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White-bellied Sea Eagles catch sea snakes
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BioD in the City: What is the Singapore Index?
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Venus Drive
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Alexis Cai, Straits Times 9 Jan 10;
AN ABUNDANCE of green is set to take root near Pandan Gardens in Jurong East. Residents there can look forward to not only more flora but also more birds and butterflies around their estate.
The plot of land stretching the length of a soccer field at nearby Sungei Pandan has been set aside to recreate a countryside scene.
The three-year collaboration between the South West Community Development Council and Borneo Motors aims to have more than one million native trees planted there by 2020, an extension of a previous project launched by the council in July 2007. The previous target of 100,000 trees was surpassed in November last year.
It is hoped that the greenery will be able to absorb some 22,000kg worth of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent to that emitted by four flights around the earth.
At yesterday's launch, the Mayor of South West District, Dr Amy Khor, planted the first senna alata, a shrub which features yellow flowers.
'Such an initiative helps ensure that the future generations will continue to have an environment for quality living,' she said.
Also at the mass planting session were 57 Borneo Motors management staff members who were each given a plant for the site.
Managing director Koh Ching Hong hopes the initiative will inspire other corporations to join them in efforts to create sustainable habitats for nature within the community.
The plot of land was chosen by the National Parks Board and the Nature Society for its prime location, so that some of the creatures that live in neighbouring woodlands can be lured over to Sungei Pandan.
At the moment, only three butterfly species and eight bird species can be found in the area.
'It is a stepping stone we are creating,' said Dr Ho Hua Chew, deputy chairman of the conservation committee within the Nature Society.
It is hoped that at least 30 species will settle down at the new site within a year, eventually reaching about 100.
Sungei Pandan to see a more diverse ecosystem by 2012
Evelyn Choo, Channel NewsAsia 8 Jan 10;
SINGAPORE: Sungei Pandan will take on a greener lease of life by 2012.
The South West Community Development Council (CDC) aims to plant 1,000 native plants around the area.
Friday morning's efforts marked the first step to reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - almost 22,000 kilogrammes per annum by the time the project is completed.
The South West CDC has partnered Borneo Motors, which is embarking on its first community project. They hope this mass tree planting initiative will help attract 200 species of birds and butterflies with Sungei Pandan's lush greenery.
About 5,000 residents and students are also expected to take part in the project.
Dr Amy Khor, Mayor, South West District said: "This will give our residents a chance to enjoy nature. It will also build a greener district. At the same time, this could ensure there is room for development."
- CNA/sc
Teacher gets school and students to pitch in to save the environment
Grace Chua, Straits Times 9 Jan 10;
NATURE photography, Star Wars Lego models and Apple electronics are just some of the things Mr Eric Low has been passionate about.
Now, the 34-year-old schoolteacher has a new cause: cutting carbon emissions through clean energy.
At Dunman Secondary School in Tampines, where he teaches mathematics and chemistry, he persuaded the school to include a 2kw solar panel in the design for its rooftop garden.
The panel, which tracks the sun to convert as much of its energy as possible, was paid for through fund-raisers and a Ministry of Education seed fund.
It powers the water pumps at the garden's hydroponics set-up and provides some excess power that is fed back into the school's electricity network.
And he is paying $60,000 to install a 6kw solar panel at his house in Changi - a panel so large, it actually overhangs the existing roof and doubles as a shelter for the balcony.
When it is installed, it will provide enough power for four to six air-conditioners - effectively powering the whole house and getting rid of his $300 monthly electricity bill.
A solar panel that size will take 30 to 50 years to pay for itself in electricity savings, but Mr Low says he is not driven by cost savings alone. Going green is his aim.
He picks products with minimal packaging, avoids switching on the air-conditioner and tries not to use plastic bags.
The self-described 'urban boy' grew up in Queenstown and Choa Chu Kang, but says he has always preferred nature to crowds.
'I haven't even been to Ion Orchard or 313,' he said, referring to the two brand-new malls on Orchard Road.
About seven or eight years ago, while Mr Low was dating his then girlfriend and now wife Deanna, the couple would wine and dine, not at downtown restaurants, but at the Choa Chu Kang Farmart.
Around 2003, he picked up nature photography - starting in neighbourhood parks like Bishan Park and moving on to reserves like the Sungei Buloh wetlands.
Mr Low's passion has spread to his family and students.
He caught the hydroponics bug when he was put in charge of student gardeners at Dunearn Secondary in Bukit Batok in 2002.
When he transferred to Dunman Secondary three years ago, he introduced a hydroponics garden there as well.
Put in charge of the computer club, he got the members to program simple iPhone applications for measuring personal carbon footprints.
After writing a carbon-footprint program, one of his young charges put the carbon-cutting tips into action.
Secondary 3 student Muhammad Aliff Rahmad found his carbon footprint slightly above average.
'Now, I use the air-con less and take public transport instead of using my father's car,' he said.
Mr Low even talked his father-in-law, property developer Alan Koh of Gold Island Development, into putting solar panels on some of his new houses.
'You don't have to live in the Stone Age to be green,' Mr Low says. 'Just use less and waste less.'
However, there are some contradictions which suggest that even a green champion has some way to go.
He and his wife, who runs an education centre, have two cars; and despite living relatively near work, he drives there each day.
Sometimes, convenience trumps conscience, he says with a wry smile.
Jakarta Globe 8 Jan 10;
Palm oil has always been under fire, first because of its allegedly adverse effect on cholesterol, since disproven, and then because of tropical deforestation to clear the way for oil palm plantations.
However, the ante has been raised considerably in recent months. The palm oil industry beat back an attempt at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December to curb additional planting under a World Bank proposal called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing countries (REDD).
But the industry’s relief has been tempered. On Dec. 11, Unilever, the world’s biggest buyer of the oil, which is used in everything from biofuels to chocolate chip cookies, suspended a $32 million contract with a subsidiary of the giant Sinar Mas Group until the Indonesian conglomerate proved its plantations are not contributing to deforestation.
Just three days before, in a program called “The End of the Jungle,” the BBC accused the Malaysian government and the palm oil industry of “laying waste to the last remaining rainforests of Borneo in what has been described as a corporate land grab.”
Now the plantation companies are concerned that other major European Union and US importers, particularly Procter & Gamble and Nestle, may follow Unilever’s example, especially as the global warming debate intensifies and concerns grow over the accelerating and alarming destruction of the habitat of the orangutan.
Scientific American recently quoted Richard Zimmerman, director of Orangutan Outreach in New York, as saying Indonesian tropical forests are wiped out at a rate of six football pitches per minute to make way for palm oil plantations.
As many as 20,000 orangutan have been killed, according to the report. A recent Jakarta Globe article called attention to massive deforestation of ostensibly federally protected forest areas on the island of Riau, with 2,000 hectares of forest leveled in 2008 alone.
On the Malaysian side of Borneo, according to the BBC, IOI Group, which sells palm oil in more than 65 countries, is bulldozing vast tracts of rainforest for oil palm plantations.
“From a distance, the plantations look quite green and lush — in reality they are barren: the life has basically gone,” the report found. “It’s estimated that only 3 percent of the primary rainforest of Malaysian Borneo remains.”
Between them, Malaysia and Indonesia produce 90 percent of the world’s palm oil — with world demand at 48 million metric tons annually and growing. Virtually all of the major plantation companies belong to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an alliance between consumers and producers that ostensibly subscribes to best environmental practices. Unilever was a founding member.
But both the Unilever decision on the Sinar Mas subsidiary and the BBC show on IOI have exposed vast discrepancies between promises and practices. In addition, both the Malaysian and Indonesian governments fully backed the two companies, attesting that they were protecting the environment.
In effect, those events make the Roundtable look like a sham and call into question its credibility in getting importers and exporters to work in concert to raise environmental standards.
The palm oil industry has become increasingly concerned as environmental groups have raised awareness of the loss of primary forest and carbon sinks. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated in a recent report that preventing carbon release from deforestation is “the climate-change mitigation option with the globally largest and most immediate carbon-stock impact per hectare in the short term.”
An industry group, World Growth, headed by Alan Oxley, an Australian lecturer and climate-change skeptic, has been established. It has bitterly disputed Greenpeace’s efforts, saying environmental groups, by their actions against palm oil producers, are themselves potentially devastating to the poor, with tens of thousands of jobs at risk on palm oil plantations.
Palm oil, the industry group said, can generate returns of more than $3,000 per hectare, while village farming generates less than $100 per hectare. Malaysia’s plantations alone, which directly employ 580,000 people, support two million livelihoods, World Growth argues.
Oxley has aggressively sought to contradict environmentalists. He has argued that development and forestry experts have shown that two-thirds of forest clearance is driven by low-income people in poor countries searching for land, habitation and food production.
Oxley has described environmentalists as “Europe-based activists who don’t provide data that can be verified,” peddling so-called science that “cannot be substantiated or is severely exaggerated.”
The question is what happens next. As a Reuters analysis pointed out, if European buyers of palm oil get stickier about requiring Indonesian companies to observe strict environmental standards, there are roughly 2.5 billion people in India and China alone who have no qualms whatsoever about buying Indonesian and Malaysian palm oil, by far the largest staple oil in Asia. It is far cheaper to produce than either soybean or corn oil and requires virtually no fertilizer.
Not only is palm oil by far the most popular cooking oil in Asia, just-auto.com, the automotive industry’s online analytical publication, says that “Rising energy consumption and environmental issues have now shifted the focus toward biofuel use, particularly in transportation. Though the biofuel industry is in its initial stages in Asia-Pacific, there is a huge potential for its development in the region.” Any downshifting of demand for palm oil in the West appears to be matched rising demand in Asia.
The global biofuels market, the publication said, is likely to grow by 1.47 percent on a compounded annual basis through 2015.
One thing is certain. The credibility of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has been severely damaged, perhaps fatally, and the credibility of the Malaysian and Indonesian governments regarding protection of their tropical rainforests is equally at risk.
Asia Sentinel
Jeff Barnard, Associated Press Yahoo News 9 Jan 10;
GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Hundreds of sea lions that abruptly blew out of San Francisco Bay's Pier 39 last Thanksgiving have apparently found a new home at another tourist attraction — 500 miles north on the Oregon coast. Thousands of California sea lions started showing up in December at Sea Lion Caves, a popular tourist draw because of the Stellar sea lions living in the caves.
The California sea lions appear to have made the trip because of an abundance of anchovies at the Oregon site, 11 miles north of the town of Florence.
Scientists say there is no way to say how many of the newcomers came from Pier 39, where the numbers fell from a peak of 1,701 in October to just 20 by the end of November. But it is likely some did, since they easily swim 100 miles a day searching for food between Mexico and Alaska.
Some of the California newcomers came into the cave, but most seem to prefer a nearby rocky beach.
Kim Raum-Suryan, a biologist at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, noticed the number of California sea lions at Heceta Head had doubled to some 5,000 in December and, like other scientists, figures the simple answer is food.
"My gut feeling is it has something to do with the (ocean warming) El Nino conditions off California, which is driving prey and sea lions up north," she said.
There are fewer herrings in San Francisco Bay, and a general decline in sea lion food off California last summer triggered a die-off of young sea lions making the transition from mother's milk to fish.
Meanwhile, anchovies have been plentiful in Oregon waters — so plentiful that brown pelicans that normally winter in California are also hanging around, said Bob Emmett, a fisheries biologist for NOAA Fisheries Service in Newport.
Picking out which of the newcomer sea lions at Oregon Sea Caves are visitors from Pier 39 would be difficult.
Many sea lions are branded, and Raum-Suryan has been recording the brands she sees on sea lions at Heceta Head. But she hasn't found anyone who did the same at Pier 39.
Back at Pier 39, a marketplace and arcade with a view of Alcatraz, public relations director Sue Muzzin was happy to hear a couple dozen sea lions barking Thursday, and hopes any that are in Oregon left their hearts in San Francisco.
"People are taking photos of the dock because it is so atypical," she said. "You don't realize how much you miss them 'til they're gone."
The collision between whalers and an anti-whaling boat reveals the biggest problem with violent protest: it breeds more violence
Bibi van der Zee, guardian.co.uk 8 Jan 10;
How far can you go, in pursuit of a campaign goal? Is violence ever acceptable? The collision between the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd boat and the Japanese whalers this week was the fault – both parties claim – of the other side. Did it make life better for whales – the ostensible focus of the Sea Shepherd campaign? Those two sentences, pretty much, sum up the problem with violence.
The accepted position is that violent tactics are, de facto, wrong. The only people who are legally allowed to use violence in our society are the police, the army, and, very occasionally, us in self-defence. It is not acceptable, we all believe, that the World Wildlife Fund, say, should stand at the frontiers of jungles and bash over the head anyone who tries to nick a baboon.
But somewhere between rattling a tin on the high street and beating people up to stop them doing things there is a surprisingly wide grey area, and for the last century activists have been exploring that area. They've tried civil disobedience, non-violent passive resistance, boycotts, sit-ins, die-ins, blockades, and of course direct action. They've explored right up to, and sometimes over, the difficult-to-define line that differentiates violence from non-violence.
This, in fact, is part of the problem. In a thought-provoking book by anarchist Peter Gelderloos, he describes a workshop he ran where he read out a list of tactics and asked the participants to walk to one spot if they considered the action violent, and to another if they considered it non-violent. "The actions included such things as buying clothes made in a sweatshop, eating meat, a wolf killing a deer, killing someone who is about to detonate a bomb in a crowd and so on. "Almost never," he wrote, "was there perfect agreement between the participants."
Violence against property is one of the biggest sticking points; some activists who are entirely committed to non-violence regard the destruction of property as an entirely separate issue. But according to the FBI, eco-terrorism consists of violence against people or property.
And Paul Watson, unlike most activists, decided a long time ago that as far as he was concerned violence against property was absolutely fine. Watson was one of the earliest members of Greenpeace who took part in the early anti-whaling voyages described by fellow-member Robert Hunter as "a sea-going gang of ecological bikers... being involved in an archetypal battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light... reincarnated Indian warriors whooping and hollering as we surged down out of the hills towards the wagon train." For Watson that was the way he wanted to carry on the battle. And so in the decades since he has scuttled ships, threatened to ram them, seized nets and destroyed them, and thrown bottles of butyric acid onto the decks of whalers.
Is it right? Well, some of it is illegal, but is the legal framework the only arbiter of right and wrong? According to some religions, violence in support of your passionate beliefs is right. According to others it is wrong. But from my point of view one of the biggest problems with using these kind of tactics is that you legitimise the use of them by your opponents. Frankly, if the Sea Shepherd boat was rammed by the whalers, it's hard to get too hot under the collar about it when in the past Sea Shepherd have openly admitted deliberately ramming and sinking whaling boats themselves. Violence (against property or people) breeds violence. Once you step outside the legal framework you lose all protection for yourself.
As to whether it works, although studies have shown that violence is often successful as a campaign tactic the fact is that in this particular case, despite years of campaigning the whalers are still whaling. These huge, intelligent mammals, who have been observed grieving for their young, are still being killed with harpoons, and bleeding to death over hours in the oceans. As far as they are concerned, Watson's tactics clearly are not working.
Talek Harris Yahoo News 8 Jan 10;
SYDNEY (AFP) – A high-tech protest boat sank without trace on Friday after a dangerous collision with a Japanese whaling ship, as Australia protested to Tokyo over its fleet's alleged tactics.
Peter Hammarstedt, first officer of the Sea Shepherd group's "Bob Barker" ship, said the celebrated "Ady Gil" was abandoned overnight after a tow line snapped en route to an Antarctic research base.
The futuristic trimaran, which held the round-the-world record, had several metres (yards) of its front end sheared off in the collision with a Japanese security vessel on Wednesday.
"At this point unfortunately the Ady Gil is on the bottom of the Southern Ocean," Hammarstedt told AFP.
"It leaves us with no other option but to re-take up the pursuit of the whaling fleet," he added. "We have no intention of backing down. We will never surrender."
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia's Tokyo embassy had relayed "very strong concerns" over recent developments, including Wednesday's crash and claims the fleet chartered spying flights out of Australia.
"Our embassy in Tokyo is making high-level representations to the Japanese government," she said.
"They have passed to the Japanese government our very strong concerns about the question of flights being chartered, potentially in Australia, to monitor the activity of protest vessels.
"They have passed on our very strong concerns about conduct on the high seas and of course we continue to make it very clear, our view about whaling."
Footage of the crash showed the "Shonan Maru 2" ploughing across the New Zealand-registered Ady Gil's bow and firing water cannon while the protest boat's crew dived for safety.
Hammarstedt said the stricken powerboat, bankrolled by Hollywood businessman Ady Gil, broke its tow line after taking on too much water.
"Last time we saw the Ady Gil, the entire engine room was fully submerged in water as well as the fuel tanks," he said.
"It was going down pretty quickly. Captain Pete Bethune estimated two to three hours before being fully submerged. At that point we decided to take up the hunt for the whaling fleet again."
New Zealand and Australian authorities are investigating the incident, while Japan lodged a strong protest with the Wellington government. Both the whalers and the protesters blame each other for the crash.
"In the last few seconds we realised, they're actually going to collide with us," recalled New Zealand protester Simeon Houtman, who was left with broken ribs.
"Instinct took over and we all just dived for the aft desk and landed in a heap. Thankfully everyone survived."
Sea Shepherd claims to have saved hundreds of whales by chasing the Japanese fleet over a six-year campaign backed by Hollywood A-listers including Sean Penn, Martin Sheen and Pierce Brosnan.
Japan hunts the animals using a loophole in a 1986 international moratorium which allows "lethal research", defying regular protests from Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
The skirmishes have grown increasingly sophisticated with the activists deploying laser-like devices and stink bombs, and the Japanese fleet operating military-style acoustic weapons and water cannon.
Sea Shepherd also claims the Japanese chartered flights to pinpoint their position so that the Shonan Maru 2 could keep them away from the whalers, setting off a pursuit which set back the harassment campaign by weeks.
The Ady Gil, which put to sea in December, made its first contact with the fleet before dawn on Wednesday before being stricken in the dramatic crash just hours later.
The sleek, carbon-and-kevlar, wave-piercing trimaran was capable of speeds up to 50 knots, and claimed the circumnavigation record in 2008 under its former name, "Earthrace".
Reuters 7 Jan 10;
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The Canadian government has ordered a study of the environmental impact of making ethanol and biodiesel just as a government regulation mandating fuel blending is set to take effect.
The study, ordered on Wednesday, comes after evidence of harmful environmental effects from ethanol plants and amid growing criticism of biofuel technology, according to a government document from the environment ministry, Environment Canada.
"Experiences in the U.S. and Brazil now suggest that existing biofuels production facilities are responsible for the generation of a range of new air- and water-related problems as well as recent concerns over human health," the document states.
The study will help government scientists understand the environmental implications of making biofuel, it states.
Canada has invested heavily in the biofuel industry as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has committed to distributing subsidies for biofuel plants totaling up to C$1.5 billion ($1.45 billion) over nine years.
In September 2010, a federal mandate takes effect requiring 5 percent renewable content in gasoline.
A spokesman for Environment Canada was not available for comment by late Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, the Canadian Press quoted department spokeswoman Paula Franchellini as saying: "The commissioning of this study does not presuppose that there are any harmful effects from these facilities, nor does it change the government of Canada's commitment to renewable fuels."
Gordon Quaiattini, president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, was unavailable for comment.
Canadian plants make ethanol from corn and wheat and make biodiesel from animal fat, soybeans and canola. Canadian biofuel production is expected to grow by 76 percent before the end of 2011, according to the document.
Environment Canada also ordered on Wednesday a study of the environmental impact of using "marginal lands" -- such as contaminated sites and buffer strips along roads and rivers -- for the production of biofuel crops or for production plants. The U.S. and European biofuel industries have come under criticism for taking up traditional farmland to grow biofuel crops, Environment Canada said.
($1=$1.03 Canadian)
(Reporting by Rod Nickel; editing by Peter Galloway)
Marine Flatworms – Simply, Brilliant
from Pulau Hantu
A sneak preview: The Natural Heritage of Singapore 3rd Edition
from Urban Forest
Cyrene Reefs featured in Nature Watch!
from wild shores of singapore
You are what you eat: resourceful slugs
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!
frogfish @ Little Sisters' Island
from sgbeachbum
Osprey collecting sticks for nest
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Conservation contemplates the pre-emptive strike
from BBC NEWS blog by Richard Black
Vital to safeguard biodiversity and to develop sustainably as population grows
Felda Chay, Business Times 8 Jan 10;
CITIES worldwide should come together to collaborate and share solutions on developing sustainably and safeguarding biodiversity as the world population increases rapidly, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan on Wednesday in Brazil.
Speaking at the second meeting on Cities and Biodiversity in the Brazilian city of Curitiba, Mr Mah said that the task of balancing economic development and biodiversity conservation is a challenging one. There is, therefore, a need to 'continually find practical and innovative solutions', by cooperating with one another, he said.
And Singapore, for one, is committed to promoting sustainability and biodiversity conservation, said Mr Mah. In 2008, he proposed to develop a 'City Biodiversity Index' to fill the gap of a lack of well-established indices to measure biodiversity in cities. Between March and September last year, the city-state's National Parks Board worked with the Task Force on Cities and Biodiversity to test 'The Singapore Index on Cities' Biodiversity' - Singapore's answer to the lack of biodiversity indices - in several cities.
Currently, seven cities such as Curitiba and Japan's Nagoya have test-bedded the draft index. And at least 10 other cities have indicated their interest to test-bed it.
'For us who run and manage cities, and in the case of Singapore, a city-state, we are all too familiar with the constant challenge of competing needs for resources . . . The problems that we face are multi-disciplinary. To solve them, we will need to create platforms for meaningful dialogue, for people from different disciplines to understand one another's perspectives and work together.'
Mr Mah listed three challenges that cities face today as a result of a rising population. The first, he said, is greater urbanisation and the strain this will have on natural resources. Cities, he said, currently take up just 2 per cent of the Earth's land area, yet consume a staggering 75 per cent of its natural resources.
'We need to ensure that the rapid urbanisation is done is a sustainable manner,' said Mr Mah.
He added that climate change is another issue, and cities will need to work out at the local level various ways to deal with the impact.
'Cities will need to figure out how to mitigate the impact of climate change on biodiversity at the local level, even as governments attempt to find common ground to arrive at a post-2012 climate change agreement to curb emissions - something that was not achieved at Copenhagen last month.'
The final challenge he highlighted was that of the increasing complexity of city planning and management on the back of rising demand for a higher standard of living, and population growth.
Problems brought about by increased population density, such as traffic congestion and pollution, may lead to environment degradation and loss of biodiversity if not adequately addressed, said Mr Mah.
Minister Mah in Brazil for biodiversity talks
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 8 Jan 10;
SINGAPORE and Curitiba - described as Brazil's best city to live in - have vastly different histories and cultures.
But they share one aspiration: balancing economic growth while conserving the environment, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, who is visiting Brazil - the world's fifth most populous nation.
As cities around the world continue to grow rapidly, they face common challenges in achieving sustainable development, said Mr Mah at the second meeting on Cities and Biodiversity in Curitiba, in the country's south, on Wednesday.
Mr Mah noted that by 2050, more than 70 per cent of the world's population will be living in urban areas.
Currently, even though cities occupy only 2 per cent of the Earth's land area, those living in them consume more than 75 per cent of the Earth's natural resources.
Apart from a shortage of resources, other challenges that cities face include climate change and the complexities of city planning and management, he said.
But many benefits can be reaped if 'cities come together to collaborate and share solutions', Mr Mah added.
'To conserve our natural assets even as we pursue our economic development, we will need to continually find practical and innovative solutions,' he said.
'To solve these multi-disciplinary problems, we will also need to create platforms for meaningful dialogue, for people from different disciplines to understand one another's perspectives and work together.'
Curitiba and Singapore, for example, are collaborating on the Singapore Index on Cities' Biodiversity, which was discussed at the meeting.
The index, a tool to help countries evaluate and benchmark the health of biodiversity in their cities, will be test-bedded in several countries, including Brazil.
Prior to Curitiba, Mr Mah had visited Rio de Janeiro to explore avenues for tie-ups between Singapore and the famous coastal city in the area of urban development.
From Curitiba, Mr Mah will be travelling to the capital city of Brasilia and to Manaus, said the Ministry of National Development.
Singapore shares Singapore Index experience at Curitiba Meeting on Cities and Biodiversity
MND and NParks media release (pdf) 7 Jan 10;
Singapore, 7 January 2010 – Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan commended Curitiba for its efforts in incorporating biodiversity considerations in urban planning and highlighted the city as a model for sustainable development. He made these comments in his opening address at the second meeting on Cities and Biodiversity in Curitiba, Brazil yesterday (Singapore time - 6 Jan 2010, 10pm).
Though Curitiba and Singapore have different historical and cultural backgrounds, Minister Mah said he is “struck by how similar we are in our aspirations to create an economically vibrant city with a high-quality living environment.” In a December 2009 article published in Forbes Magazine1, both cities have been listed as excellent examples of today’s “smart” cities i.e. cities which focus on having strong economic fundamentals beyond infrastructure and liveability. (Please see Annex A for the full version of Minister’s speech.)
In his speech, Minister Mah urged cities to come together to share knowledge, adopt best practices and find solutions to common problems.
Sharing of Singapore Index to an international audience in Curitiba
The Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity, or the Singapore Index in short, was on the discussion agenda during the second meeting. The Singapore Index is currently being testbedded in several countries and the discussions will enable inputs from these cities to be incorporated to refine the Singapore Index further. This discussion was instrumental in the process for the Singapore Index to be tabled for adoption at the Tenth Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity2 (COP-10) in October 2010 at Nagoya.
Once adopted, the Singapore Index will be used as a self-assessment tool to help member countries evaluate and benchmark the health of biodiversity in their cities.
Minister Mah first proposed the Singapore Index in May 2008 in Bonn, Germany. It is being developed by National Parks Board (NParks), in collaboration with the Secretariat of the CBD and experts from various countries. In acknowledgement of Singapore’s contribution and leadership, the Secretariat of the CBD formally named the index, “The Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity” or “The Singapore Index” in April 2009. (Please see Annex B for more information on the Singapore Index.)
Minister’s Visit to Brazilian Cities and Tijuca Forest After Curitiba, Minister Mah will be travelling to Brasilia and Manaus, where he will visit the Amazon Biotechnology Center.
Prior to Curitiba, Minister Mah visited Rio de Janeiro where he met Governor Sergio Cabral to explore areas for collaboration between Singapore and Rio de Janeiro in the area of urban development. While in Rio de Janeiro, Minister also visited the Tijuca Forest.
Currently, Rio de Janeiro and Singapore are the only two cities in the world with major protected tropical forests within its city limits. NParks will be following-up on the visit to explore opportunities for joint collaborations in research to better manage these forests and their associated biodiversity.
Annex A: SPEECH BY MR MAH BOW TAN, MINISTER FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT,
SINGAPORE AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE SECOND CURITIBA MEETING ON CITIES AND BIODIVERSITY HELD ON 6 JANUARY 2010 AT BARIGUI PARK COMPLEX, PARANA STATE, BRAZIL
Mr Carlos Alberto Richa, Mayor of Curitiba
Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
Honorable Mayors
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen,
1. I am delighted to be here this morning at the opening of the Second Curitiba Meeting on Cities and Biodiversity.
2. In 1992, Brazil hosted the landmark United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. The Conference, which was popularly known as the Earth Summit, saw the signing of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity, the endorsement of the Rio Declaration and the Forest Principles, and the adoption of “Agenda 21” - a global action plan for achieving sustainable development in the 21st century.
3. It is laudable that another Brazilian city, Curitiba, has assumed leadership and provided the platform for discussions on how cities can contribute to the biodiversity agenda under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In March 2007, the Curitiba Declaration on Cities and Biodiversity was adopted, which re-affirmed the commitment of cities and local authorities to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss, and to integrate biodiversity considerations in their urban planning and development.
4. In the year 2008, the world crossed a significant threshold. For the first time, more people live in towns and cities, than in rural areas. By 2050, more than 70% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas. The number of city dwellers is expected to almost double, from 3.3 billion today to 6.4 billion in 2050.
5. As cities around the world continue to grow rapidly, they all share common challenges in achieving sustainable development and safeguarding our biodiversity. Let me elaborate on three key challenges facing the cities of the world.
6. The first key challenge is that with greater urbanisation, the strain on natural resources will become increasingly more acute. Cities currently occupy only 2% of the Earth’s land area but consume over 75% of its natural resources. The ecological footprint of cities is set to increase as more people move into the urban environment. We need to ensure that the rapid urbanisation is done in a sustainable manner.
7. The next key challenge is climate change. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment3, climate change is likely to become the dominant driver of biodiversity loss by the end of this century. Temperature increases, rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns will impact on habitats and ecosystems. Cities will need to figure out how to mitigate the impact of climate change on biodiversity at the local level, even as governments attempt to find common ground to arrive at a post-2012 climate change agreement to curb carbon emissions, something which was not achieved at Copenhagen last month.
8. Thirdly, the complexities of city planning and management will increase in tandem with both population growth and demands for higher standards of living. Cities face many problems that arise from increased population density, such as housing needs, traffic congestion, pollution, access to clean water and proper sanitation. If these problems are not adequately addressed, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity may result. These problems are also closely inter-linked, and have to be tackled with an integrated set of solutions.
Greater Need for Collaboration
9. I have outlined three key challenges which are common to all cities, albeit at varying degrees due to the different stages of development. We can reap much benefits if cities come together to collaborate and share solutions. Already, many cities are innovating urban solutions in areas such as clean energy, green transport, waste and water treatment, and urban greenery.
10. It is indeed very apt that we are meeting today in Curitiba. Our host city has a reputation for being tenacious in championing sustainable development. Curitiba is well known for its public transport system and recycling initiatives. I understand that Curitiba has also embarked on its BioCity Programme which seeks to reverse the loss of biodiversity by incorporating biodiversity considerations in urban planning. The key initiatives, which I am sure all of us are familiar with, include the reintroduction of ornamental indigenous plant species; incentives to preserve private green areas; revitalisation of the Barigui River Basin; and the Green Line Project which is aimed at revitalising an important federal highway through the creation of a major transportation corridor for bicycles and pedestrians as well as a linear park. I look forward to learning more about these projects during my visit here.
11. In Singapore, resource scarcity has led us to take sustainable development very seriously from our early days of national development. Being a small city-state with a land area of 700 square kilometers, we have adopted a long-term and integrated approach in our land use planning. We seek to concurrently pursue economic vibrancy and a high-quality living environment for our people. This includes preserving the natural environment and protecting our natural heritage.
12. In a few minutes, I will show you a short video of our Garden City, which contains glimpses of Singapore’s greenery and how we balance conservation with development.
13. Despite our small size, we have deliberately set aside 10% of our land for parks and nature conservation. This is complemented with an island-wide network of parks, park connectors, and streetscape and waterfront greenery, resulting in a green cover of almost 50% of our island. We are now transforming Singapore into a city of gardens and water, where our water bodies and greenery are integrated to become havens for urban biodiversity.
14. However, balancing economic development and biodiversity conservation in an urban environment is not an easy task. For us who run and manage cities, and in the case of Singapore, a city-state, we are all too familiar with the constant challenge of competing needs for resources. To conserve our natural assets even as we pursue our economic development, we will need to continually find practical and innovative solutions. The problems that we face are multi-disciplinary. To solve them, we will need to create platforms for meaningful dialogue, for people from different disciplines to understand one another’s perspectives and work together.
15. Curitiba and Singapore are cities with very different historical and cultural backdrops. Yet, I am struck by how similar we are in our aspirations to create an economically vibrant city with a high-quality living environment. When we can get more like-minded cities to come together, the sharing will be multiplied many times. In this regard, it is very encouraging to see a positive trend of cities coming together to share knowledge, adopt best practices and find solutions to common problems. The ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability’s4 Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) project and the Global Partnership on Cities and Biodiversity are two excellent examples of greater collaborations among like-minded cities.
Singapore’s contribution
16. This year, being the International Year of Biodiversity, gives us added impetus and a unique opportunity to share and collaborate, and also to celebrate the vital role that biodiversity plays in sustaining life on Earth. In Singapore, we have launched to celebrate and rediscover our rich natural heritage. In particular, on 22 May 2010 which is the International Day for Biological Diversity, our schools will plant native trees to contribute to a global “Green Wave”.
17. Singapore is also pleased to contribute to the process of sharing and collaboration at the international level. Let me take this opportunity to thank our partners in the Global Partnership for assisting and supporting the development of the Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity. The Singapore Index will provide a framework and tool to measure and benchmark cities’ biodiversity conservation efforts.
18. I would also like to thank the cities which are currently test-bedding the Singapore Index. Your feedback will be most invaluable for the experts who are meeting in July this year to fine-tune the Index. The Singapore Index is part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)’s Plan of Action on Urban Biodiversity. We look forward to working with the CBD and partners to develop the Index in time for endorsement at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-10) in Nagoya in October this year.
19. Besides biodiversity conservation, Singapore is also committed to promoting sustainability in cities. We will be hosting the second World Cities Summit from 28 to 30 June 2010 with the theme, “Liveable and Sustainable Cities for the Future”. As part of this conference, there will be a thematic session on “Urban Biodiversity and Conservation for Sustainable Cities”. Other events include the World Mayor’s Forum where mayors and governors around the world will discuss solutions for liveable cities.
20. I would like to encourage you to join us at the World Cities Summit 2010 in Singapore to exchange ideas and share innovative urban solutions to build liveable and sustainable communities across the globe.
Conclusion
21. Today’s meeting is further proof of our collective commitment to the Global Partnership to conserve biological diversity and promote sustainable development. Your deliberations will help consolidate ideas and build consensus to prepare for the COP-10 meeting in Nagoya. Just before introducing our short video, I would like to conclude by wishing you every success in your deliberations at this Second Curitiba Meeting on Cities and Biodiversity.
22. Thank you.
Annex B: Media Fact Sheet
The Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity – Roadmap
29 May 2008
Singapore’s Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan, proposed to develop a “City Biodiversity Index” as an evaluation tool at the High Level Segment of the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, Germany. According to the United Nations5, the world population will form half of the world population for the first time in 2008. Following this trend, the world population is expected to be 70% urban in 2050. With increasing urbanisation, the demands of economic activities will place greater pressure on our natural resources and environment. Currently, there are no well-established indices to measure biodiversity in cities. Hence, it is useful to formulate a methodology for benchmarking the biodiversity and environmental stewardship of cities.
10-12 February 2009
The National Parks Board (NParks) hosted the first expert workshop on the development of the City Biodiversity Index in Singapore. The purpose of the meeting is to identify appropriate measurable indicators and variables to develop a benchmarking tool to assist cities in the benchmarking of their biodiversity conservation efforts over time. A total of seventeen technical experts on biodiversity indicators as well as city executives and city representatives responsible for implementation and/or management of biodiversity and urban projects and programmes attended this workshop in the development of the index as an evaluation tool.
March 2009 – September 2009
NParks worked with the Task Force on Cities and Biodiversity to test the Singapore Index in several cities. Work includes:
Creation of a Technical Taks Force, including Dr. Nancy Holman, Mr. Peter Werner, Professor Thomas Elmqvist, Mr. Andre Mader, Ms. Elisa Calcaterra, Mr. Oliver Hillel and Dr. Lena Chan, Dy Director, National Biodiversity Centre.
Face-to-face meetings at the Urban Nature Forum and ICLEI World Congress, 11-18 June 2009, Edmonton, Canada.
Finalising a User’s Manual for the Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity.
In acknowledgement of Singapore’s innovative contribution and leadership, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has formally named the index, “The Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity” or the “Singapore Index” in short.
Next Steps
Currently, seven cities (Curitiba, Joondalup, Edmonton, Brussels, Montreal, Nagoya and Singapore) have test-bedded the draft Singapore Index on Cities' Biodiversity by evaluating their availability of data. At least 10 other cities have indicated interest in test-bedding the Singapore Index.
With 2010 being designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Biodiversity, NParks is planning to launch a series of programmes to raise Singapore's profile internationally, to gain support for the adoption of the Singapore Index on Cities' Biodiversity at the Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in October 2010. The Singapore Index has to be endorsed before cities can adopt it.
On the home front, NParks is striving to raise Singaporeans' awareness of our rich biodiversity assets (both terrestrial and marine), and is undertaking projects that will enhance the richness of our biodiversity by organising a series of activities to celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity 2010.
Straits Times Forum 8 Jan 09;
I REFER to recent reports about fish farms off Pasir Ris Beach and around Pulau Ubin being hit by plankton bloom. About 20 floating farms lost 300,000 fish worth about $2.7 million.
This should be a wake-up call for Singapore which depends on food imports to feed its growing population of 4.98 million. With climate change playing havoc with weather patterns, food producers will be increasingly at the mercy of nature's whims.
As recently as 2008, there was a shortage of rice. Leading rice-exporting countries Thailand and Vietnam became protective, banning exports. I hope Singaporeans have not forgotten this.
Singaporeans consume an estimated 100,000 tonnes of fish a year. Local foodfish aquaculture accounts for about 5 per cent of this. Yet this 5 per cent is what Singaporeans hunger for - tropical fish like grouper, seabass, snapper and lately, cobia.
Appetite for fish is growing too - especially saltwater fish, which is high in Omega 3 fatty acids and heart- friendly. Nutritionists often recommend a regular diet of fish over meat.
Singapore has limited space for fish farming as most of the sea is reserved for shipping lanes. Singapore fish farm industries are considered small with most struggling to remain viable.
Fish farming is capital-intensive and fraught with unknown risks. Grouper takes about 18 months to grow, seabass about one year, sea snapper about 11/2 years and cobia one year. Repeated injections of funds are needed to buy feed for the fish to grow.
Now, fish farmers off Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin have woken up to find their prized fish stock wiped out, along with their much-anticipated income through sales for the upcoming Chinese New Year. After a year of hard work and thousands of dollars spent, they are left high and dry.
Right now, what they need is financial help, to tide over this difficult time. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) should reach out to the affected farmers and explore with other government agencies how to support them in their hour of need.
And, as suggested by Mr Liu Fook Thim on Tuesday ('Set up body to handle food crises'), AVA should also consider setting up an alert system to monitor oxygen levels in the sea and warn of potential dangers.
Winston Lee
Seet Sok Hwee, Channel NewsAsia 7 Jan 10;
SINGAPORE : Prices of some Chinese herbs have shot up by some three times over the past six months, on the back of rising demand.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners said concerns over H1N1 in China and poor harvest due to bad weather, have unexpectedly spurred domestic sales, resulting in a dip in export volume.
Herbs like honeysuckle flowers were selling for about S$50 a kilogramme half a year ago. Today, you would have to fork out a whopping S$135 for them.
The same goes for chrysanthemum flowers - they used to sell for S$8 for half a kilogramme. Now, the price is about twice that - at S$15.
On average, prices for most herbs have gone up by about 20 per cent. But TCM practitioners said they are absorbing the costs for now.
They said they are not raising their fees yet because they have stocked up on their processed herbal medications. Orders were made long before prices went up.
The practitioners also advise customers not to purchase herbs in bulk because that will only push up prices and most herbs do not store well for long. - CNA /ls
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