90-year-old durian tree crushes Ubin kampung house

Two bedrooms in the three-bedroom house were wrecked, but the outdoor kitchen and generator were unaffected
Rennie Whang, Syahirah Anwar The New Paper 15 Dec 12;

SINGAPORE - The house was so special that it was featured in the National Parks Board's walking trail guide to the island.

Taxi driver Azman, 47, said he would take tourists inside if its owner was around.

"I'd say, this is what a kampung house is all about," he said.

But two weeks ago, the 40-year-old Pulau Ubin house was almost completely destroyed as a durian tree, estimated to be 90 years old by residents, fell on it.

Two bedrooms in the three-bedroom house were wrecked, but the outdoor kitchen and generator were unaffected.

Nobody was in at the time, as owner Madam Puasa Ahmad, 78, has mostly stayed on the mainland with a son since her husband died four years ago.

More comfortable

The couple have six children in their 40s and 50s. Up till the Nov 30 incident, said Madam Puasa, she has been visiting once a week, usually alone, to clean the house - which was built by her husband.

"Sometimes I think of the place. It's more comfortable living at the village. You don't have to worry about bills," she said.

"It's old, but holds memories."

Madam Puasa was informed of the accident by her brother-in-law, Mr Ahmad Kassim, 78, whose 50-year-old house overlooks hers.

He said he was praying when he heard a crash at around 6pm.

He went outdoors only to see the house in ruins.

"We're all very sad. There's nothing we can do about it," he said, adding the house was not insured.

Mr Ahmad Kassim said it was the third time he has seen a tree damage a house in all his years on the island. His kitchen was destroyed in 1977, when large branches of another durian tree fell.

He was sleeping in his bedroom at the time.

With the help of other people in the kampung, repair works took just three weeks.

"It's not like now, there are not so many people. If the kampung people were still around, we could each take an axe to the tree and it'd be gone," he said.

The house is on state land and the family is waiting for the tree to be removed by the authorities.

A spokesman for the Singapore Land Authority would only say that it is "aware of the fallen tree and will be removing it."

She continued: "We understand that the tree fell after a heavy storm."

An arborist at DP Green, Mr Edwin Lim, 30, said the stability of the tree trunk could also have been weakened by insects, like borers.

"(The possible decay and presence of borers) and the heavy (winds)... resulting from the current monsoon season are likely the causes of (trunk) failure," he said.

Mr Lim added that unless the trunk showed signs of fungal structures or obvious borer holes, it would be difficult to tell when there will be trunk failure.

Mr Tan Kim Teik, 49, a senior engineer at DPC Consulting Engineers, said rebuilding would most likely involve demolishing the existing foundation.

"Old houses usually don't have good foundations and verification needs to be done if this has eroded."

Framed by coconut trees, the house once made for a pretty picture, said Mr Azman.

Now, it just invites questions as people stop by Mr Ahmad Kassim's to ask what happened.

"A lot of people knew this house," said Mr Ahmad Kassim.

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Best of our wild blogs: 15 Dec 12

Return to the Lost Coast
from wild shores of singapore

The Calls of the Collared Scops Owl
from Bird Ecology Study Group

The Man behind Syzygium ngadimanianum
from Flying Fish Friends

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Scientists identify pesky midges

Two different species plaguing Bedok and Pandan reservoirs, but reason for outbreaks still not known
Grace Chua Straits Times 15 Dec 12;

THE researchers studying Bedok Reservoir's midge nuisance have solved a pesky ecological whodunnit.

They now know that two different non-biting species of the tiny insects are the ones responsible for the swarms that have plagued residents around Bedok and Pandan reservoirs for the past couple of years.

But they have not yet worked out the how or why, or how to prevent future outbreaks.

"The first thing you have to know is who's causing the problem, then you can start addressing the issue," said National University of Singapore biologist Rudolf Meier, who is leading a study of the midge problem. The three-year project is part-way through its first year.

The culprit at Pandan is one called Polypedilum nubifer, a common nuisance species that dominates ecosystems almost everywhere it is found.

But at Bedok, the culprit is a fly called Tanytarsus oscillans, a minuscule green species. It has previously been found in Sumatra, India and Japan - but is not known to cause problems anywhere else in the world, said Professor Peter Cranston, the Australia-based midge expert helping with the study.

Identifying the midges is not as simple as looking at stripes or spots, researchers said. It involves staring at the insect's rear end and mouth parts under a microscope to work out whether they really are different from other species.

Prof Cranston said of the Bedok issue: "We don't know what the environmental trigger is yet."

These midges live in the reservoir year-round, but their numbers explode only at the end and beginning of the year. Elsewhere, triggers for a midge swarm can be natural, such as water that goes from flowing to still. Or they can be man-made. For instance, nutrients flow into waterways from deforestation, construction or changing agricultural practices, Prof Cranston said.

But water agency PUB said the water quality in Bedok Reservoir, which is more than 25 years old, is the same as it was before the midge swarms started last year.

Seven ponds in the area collect rainwater from Bedok, Tampines and Tanah Merah, and flow into the reservoir.

Another explanation is that the small fish that feed on midge larvae might have been eaten by larger non-native fish that live in the reservoir.

At Pandan Reservoir, plant roots that dangle from floating wetlands provide a place for these small fish to hide, said PUB biologist Michelle Sim.

Now, the research team breeds midges in the lab and collects data on environmental variables like temperature and water quality to work out possible causes.

Three times a week, the PUB also counts the overall number of midge larvae (of all species) in the water; if it gets above a threshold number, it knows a swarm of adult midges is about to occur.

At Bedok, general preventive measures such as fogging larvicides and scrubbing algae off rocks where midges might lay their eggs are used, and these target all midge species, said Mr Goh Chong Hoon, a deputy director of catchment and waterways at PUB.

In the past few months, there have been only isolated complaints, he said. And he said that currently, there are no warning signs yet of another midge outbreak. "So far, we've been able to keep the numbers low."

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Singapore's record on water and built environment provides a lesson for Asia

The tiny island nation proves that good environmental policies – and public-private partnerships – are also good for business
Kishore Mahbubani Guardian Professional 14 Dec 12;

In Southeast Asia, there is an island called Sumatra. On Sumatra there is an extinct volcano. On that extinct volcano, there is a small lake, Lake Toba. In the middle of Lake Toba, there is a tiny island. This tiny island in a volcanic lake is, however, the same size as Singapore.

David Bellamy, the famous British environmentalist, has said that tiny Singapore has more tree species than the continental 48 states of the US. Amitav Ghosh, a famous Indian novelist, echoed this observation: "What is remarkable about Singapore is, despite all the buildings and developments, it remains so green."

This is not a result of accident or good fortune. It is the result of a comprehensive matrix of environmental policies that reinforce each other, providing a model of environmental management that is worth studying in detail.

The world also needs to study it urgently. In 2008, for the first time in human history, more people lived in cities than in rural areas. Urbanisation is accelerating. By 2050, it is estimated that nearly 70% of the world will be urban residents. Of the 25 most densely populated cities in the world, 17 are in Asia, and by 2025, 21 of the world's 37 megacities will be in Asia.

Sadly, few of these cities are managing their environments well. The lessons from Singapore are clearly relevant to Asian megacities. Ghosh says: "A lot of people I interviewed [in 1997] told me, 30 years ago, Singapore was just like Calcutta or Karachi. The transformation of this city in such a short time is a truly stunning thing."

Just look at the water dimension. Projections from the 2030 Water Resources Group suggest that the global gap between water demand and supply could be as large as 40% by 2030.

While the world is running out water, Singapore – which is one of the most densely populated countries in the world – is moving towards water self-sufficiency. Good public policies – including those that preserve water catchment areas, and develop advanced desalination plants as well as plants that utilise modern membrane technology – have led to this success story. This is why the Singapore Public Utilities Board (PUB) won the Stockholm Industry Water Award in 2007.
Private sector dynamism meets public needs

Significantly, many of these projects are provided through public-private partnerships between the PUB and private Singaporean companies, such as Keppel Engineering and SingSpring. The dynamism and innovation of the private sector has been harnessed to help meet public needs.

Singapore's success in environmental management is also influencing its neighbors in Southeast Asia. Kuala Lumpur also began a greening program after watching Singapore's success. The late distinguished former Indonesian foreign minister, Ali Alatas, once told me privately that Jakarta's urban planners used to despair about improving their city. However, after studying how Singapore went from third world to first world in one lifetime, they began to believe that they too could succeed.

And there are other remarkable Southeast Asian success stories. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and has experienced the worst genocide of recent times. Yet its capital city, Phnom Penh, has a water authority that expanded the city's water output by 600% in just 10 years. It also manages its water supply better than most British water authorities.

Given Singapore's environmental track record, it is appropriate that it plays host to two global, and increasingly influential, conferences that bring together major stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors: the biennial Singapore International Water Week and World Cities Summit. These two conferences signify the international community's recognition that Singapore's successes in managing the scarcity of space and resources will help many other cities which will experience similar challenges in coming decades, if they are not already experiencing them now.
Eco-city for the future

Singapore is also sharing its experience directly with other cities. The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, due for completion in 2020, is one such example. Together, the Singapore and Chinese governments are trying to build a sustainable city for the future, which will serve as a laboratory for the green technologies and public policies that we will need in the 21st century and beyond. Already, more than 600 companies have moved to the Tianjin Eco-city and 4,000 homes have been purchased.

Singapore has also discovered that good environmental policies are good for business. As a result, Singapore is rapidly becoming a hub for the development and manufacturing of sustainable energy sources. Large international firms that specialise in renewable energy – such as Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems and Norway's Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) – have set up shop here. The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) is home to 160 leading researchers from across the globe, thanks in large part to a S$130m (£66.1m) government grant, and it collaborates directly with multinational solar companies such as Trina Solar and REC in research and development, as well as personnel training.

These industries are becoming increasingly important to Singapore's economy: by 2015, the cleantech sector is expected to contribute S$3.4bn (£1.7bn) to Singapore's GDP and employ 18,000 people.

In a world that is devoid of good news on the environmental front, Singapore's success provides a lot of hope to many. There is one critical statistic that explains the metaphysical significance of Singapore's success. If the world's seven billion people were to live in a single city as densely populated as Singapore, the entire world would only need an area the combined size of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana to live in.

Kishore Mahbubani is dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and author of the forthcoming book The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World.

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Reservoirs can make local flooding worse, says study

Matt McGrath BBC News 14 Dec 12;

Researchers say that large man-made reservoirs can increase the intensity of rainfall and could affect flood defences.

The scientists found that rain patterns around bodies of water in Chile were much higher than in similar areas without them.

This "lake effect" could overwhelm flood defences which are often built without taking it into account.

The study has been accepted for publication in the journal Hydrology.

Stormy edge

Previous research in this field has focused on the impact of dams on local climates. There is evidence that standing bodies like reservoirs and lakes can alter rain patterns by increasing the amount of water that evaporates.

Some experts believe that you also get circulating air patterns in the atmosphere above the boundary between the water and the land and this can initiate thunderstorms and showers.

The impact can be significant. One study showed that extreme precipitation increased by 4% per year after dams were built.

In this latest work, researchers from the University of Talca, Chile, examined data from 50 rain gauges near reservoirs in different parts of the country.

Chile has a large variety of climates ranging from areas that get 0mm of annual rainfall to places that get more that 4,500mm. The scientists found that the most intense rainfall was measured at weather stations located near water bodies, especially in drier climates.

One of the authors, Dr Pablo Garcia-Chevesich from the University of Arizona told BBC News that the work had important implications for flood defences.

"If you install a water reservoir that will change things totally and that will lead to flooding," he said.

"Engineers get fired when there's flooding because they didn't do a good design, but in reality they did good work but someone else installed a water reservoir and the climate changed."

"The bigger the water body, the greater the effect."

Dr Garcia-Chevesich said this area of research was controversial because changing the design of flood defences was very expensive.
Dam boosters

Other scientists took a more measured view of the study.

Dr Faisal Hossain, from Tennessee Technological University, said the Chilean study was purely observational and that while the lake effect changed rainfall patterns, the jury was still out on whether it increased or decreased the amounts.

However, he said that he was hoping to bring the research to the attention of dam builders around the world.

"We have modified the weather patterns in such a way that we didn't anticipate before building these reservoirs, and yes in the global context it might have serious ramifications," he said.

Prof Richard Harding from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) said several studies had now pointed to the impact of reservoirs particularly in dry areas.

"The physics says that it will happen, but I'm struggling a little to know how big an impact it is, and quite whether it is strong enough to change the design of flood defences," he said.

Dr Harding suggested that the new study might provide ammunition for those who oppose the building of large-scale new reservoirs.

The authors argue that they want engineers and designers to take this new work into account in planning new flood barriers.

"In the US, they are very rigorous about taking climate change into account when talking about storm water management design," said Dr Garcia-Chevesich, "but this is new and should be taken into account too."

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Best of our wild blogs: 14 Dec 12

Help vote for maker of the “Singapore got wildlife, meh?” documentary’s TEDxYale talk! from Nature rambles

Changi rocky shore in the rain
from wonderful creation

Rainy day check on seagrasses at Changi
from wild shores of singapore

Feeding frenzy and rice left for stray dogs
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Highlights of trips with Northern Expedition 2012
from wonderful creation

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While Singapore is sleeping, this group is sweeping

Charissa Yong Straits Times 14 Dec 12;

IT MAY be 6.30am on a Sunday but the Pang family is up and about, sweeping and picking up other people's litter.

Fund manager Pang Cheng Duan, 49, his wife Theresa Wee and their 11-year-old daughter Sze Ann are armed with brooms and dustpans, hunting down stray pieces of trash at the public carpark outside Eunos MRT station.

They attract curious stares from onlookers and have even been mistaken for offenders doing community service.

The Pangs are part of a group of volunteers from Shinnyo-en Singapore. For nearly 30 years, this religious organisation - a 4,000-strong local chapter of a Buddhist order in Japan - has been cleaning public spaces early in the morning. Every fourth Sunday of the month, between 60 and 100 of its volunteers clean up MRT carparks around the island.

Keeping the environment clean is their contribution to society, said volunteers, including 63-year-old retiree Tan Yen Seng, a litter-picker for 10 years.

Agreeing, entrepreneur Michael Tasrif, 29, said: "As people living in Singapore, we have the responsibility to keep our country clean,"

The group first began cleaning Clifford Pier once a month in 1983. Six years later, it started cleaning the void decks of HDB flats in Farrer Road.

Since 1994, with approval from the National Environment Agency, it has been cleaning the surrounding areas of the Clementi, Ang Mo Kio and Eunos MRT stations, because many of its members were living around there. They keep each session short so as not to get in the way of residents and commuters, said Madam Wee, a 47-year-old housewife.

Public reactions vary. Most people stare, some ask what they are up to, while others thank them for their work.

Madam Wee's daughter Sze Ann, a Tao Nan pupil, said it is a meaningful task and she is happy to do the cleaning. They sometimes collect several bags full of rubbish and salvage recyclables.

Said Madam Wee: "We hope our little effort can go some way towards changing Singaporeans' mindset and attitudes, and that Singapore will one day become a clean city because our people take pride in keeping it clean."

The volunteers, mostly in white shirts with the Shinnyo-en logo, gladly go about their labour despite having to sacrifice sleep each last Sunday of the month.

"I'm not an early bird," admitted civil servant Han Fei Ni, who is in her late 30s. "But it's gradually become a habit I enjoy because it's a good cause."

For more information on the group and its activities, go to www.shinnyoen.sg

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NTU team invents 'eyes and ears' for underwater vessels

Blind fish inspire creation of sensors that detect changes in water pressure
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 14 Dec 12;

A BREED of blind cave fish has inspired new "eyes and ears" for underwater robots and vessels such as submarines.

The creatures, which are found in the caves of Mexico, rely on a strip of sensitive skin on their sides to detect changes in water pressure caused by predators or obstacles.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have studied them and come up with similar water pressure-based sensors that could help submarines and underwater robots to navigate their environment.

The new sensors are currently undergoing testing in Singapore waters and could be commercialised within two years.

Currently, underwater robots and vessels usually use sonar sensors or cameras to gather data about their surroundings.

But cameras can be thwarted by murky water, while sonar or soundwave technology is expensive and can harm marine life.

Like the cave fish's organic sensors, the NTU invention relies on water pressure changes to locate and identify obstacles.

When swimmers pass each other, for example, they can feel changes in the water pressure on their skin. The NTU sensors work in the same way.

"To mimic nature, our team created microscopic sensory pillars wrapped in hydrogel," said Associate Professor Miao Jianmin, from NTU's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Each sensor is 1.8mm by 1.8mm. They are clustered in groups of 20, with each cluster costing less than $100 to make. They also require little power, meaning they are cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the conventional sensors.

The NTU invention could also be used for defence, as it can detect nearby submarines without using sonar, which gives away the user's location.

Its only drawback is its limited range, since water-pressure changes weaken with distance. The researchers estimated that vessels equipped with the sensors would detect obstacles only less than one body length away.

NTU is working with the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology to outfit autonomous underwater vehicles with the sensors, and will present two papers on the work at a prestigious conference next month.

These craft could be fitted with chemical sensors and used to detect pollution in Singapore's waters.

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New slow loris found in Borneo

Matt Walker BBC Nature 13 Dec 12;

A new species of small nocturnal primate has been discovered by scientists in Borneo.

The primate is a type of slow loris, a small cute-looking animal that is more closely related to bushbabies and lemurs than to monkeys or apes.

Uniquely among primates, they have a toxic bite, belying their appearance.

Two previously known subspecies of slow loris have also been accorded full species status.

Details of the discoveries are published in the American Journal of Primatology.

The new species of slow loris, named Nycticebus kayan, has gone unrecognised until now, in part due to its nocturnal lifestyle.

Animals that are active by night often rely less on visual clues, and can therefore appear more similar to one another.

So the scientists had to look hard to discover the differences between the new species.

An international team of researchers, led by Professor Anna Nekaris of Oxford Brookes University in the UK, and Rachel Munds from the University of Missouri in Columbia, US, surveyed slow lorises living in the forests of Borneo and the Philippines.

They focused on studying the primates' facial markings, which take the appearance of a mask, with the eyes being covered by distinct dark patches and the heads by varying patterns.

Part of Prof Nekaris's research was filmed by the BBC programme Natural World, which followed members of the team as they conducted surveys.

This research has revealed there are actually four species of slow loris in the Philippines and Borneo, each with their own, subtly different but distinct head markings.

Originally there was thought to be just a single species, called N. menagensis.

Two of these new species, N. bancanus and N. borneanus, were previously considered subspecies of N. menagensis.

While, N. kayan, is new to science.

"In Borneo in particular, from where three of the new species hail, this will mean that three new lorises will be added as threatened to some degree on the IUCN Red List of threatened species," says Prof Nekaris.

"With more than 40% of the world's primates already threatened with extinction, this brings the toll even higher."

Outside of Borneo and the Philippines, four other slow loris species are known, living across south and southeast Asia.

All have a difficult relationship with humans.

They are the only primates with a toxic bite, secreting the toxin from glands in their elbows.

Slow lorises lick this toxin, and mix it with their saliva. They then use it when they bite, or to coat the fur of their offspring, possibly as a way to deter predators from attacking their young.

The toxin is powerful enough to potentially cause fatal anaphylactic shock in people.

But the slow lorises' cute appearance also makes them a favoured target of the pet trade.

Captured animals often have their canine and incisor teeth pulled out before being sold on as pets, in a bid to protect their potential owner.

Harming the animals this way, though, can quickly lead to their death, as the toothless primates are unable to feed properly.

The discovery that more slow loris species exist also has implications for their survival.

"Well-meaning groups rescue lorises and rarely follow proper guidelines when releasing them back to the wild," says Prof Nekaris.

"That means that the wrong species of loris has found itself in many a new place throughout Asia, if they have survived the traumatising practice of hard release to the wild in the first place."

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Video Reveals Rare Tiger Cubs in Sumatran Forest

Douglas Main LiveScience.com Yahoo News 14 Dec 12;

A camera trap caught video of a mother tiger and her two cubs in a protected Sumatran forest, the first evidence of breeding in this location, conservationists say.

The footage was captured in Sumatra's Sembilang National Park. Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have documented evidence before of the endangered species in nearby Berbak National Park.

The video of these big cats shows the mother and her two youngsters walking past the camera. Scientists said they estimate the cubs are less than a year old, according to a ZSL release.

"This is the best early Christmas present, and we are absolutely delighted to find the first evidence of breeding in Sembilang," said Sarah Christie, ZSL head of regional conservation programs, in a statement. "We will continue working with leaders of both national parks as well as the government to ensure the areas are better protected and well patrolled."

The finding gives scientists some hope; there are only 300 Sumatran tigers, the smallest of the tiger species, estimated to be in the wild, according to the release. Camera traps have also caught video of tapirs and sunbears in the nearby Berbak forest.

Sembilang and Berbak National Park are some of the only places in the world where these tigers remain, according to the release.

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Thailand: Turtle egg find floats hope of leatherbacks returning to Phuket

Phuket Gazette 13 Dec 12;

PHUKET: Hopes that turtles are returning to their traditional nesting sites along the Andaman Coast soared as a second clutch of leatherback turtle eggs was discovered on Tai Muang Beach in Phang Nga, just north of Phuket, within an eight day period.

The discovery of the nest on Tuesday follows a leatherback turtle being spotted laying eggs on the beach on December 3.

However, officers at the Khao Lampi – Hat Thai Mueang National Park, where both nests were created, believe that the two clutches of eggs were laid by different turtles.

“The turtle spotted on December 3 was 2.12 meters long, but tracks left in the sand from this second turtle indicate that it is much smaller than the first one,” said park officer Witoon Detpramuanphol.

The nest discovered by local villagers early Tuesday morning was located about 500 meters from where the first turtle was spotted on December 3.

“We found 109 eggs in the nest, but we did not see the mother,” said Mr Witoon.

“The nest contained 109 eggs: 99 of them are good, 10 are undeveloped. The good eggs have been transferred to a safe place. We expect them to hatch in about 60 days,” he added.

Mr Witoon said that he and fellow park officers will be monitoring the area in the hope that the turtles will return to lay more eggs.

“We believe that the first turtle will come back to lay more eggs sometime between today and Saturday, as leatherback turtles usually lay eggs twice, about 10 days apart,” he said.

“The first turtle laid 131 eggs – 99 of them had been fertilized, and 32 were undeveloped. We removed the fertilized eggs to a safe place near our checkpoint so our officers can look after them and keep them safe from predators, man or otherwise,” Mr Witoon explained.

“The number of people visiting Mai Khao and development in the area have forced many turtles to lay their eggs elsewhere,” he added.

The continual rise in tourist numbers and the expansion of beachfront development have deterred leatherbacks from returning to their traditional nesting sites along the Andaman Coast, resulting in turtle nest sightings becoming increasingly rare in the region.

“Leatherback turtles used to lay eggs every year at Mai Khao Beach in Phuket and here at Tai Muang, but the last time we saw this was in January 2010,” Mr Witoon said.

However, the recent return of leatherbacks to Tai Muang Beach is being heralded as good news, and Mr Witoon believes that more leatherbacks have already returned to the area to lay eggs.

“We have seen tracks from other turtles on the beach, so we may see more turtles coming ashore to lay eggs here,” he said.

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Cook Islands' shark sanctuary creates world's largest

BBC News 13 Dec 12;

The Cook Islands has approved a shark sanctuary in its waters, making for the largest such sanctuary in the world.

The South Pacific island chain declared a 1.9 million-sq-km sanctuary, contiguous with one established last week by neighbouring French Polynesia.

That sees a ban on shark fishing and possession or sale of shark products in an area now totalling 6.7 million sq km - nearly the size of Australia.

As top predators, overfishing of sharks disrupts complex oceanic food webs.

And about a third of ocean-going sharks appear on the internationally-recognised Red List of Threatened Species.

"We are proud as Cook Islanders to provide our entire exclusive economic zone... as a shark sanctuary," said Teina Bishop, Cook Islands minister of marine resources.

"We join our Pacific neighbours to protect this animal, which is very vital to the health of our oceans, and our culture."

Other island nations with sanctuaries also include Palau, the Maldives, Tokelau, Honduras and the Bahamas.

Last week's move by French Polynesia overtook the Marshall Islands' area, outlined in late 2011, as the world's largest - and the Cook Island's claim adds 40% more area to that title.

As with the Marshall Islands' declaration, the Cook Islands' effort was with the help of the Pew Environment Group, which advocates island nations' involvement because of the vast scope of their territorial waters.

Pew worked for more than a year with the Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative ahead of Thursday's announcement.

"This is hopeful news for the world's sharks and our efforts to protect them," said Jill Hepp, director of shark conservation for the Pew Environment Group.

"We are thrilled to see the Cook Islands become part of this global movement during a time when so many shark populations are threatened."

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