16 Jul (Sun): R.U.M. at Ubin Day
Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative
The Pasir Ris Pied Fantail Story
Singapore Bird Group
African Walking Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) being scavenged by Apple Snails (Pomacea sp.) @ Kallang Riverside Park
Monday Morgue
From Brazil to Mexico to South Africa, diverse and delicate ecosystems are somehow holding on in the face of rampant urbanisation
Feike De Jong The Guardian 3 Jul 17;
Never before have we lived in such an urban world. Asphalt and concrete extend themselves over the earth, water disappears undergroundand steel and glass sparkle under the sun. Urban expansion is one of the chief characteristics of the freshly minted Anthropocene era.
Yet hunters still leave the fringes of Mexico City to stalk game among the dormant volcanoes inside its southern limit. People are killed by leopards in the informal slums invading Sanjay Gandhi National Park within the megacity of Mumbai. Woodpeckers hammer the trees of Sao Paulo’s Ibirapuera urban park; badgers raise their young in hidden locations in London; and penguins walk the beaches of Cape Town. Diminishing ecosystems are somehow hold together under the pressure of urbanisation.
Humans have always been attracted to sites with a great natural variety of plants and animals. The most biodiverse cities encompass several biomes, combining ocean and dry land habitats, lakes and mountains, or forests and savannahs.
But to calculate which city is the world’s most biodiverse is complicated. Not all cities have the same area within their administrative limits, or the data necessary.
Two of the world’s largest megacities, Sao Paulo and Mexico City, are surprising candidates for the title. Sao Paulo perches between Brazil’s great Atlantic rainforest and the tropical savannah of the Cerrado – two highly rich biomes – allowing the megacity to surpass even the Amazon river port of Manaus in biodiversity, according to conservationist Denise Rambaldi.
“One lesson from the reintroduction of the Golden Lion Tamarin monkey in the Mata Atlantica is that it is much cheaper to preserve species in a particular area than to reintroduce them,” she says.
Mexico City, meanwhile, was founded on lakebeds where the deserts of the northern highlands encountered the wooded volcanoes of Mexico’s neo-volcanic axis. Even now, it still contains 2% of the world’s species within its city limits.
Singapore, in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot – a term used for regions where great biodiversity is threatened by destruction –
is another interesting contender. Extending through Malaysia to Borneo and Bali, this high-density city, with its 392 species of birds, has made greening and biophilia an integral part of urban planning.
By law, in certain areas, developers are responsible for replacing the greenery they occupy for construction. The result is a city of rooftop gardens, interconnected parks and a biodiversity-spotting app allowing citizens to record sightings of plants and animals. Amazingly, Singapore has managed to increase both its population and its green spaces at the same time. Since its independence, the citystate sought to distinguish itself by being clean and green, and today it has a 40% vegetation cover, despite its high density.
By way of comparison, Greater London has an average tree cover of 19.5%; Los Angeles was recorded as having 13% in 2015 after a dramatic decline from 21% in 2008.
Several other biodiverse cities – Medellin in Colombia, Iquitos in Peru, Brunei, Kunming in China, and Mumbai – are contenders for a position in the top five.
In the index proposed by the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook, biodiversity itself is not the only indicator to consider. Some cities such as Singapore, as well as Curitiba, Barcelona and Melbourne, are notable precisely for their leadership in recognising and exploiting biodiversity as a policy-making tool and an integral part of urban wellbeing.
Indeed, a study from Denmark shows that people living more than one kilometre from a green area had higher odds of experiencing stress than people living within 300 meters. Increased stress impacts mental health, increases risks of heart attacks and diabetes – so it is not surprising that access to parks has been shown to increase home values from 5% to 7%.
The world’s most biodiverse countries – Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, China, Mexico, Peru, Australia, India, Ecuador and Venezuela – are tropical or semi-tropical, and rapidly urbanising. Nature can seem a lesser priority here, trumped by water supply, paving, housing, education, health and other issues. But Singapore, for example, has shown that biodiversity can be part of the solution to many of these problems; it can be an integral part of urban infrastructure which prevents flooding, mitigates extreme temperatures and filters pollution, as well as promoting tourism and better health.
The world’s most biodiverse urban area, in raw numbers and with an understanding for its value, could be Cape Town, according to Thomas Elmqvist, editor of Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities and leader of the United Nation’s City and Biodiversity Outlook Project.
The Western Cape, where Cape Town is located, contains 50% of all mammal species in South Africa. Baboons, ostriches and zebras, live in Table Mountain National Park, while whales, seals and otters swim off its shores. The stability of Cape Town’s climate on the southern tip of Africa has enabled it to become home to approximately 3,000 species of plants, 361 species of birds and 83 species of mammals.
It is a sad reality that this biodiversity is under threat: as its human population has increased by more than 30% since 2011, 318 types of plants, 22 types of birds and 24 types of animals are in danger of extinction. But Cape Town is taking a variety of measures to protect and preserve this incredible natural asset.
One species endemic to South Africa, however, is not likely to be at risk any time soon, adorning balconies throughout the world as it does. Next time you see a geranium in bloom, think of the world’s most biodiverse city, fighting against the tide.
The Star 3 Jul 17;
CORAL reefs are sparsely found along the Straits of Malacca. Known areas with coral reef ecosystems are Pulau Payar Marine Park, Pulau Langkawi Archipelago and Pulau Perak in Kedah, Pulau Sembilan and Pulau Jarak in Perak, and Tanjung Tuan also known as Cape Rachado which has a shared border between Negri Sembilan and Melaka.
Coral reefs are generally poorly-developed in the Straits of Malacca because of the highly turbid water which is widely attributed to coastal development. High levels of suspended materials combined with relatively strong tidal currents result in poor penetration by sunlight into the coastal waters.
Therefore, reefs are only found in shallow waters less than 10m deep. This is especially true in coastal waters off Melaka where the Straits becomes narrower, and it is also one of the busiest maritime highways in the world. Coral species diversity in this area is low with only 41 species recorded, of which dominant species are from the Porites, Gonestreia and Gonospora genera. Patches of seagrass and seaweeds are also found in this area.
There is no regular coral reef health monitoring at Tanjung Tuan although the area has been gazetted as a Fisheries Prohibited Area since 1994 under the Fisheries Act 1985 by the Department of Fisheries.
In 1987-1988, live coral cover estimates were between 27% and 60%. However, a study in 2004 showed that the average live coral cover near Tanjung Tuan had declined to 16.8%.
Despite the low species diversity and coverage, a study in 2000 estimated that coral reefs in the Straits of Malacca and Straits of Singapore would generate an annual value of US$563mil for their economic potential and ecosystem services.
The main threats to the coral reef at Tanjung Tuan are driven by the rapid tourism development along the coast. Threats to the reefs also include increased sedimentation from land clearing activities, increased disposal of sewage (pic) and domestic waste, and pressures on the reef by tourists to the site.
Fishing is allowed in this area for fishermen with valid permits issued by the director-general of the Fisheries Department. Long-term risks which the area faces are the collapse of the tourism industry due to lack of aesthetic value, collapse of the fishing industry due to permanent damage of coral reef ecosystems as well as human health hazards from the direct sewerage discharge into the waters.
Another species affected by the destruction of coral reefs is the hawksbill turtle. Coastal beaches and islands in Melaka are also important hawksbill turtle nesting beaches in Malaysia. This is the largest nesting population in peninsular Malaysia and is second only to Sabah’s Turtle Islands.
Hawksbill turtles have been categorised as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The main diet of these turtles is sponges which are found in the coral reef ecosystem. They spend most of their life in coral reefs and return to beaches only for nesting. Therefore, it has become even more important to protect reefs adjacent to their nesting beaches to prevent further decline of this species.
Hawksbill turtles are found to nest in Pulau Upeh, Kem Terendak, Padang Kemunting and the Tanjung Dahan-Tanjung Serai stretch. The fifth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity reported that there is an average of 389 hawksbill turtle nests annually, which is mainly recorded from Melaka.
A study by WWF Malaysia, Fisheries Department and Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (Seafdec) in 2008 tracked the migration pattern of hawksbill turtles using satellite telemetry technology. The study found that hawksbill turtles from Melaka migrated to the Riau Islands Archipelago. It will not be surprising if the turtles that migrated to Indonesian waters do not come back to Malaysian waters as their source of food continues to decline in Melaka.
It is still possible to halt coral reef habitat decline in this area. Steps such as diverting sewerage water away from the coastal areas, adopting a proper garbage disposal system and proper management of tourists’ nocturnal activities especially during turtle nesting seasons should be considered.
Coastal development needs to be well planned and properly managed to ensure sustainability of coral reefs. Initiatives such as reducing use of plastics and prohibiting waste disposal into the sea would prevent ingestion of marine debris by marine organisms. These conservation measures are very crucial and need immediate attention. Further delay in taking action would cause irreversible damage to our precious coral reefs and eventually population decline of our marine resources which depend on the reefs to survive.
In 2016, during the 13th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, this area was deemed to meet the criteria of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) for its importance as hawksbill turtle nesting and foraging as well as one of the last frontiers of coastal coral reefs in the west coast of peninsular Malaysia.
The Marine Park Department of the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry did propose to gazette and manage the area as a marine park in 2014 but to date, the proposal has yet to receive any support or acceptance. The department will continue to pursue this objective as it would allow proper management of this area to ensure sustainability of our natural treasures. It is our utmost hope that Tanjung Tuan and turtle nesting beaches in Melaka receive the protection status it truly deserves.
DATUK SERI DR HAJI WAN JUNAIDI TUANKU JAAFAR
Minister, Natural Resources and Environment Ministry
MUGUNTAN VANAR The Star 3 Jul 17;
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Shark Protection Association (SSPA) has come out with three key strategies focusing on the effective conservation of the species by 2030.
SSPA chairman Aderick Chong said the initiative was necessary as sharks and rays in Sabah's waters are not legally protected and shark landings have increased significantly over the last three decades.
"SSPA members are pooling their expertise to implement the three key strategic activities and the overall goal over the next year is to strengthen the conservation of sharks and rays in Malaysia," he said.
To achieve this, the SSPA will work with relevant government departments to increase the level of legal protection for sharks and rays at various levels and promoting their long-term protection at the national level.
"Law and policy reform will be supported by research, which will include new studies on the market value of these species and whether these landings are from targeted fisheries or by catch.
"Research will also look at the market value for shark and ray related eco-tourism," Chong said.
"Under the awareness focus, the association would organise campaigns that support law and policy reform by engaging targeted audiences – ranging from policy makers to students and fishing communities – about the biological and financial importance of sharks and rays," he said in a statement Monday.
As its strategic activities start to produce results, Chong said that SSPA plans to hold a gathering of decision makers in March next year to agree to a "Vision 2030" and establish a roadmap to ensure the sustainability of sharks and rays in Sabah's waters and beyond.
SSPA comprises Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), Malaysian Nature Society (Sabah branch), Marine Conservation Society (MCS), Scuba Junkie SEAS, Shark Stewards, Scubazoo, Tropical Research and Conservation Centre (TRACC) and WWF-Malaysia.
Chong said there was a need for greater transparency by Malaysia in the monitoring of the shark and ray trade, following a recent report that point to Malaysia being an active player in the Southeast Asia region for both shark fin and meat trading.
The Shark and Ray Trade in Singapore report published in May 2017 cites Malaysia as a major trading partner to the island nation.
Malaysia was reported to rank fifth (2005-2007) and sixth (2012-2-14) in a list of destinations for Singapore's shark fin exports by trade quantity.
Malaysia also served as a source of Singapore's shark fin imports.
A ray of hope for sharks
The Star 4 Jul 17;
KOTA KINABALU: Shark protection advocacy groups in Sabah have targeted to meet by March next year to draw up an effective conservation plan for sharks and rays.
Sabah Shark Protection Association (SSPA) chairman Aderick Chong said decision makers will gather to deliberate on “Vision 2030” next year to establish a roadmap to ensure the sustainability of these marine animals in Sabah’s waters and beyond.
“The roadmap will focus on law and policy reform, research and awareness,” Chong said in a statement.
He said SSPA members were pooling their expertise as shark landings had increased significantly in the last three decades.
Chong said SSPA would work with relevant government departments to increase the level of legal protection for sharks and rays, while promoting their long-term protection at the national level.
“Law and policy reform will be supported by research, which will include new studies on the market value of these species and whether these landings are from targeted fisheries or by catch,” he said.
SSPA comprises Land Empowerment Animals People, Malaysian Nature Society (Sabah branch), Marine Conservation Society, Scuba Junkie SEAS, Shark Stewards, Scubazoo, Tropical Research and Conservation Centre and WWF-Malaysia.
Chong said a recent report by wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC and WWF indicated Malaysia was an active player in the South-East Asia region for shark fin and meat trading.
Malaysia also served as a source of Singapore’s shark fin imports, he claimed.
The report, he said, stated that demand for shark and ray products in Singapore was being met by either unsustainable or entirely unknown sources due to current lack of genuine “sustainable shark and ray fisheries systems”, or adequate traceable systems with appropriate trade data recording.
“SSPA believes that the situation is similar in Malaysia at a time when high demand for shark fin continues to be the main driver of unsustainable fishing of sharks globally,” he added.
SSPA calls for laws to protect sharks, stingrays in Sabah waters
The Sabah Shark Protection Association (SSPA) chairman Aderick Chong said over the last three decades, an increasing number of sharks and stingrays had been caught in Sabah as they were not legally protected. AFP
AVILA GERALDINE New Straits Times 3 Jul 17;
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Shark Protection Association (SSPA) will implement key strategies to ensure the survival of sharks and stingrays in the country, particularly Sabah.
The advocacy group said it will work with relevant governmental departments to strengthen laws to protect various marine species from going extinct.
SSPA chairman Aderick Chong said over the last three decades, an increasing number of sharks and stingrays had been caught in Sabah as they were not legally protected.
He said in response, the group has recently launched an initiative to focus on law and policy reform that will be supported by research.
“This will include new studies on the market value of these species and whether these landings are from targeted fisheries or by catch. Research will also look at the market value for shark and ray-related eco-tourism.
“Our focus on awareness will see us rolling out impactful campaigns that support law and policy reform by engaging audiences about the biological and financial importance for sharks and rays,” he said.
Their target audiences, he said, ranges from policy makers to students and fishing communities.
He said SSPA plans to hold a gathering of decision makers in March 2018 to establish a roadmap to ensure the sustainability of sharks and stingrays in the state’s waters and beyond.
He said Malaysia needed to be transparent in monitoring the trade of shark and stingrays, following a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund and Traffic that the country was an “active player” in the illegal trade.
According to Traffic’s report on Singapore’s shark trade in May 2017, Chong said Malaysia is one of the major trasding partners to Singapore and was ranked fifth (from 2005 to 2007) and sixth (from 2012 to 2014) in the list of destinations for the nation’s shark fin exports by trade quantity.
“The report states the demand for shark and ray products in Singapore is being met by either unsustainable or entirely unknown sources due to current lack of genuine sustainable shark and ray fisheries systems, or adequate traceable systems with appropriate trade data recording.
“SSPA believes that the situation is similar in Malaysia at a time when high demand for shark fin continues to be the main driver of unsustainable fishing of sharks globally,” added Chong.
N. Abdi The Jakarta Post 3 Jul 17;
A male sun bear named Bennie was found dead at the Balikpapan Environmental and Educational Tourism Area (KWPLH), also known as the Sun Bear Center, in East Kalimantan on Friday.
"Bennie suffered from acute hepatic failure," Balikpapan Environmental Agency [BLH) head Suryanto said.
The death of Bennie has left the KWPLH with only five sun bears. It previously had seven. A female bear named Idot died in 2014 from intestinal bleeding.
Bennie and Idot both died at the age of 20.
The remainders are a female bear named Anna, three male sun bears named Batik, Bedu and Harris and a cub named Pedro.
Balikpapan KWPLH director Nunuk Kasiyanto said the bears lived as they would in the wild in a 1.3-hectare enclosure.
"All the bears came from the Kalimantan Natural Resource Conservation Agency [BKSDA], which seized the bears from citizens," Nunuk said.
When he was taken to the KWPLH, Bennie had no nails or canine teeth as the owner had removed them, he said.
The government has declared sun bears a vulnerable species. They have long been victims of deforestation and illegal hunting. (yon/ary)
TRAFFIC 3 Jul 17;
Jakarta, Indonesia, 3rd July 2017—A new study has questioned the validity of Indonesia’s plan that allowed breeders to produce over four million animals in captivity for trade in 2016.
The Captive Breeding Production Plan (CBPP) establishes quotas for the species and number of mammals, reptiles and amphibians that can be bred by licenced commercial breeding farms in the country.
For 2016, the Plan applied to 13 captive breeding facilities, 129 mammal, reptile and amphibian species with a total of 4,273,029 animals to be produced through captive breeding.
However, a critical scrutiny of the Plan published today in Conservation Biology finds major flaws that permit the laundering of wild-caught animals into legal trade through falsely claiming they have been captive-bred.
Among the flaws highlighted in Biological parameters used in setting captive breeding quota for Indonesia’s breeding facilities, is the exaggerated inflation of the breeding capabilities of many animals—for one frog species the Plan sets a quota 67 times higher than the animal would have been able to produce naturally.
Researchers even found that quotas had been set for 11 species where no breeding stock was present in any of the country’s registered breeding facilities, nor did some quotas take into account how difficult it was to breed certain species in captivity.
In the case of 38 species, the Plan allowed for the production of more animals than the authorities’ own calculations said was possible, the study reported.
“Until these shortcomings have been fixed, Indonesian mammals, reptiles and amphibians declared as captive-bred cannot be assumed to be so, as they may have been sourced from the wild,” the study’s authors conclude.
Researchers compared the biological parameters used in the CBPP against information gathered from over 200 published sources. Comparison was also made against information in a database on species life histories and species experts for all 129 species including how often species bred, and clutch or litter sizes.
The study found that Indonesia’s captive breeding quotas for 21 mammal species, 38 reptile species and two amphibian species were unrealistically high. For these mammals, quotas were set up to nine times higher than would be realistically possible, up to five times higher for the reptiles and up to 67 times higher for the amphibians.
For example, according to the Plan, the Red-eyed Crocodile Skink Tribolonotus gracilis can produce five to 12 eggs, twice a year, but published information reports only a maximum of six eggs a year.
“It is essential for countries to have such plans to regulate commercial captive breeding, but they must have a sound scientific basis and use accurate calculations,” said Serene Chng, co-author and Programme Officer for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.
“The plan’s numbers are far higher than breeding facilities can realistically produce. The resulting gaps can easily be exploited by unscrupulous traders to launder wild-sourced animals through breeding facilities. This undermines legitimate breeders and increases pressure on wildlife already threatened by poaching and illegal trade,” Chng added.
At least 75 of the species in the Plan are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which allows captive breeding of some species for international trade.
CITES has recognized the misdeclaration of wild species as captive bred as a problem and has put in place a regulatory mechanism to flag cases of suspected captive breeding fraud. The mechanism is expected to be used for the first time in its Animals Committee meeting later this month.
“The questions raised by this analysis should be a real concern for countries importing wildlife labelled as captive bred from Indonesia and for the credibility of commercial captive breeding as a whole,” said Kanitha Krishnasamy, Senior Programme Manager for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.
The study recommends the Indonesian Government adjust the Plan to include all relevant factors influencing breeding success and for projections to be biologically realistic. Quotas for species for which no breeding stock is available need to be withdrawn. Regular, unannounced inspections and audits of breeding facilities also should be conducted to ensure that reported numbers match up in reality.
The smooth-coated otters here have learnt to climb out of drains and adapt in other ways to living in an urban environment, prompting experts to marvel at the way the animals have flourished in relatively unnatural surroundings.
Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 2 Jul 17;
SINGAPORE: They’ve been spotted splashing about in the waters of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, foraging for fish in the Singapore River and even drying off on the artificial turf at the Marina Bay Floating Platform.
But more recently, Singapore's smooth-coated otter population has faced some difficulties: One otter died from suspected poisoning and another died as a result of being trapped in a cage.
With the local otter population continuing to grow, Channel NewsAsia spoke with experts on how the population is thriving in Singapore and the challenges the otters face as they spread further into people's living space.
OTTERS FLOURISHING IN URBAN LANDSCAPES DEFY "EVERY MISCONCEPTION": EXPERT
The locations that Singapore's beloved otter population have come to inhabit are a far cry from their typical habitats of mangrove swamps and forested rivers and wetlands. “They have broken every kind of misconception we had on how fussy they are in terms of where they stay because they are making do with just artificial structures,” said N Sivasothi, a senior lecturer of biological sciences at the National University of Singapore.
Mr Sivasothi, who is also known as ‘Otterman’ for his research and expert knowledge of these animals, estimates there are about 70 otters on the island, broken up into about 10 families. The smooth-coated otter population moves around to look for food and avoid danger.
And along the way, these creatures have amassed a big following of ordinary Singaporeans and tourists, fascinated at the ease with which they are able to interact with wild animals.
“I think people are very excited because there’s a very thin area between people and the waterway. That’s the interface zone and they get to see the otters very closely. And they’ve never seen anything like an otter before,” said Mr Sivasothi.
ECOLOGICAL BALANCE: ‘MAGIC NUMBER’ STILL BEING STUDIED
After decades of absence in Singapore, the smooth-coated otters were seen at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in the late 90s. Since then, their offspring have been spotted on Pulau Ubin, at Pasir Ris, East Coast and now Gardens by the Bay.
Mr Sivasothi credits this to cleaner waterways and an abundance of food. “The otters turn to waterways where fish have reproduced without a predator. It is like a buffet table (for the otters),” he said.
“Prey availability is not a limiting factor and they are well-nourished and able to raise pups without a problem. You can see that by the amount of time they spend foraging.”
Otters also need large patches of land to spraint, or defecate, and dry their their fur to maintain their waterproofing. And otter enthusiasts and researchers like Mr Sivasothi are amazed at the way otters have been able to overcome physical constraints.
A video of an otter climbing stairs to get to dry land went viral recently. Mr Sivasothi said otters also seem content to dry themselves on comparatively small patches of land in Singapore.
But for the otters, just as with any species, there is a limit to how big the population can grow, say experts. And it won’t be too long before the otters reach that threshold.
Louis Ng, who is the founder of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), explained what will happen when the population reaches this 'carrying capacity'.
“The population will balance when there’s no more food or some of them will starve to death and they realise that they have reached the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. But in Singapore I don’t think we’ve done the studies yet,” he said.
Mr Sivasothi agreed, saying the otter population has continued to expand, but at a slower pace. In the end, the otter population will be limited by not just the fish population, but their territorial space.
“There are rivers which are not occupied and they don’t seem to want to spend too much time in reservoirs,” he said.
“We are watching this unfold…If an area is already occupied, you can’t make your way in, you’ll be driven off and these territorial battles can be deadly so there is a limit to how many can be here.”
The fight for territory played out in public, after the father of the Marina otter family died. Days after his death, the Bishan otter family was filmed frantically sniffing out its rivals, possibly in a bid to drive them out of the area.
While their first attempt was thwarted by members of the public, subsequent attempts were more successful, according to otter enthusiast group, OtterWatch.
OTTERS A PUBLIC NUISANCE? NOT LIKELY SAY EXPERTS
The reemergence of otters in an urban landscape, coupled with the public’s affection to protect these creatures, has prompted some to question if the otter population could go the way of the long-tailed macaque population in Singapore. They are subjected to culling from time to time to maintain their population in a bid to prevent them from becoming a public nuisance.
“I was very surprised when people ask me that because it’s still early days,” Mr Sivasothi said. He said he does not foresee a problem as the natural size of the otter population through limited food sources and territorial expansion will ensure it does not go the way of the macaques.
Nonetheless, there have been reports of otters eating prized fish at hotels and other private properties in Sentosa.
Mr Sivasothi said that unlike macaques, otters do not eat what humans eat. “The macaques can eat almost anything that we can eat…observe us eating and realise that that’s a potential food supply,” he said.
“Then they’ll come to you and realise that there’s an action-reaction. The next thing you know, they are approaching people and taking food. With otters, they don’t eat what we eat. We can’t provide them what they need. They need live fish.”
WORK WITH PUBLIC AS WILD ANIMALS FLOURISH IN URBAN SPACE
What is important is for animal welfare organisations and authorities to educate members of the public about interacting with wild animals, said Mr Sivasothi.
In the case of otters, he said it's about driving home the message that otters, though attractive to most people, are still wild animals at heart. "For the novice, if the otter is having to look at you then you are too close," he said.
"When you go close, they will retreat and you are actually restricting the space they have in order to carry out daily functions. If you are interfering with them then you are interfering their ability to live a healthy life."
Responding to Channel NewsAsia, the National Parks Board said it is working with the Otter Working Group, which consists of academics, non-government organisations and Otterwatch, to monitor the population of otters. It is also carrying out educational and awareness programmes.
NParks said it has also put up signs informing members of the public on how to observe the otter families from a distance.
Mr Louis Ng said in educating members of the public, interest groups have to be pre-emptive rather than reactive, as has been the case when animals such as monkeys and wild chickens have been culled.
He gave the example of a housing development project in Bidadari, which has for years been “a prime wildlife habitat”.
"We really have to tell these people who buy flats in Bidadari that there is going to be wildlife in your backyard, we are having a whole nature corridor there so it’s not going to be one where there is no wildlife," he said.
"Right from the start, one has to understand that this is what you’re buying and then within the development measures, ensure that the conflicts are minimised."
With the greening of Singapore, sightings of wild animal such as eagles, hornbills and kingfishers are also becoming more common, said Mr Sivasothi. He said it provides an "excellent classroom" to learn about animals and their behaviour.
"In a very artificial environment without (previously having had) engagement, we as a population are very unskilled. As we begin to reconnect, we need time as well."
Perhaps it's the nation's fascination with its otters that will pave the way for greater acceptance and protection of all things wild. Mr Sivasothi said OtterWatch gets a lot of feedback on the otters' daily movements and their health.
Residents and long-time otter enthusiasts also advise tourists and passers-by on observing the creatures from a distance. The reward, said Mr Sivasothi, is when they get to see otters comfortable enough to perform daily activities right under one's nose.
"It is unimaginable to all my scientist friends from all over the world where these sort of images are typically what they get by laying out camera traps, while they watch through binoculars from a distance."
NEO CHAI CHIN Today Online 2 Jul 17;
SINGAPORE — An “ambitious” project that began quietly at the start of this year could bring some relief to Singaporeans who have found themselves wilting in the heat of a concrete jungle.
Temperatures are rising because of climate change, but Singapore is hotter than it should be because of the urban heat island (UHI) effect.
Cities tend to trap heat because of energy consumed, the presence of less vegetation and building materials that absorb and store heat from the sun.
In fact, the most urbanised areas here can be more than 7 degrees Celsius hotter than more rural parts at certain times of the day.
The project, called Cooling Singapore, aims to develop a road map for the Republic to reduce the UHI effect, said its lead principal investigator Peter Edwards.
The road map, consisting of long- and short-term measures, could be ready by the World Cities Summit next July, he said at an urban sustainability research congress last week.
“This is a matter important not just for Singapore but for all large cities, and Singapore could be the first city in the world to come up with a coherent strategy for tackling what is a very general problem,” said Professor Edwards.
Funded by the National Research Foundation, Cooling Singapore brings together researchers from the Singapore-ETH Centre, the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart), TUM Create and the National University of Singapore.
The team has so far mapped Singapore’s energy flows. Hot off the press last week was the draft of strategies to mitigate UHI and improve the comfort felt outdoors by people. This will be refined into a combination of measures that would have an adequate impact.
“This isn’t just about putting the odd green roof in place. This is going to be ultimately a radical redesign of the city in terms of the shapes, the forms of the buildings, the building materials, transport systems and so on,” said Prof Edwards.
“And it’s not going to be done in five years. It’s the ... direction in which we must travel, otherwise the consequences of climate change, coupled with the growing UHI effect, will simply become intolerable.”
A UHI task force with representatives from multiple government agencies, such as the Housing and Development Board, the Land Transport Authority, the Building and Construction Authority and the National Parks Board, and universities has been set up.
The researchers will meet the task force on Monday (July 3), for a first workshop to discuss mitigation strategies.
The task force was one of Cooling Singapore’s goals because “we need to build a community within government which really understands the complexity of the UHI effect and can ... carry forward this ambitious project”, said Prof Edwards, an ecologist and director of the Singapore-ETH Centre.
The research project will conclude in about 18 months, “but we want a legacy of it to be a community that can really understand these issues and give them the priority they deserve”.
His team will also identify areas of research on UHI and develop tools to assess effects of the mitigation measures.
The 86 mitigation measures include: Green parking lots that trap less heat than the asphalt used traditionally, urban farms, variation in building heights, shaded bicycle lanes and well-ventilated pedestrian walkways.
Electric vehicles, with lower running temperatures than conventional ones and a lack of exhaust, would also help, as could smart shading devices using materials that can change colour, shape or density according to temperature, humidity or light.
Buildings should also be designed for heat from air-conditioning units to be released in well-ventilated areas.
Prof Edwards said that while no city has succeeded in cancelling the UHI effect, some measures such as green roofs, reflective materials and permeable pavements have been found to make quite a difference.
Active-mobility user Tham Chen Munn, who is not involved in the project, said roads and tarmac are a major contributor to heat, causing many people to feel that “it’s too hot to cross the road”. Mitigating this would require informed design and planning, he added.
Some road lanes can be narrowed to reduce the area of tarmac, suggested Mr Tham, a transport consultant: “This not only reduces heat, but streets will then be designed to be low-speed areas, which are meant to be safe for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.”
Reduced lane widths could also create more space for cycling and pedestrian paths, which, with landscaping, would make them more comfortable for cyclists, pedestrians and e-scooter users, he added.
A study published this year in the journal Nature Climate Change found that the UHI effect could more than double the costs for cities to address global warming this century.
Today Online 1 Jul 17;
SINGAPORE — A new 15km dedicated cycling path network opened in Jurong on Saturday (July 1), the eighth intra-town cycling path network in Singapore. It is the latest in the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) long term plan to progressively construct dedicated cycling path networks in all HDB towns.
Launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the cycling network winds its way around the Jurong Lake District (JLD), passing by Jurong East MRT station and its neighbouring shopping malls, Jurong Town Hall, Science Centre Singapore, and the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, as well as several schools in the area.
The JLD network is expected be integrated with the neighbouring Taman Jurong estate, which will have its own cycling path network by the end of 2020.
LTA has also increased bicycle parking facilities in the JLD, with more than 600 lots at both Chinese Garden and Lakeside MRT stations. The transport authority said it would continue to monitor the demand of bicycle parking in Jurong, and look at enhancing the provision of parking facilities at various locations, such as the major transport nodes.
To encourage rider safety and a “harmonious sharing culture” in the area, the LTA also introduced the Active Mobility Patrol Scheme, an initiative that has seen almost 100 volunteers from various grassroots organisations in Jurong forming teams to engage and educate the residents on safe riding habits.
Lin Yangchen Straits Times 3 Jul 17;
Twenty years ago, two different things happened to two people that they never imagined would result in them becoming good friends today.
Madam Doreen Tan quit her job as a shipping executive to be a traditional Chinese puppeteer.
At the same time, Madam Ong Siew Fong's house on Pulau Ubin was hit by a huge granite rock that fell from the sky after an explosion at a nearby quarry and she was inspired to build a temple around the fallen boulder.
Madam Tan, 61, and Madam Ong, 74, now meet twice a year at Madam Ong's Wei To Temple in a remote part of the island to celebrate the birth or reincarnation of Taoist deities.
No festivity at a temple is complete without a traditional Chinese theatre performance, so Madam Tan and a few other puppeteers and musicians from the 15-member Ge Yi Ge Zai Xi troupe make the arduous trip from Singapore's mainland to the temple to put up the show to entertain, not only the devotees but more importantly, the gods as well.
On this occasion, the devotees were celebrating the reincarnation of Ne Zha, the prodigious child deity who could walk and talk at birth, on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, which fell on May 3.
The troupe's performance was titled Hangzhou Revenge. It tells of a married man from Hangzhouwho falls in love with another woman on his journeys and marries her without either woman knowing about the other.
When it is time for him to go home, he abandons his second wife to prevent his first wife from finding out. The second wife hangs herself, and her ghost enlists the help of a traveller to kill the unfaithful husband and his colluding brother.
In the end, the ghost arranges the happy marriage between the traveller and the first wife.
Simple as the plot sounds, the show ran on for a few hours - almost as long as a Wagner opera.
Although devotees were sometimes too busy with prayers to pay attention to the performance, the atmosphere created by the puppets' colourful costumes and graceful movements, accompanied by the lively singing in Hokkien and the music, made the spirits come alive.
Temple devotee Joseph Liew, 45, said traditional puppet shows such as this are made possible through the financial support of the temple's worshippers.
Mr Liew, who directs a construction company and visits the temple a few times a month, added: "It is a good place to meditate - there's no traffic and it's quiet. The temple has a kampung atmosphere and a spiritual presence that is hard to explain."
Meanwhile, Madam Tan said the challenge was performing in the proximity of giant candles and burning incense. This makes singing difficult as performers need to inhale large amounts of air to continuously project the undulating voices typical of Chinese opera singing.
The puppets, which are dressed in exquisite robes, are made of wood that comes from Zhangzhou in Fujian province in China, a country where puppetry dates back to a few thousand years.
About five years ago, the puppets cost $100 apiece, but now each puppet is about $300, said Madam Tan.
Troupe member Madam Tan Poh Hong, 63, said she got interested in Chinese opera and puppetry as a "curious and playful" 10-year-old.
The pay was low but food and lodging were provided, and she loved the way of life, she said.
"We had freedom, the boss was caring and taught us the trade. We were like family and went everywhere together," she added.
WATCH THE VIDEO
Members of the Ge Yi Ge Zai Xi wooden puppet troupe give a performance at Wei To Temple on Pulau Ubin.
http://str.sg/4aMM
The Star 3 Jul 17;
KOTA KINABALU: Their flippers flailing, some 100 green turtle hatchlings made their way to the sea where they will spend a large part of their life.
The Kudat Turtle Conservation Society released these hatchlings Saturday, witnessed by around 200 tourists and villagers from Kg Bavang Jamal.
Project coordinator Norfazilah Rahman said the event was part of its efforts to save the turtles.
“In 2012, there were many turtles coming to shore to lay their eggs. But then, we noticed that the numbers were dwindling due to human activities, such as hunting and egg consumption. So, we decided to come together to save the turtles,” she said.
Norfazilah said although there was still much to be done to restore the number of turtles coming to nest and to increase the hatching rate, the society was confident that its efforts were on the right track.
“We have released about 4,500 hatchlings since our inception,” said Norfazilah, adding that its staff also carried out nightly patrols along the beach from Pantai Kelambu to the Tip of Borneo (also known as Tanjung Simpang Mengayau) to look for turtle landings.
The society, she said, was also educating villagers and fishermen on the importance of turtle conservation.
“We have seen a significant change in the attitudes and awareness of the local community in Kudat but we still have a long way to go to achieve our goals.
“The villagers will now also alert our members if they know of any turtle landing so that we can take care of the eggs until they hatch,” she said.
The long-term objective of the society is to set up 50 community-managed turtle conservation areas within the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park.
ButterflyCircle : Conservation and Education
Butterflies of Singapore
Field work – Counting sea urchins on the seashores of Singapore
Mei Lin NEO
Night Walk At Windsor Nature Park (30 Jun 2017)
Beetles@SG BLOG
Dairy Farm Diary
Winging It
ICCS @ Nan Hua Primary School’s EarthFest 2017: Learning about marine life and marine trash
News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
Wide Angle Macro Photography with Mirrorless Systems
Macro Photography in Singapore
Posts
visitors since Nov 07