29 Aug (Mon): Talk on "Understanding the dynamics of the pangolin trade" from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!
“Marine Life in Singapore and the Impact of Man”
from News from the International Coastal Cleanup
The Kent Ridge Kampong
from Macro Photography in Singapore
Fascinating fishes of Admiralty mangroves
from wild shores of singapore
greenwashed chemical drumming & fishfarming? @ seletar 21Aug2011 from sgbeachbum
Its new project aims to link greenery with living, working areas
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 23 Aug 11;
IMAGINE going rock-climbing using the columns of expressway viaducts.
Or relaxing among greenery planted in the empty spaces beneath overhead train tracks.
The National Parks Board (NParks) said yesterday that these ideas could become reality, as part of its new project to create more green spaces and improve existing ones. Called 'City in a Garden', it aims to connect greenery across the island with residents' living and working spaces.
Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower, said the goal is to move Singapore beyond 'just a city with parks and streetscape greenery' to one where both are integrated.
The concept was introduced in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech earlier this month, where he called for parks and gardens in the heartland to be linked with greenery across the country.
NParks chief executive officer Poon Hong Yuen said this could allow residents to access an islandwide network of parks, nature areas, streetscape and park connectors just by stepping out of their homes.
To achieve this, the agency wants the public to contribute ideas online and via a roving exhibition that will visit schools, parks and housing estates.
They can visit new website www.nparks.gov.sg/ciag between now and next June, or leave comments on the agency's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nparksbuzz
The agency outlined six areas for contributions:
How to establish world-class gardens
This includes suggestions for educational and leisure activities in the Singapore Botanic Gardens and the upcoming Gardens by the Bay, which opens next June.
How to improve parks and greenery in the streets
This includes suggestions for night programmes such as concerts and plays to attract people to visit the parks after dark.
How to optimise the use of urban spaces for greenery and recreation
This includes identifying untapped urban spaces such as the empty areas underneath overhead train tracks for greenery and recreational activities.
How to encourage biodiversity in the city
How to improve the landscape and horticultural industry
How to encourage residents to appreciate and use green spaces, and help government agencies make Singapore greener
Experts The Straits Times spoke to said the initiative could help Singa-poreans feel a greater sense of ownership and pride in the country's green spaces.
One suggestion was to have a calendar of high-profile events at parks to attract Singaporeans to visit them throughout the year.
An example of this is Bryant Park in New York in the United States, which hosts events such as the annual New York Fashion Week.
Mr Leong Kwok Peng, vice-president of the Nature Society (Singapore), said NParks could vary the nature of green spaces.
'Some places should be left more wild to provide an alternative to the 'manicured' feel of the parks,' he said.
NParks said suitable ideas will be implemented and announced when ready.
Sprucing up Singapore's urban landscape
Evelyn Choo Channel NewsAsia 22 Aug 11;
SINGAPORE: Expect Singapore's urban landscape to be spruced up with nature over the next decade.
The National Parks Board or NParks on Monday revealed its "City in a Garden" framework - which could see more skyrise greenery and green urban spaces.
The "City in a Garden" reference came from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's comments during the National Day Rally, on keeping Singapore "special and exceptional" by having parks and gardens in the heartlands.
Besides cultivating world-class greenery attractions to draw the international crowd, NParks is hoping to sow more seeds of interest among Singaporeans.
"We will look at rejuvenating some of our larger regional parks so that they become destinations in themselves, that people from all over the island would want to come and enjoy," said Poon Hong Yuen, CEO of National Parks Board.
But that's not to say interest has not been flourishing in the heartlands.
There are some 400 community gardens in Singapore, and the plan is to double this number.
Public engagement seems to be the key focus of this framework.
NParks said it has already received ideas from Singaporeans to develop the green spine, previously occupied by the old KTM railway tracks, into a cycling route that could span 20 kilometres.
"We don't have a whole lot of details in terms of our implementation - and that's deliberate, because we don't want everything to be cast in stone. We want to leave a lot of room for new ideas to be incorporated into the plan," said Poon.
The year-long feedback process will see roving exhibitions and the use of online social media, through which NParks will collate suggestions from the public. The best ideas will be incorporated into specific plans.
To get the ball rolling, it's suggesting that some parks could be developed as attractive night destinations, and unused urban areas like the spaces under MRT tracks could be used for recreation.
In his latest Facebook post, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin described how he saw Singapore as an even greener home.
He went into details of what the National Park Board's "City in a Garden" framework will look like.
At the ground level, he described parks and gardens.
But he also said the greenery would extend vertically, with sky gardens.
He called upon Singaporeans to do their part to bring this vision into reality by taking better care of the environment and natural heritage.
He said this can be done in the simplest ways like keeping green areas and waterways free from litter and pollution.
Brigadier General (NS) Tan also called on Singaporeans to share their thoughts and ideas on the CIAG portal at www.nparks.gov.sg/ciag
He cautioned there would be tradeoffs to consider in making Singapore a "City in a Garden" due to the country's land scarcity and resource constraints. But he gave the assurance that these constraints will be carefully thought through.
- CNA/cc/ls
Ideas sought on City in a Garden
Esther Ng Today Online 22 Aug 11;
SINGAPORE - The National Parks Board (NParks) has come up with six areas to enhance the Republic's living environment by having more parks and gardens in housing estates.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said during his National Day Rally speech Singapore would be a City in a Garden.
NParks will be looking to enliven Singapore's streetscape, enrich biodiversity in urban environments and optimise urban spaces for greenery and recreation.
Other areas also include inspiring communities to create a greener Singapore, enhancing Singapore's horticultural and landscape competencies, and establishing world-class gardens.
The public can contribute their suggestions on these six areas or suggest other ways to enhance Singapore's living environment on the portal www.nparks.gov.sg/ciag
Singaporeans have until next June to submit their suggestions.
In the meantime, NParks will be holding roving exhibitions at parks, educational institutions and housing estates to get people to think of ways in which living in a Garden can be achieved.
They can also post their comments on NParks' Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/nparksbuzz
An NParks spokesman said suitable ideas and suggestions from the public will be implemented and announced when ready.
Public can play a part to link S'pore's green spaces
Esther Ng Today Online 23 Aug 11;
SINGAPORE - Adventure-themed parks, converting spaces under Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) tracks and expressway viaducts into recreational spaces, these are some of the ideas the National Parks Board (NParks) has come up to transform the living environment.
Following Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's announcement during his National Day Rally speech to create a "City in the Garden", NParks is inviting suggestions from the public on how this can be achieved.
"Imagine stepping out of your house and not having to wander too far, you find yourself in a lush garden seamlessly connected to other recreational spaces, leisure attractions and even your workplace by a network of park connectors, green links and waterways," said Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin on Facebook yesterday.
Singapore should be more than just a city with "parks and streetscape greenery"; rather, the city and urban landscape should be surrounded by lush greenery, with green spaces all linked up, he said.
Using Tampines Eco Green and Pasir Ris Park as examples, NParks chief executive Poon Hong Yuen said: "We want to make (parks) destinations in themselves, so it's not just the people in the vicinity visiting."
NParks is also looking at increasing the number of community gardens from 400 to 800 and biodiversity in the urban environment by reintroducing "selected native species" into the environment.
"We believe urban living can be enriched by having daily close encounters with nature," said Mr Poon.
Environmental consultant Eugene Tay, 33, welcomed the approach to engage the community.
"Whether the parks should be natural or manicured, there should be discussion and the residents should get involved to maintain it," he said.
Non-profit organisation Ground Up Initiative chief Tay Lai Hock, 47, concurred but voiced concerns about NParks' plans to boost mechanisation and skills in the landscape and horticulture industries, one of the thrusts in the six key areas.
"Some of these suggestions are very labour-intensive. We will be getting foreign labour or will we pay Singaporeans enough to be interested in horticulture and landscaping?" he asked.
Architect and butterfly watcher Khew Sin Khoon, 51, wondered how comfortable Singaporeans would be with increased biodiversity in their midst.
Said Mr Khew: "Are we prepared for more bees and wasps, centipedes, changeable lizards? And when there are frogs, snakes will follow. All these creatures are part and parcel of the ecological chain."
The public have until next June to give their feedback at www.nparks.gov.sg/ciag or www.facebook.com/nparksbuzz.
Ideas sought to create a City in a Garden
Kelly Tay Business Times 23 Aug 11;
IMAGINE climbing a rock wall feature underneath an MRT track, or cycling through the old rail corridor for 20km without having to stop at traffic light junctions.
These are just some of the possibilities that the National Parks Board (NParks) is considering in its vision to create a City in a Garden (CIAG), which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had mentioned in his national day rally.
To introduce the CIAG vision and framework, NParks yesterday launched a public engagement exercise to get Singaporeans involved in the co-creation of a 'greener, more endearing home'.
A roving public exhibition on CIAG will be held at various locations island-wide, including parks, educational institutions, and housing estates. The aim is to get Singaporeans to share their ideas on how the city-state's living environment can be improved.
Said Poon Hong Yuen, chief executive officer of NParks: 'We want to transform our Garden City to a City in a Garden. The difference is like having your home within a garden, compared to just having a garden beside your house.'
To guide the transformation, six key areas have been identified: Establish world-class gardens; rejuvenate urban parks and enliven our streetscape; optimise urban spaces for greenery and recreation; enrich biodiversity in our urban environment; enhance competencies of our landscape and horticultural industry; and engage and inspire communities to co-create a greener Singapore.
Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower, called the CIAG vision 'a powerful one that seeks to tie in our environment, history, and heritage with recreation and community space', and urged Singaporeans to contribute their ideas and suggestions.
Visitors to the exhibition may drop their ideas in the available suggestion boxes, or they may visit the CIAG portal at www.nparks.gov.sg/ciag.
The call for ideas runs from August this year to June 2012.
NParks said that it will collate contributions from the public and incorporate the best ideas into specific plans. When ready, the plans will be shared with the public.
M. Hamzah Jamaludin The Star 23 Aug 11;
KUANTAN: The Orang Asli are at times forced to become poachers just to earn some extra income for their monthly expenses, without realising the real value of the protected animals.
Peninsular Malaysia Orang Asli Association president Majid Suhut said it was wrong to accuse the Orang Asli of aiming to make big profits from such activities.
"I do not think they know the real value of the protected animals as normally, they only receive few hundred ringgit when selling the items to a middleman," said Majid when contacted by the New Straits Times.
Majid, the Tok Batin (village head) in the Guntong Orang Asli settlement in Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan, explained that no Orang Asli would take the risk to capture such animals if they were not desperate.
"In many cases that I know, they are willing to catch the animals when they need extra money to support their family," said Majid, who sometimes gathers forest produce and hunt wild animals to supplement his income as a rubber tapper.
Majid said that it was not easy to capture wild animals nowadays as many of them had moved deep into the jungles.
"You can consider yourself lucky if you stumble upon one.
"It is also very risky to hunt them, especially huge and dangerous animals like tigers and elephants."
He said the Orang Asli in his village were lucky as they could get better incomes by tapping rubber at their own plots or at the smallholdings owned by the Malays in nearby villages.
"I think we can settle this problem if the government can provide lands or suitable jobs for the Orang Asli, especially those who are still living near or inside the jungles."
The view was shared by Kampung Tenggalung Orang Asli village head Majid Jaafar, who felt that the Orang Asli were actually forced to hunt the exotic animals as they needed more money to support their families.
With an average of five to six children in each family, he said it would be difficult for the Orang Asli parents to earn sufficient income every month by selling forest produce alone.
The 59-year-old Tok Batin is known for his role in leading a group of Orang Asli who had applied for a judicial review against the state government's approval of land in Kampung Sungai Buan, Rompin, which they claimed as their ancestral land.
"There should be a special resettlement for the Orang Asli like the Felda scheme," said Majid, who has seven children and six grandchildren.
However, Orang Asli contractor Chow Gek Chow Kiat begged to differ, as she claimed there was no excuse for the Orang Asli to be involved in illegal activities including animal poaching.
"There are vast opportunities provided for them and they can succeed if they work hard like others," said Chow Gek, who won the Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Women's Institute Of Management Woman Of The Year Award in 2005.
Making fishing lines more visible to whales is one of the conservation steps supported by researchers, regulators, engineers and fishermen.
Cornelia Dean The New York Times 22 Aug 11;
BOSTON — In the world of environmental regulation, where the hope is to write rules that both industry and science can live with, few areas are as contentious as fishing. Especially on the East Coast, fishermen attack scientists as mired in bottomless ignorance about how fish are actually caught. Scientists sometimes describe fishermen as racing to catch the last fish, regardless of the harm to vanishing species.
But new efforts to protect marine creatures have gained surprising support from researchers, regulators, engineers and fishermen.
The issue is bycatch — fish, whales, turtles, sea birds and even corals killed or injured by fishermen in search of other species. The best-known example is dolphin caught in tuna nets, but the problem is far more extensive than that.
“It’s part of the collateral damage fishing causes,” said Tim Werner, who directs the marine conservation engineering program at the New England Aquarium. “You deploy a net and catch a turtle, put out a pot for a lobster and entangle a whale, put out a trawl and pull up coral.”
The problem affects marine species around the world, many of them endangered. Though much attention is paid to overfishing, “often our greatest impact is not on the species we target to catch but the species we did not intend to catch,” Mr. Werner said.
“The seafood on your plate,” he added, “is not the only animal that gave its life to feed you.”
The new efforts focus on modifications to fishing gear. They include relatively simple steps, like changes in hook design, and more complex ones: making fishing lines more visible to whales, changing noise levels on fishing boats and impregnating metal gear with substances meant to repel “bycatch species” like sharks.
Engineered bycatch reduction goes back to the 1990s in the Gulf of Maine, where harbor porpoises were turning up in fishermen’s nets. On the theory that porpoises are sensitive to noise, engineers and biologists developed beer-can-size devices that emitted pinging noises underwater. Within weeks of attaching the pingers to their nets, fishermen saw porpoise bycatch drop by 90 percent.
“It is a little more expensive for the fishermen, but most fishermen are willing to put up with the expense,” said Scott Kraus, vice president for research at the New England Aquarium, headquarters for the Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction, one of several cooperative efforts.
He added that researchers were now working to design noisemakers that could be installed on boats to keep bycatch species away. And they are testing whether the sound of hauling in fish is like a dinner bell, attracting these species to nets.
This year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which regulates fishing in federal waters, began requiring fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico to use another innovation: hooks that are robust enough to catch “target” species like yellowfin tuna or swordfish but bend and release when grabbed by heavier species like bluefin tuna.
Chris Rilling, a fishery biologist at NOAA, said experiments by researchers and fishermen showed that these “weak hooks” reduced bycatch of bluefin tuna in the gulf by 56 percent — a considerable success, he said, because bluefin tuna are severely overfished and the Gulf of Mexico is a major spawning ground.
Elsewhere, he said, the agency is moving to require the use of the circle hook, so called because “it largely comes around and wraps back on itself,” unlike conventional J-shaped hooks. When they were adopted in Hawaii, he said, sea turtle bycatch fell by more than 80 percent, so “we have really been pushing for circle hooks all over the world.”
Mr. Rilling said the government had a host of other proposals to reduce sea turtle bycatch, including requiring boats fishing for albacore tuna to keep hooks at least 100 meters (328 feet) below the surface — where, he said, they will be “out of the way of the turtles.”
“This comes back to the fishermen telling us when, where and how they set their gear where they don’t have much bycatch and trying to get those lessons learned and get them more widely adopted,” said Mr. Rilling, who fished for salmon, herring and halibut in Prince William Sound, Alaska, in the 1980s and ’90s. “They know how they interact with their gear.”
Another gear modification was invented by two Rhode Island fishermen, Phil Ruhle and his son Phil Jr., with the help of gear researchers at the University of Rhode Island. The Ruhles fished for haddock, which NOAA describes as a relatively healthy fish stock, and wanted to avoid catching cod, a depleted species.
They modified the mesh size of their nets and redesigned them to capitalize on their observation that frightened haddock tend to swim up, while species like cod dive for deeper water. Phil Ruhle Sr. died at sea in 2008, but the “Ruhle trawl” is now in wide use.
As many as 80 percent of North Atlantic right whales, an endangered species, carry scars from entanglements with fishing gear. Here at the New England Aquarium, researchers are working with engineers and fishermen on experimental lines colored or illuminated to make them easier for whales to spot.
While the whales “appear to be colorblind,” Mr. Werner said, they seem to be able to make out the reddish color of the tiny crayfish and other copepods that are the major part of their diet. In the Bering Sea, pollock fisheries are closely monitoring accidental catches of salmon; Mr. Rilling of NOAA says the companies relay information to their fleets “almost instantaneously” so fishermen can avoid areas where salmon are turning up in pollock nets. A similar effort is under way in Massachusetts, he said, where scallop fishermen track inadvertent catches of yellowtail flounder.
But Mr. Werner said that for some species in need of protection, “we don’t really have anything off the shelf ready to go.”
That is the case with sharks, for instance, though there are some promising leads. Researchers have noticed that sharks avoid encounters with certain rare metals, used in computers and other devices. “Maybe you can attach these elements to fishing gear,” Mr. Werner said. “The jury is still out on that.”
Researchers are also investigating whether an electric signal might lure sharks away from baited hooks. Mr. Werner said fishermen would help test this approach off the southeast coast of the United States.
Some people remain skeptical that such collaborations will lead to lasting gains. David Cousens, who heads the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, says that while his members have worked hard to accommodate the demands of conservationists, the changes tend to be expensive and cumbersome, and he is waiting for data to show that they are beneficial.
“The thing is driven so hard by the conservation community,” he said. “They have money and lawyers, and when they are not happy about something they sue. We are at the mercy of lawyers and judges who know nothing about fishing.”
And some problems persist despite cooperation.
Those porpoise-saving pingers, for example, may be doing too good a job, experts say — driving the creatures away from otherwise useful habitat. Dr. Kraus, of the New England Aquarium, says it turned out that raising the frequency of the pings reduced the area of ocean affected, a discovery that led regulators in Europe to alter pinger requirements.
But the American regulations state explicitly what the ping frequency must be, and it cannot be changed unless too many porpoises start being caught again — something he called unlikely, given the pingers’ efficiency.
He was asked if that was an example of stupid regulation. “Choicer words have been used,” he replied.
Still, researchers and regulators are praising the new atmosphere.
Until recently, Mr. Werner said, fishing regulation in the United States was too often a matter of environmental litigation in which “the fishermen are cast as the villains, and get ever more restrictive regulation on where they fish, how they fish.
“That’s not the approach we take,” he went on. “We are trying to be proactive, to recognize that fishermen are not the villains in this play, but really a critical part of the solution.”
Environmental News Service 22 Aug 11;
GENEVA, Switzerland, August 22, 2011 (ENS) - Global conservation experts aim to raise US$100 million over the next three years to ensure the long-term survival of African elephants in the face of increased poaching and a thriving illegal trade in ivory.
Government delegates to a United Nations-backed meeting in Geneva agreed Friday to contribute to a new trust fund for elephant survival.
A multi-donor technical trust for the implementation of an African Elephant Action Plan was launched at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES after full consultation and all formalities were concluded early in the year.
The Netherlands, Germany and France have already contributed to the new fund and other potential donors were encouraged to join them.
"We expect that donors will hear the urgent needs of Africa and support the implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan," said John Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES, whose secretariat is administered by the UN Environment Programme.
"The target is to raise $100 million over the next three years to enhance law enforcement capacity and secure the long-term survival of African elephant populations," he said.
Elephant conservation and new financial mechanisms were among several issues on the agenda of the week-long meeting, in addition to measures to reduce current levels of poaching of rhinos, tigers and other big cats, illegal trade in mahogany and other timber species, the fate of sturgeon and the caviar trade, and the sourcing of reptile skins used in the leather industry.
The committee considered recent findings concerning African and Asian elephants, poaching levels and illegal trade in ivory.
A decision to exclude conservation groups from the debate on elephant issues, proposed by the Asian region last Wednesday morning, was overturned that afternoon after a second vote.
"We are very happy with the outcomes of the meeting overall," said Dr. Colman O Criodain, wildlife trade policy analyst with the global conservation organization WWF.
"Attempts by some countries to evade scrutiny of their role in illegal trade only ensured that these countries are now more under the spotlight than before."
WWF was pleased that the Committee responded to increasing illegal ivory trade by requiring Thailand to report in writing on curbing its uncontrolled domestic ivory trade, which is largely sourced from Central African elephants.
Thailand, which is to host the next CITES Conference of the Parties in 2013, will risk facing sanctions if it fails to report satisfactorily by then, Criodain said.
The Committee also recognized rhinoceros poaching and illegal trade in their horns as a major challenge that requires innovative approaches, with one delegation describing the situation "as almost out of control."
All populations of rhinoceroses are suffering from poaching, particularly those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Mozambique, Nepal, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The illegal trade in rhinoceros horns appears to be the main motive.
An expert group will scrutinize the progress made by rhino range states and importing countries on this issue.
According to a report submitted by the South African government, a total of 174 rhino have been illegally killed in that country during the first six months of 2011.
Poaching levels in South Africa have risen in recent years: 13 rhinos poached in 2007, 83 in 2008, 122 in 2009 and 330 in 2010.
A total of 122 suspected rhino poachers have been arrested in South Africa since January 2011, 60 of them in the Kruger National Park, which is the protected area that has suffered the biggest losses.
The CITES Standing Committee also reviewed efforts by Peru to establish reliable timber verification systems, and new rules for introducing marine species from international waters, among other topics.
Some 175 countries have joined CITES, an international agreement that entered into force in July 1975 and aims to ensure that global trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
Maxine Burkett Reuters AlertNet 22 Aug 11;
Migration of peoples and communities due to climate change may have a dramatic effect on the globe in the next half-century. It is estimated that some 200 million people worldwide may be on the move because of increased storms, flooding, sea level-rise, and desertification.
For some small island dwellers, the perils of migration will be made worse by the loss of their nations. In other words, while displacement within and across borders may be compulsory for many ‘climate migrants,’ small-islanders may be on the move absent a country to which to return.
Of particular concern are island nations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans - including Tuvalu, the Maldives, Kiribati, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, among others. Already, grim climate forecasts suggest they will face challenges remaining in their homes.
Sea-level rise, coastal inundation, seawater intrusion into freshwater sources and soil salinisation all hurt freshwater availability and adversely affect coastal agriculture, on which many islanders depend. Indeed, this is already occurring in some Pacific island communities.
These climate change impacts will exacerbate pre-existing vulnerabilities typical of countries of similar size and stage of development – those with small economies, which are highly dependent on imports and weather-dependent exports.
For some states, however, climate change threatens their very survival.
It has been 20 years since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change first stated that the “gravest effects of climate change may be those on human migration.” But the international community has made little legal or political progress in dealing with the coming problems.
A number of challenges are behind this political lethargy, including a persistent lack of information on three points:
(1) The number of people and reasons why they may need to move. While 200 to 250 million climate migrants by 2050 are the most widely cited numbers, estimates vary greatly - from a relatively small 25 million to a high of one billion depending on the greenhouse gas emissions scenarios employed, among other factors.
(2) Linking migration directly to climate change. The many potential and overlapping causes of migration confound efforts to quantify climate-related displacement, both current and estimated.
Deteriorating environmental conditions interact with other factors that can influence migration, including levels of development, governance, and the capacity for individuals, communities, and countries to adapt to external pressures, climate-related or otherwise. Demographic considerations, such as age, sex, culture, education level and work experience, as well as general risk perception and levels of risk aversion, play an crucial role in determining whether someone can or will move.
(3) What to call people who move as a result of climate pressures. There is no agreed-upon definition for those judged to have been dislocated primarily by climate change. “Climate refugees” has been the mostly widely used term.
From a law and policy standpoint, however, such migrants are not recognized as refugees, even if they cross national borders, because displacement as a result of climate change or other environmental factors is not yet legally recognized. Finding an appropriate term for these migrants is vital, however, as their rights and the resulting obligations of other nations and the international community will depend on it.
Given these challenges and the lack of solid figures, the plight of climate migrants is easily sidestepped. For small island states, however, there are myriad reasons to act now – not least because the loss of their land will be a clear result of man-made climate change.
In the extreme scenarios that small island states face, there are worrisome legal gaps. There is international law that helps determine what should happen to people deprived of their nationality as a result of a variety of circumstances.
There are no laws, however, that govern what happens to citizens of a country that disappears. When island states are no longer inhabited and the population is permanently displaced to other countries, it is unclear whether they may become stateless persons under international law or if they become merely landless citizens of a state that no longer exists.
A new international or regional legal regime, swiftly conceived and implemented, is vital to resolve this kind of question. The complexity of the issue, and the immediate threat of climate change, call for early efforts at planning and coordination. The alternative is disorganized and insufficient aid - which might come too late.
Maxine Burkett is an associate professor of law at the University of Hawaii and director of the Center for Island Climate Adaptation and Policy.
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Antara 22 Aug 11;
Dumai, Riau(ANTARA News) - Thick smog has been covering Dumai in Riau province, caused by newly appearing hotspots. The weather agency had also detected at least 36 new hot spots in Sumatra Island causing heavy smog. According to the Meteorology, Geophysic and Climatology Agency (BMKG) Riau is prone to forest fires and smoke along with low rain intensity.
A local BMKG analyst Yudhistira Mawaddah said that the number of hot spots in South Sumatra had reached 11 points, eight in Jambi, two in North Sumatra, one each in Lampung and Aceh.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said 18 monitoring sattelites operated by the United States indicated there are 13 new hotspots in Riau.
The new Riau hotspots covered seven districts in Indragiri Hilir, Indragiri Hulu, Kampar, Siak and Rokan Hulu.
"Meanwhile three hotspots had been recorded in Palawan district and three more in Rokan Hilir district with a fairly rapid growth," said Yudhishthira.
The smog was an indication of the remaining of forests and land fires in some areas of the city or districts of Riau province.
The heavy smog starts at around 4.30 am local time a local resident who said is disturbed by the heavy smog.
"The heavy smog was visible once I got out of my home and when going to a nearby mosque for Morning Prayer at 4.30 am," he said.
Streets and roads in Dumai are also reported to be covered by the smog. (SYS/A050/B003)
Editor: Suryanto
Haze disrupts flights in Pekanbaru
Rizal Harahap and Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post 22 Aug 11;
Thick haze at Pekanbaru’s Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport delayed two flights on Sunday and led officials to re-direct an incoming flight to Batam.
Ground controllers delayed Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia flights heading for Jakarta that were supposed to depart at 7 a.m.
“Lion flight number 393 finally took off at 7:45 a.m., while Garuda flight 171 only took off at 8:30 a.m.,” airport manager Gurit Setiawan said on Sunday.
Visibility was only 300 meters at 7 a.m., making it too risky to take off or land, he said.
The haze also led air traffic controllers to reroute an incoming Garuda flight to Batam.
Based on monitoring by the Pekanbaru office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the number of hot spots in Sumatra reached 93 on Sunday, with South Sumatra having the highest with 69, followed by Jambi with 14.
“Riau used to have the highest record in hot spots, but apparently it has now moved to South Sumatra,” Ardhitama of BMKG Pekanbaru said.
The agency warned that all regencies and cities in Riau would receive less fewer rainfall during the current dry season, and the dry conditions would easily spark fires on peat lands, according to the Antara news agency.
Yudhistira Mawaddah, an analyst at the BMKG Riau office said in Dumai on Friday that weather forecasts in Riau tended to show cloudy weather, especially in the central and western parts of Riau.
In Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, the local BMKG office detected seven hot spots in the province on Sunday, falling substantially from 20 a week earlier. The seven hot spots were detected in the Pasaman, Dhamasraya and Solok areas.
“The number of hot spots in West Sumatra monitored via the satellite is falling from last week primarily due to heavy rainfall over the last several days,” Budi Iman, coordinator of the local BMKG office, said as quoted by Antara.
The city of Jambi in the neighboring Jambi province, where 14 hot spots were detected on Sunday, was also shrouded by the haze.
Doni Osmond, an official of the local forestry office, said that the haze came from Muarojambi regency, where forest fires were reported.
“The forest fires have been taking place for the past few days. Firefighters are still struggling to extinguish them,” said Hasvia, Doni’s colleague, who blamed the fires on people clearing land for cultivation.
International Fund for Animal Welfare
Science Alert 22 Aug 11;
Australia’s southern Coral Sea is a global “biodiversity hotspot” for large predatory sharks, tuna and marlin and together with the Great Barrier Reef host the only known spawning aggregation of black marlin in the world. These are key findings from the first comprehensive biological and physical profile of the Coral Sea released today.
The report, Australia’s Coral Sea: A Biophysical Profile, was commissioned by the Pew Environment Group-Australia on behalf of the Protect our Coral Sea coalition and was written by Dr Daniela Ceccarelli, an independent marine ecologist.
Professor Hugh Possingham, director of The Ecology Centre at the University of Queensland, said the report is an important contribution to understanding the Coral Sea ecosystem.
“The Coral Sea may be the only part of the world’s tropical ocean where a permanent marine park of the scale of the interim Conservation Zone could be established and effectively managed with a relatively small impact on users. The Coral Sea Conservation Zone was declared by the federal government in September 2009.”
Other key report findings:
The Coral Sea has 18 reef systems (includes 49 little islands and cays and multiple small reefs) that are more vulnerable than the reefs in the Great Barrier Reef because of their isolation from one another;
At least 28 species of whales and dolphins have been recorded in the Coral Sea, including pods of up to 400 false killer whales and 400 melon-headed whales;
Oceanic and reef sharks have been documented in large numbers in some parts of the Coral Sea. Fifty-two species of deep-water sharks and rays have been recorded, 18 of which are known to exist only there;
The Coral Sea is an important migratory route for many species of threatened turtles; its cays and islands provide critical habitat for endangered green turtles.
Dr Ceccarelli said that knowledge of the deeper Coral Sea ecosystems is still in its infancy. “However, early studies have revealed a great diversity of habitats, including massive canyons at least 3 kilometers deep, which produce unique ecological communities. Recent discoveries include diverse cold water coral communities and high abundances of predatory fish and sharks in the deeper reaches of coral reefs.”
“The Coral Sea offers a valuable scientific reference site, as it is close to the global centre of coral reef biodiversity – the Coral Triangle – but is not subject to the human pressures that affect much of South East Asia’s marine ecosystems”, said Dr Ceccarelli. Dr Ceccarelli discovered that average distances travelled by tuna, marlin, swordfish and sailfish that are commonly found in the Coral Sea range from 370 to 1,482 kilometers. The scale of the Coral Sea Conservation Zone is therefore large enough to conserve wide-ranging ocean species.
“This is the chance to have a vast area with large numbers of herbivores and predators functioning over a huge scale in a way that the world once was like without humans”, said Professor Possingham.
“The report confirms that the Coral Sea is healthy and relatively intact. In light of this report, conservation groups call on the federal government to establish a very large, world-class, highly protected marine park in the Coral Sea to provide a safe haven for its spectacular marine life”, said Imogen Zethoven of the Pew Environment Group and member of the Protect our Coral Sea coalition.
The Coral Sea Conservation Zone, situated between the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and maritime boundary with New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, is under interim protection while the federal government assesses the area for potential inclusion in a marine reserve. It is anticipated that the federal Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Tony Burke, will make an announcement about the future of the Coral Sea later in 2011.
Protect our Coral Sea is a coalition of 11 Australian and international conservation groups, which comprises the Australian Conservation Foundation, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Pew Environment Group, Project AWARE Foundation, Humane Society International, National Parks Association of Queensland, Queensland Conservation Council, North Queensland Conservation Council, the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre, Wildlife Queensland, and IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare - www.ifaw.org)
To view the full report and to download resources including fact sheets, please go to: http://www.protectourcoralsea.org.au/about/resources
Anthony Kuhn NPR 21 Aug 11;
A spry 80-year-old cruises through the thick vegetation of western Borneo, or western Kalimantan, as it's known to Indonesians. Dressed in faded pinstripe slacks and a polo shirt, Layan Lujum carries a large knife in his hand. The chief of the island's Sekendal village is making his morning rounds.
Layan is a member of an indigenous ethnic group called the Dayaks, who once had a reputation as fierce headhunters. As on most mornings, his first job on a recent day is to tend to his rubber trees.
He uses a blade to cut a few grooves in each tree, allowing its white latex sap to trickle into a cup. Then he plucks a handful of fern leaves and snaps off the tops of a dozen or so bamboo shoots and puts them in a bucket. In a few minutes, he has enough for lunch. He goes to the river to wash and chop the shoots.
Environmentalists say Layan's lifestyle is a form of "indigenous knowledge" that has allowed the Dayaks to both use and protect Borneo's forests. But those same forests are now a staging ground for a complicated clash. It involves economic growth, land rights and environmental concerns, development and traditional cultures, as well as a broader fight in Indonesia against entrenched corruption.
'This Is Our Sacred Grove'
Back near Sekendal, Layan explains how the Dayaks in his community view ownership of the surrounding land.
"These stands of bamboo don't belong to anyone in particular. Anyone can take some," he says. "The rubber trees belong to me. The bamboo here is very abundant. If you go upstream, there's even more."
This is not virgin forest, Layan says. It's owned by the community, and it's been cleared and replanted with useful flora such as cocoa and rambutan trees. There is one stand of virgin forest left in the area, but it's used for something very different.
"This is our padagi, or sacred grove," Layan says in a hushed voice. "It's been here since the time of our ancestors, and we come here to pray."
Birdsongs resonate through the forest canopy towering overhead. Down below, moss grows on an altar for making sacrifices. The spirits of the Dayak ancestors inhabit this hallowed glade, Layan says, and it is forbidden to take any plants or animals out of it.
"We come here to ask for help in times of trouble, for example in times of war, and then we are victorious," he says. "We ask for bountiful rice harvests. We ask for the sick to heal. We make offerings to the spirits, even though we can't see them."
Conservation Efforts Under Way
Indonesia remains Asia's most-forested nation, but it has suffered serious deforestation in recent decades, contributing to Indonesia's status as the third-largest emitter of carbon after the U.S. and China.
And perhaps there is no starker example than Borneo — roughly three-quarters of which belongs to Indonesia, the rest to Malaysia and Brunei.
Conservationists are urging Indonesia's government to respect the Dayak's rights to their traditional lands and to affirm their stewardship of the forests based on their animist religion. But in much of Borneo, it appears too late.
Where forests once stood, towns now hum with traffic and commerce. According to Indonesian government statistics, 60 percent of Borneo's rainforests have been cut down. Only 8 percent of its virgin forests remain, mostly in national parks. Western Borneo is the most denuded.
Efforts to combat deforestation are under way. In May, the Indonesian government announced a two-year moratorium on cutting down virgin forests. As well, a U.N.-backed scheme will see developed countries paying Indonesia to protect its rainforests.
But it's too soon to say how effective these measures will be, calling into question the sustainability of Indonesia's current economic boom, which is largely dependent on the extraction of natural resources.
Lands Stripped Away
Many Dayaks see it as just a matter of time before paved roads reach their villages and palm oil companies buy their land to convert into plantations.
Farmer Lambai Sudian sold his 25 acres of land for the equivalent of about $1,000. He says the company offered locals jobs on the plantation, water, roads and 20 percent of the palm oil profits. Four years later, none of it has materialized.
"Of course I regret selling," he says. "I regret it because the company didn't do what it said it would. If it did, we would be getting a share of the profits, and we'd be fine."
Sujarni Alloy is an activist with a civic group called the Indigenous People's Alliance of the Archipelago. He says his village's land was sold to a palm oil company without residents' knowledge or consent.
"In the future, the children and grandchildren of the indigenous people will not own these lands," he says. "They will become beggars or criminals, because the bounty before their eyes is no longer theirs."
Overcoming Political Hurdles
Some of Indonesia's laws and policies recognize indigenous people's rights to their traditional lands. But the constitution says all land and resources belong to the state.
Andy White, a coordinator at the Washington, D.C.-based Rights and Resources Initiative, a coalition of groups focusing on land rights, says this confusion over rights is a recipe for conflict.
"Seventy percent of the territory of the country, tens of millions of people are essentially squatters on their own historic lands," he says. "And over 20,000 villages are in this contested status, basically sitting on land that they think is their own and the ministry of forestry claims as their own."
Corruption is endemic at all levels of government in Indonesia, but some observers point to the forestry ministry as an egregious example. A recent expose in Indonesia's Tempo magazine accuses officials from the forestry ministry of filling their political party's war chests with bribes, which businessmen pay in exchange for tracts of forested land.
The ministry denies the allegations. But Kuntoro Mangkusobroto, a troubleshooter for Indonesia's president and the chairman of a government task force on deforestation and climate change, says the reports are "not surprising."
Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission will investigate suspected illegal grants of forested land, but Kuntoro says that the problem has become deeply entrenched and hard to root out.
"Forests are a means for the power holder to maintain his power, by giving concessions to the military commander in the regions, governors or those who can support the regime," he explains. "You cut trees, you got money, OK? And it's been practiced like that for 40 years."
Future Of Indigenous Cultures
Conservationists' hopes of saving Borneo's rainforests and its inhabitants' traditions may be unrealistic, romantic, or simply too late. They may also obscure indigenous peoples' fight to control the terms on which they develop and modernize. Some Indonesians see the Dayaks as culturally backwards, and many Dayaks themselves seem unsentimental about shedding the ways of their forefathers.
White, of the Rights and Resources Initiative, notes that forests can be re-grown to support communities and store carbon. Indigenous people have the right to choose their own path of development, he adds, and the issue of rights will not go away with the destruction Indonesia's forests.
"Of course it's sad, of course it should be stopped, but that does not diminish the importance of this issue," he says, "or the potential of these lands to be restored and for these communities to live much better lives in the future and for these areas to contribute much, much more to their country's development."
M. Hamzah Jamaludin New Straits Times 22 Aug 11;
KUANTAN: The Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716), which came into effect in December last year is having a detrimental effect on wildlife poachers.
A Tok Batin (village head) from Muadzam Shah was recently charged under the stiffer act with possessing body parts of protected animal species, a few days after two Orang Asli from the same area were caught selling elephant tusks.
Pahang Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) said there had been five wildlife-related cases involving Orang Asli this year including the two cases reported in the media this month.
Pahang Perhilitan director Khairiah Mohd Shariff said the Orang Asli involved would face stiffer penalties under the new act.
The new law provides for stringent penalties including mandatory jail of up to five years and a fine of between RM100,000 and RM500,000 for offences involving protected wildlife such as tiger, rhinoceros, serow (a goat), gaur (seladang), leopard, clouded leopard and false gharial (a type of freshwater crocodile).
Khairiah said the first case was reported in Maran on Jan 17 when an Orang Asli and two others were picked up for possessing a home-made gun and the meat of protected animal species.
Another Orang Asli man was arrested on Feb 21 after Perhilitan officers found 21 clouded monitor lizards on him while the Tok Batin from Muadzam Shah was caught on May 14 when officers discovered body parts of protected species including the totally protected Malayan sun bear and leopard at his home in Kampung Air Molek.
The fourth Orang Asli was caught in Rompin on May 15 for possessing and committing cruelty against 41 clouded monitor lizards.
The latest case, the elephant tusks, was reported on Aug 12.
Khairiah said under the new law, Orang Asli are allowed to consume certain protected animals namely wild boar, sambar deer, mouse deer, pig-tailed macaque, silvered leaf monkey, dusky leaf monkey, Malayan porcupine, brushtailed porcupine and white-breasted waterhen and emerald dove.
However, under Section 51 of the act, those who sell the animals are liable to a maximum fine of RM10,000 or six months' jail or both.
Khairiah said under the same act however, the Orang Asli were not allowed to hunt other protected species and the department had been advising them from day one: "Do not hunt other protected animals as you will be arrested and prosecuted like others".
"Unfortunately, some have not heeded our advice and thus we have no other options but to arrest and charge them," said Khairiah who did not rule out the possibility of the Orang Asli being exploited by others.
"But we cannot nab the real culprits if the Orang Asli themselves refuse to divulge information. In many instances, the Orang Asli caught claimed that they were not hired by anyone," she said.
Investigation a wildlife case was also more challenging as the Orang Asli suspects and witnesses can go missing in the jungle for months.
At the same time, evidence -- such as animal carcasses and other traces -- can be easily disposed of in the deep jungle.
To overcome the problem, Khairiah said Perhilitan had always cooperated with other enforcement agencies including the police; where it had been sending its officers for training to keep abreast with the latest investigation and forensic techniques.
At the same time, she said Perhilitan had also strengthened its cooperation with the Orang Asli community and various non-governmental organisations.
"To protect our wildlife, we have to play our roles more effectively," she said while urging those who are not familiar with the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) to view it at www.wildlife.gov.my.
Climate change is turning rivers of Mekong Delta salty, spelling disaster for millions of poor farmers
Kit Gillet guardian.co.uk 21 Aug 11;
Sitting amid buckets of rice in the market, Nguyen Thi Lim Lien issues a warning she desperately hopes the world will hear: climate change is turning the rivers of the Mekong Delta salty.
"The government tells us that there are three grams of salt per litre of fresh water in the rivers now," she says. "Gradually more and more people are affected. Those nearest the sea are the most affected now, but soon the whole province will be hit."
The vast, humid expanse of the delta is home to more than 17 million people, who have relied for generations on its thousands of river arteries. But rising sea water caused by global warming is now increasing the salt content of the river water and threatening the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers and fishermen.
Vietnam is listed by the World Bank among the countries most threatened by rising waters brought about by higher global temperatures, with only the Bahamas more vulnerable to a one-metre rise in sea levels. Such a rise could leave a third of the Mekong Delta underwater and lead to mass internal migration and devastation in a region that produces nearly half of Vietnam's rice.
"If there was a one-metre rise, we estimate 40% of the delta will be submerged," says Tran Thuc, director general of the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment. "There is also the threat of cyclones and storms linked to climate change. The people in this area are not prepared for any of this."
Already affected by regular flooding, those who live in the low-lying delta are focusing on the rising salt content of water in land that has for thousands of years been used for rice paddies, coconut groves and other crops which locals rely on for their livelihood.
According to the Ben Tre department of agriculture and rural development, salt water at four parts per thousand has, as of April, reached as far as 35 miles inland, causing significant damage to crops and livestock, with rice production particularly affected.
"Salination will become higher and higher and the salt season will last longer and be worse," predicts Thuc.
The city of Ben Tre, one of the gateways to the Mekong, is inland, on one of the many tributaries of the Mekong river where the waters are still only partially affected by the increased salination. But further downriver, the effects are more pronounced.
"I have to travel five hours upstream by boat to fetch water for drinking, washing and cooking," says Vo Thi Than, 60, who cannot afford the prices charged by those who travel down the river selling fresh water from upstream.
Than lives beside a dock and runs a little restaurant on the small delta island of Cu Lao Oc, home to approximately 6,000 farmers and coconut growers.
"A long time ago, there was no salty season at all. Now, five months a year the water is salty," she says.
"We grow oranges, mandarins, lemons and coconuts, but these trees cannot survive if it is salt water only. During salty seasons, the trees bear less fruit and smaller fruits, and if there was only the salt season, nothing would grow."
Government officials and international observers are predicting significant lifestyle changes for the delta's population, which will be forced to adapt to survive.
Dao Xuan Lai, head of sustainable development at the United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam, said: "Rising sea waters will cause inundations to the Mekong and will require drastic changes in lifestyles for the people. They will be forced to switch crops and innovate. People close to river banks and river mouths have already had to find different ways to make a living in fresh water."
In the area around the town of Ba Tri, near one mouth of the delta, the salination of the water has reached a point where many locals have been forced to abandon centuries of rice cultivation and risk their livelihoods on other ventures, mostly farming shrimp, which thrives in saltier water. Pham Van Bo is still able to plant rice on half his land thanks to an embankment built by the government four years ago, but he is risking his family's savings on the new venture.
"We had to sell our fishing boat to pay to dig the cultivation pool and also had to pay someone to teach me how to do it. It was expensive, and I had to get the shrimp food and medicine on credit," he said. "It takes about four months from when they are small to selling them. It should be more profitable than rice planting, but I am worried since this is our first try."
Bo needs only to walk two hundred metres along the riverbank to see a cautionary tale. Nguyen Van Lung and her family started raising shrimp six years ago, but now all but one of their pools are empty.
"Last October, the sea washed out all of our shrimp, we lost them all," she said. "We saw the water rising up and getting closer and closer, but we couldn't do anything about it. This season, we have been forced to just dump the shrimp in and let them grow with no fans, medicine or special food."
The family received a loan from the local government to survive, but it takes a lot of money to farm shrimp, on which they now rely almost exclusively for their livelihood.
Olivia Dun is a PhD student at the University of Sydney's Mekong Resource Centre. She is studying environmental changes, flooding, saline intrusion and migration in the Mekong Delta. "Some households have benefited from the switch to shrimp and have been able to raise their level of income," she said. "Other households have continuously struggled to raise shrimp, which are sensitive to the conditions in their pond environment and easily susceptible to disease. These households face mounting debt, and of these households, some choose to migrate elsewhere temporarily in search of an income."
Tough decisions like this are going to become more common for Mekong residents in the years ahead as the environment changes around them.
"Even if we stop all emissions worldwide now, the water will still rise 20 to 30 centimetres in the next few decades," said the UN's Lai.
"At the moment the prediction is a rise of 75 centimetres by 2050. People in this region are still very poor and will need help from the international community to survive this."
Mekong's rice production at risk
UPI 23 Aug 11;
HANOI, Vietnam, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Vietnam's Mekong Delta is at risk from rising sea levels due to climate change, experts warn.
Known as the Rice Bowl of Vietnam, the 15,000-square-mile region produces half the country's rice output of 49 million tons a year, with 80 percent of its population engaged in rice cultivation.
"Rising sea waters will cause inundations to the Mekong and will require drastic changes in lifestyles," said Dao Xuan Lai, head of sustainable development at the U.N. Development Program in Vietnam, The Guardian newspaper reports.
People will be forced to switch crops and innovate, he said. Those close to river banks and river mouths have already had to find different ways to make a living in fresh water.
Even if all emissions worldwide were stopped now, the water would still rise about 8-12 inches in the next few decades, Lai said.
"People in this region are still very poor and will need help from the international community to survive this," he said.
The World Bank considers Vietnam among the countries most threatened by rising waters brought about by higher global temperatures.
Basing its research on warnings from international organizations that sea levels will increase by 11.8 inches in 2050 and 3.28 feet by 2100, a study by the Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment says that with a 3.28-foot rise, up to one-third of the Mekong Delta and a quarter of Ho Chi Minh City would be permanently submerged.
Rising seawater is also turning the rivers of the Delta salty, with saltwater at four parts per thousand already reaching 35 miles inland, causing significant damage to crops and livestock, particularly affecting rice production.
Rice cannot be grown in saline conditions. Other typically strong crops, including oranges, lemons and coconuts, cannot be grown in higher concentrations of salt.
"I have to travel five hours upstream by boat to fetch water for drinking, washing and cooking," Vo Thi Than, a 60-year-old woman who lives beside a dock and operates a small restaurant on the small delta island of Cu Lao Oc, told The Guardian.
"A long time ago, there was no salty season at all. Now, five months a year the water is salty," she says.
To address the problem, Vietnam's Southern Irrigation Planning Institute has devised a six-point irrigation plan that includes upgrading of canal networks that lead water from rivers to cultivation areas in the delta but work isn't expected to be completed until at least 2030.
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