Best of our wild blogs: 11 Jun 10

Observation Notes of the Variability of the Common Four Ring
from Butterflies of Singapore

My First Visit To Bukit Batok Nature Park
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Tanah Merah Site 8 - 06June2010
from sgbeachbum

Mangrove Blue Flycatcher feeding nestling
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Raffles Museum Treasures: Malay lacewing
from Lazy Lizard's Tales

Coral bleaching in the region
from wild shores of singapore

Near-real-time bleach watch satellite information from NOAA
from Bleach Watch Singapore

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Tioman corals dying, says diver

Nik Naizi Husin The Star 10 Jun 10;

PULAU TIOMAN: A team of divers has found that corals here have changed colour, a signal that they are dying.
Deepsea distress: Divers off Pulau Batu Malang are concerned that the corals there are turning white, a signal that they are dying. Above: Some of the affected staghorn corals.

“The cabbage corals, brain corals and staghorn corals have turned white,” said Kids Scuba director and scuba educator Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Hassan.

He said the underwater temperature had also changed.

“In my numerous dives here previously, the temperature was between 25°C and 27°C. However, in my two days of underwater discovery, the temperature was at 32°C,” he said.

Syed Abdul Rahman led a group of divers on Sunday and Monday for activities at Kampong Salang and Pulau Batu Malang here.

His team dived 26m deep and about 300m from the Kampung Salang beach on the first day.

The following day, they were at the same depth at the Pulau Batu Malang coral site, which is 200m from Pulau Tulai.

Syed Abdul Rahman’s forecast was that the corals in Tioman Island would die soon due to the warmer weather.

“There are some corals which are still intact and colourful. However, most of them are changing colour, showing that they are not healthy.”

He hoped that the wet weather would come soon.

During his four-day stay in Kampong Salang, he said the villagers told him that the climate was hotter now. “What is happening to the corals is quite sad. I would not be surprised to see all of them turning white and dying,” he said.

He also said that he found more sea urchins during his dive.

The colour of death: Heat killing Tioman corals
Straits Times 11 Jun 10;

PHOTO: KIDS SCUBA SCHOOL

Corals in the waters off Pulau Tioman have changed colour, a sign that they are dying, a team of divers from Kids Scuba School found.

The affected corals include brain corals and staghorn corals. The reason could be a change in underwater temperature due to warmer weather, The Star reported. Previously, the underwater temperature was between 25 deg C and 27 deg C. However, it was found to be 32 deg C this week.

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Endangered crocodiles hatched in Cambodia

Ouk Navouth And Jerry Harmer, Associated Press 10 Jun 10;

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Conservationists in Cambodia are celebrating the hatching of a clutch of eggs from one of the world's most critically endangered animals.

Thirteen baby Siamese crocodiles crawled out of their shells over the weekend in a remote part of the Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia, following a weekslong vigil by researchers who found them in the jungle.

Experts believe as few as 250 Siamese crocodiles are left in the wild, almost all of them in Cambodia but with a few spread between Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam and possibly Thailand.

The operation to protect and hatch the eggs was mounted by United Kingdom-based Fauna and Flora International, for whom conservation of this once-abundant species is a key program.

"Every nest counts," program manager Adam Starr told Associated Press Television News. "To be able to find a nest is a very big success story, to be able to hatch eggs properly is an even bigger success story."

The nest, with 22 eggs inside, was discovered in the isolated Areng Valley. Fauna and Flora International volunteers removed 15 of them to a safe site and incubated them in a compost heap to replicate the original nest. They left seven behind because they appeared to be unfertilized.

A round-the-clock guard was mounted to keep away predators like monitor lizards. Last weekend the crocodiles began calling from inside the shells, a sure sign they were about to hatch.

Within hours 10 emerged — and a further surprise was in store. Three of the eggs left behind at the original nest also hatched. A field coordinator, Sam Han, discovered the squawking baby crocodiles when he went to recover a camera-trap from the site.

"When I first saw the baby crocodiles they stayed and swam together near the near site. They were looking for their mother," he said. He snapped a few photos of the hatchlings, their noses poking out of the water.

To cap the success, the camera-trap yielded two infrared shots of the mother crocodile returning to the nest.

The reptiles are now being kept in a water-filled pen in a local village in the jungle-covered mountain range. The indigenous Chouerng people who live there revere crocodiles as forest spirits and consider it taboo to harm them. It's likely they'll be looked after for a year before being released into the wild.

But the euphoria is tempered by hard-edged reality. This part of the Areng Valley has been earmarked for a major hydropower project. The conservation group is looking for other areas of similar habitat to release the juveniles when the time comes.

"To put these crocodiles back into the Areng Valley could spell certain doom for them," Starr said.

The Siamese crocodile has suffered a massive decline over the last century, because of a high demand for its soft skin. Commercial breeders also brought them to stock farms where they crossed them with larger types of crocodile, producing hybrids which further reduced numbers of the pure Siamese.

In 1992 it was declared "effectively extinct in the wild" before being rediscovered in the remote Cardamoms in Cambodia eight years later.

Siamese crocodiles take 15 years to reach sexual maturity, complicating efforts to revive the population. Only a handful of the 13 new crocs are likely to survive long enough to make a long-term impact on numbers.

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On the brink of extinction, tigers need man as never before

Edouard Guihaire Yahoo News 11 Jun 10;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Nearly extinct, tigers can still be saved but efforts necessary for their survival face two huge obstacles: deforestation and the black market, where the big cats sell for 50,000 dollars a piece.

A hundred years ago, they still numbered 100,000 and were spread across Asia, from India to China and passing through Russia. But today, even the most optimistic estimates find that only 3,500 tigers remain in the wild.

"Tigers are on a decline, they are threatened by habitat destruction and poaching," said Joseph Vattakaven, one of India's top tiger scientist.

The senior coordinator of Tiger Conservation for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in India and a couple dozen other experts from Asia gathered at the National Zoo in Washington to exchange plans to preserve the species.

A symbol of power and ferociousness, the super predators are hunted down for their prized coat of dark vertical stripes over white and reddish-orange fur.

But poachers are also after the predators' bones, teeth, claws, whiskers and other organs used for traditional medicine and potions that allegedly boost sexual performance -- think tiger penis soup -- but also make a killing on the black market.

Most of the clients are in China, according to Vattakaven.

"We have to stop the demand in China. People are not aware of how many tigers are in danger," he said.

"Everyone must be involved. We need to involve people of local communities" near tiger habitats to put a stop to poaching practices, he added.

Among the ideas offered up at the gathering organized by the Global Tiger Initiative: creating specialized patrols well-versed in poaching techniques that could dissuade or apprehend poachers.

"Those are small groups with guns. With their presence only, they can frighten poachers." said Somphot Duangchantrasiri, a Thai forestry officer and head of the Khao Nang Ram Wildlife Research Station.

"But it's dangerous because the others got guns too. There were shootings and people were killed."

The sheer size of tiger habitats also present a major challenge.

In Russia, "the problem is that we have these vast areas, all those small roads; you have to control all the vehicles, which is virtually impossible," said Vladimir Istomin, the deputy head of a Russian government agency charged with protecting wildlife.

For the Global Tiger Initiative, the top priority remains halting poaching but next on the list is mitigating the man-made destruction of tiger habitats.

Cornered into divided territories, tigers are struggling to find prey and to reproduce.

The solution, some say, is to build protected pathways between the different lands the fierce creatures call home so that they may evolve without fearing man -- and without man fearing tiger.

"We need connections between parks to exchange genetics" between tigers in a crucial move to preserve the species, Vattakaven pleaded.

Experts say the challenge is just as environmental as it is political, as they remain locked in a battle to convince governments at stake to add tiger conservation to their already heavy agendas.

But that's easier said than done.

Russian tigers live in a developing area with ongoing construction.

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Biodiversity protection can help tackle climate change and poverty

Climate change and ecological scarcity are vital risks to be addressed for development to succeed in poor countries
Pavan Sukhdev, guardian.co.uk 10 Jun 10;

For years I have been accustomed to quizzical looks when I talk about "biodiversity" – and reactions ranging from incredulity to incomprehension when I talk about its economic value.

So it was a pleasant surprise to be told there were more than 1,000 comments, tweets and Facebook mentions regarding Juliette Jowit's Guardian article UN says case for saving species more powerful than climate change.

Below is my response to two of the questions most frequently asked by those commenting.

But before that, a word of clarification: what do we mean by biodiversity?

In common parlance, biodiversity is often understood as species diversity, while ecosystems are types of large-scale habitat: tropical forests, mangroves, coral reefs.

However, the definition of biodiversity agreed by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity includes three levels – ecosystems, species and genes.

Furthermore, both ecologists and economists point out an important "quantity" dimension to these three levels: ecosystems are recognised by their extent as well as their category; species can be described in terms of abundance as well as their diversity; and genes are useful because of their population as well as their variability. All of this is biodiversity – in short, the living fabric of this planet.

Why can't prevention of global warming and preservation of biodiversity go hand-in-hand?

Biodiversity loss – razed rainforests, converted mangroves, lost coral reefs – results in emissions of greenhouse gases.

Conversely, reforestation and the restoration of marine ecosystems removes carbon and reduces climate change risks.

The onset of climate change destabilises ecosystems, pushing vulnerable species into extinction.

There are many strong links between preserving biodiversity and preventing climate change, and actions to achieve one will usually help the other.

Having said that, we need to be careful to avoid potential conflicts between climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation – for example, replacing diverse grasslands with vast plantations of exotic tree species to absorb carbon, or converting tropical peat swamps to oil palm plantations to produce biofuels.

This is very much a focus for both climate and biodiversity research and policymaking.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and many others are working hard to develop an international finance mechanism called Redd+.

This would incentivise those developing countries which Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation plus undertake activities such as afforestation, conservation, and the sustainable management of forests.

By making standing forests worth more than forests cut, they intend to reverse the loss of these vital ecosystems.

In doing so, they will have provided a platform if not a model for rewarding biodiversity conservation as well as climate mitigation.

It is very much a concern of the creators of this mechanism that climate change and biodiversity loss are not seen as siloed problems to be solved at arms length, but rather within the same mechanism.

National policymakers are being encouraged by the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity to look at these issues holistically – as indeed they should be.

Won't solutions to global warming and biodiversity loss conflict with the development needs of developing countries?

More than a billion of the world's poorest people depend on the free flow of nature's goods and ecosystem services – for example, the flood prevention and drought control provided by forests.

Forests also provide: nutrient cycling and freshwater regulation essential for subsistence farming; fuel wood for cooking; fodder for cattle; construction materials; fruit and other marketable foods. These benefits are generally available free.

Calculations by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative that I lead for Brazil, India and Indonesia have shown that the relative importance of such ecosystem services to the poor can be very high – they comprise 40% to 80% of their household incomes.

Replacing this supply to the poor is a non-trivial development challenge. The benefits of most largescale forest destruction flow to commercial interests, not to these poor communities.

At the same time, the vulnerability of the world's poor to the ravages of a changing climate are relatively high too, as described in the Stern report.

Therefore both climate change and ecological scarcity are vital risks to be addressed for development to succeed in developing countries.

In fast-developing countries, new green economy models are evolving, which may give them a competitive edge in a climate-constrained world.

Curitiba in Brazil is a model sustainable city. China's solar heaters warm 40m homes.

India pays stipends to millions of its rural poor for reforestation and water harvesting. Uganda provides a success story in organic agriculture.

And the best model of scalable solar photovoltaic lighting for village homes is in Bangladesh.

Therefore, I am convinced there are more development solutions than development problems in addressing global warming and biodiversity loss.

Pavan Sukhdev is an economist and leader of the UN's Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity initiative.

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Bioprospecting: A priority for Indonesia

Jatna Supriatna, Jakarta Post 11 Jun 10;

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) commemorated World Environment Day on June 5 with the theme: “Many Species, One Planet and One Future”, reflecting the urgent need to conserve the dwindling biodiversity of life on our planet.

In Indonesia, scientists from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Conservation International (CI) and other scientific institutions continue to find exciting new species in both our oceans and our forests. We can reflect on how our rich biodiversity can benefit Indonesia after these initial discoveries are made.

Scientists work at two levels: those who catalogue the species they find and those who look for scientific innovations based on the unique characteristics of the new species. Biodiversity prospecting or “bioprospecting” looks to develop commercial uses for those unique genetic characteristics.

Examples include quinine to treat malaria, or new drugs to fight cancer now or in the future.

Bioprospecting is a market-based approach that could support long-term sustainable economic development in a biodiversity-rich country. It can also provide incentives to conserve nature.

However, this can only be done with an honest partnership between local communities, which are the traditional owners of these plants and animals, the private sector and international organizations involved in research and development. In many cases, traditional knowledge includes an understanding of the benefits that different plants and animals provide for humans.

What is needed is a systematic recording of their uses — and the patents or licensing to ensure that the local people who own these resources receive a real, long-term reward for conserving the natural ecosystem that provides such valuable natural products.

If scientists have the task of finding new species and identifying their current or future uses, the government is expected to manage biodiversity, to ensure that species do not disappear.

The government is supposed to use these resources to promote national welfare and prevent exploitation. We need to create a harmonized clear government regulation on biodiversity research, development and conservation.

There are two immediate priorities for this legislation:
First, there is a need to form an interministerial commission made up of representatives from the ministries involved in conservation of natural resources and trade.

Second, this commission needs to have one representative with the authority to negotiate terms with pharmaceutical companies and others interested in bioprospecting in Indonesia. Presently, there are several agencies in charge of conserving our biological and genetic resources, which creates opportunities for foreign parties to exploit the system for access.

Even a third party can approach local people without asking for a permit from an authorized agency. This overlapping management and lack of legal basis is a barrier to the conservation and protection of Indonesia’s biological resources. In addition, permits granted through the proper channels can take months to acquire, and typically, by the time they are granted, researchers must return home before their research has even begun.

Along with the governmental involvement in formulating a bioprospecting policy, Indonesia has a tremendous resource in its nongovernmental organizations. There are well-qualified NGOs working across Indonesia, in hundreds of distinct indigenous communities that each possess their own culture, language group, and knowledge of natural resources.

We are only just beginning to understand the value and varied applications of indigenous knowledge.

Legislative and policy frameworks must be formulated to allow such communities to regulate the access and maintain sovereignty over their biological resources as well as their indigenous and traditional knowledge.

In formulating a scheme to handle this market, Indonesia can choose to manage its relations with foreign pharmaceutical companies as a simple moneymaking tool, as if it were another commodity comparable to timber and mining extracts, and to restrict debate over the issue to the government level.

However, this approach will result in depletion of Indonesia’s natural resources without generating profits and technology advances within the country. The better choice is to manage and commercially develop Indonesia’s uniquely rich endowment of biological resources and traditional knowledge in a manner that will provide incentives for conservation to the stewards of the resources at stake: the local communities.

Indonesia has all the tools necessary to make bioprospecting work. It has rich biodiversity, a population both dependent on and traditionally knowledgeable about this biodiversity, a strong nongovernmental organization community, government institutions working in different areas of the environment, and a developed traditional medicine industry, which puts Indonesia one step ahead of the rest of the world in the exploitation of its biological resources. It also has foreign arboretums and corporations willing to cooperate to make bioprospecting work. What it does not have is the proper arrangement of these elements into one efficiently functioning system.



The writer is the regional vice president for Indonesia for Conservation International and a lecturer for the graduate program on Conservation Biology at the University of Indonesia.

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No Plan To Build Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary following mangrove clearance in Brunei

BruneiDirect.com 11 Jun 10;

Share Written by Amir Noor Friday, 11 June 2010 07:28
Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei has no plans to build a sanctuary for proboscis monkeys which might get displaced due to the clearing of their habitat along Sungai Damuan to make way for a project to widen the river.

Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohammed, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Brunei Tourism Board in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday said project to clear the mangroves along the river's coast by the Public Works Department (PWD) has not drastically affected the safety and number of proboscis monkeys there.

Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohammed said that at this time, there are no plans to construct the Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary in the Sultanate similar to those in Sarawak and Sabah, "but I would suggest it in terms of keeping the interest of having them as one of the main tourist attractions to Brunei Darussalam."

Sheikh Jamaluddin considers the proboscis monkeys and the mangrove forest in the Sultanate both as important assets to the tourism industry as well as the country.

Commenting on the project undertaken by PWD on Sungai Damuan, Sheikh Jamaluddin said that Brunei has a vast amount of mangrove forests, but he nevertheless was disappointed at losing one per cent of the total 9.5 square kilometres of mangrove which had to be cleared in the process.

"It was a shame really when we heard about it through the media because we were surprised that it happened without us knowing it the first place," said Sheikh Jamaluddin.

"Thankfully the logging of the mangrove trees stopped once we had an official meeting with the other departments involved."

With adequate amount of mangrove forest still available along Sungai Damuan as well as the Brunei River, Sheikh Jamaluddin pointed out that the proboscis monkeys have the alternative to move to more vegetation in the area or even others similar to this.

"What we have to ask now is, 'was this done the right way?' similar to when you are asked to go into surgery by the doctor, you've got to ask for a second opinion," he said.

Sungai Damuan is under construction to widen and deepen the river to prevent floodings which is common occurancse in the area.

During flooding seasons, Kg Bunut, Kg Bengkurong, Kg Tasek Meradun, Kg Bebatek, Kg Mulaut and Kg Kilanas are badly affected, with the residents left displeased and concerned for their homestead.

Under the project, a large section of the mangrove forest in the area was cleared to make way for thewidening of the river. This has drawn attention of those who are concerned with the habitat and well-being of the proboscis monkeys which, as claimed by the PWD, were unharmed and safely moved to another pan of the existing mangrove forest. The project is estimated to take 15 months to complete due to the required exacavation of 250,000 metres of silty sand.

The Brunei Times

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More than 2,000 orangutans inhabit Indonesia's Kutai National Park in Kalimantan

Nurni Sulaiman, The Jakarta Post 8 Jun 10;

At least 2,000 orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) have been found to be inhabiting Kutai National Park in East Kutai, East Kalimantan, the forests of which were thought to have been too damaged.

The new findings on the orangutans’ well-being were the result of a survey conducted by experts from Mulawarman University, STIPER agriculture school, and NGOs Orangutan Conservation Services Program and The Nature Conservancy.

Head of the surveillance team Yaya Rayadin said the existence of the orangutans in the park showed that the forest remained viable for them to live.

“However, Kutai National Park is considered a ‘last resort’ for Kalimantan’s orangutans due to land conversion for, among others, mining and palm plantations,” Yaya said Tuesday.

Nevertheless, the orangutans still face possible loss of their habitat in Kutai National Park owing to illegal hunting and logging, he added.

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Indonesian President: Development must be environmentally friendly

Antara 10 Jun 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said the government must prioritize green economic development strategy which is environmentally friendly in order to prevent ecosystem degradation that demands big rehabilitation cost.

The president made the statement when officially opening a cabinet session at the Presidential Office, here, Thursday, being attended by Vice President Boediono and all members of the ministerial cabinet lineup.

The government must implement triple-track-plus-one economic strategy, namely pro growth, pro job, pro poor, plus pro environment," he stated.

He said the environmental aspect must not be forgotten in the economic development, or otherwise the rehabilitation works to improve the damaged environment might reach 20 percent of the GDP.

"There is an interesting article, which writes that economic-driven national development which ignoring the environment, in the long term, will cost 20 percent of the GDP for rehabilitating damaged environment. We should be aware of that," he said.

In addition to the environmental aspect in the development, the government wants to create more job opportunities in the future, the president said.

"There should be a strategy for job creation nation-wide in the sectors of manufacture, services, and agriculture," he said.

He asked the ministers to help create new jobs through projects which are work, technology and capital intensive as a whole, he added.

"We must create much more jobs," he stated.

President Yudhoyono also called for the efficient and correct implementation of the 2011 State Budget starting with careful and meticulous drafting.

"I remind you, it should be on target. Thank God, the state budget is getting bigger thanks to our growing gross domestic product (GDP) and revenues. But these gains will not be effective when the design, structure, allocation and distribution of state budget funds are not on track. Let us make sure that everything is on track," (*)

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Indonesian President: ‘Trust Deficit’ Limiting Eco Aid From Overseas

Camelia Pasandaran Jakarta Globe 10 Jun 10;

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday acknowledged that Indonesia lacked credibility in managing environmental grants as it sought billions of dollars in foreign aid to battle climate change, and demanded that local institutions shape up.

“I call for you to ensure [Indonesia] has global credibility, to make it a reality and do it,” Yudhoyono told ministers before a cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace. “I called for all institutions in this nation to do the same. This is the reason for reform. We can turn the trust deficit into a trust surplus.”

He was responding to a memo from the Presidential Working Unit for Development Supervision and Control (UKP4) regarding bilateral environmental agreements, such as a deal with Norway to curb deforestation.

Yudhoyono, UKP4 head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa all declined to elaborate on the memo.

Under the terms of the recently signed pact with Norway, Indonesia agreed to cut its carbon emissions from the forestry sector significantly in return for a $1 billion grant.

Hatta said a fifth of the grant would be disbursed by next year, at which point Indonesia would be expected to have a pilot project in place for the emissions-reduction program that could be replicated across the country’s large swaths of forest.

“The grant will be disbursed based on the amount of forests protected and the emissions reduced,” Hatta said. “There will be calculations for this, and the disbursement will be based on the progress made.”

He said the government would manage the funds through a trust, which would be run by nongovernmental organizations, forest-dwelling communities and other stakeholders.

Yudhoyono said the lack of faith abroad in the country should not signal defeat for the emissions-reduction program.

“The problem — and don’t be upset or downhearted about this — is that the international community doesn’t really trust institutions in most developing countries, ours included,” the president said.

“They want sureties that such institutions will manage grants in a credible way without violations, particularly corruption.

“I take no offense at this, because we really do need to strengthen our institutions and their credibility,” Yudhoyono said.

“It’s best to treat this problem as the motivation we need to ensure our institutions become more credible,” he said.

Indonesia has 'trust deficit': Yudhoyono
Business Times 11 Jun 10;

(JAKARTA) Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday acknowledged that his country lacked credibility as it seeks billions of dollars from foreign governments to battle climate change.

He said Indonesia suffered a 'trust deficit' in the international community that was hampering its ability to win backing for initiatives such as a moratorium on deforestation and cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

'This is the reason for reform. We can turn the trust deficit into a trust surplus. Let's be sure that the institutions in this country are credible,' he said at a weekly Cabinet meeting.

Indonesia is one of the top emitters of climate-warming gases blamed for rising global temperatures, largely through deforestation due to illegal logging and clearing for palm oil plantations, experts say.

Mr Yudhoyono shocked environmentalists and palm planters last month when he announced a two-year moratorium on deforestation from 2011 in exchange for a billion dollars in financial support from Norway. But no one knows how the moratorium will work in a country where experts say illegal logging is rampant and the government's figures about deforestation rates are seen as wildly inaccurate.

'All institutions in this country must be credible so that there are no obstacles when we seek cooperation with friendly countries and the international community,' Mr Yudhoyono said, referring to the pact with Norway.

At December's Copenhagen climate summit, six nations pledged a total of US$3.5 billion to help developing countries fight forest loss, seen as a leading cause of global warming.

Under a deal signed last month, Norway will contribute up to US$1 billion to help preserve Indonesian forests from 2014, but only as long as Indonesia makes verifiable progress in halting deforestation.

The verifiability of such initiatives is crucial to broader UN-backed efforts to link developed-world climate change funds to forest conservation in developing countries like Indonesia and Brazil. -- AFP

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Malaysian activists: ‘No’ to animal testing lab plan

The Star 11 Jun 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: Animal lovers, activists, a Senator and a beauty queen were among those who gathered in front of the Indian High Commission here to protest the plan by an Indian drug company to build an animal testing laboratory in Malacca.

The Ethical treatment of Animals (PETA) drove home their point by using a “rat” mascot.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Selangor chairman Christine Chin, handed a memorandum to High Commissioner Vijay Gokhale, which was received by Second Secretary Birbald Anand.

Also present at the protest was Miss Malaysia/World 2009/2010 Thanuja Ananthan.

Lyn Wong, 38, said: “People must be made more aware that testing on animals is not necessary as there are many alternatives in terms of medical research.”

Mohani Niza, 22, said the Indian company had expressed its intention to use monkeys in experiments to test drugs “because they think monkeys are not as cute as cats, but they do suffer as well.”

Also lending support was Senator Dr S. Ramakrishnan of the DAP, who said in a statement that animal testing should be banned because it was cruel, not reliable, inaccurate “and below human decency.”

It was reported that Indian drug company, Vivo Biotech, was planning to build a multi-million dollar animal testing laboratory in Malacca to test-trial medicines on primates, dogs, and small mammals.

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La Nina Brings Cheers, Australia Wheat Crop To Flourish

Lewa Pardomuan PlanetArk 11 Jun 10;

Australia's wheat crop is expected to flourish and coffee cherries in Vietnam may receive much-needed rains after a brief yet severe dry spell as the La Nina weather phenomenon develops.

La Nina, which normally follows an El Nino event, is linked with increased probability of wetter conditions in the western Pacific, particularly in eastern Australia and Asia, and drier conditions in South America.

As a result, Indonesia may see some rainfall during the dry season and rice farmers in Thailand could expect ample water supply as the dry season ends, industry sources said on Thursday. In India, the monsoon is progressing and government officials are still assessing the impact of La Nina on crops.

"Some areas in Indonesia have entered the dry season, but this year, we experience a wet dry season," said Hendro Santoso, the head of climate forecast at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysic Agency in Jakarta.

"This is because sea surface in Indonesia is still warm which triggers higher evaporation. Also, El Nino is weakening and progressing toward La Nina," he added.

Sporadic rains hit parts of Sumatra, Borneo as well as the main island of Java but there were no reports of damage to crops. Indonesia is the world's largest palm oil producer, the third-largest for cocoa and the second-biggest producer of robusta beans.

The El Nino in Asia, which is the world's biggest supplier of palm oil and rubber and a key producer of coffee, sugar, cocoa and rice, has brought hotter weather to farms and plantations, drying out trees and curbing yields.

Historically, about 35 to 40 percent of El Nino events are followed by a La Nina within the same year.

La Nina brings joy to Australian farmers, who are sowing their winter crop that includes wheat and barley, before harvests begin in late 2010. Australia is the world's fourth largest wheat exporter.

"Any rain before October is hugely beneficial to yields," said Frank Drum, an agri-economist at National Australia Bank.

"The big benefit that we will have this year is the vast majority of the crop went in a little bit earlier, which means the yield loss that we've experienced in the last few years when there's been a shorter growing period, won't be a problem this season."

Forecasts for Australia's 2010/11 wheat crop range from 20.5 million to 22.5 million tonnes but will likely be raised due to soaking rains in the first week of June, that replenished drying fields in eastern Australia.

COFFEE CHERRIES SHRINK, RAINS MAY AFFECT SUGAR CRUSHING

While the dry spell in the first half of May curbed the size of coffee cherries in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt, too much rain could also have a negative impact on the crop. Vietnam is the world's largest robusta producer.

"It's not necessary that La Nina always follows El Nino, but we keep an eye on heavy rains that could fall from late August," a state forecaster said by telephone from Buon Ma Thuot, Daklak's capital.

In neighboring Thailand, the rainy season would start in July, with more rains expected in the following month.

"Rains should start falling in some areas in June and July. However, the average rainfall is likely to remain low," said Somchai Baimoung, Deputy Director General of the Department of Meteorology.

The downpour is likely to benefit rice but excessive rains could affect sugar crushing later this year. Thailand is the world's biggest rice exporter and the second largest for sugar.

With a dry-spell at the beginning of the year and the prospect of excessive rains in October, traders and senior officials said they expected Thai 2010/11 sugar crop output flat at around 6.8-7.0 million tonnes.

(Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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