Best of our wild blogs: 30 Oct 18

11 Nov (Sun): Your help needed for village homecoming at Pulau Ubin
Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative

Singapore’s Food System: Security x Waste
Green Drinks Singapore

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Coming soon: Households can buy ‘green credits’ to ensure their source of energy is renewable

JANICE LIM Today Online 29 Oct 18;

SINGAPORE — From the middle of next year, households can ensure that their energy is derived from green sources by buying "green credits" through a blockchain-powered online platform set up by power grid operator SP Group.

Calling it a world's first, SP Group launched the digital marketplace for renewable energy certificates (RECs) on Monday (Oct 29).

The RECs, or “green credits”, contain information on the source of the renewable energy, how much energy is being generated, and exported to the grid, and must be purchased at an additional cost.

Currently open only to businesses, the sale and purchase of RECs will be made available to general consumers from the mid-2019.

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Otters spotted swimming in Singapore's Central Business District

Elizabeth Khor Channel NewsAsia 29 Oct 18;

SINGAPORE: Three otters were spotted in the heart of Singapore's Central Business District on Sunday (Oct 28), swimming in a water feature outside office building One George Street in the Raffles Place area.

There have been more sightings of otters in recent years, as the animals venture beyond parks and canals.

According to Facebook user Nel Jason Sanson, who shared a video of the CBD otters, two of the animals were seen in a water feature at about 6pm before another jumped in from the bushes.

They appeared to tussle in the water before one jumped out, ran onto the streets and rejoined the pair shortly after. The three otters were later seen running into the bushes to hide from a crowd which had gathered.

Otter enthusiast and admin of interest group Ottercity, Marjorie Chong, said that the three otters live along a nearby stretch of the Singapore River. They have been spotted in different locations such as Robertson Quay.

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Monkey at Changi Airport Terminal 3 check-in hall captured

Channel NewsAsia 29 Oct 18;

SINGAPORE: Changi Airport received an unusual traveller on Monday morning (Oct 29) - a monkey was spotted roaming around the airport's Terminal 3 departure check-in hall.

It was eventually captured with the help of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), said Changi Airport Group in response to Channel NewsAsia's queries.

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No more plastic straws at Resorts World Sentosa

Channel NewsAsia 29 Oct 18;

SINGAPORE: Since Oct 1, dining establishments and five themed attractions across Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) have stopped providing customers with plastic straws in a bid to reduce single-use plastics.

The latest move will save more than three million, or 1.2 tonnes of, plastic straws a year, RWS said in a press release on Monday (Oct 27).

The places that have stopped providing plastic straws include Universal Studios Singapore and the SEA Aquarium, as well as the resort's celebrity chef restaurants and the Malaysian Food Street food hall, RWS said.

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Malaysia: Two Filipinos fined and jailed for killing endangered turtles in Semporna

muguntan vanar The Star 29 Oct 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Two Filipinos were slapped with three years’ jail and fined RM100,000 each by the Tawau Sessions Court on Monday (Oct 29) for hunting and killing critically endangered green turtles in Semporna waters.

The two - Tambisan Pagal, 52 and Tambulang Tambisan, 38 - from the neighbouring southern Philippines’s Sitangkai Island – were ordered by Sessions Court judge Awang Kerisnada Mahmud to serve another year’s jail if they failed to pay the fine.

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Indonesia achieves target of 20 million hectares marine conservation areas

Antara 30 Oct 18;

Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government, as part of its efforts to preserve the seas, has met the target of establishing 20 million hectares of new marine conservation areas.

At the Our Ocean Conference (OOC) 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Monday, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) highlighted that the policy to establish 20 million hectares of new conservation areas was part of the government`s commitment to encouraging marine conservation.

"Indonesia has prepared its maritime policies and action plans," the president stated.

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China permits limited trade of rhino, tiger goods

AFP Yahoo News 30 Oct 18;

Beijing (AFP) - China on Monday announced it was authorising the trade of rhinoceros and tiger parts for scientific, medical and cultural purposes, a move wildlife conservationists fear could have "devastating consequences" globally.

The trade of rhinos, tigers, and their related products will be allowed under "special" circumstances, the State Council, or cabinet, said in a statement.

Those include scientific research, sales of cultural relics, and "medical research or in healing".

The newly sanctioned areas of trade will be highly regulated.

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Worst-recorded bleaching wipes out 73 per cent of UAE’s coral reefs

NYUAD-EEA study uncovers massive destruction in UAE
Anjana Kumar Gulf News 29 Oct 18;

ABU DHABI: Over 73 per cent of coral reefs in the UAE have been wiped out due to bleaching, according to studies conducted by New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) in collaboration with Emirates Environmental Agency (EEA).

Coral bleaching is a phenomenon where coral reefs turn white due to exposure to high water temperature and other local impacts like sewage, overfishing, sedimentation, dredging and construction. Reefs located in warm, shallow water with low water flow are more prone to bleaching than those with higher water flow.

John Burt, associate professor of biology and head of the marine lab at NYUAD said the worst recorded coral bleaching event in the region took place last year, stretching over 200 kilometres across UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Nearly three fourths of our coral reefs were destroyed. But Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were the worst hit, losing 90 per cent of their reefs.

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