Best of our wild blogs: 6 Feb 11

Our Forests in February!
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

Life History of the Harlequin
from Butterflies of Singapore

Day 1 of Year of the Rabbit @ BSP
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Kranji mangroves: cool spiders and colourful crabs
from wild shores of singapore

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Wetland planting at Alexandra Canal

Alvina Soh Channel NewsAsia 5 Feb 11;

Students from Crescent Girls School and CHIJ Kellock Primary School got together to do some wetland planting at Alexandra Canal

SINGAPORE: The community got together to do some wetland planting at Alexandra Canal on January 7 as part of the Active, Beautiful and Clean (ABC) Waters Programme.

The initiative is aimed at giving the canal a makeover and be a recreational destination for the public.

Students from Crescent Girls School and CHIJ Kellock Primary School got their hands dirty for a good cause.

They were busy planting the wetlands along a 1.2 kilometre stretch of the Alexandra Canal - from Tanglin Road to Delta Road.

And it was a memorable experience for them.

"I feel really good because its like I'm giving back to society. I'm playing my part for the rest of the students, the people who live here, and the residents, so it feels very satisfying," said Lim Fang Yi, a student from Crescent Girls School.

Another student, Ayisha Fathima also from Crescent Girls School, said: "I am extremely excited and happy because it's a great opportunity for me to learn my favourite subjects, chemistry, biology and geography outside the classroom."

Various organisations also got into the act to beautify the place.

Mas Shafreen, Manager, 3P Network, PUB, said: "[It is] not just about providing engineering infrastructure, beautiful spaces, but its all about getting the community involved.

"So you're looking at secondary school students interacting with primary school students, interacting with government organisations as well as private sector organisations, so the takeaway is not just for the students."

National water agency PUB said the project is aimed at inculcating a sense of ownership in the Canal.

"After a few months, I'd like to come back here and see the fruits of our hard work," said Nabiha Safudi, a student from Crescent Girls School.

More facilities such as a lookout deck at Tanglin, a shallow water play area and an educational hut are planned for the area.

- CNA/fa

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Keeping pests under control

Midges, cockroaches, rodents, pigeons and crows can be eradicated if they are deprived of food sources
Rachael Boon Straits Times 6 Feb 11;

Tiny green and black flies, known as chironomid midges, are no longer engulfing the open areas and homes of residents in Bedok Reservoir Road, thanks to the combined efforts of Aljunied Town Council, National Parks Board, Public Utilities Board (PUB) and National Environment Agency (NEA).

In separate tests run by PUB and NEA, the population of midge eggs and larvae there has fallen by 95 per cent.

That was the latest infestation to hit Singapore. Through the years, other pests such as cockroaches, rodents, mosquitoes and pigeons have caused Singaporeans much headache.

Account executive K.L. Tan was plagued by pigeons for more than 10 years at her private apartment in Tanglin, until anti- roosting spikes were installed on her window ledge last year.

The 24-year-old says: 'The pigeons liked to rest there and they pooped a lot. I used to have an old window aircon unit and they stuffed twigs into whatever space they could find. It was their nesting area.'

More annoying, and worrying, were their droppings as it was unhygienic.

The pigeons were a nuisance so Ms Tan and her neighbours informed the estate management. It took a while for the spikes to be installed as the management had to find suitable timings for apartment owners to be home for the installation.

The management previously tried to arrange for the shooting of the pigeons but as the apartments were close to the Botanic Gardens, the shooting was called off.

The reasons for different kinds of pest infestations vary but one common cause is the availability of food and nesting opportunities.

A spokesman for the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) says it is impossible to rid an area completely of pigeons, as they are free-roaming birds and can travel to occupy any free area.

Also, birds and all animals are likely to congregate where food and shelter are abundant and easily accessible.

The AVA says: 'Members of the public facing bird nuisance may apply control measures such as using repellents, eliminating food sources and roosting or nesting opportunities that attract birds to congregate, or engage pest control services to mitigate the nuisance.'

In any case, public feeding of pigeons is prohibited. Anyone caught feeding stray pigeons in public places can be fined up to $500.

Another pesky creature is the Norway rat. This species makes up 90 per cent of the rodents in Singapore, according to a survey done by NEA.

The environment agency found that some of the root causes of infestations include poor refuse management of premises and bin centres, as refuse provides rats with food; improper storage of food; and poor housekeeping practices in shops, markets and food centres.

What happens when the rats are already a problem? An NEA spokesman says: 'Our officers would look for signs of rat activity or harbourage in affected areas. This

includes rat burrows, runways or paths the rats take, droppings and gnaw marks.

'Detected burrows will be treated with rodenticide and sealed after no further activity is detected. Our officers will also try to establish the root cause of the rat activities so that it can be addressed.'

Mr Thomas Fernandez, chairman and chief executive officer of pest control company PestBusters, says it can take up to six weeks to make a place as large as a shopping centre free of rats.

He says: 'You have to put in control measures and understand the biology of rats. For example, they eat 10 per cent of their body weight and are usually territorial as they want to keep the family together. You cannot just put one rat trap out for a family of 10, you must know how many families there are within a 30m radius.

'After measures are taken and the area appears rat-free, we still have to monitor the area by putting out food to lure any hidden rats. The situation has to be monitored continually.'

Pestbuster Rentokil Initial Singapore, which was recently involved in the spraying of insecticide on the walls of HDB blocks in Bedok Reservoir Road to eliminate the midges, says the public should be aware that pests do return after a while as they are masters in survival. Some species of cockroaches are believed to be millions of years old, after all.

Rentokil technical manager Lim Min Hui says: 'Regular detection and vigilant monitoring is necessary to ensure pest infestation is under control.

'Pest infestation may cause damages and risks if left untreated, such as insecure infrastructure, damaged properties, spreading of diseases, bites and allergies, and potential electrical short circuits which may lead to a fire.'

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Spooked on Pulau Ubin

Joel Cooper Straits Times 6 Feb 11;

I have always prided myself on my refusal to believe in ghosts. Spine-chilling tales of spectres, spirits and bogeymen leave me totally unmoved.

My wife, however, is a different story. She won't watch spooky movies and sometimes even leaves the bedside lamp on to ward off things that go bump in the night.

This has caused some tension - especially as I'm a fan of films like The Exorcist and can't get to sleep unless it is completely dark.

But when we took a three-night break to Pulau Ubin, we found ourselves, for once, on exactly the same page.

It was already quite late when we arrived on the island and its ubiquitous bicycle hire shops were closing. We wanted to explore anyway, so we set off on foot along one of the many deserted roads through the forest.

As the shadows lengthened, the jungle seemed to come alive with unfamiliar and threatening noises. There is something about the twilight hour that can bring out a primal fear in even the hardiest of sceptics. In my native Britain, it is traditionally considered the time when vampires and werewolves emerge from their lairs to stalk the earth.

What we hadn't realised is that in equatorial Singapore, the sun sets far quicker than in our northern homeland, which we left four months ago to work at The Straits Times.

Before we knew it, it was nearly dark and we found ourselves still a long way from the resort where we were staying. Despite my determination to remain sceptical about the supernatural, I was starting to feel more than a little creeped out. Behind every twisted trunk I imagined some malign presence lurking, ready to pounce and devour us.

Without uttering a word, my wife and I began walking quicker and quicker until we were practically running through the forest in the direction of home, our nerves jangling at every little movement in the trees.

Without warning, a shadowy creature burst from the bushes. I let out an effeminate shriek and grabbed hold of my wife's arm for dear life.

The creature turned menacingly to face us. It had sharp-looking teeth and a bristling tail. It was about the size of a dog.

Hang on! It was a dog.

I carried on walking with my tail between my legs, feeling more than a little silly.

After that, I endured non-stop ribbing from my wife. 'Who's the coward now?' she teased.

Thankfully, my colleagues on The Straits Times news desk reassured me that I was far from the first person to get spooked on Pulau Ubin. They regaled me with hair-raising tales, including one about the Hantu Tetek, a voluptuous female ghost who sneaks into men's bedrooms at night and smothers them with her ample charms. To be honest, my wife was a bit more concerned about this one than I was.

Fleeing Ubin by boat won't keep you safe either, I was told. Apparently the ghosts are into island hopping.

Even gaudy Sentosa - where the only place you would expect to feel scared is on a roller coaster - has more than its fair share of spooky stories.

When night falls and the noise and bustle of the amusement parks fade to just a memory, holidaymakers staying in chalets have reported hearing fingernails scratching at the windowpane as if someone, or something, wants to get in.

Nobody can deny that the urban jungle makes a great setting for blood-curdling tales of the supernatural. During my four years working for The Sun based in East London, I would sometimes trudge home in the small hours through a grimy street said to be visited by the gory spectre of one of Jack the Ripper's butchered victims.

Yet it is brooding, untamed forests like Pulau Ubin's that truly allow our imaginations to run riot.

Cycling along the island's twisting tree-lined trails brought childhood memories flooding back of exhilarating afternoons spent mountain-biking with my friends near the village where I grew up in Surrey, south-east England. They say that area is stalked by the headless ghost of Sir Thomas More, who was decapitated by King Henry VIII.

Sometimes my friends and I would camp out in a back garden in tents or bivouac shelters built from branches.

Huddled inside our flimsy sleeping bags, we did our best to chill one another to the core with tales of murders, of unexplained accidents and of the restless souls they left behind.

Despite our boyish bravado, as the eerie glow of torchlight transformed our faces into hideous gargoyles these stories seemed to take on a terrifying plausibility.

I never really believed a word of them, of course. Still, I always steered clear of the woods at night. Well you can never be too careful, can you?

The writer, from England, is a Straits Times copy editor. He has lived in Singapore for four months.

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Sea turtle nests on decline along the Andaman Sea

Bangkok Post 6 Feb 11;

The number of sea turtle nests along the Andaman Sea coast had declined this egg-laying season because of a more volatile climate, a marine expert says.

Kongkiet Kittiwattanawong, a researcher at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, said yesterday a survey conducted by the centre found the number of turtle nests on the Andaman coast had decreased from 50 in recent years to only 40 this year.

He said the turtles had probably stopped coming to the nesting grounds due to the effects of global warming.

Their breeding season runs from November until March. The turtles look for a quiet environment with an ideal temperature of about 29 degrees Celsius to lay eggs. However, temperatures in the nesting areas this season have been above and below 29 degrees.

Mr Kongkiet said hundreds of leatherback turtles started laying eggs on Mai Khao beach in Phuket 20 years ago, but this year only one nest was found on the beach.

Thailand is home to four endangered species of sea turtle: the Leatherback, Olive Ridley, Green and Hawksbill.

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Illegal timber sold by British businesses putting world's forests at risk

Reluctance by UK firms to check source of imported wood contributing to devastating deforestation around the world, finds WWF report
Tracy McVeigh guardian.co.uk 5 Feb 11;

British firms are still selling wood products that come from questionable sources in parts of the world where illegal logging is having a devastating effect, a new study has revealed.

The report found that wood used in kitchen worktops, doors and decking, on sale in the UK, comes from parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Congo Basin where illegal felling is putting animals, plants and people under threat. Numerous species, including the orangutan, are under direct threat of extinction because of the black market trade in timber.

The "What Wood You Choose?" study suggested British businesses aren't checking their sources and in some cases are even misleading the public that the wood they are selling has ethical credentials where none exist.

New EU timber laws are due to come into force next year, but this WWF-funded study shows few retailers are prepared for the legislation which could leave them open to conviction. The study found that in some cases companies had little idea where their wood products originated from and were reluctant to find out.

It also found that some companies' websites were misusing the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo, implying that all their products are covered by the certification scheme when in fact only some are. WWF used a combination of formal requests, investigators posing as buyers and made phone calls and visits to sawmills in Indonesia and Malaysia to track timber products.

Colin Butfield, WWF's head of campaigns, said: "This study should act as a wake-up call to companies here in the UK. Consumers are the ones with the power to demand that whatever they're buying, from doors to kitchen worktops, is FSC [certified]. If it doesn't have the FSC logo then it could originate from a place where there have been devastating impacts on species, such as the orangutan, and communities that earn a living from the forest.

"The EU law, coming into force in early 2013, will mean anyone intending to sell timber products into the UK market will have to show where it's come from and that it isn't illegal. The study suggests that UK businesses are a long way from meeting the demands of that new law."

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