Best of our wild blogs: 31 Aug 18

3rd Link on Pulau Ubin? NO!
Wan's Ubin Journal

Fires and haze are back in Indonesia as peat protection bid falls short
eco-business.com

Read more!

Malaysia: Water transfer initiative likely for critical Sungai Lebam Dam, says Johor exco

Malay Mail 30 Aug 18;

JOHOR BARU, Aug 30 — The Johor government is likely to carry out a water transfer initiative from its other dams especially in southern Johor, if water supply is inadequate following the critical water level at the Sungai Lebam Dam near Kota Tinggi.

State Committee chairman for International Trade, Investment and Utilities, Jimmy Puah Wee Tse said with water usage in southern Johor being the highest in the state, the amount of water at the Sungai Lebam dam was a cause for concern as it was feared to be insufficient.

“The state government will hold a special meeting with relevant agencies to discuss water solving and transfer methods (from the other dams),” he said after visiting the Frontier Industrial Park in Ulu Tiram, here today.

The state would continue to monitor the weather and if it remained hot without rain, it would have to start the water-transfer process (from other dams) if the situation worsened, he said, adding that the water-level readings at other dams had dropped but were not critical.

He said that the Sungai Lebam reservoir’s water level now stood at at 11.48 metres, lower than its critical level mark of 12.32 metres, attributing it to the current hot weather, expected to continue until October.

Puah said that the state government would also have to start water rationing as the existing water supply at the dam was only expected to last for 60 days from today.

The Sungai Lebam Dam reservoir was crucial as it supplies 45 million litres of water daily to more than one million users in southern Johor and the authorities would also monitor the dams that supply water to Kluang and Mersing which were often affected by drought, he added. — Bernama

Read more!

Malaysia: Johor govt mulling third Malaysia-Singapore link

MOHD FAHMI MOHD YUSOF New Straits Times 30 Aug 18;

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Johor government says it plans to build a third link between Malaysia and Singapore to reduce traffic congestion on the Johor Causeway.

Menteri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian said the third link, once completed, would connect Pengerang in east Johor to Pulau Ubin in Singapore.

He also said the state government will draft a proposal for the construction of the link before submitting it to the federal government for approval.

“If we look at it, Pengerang is only three kilometres away from Pulau Ubin and east Johor is experiencing rapid growth.

“We also talked about implementing a new system at the third link, where people will only need to show authorities their passports once for verification,” he said during a press conference here today.

Present was UEM Sunrise Bhd chief executive officer and managing director Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib.

Osman said discussions on the new link would involve several agencies, including the state Implementation and Coordination Unit.

“The discussions will also involve the Singaporean government,” he said, adding that the link may be connected to the Pulau Ubin underground tunnel.

“The state government is always thinking about Malaysian citizens who cross into Singapore for work and the existing links are congested and packed,” he added.


Singapore yet to receive official proposal for third link
Bernama New Strait Times 30 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: Singapore has yet to receive any official proposal from Malaysia on a third bridge linking both countries from the eastern side of Johor.

“We have not received any official proposal or communication from Malaysia regarding a third link between Singapore and Malaysia,” a spokesperson from Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement today.

Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian had earlier today said the state government had a plan to build the third link to ease traffic congestion at the Johor Causeway and second link crossing.

However, Osman said a proposal would first be sent to the federal government for due diligence.

The plan is to link Pengerang, Johor and Pulau Ubin in Singapore via a three-kilometre bridge and an undersea tunnel.--BERNAMA


Malaysia floats plan for third link to Singapore
Channel NewsAsia 30 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday (Aug 30) that there is "some" plan to build a third link with Singapore, amid reports that Malaysia's southern state of Johor was in talks to build a bridge that could be completed in three or four years.

Singapore is currently linked to Johor via the very busy Woodlands Causeway in the north and the Second Link Bridge at Tuas in the west.

Asked about a plan to build a third link, Mahathir told reporters in Kuala Lumpur: "There is some plan in the offing ... there is already some plan." He did not provide any further details.

In response to media queries, a spokesperson from Singapore's Ministry of Transport said: "We have not received any official proposal or communications from Malaysia regarding a third link between Singapore and Malaysia."

Earlier, Malaysian state media reported that the Johor government was researching the possibility of building a bridge from Pengerang near Kota Tinggi to the Pulau Ubin island in Singapore.

The proposed bridge could help ease traffic congestion on the two existing bridges which link the two countries, said Johor's Chief Minister Osman Sapian as cited by Bernama.

"Yesterday, I had a discussion with interested parties about the possibility of a third link from east Johor. We observed that the area was close to Pulau Ubin - they were only about 3km apart," Mr Osman said.

Mr Osman said it was likely that the link would have a different customs and immigration system from the one used at the Causeway and Second Link.

"We may use a new system. It could be that Singapore and Malaysia's immigration checks will be conducted just once either in Pengerang or in Pulau Ubin," said the minister.

The project was still at the research stage, he added, and findings would be presented to the federal government to be studied.

Mr Osman also commented on the RTS link, saying that the project would likely begin in the third quarter of 2019.

"The design of the RTS will remain as it was decided before. It's just that presently, there is an overlap of companies," he said.

The RTS, which is supposed to operate from Bukit Chagar to the Woodlands North station in Singapore, is expected to be able to carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour when it is ready in 2024.

Mahathir's comment comes after he reviewed a series of infrastructure projects with China and with Singapore that had been pushed by his predecessor Najib Razak, whose coalition suffered a surprise defeat in the May election.

Mahathir has suspended plans for a high-speed rail link from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

Source: Bernama/Reuters/CNA/hs(cy)/mz



Possible 3rd link to Singapore: Johor govt moots bridge to Pulau Ubin
Today Online 30 Aug 18;

KUALA LUMPUR/ISKANDAR PUTERI (Malaysia) — Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad confirmed on Thursday (Aug 30) that there is "some" plan to build a third link with Singapore.

Dr Mahathir was fielding questions from media in Kuala Lumpur following reports of the possibility of another link with the country's southern neighbour. He was quoted saying: "There is some plan in the offing ... there is already some plan." No further details were given.

The Johor state government had earlier expressed interest in another link to Singapore, this time to be built on its eastern flank.

Johor Chief Minister Osman Sapian said the proposed route is from the Sungai Rengit area in Pengerang, Kota Tinggi district direct to Singapore's Pulau Ubin.

"Yesterday I had a discussion with several interested parties. From the discussion, there is likely to be a third link in eastern Johor that will link to Pulau Ubin in Singapore.

"It will be developed like the Second Link crossing," he said.

Datuk Osman said the state government, which is formed by Malaysia's ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, will send a proposal to the federal government on the matter before further plans can be made.

Over the years, several groups — mainly local business associations and guilds — had called on the previous Barisan Nasional state government to look at having a third link from Johor to Singapore.

The proposal was due to increasing traffic on the Causeway in Johor Baru and on the Second Link crossing from Tuas to Gelang Patah.

In late 2016, the Transport Ministry had recommended the proposed construction of a third link from Pasir Gudang to Singapore's Changi Airport.

However, the proposal remained in the discussion stage and no specific development was followed up. AGENCIES


Malaysia floats plan for third link to Singapore
Channel NewsAsia 30 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday (Aug 30) that there is "some" plan to build a third link with Singapore, amid reports that Malaysia's southern state of Johor was in talks to build a bridge that could be completed in three or four years.

Singapore is currently linked to Johor via the very busy Woodlands Causeway in the north and the Second Link Bridge at Tuas in the west.

Asked about a plan to build a third link, Mahathir told reporters in Kuala Lumpur: "There is some plan in the offing ... there is already some plan." He did not provide any further details.

In response to media queries, a spokesperson from Singapore's Ministry of Transport said: "We have not received any official proposal or communications from Malaysia regarding a third link between Singapore and Malaysia."

Earlier, Malaysian state media reported that the Johor government was researching the possibility of building a bridge from Pengerang near Kota Tinggi to the Pulau Ubin island in Singapore.

The proposed bridge could help ease traffic congestion on the two existing bridges which link the two countries, said Johor's Chief Minister Osman Sapian as cited by Bernama.

"Yesterday, I had a discussion with interested parties about the possibility of a third link from east Johor. We observed that the area was close to Pulau Ubin - they were only about 3km apart," Mr Osman said.

Mr Osman said it was likely that the link would have a different customs and immigration system from the one used at the Causeway and Second Link.

"We may use a new system. It could be that Singapore and Malaysia's immigration checks will be conducted just once either in Pengerang or in Pulau Ubin," said the minister.

The project was still at the research stage, he added, and findings would be presented to the federal government to be studied.

Mr Osman also commented on the RTS link, saying that the project would likely begin in the third quarter of 2019.

READ: Singapore, Malaysia to announce joint decisions on RTS, HSR soon, says Khaw Boon Wan
"The design of the RTS will remain as it was decided before. It's just that presently, there is an overlap of companies," he said.

The RTS, which is supposed to operate from Bukit Chagar to the Woodlands North station in Singapore, is expected to be able to carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour when it is ready in 2024.

Mahathir's comment comes after he reviewed a series of infrastructure projects with China and with Singapore that had been pushed by his predecessor Najib Razak, whose coalition suffered a surprise defeat in the May election.

Mahathir has suspended plans for a high-speed rail link from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

Source: Bernama/Reuters/CNA/hs(cy)/mz


Possible 3rd link to Singapore: Johor govt moots bridge to Pulau Ubin
Today Online 31 Aug 18;

KUALA LUMPUR/ISKANDAR PUTERI (Malaysia) — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed on Thursday (Aug 30) that there is "some" plan to build a third link with Singapore.

Tun Mahathir was fielding questions from media in Kuala Lumpur following reports of the possibility of another link with the country's southern neighbour. He was quoted saying: "There is some plan in the offing... there is already some plan." No further details were given.

The Johor state government had earlier expressed interest in another link to Singapore, this time to be built on its eastern flank.

Johor Chief Minister Osman Sapian said the proposed route is from the Sungai Rengit area in Pengerang, Kota Tinggi district direct to Singapore's Pulau Ubin.

"Yesterday I had a discussion with several interested parties. From the discussion, there is likely to be a third link in eastern Johor that will link to Pulau Ubin in Singapore.

"It will be developed like the Second Link crossing," he said.

Datuk Osman said the state government, which is formed by Malaysia's ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, will send a proposal to the federal government on the matter before further plans can be made.

Responding to TODAY's queries, a spokesperson from Singapore's Ministry of Transport said: "We have not received any official proposal or communications from Malaysia regarding a third link between Singapore and Malaysia."

Over the years, several groups — mainly local business associations and guilds — had called on the previous Barisan Nasional state government to look at having a third link from Johor to Singapore.

The proposal was due to increasing traffic on the Causeway in Johor Baru and on the Second Link crossing from Tuas to Gelang Patah.

In late 2016, the Transport Ministry had recommended the proposed construction of a third link from Pasir Gudang to Singapore's Changi Airport.

However, the proposal remained in the discussion stage and no specific development was followed up. AGENCIES

Read more!

Trade of coastal sand is damaging wildlife of poorer nations, study finds

Wealthy nations’ drastic increase in construction sand consumption contributes to erosion of estuaries
Patrick Barkham The Guardian 31 Aug 18;

The secretive trade of coastal sand to wealthy countries such as China is seriously damaging the wildlife of poorer nations whose resources are being plundered, according to a new study.

Sand and gravel are the most extracted groups of materials worldwide after water, with sand used in the concrete and asphalt of global cities. China consumed more sand between 2011 and 2013 than the US did during the entire 20th century. India has more than tripled its annual use of construction sand since 2000.

But coastal sand is also being used to make wealthy countries larger via land reclamation projects, and the cost to poorer nations is revealed in a presentation to the Royal Geographical Society’s annual conference.

Research by Melissa Marschke and Laura Schoenberger of the University of Ottawa highlights that the dredging of coastal sand from Cambodia is causing the loss of mangrove swamps, coastal erosion, and damaging local fishing. They also allege that the sheer scale of the multimillion dollar trade of sand must be illegal, given that the volumes permitted for import are being exceeded.

Singapore is built on sand: its land area has grown by more than a fifth since its independence in 1965 from 581 sq km to 719 sq km in 2015, according to the researchers. Between 2007 and 2017, Singapore imported more sand from Cambodia than any other country.

Sand worth US$752m was imported by Singapore from Cambodia between 2007 and 2016, according to UN data.

Cambodia is not the only place experiencing vast sand extraction. A study recently estimated that 236m cubic metres of sand were extracted from Poyang Lake in China, causing its water levels to drop dramatically. Sand miners have destroyed at least two dozen islands in Indonesia since 2005. The UK obtains about one fifth of its sand from the seabed.

Cambodian figures claim that the total export worth for the same time period was just $5m but Singapore trade statistics show that 80.22m metric tons of sand was imported from Cambodia, compared with the 2.77m metric tons Cambodia claims was exported to Singapore.

Schoenberger, a postdoctoral fellow, told the conference: “The volume of sand that has been leaving Cambodia over the last ten years is absolutely illegal; way beyond the government’s permitted limits.

“Small amounts of sand can be legally exported, but Singaporean import figures reveal that this Cambodian resource is clearly, and rapidly, disappearing. It appears that someone with high level connections in the Cambodian government is making a lot of money.”

Desert sand is too rounded by the wind to make good concrete but coastal sand can be rinsed with freshwater to clean it of salt before use in construction. Coastal sand is also a key ingredient in land reclamation projects such as China’s expansion into the South China Sea.

Schoenberger and Marschke interviewed villagers and sand dredgers in Cambodia and found that most dredgers were entrepreneurs with small boats who extracted the sand in estuaries and close to coastal fisheries, damaging local crab and fish stocks.

According to Marschke, associate professor at the University of Ottowa, the noise and sediment disturbance causes grouper fish to relocate and drives crabs from the area. Subsequent erosion of mangroves destroys vital fish and crab breeding grounds and damages a natural sea defence for coastal communities.

“Sand mining is contributing to the erosion of estuaries, the collapse of riverbanks and loss of mangroves,” said Marschke. “The removal of vast quantities of sand will definitely impact upon coastal erosion.”

Following petitions and protests by local people and an influential campaign by Cambodian group Mother Nature, the Cambodian government banned coastal sand mining in 2017. But the researchers cast doubt on whether the ban is being upheld or will endure in the face of relentless global demand for sand. Singapore’s land area in 2030 is predicted to be 30% larger than in 1965.

Marschke said: “We need to realise that sand is a finite resource and we are overusing it and if we don’t start to manage it properly it has huge implications.”

Schoenberger said the issue of rich nations buying poor nations’ sands was “a huge social justice question”.

She added: “What does it mean for a wealthy country to grow out into the sea and up into the sky at the expense of the physical biomaterial of poor countries?

“Sand is not a renewable resource within human timescales.”

Read more!

Do you know what kind of plastics can be recycled? Majority of Singaporeans have no clue

SIAU MING EN Today Online 30 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE — Seven in 10 people in Singapore are not fully certain about the type of plastics that can be recycled, causing many to trash most of the products as general waste instead of recycling them, said the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) in its report on Thursday (Aug 30).

The report was derived from an eight-month study which included a recent survey of 1,003 people here on their plastic usage habits and attitudes towards recycling.

To test their level of awareness on the types of plastics that can be recycled here, the respondents were asked to determine if each of the five plastic items – plastic bags, take-away containers (non-polystyrene), styrofoam containers, bottled drinking water and detergent bottles – can be recycled in Singapore.

Only three in 10 gave the correct answers for all five items.

Only 6 per cent of the plastic waste generated in Singapore was recycled last year, the lowest rate in the last decade. In comparison, the United States and Europe recycle 9 and 30 per cent respectively of such waste annually.

Inconvenience was also listed as the top reason for not recycling plastic waste, said the council.

Respondents who cited this reason for not recycling plastic waste (42 per cent) said it was a hassle to bring their bag of recyclables to the recycling bin, separate it from general waste, as well as having to wash, dry and clean the recyclable plastic items.

But others (35 per cent) said they did not recycle these items as they intend to reuse them for other purposes.

To help recycling efforts, 45 per cent of the respondents said they need more information on the different types of plastics, as well as what can or cannot be recycled.

An earlier set of findings from the same survey released by SEC earlier this month found that people here use at least 1.76 billion supermarket plastic bags, plastic bottle and plastic disposables a year. About half of those surveyed also use three or more plastic bags each time they visit the supermarket.

Further findings released on Thursday showed that the respondents were divided over whether imposing a charge on plastic items will be effective in reducing its use.

However, the majority said incentives such as product discounts, shopping vouchers and membership points for bringing their own bag or container would be effective at cutting down the use of plastic.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards on Thursday, SEC chairman Isabella Huang-Loh said the low level of awareness on recycling plastics could be due to an earlier emphasis on recycling items such as paper and tins.

Likewise, plastic products often contain different information on recycling since they are imported from several countries. This makes it more complex for people to understand how plastics can be recycled, she said.

The SEC's report on consumer use of plastic and the waste ecosystem in Singapore also made several recommendations.

WHAT CAN BE DONE:

Replace single-use plastic bags

Retailers can get customers to use reusable bags to bag vegetables and fruits at supermarkets, as well as for the bread at bakeries.

Create a market for innovative uses of recycled plastic

Recycled plastics can be converted to oil and fuel using technology, or used in the production of flat-panel displays, and ink and toner cartridges.

Set up specialised recycling companies

The contracts for collecting general waste and recyclables could be separated to allow specialised companies to enter the Singapore market, providing the technology and capabilities to recycle plastic.

Standardise recycling bins

The colour and shape of recycling bins can be standardised so that recycling can be more intuitive. The same goes for labels so that consumers can easily understand the information on recycling.

Introduce legislation and policies targeted at reducing plastic waste

Make it mandatory for public waste collectors to provide recycling bins and collections services to commercial firms as they produce more plastic waste than households.

Inconvenience and ignorance key obstacles to recycling
Environment Council spells out six proposals to boost Singapore's plastic recycling rate
Adrian Lim Straits Times 31 Aug 18;

Non-polystyrene takeaway containers can be recycled after being emptied and rinsed, but styrofoam ones should not be thrown into the blue recycling bins in Singapore.

However, most Singaporeans are not fully aware of such guidelines and which kinds of plastics can and cannot be recycled. This lack of knowledge is why the bulk of plastic products are disposed of as general waste, a report by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) shows.

The Consumer Plastic and Plastic Resource Ecosystem in Singapore report, released yesterday at the SEC Annual Conference, showed four in 10 cited inconvenience as a reason for not recycling. This is in addition to seven in 10 who indicated they did not fully understand what plastics to recycle. About 20 per cent said they were not aware of the location of the nearest recycling bins.

To tackle the issues, SEC, a non-governmental organisation, has spelt out six recommendations to boost Singapore's plastic recycling rate, which is only at 6 per cent, poorer than for other materials like paper and cardboard, at 50 per cent.

They include giving firms that specialise in recycling technology the opportunity to operate in Singapore.

The council also suggested that public-sector and non-governmental organisations partner major packaging-waste industries, such as food and beverage, to reduce the use of plastic packaging. Another recommendation is to build a market for recycled plastic through innovation, like using recycled plastic to support manufacturing segments such as the electronics sectors. Council executive director Jen Teo said: "In Singapore, our plastic eco-system is mostly linear, which means that plastic goes from producers to consumers, to the waste bin. This places a strain on our waste management systems as well as uses up an enormous amount of natural resources."

For the report commissioned jointly with Deloitte & Touche Enterprise Risk Services, 1,003 people were surveyed from December to May. Despite the lack of awareness on which plastics can be recycled, 45 per cent wanted to learn more.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli said the council's efforts to fight plastic waste, and its call for individuals to use one less plastic item a day, are commendable, and he hopes the public will rise to the challenge.

Mr Emmanual Tay, who runs Eco Innovative, which helps clients monitor and analyse their waste data, said that when recyclable plastic is contaminated by food waste, it is hard to recycle. Recyclable plastic is usually collected, baled and sent overseas, which takes weeks. But if it is contaminated, there may be decomposition and health issues.

During the SEC Annual Conference held at the One Farrer Hotel and Spa, 14 firms and organisations were recognised for their sustainable business practices, as part of the 21st annual Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards.


Seven in 10 Singaporeans unaware of which plastics can be recycled
Adrian Lim Straits Times 30 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE - Non-polystyrene takeaway containers can be recycled after being emptied and rinsed, but styrofoam ones should not be thrown into the blue recycling bins in Singapore.

However, most Singaporeans are not fully aware of such guidelines and which kinds of plastics can or cannot be recycled.

This lack of knowledge is why the bulk of plastic products are disposed of as general waste, a new report by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) has shown.

The Consumer Plastic And Plastic Resource Ecosystem In Singapore report, which was released on Thursday (Aug 30) at the SEC Annual Conference, also showed that four in 10 cited inconvenience as a reason for not recycling.

This was in addition to the seven in 10 who indicated that they did not fully understand what plastics to recycle. More than 20 per cent also said they were not aware of the location of the nearest recycling bins.

To tackle the issues, the SEC, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has spelt out six recommendations to help improve Singapore's plastic recycling rate, which is only at 6 per cent, poorer than other materials like paper and cardboard, at 50 per cent.

They include giving companies that specialise in recycling technology the opportunity to operate in Singapore.

The council also suggested that public sector organisations and NGOs partner major packaging-waste industries - such as food and beverage - to reduce the use of plastic packaging.

Another recommendation is to build a market for recycled plastic through innovation, such as using recycled plastic to support major manufacturing segments in Singapore, like the biomedical and electronics industries.

In a survey of more than 1,000 people online, the non-governmental organisation found that people in Singapore take 820 million plastic bags yearly from supermarkets.

"In Singapore, our plastic ecosystem is mostly linear, which means that plastic goes from producers to consumers, to the waste bin," said the council's executive director Jen Teo.

"This places a strain on our waste management systems as well as uses up an enormous amount of natural resources," she added.

Ms Teo said the study shows that there are already existing technologies to convert plastic to fuel, and even use recycled plastic for 3D printing.

For the report, which was commissioned jointly with Deloitte & Touche Enterprise Risk Services, 1,003 Singaporeans were surveyed from last December to May this year.

Despite the lack of awareness on which plastics can be recycled, the poll found that 45 per cent of respondents wanted more information on the matter, suggesting that they do want to recycle.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli said that the council's effort to fight plastic waste, and its call for individuals to use one less plastic item a day, are commendable, and he hopes the public will rise to the challenge.

Mr Masagos said the Government is studying the feasibility of extending the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach to plastic and packaging waste.

The EPR approach will apply to producers of electrical and electronic equipment by 2021, and they will have to ensure their products are collected and recycled or disposed of when they reach the end of their lifespan.

He added that the National Environment Agency also recently launched a research grant call for the sustainable design of plastic materials, with the aim for plastics to be made more reusable, easier to recycle and to extract value from waste plastics.

Mr Emmanual Tay, who runs Eco Innovative, a company which helps clients monitor and analyse their waste data, said that when recyclable plastic is contaminated by food waste, it is difficult to recycle.

Recyclable plastic is usually collected, baled, and sent overseas, in a process which takes weeks. But if it is contaminated, there may be decomposition and health issues, Mr Tay added.

“Plastic collectors in Singapore are specific in the type of plastics they can recycle and they can accept,” he said.

During the SEC Annual Conference, held at the One Farrer Hotel and Spa, 14 companies and organisations were also recognised for their sustainable business practices, as part of the 21st annual Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards.

The top award went to technology firm HP PPS Asia Pacific, which is working with suppliers to replace wood pallets used to ship its products with straw ones. This opens up a market for straw waste and also reduces air pollution from burning unwanted straws, the SEC said.

Read more!

Malaysia: TARP wildlife under threat by holidaymakers' illegal fishing

Kristy Inus New Straits Times 30 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: The wildlife at Tunku Abdul Rahman Park (TARP) is under serious threat, no thanks to irresponsible tour operators who allow holidaymakers to fish for ‘seafood’.

Marine biologist Scott Mayback said although such activities are illegal, tour companies are openly flouting the law.

It is understood that authorities are receiving between two and three reports on illegal fishing in TARP every week.

Sabah Parks, the statutory body in charge of TARP, had issued multiple summonses to errant tour companies that committed the offence, but to no avail.

TARP is made up of five islands — Gaya, Manukan, Sapi, Sulug and Mamutik — and is a famous tourist destination best known for its diving and snorkelling activities.

In an effort to combat illegal fishing in TARP, resort operators, diving companies, Sabah Parks rangers and maritime enforcement personnel have set up a monitoring group.

Mayback, the manager of the Gaya Island Resort Marine Centre (GIRMC), is one of the group’s key members.

“Just yesterday (Aug 29), we spotted a fishing boat anchored near Pulau Gaya.

“We took some videos and photos (of the people onboard fishing). One of them even threatened us,” Mayback told the New Straits Times Press when contacted today.

Mayback lamented that there were too many irresponsible tour operators breaking the rules and too few people conducting monitoring and enforcement work.

He said although there is a plan to establish an honorary rangers programme in TARP, it may take some time to materialise.

“We can safely say there are two or three reports of illegal fishing in TARP every week, and that’s during the day.

“For now, we can’t do anything but take pictures and videos and submit them (to the authorities),” he added.

Mayback said tour companies may have licensed fishing boats and are charging tourists to fish within the park’s boundaries, which is a clear breach of the law.

He also said the tourists, who could be Malaysians or foreigners, normally used nets during the night and fishing rods during the day.

“However, some fishermen and tourists may have problems determining the border and do not realise they are encroaching into TARP.”

Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais, however, said the culprits are well aware of their actions.

“I think they know the boundary and I think they know the law.

“I think they are intentionally breaking the law to make some money.

“And it is always a cat-and-mouse game. When our Sabah Parks rangers are out patrolling, they’re nowhere to be seen. They only go when nobody’s watching,” he told the NSTP when contacted.

Individuals whose fishing vessels are found anchoring within TARP’s restricted waters could be fined RM3,000 and they can also be fined RM500 for every fish they catch.

Sabah cracks down on illegal fishing tours in marine park
stephanie lee The Star 6 Sep 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Six tour operators have been fined for offering fishing tours to tourists inside the protected Tungku Abdul Rahman marine park here.

Sabah Parks assistant director Maipol Sipait said their enforcement team identified the culprits through a special operation dubbed Ops Pancing on Wednesday (Sept 5).

He said the tour operators were fined RM3,000 each.

Fishing within the marine park constituted an offence under the Sabah Parks Enactment and Sabah Parks Regulations, and the tour operators were well aware of this, Maipol said.

In a statement, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Christina Liew said tour operators must comply with the law.

"We do not condone this illegal activity and will not hesitate to charge the operators found breaching rules," she said, adding that severe action will be taken against stubborn operators.

Read more!

Malaysia: Land owners to be held responsible for elephant deaths on their land

Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 30 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: No one will be spared from being held liable should elephant killings take place on their land, including at forest reserves in Sabah.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Christina Liew was responding to a report that the state recorded 25 elephant deaths in the first eight months of this year which is higher than in previous years.

The government has offered a reward of RM120,000 to those who can furnish details on the killing of elephants, but to date no one had come forward.

“The (Sabah Wildlife department) director (Augustine Tuuga) has power to prosecute...land owners will be asked to come and explain why elephants die at their land.

“An elephant expert from United States is also coming, a special unit will be formed to help us solve the (elephants) issue,” she said after the 50th anniversary celebration of the ministry here.

Meanwhile, Augustine said there could be many possibilities that lead to the killing of elephants which is most likely due to human-elephant conflict that has been going on for many years.

NSTP had also reported last month that a herd of 30 elephants had wreaked havoc in Telupid which damaged many farms and property.

“Due to the conflict, elephants spend most of the time at plantations and they could be feeding on pesticide and herbicide, or even be more exposed to poachers.

“In recent cases of elephant killings, they were shot but the tusks were still intact or left with the carcass,” he said.

Augustine said none of the 25 elephant deaths this year were brought to court as there is no solid evidence.

The department was still investigating the death of 14 Borneo Pygmy elephants at Gunung Rara forest reserve in Tawau which occurred between Dec 2012 and Jan 2013.

“Nobody wants to come forward as a witness and poachers usually do it (the killing) at night when no one can see them,” he said, adding it was believed there were fewer than 2,000 Borneo pygmy elephants left in the wild.


Elephant deaths: Sabah to go after plantation owners, smallholders
natasha joibi The Star 30 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is sending a stern warning to landowners that they will be held accountable for the deaths of Borneo pygmy elephants on their property.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew said the government will invoke the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 law against landowners whose properties are found to have snare traps or other trapping devices.

The Deputy Chief Minister said neither smallholders nor big plantation owners will be spared from being investigated under Section 33 of the Act for prohibited methods of hunting.

Liew added that under this particular law, the Sabah Wildlife Department director has the power to prosecute those involved in the deaths of elephants.

“We will ask the landowners to come and explain why elephants were killed on their land.

“We have to turn to this last resort as the killings have been rampant and we feel sorry that these elephants were killed unnecessarily.

“Whatever the motive, the killings have to stop. This law will be enforced with immediate effect, starting today,” she told reporters after attending her ministry's 50th-anniversary celebration here on Thursday (Aug 30).

Liew, who is also Tawau MP, said the operators of forest reserves would also be investigated if elephants were found dead in their area.

“Some people think because the elephants died in forest reserves or on government land, that we would be lenient.

“No, no more. So far we have done everything we can, and we have been advising them. These human-elephant conflicts have been going on long enough.

“Now that the situation has become worse, we have no choice but to invoke the law,” she said.

Recently, WWF-Malaysia urged the government to look into amending the enactment to help counter the worrying number of elephant deaths from snare traps in Sabah.

The organisation suggested the Act be amended to include a strict liability provision for private landowners to be held accountable, and they would have to prove their innocence should an elephant die on their land or if evidence of illegal activities such as snares, hunting platforms and pitfall traps are found in their area.

Through this provision, the burden of proof will be reversed, which would mean that it no longer lies with prosecutors.

Four elephants, including a cow and its calf shot by poachers, have died over the last weekend, with a fifth injured by snare traps in the state's east coast.

The latest deaths bring to 25 the number of elephants killed in the first eight months of this year, with most of the deaths discovered in the past four months.


Pygmy elephant deaths in Borneo prompt Malaysian probe
Reuters New Straits Times 30 Aug 18;

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is investigating a surge in the number of deaths of pygmy elephants, an endangered species found in the tropical rainforests of Borneo, wildlife authorities said on Thursday.

Twenty five pygmy elephants have died in the Malaysian state of Sabah this year, Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga told Reuters.

"This is the highest recorded so far," Augustine said, referring to annual fatalities. Over 100 elephants have died in the last eight years in Sabah.

Conservation group WWF estimates that only around 1,500 elephants are left.

Baby-faced with oversized ears and long tails that drag on the ground, pygmy elephants are found on Borneo island which is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

Loss of habitat is the biggest threat for the pygmy elephants, with deforestation, logging and rapid expansion of palm oil plantations contributing to the decline in their population. The elephants also fall prey to poachers or traps set up to catch animals.

Authorities have been unable to determine the exact reasons for the higher number of deaths this year, but Augustine said they have noticed elephants spending more time outside of forests and in plantations.

The rich rainforests of Borneo are surrounded by vast palm oil plantations. Palm oil companies in Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's top two producers of the vegetable oil, have been accused of doing little to protect wildlife and their habitat.

The latest reported death in Sabah was on Saturday, when wildlife officers found the slightly decomposed carcass of a female elephant in a plantation, with what they believe was a gunshot wound at its temple.

There have been at least two other deaths by shooting and many others caused by injuries from traps.

Bringing the killers to justice has proven to be difficult, due to the remoteness of the locations and the sheer lack of information and witnesses, Augustine said.

No witnesses have come forward despite a reward offer of 120,000 ringgit ($29,200), he said.

WWF Malaysia called on palm oil companies to take more action.

Four male elephants died from snare injuries in the past two months and all of them were found in plantations bordering forest reserves, WWF said in a statement this week.

"Even more worrisome than the number of elephant deaths are the number of elephants that have died due to strategically placed snare traps within their habitat," the conservation group said. -- REUTERS

Read more!

Crop losses to pests will soar as climate warms, study warns

Rising temperatures make insects eat and breed more, leading to food losses growing world population cannot afford, say scientists
Damian Carrington The Guardian 30 Aug 18;

Rising global temperatures mean pests will devour far more of the world’s crops, according to the first global analysis of the subject, even if climate change is restricted to the international target of 2C.

Increasing heat boosts both the number and appetite of insects, and researchers project they will destroy almost 50% more wheat than they do today with a 2C rise, and 30% more maize. Rice, the third key staple, is less affected as it is grown in the tropics, which are already near the optimal temperature for insects – although bugs will still eat 20% more.

Rising heat stress on crops is already expected to cut cereal yields by about 10% for 2C of warming, but the new research indicates rising pest damage will cause at least another 4-8% to be lost. With 800 million people chronically hungry today and the global population rising towards 10bn, increasing pest destruction will worsen food security.

“For many, many people in the world there is already a shortage of food, so it is not like we can afford to spare [more],” said Prof Curtis Deutsch at the University of Washington, US, who led the work. “A lot of people in the world, the most vulnerable, can’t afford to give up anything.”

The UK is the worst affected of significant wheat producers, with pest losses expected to more than double from 5% to 11%, and Canada will suffer the biggest increase in maize losses, from 6% to 10%. The world’s biggest growers will also see a major impact, with China’s wheat losses rising 50% and and US corn losses going up by a third.

The losses are likely to be underestimates as the scientists did not consider factors such as increased transmission of crop diseases carried by insects, or losses after harvest when the grain is stored. The research also did not assess the risk of population explosions of insects that can wipe out crops, due to the complexity of such events.

Action by farmers to try to avoid new pest losses is unlikely to be successful, said Prof Rosamond Naylor at Stanford University, US, and one of the research team. “Increased pesticide applications, the use of [resistant] genetically modified crops and practices such as crop rotations will help control losses from insects. But it still appears that under virtually all climate change scenarios, pest populations will be the winners.”

The research, published in the journal Science, started with well-established knowledge about how rising temperature affects insects. “Warmer temperatures increase insect metabolic rates exponentially [and] increase the reproductive rates,” said Deutsch. “You have more insects, and they’re eating more.” The team then added data on today’s pest losses and used a range of climate change models to estimate future losses – all showed significant damage.

Overall, losses were found to increase by 20-50% for 2C of warming above pre-industrial levels and 40%-100% for 4C. The latter will be reached this century if carbon emissions are not cut soon. “The overall picture is, if you’re growing a lot of food in a temperate region, you’re going to be hit hardest,” said Scott Merrill at the University of Vermont, another member of the team.

Europe’s breadbasket is among the hardest hit, with 11 nations predicted to see a rise in pest losses of 75% or more. “France will get a double whammy,” said Merrill, as it is a top five producer of both wheat and maize. Another big wheat producer, Russia, will see losses rise from 10% to 16% with 2C of warming. Across the globe, an extra 200m tonnes of grain are expected to be eaten by insects in a 2C warmer world.

The research was deliberately conservative and so did not allow population explosions of pests to take place in the computer simulations, as it’s difficult to model how these develop, but such explosions cannot be ruled out.

Deutsch noted that warmer winters have led the pine bark beetle to kill off forests across North America: “They just come out gangbusters in the spring. You can see the damage to space.”

“It is an example of what can happen when you have huge tracts of land that are essentially single crops species with one major pest,” he said. “That is similar in many respects to what agriculture has produced – miles and miles of a single plant.” He also said insect population explosions are seen in fossils from warming periods in the Earth’s past.

Markus Riegler, at Western Sydney University in Australia and not part of the research team, said the new work was the first global analysis. “The results show that insects will cause significantly increased grain loss across many regions of a warmer world,” he said. The work used data on 38 insect species but Riegler said the results should be verified for more pests in future.

“The substantial increases in pest damage forecast call for action on climate change [emissions] and adaptation,” he said. “Everyone must be involved in change: farmers, industries, policymakers and wider society.”

Read more!

Wild boar sightings in Punggol not uncommon but rarely a problem: Residents

Fann Sim Channel NewsAsia 29 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: Despite the wild boar attack on a woman outside Punggol Secondary School on Tuesday (Aug 28), residents in the area that Channel NewsAsia spoke with said the animals are usually not aggressive and will not attack unless provoked.

One man said that he has seen wild boars around the Punggol Serangoon reservoir, about 2 kilometres from the secondary school, more than 20 times in the last two years.

“They are usually in the jungle but sometimes they come out to eat around the slopes of the hill. There are a lot of them, probably 20-25 wild boars from babies to middle-sized to adults,” Mr Amalraj said.

They usually run away when they see people, he added.

A retired resident Mr Koh said that he once saw more than 10 wild boars grazing near the Lorong Halus bridge that spans the reservoir.

“I’ve seen them many times and they are usually finding food. They were not fierce or aggressive and I could even go up close to take photos,” Mr Koh said.

He cycles along Sungei Punggol daily, which runs along many of the new residential projects in the neighbourhood, and has seen people feed the boars, usually in the evening.

Wild boars have also been spotted at the forested areas around Punggol Safra near Sam Kee LRT station, about 1 kilometre away from the secondary school.

Homemaker Mrs Lee told Channel NewsAsia that she has heard from other residents as well as her children's classmates that they have spotted wild boars near Punggol Safra but they were "friendly".

READ: Government working with stakeholders to 'manage wild boar issues': MND
Retiree Susie Woo said her group of elderly friends who play Pokemon Go together have warned each other to watch out for wild boars in the area when they are out and about.

"We saw them at My Waterway @ Punggol where there is a Pokemon gym. I saw two big boars. One was digging the ground and it's fine. Nothing happened. I saw boars three times there," Mdm Woo said.

"It's not so serious. If you don't provoke them they will not attack you," she added.

Resident Low Woon Teck said that there used to be a field with an area of big trees that made it look "like a forest". He came across two boars under a flyover while waiting for the rain to pass when he was out running.

"Why would I be scared? They were grazing like goats and just running up and down. Everybody was watching under the flyover," Mr Low said.

"There are also wild dogs here but it's nothing much. It's not a real concern to me," he added.

Source: CNA/fs


Punggol Secondary students told to be vigilant after boar injures school employee: Principal
Channel NewsAsia 29 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: Staff and students of Punggol Secondary have been reminded to be vigilant and watchful of their surroundings after a woman was injured by a boar outside the school, said its principal Benedict Keh on Wednesday (Aug 29).

He confirmed that the woman injured on Tuesday is an administrative employee at the school, adding that she remains in hospital.

"We will render her continued assistance, including giving her the time to recover from her wounds," said Mr Keh in response to Channel NewsAsia's queries.

"We have reminded our staff and students to be vigilant and watchful of their surroundings," he added.

"As an added precaution, we are working with the relevant authorities to ensure the safety of our staff and students."

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it responded to a call for medical assistance at about 5.15pm on Tuesday, along 51 Edgefield Plains.

After the incident, the boar ran into a nearby executive condominium's rubbish collection point, according to a report by Channel 8 News.

The animal was stranded there and was eventually sedated and moved from the area, said the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES).

NO INCREASE IN WILD BOAR SIGHTINGS IN PUNGGOL: AVA

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it contacted ACRES after being alerted to a boar at the condominium, adding that the animal was subsequently relocated at the Lorong Halus area.

"The wild boar likely came from forested areas at the end of Punggol and/or Coney Island, where boars are known to be present," said AVA in response to Channel NewsAsia's queries.

"AVA has been monitoring the wild boar situation and has not observed any increased trend of wild boar sightings at this area."

The agency added that it has been working closely with the National Parks Board, ACRES, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and the National University of Singapore to "mitigate encounters with wild boars".

"Some measures which have been implemented include putting up signage about wildlife crossings at specific locations to warn motorists," said AVA.

​​​​​​​Authorities said last year that they were working on managing wild boar issues in Singapore after reports of more sightings near residential areas.

Last November, police fired tasers at a boar at Punggol West Flyover after it charged towards officers and members of the public.

In October 2017, a man was injured after he was attacked by a wild boar near a bus stop at Hillview Road.

ACRES said on Tuesday that the wild boar in the latest incident likely came from Lorong Halus.

"Development works in that area could have caused this individual to venture out and subsequently finding itself lost in the urban area," said ACRES deputy chief executive Kalai Vanan.

"Feeding by people may have had a part to play as well to cause the animal to venture out as well."

AVA cautioned members of the public not to approach, disturb, feed or try to catch any wildlife.

"We urge the public to keep a safe distance from all wild boars and avoid confronting or cornering the animals.

"Do not interact with the animal, and ensure that young children and pets are kept away as they may be curious and approach it," said AVA.​​​​​​​

Source: CNA/zl/(gs)


Woman hurt by wild boar: AVA says boar likely from forested areas in Punggol or Coney Island
Timothy Goh and Tee Zhuo Straits Times 28 AUg 18;

SINGAPORE - The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said it has not observed any increased trend of wild boar sightings in Punggol, after a woman was hurt in an encounter with the animal near Punggol Secondary School on Tuesday (Aug 28).

It added that the wild boar likely came from forested areas at the end of Punggol or Coney Island, where the animals are known to be present.

"AVA has been working closely with relevant stakeholders including NParks, Acres, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and NUS, to mitigate encounters with wild boars and ensure public safety," it said on Wednesday, in response to queries from The Straits Times. "Some measures which have been implemented include putting up signages about wildlife crossings at specific locations to warn motorists."

AVA did not provide updated numbers. But it was reported in August 2016 that wild boar sightings in Punggol had doubled to 24 from the previous year.

In the incident on Tuesday afternoon, the woman in her 30s was injured in a wild boar encounter near the school and was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. The school is located a few bus stops away from a forested area which is being cleared for development.

The wild boar was later found in a nearby executive condominium and was captured by staff from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres). It was sedated and relocated.

The school said on Wednesday it is working with the relevant authorities to ensure the safety of its staff and students after the incident. Staff and students have also been reminded to be vigilant and watchful of their surroundings.

School principal Benedict Keh said that the woman, who is an administrative employee, is now in hospital. He said: "We will render her continued assistance, including giving her the time to recover from her wounds."

Punggol Secondary students who spoke to ST said it is the first time they have heard of such an incident happening near the school.

A Secondary 4 student said that he first heard about the incident when his teacher sent a message to his class' WhatsApp chat group. He said he felt "a bit scared" after hearing about it.

Some students, however, said they became aware of the incident only after reading about it online.

After injuring the school employee, the boar, which weighed about 40kg, fled to a nearby executive condominium, Waterbay.

According to Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao, Mr Yang, a security guard at Waterbay, saw the boar running into the condominium. The 54-year-old had initially mistaken it for a dog. When he realised that it was a boar, he notified the condominium's management.

"I was worried that the wild boar would run rampant in the condo and attack people, so I rushed down to the security room to close the rubbish bay doors remotely to trap it. I then called the police," he said.

The report added that two cleaners were trapped in the rubbish bay with the boar briefly, but escaped via the stairs and side door.

A Waterbay resident, who did not want to be named, told ST that he saw the boar being removed by the authorities.

He said that there had not been much of a commotion, adding that in his two years of living there, he had not heard of such an incident. "It seemed like a one-off incident," he said.

Another resident, who gave her name as Ms Ivy, said that a fellow resident first posted a picture of the boar in their condo's WhatsApp group chat. The clerk, who is in her 40s, wondered how the animal made its way from the school to the condo. She said: "The traffic here is so heavy. How did it cross the road?"

Mr Subaraj Rajathurai, director of Strix Wildlife consultancy, said that many pockets of nature had been removed for housing development in recent years, causing wildlife to lose their habitats and wander around looking for food.

He said: “We have encroached on their homes, where do you expect them to go?”

Asked how a boar could have ended up some distance away from its forest habitat, he said: “Animals in a desperate search for food will wander through areas that used to be their foraging grounds.”

Mr Subaraj said that Punggol, with its forested areas being cleared for development, also lacks a "green corridor" which could act as a passageway for animals to move around without coming into contact with humans.

At least two people have been injured in encounters with wild boars in the past two years.

In October 2017, a 44-year-old man was injured when a wild boar attacked him outside a condominium at Hillview Avenue. He suffered cuts and lacerations on both legs.

The next month, police shot a wild boar that was rampaging on a road in Punggol. The injured animal was lying on the road when policemen arrived at the location. When it got up and began charging, the policemen fired their tasers at the boar, but it continued to charge towards them and the public. A policeman had to draw his revolver to fire a shot at it. The boar was later euthanised due to injuries sustained by the shot fired.


Boar attack victim recounts her ordeal, worries for kids in vicinity
The New Paper 31 Aug 18;

The wild boar attack on an administrator from Punggol Secondary School on Tuesday left her with a vicious bite and lacerations on her back, arms and legs.

Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao identified the woman as 32-year-old Ms Alice Ng. She was attacked at Edgefield Plains in Punggol.

Recounting her ordeal from her hospital bed at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on Wednesday, Ms Ng said she did not provoke the animal and found out there were wild boars in the area only after the attack.

Ms Ng, who is expected to be discharged next week, told Wanbao: "I was listening to music on my earphones and I did not feel anything amiss before the incident. A strong force then knocked me down from behind."

She said: "Only when I was knocked to the ground did I realise that it was a big wild boar."

The frenzied boar charged and bit her repeatedly, Ms Ng recounted, tearing her blouse and gashing her on the back.

Dazed, bleeding and in pain, Ms Ng said she had no strength to escape as the boar continued to linger around her.

A passing cyclist then tried to use his bicycle to scare the boar away.

Shin Min Daily News reported that another passerby, Ms Sun, 36, saw the attack and called an ambulance, which arrived in about 10 minutes.

Ms Sun told Shin Min that the cyclist could not chase the boar away until two Punggol Secondary students rushed to the scene after hearing Ms Ng's screams.

They used the lid of a nearby rubbish bin to help the cyclist protect Ms Ng until the animal scampered off.

The attack occurred just outside her school and Ms Ng told Wanbao: "Now I'm worried that there will be danger for the students (at Punggol Secondary School). There is also a pre-school opposite and if the young children were attacked, the consequences would be unimaginable."

After the news broke, a Pasir Ris resident, Mr Xie, 57, told Shin Min that he saw at least 20 wild boarsat a grass patch near Pasir Ris Farmway 1, where he was jogging, at about 8pm on Wednesday.

"I was on the opposite side of the storm drain about 20m away," said Mr Xie, who is self-employed.

When reporters from Shin Min visited the scene, they found a grass patch littered with chewed up pieces of bread.


Punggol wild boar attacked pregnant woman from behind, was not provoked, says husband
Kok Yufeng Straits Times 30 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE (THE NEW PAPER) - A wild boar suddenly attacked a pregnant woman from behind, inflicting deep cuts on her right calf, at Edgefield Plains in Punggol on Tuesday afternoon (Aug 28).

The incident occurred as she was walking to a bus stop from Punggol Secondary School, where she works as an administrator.

Her husband, who declined to be named, told The New Paper on Wednesday (Aug 29): "The wild boar suddenly attacked her from behind."

He said the attack ended only after a passing cyclist used his bike to fend off the animal, which ran away, leaving her in pain and bleeding badly from her wounds.

BITE MARKS

It was not clear if the boar, which weighs 40kg, had gored her, but her husband said she had many bite marks.

When the story broke on Tuesday night, netizens had speculated whether the woman had provoked the animal.

But her husband denied that she had provoked the animal. "She was attacked from behind."

The wild boar later entered the nearby Waterbay executive condominium, where security guards trapped it in the bin centre. It was then tranquillised and captured.

A wild boar is seen in a condominium

The husband said students from the school also helped his wife, who is in her 30s. She later underwent surgery at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported that her foetus was unharmed in the attack.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it responded to a call for medical assistance at about 5.15pm at 51 Edgefield Plains, and the woman was conscious when taken to the hospital.

Punggol Secondary School principal Benedict Keh told TNP on Wednesday: "We have reminded our staff and students to be vigilant and watchful of their surroundings.

"We are also working with the relevant authorities to ensure (their) safety."

Waterbay's security supervisor, Mr Douglas Rabin, 44, told TNP that the wild boar charged into the bin centre where several cleaners and a security guard were resting, at about 5.30pm.

"When we shouted, they dashed out. That's when we closed the gate so it could not get out," he said.

The Straits Times understands that the woman suffered from lacerations in the incident which happened near Punggol Secondary School. The wild boar was later found and captured in a nearby executive condominium.

The animal was finally subdued at about 8.10pm after the condominium management called the police and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

Mr Rabin added that the boar had smashed some items in the bin centre but no one was hurt.

Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) personnel relocated the boar to the Lorong Halus area after sedating it.

Acres said the young boar could have come from Lorong Halus, a couple of kilometres south-east of where the attack occurred.

AVA said the boar could have also come from forested areas at the end of Punggol or Coney Island. It said there has been no increase in wild boar sightings there.

Mr Ben Lee, 54, founder of nature conservation group Nature Trekker, told TNP that animals usually do not attack humans unless provoked.

He wondered if the woman might have unknowingly made a movement that the boar found threatening in the unfamiliar urban environment.

Mr Kalai Vanan Balakrishnan, Acres' deputy chief executive, said development works could have caused the boar to venture out of its comfort zone.

Mr Kalai said: "Feeding by people may have had a part to play as well."

TNP reported in 2016 that some families would feed wild boars in the Lorong Halus area.

An AVA spokesman advised the public not to approach, disturb, feed or try to catch any wildlife, including boars.

Residents in the area said they were not surprised by the appearance of a wild boar because of the loss of forested areas to development.

Some, like Mr Eric Kam, 58, were concerned about the safety of the young and the elderly.

"I'm definitely worried because this area has a lot of children. There are so many schools here," he said.

Read more!

Man fined S$5,000 after bird found stuffed in paper packet at Woodlands Checkpoint

Channel NewsAsia 29 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: A 43-year-old man has been fined S$5,000 for importing a bird without a licence, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a joint news release on Wednesday (Aug 29).

Hairolhisham Sa’don was caught on Feb 9 at Woodlands Checkpoint.

ICA officers who stopped him for checks found a live Red-whiskered Bulbul cramped in a paper packet, which was placed in a drawstring pouch and hidden in a handbag.

Immigration officers at Woodlands Checkpoint found a live Red-whiskered Bulbul cramped in a paper packet, which was placed in a drawstring pouch and hidden in a handbag. (Photo: AVA)

"The manner of transportation caused unnecessary suffering to the bird," said the authorities, adding that the bird has since been placed under the care of Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

In sentencing Hairolhisham, a second charge of failing to ensure that the animal was not subjected to unnecessary suffering was taken into consideration.

"Animals that are smuggled into Singapore are of unknown health status and may introduce exotic diseases such as bird flu into the country," cautioned the authorities.

Anyone found guilty of the offence may be fined up to S$10,000, jailed up to 12 months or both.

Source: CNA/aa/(gs)

Read more!

Malaysia: Female pygmy elephant shot dead in Tongod

Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 29 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: A female Borneo pygmy elephant was shot dead at a plantation in Tongod, recently.

The carcass of the elephant, aged between 12 and 15, was discovered at Ladang Bintang Emas Property Sdn Bhd on Aug 25.

Sabah Wildlife Department public relations officer Siti Nur’ain Ampuan Acheh said today that a team of rangers and veterinary officer were despatched to the site after they were alerted by the Tongod district forestry officer.

“The team investigated and conducted a post-mortem on the elephant on Aug 27,” she said.

“It was estimated that it died about a week earlier.”

Siti said there was a round-shaped wound in the middle of the elephant’s temple area, which had penetrated into its skull.

“The right temporal part of the skull was found to have severe bleeding and debris from the impact, most probably from a gunshot. No bullets were found on the body.

“Death of the elephant is highly probably due to neurological damage caused to the brain.”


A female Borneo pygmy elephant was shot dead at a plantation in Tongod, recently. Pic by NSTP/ courtesy of Sabah Wildlife Department
Prior to the latest death, four Borneo Pygmy elephants were found dead in Sabah’s east coast.

It was reported that a cow and its calf were shot by poachers. Another elephant died after a tree fell on it, while the fourth was found dead with unknown causes.

A total of 25 elephant deaths have been reported this year. State wildlife director Augustine Tuuga saying all toxicology tests were done locally.

“The results are usually not conclusive (but there is) negative result to most known poisons and also bacteria or viruses,” he said.

On the department’s efforts to catch culprits responsible for killing the elephants, including using poison and snare traps, Tuuga said it would not be easy.

“It’s difficult to detect them and no witnesses have come forward to give information even when we have offer a RM120,000 reward,” he said, stressing that the reward was still on offer.

The RM120,000 reward was first offered five years ago to facilitate the department’s investigations into the deaths of 14 elephants in the Gunung Rara forest reserve.

Tuuga said the department had also offered RM20,000 for information on the killing of a sabre elephant, adding that nobody had come forward.


Elephant deaths: Sabah offers RM120,000 reward to catch poachers
natasha joibi The Star 29 Aug 18;

TELUPID: The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) is offering a reward of RM120,000 for any information that would lead to the arrests of poachers or people setting up snare traps in the state.

The offer was announced following the shocking deaths of 25 Borneo pygmy elephants in the first eight months of this year, with 24 of them dying in the last four months.

The causes of death ranged from gunshot injuries, to wounds incurred from traps set up by hunters and other unknown causes.

Elephants injured by trapping devices will develop infections before they die.

Though elephants are very rarely the target of poachers, they commonly fall victim to these devices as they use the same trails as other wildlife.

SWD director Augustine Tuuga said it was not easy to detect the culprits as no witnesses have come forward so far to give information despite the RM120,000 reward offer.

This is not the first time the department has offered cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of the culprits. It had previously made a similar offer following the deaths of 14 elephants in the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in 2013.

According to Tuuga, that case is still open.

"We also offered RM20,000 reward for information on the killing of the elephant with sabre tusks (in 2017) but nobody came forward.

"Don’t know, maybe they really do not have any information," Tuuga said, when asked why no one had come forward.

In the latest case, a female elephant was found dead at Ladang Bintang Emas Property Sdn Bhd in Tongod here on Saturday (Aug 25).

The cow, aged between 12 and 15, was believed to have been shot dead about a week before its discovery.

SWD public relations officer Siti Nur'ain Ampuan Acheh said the case was reported to the department by the Tongod District Forest Officer.

"SWD despatched a team of rangers and veterinary officer to investigate and conduct a post-mortem on the animal on Monday (Aug 27).

"The carcass was mildly decomposing. It was estimated that it had died about a week earlier," she said.

Siti Nur'ain said a round-shaped penetrating wound was found near the elephant's temple.

"No bullet was found on the body. The death of the elephant is probably due to neurological damages caused to the brain," she said.

The cow was among four elephants found dead over the weekend in Sabah's east coast. Another elephant was found trapped in a snare trap and suffered injuries.


No info on those behind jumbo deaths despite reward
natasha joibi The Star 30 Aug 18;

TELUPID: Despite the reward of RM120,000, no one has come forth with any information on the culprits who caused the deaths of 25 Borneo pygmy elephants in the state this year.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the reward has been around for the past five years.

“Investigation into the deaths of the 14 elephants in the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve (in 2013) is still not closed.

“We also offered RM20,000 on the killing of the elephant with ‘sabre’ tusks (in 2017) but nobody came forward,” he said.

The causes of the deaths ranged from gunshot injuries to wounds incurred from traps set up by hunters and other unknown causes.

Elephants that are injured by trapping devices will develop infections before they die.

WWF Malaysia said that snares are commonly used by poachers along animal trails in forest reserves bordering plantations with the intention of catching wild boars and deer. Though elephants are very rarely the target of poachers, they commonly fall victim to these devices as they use the same trails as other wildlife.

In the latest case, a female elephant was found dead at Ladang Bintang Emas Property Sdn Bhd in Tongod here on Saturday.

SWD public relations officer Siti Nur’ain Ampuan Acheh said the case was reported to the department by the Tongod district forest officer.

“SWD despatched a team of rangers and veterinary officer to investigate and conduct post-mortem on the animal on Monday.

“The carcass was mildly decomposing. It is believed to have died about a week earlier,” she said.

Read more!

Indonesia: 27 people named suspects in forest fires in W. Kalimantan

Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 29 Aug 18;

The West Kalimantan Police have named 27 people as suspects in the forest and land fire cases that have caused thick smog, which affected residents in the province.

There were 20 police reports related to forest and land fires with 27 people named suspects, West Kalimantan Police chief Insp. Gen. Didi Haryono said on Monday. From those numbers, 14 were arrested and 11 were released, while two other suspects died in the fire.

The police, along with other officers, monitor a 147,307-square-kilometer area spread across 14 regencies and municipalities, where 1.68 million hectares are peatland areas and the rest are mineral soil, Didi said. The police had also conducted operations for prevention as well as promotion to raise awareness among members of the public.

“We will keep making maximum efforts,” he said on Monday.

The forest fires have caused thick smog covering several areas in the province affecting thousands of people and disrupting flights in Pontianak on Monday.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the agency had deployed eight helicopters for water bombing operations. The agency also worked on artificial rain with Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) using Casa 212 aircraft from the Air Force.

Authorities in Pontianak decided to close schools last week following thick haze blanketing the city. A number of flights from Supadio International Airport in Pontianak were also disrupted by thick haze on Monday. (vny)

Read more!

Fish populations could rise in warming climate with better management

Study finds potential for fisheries to benefit in future - as long as warming can be kept in check
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 29 Aug 18;

Better management of fisheries and fishing rights around the world could increase profits and leave more fish in the sea as long as measures to meet climate obligations are taken, new research has found.

Even if temperatures rise by as much as 4C above pre-industrial levels – in the upper range of current forecasts – the damaging effects on fishing can be reduced through improving how stocks are fished and managed.

Governments are meeting from 4 September in New York for the first round of talks on a new global treaty of the high seas, which would aim to conserve overfished stocks and make access to key fisheries more equitable. Any agreement is likely to take several years to negotiateand longer to come into force, but scientists say there is no time to be lost, given the magnitude of the threat to the world’s marine ecosystems.

Climate change is already causing the movement of some species as their traditional habitats grow warmer, and overfishing is wreaking heavy damage on stocks. However, by adapting fisheries management to a warming climate, and instituting better systems such as monitoring of fleets, the global catch can be increased despite these factors, according to the paper published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

“This is a positive message amid the doom and gloom,” said Kristin Kleisner, one of the authors of the study and a senior scientist at the US Environmental Defense Fund. “We can control how we manage our fisheries. We will have severe effects [from climate change] but this shows what we can do as humans to control that.”

If temperatures were to hit 4C above pre-industrial levels, but good management was put in place, there could still be an increase of 17% of the amount of fish in oceans, compared with a decline of 5% of fish biomass if current practices continue and the world warmed by only 1C.

She noted that new technologies, such as monitoring of fishing vessels from satellites and through the internet, could make a big difference in enabling closer management. These techniques can also make fisheries management more responsive to the changing dynamics of ocean ecosystems, so that fishing can be redirected if stocks appear to be declining, for instance.

Under 2C of warming, improved management could yield even better returns, resulting in a 16% increase in the catch, amounting to 25bn servings of seafood a year, and nearly a third more fish in the sea than there are today. The finding is crucial because more than 1 billion people globally rely on fish, particularly key species such as tuna and mackerel, as their main source of protein.

Governments agreed in 2015 to take action to limit warming to no more than 2C, regarded as the threshold of safety beyond which the effects of climate change are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible.

Kleisner said the results of the study showed that governments should take prompt action to bring in modern fisheries management.

Global Fishing Watch, an international NGO, has used technological improvements to open up vast amounts of new data on fishing around the world. These include data made public earlier this year on tens of thousands of global vessels, which would have been impossible even five years ago.

Sarah Bladen, of Global Fishing Watch, said even newer techniques were being brought to bear, with results that could be “game-changing” for fisheries management and preventing illegal fishing. “Technological innovation is putting us within reach of a ‘real-time’ digital ocean. The open ocean has long been characterised as the wild west: lawless, remote and plagued by a paucity of data. However, our ability to directly detect and track fishing vessel activity globally is undergoing an extraordinary transformation.”

She called on the fishing industry to take note: “This really is, or needs to be, a wake-up call: the era of ‘secret’ fishing spots is over. To maintain the social licence to operate, fishing industries worldwide need to step up and accept, indeed embrace, levels of transparency in fishing activities that were unimaginable a decade ago.”

Prof Alex Rogers of Oxford University told the Guardian that international action and a global treaty must be brought in as soon as possible, before the current damage turns into a catastrophe. “The situation is very urgent. We need to bring our activities at sea to a sustainable level,” he said. “The status quo cannot be allowed to continue, if we want to preserve ocean health and have fish for tomorrow.”

The threats to ocean life include not only climate change, acidification and overfishing, but the pollution, including plastics and agricultural chemicals that we pour into the sea, and our industrial exploitation of the seabed, for instance for oil and gas exploration and mining. These activities have been enabled by new technology, which is not taken into account in current sea governance, which dates back to the 16th century, according to Rogers.

The governance of the high seas, which cover most of the oceans beyond national jurisdictions, had failed to keep up with this pace of change, he added: “These new activities can ramp up very quickly, and do tremendous damage in a very short time.”

Read more!

300 endangered turtles found dead on Mexico beach

AFP Yahoo News 30 Aug 18;

Mexico City (AFP) - More than 300 sea turtles from an endangered species were found dead on a beach in southern Mexico, trapped in a banned type of fishing net, environmental authorities said.

In Mexico's second mass turtle death in as many weeks, the Pacific Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) were found floating just off the beach of Puerto Escondido in the state of Oaxaca, their shells forming a bleak mini-island.

"They had drowned at sea about eight days earlier, trapped in banned 120-meter fishing nets and six-inch nylon fishing line," said Mexico's prosecution unit for environmental crimes.

On August 17, authorities said they had found 122 sea turtles dead on a beach in the neighboring state of Chiapas, mostly from the same species.

In that case, some of the turtles had wounds to the head or shell.

Mexico banned the capture of sea turtles in 1990, but there is still a lucrative black market for their eggs.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 29 Aug 18

Dive with Us!
Hantu Blog

The Day I Shed Blood on Pulau Ubin
Wan's Ubin Journal

Asian Koel Raids Pied Triller’s Nest
Singapore Bird Group

Read more!

Woman injured in wild boar incident near Punggol condo

Channel NewsAsia 28 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: A woman in her 30s was taken to hospital on Tuesday (Aug 28) after an encounter with a wild boar in Punggol.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to a call for medical assistance at 5.15pm along the road at 51 Edgefield Plains, near Waterbay condominium.

The woman was knocked over by the boar outside the executive condominium. The animal then ran into the condo's rubbish collection point, Channel 8 News reported, citing tip-offs from members of the public.

A photo of a woman with a bloodied wound on her leg has also been circulating on social media.

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said it received a call at around 5pm about a wild boar in the area.

"We understand that there was an apparent conflict between the boar and a lady but unfortunately we do not have any information on that," deputy chief executive Kalai Vanan said. "To our knowledge, the boar subsequently entered a condominium where it found itself stranded."

The wild boar was sedated and relocated, he said, adding that it was likely that the animal had come from Lorong Halus.

"Development works in that area could have caused this individual to venture out and subsequently finding itself lost in the urban area," he said.

"Feeding by people may have had a part to play as well to cause the animal to venture out as well."

Channel NewsAsia has contacted the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority for comment.

Source: CNA/na(hm)


Woman injured by wild boar in Punggol
Tee Zhuo Straits Times 29 Aug 18;

A woman was taken to hospital after she was injured by a wild boar in Punggol yesterday.

The incident occurred near Punggol Secondary School, which is a few bus stops away from a forested area that is being cleared for development.

The Straits Times understands that the injured woman is an employee of the school and she had lacerations on her right leg.

The wild boar was later found in a nearby executive condominium and was captured by staff from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it responded to a call for medical assistance around 5.15pm at 51 Edgefield Plains, the address of the school.

A woman in her 30s was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, the SCDF added.

Mr Kalai Vanan, deputy chief executive of Acres, said that it received a call at about 5pm.

He said the boar later entered a condominium where it found itself stranded. He added that Acres sedated the wild boar and took it away.

The Straits Times understands that the condominium is the Waterbay executive condominium.

Mr Kalai said the wild boar could have come from the Lorong Halus wetland located along the eastern bank of Serangoon Reservoir.

While it was not known why the boar was roaming around an urban area, Mr Kalai said that development works might have been to blame.

"Feeding by people may have had a part to play in causing the animal to venture out as well," he said.

Read more!

Malaysia: Strong Borneo wind brings back the haze up north

arnold loh The Star 29 Aug 18;

GEORGE TOWN: A strong Borneo wind blowing east to west – over 1,600km away – is bringing up smoke from more than 20 detected forest fires in West Kalimantan into the Southwest Monsoon and towards northern Malaysia.

And this will continue for the next few days, according to Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre’s (ASMC) Regional Haze Situation Analysis yesterday.

ASMC’s satellite has so far registered 22 hotspots in West Kali­mantan and four in Sumatra as at Monday.

Wind current readings show that Kalimantan’s smoke was pushed into the southern end of the Straits of Malacca before the Southwest Monsoon took over and blew it northerly all along Peninsular Malaysia.

Even Langkawi was not spared, with a reading of 53.

The archipelago’s API was in the mild 30s early this month when the haze started worsening in Penang.

The only API gauge in the country returning a good reading was in Tawau, Sabah, at 33.

Readings for Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were ranging from 59 to 74.

Last week, northern Malaysia had a brief respite from the haze and a tropical storm called Bebinca ravaged Vietnam with winds that exceeded 95kph.

The storm’s influence gave the region storm clouds from Andaman Sea in the west, diverting Indonesia’s haze away from the northern states.

Total ban on open burning in plantations in Sarawak
stephen then The Star 28 Aug 18;

MIRI: Sarawak has imposed a total ban on open burning in plantations.

The directive was issued by the state via the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board.

Board chairman Peter Sawal issued the written directive on Tuesday (Aug 28).

The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department is among the agencies tasked with monitoring the ban.

Read more!

Malaysia: Conservationists despair as four more Borneo Pygmy elephants found dead in Sabah's east coast

muguntan vanar The Star 28 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Four more Borneo Pygmy elephants, including a cow and its calf shot by poachers, have died over the weekend, with a fifth injured by snare traps in the state's east coast.

The latest deaths bring to 24 the number of elephants killed since April this year, with shocked wildlife officials and conservationists despairing of ever finding a solution.

According to sources, the dead pygmy elephants involved a cow and its calf, while another died after a tree fell on it, and a fourth was found dead, though the cause is not known.

The fifth is being treated for snare wounds. The incident occurred in the Lahad Datu and Kinabatangan areas.

With an estimated 1,500 elephants left in Sabah’s wild, conservationists are hoping for more tougher action to be taken by the Wildlife and state Forestry Department in tackling poaching and other problems.

Without referring to the latest deaths, on Tuesday (Aug 28), WWF Malaysia said that more elephants were dying despite actions taken by the enforcement authorities and NGOs to end the problem in Sabah.

Noting that some 25 elephants died since the beginning of 2018, WWF said that at least four have died due to snare trap-related injuries at plantations around Sg Taliwas Forest Reserve and Sapagaya Forest Reserve.

WWF-Malaysia together with the Sabah Forestry Department and the Sabah Wildlife Department have worked together to conduct joint anti -snaring operations (Ops Jerat) to remove snares in the forest reserves that are bordering plantations.

A total of five operations have been carried out and have so far unearthed 25 snares in forest reserves, 16 hunting platforms in both forest reserves and surrounding plantations, and five pitfall traps that measured about seven feet deep.

WWF Malaysia will continue the Ops Jerat collaboration with the government, particularly in identified poaching hot spots.

WWF Malaysia said that snares are commonly used by poachers, where they are placed along animal trails in forest reserves bordering plantations with the intention of catching wild boars and deer.

“Though elephants are very rarely the target of poachers, they commonly fall victim to these devices.

“This is because elephants use the same trails as other wildlife causing them to become a product of by-catch since snares indiscriminately kill wildlife,” WWF said.

“The time has come for someone to shoulder the responsibility for the death of elephants, especially those occurring on their land.

"In order to stop the premature deaths of one of Borneo’s most iconic species, strong actions must be taken and they must be taken now,” WWF added.

Read more!

Indonesia: Six more orangutans set free in forest habitat

Antara 29 Aug 18;

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) released six orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Kehje Sewen jungle, Kutai Timur, East Kalimantan. (ANTARA/Yudhi Mahatma)

Balikpapan, E. Kalimantan, (ANTARA News) - The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) has marked the country's 73rd Independence Day commemoration by releasing six orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Kehje Sewen jungle in East Kutai district, East Kalimantan.

"The wildlife also are entitled to enjoying the Independence Day celebration especially orangutan, which is the wildlife species protected by the state," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BOSF Dr Jamartin Sihite said here on Monday.

The six orangutans were the 19th group released since 2012. They had been years in the Reintroduction Center in Samboja Lestari, 47 kilometers north of Balikpapan taught how to live as wild orangutans.

Dr Sihite gave stress on the importance of preserving orangutans. He said wild orangutans have important contribution to preserving forest ecosystem. Orangutans are species which move around all corners of forests that the varieties of flora in forest area better protected sustaining their regeneration.

"They scatter flora seeds through their feces. Orangutans also open a bit the canopy of forests allowing the sun ray to penetrate the forest land, helping small trees to grow," Dr Sihite said.

In turn, protected forests will provide clean and fresh water and air, in addition to various forest products and keep conducive climate change, he added.

Not all of the six orangutans released came directly from the Samboja Lestari Reintroduction Center. Two of them, 11-year-old females Menur and Josta, lived for months in the Kehje Sewen jungle, a 82.84 forest area surrounded by wide ditch and river bordering on an oil palm plantations PT Nusaraya Agro Sawit in Muara Wahau, Kutai Timur.

The other four are males - Mads (8), Riva (7), Biber (7), and Restu (6).

In the past several years BOSF has involved many agencies and organizations in the preservation of orangutan.

"It is because the big conservation job could not be handled alone by BKSDA and BOSF," head of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of East Kalimantan Sunandar Trigunajasa said.

Reporting by Novi Abdi
Editing by A. Saragih
Editor: Sri Haryati

Read more!