Best of our wild blogs: 23 Mar 13

Through the lens of my camera
from Psychedelic Nature

Site Allocation Exercise for ICCS2013: Round 1 completed!
from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

二月双溪布洛华语导游 Mandarin guided walk@SBWR, February (XXXVIII) from PurpleMangrove

Brown-throated Sunbird takes nectar from Melaleuca cajuputi
from Bird Ecology Study Group and In-between White-breasted waterhen

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Singapore's next challenge: 'Treating more seawater with less energy'

David Ee Straits Times 23 Mar 12;

EVEN if Singapore realises its quest to supply all of its own water, it faces another challenge: acquiring the energy it takes to produce the water.

That was the point raised by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan at yesterday's book launch of The Singapore Water Story, which chronicles the country's rise to becoming a world leader in water management.

"Singapore has to realise that, in fact, we have translated a dependence on water to a dependence on energy...as long as you've got energy, you've got water," said the minister at the National University of Singapore's Bukit Timah campus.

The technologies employed in water treatment here today, for example, reverse osmosis, require substantial amounts of energy.

The Minister explained that as the country becomes more water self-sufficient, this "simply substitutes one strategic vulnerability for another".

To meet its energy challenge, Singapore will have rely on the same things that worked in its water story - political resolve, a clear vision, the right pricing, and a commitment to technology.

Today, Singapore produces at least 40 per cent of its own water needs - with three quarters coming from reclaimed Newater, and the rest from treated seawater.

National water agency PUB wants this to double to 80 per cent by 2060.

Reverse osmosis, the most common method to treat seawater here, typically uses up to 4.5 kilowatt hours to produce 1,000 litres of desalinated water.

That is enough energy to power an HDB flat for several hours.

But PUB is seeking to reduce these levels with new technologies. For example, it is working with Keppel Seghers to develop Memstill technology, which uses waste heat to treat seawater. The process can reduce energy use by up to two-thirds.

It is also exploring longer term solutions such as bio-mimicry, which copies the way some plants and animals treat seawater for their survival, using negligible amounts of energy.

By 2060, Singapore's water usage could double to almost 800 million gallons a day, enough to fill more than 1,200 Olympic-size swimming pools each day.

Managing supply of water & rising energy costs a challenge for Singapore
Vimita Mohandas Channel NewsAsia 22 Mar 13;

SINGAPORE: The government says that maintaining a stable supply of water against rising energy costs is a key challenge for Singapore.

This is because Singapore has been turning to technology to convert waste water into potable water - which requires energy.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, said this at the launch of the "Singapore Water Story" book on Friday.

The book charts Singapore's success in its water strategies over the last five decades.

It also discusses Singapore's evolving framework to meet current demands on industrial and domestic water uses. Readers will also learn about the implementation of pricing and the mandatory water conservation strategies.

But experts say hurdles remain ahead.

PUB chairman Tan Gee Paw said: "The big challenge would be to ensure sustainability of supply against rising energy costs. The sustainability of the water supply is extremely important to us. Then there's the issue of water security, going into the future, because of climate change and the threat of drought."

Dr Balakrishnan said the success of the Singapore water story is a combination of getting the right formula of politics, economics and technology.

For example, other countries which do not charge for water can learn from Singapore's strategy of charging for water.

"The price that we charge for water at the tap in Singapore...full price is 1,000 times cheaper than the price of water in a bottle," he said.

Experts also said politicians have to be steadfast, like then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, to ensure a success story like Singapore's.

Asit Biswas, founder of Third World Centre for Water Management in Mexico, said: "Every month, when the Singapore River was being cleaned up, he wanted the report on his desk... what's happening, what's the progress, what are the problems. So he was consistently looking at how to make Singapore more water self-sufficient."

Biswas is also a visiting professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School for Public Policy in Singapore.

The book is available at Books Kinokuniya, and a Mandarin version is under way.

- CNA/ir

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S$4m system to monitor Singapore’s coastal waters

New Neptune system will let authorities respond quickly to pollution incidents, track where they originated
Kelly Ng Today Online 23 Mar 13;

SINGAPORE — A new water-monitoring system that allows for real-time monitoring of the waters around Singapore has been launched, so that the authorities can respond more quickly to water pollution incidents and potential pollution hotspots.

With the new system, called Neptune, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will also be able to send out alerts of chemical spills and algae blooms to the public through its mobile application myENV by the end of this year, so that the public would know which spots to avoid for recreational activities like swimming.

In 2008, the NEA found the waters at Pasir Ris beach unsuitable for swimming in, as the bacteria count of enterococcus, which is found in human faeces, was too high. The beach was declared safe for swimming last year.

The NEA said Neptune would allow for earlier alerts and more “timely” responses to such incidents.

“With Neptune, we will have better capabilities to backtrack and see where the pollution originated,” said a spokesperson for the NEA.

The S$4-million system was jointly developed by the NEA and Singapore Delft Water Alliance.

Comprising eight solar-powered buoy-based stations, the final buoy was deployed yesterday at Cyrene, an offshore reef.

Speaking at the deployment, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan called this a “critical” development, given that Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world.

“We want to maintain a safe, high-quality (maritime) environment ... (Real-time data will) allow us to anticipate problems or the evolution of a problem even as it occurs.

“This is also a symbol of our commitment to make sure that environment data is transparent and available to all stakeholders,” Dr Balakrishnan added.

Each buoy tracks and sends live updates of the ocean conditions to an operational management system located on mainland Singapore for processing.

Parameters measured include pH, algal nutrients and concentration of dissolved oxygen.

They each weigh about 1,000kg and are fitted with Global Positioning Systems and anti-theft alarms.

All eight buoys were deployed over this month. A test will be carried out in the next year for necessary modifications to be made.

Neptune will complement the NEA’s current manual water monitoring programme, in which officers collect water samples from six designated locations and analyse them in laboratories.

New coastal water quality monitoring system launched
Seet Sok Hwee, Tan Qiuyi Channel NewsAsia 22 Mar 13;

SINGAPORE: A new system to monitor the quality of Singapore's coastal waters was launched on Friday morning, in conjunction with World Water Day.

Eight stations which monitor the quality of Singapore's coastal waters continuously have been deployed in the Straits of Johor and the Straits of Singapore. The system is named Neptune.

Each station is about four metres high and weighs about 1,000 kilogrammes. The stations run on solar power.

Vivian Balakrishnan, minister for environment and water resources, said: "It's the first in the world, where we're not just monitoring a bay or a pond, but islandwide. They'll provide us real-time data which will allow us to keep very close tabs on any emerging pollutants, or any other changes in the seas and waters around us, as well as to keep track of any land-based pollutants which might spill over into the sea.

"This is a significant development for NEA (National Environment Agency) and for Singapore. It's also a symbol of our commitment to make sure that environmental data is transparent, is made available to all stakeholders. We will do our best to make sure everyone plays their part to protect our seas and the waters and the environment."

The system cost the NEA some S$4 million.

- CNA/xq

Buoy oh buoy, there's an oil spill coming in
Grace Chua Straits Times 23 Mar 13;


One of the eight buoys being deployed off Cyrene Reef, near Jurong Island. Each buoy acts as its own chemistry lab, testing coastal waters for pollutants and sending continuous real-time updates wirelessly to the National Environment Agency. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA

SHOULD an oil spill occur off Singapore, the public can now get an earlier warning on when and where it will first hit.

All thanks to a network of eight specially outfitted buoys along the coastline, the last of which was installed yesterday.

It is part of a $4 million ocean-monitoring system called Neptune, named after the Roman god of the sea.

Each buoy acts as its own chemistry lab, testing coastal waters for pollutants and sending continuous real-time updates wirelessly to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The data is integrated into a computer model, developed in collaboration with the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, that simulates how tides and currents flow and shift with the weather.

This gives the NEA early warnings of oil and chemical spills, allowing it to trace the source of pollutants. It will also help the agency predict the impact of future developments on water quality.

And by about the end of this year, the public will be able to use some of that data, by checking NEA's MyENV mobile app, to see what the water quality is like at the beach.

The coastal necklace of buoys will complement a more traditional existing method: NEA officers going out on a boat to take weekly or monthly water samples.

The system will be fine-tuned for a year and be fully operational by April next year, and more buoys could be added if they are needed.

Over the past two weeks, the 4m-tall, 1-tonne buoys had been deployed one by one from Changi to Tuas.

As the sun came up yesterday morning, the final buoy was anchored off Cyrene Reef near Jurong Island.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who viewed the launch, said the system will help in crisis management.

"Let's take the example of an oil spill," he explained. "We want to be able to predict how extensive it will be, where it will make landfall, the deployment of our resources to do the cleanup. All that will depend on the fact that we've got realtime data to guide us..."

In May 2010, an oil spill occurred off Changi East, and agencies had to rely on satellite images that were often obscured by clouds to work out where the spill was headed.

Added NEA chief executive Andrew Tan: "What you cannot monitor, what you cannot track - you cannot deal with."

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Excavation works for new MRT line caused Woodlands sinkhole

Jermyn Chow Straits Times 23 Mar 13;

IT WAS excavation works for the Downtown Line 2 that caused last Saturday's massive sinkhole on Woodlands Road. The construction destabilised the soil, which ruptured an underground water pipe.

The soil movement and pipe's rupture then weakened the ground under the road, causing the sinkhole to open up.

That is according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), which has concluded its investigation into the cause of the incident.

The sinkhole, which was as wide as one of the road's lanes, appeared near West View Primary School, next to where construction work for Downtown Line 2 is being carried out.

It is the second one that has been reported near a construction site for the new train line, which will run from Bugis to Bukit Panjang.

The first happened last July, when a section of Bukit Timah Road near the Newton flyover, in the direction of the Stevens Road intersection, sank.

Last weekend's cave-in was also the fourth sinkhole to be reported this year. On Jan 30, a sinkhole appeared on Keppel Road.

This was followed by a 2m- wide and 3m-deep hole that appeared on Clementi Road on March 8. Five days after it was filled, it caved in again.

The spate of sinkholes has put the spotlight on the construction projects undertaken by the LTA, as it continues to dig underground to build more rail lines, such as the 16.6km Downtown Line 2, in which 19 tunnel boring machines are being used.

To prevent the Woodlands stretch from sinking again, an LTA spokesman said it will continue to "actively monitor ground movement and carry out works to stabilise soil conditions".

More people will also be deployed to conduct daily inspection of the road, the spokesman added.

The Straits Times understands that LTA engineers already take two to three years to investigate the soil condition and foundation records of nearby buildings, before deciding on construction methods and how deep to dig tunnels for a rail line.

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Indonesia: Green Group Calls Asia Pulp and Paper Forest Policy ‘Artful Deception’

Rosa O'Hara Jakarta Globe 20 Mar 13;

An environmental think tank has accused paper giant Asia Pulp and Paper of attempting to purposefully deceive the public and its stakeholders with its new conservation policy.

In a report released on Monday titled “APP’s Artful Deception,” Greenomics Indonesia, a group that says it is devoted to empirical-based policy approaches for the conservation of natural resources, claimed that no significant amount of natural forest or forested peatland has been saved through Asia Pulp and Paper’s conservation policy.

APP announced its new forest conservation policy on Feb. 5, calling it “a high-profile forest conservation policy on the part of one of the largest pulp and paper producers in the world.”

But Greenomics Indonesia claimed that the deliberate framing of APP’s report as an attempt to conserve natural forest and forested peatlands was both inaccurate and misleading.

The policy institute claimed that APP purposefully delayed committing to a new conservation policy until its current projects that involve the clearance of natural forest and forested peatland had been completed.

APP finished most its projects prior to Jan. 31, the deadline for the moratorium on the clearing of natural forest and forested peatland under its new policy.

Furthermore, though APP announced a planned suspension of natural forest clearance in Indonesia last year, “the actual extent of the natural forest to be covered by the suspension ... was very surprising,” the report said.

“In fact, it was revealed that almost no natural forest or conflict-free areas were involved. In concrete terms, the area of natural forest that would benefit from the moratorium only amounted to some 200 hectares out of more than 1.15 million hectares included within the relevant concessions.”

The report added that any areas of forest within APP pulpwood plantations that remained intact were not due to the new conservation policy.

In the case of Riau Indo Agropalma’s pulpwood plantation concession, almost all of the area was cleared before the deadline, with only small remnants of forest remaining.

“It would be disingenuous to claim these as being the results of the new APP forest conservation policy,” Greenomics Indonesia said.

These areas remain untouched due to previously existing protection zones, occupation by local communities or designation for crop production, lack of road access, or because they are areas that APP has attempted to clear but with no success, the report noted.

“[RIA] is clearing blocks of forested peatland located in living crop block, which are intended for partnership ventures with local communities,” Greenomics Indonesia said.

Prior to report’s release, APP explained its collaborative efforts to conserve natural forests.

“To help bring positive change on the ground, we are working closely in both Indonesia and China with The Forest Trust, which is providing advice, guidance, capacity-building and monitoring on issues around high-conservation-value forests, high-carbon-stock forests, peatland clearance, community conflict and other operational issues affecting environmental and social performance,” APP told environment news website mongabay.com recently. “We will continue to keep stakeholders and the wider NGO community updated on our progress and welcome further input”

APP was previously accused of unethical behavior by Greenpeace in 2010.

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Indonesia: Mangroves in S. Sulawesi face uncertain future

Andi Hajramurni Jakarta Post 22 Mar 13;

South Sulawesi is facing massive mangrove forest destruction as over the past 30 years deforestation and pollution have taken their toll and damaged almost 90 percent of the total original areas.

The Mangrove Action Project (MAP) Indonesia recorded that the damage had reached 89 percent, citing that the worst damage took place in the 1980s.

The deforestation rate of mangrove forests has reached 2.2 percent annually. Currently, the province only has around 22,353 hectares of mangrove forests.

“Before 1980, South Sulawesi had 214,000 of mangrove forest hectares by 1991 only 23,000 hectares remained,” said MAP Indonesia project director Ratnawati Fadillah during a seminar on mangrove rehabilitation and aquaculture development in Makassar.

According to Makassar’s Hassanuddin University’s Forestry School dean Baharuddin Nurkin, mangrove forest destruction in South Sulawesi had been affected by several factors, with the main factor being forest conversion into fish farms, around 70 percent, followed by housing and logging for charcoal as well as for the paper and pulp industries.

The conversion of mangrove forests into fish farms was as a result of a government policy in the early 1980s that instructed local fisheries and maritime affairs offices to carry out intensification of shrimp cultivation, which was then a major export commodity and earned the state a huge amount of money.

However, the policy had not been followed up by good planning, so much so it led to a surplus of shrimp and around 30 percent of the 70 percent of mangrove forests, which had been converted into shrimp farms, were abandoned because of the huge production costs and low profits.

The mangrove forest in Tanakeke Island, Takalar regency, South Sulawesi, in the early 1980s, was 1,770 hectares and after conversion, for idle and failed fish farms, only 500 hectares remain.

Baharuddin said in the 1970s, more than 30 species of mangrove trees grew along the Rongkong River banks in North Luwu. According to him, the worst mangrove forest destruction took place in North Luwu, East Luwu, Wajo and Takalar regencies and Makassar municipality.

A mangrove expert from Hasanuddin University’s Marine Science School, Amran Saru, said that the community suffered the most from mangrove destruction, especially the fishing and coastal communities, because they were the ones who shouldered the brunt of the impact.

Mangrove destruction leads to coastal erosion and the destruction of spawning places for a number of organisms and marine biota, including fish, shrimp, crabs and shellfish. Other impacts include seawater intrusion, which pollutes local wells with salty water.

Amran claimed that restoration and reforestation efforts had been carried out but could not compete with the pace of destruction. The success rate of mangrove forest restoration in South Sulawesi is only 26 percent annually, which is higher figure than the national rate of only 10 percent.

He added that the government must issue mangrove forest utilization and aquaculture management regulations and carry out extensive restoration and reforestation programs in order to save the mangrove forests.

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WWF exposes seven sins of dam building

WWF 22 Mar 13;

Gland/Berlin - On World Water Day, WWF criticizes dam projects worldwide that continue to violate fundamental sustainability criteria.

In the WWF report, “Seven Sins of Dam Building,” numerous dam projects under construction or planned are given a failing review by the conservation organization. Aside from the internationally controversial Belo Monte (Brazil) and Xayaburi (Laos) dams, European projects, such as in Austria and Turkey, are also on the list..

The ‘seven sins’ outlined in the report include issues with dam location, neglecting biodiversity, environmental flows, social and economic factors, and risk analysis. WWF also notes that dam decisions often blindly follow “a bias to build” without considering better, cheaper, and less damaging alternatives.

“Properly planned, built, and operated dams can contribute to food and energy security. Unfortunately, short-term interests are too often the focus of decision-making,” says Dr. Jian-hua Meng, Water Security Specialist for WWF.

“In order to guarantee acceptable levels of social and environmental sustainability, dam installations and operations should be stringently checked against sustainability criteria as formulated under the World Commission on Dams or the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol. If necessary, insufficiently performing projects must be modified or halted,” added Meng.

No sustainable outcomes can be expected when dam proponents rely on superior financial strength and political connections rather than on dialogue, transparency, and reason, says WWF.

Additionally, some governments lack the capacity or independence to protect public interests.

Successful and overall long-term beneficial dam projects need more than just the legal regulator's approval, according to the report.

“For large-scale projects, operators must also obtain the ‘social license to operate’. Acceptance of the project by the population is fundamental to sustainable management,” says Meng. “Negative effects, such as relocation, destruction of cultural sites, or the collapse of local fisheries are still too often dismissed as somebody else’s problem.”

Scientific evidence and risk assessments too frequently lose out to one-sided political or economic agendas, according to the report.

Subsequently, dams are still planned and built in ecologically high value areas and biodiversity loss is still too often not accounted for. Serious impacts, caused by a change in the natural water flow dynamics or the disappearance of wetlands, are still not given consideration.

Moreover, the size of a dam is not necessarily a deciding factor. Though numerous mega-projects can be found in the report’s case studies, the cumulative impact of many small hydro projects, like for instance in Romania, cannot be underestimated.

The problems are not limited to developing and emerging countries. G7 companies and engineers continue to not only push projects forward in emerging markets that are unacceptable by global standards, but also in the heart of the EU and North America, reproaches WWF.

For example, heavy ecological deterioration looms for three alpine valleys in the Ötztal Alps in Austria, if the extension of the Kaunertal hydroelectric power plants is implemented with the current plans, the report cites.

“WWF reviewed nine dams and we found that many projects commit not just one, but many grave sins of dam building. However, these errors are avoidable. Lack of capacity, economic pressure, or specific regional circumstances can no longer be presented as excuses,” Meng stated.

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