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Singapore's Mandai eco-resort: Paving paradise to put up an eco-resort
BBC 15 Sep 18;
Singaporeans are getting a new wildlife paradise to bring them closer to nature, but as the BBC's Yvette Tan writes, the development is carving into the jungle and pushing rare animals into the path of danger.
It might be tiny, densely populated and commonly referred to as a concrete jungle, but Singapore has more wild space than most people realise.
Its 63 islands are home to hundreds of types of flora and fauna, including some of the most endangered species on the planet.
But these green spaces are shrinking fast amid rapid development.
One of the few places left relatively wild is the Mandai district in the north, where work is under way to create a sprawling eco-tourism hub, in which people can pay to experience nature close up.
The district is already home to the Singapore Zoo - considered one of the best in the world - a Night Safari and a River Safari.
By 2023, it'll be joined by a relocated bird park, a rainforest-themed park and an eco-resort. At 126 hectares (311 acres) it will be the biggest eco-tourism spot in Singapore and a place to "celebrate and protect our biodiversity while being immersed in nature in a fun and inspiring way", say the developers.
But in order to make way, two secondary forests are currently being cleared, threatening vital refuges for wildlife.
"There are mouse deer, pangolins, sambar deer, all of those animals live in the forests that are [being cleared]," Subaraj Rajathurai, who runs a wildlife consultancy, told the BBC.
As Mr Subaraj shows me around the Mandai development, it's hard to imagine this land was once lush forest. Towering cranes and other construction equipment now stretch across the bare hills.
"It's about a loss of habitat, loss of foraging area - a loss of food. So where do they go?"
The roads, it would seem, is where some of the animals are going.
Five animals - including a leopard cat, a huge sambar deer, a wild boar and a critically endangered sunda pangolin - have become roadkill since development began last January. All the accidents took place in the area around Mandai - with two occurring on a busy expressway.
According to Mr Subaraj, this is partly due to a lack of mitigation work by the developers, like insufficient fencing to stop animals running onto roads.
The land set aside for the new parks had been earmarked for development more than a decade ago. It once housed old villages and an orchid farm but after years of disuse, forests have reclaimed the area.
Mandai Park Development (MPD), the body behind the work, says developing the area into an eco-hub is a much more "environmentally sensitive" choice than if an urban development were to take over the area.
MPD is a branch of Mandai Park Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore's state investor - Temasek Holdings.
It says not all roadkill incidents can be attributed to the development.
"Traffic incidents involving wild animals occur island-wide and are unfortunately, not a new phenomenon," said Senior VP Philip Yim.
Mr Subaraj is not convinced.
"Take the case of sambar deer," he says. They live all around the area known as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve "yet the only recent roadkills have occurred in the North", he says, where Mandai is.
"Doesn't that point to the development being the cause?"
MPD said it takes great care to ensure the safety of wildlife before it begins work in an area, including preserving trees of particular interest and moving wildlife.
It has put in places various safety measures such as speed humps, a rope bridge and wildlife crossing signs on Mandai Lake Road.
"There will inevitably be disruption... during the development phase, and this is actively being mitigated," said Mr Yim.
He said MPD recognised that it had "a responsibility to try to reduce the likelihood of such incidents within the boundary of our project. We are closely monitoring incidents within and around the area".
Mandai Lake Road, which cuts right in the middle of the upcoming Bird and Rainforest park, is the only road in, and out, of the eco-hub development.
There are also plans for a green bridge to be built specially for animals which will span the length of Mandai Lake Road and provide a safe passage for animals. That will be ready by 2019.
What does the future of the area look like?
The plan to build an eco-resort in the development that could hold up to 400 rooms, is another concern.
MPD has said the resort, to be run by resort operator Banyan Tree, will be built "sensitively... to reduce impact to the environment".
But Mr Subaraj argues that this may not be enough.
"If you look in other countries, for example [at an eco-resort in] the Danum Valley in Malaysia, they've got around 30 rooms," said Mr Subaraj.
"We've got up to 400 rooms. When you develop a resort that big, no matter how much mitigation you put in place, there will be an impact."
The surrounding eco-system in the Mandai area, he says, will "never be the same again".
"There are so little primary forests in Singapore that the animals have adapted to living in the secondary forests and relied on them to survive," he said.
"If you look at our forests, there's so little of it left. If you keep chipping away at it, one day there will be nothing left."
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Indonesia: 157 hotspots detected across Sumatra island on Saturday
Antara 15 Sep 18;
Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News)- A total of 157 hotspots, indicating forest and plantation fires, were detected across Sumatra Island on Saturday, according to the Blang Bintang meteorology, climatology and geophysics office.
The hotspots were found in the provinces of South Sumatra, Lampung, Bangka Belitung, Riau, Jambi, and West Sumatra, Zakaria Ahmad of the local meteorology office, said here, on Saturday.
Of the total, 60 hotspots were believed to come from fires with trust level of over 81 percent.
The number of hotspots detected across Sumatra was an increase from 154 hotspots on the previous day (Friday, Sept 14).
Based on monitoring by Terra and Aqua satellites, 77 hotspots were found in South Sumatra, 33 each in Lampung and Bengkulu, 14 in Bangka Belitung, nine in Riau, four in West Sumatra, three in Jambi, and one on Riau Island.
In Riau, four hotspots were found in Indragiri Hulu District, two in Rokan Hilir, and one each in Bengkalis, Pelalawan, and Meranti Island.
Brigadier General Sonny Aprianto, commander of the Riau forest fire task force, had earlier ordered for firm action against arsonists.
He also gave shoot-at-sight orders to his officers against perpetrators of forest and plantation fires.
The commander believed that 99 percent of the forest and plantation fires in Sumatra were induced by human activities.
By imposing legal enforcement and firm control, the Indonesian government has managed to reduce forest fires by 96.5 percent across the country during the 2015-2017 period.
Based on data obtained from NOAA`s satellites, 21,929 hotspots were found across Indonesia in 2015, and the figure dropped to 3,915 in 2016, and again 2,257 in 2017, according to Raffles B. Panjaitan, director of forest and plantation fire control of the environmental affairs and forestry ministry.
The wild fires had razed a total of 2,611,411 hectares in 2015, and the figure decreased to 438,360 hectares in 2016, and again to 165,464 hectares in 2017.
Reporting by Muhammad Said
Editing by Bustanuddin
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Authorities struggle to fight fires on Mt. Sindoro-Sumbing, hiking trails remain closed
Suherdjoko Suherdjoko The Jakarta Post 15 Sep 18;
The authorities are scrambling to tackle land and forest fires that have ravaged Mount Sindoro and Mount Sumbing in Central Java, but challenging terrain and strong winds are hampering the efforts to extinguish the fires.
A joint team comprising personnel from the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the Indonesian Military and the police, as well as volunteers, have intensified mitigation efforts since the fire started. But as of Friday, the fires persisted.
“Even helicopters face difficulties in extinguishing the fires by water bombing, as they can barely maneuver through such challenging terrain,” BPBD Temanggung acting head Gito Wangaldi said on Friday.
The fires on Mt. Sindoro, which started on Friday last week, have burned through 245 hectares of land and vegetation in the area, while 239 ha has been burned through by the fires on Mt. Sumbing, which started to spread on Monday, BPBD data shows.
“Strong winds may cause the fire to spread quickly, which can put volunteers who don’t know the area at risk,” said BPBD Wonosobo acting head Prayitno.
In the meantime, the authorities have contained the fires on Mt. Sindoro so that the blaze would not spread to the south, where the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center has installed a seismograph, 100 meters from the location of the fires, Central Java Search and Rescue field coordinator Sutikno said.
All hiking trails leading up to the summits of the mountains have been closed and there were no hikers trapped in the areas, Prayitno added. (afr/swd)
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Indonesia: Prolonged drought triggers forest fires in Kalimantan and Java
Fardah Antara 15 Sep 18;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government has been working all out to prevent forest fires over the last couple of years and been successful in drastically reducing hotspots and fires, particularly in Sumatra.
Lately, however, the country has been experiencing severe dry season that has induced forest fires on the islands of Java, Kalimantan, and Sumatra.
The ongoing prolonged drought has caused water shortage in several regions, such as in the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Java, and triggered fires in forest areas, particularly in West Kalimantan and Central Java.
In West Kalimantan, schools were recently closed, as forest fires produced smoke that could affect the health of students.
The national disaster mitigation office has deployed four helicopters to help extinguish the fires.
In Central Kalimantan, the East Kotawaringin district police recently named four suspects in land and forest fires in several areas in the district.
Chief of the East Kotawaringin District Police Adjunct Chief Commissioner Mohammad Rommel remarked on September 11, 2018, that the police had investigated the cases of land fires in Ujung Pandaran, Samuda, Baamang, and Mentawa Baru Ketapang.
The police are also investigating the case of large land fires in Mentaya Hilir Selatan District, he noted.
In South Kalimantan, the local inhabitants are optimistic of rain falling again to disperse the haze of the smoke that had begun to blanket some areas in the province.
The people in Banjarmasin and Banjarbaru as well as the surrounding areas recently breathed a sigh of relief after rainfall, lasting for two hours, cleared the air of haze.
Forest and bush fires hit 13 districts since January 2018, ravaging one thousand hectares of tropical forests and plantation areas.
On Java Island, wildfires were reported on at least three mountainous areas: Mount Lawu, Mount Sindoro, and Mount Argpuro.
At least 30-hectare forest areas were razed by fires on Mount Lawu, which is located on the border of Central and East Java provinces.
Joint efforts have been made over the past few days to extinguish the forest fire, but the prolonged drought and strong winds had hindered the fire fighters` endeavors, Djohan Surjoputro, Mount Lawu`s administrative authority, stated recently.
Several hundreds of people, including local volunteers and personnel of state-owned forestry company Perhutani, military, police, and environment agency, participated in the joint efforts.
Owing to its scenic view, beautiful Edelweiss flowers, and crater, Mt Lawu has become one of the mountains in the Indonesian island of Java, which is frequently scaled by mountaineers.
Unfortunately, some 100 mountaineers remained trapped on the peak of Mount Lawu in Magetan District, East Java Province, amid threats from the fires engulfing part of the mountain.
A rescue team had been deployed to evacuate the trapped climbers, Head of the Magetan Disaster Mitigation Agency`s Emergency and Logistics Unit Fery Yoga Saputra had stated on September 11, 2018.
The local authorities notified that Mount Lawu`s climbing trails had temporarily been closed.
A forest fire also engulfed certain parts of Mount Sindoro in Temanggung District, Central Java Province, though, according to a spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, it could have been extinguished.
The forest fire destroyed some 156 hectares of land, and the local authorities had still closed the mountain`s climbing trails, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho remarked.
Mount Argopuro, located in Krucil, Probolinggo, East Java Province, was also razed by a fire.
Four hotspots were detected on Sept. 12, Setyo Utomo, head of the Jember natural resources conservation office, noted.
The conservation office has dispatched four officers to check the hotspots. However, it will take them at least two days to reach the location of the hotspots, he added.
The East Java natural resources conservation office has indefinitely closed the climbing track of Mount Argopuro since August 10, 2018, due to prolonged drought that could trigger wildfires.
Mount Argopuro is located within the Hyang Highland Sanctuary, which covers parts of the districts of Probolinggo, Situbondo, Bondowoso, and Jember.
The mountain holds the record of having the longest route on Java Island and one of the longest in Indonesia.
In Sumatra, a total of 154 hotspots indicating forest and plantation fires were detected across the island on September 13, 2018.
The number increased from 150 hotspots on the previous day, according to the Pekanbaru meteorology office.
Based on monitoring by Terra and Aqua satellites, 77 hotspots were found in South Sumatra, 33 each in Lampung and Bengkulu, 14 in Bangka Belitung, nine in Riau, four in West Sumatra, three in Jambi, and one on Riau Island.
Riau remained prone to forest and plantation fires due to the prevailing drought, Ardhitama, an analyst of the Riau meteorology, climatology and geophysics office, remarked.
Brigadier General Sonny Aprianto, commander of the Riau forest fire task force, had earlier ordered to take firm action against arsonists.
He also gave shoot-at-sight orders to his officers for perpetrators of forest and plantation fires.
The commander believed that 99 percent of the forest and plantation fires in Sumatra were induced by human activities.
Through legal enforcement and firm control, the Indonesian government has managed to reduce forest fires by 96.5 percent across the country during the 2015-2017 period.
Based on data obtained from NOAA`s satellites, 21,929 hotspots were found across Indonesia in 2015, and the figure dropped to 3,915 in 2016, and again 2,257 in 2017, according to Raffles B. Panjaitan, director of forest and plantation fire control of the environmental affairs and forestry ministry.
The wild fires had razed a total of 2,611,411 hectares in 2015, and the figure decreased to 438,360 hectares in 2016, and again to 165,464 hectares in 2017.
During the 1997-1998 period, Indonesia had experienced a prolonged drought induced by the strongest ever recorded El Nino, which triggered widespread fires.
The greatest loss caused by forest and land fires in Indonesia occurred in 1997, when fires wiped out millions of hectares of forest and plantation areas and caused losses worth US$2.45 billion.
Editing by Otniel
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
30 villages in Ngawi face water crisis due to prolonged drought
Louis Rika S Antara 16 Sep 18;
Ngawi, E Java (ANTARA News) - Thirty villages located in eight sub-districts in Ngawi District, East Java Province, face water shortage due to the current prolonged drought.
There was water crisis in the 30 villages, while 10 other villages in Ngawi faced water shortage, Eko Heru Tjahjono, acting head of the Ngawi disaster mitigation office, said here on Saturday.
Karanganyar is the worst affected by drought, with eight villages facing water crisis. Seven other sub-districts hit by water crisis are Bringin (in seven villages), Pitu (five villages), Krangjati (three villages), Ngawi (two villages), Kedunggalar (two villages), and Padas (one village).
The local disaster mitigation office has supplied clean water to the affected villages, including Cantel and Dumplengan villages in Pitu sub-districts.
Located on the equator line and between Asia and Australia, Indonesia has only two seasons, namely rain and dry. The dry season is usually between March and September, while the rainy season is between September and March.
September is usually the transitional period where rains begin to fall across the country. But, up to Sept 10 this year, many regions remain very dry as there have been no rains for months.
Several regions in Indonesia are currently being hit by prolonged drought, causing water shortages, particularly in West Java, East Java, and East Nusa Tenggara, as well as forest fires in Kalimantan, Java and Sumatra Islands.
The drought hit 4,053 villages in 888 sub-districts located in 111 districts and cities in 11 provinces.
Some 4.87 million people in the country have been affected by this year`s drought, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
"The dry season is forecast to last until September 2018 and will reach its peak during the August-September period. Those islands are hit by the drought almost every year," BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted on Sept 7, 2018.
Reporting by Louis Rika S
Editing by Fardah
Editor: Bustanuddin
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Indonesian waters in plastic waste emergency
Otniel Tamindael Antara 16 Sep 18;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian waters are currently in a state of plastic waste emergency that can affect the health of marine animals and humans, in addition to having a negative impact on the local economy.
Plastic waste in Indonesian waters also has the potential of attracting and concentrating sea water pollutants around, which is more dangerous.
Hence, fast action is needed to clean up the coastal areas and marine environment in Indonesia in order to avoid harmful pollutants.
Indonesia is among 150 countries worldwide to clean up its coastal environment from the westernmost point to the easternmost point of the country, from Sabang to Merauke, to support the World Cleanup Day on Sept 15, 2018, as a global social action program aimed at combating the global solid waste problem, including the problem of marine debris.
Thousands of people in at least 91 locations across the country, from Sabang to Merauke, participated in the World Cleanup Day, called simultaneous "Sea Facing" activities on Saturday.
In West Aceh District, Aceh Province, some 300 people participated in the World Cleanup Day activities by cleaning the yards of mosques and the Suak Ribee beach.
The activities were part of an international social action program that aims to reduce the waste population globally because it is carried out not only in Indonesia but also in other parts of the world simultaneously on Sept 15, 2018.
Indonesia involved 13 million participants, starting from Sabang at the western end of the country to Marauke, with each region making a breakthrough by cleaning up garbage, especially coastal waste coming from the sea.
In West Aceh District, participants cleaned plastic waste scattered on land to garbage in the ditch, in the courtyards of the mosques, and all the way to the shore of Suak Ribee beach.
In the meantime, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (KKP) also cooperated with the Ocean Conservancy Institution from the United States and Bali`s regional government to hold the coastal cleanup activity in the Indonesia`s island resort of Bali on Saturday.
"The KKP welcomes the cooperation with the Ocean Conservancy Institution to invite various stakeholders to participate in an activity that has a real and direct impact on our coastal and marine environment through the Love of the Ocean Movement," KKP Director of Marine Space Management Brahmantya Satyamurti Poerwadi remarked on Saturday.
The KKP, Bali regional government, Ocean Conservancy Institution, Non-Governmental Organizations, and a total of 1,287 volunteers gathered at the Padang Galak Beach in Bali on Saturday to collect as much as 841.53 kilograms of garbage.
The collected waste will then be recorded in the Ocean Conservancy Sea Waste Index, the largest marine waste database in the world.
The activities, initiated by the KKP along with various civil society organizations and the local government, involved approximately 50 thousand participants who managed to collect some 360 tons of marine and coastal waste.
In addition to clearing waste from the coastal areas, they conducted mangrove planting, coral transplantation, and salt harvesting, as well as provided diving goggles to children and released fish and turtle seeds into the sea.
Poerwadi remarked that the handling of marine waste will continue through various activities that can reach more people.
"Collaboration with organizations, such as Ocean Conservancy, is helpful in the Indonesian government`s efforts to manage sustainable marine resources, especially in overcoming the problem of plastic waste at sea," he added.
In Bengkulu, as many as three thousand residents of the city were also involved in the worldwide clean-up action that took place simultaneously in 150 countries around the world on Saturday morning.
Bengkulu participated in this global movement for clean-up actions centered on Pantai Panjang, the World Clean Day (WCD) Chairperson of Bengkulu, Ilza Surya Pratama, remarked in Bengkulu on Saturday.
Pratama remarked that the participants consisted of cross-sectors from the state civil apparatus, the TNI, the National Police, the cross-community, and students.
The point of activity was centered on the Pantai Panjang tourism area, which is one of the tourism icons of Bengkulu Province.
In addition to the Pantai Panjang area, the clean-up action also spread to Zakat Beach and coastal communities.
Efforts to reduce global plastic waste are a serious concern of the Indonesian government, along with delegations from various countries at the Basel Convention Working Group meeting in Geneva from Sept 3 to 6, 2018.
On the occasion, Indonesia, along with Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay invited Heads of the Permanent Missions to the UN Office at Geneva and heads of delegation at the meeting of the Basel Convention`s Open-ended Working Group to participate in the High-Level Event on Marine Plastic Waste and Micro-plastics.
In a written statement from Indonesian Permanent Representative Office for the UN in Geneva, Indonesia called for a reduction in global plastic waste.
Marine plastic waste is an environmental problem occurring on a global scale today.
Found in every part of the ocean, plastic wast can be transported over great distances, and its durability means it will remain in the ocean for a long time.
Global plastic production has increased steadily and has reached 320 million tons a year. Of the estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic waste produced since the 1950s, only 9 percent has been recycled and another 12 percent incinerated.
The greatest burden of plastic waste entering the sea is likely to arise where waste collection systems are ineffective or even non-existent.
Developing countries, in particular, may face challenges in managing the rapidly growing volume of plastic waste, and may face challenges if they have not developed sufficient capacity to dispose of plastic waste and rely on the continued availability of recycling capacity in other states.
Therefore, pollution by marine plastic litter and micro-plastics needs to be tackled at source.
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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