Best of our wild blogs: 4 Jul 16

Pesta Ubin 2016 Commonest Bird Quest
Singapore Bird Group

Sunbeam Snake (Xenopeltis unicolor) @ Punggol Road
Monday Morgue

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Some 300 fire-linked hot spots detected in Indonesia

Arlina Arshad Straits Times 4 Jul 16;

Almost 300 hot spots were detected over Sumatra and Kalimantan yesterday that were due to forest and land fires, and the number is expected to increase in the coming dry months.

The figures were disclosed as news emerged of an interview given by the Singapore envoy in Jakarta, who said the Republic would continue to pursue those responsible for haze-belching forest fires in South-east Asia last year.

"We are going after, to put it starkly, the bad guys that are causing this problem," Mr Anil Kumar Nayar told the Agence France-Presse news agency last week. He said Singapore was not crossing any line in pursuing these companies and was within its rights to enforce its law.

"We are not doing something that is extraordinary. It is not targeting any country or anybody's sovereignty," he added.

His comments came amid tensions between Indonesia and Singapore over the latter's decision to take action against a director of an Indonesian firm linked to last year's regional haze, considered to be one of the worst in recent history.

The crisis affected millions across South-east Asia and caused more than half a million Indonesians to suffer from severe respiratory illnesses. Errant pulp and paper firms have been blamed for the fires.

Satellites yesterday recorded 288 hot spots - 245 hot spots over Sumatra island and 43 over Kalimantan - Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.

The figure is small compared with about 3,000 at the height of last year's crisis, but he warned that the "potential for fires will increase" in the drier months of July to September. "Dry conditions, scarcity of water and difficulty in accessing the locations will make it hard to douse the fires," he said.

Two helicopters and two air-tractor waterbombers were deployed to spray water from the air in Riau province, which had 26 hot spots. Troops, police and personnel from other agencies are controlling the blazes on the ground, he said. "Most of the hot spots are a result of intentional burning," he said. He did not say who were behind the fires but advised the community not to clear land by setting fires.

Last Friday, major palm oil companies said they have ditched a landmark "zero deforestation" pact, saying the government's recent efforts to strengthen its certification standards were sufficient.

The 2014 Indonesia Palm Oil Pledge, or Ipop, was hailed as one that would boost efforts to fight rampant deforestation, annual forest fires and choking haze.

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Singapore to pursue firms over fires, despite Indonesian ire

Channel NewsAsia 3 Jul 16;

JAKARTA: Singapore is refusing to back down in its pursuit of those responsible for haze-belching forest fires in Southeast Asia last year, despite struggling to bring the perpetrators before the courts and drawing a sharp rebuke from neighbouring Indonesia.

Forest fires are part of an annual dry-season problem in Indonesia, started illegally to quickly and cheaply clear land for cultivation -- particularly for palm oil and pulpwood.

But last year's haze outbreak was among the worst in memory, shrouding Malaysia, Singapore, and parts of Thailand in acrid smoke and forcing school closures as pollution reached hazardous levels and thousands fell sick across the region.

Singapore has served notice to six Indonesian companies it believes may have cleared land by burning but could target others as investigations continue, according to Singapore's ambassador to Indonesia Anil Kumar Nayar.

"We are going after, to put it starkly, the bad guys that are causing this problem," he told AFP in an interview last week.

However, the city-state's efforts to punish Indonesian companies under its own anti-haze law have become a flashpoint with Jakarta.

Singapore argues that international rules allow states to take action -- even if harm is being caused by activities outside its jurisdiction -- but Jakarta has questioned how Singapore could pursue Indonesian citizens for prosecution, especially in the absence of a ratified extradition treaty between the neighbours.

The latest sabre-rattling came after Singapore issued a court warrant in May to detain a director of an Indonesian company linked to the haze while he was in the city-state.

Afterwards, Indonesia's Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said that she would be reviewing her ministry's cooperation with Singapore on environmental issues.

"Singapore cannot step further into Indonesia's legal domain," Bakar told reporters in June. Her spokesman declined to comment further on the matter when contacted.

Nayar reiterated that Singapore wasn't crossing any line pursuing these companies and was within its rights to enforce its law.

"We are not doing something that is extraordinary. It is not targeting any country, or anybody's sovereignty," he said.

The law threatens local and foreign firms with fines of up to $100,000 Singaporean dollars (US$74,000) for every day Singapore endures unhealthy haze pollution.

So far just two of the companies have responded to the court order, Nayar said, without naming specific firms.

SLOW PROGRESS

Singapore has repeatedly asked Indonesia for details about companies -- such as maps showing who owns what concessions -- but says Jakarta has not provided any information.

Singapore would "continue to press", Nayar said, but added the evidence needed to prosecute these companies could be found by other means.

"We could go that way as well, but at the end of the day this is part of a legal process. We want to be working with the Indonesian government," he said.

One of Indonesia's main arguments is that a regional approach to solving the haze crisis would be more effective than individual action.

"They (Singapore) know our view on this, on how we can best address this issue of haze through the ASEAN mechanism," ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told AFP.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has an agreement to create a haze-free region by 2020, though it took 14 years to be fully ratified.

Nayar says regional progress on curbing haze has been slow.

Fellow ASEAN member Malaysia, which also suffers during the haze outbreaks, has expressed interest in adopting its own law similar to Singapore's to pursue errant companies.

Jakarta has promised tougher action in the wake of last year's haze disaster, which turned skies yellow in Indonesia's part of Borneo island and dealt the economy a $16 billion blow.

The government announced in May it would no longer grant new land for palm oil plantations, and established a new agency to restore millions of hectares of carbon-rich peatlands susceptible to fires.

- AFP

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Malaysia: Tourists messing up Mossy Forest, says NGO

FERNANDO FONG Straits Times 4 Jul 16;

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: An environmental non-governmental organisation has hit out at the Pahang Forestry Department and tour operators for ruining Cameron Highlands’s Mossy Forest, which is famed for its Lord of the Rings-like scenery.

Regional Environmental Awareness of Cameron Highlands president Ramakrishnan Ramasamy claimed that the department and tour operators had become out of touch with the natural environment, which theypurportedly protected, as the forest was going bald.

He said the department and tour operators had become irrelevant as they failed to protect Mossy Forest, located in Gunung Brinchang.

He said the forest continued to degrade as a result of tourists stepping on the moss there.

Ramasamy said moss was particularly sensitive, and damage caused by footprints could take a very long time to “heal”.

“They (state Forestry Department and tour operators) are setting a bad example when it comes to protecting Cameron Highlands’s fragile nature “Instead of guiding tourists to walk on the boardwalk, they allow tourists to trample on the sensitive moss in Mossy Forest.

“Some tourists even climb trees in the forest, when they should stay on the boardwalk,” he told the New Straits Times.

He said tour operators made things worse by opening up new trails in Mossy Forest. Ramasamy urged people to respect nature, reminding them that walking off-trail and illegally intruding into forests were unacceptable.

The state Forestry Department and tour operators have also come under fire from the environmentalist for allowing tourists to litter in Mossy Forest.

“They should ensure that tourists take the litter with them when they leave.”

A recent visit by the NST confirmed Ramasamy’s claims.

A tour guide, who declined to be named, said Mossy Forest was a rare treasure and some people might not realise its true value.

“We try to be strict with our guests, but more public awareness is needed. This will take time.

“Perhaps, the state Forestry Department can impose an entry fee on guests.

“The money can be used to maintain Mossy Forest,” said the tour guide, who is from Tanah Rata.

The department could not be reached for comment at press time.

Last year, the department closed Mossy Forest for six months in what has been viewed as an unsuccessful attempt to allow the moss there to recover.

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Best of our wild blogs: 3 Jul 16

Butterfly of the Month - July 2016
Butterflies of Singapore

Back at Pulau Tekukor
wonderful creation

Night Walk At MacRitchie Reservoir
Beetles@SG BLOG

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Growing allure of green jobs

Audrey Tan The Straits Times 2 Jul 16;

Ms Gracie Low, 22, has a lofty dream: She wants to help save the earth. The National University of Singapore undergraduate, who enters the workforce next year, is on the lookout for jobs that will let her help companies cut waste, whether through education, technology, research or policy.

"There are so many opportunities out there," she says.

Waste management may strike some as dirty work but more young people are realising the value of such green jobs. Attitudes towards these jobs have in recent years undergone a sea change, says Mr Wilson Ang, executive director of charity Global Compact Network Singapore which promotes corporate sustainability.

Singaporeans used to think these jobs were to be found only in government agencies like the National Environment Agency or water agency PUB, or involved signing up with a conservation group and being paid a pittance. Now, though, more are becoming aware that "green jobs" in the sustainability sector can earn them a fair wage and provide them with a chance to do meaningful work that helps protect the environment.

Mr Ang says a turning point was the collapse of the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, when nations failed to agree on terms to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In the lead-up to that summit, businesses and trade unions had come together to show that a low carbon future was viable, compatible with economic progress and would create jobs, says Mr Ang, who has been involved in the climate movement since 2005. "Because of the failure, the climate movement realised that action needed to start from the ground up - with or without governmental policies in place. This helped build awareness among people, especially the young, that every industry can be greened," he adds.

Last December's Paris Agreement to fight climate change has fanned those sparks of interest into flames. Mr Ken Hickson, chairman of Sustain Ability Showcase Asia consultancy, says: "With almost 200 countries agreeing to take active steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it gave companies the affirmation they needed that going green makes business sense." He believes Singapore is in a prime position to drive investment in this area, given its track record of economic transparency and good corporate governance.

Companies like wind energy firm The Blue Circle have set up their headquarters here to invest in clean energy projects in Vietnam and Thailand. Demand in this sector is set to grow with much of Asia now coming face to face with challenges that Singapore has long grappled with, including rapid urbanisation, waste management and congestion.

"These present numerous opportunities for Singapore-based companies to export smart and sustainable urban solutions as cities in Asia race to be more smart, sustainable and liveable," says Mr Goh Chee Kiong, the Economic Development Board's (EDB) executive director of cleantech and cities, infrastructure and industrial solutions.

EDB includes in the sustainability sector renewable energy, energy efficiency, water treatment, environmental engineering and green building technology. The sector is estimated to contribute $6.2 billion to Singapore's gross domestic product and provide about 60,000 jobs.

Mr Ang expects the number of jobs to grow as more people become aware of the need to protect the environment and use resources more efficiently. The youth wing of the National Trades Union Congress is now promoting green jobs. In April, Young NTUC organised a Green Jobs Symposium to raise awareness of the viability of careers in the green sector.

What do these winds of change mean for jobs in "un-green" industries, such as oil refining?

This is a period of transition, says Mr Ang, and that means "un-green" jobs will not be phased out immediately. Workers, he says, have a chance to upgrade their skills and technological know-how so they can meet the needs of the changing economy.

Audrey Tan

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Palm oil firms ditch 'no deforestation' pact in Indonesia

Reuters 2 Jul 16;

Major palm oil producers and traders, including Wilmar and Cargill ditched a "no deforestation" private agreement in Indonesia, saying the government's recent efforts to strengthen its certification standards were sufficient.

Indonesia, the world's biggest producer and exporter of palm oil, moved in April to prohibit the use of new land to boost production.

The country, home to the world's third-largest tropical forests, has been criticized by green activists and other Southeast Asian nations on forestry policy and for failing to stop the region's annual smoke "haze" problem from forest-burning.

The government's anti-monopoly agency said in April it would investigate suspected cartel practices among the signatories to the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge, a landmark 2014 pledge by several private companies to cut deforestation.

Indonesia saw the pact as in direct competition with the government's own standards and too difficult for smallholders to comply with. Smallholders account for about 40 percent of its palm output.

"IPOP signatories have decided that recent groundbreaking policy developments in Indonesia have fulfilled the purpose of IPOP to help accelerate and promote this transformation toward sustainability and therefore its presence can be dissolved," the companies said in a statement.

Other signatories include Golden Agri-Resources, Indonesia's Asian Agri, Kadin and Astra Agro Lestari, and Singapore-based Musim Mas.

(Reporting by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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3 Orangutans rescued from Indonesian forest fires released back into wild

Reuters 1 Jul 16;

Three orangutans rescued when forest fires destroyed their Indonesian rainforest habitats were returned to the wild on Borneo island last week.

Karmele Llano Sanche, International Animal Rescue program director in Indonesia, made a three-day journey by car, boat and through the forest to release the animals in Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park.

"You know, it's amazing to see a big orangutan like that moving across the forest, this is home, home, back home," Sanche said.

Sabtu, 25, was saved in March 2015 from a village near the IAR sanctuary in Ketapang, West Kalimantan province, one of the areas most affected by the fires last year.

Butan and Marsela, both around seven and eight years old, were also rescued by IAR when their home was destroyed by fires.

Deforestation and land clearing for pulp paper and palm oil plantations has depleted the habitat of Bornean and Sumatran orangutans. Fires are often set by companies to clear the land.

Orangutans, which means "person of the forest" in Malay, are endangered animals. There are only about 60,000 left in the wild, down from around 230,000 a century ago.

(Reporting by Reuters Television, Editing by Karishma Singh)


3 orangutans returned to natural habitat in W. Kalimantan
Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 3 Jul 16;

An orangutan rehabilitation center in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, has released three orangutans into their natural habitat at the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park, which is part of the Heart of Borneo, a conservation area located on the border of West and Central Kalimantan.

Conservation group Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) program director Karmele Llano Sanchez said she could not imagine that there would still be a bright future for orangutan populations in Indonesia if their natural habitat continued to disappear at a rapid pace.

“Orangutans are threatened with forest clearing, land burning, wildlife hunting and the illegal pet trade. Only if people are more concerned about orangutans, will they be safe, although it’s a bit too late now,” said Karmele.

The YIARI release orangutans into their natural habitats in stages. On June 28, Sabtu, an adult orangutan aged around 25 years, was released into its indigenous habitat. Sabtu was rescued from a plantation belonging to local people in Ketapang regency, in March. It was thought the orangutan fled to the human settlement following the burning in its habitat. On June 29, YIARI released two orangutans, namely Butan and Marsela, it had been rehabilitating since 2011 and 2012 respectively. The orangutans were rescued when they were around 2-3 years old. They were pushed out by the massive expansion of oil palm plantations in Ketapang.

“In their habitat, baby orangutans live with their mothers from when they are born until they are around 7-8 years old. If a baby orangutan is found alone, rest assured his or her mother has died,” YIARI program manager Gail Campbell-Smith said.

After the release, a YIARI monitoring team, supported by local people from villages near the national park, will still follow the orangutans using a radio-tracking facility for one or two years. They will record the orangutans’ activities and behavior, making sure that they can survive.

The YIARI is currently rehabilitating 100 orangutans and it is feared the number will continue to increase along with rapid habitat losses caused by ongoing forest clearing for plantation expansion. (ebf)

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Thick, Putrid Algae Bloom Overwhelms Miles Of Florida Coastline

NPR 2 Jul 16;

A massive bloom of blue-green algae has hit four southern Florida counties, blanketing beaches in foul-smelling muck and raising health and environmental concerns.

The green goo along Florida's "Treasure Coast" prompted Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency in Martin and St. Lucie counties earlier this week, and he later added Lee and Palm Beach counties. Scott "blamed the federal government for neglecting repairs to the lake's aging dike that's considered one of the country's most at-risk for imminent failure," as The Associated Press reported.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and his Democratic colleague Bill Nelson both visited the impacted areas earlier this week and expressed alarm.

The bloom is caused by discharge from the polluted Lake Okeechobee, some 35 miles away. The New York Times explains:

"An aging dike system forces the Army Corps of Engineers to release controlled discharges through channel locks east and west from the lake to protect nearby towns from flooding. However, those discharges, which carry pollutants from agricultural lands that flow into the lake from the north, pour into rivers and lagoons downstream, which eventually dump into the ocean."
But when there's "too much polluted discharge," the Times reports, "the blend of fresh and salt water creates giant phosphorescent plumes of algae, making the water unsafe for human and aquatic life alike."

On Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers said it would reduce the flow from Lake Okeechobee "beginning this weekend." In a statement, the Corps' Jacksonville District Commander Col. Jason Kirk makes the argument that they're in a difficult position. This year, he said, "our water managers have dealt with such large quantities of rain and runoff entering the lake that it would cover the entire state of Delaware." However, they felt "compelled to take action" after seeing the algae firsthand.

The Corps says it is managing a delicate balance, as spokesman John Campbell tells the Times: "We're constantly having to balance the potential of an environmental impact from releasing water against the very real public safety hazard of containing the water and the hazard that poses by putting pressure on the dike itself."

You can see the green ribbons of algae snaking along the shoreline and around docks and boats in this helicopter video released by Martin County:

The Times describes local residents in St. Lucie staying indoors because of the noxious odor or leaving the area altogether to stay with friends.

Other local residents are staging protests. According to the Martin County Sheriff, thousands gathered Saturday with a straightforward message: "Buy the Land"

They want to see Florida's Legislature purchase "land around Lake Okeechobee for water storage," using "money approved by state voters for environmental projects," as the AP reported. According to member station WQCS, "There was an agreement in the works when former Gov. Charlie Christ left office in 2011," which fell through.

As WQCS reports, it's not just the smell that people are worried about. An emotionally-charged emergency community meeting on the issue packed the hall "beyond capacity at 9 a.m. on a work day with people who wanted their voices heard."

Many of these residents are worried about the health impacts of the algae and some complained of itchy eyes and respiratory problems. Former Martin County Commissioner Maggy Hurchalla told them,

"We all know there's a health risk. But unless there are a half a dozen of you willing to fall in and die, somebody's going to be saying a year from now that you were hysterical, that there's no serious problem. I think, for those of you who have read the information on toxins that come from these algaes, it is an emergency. But we're going to need the EPA, we're going to need the CDC, we're going to need all the resources of the state of Florida, and we're going to need them to work together."
The Florida Department of Health said that at high levels, this type of algae can "affect the gastrointestinal tract, liver, nervous system, and skin." It said people should avoid contact with the bloom, and adds that "children and pets are especially vulnerable.

Conservation groups are also raising concerns about the impact of the blooms on local marine life. This widely-shared video shows a manatee surfacing above the slime and getting hosed off by a local family.

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Best of our wild blogs: 2 Jul 16

World Environment Day 2016 Saving Gaia Beach Cleanup and video
News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

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Disrupting dependence in water, food, fuel

Audrey Tan Straits Times 2 Jul 16;

Planning and innovation are how Singapore intends - in the face of new threats - to put food and water on the table
On the surface, it would seem a no brainer that a large country blessed with mountains, rivers and lakes would have a more ready source of water to rely on than a tiny city state.

And yet this year, in the midst of a blistering heatwave and drought in Malaysia that saw water levels in reservoirs fall to new lows, it was tiny Singapore that supplied additional potable water to Johor to help it tide over a shortfall.

For the record, Singapore is by land area 460 times smaller than Malaysia. The city state's 17 freshwater reservoirs combined are but a fifth the size of Johor's Linggiu Reservoir, which when rainfall is as expected is able to meet 60 per cent of Singapore's water needs.

So how has the city state managed to overturn conventional wisdom on water supply?

The story of how it broke a cycle of water dependence that once threatened its very survival is a tale of determined and astute planning, learning and innovation which, after 50 years of unceasing effort, has wrought a disruption that has won it international acclaim. Today, Singapore is not only steadily moving towards greater self-sufficiency in water supply, but also exporting water purification technology to countries around the world.

Its ambition for security of supply is not limited to water alone but extends to food and energy, two other essentials whose shortfall has long been the bane of small states since their production is usually tied to the amount of land a country controls.

So it is no mean feat that Singapore was last year ranked in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Food Security Index as the second-most food secure country, behind the United States.

And yet, this is no time to sit back and relax for climate change and political instability in various parts of the globe pose new threats to supplies of water, food and fuel.

Just how does Singapore hope to further disrupt its dependence in these areas, and what are its chances of success?

WATER: GETTING THERE

Out of sheer necessity, Singapore became an accidental pioneer in the logistics and technology of weather-proof water supply. For that is precisely what Newater and desalination are - water sources that do not depend on rainfall from one year to the next. This quality has turned out to be a great virtue in a world plagued by increasingly unpredictable weather patterns due in part to global warming.

Singapore has four sources of water. The lion's share is raw water from Malaysia, largely from Linggiu Reservoir; followed by Newater or treated used water; then treated sea water or desalination; and finally local catchment water from the reservoirs here.

The recent decline of water levels at Johor's Linggiu Reservoir, which fell from 80 per cent at the start of last year to a record low of 33 per cent last month, has added to the urgency of finding new sources or enhancing the efficiency of recycling and desalination. One other consideration is that Singapore's remaining water treaty with Malaysia expires in 2061.

Singapore's small size limits the amount of rainwater it can harness and store. Going by this measure, it is water challenged. That could be why last August, Washington-based think-tank World Resources Institute (WRI) ranked Singapore among the countries in greatest danger of running out of water by 2040, against a backdrop of climate change and rapid population growth. The ranking was based on an index that measures competition for and depletion of surface water, such as lakes and rivers.

STAYING AHEAD OF THE CURVE

Singapore has had to develop its own sustainable urban solutions for many decades to address constraints such as the lack of land, water and energy, long before sustainability became a megatrend.

MR GOH CHEE KIONG, executive director of cleantech and cities, infrastructure and industrial solutions at the Economic Development Board.
As it is, two-thirds of Singapore's land area is water catchment. The PUB, the national water agency, plans to increase this to 90 per cent of the island by 2060. A future reservoir could be created between Tanjong Pagar and Pulau Brani to retain rainwater from the Greater Southern Waterfront, a new precinct in Marina South.

But what the WRI overlooked was Singapore's ability to treat sea water, which it is surrounded by, and re-use water, thanks to the technology behind Newater and its building of a Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS).

Phase 1 of the DTSS was completed in 2008 at a cost of $3.4 billion. Planning work for Phase 2 began two years ago and tenders for various parts of it are expected to be called from this year.

This is a superhighway to channel used water to a centralised water reclamation plant and allow Singapore to close the water loop. It can then, in theory, recycle 100 per cent of its water infinitely - and go without rain.

That is why water experts here were quick to rubbish the WRI's findings, saying scientific developments will boost the Republic's water security.

Currently, Newater and desalination can meet up to 55 per cent of Singapore's water needs. But PUB says they could together make up up to 85 per cent by 2060, when water demand is expected to double from the current 430 million gallons used daily. Singapore is already building its fifth Newater plant, and PUB had in April called for a tender for Singapore's fourth desalination plant, set to be completed by 2019. PUB is also exploring the possibility of a fifth desalination plant on Jurong Island.

It is this foresight that has allowed Singapore to turn a weak spot into a competitive advantage.

Research in this area is ongoing and to date, PUB has been involved in 467 R&D projects with a total value of $323 million. Singapore has developed more cost-effective and energy-efficient ways to filter water. These technologies have travelled far.

How far? A water purification membrane developed at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is now being tested in the International Space Station. It contains aquaporin, a protein found in all living things, including the human kidney, which speeds up water flow and acts as a gate that allows only water molecules through, filtering out pollutants in the process. And a self-cleaning membrane is being used by a dye factory in Qingdao, China, to clean waste water before it is discharged back into rivers and lakes.

"Singapore's experience," says Professor Ng Wun Jern, executive director of NTU's Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, "has helped us prepare in advance... We are now in a good position to offer our technologies to meet the needs of other developing countries which are facing water stresses due to climate change, increasing populations from rural-urban migration, and development."

FOOD

Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of its food but does so from more than 160 countries, a diversification strategy that acts as a safeguard against shortages and price volatility. That means even if a country were to impose a restriction or ban on food exports to Singapore, as Malaysia has done with fish exports during festive seasons such as Chinese New Year, Singaporeans can still enjoy food at stable prices.

In contrast to its water strategy where it has moved to reduce imports over time, it has actually cut local food production, phasing out over the last few decades farms where pigs and other animals were once reared, to free up land for housing and industry. The share of land used for agriculture has fallen from 25 per cent in 1965 to barely 1 per cent today.

Yet, Singapore was last year ranked the second-most food secure country, behind the United States, in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Food Security Index. Food security is measured in terms of food availability, affordability and quality and safety.

There are only three food items for which the Government has set a target of being partly self-sufficient: eggs for which the target is to have 30 per cent produced locally, fish at 15 per cent and leafy vegetables at 10 per cent. Thanks to R&D, it is moving steadily towards meeting these targets. Last year, Singapore produced 24 per cent of eggs consumed, 10 per cent of fish, and 13 per cent of leafy vegetables.

Singapore can aim for partial self-sufficiency in these three items because they do not require lots of land to produce - egg and leafy vegetable production can be done in layers, and fish farms are offshore, says Dr Cecilia Tortajada, senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Local farmers also receive government help to boost productivity. Between 2012 and last month, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) disbursed more than $15 million to local farms for R&D to boost productivity and capability. "With limited resources and land, there is a need to harness technologies and innovations to produce more with less," says the AVA.

The goal? Intensive farming that maximises space and resources and needs minimal manpower.

The AVA has worked with farm entrepreneur Sky Greens, for example, to do research on a vertical farming system that could offer 10 times the yield, compared to traditional land-based farming. "Our agricultural sector, though small, plays an important role in Singapore's food security as it helps to buffer against sudden supply disruptions," the AVA says.

Dr Tortajada, who conducts research into food security, says: "There is no country in the world that is self-sufficient when it comes to food, as it is more important to invest in diversifying sources of food that are safe and reliable from countries where they grow more readily." On Singapore's strength, she says: "It started planning as early as 1965, which has helped the country stay resilient."

ENERGY

Imagine if Singapore could capture and store every ray of sunshine that falls on the island. In this scenario, the ubiquitous covered walkways may light a way forward.

Scientists at NTU are working on flexible solar panels that can be installed on the curved roofs of these walkways, as well as on building facades and windows. Professor Subodh Mhaisalkar, executive director of NTU's Energy Research Institute, says innovations like these are ways to overcome land constraints - long cited as a factor limiting widespread solar adoption.

Even though solar energy has been touted as the most promising source of renewable energy for Singapore, the sun now accounts for less than 1 per cent of electricity generated. The plan is to ramp up solar energy to 5 per cent by 2020. Most of Singapore's natural gas supply - which powers about 95 per cent of the country's electricity - comes from Malaysia and Indonesia via offshore pipelines as well as liquefied natural gas imported from farther afield and stored at the Jurong Island terminal.

Scientists are also looking into other forms of renewable energy, such as from wind and the tides.

Yet another NTU project at the offshore Semakau Landfill, called the Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator Singapore, is the region's first micro-grid to integrate multiple renewable energy sources.

Long-term efforts could include an Asean power grid, a planned network to connect the national grids of all 10 Asean countries. It is still in the works even though the idea was floated as early as in the 1980s. The research being done on Semakau in the area of grid integration could pave the way for Singapore to tap various renewable energy sources outside the city state. These could include solar, wind, marine or even geothermal energy from neighbouring countries, says Prof Subodh.

With the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change by cutting carbon emissions, it is vital that Singapore continue to innovate in this area.

Earlier this year, the Government announced that it will over the next five years pump in $900 million, out of the $19 billion of new public sector R&D funding, into urban solutions and sustainability. These include research into water and clean energy.

As Mr Goh Chee Kiong, executive director of cleantech and cities, infrastructure and industrial solutions at the Economic Development Board, puts it: "Singapore has had to develop its own sustainable urban solutions for many decades to address constraints such as the lack of land, water and energy, long before sustainability became a megatrend."

That has allowed the country to stay ahead of the curve. It is not, however, resting on its laurels but working hard to meet fresh challenges and exploit new technologies.

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Temperatures could hit 35°C in first week of July: MSS

Channel NewsAsia 1 Jul 16;

SINGAPORE: A few days of dry and warm weather conditions can be expected in the first week of July, with daily maximum temperatures reaching a high of 35°C, the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said on Friday (Jul 1).

For other days in the first fortnight of July 2016, the daily maximum temperature is forecast to range between 32°C and 34°C, it added.

MSS said prevailing southwest monsoon conditions will continue in the first fortnight of July, and the low level winds are expected to blow mainly from the southeast or southwest.

It added that for the first half of July, most of the thundery showers due to strong solar heating of land areas are forecast to occur in the late morning and early afternoon on four to six days.

In addition, on one or two mornings, the passage of a Sumatra squall is expected to bring thundery showers with gusty winds to most parts of the island, but rainfall for the whole period is likely to be normal.

RECORD DAILY TOTAL RAINFALL IN JUNE

Most of Singapore received above average rainfall in June, said the MSS. The area around Jurong received the highest rainfall of 374.2mm - 126 per cent above average, while the area around Admiralty received the least with 116mm, 19 per cent below average.

Heavy thundery showers on Jun 17 also broke records - the rain that fell over Tuas recorded a daily total rainfall of 217mm, the highest ever recorded for the month of June. The previous highest daily total rainfall record for June was 144.6mm on Jun 4, 2011 at Pasir Ris.

In the last week of June, Singapore experienced a few warm days with low rainfall, and the daily maximum temperature reached 35.7°C on Jun 29, the highest temperature recorded for June 2016. On days that there was widespread rain, daily minimum temperatures hit between 22.2°C and 22.5°C.

MSS said that at the Changi climate station, the mean monthly temperature recorded for June was 28.5°C, slightly warmer than the long-term mean of 28.3°C but cooler than the mean temperature of 29.0°C for June recorded in the last three years.

- CNA/av

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