Best of our wild blogs: 16 Mar 15

Update on mass fish deaths: West Johor Strait
from wild shores of singapore

Update on mass fish deaths: East Johor Strait
from wild shores of singapore

Mass Fish Death Pub Quiz – Sat 21 March, 9pm @ The Hangar
from biodiversityconnections

Naked again at Chek Jawa!
from wild shores of singapore

Crested Goshawk feasting on a Common Palm Civet
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Singapore Bird Report – February 2015
from Singapore Bird Group

Indian Mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) @ Pasir Ris
from Monday Morgue

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Using ash from burnt trash to reclaim land

Audrey Tan The Straits Times AsiaOne 16 Mar 15;

Your trash could one day be used to reclaim land.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has embarked on a project to study if ash left over from burnt rubbish can be used as land reclamation material.

This is part of its efforts to conserve landfill space and prolong the lifespan of Singapore's only landfill on Pulau Semakau, which is situated about 8km south of the mainland.

"If incineration bottom ash can be used as reclamation material, it would conserve the space available on Semakau Landfill for disposal of other non-incinerable waste," an NEA spokesman said.

The Semakau landfill contains non-incinerable waste as well as the ash from incinerable waste.

A combination of sand and approved fill material - such as excavated earth and material from construction - can be used for land reclamation.

With Singapore producing more waste, the landfill could be filled up by as early as 2035, a decade earlier than the projection of 2045 made in 1993.

In 2013, Singapore generated 7.85 million tonnes of waste, up from 7.27 million tonnes the year before. About 60 per cent of this is recycled, but the amount of waste going into the landfill is also going up.

NEA figures showed that 1,700 tonnes of incineration bottom ash was generated daily last year, up from the 1,600 tonnes in 2013 and 1,500 tonnes in 2012.

As part of the study, which began in 2013, the agency is looking at how the ash - which contains metals such as iron and aluminium - can affect the marine ecosystem.

The NEA has engaged researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to do a risk-assessment study, which will include the development of guidelines on how to use such ash as land reclamation material.

NTU is working with the Tropical Marine Science Institute as part of the project.

The research project is expected to end next year. It is the latest measure undertaken by the Government to recycle incineration ash to make Singapore's only landfill last longer.

Last year, the NEA awarded a tender to build a $15 million recovery facility to salvage metals from incineration bottom ash.
And in 2009, the Land Transport Authority carried out a trial using processed incineration bottom ash in the sub-base layer of two 50m sections of Tampines Road.

The trial showed that, in terms of performance, incineration bottom ash can be used for road construction, although it has not been used in any other roads here since.

This is due to the additional processing cost and uncertainty in projected demand for the material in road construction.

Asked if the NEA will face similar challenges in using the ash for land reclamation, its spokesman said the ongoing research will enable it to see if additional processing is needed to make the ash suitable as land reclamation material.

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A Palm Oil King Develops a Green Conscience

Wilmar International’s chairman is cleaning up the industry that made him a billionaire
Yuriy HumberRanjeetha Pakiam Bloomberg 13 Mar 15;

The sprawling palm oil industry has long been a destroyer of rain forests and tormentor of endangered species across Southeast Asia, to hear environmental groups tell it. And if one executive embodied this $50 billion business, it was Kuok Khoon Hong, a 65-year-old Singaporean commodities magnate.

Known as the palm oil king, Kuok is a member of one of Asia’s most powerful business clans and co-founder and chairman of Wilmar International. These days he is no longer portrayed as a villain by activists and nongovernmental organizations. He’s become central to their campaign to prod the palm oil industry to adopt eco-friendly business practices that may start to slow the environmental damage in the region. “I would consider myself an environmentalist today,” he says. “I changed a few years ago when I saw the damage climate change had on the environment in some countries.”

Extracted from the orange pulp of a palm fruit, palm oil is the most used edible oil in the world. You use it every time you brush your teeth, wash your hair, eat ice cream, or put on lipstick. As commodities go, it’s cheap, versatile, and plentiful—palm fruit yields more oil than any other agricultural commodity. Cultivation of palm oil ties up more than 42 million acres worldwide, an area four times the size of Switzerland.

The business has made Kuok a billionaire and lifted many communities in Southeast Asia and Africa out of poverty. It’s also led to mass deforestation and a big air pollution problem. Some palm growers still take a slash-and-burn approach to clearing forests, although the practice is banned in Indonesia and Malaysia. That sends massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. In parts of Southeast Asia, only 5 percent of primary, or virgin, forest cover remains, according to Global Witness, an environmental group.

Kuok’s change in thinking has been gradual and owes much to pressure from shareholders and environmental activists. About two years ago, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, dumped shares in Wilmar and 22 palm companies, citing environmentally harmful industry practices.

Greenpeace videos alleging that palm oil buyers including Unilever and Procter & Gamble contribute to deforestation scored millions of YouTube hits. On an investor call, environmentalists heckled the chief executive officer of Kellogg about buying palm oil from Wilmar. In 2013, Singapore, where Wilmar is based and Kuok lives, was covered in ash from plantation fires tied to the industry.

A Chinese immigrant family in British-controlled Malaya, the Kuoks started with a rice and flour shop before patriarch Robert Kuok rose to be one of the world’s top sugar traders. Robert’s nephew Khoon Hong set up Wilmar with a partner in 1991. Operating largely in Malaysia and Indonesia, the company grew to be one of Singapore’s biggest, with $43 billion in revenue in 2014, and it’s the Kuoks’ premier agribusiness.

Wilmar had argued that it was primarily a trading company and didn’t play a direct role in the environmental abuses—and thus couldn’t be expected to police the industry. Nevertheless, it was an attractive target for critics. One activist went on TV to blame Singapore’s ash on Wilmar. “I asked myself what we did wrong for us to be so wrongly accused,” Kuok Khoon Hong says.

Because of Wilmar’s industry position, “we were made to look like the biggest villain.” The activist on TV was Glenn Hurowitz, an executive director of the environmental consulting group Catapult, in Washington, and one of the strategists behind a yearlong attack by NGOs on the palm industry, with Wilmar as the No. 1 target.

Kuok tracked down Hurowitz. Within weeks the former tormentor was in Kuok’s office laying out a plan to change the palm oil industry and eradicate its links to deforestation. Face to face with Kuok, Hurowitz says he found the businessman interested in what he had to say. “He had not been focused on the environmental issues until we started talking,” Hurowitz says. “He deserves enormous credit for being open-minded.”

“He had not been focused on the environmental issues until we started talking. He deserves enormous credit for being open-minded.”
By late 2013 the sustainability momentum brought in Unilever CEO Paul Polman, whose company is the world’s biggest buyer of palm oil. Polman joined the talks as Unilever had been under pressure from activists. Wilmar, Unilever, and environmental groups wanted all palm oil companies to sign off on new industry standards, but most resisted. When Unilever agreed to join with Wilmar, Kuok broke industry ranks and made the environmental pledge in late 2013.

Wilmar and Unilever announced that not only would they abide by sustainable principles but they would also force their suppliers to do the same. They effectively promised that no trees of any kind, peat land, or orangutans were damaged or hurt in the making of the products. More companies jumped on board with zero-deforestation pledges. McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, and Starbucks are among more than 30 companies with commitments to buy palm oil that’s certified as sustainable by the end of 2015.

Wilmar and Unilever are backing a database system that asks companies involved in the sale and purchase of palm oil to detail their transactions. If it works, industry players will be able to check the original source of their palm oil and determine whether the supplier is compliant with environmentally friendly practices. Yet another tool, an online map built by the World Resources Institute environmental group, uses satellite imagery to identify forest fires and tree clearing. In January, Wilmar set up a website that catalogs its supplier mills and plantations and lets visitors to the site check whether these are in an area that’s been deforested.

The push to clean up palm oil production faces big challenges. It’s a fragmented industry, and not every company has joined the sustainability push. Nor are the initiatives Wilmar and others have signed on to legally binding. Restoring the lost rain forests and animal habitats will take decades.

Still, the campaign is more than a public-relations gesture, says Dave McLaughlin, vice president for agriculture at the World Wildlife Fund: “They’re putting their credibility on the line.” These global companies, he says, “really are exposed on the palm oil issue. It’s difficult. The circumstances and the issues are not easy, but they’re doing it.”

The bottom line: Wilmar’s and Unilever’s push to stop deforestation in the palm oil industry has moved other big companies to follow suit.

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Malaysia: Prolonged dry spell hits northern Sabah districts

The Star 16 Mar 15;

KOTA KINABALU: A prolonged dry spell in Sabah with low river levels has prompted fears of water supply shortfall, especially in the drought-prone northern districts of Matung­gong, Kudat and Pitas.

Worried that the situation could worsen if the dry spell persists for another month or so, many rural folk have started digging wells for their water supply.

“The situation is not that serious as there is still water from the wells. But if the rain doesn’t come next month, things could get worse,” said Jailani Hamdan, the state assemblyman for Matunggong, which was one of the worst-hit districts during the 1998 drought.

He said that despite the dry spell since February, most rural folk in Matunggong were still able to cultivate their crops.

Sabah Meteorological Services Department director Abdul Malek Tussin said wetter weather was expected by May with the onset of the inter-monsoon season.

“The current dry spell is characteristic of the ending of the current north-east monsoon,” he added.

A Sabah Water Department official said the water supply situation in the state was still under control.

However, he urged consumers to conserve water and avoid wastage.

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Global dependence on food imports leaves countries vulnerable

Chris Arsenault PlanetArk 16 Mar 15;

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Global grain imports have increased more than fivefold over the past half century, stoking fears that countries have become too dependent on the vagaries of international markets for their food, an environmental researcher said.

If prices rise, or wild weather prompts countries to impose grain export bans, as Russia did in 2010, nations heavily dependent on imports could face crisis.

More than a third of countries import at least 25 percent of their grains, an increase of 57 percent since 1961, said Gary Gardner, a researcher at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington.

Thirteen countries were 100 percent dependent on imports for their grain supply by 2013, an 18 percent increase from 1961, said Gardner, author of the report "Food Trade and Self-Sufficiency" published this week.

World grain imports rose from just over 50 million tonnes in 1961 to more than 300 million tonnes in 2013, the report said.

"More and more countries depend on global markets for their food - that creates vulnerability," Gardner told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Friday.

Russia's 2010 ban was partially responsible for triggering social unrest and a revolution in Egypt as more than 500,000 tonnes were not supplied and global prices rose damaging Egypt's state bread subsidy program, a farm lobby group said.

Global food prices are currently at their lowest levels in more than four-and-a-half years, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture organisation (FAO) reported this month.

But population growth, expanding appetites for meat in developing countries - which requires grain for feed - and environmental pressures mean this trend won't last forever.

Governments should do their best to protect farmland and water resources, Gardner said, to nurture homegrown production and not just leave food supplies to the mercy of global markets.

The number of hungry people worldwide has dropped by nearly 200 million since 1990 to 805 million in 2014, according to the FAO.

However population pressures and economic growth are leading countries to convert farmland into urban or suburban areas. In the United States alone, agricultural lands the size of Indiana were "paved-over" between 1982 and 2007, Gardner said.

"National agricultural endowments need to be protected," he said. "The market has an important role to play but it shouldn't be the final arbiter of who gets food and where it comes from."

(Reporting By Chris Arsenault; Editing by Ros Russell)

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UK could double its fish catch if quotas allowed stocks to recover, says study

Following scientific advice on rebuilding overfished species would double British catches within a decade creating thousands more jobs, study suggests
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 13 Mar 15;

Fishermen in the UK could benefit from doubled fish catches within a decade and an expanded industry, if European Union fishing quotas were in line with scientific advice, a new study has found.

British fleets would be able to land 1.1bn tonnes of fish a year – up from about 560m at present – within a decade if scientific advice on re-stocking overfished species were heeded, according to estimates from the New Economics Foundation.

Larger catches, with the revenue that would accrue to them – an extra €500m (£356m) a year in the UK alone, based on current prices – and thousands of extra jobs could become available if stocks were allowed to recover, because this would bring about higher yields.

Larger catches will only come at the cost of short-term gain, however: if the UK’s quota were to be re-balanced immediately, more than a tenth of current levels would have to be sacrificed. This could be much higher for other member states.

This is one of the major reasons why quota negotiations are strongly tilted towards a short-term view.

Griffin Carpenter, of the New Economics Foundation, said: “Our analysis shows that rebuilding fish stocks can result in more jobs, more profits and higher wages. Ministers are squandering significant economic potential through their failure to sustainably manage a vital environmental resource.”

Fishing quotas are set using historical quotas and records, and the size of the fleet in each EU member state. Ministers meet in Brussels each December to wrangle over quotas, but are not under an obligation to manage fish stocks without overfishing.

Under recent reforms to the EU’s common fisheries policy quotas should be moved to a “maximum sustainable yield”, bringing scientific advice to the fore in setting quotas. However, the obligation to work towards a maximum sustainable yield will be phased in gradually over the next five years.

There is dispute over what a maximum sustainable yield is, as scientists and fishermen disagree about the size of fish stocks in European waters.

Last December ministers set quotas above scientifically advised limits for nearly two-thirds of the EU’s fish stocks, according to the New Economics Foundation report.

Cod and whiting, which are the main species in most of the UK’s fishing areas, have good potential for recovery, the report found, and if they were well-managed the stock may rise to levels at which better catches are possible, while the UK would keep its share of the quota. British fleets would benefit from taking the same share of a larger pie.

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Global emissions stall in 2014 following slowdown in China's economy

Carbon dioxide emissions stayed the same last year compared to 2013, data shows, but falling oil prices may cause them to rise again
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 13 Mar 15;

A slowdown in China’s economic growth helped the world to a pause in the upward rise in greenhouse gas emissions last year, according to data released on Friday.

China burnt less coal last year than expected, as the projected rise in its energy demand faltered along with the rise in its economic growth, and as the expansion of its renewable energy generation continued.

Emissions of carbon dioxide related to energy use were flat in 2014, compared with the previous year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday. Previous pauses or falls in the upward march of global emissions, such as that experienced in 2009, were closely related to economic shocks.

Global carbon dioxide output was 32.3bn tonnes in 2014, which the IEA said was unchanged from the previous year, while global GDP rose by 3%. However, the data is still preliminary and will not be confirmed until mid-June. It is not possible at present to say how much of the pause in the growth of emissions was down to policy and how much to economic forces, nor whether this pause is likely to continue.

The dramatic fall in the price of oil over the last few months will also be an important factor in whether emissions rise again next year, as cheaper oil is associated with increasing greenhouse gas levels.

Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the IEA, warned that the apparent one-year pause in the growth of emissions was too soon to regard policies as successful. She said: “The latest data on emissions are indeed encouraging, but this is no time for complacency, and certainly not the time to use this positive news as an excuse to stall further action.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in 2007 that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by around 2020 for the world to stay on track to hold global temperature rises to no more than 2C on average, the level regarded as the limit of safety beyond which the effects of climate change are likely to become irreversible and catastrophic.

Global governments will meet in Paris this December to discuss a possible new agreement on climate change to include commitments on curbing emissions after 2020, when current commitments end.

Ed Davey, the UK energy and climate secretary, said: “These figures show that green growth is achievable not just for Britain but for the world. However we cannot be complacent – we need to dramatically cut emissions, not just stop their growth. Getting a new global climate deal is absolutely vital, and the year ahead is going to be of critical importance.”

Ahead of the Paris conference, governments of major economies, both developed and developing, are expected to come up with proposals to cut or curb their emissions in the 2020s. The United Nations (UN) has set a deadline of the end of March for submitting such proposals, but this may not be met in all cases.

Last November, the world’s two biggest emitters - the US and China - jointly announced their commitments under the UN process. The US has pledged a cut of 25% to 28% by 2025, compared with 2005 levels. China has pledged that its emissions will peak by 2030, a goal that the European Union’s former climate chief told the Guardian was “very late” compared with what China is capable of.

Future data from the IEA, scheduled to be published in June, is likely to give an indication of whether China’s emissions could be expected to peak sooner than the 2030 deadline, on business-as-usual expectations.

Developed countries in the past decade have experienced a “decoupling” of carbon emissions from economic growth, with rising GDP alongside lower emissions. However, some observers have said this was only possible because the manufacturing and contingent energy use needed to fuel economic growth were taken on by developing countries such as China.

The pledges made by countries under the UN climate change negotiating process, including a commitment by the EU to cut emissions relative to 1990 levels by 40% by 2030, will be examined by the UN in the months leading up to the Paris talks.

'Long struggle' warning on climate
Roger Harrabin BBC 13 Mar 15;

America’s chief climate negotiator has warned of the long battle ahead to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Todd Stern told BBC News that by the end of the month, he expects the US to make a “quite ambitious” declaration on climate change.

He praised China’s projected offer to the December climate summit in Paris.

But he said the conference would not itself solve the climate problem. That, he argued, would need ongoing effort over decades.

Nations are desperate for the Paris meeting to avoid a repeat of the shambolic gathering in Copenhagen in 2009 that failed in its billing as the summit to save the planet.

This time, rich nations have agreed to make their offers well in advance to reduce the chance of last-minute chaos.

Long view

The EU has already offered a 40% cut on 1990 levels by 2030. The US will soon offer – probably a 26-28% reduction below 2005 levels by 2025. Comparison is hard because of different baselines, but some experts say the two appear roughly comparable in terms of effort.

China is expected to offer to peak emissions by 2030 at the latest, and to produce 20% of its energy from nuclear and renewables by the same date.

Mr Stern said: “You can look at the US, the EU, China - you could say I wish they did a little more than that, but that is a significant target the Chinese have announced. It’s not perfect - but then nobody’s is.”

He warned against expectations that the Paris summit would produce an agreement to keep global temperature rise within 2C.

“The two-degree goal will be reached if countries execute a deep decarbonisation of their economies over a significant period of time," he said.

“So what will we see from this agreement, if we get what I would like? We’ll get strong initial targets. They are not going to be everything everybody wants but I want to caution people against looking at this agreement from a 2015 snapshot.”

China’s commitment to add 800 gigawatts of renewables or nuclear was “really impressive,” he said. “This is an enormous amount – more than all the coal used in China now. To put it in perspective, the entire US energy system is about 1,100 gigawatts.”

I first met Mr Stern when he was advising President Clinton on climate policy. I asked if he felt positive about progress since then. He replied: “I think we have come quite far but there is quite far to go. In the US, more has happened to developing technologies and putting in place regulations that will drive the energy transformation. That has never happened before.

“On the international agreement, there has been a lot of movement and we have a historic opportunity to deliver an important agreement in which all countries are genuinely part of the regime and taking action that’s ambitious and rules-based, fair and durable. If we do this right, it will send a message to markets that we are on a path to action and there’s no going back.”

The US has recently begun to turn the screw on the other great power, India, which has declined to offer climate targets because it says India is too under-developed to make promises to cut emissions.

Pressure from the other powers is unwelcome in Delhi. “This is the pot calling the kettle black”, Kirit Parikh, a former member of India’s planning commission, told BBC News.

“China is saying it will peak in 2030 but not what level it will peak, and not when it will reduce emissions away from that peak,” he said. They could hit a peak and stay there. This is just an illusion of progress.”

His comments sound an alarm bell for Paris. The great economic blocs may be back-patting at their mutual efforts – but the summit is supposed to embrace all nations.

Mohamed Adow, a Kenyan working for Christian Aid, said: “The initial commitments from the big polluters are inadequate – they won’t put the world on the path to two degrees. Anyway, two degrees is too much for Africa – we are already seeing terrifying impacts after only 0.8 degree level of warming; that means adapt or die for parts of Africa and we can’t accept that.”

The great powers are likely to keep their promise to put their targets up for scrutiny this month - but when that happens it's them who will become the targets.

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Best of our wild blogs: 14-15 Mar 15

Seawater quality and desalination plants in Singapore
from wild shores of singapore

Internship position open for mammal outreach and research
from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

Butterfly of the Month - March 2015
from Butterflies of Singapore

Two Outings to Upper Seletar Reservoir (USR) Park
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Night Walk At Venus Drive (13 Mar 2015)
from Beetles@SG BLOG

Oriental Pied Hornbill’s reluctant courtship feeding
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Macro Photography Outings – February 2015
from Bugs & Insects of Singapore

Proposed law could decimate Indonesia's remaining forests
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

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Malaysian fish farmers blame controversial Forest City project for mass deaths

Today Online 15 Mar 15;

KUALA LUMPUR — Silence now hangs over the dozen fish farms in the Tanjung Kupang waters in the Johor Strait, near a massive land-reclamation project for the RM600 billion (S$225 billion) Forest City development, which fishermen and farmers suspect contributed to the mass fish deaths in the area earlier this month.

Once a bustling hive of fishing activity, the area near Kampung Pendas, Gelang Patah, is now quiet, the stillness broken only by the sound of the waves lapping against the wooden stilts of the farms, barking of dogs and fish farm operators packing up their items.

Mr Yusaini Majid, 35, has worked at one of the fish farms for more than three years, but he said the farm’s owner wanted to close it down as he was unable to recoup the losses.

“This will be our last month operating. The boss is upset, he doesn’t want to farm fish any more because they keep dying.

“I don’t know what will happen to the farm, the cost of repairs would go up to hundreds of thousands of ringgit,” Mr Yusaini told The Malaysian Insider, adding that he was unsure what to do once the fish farm closed down.

Mr Yusaini was luckier than other farmers. He had acted quickly and managed to save over half of his stock. But he said the remaining fish were of the cheaper kind, which could only fetch up to RM50 a kg.

This is not the first time the area has been hit by mass fish deaths. In the past, locals have blamed Forest City’s land-reclamation works for the deaths, although the developer, Country Garden Pacific View (CGPV), has denied it.

Previous episodes have also been attributed to plankton blooms, brought about by rapid changes in water temperature, poor water circulation, and higher than usual nutrient levels in the water.

But the deaths in early March were massive, bringing up sea creatures from the depths such as sea horses and moray eel. A BBC report on March 6 said the scene on the beach looked like a “mass grave” and even after the first batch was cleared up, the next high tide brought in a new wave of dead marine life.

Forest City will see four man-made islands built in the waters in Tanjung Kupang between south-west Johor and north-west of Singapore. The mixed-development project will include residential and commercial lots and is expected to take 30 years to complete.

The four reclaimed islands will cover 1,386ha and will lie close to Singapore. In June last year, it was reported that the Republic had voiced its concern over the project to the Malaysian government in two diplomatic notes.

In January this year, the Department of Environment (DOE) approved the project’s detailed environmental impact assessment report (DEIA), despite Tanjung Kupang villagers arguing that it would lead to the loss of their land and livelihood.

During a public dialogue on Sept 21 last year, residents accused CGPV of bulldozing the project through. Fishermen complained of shrinking catches since the reclamation works started.

CGPV is expected to make a profit of nearly RM290 billion over the next 30 years through the project. The company is a 66-34 joint venture between China’s Country Garden Holdings and Esplanade Danga 88, whose main shareholder is the Sultan of Johor.

State company Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ) is also a partner in the project.

Residents near the area said this year’s mass fish deaths had even claimed bigger and more resilient fish, such as groupers and catfish.

“From afar, I could see the dead fish begin to float to the surface. At first I only saw small fish, but when I went deeper in the ocean, I spotted big ones such as groupers, barramundis, also floating up. This went on until late in the night,” said marine coordinator Kamaruzzaman Mohd Yunus, 56.

Mr Kamaruzzaman, who preferred to be called Man Pendas, said unlike last year, when only farmed fish were affected, this year’s wave of deaths had also claimed the wild fish in the sea.

“It could be due to the weather or the land-reclamation works, which have polluted the waters… there is definitely a link there,” he said.

“Things are terrible now, it would take years for everything to recover… but what can we do when faced with development? This tiny area is to be developed into something that is beyond our imagination right now.”

Forest City is not the only threat to marine life in the Johor Strait. The state government is now developing an area spanning 2,217sqkm, including coastal areas, under the South Johor Economic region (SJER), known as the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), and it is expected to be completed at a cost of more than RM47 billion.

Fishermen around Pendas, which is famous for its crabs, told The Malaysian Insider their haul had also reduced considerably.

“At that time, I lost RM1,000 in two weeks as I didn’t catch anything,” said Mr Aziz Sulaiman, 67, who is usually able to earn up to RM2,000 a fortnight from the 20 traps he sets up.

Another fisherman, who only wants to be known as Jai, said he normally catches 50kg of crabs a day, but his haul was reduced to 1kg to 2kg during that period.

“A bucket of crabs is worth only RM15. When the fish died, I was only bringing back one bucket,” he said.

Meanwhile, water taxi driver Azhar Muhammad, 40, said his income had also been affected during the period, as fewer fishermen could use his services to go out to the sea.

“We would inform customers whether the sea’s condition was suitable for fishing. During that time, we told them all the fish had died and advised them to come back in a week or two,” said Mr Azhar, who charges around RM50 for a boat ride.

In January, CGPV claimed that the Forest City project would diversify incomes and improve the quality of life of local communities.

CGPV executive director Md Othman said workshops and training would be provided as well as infrastructure like a new access road and water reticulation systems, and locals would benefit from the investments the project brought into the area.

He also assured that the firm would work closely with all stakeholders and regulatory authorities to ensure that the needs of the communities as well as the environment would be met.

The company that had prepared the DEIA report had, however, apparently raised caution about the dredging and sedimentation caused by the project that would impact on the seabed, according to the New Straits Times, which had obtained a copy of the report.

The paper said despite the mitigation measures to cushion the environmental impact, including the use of a “silt curtain” around the reclamation area, experts noted that more damage could be expected. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Mass fish deaths in Johor farms due to reclamation work: Farmers
Straits Times 16 Mar 15;

A dozen fish farms in the waters of Tanjung Kupang in Johor state experienced mass fish deaths earlier this month, which farmers say was caused by massive reclamation work. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

JOHOR - A dozen fish farms in the waters of Tanjung Kupang in Johor state experienced mass fish deaths earlier this month, which farmers say was caused by massive reclamation work.

The fish deaths in the area near Kampung Pendas in Gelang Patah - which is known for its crabs - early last month were massive, bringing up sea creatures such as sea horses and moray eel from the sea, the Malaysian Insider reported yesterday, quoting fish farmers.

This is not the first time the area has been hit by mass fish deaths, but while previous cases were attributed to plankton blooms, caused by changes in water temperature, poor water circulation and more than the usual nutrient levels in the water, farmers whom the Malaysian Insider website spoke to suspect that the massive land-reclamation project for the nearby Forest City development has also contributed to the deaths. The project was worth RM600 billion (S$225 billion), the website said.

The developer for Forest City, Country Garden Pacific View (CGPV), is building four man-made islands in the waters of Tanjung Kupang between south-west Johor and north-west of Singapore.

A mixed-development project, it will include residential and commercial lots and take 30 years to complete.

The Department of Environment approved the project's detailed environmental impact assessment report (DEIA) in January, although the company that had prepared the DEIA report had raised caution about the project's impact on the seabed, the New Straits Times had reported.

According to reports, CGPV is a joint venture between China's Country Garden Holdings and Esplanade Danga 88, whose main shareholder is the Sultan of Johor.

"I lost RM1,000 in two weeks as I didn't catch anything," fish farmer Aziz Sulaiman, 67, who usually earns up to RM2,000 (S$750) a fortnight from the 20 traps he sets up, told the Malaysian Insider.

Mr Yusaini Majid, 35, who has been working on a fish farm for more than three years, said that his employer was going to close it down.

"This will be our last month operating. The boss is upset, he doesn't want to farm fish any more because they keep dying," he told the website.

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Fish farmers restock as water quality appears improved

Samantha Boh and Andrea Ng The Straits Times AsiaOne 14 Mar 15;

WITH no new dead fish spotted since last Saturday, fish farmers hit by the recent plankton bloom have started moving their stocks back to open waters.

Over the past two weeks, large numbers of fish - more than 600 tonnes in total - have died, with farms near the East Johor Strait the worst hit. This amounts to more than 10 per cent of annual production, affecting more than 55 out of 117 floating fish farms.

Losses have been estimated at between $15,000 and $300,000 per farm, and could total between $4 million and $5 million. But farmers believe the current wave of deaths could be over. "Even the wild fish are returning to the area," said Mr Malcolm Ong, 51, CEO of The Fish Farmer.

Some affected farmers such as Mr Ong have begun importing new batches of fish fry, or baby fish. He had a batch of 10,000 delivered this week, and has another delivery planned for next week.

Mr Frank Tan, 40, who owns Marine Life Aquaculture, started restocking on Monday, and believes the water quality at his Changi farm has improved. "We don't see any more algae in the sea, but it could be on the seabed or hiding somewhere," he said.

He also moved his surviving fish back to open sea cages after transferring them to inland tanks on Pulau Ketam when the plankton bloom struck.

Mr Wong Jing Kai, 26, of Ah Hua Kelong moved some of his surviving stock back to sea as early as Wednesday last week after noticing improvements in the water quality. However, he does not discount another plankton bloom in the near future: "It is unpredictable; there is no pattern to it."
Experts say the most accurate way to find out if plankton levels are normal is a water quality test.

As a rule of thumb, there should only be a few hundred cells of dinoflagellates per litre, according to Associate Professor Federico Lauro of the Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering at Nanyang Technological University.

Dinoflagellate is the type of phytoplankton which caused the mass fish deaths. During a bloom, they multiply to tens of thousands or even millions of cells per litre.

Plankton blooms can be deadly as the plankton suck oxygen from the water, suffocating other marine life. They can be caused by unfavourable environmental factors such as a neap tide, where there is a very small difference between high and low tide levels, dry weather or pollution.

Prof Lauro said it is tempting to regard the lack of new deaths as an indication that the water is now safe, but he cautioned: "Nobody can say for sure without specific monitoring."

Mr Chan Wei Loong, programme chair of Republic Polytechnic's diploma in marine science and aquaculture, said that since the life cycle of a plankton bloom is about a week, chances are that the water has cleared up.

He added that the recent rain should have helped as plankton thrive on warm temperatures and sunlight.

Meanwhile, the National Environment Agency has declared the water quality at Pasir Ris, Changi and Punggol beaches within recreational water guidelines, after its latest round of water sampling.

But some farmers are still cautious. Mr Phillip Lim, 53, former president of the Singapore Marine Aquaculture Cooperative, is coming up with a new farming system to protect his fish from sudden environmental changes. He said: "I am not bothering to restock, I am not going to take the risk."

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Behold, the rise of Singapore’s eco-warriors and foot soldiers

SIAU MING EN Today Online 13 Mar 15;

SINGAPORE — They are everywhere: From growing their own food, making recycling a daily habit and leading a “waste-free” or “toxic-free” lifestyle, to simply taking their own bags and containers to supermarkets and eateries, more Singaporeans are being swept up by the green movement.

Also, the authorities say they are seeing a growing number of individuals and organisations advocating environmental causes, and nominations for green awards have spiked. Non-profit environmental groups are also witnessing unprecedented turnouts for their events and activities.

In 2012, Ms Kathy Xu, now 32, left her job as a teacher to practise what she had preached to her students about shark conservation. Through her project, The Dorsal Effect, she tries to end shark fishing by working with investors and fishermen in Lombok to promote eco-tourism as an alternative source of livelihood for the latter.

Since last year, Ms Xu has also started advocating for a waste-free lifestyle after realising how detrimental trash is to the ocean. “It wasn’t just about the sharks, but the whole eco-system we live in,” she said.

Ms Ler Lee Cheng, 34, has been trying to live a toxic-free lifestyle since 2009. She founded The DIY Secrets, which sells organic products. On her blog and during her workshops, she advocates the use of natural ingredients in day-to-day living and teaches people how to make household items — such as detergents, soaps and lip balms from these ingredients — and turn kitchen waste into garbage enzymes that can be used to clean homes or fertiliser.

She said her work stemmed from her interest in soap. As she began to learn more about making soap and other body care products with natural ingredients, she also picked up information about how toxins found in perfumes and cosmetics can have adverse health effects on people.

But it is not just about personal health; synthetic chemicals can also be harmful to the environment, she said, noting that chemically-formulated products such as shampoo and detergent would enter drainage systems and pollute waterways.

To do her bit for the environment, Ms Agatha Lee has avoided buying new clothing for the past seven years. Instead, she picks up her sewing needle to repair old garments or refashion them into new items. The 40-year-old also runs a blog, Green Issues by Agy, and conducts workshops to teach people, for example, simple repair work such as how to darn socks, or how to incorporate electronics into their clothes.

The former policymaker with the National Environment Agency (NEA) recalled how she was going through her wardrobe some 8-10 years ago when it hit her that she had way too many clothes, some worn once or twice while others were brand new.

“I was going to throw them away or donate to charity but I realised that I would then be going back to the stores and buying more. I would be in this never-ending cycle of throwing away and buying clothes,” she said.

Adding that people are over-consuming today, she said: “We’ve become a throw-away society. People are throwing away their clothes unnecessarily, even if it’s just torn or if it has been worn just a few times.”

Mr Calvin Soh, 47, and his children started growing fruits and vegetables in their condominium balcony as a hobby to relieve stress, as Mr Soh puts it. Six years on, it has become more than just a little green patch: They have turned their rooftop into a mini-farm.

Mr Soh had left his position as vice-chairman and regional creative director at an advertising firm three years ago to spend more time with his family. He said he wanted his son and daughter — aged 12 and 9, respectively — to become more conscious of their consumption patterns through farming, so he roped them in to help with the gardening chores. His son, Dylan, gave a talk on urban farming two years ago at the inaugural Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) x Singapore Management University conference.

MORE THAN JUST A FAD?

Ms Olivia Choong, co-founder of Green Drinks Singapore, a non-profit organisation promoting collaboration on environmental issues, said she has seen more new faces at the talks conducted by her group. The number of participants range between 50 and 150 for each session, and first-time participants make up more than half of the participants these days, compared with about one-third in the past, she said.

Testifying to Singaporeans’ growing eco-consciousness, the NEA said it is seeing more people and groups coming forward on green issues. Its spokesperson noted that, for example, nominations for its EcoFriend Award — which recognises the efforts and achievements of “environmentally-proactive” Singaporeans — jumped by 33 per cent last year from 2013.

Ms Choong felt those who are new to green causes can sometimes come across as pursuing a fad. “More people are taking it seriously, but you’ll have that group that … is getting to know more about (green causes) and those are the ones that I feel are more likely to do it as a trend, rather than to really change big habits,” she said.

But she noted that some of these individuals eventually learn more about environmental issues and make the conscious effort to change their lifestyles. “Environmental issues are only trendy to people who don’t see the big picture; they don’t see how serious (the issues) are,” she added.

The growing awareness has made it easier for environmental groups to spread their message. But Ms Choong cautioned that green campaigns would not achieve the desired impact — and in some cases, result in undesirable outcomes — when people are not fully aware of the green issues they are supporting.

For instance, while Earth Hour — where lights are turned off for an hour as a symbolic act to conserve the environment — helps raise awareness to environmental issues, there will be individuals who switch off their lights but continue to, say, use air-conditioning, she pointed out. People may also buy energy-saving devices but end up using them two or three times as much as they would normally do, she added.

Nevertheless, Ms Bhavani Prakash, a speaker and trainer in environmental sustainability and mindfulness, hailed the positive trend. “It may mean that people genuinely care about preserving it. It may also mean that people care about their own well-being and the health of their families and children, which could be another key driver,” said Ms Bhavani, who also grows her own food.

Whatever their motivations, people who are pro-active in doing their part for the environment — such as recycling, conserving resources or voicing their opinions — do so out of genuine concerns, she pointed out.

FUELLING THE GREEN TIDE

Mr Eugene Tay, director of Green Future Solutions, pointed out that globally, there is greater awareness of environmental issues. Social media has made it easier for people to form communities online and to get people talking about certain issues, he said. As a result, informal groups of individuals coming together for environmental causes have mushroomed.

In contrast, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) used to be the only ones driving the green agenda, although some governments have also increasingly come on board, given the global attention on climate change.

Ms Bhavani noted that, in Singapore, the number of green issues and causes thrust into the public spotlight have grown, in tandem with the rising eco-consciousness. “Previously, the environment movement may have been confined to one or two causes but now, there is a wide spectrum,” she said, citing loud public voices on biodiversity and heritage preservation in the cases of the Rail Corridor and Bukit Brown, for example.

Mr Soh said the younger generation is driving the green movement here. Not only are they more socially aware and cause-driven, they will also be the ones who are “inheriting this environment and its problems”, he noted.

His son, Dylan, said he has been thinking about what would happen to the younger generation should corporations continue with their polluting ways.

“I’m afraid that in a couple of years, there would be pollution everywhere ... Then you can’t go swimming anymore, you can’t eat normal (food) anymore because there will be chemicals (in it),” he said. The Primary Six pupil likened farming with his family as a way of rebuilding a part of the environment that has been destroyed.

The rise of the Internet and social media has provided a highly accessible, wide-reaching platform for individuals to champion green causes. For example, a person can easily start an online petition, Mr Tay noted.

This also means that the authorities here need to adapt to the new landscape, he said. “In the past, (the authorities) would only deal with listed societies … now, (they) also have to deal with other groups which are a bit loose but still represent some views.”

The learning curve has been steep: For example, the way in which the authorities handled the redevelopment of the Bukit Brown cemetery did not go down well with NGOs. In comparison, the Government’s engagement with interest groups has been smoother over the Rail Corridor development and the plans for a Cross Island MRT line which could cut across the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, for example.

Under its partnership strategy, the NEA engages individuals and community groups to promote environmental ownership. Ground-up movements are also encouraged through providing resources and forming collaborations, its spokesperson said.

The agency has dedicated capacity-building programmes, for instance, to train their partners and volunteers so that they are able to initiate programmes and spread messages about the environment. In addition, the NEA also provides resources such as education materials and collaterals to facilitate outreach efforts. Under the Environment Champions programme, more than 1,000 students have been trained to lead environmental programmes in their schools.

The NEA has also been partnering community groups to engage residents on various environment issues, such as public cleanliness, resource conservation and dengue prevention. It added: “The objective is to encourage greater responsibility towards the environment and the adoption of environmentally-friendly practices in our daily lives.”

Still, Ms Ria Tan, who runs the website WildSingapore, stressed that the initiatives and efforts by groups need not always be coordinated by the authorities. “You have a cause that is close to your heart, just do it,” she said.

While it is trendy to go green these days, Mr Soh reiterated that people should pursue green causes with a sufficient understanding of environmental issues. “It’s good to have a trend, then after that work on it, so the trend becomes a way of life,” he said. “(But) when it’s a fad … the crowds (are just) following the bigger crowd, without understanding the real reasons why.”

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Port expansion at Pasir Panjang being accelerated

Karamjit Kaur The Straits Times AsiaOne 13 Mar 15;

EXPANSION plans for the Pasir Panjang container port are being accelerated to cater for growth at the port.

Phases 3 and 4 will be fully operational by the end of 2017, two years ahead of the original plan, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said during the debate on his ministry's budget yesterday.

Last year, the port recorded a 4 per cent increase in container throughput to 33.9 million 20ft equivalent container units (TEUs).

And growth is expected to continue in tandem with regional demand, Mr Lui said.

The Pasir Panjang expansion will add new handling capacity of 15 million container units per annum, increasing total capacity by more than 40 per cent to 50 million container units.

Port operator PSA will invest about $3.5 billion in these new facilities, which will enable Singapore to handle more of the largest container ships, which are about 400m long.

"This expansion will provide sufficient capacity while development work on Tuas Port is under way," Mr Lui said.

Apart from infrastructure works, the maritime sector is getting a $65 million boost to attract, develop and retain talent to grow Singapore as a global hub port and international maritime centre.

The money will go into the Maritime Cluster Fund for Manpower Development.

This brings the total amount put into the kitty since 2007 to $115 million.

Another $6 million will be spent over the next five years by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) under an existing scholarship programme to support more students who aspire to become captains and chief engineers.

The schemes will encourage more maritime businesses to improve employees' skills and allow more Singaporeans to take up seafaring careers, Mr Lui said.

Ms Lin Ming Ling, 26, an operations trainee at Oldendorff Carriers Singapore, is one such beneficiary who received 50 per cent funding for a $25,000 four-month programme in the Netherlands in 2012.

"The grant helped to lessen my financial burden and helped me progress in my career," she said.

Apart from financial backing, MPA is working with companies to develop management associate programmes to groom local talent for leadership positions and develop structured career progression pathways, Mr Lui said.

Responding to Mr Seng Han Thong (Ang Mo Kio GRC), who asked about maritime safety, Mr Lui said the number of incidents has dipped from 1.7 incidents per 100,000 vessel movements in 2010 to 0.5 last year.

This year, the industry will be paying special attention to enhancing safety for small harbour and pleasure craft by installing enhanced transponders.

"The prospects for the maritime sector are bright and the Government will continue to ensure that the industry is future-ready so that Singapore and Singaporeans can take advantage of the many opportunities available," Mr Lui said.

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