 Jan 11;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Environment Ministry will emphasize adaptation in reducing the impacts of climate change as this measure had often been overlooked while the impacts were already a reality, its chief said.

"We have often been prioritizing mitigation while overlooking adaptation although the impacts of climate change are already happening," Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said in an expose of his ministry`s work plan for 2011 at the office of the Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare in Jakarta on Tuesday.

In general the work plan for 2011, he added, related to the major program of reducing green house effects by up to 26 percent until 2020, and the implementation of adaptation activities.

Another big plan for the ministry to carry out in 2011 was to focus on the control of pollution by reducing the polluting burdens caused by 750 companies through stiffening supervision of the enforcement of environmental laws.

"We will also revitalize the evaluation system for the presentation of the Adipura awards to the 404 districts and cities," the minister said.

On the control of environmental destruction, Hatta said that the activities to be implemented are those relating to the reduction of hot spots in eight provinces through preventive measures to avoid forest fires. The ministry would also effect the closure of more forested lands in 399 districts.

The program for recovery of the environmental functions for supporting green economic growth to be carried out in 2011 would be focused on recovering degraded lands in 24 locations and the improvement of regional master plans in 100 districts s and cities in 33 provinces.

In the legal sector, Hatta said, he would focus on the finalization of 13 draft implementing regulations for Law Number 32 Year 2009 on the protection and management of the environment as well as the finalization of the similar regulations for Law Number 18 Year 2008 on waste management.

"This matter is important in our efforts to provide legal certainty in the enforcement of those two laws on managing the environment," he said.(*)

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China may need 300 years to beat desertification

Yahoo News 5 Jan 11;

BEIJING (AFP) – Huge population pressures, scarce rainfall and climate change have made China the world's biggest victim of desertification, a problem that could take 300 years to reverse, state media said Wednesday.

Overgrazing, excessive land reclamation and inappropriate water use also make it especially difficult to halt deserts from encroaching on large areas of land in the nation's arid north and west, the China Daily reported.

"China is still a country with the largest area of desertified land in the world," Zhu Lieke, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, was quoted as saying.

About 27 percent of China's total land mass, or about 2.6 million square kilometres (1.04 million square miles), are considered desertified land, while another 18 percent of the nation's land is eroded by sand, the report said.

Experts believe that 530,000 square kilometres of the nation's deserts can be returned to green land, but the process will take 300 years at the current rate of reversing desertification by 1,700 square kilometres annually, it said.

Some of the worst land erosion in the world occurs in the basin of the Yellow River, China's second largest river, with 62 percent of the area affected by water and soil erosion, the paper said in a separate report.

China Says Will Take 300 Years To Turn Back Deserts
Ben Blanchard PlanetArk 5 Jan 11;

At the current rate of progress it will take 300 years to turn back China's advancing deserts, a senior official said on Tuesday, bemoaning the low level of investment in fighting a serious environmental problem.

Over a quarter of China's land area is covered by desert, or land which is turning into desert in which soil loses its fertility, putting crops and water supplies at risk for the world's second-largest economy.

"The area of land being desertified is enormous, and prevention work most hard," Liu Tuo, head of China's anti-desertification efforts, told a news conference.

"There is about 1.73 million square km of desertified land in China, and about 530,000 square km of that can be treated. At our present rate of treating 1,717 square km a year, I've just calculated we'll need 300 years," he added.

"Investment is seriously insufficient, with a huge gap existing for our needs at present," Liu said.

In some parts of China, which he did not name, regional governments were not taking the problem seriously enough.

"They say it is important, but their actions show that's not the case," Liu said.

Climate change could exacerbate China's desertification problem, he added.

"Climate change could cause extreme weather, such as drought, which will have a very serious impact upon desertification."

Still, Zhu Lieke, deputy head of the State Forestry Administration, claimed a measure of success for managing to reduce overall the area of desertified land in the past five years, though by less than half a percentage point.

"Generally speaking we have bought the situation under initial control," Zhu said.

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