Best of our wild blogs: 23 Jan 15

Changi Beach (22012015)
from Psychedelic Nature

Starry at Changi
from wild shores of singapore

Keppel Hill Reservoir (The Lost Reservoir)
from Rojak Librarian

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More 'good-as-new' S$2 notes for Chinese New Year this year

Channel NewsAsia 22 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE: More "good-as-new" S$2 notes will be available for the coming Chinese New Year to meet an anticipated increase in demand, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Thursday (Jan 22).

These "clean and crisp" notes were retrieved immediately after the previous Chinese New Year in 2014. Both new and good-as-new S$2 notes will be available at participating retail banks from Feb 2, it said in its press release.

According to the MAS, 14 per cent of the S$2 notes issued during the 2014 Chinese New Year were good-as-new notes, a 3 per cent increase from the year before. This allowed the MAS to maintain the quality of brand new S$2 notes issued last year.

Mr Low Kwok Mun, MAS Assistant Managing Director, said: "Since the 'good-as-new' S$2 notes were introduced in 2013, the total energy saved from printing less new notes is equivalent to that needed to power 100 4-room HDB flats for 10 weeks. With greater awareness and support for this initiative, we can achieve even more this year.”

Sustainability consultancy Green Future Solutions also expressed support for this initiative. Its director Mr Eugene Tay said: "This is a great initiative by MAS to encourage the use of 'good-as-new’ S$2 notes for ‘hong baos’, which helps to reduce the printing of excess notes, thus preventing wastage and saving resources.”

- CNA/ac

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Upward trend in recycling e-waste

Alice Chia Channel NewsAsia 22 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE: More people are recycling their electronic waste, with companies involved in such programmes observing an increase in the amount of recyclables collected.

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), about 60,000 tonnes of such electronic waste are generated every year - equivalent to the weight of 160 Boeing 747 jets. Items include unwanted television sets, printers and computers.

Half of it comes from households and the rest from industry, such as information and communications technology equipment from industrial sectors.

Ms Siti Farhana Mahadi, senior executive for outreach and programmes management at the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), said: "With the increasing use and popularity of electronic devices in Singapore, more people need to know how to dispose e-waste properly, and to recycle them.”

“Although electronic waste constitutes an insignificant amount of total waste generated in Singapore annually, it is still important to ensure that e-waste is disposed of carefully because they contain certain components which can harm humans and the environment,” she added.

Consumers and companies alike have stepped up on this front. StarHub and recycling firm TES-AMM started a programme in 2012 to recycle electronic waste, called REcycling Nation's Electronic Waste (RENEW).

It has seen an increase in the amount of electronic waste collected. In 2012, the amount collected was around 2,700 kilogrammes. Last year, it went up to 8,700 kilogrammes.

Currently, there are collection bins in about 100 locations, and StarHub hopes to expand this to another 100 locations by the end of the year.

Mr Adam Reutens-Tan, senior manager of corporate sustainability and responsibility at StarHub, said: "We actually do hope that as more site owners take on the RENEW bins, the others will also be encouraged to approach us and ask for RENEW bins as well. There is no cost to the site owners.”

“As more sites take on a RENEW bin, hopefully we will have economies of scale and be able to make this a self-sustaining programme,” he added.

Under the programme, items collected are sorted and dismantled. Precious metals such as silver and gold are then extracted to be recycled as raw materials.

Computer makers are also collecting more electronic waste. Toshiba has collection points at its service centres for customers to drop off their old laptops and batteries. It has reported an upward trend in the items collected. This is also the case for Dell, which provides recycling services for customers to donate or recycle their old IT equipment.

However, the SEC said more can be done. It pointed out that e-waste recycling is still a niche market. Some companies also do not have adequate facilities, which means that electronics collected have to be flown overseas to be recycled, or sent to scrap yards.

SEC hopes authorities will assess the situation and, if necessary, encourage more players to enter the market.

- CNA/dl

South East district expands e-waste recycling programme
Seven neighbourhoods, including Marine Parade, Mountbatten and Potong Pasir, will be involved
MATTHIAS TAY Channel NewsAsia 23 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE — More residents living in the South East District of Singapore will find recycling their e-waste easier, with the latest phase of the “Heartland E-waste Recycling Programme”.

As an expansion of the six-month long pilot programme that took place in July 2013, the second phase will extend e-waste collection points to seven neighbourhoods in the South East district of Singapore.

Neighbourhoods involved include Marine Parade, Mountbatten, Braddell Heights, Geylang Serai, Kembangan-Chai Chee, MacPherson and Potong Pasir.

Collection drives will be set in these neighbourhoods on a monthly basis and most residents can expect the drive to visit their area twice.

The programme, which recycles unwanted home appliances and electronics, will last for a period of nine months.

The first collection — scheduled to begin on Feb 1 — will kick start at community centres in Braddell Heights, Potong Pasir, MacPherson, Mountbatten and Katong.

Dr Maliki Osman, Mayor of South East District said today (Jan 23) that the move to expand the programme to even more neighbourhoods was spurred by the positive results of the pilot test.

“We have received very encouraging results where we had the target of 5000 kg of e-waste (to be recycled). We manage to go beyond 10,000kg — more than twice the amount expected,” he said.

Gadget recycling kicks off in 7 areas
The New Paper AsiaOne 26 Jan1 5;

Residents in seven neighbourhoods in the South East District will soon find it easier to get rid of unwanted mobile phones or laptops.

They will be able to dispose of gadgets that they do not want, at 25 locations, through monthly collection drives over the next nine months.

Collections will be done on the first Sunday of each month and rotated across Marine Parade, Mountbatten, Braddell Heights, Geylang Serai, Kembangan-Chai Chee, MacPherson and Potong Pasir.

Each division will be visited twice over nine months.

The first collection will be at Braddell Heights, Potong Pasir, MacPherson, Mountbatten and Katong Community Centres on Feb 1.

The details were announced yesterday, when the second phase of the Heartland E-Waste Recycling Programme was launched by Dr Maliki Osman, mayor of South East District, and Member of Parliament for Mountbatten Lim Biow Chuan.

Read more!

Upward trend in recycling e-waste

Alice Chia Channel NewsAsia 22 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE: More people are recycling their electronic waste, with companies involved in such programmes observing an increase in the amount of recyclables collected.

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), about 60,000 tonnes of such electronic waste are generated every year - equivalent to the weight of 160 Boeing 747 jets. Items include unwanted television sets, printers and computers.

Half of it comes from households and the rest from industry, such as information and communications technology equipment from industrial sectors.

Ms Siti Farhana Mahadi, senior executive for outreach and programmes management at the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), said: "With the increasing use and popularity of electronic devices in Singapore, more people need to know how to dispose e-waste properly, and to recycle them.”

“Although electronic waste constitutes an insignificant amount of total waste generated in Singapore annually, it is still important to ensure that e-waste is disposed of carefully because they contain certain components which can harm humans and the environment,” she added.

Consumers and companies alike have stepped up on this front. StarHub and recycling firm TES-AMM started a programme in 2012 to recycle electronic waste, called REcycling Nation's Electronic Waste (RENEW).

It has seen an increase in the amount of electronic waste collected. In 2012, the amount collected was around 2,700 kilogrammes. Last year, it went up to 8,700 kilogrammes.

Currently, there are collection bins in about 100 locations, and StarHub hopes to expand this to another 100 locations by the end of the year.

Mr Adam Reutens-Tan, senior manager of corporate sustainability and responsibility at StarHub, said: "We actually do hope that as more site owners take on the RENEW bins, the others will also be encouraged to approach us and ask for RENEW bins as well. There is no cost to the site owners.”

“As more sites take on a RENEW bin, hopefully we will have economies of scale and be able to make this a self-sustaining programme,” he added.

Under the programme, items collected are sorted and dismantled. Precious metals such as silver and gold are then extracted to be recycled as raw materials.

Computer makers are also collecting more electronic waste. Toshiba has collection points at its service centres for customers to drop off their old laptops and batteries. It has reported an upward trend in the items collected. This is also the case for Dell, which provides recycling services for customers to donate or recycle their old IT equipment.

However, the SEC said more can be done. It pointed out that e-waste recycling is still a niche market. Some companies also do not have adequate facilities, which means that electronics collected have to be flown overseas to be recycled, or sent to scrap yards.

SEC hopes authorities will assess the situation and, if necessary, encourage more players to enter the market.

- CNA/dl

Read more!

Dry season hits Singapore earlier than usual

Channel NewsAsia 22 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE: Expect drier weather ahead, met services indicated on Thursday (Jan 22), as the dry phase of the Northeast Monsoon season has come slightly earlier than usual.

The Northeast Monsoon is made up of a wet phase from late November to January, followed by a dry phase in February - traditionally one of the driest months of the year.

Singapore has been experiencing fewer rain days since the middle of January, and the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said the total rainfall for this month is expected to be up to 40 to 60 per cent below the long-term average of 242.4mm.

Below-average rainfall is also forecast for next month, although met officials said the dry weather is unlikely to be as bad as that experienced during a record dry spell last year.

MSS says the early onset of the dry weather is partly due to stronger winds in the region which have caused an earlier shift of the monsoon rain belt away from Singapore.

This follows a relatively wet November and December last year, where total rainfall was 27 per cent and 20 per cent respectively above the long-term average.

- CNA/xk

Drier, cooler weather starts earlier this year
Today Online 22 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE — Drier and cooler weather has come earlier this year, as Singapore experiences significantly below average rainfall this month for the second year running.

Below average rainfall is also expected next month, although the dryness is not expected to be of the same degree as the record dry spell last year, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) today (Jan 22).

The total rainfall this month is expected to be about 40-60 per cent below the long-term average of 242.4mm, said the NEA. From Jan 1 to 21, the total rainfall averaged across rainfall stations islandwide was 83.7mm, while rainfall recorded at the Changi climate station was 79.6mm.

This earlier onset of the dry phase of the North-east Monsoon is due in part to stronger winds in the surrounding region, which have “caused an earlier southward shift of the monsoon rain belt away from Singapore”, the NEA added. February is typically one of the driest months of the year.

In November and December last year, total rainfall was 27 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, above the long-term average.

For the rest of this month, expect generally dry and windy conditions with short-duration showers on a few days.

PUB would also like to urge the community and industries to use water wisely and conserve water resources, said the NEA.

Dry spell to continue into next month
Today Online 23 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE — For the second year running, January has seen significantly less rain than usual although the dry conditions that Singapore is experiencing now are not expected to be as bad last year, when more NEWater had to be pumped into reservoirs to keep water reserves at healthy levels.

Compared with the long-term average, total rainfall up to Wednesday was only about one-third of the long-term average of 242.4mm, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a press release yesterday.

By the end of this month, the total rainfall is expected to be 40 per cent to 60 per cent lower than usual, while below-average rainfall is also forecast for next month, it added, urging the community and industries to use water wisely.

“Singapore has been experiencing fewer rainy days since mid-January with the onset of the dry phase of the North-east Monsoon. With low rainfall forecast for the rest of the month, total rainfall for January is expected to be significantly below average,” the NEA said.

“However, the current assessment is that the dry phase of the North-east Monsoon season this year is not likely to be of the same degree of dryness as that experienced during the record dry spell of last year.”

Last year, there was just 72mm of rainfall in January — the lowest since 2010.

The dry spell, which spanned more than 20 days, prompted national water agency PUB to inject 30 million gallons of NEWater per day into the reservoirs to maintain healthy water levels.

Yesterday, the NEA said the North-east Monsoon typically comprises a wet phase from late November to January, followed by a dry phase in February.

The dry phase is characterised by drier and cooler weather and generally windy conditions, it added.

The onset of the dry phase was “slightly earlier than usual” this year, said the NEA, following wetter-than-normal November and December last year.

“A contributing factor is that of stronger winds in the surrounding region which have caused an earlier southward shift of the monsoon rain belt away from Singapore,” said the NEA.

Winds so far this month have also been the strongest since 2010.

It added that the remaining days this month are expected to be generally dry and windy, with mainly localised, brief showers on a few days.

Expect more dry - and windy - days ahead
Lim Yi Han The Straits Times AsiaOne 23 Jan 15;

AFTER a wet November and December which led to flash floods here, the total rainfall this month is expected to be significantly below average.

It could be as much as 60 per cent below the long-term average of 242.4mm for January. From Jan 1 to 21, the total average rainfall at rainfall stations islandwide was 83.7mm.

Below-average rainfall is also expected next month, typically one of the driest of the year, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) yesterday.

Fewer rainy days have occurred since mid-January, with the forecast for the rest of the month being generally dry and windy conditions and any showers likely to be of short duration and localised on a few days.

But despite the prospect of more dry days ahead, a repeat of last year's record dry spell is unlikely, said the NEA. That period, from Jan 13 to Feb 8, was Singapore's most protracted since extensive data recording began five decades ago. The dry forecast is due to an earlier onset of the dry phase of the north-east monsoon. It typically comprises a wet phase from late November to January, followed by a dry phase in February.

The NEA said: "A contributing factor is that of stronger winds in the surrounding region which have caused an earlier southward shift of the monsoon rain belt away from Singapore."

The average daily temperature from Jan 1 to 21 - 26.9 deg C - has been comparable to that of recent years, and it has been windier. During that period, the average wind speed was about 10kmh, the highest in the last five years.

Estate executive Leslie Lim, 40, said: "When there is no rain, it's humid. During the dry spell, it was so uncomfortable that I showered thrice a day."

PUB urged people and industries to conserve water and use it wisely.

Read more!

Indonesia ratifies transboundary agreement on haze

B.SURESH RAM New Straits Times 22 Jan 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: A decade after measures to tackle the annual haze in the region were mooted, all 10 members of the regional body have ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

This was after Indonesia deposited the instrument on the agreement with the regional body’s headquarter’s in Jakarta.

The Director General for ASEAN Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, deposited Indonesia’s Instrument of Ratification of the agreement with Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh on Monday.

Puja also conveyed Indoensia’s appreciation to the ASEAN Secretariat and the other ASEAN Member States (AMS) for the support and encouragement extended to Indonesia in concluding the ratification process.

He informed Asean Secretary-general that the ratification of the Agreement was approved by Indonesia’s Parliament through Law No. 26 Year 2014.

Minh, meanwhile congratulated Indonesia for the ratification and commended the country for its efforts and commitment to working collectively with other AMS to address the transboundary haze pollution issues under the framework of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

The governments of the ten ASEAN Member Countries signed the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) on June 10, 2002, here, and it entered into force on November 25, 2003.

The Agreement is the first regional arrangement in the world that binds a group of contiguous states to tackle transboundary haze pollution resulting from land and forest fires.

It has also been considered as a global role model for the tackling of transboundary issues. With Indonesia’s ratification, the Agreement has now been ratified by all ASEAN Member States.

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Malaysia: Flood situation worsens in Beaufort

MUGUNTAN VANAR The Star 21 Jan 15;

KOTA KINABALU: The flood situation in southwestern Sabah worsened following overnight rains and high tide with more people being evacuated in flood-prone Beaufort and parts of Tenom, Sipitang and Papar.
Nearly a thousand people were evacuated as weather conditions remained bad early on Wednesday) though officials expect water levels to drop with the receding sea tide.

Sipitang became the latest district to be hit with some 78 people in low-lying kampungs evacuated while river currents amid a heavy downpour knocked down a wooden customs jetty in the town area.

Sipitang police chief Deputy Supt Mustafa Osma said that the situation was improving as the floods waters were flowing out to sea with the receding tides.

“The evacuated people might be heading back home later today,’’ he said, adding that police and other agencies were monitoring the situation in Sipitang.

When contacted, neighbouring Beaufort district officer Mohd Shaid Othman said that some 100 more people were being evacuated overnight in the low lying villagers as there were little signs of the weather improving.

“As of now, we have 800 people in evacuation centres in Beaufort and Membakut and more are coming in,’’ he said, adding that the Padas river remains at danger level.

At least a dozen schools remained closed in the affected areas and several roads mainly to the kampungs were impassable for light traffic while businesses in smaller towns of Bongowan and Membakut that hit by floods remained close.

Flood situation remains critical in Beaufort
The Star 22 Jan 15;

KOTA KINABALU: Floods in Sabah's low lying south western Beaufort district is still critical. The number of evacuees continue to increase even as schools and businesses remain closed for a second day.

Apart from Beaufort, parts of neighbouring Tenom, Sipitang and Papar districts were also affected by the floods which was triggered by heavy rains and compounded by high tide on Tuesday night.

A total of 33 primary and two secondary schools were closed in Beaufort, Papar and Sipitang. Some 5,455 students and 885 staff were affected.

Electricity supply has also been cut to areas where waters have submerged its substation.

Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) has set up a 24-hour emergency room to monitor the situation.

There has been no report of casualties although a Customs jetty in Sipitang collapsed yesterday due to strong currents.

Beaufort district officer Mohd Shaid Othman said 1,077 people were evacuated so far from villages near Beaufort as well as Membakut as of 3pm yesterday.

“The situation is still bad. Beaufort town itself is under about a metre of water while in some areas, the water levels are up to 2.5m. Membakut town is also flooded,” he said, adding that they remain on high alert as the Padas river had burst its banks.

He said over a dozen roads, mainly into villages were impassable.

Some 300 people were also evacuated in Tenom where four relief centres have been opened.

In Sipitang, however, some 78 villagers who were evacuated yesterday, have started to return home as the flood waters have receded.


Floods: Over 5,000 Health Ministry staff affected
LOH FOON FONG The Star 22 Jan 15;

PUTRAJAYA: More than 5,000 Health Ministry staff were affected by the recent massive floods in the east coast states with losses to health facilities estimated at RM387mil.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said some of the staff's houses were swept away or inundated and most of their belongings were destroyed.

“Some of them moved to evacuation centres while others stayed with relatives.

“Despite our predicament, we still have to continue providing services to the people,” he said when launching a fund for the affected employees.

Dr Subramaniam started the fund rolling with a donation of RM10,000. His deputy, Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya, contributed RM7,000.

The floods, which started on Dec 26, were the worst in recent history to have hit the east coast and Perak.

Dr Subramaniam said the ministry could not contact 60% of its staff at the peak of the floods in Kelantan due to communication and transport breakdown. Many were trapped in hospitals or clinics.

He thanked the staff who worked relentlessly to care for patients and also saved millions of ringgit worth of equipment and medicine from being destroyed.

He said the staff worked in a spirit of togetherness, including specialists who turned up in shorts and boots to clean clinics and hospitals.

So far, he said, 15 community clinics were destroyed while four hospitals, 108 clinics and one health office were badly damaged. Losses were estimated at RM387mil.

Dr Subramaniam said the number of confirmed leptospirosis and melioidosis infections – reported to be 126 and 20 respectively from Jan 1 to 22 – was still worrying.

In view of the cost-cutting measures that the Prime Minister announced recently, the ministry had to reduce its operations expenditure by about RM500,000, he said.

Floods: 126 leptospirosis infections recorded in flood-hit states
A. AZIM IDRIS New Straits Times 21 Jan 15;

PUTRAJAYA: Health Minister Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam said 753 suspected leptospirosis infections with 126 confirmed cases were recorded from Jan 1 in the flood-hit states.

He said there are also increases in other diseases such as acute gastroenteritis, other diarrheal diseases and upper respiratory tract infections among flood victims.

Subramaniam also said that there are 20 confirmed melioidosis cases recorded at the flood affected places.

“We are increasing our public education and awareness, and public hygiene campaigns so that they (flood victims) drink only boiled water and eat well-cooked food.

“We want them to also take precautionary measures such as wearing boots and gloves when cleaning their premises,” he told a press conference at the ministry here.

Subramaniam said the ministry will continue to monitor the affected areas to prevent the diseases from spreading further.

Read more!

Wilmar opens palm oil supplies to scrutiny to protect forests

Reuters 22 Jan 15;

* Wilmar first in palm industry to allow insight-TFT

* Step to help track supplies, ensure sustainability

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Wilmar International Ltd. , the world's largest palm oil processor, opened its supply chains to outside scrutiny on Thursday in what environmentalists called an unprecedented step to help safeguard tropical forests.

Singapore-based Wilmar said it would give outsiders, from customers to environmentalists worried about deforestation, access to online maps showing where it buys palm oil at more than 800 mills in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Palm oil companies and their clients have become the target of consumer campaigns for not doing enough to stop deforestation, the destruction of carbon-rich peat land, and an annual haze problem caused by slash-and-burn land clearance.

According to a study in the journal Nature Climate Change, Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, overtook Brazil in 2012 to become the country with the highest rate of deforestation.

Wilmar is the first agro-industrial firm to allow outsiders to track palm oil back to processing mills, according to The Forest Trust (TFT), a global non-profit group which worked with Wilmar on the project.

"Wilmar has grown huge in the shadows," Scott Poynton, founder of TFT, told Reuters. "This will bring the suppliers into the light."

Anyone wanting access to the website will have to request a password from Wilmar.

Poynton said he hopes that other companies harvesting other commodities - such as soy, cocoa, sugar or cotton - would follow suit.

Wilmar promised in 2013 to end purchases of palm oil grown on deforested land. Palm oil is used in products including margarine, soap and biodiesel.

"Our main focus is to support our suppliers to tackle the challenges they're facing, so that they can start down a more sustainable path," Jeremy Goon, Wilmar's chief sustainability officer, said in a statement.

Environmentalists will be able to check Wilmar's information about its suppliers against satellite images, for instance, to see if the mills are in an area of deforestation.

Tropical deforestation threatens wildlife and also accounts for perhaps 15 percent of man-made emissions of greenhouse gases. Trees soak up carbon dioxide as they grow and release it when they rot or burn.

"No one has ever aimed for this level of transparency in agriculture commodities," Glenn Hurowitz, chairman of Forest Heroes which campaigns to break a link between deforestation and farm production, said in a statement. (Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Michael Urquhart)

Read more!

Poor outlook for Borneo's mammals

Helen Briggs BBC News 22 Jan 15;

Half of Borneo's mammals will see their habitats shrink by at least a third by 2080, according to a study.

By then, twice as many mammals as now will be at risk of extinction, say conservationists.

Climate change, loss of rainforest and hunting is a threat to many rare mammals on the island.

But there is hope for species like the orang-utan if action is taken to focus conservation efforts on upland areas, scientists report in Current Biology.

Borneo is the world's third largest island, accounting for 1% of the world's land yet about 6% of global biodiversity.

The island has already lost over half its forests, a third disappearing in the last three decades, according to WWF.

A team led by researchers at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, UK, used modelling and satellite images to predict where rainforest will be lost over the next 65 years, based on predictions of climate change and changes in land use.

Working with institutes in Germany, Australia and Indonesia, they mapped the likely suitable habitat for each of 81 Bornean mammals.

They found that deforestation and climate change would lead to 30-49% of mammals losing at least a third of their habitat by 2080.

This would put at least 15 carnivores, 8 primates and 21 bat species at risk of extinction by 2080, almost doubling the proportion of threatened mammals on the island, according to the research.

But there is hope that better forestry management for conservation outside existing reserves could curb this loss, said lead researcher Dr Matthew Struebig.

"Only a modest amount of additional land on Borneo (~28,000 km2, or 4% of the island) would be needed to safeguard many mammal species against threats from deforestation and climate change."

The logging industry had a major role to play in conservation, given that they manage much of the land, he added.

And since deforestation and climate change is likely to have the biggest impact on lowland forests, it made sense to target efforts to forests at higher elevations.

Special efforts are needed for species like the flying fox and otter civit that would be unable to adapt to higher altitudes, said Dr Struebig.

"It is not so much that species would be doomed, but more that their area requirements would unlikely be met in the land available for conservation," he explained.

Writing in the journal Current Biology, the researchers described the outlook as "pessimistic", but said improving conservation outside existing reserves could help meet biodiversity goals.

Read more!

Record number of rhinos killed by poachers in South Africa in 2014

Asian demand for valuable rhino horn caused the number killed to jump by 21% to 1,215, despite increased efforts to protect them
Adam Vaughan The Guardian 22 Jan 15;

The number of rhinos killed in South Africa last year jumped by a fifth, marking a new record for poaching, driven by Asian demand for rhino horn which is more valuable by weight than gold.

A total of 1,215 rhinos were killed in 2014, statistics published by the environment ministry on Thursday showed, in what environmentalists said was now a “do or die situation”.

The number of rhinos killed by poachers – 827 of which were in the country’s famous Kruger national park in 2014 – has risen rapidly in the last decade.

Just 13 were killed in 2007, but demand from a growing affluent middle class in Asia has seen new records broken every year, with 1,004 killed in 2013. In Vietnam, ground horn sold as rhino horn wine is erroneously viewed to have health benefits and is seen as a status symbol.

Tom Milliken, elephant and rhino programme leader at illegal wildlife trade NGO Traffic, said: “Another year of poaching like 2014 and it becomes increasingly difficult to see a positive conservation future for South African rhinos. We’re facing a ‘do or die’ situation right now.”

Traffic said the reason poaching is continuing to rise, despite increased numbers of rangers and other efforts, was complex. It cited corruption and judicial delays in prosecutions, and said strong political will from South Africa and Mozambique – as well as the Asian countries that are the destination for much of the horn – was needed.

Edna Molewa, the South African environment minister, who has previously warned that the poaching crisis is now so severe it poses a threat to the country’s tourism, said “the figure remains worryingly high”. She said over 100 rhinos had been moved to more secure locations to reduce poaching. The environment ministry reported 386 rhino crime arrests last year.

Dr Carlos Drews, WWF’s director of global species programme, said: “Killing on this scale shows how rhino poaching is being increasingly undertaken by organised criminal syndicates. The country’s brave rangers are doing all they can to protect the rhinos but only a concerted global effort can stop this illegal trade. This includes South Africa scaling up its efforts to stop the poaching and Vietnam taking urgent measures to reduce consumer demand.”

South Africa was among the 46 countries who last February signed the ‘London Declaration’, an accord designed to tackle the problem. It was agreed at a high-profile illegal wildlife trade summit held at Lancaster House, and attended by the Prince of Wales, who called the trade “a grave threat not only to the wildlife and the people who protect them, but also to the security of so many nations.”

African governments are due to meet in Botswana on 3 March to review how the actions agreed at the London conference – which include addressing corruption and recruiting more law enforcement officers – should be implemented.

South Africa confirms 2014 worst on record for rhino poaching
TRAFFIC 22 Jan 15;

South Africa, 22nd January 2015—Official figures released today by South Africa confirmed that 2014 was the worst on record for rhino poaching.

A total of 1,215 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2014, an average of more than three animals per day or 100 per month.

The latest figures illustrate the severity of the rhino poaching crisis with losses substantially increasing for seven consecutive years. The number of animals killed now raises concerns that rhino populations in South Africa may be in decline for the first time in nearly 100 years.

Increased support—both in terms of more rangers on the ground and more up-to-date equipment have been made available during the year—yet despite these measures the situation continues to deteriorate.

Around the world, a number of bold statements have been made during the past year by senior government figures, pledging resources and action to address the global poaching crisis.

However, South Africa—the epicentre of today's rhino wars—was conspicuous by its absence from joining the “London Declaration”, an international pledge made in February 2014 by the majority of countries directly impacted by the global poaching crisis to take action to address the situation.

“The lack of strong political will and active leadership from all arms of the government, neighbouring Mozambique and key Asian countries remains a serious impediment to turning this crisis situation around,” said David Newton, Director of TRAFFIC in East and Southern Africa.

In March this year, a follow-up meeting takes place in Kasane, Botswana, to review progress made against the London Declaration’s pledges and would provide South Africa with an opportunity to demonstrate similar commitment towards the initiative.

The reasons why rhino poaching continues to rise in South Africa are complex but seemingly include a combination of corruption, internal institutional strife and judicial delays in key prosecutions.

The South African Police Service, and specifically the “Hawks”, a key agency addressing wildlife crime in the country, has experienced increasing internal turmoil recently following the suspension of a number of senior officers. This distraction from the unit’s duty to fight organized crime inevitably means the poaching crisis is not receiving the agency’s full attention.

Kruger National Park, home to the country’s largest rhino population has been particularly severely hit: a staggering 827 rhinos were poached there in 2014. The huge 20,000 km2 park has open borders with neighbouring Mozambique, from where poaching syndicates operate with apparent impunity and little fear of arrest or prosecution from Mozambican authorities. However, that appears not to be the only factor at work: several Kruger park rangers were arrested last year in connection with poaching incidents inside the park.

Meanwhile, events elsewhere point to other problems within the system. Highly publicised arrests of rhino poaching gangs and their ringleaders have yet to come to full trial: one notorious case has been dragging on for more than four years. The alleged ringleader in the case was last month linked to a gang of 16 people arrested in the Czech Republic over their suspected involvement in international trafficking of rhino horns in the guise of sport hunted trophies from South Africa to Viet Nam.

In October 2014, US authorities announced the indictment of the same individual and his brother on multiple charges, including conspiracy, money laundering and wildlife crime and are now seeking their extradition to the US to face the charges.

2015 is a critical year for rhino populations in South Africa; overall the rhino poaching situation remains bleak, with many commendable enforcement efforts being seriously undermined by internal political conflict and international trade dynamics beyond the reach of South Africa.

“Another year of poaching like 2014 and it becomes increasingly difficult to see a positive conservation future for South African rhinos,” said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC’s Elephant and Rhino Programme Leader.

“We're facing a ‘do or die’ situation right now.”

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U.N. asks countries for climate plans after record warm 2014

Alister Doyle, Reuters Yahoo News 23 Jan 15;

OSLO (Reuters) - The United Nations asked governments on Thursday to submit plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions as the building blocks of a deal due in Paris in December to limit global warming, after scientists said 2014 was the hottest year on record.

Governments have agreed an informal deadline of March 31 to submit plans as the basis of the U.N. deal to slow climate change, which nearly all climate scientists say is mainly due to rising emissions of man-made greenhouse gases.

Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said the meeting in Paris was a chance to get on track "towards a deep de-carbonisation of the global economy, achieving climate neutrality in the second half of the century".

The secretariat launched a website (http://unfccc.int/focus/indc_portal/items/8766.php) to collect the national plans.

Climate neutrality means net zero emissions, or that any emissions from burning fossil fuels are offset by measures such as planting trees that soak up carbon dioxide as they grow.

Both NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said last week that 2014 was the warmest year since records began in the late 19th century.

Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said record heat was "yet another indication of the severity of the climate problem" and should add urgency to government plans to be submitted to the United Nations.

He said the lower oil price might spur the use of fossil fuels but could also make it "more politically palatable" for some countries to cut fossil fuel subsidies. [O/R]

Top emitters China, the United States and the European Union have outlined plans for Paris but many details are not yet clear.

(Reporting By Alister Doyle and Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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Countdown to catastrophe: Doomsday Clock moved closer to midnight

David Bailey PlanetArk 23 Jan 15;

Rising threats from climate change and nuclear arsenals prompted the scientists who maintain the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic countdown to global catastrophe, to move it two minutes closer to midnight on Thursday, its first shift in three years.

The Doomsday Clock, devised by the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, now stands at three minutes to midnight, or doomsday.

It has been adjusted 18 times since its creation in 1947. It has been set as close as two minutes to midnight, in 1953 when the United States tested a hydrogen bomb, and as far as 17 minutes from midnight, in 1991 as the Cold War expired.

It was last adjusted in January 2012, when it was moved one minute closer to midnight.

"Today, unchecked climate change and a nuclear arms race resulting from modernization of huge arsenals pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity," Bulletin Executive Director Kennette Benedict told a news conference.

The change was announced less than a week after U.S. scientists announced that 2014 was Earth's hottest on record, fresh evidence that people are disrupting the climate by burning fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases into the air.

Benedict said world leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale necessary to protect against potential catastrophe, and the adjustment in the clock was intended to inspire action.

"These failures of leadership endanger every person on Earth," Benedict said.

The Bulletin is a periodical founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project.

The Bulletin's science and security board, which adjusts the clock, said steps to address climate change do not match expectations of even five years ago, let alone the actual need, while investments continue to pour into fossil fuel infrastructure.

Sweeping nuclear weapons modernization programs and a disarmament machinery that has ground to a halt has dampened cautious optimism about the possibility of keeping the nuclear arms race in check, the scientists said.

The board recommended action to cap greenhouse gas emissions, cut spending on nuclear weapons modernization programs and a renewed drive toward nuclear disarmament.

"We are not saying it is too late to take action, but the window for action is closing rapidly," Benedict said. "The world needs to be awakened from its lethargy and start making changes."

(Editing by Will Dunham)

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