Celebrating Singapore's Wetlands!
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!
Setting up loggers at Semakau (1 Feb 11)
from teamseagrass
A quick look at Pulau Semakau
from wild shores of singapore
St. John’s Island
from Trek through Paradise
Javan Myna with deformed upper mandible
from Bird Ecology Study Group and Courtship of the Spotted Dove
Mangroves Flora of Langkawi
from Natura Gig
Evelyn Lam Channel NewsAsia 1 Feb 11;
SINGAPORE : The surge in fresh food prices just before Lunar New Year is a common occurrence, but prices have gone up by at least 20 per cent across the board compared to the same period last year.
At a Chinatown wet market, one butcher said prices have risen because of a reduction in the supply of pork.
She said: "Very expensive, ridiculously expensive! Recently there were floods in Australia, so a lot of the supply didn't come to Singapore. And it turns out they are now competing with us for pork from Indonesia."
Fish saw the biggest price hike. One fishmonger said items like the red snappers cost as much as 40 per cent more this Lunar New Year.
She said: "Red snapper is the most expensive. But today, prices went down a little because many vendors didn't go to the wholesalers today. They said the fish was too expensive and customers weren't buying."
Another added: "Prices went up by a lot... 60 to 70 per cent more because of the strong wind! It's been raining every day in Singapore, and out at sea, it's even rougher!"
Heavy rains this week also kept shoppers away and some vendors are responding with lower prices to attract customers.
One vendor said: "Massive sale! Sell out and we're going home!"
Most are not following the yearly tradition of operating through the night till the morning of Lunar New Year's eve.
A fishmonger said: "How to sell all night? Everyone is staying at home because of the rain!"
However, shoppers are still feeling the pinch.
A lady customer said: "It's more expensive this year - about 20 per cent."
Another said: "I didn't count last year, but this year, S$50 went quickly!"
However, some vendors are quick to reassure customers.
One seller said: "Roast chicken S$15! ... There's a bit of a price increase, but it's normal for the New Year!"
Most vendors said they are confident they will be able to clear stocks and close early for the holidays because of the economic upturn.
- CNA/al
WWF 1 Feb 11;
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Year of the Tiger in the Chinese lunar calendar comes to an end on Wednesday having yielded big results for its namesake – an unprecedented swell of public and government support to save tigers in the wild, including a historic global recovery programme.
The International Tiger Forum, held in St. Petersburg, Russia in November 2010 marked the first time an international summit was convened to focus on a single, non-human species. The Forum produced the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP), a collaboration between the 13 countries that still have wild tigers. It has set a goal of doubling wild tigers by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.
“The recovery programme is a big boost for tigers,” said Mike Baltzer, Head of WWF’s Tigers Alive Initiative.
“But it is only the beginning. We must now join the tiger countries and our partners worldwide to ensure the momentum from the Forum and this past year’s tiger conservation achievements continues. Tigers have already run out of time. The recovery must not lose steam.”
Wild tiger numbers are down to only 3,200, with scattered populations across 13 countries having lost more than 93 percent of their historic range. Just 100 years ago, an estimated 100,000 tigers roamed across Asia.
As the recovery program takes shape, progress has already been made to save tigers in the wild. This includes:
* Korean Pine, a critical tree in the Russian Far East was awarded official protective status, ending its logging in Amur tiger habitat
* A new wildlife conservation bill was passed in Malaysia, providing significantly higher penalties and mandatory jail time for wildlife crime, with poaching of tigers and trading in their parts now receiving maximum punishment
* India announced it’s 39th tiger reserve (Sahyadri), with another eight new reserves in development
* Indonesia’s Ministry of Forest placed a moratorium on conversion of virgin forest and peat swamp forest on the island of Sumatra for the next two years, thus protecting prime Sumatran tiger habitat
* Cambodia formally designated Selma Forest a protected area, creating a new and vital protected area as part of the Eastern Plains Tiger Landscape Protected Area Complex
* The South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) was established, strengthening anti-poaching and wildlife trade law enforcement efforts in the tiger countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal
“These represent major decisions to save tigers that will go a long way in supporting the recovery programme,“ concluded Baltzer. “Let’s not forget, however, that we need to take the next step and turn Year of the Tiger commitments into success. This year must be the year of action.”
Accomplishments already in 2011 have illustrated this point:
* In late January WWF assisted the government of Nepal in the country’s first successful relocation of an injured tiger to a new home in the one of the country’s premier national parks.
* In the past week, WWF released a corporate declaration, with internationally known companies such as Hewlett Packard and Tetra Pak affirming their support for tiger conservation, by stating in part that they will “strive, through our business practices, to avoid or minimize, impacts of our natural resource sourcing on tiger habitat, by implementing responsible purchasing policies and, where possible, to improve landscapes for wild tiger populations.”
* On Jan. 25, the journal Conservation Letters published a paper by WWF Chief Tiger Scientist Eric Dinerstein and other colleagues and WWF staff concluding that tiger numbers can triple in certain areas if poaching, illegal trade and habit loss are reduced.
As the Year of the Tiger gives way to the United Nation’s International Year of Forests, the tiger’s forest habitat will continue to link it to Asian and international biodiversity conservation efforts.
Throughout this year, WWF will be running a Living Forests Campaign that will combine cutting edge science, new perspectives from partners and decades of on-the-ground experience to help address the joint challenge of saving forests and tigers.
“The tiger is an indicator species for healthy forests, and 2011 has already seen strong continuing support for tigers and their habitat,” said Baltzer. “As Year of the Tiger closes, we must redouble our efforts and ensure this magnificent species continues to roar into the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.”
Bernama 1 Feb 11;
LABIS, Feb 1 (Bernama) -- A day after returning from his official visit to Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor on Tuesday visited evacuated flood victims at some relief centres in Johor.
The prime minister who arrived in Labis at 1.30pm, said that based on the briefing he received on the latest flood situation, the worst in Johor was apparently over.
"But we must be on guard. The extraordinary weather phenomenon has diverted to other areas, to the waters in the south.
"We have to be cautious always as climate change can cause floods," he said at a press conference after visiting flood evacuees at the Kampung Ayer Panas community hall, here.
Sunny, clear skies in Johor since morning on Tuesday enabled many flood evacuees to return to their homes, while 40,000 others are still at several relief centres throughout the state.
Also present at the press conference were Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and Johor State Secretary Datuk Abdul Latiff Yusof.
According to the prime minister, the flood that hit Johor was due to the unusual weather phenomenon where the amount of rainfall received in the state in a day was equivalent to that received in two months.
"The high amount of rainfall was unexpected," he said, adding that the unusual phenomenon was caused by global warming.
On preparations to handle the flood in Johor, Najib said he was satisfied with the Johor government's quick action as well as the central government agencies' assistance in evacuating the flood victims.
He said the quick response was the result of the existing close cooperation between the state and federal governments.
The operations include ensuring enough food supplies, blankets and mats for the flood victims, besides medicines and medical treatment for those evacuees who need them.
From his visit to the Kampung Ayer Panas community hall, one of the flood relief centres, Najib said the flood victims at the flood relief centres in Johor were given fresh food like fish, chicken and beef.
On compassionate aid for flood victims in Johor, he said it would be given to those eligible after this.
The National Security Council will determine the amount of aid to be given to the affected families according to a set formula.
Ahmad Zahid said 20 army platoons as well as equipment were deployed to assist the flood victims in Johor.
During the visit to the Kampung Ayer Panas relief centre, Rosmah also handed a RM30,000 contribution from Bakti (Welfare Body of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers) to the Johor Menteri Besar's wife Prof Datin Paduka Dr Jamilah Ariffin for the flood victims.
-- BERNAMA
Flood: 50,000 Evacuated, Mostly In Johor
Bernama 1 Feb 11;
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 (Bernama) -- About 50,000 people have been evacuated to flood relief centres, mostly in Johor, as floods continue to inundate low-lying districts in several states.
The death toll remained at three as at noon, two in Johor and one in Melaka.
In Johor, 45,145 flood victims from 11,104 families are currently housed at 267 relief centres, according to the Johor state government's official portal, www.johordt.gov.my.
The state flood operations room reported that as at 10am, Segamat recorded the highest number of evacuees at 19,441 from 4,791 families, followed by Kluang, with 9,239 victims from 2,449 families.
There are also 2,736 victims in Johor Baharu, 2,445 in Muar, 2,629 in Batu Pahat, 658 in Pontian, 2,438 in Kota Tinggi, 99 in Mersing, 4,312 in Ledang and 1,148 in Kulaijaya.
Of the number of evacuation centres, Segamat has 93, Kluang (45), Johor Baharu (17), Muar (22), Batu Pahat (28), Pontian (nine), Kota Tinggi (19), Mersing (one), Ledang (26) and Kulaijaya (seven).
Several roads in Segamat remained closed, namely Mile 8, Jalan Muar-Segamat, Sungai Penarah bridge at Km 63 Jalan Muar-Segamat, Km 217 of Johor Baharu-Seremban in Taman Anggerik and the road to Felda Redong due to bridge collapse.
In Kluang, the road affected are at Km 79 to Km 81 of Jalan Kluang-Mersing and Km 75 of Jalan Kluang-Jemaluang while in Kota Tinggi the road closure is at Km 3 of Jalan Kampung Kelantan-Panti.
In MELAKA, the number of flood evacuees in Melaka rose to 4,545 people at 8am today from 2,889 at 9pm last night.
They are currently housed at 31 evacuation centres, most of them in Alor Gajah, with 2,163 people in 10 centres, followed by Jasin with 1,254 people in 14 centres and Melaka Tengah, totalling 1,128 in seven centres.
The weather was fine throughout the state this morning, a spokesman at the flood operations room said.
He said the Welfare Department was providing assistance in terms of food while other agencies such as the armed forces, Fire and Rescue Department and Civil Defence Department were involved in the evacuation process.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali is making his rounds at the centres to ensure assistance were provided to the victims.
Roads in Taman Merdeka, Angkasa Nuri and Pasar Borong, all in Batu Berendam, are still closed to all vehicles.
In KUANTAN, about 800 people from three districts were evacuated to relief centres from 538 last night.
A police spokesman said 15 villages in Rompin, Raub and Bentong were hit by the flood while the flood in Maran had subsided and all the 55 flood victims allowed to return home.
"There are 476 flood victims in Rompin, 229 in Raub and 95 in Bentong," he said when contacted.
Several roads in Bera and Rompin were closed to all vehicles, he said.
The roads are Jalan Ladang Hwali, Jalan Ladang Trading, Jalan Kampung Baru Bukit Ibam, Sungai Gayung bridge, Kampung Lubuk Batu bridge in Rompin and the alternative road from Kampung Pasal to Felda Palong 8 near Muadzam Shah.
In SEREMBAN, a total of 2,259 people from 441 families are still at 24 evacuation centres in four districts in the state.
Tampin flood operations room spokesman said 12 evacuation centres were opened at the district, housing 1,718 people as at 11am.
Other areas affected by the floods are Jempol with 418 evacuees, Kuala Pilah with 100 evacuees and Rembau with 23 evacuees.
The evacuation centre in Kepis Hilir was closed at 9am.
-- BERNAMA
The Star 1 Feb 11;
WE are losing our peatlands. As vast areas of peat swamp forest continue to be cleared, razed and drained, little of Malaysia’s peatlands remain intact.
Only one-fifth (470,303ha) of the country’s peat soil areas are still relatively undisturbed with a forest canopy cover of over 70%, according to the report A Quick Scan Of Peatlands In Malaysia released last year by conservation group Wetlands International.
“No example of a hydrologically intact peat dome remains anywhere in Malaysia. Given that peat swamp forest ecosystems are dependent on maintenance of the intricate balance between hydrology, vegetation and soil, this renders peat swamp forest the most threatened ecosystem in Malaysia,” said the report.
As the forest disappears, so do its inhabitants. We lost a rare tree species, Croton macrocarpus, so far found only at the Telok forest reserve near Klang, when the whole peat swamp forest was cultivated.
Agriculture has taken over 36% of the country’s peat soil areas: 281,652ha in Peninsular Malaysia, 38,457ha in Sabah and 554,775ha in Sarawak.
In 2002, oil palm was planted on 72% of the 281,652ha of cultivated peatlands in Peninsular Malaysia. The greatest expansion of oil palm plantations on peat soils has been in Sarawak, from 100,000ha in 2003 to 300,000ha in 2008. In 2008, at least 510,000ha of peatlands in Malaysia supported oil palm plantations.
The report confirmed that healthy peat swamp forests have been planted over with oil palm in at least two sites in recent years: Bakong-Baram peat forest near Marudi, Sarawak, and Merang peat forest in Terengganu. This clearly violates the principles of sustainable palm oil production, which state that undisturbed forest should not be converted to oil palm estates.
“If the services that intact peatlands provide – such as preventing saline water intrusion, maintaining minimum flows in rivers, storing and sequestering carbon – are factored into the decision-making with regard to management of peatlands, there should be little doubt that remaining peatlands should be kept intact and degraded peatlands rehabilitated for sustainable use,” said the report.
Planters threaten Selangor peat swamp
Tan Cheng Li The Star 1 Feb 11;
One of the last tracts of peat swamp forest in Selangor now faces the axe.
IT IS a wasteland. Nothing grows on it save for a single tree species, mahang. Those were the reasons cited by Selangor State Agriculture Corporation to back its proposal to turn Kuala Langat South peat swamp forest into an oil palm plantation.
Many people have assumed the same of the tract of forest near Sepang, thanks to past press reports highlighting how it has been illegally logged, encroached upon by farmers and converted to oil palm estates.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Recent surveys reveal Langat South to host huge, towering stands – some of rare and endangered species – as well as wildlife. Sure, this peat swamp forest is no longer in its original, pristine state but it has enough to warrant protection.
When first gazetted as a forest reserve in 1927, it sprawled over 12,141ha. Development has eaten into it ever since. A huge chunk of it became the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Bits and pieces became oil palm plantations. Farmers continue to slash and burn the forest illegally, to grow pineapple, tapioca, ginger, corn, sweet potato and banana.
Following the last degazettement of 526ha in January 2009, what is left of Langat South today is just slightly over half of its original size. The bulk of the 6,908ha that remains is classed as “production forest” – this means forest that can be logged. Indeed, commercial timber has been extracted from Langat South since the 1950s, which explains the general perception that the forest reserve is a degraded one.
But foresters and botanists say Langat South is worth keeping for sitting right in its middle is 174ha of Virgin Jungle Reserve (VJR). These pockets of untouched forests are usually set aside within forest reserves to serve as an arboreta – a genetic storehouse and seed bank for the future.
The Langat South VJR is especially important because it is one of the last refuge of the critically endangered meranti bunga (Shorea teysmanniana). As the species occurs only in small numbers in several fragmented forest reserves, their future viability is uncertain. Hence, the conservation importance of the remnant population in Langat South. The forest also hosts the yet undescribed Eugenia sp 45 which is a potential new tree species.
The forest reserve is also regenerating from past logging cycles, so there exist some towering trees. The Forestry Department estimates the timber stock to be high, at 142cu.m per ha, and the timber value to be worth some RM500mil. Dominant commercial timber species there include meranti bakau, kempas and ramin. Says one botanist: “The trees are still good in the VJR. Only the edge of the forest reserve has been encroached upon. We should retain it as this type of forest elsewhere is all gone.”
Indeed, Langat South is deemed the most important peat swamp forest in southern Selangor since most other such forests in the area have been lost to development. There is the Kuala Langat North peat swamp forest (once contiguous with Langat South until development sliced them apart) but it has drastically shrunk in size from 5,865ha to 894ha. In the latest excision in July 2010, 60ha was sacrificed for development of a highway R&R. The only other sizeable tract of peat swamp in the state is the North Selangor peat swamp forest, comprising Sungai Karang and Raja Musa forest reserves.
Endangered wildlife such as the sun bear, tapir and white-handed gibbon also find a home in Langat South. The Selangor pygmy flying squirrel (Petaurillus kinlochii) has only ever been found in the lowland forest of Kuala Langat, Klang and Kapar, but it is uncertain if the species still exist in Langat South since no one has bothered to look for it.
Carbon sink and flood control
Aside from being a species treasure trove, Langat South is crucial for global climate control. “The value of peat swamps is in its ecological uses and topping the list is its role as a natural carbon sink,” says botanist Balu Perumal of conservation group Global Environment Facility (GEC). If Langat South is dug up for cultivation, the 27.7 million tonnes of carbon estimated by GEC to be locked up in its soil will be unleashed, further fuelling global warming. “The oil palm plantation plan is clearly in conflict with Malaysia’s commitment to reduce its carbon emissions,” says Balu.
A recent GEC survey shows 75% of the forest reserve to be still forested. With their ability to absorb and store water, peat forests act as natural reservoirs. So they are effective in mitigating floods during periods of heavy rainfall and providing water during droughts. If Langat South is lost, GEC fears that nearby villages and towns could easily get flooded during downpours.
GEC found the peat depth in Langat South, at an average of 3.3m, to be “very deep”. The deeper the peat, the less suitable it is for agriculture.
Canals dug into the earth to drain the swamp for planting, and repeated torching of the forest by illegal farmers to clear the vegetation and enrich the acidic soil, have left the fringes of Langat South parched, degraded, and susceptible to wild fires. This fuels the cycle of periodic infernos and haze.
Urging the state government to review its policy of allowing agriculture on peatlands, GEC calls for measures to arrest the deforestation and further degradation of the peat swamp.
“Conserving this peat swamp forest is crucial not only to ensure sustainable use of its rich resources and protection of endangered species, but also to maintain environmental stability. If we continue to clear and degrade this forest, its role as a carbon sink will be reversed. It will become a carbon source instead,” says Balu.
Intrusions into the reserve continue until now. Just last week, vegetable farmers were caught razing the forest. Orang asli, who claim ancestral rights to the land, have also turned parcels of forest into oil palm plantations.
Canals running alongside the forest reserve drains it of moisture, says forestry consultant Lim Teck Wyn. “The forest still has a lot of big trees but its ecology has been affected by uncontrolled drainage. It is much drier than you would expect a peat swamp to be. The concern is that this will affect forest regeneration.”
His fear is not unfounded. Botanists observe a lack of meranti bunga seedlings in the VJR, despite the many mature stands of the critically endangered species. This could mean the species is not reproducing, perhaps due to deterioration of the peat soil.
Lim sees tourism as one way to preserve Langat South. “People don’t realise we have a virgin peat swamp forest next to KLIA. It is a potential tourist attraction. With more people visiting the forest, illegal activities will decline,” he says.
Approval pending
The oil palm plan has yet to get approval. The state government is scheduled to discuss it next week, after two postponements since December. But by right, any development of peat swamp forests must be brought up to the National Physical Plan (NPP) Council since the habitat is categorised as Environmentally Sensitive Areas in the NPP and the Town and Country Planning Act 1976.
At a time when scientists have stressed the crucial role played by peat swamp forest in storing carbon, it beggars understanding why the state government is even considering the oil palm proposal.
The oil palm plan is also at odds with the state government’s recent effort to reclaim encroached parcels of Langat South. It has revoked the “user permits” which had been issued to some 133 farmers in 2006 allowing them to farm in Langat South, supposedly to better control illegal slash and burn agriculture. Last October, forestry staff destroyed illegally planted oil palm, tapioca and other crops, and replanted the area with saplings of forest tree species.
Of course, the timber revenue from logging the whole of Langat South is appealing, as is the subsequent earnings from oil palm cultivation. But the rewards from keeping the forest intact for carbon storage can be attractive, too. Fortunately, the state government has been advised on this and is in talks with a carbon trading company on the possibility of placing Langat South under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) programme.
In this United Nations-endorsed scheme, countries which leave their forest standing – and so help to avert global warming – will be compensated by developed countries that need to curtail their carbon releases. By giving a financial value to the carbon stored in trees, REDD is said to create an incentive for countries to manage and wisely use their forests.
But will the state government find the trees more valuable standing, or cut down?
The destroyed rainforests are mostly converted to palm oil plantations
Associated Press Business Times 2 Feb 11;
(AMSTERDAM) New satellite imagery shows that Malaysia is destroying forests more than three times faster than all of Asia combined, and its carbon-rich peat soils of the Sarawak coast are being stripped even faster, according to a study released yesterday.
The report commissioned by the Netherlands-based Wetlands International says that Malaysia is uprooting an average of 2 per cent of the rainforest a year in Sarawak, its largest state on the island of Borneo, or nearly 10 per cent over the last five years. Most of it is being converted to palm oil plantations, it said.
The deforestation rate for all of Asia during the same period was 2.8 per cent, it said.
In the last five years, 353,000 hectares of Malaysia's peatlands were deforested, or one-third of the swamps which have stored carbon from decomposed plants for millions of years.
'We never knew exactly what was happening in Malaysia and Borneo,' says Wetlands spokesman Alex Kaat. 'Now we see (that) there is a huge expansion (of deforestation) with annual rates that are beyond imagination.'
'Total deforestation in Sarawak is 3.5 times as much as that for entire Asia, while deforestation of peat swamp forest is 11.7 times as much,' the report says.
Malaysia's peatland forests are home to several endangered animals, including the Borneo pygmy elephant and the Sumatran rhinoceros, as well as rare timber species and unique vegetation.
Mr Kaat says that the study shows deforestation was progressing far faster than the Malaysian government has acknowledged.
Scientists say that the destruction of the Amazon and the rainforests of central Africa and South-east Asia accounts for more than 15 per cent of human-caused carbon emissions blamed for global warming.
Live forests soak up carbon from the atmosphere, while burning trees release that stored carbon - contributing to climate change in two ways at once. But the emissions effect is amplified when trees are felled from the peatlands and the swamps are drained for commercial plantations.
Malaysia and Indonesia produce about 85 per cent of the world's palm oil, an ingredient in cooking oil, cosmetics, soaps, bread, and chocolate. It is also used as an industrial lubricant and was once considered an ideal biofuel alternative to fossil fuel, but has fallen out of favour because of earlier reports of widespread rainforest destruction for the expansion of plantations.
Indonesia has pledged to slow deforestation in its territory, and last year Norway pledged to give Jakarta US$1 billion a year to help finance an independent system of monitoring and quantifying greenhouse gas emissions. -- AP
Malaysian peatswamps obliterated for palm oil: study
(AFP) Google News 1 Feb 11;
KUALA LUMPUR — Peatswamp forests home to such species as the Borneo pygmy elephant are being obliterated in Malaysian Borneo to make way for palm oil plantations, according to a new study.
The Netherlands-based Wetlands International said that the ecologically important forests could disappear from Sarawak state by the end of the decade if the destruction does not cease.
After harvesting much of the valuable timber in Sarawak -- part of Malaysia's half of Borneo, which is shared with Indonesia and Brunei -- companies are now completely clearing the forests to plant oil palms.
"As the timber resource has been depleted the timber companies are now engaging in the oil palm business, completing the annihilation of Sarawak's peat swamp forests," Marcel Silvius from Wetlands said in a statement.
"Unless this trend is halted, none of these forests may be left at the end of this decade."
The environmental group said that until recently two thirds of Sarawak's peatlands were covered with "thick, biodiversity-rich rainforest" but that in the past five years one third of it had been cleared, mostly for conversion to palm oil.
It said that Malaysian government figures seriously underestimated the extent of the problem, and that studies it conducted using satellite images and field surveys gave a very worrying picture.
"The new studies conclude that 20 percent of all Malaysian palm oil is produced on drained peatlands. For Sarawak, this is even 44 percent," it said, adding that the percentage for new plantations was even higher.
Wetlands International said that the forests are home to many endangered species including the pygmy elephant -- the smallest elephant on earth -- the clouded leopard, the long-nosed tapir and many rare birds.
The draining of peatswamps and their conversion to plantations also causes huge carbon dioxide emissions.
"The production of palm oil is welcome only if expansion can be done in a sustainable way," the group said, calling for a complete ban on production on peatlands.
Malaysia is the world's second-largest exporter of palm oil after Indonesia, and the industry is one of the country's top export earners.
The boom in palm oil -- used extensively for biofuel and processed food like margarine -- has not only seen swathes of jungle felled in Borneo, but also threatened the existence of indigenous rainforest tribes.
Malaysia Rapidly Destroying Forests For Palm Oil: Group
David Fogarty PlanetArk 1 Feb 11;
Malaysia, the world's second largest palm oil producer, is destroying large areas of carbon-rich peatswamp forests to expand plantations, a leading conservation group said on Tuesday.
Wetlands International and Dutch remote sensing institute Sarvision said palm oil plantations are being expanded largely in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island.
"Unless this trend is halted, none of these forests will be left at the end of this decade," said the report released on Tuesday.
It said between 2005-2010, almost 353,000 hectares (883,000 acres) of species-rich, peatswamp forests were opened up largely for palm oil production.
"In just 5 years time, almost 10 percent of all Sarawak's forests and 33 percent of the peatswamp forests have been cleared. Of this, 65 percent was for palm oil conversion," said the report, which cited a lack of verifiable government figures on land use in relation to soil type or deforestation.
Palm oil firms in Malaysia and Indonesia are under increasing pressure by major Western buyers to halt expansion through forest clearance. But India and China remain top buyers of the oil for cooking, biscuits, cosmetics and biofuels. Malaysia produces about 45 percent of the world's palm oil.
CHALLENGING OFFICIAL FIGURES
The report said official Malaysian government figures stated that only 8 to 13 percent of Malaysia's palm oil plantations were on carbon rich peat soils, with 20 percent for Sarawak.
Wetlands International and Sarvision said they used satellite images combined with existing data and field surveys to challenge the official figures.
"The new studies conclude that 20 percent of all Malaysian palm oil is produced on drained peatlands. For Sarawak, this is even 44 percent. For new plantations, the percentage on forested peatswamps is even higher."
Government officials weren't immediately available to comment on the report, which also cited the threat to rare species such as the Borneo pygmy elephant, Sumatran rhino and Borneo clouded leopard.
Deforestation and particularly clearing, draining and burning of deep peatswamp forests is responsible for about 10 percent of mankind's greenhouse gas emissions. Neighboring Indonesia has come under intense international pressure to halt the destruction of peatswamps in the fight against climate change.
Wetlands and estimated that the 510,000 ha of peatlands in Malaysia drained for palm oil production led to the release of 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
The group called for an immediate halt to peatland clearance and an end to incentives for biofuels in the European Union.
(Editing by Niluksi Koswanage)
Yahoo News 1 Feb 11;
JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia admitted Tuesday that hundreds of mine and plantation companies are operating illegally on Borneo island, and promised to beef up law enforcement to protect forests and threatened species.
The forestry ministry made the startling admission that less than 20 percent of plantation companies and less than 1.5 percent of mining firms had official operating permits in Central Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo.
"There are only 67 plantation companies out of 352 that operate legally in Central Kalimantan province, while there are only nine out of 615 mine units that operate legally," the ministry said in a statement.
The findings were released after an investigation by a task force set up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to look into the "forest mafia" -- networks of miners, planters and officials blamed for rampant illegal land clearing.
It found that violations of laws designed to protect Indonesia's forests, home to endangered species such as orangutans and tigers, had "become widespread in a number of regions, especially in Central Kalimantan province".
Indonesia is the world's third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, due mainly to deforestation by the palm oil and paper industries, which is fuelled by corruption.
A University of Indonesia study last year concluded that the Indonesian military acted as coordinator, financier and facilitator for illegal loggers in Borneo, where deforestation rates are among the fastest in the world.
The forestry ministry promised to stop issuing new plantation and mine permits in the province and to cooperate with the Corruption Eradication Commission to enforce the law.
Yudhoyono has been under pressure from environmentalists to implement a promised two-year moratorium on the clearing of natural forest and peatland, which was due to begin January 1.
Norway agreed in May last year to contribute up to $1 billion to help preserve Indonesia's forests, in part through the moratorium.
Environmentalists accused the government last month of granting massive new forest clearing concessions to companies on the eve of the moratorium.
Activists Urge Crackdown On ‘Forest Mafia’ Networks
Nurfika Osman & AFP Jakarta Globe 3 Feb 11;
Environmentalists have demanded that the government crack down on mining and plantation firms operating illegally in the country, following a startling official admission that these violations were commonplace.
Bustar Maitar, lead forest campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, said on Thursday that forestry and environmental protection laws needed to be seriously enforced.
“The most important thing is that violations should be made public,” he said.
“The public should be allowed to know what is happening with our forests and who the perpetrators behind the violations are.”
He was responding to a statement by the Forestry Ministry on Tuesday that said less than 20 percent of plantation companies and less than 1.5 percent of mining firms in Central Kalimantan had official operating permits.
“There are only 67 plantation companies out of 352 that operate legally in Central Kalimantan, while there are only nine out of 615 mine units that operate legally,” the ministry said.
The finding also found that violations of laws designed to protect Indonesia’s forests, home to endangered species such as orangutans and tigers, had “become widespread in a number of regions, especially in Central Kalimantan.”
The findings were released after an investigation by a task force set up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to look into the “forest mafia” — networks of miners, planters and officials blamed for rampant illegal land clearing.
Indonesia is the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, due mainly to deforestation by the palm oil and paper industries, which is fueled by corruption.
The Forestry Ministry promised to stop issuing new plantation and mine permits in the province and to cooperate with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to enforce the law.
A University of Indonesia study last year concluded that the Indonesian military acted as coordinator, financier and facilitator for illegal loggers in Borneo, where deforestation rates are among the fastest in the world.
Bustar said that Yudhoyono, a former Army general, should not “back the military personnel [implicated] in such cases.”
He added the situation in Central Kalimantan was only the tip of the iceberg.
“We have 33 provinces across the country, and if 50 percent of a single province’s forests face the same problems as Central Kalimantan, this is dangerous,” he said.
Bustar also called on Yudhoyono to implement a promised two-year moratorium on issuing new concessions in natural forests and peatland, which was due to go into force on Jan. 1.
The moratorium is part of an agreement struck with Norway last May, in which Indonesia will get $1 billion to help preserve its forests.
“We’re also worried about the moratorium because the government is now one month behind on it, and we haven’t seen any sign that they’re going to implement it immediately,” Bustar said.
“The president should take action.”
Environmentalists accused the government last month of granting massive new logging concessions on the eve of the moratorium.
Zora Chan The Star 2 Feb 11;
SARAWAK has several potential sites to be designated as Ramsar sites including man-made structures like Bakun hydro-electric dam.
Wetlands designated as internationally important under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971) are commonly known as Ramsar sites.
Ramsar Convention vice chairman of scientific and technical review panel Rebecca D’Cruz said people often forgot that artificial wetlands also qualify as Ramsar sites.
“Bakun dam is qualified if the state government wants to designate it as a Ramsar site because the convention is about proper management and wise use of a site for the environment and people. There are many dams in the world that are Ramsar sites,” she said.
Such a recognition would give the dam brownie points and put it on the world map, she said in a recent interview.
D’Cruz, however, cautioned that a site must be meticulously picked so that any future development would not cause adverse impact on the site.
“A site is designated according to the importance and functions of the wetlands and therefore, authorities concerned must select a site properly to avoid mismanagement that would cause one to lose that recognition and embarrassment,” she said.
Sarawak’s first Ramsar site and the fifth in the country, the Kuching Wetlands National Park, was designated in 2005 but today faced challenges as development like housing estates were being built close to the park’s boundary, she said.
She added that the on-going flood mitigation project would also cause environmental stress to the park.
D’Cruz said areas like Bako-Buntal Bay deserved to be designated as a Ramsar site for its birds, dolphins, crocodiles, proboscis monkeys and mangrove forests.
“The importance of Bako-Buntal Bay is beyond question,” she pointed out.
Other important potential areas were Maludam National Park, Loagan Bunut National Park, waters off Lawas where dugongs were spotted and Rajang River, she added.
Sarawak’s rivers were pivotal to the people who depended on them for daily use, transportation and food and the overall ecology and therefore, deserved to be better conserved for posterity, she said.
She explained that it would be difficult and impractical, for example to gazette the whole Rajang River as a Ramsar site as the stretch along Sibu town was heavily populated.
“But what the authorities can do is to designate Rajang’s catchment area. The headwaters of the Rajang River – the source of the river – should be protected. The Government needs to make smart decisions,” she said.
D’Cruz said Malaysia’s sixth Ramsar site, the Lower Kinabatangan Segama Wetlands, was gazetted in 2008 and it covered 79,000ha featuring natural coastal mangrove, brackish and peat swamp forest systems.
“The Lower Kinabatangan-Segama Wetlands is the largest in the country, larger than the other five (Kuching Wetlands National Park; Pulau Kukup, Sungai Pulai and Tanjung Piai in Johor; and Tasik Bera in Pahang) put together.”
D’Cruz said every Feb 2 was observed as World Wetlands Day to mark the date of the signing of the convention in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971.
This year’s celebration would be a big event as the convention is celebrating its 40th anniversary, she said.
The theme of the celebration is ‘Forest For Water and Wetlands’ which is in line with the UN International Year of Forests. It hopes to raise public awareness on the important role and co-relation between forests (wet and dry) and wetlands.
Mankind cannot manage without forests, whether terrestrial forests or forested wetlands, given the critical roles that they play in our lives – for water, for food, for livelihoods, for recreation and much more.
Antara 1 Feb 11;
Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - Tens of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus) living in limited production forests at the special function Elephant Training Center in Seblat, North Bengkulu district, are becoming increasingly isolated because of continuing encroachment on the habitat, a local official said.
"Elephants living in Seblat production forests are increasingly isolated because the forest corridor or Lebong Kandis production forest are being encroached on illegally, so the paths to Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) are now closed," said Head of Bengkulu`s Natural Resources Conservation Center, Amon Zamora.
He explained, on the north side of elephant training center there are also encroachment and plantations owned by Alno company while on the west there are plantations of Agricinal company, whereas on the south there are Sukamerindu village residents.
The conditions causes the elephants living in Seblat elephant training center are isolated and the only hope is to unify the area forest production areas become a part of the Seblat and improve the status to be a nature tourism park wildlife.
Amon noted, currently, the area covers 6,800 hectares and expanded into more than 15 thousand hectares in which Lebong Kandis production forests included in the expansion so that the protected species` cruise lines is broader.
"Ideally, one elephant needs 400 hectare land, therefore if there are 80 elephants at least needs 32 thousand hectares," he added.
The habitat which increasingly desperate due to the encroachment of logging and the expansion of private plantations causes the level of conflict between humans and elephants continue to rise.
Data on the most obvious increase in conflicts occurred in 2007 and 2009 which were 21 conflicts per year.
Losses resulting from the conflict is estimated at Rp500 million per year, assuming a loss of elephants demolished huts is Rp5 million and palm trees is Rp25 thousand per plant.
Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 1 Feb 11;
Bengkalis, Riau. The Environment Ministry announced on Monday that it had selected Bengkalis district in Riau to host a pilot project aimed at preventing forest fires.
Gusti Muhammad Hatta, the environment minister, said Bengkalis had been chosen because of its proximity to both Singapore and Malaysia, which have since 1997 been affected by the haze from forest fires in Riau and other parts of Sumatra.
Both countries have complained about the pollution, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has drawn up an agreement on providing regional cooperation to combat haze from forest fires, which Indonesia has yet to ratify.
Speaking in Sepahat village, Gusti said the government ultimately wanted to slash the number of hot spots, or individual forest fires, by 20 percent a year.
“I’ve been tasked by the president to achieve this target,” he said. “Fortunately for us, because of the rains, the number of hot spots last year was down 70 percent. However, we still need to stay very alert for land and forest fires.”
Gusti added that his ministry would support the Bengkalis pilot project by drafting the necessary policies for it, supervising it and preparing the funding.
“We’ll also support the project by distributing portable water pumps and communication devices, which are lacking here.”
Herliyan Saleh, head of Bengkalis district, said his administration would be setting up monitoring posts in villages considered high- risk areas for wildfires.
“We’ll also try to set up an on-call operational budget that can be released immediately once a fire is reported,” he said.
“Moreover, we’ll concentrate on managing our water resources and peat lands. The important thing is to have proper law enforcement.”
Herman, a volunteer from the Sepahat Anti-Fire Community, a task force of local residents, said the group had found it difficult containing large forest blazes because of a lack of proper firefighting equipment.
“We work in shifts to monitor the fields, so we tend to spot the fires most of the time,” he said.
“However, while we can put out a fire that’s spread over a 20-square-meter area, we don’t have the necessary equipment to take on anything bigger than that.”
Herliyan said forest fires were common around Sepahat village, pointing out that around 5,000 hectares of land there was burned down last year.
Plantation firms account for around 13 percent of the hot spots in Riau, according to the Environment Ministry, while loggers account for 7 percent.
Fires in production forests make up 12 percent of hot spots, while the remainder is due to other causes, including slash-and-burn methods by subsistence farmers to clear forests for planting.
The government has named Riau, Jambi, North Sumatra, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan as priority provinces to reduce the number of hot spots and prevent land and forest fires.
Noppawan Bunluesilp Reuters 1 Feb 11;
PATTAYA, Thailand (Reuters Life!) - The days of R&R on Thailand's famous Pattaya beach could be numbered.
The eastern city, a magnet for foreign tourists seeking sun, sea, watersports and racy nightlife, is under siege by both man and the forces of nature. One of Asia's most popular beaches is being eaten away at a rate of nearly two meters (yards) a year.
Thai scientists say sea currents and impacts of the city's booming development have intensified coastal erosion and a beach packed with deck chairs, umbrellas and bikini-clad holidaymakers could disappear in less than five years.
"If we do nothing about it, the beach will disappear in the near future -- you can see that (in) some areas the beach has already gone," said Thanawat Jarupongsakul, a marine and coastal erosion expert at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
The beach area has shrunk to 3.2 acres this year and its width is now is about three to five meters (9.8-16.4 feet), compared to more than 35 meters (115 feet) in 1952.
Pattaya, 150 km (90 miles) east of Bangkok, was a sleepy beach town until the 1970s and started to swell during the Vietnam War when U.S. troops, sailors and airmen flocked there for rest and relaxation.
The city has exploded over the last 15 years.
Hotels, condominiums, golf courses, conference centers, pubs, restaurants and Western fast-food outlets have popped up everywhere, with hundreds of pink-lit "go go" dancing bars and racy discos helping to fuel a thriving local economy.
TOURISM THREATENED
But the tide of tourism money could start to recede if the beach continues to disappear. What worries experts and local businesses is that little is being done to halt the erosion.
The shrinking beach is still hugely popular. Jet-skis race across the water as retired Europeans sip beers and doze in the sun close to sandbags piled up in a seemingly futile effort to slow the rate of erosion.
Weerasak Chiewkij, who rents deck chairs to tourists, said he barely has enough space for his chairs because the beach is getting smaller.
"If we don't fill the embankment with sand, the water will destroy the shore because there is nothing to block it, no sand, no sea wall," he said.
A rescue plan has been drawn up, but it could cost more than 600 million baht ($19 million) to implement.
Thanawat says up to 220,000 cubic meters (7.76 million cubic feet) of sand will be needed immediately to increase the shore width to 40 meters (131 feet). A further 150,000 cubic meters will be required every 15 years to prevent further shrinking.
"This is not new technology, although it might be new in Thailand," Thanawat said.
"Many countries have done this. In the past, we would just build some kind of structure, but they look so ugly and have many negative effects.
"If we have (the) budget, I think this project could be finished in one to two years," he added.
(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Elaine Lies)
* Thailand to buy 120,000 tonnes of crude palm oil-govt
* Refiners say Malaysian planters palm oil for processing
* Malaysian refiners eyeing Indonesian palm oil stored on barges
* Palm oil and sugar next on govts' stockpiling list-analyst
* Malaysian markets shut for holiday, Indonesia open (Adds details from Thai deputy prime minister, trader quote)
Niki Koswanage Reuters 1 Feb 11;
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Malaysian refiners snapped up more Indonesian crude palm oil to meet orders globally after floods in a key growing area submerged estates and cut off roads, adding to Asia's escalating food costs.
Malaysia's worst flood in four years may force big Asian buyers to shift some of their rice and soybean stockpiling efforts to include palm oil, a key ingredient in cooking oil, as they struggle to keep in lid on inflation.
Top food buyers India and China, which account for more than half of total palm oil export annually, are scrambling to use monetary policy tools and food cost measures to rein in rising inflation.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said on Tuesday that the country will buy an additional 120,000 tonnes on palm oil in stages till end-March, more than an expected 50,000-100,000 tonnes.
"Refiners will have a lot in their hands now. They need to take up from Indonesia, try and meet Thailand's import requirements and stock up a little for themselves after the floods," said a Malaysian trader.
Thailand usually only imports palm oil from Malaysia when necessary, but flooding there has disrupted shipments so it may also have to turn to Indonesia this time.
"The oil could come from Malaysia and Indonesia, but it should be bought at market prices," Thaugsuban told a media conference in Bangkok.
CRUDE PALM IMPORTS FROM INDONESIA
Although La Nina-driven rains in Malaysia since the weekend have slowed, the floods have killed three people, forced 50,000 from their homes and turned small towns surrounded by oil palm estates into islands.
With 70,000 tonnes of crude palm oil now delayed for processing, refiners in Malaysia's key export port of Pasir Gudang in Johor are eyeing Indonesian palm oil stored in floating barges in the Malacca Strait.
"The roads leading to Pasir Gudang port still have some floods and trucks can't get through but on the other side, Indonesian tankers are lining up to offload since many of them escaped this month's higher tax," said a Malaysian refiner.
To ensure domestic cooking oil supplies, Indonesia raised its export tax on crude palm oil to 25 percent in February from 20 percent as international prices rose on tight global vegetable oil stocks and resilient demand.
Another Malaysian refiner said that at least 20,000 tonnes of Indonesian palm oil was waiting to be unloaded at Pasir Gudang in Johor.
Although Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer in world after Indonesia, its refining industry is the biggest and most extensive.
Factories in Malaysia usually slow down ahead of Lunar New Year this week but refiners need to secure more supplies after the holiday as Malaysian stocks have hit a five month low in December and demand is likely to pick up.
Benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures jumped nearly 3 percent to a one-week high at 3,809 ringgit($1,244) a tonne on Monday as investors covered positions on concerns that floods may spread during a string of holidays this week.
Malaysian markets are closed on Tuesday for a public holiday and will re-open on Wednesday for the morning trading session before being shut for the rest of the week.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Malaysia's floods come as a massive cyclone is due to slam into northeast Australia this week, potentially hurting a third of the sugarcane crop and fuelling agriculture commodity prices.
These are the latest in a string of weather-related disasters, starting from the drought in Russia last summer to recent floods in Australia, which boosted wheat prices and initially started a scramble for food supplies this year.
"Palm oil and sugar could also be the next hot food items for governments to scramble for. We could be seeing a lot of government policy reactions in the coming week," said an analyst with an investment bank in Singapore.
Rice, Asia's key staple, is already trading higher as governments from Indonesia to Bangladesh stock up to prevent food shortages, which in the past have provoked protests.
Elsewhere, countries like Algeria are rushing to buy grains, a move seen heading off civil over food prices and unemployment that are sweeping across north Africa.
($1 = 3.061 ringgit) (Additional reporting by Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat in BANGKOK and Fitri Wulandari in JAKARTA; Editing by Ed Lane)
Cindy Sui BBC News 1 Feb 11;
Every spring, sections of a highway in Taiwan are closed - not for construction but for butterflies.
The measure is taken to ensure that tens of thousands of purple milkweed butterflies are not hit by vehicles as they migrate.
Such efforts reflect increasing eco-consciousness in Taiwan, which is home to a wide array of fauna.
In recent years, the government has stepped up animal protection, raising fines against abuse and banning fishing for endangered whale sharks.
Public awareness is also rising. Volunteers come out annually to alert motorists to land crabs crossing a highway to lay eggs at sea, while dog pampering has replaced dog eating as the norm.
But the island still has a serious problem with its treatment of wildlife and pets.
Those endemic to Taiwan face especially grave threats.
Extinction threat
Fewer than 100 Taiwanese white dolphins remain - their population has plunged due to polluting factories.
Formosan black bears are not faring much better. Although they are a national symbol and legally protected, they face extinction caused by poaching, habitat encroachment and public indifference.
Other species such as the cloud leopard and East Asian sea otter are believed to be extinct.
Furthermore, although Taiwan has one of the world's five biggest fishing industries, its waters are so barren from overfishing that most of its vessels head to distant seas.
Greenpeace has warned that Taiwan's huge fishing fleets and their methods risk wiping out tuna stocks.
Taiwan is also one of the biggest producers and consumers of shark's fin, contributing to a depletion in shark populations. Many sharks are thrown back into the sea to die after their fins are severed.
The island is also a destination for trafficked animals including orangutans and giant tortoises. People buy them for novelty or to make money from tourists, but many are kept in poor conditions.
Its stray dog problem, moreover, is considered by activists to be worse than other developed countries.
The government estimates there are 180,000 strays, but animal rights groups say the figure is much higher. Taiwan each year kills more dogs by euthanasia than Japan per capita.
Abandoned by irresponsible owners or breeders, many are found suffering from starvation, disease, or severe injuries caused by farmers' traps or car accidents.
Others are physically abused by people. And dog eating still occurs here, even though it is illegal.
Economic pressures
The island is at a juncture. With a modern population increasingly aware of the need to protect animals, it is at the same time a recently developed economy and the concept of animal rights is still new.
Activists say Taiwan's government does not actively enforce animal protection laws, responding only when there are complaints or media reports.
"What we see in Taiwan is some people really love a certain type of animal or their own pet, but they do it from a human's perspective.
"What we lack is an overall understanding of and concern for animal welfare," said Chu Tseng-hung, director of the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (East).
Species such as butterflies and crabs receive protection mainly because they do not conflict with economic growth.
But a new, environmentally-minded generation is increasingly demanding a reversal of priorities.
One of the strongest examples of this is an ongoing battle between a company seeking to build a petrochemical plant on Taiwan's west coast and dolphin conservationists who say it will further harm the dolphins' already damaged habitat as well as fisheries farming and the ecosystem.
Conservationists have held numerous protests. Last year they launched an unusual campaign: getting ordinary people to donate money to buy part of the coastal wetland that the company wants for the plant.
More than 56,000 people have pledged about $8m (£5m) so far.
"This will at least provide the dolphins a corridor to swim in. If the project is allowed to go through, they would have little chance of surviving," said Grace Kan, spokeswoman of the Matsu Fish Conservation Union.
The company meanwhile is warning that if the project is cancelled, the industry's competitiveness will be hurt and jobs lost.
But Ms Kan reflects opinions previously non-existent on an island long-focused on economic growth at the expense of the environment when she says: "If an industry can't let people live healthily, shouldn't we reconsider whether we really need this industry?"
The government is awaiting an environmental impact assessment report before making a decision.
Officials say there is progress on some problems affecting animals, but admit more needs to be done.
"Our position is we need to protect valuable species," said Hu Sing-hwa, vice-minister of the Council of Agriculture, which overseas animals.
"With some species, we found out about the problems late, but we will continue to make efforts to increase animals' survival rate."
Officials say enforcing laws alone will not work. They are stepping up education, including in schools.
There are some positive signs: pet adoptions have increased. People actively report on wild animals being raised illegally or kept in poor conditions.
Many young couples now refuse to serve shark's fin soup at their weddings. And this year, convenience stores agreed to stop using the ingredient in their ready-made meals for the upcoming Lunar New Year.
It will take time, however, before there is a sea change in public opinion, which is what will ultimately make a difference.
Richard Vines Bloomberg 2 Feb 11;
On Gerrard Street, in the heart of London’s Chinatown, the air is thick with the sound of Chinese dialects and the sweet smell of roasting duck.
At the Golden Pagoda, shark’s fin is on the menu in soups with crab meat and chicken, at 6.60 pounds ($10.25) a bowl. At Loon Tao, it’s 10.50 pounds. It’s a traditional delicacy and you might think little will change, even as conservationists focus on the cruelty and the threat to sharks of slicing off fins.
You would be wrong.
“We’ve taken it off the menu,” says Yip-Cheong Wong, manager at the Golden Dragon, pointing to a sticker plastered across the soup section: “Save the shark: This item is no longer available.” He says shark’s fin was particularly popular with Russian customers, yet he will no longer serve it.
Next door, at the Royal Dragon, shark’s fin is still available, for now. “I hope we will take if off the menu,” says Pan Wyn, a supervisor. Why? “It’s cruel to sharks.”
The website of Royal China, with outlets in the U.K., China, Singapore and Dubai, states: “Consuming shark-fin is cruel and unnecessary. All Royal China restaurants are not serving shark-fin.”
Shark populations around the world are in rapid decline because of the demand for fins in Asia, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which estimates that more than 73 million sharks are killed each year, primarily for their fins.
Threatened Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List designates 17 percent of assessed shark and ray species to be Threatened, 13 percent Near Threatened, 23 percent Least Concern and 47 percent Data Deficient, according to Richard Thomas, global communications coordinator for Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network.
Twenty shark catchers account for almost 80 percent of the total haul, with Indonesia, India, Spain and Taiwan accountable for more than 35 percent, according to a report issued last week by Traffic and the Washington-based Pew Environment Group.
“Sharks are particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation because of their biological characteristics of maturing late, having few young and being long-lived,” the report says.
Apart from the impact on numbers, there is also the matter of cruelty as fins are sliced off live sharks that are then left to die, conservationists say. Chef Gordon Ramsay took up the cause last month with a program for U.K.’s Channel 4 that focused on cruelty. The manager of the Golden Dragon restaurant cites the program as one reason shark is off the menu.
(Ramsay caught two sharks off Florida about 18 months ago, the Daily Mail reported last week, quoting a spokesman for the chef as saying he no longer supports shark fishing.)
Ching He-Huang, a food writer and television chef, explains the importance of shark’s fin in Chinese culture.
Business Banquets
“The Chinese traditionally eat shark’s fin soup at special occasions such as weddings,” she says. “It has also become a popular dish to be consumed at business banquets or dinner parties. It has appeared on the menus of Imperial China since the Sung dynasty (960 AD). It’s the ‘kou-gan,’ or ‘mouth feel,’ that is unique. I can’t tell you how much I love this dish.
“It’s not reasonable to judge another’s food choice, but the cruelty of this fishing is unquestionable and it’s our responsibility to safeguard all endangered species, which leads me to believe there should be a total worldwide ban.”
Tom Aikens, a chef known for his focus on environmental issues, has worked with the Environmental Justice Foundation to stop pirate fishing off the west coast of Africa.
“It’s not easy to police this or to protect sharks because you are talking about thousands and thousands of square miles of sea,” he says. “No one has cared about it until the last few years.
“You won’t see it on the menu now in high-profile places like Hakkasan: I’m sure quite a few of the restaurants in Chinatown sell it. It seems perfectly OK to mutilate a shark but if we went to a dog or cat and hacked off its legs and threw it in the bin people would be horrified. It’s barbaric.”
Ecological Arguments
David Tang, the entrepreneur who founded the Shanghai Tang boutique chain, doesn’t serve shark’s fin at his China Tang restaurant at the Dorchester Hotel, yet says he is unconvinced by some of the ecological arguments about sharks.
“I have stopped serving shark fin to show that I care: Of course I don’t condone the culling of fins from live sharks and dumping them back in the sea in the cruel way in which they are depicted often,” he says. “I am wary of the propaganda -- making use of the worst kind of images to represent the norm -- and hypocrisy: It’s no worse than battery farming of chickens, say. I am also wary of the biodiversity argument, mainly because I believe in the principle of evolution and therefore extinction.”
Back on Gerrard Street, shark’s fin has gone from the menu of Lido restaurant, although the manager Alex Hui cites practical reasons rather than commitment to conservation.
“People came outside my restaurant telling diners not to come in because we were serving shark’s fin,” he says. “So I had to take it off the menu but it’s a traditional Chinese food and I wish I could still serve it to my customers.”
(Richard Vines is the chief food critic for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)
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