Blooming mangroves at Kranji Nature Trail
from wild shores of singapore
The decapitated trees of Mandai forest
from Otterman speaks
Cave Coral @ Lazarus Island 20Feb2011
from sgbeachbum and Nerite snails
The urbanised egret
from Life's Indulgences
Laced Woodpecker cleaning out its nest hole
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Access road that LTA is set to build will cut through area of greenery where wild birds live
Amanda Tan Straits Times 2 Mar 11;
THE Land Transport Authority's (LTA) decision to build a road in Clementi has ruffled the feathers of nature lovers living in the area.
Work has started on the 1km road aimed at easing congestion along Jalan Lempeng, which connects to Clementi Avenue 6.
The new road, which gives a direct link to Commonwealth Avenue West, will cut through an area of greenery where residents said wild birds such as the long-tailed parakeet and Tanimbar Corella are regularly sighted.
The area is in the vicinity of condominiums and private homes.
One resident, Ms Chow Bee Lin, wrote to the press last week saying that she hopes the LTA 'will refrain from building a road across the precious bird sanctuary, and that it will help save Singapore's fast-disappearing greenery'.
Another resident, Mr Wang Bin, has raised the issue with the LTA, the Ministry of National Development and MP Yu-Foo Yee Shoon. Said Mr Wang, 43, a consultant in an IT firm who lives in a condo: 'I bought this place because it is surrounded by nature, and every morning I'm woken up by the sounds of different birds. I've just moved in and now I have to bear with the noise and dust.'
'I understand there's a conflict between development and conservation,' he added, but noted that traffic snarls occur only during peak periods such as before and after school hours.
He said he spent three days taking pictures of birds in the area last month and spotted 30 species.
According to Dr Shawn Lum, president of the Nature Society Singapore (NSS), clearing the area is not illegal if the site is not a designated nature area.
However, he pointed out that 'wildlife does not discriminate between nature reserves and non-protected green areas, and thus even sites such as the one in question may have considerable value from a wildlife point of view'.
Mr Leong Kwok Peng, vice-president of the NSS, said the road will have a 'direct impact' on the proposed green corridor, a stretch of greenery along the old Jurong Line which links up with the Malayan Railway tracks extending 40km from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands.
This means that the Jurong Line's train tracks will be removed and the natural vegetation cleared to make way for the road.
The LTA said the new road is necessary to relieve the heavy traffic flow along Jalan Lempeng and cope with the expected increase in traffic from new developments in the area.
Before starting on the project, the LTA had met with grassroots leaders, advisers and residents of the Faber Hills estate and got positive feedback.
According to the LTA spokesman, 'the decision to construct this access road was made even before the proposal for the green corridor by the Nature Society was mooted'.
The authority will be 'working closely with NParks (National Parks) to plant trees to replace those affected' by the road construction.
Noting the residents' concerns, Mrs Yu-Foo, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, said: 'We try to please everyone and try to achieve a win-win situation, but sometimes the decision has to benefit the majority.'
'In future, the land will be developed and the population will grow a few times so it's not just to serve present residents, but it will also have to serve future residents,' she added.
Some residents, like banking officer Gerard Yong, 28, look forward to less chaotic traffic once the new road is up.
He said it is a 'pain' now to drive from his condo along Jalan Lempeng as it takes him at least three minutes to reach Clementi Avenue 6, even though the distance is less than 50m.
Additional reporting by Jessica Cheam
Ronnie Lim Business Times 2 Mar 11;
(SINGAPORE) Singapore is monitoring closely the cost of energy here as world oil prices rise following the turmoil in Libya, said S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State (Trade & Industry and Education).
'The issue is more of energy cost,' he told BT when asked if MTI was concerned about security of energy supplies here given the crisis in North Africa. This is because Singapore gets most of its energy supplies from this region, Mr Iswaran said, citing natural gas piped from neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia for use by power stations here.
The stations currently generate 80 per cent of electricity using piped gas feedstock, and Singapore is also building a $1.7 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to help diversify gas supply sources.
Mr Iswaran spoke to BT on the sidelines of the LNGA conference here, where he earlier said in his keynote address that the political uncertainty in Egypt, Tunisia and other parts of the Middle East has pushed crude prices well past US$100. This has a 'significant impact on the Asian LNG market, where the price of LNG is typically linked to oil prices'.
'Like many countries, Singapore continues to keep a keen eye on global energy market trends. Governments and businesses alike are mindful of the need to tack our sails according to the prevailing political and economic winds that buffet energy prices,' he stressed.
Crude prices were mixed in Asian trade yesterday as Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia's pledge to ensure sufficient supplies partially eased investor concerns. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery fell eight US cents to US$96.89 while Brent crude for April delivery was up 32 US cents to US$112.12. This is however, still down from Brent's spike to almost US$120 last week.
Electricity tariffs for households here are already up this first quarter, and look set to rise further in Q2, as the price of Singapore's piped gas supplies is pegged to fuel oil prices. But the government is helping by providing utility rebates to some 800,000 households in HDB flats.
During a Q&A session at the conference, Mr Iswaran explained that Singapore's move into LNG started on the premise that it was to be part of the fuel mix for the country. 'Then being pragmatic, we asked ourselves whether we could leverage on this to do more' - like LNG trading - he said. LNG can tap on 'the entire energy eco-system here, as Singapore has a long history in oil, so we have depth', he added.
'But it's too early to tell if Singapore can actually develop into a regional LNG hub and pricing centre,' Mr Iswaran acknowledged.
In the meantime, Singapore is ramping up for this with the LNG terminal 'on track to commence commercial operations by mid-2012'. Developer Singapore LNG is also building a third tank to allow traders to store and arbitrage LNG cargoes, with this aimed at encouraging trading, he said.
Besides buying LNG from aggregator BG Group, 'there are provisions within BG's franchise for Singapore gas buyers to gain access to the spot LNG market. This means that once the terminal is in operation, gas users can take advantage of movements in spot prices, should these move in their favour', Mr Iswaran added.
Refineries' supplies not affected by Gulf unrest
But rising crude prices biting into refinery margins
Ronnie Lim Business Times 2 Mar 11;
OIL supplies to refineries in Singapore - the world's third largest oil refining/ trading hub - have so far not been impacted by supply disruptions caused by the turmoil in Libya, oil officials here say.
But rising crude prices are starting to bite into refinery margins here, as product prices have not kept pace, they add.
'There's been no force majeure on supplies and no crude shortages, and everything's smooth so far,' one refinery official told BT. Force majeure refers to a clause in contracts which frees for example, an oil supplier from complying with contractual obligations in the event of say, a war.
'Besides, Libyan crude doesn't come this way and goes mainly to Europe. It's other countries like Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar which supply to Singapore. The Saudis too want to step up production, so supply-wise, the unrest in the Gulf doesn't really affect Asia,' he added.
When contacted, an ExxonMobil spokesperson also said that 'the recent events in Libya have had no impact on supply of crude oil to ExxonMobil's Singapore refinery.'
Supply issues aside, the refinery official added however, that 'crude prices are rising too fast and is affecting refining margins, as product prices are lagging behind the crude spikes'.
'Still, Singapore refinery margins remain relatively healthy at around US$5 a barrel, down US$1 a barrel since the political crisis in Libya,' he said.
Aside from speculative trades, one cause of the run-up in oil prices is buyers of Libyan crude having to scramble for alternative supplies.
Jurgen Hambrecht, chairman of BASF, whose Wintershall unit was among those which stopped oil production in Libya last week, told a press conference last Thursday that 'at the moment, it is uncertain when we can restart production.... There is too much speculation at the moment. The situation is serious, but it is hard to assess properly.'
In early Asian trade yesterday, Brent crude was up 32 US cents to US$112.12, but still far from last Thursday's high of US$119.79, the highest since August, 2008.
An oil trader with an international trading house here also stressed that the political turmoil that started in Tunisia, and which has spread to Egypt and Libya is mainly a North African problem so far. 'The contagion hasn't spread to the Middle East, except for some stirrings in Bahrain and Yemen,' he said.
'Libyan crude however, is a light-sweet, low-sulphur crude, whereas crude from Saudi Arabia, which is planning to increase production in the face of the crisis, is a high-sulphur crude. That is why the price spread between Brent and Dubai has risen, as it is a spread between sweet and sour crude,' the trader explained.
'While Libya has imposed force majeure on some oil product exports with this causing some price tightening in Europe, it has not had as much as an impact here,' he said, adding however, that it has led to some support in product prices here.
This has affected mainly the lighter products like motor gasoline, jet fuel and diesel, with kerosene or jet fuel prices up by around 15-20 per cent, the trader said.
Traders here also are not building up stocks in anticipation of supply disruptions, he reckons, as the market is in 'backwardation' currently, meaning spot prices of oil products are at a premium to future prices.
Oil supplies are also not an issue for Singapore's power companies which generate 80 per cent of their electricity using natural gas feedstock from Indonesia and Malaysia. But because the price of their piped gas supplies is pegged to fuel oil prices, consumers are likely to see some increase in electricity tariffs soon.
Latest available data from BP's Statistical Review of World Energy 2010 showed that Singapore imported 930,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 1.67 million bpd of oil products in 2009.
Practically all the imported crude was processed at the three refineries here of ExxonMobil, Shell and Singapore Refining Company with just 47,000 bpd re-exported. Total Singapore exports of oil products - from refineries and oil traders here - amounted to 1.5 million bpd that year.
The Star 2 Mar 11;
KOTA TINGGI: An attempt to smuggle in more than 200 sugar gliders near here was halted by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM).
APMM (southern region) commander First Admiral Zulkifli Abu Bakar said that five officers were patrolling the waters near Pengerang when they noticed a water taxi four nautical miles east off Tanjung Penyusup at about 7.30am yesterday.
When they approached, the vessel suddenly sped off towards Indonesian waters. However, the officers managed to thwart its escape.
Upon checking the vessel, the officers found the squirrels packed in nine cages.
The vessel’s tekong (captain) and one crewman, aged between 36 and 44, were detained while the squirrels would be sent to the state Veterinary Department.
Initial investigations revealed that the suspects brought the squirrels in from Batam, Indonesia, and had planned to sell them at a location somewhere within Pengerang waters.
“The sugar gliders originate from Papua New Guinea and Western Australia, and they are reportedly popular among Asian buyers as they believe the nocturnal animals will bring them good luck,” he said.
The case is being investigated under the Import and Export Control Regulations of Animals Act (Amendment 2006) 1953.
200 sugar gliders seized from smugglers
New Straits Times 1 Mar 11;
One of the 200 sugar gliders seized from an Indonesian-registered water taxi in Tanjung Penyusup, Pengerang, yesterday.
KOTA TINGGI: Two Indonesians were arrested for trying to smuggle 200 sugar gliders (opossums) valued at RM64,200 in Pengerang's Tanjung Penyusup.
The duo, aged 36 and 44, were on a boat with nine cages of opossums when a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) enforcement team swooped on them at 7.30am yesterday.
The cages were covered with gunny sacks to calm the exotic animals and also to elude the authorities.
MMEA southern region marine officers were on regular crime prevention rounds in a patrol boat when they spotted the Indonesian-registered water taxi with two men behaving suspiciously.
A short chase ensued when the Indonesian skipper tried to flee towards Indonesia's Batam.
MMEA southern region enforcement head First Admiral Zulkifili Abu Bakar said the officers managed to stop the water taxi before it reached Indonesian waters.
"Initial investigations revealed that the Indonesians, who were from Batam, were heading towards Pengerang, where the opossums were to be sold to an exotic animal trader before it was to be exported to pet collectors overseas."
Sugar gliders can be found throughout the northern and eastern parts of Australia, Tasmania, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Sugar gliders are a favourite among exotic pet collectors because it is believed to be able to bring luck to its owners.
The opossums, now in the custody a Johor veterinarian, are normally sold between RM200 and RM350 each depending on its size and fur colour.
The men are being investigated for breaching import and export regulations of the Scheduled Wild Animals Act 1953.
Yahoo News 1 Mar 11;
SANUR, Indonesia (AFP) – An insatiable appetite for reef fish like snapper in Hong Kong and other markets is fuelling over-fishing in the Coral Triangle, a key area for marine biodiversity, experts said Tuesday.
The trade is encouraging fishermen to use cyanide and explosives that destroy reefs and fish hatcheries essential for the industry's future, they said.
Officials and experts from across the Asia-Pacific region are meeting in Indonesia to discuss the future of the lucrative live fish industry.
The trade brings species like grouper, parrot fish and snapper from the warm seas of Southeast Asia to dinner tables in markets like Hong Kong and mainland China.
"Over-fishing and destructive fishing practices such as the use of cyanide and explosives are being driven by an increasing demand for seafood across the Asian-Pacific," said Geoffrey Muldoon, of environmental group WWF.
He said the problem was being "exacerbated by the lack of effective systems to sustainably manage this burgeoning industry".
Up to 70 percent of reef fish in some places in the region are being taken from the ocean in their infancy before they have had a chance to reproduce, he said.
"If left unchecked, the sustainability of the whole industry hangs in the balance, but more importantly marine biodiversity at large ... will be threatened," Muldoon said.
Hong Kong is the major importer of live reef fish, buying a total of $159.6 million worth in 2008, according to Indonesian officials.
Indonesia is the second largest supplier after the Philippines, and exported 123,000 tonnes worth $85.5 million last year, WWF said in a statement. In terms of tonnage that was more than 57 percent up on 2009, it said.
The Coral Triangle stretches across six nations between the Indian and Pacific oceans -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
It contains 37 percent of the world's reef fish species.
"The sustainable trade in live reef fish is one of the important components in ensuring food security in the future," Indonesian fishery ministry secretary-general Gellwynn Jusuf said.
"We need to discuss collaborative action involving producer and consumer countries to manage the trade in live reef fish in a sustainable way."
The three-day workshop in Bali is being co-hosted by the Indonesian government and WWF and has financial backing from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
TRAFFIC 1 Mar 11;
Singapore, 1st March 2011—A meeting of experts on freshwater turtles and tortoises from around the world is reporting dire findings for species in Asia, most of which are bearing the brunt of years of illegal and unsustainable trade.
Seventy experts who gathered in Singapore last week for the Conservation of Asian Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles Workshop to evaluate the current status of these species in Asia found the vast majority of are nearing extinction in the wild, and very little has been done to address the problem.
The meeting reported that illegal and unsustainable trade was the greatest threat to the survival of this highly threatened group of species and found that laws and conventions in place to protect these animals were simply not being enforced.
Tortoises and freshwater turtles are among the world's most threatened groups of animals. Perhaps nowhere is the situation more critical than in Asia. In a recently released report, Turtles in Trouble: the World’s Top 25 Most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles, from the Turtle Conservation Coalition, 68 percent of those that made the list were native to Asia.
Seventy-two of Asia’s 86 species of tortoises and freshwater turtles were assessed at the Singapore meeting, which was hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore Group and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), in collaboration with the Turtle Survival Alliance, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, San Diego Zoo Global and the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group.
The Malaysian Giant Turtle Orlitia borneensis, one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world and found only in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra, is now listed as Critically Endangered due to illegal collection and export for its meat. The Burmese Star Tortoise Geochelone platynota, endemic to Myanmar, is thought to be possibly extinct in the wild due to relentless poaching for the international pet trade.
Another key finding of the meeting was the need for research to be carried out on wild populations to understand their status in the wild, natural history and current distribution better.
Experts also highlighted the need for increased monitoring of the trade that is considered the leading threat to all of these species. The urgent need for rescue centres and ex-situ assurance colonies was also raised.
Alarm bells were first sounded for Asia’s freshwater tortoises and turtles following a meeting of experts in 1999, held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, alerting the world to what was dubbed the Asian Turtle Crisis.
Asia’s tortoises and freshwater turtles were being harvested in massive quantities to supply the demand for meat and use in traditional medicines, mostly in East Asia. These species are also in demand as pets. Much of the trade is carried out illegally.
Approximately ten years later, experts again met and found the situation has gone from bad to worse.
Of Asia’s 86 species, close to 70 species (approximately 80%) are considered threatened. This is a dramatic increase since these species were assessed in 1999—a 90% increase in the number of Critically Endangered species alone.
While there have been some successes over the past decade, overall the battle is still being lost, said experts who also discussed current threats and prioritized actions necessary to save species from extinction.
“At the current rate of decline, we will lose many of Asia’s tortoises and freshwater turtle species forever, if international and national laws and conventions are not enforced,” said Chris R. Shepherd, Deputy Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group.
“Trade is the single greatest threat to tortoises and freshwater turtles – a species group that has been around since the days of the dinosaurs. Their future is now in the hands of policy makers, enforcement agencies and conservation bodies. To date, efforts to protect these species have been far from adequate. If effort and motivation to save these species is not greatly increased, we are going to lose many of these species .”
Shepherd urged authorities to make full use of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) under which many of Asia’s freshwater turtle and tortoise species are protected.
“The last ten years has shown that while it is possible to save these species from extinction, the threat of trade is still present and ever-growing,” said Colin Poole, Director, WCS Regional Hub.
“Of particular concern is the increasing impact of the pet trade on a number of tortoise species and the growth of the demand for dried carapace from softshell turtles sourced primarily in South Asia.”
Notes:
• The status of tortoises and freshwater turtles, as well as other useful information can be viewed by species at the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, at www.iucnredlist.org
• The report, Turtles in Trouble: the World’s top 25+ most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles, can be downloaded at http://www.turtlesurvival.org/
Natalie Poyhonen ABC News 1 Mar 11;
A north Queensland scientist says the health of the Great Barrier Reef is being put under stress by large amounts of fresh water from flooded rivers.
Dr Michelle Devlin from James Cook University says too much fresh water reduces salinity levels which can lead to coral bleaching.
But she says the reef could also struggle to cope with pollutants, flushed into the marine system.
"You also now have waters that have high concentrations of nutrients, sediments and potentially pesticides," she said.
"We also are trying to manage that water quality issue as well as monitor the impact of this cumulative stress."
Ella Davies BBC News 1 Mar 11;
Greater bamboo lemurs in Madagascar are a step further from extinction.
Fewer than 300 of the lemur, the world's rarest, were thought to remain. But by following up reports from local people, conservationists have found new "lost" populations of the lemur, which extends the primate's range to twice that previously thought.
Researchers are now working with local communities to monitor and protect the rainforest-dwelling species from hunting and habitat destruction.
Like many of Madagascar's unique species, the greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus) is endemic to the island.
As their name suggests, the lemurs feed primarily on bamboo. But this dependence on a single food-source makes them vulnerable to changes in their environment.
Variously described as "the world's rarest lemur species" and "one of the top 25 most endangered primates", the IUCN reports that fewer than 250 mature individuals exist.
Researchers from conservation charity Association Mitsinjo partnered with the Aspinall Foundation, Madagascan primate study group GERP and Conservation International Madagascar to learn more about the current state of the animals.
The team's initial search took place in the Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor, a major part of Madagascar's remaining rainforest that runs along its eastern coast.
Dr Rainer Dolch coordinated the first population surveys in 2007.
"[The lemurs] were thought to be confined to southeastern Madagascar until we discovered a new population in the Torotorofotsy wetlands, the first individuals of the species to be discovered north of the Mangoro River [for] 130 years," he said.
The team returned last year to investigate isolated sites on the fringes of the corridor after collecting local people's reports of both lemurs and their favoured bamboo habitat.
The conservationists' efforts were rewarded with confirmed sightings of 65 individuals and evidence of the lemurs' existence in more than double the number of sites that were previously known to occur.
The populations found extend the species' known range 85 km further north than previously recorded.
The researchers' findings are published in the American Journal of Primatology.
Dr Dolch attributed the discoveries to the help of the local people, he said: "They had a crucial role in the discovery of the species and they will play a crucial role in its conservation."
Threats facing greater bamboo lemurs include hunting pressures and the fragmentation, disturbance and destruction of their habitat.
Human activities including mining and timber felling are of major concern.
Conservationists hope that positive actions by local people will provide the lemurs with a brighter future.
"We are closely working with local communities for the monitoring of the species and the protection of their habitat," said Dr Dolch.
Dr Dolch's work to replant trees and link fragmented areas of rainforest features in the BBC Two documentary "Attenborough and the Giant Egg".
In the programme naturalist David Attenborough returns to Madagascar 50 years after he first filmed there.
Attenborough and the Giant Egg broadcasts on BBC TWO at 2000 GMT on Wednesday, March 2.
United States now biggest market for lion hunting trophies, wildlife coalition warns
Suzanne Goldenberg guardian.co.uk 1 Mar 11;
American hunters are emerging as a strong and growing threat to the survival of African lions, with demand for trophy rugs and necklaces driving the animals towards extinction, a coalition of wildlife organisations has said.
Demand for hunting trophies, such as lion skin rugs, and a thriving trade in animal parts in the US and across the globe have raised the threat levels for African lions, which are already under assault because of conflicts with local villagers and shrinking habitat.
"The African lion is a species in crisis," said Jeff Flocken of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "The king of the jungle is heading toward extinction, and yet Americans continue to kill lions for sport."
Two-thirds of the lions hunted for sport were brought to America over the last 10 years, a report released by the coalition said.
The organisations, which include IFAW, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society International, Born Free and Defenders of Wildlife, called on the White House to ban the import of lion trophies and parts by listing the animals as endangered species.
The number of wild African lions has fallen sharply in the last 100 years, the organisations said. A century ago, as many as 200,000 roamed across Africa. Now, by some estimates, fewer than 40,000 remain in the wild; others put the figure for survivors at 23,000, and they have vanished from 80% of the areas where they once roamed.
Lions have become extinct in 26 countries. Only seven countries – Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe – are believed to contain more than 1,000 lions each, according to the Panthera conservation group – which is not part of the coalition making the appeal.
The single biggest threat by far to the animals' survival is humans, though not necessarily western hunters. "It is just the very, very widespread killing of lions, mostly in a conflict situation, by anyone who is trying to farm livestock in Africa and finds it very difficult to co-exist with lions," said Luke Hunter, the executive vice-president of Panthera.
There is also a lot of pressure on lion habitats with wilderness areas shrinking to build roads – such as the controversial highway across the Serengeti – or to make room for agriculture.
But the report by the wildlife coalition, filed with the White House on Tuesday, said western hunters were a growing danger to the lions' survival.
Between 1999 and 2008, 64% of the 5,663 lions that were killed in the African wild for sport ended up being shipped to America, it said. It also said the numbers had risen sharply in those 10 years, with more than twice as many lions taken as trophies by US hunters in 2008 than in 1999. In addition to personal trophies, Americans are also the world's biggest buyers of lion carcasses and body parts, including claws, skulls, bones and penises. In the same years, the US imported 63% of the 2,715 lion specimens put up for sale.
For some countries, including Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia and Mozambique, hunting for sport was the main threat to the lions' existence. But even in countries which did not attract large numbers of tourists on hunting trips, the practice was taking a growing toll.
The conservationists noted that hunters' penchant for bagging a male lion risked wiping out entire prides. The loss of the alpha male could set off a struggle for supremacy among the survivors that could lead to further deaths of adult male lions, or male cubs seen as potential threats.
A hunting ban, the conservationists said, would reduce that threat by taking Americans out of the game. It's one of a range of threats to the survival of the species, said Teresa Telecky, director of wildlife for Humane Society International. "But what is most certainly true is that of all the threats to the African lion, the one we can best address here in this country is their import."
Flocken noted that all of the other big cats are protected – jaguars, leopards and tigers. "African lions are the only ones left out there," he said.
However, other wildlife experts argued that a total hunting ban was a "nuclear option". They said responsible hunting could in some cases help conserve populations by maintaining wilderness areas. Existing US and international regulations, such as the Cites conventions against trafficking in endangered species, could also be reinforced to protect lions, they said.
"If you remove hunting, the very real risk is that you force African governments to generate revenue from that land and the obvious thing is cattle and crops which just wipe out habitats," said Hunter.
Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala PlanetArk 2 Mar 11;
The World Bank has offered Tanzania an alternative to stop a major road project across the Serengeti national park that conservationists say threatens one of Africa's biggest wildlife spectacles.
Conservation groups say the government's planned highway through the northern edge of the Serengeti would hinder the annual migration of some 2 million wildebeest.
The World Bank's John Murray McIntire said it was ready to help the east African nation in financing an alternative route for the road that would otherwise cut through the park.
"The World Bank is proposing alternatives that we believe will achieve Tanzania's development objectives while preserving the unique character of the Serengeti as part of the world's environmental heritage," the World Bank country director for Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi, told Reuters in an emailed response to questions.
He said the World Bank could finance an alternative road through new development assistance to the country, dependent on officials making the request.
Tanzania's tourism earnings jumped by 11.3 percent in 2010 to $1.28 billion, with the Serengeti attracting the biggest number of visitors among the east African country's national parks.
International conservation groups such as the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Zoological Society of London have campaigned to stop the construction of the highway, asking the Tanzanian government to consider other options.
President Jakaya Kikwete has defended his government's plan, saying the project would not hurt the Serengeti.
He has rejected suggestions of a differing route, insisting that the government would proceed with plans to build an unpaved 54 km (33 mile) road to ease transport problems facing poor communities surrounding the park.
Scientists say that stopping the herds from reaching their traditional dry-season feeding grounds to the north of the park would lead to wildlife population crashes.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
Having taken oil for granted for decades, the global economy has failed to prepare for its absence. A bleak future awaits
Andrew Simms guardian.co.uk 1 Mar 11;
"Oil is the trouble, of course," wrote Gertrude Bell in Baghdad in 1921, "Detestable stuff!" It had fuelled a world war and already was causing upheaval in the politics of the Middle East. For all the conflict caused by securing supplies of oil, and the environmental damage that goes hand in hand with its use, the problem for Bell, and now the rest of us, is that oil was just too useful. Concentrated energy, easily transported and hugely versatile. In Lord Curzon's famous phrase, Britain "floated to victory on a wave of oil", which then carried before it the modern age and the whole of consumer society.
We all became, and remain, hooked on its convenience. Today's energy supplies provide the equivalent of the work of 22 billion slaves, according to former oil industry man Colin Campbell. But now the wave of oil looks set to leave us high and dry. At well over $100 per barrel, prices are climbing again to the level last reached in 2008. Since then, however, the tone of commentary has changed.
Awareness is increasing of a fundamental problem looming, in which rising demand departs from flattening supply, leading to a shortage in the supply of the global economy's life blood. Until now, false reassurance that we can carry on as we are has come from two factors. First, that there is still oil and second, that new oil fields are still being discovered.
And, of course, there is still oil and small, new amounts are being found. But the situation is like knowing there are 10 mouths to feed tomorrow, yet only food stores enough for eight. Worse, each day, less food is replaced than the amount eaten, while the number of mouths to feed increases.
New discoveries of oil peaked in the mid-1960s, and based on a range of estimates we are either very near to, or possibly living through the peak of global oil production. After that, the gap between demand and supply inexorably widens. The difficulty of knowing exactly when is heightened by the political and economic sensitivity of the size of a nation's oil reserves. Publicly available figures are open to question. WikiLeaks revealed official scorn being poured, behind the scenes, on the size of Saudi Arabia's reserves, a key producer for the west.
Understandably, some people might think this is a good thing from an environmental perspective. After all, if the oil is running out, doesn't that help solve climate change? Unfortunately it doesn't. As the price of oil goes up it makes other, dirtier fossil fuels like brown coal and tar sands more attractive. And here is a problem even for people who discount the threat of global warming. In key areas of the economy like transport, especially aviation, and agriculture, oil is hard to replace.
During the 1970s Opec crises, the worst effects were moderated by so-called "swing producers", oil exporters who replaced access lost by the west to key suppliers. Those options are no longer available. Back then, Britain turned to its own resources, which are now in dramatic decline.
Today's reality is that if you rip the oil drip from the economy's arm, the choice is economic seizure or transition. Short-term concerns are that a high oil price, pushed by upheaval in the Middle East, endangers economic "recovery". But there is a greater, systemic threat from the peak and decline of global oil production. Driving to the supermarket, the range of food on the shelves, the family holiday in the sun, even how we brush our teeth in the morning – the whole character of modern living in rich countries relies on the assumption of cheap, abundant oil. Yet that can change as fast as the price of a commodity on the stock exchange.
Both the left and the right are firmly unprepared for the disappearance of cheap oil. We have all grown accustomed to the benefits of oil. Our plans to adapt to its absence are seriously wanting.
To some degree the age of plastic, disposability and consumerism was an artefact of overproduction in the oil industry. Higher prices and harder access will usher in a different age. Oil is still the trouble, 90 years on from Gertrude Bell's words. The coalition has shown itself capable of a truly radical programme of government, but unfortunately it chose a regressive, ideological one instead of an urgent, practical one.
Whether we take the opportunity of the passing of cheap oil to make a better age, or remain spellbound by its vanishing mirage, is down to us.
Deborah Zabarenko PlanetArk 2 Mar 11;
This winter's heavy snowfalls and other extreme storms could well be related to increased moisture in the air due to global climate change, a panel of scientists said on Tuesday.
This extra moisture is likely to bring on extraordinary flooding with the onset of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, as deep snowpack melts and expected heavy rains add to seasonal run-off, the scientists said in a telephone briefing.
As the planet warms up, more water from the oceans is evaporated into the atmosphere, said Todd Sanford, a climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. At the same time, because the atmosphere is warmer, it can hold onto more of the moisture that it takes in.
Intense storms are often the result when the atmosphere reaches its saturation point, Sanford said.
This year, a series of heavy storms over the U.S. Midwest to the Northeast have dropped up to 400 percent of average snows in some locations, said Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at Weather Underground.
The amount of water in that snowpack is among the highest on record, Masters said.
"If you were to take all that water and melt it, it would come out to more than 6 inches over large swaths of the area," Masters said. "If all that water gets unleashed in a hurry, in a sudden warming, and some heavy rains in the area, we could be looking at record flooding along the Upper Mississippi River and the Red River in North Dakota."
That tallies with projections by the U.S. National Weather Service, which last month said a large stretch of the north central United States is at risk of moderate to major flooding this spring.
SPRING CREEP
Spring floods could be exacerbated by spring creep, a phenomenon where spring begins earlier than previously.
"We've documented in the mountains of the U.S. West that the spring runoff pulse now comes between one and three weeks earlier than it used to 60 years ago," Masters said. "And that's because of warmer temperatures tending to melt that snowpack earlier and earlier."
In the last century, global average temperatures have risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (.8 Celsius). Last year tied for the warmest in the modern record. One place this warmth showed up was in the Arctic, which is a major weather-maker for the Northern Hemisphere, according to Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.
One driver of this winter's "crazy weather," Serreze said, is an atmospheric pattern known as the Arctic Oscillation, which has moved into what climate scientists call a negative phase.
This phase means there is high pressure over the Arctic and low pressure at mid-latitudes, which makes the Arctic zone relatively warm, but spills cold Arctic air southward to places like the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.
This negative Arctic Oscillation has been evident for two years in a row, the same two winters that have had extreme storms and heavy snowfalls.
It is possible, but not certain, that the negative Arctic Oscillation is linked to warming of the Arctic, which is in turn influenced by a decrease in sea ice cover throughout the region.
The only underlying explanation for these events is climate warming due to heightened greenhouse gas levels, Serreze said.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Global warming means more snowstorms: scientists
Yahoo News 2 Mar 11;
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Climate change is not only making the planet warmer, it is also making snowstorms stronger and more frequent, US scientists said on Tuesday.
"Heavy snowstorms are not inconsistent with a warming planet," said scientist Jeff Masters, as part of a conference call with reporters and colleagues convened by the Union of Concern Scientists.
"In fact, as the Earth gets warmer and more moisture gets absorbed into the atmosphere, we are steadily loading the dice in favor of more extreme storms in all seasons, capable of causing greater impacts on society."
Masters said that the northeastern United States has been coated in heavy snowfall from major Category Three storms or larger three times in each of the past two winters, storms that are unparalleled since the winter of 1960-61.
"If the climate continues to warm, we should expect an increase in heavy snow events for a few decades, until the climate grows so warm that we pass the point where it's too warm for it to snow heavily."
Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, said less sea ice in the Artic translates to more moisture in the atmosphere, and could also cause an atmospheric circulation pattern in polar regions known as Arctic Oscillation.
"It's still cutting-edge research and there's no smoking gun, but there's evidence that with less sea ice, you put a lot of heat from the ocean into the atmosphere, and the circulation of the atmosphere responds to that," Serreze said.
"We've seen a tendency for autumns with low sea ice cover to be followed by a negative Arctic Oscillation."
Even though spring in North America is just around the corner, Masters said more snow is on the way next week in the upper Midwest, and the melting snow pack could spark record floods in Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota this spring.
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