Best of our wild blogs: 15 Jan 15

Sun 18 Jan’15- The Tan Kheam Hock Founders Day Walk
from a.t.Bukit Brown. Heritage. Habitat. History.

Observation of Anting by Vinous-breasted Starling
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Malaysia: Green light for Johor Forest City

SIM BAK HENG New Straits Times 14 Jan 15;

JOHOR BARU: After weeks of reviewing, the Department of Environment (DoE) has finally granted its approval to the detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA) report of the controversial Forest City project.

With the approval letter in hand, this means that Country Garden Pacificview (CGPV), the master developer for the project, could commence this mammoth offshore project at any time now.

Today, CGPV announced that the DoE has granted the approval for the DEIA report, which covers the measures proposed to minimise or mitigate environmental impacts through integrated and workable solutions.

Speaking about the approval, Datuk Md. Othman, the executive director of CGPV, said the next step is to ensure that all compliance monitoring, in terms of air, noise, water quality and sediment, are robustly implemented and carried out.

"This is one of our immediate priorities to minimise the impact to the local communities and ensure that the surrounding ecology are well preserved.

“This is a massive step forward in our goal to bring sustainable development to the state.

"The project is consistent with the Government’s vision as outlined in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). Upon completion, it is expected that new job opportunities will be created for vast numbers of citizens.”

Environment Department green-lights Johor Forest City project
NELSON BENJAMIN The Star 14 Jan 15;

JOHOR BARU: The Environment Department (DOE) has given the green light for the Forest City project to continue.

In a statement on Wednesday, the project’s master developer Country Garden Pacificview said that the department had approved the Detailed Environment Impact Assessment (DEIA) for the proposed forest city island reclamation and mixed development.

The statement added that the DEIA covers the measures proposed to minimise or mitigate environmental impact through integrated and workable solutions, which were accepted by the DOE.

The Forest City project will create four man-made islands with a gross development value of RM600bil over a period of 30 years.

It is a joint venture between the state government’s subsidiary company Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ) and real estate developer from China, Country Garden.

Proposed Johor multi-billion-ringgit Forest City Project scaled down
NELSON BENJAMIN The Star 15 Jan 15;

JOHOR BARU: The controversial multi-billion-ringgit Forest City Project, which was suspended for about six months, has finally been given the green light to resume, after being scaled down by at least 30%.

The project, which was initially slated to cover 1,978ha, has now been scaled down by approximately 610ha to 1,368.05ha.

The project is expected to resume following the Department of Environment (DOE) approval of the project’s detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA) on Jan 9.

Johor Health and Environment executive committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat confirmed that he had been informed that the DOE had given the nod for the project to resume.

“However, there are conditions which come with the approval and I hope the developer will fulfil all these conditions,” he told StarBiz here.

But when asked about the conditions, he said he had yet to read the contents of the report, as he was on leave and would be going away to perform his umrah.

Asked when the project was expected to resume, he said he was not sure, adding, however, that the developer would be able to proceed with the development now that the DEIA report was out.

The project, by Chinese developer Country Garden Pacificview (CGPV), will create four man-made islands with a gross development value of RM600bil over a period of 30 years.

It is a joint-venture between the state Government’s subsidiary company Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor and China real estate developer Country Garden Holdings Ltd.

Many quarters had in the past voiced concerns, mainly local fishermen and residents, over their livelihood and the dangers to the marine life in Gelang Patah.

Even the Singapore Government had expressed its concerns about the project in a note to Putrajaya, resulting in the project being temporarily halted, pending the outcome of the DEIA.

CGPV voluntarily ceased construction on June 16 last year because the DOE had requested a DEIA to accompany the project’s viability assessment and the state government approvals.

In the past, the state DOE had given CGPV the clearance to start reclamation works for the first phase of about 49.3ha, but ceased operations in June last year when concerns were raised about the project.

At the height of the issue, there were conflicting reports over the DEIA report, including the possibility that the project would be scaled down.

Meanwhile, CGPV, when asked about the number of conditions imposed by the DOE with regards to the DEIA approval, replied that “we are highly committed to ensuring all the environmental factors are thoroughly assessed and mitigated. Upon commencement of the work, we will submit an updated Environmental Management Plan together with a frequent third-party audit as requested by the DOE”.

Meanwhile, CGPV executive director Datuk Md Othman in a statement said that the DEIA covered the measures proposed to minimise or mitigate environmental impacts through integrated and workable solutions, which were acceptable to the DOE.

“Our next step is to ensure that all compliance monitoring, in terms of air, noise, water quality and sediments, is robustly implemented and carried out.

“One of our immediate priorities is to minimise the impact to the local communities and ensure the surrounding ecology is well-preserved.

“On behalf of CGPV, I will like to extend my appreciation to all parties who have made their contributions to the DEIA.

“Rest assured that we will continue to work closely with all stakeholders and regulatory authorities to ensure the project development always takes into consideration the needs of the communities and the environment,” he added.

He further stated that the approval of the DEIA was a step forward in its goal to bring sustainable development to the state.

Othman added that among the tangible benefits include diversifying the income base and improving the quality of living of the local communities by providing workshops and training schools in different sectors, rejuvenating the infrastructure in the area.

Among them include the building of a new access road, the construction of power stations and a new water reticulation system.

“We hope to increase investment activities in the region by creating an investment corridor,” he added.

In about-turn, KL approves bigger area for Forest City project
Today Online 15 Jun 15;

KUALA LUMPUR — In an apparent reversal of its earlier reported stance, Malaysia’s Department of Environment (DOE) has greenlighted the RM600 billion (S$228 billion) Forest City mixed-development project in Johor.

The decision comes barely a week after reports in Malaysia quoted the DOE as saying only a fraction of the project — 405ha, instead of the developer’s planned 1,386ha — would be given the go-ahead. Yesterday, however, the developer said approval had been given for 1,386ha — only a shade smaller than the original plan of 1,623ha.

Country Garden Pacific View (CGPV) said yesterday that the DOE had approved the project’s detailed environmental impact assessment report (DEIA), which means the developer can now proceed with earthwork and construction.

The developer said in a statement that reclamation would continue, but with the project’s total size slightly reduced. The project, now divided into four reclaimed islands, instead of one huge island nearly three times the size of Ang Mo Kio as originally planned, will have a total size of 1,386ha — smaller than the 1,623ha proposed by the firm.

However, the latest development is a reversal of the DOE’s announcement last week that it would impose a limit of 405ha on the developer.

The Malaysian Insider reported last week that the DOE had verbally informed CGPV of the new limits, after complaints from locals and the Singapore Government over reclamation work in the narrow waterway between Malaysia and the island state.

For now, CGPV said its “next step is to ensure all compliance monitoring, in terms of air, noise, water quality and sediment, is robustly implemented and carried out”.

“This is one of our immediate priorities, minimising the impact on local communities and ensuring the surrounding ecology is well preserved,” said CGPV executive director Md Othman Yusof.

The Forest City project will see four man-made islands built in the waters in Tanjung Kupang between south-western Johor and the north-west of Singapore. The mixed-development project will include residential and commercial lots.

Mr Md Othman said the project was “consistent with the government’s vision as outlined in the Economic Transformation Programme”.

CGPV is a 66-34 per cent joint venture between China’s Country Garden Holdings and Esplanade Danga 88, whose main shareholder is the Sultan of Johor. Johor state company Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ) is also a partner.

Several media reports last year said following a diplomatic note from Singapore, the DEIA was conducted because of the project’s location near the Malaysia-Singapore border and coastal reclamation work involved.

The assignment was initially approved by the Johor DOE in January last year, but work at the project’s site was halted in June after the developer was instructed to submit a DEIA.

The project is being implemented off the coast where fishing communities and villages make a living from sea produce and agriculture in the Tanjung Kupang area.

Fishermen and fish-farm operators have blamed land reclamation work for mass fish deaths in the area, but the developer has denied this.

The firm that prepared the DEIA report, however, had apparently raised caution about dredging and sedimentation caused by the project that would affect the seabed, said the New Straits Times, which had obtained a copy of the report and reported on it last month.

The paper said despite mitigation measures to cushion the environmental impact, including the use of a “silt curtain” around the reclamation area, experts had said more damage could be expected. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Controversial Johor Strait land reclamation project Forest City gets the go-ahead
MARISSA LEE Straits Times 14 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE - Construction and reclamation for a luxury housing project to be built on a man-made island in the Johor Strait will continue, with Malaysia's Department of Environment (DoE) giving the developer the go-ahead.

Work on the project off Tuas had been suspended from last June as concerns about its environmental impact were raised on both sides of the border. Since then, all parties have been waiting for a final verdict from the DoE.

Singapore conveyed its concerns about the project on a number of occasions to the Malaysian government, asking for more information on the reclamation and construction works.

Apart from the project which is called Forest City, a group of investors is also planning a 1,410ha reclamation project for an oil and gas hub farther west off Tanjung Piai.

The DoE last Friday announced on its website that the Forest City project had been approved.

On Wednesday, the project's master developer, China-based Country Garden Pacificview (CGPV), said in a statement that reclamation will continue, but with the project's total size slightly reduced.

The project, now divided into four reclaimed islands instead of one huge island nearly three times the size of Ang Mo Kio as originally planned, will have total size of 1,386ha (3,425 acres).

This is smaller than 1,623ha proposed by the company.

The master developer is a joint venture between China's property developer Country Garden and a Johor state agency, with reports saying that the project's backers included Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Ismail.

Country Garden is controlled by China's richest woman and one of the world's youngest billionaires, Ms Yang Huiyan, 33, who is the second daughter of businessman Mr Yang Guoqiang, 59.

Datuk Md Othman, executive director of CGPV, said: "Our next step is to ensure that all compliance monitoring, in terms of air, noise, water quality and sediment, are robustly implemented and carried out."

"Upon completion, it is expected that new job opportunities will be created for vast numbers of citizens."

The development will diversify the income base of the local communities by providing workshops and training schools in different sectors, CGPV said in its release.

It will also rejuvenate the area infrastructure, by building a new access road, constructing power stations and new water reticulation systems, CGPV said.

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STB to partner Temasek Holdings for Mandai nature project

Nicole Tan and Nadia Jansen Hassan Channel NewsAsia 14 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will partner with Temasek Holdings to create a large-scale nature project in the Mandai precinct, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced in a press release on Wednesday (Jan 14).

Temasek is the majority shareholder of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which operates the existing stable of Mandai attractions - the Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari and the River Safari - and Jurong Bird Park. It submitted a “compelling proposal to build on their existing attractions to shape Mandai into a leading nature destination in Asia”, said MTI.

According to Temasek, the first phase alone, scheduled to be completed by 2020, will cost about S$1 billion.

"The development is still in its early stages. Based on our estimates and this very draft plan, as well as some of the benchmarks that we have done, phase one of the project could cost about a billion dollars," said Temasek's Managing Director of Enterprise Development Neo Gim Huay. "Phase one will include relocation and rejuvenation of the Bird Park, as well as opening up public access areas for everyone to enjoy."

The planned development of Mandai was first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in September last year. When completed, the precinct outside the Nature Reserves will comprise about 120 hectares, MTI said. This will include the development of new attractions that will be integrated with the existing Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and River Safari. Already, these attractions draw close to 5 million visitors annually.

Temasek said in its own press release on Tuesday that the site includes the former Mandai orchid farm and an abandoned village. Describing the project as an "integrated wildlife and nature heritage precinct", it said the development will be a "multi-generation endeavour" that is expected to be completed in phases over about 10 years.

In addition to new public spaces and waterfront trails, the space will also be used for research and conservation, MTI said.

The idea of a "cageless zoo" is being explored, said Ms Neo, "where we introduce large immersive habitats where the visitors can immerse themselves in the natural habitats of the animals watching them in their natural behaviours - whether it's foraging for food, nesting or even doing courtship. Every visit will be different and every visit will be an adventure in itself".

CREATING A 'WORLD-CLASS DEVELOPMENT'

Mr S Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry, said: "Temasek’s concept builds on and significantly enhances the current WRS attractions in Mandai. The proposal is sensitive to the area’s unique environment, while including exciting ideas and developments that will bring benefits to both Singaporeans and tourists."

The area in question is both "rich with potential" and "deeply treasured by Singaporeans," he told Channel NewsAsia. As an important stakeholder in the area, Temasek "will therefore have a very keen understanding of the uniqueness of the place, its importance to Singaporeans and its potential of what can be done there in a manner that is sensitive to the environment while enhancing its attractiveness to all".

With the expertise and experience it has gained from WRS, and its international network, Temasek will be able to create outstanding content for a world-class development in Mandai, he added.

A multi-agency collaboration will guide Mandai’s development, according to MTI. "Both the Government and Temasek strongly believe in the importance of carrying out this development in an environmentally-sustainable and sensitive manner," MTI said. "Through sensitive design and management, the proposed development could potentially strengthen and enhance the nearby Nature Reserves."

Temasek will also work closely with agencies such as PUB to ensure continued reservoir water quality, and consult with stakeholders like nature groups and wildlife experts, it added.

Said Mr Iswaran: "Water bodies there are also sources of water supply to Singapore - we have to preserve the integrity of the water supply system. These are objectives that Temasek and government bodies all share."

Temasek said it has undertaken study trips "to understand best practices and experiences of various nature attractions around the world". It is also working with the National University of Singapore, including the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment of the development, and to explore sustainable solutions for water and energy use and design.

BUILDING ON 'CITY IN A GARDEN' CONCEPT

“Our proposal seeks to build carefully and thoughtfully on this wildlife heritage in Mandai for present and future generations," said Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Head of Enterprise Development Group at Temasek. "We see the new Mandai as a haven for our broader community of Singaporeans and visitors, young and old, to enjoy nature in a fun and inspiring way. We aim to do this through an integrated, sustainable and inclusive approach, with Mandai developing as a nature destination to celebrate and protect our biodiversity. We would very much like to build on the concept from the National Parks Board of Singapore as a city in a garden, and also our rainforest and wildlife heritage in Mandai.”

Added WRS Chairman Claire Chiang: "Our Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari and Bird Park are very popular – they are packed during weekends and holidays. This reflects strong public demand for wildlife attractions set in natural habitats. We are looking forward to this as an opportunity to further improve and innovate on the visitor experience, and create more green space for free public access.”

- CNA/xy

Mandai to feature new 'immersive zoo-type experience'
LAURA ELIZABETH PHILOMIN TodayOnline 14 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE — The Government’s plans for a mega-nature attraction at Mandai will possibly feature a new “immersive zoo-type experience”, on top of the three existing wildlife attractions in the area as well as the proposed relocation of Jurong Bird Park from Jurong.

These plans were revealed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and government-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings today (Jan 14) — the latter would be partnering the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to develop Mandai into a nature-themed attraction in phases, set to be completed around 2020.

A concept video posted on its website showed a “zoo in the air” with aerial walkways weaving through a forest, a waterfall cavern for boat rides and a walkway for wildlife crossings. In all, the development in Mandai, including current attractions, will span 120ha.

But first up is an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which Temasek will conduct with the National University of Singapore and Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, under the guidance of the National Parks Board. The plans, first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year, had caused concern among nature advocacy groups here, due to its proximity to the swathes of forest in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, the largest in Singapore.

Temasek, the majority shareholder of Wildlife Reserves Singapore — which operates the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari and Jurong Bird Park — will also work with relevant government agencies like PUB to ensure reservoir water quality is unaffected.

The two parcels of land earmarked for the development – one bound by Mandai Road, Mandai Lake Road and part of the nature reserve, and the other bordered by Mandai Track 15 and a military firing range – are in line with plans first floated by the STB in 2007 to develop an eco-tourism project in the area.

The STB reached out to potential partners — international and local — to explore suitable concepts, but went with Temasek in the end.

In a statement, Temasek said it first submitted a proposal in 2010. Apart from discussions with government agencies, nature experts, academics and other potential partners, the company also took study trips to nature attractions around the world to understand best practices and experiences.

Stressing that no plans have been finalised and early concepts are still being developed, Temasek’s managing director of strategic and public affairs Stephen Forshaw said: “We will continue to discuss concepts and plans with nature groups and the wider public as the proposal is further developed.”

While there will be ticketed attractions, Temasek also plans to open up public spaces for free access. “For example, one of the ideas is to open up more trails that could be linked to the park connectors,” he said.

He added: “The relocation of the Bird Park would mean one new attraction, and quite possibly another immersive zoo-type experience, in keeping with the nature surroundings.”

In an interview today (Jan 14) on Singapore’s tourist sector outlook, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry S Iswaran noted the need to rejuvenate Singapore’s existing attractions, but also reiterated that development plans will have to be environmentally sensitive and preserve the integrity of the water supply system.

The initial plans surfaced in 2007 had prompted Nature Society (Singapore) to publish a report in the same year highlighting key concerns. The area’s forests are already in a “fragmented and degraded state” and such a project would degrade the area and result in the loss of habitat variety, the group said. Following last year’s announcement, nature groups had called for buffer zones to be created between any future man-made and existing forest areas.

When contacted, Nature Society (Singapore) executive committee member Ho Hua Chew said: “(Temasek) should wait until EIA is finalised before they consider their plans.”

Animal Concerns Research & Education Society chief executive Louis Ng said he would be meeting Temasek and the relevant agencies to decide on the parameters of the EIA.

Noting that it is premature to comment on the impact of the development, he said: “If the EIA is done, (and) shows they really shouldn’t be used because maybe there are some rare species there, then perhaps we can have alternative sites on standby already,” he said.

Major makeover of Mandai zoo precinct to be led by Temasek Holdings and STB
MOK FEI FEI Straits Times 14 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE - The major makeover and expansion of the zoo precinct at Mandai in the nation's north will be led by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Temasek Holdings.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Wednesday that the partnership will help to realise the Government's vision for Mandai to become a world-class nature themed attraction.

In September last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Mandai would be transformed with a bigger and better zoo by about 2020.

The 41-year-old Singapore Zoo is located at Mandai, along with the Night Safari and the relatively new River Safari. The proposals include using other land in the area to build the larger precinct.

Temasek is a majority shareholder of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which operates the existing stable of zoos as well as the Jurong Bird Park.

It responded to STB's invitation to explore concepts for Mandai in about 2010.

MTI said Temasek shared the Government's vision for Mandai and submitted a compelling proposal to build on their existing attractions to shape Mandai into a leading nature destination in Asia.

It is envisioned that the Mandai project will have a total site area of 120 ha when completed, with tranquil and rich green spaces to see wildlife in their natural habitat.

New public spaces and waterfront trails are likely to be built.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Trade and Industry and Home Affairs S. Iswaran said in a statement: "Temasek's concept builds on and significantly enhances the current WRS attractions in Mandai.

"The proposal is sensitive to the area's unique environment, while including exciting ideas and developments that will bring benefits to both Singaporeans and tourists."

Temasek head of enterprise development group Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara said in a separate statement: "We see the new Mandai as a haven for our broader community of Singaporeans and visitors, young and old, to enjoy nature in a fun and inspiring way.

"We aim to do this through an integrated, sustainable and inclusive approach, with Mandai developing as a nature destination to celebrate and protect our biodiversity."

Temasek said it will work with the National University of Singapore to undertake an environmental impact assessment of the development and to ensure sustainable solutions in the areas of water and energy use.

STB, Temasek to lead Mandai zoo revamp
Mok Fei Fei My Paper AsiaOne 15 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE - The major makeover and expansion of the zoo precinct at Mandai in Singapore's north will be led by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Temasek Holdings.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said yesterday that the partnership will help to realise the Government's vision for Mandai to become a world-class, nature-themed attraction.

In September, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Mandai would be transformed into a bigger and better zoo by about 2020.

The 41-year-old Singapore Zoo is located at Mandai, along with the Night Safari and the relatively new River Safari. The proposals include using other land in the area to build the larger precinct.

Temasek is a majority shareholder of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which operates the existing stable of zoos as well as Jurong Bird Park.

It responded to STB's invitation to explore concepts for Mandai in about 2010.

MTI said Temasek shared the Government's vision for Mandai and submitted a compelling proposal to build on its existing attractions to shape Mandai into a leading nature destination in Asia.

It is envisioned that the Mandai project will have a total site area of 120ha when completed, with tranquil and rich, green spaces to see wildlife in their natural habitat.

New public spaces and waterfront trails are likely to be built.

Mr S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, said in a statement: "Temasek's concept builds on and significantly enhances the current WRS attractions in Mandai.

"The proposal is sensitive to the area's unique environment, while including exciting ideas and developments that will bring benefits to both Singaporeans and tourists."

Temasek head of enterprise development group Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara said in a separate statement: "We see the new Mandai as a haven for our broader community of Singaporeans and visitors, young and old, to enjoy nature in a fun and inspiring way.
"We aim to do this through an integrated, sustainable and inclusive approach, with Mandai developing as a nature destination to celebrate and protect our biodiversity."

Temasek said it will work with the National University of Singapore to undertake an environmental-impact assessment of the development and to ensure sustainable solutions in the areas of water and energy use.

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NUS team tracking benefits of giant clams

Carolyn Khew The Straits Times AsiaOne 15 Jan 15;

Conserving giant clams is not just good for biodiversity, but it also brings benefits to coral reefs and the quality of waters - and there is now stronger evidence to support that.

A new study by five researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) sought to quantify just how much giant clams contribute to coral reef ecosystems around the Indo-Pacific.

The paper, entitled The Ecological Significance Of Giant Clams In Coral Reef Ecosystems, found that giant clams play an important role in the building of coral reefs.

The giant clams produce calcium carbonate from their shells which is eventually deposited on the coral reef framework, leading to bigger reefs.

After the clams die, their shells are also deposited on the reefs.

That would attract more marine life to live there, thus enhancing overall biodiversity, said lead researcher Neo Mei Lin from the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI).

It is estimated that dense populations of giant clams living in coral reefs can contribute hundreds to thousands of kilograms per hectare of shell material to the reef annually.

To quantify the giant clams' ecological contributions, the research team reviewed more than 400 publications and extracted relevant data to calculate productivity and clearance rates for three giant clam species.

Dr Neo and Assistant Professor Peter Todd from the NUS Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory, who was also part of the research team, said they sought to "add numbers" to existing research on giant clams, which has, so far, been anecdotal.

They hope that the study can provide a greater push for the conservation of giant clams.

Among other findings, the bivalves were also found to help keep waters clean.

A population of 432 Tridacna gigas - the biggest among the species of giant clams - in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, was found to be able to filter over 28,000 litres of water per hectare per hour.

By filtering large volumes of water, the giant clams "can potentially counteract eutrophication", said the researchers in the paper, which was published in scientific journal Biological Conservation last month.

Eutrophication refers to the process where nutrients, such as those found in fertiliser, accumulate and affect water quality, causing algae bloom, which can reduce light penetration to the sea bottom.
Coral reefs and giant clams need sunlight to photosynthesise.

Habitat loss, reef degradation and overfishing of the reef-dwelling giant clams for food in the past are believed to have led them to become endangered.

Today, two species of the giant clam - the horse's hoof clam and the Tridacna gigas - are locally extinct. Three other giant clam species - the fluted giant clam, the boring giant clam and the small giant clam - are either endangered or critically endangered. Extensive surveys conducted around more than 20 reef sites in Singapore waters found just over 50 giant clams.

The Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory has been working with the TMSI to breed giant clams and it is hoped that they can eventually be reintroduced into reef sites here.

The TMSI's marine biology research group has a giant clam hatchery housed in an outdoor aquarium on St John's Island, where the group is based. The hatchery has about 500 juvenile fluted giant clams which TMSI hopes to put out to reef sites once they are bigger.

The group is also trying to grow the Tridacna gigas in its hatchery.

This species can grow to more than 1m in size and weigh more than 200kg. It is believed to have once lived in Singapore waters.

Read more!

Fresh, filleted barramundi delivered to your doopstep

ELGIN CHONG Today Online 14 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans can look now look forward to getting fresh, filleted barramundi fish delivered directly to their tables from the ocean pen.

Today (Jan 14), Barramundi Asia launched a new ‘farm-to-fork’ model — the first that does filleted processing with an unbroken cold chain. This means that when the fish is harvested, they are kept under sub-zero temperatures until the barramundi fillets reach the consumers’ doorsteps.

The barramundi fish are harvested to order. When consumers place their orders on www.kuhlbarra.com, the fish is harvested directly from the 7.5 hectare ocean farm located at the south of Singapore, near the Raffles Lighthouse.

Feed containing ingredients such as protein-rich vegetables, soy bean meals and fish meals are given to the barramundi fish up to four times a day to ensure that they grow healthily.

After harvest, the fish are kept submerged in ice, and within hours, they are filleted in a cold room and vacuum-packed. The fillets are then packed in insulated containers before reaching the consumers’ doorsteps.

Currently, Barramundi Asia is offering an introductory price of S$50 per kg, which is inclusive of delivery. Single portions are also available at S$10 per 200g fillets.

Fish farm goes online to reel in customers
Elgin Chong, Channel NewsAsia 14 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE: Ever wanted fresh, filleted barramundi fish delivered directly to your table from the ocean pen? Barramundi Asia launched a new service on Wednesday (Jan 14) with a "farm-to-fork" model.

The model is touted to be the first that does fillet processing with an unbroken cold chain, which means that when the barramundi is harvested, they are kept under sub-zero temperatures until the fillets reach the consumers’ doorsteps.

The fish are harvested to order, said Barramundi Asia. When consumers place their orders on www.kuhlbarra.com, the fish is harvested directly from the 7.5-hectare ocean farm located at the south of Singapore, near the Raffles Lighthouse.

After harvest, the fish are kept submerged in ice and, within hours, are filleted in a cold room and vacuum-packed, Barramundi Asia said. The fillets are then packed in insulated containers before reaching the consumers’ doorsteps.

Barramundi Asia said feed containing ingredients such as protein-rich vegetables, soy bean meals and fish meals are given to the barramundi fish up to four times a day to ensure that they grow healthily.

Currently, Barramundi Asia is offering an introductory price of S$50 per kg, which is inclusive of delivery. Single portions are also available at S$10 for 200g fillets.

-TODAY/av

Get fish fresh from the farm - via the Net
Jacqueline Woo The Straits Times AsiaOne 17 Jan 15;

HOME-GROWN fish farm Barramundi Asia launched an online platform yesterday so consumers can buy its products over the Internet.

The barramundi fish are harvested from the firm's 7.5ha ocean farm in Pulau Semakau, filleted and vacuum- packed before being delivered in insulated boxes filled with ice.

The fish are kept at sub-zero temperatures even during the filleting and packing processes.

This is fresher and more hygienic than if consumers were to buy fresh fish and transport them home as the fish would likely thaw on the journey, noted Mr Andrew Kwan, group managing director of Commonwealth Capital, which co-owns the Barramundi Asia.

The fish are being sold under the new brand Kuhlbarra on the site www. kuhlbarra.com.

Barramundi Asia, which claims to be Singapore's largest fish farm, exports around 20 tonnes of fish a month to hotels and restaurants in Australia.

It also supplies fish to local hotels and restaurants.

Mr Kwan said demand for the farm's barramundi has "gone up over the past few years", as people become more discerning about what they eat and more environmentally aware.

"There is a huge potential for the sale of sustainably farmed fish in Singapore, and we look forward to putting more locally grown fish on dining tables in Singapore," he added.

Barramundi Asia will set up a second farm site - of 12ha - within the next two years to cater to the demand.

The firm, established in 2008, stresses its environmentally conscious practices.

The fish are fed high- quality fishmeal from a sustainability-certified manufacturer, it said.

The ocean enclosures off Pulau Semakau are in areas with strong currents so no excess feed builds up while fish waste is dispersed to be naturally recycled in the ecosystem.

"We believe that the best way to grow healthy, good-tasting fish is to feed them with high-quality food and let them swim in clean ocean waters," said managing director Joep Staarman.

"The best evidence of our environmentally sensitive approach can be seen from our farm - a delicate coral reef thrives in the waters just 200m from the sea cages."

Barramundi Asia's fish are going at an introductory price of $50 per kg online, which is inclusive of delivery.

Single portions are also available at $10 for 200g fillets.

Reeling in the benefits of farming fish in Singapore
Jacqueline Woo The Straits Times AsiaOne 23 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE - Building a solid network of contacts - even finding a plumber - did not come easy for Mr Joep Staarman when he set up his fish farm in Singapore in 2008.

"We were starting in a new place and we were starting from zero," said the 57-year-old Dutchman, who is managing director of Barramundi Asia.

"It took us a long time before we found people who were reliable and experts at what they did."

Whenever the farm's harvest boat broke down, for instance, Mr Staarman had to attempt repairing it himself, as he did not know any boat brokers here.

"I would get all greasy - because the boat runs on diesel - and even then, it didn't always work afterwards," he recalled with a laugh in an interview with The Straits Times last week.

Today, however, Mr Staarman, who previously worked at Marine Harvest, one of the world's largest seafood companies, is well acquainted with people in the local aquaculture industry, from boat repair brokers to boatmen.

Barramundi Asia produces 500 tonnes of barramundi fish a year at its 7.5ha European Union-certified farm off Pulau Semakau, which has a maximum capacity of 3,000 tonnes of fish.

The total volume of fish is growing at a compound rate of 11 per cent every month.

The firm exports about 20 tonnes of fish to hotels and restaurants in Australia each month.

It also supplies fish to hotels here, such as the Swissotel hotels, as well as restaurants like Wild Rocket and The Naked Finn.

Being in Singapore was what helped propel and grow the business, said Mr Staarman, who visits the farm four or five times a week.

"Having the same temperature all year round means that the fish always grows," he said, noting that barramundi fish are known to thrive in water temperatures between 28 deg C and 30 deg C.

The country's open southern waters - which comes with "oxygen-rich waters, strong currents and a pristine ecosystem" - are ideal for farming fish as well.

Board member Hans den Bieman, 66, said that Singapore's reliability and efficiency as a logistics and business hub also made it "a very logical choice" for the siting of the farm.

The stringent food safety requirements set by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) also benefit the firm, as consumers know that the fish produced here are extremely safe to eat, he said.

"It's much more expedient to set up business here compared with some countries in Europe.

Fresh barramundi from farm to doorstep in 48 hours
AsiaOne 31 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE - Off the southern shores of Singapore just a 15-minute boat ride away, is a fish farm with a mission to provide consumers with the freshest barramundi possible.

AsiaOne recently had the opportunity to visit Kuhlbarra, Singapore's largest commercial fish farm. It is also the first to raise barramundi, a type of seabass.

The fish is highly nutritious, being low in fat and high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which fend off the risk of heart disease.

The people behind Kuhlbarra emphasise their "farm to fork" model heavily, meaning that an order of fish will go straight to the doorstep, cutting out middlemen such as supermarkets.

This allows the consumer to know exactly how fresh their barramundi is.

The barramundi are harvested to match orders, then filleted and vacuum packed at a nearby processing plant before being sent directly to the customer, a process taking just less than 48 hours.

To preserve the freshness and the flavour of the fish, the barramundi are kept chilled throughout the processing period, even from the moment they are harvested.

After the fish is delivered promptly, fish lovers will be delighted to know that barramundi can be prepared in a myriad of ways, ranging from a hearty deep-fried version to the traditional steamed fish.

Barramundi is known for its flaky texture, and its mild and sweet taste.

As expected, the barramundi dishes that AsiaOne sampled did not have the slightest hint of fishiness at all.

Managing Director of Kuhlbarra, Mr Joep Kleine Staarman, offered us his favourite recipe: "Put it in a pan and slather it with unhealthy amounts of butter, and just a little bit of olive oil.

"But not so much that it becomes healthy," he joked.

Kuhlbarra has been in business since 2007 under the name Barramundi Asia. The re-branding this year is part of an ongoing process to attach a distinct identity to their products.

As an introductory promotion, Kuhlbarra is currently offering cuts of its barramundi at $50/kg.

For more information, go to http://www.kuhlbarra.com/.

A fortune in fish
Godwin Ng The New Paper AsiaOne 4 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE - For the last six years, he has been living in a small container in the middle of the ocean.

The only time Mr Sagadevan Santhosh, 26, an Indian national, sees land is during his monthly visit to Singapore - a 30-minute boat ride away - to remit money.

But the farm site manager at Barramundi Asia, Singapore's largest commercial fish farm, doesn't mind the isolation.

"I like the peace and quiet of the sea," said Mr Santhosh.

Mr Santhosh, who used to be a fisherman in India, is a farm site manager at Barramundi Asia.

The farm produces 500 tonnes of barramundi (sea bass) a year in its 7.5ha farm off Pulau Semakau. That's roughly the size of 10 football fields.

Every day, Mr Santhosh mends the nets, feeds the fishes and makes sure they are growing well.

"I like my job. It's a very simple lifestyle." When he runs out of necessities, he gets his boss, Mr Joep Kleine Staarman, to buy them for him. "He's a very nice boss. Last year, he gave me four months' leave to get married in India."

BIGGEST

Mr Staarman, 57, is the founder of Barramundi Asia, one of the world's largest barramundi suppliers.

But it was only 14 years ago that he had his first taste of the fish that he farms.

He told The New Paper: "I ate my first barramundi when I was 43. Now, I eat it every day."

Although his love affair with barramundi started late, Mr Staarman is no stranger to fish farming.

The Dutchman, who studied aquaculture in Netherlands' Wageningen University, set up his own company in 1985 building fish farms across southern Europe.

In 1992, he joined British Petroleum and managed its trout farms in Italy, before switching to making fish feed.

He then worked for Marine Harvest as its managing director for the Asia Pacific region, which brought him to Singapore in 2006.

DECIDED TO STAY

Mr Staarman, who is married and has three daughters, said: "When my contract ended in 2008, my family didn't want to leave Singapore.

"Since I know about making fish feed, building a fish farm and running it, why not do everything myself?

"I thought that maybe I could set up my own fish farm."

So in June 2008, Mr Staarman did just that.

But the first few years of operation was not all smooth sailing.

"It was a lot more difficult than I thought," he said.

"I didn't know anything about processing, filleting and marketing in the beginning. It took around four years for everything to run smoothly."

The farm, which started out with one cage, now houses 19 cages, each with 50,000 fish.

His company launched its online retail platform, www.kuhlbarra.com, at the start of the year while a second 12ha farm is slated to begin operations next year.

Barramundi Asia exports its fish to Australia and supplies to local hotels and restaurants like Wild Rocket and The Naked Finn.

Said Mr Staarman: "Things are better now but there's much more work to do."

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In Indonesia, Forests for and by Communities

Indonesia lost 15.8 million hectares of forest between 2000 and 2012, at a rate of 1,021 square kilometers per year — the world’s highest
Nety Riana Sari Jakarta Globe 15 Jan 15;

Damage to a forest area in Padang, West Sumatra. Provincial and regional authorities in Indonesia at present poorly comprehend the concept of community-based forest management. (Antara Photo/Iggoy El Fitra)

The Earth, Mahatma Gandhi once said, provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.

The Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker, better known as Multatuli, famously wrote in his 1860 satirical novel that the Indonesian archipelago “coils yonder round the Equator like a girdle of emerald.” That dear epithet might be inspired from Indonesia’s green and lush tropical rainforest in his time. The collection of islands green with thick forest and rich in biodiversity, inhabited with humble natives welcomed his arrival in Java in 1838.

The abundance of tropical forest was really a double-edged sword for Indonesia. A long history of colonialism, masking its early arrival as trade dealing, has tainted the emerald girdle. The Forestry Ministry elaborates the history of forest management into three chapters: precolonial era, colonial era, and independence era.

Before the Age of Exploration, the inhabitants of the archipelago had their customary laws for regulating forestry. When the Dutch anchored in Indonesia, to secure a monopoly over natural resources, they immediately established their East Indies colony. The colonial government strategically published forestry regulations to despoil local communities of their rightful forests.

Today, 69 years after proclaiming independence in August 1945, forestry management in Indonesia has yet to regain the green hue of the emerald girdle.

Over the decades, the independent government has struggled to find an ideal model of forest management in Indonesia. Designated conservation areas are one of the government’s prescriptions for maintaining forest cover and biodiversity.

Over the last two decades, Indonesia has faced massive loss of forest landscape and biodiversity. Various reports suggest diverse numbers, yet all present the same conclusion: a decline in Indonesia’s forests. Since the 1960s, Indonesia has lost tens of millions of hectares of forest. Hansen et al (2013) analyzed that Indonesia lost 15.8 million hectares of forest between 2000 and 2012, or 8.4 percent of total forest cover, with a deforestation rate of 1,021 square kilometers per year — the highest in the world.

Logging, agricultural conversion, mining, infrastructure developments and fires plague forests across the archipelago.

Community-based forest management (CBFM) is projected as a potential mechanism where partnerships between the government and local communities in forest management is promoted. In CBFM, local communities are entitled to manage and benefit from nearby forests. Theoretically, local communities are better stewards in promoting poverty alleviation with the sustainable use of forest. Bolland et al (2012) suggested that community-managed forests presented lower and less variable annual deforestation rates than protected forests. The mechanism encompasses different land-use-type management in which

the social and economic needs of local inhabitants, as well as tenure rights and local capacities, are accommodated.

The government of Indonesia, then, set up a target: to licence two million hectares of community forest and village forest from 2010 to 2014. In mid-2014, the Forestry Ministry database showed that only

7.6 percent of the target was fulfilled. Permits for only 152,010 hectares of community-based forest across Indonesia were issued.

There is an imaginary triangular connection on the community-based forest management discussion:

Commitment

The government has the biggest share of the big “C.” Within the bureaucratic system of the Indonesian government, policies and commitment are often a tangled mess in the complexity of coordination between central and local governments. The commitment of the central government on forest management is not necessarily a ready-to-use policy at the local level. Regulations need to be adopted and adapted to the local contexts and other statutes.

Centralized forest management and concession rights distribution to private, marginalized grass-roots communities in forest governance and law making are the essential hindrances to sustainable forestry development. The ideal would be for forest governance to provide a broad opportunity for community empowerment in terms of meaningful participation and decision making.

CBFM schemes allow a shift of government responsibilities to the local communities in protection and sustainable management of forest and biodiversity resources. The decentralization of governance systems and devolution of authority to local administrations allow communities greater access to public forests and to derive supportive policy reforms. The designated areas for CBFM are forest under the local government authority, thus the local government dismissal of a license proposal from the community is generally based on local interests toward the area.

Capacity

Provincial and regional authorities at present poorly comprehend the concept of CBFM. It is the central government’s responsibility to address this weakness. The understanding, assistantship capacity and coordination are among the crucial aspects to be improved at the local government level. It is important to enhance coordination, from formulating policies to on-the-ground implementation, with strong supervision.

For community-based forest management, the community plays an absolutely central role. But does the main actor have what it takes to act in accordance with ideal forest management — sustainable use? Incompetence could be the boomerang that ruins CBFM implementation. Would the community be responsible not to exploit their rights to forest management? Therefore, NGOs are heavily relied upon to supervise the community, improving their capacity in sustainable forest use and managerial competence.

Supervision and assistantship should be applied constantly. Education about forest management is another long discussion, for the time being the foremost precept being to establish harmony between the community and nature: Taking them to look back at their ancestral way of life, when nature was not taken for granted, when humans were very dependent on nature, and they would be the first to be heavily affected by any damage to the ecosystem. Within this understanding, the community will be ready to be the front line of forest defense.

Law enforcement

Despite good intentions, some forest authorities are still wary that CBFM schemes can be exploited by regional officials seeking to curry favor with voters during election campaigns. Law enforcement of forest management policy and procedure are the defense mechanisms to counter these abuses. Once again, strong mutual understanding between the central and local governments is a must.

NGOs are the pinpoint institutions to exercise their function as a watchdog. Furthermore, the community also needs to be empowered in terms of maintaining forests. Community patrols and cooperation with law enforcement agencies should be established, again with the assistance of NGOs.

Looking back to the history of forest management, compiled by the Forestry Ministry, forest management was once in the hands of the community. It is time to restore those rights. Building a partnership between the government and the community is appropriate in the modern zest for forest management.

Then again, the government will need a lot of assistance in order to realize the policy, and NGOs are in a strategic position for this. TFCA-Sumatra has committed to supporting the fund for NGOs in assisting the government and standing beside the community for empowerment.

TFCA-Sumatra and CBFM

TFCA-Sumatra is a collaborative program to conserve Sumatra’s forests. CBFM is one of the forest management models supported by TFCA-Sumatra. Recently, TFCA-Sumatra declared its support for the establishment and strengthening of 47 CBFM units covering 49,735 hectares of customary, village and community forests in North Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, West Sumatra and Lampung. TFCA-Sumatra supports the promotion of integrated schemes of CBFM and community empowerment, including capacity improvement in forest management (organizational and managerial), local-based economic incentives (agroforestry, non-timber forest products, and environmental services), local and regional policy support (village and regional regulations), and the market network.

The scheme is believed to be an ideal model, where local forest governance will strongly contribute to national forest governance. The promotion of good forest governance in community-based forest management is of vital importance to achieve sustainable forestry sector development.

Nety Riana Sari is a conservation assistant for the TFCA-Sumatra Program at the KEHATI Foundation

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Scientists reveal which coral reefs can survive global warming

Study shows for the first time which parts of the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs can be expected to bounce back from mass bleaching events
Adam Vaughan The Guardian 14 Jan 15;

Scientists have identified which parts of the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs are most capable of recovering from mass bleaching events which will become more frequent due to global warming.

The information should help conservationists to target their efforts to protect the portions of reefs that are most capable of survival, they say.

Previous studies have shown coral reefs as they exist today will be largely wiped out by climate change in the long term, but the new work by an Australian team shows for the first time which reefs in the short term can be expected to bounce back from bleaching events.

A major bleaching event is currently under way in large parts of the North Pacific, including the Marshall Islands and Hawaii, which experts have warned could be on a ‘historic’ scale akin to the record bleaching of 1998 that saw mass coral die-off around the world.

Nicholas Graham, lead author of the study published in Nature on Wednesday, looked at the 1998 bleaching’s impacts on reefs in the Seychelles, and found 12 of 21 sites had recovered afterwards.

Looking at just two of 11 factors – water depth and the physical complexity of the coral – the team were able to use modelling to 98% of the time correctly predict whether a reef would recover or not. Deeper water and a more complex structure made a recovery more likely.

Graham, who works on coral at James Cook University in Australia, told the Guardian that the results bought time for authorities to better manage climate-resilient reefs while bigger picture problems such as greenhouse gas cuts were addressed.

“If emissions continue as they are, the longer term future is likely to still be bleak, even for those recovering at the moment [from bleaching], because the projections are coral bleaching will become more and more frequent. In a way it’s [the study’s findings] buying us time to keep as many reefs in good shape as we can, while we tackle some of these global, bigger issues.”

The study’s findings suggest the parts of the Great Barrier Reef that are still relatively pristine, in the north and further offshore, are also those best placed to recover from bleaching events brought about by global warming.

Graham said the findings also raised concerns about the logic of dumping sediment from planned major port projects to expand coal exports along the Queensland coast, a local impact which could harm coral otherwise capable of surviving the global impacts of climate change.

“If you have these big dredging projects, such as at Abbott Point, if we’re dumping a lot of spoil and sediment into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, a lot of that will settle in deep water, a lot of which might be coral and a lot of which will do better under climate change. If we’re not actually doing enough to reduce local impacts, we’re doing ourselves a disservice under climate change.”

The research could help organisations such as the reef’s marine park authority to better pinpoint which areas should avoid anchor damage from boats, which reduces physical complexity and thus the ability to recover from bleaching, Graham added. It could also help other coral nations, such as Kenya, to pinpoint where to limit damage by fishing gear.

The research looked at a 17-year data set covering surveys undertaken in 1994, 2005, 2008 and 2011, and looked at eleven factors that influenced their recovery or die-off. The coral’s physical complexity and water depth were the two most important factors – sites deeper than 6.3 metres were found to be highly likely to recover – while whether a reef was in a marine protected area made no difference.

Dr Aaron MacNeil, a co-author on the study from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said: “This gives reef management a major boost in the face of the threats posed by climate change and, encouragingly, suggests people can take tangible steps to improve the outlook for reefs.

“By carefully managing reefs with conditions that are more likely to recover from climate-induced bleaching, we give them the best possible chance of surviving over the long term, while reduction of local pressures that damage corals and diminish water quality will help to increase the proportion of reefs that can bounce back.”

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Australia migratory bird levels plunge from Asia development

AFP AsiaOne 14 Jan 15;

SYDNEY - Coastal developments in northeast Asia are threatening the survival of Australian migratory shorebirds, a study has found, with some species experiencing population declines of up to 75 per cent over the last two decades.

Some 36 migratory shorebird species, numbering between three to eight million, fly to Australia each summer from breeding sites in the Russian and Alaskan Arctic.

They stop at tidal flats in China and North and South Korea to refuel during their 20,000-kilometre (12,400-mile) annual journey.

But the destruction of those habitats over the past few decades has seen a marked decline in the population of such birds, including the eastern curlew and the curlew sandpiper, conservation biologist Nick Murray told AFP on Wednesday.

"Each year there have been fewer and fewer shorebirds seen in Australia," Murray, from the University of New South Wales, said of the changes that prompted the study into the Yellow Sea tidal flats, which was published in the journal Austral Ecology this month.

"We use satellite remote sensing to look at the changes in the habitats around the Yellow Sea region - which is northeastern China, North Korea and South Korea - and found that about 65 per cent of those habitats that shorebirds use have been destroyed over the last 50 years." Murray and researchers Richard Fuller, from the University of Queensland, and Ma Zhijun, from China's Fudan University, found the main threat to the tidal flats - wetlands also known as mudflats - was coastal development.

Some of the intertidal habitats have been transformed into industrial and agricultural lands, as well as used for aquaculture, stripping away the birds' feeding grounds, the study found.

Pollution, overfishing and algal blooms in these areas were also contributing factors.

The eastern curlew, the largest shorebird that comes to Australia, is one species that is globally threatened.

It has seen its population levels plunge by up to 70 per cent over the past two decades, Murray said, while the curlew sandpiper has declined by 75 per cent in 20 years, according to the data used in the study.

"The birds will fly for 6,000 kilometres non-stop and use up all their energy trying to make it to that refuelling station," he said.

"When they get there and the habitat's not there anymore and they are unable to refuel, it's very likely that they will just die." While the population declines are a "very large problem", governments in the region are trying to tackle the threats, Murray said.

This includes identifying protected area sites and working with provincial leaders to reduce pollution and aquaculture impacts, he added.

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Study: Sea level rise accelerating more than once thought

SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press Yahoo News 14 Jan 15;

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's oceans are now rising far faster than they did in the past, a new study says.

The study found that for much of the 20th century — until about 1990 — sea level was about 30 percent less than earlier research had figured. But that's not good news, scientists say, because about 25 years ago the seas started rising faster and the acceleration in 1990 turns out to be more dramatic than previously calculated.

The current sea level rise rate — which started in 1990 — is 2.5 times faster than it was from 1900 to 1990, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Scientists say that faster pace of sea level rise is from melting ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica and shrinking glaciers, triggered by man-made global warming.

"We're seeing a significant acceleration in the past few decades," said study lead author Carling Hay, a geophysical researcher at Harvard University. "It's concerning for cities along the U.S. East Coast" where water levels are rising even faster than the world average.

"It's definitely something that can't be ignored," Hay said.

Previous research said that between 1900 and 1990, the seas rose about two-thirds of an inch a decade. The new study recalculates the 1900-1990 rate to less than half an inch a decade.

Old and new research both say that since 1990 seas are rising at about 1.2 inches a decade.

While hundreds of tide gauges around the world have been measuring sea levels since 1900, they have mostly been in Europe and North America with few in the polar regions or the middle of the oceans, Hay said. So past estimates of 20th century sea level rise gave an incomplete picture of the global effect, said study co-author Jerry Mitrovica, a geophysics professor at Harvard.

The new method uses statistical analysis and computer models to better simulate the areas in the gap, Mitrovica said.

Outside scientists praised the new study, but were still cautious about adopting the estimates until more studies could be done.

"The implications are troubling — accelerated ocean warming, ice sheet collapse and sea level rise — all point to more and more sea level rise in the future, perhaps at a faster rate than previously thought," said Jonathan Overpeck, co-director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona. "This will make adaptation to climate change more difficult and costly."

Sea level rise quickens more than thought in threat to coasts
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 15 Jan 15;

Sea level rise in the past two decades has accelerated faster than previously thought in a sign of climate change threatening coasts from Florida to Bangladesh, a study said on Wednesday.

The report, reassessing records from more than 600 tidal gauges, found that readings from 1901-90 had over-estimated the rise in sea levels. Based on revised figures for those years, the acceleration since then was greater than so far assumed.

The report said the earlier readings were incomplete or skewed by local factors such as subsidence.

The new analysis "suggests that the acceleration in the past two decades is 25 percent higher than previously thought," Carling Hay, a Canadian scientist at Harvard University and lead author of the study in the journal Nature, told Reuters.

The study said sea level rise, caused by factors including a thaw of glaciers, averaged about 1.2 millimeters (0.05 inch) a year from 1901-90 - less than past estimates - and leapt to 3 mm a year in the past two decades, apparently linked to a quickening thaw of ice.

Last year, the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated the 1901-90 rate at 1.5 mm a year, meaning less of a leap to the recent rate around 3 mm.

The Harvard-led study said the new findings might affect projections of the future pace of sea level rise, especially those based on historical trends.

John Church, a top IPCC author at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, told Reuters he did not expect any impact on the IPCC's core sea level projections, which are not based on past trends.

IPCC scenarios, which range from a sea level rise of 28 to 98 cms this century, are based on the processes driving sea level change, for instance how ice in Greenland reacts to rising temperatures or the expansion of water as it warms, he said.

Stefan Rahmstorf, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a world expert in past sea levels, said further analysis was needed to pin down 20th century sea level rise.

The new findings confirm that "sea level is rising and ... the rise has accelerated, with the most recent rates being the highest on record," he told Reuters.

Sea level rise is gnawing away at shores from Miami to Shanghai. In cities such as Jakarta, the rise is aggravated by big local subsidence.

Study at: nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature14093

(Editing by Dominic Evans)

Rate of sea-level rise 'steeper'
BBC News 14 Jan 15;

The rate at which the global oceans have risen in the past two decades is more significant than previously recognised, say US-based scientists.

Their reassessment of tide gauge data from 1900-1990 found that the world's seas went up more slowly than earlier estimates - by about 1.2mm per year.

But this makes the 3mm per year tracked by satellites since 1990 a much bigger trend change as a consequence.

It could mean some projections for future rises having to be revisited.

"Our estimates from 1993 to 2010 agree with [the prior] estimates from modern tide gauges and satellite altimetry, within the bounds of uncertainty. But that means that the acceleration into the last two decades is far worse than previously thought," said Dr Carling Hay from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"This new acceleration is about 25% higher than previous estimates," she told BBC News.

Dr Hay and colleagues report their re-analysis in this week's edition of the journal Nature.

Tide gauges have been in operation in some places for hundreds of years, but pulling their data into a coherent narrative of worldwide sea-level change is fiendishly difficult.

Historically, their deployment has been sparse, predominantly at mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, and only at coastal sites. In other words, the instrument record is extremely patchy.

What is more, the data needs careful handling because it hides all kinds of "contamination".

Scientists must account for effects that mask the true signal - such as tectonic movements that might force the local land upwards - and those that exaggerate it - such as groundwater extraction, which will make the land dip.

Attention needs to be paid also to natural oscillations in ocean behaviour, which can make waters rise and fall on decadal timescales.

Previous efforts to untangle the record concluded that sea levels rose through much of the last century by around 1.6-1.9mm per year.

These figures were included in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the state of the planet.

But these numbers have been somewhat problematic because they are at odds with the calculated contributions to global ocean rise - namely, the volumes of water coming from melting land ice, the expansion of the seas from global warming, and changes in the amount of global water held on the continents. Simply put, the calculated contributions were about 0.5mm per year short of what previous tide-gauge assessments were suggesting they should be.

Dr Hay's and colleagues' study makes another attempt to sort through the instrument record, and they find the 1900-1990 rises to have been overstated.

Their rate for this period is 1.2mm per year, which neatly closes the contributions "budget gap".

Dr Hay said: "What we have done, which is a bit different from past studies, is use physical models and statistical models to try to look for underlying patterns in the messy tide gauge data observations.

"Each of the different contributions actually produces a unique pattern, or fingerprint, of sea-level change. And what we try to do is model these underlying patterns and then use our statistical approach to look for the patterns in the tide gauge observations. That allows us to infer global information from the very limited records."

Modern sea level monitoring station


The modern tide gauge is now a highly sophisticated tool. Coastal instruments have recorded sea level change at some locations for more than 200 years

In the last IPCC report, global mean sea-level rise for 2081−2100 was projected to be between 26cm (at the low end) and 82cm (at the high end), depending on the greenhouse emissions path this century.

If the Hay analysis is reproduced by peer groups, it may prompt the scientific community to revisit these future sea-level projections and some of the other estimates that envisage even larger changes in the decades ahead.

Commenting, Dr Paolo Cipollini at the UK's National Oceanography Centre, said the Nature study was an important new contribution to the field.

Having a good view of historical change, he explained, would allow researchers to test their models of the processes driving sea-level rise by permitting them to do "hindcasts" - to check whether those models could reproduce the past before making confident projections of the future.

"But let's not lose sight of the central message that at the moment we have a very strong consensus on the 3.2mm per year of sea-level rise coming from satellites and modern tide gauges, and that any future projection should be based mainly on our understanding of the processes of sea-level rise, which really we need quantify better for later IPCC reports."

The "gold standard" satellite record of sea-level rise is maintained by the Jason series of spacecraft, which have an unbroken record of measurements stretching back to 1992.

Jason-3, the latest incarnation, launches this year, along with the EU's Sentinel-3 spacecraft, which has been tasked with starting another continuous - and independent - sequence of observations.

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Gold rush threat to tropical forests

Helen Briggs BBC News 14 Jan 15;

Global demand for gold is putting some of the most remote and pristine tropical forests at risk, scientists warn.

Some 1,680 sq km of rainforest in South America was lost to gold mining from 2001 to 2013, a study shows.

University of Puerto Rico researchers say gold mining has become a major threat to ancient rainforests in countries such as Peru and Suriname.

Consumers can help by buying only fair-trade gold, say environmentalists.

The research, published in Environmental Research Letters, studied tropical forests across South America below 1,000m, covering Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Satellite images show forest clearance for gold mining accelerated after the international financial crisis of 2007.

It was concentrated in four main areas - the Guianan forests; the Southwest Amazon in Peru; the Tapajos-Xingu forest in Brazil; and Magdalena Valley-Uraba in Colombia.

Overall, the amount of forest lost was less than 1% but much of it was located in or near conservation areas.

"Although the loss of forest due to mining is smaller in extent compared to deforestation caused by other land uses, such as agriculture or grazing areas, deforestation due to mining is occurring in some of the most biologically diverse regions in the tropics," said lead researcher Nora Álvarez-Berríos.

Global gold production has increased from around 2,445 tonnes in 2000 to around 2,770 tonnes in 2013, while prices have soared.

This has made it profitable to mine in areas such as the soil beneath tropical forests.

The removal of vegetation and development of roads and railways can have long-term impacts, say the scientists.

Gold mining can also create pollutants such as mercury, which can enter rivers and the atmosphere.

Consumer power
Dr Susanne Schmitt of WWF called for better mining laws and awareness and training to reduce the impact of gold mining on forests and to improve local people's livelihoods.

Consumers could also help when purchasing gold, she added.

"By insisting on fair trade gold when purchasing jewellery of other gold products consumers have real power in ensuring that this unfair and environmentally damaging practice ends, to be replaced with a longer term industry providing jobs and security to communities without destroying their environment."

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A Warming World Could End Your Sandwich Habit

Kristine Wong Takepart.com Yahoo News 15 Jan 15;

As the world warms, its wheat fields are withering.

That’s according to the latest research, which has found that one of the world’s most gobbled grains would decrease by 6 percent for every degree Celsius in temperature increase.

To put that in perspective, about 42 million tons of wheat would vanish if global temperatures increased just 1 degree Celsius. This isn’t a problem we’ll be facing years down the road. Warmer temperatures have already cut down yields in the majority of wheat-growing regions, according to researchers.

“This has significant implications for global food security,” said Senthold Asseng, a professor at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences, who led the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Here’s the problem: By 2100, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects global temperatures will rise by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius. And by 2050, the world population is predicted to hit 9.6 billion—an increase of 38 percent. That means more people and less food.

“Global food production, with wheat accounting for 20 percent of calories consumed globally, needs to grow 60 percent by 2050,” Asseng said. “That’s a huge agricultural challenge complicated by temperature increases due to climate change.”

Looking at 30 wheat varieties grown in a range of temperatures, researchers found that higher temperatures decreased yields.

Asseng explains: "Increasing temperatures reduces the time from sowing to maturity, which reduces the time a crop can photosynthesize, resulting in less growth and lower yields."

Sticking those findings in a new computer simulation model showed that this dynamic is already in play worldwide.

“When applying the multi-model ensemble globally, we found that warming is already slowing yield gains, despite observed yield increases in the past, at a majority of wheat-growing locations across the globe,” Asseng said.

Low-latitude areas are the most vulnerable since temperatures are already higher in these regions, he added.

The results aren’t surprising. Last year, researchers predicted that in Europe—the world’s largest producer of wheat—adverse weather related to climate change would be more likely to increase over the next 45 years and threaten production.

In 2012, researchers at the University of Gothenburg found that higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere decreased the amount of protein in wheat. Why? The increased amount of CO2 stunted the plants’ ability to absorb nitrogen during growth.

So what can be done to stop the slowdowns—or, in other words, adapt wheat production to climate change?

“New heat-tolerant wheat cultivars and crop management are needed to counteract the projected yield decline due to increasing temperature,” Asseng said.

At Kansas State University and at Texas A&M University, efforts are already underway to improve wheat’s heat tolerance. And at Purdue University, researchers are developing corn that can be grown in the warmer climates of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

These types of global collaborations are exactly what’s needed to gain a better understanding of climate change’s impacts on agriculture, Asseng said.

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