Clouded Monitor Lizard
from Ubin.sgkopi
Feeding Spotted Dove: 2. Feeding behaviour
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Massive reclamation near Labrador continues until Dec 2010
from wild shores of singapore and Dredging at East Coast National Sailing Centre until 26 Jul 10
In the midst of marine collapse will we save our last ocean?
from Mongabay.com news
Nature’s bounty
Michael Goe Guang Jian The Star 6 Jul 10;
Echoes of Life: Sungai Pulai And Beyond
Author: Vincent K.K. Chow
Publisher: MPH Group Publishing, 212 pages
IF you want to know more about one of the most beautiful natural places in Malaysia, then Echoes of Life is the book for you.
The author Vincent K.K. Chow reveals the natural wonders of Sungai Pulai Forest Reserve, Pulau Merambong and Merambong seagrass meadow, all found in south-west Johor. With the book, a collaboration between the Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Malaysian Nature Society Johor, the author aims to educate people about the importance of conserving the natural environment of these places.
Echoes Of Life reveals some of the amazing and unusual flora and fauna found in these habitats – from the many species of crabs and mudskippers that scurry through the mudflats to the endangered seahorse that makes its home in the seagrass bed, and diverse mangrove flora ranging from great mangrove trees to smaller plants like ferns.
On the island of Merambong, you will learn about how rocks on the island’s coasts were formed and about sealife living at the fringes of the island, such as seaweeds, marine worms, starfish and sea cucumbers. Offshore, there’s the wondrous seagrass meadow, an expansive underwater forest that brims with life, including seahorses, pipefish and seaweeds.
The book also gives us insight into the lifestyle of the Seletar people, or sea gypsies, who depend on the mangrove forest for food and other resources; sadly, modernisation is threatening their livelihood. Charcoal is produced from the mangrove timber but its production is declining because of dwindling forests.
The sea gypsies have several methods of finding food in the mangroves. These include ibau picking and empangan (dam) fishing. The picking of ibau shellfish involves looking for the breathing holes of the bivalve which lives deep in the soft mud. The collector then digs through the holes in order to get to the ibau, before washing it and checking if it is broken (for fear of contamination).
The people resort to empangan fishing when other fishing methods yield low catches. A net is set up in an inlet during high tide. Fish and crustaceans that swim through the inlet are trapped by the net at low tide. Small sections of the inlet are blocked, one length at a time, before the water is stirred, forcing the marine life to surface for air. They are then hand-picked from the water.
The book contains few words but makes up for it with many beautiful pictures; they are breathtakingly real, such as the photos of the endangered mangrove pitta and flat-headed cat.
This book presents plenty of interesting facts about mangroves and seagrass meadows, and reminds us that the first step in conservation is learning about the environment that we wish to conserve. From this book, I learn to better appreciate mangroves. We must all conserve our natural environments because they provide safe havens for many endangered species and for migratory species like terns and ospreys. They also provide resources for the local people, like food, charcoal and building supplies, which will all decrease if the environment is degraded.
The information in this book is well presented. All in all, a great book to read, especially if you are a nature lover.
Tilak K. Doshi, For The Straits Times 6 Jul 10;
CAN renewable energy significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions? More importantly, can it be done at a reasonable cost, within the boundaries of the politically feasible?
In the deluge of discussion concerning fossil fuels and global warming, the more extreme environmentalists predict resource wars and cataclysmic changes in the global climate, while those more hopeful envisage a saved 'Gaia', with nations getting together to promote cleaner, renewable energy in time to escape the consequences of global warming.
In the real world - replete with heightened risks as the global economy recovers from the worst downturn since the Great Depression, deep budget deficits in the advanced economies, and faint hope of a global climate agreement at the Cancun summit later this year - policymakers face difficult issues in transitioning to 'sustainable' models of energy use.
Choices in energy technology investments have to be made in the context of competing policy priorities. A policy-maker ignores these competing interests at his peril. At the root of Mr Kevin Rudd's sudden ouster as Australian prime minister was his government's missteps over climate change policies.
For small city-states like Singapore that are 'alternative energy-disadvantaged', the quest for cleaner energy is an even greater challenge. Given the island's geographical constraints, many renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind and geothermal are not viable options. Solar photovoltaics, biofuels and nuclear power are discussed as promising technologies for the future. To support the development of renewable energy sources, policymakers need to continually assess the costs and benefits of various options.
The risks of premature transitions in energy use patterns and an ineffective use of taxpayer dollars are well illustrated by the example of Spain. To encourage investments in wind and solar energy, governments in Germany, France, Spain and more recently Britain, have introduced feed-in tariffs (FITs). FITs reward households and businesses that produce renewable energy with guaranteed higher rates.
Spain's generous FITs led to a flood of investments, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the world's total solar installations in 2008. The fiscal burden swiftly became unbearable and the Spanish government was forced to revise its subsidies. The debacle led to a crash in the solar market, and the country's solar industry shed some 20,000 jobs.
Solar photovoltaic power is an expensive proposition, more than five times as expensive as power generated by gas turbines. In land-scarce Singapore, the mass deployment of current solar technology is not an option.
Furthermore, intermittent sources such as solar irradiation and wind require backup power. The current power grid has capacity to accept intermittent power supply of up to about 3 per cent of peak power demand. One can improve grid resilience for intermittent power supply, but this would require substantial investments.
Granting FITs for solar panel installations in Singapore could also have a regressive impact on public financing. Landed property owners who can afford to install solar panels would benefit from differential electricity tariffs but the majority living in HDB flats would not have a similar solar power option.
Supporters of renewable energy list its multiple benefits, ranging from the diversification of energy sources and reduction in carbon emissions to the development of 'green' industries and jobs. But the reality of renewable energy is less impressive than the claims.
According to the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook, the share of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) in global energy demand would fall marginally from 81 per cent in 2007 to 80 per cent in 2030. Newer renewable energy tech-nologies, excluding hydro, will account for just over 2 per cent of energy demand by 2030.
Despite the large investments and subsidies that have been channelled into wind and solar technologies in particular, their tiny share in power generation means they will remain minor sources of energy supply in the foreseeable future.
A growing body of research suggests there are cheaper ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These involve improving the energy efficiency of existing technologies and 'nudging' and modifying consumer behaviour in energy use.
Biofuels, wind and solar energy remain at the expensive end of carbon emission abatement options.
Given the uncertainties in renewable technology evolution and the choices among competing alternatives, it is unlikely there will be a silver bullet. The success of future energy technologies will turn on creative innovation and commercial competitiveness. There is little reason to believe government largesse will play a determining role in market outcomes.
The writer is the chief economist at the Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore.
Don't give up on renewable energy options
Straits Times Forum 12 Jul 10;
I REFER to by Mr Tilak K. Doshi's article on Tuesday ("Renewable energy, at what price?").
He argues that feed-in tariffs would have a regressive impact on public financing in land-scarce Singapore. On the contrary, with the abundance of public housing, solar panels could be installed on the rooftops of HDB flats, where the power generated from it can be shared among HDB unit dwellers.
This is an ideal solution for an island nation with abundant sunshine and where a majority of residents dwell in high-rise buildings.
He argues that "a growing body of research suggests there are cheaper ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions". However, his solution requires continued consumption of fossil fuels, albeit on a lower trajectory - that is, gas versus coal.
This is not to say we can do away with fossil fuels any time soon. In fact, 20 years from now, we will still be generating the bulk of our power needs from fossil fuels, but the point is if we do not start doing anything now and continue with business as usual, we are going to pay an even heavier price in terms of climate change.
There is incontrovertible evidence of rising global temperatures, retreating polar icecaps and glaciers, with concomitant rising sea levels and increasing frequencies of extreme weather conditions like flooding and droughts. The author fails to take into account that there is a price on carbon.
He argues that government largesse in promoting renewable energy is ineffective by quoting the example of Spain. He fails to mention that while mistakes have been made in government attempts to create a regulatory environment and to provide fiscal incentives that promote the development of sustainable energy, some of the lessons learnt from these nascent steps are being fine-tuned elsewhere.
In addition, a growing number of countries are starting to realise the long-term economic benefits of developing indigenous renewable energy industries.
This will take time and persistence, and giving up at this juncture could lead to potential long-term devastating consequences, with a far higher economic toll from unmitigated climate-change disasters.
Clarence Andre
Catherine Wong Mei Ling, For The Straits Times 7 Jul 10;
AS POLICYMAKERS and industry players gathered last week at the 2010 World Cities Summit in Singapore to discuss making the world's cities eco-friendly, one question is becoming more apparent: Is the green city a project by the elite, for the elite?
In the attempt to adjust to the impact of climate change, have we allowed environmental sustainability to eclipse social sustainability? And what checks do we have in place to ensure that the new green city will not be an exclusive prerogative of the urban rich and new green-collar workers?
Cities today are already characterised by stark inequalities: The richest 20 per cent of the population in developing countries control more than 80 per cent of the resources, while the poorest fifth control less than 1.4 per cent.
The latest United Nations Habitat 2010 report estimates that the world's slum population will grow by six million a year to hit 889 million by 2020. South-east Asia's slum population of 88.9 million may seem small compared to East Asia's 189.6 million, but the share of South-east Asia's urban population living in slums is higher than that of East Asia: 31 per cent compared to East Asia's 28.2 per cent.
Many of Asia's largest cities stand to be severely affected by climate change. This is in part due to their location near coastal areas. Naturally, the most vulnerable segment among Asia's urban population to the consequences of climate change is its urban poor.
The mortality rate of children under five in urbanised South Asia is 120 per 1,000 children, compared to 50 per 1,000 children in urbanised industrialised countries. The death rates from infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, measles and tuberculosis among urban poor children in developing countries can be up to 100 times higher than those in industrialised countries.
Yet most green city plans are targeted at the urban, white-collar rich who are willing and able to pay a premium for ecological infrastructure, energy-saving utilities and green landscaping. While it is a positive change that urban planning today is giving greater credence to the environment, it is also important that these new green city models do not result in greater spatial and economic exclusion of the urban poor.
Many of the new eco-city proposals - from the Light Water Front development in Penang, Malaysia, to the Nanhu Eco-city project in China - highlight the lifestyle benefits, complete with high-end residential apartments, boutique malls, retail services and integrated transport systems all tailored to the upper segment of urbanites.
Job creation in such urban projects as the Tianjin Eco-city also focuses on 'high-quality', green-collar jobs to attract skilled, educated and higher income residents who can then afford the equally high-priced apartments.
Eco-cities also tend to be located in areas that are already well developed, wealthy and resilient to the impact of climate change. Tianjin, where the Sino-Singapore Eco-city development is located, was ranked sixth in China in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) last year. Compared to the other top five Chinese cities - Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Suzhou - Tianjin had the highest GDP growth at 16.5 per cent. A more recent eco-city development, in Tangshan, also boasts one of China's highest per capita incomes.
Meanwhile, poorer cities in the central and northern parts of China are neglected. Likewise, many of South-east Asia's most vulnerable and polluted cities like Jakarta and Manila have yet to attract investments to develop eco-cities amid their urban sprawl.
Considering the immense resources and expensive green technology involved in developing an eco-city, the cost of living in one is, needless to say, also quite high. The price of a residential unit in the Tangshan development, for example, will be about 20 per cent higher than the average apartment there.
The creation of green cities led overwhelmingly by business interests will not be the answer to a sustainable future. A development that is environmentally sustainable but socially exclusive will still not be sustainable.
The role of the government in such projects is therefore crucial to ensure the green cities do not become a project by the urban elite, for the urban elite. Governments should ensure the spatial segregation of the urban poor is not exacerbated in the process of re-modelling cities. Governments need to consider the interests of all stakeholders, not just the private sector.
Environmental sustainability that does not support social sustainability will only fuel instability, which can do greater and more immediate damage than climate change.
The writer is a research associate at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Straits Times 6 Jul 10;
A section of the Changi Water Reclamation Plant where reverse osmosis occurs. Many nations are seeking ways to meet their water needs. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
THE deals flooded in for local and global companies at last week's Singapore International Water Week, with almost $3 billion worth of agreements inked.
Adding up all the projects awarded, tenders won, investments made and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) signed, the third Water Week drew $2.8 billion in deals, up 27 per cent from last year's $2.2 billion.
A record number of people also turned up, said the organisers yesterday, with more than 14,000 participants from 85 countries attending the event held in conjunction with the World Cities Summit at the Suntec convention centre.
Of these, about 380 were high-level delegates, including the Prince of Orange from the Netherlands, the President of the Republic of Maldives, the vice-president of the World Bank, and water and environment ministers from Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
'Despite the uncertain global economic recovery, water remains a key focus area for governments and industries as cities around the world continue to grow at an unprecedented rate with rapid urbanisation,' said Mr Michael Toh, the managing director of Water Week.
'Many countries continue to seek clean and affordable solutions to meet their respective needs and use the Water Week as a platform for learning, exchange and networking.'
Among the deals struck last week were home-grown water company Moya Dayen's $69 million contract to build water treatment facilities in Cambodia. The project will produce 130,000 cubic metres of potable water a day to serve the population of Greater Phnom Penh.
A Singapore unit of Boustead, a global infrastructure engineering firm, won a $21 million contract for the first new water recycling plant in the UAE.
Meanwhile, local energy, water and marine group Sembcorp signed an MOU last week worth $280 million to construct a new desalination plant in the UAE. It also announced plans to develop a new wastewater treatment facility in the Tembusu District of Jurong Island.
The Water Expo, a water trade show at Water Week, also enjoyed a stellar turnout, with more than 500 companies from nearly 40 countries participating. At its Innovation Corner, 26 new products and technologies made their debuts.
Preparations are already under way for next year's Water Week, which will focus on efficient and cost-effective solutions for a changing urban environment, said the event's organisers.
FIONA CHAN
International Water Week deals done rise 27% to $2.8b
Jaslene Pang Business Times 6 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE International Water Week (SIWW) 2010 ended on a high note last week for many local and international water companies.
The total value of announcements for projects awarded, tenders, investments into Singapore and R&D MOUs exceeded $2.8 billion - up 27 per cent from last year's $2.2 billion.
Michael Toh, MD of SIWW, said: 'Many countries continue to seek clean and affordable solutions to meet their respective needs and use the Water Week as a platform for learning, exchange and networking. We are delighted with the significant increase in the total value of announcements during the week.'
During the water week, local companies flew their flags high.
One of them was homegrown energy, water and marine group Sembcorp, which signed a memorandum of understanding worth $280 million to expand seawater desalination capacity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company also announced that it would develop a new integrated wastewater treatment facility in Jurong Island's Tembusu district.
Another significant deal closed last week was the combined $69 million contract clinched by homegrown water company Moya Dayen Ltd from the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority in Cambodia for Phase 1 of the Niroth Water Production Facilities Project.
The SIWW, which was held together with the World Cities Summit this year, also saw a record increase in the number of trade attendees to over 14,000 from 85 countries and regions.
In all, 26 new products and technologies made their regional and international debut at the Water Expo's Innovation Corner.
Apart from these, the number of co-located events increased nearly 60 per cent to 120 events, including the inaugural Asia-Pacific Water Ministers' Forum; the 14th Meeting of the UN Secretary- General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation; and the first-ever River Basin & Delta Management Workshop.
Mr Toh said: 'We have already begun working on the 2011 event and will continue to work on the many ideas and solutions developed and discussed at the Water Week 2010. Water Week 2011 will focus on efficient and cost-effective solutions for a changing urban environment.'
S$2.8b in deals sealed at Singapore International Water Week
Mustafa Shafawi Channel NewsAsia 5 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE : The recently-concluded Singapore International Water Week ended on a high note for many local and international water companies.
The organiser said the total value of projects, tenders, investments into Singapore and R&D MOUs announced exceeded S$2.8 billion, up 27 per cent compared to last year.
The event, which was held together with the World Cities Summit this year, also saw a record increase in the number of trade attendees to over 14,000 from 85 countries/regions.
In all, 26 new products and technologies made their regional and international debut at the Water Expo's Innovation Corner, signalling a strong endorsement of the Water Week as an important platform for such global and regional launches.
Work has begun on the 2011 event, which will focus on efficient and cost-effective solutions for a changing urban environment.
- CNA/al
Sakina Mohamed Benama 6 Jul 10;
This is the last of the two part series on Malaysia's Ramsar sites
KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- If you think that our wetlands have little to do with our survival, think again.
Our wetlands act as the natural treatment plant for natural and man-made pollutants. Not only that, it can even extract the nutrients from polluted water or air.
So, what does this have to do with humans? Well, in filtering dirty air and water, it ensures that humankind gets sustainable fresh water supply and breathe in clean air.
Therefore, the destruction to our wetlands will definitely affect the well-being and finance of the country.
Conservation of wetland ecosystems is essential not only for sustainable fresh water supply but also for preserving biodiversity.
WHAT ARE WETLANDS?
Environmental scientist Dr Nather Khan Ibrahim says the term wetlands cover mainly inland, coastal and marine natural habitats of permanent or temporary water bodies or wet areas.
In Malaysia, the wetlands are mainly freshwater swamp forests, peat swamp forests, coastal and estuarine mangroves, natural rivers and lakes, flood plains (estuary), and coastal areas, says Dr Nather Khan, the former Malaysian and Southeast Asian Coordinator for the then Asian Wetland Bureau.
The more recognisable uses for wetlands are for water transport, recreation, tourism and fish breeding. However, Dr Nather Khan says the wetlands have hundreds of other uses, values and functions.
"Each wetland has soil, water, plants and animals that are unique to it. Each one can be classified into three, based on its products, functions and attributes," he said in an interview with Bernama.
Wetlands classified under products produce forest resources such as timber, medicine, resins, honey and fruits. They also provide wildlife resources such as food, biodiversity, shelter and even for aesthetic purposes. Some provide fish breeding grounds, while others provide forage resources, agricultural resources and water supply.
VITAL FOR LIVELIHOOD
Meanwhile, those classified under functions are vital for our livelihood. "These wetlands help in groundwater recharge and discharge, for flood control, shoreline stabilization and erosion control."
Many would also be amazed to know that our wetlands play a big role in protecting us from the adverse effects of climate change. They provide storm protection, protect us from tsunamis, serve as windbreakers and even help in microclimate stabilisation.
Wetlands classified for their attributes are those that play a role in biological diversity, and are the habitats for rare plants and animals and is unique to our culture and national heritage.
Tigers, tapirs and crocodiles can mostly be found in wetlands, like certain species of flora that cannot be found elsewhere.
Therefore wetland affects every aspect of human life, including quality of life, natural resources, food and water supply.
"It can also adversely affect our climate and even rainfall," says Dr Nather Khan.
CHALLENGES IN PRESERVING OUR WETLANDS
There are six Ramsar sites in Malaysia with the largest one in Sabah, covering 78,000 hectares. The rest are the Kuching Wetlands National Park (Sarawak), Pulau Kukup (Johor), Sungai Pulai (Johor), Tanjung Piai (Johor), and Tasek Bera (Pahang).
Dr Nather Khan, who was part of the team that helped initiate and mobilise all the necessary groundwork to designate and declare Tasek Bera as Malaysia's first Ramsar Site, says there are several challenges to protecting our wetlands.
Encroachment and illegal clearance by local settlers and communities and poor enforcement by government agencies have been some of the issues, he revealed.
However, he says two of the biggest problems in preserving our wetlands are land clearance for plantations and aquaculture.
The plantations in question are mostly oil palm estates and mills. Clearance of land for such purposes almost always produce massive amounts of pollution from agricultural and chemical wastes.
"Constant discharge of oil palm mill effluents, which have high amount of BOD (biochemical oxygen demand), COD (chemical oxygen demand), ammonia and nutrient components affects water quality and soil characteristics of the wetlands," says Dr Nather Khan.
Although wetlands in general can tolerate natural pollutants, it can only accommodate a certain level of human interference.
"However, pollutants discharged en masse from oil palm mills can cause the eutrophication of wetland water bodies," he says.
Eutrophication means an increase of mineral and organic nutrients that promote proliferation of plant life, especially those like algae, which reduce dissolved oxygen content and often cause the extinction of other organisms.
POLLUTION FROM OIL PALM ESTATES
The domino effect to this would be an alteration of the entire natural wetland into a new type of habitat that is devoid of all its previous uses, products, functions and attributes.
Dr Nather Khan says oil palm mills should not simply discharge any amount of effluents to the Ramsar site or any other wetlands, as it is supposed to be free from any human intervention and pollutants.
"But the companies involved may try to justify their actions by saying that that the pollutants are treated up to the level that is approved by the Department of Environment."
Given the important role it plays to our livelihood, Malaysia must pay greater heed to how much development it allows at wetlands areas. Is it worth it to destroy truly sophisticated, valuable resources that have been part of our heritage for thousands of years, in the name of short-term gain? The question shouldn't be a difficult one to answer.
-- BERNAMA
Oil Palm Estates Major Threat To Ramsar Site
Sakina Mohamed Bernama 5 Jul 10;
This is the first of a two part series on Malaysis's Ramsar sites
SANDAKAN, July 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has internationally-recognised wetlands, and the largest one is the 78,000-hectare Ramsar Site in Sabah.
Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance, designated under the Ramsar Convention, an international agreement signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. It provides for the conservation and good use of wetlands.
The Ramsar site in Sabah covers the Trusan Kinabatangan, Kuala Segama-Maruap Mangrove Forest Reserve and the Kulamba Wildlife Forest Reserve located at the lower Kinabatangan-Segama, accounting nearly 60 percent of the remaining mangrove forests in Malaysia.
Malaysia has employed the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in protecting the site, which is part of the efforts under the Bornean Biodiversity and Ecosystems Conservation (BBEC) Programme in Sabah. The programme is now in Phase II.
JICA helps by providing technical expertise and advice in implementing good conservation activities. However, BBEC II Chief Advisor Motohiro Hasegawa tells Bernama that a few challenges need to be sorted out or the maintenance of Sabah's biodiversity-rich Ramsar Site will be an uphill task.
POLLUTION FROM OIL PALM ESTATES
The major threat to the Sabah Ramsar Site is clearly the pollution from oil palm plantations, says Hasegawa. Other threats, he says, are limited. The Ramsar site is mostly situated at lower part of a large river basin, he says, so unless good conservation activities are imposed in the upper area of this river basin, the site will be threatened.
He says that the upper areas of the Ramsar site is the Maliau Basin and Imbak Canyon which are pristine, untouched, forests. However, oil palm mills and plantations clutter the middle part. And where there are plantations and mills there are industrial and agricultural wastes, two of the hardest effluents to treat. None of which bodes well for the protection of our largest wetland.
"There aren't too many pristine forests in Sabah like those in the upper area of the site, so that part is well-protected.
"But the middle part is completely covered by oil palm plantations. Since our wetlands are internationally-recognised, we have to conduct awareness programmes so that oil palm plantations direct their operations toward conservation," he says.
"Public awareness on the issue is very important."
He says all river basins are now considered conservation areas, so there is good reason to insist that the oil palm mills located in the middle part of the basins shift their operation towards conservation.
"We plan to hold the first oil palm plantation conservation workshop in July," says Hasegawa. "We'll invite them and introduce the latest technology to treat effluents from oil palm mills, techniques to reduce sediments and so on." He says control of effluents from mills is probably one of the most difficult challenges, but if not tackled will result in a bleak future for the Ramsar site.
"We have an idea to promote the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certification, which we plan to introduce to all plantation and mills within 10 years," he said.
COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE IS THE KEY
A typical problem in the governance of forests and conservation areas is multiple agencies being in charge without cooperation in governance.
Hasegawa says part of the problem is power imbalance, where some agencies are given more governing authority than others.
"There are powerful institutions like the Forestry Department in Sabah, and then there is the Sabah Wildlife Department, which is rather weak.
"If you have strong and weak guys, it's hard to have cooperative governance," he says.
However, Hasegawa says 20 years of experience tells him that it was a very common problem not only in Malaysia but in many other countries.
So, what do we need to do? Conservation governance, he says.
Currently, the Forest Department is in charge of an aspect while the Wildlife Department controls another.
"These actions are fragmented. We have to develop a mechanism to link up many agencies and together work on a consolidated conservation effort or else efforts might be wasted and we don't want that.
"We need to link up these efforts and work towards integrated conservation," he says.
A closed sector approach is also very important, he says.
"In doing this, third party intervention is very efficient and useful.
"JICA, being outside of the Sabah and Malaysian bureaucracy, has been using this approach since Phase I of BBEC in 2002. It really helps in linking up the agencies towards a common purpose," says Hasegawa.
The Sabah Biodiversity Enactment 2000 has helped towards the purpose by providing a legal path to establish a sole body to oversee and coordinate state-wide biodiversity conservation.
The body in question is the Biodiversity Council and its secretariat, the Sabah Biodiversity Centre (SBC), in which JICA has deployed its volunteers to help with as well.
JICA'S ROLE
The conservation system employed by JICA in BBEC I and II under the Convention of Biodiversity, is the ecosystem approach. This means they look at the environment holistically and use adaptive management to operate it.
Hasegawa says: "What it does is a systematic and cyclic process that identifies environmental problems based on data. Based on the problems we create counter measures, we implement them and then monitor how they work. "If that doesn't work, we come up with different counter measure."
JICA's presence in Malaysia is through official request by the Malaysian government, and its role in BBEC is to provide technical assistance to Malaysia by sending Japanese professionals to work full-time with local counterparts.
Hasegawa reminds that JICA's role in BBEC II is to support the Sabah Biodiversity Enactment and to facilitate integrated conservation, so much credit is goes to the effort of the relevant agencies in the state.
"We are merely supporting SBC to link up the seemingly fragmented conservation efforts of various agencies, in addition to providing as much technical assistance as we can towards conservation efforts," he says.
JICA is an independent administrative institute, which implements Official Development Assistance projects of Japan. It acts as a bridging agent between the people of Japan and developing countries, advancing international cooperation through sharing of knowledge and experience.
JICA also contributes to international interests and goals such as eradication of poverty and hunger, education, gender equality, reduction of child mortality and ensuring environmental sustainability.
The Ramsar Convention is the informal name of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat. The Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. Malaysia ratified the Convention on 10 March 1995 and its national focal point agency is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The other 5 Ramsar sites in Malaysia are the Kuching Wetlands National Park (Sarawak), Pulau Kukup (Johor), Sungai Pulai (Johor), Tanjung Piai (Johor), and Tasek Bera (Pahang).
-- BERNAMA
Sabah wetlands face pollution effects from oil palm estates
The Star 9 Jul 10;
SANDAKAN: Malaysia has internationally-recognised wetlands, and the largest one is the 78,000ha Ramsar Site in Sabah.
Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance, designated under the Ramsar Convention, an international agreement signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. It provides for the conservation and good use of wetlands.
The Ramsar site in Sabah covers the Trusan Kinabatangan, Kuala Segama-Maruap Mangrove Forest Reserve and the Kulamba Wildlife Forest Reserve located at the lower Kinabatangan-Segama, accounting for nearly 60% of the remaining mangrove forests in Malaysia.
Malaysia has employed the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in protecting the site, which is part of the efforts under the Bornean Biodiversity and Ecosystems Conservation (BBEC) Programme in Sabah.
The programme is now in Phase II.
JICA helps by providing technical expertise and advice in implementing good conservation activities.
However, BBEC II chief advisor Motohiro Hasegawa told Bernama that a few challenges needed to be sorted out or the maintenance of Sabah’s biodiversity-rich Ramsar Site would be an uphill task.
Hasegawa said the major threat to the Sabah Ramsar Site was the pollution from oil palm plantations.
Other threats, he said, were limited.
The Ramsar site was mostly situated at the lower part of a large river basin, he said, so unless good conservation activities were imposed in the upper area of this river basin, the site would be threatened.
He said the upper areas of the Ramsar site was the Maliau Basin and Imbak Canyon which were pristine, untouched, forests. However, oil palm mills and plantations clutter the middle part.
“And where there are plantations and mills, there are industrial and agricultural wastes, two of the hardest effluents to treat. None of which bodes well for the protection of our largest wetland,” he said.
“There aren’t too many pristine forests in Sabah like those in the upper area of the site, so that part is well-protected.
“But the middle part is completely covered by oil palm plantations. Since our wetlands are internationally-recognised, we have to conduct awareness programmes so that oil palm plantations direct their operations toward conservation,” he said.
“We plan to hold the first oil palm plantation conservation workshop in July.
“We will introduce the latest technology to treat effluents from oil palm mills, techniques to reduce sediments and so on,” said Hasegawa.
He said control of effluents from mills was probably one of the most difficult challenges, but if not tackled would result in a bleak future for the Ramsar site.
“We have an idea to promote the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certification, which we plan to introduce to all plantation and mills within 10 years,” he said.
A typical problem in the governance of forests and conservation areas is multiple agencies being in charge without cooperation in governance.
Hasegawa said part of the problem was power imbalance, where some agencies were given more governing authority than others. “There are powerful institutions like the Forestry Department in Sabah, and then there is the Sabah Wildlife Department, which is rather weak.
“If you have strong and weak guys, it’s hard to have cooperative governance,” he said.
However, Hasegawa said it was a very common problem not only in Malaysia but in many other countries.
So, what do we need to do? Conservation governance, hesaid.
Currently, the Forestry Department is in charge of an aspect while the Wildlife Department controls another.
“These actions are fragmented. We have to develop a mechanism to link up many agencies and together work on a consolidated conservation effort or else efforts might be wasted and we don’t want that.
“We need to link up these efforts and work towards integrated conservation,” he said.
A closed sector approach is also very important, he says.
“In doing this, third party intervention is very efficient and useful.
“JICA, being outside of the Sabah and Malaysian bureaucracy, has been using this approach since Phase I of BBEC in 2002. It really helps in linking up the agencies towards a common purpose,” said Hasegawa.
The Sabah Biodiversity Enactment 2000 has helped towards the purpose by providing a legal path to establish a sole body to oversee and coordinate state-wide biodiversity conservation.
The body in question is the Biodiversity Council and its secretariat, the Sabah Biodiversity Centre (SBC), in which JICA has deployed its volunteers to help with as well.
The conservation system employed by JICA in BBEC I and II under the Convention of Biodiversity, is the ecosystem approach. This means they look at the environment holistically and use adaptive management to operate it.
Hasegawa said: “What it does is a systematic and cyclic process that identifies environmental problems based on data. Based on the problems we create counter measures, we implement them and then monitor how they work. “If that doesn’t work, we come up with different counter measures.”
JICA’s presence in Malaysia is through official request by the Malaysian government, and its role in BBEC is to provide technical assistance to Malaysia by sending Japanese professionals to work full-time with local counterparts.
Hasegawa reminded that JICA’s role in BBEC II was to support the Sabah Biodiversity Enactment and to facilitate integrated conservation, so much credit goes to the effort of the relevant agencies in the state.
“We are merely supporting SBC to link up the seemingly fragmented conservation efforts of various agencies, in addition to providing as much technical assistance as we can towards conservation efforts,” he said.
JICA is an independent administrative institute, which implements Official Development Assistance projects of Japan. It acts as a bridging agent between the people of Japan and developing countries, advancing international cooperation through sharing of knowledge and experience.
JICA also contributes to international interests and goals such as eradication of poverty and hunger, education, gender equality, reduction of child mortality and ensuring environmental sustainability.
The Ramsar Convention is the informal name of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat. The Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. Malaysia ratified the Convention on March 10, 1995 and its national focal point agency is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The other five Ramsar sites in Malaysia are the Kuching Wetlands National Park (Sarawak), Pulau Kukup (Johor), Sungai Pulai (Johor), Tanjung Piai (Johor), and Tasek Bera (Pahang). — Bernama
Rosslyn Beeby The Canberra Times 6 Jul 10;
Australia's national parks are failing to save native wildlife, with mammal extinction rates of almost 50 per cent occurring in some NSW protected areas, a CSIRO scientist says.
Speaking at a national wildlife conference in Canberra yesterday, CSIRO zoologist Fred Ford said Australia's south-eastern forests had suffered one of the worst mammal declines, with up to 11 regional extinctions recorded in recent years.
"We have this great gleaming reserve system, but it's not protecting mammals as much as we'd like it to," Dr Ford told the Australian Mammal Society Science Symposium.
In some areas, such as the Liverpool Plains in the north-west region of NSW, so much smaller fauna particularly native mice species had disappeared in recent years that it was like "a modern mammal black hole". Dr Ford said many national reserves were designed to protect "the visual appeal" of ecosystems rather than securing critical habitat for threatened species such as small mammals.
"The focus is mainly on plants. It's as if mammals especially the smaller species are a conservation after-thought."
Dr Ford said there had been "a long decline and degradation of ecosystems" in many protected areas, including problems with invasive weeds and feral animals.
"It's not just a question of needing more funding. We also need a better baseline understanding of what's needed to reinvigorate Australia's reserve system," he said.
One of Australia's leading taxonomists, Australian National Wildlife Collection research scientist Ken Aplin, told the conference there had been a historical "lack of national effort" to study and formally describe native fauna specimens.
"Our fauna is very poorly documented," Dr Aplin said.
Despite public perception that Australia's wildlife "was done and discovered a long time ago", around 65 per cent of native reptiles and frogs were discovered in the past 35 years.
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 5 Jul 10;
Activists renewed calls Saturday for the government to stop issuing fishing permits to large vessels, because fish numbers in many Indonesian bodies of water have reached critical levels due to overfishing.
The Peoples Coalition for Justice in Fisheries (Kiara) warned the government that failure to restrict fishing in the country’s waters would result in a major fish shortage by 2015.
The coalition proposed a five-year moratorium on permits for big fishing vessels — foreign-or domestic-owned — of 30 deadweight tons or more.
“Our finding shows overfishing has occurred in most of the country’s waters,” Kiara’s secretary-general Riza Damanik told The Jakarta Post.
He said that several countries, including China, Japan and European states had implemented moratoriums in their own waters to allow time for fish to replenish.
Indonesia is one of the 10 biggest fish producing countries in the world.
Quoting statistics from the National Commission on Fish Resource Assessment, Riza said fish numbers in six Indonesian bodies of waters had become critical since 2006.
The six areas are the Malacca straits, the South China Sea, the Java Sea, the Flores Sea, the Makassar Strait, the Pacific Ocean and the Sulawesi Sea.
“The areas have been over-exploited but the government has not moved to protect the sea resources,” he said.
Many trawlers still operate in bodies of water where trawling is illegal, including off the coast of northern East Kalimantan. The government banned trawling in Indonesian waters in 1980.
“The Presidential Decree [which bans trawling] is still in place but trawling continues in East Kalimantan. We have found trawlers operating in waters off Tarakan where traditional fishermen have been complaining about decreasing catches,” he said.
“Where trawlers operate, fish stocks dwindle, coral reefs are damaged and social divides among fishers are triggered,” he said.
About 15 million people work as traditional fishermen in the country.
The government has repeatedly acknowledged that illegal fishing is rampant in Indonesian waters, often involving foreign vessels.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad has accused foreign vessels of illegal fishing in Indonesian waters. Many of those had no fishing permits or instead carried fake documents.
Data from the ministry showed the country impounded 186 foreign vessels for illegal fishing in Indonesia in 2008, compared to 184 the previous year.
The coalition has said Indonesia’s fisheries potential is slashed by 30 to 50 percent every year due to illegal fishing.
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post 5 Jul 10;
Cirebon Police on Monday disbanded an environmental campaign hosted by Greenpeace, which they said lacked a permit, questioning fifteen international and local environmentalists about the activity.
“We’ve been questioned for about five hours so far. There are 13 international activists, including from Thailand and China, and two locals,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Arif Fiyanto.
At the time of writing, the activists were still in detention.
Arif said he was disappointed at the police, saying the reaction had been an “exaggeration”.
“The officers act beyond common sense. We are here to educate local people and fishermen regarding to a construction of a coal-fired power plant in Kanci. They have lost their jobs since the power plant was built.
“We did not commit any crimes,” he said.
Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Edi Mardianto confirmed the investigation, but declined to comment further.
Greenpeace was scheduled to hold campaigns against the usage of coal, from Saturday to Monday in Cirebon.
Aubrey Belford The New York Times 5 Jul 10;
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The environmental group Greenpeace has accused one of the world’s largest pulp, paper and palm oil companies of aggressively clearing Indonesian rain forests and throwing into doubt a landmark billion-dollar deal that aims to fight climate change by curbing deforestation.
In a report released Monday, Greenpeace accused a subsidiary of the Indonesian family conglomerate Sinar Mas of secretly planning a massive expansion of pulp mills and cutting down essential forests, including habitats for endangered tigers.
An executive with the subsidiary, Asia Pulp and Paper, denied the charges.
The Greenpeace report says that an internal 2007 document shows that Asia Pulp drew up plans to significantly increase its pulp mill capacity to 17.5 million tons a year from 2.6 million tons.
The report also said that Asia Pulp had sought more than a million hectares in new concessions to meet this demand. In the Sumatran provinces of Riau and Jambi alone, the company sought 900,000 hectares, or 2.2 million acres, more than half of which was granted, Greenpeace says.
“What is actually happening in the field is they keep expanding because their timber concessions are not enough to supply their mills,” said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace’s lead forest campaigner in Indonesia.
Asia Pulp’s sustainability chief, Aida Greenbury, denied that the company had confidentially made any such expansion plans.
“To support production of 15 million tons of pulp a year is just impossible,” Mrs. Greenbury said, because the company would not be able to harvest enough wood to feed the mills. “I don’t know how they came up with 15 million tons.”
She added, “It’s impossible to plan expansion of pulp mills secretly because we need to get approval from the local government, the central government, everything else.”
Greenpeace also charges that much of the land set aside and cleared overlaps with endangered-species habitats.
Mrs. Greenbury said that Asia Pulp did not use wood from forests it deemed to be of “high conservation value,” which included deep peat and major endangered-species habitats. The company takes around 85 percent of its wood from plantations, she said, with the rest coming from degraded land or lower-value forests.
Greenpeace also charges that Asia Pulp has cleared peatlands more than three meters, or about 10 feet, in depth. In Indonesia, the clearing of such deep peatland is illegal because the land, which is made up of semidecomposed vegetation, releases huge amounts of greenhouse gases when burned or drained.
Hadi Daryanto, the Forestry Ministry’s director general of forestry management, said he could not comment on the report because he had not yet seen a copy of it. He added that he had heard no reports of Asia Pulp clearing peatland more than three meters deep.
The Greenpeace report also criticizes several multinational companies, including Wal-Mart, Hewlett Packard, Carrefour and KFC, for buying from Sinar Mas and urges them to suspend dealings with the company.
The accusations of wrongdoing are particularly sensitive in Indonesia because President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has staked much of his global prestige on acting against climate change. Large-scale deforestation has made the country the world’s third-largest emitter of climate-change-causing gases, behind China and the United States, according to some estimates.
The country signed a $1 billion deal with Norway in May that imposes a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear virgin forest and peatland.
The deal is part of an approach to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, which is widely seen as one of the few areas of progress that came out of the collapsed climate change talks in Copenhagen last year.
But Greenpeace’s accusations — and Sinar Mas’s denials — hint at what critics say are major hurdles in the plan. Bureaucratic dysfunction, corruption and Indonesia’s sheer size create confusion over what is happening in the field. At the same time, environmentalists, companies and governments frequently disagree on what constitutes environmentally sensitive land and what does not.
“This is a big question mark for the government of what forest protection will look like,” Mr. Maitar of Greenpeace said. “If the big companies like A.P.P. or Sinar Mas as a group are still doing business as usual, still doing forest clearing, so what’s the meaning of the moratorium?”
New Straits Times 6 Jul 10;
PASIR MAS: A wild elephant which wandered into Repek, a village about 3km from here, caused much excitement among the villagers yesterday.
The bull elephant was finally captured in an orchard by state wildlife officers, who shot it with a tranquilliser dart about 11am.
Villager Ramlan Awang Kecik, 48, said his son Raizudin, 20, was awakened by loud noises close to their house about 4.15am.
"He went out to see what was going on and was shocked to see an elephant.
"We informed the village security team and they surrounded the elephant from a distance to ensure it could not escape.
"We then called the police and officers from the Wildlife Department arrived about 7am. By then, the elephant had moved into the orchard."
State Wildlife Department director Pazil Abdul Fatah said the elephant was believed to have wandered into the village from the Jedok forest reserve in Tanah Merah, about 30km away.
"We believe the elephant wandered into the area due to the fruits that are in season now. We have reports of it being sighted in Kemahang three days ago and later at Banggol Petai.
"It is good that nobody was injured. According to village elders, no elephant has been sighted in the area for more than 50 years," said Pazil.
He said 20 officers from Kota Baru, Jeli, Kuala Krai and Gua Musang were deployed to the scene.
"A team from the Kuala Gandah conservation centre in Pahang will arrive soon to secure the elephant. It is expected to be released into Taman Negara," he said.
Pazil said it was the fourth elephant captured this year. Two others were caught in Gua Musang and another in Jeli.
Serge Daniel Yahoo News 4 Jul 10;
BANZENA, Mali (AFP) – Ali Ag Rhissa, a young Touareg nomad, sits in his tent, his gun ready, on the frontline of one of Mali's battles -- protecting its majestic but dwindling herds of desert elephants.
Faced with the dual threat of drought and poachers, the elephant population has almost halved in recent decades.
But help is at hand from local people in northern Mali, who have started to form conservation brigades to ward off poachers and protect the animal from extinction.
Between 1972 and 1974 there were 550 elephants in the Gourma region, now there are no more than 354. In June alone, severe drought killed 21 of the animals.
The elephants of the Gourma are the biggest in Africa and are tempting quarry for poachers, both for their ivory tusks and their meat, which is popular in neighbouring countries.
"When we hear the sound of a vehicle, we get ready to make sure the poachers can't settle here and kill our elephants," said Rhissa, who lives in a tent with his wife and three children in Banzena, near Timbuktu.
"We take precautionary measures. In this no elephants have been victims of poaching since we organised our protection brigades," said Bakary Kame, a water and forestry ranger.
"But you can never be too careful," added Kame, who had a rifle slung across his back.
According to official statistics, 50 percent of the elephants in the Gourma are adult females, with 11 per cent male adults, 26 percent young and 11 percent "very old".
Gourma elephants are the only nomadic elephants in the world and the only ones that live in the desert apart from a group in Namibia.
Every year, they migrate hundreds of kilometres (miles) along the southern edge of the Sahara towards the border with Burkina Faso and back again in search of food and water.
Each one consumes up to 250 kilograms (500 pounds) of vegetation per day, and can suck up 10 litres in every trunkful of water.
They leave huge footprints close to a metre (three feet) deep when they trek across the barren landscape.
"To protect them from poachers, we have placed GPS chips in collars around the necks of some of the elephants. This way, we know where they are all the time," said Biramou Sissoko, the national coordinator for the government programme to conserve the elephants and biodiversity in the Gourma.
The government of Mali is taking steps to protect the elephants. Efforts are being made to educate local people about the plight of the animals, while legislation is also being drawn up to combat poaching.
The conservation action plan has been launched to protect the elephants' ecosystem, and "biodiversity co-ordinators" are being appointed under Sissoko.
"Our role is to educate, and raise awareness of the damage done by poachers and the destruction of the environment," said Amadou Bore, one of the co-ordinators.
"Whoever comes here to take the tusks of elephants will find instead our own tusks -- our rifles," he said.
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