Best of our wild blogs: 2 Oct 11

Lively St. John's Island
from wild shores of singapore

Rubber - Fruit and Seed
from Mountain and Sea

Little Bronze Cuckoo processing a hairy caterpillar
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Lords of the Rings? - Singapore's Ypthima species
from Butterflies of Singapore

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Traces of fuel vapour remain in affected area after Shell Bukom fire

Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 1 Oct 11;

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) says traces of fuel vapour remain in the affected area, two days after the blaze at Shell's Pulau Bukom oil refinery was extinguished on Thursday after a 32-hour battle.

The oil giant and authorities are monitoring the situation, and a fresh batch of firefighters was sent to the island on Saturday morning.

Giving an update, Shell said foaming operations are continuing at parts of the incident site, with damage confined to the vicinity of the pump house.

It added other facilities and units are not affected and only essential operating personnel are on the island.

Shell said it's too early to assess how much the fire will cost the company.

It said efforts are ongoing to bring the situation back to normal at the refinery, the company's biggest.

The company does not expect any shutdown units to be restarted until a thorough investigation has been conducted and safety is assured.

The Ministry of Manpower has stepped in to investigate the cause of the fire.

Shell said it deeply regrets the incident and is talking to customers to address product supply and minimise any potential impact on them.

- CNA/ir

Fuel vapour remains after blaze: SCDF
Today Online 2 Oct 11 04:46 AM
SINGAPORE - The Singapore Civil Defence Force says traces of fuel vapour remain in the affected area after the blaze at Shell's Pulau Bukom oil refinery was extinguished on Thursday after a 32-hour battle.

The oil giant and the authorities are monitoring the situation, and a fresh batch of firefighters was sent to the island yesterday morning.

Giving an update, Shell said foaming operations are continuing at parts of the site, with damage contained to the pump-house's vicinity.

It added that other facilities and units are not affected and only essential operating personnel are on the island.

Shell said it was too early to assess how much the fire will cost the company, adding that efforts are in progress to bring the situation back to normal at the refinery - its largest. It does not expect any shut-down units to be restarted until a thorough probe has been conducted and safety is assured.

The Manpower Ministry has stepped in to investigate the cause of the fire. Dylan Loh

Traces of fuel vapour in Pulau Bukom: SCDF
Tan Dawn Wei Straits Times 2 Oct 11;

Even though the fire at the Shell refinery on Pulau Bukom has been fully extinguished, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is still continuing foaming operations as there are still traces of fuel vapour in the affected areas.

It relieved its fire fighters on Saturday morning and sent in a new crew. About 100 fire fighters, 13 fire engines and 21 support vehicles remain on the island.

Shell said only essential operating personnel are left on the island. Damage was contained to the vicinity of the pump house and other facilities in Bukom are unaffected by the fire, which started on Wednesday.

Shell said it deeply regrets the incident and is talking to its customers about how to minimise the impact of the supply of products to them.

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Indonesia: Do More to Stop the Towers of Plastic Waste Growing, Activists Urge Government

Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 1 Oct 11;

The government needs to follow other countries’ examples and get Indonesia to kick its addiction to plastic bags.

That’s basically what environmental activists urged on Friday, stating that current initiatives have failed to reduce Indonesia’s use of plastic bags.

Muhammad Ali Akbar, fundraising coordinator for local environmental NGO Walhi, said the country needs to add a ministerial decree or a bylaw on technical requirements for the production and use of plastic bags to the 2009 Law on Environmental Protection and Management.

“The growing pile of plastic waste is unsightly and not easily degradable by microorganisms,” he said, adding that the “abuse” of plastic bags had to stop to avoid further environmental damage.

Jakarta produced about 6,000 tons of waste daily in 2010, according to the city’s sanitation office.

“That year alone, the amount of waste generated by Jakartans was more than 185 times the volume of Borobudur Temple, or 55,000 cubic meters,” Ali added.

After Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo began a campaign against plastic bags in February 2010, Jakarta’s chapter of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) signed an agreement with local administration to use fewer plastic bags at stores.

The Association of Indonesian Retailers (Aprindo) decided to help by promoting shopping bags made from recycled materials, and the Jakarta Sanitation Office, in collaboration with the Indonesia Solid Waste Association (InSWA), urged 40 large retailers in May to use plastic bags that are more environmentally friendly.

InSWA and the city government asked small and medium enterprises as well as local businesses to join the movement. As of September, 60 retailers were participating in the program, Sri Bebassari from InSWA said.

“We gave them rewards to motivate them,” she said.

Head of Jakarta’s Kadin, Edi Kuntadi, said his institution and the Jakarta government will evaluate the plastic bag campaign by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the NGO Walhi is campaigning for a plastic bag diet, working in coordination with printer cartridge refill manufacturer Veneta System and celebrity Melanie Subono.

“Companies such as Veneta, which has 150 outlets nationwide, can help us spread the word about the environmental destruction caused by plastic,” Ali said.

This is Walhi’s first time collaborating with companies on one of its campaigns, Ali told the Jakarta Globe.

“We have been very picky and some people even considered us as ‘exclusive,’ but we realize that we need to reach a larger audience,” Ali said.

“Veneta is also required to commit itself in our campaign for a year and to introduce environmentally friendly practices in its business, including biodegradable plastic bags,” he said.

Additional reporting by Ulma Haryanto

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Trinidad & Tobago: Government ends all sea turtle hunting

Trinidad Guardian 1 Oct 11;

Government is moving steadily in its effort to cease the slaughtering of turtles after Cabinet approved an amendment of the Fisheries Act earlier this week. The amendment seeks to protect Turtles and Turtle eggs under Section 4 Chapter 67:51 of the Act. Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath said the amendment was a landmark piece of legislation which prohibits the killing, harpooning and sale of turtles.

Bharath made the disclosure as he delivered the feature address at the commissioning of the upgraded Claxton Bay Fish landing site yesterday. He said: “I wish to announce to you that earlier this week I received Cabinet approval for the amendment to the Protection of Turtle and Turtle Eggs Regulations.”

He read the Act which stated: “No person shall, at any time, kill, harpoon, catch or otherwise take possession of any turtle, or purchase, sell, offer or expose for sale or cause to be sold or offered for sale any turtle or turtle meat”.

He further explained: “As you may be aware, Trinidad and Tobago holds the unique position of having nesting populations of five of the seven species of marine turtles occurring worldwide and has one of the largest nesting populations of leatherback turtles in the world, second only to Africa.”

Bharath said that all turtles were regarded as critically endangered worldwide according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) to which T&T was a party.

“What this therefore means, members of the fishing community, is that no longer can turtles be considered a “by-catch”. It is our goal to foster the sustainable use and conservation of fisheries resources, and we urge you to join us,” Bharath said.

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UK: Coastal structures design could help plants and animals

BBC 1 Oct 11;

Changing the way sea walls, breakwaters, rock armour and jetties are designed could help Britain's coastline ecology.

Exeter and Plymouth universities have been working with environmental consultants to produce guidance for the design of coastal defence structures.

Researchers claim adding a rough surface to a concrete structure could help increase biodiversity.

The work has been carried out with the support of the Environment Agency (EA).

Previous research has indicated that hard coastal structures, unlike natural rocky shores, often support only a few opportunistic species, such as green algae.
'Valuable' guide

The research team not only examined structures across the South West coast, including Ilfracombe in Devon and Newlyn in Cornwall, but looked at Sydney Harbour in Australia and Seattle Harbour in the US.

They focused on organisms such as barnacles and limpets which dominate rocky shore environments and rapidly colonise hard surfaces, including harbour walls.

Once established, other plants and animals typically follow, to the benefit of species such as salmon.

Dr Larissa Naylor, from the University of Exeter, said small changes to the surface of new structures could improve the number and type of species colonising them.

"Coastal defence structures are essential in protecting people, homes and businesses from flooding and erosion, however, they also impact on the biodiversity of our coastlines," she said.

"This will become even more important as these risks increase as a result of climate change and more hard coastal infrastructure is required in certain locations.

"We have shown that by making small changes, such as producing surfaces that are rough rather than smooth, or leaving niches in sea walls, we can ensure these structures support much more wildlife."

EA staff will look at the recommendations to consider how they could be used in future coastal developments.
'Economic benefit'

"This research is the first to consider the practical challenges of including enhancements into the planning, design and construction of rock and concrete coastal structures," EA spokesman David Baxter said.

"It provides a valuable guide to the techniques that are available and it will therefore be of great interest to those involved in coastal defence works including our own staff, local authority planners, marine regulators, contractors, environmental consultants and landowners."

Prof Richard Thompson, from Plymouth University, said the guidance would not only help the environment but could also have an economic benefit.

"This research not only establishes the viability of using engineered structures to enhance the field habitat for marine life, but it demonstrates the potential to boost stocks of commercially important shellfish using this approach."

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