Smooth otter carcass at West Coast Park, today
from Otterman speaks
Pregnant papas on Changi, with signs of dugong?
from wild shores of singapore
Nest building by the Common Iora
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Nudibranch Galore @ Beting Bronok
from colourful clouds
Lip service
from The annotated budak
Natalie Koh Business Times 20 May 11;
WITH the year 2011 declared as the International Year of Forests by the United Nations, even artists have jumped in to do their part in stressing the importance of conservation.
For six weeks, 15 artists had bunked in at the Wallace Environmental Learning Laboratory at Dairy Farm Nature Park to create works for their exhibition - Manicured Nature Art Exhibition.
Organised by Artists Caravan, an independent, non-profit, artist collective, along with Raffles Girls' School (RGS), the exhibition aims to create a sense of community ownership and responsibility in people of all generations, particularly urban-dwellers, as the organisers believe that more should be done to preserve the forests and the memories they hold.
To emphasise this, all the works for the exhibition were made from found objects at the Nature Park.
Joey Soh of Artists Caravan says: 'The one rule underpinning all Artists Caravan's projects is that materials for the production of artworks should be objects found on site. The primary intention to use found objects is that the contents are directly drawn from site, adding historical significance to the artworks.'
She adds that the exhibition stands for three different kinds of conservation, namely: 'Preserving memories of people, places and objects at the venue itself; cherishing working relationships made during the project; and reusing and/or returning materials to its original state and location to reduce landfill possibilities.'
Chan Mei Hsien, also a part of the artists' collective, says that the project has made her even more green-conscious, especially in her art-making process. For her exhibited work, Nature Assemblage, she uses tree parts, broken tiles, elephant ear leaves, wood, flower pots, African tulip pods and tree logs to create a circle, as if marking territory.
She explains: 'Collecting, selecting and arranging found materials were a natural reaction to the site... Humans tend to create boundaries to claim the area as their own. It reflected on my own situation as an artist who is always on the move and in search of a personalised working space.
'The desire to establish harmony within the drawn boundaries and how nature can disrupt the establishment presented the vulnerable side of an outdoor installation,' she adds.
Other works to look out for are My time was too much occupied with those branches of natural history, by Sha Njak, which is an installation of a silver-coated branch to symbolise preservation and purity; Catch your dream according to your belief, by Mel Araneta, which features dreamcatchers made of nets and tree branches; and A Little Clay, by Suwong Kunrattanamaneephorn, which encourages viewers to enjoy the small things (look out for the tiny baby figurines hidden in the tree log).
Some of the works were created by students from RGS as well. This is in line with the exhibition's goals of reaching out to people of all ages. Soh says: 'We want to engage the youth, as it conjures feelings of respect and responsibility for the Nature Park, as well as bonds them to the place and each other.'
All objects used must eventually be returned to their original places, and be 'put back to nature'. Soh explains that this is because Artists Caravan does not want to 'leave negative trails from our residency'.
Chan adds: 'Nothing will be wasted in this project, so what is left is only the documentation, the experience and a greater appreciation for Mother Nature.'
Open to the public, the Manicured Nature Art Exhibition is open on Saturdays and Sundays, 10am to 6pm from May 14 to June 29, at the Wallace Environmental Learning Laboratory
Artists and students inspired by nature
Heather Marie Lee Straits Times 22 May 11;
Fifteen artists have had a brush with the wild, after taking part in what is believed to be Singapore's first artists-in-residence programme in a nature park.
The group, from Singapore and other parts of South-east Asia, stayed at the Wallace Environmental Learning Laboratory at Dairy Farm Nature Park in Upper Bukit Timah over six weekends.
They expressed their responses to their natural environment using different artistic media and forms.
Their work will be on display at the Manicured Nature and Illuminating Nature Programme Art Exhibition, which opened on May 14.
The residency was organised by Artists Caravan, founded by artists Joey Soh, 29, and Ong Xiao Yun, 31.
Ms Soh said the group wanted to explore a different environment for its third artist residency programme, and chose a natural instead of an urban one.
The exhibition also features art pieces by students from Raffles Girls' School.
About 50 students took part in the Illuminating Nature Programme, a two-day residential camp organised by the school last month.
They were encouraged to respond to their natural environment through art, writing or scientific studies.
The exhibition will be held until June 29, from 10am to 6pm. Admission is free.
Workshops will be carried out by the artists on alternate Sundays.
They will hold one today, where participants will put together a collective mural, which they have termed an 'earthblanket'.
This workshop is part of the National Parks Board's celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity.
Also as part of the celebrations, schools in Singapore planted 221 trees yesterday in support of The Green Wave, a global campaign by the Convention on Biological Diversity.
This year, 210 schools took part, more than double the 91 last year.
Harsha Jethnani Straits Times 20 May 11;
SINGAPOREAN consumers are less concerned than their Asian counterparts about having their trusted brands take on corporate social responsibility efforts, a new survey shows.
Less than half - 48 per cent - of the 1,000 respondents polled here, thought it was important for a trusted brand to carry out environmental actions. This was below the 62 per cent average across seven other Asian markets polled in the annual Reader's Digest Trusted Brands Survey 2011.
Released on Thursday, the study polled 8,000 consumers in Asia including markets like China, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Other findings included Singapore's number four ranking in the willingness to reconsider a product within one year of a quality scandal. Malaysia, India and the Phillipines were the least tolerant of such scandals while Taiwan emerged the most tolerant.
Aside from the year-to-year findings, the survey's main crux is to identify brands which appeal most to Asian consumers. All respondents were asked to name their most trusted brands across 11 industries and 42 product categories.
In 2011, 40 out of the 99 top names were local Singaporean brands. Of these 40, 13 were given platinum status - applicable only to brands that score three times more than their nearest competitor or gained four out of five points for quality. The remaining were given the gold status, meaning that they managed to score above competitors.
Leading the platinum pack were NTUC FairPrice - a fourth win for the brand in the supermarket chains category - and Chan Brothers with its third platinum win in the travel agency category. Other Platinum winners included Singapore Airlines, National University of Singapore, Gardenia and King Koil. Awards were handed out on Thursday evening at a gala dinner held at the St Regis Hotel.
Ronnie Lim Business Times 20 May 11;
THE use of coal for power generation - which has started on a small scale in Singapore - will 'dominate over gas by 2030 as the fuel of choice' in South-east Asia, says consultant Wood Mackenzie.
This arises from the region's need for substantial new power-generating capacity due to strong economic growth.
'A shift to coal in the region's fuel mix has already started with 35 gigawatts (GW) of committed coal-fired plant being developed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and even on a smaller scale in Singapore,' said Graham Tyler, the consultant's head of Southeast Asia Gas and Power Service.
'We think that while there are opportunities for gas suppliers, the trend towards more coal-fired power in South-east Asia will continue beyond 2020 despite arguments against it.'
Wood Mackenzie forecasts that gross domestic product (GDP) in this region will grow 5.2 per cent annually over the next decade, compared to the global average of 3.5 per cent.
'As a result, power demand is expected to triple, representing a need for an additional 190 GW of generating capacity by 2030 . . . To meet this demand, there must be an increase in all fuel types, especially in coal and gas that can operate at baseload,' Wood Mackenzie said in a report.
In Singapore, phase one of China Huaneng-owned Tuas Power's $2 billion clean coal/biomass multi- utilities plant will start up in mid-2012, with the genco already considering embarking on phase two.
Electricity generation using coal is one of the fuel diversification options for the short and medium term suggested by the Economic Strategies Committee Report, while the government is also studying a coal gasification plant on Jurong Island to produce synthetic gas feedstock for petrochemical industries there.
Wood Mackenzie cites several factors for coal overtaking gas in this region.
One is that 'local gas reserves in decline will be insufficient to match existing production levels to feed the domestic markets', said Mr Tyler.
Reserve replacement is an issue in a number of mature production areas such as Java/Sumatra, the Gulf of Thailand and the Malay Basin.
'LNG (liquefied natural gas) is a potential solution but it is too costly for a region used to low and often subsidised gas prices,' Mr Tyler added.
Second, 'governments have expressed that reducing carbon emissions should not come at the expense of developing their economies'.
Besides, air pollution from coal-firing can be reduced with increased energy efficiency and technological improvements. The implementation cost will still make coal-fired plants more economical than LNG.
Finally, the region's power markets also benefit from their proximity to Indonesia, which has sufficient supply to meet domestic and Asia-Pacific demand growth up till 2030. This proximity provides the option of barging coal directly from Indonesian mines to regional markets.
Tuas Power's Indonesian suppliers - PT Bayan Resources and Samtan Co Ltd - will do just that, shipping in coal from Kalimantan to Jurong Island in covered barges.
Yahoo News 19 May 11;
JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday signed a decree authorising a two-year moratorium on new logging concessions, under a billion-dollar climate deal with Norway.
"He signed it this morning," Agus Purnomo, presidential advisor on climate change, told AFP.
No details were immediately released about how the controversial moratorium would work in the massive archipelago, which is home to some of the world's last tracts of pristine jungle.
Indonesia is often cited as the world's third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, mainly as a result of clearing forests for pulp or to make way for oil palm plantations.
Yudhoyono agreed to implement a moratorium on new concessions in May last year in exchange for $1 billion in funding from Norway, under a UN-backed scheme designed to pay developing countries to preserve forests.
It was meant to take effect in January but has been delayed amid aggressive lobbying from the palm oil and paper industries, which have tried to limit the reach of the decree to "primary forests".
Environmentalists have said the moratorium must also apply to all natural and even degraded forests if it is to have any impact on Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said the terms of the moratorium remained unclear.
"We don't know the details. If it only covers primary forests it is meaningless," he said.
Indonesia Finally Signs Forest Clearing Moratorium
Olivia Rondonuwu PlanetArk 20 May 11;
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inked into law on Thursday a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear primary forests, part of a $1 billion deal with Norway that could spur projects to cut emissions and slow expansion of plantations.
The moratorium ordered a freeze on new permits to log or convert primary forests and peatlands -- worrying palm oil, timber and mining firms in Southeast Asia's biggest economy -- but not going far enough for environmentalists.
"We mean business when we say we would like to reform our forest and peatland management. There will be no new permits on 64 million hectares," Agus Purnomo, Indonesia's presidential advisor on climate change, told Reuters Television.
"We mean business in the sense that we are continuing to grow our economy, because we allocate 35 million hectares of degraded forest for agriculture, mining and other development uses," he said in an interview.
The moratorium was due to start on January 1 but has been delayed because of wrangling between government ministries over how much forest to include, a symbol of the long-running tension between a nationalistic business old guard and more internationally minded reformers in the government.
The dispute showed how difficult it will be for Indonesia to reach a target of slashing emissions by at least 26 percent by 2020 while still spurring economic growth, as the G20 member earns billions each year from cutting down forests.
Plantation and mining firms opposed the moratorium, which could slow the expansion of firms such as Astra Agro Lestari in the world's top palm oil producing nation, and delay coal and mining projects worth $14 billion by firms such as BHP Billiton.
The details of the final version are expected to be released on Friday. A previous draft seen by Reuters said it would exempt the extension of old permits, projects given permits in principle by the forestry ministry, and issuance of permits to log secondary non-peatland forests or convert degraded land.
The draft version also exempted projects to develop energy supplies such as geothermal power, as well a huge food plantation project in the lushly forested Papua province, since both energy and food security are seen as critical by Yudhoyono.
BILLION NOT ENOUGH
Andreas Prasetiya, head of investor relations at Gozco Plantations, said the palm oil firm had permits for 70,000 hectares out of a total 124,000 hectares, but the moratorium could affect the remaining 44 percent of its landbank, in a greenfield area on Borneo island.
"I don't see the benefits of it just yet. We are receiving a $1 billion contribution from the Norwegian government... two or three years ago maybe it seemed like big money, but with crude palm oil prices now, $1 billion doesn't seem like big money," he told Reuters.
"They say if your area is affected with the moratorium, they will give you another replacement area -- come on, let's be realistic. Everybody is competing for land -- who is going give up their land?"
The details will also be scrutinized by green groups and Norway, which has pledged $1 billion if Indonesia can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation. Norway's environment ministry was not immediately available for comment.
The moratorium's implementation will be a test of bilateral climate deals, after the five-month delay mirrored the inability of nations to agree a pact to limit global greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2012 at U.N. talks so far.
Forests soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed by scientists for causing global warming.
DEVIL IN DETAILS
The fact that Yudhoyono actually managed to sign it was welcomed by some, hopeful it will be a catalyst to develop projects to reduce carbon emissions from the forestry sector.
"It's a stepping stone toward fixing long-standing problems of land conflict, forest governance and other issues," said Dharsono Hartono, whose firm is developing a project to protect a large area of carbon-rich peat swamp forest in Central Kalimantan on Borneo.
The forestry ministry has defined primary forest as forest that has grown naturally for hundreds of years, of which there is estimated to be around 44 million hectares in a sprawling tropical archipelago where illegal logging is common.
The devil may be in the implementation as well as the details, in a country where institutional corruption is rampant and legal enforcement often weak.
Nils Hermann Ranum, head of policy at the Oslo-based Rainforest Foundation, estimated the presidential plan only extended protection to an extra 16 million hectares and fell far short of past commitments if it covered just "primary" forests.
"It looks like Indonesia is now making a serious limitation of the scope of the moratorium," said Ranum.
(Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Daniel Magnowski)
Moratorium issued to protect primary forests, peatland
Adianto P. Simamora The Jakarta Post 20 May 11;
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday finally signed a policy banning the conversion of primary forest and peatland for two years as part of a government pledge to combat climate change through reducing deforestation.
With the presidential instruction, all local authorities should stop issuing forestry permits, including for plantation and mining companies eyeing businesses in primary forest and peatland areas.
“The moratorium will apply to 64 million hectares of forests across the country,” Agus Purnomo, the President’s aide on climate change issues, said Thursday.
The announcement came after Yudhoyono met with editors of US media outlets at the Presidential Palace.
Agus, who is also secretary-general of the National Council on Climate Change, said the instruction included a map showing the areas that would be affected by the moratorium.
However, most of the 64 million hectares twice the size of Great Britain is located in areas already protected by the 1999 Forestry Law.
“We are double protecting these protected areas since in fact many of these areas are still prone to deforestation. We hope the moratorium will help better protect the forests,” Agus said.
He said businesspeople could still expand into the 34 million hectares categorized as degraded forest areas.
The presidential decree still allows the exploitation of peatland with a depth of less than three
meters.
Indonesia has the world’s third-largest expanse of forest with 120 million hectares of rainforest, 40 million of which are protected forest and conservation areas that cannot be exploited for commercial purposes.
The two-year moratorium is part of Indonesia’s pledge to stem deforestation in a US$1 billion deal with the Norwegian government made in May 2010.
According to a letter of intent with Norway, Indonesia is required to stop issuing new permits for exploiting natural forests and peatland within two years.
In return, Indonesia would receive money based on the total amount of carbon emissions reduced within the two years.
The moratorium was to have been implemented earlier this year, but officials including from the Forestry Ministry and the presidential taskforce on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD Plus) were divided over the definition of natural forests as stipulated in the deal.
The REDD taskforce led by Kuntoro Mangkusubroto wanted the moratorium imposed on both primary and secondary forests as well as peatland.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said secondary forests should remain open to commercial exploitation to aid the country’s economic development.
The differences led to a four-month delay in drafting the regulation, drawing criticism from businesses.
Dharsono Hartono, the president director of ecosystem restoration firm PT Rimba Makmur Utama, praised the presidential instruction as it would clarify the rules for doing business in forest areas.
“We hope this moratorium gives use breathing room leading to governance reform of sustainable natural resources-based businesses,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) senior campaigner Teguh Surya said the government had betrayed its promise to protect forests by only banning the conversion of primary forests and peatland rather than all naturals forests.
“The President ignored input from civil society who care about conserving forests and threw its support to big businesses, such as palm oil plantations,” he told the Post.
SBY Signs Decree on 2-Year Deforestation Moratorium
Fidelis E Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 19 May 11;
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has finally signed a two-year moratorium on the conversion into logging concessions of almost half of the total forest cover in Indonesia.
The moratorium is part of a bilateral agreement with Norway in which Indonesia will receive $1 billion to launch activities under the United Nations-backed Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD Plus) program.
Agus Purnomo, a presidential adviser on climate change, said the moratorium applied to all peatlands and primary forests that had not been reserved for any purpose and for which no permits had been issued.
Agus said 64 million hectares of Indonesia’s 130 million hectares of total forest cover was protected by the moratorium, which took effect after Yudhoyono signed the decree on Thursday.
The adviser said that although existing laws already protected primary forests, the decree was needed to reinforce anti-logging measures.
“This is to make [the law] stronger. Primary forests, if touched, will mean violating the decree and there will be legal consequences,” Agus said.
The moratorium had originally been expected to take effect on Jan. 1, but it was delayed pending the decree’s signing.
The plan received a push from Norway, which sent a letter to the national government saying peatland and primary forests should not be logged.
However, Agus said logging could still continue in secondary forests, those regrown after being damaged by fires or logging.
Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said in March that even before a decree was signed, a moratorium had already been in place.
“We’ve banned the clearing of peatland and primary forests since the start of the year,” Gusti said. “We’ve already stopped issuing permits. The decree is only to provide legal certainty.”
Elfian Effendi, executive director of Greenomics, a forestry advocacy group, welcomed Yudhoyono’s decision.
“At this stage, we need to look at the political attitude of the president, who has given attention to forestry issues, even though the substance of the decree may not be perfect,” he said.
“We have to admit that not all leaders of country would want to take that step.”
Bustar Maitar, the head of Greenpeace’s forests campaign, also welcomed the decree, but he said the state should prove it can fully enforce the ban.
“We expect a meaningful moratorium which will protect Indonesian forests,” Bustar said on Thursday. “This should include the protection of all remaining natural forests, full protection of peatlands and a review of existing concession permits.”
Indonesia Forest Decree To Help CO2 Projects
David Fogarty PlanetArk 1 Jun 11;
A landmark forest protection ruling by Indonesia might be good for investors trying to save carbon-rich forests, but only if a ban is enforced and progress is made in using the market to save the environment.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed an order this month imposing a two-year ban on new licenses to clear primary forests and peatlands, a key part of a $1 billion climate deal with Norway last year.
The decision, delayed by five months, has earned praise and concern from green groups but broad support from investors and analysts as a first step toward better protection and more transparent management of Indonesia's dwindling rainforests.
"The next two years are critical ... they have to set the stage for sustainable management in the long run," said Frank Sperling, senior adviser on climate risks, forests and carbon at WWF Norway.
The decision also bolsters a U.N.-backed program that aims to reward poorer nations for saving their forests by putting a price on the carbon stored in the soil and in trees. Forests soak up lots of planet-warming carbon dioxide and can play a major role in slowing the pace of climate change.
The program, called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), uses carbon offsets to reward projects that protect forests under threat of clearing. Each credit represents a tonne of carbon locked away.
Indonesia has about 40 REDD projects and the program could develop into a multi-billion dollar global market in forest carbon credits if nations agree on a new climate pact.
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Macquarie are investing in Indonesian REDD projects and firms such as Gazprom have committed to buy forest carbon credits.
"It's definitely a step forward for REDD because if you didn't have this, what you have is basically no moratorium on logging and you would have the peat being cleared," said Martijn Wilder, global head of Baker & McKenzie's environmental markets practice in Sydney.
The challenge is implementing the moratorium.
And that's where Indonesia has often fallen short because of lack of manpower, corruption and powerful oil palm, timber and pulp and paper companies pushing to expand their landholdings.
ENFORCEMENT
"There is no a clear system for monitoring, verifying and reporting the success and failure of the implementation of the moratorium except using the indicative map which will be revised six-monthly," said forest policy analyst Fitrian Ardiansyah.
As part of the presidential ruling, the government released a map of the areas to be protected. Agus Purnomo, special climate change adviser to the Indonesian president, told Reuters the area covered by the moratorium totalled 72 million hectares (180 million acres), out of the nation's total land area of 188 mln ha.
"Also, there is no clear indication for enforcement system so that the moratorium and the overall reform of land use and forestry can be achieved successfully," said Ardiansyah, of the Australian National University in Canberra. Failure to enforce the ban would undermine the deal with Norway, which is aimed at promoting efforts to protect Indonesia's forests and develop skills to measure, verify and report real emissions reductions from forest preservation.
That could scuttle a government program to develop a REDD framework that aims to support REDD investments nationally, several of which are nearing the issuance of credits.
With the lack of a global carbon market for REDD, investors rely on selling offsets on the unregulated voluntary carbon market in which corporates buy the credits to meet emissions reduction goals.
To boost prices and integrity, many REDD projects are applying for credits to be issued under the strict rules developed by the Washington-based Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), which has developed global benchmarks for offsets.
The 100,000 ha Rimba Raya project in Central Kalimantan developed by Hong Kong-based InfiniteEARTH hopes the moratorium will speed up the final government approvals to make it Indonesia's first REDD project to earn VCS offsets. The project aims to prevent 100 million tonnes of carbon emissions over 30 years.
Some investors say they fear the moratorium would deter new REDD investments because the ruling meant the VCS could not issue credits now that the two forest types were protected.
The VCS will only issue credits to projects that aren't common practice, need the additional income to be viable and, in the case of REDD projects, if the land is under threat of clearance. But it's not that simple, given the moratorium is for an initial two years and the threat of illegal clearing remains.
"When is common practice established- Unfortunately the experience of most countries shows that you don't stop land-clearing with the stroke of a pen," said Jerry Seager, director of program development at the VCS, told Reuters in an email.
"It takes time and a lot of on-the-ground effort to change established economic behaviors."
(Editing by Robert Birsel)
Xinhua 19 May 11;
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) announced Thursday that the country has named its first seven national ocean parks to ensure sound ecological environment and sustainable development for coastal tourism.
The seven parks are sprawled along China's coastal areas, with two in Guangdong, two in Shandong, and one in Guangxi, Fujian and Jiangsu, respectively, SOA spokesman Li Haiqing said at a press conference.
According to the SOA, the largest park covers an area of 51,455 hectares and is located in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province.
The SOA also announced the expansion and improvement of five national special marine reserves in eastern Shandong Province.
Chen Liqun, an official with the SOA's environmental protection and management bureau, said the parks and reserves will coordinate oceanic ecological protection with the use of oceanic resources.
"The national ocean parks, which provide beautiful beach resorts for the public, can promote marine eco-environment protection and facilitate sustainable development of coastal tourism," Chen explained.
China established its first national special marine reserve in 2005. With the newly-announced projects, it now has 21 national special marine reserves and seven national ocean parks, covering a total area of nearly 360,000 hectares, SOA figures show.
In addition, the country also has 33 national marine nature reserves.
In contrast to marine nature reserves, which ban or restrict exploitation, special marine reserves and ocean parks are permitted to be developed in a scientific way under the principles of scientific planning, unified management, and a protection-first philosophy with appropriate utilization.
Editor: An
The Financial 19 May 11;
The FINANCIAL -- MANILA, PHILIPPINES (19 May 2011) - One of the world's most diverse and threatened marine ecosystems - the Coral Triangle - is getting Asian Development Bank (ADB) support to improve management of its rich resources and to provide job alternatives for people living in the coastal communities.
ADB has approved assistance of around $12 million for the Coastal and Marine Resources Management Project. It includes a $1 million grant from ADB's concessional Technical Assistance Special Fund, and $11.2 million in cofinancing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines will provide $3 million in non-cash contributions.
"The project aims to strengthen national and local institutions for sustainable coastal and marine ecosystem management and to establish support mechanisms for sustainable livelihoods in coastal communities," said Kunio Senga, Director General of ADB's South East Asia Department.
The Coral Triangle, known as the "Amazon of the Seas", encompasses ocean areas in six countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Its resources are critical for the economic and food security of an estimated 120 million people. These resources are at immediate risk from a range of factors, including the impacts of climate change and unsustainable fishing methods.
Assessments of the Coral Triangle show that up to 88% of reefs are under threat from harmful human activities, resulting in major losses for the fishing and tourism industries.
"The degradation of coral reefs and adjacent coastal and marine ecosystems is due to inadequate implementation of policies and legislation, and inadequate coordination amongst agencies engaged in projects on coastal and marine resources management," said Maria Lourdes Drilon, ADB's Natural Resources and Agriculture Economist.
The project, which is targeted at Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, will strengthen management of marine resources by funding activities that build up the capacity of oversight institutions. It will also help to develop alternative livelihoods for fishing and coastal communities to help reduce activities that harm the environment.
It complements ongoing projects worth $15.05 million, cofinanced by ADB and GEF, to assist Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands and Timor Leste in fulfilling their Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) objectives, as well as engage Fiji and Vanuatu in these efforts.
The Coral Triangle covers 5.7 million square kilometers of ocean waters in Indonesia, Malaysia, PNG, the Philippines, Solomon Island, and Timor Leste. The six nations in 2009 endorsed the CTI agreement, which lays out a plan of action to ensure sustainability of resources, and ADB has played a key role in helping to promote the Initiative, serving as the lead GEF agency to mobilize financial resources.
The implementing agencies for the project, which is due for completion in June 2015, are the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of Indonesia; National Oceanography Directorate-Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia; and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines
The GEF unites close to 180 countries in partnership with international institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives.
WWF 19 May 11;
Hong Kong - Hong Kong’s Legislative Council has approved a ban on all trawling in its local waters, a move that is largely being seen as a crucial first step in reviving the Administrative Region’s depleted marine environment.
The new policy, which comes into full effect in late 2012, includes a HK$17.2 billion (US$2.2 billion) buyout scheme that provides ex gratia payments for affected inshore trawler owners and other larger vessels. The new rules also include a payment plan for owners who voluntarily surrender their vessels as well as a one-off grant to affected local deckhands.
The Legislative Council decision follows the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s (HKSAR) announcement in Oct 2010 of a proposed ban on all bottom and mid-water trawling activities including fishing using pair, stern, shrimp and hang trawlers in its waters.
Big environmental payoff
A study conducted by Canada’s University of British Columbia for WWF Hong Kong finds that 5 years after the implementation of the trawling ban – provided the government also stops commercial fishing in marine parks - populations of squid and cuttlefish will increase by 35 percent, while the number of reef fish will grow by 20 per cent. Meanwhile, populations of larger fish, such as groupers and croakers, will surge by 40 to 70 per cent from their current levels.
The trawling ban will also give soft corals, sponges and numerous bottom-dwelling creatures an opportunity to recover, says WWF.
The capture fisheries sector in Hong Kong represents approximately 3,700 fishing vessels. Close to 1,100 of these are trawlers with the remaining small boats used for inshore fishing. Some 400 trawlers operate partly or wholly in Hong Kong’s territorial waters, covering 1,650 km2, and account for roughly 80 per cent of its fishing fleet’s total engine power.
But this is nearly double what the area’s marine environment can support, says a 2006 study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences.
“While local capture supply counts for only 20 per cent of all marine fisheries production in Hong Kong, no fisheries management system has ever been applied to its territorial waters. This has resulted in a dramatic decline in catch volume since the 1970s,” said Dr. Andy Cornish, WWF Hong Kong’s Director of Conservation. “The Hong Kong trawler ban could help valuable fish stocks recover.”
WWF also cautions that more still needs to be done to ensure that Hong Kong’s marine environment has a healthy future:
“Although a positive step, we still need the government to ban commercial fishing in Hong Kong marine parks, which was announced in 2008 but not put into action. A commercial ban along with sufficient regulatory and financial support to aid affected fishermen over the long term needs to be considered for Hong Kong’s marine environment fully recover,” said Dr. Cornish.
Campaign success
WWF Hong Kong has been campaigning for a ban on trawling since 2005 by promoting its significance to the recovery of ocean habitats and fish populations.
Only a handful of nations have imposed trawling bans to date. In the South China Sea, the Chinese government prohibits trawling all year round in water less than 40 meters and extends this with a May – August moratorium on all trawling, purse-seining and stake-netting activities. Countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada and Malaysia have established no-trawl zones in inshore waters to protect marine resources. Indonesia has implemented a trawling ban that extends across the entire country.
“There was a lot of resistance to the trawling ban in Hong Kong at first,” said Dr. Cornish, “but the growing support we received from the local community shows that Hong Kongers are aware of the problems affecting their environment and are taking action.”
In 2008, nearly 60,000 people signed a WWF petition calling for sustainable fisheries management in Hong Kong waters. And in recent weeks the response has been even stronger with academics, stakeholders, students and the public rallying to lobby legislators to support the ban.
Hong Kong bans trawling to save fish stocks
(AFP) Google News 20 May 11;
HONG KONG — Hong Kong has banned trawl fishing in its waters, a decision welcomed by conservationists Friday as a crucial move to save fish stocks and revive the city's depleted marine environment.
The measure, which is expected to come into effect in late 2012, comes after a long campaign by environmental groups who say the method is extremely damaging to the seabed and fish stocks.
The territory's law-making body approved the ban on Wednesday, and proposed a HK$1.7 billion ($219 million) scheme to provide payments to some 400 affected trawler owners and deckhands.
"(The ban) can strengthen the sustainable development of the fishing industry, and to maintain a good oceanic environment," Hong Kong's health chief York Chow told the Legislative Council, according to a statement.
A spokeswoman from the Food and Health Bureau, which oversees trawl fishing activities, told AFP Friday that the proposed payments to the trawler owners and deckhands will need to be approved by the law-making body.
Conservation group WWF, which has been lobbying for a trawling ban since 2005, hailed the decision as a success for ocean conservation efforts, after a dramatic decline in catch volume since the 1970s.
"We welcome and support this ban very much, as trawling is a very destructive practice," WWF Hong Kong spokeswoman Samantha Lee told AFP, adding that trawling accounts for over 40 percent of local fisheries capture.
"This would help valuable fish stocks to recover. This is an important first step, but I hope the government can tackle illegal trawling," she said.
Lee said the local fish population could increase by 20-30 percent five years after the implementation of the ban.
Trawling is a fishing method which involves nets being pulled through the water behind one or more boats, gathering up fish but also damaging the ocean floor and capturing other unwanted species.
Apart from saving fish stocks, conservationists have also said a trawling ban will give soft corals, sponges and other bottom-dwelling creatures an opportunity to recover.
WWF said that countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada and Malaysia have established no-trawl zones in inshore waters to protect marine resources while Indonesia has banned trawling across the entire country.
Jason Clay of WWF explains how working collaboratively to solve shared problems has helped to protect the Mesoamerican Reef
Jason Clay guardian.co.uk 19 May 11;
The Mesoamerican Reef – stretching 700 miles from the Yucatán Peninsula down to the Bay Islands of Honduras – is the largest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest barrier reef in the world. It's made up of an array of corals and is home to more than 500 species of fish, including the mammoth whale shark, the largest fish in the world.
Global conservation organisations such as WWF can't work everywhere, so we need to find the areas that are of strategic importance. And the reef is just that. More than a decade ago our work in the Mesoamerican Reef focused on marine protected areas, like overfishing, urban sewage and tourism – as these were seen as the key threats to the reef. But as we started to learn more, our focus shifted.
In the late 1990s several journal articles suggested that soil erosion and agro-chemical run-off can cause coral bleaching to occur at lower temperatures than it would otherwise. We knew the reef had been seriously affected by coral bleaching, so we started to investigate the impact of agri-business in the surrounding watershed. What was the impact on the reef of the local banana, pineapple, citrus, palm oil and sugar operations?
Science and research through collaboration would tell us. We collected samples from more than a dozen different species, such as sea grass, invertebrates, herbivores, corals, and carnivores like parrot fish, grouper and barracuda to see if pesticide residues had accumulated in their tissues. Then we analysed a list of agro-chemicals used on target crops in Belize and Honduras provided by Earth University in Costa Rica.
The most modern lab in the region, in Belize, analysed the samples to produce astounding results. They suggested that every species had accumulated high levels of agro-chemicals, but the chemicals were different. Seagrass and corals accumulated herbicides. Carnivores tended to accumulate a broader range and higher levels of chemicals. Some chemicals found had not been used for 20 years! But we also learned that the newer chemicals, which were supposed to break down faster, were still bio-accumulating, meaning they were being absorbed into tissue.
The science helped us find a path to solution. We discovered that each manufacturing plant has its own signature, meaning it was possible to determine not only the chemicals, but also the plant they came from. Virtually all the chemicals that producers used were found in the reef organisms. We had found the smoking gun. The question was what to do about it.
We invited the agrochemical manufacturers (Dow, DuPont, Syngenta and CropLife) as well as the key multinational producer companies (Chiquita, Del Monte, Dole, and Fyffes) to meet and discuss the findings. As with any collaboration between unlikely allies, we encountered disagreement and concern. The companies were concerned about how the data was collected and analysed, and about how WWF would use it. So we started by focusing on what everyone agreed upon.
Together, we agreed to peer-review the sample collection and lab analysis methodologies over the next year (interestingly, the methodologies were officially adopted by New Zealand and the US, and in the latter case, used to evaluate contamination levels following Hurricane Katrina).
We agreed that it was important to evaluate the toxicity of the chemicals as a means to reduce soil erosion. Each company agreed to turn over its data on chemical usage, quantities, timing and methods of application to WWF, while WWF agreed to keep the information confidential. We agreed that we would eventually publish our findings in a peer-reviewed journal. Until then, all data would stay private until we had solutions to address the problem.
The project has changed the way agri-businesses manage banana, citrus, palm oil, pineapple and sugarcane production. By shifting the focus to mutually agreed results, each company was free to identify the best practices for its production system. To date, we have achieved a 50% reduction in overall pesticide toxicity and have targeted a 50% reduction in soil erosion by 2020.
Moreover, the project helped forge newfound trust and partnerships. Companies shared chemical, production and pesticide use data, and allowed WWF on their sites to measure soil erosion. Together we developed a "toxicity model" that enabled the companies to reduce the toxicity of chemicals while maintaining or even increasing production. In fact, a better understanding of these chemicals enabled companies to phase out expensive inputs, saving money and improving profitability.
All this could not have happened but for The Summit Foundation, a single donor with foresight to commit 10 years of funding to reduce soil erosion and agro-chemical toxicity – the two largest threats to the reef.
As this project shows, once we began to identify and measure the impacts, we improved overall performance. This is not only good for the ecosystems of the Mesoamerican Reef, it is good for the bottom line as well. While more work needs to be done to examine the impact of different chemicals on various reef organisms, we've proven that working collaboratively to solve shared problems is not only possible, but profitable.
Jason Clay is senior vice president of market transformation at WWF
Brian Williams The Courier-Mail 20 May 11;
A SERIES of coral-rich deepwater reefs have been discovered off the Queensland coast in what scientists have dubbed the Great Barrier Reef twilight zone.
The reefs in water up to 150m have remained unexplored simply because they are not accessible to most scuba divers.
James Cook University researchers used an underwater robot to look along the Barrier Reef shelf-edge.
Researcher Tom Bridge said yesterday it was the first investigation of such habitats on the Reef, although he could not yet say how many new species had been found.
"Every time we go down, we find new things," he said. "There are new records for Australia, Queensland and the Reef and there's a lot more out there."
All of the species had to be classified before scientists would know just what they had turned up, but they include substantial numbers of sponges.
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Sponges are the chemical factories of the sea.
With medication such as AZT - used to treat AIDS - coming from a sponge, the Reef is considered a drug store worth billions to pharmaceutical manufacturers.
In 2007 a five-year project wound up with about about 1200 sponge species from sandy bottom areas, of which about half were thought to be known to science.
These are still being studied at the Queensland Museum.
Mr Bridge said the latest research used an autonomous underwater vehicle or robot along a 500km strip of the Reef.
Scientists examined three sites up to 200km offshore from Cairns, Townsville and Mackay.
The sites on the edge of the continental shelf past the outermost mapped reefs all contained diverse and unusual coral communities.
Maps of the shelf-edge suggest the colourful, deep-reef habitats may be widespread in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, but most are unexplored.
"Understanding more about the ecology of these habitats is important due to their unique biodiversity, but also because they may provide important refuges for coral reef species from climate change impacts such as coral bleaching," Mr Bridge said.
"There is growing evidence that some deeper reefs are buffered from these sorts of disturbances. Therefore, it is important to know more about them and to use that knowledge to better protect the reef biodiversity."
Robot help finds reefs
James Cook University Science Alert 20 May 11;
An international research team led by researchers from James Cook University using a high-tech underwater robot have discovered diverse coral reef communities living in the unexplored deep waters along the Great Barrier Reef shelf-edge.
Tom Bridge, a PhD Candidate in JCU’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said the findings were a first for this depth of the Reef.
“These reefs occur in an area known as the mesophotic zone, or ‘twilight zone’ because of the lower light levels found there. They have been virtually unexplored because the reefs occur well below the depths accessible to most scuba divers,” Mr Bridge said.
The last few years have seen an increasing interest in deep water reefs around the world, however this was the first investigation of such habitats on the Great Barrier Reef.
Mr Bridge said the study used a recently developed robot, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), to investigate reef and seabed communities up to 150 metres deep along a 500 km length of the Great Barrier Reef.
Together with an international team of scientists, including University of Sydney scientist Dr Jody Webster and Dr Robin Beaman of JCU Cairns, Mr Bridge examined three sites offshore from Cairns, Townsville and Mackay.
Mr Bridge said the sites, which were located on the edge of the continental shelf, outside the outermost mapped reefs, all contained diverse coral communities comprised of a unique combination of corals.
“Some corals were members of species commonly encountered on shallow-water reefs, while others represented types rarely seen by scuba divers,” Mr Bridge said.
“Bathymetric maps of the GBR shelf-edge suggest that these deep reef habitats may be widespread in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, however the vast majority of them are currently unexplored.
“Understanding more about the ecology of these habitats is important due to their unique biodiversity, but also because they may provide important refuges for coral reef species from climate change impacts such as coral bleaching. There is growing evidence that some deeper reefs are buffered from these sorts of disturbances. Therefore, it is important to know more about them and to use that knowledge to better protect the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef.”
Mr Bridge said the AUV, which records a variety of data, was operated by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney.
Mr Bridge said the vehicle took stereo-images of the sea floor in the first instance. “These images overlap so they can be stitched together into a ‘mesh’, to form a 3D image of the seafloor”.
“We then used these 3D images to obtain accurate estimates of the rugosity, or topographic complexity, and slope of the substrate, which we used to explain the distribution of the reef communities.
“The AUV also collected a variety of other environmental data including multibeam swath bathymetry, conductivity-temperature-depth, turbidity and chlorophyll.”
The team’s paper was published in the latest edition of the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.
Yahoo News 19 May 11;
ROME (AFP) – The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation said Thursday it will help ten countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus to save farmland from a locust crisis threatening food security for 20 million people.
"Locusts are a serious threat for agriculture, food security and livelihoods in both regions, including adjacent areas of northern Afghanistan and the southern Russian Federation," the Rome-based FAO said in a statement.
The food agency said it was about to start a five-year programme to save up to 25 million hectares of cultivated farmland, with assistance from the United States.
Many of the countries involved have requested aid from the FAO in curbing the swarms of locusts, which are able to fly up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) a day and adapt easily to changing weather patterns, including climate change.
"As borders are situated across the locust traditional habitats and breeding areas, when a country is facing locust infestations, it is more than likely that at least one neighbouring country faces a similar situation," FAO locust expert Annie Monard said.
The agency said the programme hopes to introduce new techniques for locust control using less environmentally hazardous pesticides, including bio-pesticides.
Anti-locust programme in Central Asia and Caucasus
Locusts threaten food security of 20 million
FAO 19 May 11;
19 May 2011, Rome – FAO will assist ten countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus to save up to 25 million hectares of cultivated farmland from a locust crisis. Locusts are a serious threat for agriculture, food security and livelihoods in both regions including adjacent areas of northern Afghanistan and the southern Russian Federation.
A five-year programme to develop national capacities and launch regional cooperation is about to start thanks to assistance from the United States of America. Support from other donors is expected soon.
Ten countries at risk
In all, ten countries are at risk: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. There are three locust pests in the region — Italian, Moroccan and Migratory locusts — which can attack all kinds of crops and plants.
“As borders are situated across the locust traditional habitats and breeding areas, when a country is facing locust infestations, it is more than likely that at least one neighboring country faces a similar situation,” said Annie Monard, FAO Locust Officer.
These migrant pests, able to fly up to 100 kilometres a day, are extremely opportunistic, adapting quickly to changing weather patterns, including those associated with climate change.
Central Asian and Caucasian countries made official requests to FAO for assistance in curbing locust outbreaks and related impact on food security and in developing transborder cooperation.
The FAO Locust Group initiated a process for assessing the needs and helping countries to improve national and regional locust management; a two-year project (2009-2011), funded through its Technical Cooperation Programme, contributed to this effort.
Together with the concerned countries, FAO then prepared a five-year programme for sustainable management of locust issues in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The programme is based on the key concepts of locust preventive control and is part of the locust component of the agency's EMPRES Programme.
The programme promotes preparedness, early warning and early reaction. It also seeks to introduce new techniques for locust control using less environmentally hazardous pesticides, including bio-pesticides.
A major contribution to this programme was recently received from USAID ($1.6 million) and negotiations are underway with other donors such as the Russian Federation, France and Turkey, which indicated their willingness to support the approach.
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