Best of our wild blogs: 21 Feb 15

CNY Day 2: Little Sister's Island
from wonderful creation and wild shores of singapore

Celebrating the year of the sheep at Cyrene Reef
from Peiyan.Photography

Tampines Eco Green Park Again
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Pellets from Tuas: 1. The pellets
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Assessing the value of Singapore's mangrove swamps

Is Singapore losing its heritage through redevelopment of buildings and loss of its coastline? It is time to develop a more robust way to assess heritage and ecosystems, to prevent their destruction.
Daniel Friess for the Straits Times 21 Feb 15;

The way ecosystems benefit people through "cultural services" is perhaps the most abstract, but may be the most important in Singapore's context. Tens of thousands of people visit the mangroves at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve every year.

The coastline generally associated with Singapore is one of harbours, ships, artificial beaches and concrete seawalls, all contributing to - and a product of - economic activity. But hidden among the cranes and refineries is a different coastal Singapore, a coast teeming with life.

This is a coastline fringed by intertidal mangrove forests and subtidal seagrass meadows, a coast that is home to crocodiles, dolphins, otters, and some of the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world.

However, Singapore's coastal ecosystems have declined rapidly with urbanisation. While data varies, the country may have lost almost 90 per cent of its mangroves since the 1950s due to land reclamation in the north and south-west. Other coastal ecosystems continue to decline, with recent research suggesting that over 40 per cent of intertidal coral reefs and almost 38 per cent of mudflats and sandflats have been lost in only the last 20 years.

If threatened ecosystems are to be conserved, it may become necessary to show their value to society, in comparison to other alternative land uses. It is simple to show the economic value of a reclaimed shoreline or a harbour terminal, but how much is the country's hidden natural coastline worth, and how do we, and should we, put a value on nature?

Increasingly, conservationists, and some businesses and policymakers are pitching their tent on the paradigm of "ecosystem services" as a way of increasing awareness of the importance of ecosystems, and potentially as a way of quantifying their value - economic, or otherwise.

"Ecosystem services" refer to the roles and benefits that ecosystems provide to humans. This is potentially an attractive concept as it can allow ecosystem value to become part of the decision-making process, and widens the scope of conservation to appeal to people and donors who may not otherwise consider themselves environmentalists.

This new approach is controversial, as valuing ecosystems for their benefits to humans puts people front and centre in our view and perception of the environment. It represents a paradigm shift away from traditional protectionist conservation approaches, where ecosystems are protected for their inherent intrinsic or existence value.

Ecosystem services come in all shapes and sizes. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - a ground-breaking international report released in 2005 - was commissioned by the United Nations to understand the impact of environmental change on human well-being. This report was one of the most high-profile attempts to describe the wide range of ecosystem services that human populations rely on.

One way in which ecosystems benefit people is through "provisioning services", where people can physically extract products from an ecosystem, such as fish and other foods, building materials, minerals and medicinal resources. These are direct, tangible and physical ecosystem services, which can be easily understood and monetised.

Other ecosystem services "regulate" or "support" the environment, and can include processes by which ecosystems purify water, trap pollutants, produce nutrients and regulate local climates.

For example, carbon sequestration (the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere) is an ecosystem service that is currently high on the international agenda in international climate negotiations.

In Singapore, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests use up atmospheric carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, so can offset a proportion of the country's carbon dioxide emissions and thus offset our contribution to global climate change. However, these ecosystem services are largely invisible and less tangible.

The way ecosystems benefit people through "cultural services" is perhaps the most abstract, but may be the most important in Singapore's context. Cultural services include the use of ecosystems for recreation and education. Tens of thousands of people visit the mangroves at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve every year, which has recently expanded in area and has constructed new visitor facilities.

Other cultural services are much more abstract and intangible, and include spiritual, aesthetic, and "sense of place" services.

Current research shows that the types of cultural services valued in Singapore are changing; in the 1950s, communities valued mangroves for intrapersonal reasons such as spiritual and religious value, especially for kampung communities that had a strong personal link to the coast. However, today people in Singapore have become more dislocated from their coastline, and place more value in interpersonal services such as recreation and education.

Despite their importance, Singapore's remaining fragments of hidden coastline face an uncertain future. The Urban Redevelopment Authority's 2013 Land Use Plan and the 2014 Master Plan suggest further land reclamation - expansion that is needed to maintain economic production and house a growing population in a land-challenged Singapore.

This begs the question of how ecosystem services can be used to balance socioeconomic demands with environmental concerns. Yet, we already implicitly use the ecosystem-service approach in land use planning, with Singapore's Garden City concept driven by an acknowledgement of the importance of natural and managed green spaces in improving livability in a densely populated nation, through recreation and aesthetic value.

Exploring the potential of ecosystem services such as climate regulation, coastal protection and carbon sequestration may provide decision-makers with the evidence to make informed management decisions that incorporate and utilise the varied benefits of the country's hidden coastline, to ensure a sustainable Singapore in the future.

The writer is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore. He has been researching Singapore's coastline at NUS for the past six years.

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Bedok Reservoir users warned of fish and turtle bites

Carolyn Khew The Straits Times AsiaOne 21 Feb 15;

WATER-SPORT enthusiasts visiting Bedok Reservoir have been warned to be wary of being bitten by fish and turtles.

The unusual reminder by national water agency PUB comes after water activities there were suspended for a month recently, after three people complained of minor leg injuries.

The PUB suspended kayaking, dragon-boating and canoeing from Dec 17 to Jan 16 on suspicions that the injuries could have been caused by bites from freshwater turtles or fish such as the toman. The agency has not received reports of similar injuries at other reservoirs.

A PUB spokesman told The Straits Times that it has advised water-activity operators to tell participants to exercise caution and to put on proper footwear. The public is also reminded not to release animals into reservoirs, she added.

Schools have been urged to tell their students to be careful when in the water and to avoid submerging their feet where possible.

Two of the cases involved a pair of students from the nearby Temasek Polytechnic. They suffered cuts to their feet after kayak training there last year.The school said its coaches will focus more on land training for now.

During the suspension, trapping led to fish, including a tarpon, African walking catfish, armour sucker catfish and peacock bass, being caught, said the PUB.

Wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai said Bedok Reservoir, being a man-made water body, will not have any native fish species. The fish caught by the PUB were most likely released into the waters, he added. The toman fish, which can grow up to 1m long, may bite or become defensive when disturbed, he said.

"When you do water sports and are constantly disturbing the waters, there is no way to guarantee that you won't get bitten. It is, after all, not a swimming pool," said Mr Subaraj.

The PUB, which will continue to monitor the situation at Bedok closely, said it has not received reports of animals being released into reservoirs here.

The release of animals or fish into reservoirs is prohibited as it may affect their ecology. Those caught doing so will be issued a fine of $50 on their first offence and $200 on their second offence.

Offenders will be prosecuted for subsequent offences and may be fined up to $3,000.

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Electric car-share scheme may cost $100m 'tax loss'

ST tracked down the Porsche involved in the test-bed programme to a private landed residential estate off Braddell Road.
Christopher Tan, The Straits Times AsiaOne 21 Feb 15;

The Government stands to forgo $100 million or so in tax revenue in an electric car-sharing scheme it hopes to launch from next year, according to calculations based on the approximate cost of such cars.

A Request for Information (RFI) by the Land Transport Authority and Economic Development Board that closes at the end of the month
seeks proposals for such a scheme, which was first announced last November.

RFI papers show the Government could exempt up to 1,000 electric cars from vehicular taxes (including certificate of entitlement premiums) for a car-sharing scheme that lasts up to 10 years.

Assuming the average open market value of an electric car in the fleet is $30,000 (many cost a lot more), the Government stands to forgo $100 million in upfront taxes, comprising additional registration fee, excise duty and an assumed COE premium of $60,000.

No road tax will be levied, but there will be an annual special tax of $1,600 on each car. That would work out to $16 million for 1,000 cars over 10 years.

According to the RFI, the operator will have to build a network of charging stations, but can apply for grants of up to half the capital expenditure.

If two charging stations are proposed per car, it would work out to 2,000 stations. That is deemed the minimum by industry players for an A-to-B system, where users need not return the vehicle to its pick-up point.

Based on conservative estimates, such a network would cost $14 million to $20 million, or $7,000 to $10,000 per charger. Fast chargers, which can charge a car up in less than 30 minutes instead of around eight hours, can cost 10 times as much.

The network has to be handed over to the Government at the end of the scheme, the RFI states.

A briefing last month for interested parties drew about 50 potential proposers from the automotive, infrastructure and car-sharing industries. There was mixed response from those who attended.

A European carmaker's top executive who declined to be named said: "A car-sharing scheme where users need not return the vehicle to its origin is already a difficult concept to implement.

"Making it 100 per cent electric adds to the complexity because (such vehicles) require charging stations."

If chargers were not part of the equation, the location of parking spaces can be changed to suit usage patterns over time, he explained. But with chargers already installed, the operator has to get it spot on the first time.

An executive from a local listed group noted the operator would have to pay for parking spaces, which can be hefty. Based on the Housing Board's season parking charge of $90 per month, the total cost for 2,000 spaces over 10 years works out to $21.6 million.

Among those who are more optimistic is Mr Christophe Di-Perna, Renault's Asia-Pacific head (electric and light commercial vehicles), who said the cost of the charging infrastructure could be lowered if one station with multiple charging cables could be set up. But even so, "there are still a lot of questions to be answered".

He said Renault is in talks with Autolib' - an electric car-sharing firm set up in Paris in 2011 - as well as other parties to participate in the RFI.

Car-sharing Association of Singapore president Lai Meng said the Urban Redevelopment Authority, JTC and HDB were setting aside several hundred parking spaces for the scheme.

"It's a good start," he said, adding that having around 3,000 spaces would be sufficient.

But it has to be a business case at the end of the day, he noted.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng said usage charges must be reasonable if the scheme is to be run as a government-subsidised commercial operation.

The Land Transport Authority said the amount of cost exemptions will only be finalised when a tender is called for the project.

Two test-bed vehicles yet to be scrapped

Two electric cars granted tax exemption for a test-bed programme (2001 to 2010) have not been scrapped as required.

The two - a Porsche 911 sports car and a Toyota RAV4 sports utility vehicle - were converted to run on battery power alone. They were among 100 vehicles used in the Transport Technology Innovation and Development Scheme. The other vehicles were scrapped at the end of the test-bed programme.

In response to press queries, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said owners of the vehicles "have yet to submit their disposal documents to us".

That means the vehicles have not been returned for around four years now, given that the test-bed programme pended in 2010.

For privacy reasons, the LTA would not name the owners. But The Straits Times tracked down the Porsche, a left-hand-drive model, to a private landed residential estate off Braddell Road. The LTA confirmed that there was only one left-hand-drive Porsche 911 in the test-bed programme.

According to past press reports, the car was converted to run on electricity for Mr David Chou, managing director of electric car start- up EV Hub.

Mr Chou could not be reached for comment.

It is not known immediately who owns the electric RAV4, but a local technopreneur who dreamt of making electric cars with a range of 900km had brought one in six years ago to garner interest in his venture.

An LTA spokesman said it is investigating the two cases.

Meanwhile, another test-bed scheme started in 2011 involves an additional 100 tax-exempt cars.

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As Sabah's elephant population grows, conflict with humans on the rise

RUBEN SARIO The Star 21 Feb 15;

KOTA KINABALU: An increase in the population of Sabah's Bornean pygmy elephants coupled with a decline in their habitat is resulting in more frequent incidents involving the pachyderms.

A 57-year-old woman was slightly injured when she and a husband stumbled across an adult bull elephant on Thursday in Telupid district along the state’s east coast, in the latest human-elephant conflict.

Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said the 2.3m tall elephant injured the woman, Justina Ompang, while she was walking to work with her husband.

The incident occurred in Kampung Gambaron, about two kilometres from Telupid town, around 6.20am when heavy mist enveloped the area.

Justina and her husband, Khunyan bin Basimah, 40, were walking out of their home when they came across the elephant standing by the side of the road.

The couple were used to seeing elephants that would often retreat into the nearby jungle upon seeing them.

However, on that morning, the elephant charged at them and used its trunk to hit Justina.

Khunyan started shouting to distract the elephant and this worked, as the elephant immediately stopped attacking the woman and ran back into the forested area.

Villagers then rushed Justina to to the Telupid hospital where she was treated for bruises on her upper body.

“More than 30 elephants in four different groups have been causing severe damage to the villagers’ crops as well as damaging vehicles and motorcycles,” Dr Sen said.

The affected areas that have borne the brunt of these human-elephant conflicts were Kampung Bouto, Kampung Lubang Batu, Kampung Maliau and Kampung Gambaron.

Dr Sen said the department’s rangers, along with Wildlife Rescue Unit personnel have been working around the clock conducting Elephant Control Operations, trying to chase the elephants back into the forest and protecting the villages.

“Now with this new development, we have escalated our Elephant Control Operation to a full blown Capture and Translocation Program. It is going to be a very expensive operation, costing as much as RM 20,000-30,000 per elephant.

“We have to do it for the safety of the villager,” he said.

Department director William Baya human-elephant conflicts had been on the increase in recent years at elephant habitat areas in the central and south eastern parts of Sabah, including Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Beluran, Lahad Datu, Tawau and Nabawan and Pensiangan.

“We believe that the reason for this is the further increase in fragmentation and net loss of suitable elephant habitats, coupled by a probable net increase in elephant population state-wide,” he said, adding that a 2008 survey showed that Sabah elephant population stood at 2,000 heads.

“We need to find a solution for this problem by better managing our present elephant population as well as habitat,” William said.

He said relocating the elephants was not a permanent solution as there was documented proof that the same elephants made their way back to their original habitat and caused more conflict.

Woman hurt in elephant encounter
The Star 21 Feb 15;

KOTA KINABALU: A 57-year-old woman was slightly injured when she and a husband encountered an adult bull elephant on Thursday in the east coast Telupid district in the latest human-elephant conflict.

Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said the 2.3m-tall elephant injured Justina Ompang as she was walking to work with her husband in Kampung Gambaron, about 2km from Telupid town, around 6.20am.

Justina and her husband Khunyan Basimah, 40, were walking out of their home when they came across a bull elephant standing by the side of the road.

Elephants often retreat into the nearby jungle upon seeing people but in this instance, the elephant charged and hit Justina with its trunk.

Khunyan started shouting to distract the elephant and it worked, as it immediately stopped attacking the wife and ran into the forested area.

Villagers then rushed Justina to the Telupid hospital where she was treated for bruises on her upper body.

Dr Sen said more than 30 elephants in four different groups have been causing severe damage to the villagers’ crops as well as damaging vehicles in several villages.

He said the department’s rangers and the Wildlife Rescue Unit personnel have been working round the clock conducting Elephant Control Operations, to chase the jumbos back into the forest.

“Now with this new development, we have boosted our operation to a full blown Capture and Translocation Programme. It is going to be a very expensive operation, costing as much as RM20,000 to RM30,000 per elephant but for the safety of the villagers we have to do it,” he said.

Department director William Baya said human-elephant conflicts had been on the increase in recent years at elephant habitat areas in the central and south eastern parts of Sabah.

“We believe the reason for this is the increase in fragmentation and loss of suitable elephant habitat, coupled with an increase in elephant population statewide,” he said, adding that a 2008 survey showed that Sabah’s elephant population stood at 2,000 heads.

Rogue elephant captured
ROY GOH New Straits Times 23 Feb 15;

TELUPID: A rogue elephant that attacked a man and his wife last week has been captured.

The male elephant was tracked down and subdued with tranquilizer by a team from the Sabah Wildlife department at about 6.20pm yesterday.

Wildlife director William Baya said the elephant estimated to be about 20 years old and measured nearly 2.3 metres in height will be sent to the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary in Sandakan for further observation on its behaviour.

"We will not translocate this elephant anywhere yet as we are worried that it might pose a similar danger somewhere else," he said.

The elephant attacked a man and his wife as they were walking to work in Kampung Gambaron Telupid at about 6.20am on Feb 19.

The woman sustained minor injuries in the attack and was given medical treatment at the district hospital before being discharged the same day.

Sabah rangers capture elephant that attacked woman
RUBEN SARIO The Star 23 Feb 15;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Wildlife rangers have caught a bull elephant that injured a villager in the east coast Telupid district on Thursday.

Sabah Wildlife Department director William Baya said a team from the Wildlife Rescue Unit captured the elephant late Sunday after tracking the animal for three days.

“I am glad that our rangers have managed to capture this rogue elephant,” he said Monday.

Baya said the department’s veterinarian Dr Laura Benedict darted the 2.3m tall elephant at about 6.20pm after rangers tracked it down to an oil palm plantation, some two kilometres from Kampung Gambaron where the woman was attacked.

Wildlife officials were ascertaining if the elephant was in musth, a periodic condition characterised by highly aggressive behaviour accompanied by a rise in reproductive hormones.

There were no physical signs of musth normally seen in bull elephants such as oil discharge from the temporal lobe or dribbling urine.

“We will not trans-locate this elephant anywhere yet as we are worried that it might pose a similar danger somewhere else,” he said.

“The plan now is to bring it to our newly built Borneo Elephant Sanctuary (BES) where it can be further observed for its behaviour before we decide on the next course of action,” Baya added.

The bull elephant used its trunk to strike 57-year-old Justina Ompang when she and her husband, Khunyun Basimah, 40, encountered the animal on the roadside near their village.

The couple were used to seeing elephants that would often retreat into the nearby jungle upon seeing them.

On that morning, however, the bull elephant charged at them and used its trunk to hit Justina. Khunyan started shouting to distract the elephant and this worked, as the elephant immediately stopped attacking the wife and ran back into the forested area.

Villagers then rushed Justina to the Telupid hospital where she was treated for bruises on her upper body.

Villagers not afraid of elephants despite recent attacks
ROY GOH New Straits Times 10 Mar 15;

TELUPID: The presence of wild elephants in several villages near here has attracted people who are eager to get a closer look - instead of scaring them away.

Despite a recent attack on a couple at Kampung Gambaron about 2 kilometres from the town here, many residents in the surrounding areas would not let up any opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Bornean Pygmy elephants.

Among them was civil servant Jackson Watis who held his nerve by getting close to a herd not far from his home to capture a near 3-minute video of the elephants sometime in mid-February.

"It was scary but at the same time I was curious," said the 23-year-old Kampung Gambaron resident who admitted the only thing he could think of, if the elephants turned on him, would be to run as fast as he could.

"We were about 20m to 30m away and one of my friends lit fire-crackers to scare the herd away. It worked but the damage was quite extensive," Jackson said adding that he would do it again with caution.

On Feb 19, a male elephant estimated to be about 20-years-old and measuring about 2.3m in height attacked a man and his wife as they were walking to work at about 6.20am at Kampung Gambaron.

A team from the state Wildlife department subsequently captured the elephant not far from the village, located about 2km from the town here. It was later sent to the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary in Kinabatangan for further observation.

The department's Wildlife Rescue Unit have been deployed to the area to conduct control operations to chase away the elephants back into the forest and protect Kampung Gambaron as well as other nearby villages.

State Wildlife director William Baya had said such human-elephant conflicts have occurred more frequently in recent years in central and south-eastern part of Sabah such as Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Beluran, Lahad Datu, Tawau, Nabawan and Pensiangan.

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Agriculture must change

FAO Director-General speaks at International Forum on Agriculture and Climate Change
FAO 20 Feb 15;

Paris - The model of agricultural production that predominates today is not suitable for the new food security challenges of the 21st century, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today.

While the numbers of the chronically hungry have been reduced by 100 million over the past decade, 805 million still go without enough to eat on a regular basis, he noted in remarks to ministers, scientists, farmers, and representatives of civil society gathered in the French capital for a government-organized International Forum on Agriculture and Climate Change.

Increasing production has long seen as the natural pathway to ending hunger - but today, even though the world produces enough food to feed everyone, hunger remains a problem, he pointed out.

"Since food production is not a sufficient condition for food security, it means that the way we are producing is no longer acceptable," said Graziano da Silva.

"What we are still mostly seeing is a model of production that cannot prevent the degradation of soils and the loss of biodiversity - both of which are essential goods, especially for future generations. This model must be reviewed. We need a paradigm shift. Food systems need to be more sustainable, inclusive and resilient," he added.

Climate change a clear and present danger

Agriculture has a potentially large role to play not only in guaranteeing food security but also in building resilience to the affects of climate change and in reducing humankind's emissions of global warming gases, according to the FAO Director-General.

"The impacts of climate change are no longer an anticipated threat. They are now a crystal-clear reality right before our eyes," he warned, adding: "Climate change will not only affect food production but also the availability of food and the stability of supplies. And in a global, interdependent economy, climate change makes the global market for agricultural products less predictable and more volatile."

In his remarks, the FAO Director-General underscored the important role played by healthy soils. "Soils host at least one quarter of the world's biodiversity and are key in the carbon cycle. They help us to mitigate and adapt to climate change," he said.

2015 has been designated by the UN General Assembly as the International Year of Soils, and FAO is the lead agency for coordinating the year's activities.

New approaches

One promising new approach, said Graziano da Silva, is what is known as "climate-smart agriculture" - adjusting farming practices to make them more adaptive and resilient to environmental pressures, while at the same time decreasing farming's own impacts on the environment.

FAO is home to the Global Alliance on Climate-Smart Agriculture, a broad coalition of stakeholders, including governments; farmers and food producers, processors and sellers; scientific and educational organizations; civil society actors; multilateral and international agencies and the private sector established last September by the UN General Assembly.

The alliance is working to promote sustainable and equitable increases in agricultural productivity and incomes; build greater resilience of food systems and farming livelihoods; and achieve reductions or removals of greenhouse gas emissions by agriculture.

The FAO Director-General also highlighted "agro-ecology" as a promising way to move food production onto a more sustainable path. The approach uses ecological theory to study and manage agricultural systems in order to make them both more productive and better at conserving natural resources.

Today's forum was the first in a series of events leading up the December 2015 climate summit.

During his visit to France, Graziano da Silva also met President François Hollande and held bilateral meetings with Laurent Fabius, France's Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development and Stéphane Le Foll, the country's Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Tomorrow he is slated to participate at the opening of the Paris International Agricultural Show.

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