1 Jun (Wed): My forest is DYING and the role of water quality
from wild shores of singapore
A sickening sea of trash
from Otterman speaks and Captains recce tour of the Northeast from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
Javan Mynas in “gangster” fight – on video
from Bird Ecology Study Group
slug egg blobs @ pandan mangroves 30Mar2011
from sgbeachbum
Yahoo News 2 Apr 11;
JAKARTA (AFP) – A rare Sumatran elephant has been found dead on a palm oil plantation in the island's Riau province, an Indonesian official said Saturday, with poisoning suspected.
The elephant was the second to die in Bengkalis district in a week.
"A female elephant, about 17 years old, was found dead yesterday (Friday) at a palm oil plantation. It could have been dead for three days before we found it," Riau province conservation agency official Adit Gunawan told AFP.
"An autopsy is being carried out. There's a possibility that the elephant was poisoned by humans," he said.
On Sunday, a female elephant died in Bengkalis district after blocking a village street for a week. Officials said it could have died because of stress, lack of food, or poisoning.
There are at most 3,350 Sumatran elephants remaining in the wild, according to the environmental group WWF.
Conflicts between humans and animals are increasing as people encroach on wildlife habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests.
Dead elephant found at oil palm plantation
Antara 2 Apr 11;
Dumai (ANTARA News) - The dead body of a female elephant has been found in decomposed condition at an oil palm plantation at Petani village, Mandau district, Bengkalis, Riau province.
"The elephant, believed to have died since three days ago, was found on Friday by one of the workers of PT Darmaali Jaya Lestari," B. Rianto, Petani village head, told ANTARA News in Bengkalis on Saturday.
There has been no explanation yet on the cause of the death of the elephant though the Bengkalis Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) has been notified of the case, he added.
However, Rianto said that prior to the finding of the dead elephant, villagers had complained of the destruction of their palm oil trees by a herd of elephants making them terrified to go to the plantation to pick ripe palm oil fruits.
A few days later the dead body of the elephant was found lying down and decomposing badly. "We want it that the authority (BKSDA) to bury the dead elephant as we couldn`t stand the smell anymore," Rianto said.
BKSDA has said that a veterinarian would be dispatched to the site where the dead elephant found to check the causes of its death but it two days had passed and nobody had come to see the dead elephant.
Bengkalis BKSDA had sent an officer to see the body of the elephant on the first day the villagers reported about the finding of the dead elephant and would send a veterinarian later on, according to spokesman.
(KR-VFT/HAJM/R013)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
More radiation from nuclear plant could cause "bizarre mutations."
Christine Dell'Amore National Geographic News 1 Apr 11;
If radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant—disabled by the March11 Japan earthquake and tsunami—continues to enter the ocean, marine life could be threatened, experts say.
In the past week, seawater samples taken near the nuclear power plant, on Japan's eastern coast, have shown elevated levels of radioactive isotopes, including cesium 137 and iodine 131, according to the New York Times.
All life on Earth and in the oceans lives with exposure to natural levels of ionizing radiation—high-frequency radiation with enough energy to change DNA. Most such genetic damage heals, but the addition of human-made radiation can make it harder for the body to repair broken genes.
Radiation concentrations in the Japanese seawater samples have fluctuated in past days, but on Wednesday the amount of iodine spiked to 3,355 times the legal limit for seawater, Japanese nuclear safety officials told the Associated Press.
That level is the highest so far—and an indication that more radiation is entering the ocean, though how is still unknown, the agency reported. Cesium was also found to be 20 times its safety limit on March 28, according to the Times.
Radiation Can Cause "Bizarre Mutations"
Once in seawater, radiation can hurt ocean animals in several ways—by killing them outright, creating "bizarre mutations" in their offspring, or passing radioactive material up the food chain, according to Joseph Rachlin, director of Lehman College's Laboratory for Marine and Estuarine Research in New York City.
"There will be a potential for a certain amount of lethality of living organisms, but that's less of a concern than the possible effects on the genetics of the animals that become exposed," Rachlin said.
"That's the main problem as I see it with radiation—altering the genetics of the animal and interfering with reproduction."
Even so, according to radioecologist F. Ward Whicker, the concentrations of iodine and cesium levels "would have to be orders of magnitude larger than the numbers I've seen to date to cause the kind of radiation doses to marine life that would cause mortality or reductions in reproductive potential.
"I am very doubtful that direct effects of radioactivity from the damaged reactors on marine life over a large area off the coast of Japan will be observed," Whicker, professor emeritus at Colorado State University, said via email.
Likewise, using legal limits to gauge damage to marine life is of little value right now, he said.
To make a "credible assessment" of the risk to marine animals, scientists would have to know the actual concentrations of radioactive iodine in the water and fish or other marine animals off Fukushima Daiichi, he said.
Radiation Hardest on the Little Ones
It's possible that levels of radioactive contamination near the Fukushima nuclear reactors could increase and cause some harm to local marine life, Whicker said.
"If this happens, the most likely effects would be reductions in reproductive potential of local fishes. ... ," he said.
Marine organisms' eggs and larvae are highly sensitive to radiation, since radioactive atoms can replace other atoms in their bodies, resulting in radiation exposure that could alter their DNA, Whicker said.
Most such deformed organisms don't survive, but some can pass abnormalities on to the next generation, Lehman College's Rachlin said. Either way, the radiation exposure could hurt the population's ability to survive long-term.
Rachlin thinks the most susceptible critters would be soft-bodied invertebrates such as jellyfish, sea anemones, and marine worms—which can take up the radiation more quickly than shelled creatures—though Whicker said fish may be most at risk.
Whicker added, "I would expect any temporary losses in reproduction in local fish to be offset by immigration of unaffected individuals from surrounding areas that would be impacted to a lesser degree."
In addition to its threats to reproduction, pockets of radioactive material can can burn fish passing through, hitting them like a stream of searing water, Rachlin said.
Complicating matters is the fact that predator species in the Pacific such as tuna and sailfish are already stressed by overfishing, according to Rachlin.
"I'm concerned—this is the spawning season. ... If this impacts the survivorship of the young and larvae, this will be a further insult."
Radiation Threat Here to Stay?
According to chemical oceanographer Bill Burnett, "In the short run [the radiation] could have some definite negative impacts" on marine life.
"The good news is the half life [of iodine] is only eight days," added Burnett, an expert in environmental radioactivity at Florida State University.
So "if they stop the source of radioactive leakage, this is going to be a short-term problem."
However Fukushima Daiichi's leaking cesium is potentially more serious, since that isotope takes 30 years to decay, Burnett said.
Radiation Can Travel Up the Food Chain
There could also be some movement of radiation up the food chain if animals eat irradiated plants and smaller, radioactive animals, Rachlin said.
In particular, plants such as kelp can quickly absorb iodine, FSU's Burnett said.
There's a possibility that the devastation of towns in northeastern Japan caused by the earthquake and tsunami also released toxic metals such as lead into the soil and water, according to Texas Tech University ecotoxicologist Ron Kendall.
Previous studies have shown that metals can work in concert with radiation to suppress immune systems in vertebrates, making them more vulnerable to disease, Kendall said.
It's a "big issue for the environment and human health because of the widespread destruction. It takes me back to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina—this to me is even more complicated with the radiation."
Ocean Resilient Against Radiation
The ocean has a "tremendous capacity" for diluting radiation, Colorado State's Whicker noted.
"It also has resilience, in the sense that the area would recover over time as the situation improves and as the radioactivity decays and disperses."
"But I should caution that we have not had much opportunity to study the effects of very large releases of radioactivity into marine ecosystems," he said. The best data comes from nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific in the 1950s and 1960s.
Texas Tech's Kendall also pointed out that there's not much known about radiation in seawater.
"The dose makes the poison," he said, "and the more concentrated the radiation, the more potential effects. It's something we definitely need to monitor."
Added Lehman's Rachlin: "If it's a one-shot pulse, OK, not a problem.
But if the radiation leaks continue for several months, Japan may be dealing with a more serious blow to marine life, he said.
The coastline, after all, isn't Chernobyl, he said. "We can't cement [over] that whole area."
Yahoo News 2 Apr 11;
DAR ES SALAAM (AFP) – A soda ash mining plant planned for Tanzania's Lake Natron, the breeding ground for all of east Africa's endangered lesser flamingoes, must go ahead, President Jakaya Kikwete said Saturday.
"There is no need for further delay of the project, which will give the country's economy a big boost," Kikwete said.
Kikwete, who was addressing officials at the trade and industry ministry, said Lake Natron's reserves of soda ash deposits were big enough to make Tanzania the world's leading producer of the product.
The plant, which will be able to process up to 500,000 tonnes of soda ash annually, has attracted criticism from environmentalists who argue the project and its associated infrastructure will destroy the flamingoes' breeding ground.
Like all flamingoes the birds lay a single egg on a mound of mud.
Kikwete argued, however, that destruction of the breeding grounds could be avoided.
"We cannot continue with poverty while we have vast resources, including our minerals that are lying untapped. We can just apply the right technology that is not harmful to flamingoes," he said.
Industry minister Cyril Chami has said that the relevant environment and social impact assessments should be completed by the end of April.
The plant, which is to be built and operated by Tata Chemicals of Mumbai, and which will feature a grid of pipes running across the lake as well as infrastructure for workers on the shore, was put on hold in 2008 on environmental concerns.
19 Apr (Tue): Second sea turtle forum - How are the released sea turtles doing? from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!
Job opportunities in biodiversity
from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS Planting of Native Species and Controlling Woody Weeds
Seven Years of Sea Slugs
from Pulau Hantu
From Lornie Trail to Rifle Range Link Part 1
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature
Pacific Reef Egret - fish prey
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Mandai mangrove madness: rare plants and big trees
from wild shores of singapore and critters seen
Things We Find in the Woods Part Seven
from Crystal and Bryan in Singapore
Be wary of the kutu babi
from Life's Indulgences
Bernama 1 Apr 11;
DUMAI, Riau, April 1 (Bernama) -- A number of Dumai's residents have complained about the impact of thick haze covering the sky of the city in Riau province, Antara news agency reported.
A businesswoman said here Thursday evening that the local authorities need to provide the residents like herself with masks to protect them from the hazardous effects of the haze.
"The smoke gets thicker at night. Who should be responsible for this?" said the 41-year-old woman.
A motorist complained that the thick haze had even affected his visibility and breathing.
The thick haze was caused by bush fire and open burning at palm plantations. The related authorities had attempted to extinguish the flames.
In October 2010, thick haze of the forest and bush fires in various parts of Sumatra Island blanketed the sky of Batam Island in Riau Islands province.
The coming haze affected Singapore, which shares sea border with the Indonesian island of Batam.
In 1997, Riau and many other provinces in Sumatra island were hit by thick smog, caused by forest fires and slash-and-burn method of clearing land for farming and plantations.
As a result, many airports in Sumatra as well as in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore were temporarily closed. People had to wear masks if they wanted to venture outside their homes or offices.
-- BERNAMA
Straits Times 2 Apr 11;
Japan's nuclear crisis has reopened the debate over the safety of nuclear power. Senior Correspondent Chang Ai-Lien looks at the argument for and against this energy source.
YES: It is clean and safe
FALLOUTS from nuclear plant disasters are lightweight compared to the deaths, injuries and harmful health effects caused by other energy sources like coal and oil, according to some scientists and engineers.
Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest solutions, but the crux lies in placing plants in the right locations, with proper safety precautions in place, as well as educating the layman about it.
Said former Science Centre Singapore chief Chew Tuan Chiong: 'People have a great fear of nuclear energy. There's no denying that the impact of a nuclear accident is more insidious because of the long-term health effects.
'But compared to disasters from coal mining or gas leaks, it is much safer, even taking into account deaths in the long term.'
The harmful health effects from pollution caused by burning fossil fuels are far more widespread than those resulting from accidents in the nuclear energy sector, noted Dr Chew, a chartered engineer and a member of Britain's Energy Institute.
According to a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last year, nuclear energy is the safest of the energy sources. This was the conclusion reached after a study of accidents with five or more fatalities from a wide range of energy sources between 1969 and 2000, looking at both immediate and delayed deaths.
It predicted that in OECD countries, the risk of a nuclear disaster causing more than 100 eventual deaths was a factor of 10 or more lower than the risk of an accident causing 100 immediate fatalities in the coal, oil, natural gas and hydro energy chains - and almost a factor of 1,000 lower than the risk from liquefied petroleum gas.
Although the fear of radiation is very real, some of the resistance to nuclear energy stems from a lack of understanding, said Dr Chew.
For instance, he said, many people tend to link nuclear energy with the atomic bomb and its destructive potential, although, in reality, this will not happen at a plant.
There are insufficient amounts of chemicals such as uranium packed closely together to set off a chain reaction leading to such an explosion, he explained, even if, in the worst-case scenario, a meltdown does happen.
He acknowledged that disposing of radioactive waste is a problem researchers are still struggling with. At this stage, however, other potential energy sources such as the wind, biofuels and the sun are still not proven to be viable on the same scale.
'Individual governments need to look at their own level of technological know-how, geography, and even culture and discipline before deciding whether to go the nuclear energy route,' he said.
'And since each new incident seems to tar everyone in this industry with the same brush, companies should be generous in sharing information and research in the field.'
Added tectonics expert Paul Tapponnier: 'We can't stop building nuclear power plants because the world needs them. We just have to learn to make them even more resilient and think a great deal about where to build them.'
NO: It is too dangerous
THE risks of nuclear energy and the effects of radiation fallout on human health are powerful arguments against using this mode of energy, according to an award-winning Japanese journalist who has been studying the subject for three decades.
Money should instead be pumped into clean energy research, said Mr Akira Tashiro, 63, a senior staff writer at a major Japanese newspaper, the Chugoku Shimbun in Hiroshima.
'Japan's nuclear plants are among the world's safest when it comes to earthquake protection, yet we have still suffered this triple punch of earthquake, tsunami and finally the nuclear accident,' said Mr Tashiro, who has visited nuclear facilities in various countries, including Three Mile Island in the United States and Chernobyl in Ukraine, site of the world's worst nuclear accident, and studied the effects of radiation for 30 years.
He is the executive director of the Hiroshima Peace Media Centre (http://www.hiroshimapeacemedia.jp). Launched in 2008, it advocates the abolition of nuclear weapons and advancement of world peace.
He also co-authored Exposure: Victims Of Radiation Speak Out, one of the most thorough descriptions of the plight of radiation victims around the world. His work on the nuclear age in Nuclear Age: Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow won him the 1996 Vaughn-Ueda Prize, the Japanese equivalent of the Pulitzer.
'Accidents are rare but once something goes wrong, the consequences are disastrous. It just shows that nuclear energy is too dangerous to be relied on.'
Ideally, it would be better for Japan not to have any nuclear power plants at all, he said. However, since the country depends on such plants for nearly a third of its energy needs, the alternative is to carefully scrutinise safety measures in place at current plants.
'This accident may be a turning point for Japan, and plans for more new plants could be postponed,' he said.
He suggested shortening the shelf-life of such plants, by closing them down after 30 years, rather than 40 to 60 years.
While slowly decreasing the country's reliance on nuclear energy, research should be ramped up to create safer and cleaner alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, fuel cell and tidal power, which he believed should bear fruit in the next 10 to 20 years.
He added that even without any major accident, the problem of how to deal with spent nuclear fuel safely remained. Such fuel is dangerously radioactive and remains so for thousands of years.
'How can we ensure that 100 years from now, they will be safely stored and not leaching into the groundwater?' he asked.
He stressed that each individual's susceptibility to radiation varies.
'Even if a certain level of radiation is within the permissible range, this does not necessarily mean that the level is safe for all.'
Unborn babies, infants and children are particularly susceptible to the effects of radiation and avoiding exposure to even low doses of radiation is advised for them, he added.
He cited follow-up research studies on atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which found that even low-level exposure to radiation received internally could have detrimental effects on health.
In addition to radiation, he said, there is the concern of hazardous materials such as caesium, iodine and plutonium being released.
'Even if you inhale a minuscule amount of plutonium, it will reside in your body for a long time and could affect your health in the long run,' he warned.
The Star 2 Apr 11;
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Government is not in a rush to crystallise Malaysia's nuclear power plan as its viability is still being evaluated.
Fully aware of the repercussions of Japan's nuclear fallout, the Prime Minister said: “I think many countries around the world are going through a re-evaluation and we will leverage on that.
“The Government will make a final decision when the time comes.”
Meanwhile, the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry has begun radiation tests on Malaysia's sea water, rain water and soil.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said the Atomic Energy Licensing Board was conducting the tests to determine the density of Iodine 131 (I-131) and Cesium 137 (Cs-137) radionuclides in the samples of sea water, rain water and soil.
“A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency on March 29 confirmed the situation was still serious at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan,” he said yesterday.
Dr Ongkili said the Malaysian Nuclear Agency would release the results of the analyses of the samples periodically.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant was damaged after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake rocked north-eastern Japan and unleashed a tsunami on March 11, causing more than 10,000 deaths and 20,000 missing persons in the twin disasters.
Meanwhile, the National Council of Profes-sors will publish an analysis of nuclear technology to allay public fear following the Govern-ment's decision to develop the technology and the reactor leak in Japan.
Chairman Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Zakri Abdul Hamid said the analysis, to be completed in a month, would list the advantages and disadvantages of the technology and prop-osals to increase public understanding. - Bernama
Luke Pachymuthu and Francis Kan PlanetArk 1 Apr 11;
The threat of a meltdown at nuclear reactors in Japan has prompted scrutiny of renewable power options by many nations as growing public unease pushes top consumers to either go slow or halt any immediate expansion in nuclear power.
Japan, one of the world's top nuclear power generators and a key advocate of the technology, plans a review of policy to tap sources such as solar. China too may double its target for photovoltaic capacity over the next five years, and Taiwan is studying cutting nuclear output. Germany and Switzerland are either shutting older reactors or suspending approvals.
Investors are already betting on the change, carrying global benchmark indexes to their highest in 14 months.
The global FTSE Cleantech index has spiked more than 8 percent since Japan's earthquake struck on March 11,beating a rise of around 2 percent in the MSCI all-country world stock index. The WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation index of alternative energy stocks has gained around 12 percent.
"If nuclear contributes less, then something has to make up the difference and that could very easily be renewables," Paul Hanrahan, president and chief executive of New-York listed global power firm AES Corporation said in Singapore.
Giving a fillip to the sector, China, the world's biggest energy consumer, has already announced plans to raise the price of power generated from renewable sources over the next two years to help encourage investments.
China's renewable energy law obliges grid firms to buy all the renewable electricity produced in their region, even though it is more expensive than coal-fired power, but it also allows them to charge "additional" fees for clean electricity sources.
Besides trying to double solar power capacity, renewable energy officials have urged more government support, saying promotion of clean energy sources could help fill any likely supply gap if safety concerns were to slow China's nuclear program.
NATIONAL SECURITY
"Nuclear power can probably improve China's energy security, but whether it improves overall national security is something that needs to be thought about deeply," Li Hejun, chairman of the China New Energy Chamber of Commerce, which lobbies on behalf of the renewable sector.
After the Japanese nuclear disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared a three-month moratorium on an extension her government had given last year to 17 nuclear reactors, carrying their lifespan an average of 12 years beyond a prior 2022 cut-off date.
Taiwan's state-run Taipower also said it was studying plans to cut nuclear power output.
"Whatever their exact outcome, the Fukushima events are likely to shift the energy policy balance toward renewables," Pricewaterhouse Coopers said in a report on March 28.
Swiss Energy Minister Doris Leuthard suspended the approvals process for three nuclear power stations so safety standards can be revisited after the crisis in Japan.
Robin Batchelor, a fund manager at BlackRock responsible for $8.2 billion in energy-related funds, said renewables were not really in focus for fund managers prior to the crisis in Japan, adding that the disaster may prompt countries to have a rethink.
EUROPE
In Europe, the bloc's Renewable Electricity Directive missed a 2010 target of a 21 percent share for renewable energy out of total electricity generated, and now aims for it to account for 20 percent by 2020, the body said on its website.
Industry executives and experts say the events unfolding in Japan will help speed the push toward this goal. "The ball is already rolling here in Europe as you have seen with the way the Green Party is advancing in Germany," said Thorbjoern Jensen, oil market analyst at Global Risk Management. "You will certainly see a bigger push on the part of all governments here in Europe to diversify their slate for power generation."
In 2010, nearly half the value of power sector deals concluded in the renewables sector globally originated from Europe. The overall value based on deals done in the region was just over $13 billion, according to PwC.
Hydro accounts for around 13 to 14 percent of the total power generated in Asia Pacific; renewables, excluding hydropower, will account for only 2.3 percent in 2010 and are only expected to increase to 4 percent by 2030.
Wind, solar and biomass power are the largest contributors to the renewable contribution.
The renewable share of world electricity generation is expected to increase to 23 percent in 2035 from 18 percent in 2007, supported by high oil prices and government incentives, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report last December.
The bulk of that increase in renewable electricity supply will be fueled by hydro and wind power, the department said.
"Renewables are a big player in the mix, there will still be other sources of energy but the share of renewables will increase," said Evgeny Fedorov, chief executive of EuroSibErnego, Russia's largest private power generator and one of the world's biggest hydro-electric power players.
RENEWABLE ENERGY EXPANSION
Still, much as governments around the world talk about boosting the renewable energy sector, an immediate surge in spending flows is unlikely because projects will take time to prepare and get off the drawing board, analysts said.
Investment in renewable energy across the globe was expected to maintain the momentum seen in 2010, when the number of deals in green energy projects rose 66 percent versus the previous year, the Pricewaterhouse Coopers report showed. Overall investments in clean energy, excluding research and development funding, in the Group of 20 major economies rose 33 percent last year to $198 billion amid recovery from the recession, according to the report.
China was ranked ahead of Germany and the United States with private investments in the sector pegged at $54.4 billion.
Cost may be another factor discouraging large-volume spending in renewables. Renewable projects on which work may have begun, and will be ready in the next five or so, will be far more expensive to run than thermal power projects.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that in 2016, onshore wind, the least expensive renewable energy source, will be 80 percent more expensive to run than a combined cycle, gas-fired electricity.
But conventional nuclear power will still be the lowest price energy option in 2016, according to an EIA projection issued in December 2010.
That is probably part of the reason for South Korea, a major global supplier of nuclear plants, to carry on with its nuclear plans despite the crisis at its neighbor Japan.
Nuclear power accounts for 31.4 percent of South Korea's electricity generation needs, and the world's fifth-largest oil importer has a target to increase that to 48.5 percent by 2024.
It has 7 reactors under construction, with plans to build 6 more and bring to 34 the number on-stream by 2024.
But renewable power must battle reliability concerns, compared with thermal or nuclear power, as supplies of sunlight, wind or water are not always steady, a hurdle the sector must overcome before it can displace conventional sources.
"Renewables, yes, to a certain extent you can use, but it can only supplement, it cannot replace," said Che Kalib Mohamad Noh, chief executive of Malaysian power company Tenaga Nasional, adding that conventional fossil fuels and nuclear power would play a pre-eminent role for the foreseeable future.
(Editing by Manash Goswami and Clarence Fernandez)
Yahoo News 1 Apr 11;
BANGKOK (AFP) – Thai customs said on Friday they had seized two tonnes of ivory worth over $3.3 million hidden in a shipment of frozen fish -- equivalent to more than 120 elephants killed.
Officials found 247 tusks concealed among hundreds of boxes of mackerel apparently from Kenya, in a boat at Bangkok Port on the Chao Phraya river, the customs department said.
The haul -- which officials said was the biggest in a year and equated to at least 123 elephants killed -- weighed 2,033 kilos (4,472 pounds) and was displayed by authorities in the Thai capital.
Wildlife anti-trafficking group Freedland said it was the first time customs officials had found ivory coming into Thailand by boat and said it showed smugglers were being forced to change tactics.
"It is another sign that steady collaboration by Thai and African law enforcement is foiling ivory traffickers who are losing huge amounts of money, and that's where you have to hit them to stop them -- in the pocket," said the group's director, Steven Galster.
Freedland said the seizure marked the ninth major enforcement action by authorities in Kenya and Thailand since a collaboration was agreed in November 2010.
More than four tonnes of ivory have been confiscated since then, it said.
International trade in ivory was banned in 1989, but seizures have risen dramatically in the past five years.
Experts say traffickers use Thailand to smuggle ivory, rough or carved, into neighbouring China -- where it is ground up in traditional medicine -- and Japan. But some also ends up in the United States and Europe.
Arientha Primanita & Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 1 Apr 11;
Environmental activists have slammed a decision by the Supreme Court to allow a land reclamation project to proceed along the city’s coast.
Ubaidillah, director of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said he was disappointed by the ruling, which effectively annuls the State Ministry for the Environment’s order to revoke the permit for the project.
“This shows how the city’s power can supersede even that of the central government,” he said on Thursday. “Even the Environment Ministry didn’t stand a chance against the reclamation project.”
Some 32 kilometers of coastline is set to see land up to 1.5 kilometers in length reclaimed from the sea. Overall, a total of 2,700 hectares of land is expected to be reclaimed, on which the city plans to build commercial and industrial hubs.
The project, proposed in 1994, was sidelined in 2003 by the Environment Ministry after failing to pass an environmental impact analysis (Amdal).
Contractors working on the project, however, immediately filed a suit at the Jakarta Administrative Court to overturn the ban.
That court ruled in favor of the contractors but the project remained suspended on appeal. In July 2009 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the ministry.
But that decision was appealed by Tjondro Liemonta, owner of Bakti Bangun Era Mulia, one of the six project contractors, and the original ruling was upheld on March 24.
The other contractors involved are Taman Harapan Indah, Manggala Krida Yudha, Pelabuhan Indonesia II, Pembangunan Jaya Ancol and Jakarta Propertindo.
Imam Hendargo, deputy for spatial planning at the Environment Ministry, said his office had not yet received official notice of the latest ruling but would stand its ground on blocking the reclamation plan.
“This is not a matter of who’s right or wrong, but about how the environmental assessment was conducted and what the impact will be to the environment,” he said.
“The project is touted as a positive development for the people. But which people are we talking about here? If the fishermen there agree, then go ahead.”
Imam said the ministry would insist the project also obtain a strategic environmental assessment (KLHS), considering its potentially wide-ranging impact on regions beyond the capital.
“The project will have to be coordinated with other affected sectors, including energy and ports,” he added.
The city says the new land will accommodate up to 1.5 million people and help prevent the chronic tidal flooding that plagues much of Jakarta’s north.
However, Slamet Daryoni, from the Indonesian Green Institute, said land reclamation was not the right solution for Jakarta, especially in terms of ecological sustainability.
“Currently, North Jakarta is prone to severe land subsidence and tidal flooding,” he said. “The reclamation project will only burden the area further because of the need for additional infrastructure there along with residential and office space.”
He said the city should instead focus on projects to revitalize the North Jakarta area.
Slamet said his group, along with Walhi and several other NGOs, would ask the Judicial Commission, which oversees the conduct of judges, to review the latest ruling because it did not represent environmental or public interests.
Muhammad Tauchid Tjakra Amidjaja, the city’s assistant for development and environment, meanwhile, said the ruling vindicated the city’s plan and would allow it to go ahead with the reclamation project.
“The city administration always had the proper legal basis,” he said. “The Environment Ministry only said that the Amdal needed to be completed, which we’re doing.”
Tauchid added that the Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda) was also completing the KLHS, which will cover all environmental prerequisites for the project.
Ridwan Panjaitan, head of compliance at the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), said the city was doing its part and the Environment Ministry should accommodate it by granting the Amdal.
Tauchid said the administration would also revitalize North Jakarta, including building embankments and a sea wall to prevent tidal flooding. “We’re taking all aspects and all people into consideration,” he said.
“When the project is completed, it will be a new source of economic growth that will help boost the city’s income, which in turn will benefit the people’s welfare.”
Rangga D. Fadillah, The Jakarta Post 1 Apr 11;
International aid programs intended to curb the expansion of forest-related industries in Indonesia will likely deprive the country of an opportunity to create 3.5 million new jobs annually and reduce export revenues, a new report claims.
A report by the NGO World Growth released Thursday concluded that programs backed by international aid agencies including USAID and high-profile environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) aimed at curbing forest conversion for commercial purposes would significantly hurt Indonesia’s economy.
World Growth chairman Alan Oxley said international aid donors promised to give Indonesia US$2 billion to back up programs that “unnecessarily crimped” expansion of the country’s most important industries — forestry, palm oil and mining — to reduce emissions from deforestation.
“Such condition may cost Indonesia’s economy up to 3.5 million jobs annually, cut growth to industries that make up 15 percent of the economy, reduce government revenues and hamper its ability to continue poverty alleviation efforts,” he said.
The report claimed the forest and palm oil sectors contributed more than $22.1 billion in exports annually, approximately 15.6 percent of the country’s total export revenue, and restraining the expansion of the two sectors would severely impede Indonesia’s promising economic growth.
Indonesia is currently the largest palm oil producer in the world. In 2010, total exports reached 15.5 million tons, up 6.8 percent from 14.5 million tons a year earlier. In 2020, Indonesia has targeted to produce 40 million tons of palm oil.
Indonesia agreed to impose a two-year moratorium on forest and peat land clearing after signing a letter of intent with the Norwegian government in May last year. Under the LoI, Indonesia will receive $1 billion, which will be disbursed once the moratorium is implemented.
Oxley said new research commissioned by the World Bank and the Norwegian government released at the UN Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) meeting in November 2010 revealed that deforestation actually accounted for only between 5 and 9 percent of global emissions.
The number was half the figure generally accepted within the climate policymaking community, which was 17 percent, he added.
“The result of the research is significant for Indonesia as many have blamed deforestation as the main contributor to the country’s emission production,” he said.
Oxley added that the study was a warning signal for the Indonesian government to take a different
approach to reducing emissions apart from the Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) scheme, which limited land conversion for commercial purposes.
“Funds from donors will not be able to generate economic [growth] effectively compared to what the private sector can do,” Oxley, the former Australian representative to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), said.
The report suggested that the Indonesian government assess the economic impacts all REDD-based projects might bring and publicly announce the results. It also urged the government to consult with private industries that may be affected by any proposed emission reduction programs.
Indonesia previously said it would reduce emissions by 26 percent by 2020, or by up to 41 percent if assisted by foreign support.
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