Best of our wild blogs: 15 Jun 18

Terumbu Raya at Hari Raya!
wild shores of singapore

24 Jun (Sun) is Ubin Day!
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

Singapore Bird Report – May 2018
Singapore Bird Group

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5 land parcels for general agriculture in Lim Chu Kang, Sungei Tengah up for tender

Ng Huiwen Straits Times 14 Jun 18;

SINGAPORE - Five land parcels for general agriculture in Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Tengah were put on sale by public tender on Thursday (June 14) by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

Of the five, three land parcels may be used to farm food crops, seafood, cattle or goats for dairy milk and/or food frogs, AVA said in a statement. These are located in Neo Tiew Crescent and Sungei Tengah Road.

The remaining two land parcels may be used only for non-food farming, such as for ornamental fishes, aquatic plants and/or ornamental birds. These land parcels can be found in Jalan Lekar in Sungei Tengah.

The land parcels have a lease term of 20 years, and measure an area of between 10,000 sq m and about 12,000 sq m.

More details on the land parcels are available on AVA website at www.ava.gov.sg/landsales

Tender packets containing details and conditions of tender of the land parcels are available for sale at the AVA Service Centre.

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Malaysia: Build airport in Mersing, not Tioman - Reef Check Malaysia

The Star 14 Jun 18;

PETALING JAYA: Rather than building an airport in Tioman that can cause damage to the island's fragile ecosystem, an airport should be built in Mersing instead, says coral reef monitoring group Reef Check Malaysia.

Reef Check Malaysia general manager Julian Hyde said that Tioman is "already suffering" from recent developments, leading to water shortages and damage to coral reefs.

"The (Tioman) airport would have inevitably meant further development of resorts and infrastructure, which could only cause additional damage to the islands' fragile ecosystems, both on land and underwater," he said.

"We hope the Government will conduct a detailed study of the islands' capacity for further development," said Hyde.

"Such a development would serve these islands, too, potentially creating far greater benefits for less impact," he said.

Reef Check Malaysia's statement comes after Berjaya Group executive chairman Vincent Tan announced the group would submit a proposal to the government to build an airport in Tioman to boost tourism.

Tan said the group would finance the construction cost of the proposed airport.

However, Bernama reported that Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) managing director Badlisham Ghazali said that there were environmental concerns regarding the building of a new airport on the island.

He said the new airport may entail lengthening the current abandoned airport runway into the ocean through land reclamation.

Badlisham said that MAHB and the Government had looked at similar plans before, but no approval was given because the construction will "spoil the beauty" of the island.

There was a plan to build a new airport on Tioman in 2003. However, former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat cancelled the project in 2009, citing environmental concerns.

Since Berjaya Air stopped providing flights to the small Kampung Tekek airbase in Tioman several years ago, only chartered 12-seater single-engine flights are available.

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