Kranji (21 May 2011)
from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore
abandoned fish nets @ semakau 21May2011
from sgbeachbum
Very long driftnet on Pulau Semakau
from wild shores of singapore
Pulau Semakau (21 May 2011)
from teamseagrass
Life History of the Blue Pansy
from Butterflies of Singapore
Changi shore is packed with life!
from wonderful creation
Housing issues at Beting Bronok
from Psychedelic Nature and Super low tide at Changi!
S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 22 May 11;
SINGAPORE: Newly-appointed Environment and Water Resources Minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, said it cannot be "business as usual" both at home and internationally when dealing with climate change.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a Community Chest event Sunday, he said Singaporeans will have to understand the costs and trade-offs in dealing with this challenge. And he intends to make the process as open and transparent as possible.
This approach also applies to situations like flooding.
"We musn't lose sight of the bigger picture, which is to make sure that we have taken into account all the different variables, especially when the weather and climate are changing; (We need to) review our plans...operationalise the plan and make sure everything works according to plan," said Dr Balakrishnan.
"But you know, we are dealing with weather and there is always going to be a large element of uncertainty and that's something we will have to factor and communicate openly and honestly to Singaporeans.
"What can be done will be done, the parts which obviously cannot be done or which are beyond our control, we would have to humbly and honestly communicate and explain that to Singaporeans."
- CNA/cc
Climate change, water security among Dr Balakrishnan's priorities
Hoe Yeen Nie Channel NewsAsia 21 May 11;
SINGAPORE: New Minister for Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said he will focus his attention on climate change, water security and environmental safety.
In his first public remarks about his new portfolio, Dr Balakrishnan noted on his blog on Wednesday that Singaporeans have a growing interest in environmental issues, and there will be many opportunities for public consultation.
There will also be scope for new solutions that Singapore can pioneer.
Dr Balakrishnan had served the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports for seven years.
He describes his time in that posting as an exciting and deeply fulfilling journey, and paid tribute to those he had worked with.
Dr Balakrishnan expressed confidence in the new team led by Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing, and Minister of State Halimah Yacob and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Sam Tan.
-CNA/wk
An open discussion on floods and climate change
S Ramesh Today Online 23 May 11;
SINGAPORE - It cannot be "business as usual" either at home or internationally when dealing with climate change, said newly-appointed Minister for Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan.
Singaporeans, he said, will have to understand the "difficult policy choices and trade-offs" in dealing with this challenge, before coming to a consensus on how to tackle it.
"My intention is to make this process as open and transparent as possible so that Singaporeans understand what is at stake," he said, referring to a collective decision-making process.
This open-communication approach also applies to tackling situations such as flooding - one of the hot issues raised at the May 7 polls.
Dr Balakrishnan said there was a need to assess if weather patterns were changing. "If indeed it has changed, then our planning norms will also have to be modified and that's an engineering and technical issue."
He added: "Every time a flood occurs, it will be newsworthy.
"It will certainly place stress on me and all the staff involved so we mustn't lose sight of the bigger picture, which is to make sure that we have taken into account all the different variables and especially when the weather and climate are changing, review our plans and then to operationalise the plan."
But he added as they were dealing with the weather, there would always be a large element of uncertainty.
He said: "What can be done will be done, the parts which obviously cannot be done or which are beyond our control, we would have to humbly and honestly communicate and explain that to Singaporeans."
Dr Balakrishnan was speaking to the media on the sidelines of yesterday's ComChest Heartstrings Walk, which was attended by 5,000 people and raised more than S$1 million for beneficiaries. It was flagged off by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
After heading the Ministry of Comunity Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) for seven years, Dr Balakrishnan said he was looking forward to the challenge of his new post, in his first remarks to the media since the new Cabinet line-up was announced.
"The MCYS has grown tremendously in the last seven years, so it has really been a stretch. The Ministry for Environment and Water Resources will be a completely different set of issues, so there's going to be no shortage of work and analysis and consultation and exercise of political wisdom and judgement and so on."
Some of his proudest moments at the MCYS, he said, included the 2005 introduction of the Community Care Endowment Fund (ComCare) that pays for programmes to help needy Singaporeans, and the move to recognise social work as a profession through accreditation.
IRRI Fund's new exec director has molecular biology training and philanthropic history
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 22 May 11;
At 18, he canoed 140km around Singapore and raised $50,000 for the Spastic Children's Association, despite being born with cerebral palsy.
Today, Singaporean Leo Chen Ian is tasked with raising millions of dollars to make sure there is enough rice to go around in the world.
The 37-year-old is the new executive director of the global IRRI Fund Singapore, which campaigns to raise money and awareness for rice research and farmers.
Set up in 2009, it is based here and part of a larger organisation, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a non-profit organisation headquartered in the Philippines. The fund was previously managed by IRRI member Duncan Macintosh.
Mr Leo said each Singaporean eats more than 60kg of the staple every year but few know the challenges of getting it from field to table.
In an interview at IRRI Fund Singapore's headquarters near the National University of Singapore (NUS), Mr Leo rattled off a list of problems: Climate change, the rising number of natural disasters, gender bias against women farmers and outdated practices and technology.
He said: 'In Cambodia, farmers still dry their harvests by putting the rice in large baskets and waiting for the sun to dry the grains. But what happens when it rains and dust and dirt get into the rice?'
New seeds, new methods and even new ways of thinking are the order of the day, he said.
The seeds of the future have to be able to deal with increasingly salty water due to rising sea levels, freak droughts, and even seemingly innocuous problems such as warmer nights.
Mr Leo explained: 'Most rice plants flower at night when the temperatures are cooler. It's not good for them if the nights are suddenly not as cool.'
The discrimination against women farmers is also starving the world of extra sources of rice, he said.
'When men go into the cities to look for jobs, they leave the women behind in the villages but no one bothers to train them in rice farming or teach them how to use the land and machines.'
Mr Leo pointed to Africa as an example. The United Nations recently noted that eight out of 10 farmers there who grow staples are women, but a study showed 90 per cent of the women had not been taught to use the land properly.
'It's such a waste,' he said.
He added that the fund would take on all of its challenges at the same time. It is in talks with NUS and non-profit organisation Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory to create a new range of 'super seeds'.
These would be more efficient in turning sunlight into energy, use less water and pesticides, and be better at fighting weeds.
Mr Leo said Singapore's strong science industry and closeness to major Asian rice producers are a boon to these projects.
'The goal is to get the research from the labs to the fields in China, India, all of the countries nearby, in under a year. That would make a revolution possible.'
The fund is also ramping up its drive to highlight the journey of the rice grain from seed to bowl. It recently worked with Science Centre Singapore to set up a permanent rice exhibition at the centre.
It also gave away 10,000 packets of rice seeds to students here to encourage them to grow their own rice, a project it plans to carry out every year.
The ambition of the fund and its parent organisation is evident in the costs: US$65 million (S$81 million) a year for its projects worldwide, and US$75 million to improve its science infrastructure.
Mr Leo believes he can contribute to the fund-raising efforts. 'In fact, I think that's why I got the job.'
He has headed the Centre for Asian Philanthropy, raised money for the Society for Aid to the Paralysed, and set up a programme for physically disabled children under the Asian Women's Welfare Association.
He is also president of the Disabled People's Association here, a post he has held since 2005.
'I'm used to asking people for money,' quipped the bachelor of science graduate from NUS. 'That, and I was trained in molecular biology so I can actually read the research papers.'
His hope is that Singaporeans will recognise the labour that goes into each grain of rice. 'We import all of our rice so it's easy to take it for granted. We don't see the process. But rice doesn't come from a packet in the supermarket.'
Yahoo News 21 May 11;
ANDECHS, Germany (AFP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that 2022 was "a good time" for Germany to end nuclear power, backing a proposal by the Bavarian wing of her party.
She described as "an important contribution" the scenario set out by the Christian Social Union at a meeting in the southern town of Andechs.
The centre-right government is to set out its strategy by the beginning of June and agree draft legislation at a cabinet meeting on June 7 or 15.
Following the earthquake and tsunami which wrecked the Japanese nuclear plant of Fukushima in March, Merkel ordered the closure for three months of Germany's seven oldest reactors.
She also announced a moratorium for the same period of an earlier decision by her government to extend the lifetime of Germany's 17 reactors by an average of 12 years.
Neo Mei Lin’s Giant Clam talk reaches the Twitterverse!
from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS
First reef survey of 2011
from Compressed air junkie
Drawings by our visitors
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs
Mollusc marvels on Changi, and more signs of dugong?
from wild shores of singapore and Singapore Nature
Pretty creatures of Beting Bronok
from wonderful creation and Singapore Nature
Oriental Magpie Robin mimics call of Black-naped Oriole?
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Singapore's Rhino Beetles
from Macro Photography in Singapore
Dragonfly (6a) - Orchithemis Pulcherrima, Male
from Nature Photography - Singapore Odonata
Stephen Coates Yahoo News 20 May 11;
JAKARTA (AFP) – Environmentalists said Friday a long-awaited moratorium on logging in Indonesia, part of a $1 billion climate deal with Norway, is a "disaster" for forests and will do little to fight global warming.
Indonesia banned logging in primary forests and peatlands for two years on Thursday under a deal announced in Oslo in 2010 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation while protecting rich biodiversity.
But environmentalists doubted whether the long-awaited moratorium would save any significant forests that were not already protected, or make any reductions to the massive archipelago's carbon footprint.
"We are very disappointed. We're concerned because it only covers primary forests and peatlands," Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said.
He said the moratorium should also protect woodlands defined as "natural forests", but these had been left at the mercy of the logging companies.
Chris Lang, author of the REDD-monitor blog which tracks efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, said the moratorium was a "disaster for Indonesia?s forests, indigenous peoples and local communities".
He said the moratorium decree announced by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono late Thursday -- five months after it was due to be in place -- contained "gaping loopholes".
There were exemptions for existing logging concessions and those that only had in-principle approval, as well as for "national development" projects such as geothermal power plants and key food crops.
Green groups say forests covered by such concessions store vast amounts of carbon and contain habitats of endangered species such as orangutans and Sumatran tigers.
The moratorium applies to about 88 million hectares (217.5 million acres) of primary forest and peatland, but Maitar said that according to Greenpeace's maps such areas actually covered 104 million hectares.
Elfian Effendi, executive director of forestry policy analysis group Greenomics, said the moratorium "still creates potential for Indonesia to destroy its natural forests".
The regulations have been the subject of intense lobbying from the pulp, paper and palm oil industries, which tried to limit the reach of the moratorium while protecting their vast logging concessions.
Presidential advisor on climate change Agus Purnomo told reporters logging would be banned in "forests that haven't been touched by humans and where there has been no concession activity before".
"Indonesia has been on the right track, heading into a prosperous and sustainable future, and will not return to past development practices that damage the environment at the expense of future generations," he said.
The moratorium is part of a national effort to combat climate change through a UN-backed scheme known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).
REDD promises to slow the release of greenhouse gases from the destruction of forests and carbon-dense peatlands by having rich nations pay emerging countries to preserve their jungles and woods.
Rampant deforestation is one of the main reasons Indonesia is the third biggest greenhouse gas emitter behind the United States and China.
The Indonesian government has set goals to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent while at the same time doubling palm oil production by 2020. It is already the world's biggest palm oil exporter.
Indonesia forest moratorium softens blow for planters
Reuters AlertNet 20 May 11;
* Excludes permits given in principle, permit extensions
* Excludes geothermal, oil, gas, power plants, rice, sugar
* Two-year moratorium does not offer compensation
* Palm oil stocks mostly rise, SMART up 6 pct (Adds Norway declines comment, RSPO statement, factbox)
Olivia Rondonuwu and Michael Taylor
JAKARTA, May 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia revealed a long list of exemptions on Friday to a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear forest, a concession to the hard-lobbying plantation industry in the world's top palm oil producing nation that vexed green groups.
The moratorium, taking effect on Friday after a five-month delay, will exempt permits already given in principle by the forestry ministry and extensions of existing permits, as well as projects to develop supplies of energy, rice and sugar.
The exemptions were wider than expected after pressure from firms worried about expansion and a forestry ministry concerned about losing billions each year in revenue from chopping down forests in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
"There was lots of pressure on the Indonesian government from the palm oil industry about this ban since we bring in significant investments. Today's final details show that agreeable concessions have been made," said a Malaysian planter with assets in Indonesia, who declined to be identified.
However, the moratorium will not provide compensation for firms unable to expand into protected land. It ordered a freeze on new permits to log or convert 64 million hectares (158 million acres) of primary forests and peatlands.
This is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation under a $1 billion climate deal with Norway, but the final version was a let down for environmentalists hoping for wider protection of carbon-rich peat and endemic wildlife.
"This is a bitter disappointment. It will do little to protect Indonesia's forests and peatlands. Seventy-five percent of the forests purportedly protected by this moratorium are already protected under existing Indonesian law, and the numerous exemptions further erode any environmental benefits," said Paul Winn of Greenpeace Australia-Pacific.
Norway's environment ministry declined comment on the moratorium. Officials said they were still studying the details.
But industry body the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) praised the signing of the moratorium, as it targets annual 10 percent increases in green palm supplies.
"It is an affirmative step in the right direction that upholds the integrity of sustainable practices towards the production of palm oil, and reaffirms the country's commitment in this area," Darrel Webber, secretary general at the RSPO said in a statement.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday also signed a decree to allow underground mining activities in protected forests for 20 years, provided conditions such as an environmental assessment have been met, likely to further upset green groups but provide relief for miners such as Newmont , Eramet and Bumi Resources .
Yudhoyono's adviser on climate change, Agus Purnomo, said the forest moratorium will not hinder planters' expansion.
"There is no limitation for those who want to develop business-based plantations. We are not banning firms for palm oil expansion. We are just advising them to do so on secondary forests," Purnomo told a news conference.
Joko Supriyono, secretary general at the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki), told Reuters that uncertainty over the plan had slowed expansion last year to 300,000 hectares of palm oil plantations, from a minimum of 500,000 hectares in recent years.
"It won't put a lot of downward pressure on the (palm oil) sector. There is plenty of land available to plant palm oil or other crops. The land is there -- you can plant plantations in environmentally agreeable areas assuming there is access to infrastructure," said Andreas Bokkenheuser, Singapore-based commodities analyst at UBS.
Shares of Indonesia-listed plantation firms mostly rose on Friday to outperform a steady Jakarta index . Astra Agro Lestari was up 0.6 percent and SMART climbed 6.3 percent, though Gozco fell as much as 1.3 percent.
Gozco's palm oil output is set to rise more than 30 percent this year and it has permits for 56 percent of its landbank, but expansion in the rest could be hit by the moratorium, an executive told Reuters on Thursday.
NATIONAL SECURITY
The forestry ministry has defined primary forest as forest that has grown naturally for hundreds of years, of which there is estimated to be around 44 million hectares in a sprawling tropical archipelago where illegal logging is common.
The exclusion of rice, sugar, oil, gas and power plant projects shows the importance of food and energy security to the government of the G20 member, aiming to feed the world's fourth-largest population and fuel GDP growth of more than 6 percent.
The country's efforts to achieve self-sufficiency served it well in the financial crisis, since a lack of reliance on exports -- unlike many Asian countries -- kept its economy growing and led to it becoming an investor darling on the brink of a coveted sovereign investment grade rating.
The country still surprised markets with bumper rice imports early this year, and relies on sugar imports. Firms such as top listed palm oil planter Wilmar and investment firm Rajawali Group are planning to grow sugar plantations in the lushly forested eastern Papua province.
The moratorium's long delay came as government ministries wrangled over how much forest to include, a symbol of the long-running tension between a nationalistic business old guard and more internationally minded reformers in the government.
The dispute showed how difficult it will be for Indonesia to reach a target of slashing emissions by at least 26 percent by 2020 while still spurring economic growth.
The moratorium was still seen as a step in the right direction for efforts to develop projects to cut emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases, in the absence of an agreement on a new global climate pact following years of U.N. talks.
"There are a lot exclusions there but there is a conscience. It gives the basis from which they can build on to reduce their emissions," said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services in Sydney. (Additional reporting by Niluksi Koswanage in KUALA LUMPUR, David Fogarty in SINGAPORE and Alister Doyle in OSLO; Writing by Neil Chatterjee; Editing by Ramthan Hussain)
Environmentalists Criticize Indonesia’s Plan to Save Forests
Aubrey Belford New York Times 20 May 11;
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia on Friday released the details of a $1 billion program to curb forest destruction and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but environmentalists said the plan gave industry too much leeway to continue clearing vital ecosystems.
The initiative, in the form of a decree signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, commits Indonesia to a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear about 158 million acres of virgin forest and carbon-rich peatland.
The plan had its origins in a climate conference in Oslo in May 2010. It links the $1 billion in financing to “verified emissions reductions” as part of the effort known as Reduced Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation, which is backed by the United Nations. Under the accord, developed countries help pay for the preservation of forests in developing countries.
Scheduled to begin in January, the moratorium was delayed as environmentalists and climate scientists pressed the government to increase the amount of land that would be off limits to new development. Powerful industries and some government departments pushed back.
The moratorium has been promoted as a landmark step in tackling climate change by reducing deforestation, which accounts for nearly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative has been seen as a rare bright spot among stalled efforts to reduce worldwide emissions.
The moratorium — which does not affect existing forestry concessions and also allows for the development in virgin forest of some mining and agriculture projects deemed of vital national interest — has left neither environmentalists nor the affected industries entirely satisfied. But the government said the compromise was a step in reversing Indonesia’s record of unchecked clearing of tropical forests.
“I guess everybody has their own expectations,” said Agus Purnomo, Mr. Yudhoyono’s special adviser on climate change. Referring to nongovernmental organizations, he added, “The NGOs, the international community, they would like to see all permits in all forests be suspended.”
“That’s never been the intention,” he said. “All we’ve committed to is natural forests — that is, forests in good standing, untouched by humans.”
Mr. Purnomo said the moratorium was a first step for Indonesia to reach its goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions — the third highest in the world by some counts — by at least 26 percent by 2020. Other major measures, like a financing mechanism for anti-deforestation projects and an agency to oversee emission reduction efforts, are still being planned.
The environmental group Greenpeace said the moratorium showed that Indonesia had committed itself to the rhetoric of forest conservation, but it contended that compromises to powerful land-clearing industries like palm oil and pulp and paper would undercut the effort.
“Actually, it’s really a bit disappointing,” said Bustar Maitar, a leading forest activist at Greenpeace. “For sure, industry will be happy with this. This is part of their strong lobbying.”
Aida Greenbury, managing director of Asia Pulp and Paper, one of Indonesia’s largest paper producers, called the plan “a step forward.” But she said it needed to be followed by government action on promises to clear up Indonesia’s confusing system of land classification. The system makes it unclear just what is virgin forest and what is “degraded” land, which is considered to have lower environmental value.
Louis Verchot, chief climate scientist with the Center for International Forestry Research, based in Indonesia, cautioned that the moratorium was only a first step in addressing the long-term need to reduce emissions. “This guarantees a reduction in emissions, but it doesn’t guarantee Indonesia is going to meet its targets,” he said. “This should not be construed in any way as the mechanism by which Indonesia is going to meet its emissions reductions commitments.”
Activists Cry Foul as 35% of Forests Avoid Permits Freeze
Fidelis E Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 21 May 11;
Sighs of relief from activists on Thursday that a long-awaited two-year moratorium on forest clearance permits had finally been signed were drowned out on Friday after it emerged that more than a third of Indonesia’s forest area will not be covered.
“The announcement is a far cry from the commitment made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono related to forest protection and leads to big questions on its implementation,” said Bustar Maitar, a Greenpeace forest campaigner.
A presidential adviser on climate change on Thursday said that Yudhoyono had finally signed the two-year moratorium that had been scheduled to have come into effect in January. But after details of the moratorium were released at a news conference on Friday, discontent was on the rise.
Bustar voiced anger that the moratorium only covered primary forests and peatland, which were already protected by the law. “[There are] still millions of hectares of Indonesia’s forests that will be destroyed,” he said.
A map attached to the moratorium documents shows that 64.2 million hectares of primary forest and 31.9 million hectares of peatland were covered, but not 36.6 million hectares of secondary forest. Primary forest is untouched by agriculture or industry, secondary forest is part of areas that have been partially cleared for agricultural or industrial use.
“Greenpeace has estimated that 104.8 million hectares of forest should be included in the moratorium,” Bustar added.
Giorgio Budi Indrarto, program manager for forest and climate at the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, said the moratorium was inadequate. “The primary forests in Indonesia are declining, but the total area [covered by them] is open to question. [Areas] called primary forest include the national parks. So, what’s the use of the permit moratorium if it only covers primary forests [as these are mostly protected already]?” he said.
The 1999 Forestry Law, Giorgio said, did not contain any reference to primary forest and instead used the terms protected forest, conservation forest and production forest to describe areas where varying degrees of human activity were allowed.
“How is it that something that did not [legally] exist suddenly becomes recognized?” he said, noting that the government was not consistent in its use of legal terms.
Teguh Surya, head of climate justice at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the term had no prior legal basis. “It is only a technical definition which is only used to define the levels of forest degradation and should not be put into context of policy or issuing permits,” Teguh said.
He also said the moratorium should not have been issued in the form of a presidential instruction [Inpres].
“A presidential instruction is only the president’s instruction to individual government officials” and therefore lacks the authority of, for instance, a full-blown law, he said.
Giorgio said there was also the problem of companies eying underground mining concessions in protected forests that already received a “permit in principle” from the Forestry Ministry and would thus not be covered by the moratorium. He pointed out these were not actual permits, suggesting there should be a possibility to not grant such companies permission to advance.
“In the past, a decision approved ‘in principle’ could always be changed,” Giorgio said.
He also said that the moratorium contained no instruction to law enforcers, “as if all the complexity of forest issues in the country can be solved by administrative means only.”
Four kinds of exceptions to apply in forest clearing moratorium
Antara 20 May 11;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is to make four kinds of exceptions in the implementation of Presidential Instruction No. 10/2011 on Moratorium on New Logging Concessions for Primary Forests and Peat lands, a presidential aide said.
"In enforcing the moratorium, the government will make certain exceptions," Agus Purnomo, the President`s Special Assistant on Climate Change, said here Friday.
The first category of exceptions would be on logging concessions covered by "in principle" permits from the forestry minister. Also exempted from the moratorium would be forest clearing to make room for vital national development projects, namely geothermal, oil and gas explorations and exploitation, electricity, paddy fields and sugarcane plantations.
The third category of exceptions would be on areas covered by extended development permits as long the concession holder`s business license was still valid.
The moratorium would also not apply to forest clearing to be done in the interest of ecosystem restoration.
"So if there is a degraded forest that needs to be restored, the moratorium can be ignored," Agus Purnomo said.
The presidential decree on a moratorium on logging concessions for two years was only applicable to primary forests and peat lands in conserved forests, protected forests, production forests and the Other Use Land (APL).
This meant that logging concessions still could be issued on secondary forests.
Based on forestry ministry 2010 data, Indonesia has 64.2 million hectares of primary forests, 24.5 million hectares of peat lands. Meanwhile, 7.4 million hectares of peat lands are located inside primary forests.
Secondary forests cover a total area of 36.6 million hectares.
"The data could change any time," Agus said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has already signed a regulation that imposes a moratorium on forest clearing activity, according to Agus Purnomo earlier.
"The President has said he signed a presidential regulation declaring a moratorium on forest clearing activity," Agus Purnomo said here Thursday.
Agus, however, could not give more detailed information on the regulation because the document was still in the hands of the cabinet secretary, and he had not yet received a copy of the regulation.
The presidential regulation signed by the head of state was a combination and simplification of two drafts proposed respectively by the forestry ministry and the UN REDD Task Force, Agus said.
The moratorium on new concessions in peatland and primary forests is part of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between Indonesia and Norway, called the Oslo Accord. (f001/B/HAJM/17:15/f001)
(ANTARA)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Forest Moratorium Too Harsh For Some, Too Weak for Others
Fidelis E Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 21 May 11;
While forest activists were denouncing a government moratorium on new concession in forests as disappointing, a palm oil businessman on Friday said the regulation went too far and only created more uncertainty for businesses.
On Thursday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a presidential instruction ordering the Forestry Ministry, governors, and district heads to stop issuing new logging concession in primary forests and peatlands for the next two years.
But green activists said the moratorium was only applicable to only 64 million hectares of the country’s 132 million hectare forest coverage. And now Joko Supriyono, secretary general of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki) bemoaned the fact the business world had not been consulted.
Joko said the moratorium included forested areas known as APL, which are forests that can be used for other purposes such as plantations or mining.
He said that the moratorium covered 3.6 million hectares of APL in primary forests and another 9.7 million hectares in peatland.Joko also lashed out at the moratorium for putting peatland off limits for new concessions.
“Now, all peatlands are banned for two years, including peatlands less than three meters deep that are currently allowed under a Ministry of Agriculture and presidential decision,” he said.
He added in neighboring Malaysia, palm oil plantations were permitted on peatland of any depth.
“It’s just too weird to have a moratorium on peatland.”
Joko said the moratorium could generate further conflict because the definition of primary and secondary forest was not clear.
“In addition, the map attached to the moratorium will bring more dispute because it’s going to be a reference, even though there is a provincial spatial plan.”
The spatial plan, he said differentiated between forest and plantation areas while the moratorium’s map did not.
The two year new permit moratorium will also affect palm oil expansion plans and cause job losses, he said.
“We are targeting 600,000 hectares of expansion per year, but with the two year moratorium, we could lose at least 200,000 to 300,000 hectares,” he said, adding it would translate into losing 50,000 to 80,000 jobs and two million tons of production.
However, Muhammad Teguh Surya, head of climate justice at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), said the moratorium would be hard to implement in full because it did not involve two significant ministries, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Energy.
“Those two ministries have a crucial role in deforestation practices,” Teguh said. “We think this was done deliberately so that palm oil and mining people can still convert natural forests in the name of profit.”
Countries form European Palm Oil Council in attempt to counter criticism of industry's environmental record
Rikke Bruntse-Dahl guardian.co.uk 20 May 11;
Malaysia and Indonesia, which together account for about 90% of the world's palm oil production, have launched a joint PR offensive to defend the industry's environmental record.
Late last week, ministers from the two countries agreed to finalise plans for a European Palm Oil Council (EPOC) by the end of this year, to defend the trade of palm oil to the European Union and counter the "anti-palm oil campaign". The industry has been accused by environmental groups of destroying biodiversity and causing social conflicts, deforestation and climate change.
In a joint communique, the countries said: "This body will provide the industry [with] a collective platform to represent both countries on public debates that relate to palm oil issues such as sustainability, energy security, public health, address NGOs' anti palm-oil campaigns, non-aligned lobby groups, media, journalists and feedbacks of Members of the European Parliament."
In another move to promote palm oil to the western market, Bernard Dompok, minister of plantation industries and commodities in Malaysia and Dr Suswono Asyraf, minister of agriculture in Indonesia, will visit Washington DC next week. They will discuss barriers to palm oil trade with the US secretaries of agriculture and energy, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US secretary of commerce and US-ASEAN business.
Dompok told the Borneo Post the initiative was "a continuation of a similar mission to the EU in November 2010".
"When we were doing our joint mission, we met some members of parliament who didn't know what an oil palm tree looks like. I think we should really work together and talk to them as a team," he said.
Critics are sceptical the new push will quell the fears related to palm oil production. Friends of the Earth's biofuels campaigner, Kenneth Richter, said: "No amount of PR will alter the facts about palm oil. The UN says it's one of the leading drivers of deforestation in south-east Asia – trashing rainforest and wildlife. Just last month evidence surfaced that IOI – one of the biggest Malaysian palm oil producers – is involved in illegal deforestation and land rights conflicts."
Gurmit Singh, founder of the centre for environment, technology and development, Malaysia (CETDEM), an environmental NGO, said: "The truth is, both sides are over-generalising – the palm oil industry as well as the NGOs in the north. NGOs need to be careful not to tar all palm oil producers with the same brush – not all palm oil plantations have caused deforestation and loss of biodiversity.
"What is needed is not more pro- or anti-palm oil PR, but accountability and transparency and an effective chain of custody for palm oil. Everyone – NGOs, palm oil producers and the media – has the responsibility to report the truth and ultimately the consumer will decide."
UPI 20 May 11;
LONDON, May 20 (UPI) -- Oil palm plantations in Malaysia are causing forest fragmentation that threatens wildlife and multiple levels of biodiversity, researchers say.
Scientists from Queen Mary University of London, studying bats as an indicator of environmental change, say they're worried that unless steps are taken to safeguard and manage the remaining forest, certain species will struggle to survive, a university release reported Friday.
The team conducted bat surveys in pristine forest and also in areas of fragmented forest resulting from increased clearing of land for oil palm plantations.
They recorded the numbers of different species present.
"We found that smaller forest areas support fewer species, and that those species that remain face an eventual decline, potentially leading to local extinction in the long-term," researcher Mathew Struebig said.
They found that fragmentation appeared to have an even greater impact on genetic loss, vital for long-term population viability.
"We found that in order to retain the numbers of bat species seen in pristine forest, forest patches had to be larger than 650 hectares (1,600 acres), however to retain comparable levels of genetic diversity, areas needed to be greater than 10,000 hectares (24,000 acres)," he said.
The findings could have important implications for forest management in the face of ever-growing demand for oil palm plantations, the researchers said.
Smooth otter carcass at West Coast Park, today
from Otterman speaks
Pregnant papas on Changi, with signs of dugong?
from wild shores of singapore
Nest building by the Common Iora
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Nudibranch Galore @ Beting Bronok
from colourful clouds
Lip service
from The annotated budak
Natalie Koh Business Times 20 May 11;
WITH the year 2011 declared as the International Year of Forests by the United Nations, even artists have jumped in to do their part in stressing the importance of conservation.
For six weeks, 15 artists had bunked in at the Wallace Environmental Learning Laboratory at Dairy Farm Nature Park to create works for their exhibition - Manicured Nature Art Exhibition.
Organised by Artists Caravan, an independent, non-profit, artist collective, along with Raffles Girls' School (RGS), the exhibition aims to create a sense of community ownership and responsibility in people of all generations, particularly urban-dwellers, as the organisers believe that more should be done to preserve the forests and the memories they hold.
To emphasise this, all the works for the exhibition were made from found objects at the Nature Park.
Joey Soh of Artists Caravan says: 'The one rule underpinning all Artists Caravan's projects is that materials for the production of artworks should be objects found on site. The primary intention to use found objects is that the contents are directly drawn from site, adding historical significance to the artworks.'
She adds that the exhibition stands for three different kinds of conservation, namely: 'Preserving memories of people, places and objects at the venue itself; cherishing working relationships made during the project; and reusing and/or returning materials to its original state and location to reduce landfill possibilities.'
Chan Mei Hsien, also a part of the artists' collective, says that the project has made her even more green-conscious, especially in her art-making process. For her exhibited work, Nature Assemblage, she uses tree parts, broken tiles, elephant ear leaves, wood, flower pots, African tulip pods and tree logs to create a circle, as if marking territory.
She explains: 'Collecting, selecting and arranging found materials were a natural reaction to the site... Humans tend to create boundaries to claim the area as their own. It reflected on my own situation as an artist who is always on the move and in search of a personalised working space.
'The desire to establish harmony within the drawn boundaries and how nature can disrupt the establishment presented the vulnerable side of an outdoor installation,' she adds.
Other works to look out for are My time was too much occupied with those branches of natural history, by Sha Njak, which is an installation of a silver-coated branch to symbolise preservation and purity; Catch your dream according to your belief, by Mel Araneta, which features dreamcatchers made of nets and tree branches; and A Little Clay, by Suwong Kunrattanamaneephorn, which encourages viewers to enjoy the small things (look out for the tiny baby figurines hidden in the tree log).
Some of the works were created by students from RGS as well. This is in line with the exhibition's goals of reaching out to people of all ages. Soh says: 'We want to engage the youth, as it conjures feelings of respect and responsibility for the Nature Park, as well as bonds them to the place and each other.'
All objects used must eventually be returned to their original places, and be 'put back to nature'. Soh explains that this is because Artists Caravan does not want to 'leave negative trails from our residency'.
Chan adds: 'Nothing will be wasted in this project, so what is left is only the documentation, the experience and a greater appreciation for Mother Nature.'
Open to the public, the Manicured Nature Art Exhibition is open on Saturdays and Sundays, 10am to 6pm from May 14 to June 29, at the Wallace Environmental Learning Laboratory
Artists and students inspired by nature
Heather Marie Lee Straits Times 22 May 11;
Fifteen artists have had a brush with the wild, after taking part in what is believed to be Singapore's first artists-in-residence programme in a nature park.
The group, from Singapore and other parts of South-east Asia, stayed at the Wallace Environmental Learning Laboratory at Dairy Farm Nature Park in Upper Bukit Timah over six weekends.
They expressed their responses to their natural environment using different artistic media and forms.
Their work will be on display at the Manicured Nature and Illuminating Nature Programme Art Exhibition, which opened on May 14.
The residency was organised by Artists Caravan, founded by artists Joey Soh, 29, and Ong Xiao Yun, 31.
Ms Soh said the group wanted to explore a different environment for its third artist residency programme, and chose a natural instead of an urban one.
The exhibition also features art pieces by students from Raffles Girls' School.
About 50 students took part in the Illuminating Nature Programme, a two-day residential camp organised by the school last month.
They were encouraged to respond to their natural environment through art, writing or scientific studies.
The exhibition will be held until June 29, from 10am to 6pm. Admission is free.
Workshops will be carried out by the artists on alternate Sundays.
They will hold one today, where participants will put together a collective mural, which they have termed an 'earthblanket'.
This workshop is part of the National Parks Board's celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity.
Also as part of the celebrations, schools in Singapore planted 221 trees yesterday in support of The Green Wave, a global campaign by the Convention on Biological Diversity.
This year, 210 schools took part, more than double the 91 last year.
Harsha Jethnani Straits Times 20 May 11;
SINGAPOREAN consumers are less concerned than their Asian counterparts about having their trusted brands take on corporate social responsibility efforts, a new survey shows.
Less than half - 48 per cent - of the 1,000 respondents polled here, thought it was important for a trusted brand to carry out environmental actions. This was below the 62 per cent average across seven other Asian markets polled in the annual Reader's Digest Trusted Brands Survey 2011.
Released on Thursday, the study polled 8,000 consumers in Asia including markets like China, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Other findings included Singapore's number four ranking in the willingness to reconsider a product within one year of a quality scandal. Malaysia, India and the Phillipines were the least tolerant of such scandals while Taiwan emerged the most tolerant.
Aside from the year-to-year findings, the survey's main crux is to identify brands which appeal most to Asian consumers. All respondents were asked to name their most trusted brands across 11 industries and 42 product categories.
In 2011, 40 out of the 99 top names were local Singaporean brands. Of these 40, 13 were given platinum status - applicable only to brands that score three times more than their nearest competitor or gained four out of five points for quality. The remaining were given the gold status, meaning that they managed to score above competitors.
Leading the platinum pack were NTUC FairPrice - a fourth win for the brand in the supermarket chains category - and Chan Brothers with its third platinum win in the travel agency category. Other Platinum winners included Singapore Airlines, National University of Singapore, Gardenia and King Koil. Awards were handed out on Thursday evening at a gala dinner held at the St Regis Hotel.
Ronnie Lim Business Times 20 May 11;
THE use of coal for power generation - which has started on a small scale in Singapore - will 'dominate over gas by 2030 as the fuel of choice' in South-east Asia, says consultant Wood Mackenzie.
This arises from the region's need for substantial new power-generating capacity due to strong economic growth.
'A shift to coal in the region's fuel mix has already started with 35 gigawatts (GW) of committed coal-fired plant being developed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and even on a smaller scale in Singapore,' said Graham Tyler, the consultant's head of Southeast Asia Gas and Power Service.
'We think that while there are opportunities for gas suppliers, the trend towards more coal-fired power in South-east Asia will continue beyond 2020 despite arguments against it.'
Wood Mackenzie forecasts that gross domestic product (GDP) in this region will grow 5.2 per cent annually over the next decade, compared to the global average of 3.5 per cent.
'As a result, power demand is expected to triple, representing a need for an additional 190 GW of generating capacity by 2030 . . . To meet this demand, there must be an increase in all fuel types, especially in coal and gas that can operate at baseload,' Wood Mackenzie said in a report.
In Singapore, phase one of China Huaneng-owned Tuas Power's $2 billion clean coal/biomass multi- utilities plant will start up in mid-2012, with the genco already considering embarking on phase two.
Electricity generation using coal is one of the fuel diversification options for the short and medium term suggested by the Economic Strategies Committee Report, while the government is also studying a coal gasification plant on Jurong Island to produce synthetic gas feedstock for petrochemical industries there.
Wood Mackenzie cites several factors for coal overtaking gas in this region.
One is that 'local gas reserves in decline will be insufficient to match existing production levels to feed the domestic markets', said Mr Tyler.
Reserve replacement is an issue in a number of mature production areas such as Java/Sumatra, the Gulf of Thailand and the Malay Basin.
'LNG (liquefied natural gas) is a potential solution but it is too costly for a region used to low and often subsidised gas prices,' Mr Tyler added.
Second, 'governments have expressed that reducing carbon emissions should not come at the expense of developing their economies'.
Besides, air pollution from coal-firing can be reduced with increased energy efficiency and technological improvements. The implementation cost will still make coal-fired plants more economical than LNG.
Finally, the region's power markets also benefit from their proximity to Indonesia, which has sufficient supply to meet domestic and Asia-Pacific demand growth up till 2030. This proximity provides the option of barging coal directly from Indonesian mines to regional markets.
Tuas Power's Indonesian suppliers - PT Bayan Resources and Samtan Co Ltd - will do just that, shipping in coal from Kalimantan to Jurong Island in covered barges.
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