Best of our wild blogs: 11-13 Aug 19

Fish Expedition Day 11 - Last surveys!
wild shores of singapore

Fish Expedition Day 12 - The End
wild shores of singapore

The Cross Island Line Chronicles (mid-2019 review)
Love our MacRitchie Forest

Red and White
Butterflies of Singapore

Secondsguru Zero Waste Bootcamp – August 31
Green Drinks Singapore

Read more!

Young activists planning 'green dot' gathering on Sept 21

Audrey Tan Straits Times 12 Aug 19;

A "green dot" rally is being planned for next month at Hong Lim Park.

About 15 young activists in Singapore are organising a climate action rally on Sept 21, in line with the global youth movement inspired by Swedish teen climate champion Greta Thunberg.

Next month's event, the Singapore Climate Rally, will be the first physical one in the Republic since the international movement began in August last year, although there have been other social-media climate campaigns here.

A permit for the event has been sought by the young organisers and approved by the National Parks Board, which manages Hong Lim Park - an area designated as Speakers' Corner where public protests are allowed. The organisers are also applying for a police permit.

The event will feature speeches, a picnic and a postcard-writing session in which participants will be encouraged to send notes urging stronger climate action to their representatives in Parliament and other government officials.

There will also be a "die-in", a photographic opportunity in which participants are encouraged to visually express their thoughts on the human lives and biodiversity that will be lost to unabated global warming. Attendees will be asked to form the shape of a spiral, and then gradually collapse inward domino-style to highlight the interconnectedness of the planet, organisers say.

Read more!

Singapore to ban domestic trade in elephant ivory from September 2021

Malavika Menon Straits Times 12 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE - Singapore will ban the domestic trade of elephant ivory from Sept 1, 2021, the National Parks Board (NParks) said on Monday (Aug 12).

The sale of elephant ivory and ivory products as well as the public display of such products for the purpose of selling them will be prohibited in Singapore once the ban comes into effect.

The ban highlights Singapore's resolve in the fight against the illegal trade in species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), said NParks. Singapore is a signatory to Cites, under which international trade in elephant ivory has been banned since 1990.

Read more!

Vegetation fire in Marina East "the size of two football fields" brought under control

Joanna Seow Straits Times 12 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE - A large fire broke out near East Coast Park on Monday night (Aug 12), affecting an area the size of two football fields.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it responded to a vegetation fire near Marina East Drive that was "approximately the size of two football fields" at about 8.50pm.

About 50 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles were deployed, SCDF said in a Facebook post. It surrounded the fire with seven water jets and brought it under control at 10.30pm.

There are no reported injuries, said SCDF.

Read more!

815 birds seized from Malaysia-registered bus at Woodlands Checkpoint; largest haul in 5 years

Prisca Ang Straits Times 11 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE - Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) found more than 800 ornamental birds in a Malaysia-registered bus at Woodlands Checkpoint on Saturday morning (Aug 10), the largest haul in recent years.

The bus was stopped for a security check when it arrived at the checkpoint at 7am.

ICA officers noticed that the rear tyres of the bus had been modified and heard chirping sounds coming from within the bus, ICA and the National Parks Board (NParks) said in a statement on Sunday.

When they checked the modified compartments above the rear tyres, they found 15 containers with a total of 815 birds hidden in the compartments.

This is the largest seizure of ornamental birds in Singapore in the past five years.

Read more!

Malaysia: Most number of hotspots in Indonesia

RAZAK AHMAD The Star 12 Aug 19;

PETALING JAYA: Nearly 80% of hotspots detected in the Asean region over the past 29 days

are located in Indonesia, figures from the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) show.

The hotspots caused by forest fires and open burning are driving the current haze situation that is affecting parts of the region, including Malaysia.

Read more!

Malaysia: Haze reaching hazardous levels in various states

SHARON LING, IVAN LOH and HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM The Star 11 Aug 19;

PETALING JAYA: The haze hovering over the country finally breached the hazardous level when the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Miri, Sarawak, reached almost 400 due to peat fires there.The town has seen API readings above 300 since early yesterday morning.

Another area with an “unhealthy” API reading was Johan Setia in Klang, Selangor.

A check with the Department of Environment’s (DoE) API website showed that the reading at the Institute Latihan Perindustrian (ILP) monitoring station in Miri was 390 as of 5pm yesterday.

Another monitoring station in SK Kuala Baram 2 recorded an “unhealthy” API reading of 137 as of 5pm, having seen a steady “unhealthy” reading since early morning.

Both the ILP and SK Kuala Baram 2 stations are located in the Kuala Baram district of Miri.

Read more!

Indonesia: Satellites confirm presence of 192 hotspots on Sumatra Island

Antara 12 Aug 19;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - The Terra and Aqua satellites detected 192 hotspots indicating forest fires across Sumatra Island on Monday morning, a significant spike, from 13 hotspots on Sunday afternoon.

Of the total 192 hotspots, 156 were found in Riau Province, nine in South Sumatra, eight in Jambi, seven in Lampung, four each in North Sumatra and Bangka Belitung, three in Riau Islands, and one in West Sumatra, Sanya Gautami, analyst at the Pekanbaru meteorology station, remarked here on Monday.

In Riau, the detected hotspots comprised 40 in Pelalawan, 29 in Siak, 21 in Rohan Hilir, 15 in Indragiri Hulu, seven each in Meranti Island and Bengkali, six in Kampar, and two each in Kuantan Singingi and Dumai.

Of the 192 hotspots, 116 were identified as fire spots, with 28 detected in Pelalawan, 22 in Siak, 19 in Indragiri Hilir, and 15 in Rohan Hilir.

Haze lowered visibility in Pekanbaru to 2.5 kilometers on Monday at 10 a.m. local time.

Read more!

Malaysia: MCMC to assist in combating illegal business that is harming endangered animals

MEI MEI CHU The Star 12 Aug 19;

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has joined in the fight against illegal online wildlife trade.

It has voiced its commitment to help the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) and the police to investigate Amsyar Kejora, a wildlife trader who operated on numerous social media platforms.

“The MCMC will assist Perhilitan by providing technical assistance such as website blocking, and engaging with the platform providers as a way of controlling spread of misinformation, ” the commission said in an interview yesterday.

Read more!

Malaysia: Suitable area in Sabah sought to rehabilitate wild animals

The Star 12 Aug 19;

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is identifying a suitable area in the state to rehabilitate wild animals in a bid for better wildlife conservation.

Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said he has instructed state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew to identify areas that would be suitable for such conservation purposes, including to breed near-extinct Sumatran rhinos and pygmy elephants.

Thanking the Indonesian government for their pledge to help save the Sumatran rhinos by agreeing to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this purpose, he said it was the only move available to save the species from extinction.

For the state government’s part, he said they want to emulate Africa, where some 1, 000 acres of land has been set aside for elephants to roam freely.

Read more!