Parliament: Singapore adopts three-pronged approach to deal with wildlife trafficking

Audrey Tan Straits Times 28 Feb 18;

SINGAPORE - The Government has a three-pronged strategy to deter wildlife trafficking at Singapore's border checkpoints.

This includes subjecting passengers and shipments to a risk assessment, conducting multiple layers of checks at the checkpoints, and adopting a coordinated enforcement approach among the agencies involved, such as the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), Singapore Customs, as well as Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

"Taken together, these measures have led to several successful seizures of illegal wildlife in Singapore," said Senior Minister of State for National Development Koh Poh Koon in Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 28).

Dr Koh was responding to a question raised by Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC) on what measures are in place at Singapore's border checkpoints to deter wildlife trafficking.

On the importance of risk assessment, Dr Koh said that the framework helps flag passengers and shipments that require more detailed checks. Passengers and cargo are also screened by officers and a variety of other tools, such as x-ray machines.

Singapore's agencies also work together to take quick action "after receiving credible and actionable intelligence or tip-offs from the public and from our international partners," Dr Koh said.

He warned that traffickers are subject to heavy penalties if caught with wildlife parts, facing fines of up to $500,000, up to two years' jail, or both.

Even though demand for illegal wildlife parts, such as rhino horn, ivory or pangolin scales, is not as high in Singapore compared to other countries in the region, the Republic has long been flagged by international environmental organisations as being a transit point for these items.

Mr Ng also asked if Singapore will consider deploying sniffer dogs to detect wildlife on passengers or in cargo, as the country does for narcotics.

Dr Koh said that the Government uses scanning technologies for this purpose.

"More studies are needed to determine if sniffer dogs can be more effective than our current methods," Dr Koh said.

But he added that the AVA - which falls under the purview of his ministry - is continually studying the efficacy of different tools and techniques to detect illegal wildlife at the border checkpoints.

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Malaysia: 45 tunnels to save pristine forests

mazwin nik anis The Star 28 Feb 18;

PUTRAJAYA: Only 216ha of forest will be cleared to make way for the 688km East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) alignment, with efforts being made to further reduce the size of the affected area.

This is only 10% of the 2,000ha of forest originally estimated to be lost in the course of the project, said Dr G. Balamurugan, managing director of ERE Consulting Group Sdn Bhd, which conducted the social impact assessment of the project.

This was made possible through the redesign and realignment of the ECRL, he added.

“ECRL is a project of great importance for the country. What we want is to ensure it causes minimal damage to the environment and impact on wildlife while meeting its economic and social objectives,” he said at the signing of a memorandum of agreement between China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) and the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) on the implementation of a wildlife management plan.

CCCC was represented by its executive managing director Bai Yinzhan while director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Hashim signed on behalf of Perhilitan.

The signing was witnessed by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and China’s Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian.

Dr Balamurugan said the ECRL alignment runs close to 25 different forest reserves, home to animals such as elephants, tapir, tigers, barking deer and sun bears.

To minimise the impact on the environment, 45 tunnels will be built to keep the forest intact.

For wildlife to be able to roam freely and safely, 27 crossings and 100km of viaducts will also be constructed, he said.

“In areas that can’t be avoided, expeditions will be held to check for rare species of flora which will be replanted at unaffected forest areas,” he said.

Dr Wan Junaidi said the RM10mil contribution from the CCCC for a period of seven years would enable Perhilitan to take crucial measures to ensure the rail project complies with environmental requirements.

“The wildlife management plan will, among other things, minimise and monitor the impact on wildlife and their habitats along key stretches of the ECRL,” he said in his speech.

Describing this as a milestone agreement, the minister lauded the project for its environment-friendly initiatives.

Dr Wan Junaidi said he had informed the Cabinet that the ministry wanted to be consulted from the start of the project so that any concerns and impact on the environment could be addressed.

“With the agreement on the implementation of a dedicated wildlife management plan for ECRL, this key catalytic rail project will proceed with adequate safeguards.

“This is a win-win situation as the ministry strongly believes that development and the environment must always go hand in hand.

“I am glad to see that CCCC is proving to be a good and responsible partner for the ECRL by focusing on protecting the environment.

“This collaboration will ensure the project incurs minimal damage to the environment and protects the welfare of wildlife,” he said.

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Indonesia: Bears handed over to Riau conservation authority

Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 27 Feb 18;

Worried about the legal sanctions he might face for keeping a protected species, Adi, 28, a resident of Sungai Buluh village in Bunut district, Pelalawan regency, Riau, handed over a pair of sun bears to the Riau chapter of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency.

Agency spokesperson Dian Indriati said Adi had voluntarily handed over the sun bears that he had kept for three years.

“The agency’s ranger team led by Murmaiddin Putraper fetched the bears in Bunut on Monday evening. The bears are now in Pekanbaru and are undergoing a medical assessment by a medical team,” Dian said on Tuesday.

She said that the two bears, a male and a female, were about 4 years old and in good condition. Information collected by the agency revealed that the bears were found by Adi when he was working on an oil palm plantation in Bunut about three years ago.

“When they were found, the bears were still very young and had been abandoned by their mother. Adi later decided to take care of them until he was made aware that under the prevailing laws, it is prohibited to keep protected wildlife and this might lead to legal sanctions,” said Dian.

Law No.5/1990 on the conservation of biodiversity and its ecosystem stipulates that anyone found guilty of hunting, keeping and trading in wildlife may face a maximum of five years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp 100 million (US$7,310). (ebf)

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North Atlantic right whales may face extinction after no new births recorded

Declining fertility and rising mortality, exacerbated by fishing industry, prompts experts to warn whales could be extinct by 2040
Joanna Walters The Guardian 26 Feb 18;

The dwindling North Atlantic right whale population is on track to finish its breeding season without any new births, prompting experts to warn again that without human intervention, the species will face extinction.

Scientists observing the whale community off the US east coast have not recorded a single mother-calf pair this winter. Last year saw a record number of deaths in the population. Threats to the whales include entanglement in lobster fishing ropes and an increasing struggle to find food in abnormally warm waters.

The combination of rising mortality and declining fertility is now seen as potentially catastrophic. There are estimated to be as few as 430 North Atlantic right whales left in the world, including just 100 potential mothers.

“At the rate we are killing them off, this 100 females will be gone in 20 years,” said Mark Baumgartner, a marine ecologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Without action, he warned, North Atlantic right whales will be functionally extinct by 2040.

A 10-year-old female was found dead off the Virginia coast in January, entangled in fishing gear, in the first recorded death of 2018. That followed a record 18 premature deaths in 2017, Baumgartner said.

Woods Hole and other groups, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have been tracing right whale numbers in earnest since the mid-1980s.

Federal research suggests 82% of premature deaths are caused by entanglement in fishing line. The prime culprit is the New England lobster industry. Crab fishing in Canadian waters is another cause of such deaths.

Baumgartner said that until about seven years ago, the population of North Atlantic right whales was healthy. But then lobster fishermen began greatly increasing the strength of ropes used to attach lobster pots to marker buoys.

Whales becoming entangled are now far less able to break free, Baumgartner said. Some are killed outright, others cannot swim properly, causing them to starve or to lose so much blubber that females become infertile.

“Lobster and crab fishing and whales are able to comfortably co-exist,” Baumgartner said. “We are trying to propose solutions, it’s urgent.”

Baumgartner said the US government should intervene to regulate fishing gear. He also said the industry should explore technology enabling fishermen to track and gather lobster pots without using roped buoys.

The whales migrate seasonally between New England and Florida, calving off Florida and Georgia from November to February. They primarily feed on phytoplankton. Scientists believe rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine, linked to climate change, is drastically depleting that food source.

Past measures to prevent ship collisions and to safeguard feeding areas have helped. Several environmental groups have sued the federal government, demanding greater protection for right whales.

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More than 100 cities now mostly powered by renewable energy, data shows

The number of cities getting at least 70% of their total electricity supply from renewable energy has more than doubled since 2015
Elle Hunt The Guardian 27 Feb 18;

The number of cities reporting they are predominantly powered by clean energy has more than doubled since 2015, as momentum builds for cities around the world to switch from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

Data published on Tuesday by the not-for-profit environmental impact researcher CDP found that 101 of the more than 570 cities on its books sourced at least 70% of their electricity from renewable sources in 2017, compared to 42 in 2015.

Nicolette Bartlett, CDP’s director of climate change, attributed the increase to both more cities reporting to CDP as well as a global shift towards renewable energy.

The data was a “comprehensive picture of what cities are doing with regards to renewable energy,” she told Guardian Cities.

That large urban centres as disparate as Auckland, Nairobi, Oslo and Brasília were successfully moving away from fossil fuels was held up as evidence of a changing tide by Kyra Appleby, CDP’s director of cities.

“Reassuringly, our data shows much commitment and ambition,” she said in a statement. “Cities not only want to shift to renewably energy, but, most importantly – they can.”

Much of the drive for climate action at city level in the past year has been spurred on by the global covenant of more than 7,400 mayors that formed in the wake of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris accord.

Burlington, Vermont, was the only US city reporting to CDP that sourced all of its power from renewable sources after having fully transitioned in 2015. Research from the Sierra Club states there are five such cities in the US in total.

Burlington is now exploring how to become zero-carbon.

Mayor Miro Weinberger said to CDP that its shift to a diverse mix of biomass, hydro, wind and solar power had boosted the local economy, and encouraged other cities to follow suit. Across the US 58 towns and cities, including Atlanta and San Diego, have set a target of 100% renewable energy.

In Britain, 14 more cities and towns had signed up to the UK100 local government network’s target of 100% clean energy by 2050, bringing the total to 84. Among the recent local authority recruits were Liverpool City Region, Barking and Dagenham, Bristol, Bury, Peterborough, Redcar and Cleveland.

But the CDP data showed 43 cities worldwide were already entirely powered by clean energy, with the vast majority (30) in Latin America, where more cities reported to CDP and hydropower is more widespread.

In the six months to July, Latin American cities reported having instigated $183m of renewable energy projects – less than Europe ($1.7bn) or Africa ($236m). Europe topped the list for projects open for investment, but laid claim to just 20% of the 101 cities to be predominantly powered by clean energy.

The Icelandic capital Reyjkavik, sourcing all electricity from hydropower and geothermal, was among them. It is now working to make all cars and public transit fossil-free by 2040.

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Arctic warming: scientists alarmed by 'crazy' temperature rises

Record warmth in the Arctic this month could yet prove to be a freak occurrence, but experts warn the warming event is unprecedented
Jonathan Watts The Guardian 27 Feb 18;

An alarming heatwave in the sunless winter Arctic is causing blizzards in Europe and forcing scientists to reconsider even their most pessimistic forecasts of climate change.

Although it could yet prove to be a freak event, the primary concern is that global warming is eroding the polar vortex, the powerful winds that once insulated the frozen north.

The north pole gets no sunlight until March, but an influx of warm air has pushed temperatures in Siberia up by as much as 35C above historical averages this month. Greenland has already experienced 61 hours above freezing in 2018 - more than three times as many hours as in any previous year.

Seasoned observers have described what is happening as “crazy,” “weird,” and “simply shocking”.

“This is an anomaly among anomalies. It is far enough outside the historical range that it is worrying – it is a suggestion that there are further surprises in store as we continue to poke the angry beast that is our climate,” said Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University. “The Arctic has always been regarded as a bellwether because of the vicious circle that amplify human-caused warming in that particular region. And it is sending out a clear warning.”

Although most of the media headlines in recent days have focused on Europe’s unusually cold weather in a jolly tone, the concern is that this is not so much a reassuring return to winters as normal, but rather a displacement of what ought to be happening farther north.

At the world’s most northerly land weather station - Cape Morris Jesup at the northern tip of Greenland – recent temperatures have been, at times, warmer than London and Zurich, which are thousands of miles to the south. Although the recent peak of 6.1C on Sunday was not quite a record, but on the previous two occasions (2011 and 2017) the highs lasted just a few hours before returning closer to the historical average. Last week there were 10 days above freezing for at least part of the day at this weather station, just 440 miles from the north pole.

“Spikes in temperature are part of the normal weather patterns – what has been unusual about this event is that it has persisted for so long and that it has been so warm,” said Ruth Mottram of the Danish Meteorological Institute. “Going back to the late 1950s at least we have never seen such high temperatures in the high Arctic.”

The cause and significance of this sharp uptick are now under scrutiny. Temperatures often fluctuate in the Arctic due to the strength or weakness of the polar vortex, the circle of winds – including the jetstream – that help to deflect warmer air masses and keep the region cool. As this natural force field fluctuates, there have been many previous temperature spikes, which make historical charts of Arctic winter weather resemble an electrocardiogram.

But the heat peaks are becoming more frequent and lasting longer – never more so than this year. “In 50 years of Arctic reconstructions, the current warming event is both the most intense and one of the longest-lived warming events ever observed during winter,” said Robert Rohde, lead scientist of Berkeley Earth, a non-profit organisation dedicated to climate science.

The question now is whether this signals a weakening or collapse of the polar vortex, the circle of strong winds that keep the Arctic cold by deflecting other air masses. The vortex depends on the temperature difference between the Arctic and mid-latitudes, but that gap is shrinking because the pole is warming faster than anywhere on Earth. While average temperatures have increased by about 1C, the warming at the pole – closer to 3C – is melting the ice mass. According to Nasa, Arctic sea ice is now declining at a rate of 13.2% per decade, leaving more open water and higher temperatures.

Some scientists speak of a hypothesis known as “warm Arctic, cold continents” as the polar vortex becomes less stable - sucking in more warm air and expelling more cold fronts, such as those currently being experienced in the UK and northern Europe. Rohde notes that this theory remains controversial and is not evident in all climate models, but this year’s temperature patterns have been consistent with that forecast.

Longer term, Rohde expects more variation. “As we rapidly warm the Arctic, we can expect that future years will bring us even more examples of unprecedented weather.”

Jesper Theilgaard, a meteorologist with 40 years’ experience and founder of website Climate Dissemination, said the recent trends are outside previous warming events. “No doubt these warming events bring trouble to the people and the nature. Shifting rain and snow – melt and frost make the surface icy and therefore difficult for animals to find anything to eat. Living conditions in such shifting weather types are very difficult.”

Others caution that it is premature to see this as a major shift away from forecasts. “The current excursions of 20C or more above average experienced in the Arctic are almost certainly mostly due to natural variability,” said Zeke Hausfather of Berkeley Earth. “While they have been boosted by the underlying warming trend, we don’t have any strong evidence that the factors driving short-term Arctic variability will increase in a warming world. If anything, climate models suggest the opposite is true, that high-latitude winters will be slightly less variable as the world warms.”

Although it is too soon to know whether overall projections for Arctic warming should be changed, the recent temperatures add to uncertainty and raises the possibility of knock-on effects accelerating climate change.

“This is too short-term an excursion to say whether or not it changes the overall projections for Arctic warming,” says Mann. “But it suggests that we may be underestimating the tendency for short-term extreme warming events in the Arctic. And those initial warming events can trigger even greater warming because of the ‘feedback loops’ associated with the melting of ice and the potential release of methane (a very strong greenhouse gas).”

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Best of our wild blogs: 27 Feb 18

International Year of the Reef: Corsola the.. Coral
PokeZoology

19 Mar (Sun): Ubin 2Rivers Trail (with a hike to the tallest one!)
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

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17 F&B businesses in Singapore commit to sourcing for sustainable palm oil

Audrey Tan Straits Times 26 Feb 18;

SINGAPORE - Singapore has been free from the scourge of haze for the past two years, but at least 17 food and beverage companies here are not taking the clear skies for granted.

The 17 - including major brands such as Crystal Jade, F&N and TungLok, as well as smaller businesses such as Veganburg in Eunos and NomVNom in Tai Seng - have recently committed to sourcing for sustainable palm oil.

Of these, 10 of them made the commitment to do so this year. They include TungLok Group and Commonwealth Capital, whose portfolio includes brands like PastaMania and Baker and Cook.

On Monday (Feb 26), they officially joined the South-east Asia Alliance for Sustainable Palm Oil (Saspo) - an initiative led by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Singapore.

The alliance, formed since 2016, champions the use of sustainable palm oil in business supply chains, and now has a total of 15 member companies.

The other two F&B businesses that use sustainable palm oil are Veganburg and NomVNom. They are not part of the alliance but told The Straits Times that they have committed to sourcing for sustainable palm oil since last August and September respectively.

Ms Elaine Tan, WWF Singapore's chief executive, said Saspo is the first private sector-led initiative in the region to address the need for sustainable palm oil, in relation to the haze.

She added: "The addition of the 10 companies to Saspo raises the bar for corporate responsibility to the environment and puts the Singapore business community ahead of the region."

Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, who was guest of honour at Monday's Saspo event, said that with demand for palm oil projected to grow by another 50 per cent by 2020, sustainable production must take root in the industry.

"This underscores the significance of Saspo... Being the first of its kind, this industry-led initiative provides a platform for localised insights and shared resources for companies that source for sustainable palm oil," said Mr Masagos.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HARM OF PALM OIL

The cultivation of oil palm in countries such as Indonesia has long been pointed out as a major contributor of air pollution in the region, due to drainage of carbon-rich peatland, deforestation and slash-and-burn tactics used by plantation companies and farmers to prepare land for crops.

But as palm oil is found in many products, from food items to cosmetics, banning it is a near impossible task.

Environmental groups are touting sustainable palm oil as an alternative. This refers to palm oil from plantations which adhere to strict standards set out by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Among other things, certified plantations are not allowed to burn to clear land, and the rights of local communities must be respected.

Ms Zhang Wen of volunteer group the People's Movement to Stop Haze (PM.Haze) said that other important criteria under RSPO include not planting new crops on extensive areas of peat soil, maintaining water levels in existing plantations on peat, and conserving primary forests, as well as secondary forests, with high conservation value.

COSTS INVOLVED

Companies said the added costs of sourcing for sustainable palm oil were manageable, although an obstacle to more firms making the switch is a lack of awareness on the issue.

Dr Ng Wai Lek, founder of vegetarian company NomVNom, told ST that the price difference between sustainable and unsustainable palm oil is about $3 per tin.

Members of Saspo - such as TungLok Group, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and Commonwealth Capital - said during Monday's event that sustainable palm oil adds just less than 10 per cent to total operating costs.

Commonwealth Capital's group managing director Andrew Kwan said that there are audit costs involved, which can be reduced if more companies come on board and the use of sustainable palm oil is made the norm.

Businesses are also divided on whether or not to pass on the extra costs to consumers. Some, such as Veganburg and NomVNom, said they would not. "We strive to keep our food prices as reasonable as possible so we can make our sustainable and plant-based burgers accessible to everyone," said Veganburg's founder Alex Tan.

TungLok's chief executive Andrew Tjioe said it has not increased the selling price of its products even after using more expensive sustainable palm oil, although he suggested that consumers here would be willing to pay for sustainable products. "In the same way as people are willing to pay more for organic products... this (added cost) is not a problem in Singapore."

WWF's Ms Tan said that Saspo's 15 members, being prominent businesses in Singapore, could prompt smaller businesses to come on board. The alliance also plans to conduct outreach efforts to raise awareness of palm oil here.

HISTORY OF PALM OIL CAMPAIGNING IN SINGAPORE

The latest additions to Saspo follows a campaign launched by WWF last year pressuring firms here to use sustainable palm oil. WWF surveyed 27 Singapore firms from April to June using a global Palm Oil Buyers' Scorecard that the group does each year to track what companies are doing to prevent the negative impacts of palm oil production.

Among the 27 Singapore organisations contacted were Ayam Brand and Wildlife Reserves Singapore. Only 10 companies responded.

Following the release of the score card, four of the 17 companies which did not respond earlier - TungLok, Commonwealth Capital, Super Group and Bee Cheng Hiang - pledged that they would work towards using sustainable palm oil.

But there are some eateries flagged in the report that have yet to respond to WWF's latest call to switch to sustainable palm oil, including BreadTalk and Polar Puffs and Cakes.

Mr Andrew Kwan, Commonwealth Capital's group managing director, said on Monday that his company was surprised by the results of the scorecard when it was first made public, citing the lack of awareness of sustainable palm oil in Singapore.

"The lack of awareness could have contributed to the poorer take-up rate... Events like these and the press could help get more industry players on board," he said. "In this regard, we count it a privilege to help raise awareness among consumers and (those) in the market on the importance of growing businesses sustainably," he said.


Crystal Jade, Bee Cheng Hiang among Singapore firms pledging switch to sustainable palm oil
Liyana Othman Channel NewsAsia 26 Feb 18;

SINGAPORE: Ten more Singapore food and beverage (F&B) businesses have joined the Southeast Asia Alliance for Sustainable Palm Oil (SASPO), tripling the number of members since its launch in 2016.

These 10 businesses include Crystal Jade, Bee Cheng Hiang, Tung Lok,F&N and the parent company of PastaMania and Udders Ice Cream.

The addition of these 10 companies take the total number of local businesses that have publicly committed to 100 per cent sustainable palm oil to 15, accounting for more than 80 brands and 200 F&B outlets across the country.

SASPO is the first private sector-led initiative in the Southeast Asia region to address the importance of sourcing for sustainable palm oil in a bid to tackle the haze issue, which has crippled the region in the past.

It was launched by WWF and five founding companies comprising Ayam Brand (Denis Asia Pacific), Danone, IKEA, Unilever and Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

“For a business, changing palm oil sourcing is always a commitment, a joint effort and a journey. But every step taken shows other businesses in Singapore and the region that it can be done. Over time, this pushes the industry towards using a hundred per cent sustainably-sourced palm oil,” said Mr Hervé Simon, Group Marketing Director of Denis Asia Pacific, which produces Ayam Brand.

AWARENESS STILL LOW, BUT CONSUMER RESPONSE ENCOURAGING

TungLok Restaurants president and CEO Andrew Tijioe said sourcing for palm oil from plantations approved by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil was not costly.

Members of the global certification body have to comply with stringent rules, like not using the slash-and-burn technique to clear forests.

“It’s a very small difference that we don’t even care about it. It’s within 10 per cent (more than regular palm oil)”, Mr Tjioe said.

A bigger issue, he said, is a lack of awareness.

“There are many products in the restaurant that contain palm oil, like sauces. Many of them are produced in other countries like Hong Kong or China," he said.

"We have sent out a circular to them (manufacturers), asking them to declare whether their products contain sustainable palm oil. But the result is still quite lukewarm. Many of them say 'we use very little (palm oil)', or they don’t even know if their products contain sustainable or non-sustainable palm oil," he added.

WWF-Singapore CEO Elaine Tan echoed this, saying that "general awareness is pretty low in this part of the world" compared with Europe.

However, Ms Tan said the addition of the new restaurants was “testament that companies and businesses are ready, and they also want to be responsible to consumers demanding right now for sustainable palm oil”.

"I think it’s the beginning of a real ground swell," she said.

As for consumers’ buy-in, the businesses said the response has been encouraging, and people are willing to pay the premium. Mr Andrew Kwan, Group Managing Director of Common Wealth Capital - which owns brands like PastaMania, The Soup Spoon and Udders Ice Cream - likened the momentum to organic food.

"I’m hopeful and I’m quite confident that consumers will be discerning, and that they will pay just a little bit more if they know that companies that offer food are also getting products that are sustainably sourced," he said.

NOT ABOUT TURNING AWAY FROM PALM OIL COMPLETELY: MASAGOS

In 2015, raging forest fires in Indonesia caused by a combination of dry weather and slash-and-burn techniques to clear land sparked one of the worst haze crisis on record.

The haze caused the air quality in Singapore to turn hazardous, forcing the closure of schools and costing the economy an estimated S$700 million.

As a result, Singapore authorities in 2015 took action against companies believed to be behind the polluting fires, under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.

“We cannot resolve this issue without addressing the production of palm oil”, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli at the announcement of SASPO’s new members on Monday (Feb 26).

But it is not about turning away from palm oil completely.

Out of the world's palm oil production, 85 per cent is produced in this region.

The palm oil industry not only contributes about up to 2.5 per cent to Indonesia’s gross national product (GNP), but also is the fourth-largest GNP contributor in Malaysia.

“The palm oil industry also supports the transition of many communities out of poverty, and significantly improves the livelihood of farmers”, Mr Masagos added.

He said that this is why Singapore supports the growth and success of a sustainable palm oil industry in the region, particularly as the demand for palm oil is expected to grow by 50 per cent by 2020.

The public has also sent signals to companies to use sustainable palm oil.

Most recently, a petition launched by two students to get food companies to make the switch garnered more than 8,000 signatures.

In 2017, a campaign led by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Singapore) saw people in Singapore sending 60,000 emails to local brands to show their support for responsibly-sourced palm oil.

Source: CNA/ad

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Wolbachia-carrying male mozzies to get a leg-up in second field study

SIAU MING EN Today Online 26 Feb 18;

SINGAPORE — A fresh round of field studies taking male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to greater heights – literally – will kick off in April.

This, after the previous study found that insufficient numbers of them reached the higher floors of housing blocks, hampering efforts to control the population.

In Phase Two of the field study, the authorities will release the male mosquitoes – both adults and pupae – from high floors in addition to the ground floor, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Monday (Feb 26).

The NEA will also use X-ray or other technologies to render infertile the 0.3 per cent of small female pupae that get mistaken for male pupae when they are sorted by size. Female pupae are generally bigger and 99.7 per cent of them are successfully sifted out by a device.

Only male Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes are selected for release at study sites because when they mate with females, the eggs do not hatch. This leads to a smaller population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes over time. Male mosquitoes also do not bite.

If female Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes are inadvertently released and mate with the males, the eggs hatch, which may hamper population suppression efforts.

The Phase Two field study will be conducted over nine months, said the NEA.

Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacterium found in more than 60 per cent of insect species, but not the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads dreaded diseases like dengue and chikungunya. In addition to longstanding measures such as the destruction of breeding sites, it is a potential way to curb the mosquito population such that dengue transmission cannot be sustained.

The earlier field study, conducted between October 2016 and last December, took place at three sites: Braddell Heights, Tampines West and Nee Soon East.

This time round, the mosquitoes will be let loose in the latter two sites, but with redrawn boundaries. A total of 76 blocks with about 7,000 households will be covered – 40 more blocks than before.

Both the adult mosquitoes and and pupae will be released twice a week at the test sites, more frequently than the earlier study. More male Wolbachia mosquitoes will be released this time – one to six mosquitoes per person, instead of the one to three mosquitoes per human in the earlier study.

This is to counter the general increase in the Aedes aegypti population and compensate for any possible reduced virility of the male Wolbachia-Aedes from the X-ray treatment, said the NEA.

The mosquitoes are given low doses of X-ray and research shows they pose no harm to humans or the environment. Animals that eat or come into contact with these mosquitoes will not be affected.

They are not radioactive as they do not come into physical contact with a radioactive source, said the NEA.

X-ray technology has been used elsewhere for years without adverse effects, said chairman of the Dengue Expert Advisory Panel, Professor Duane Gubler of Duke-NUS Medical School.

For example, it is used to control or eradicate agricultural pests such as the melon fly in parts of Japan, said the NEA.

Professor Gubler does not think the Wolbachia study has been taking too long. “It is best to get this right the first time rather than rush ahead without adequate data,” he said.

A larger suppression trial was supposed to have started last year, but no date has now been set.

The new field study was called after Phase One threw up unexpected challenges. The impact of release of male Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes was found to be limited by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from surrounding areas moving into the release sites.

Half of the Aedes mosquito eggs collected from the release sites did not hatch, but a larger reduction of hatched eggs and the adult population is needed.

And to better distribute the Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes, they will need to be released from higher floors of apartment blocks.

The NEA appealed for support from residents and other stakeholders at the study sites and said it will provide more information to them. It urged residents to continue mosquito-control measures.


Phase 2 of dengue control study kicks off in April
More Wolbachia-carrying male mosquitoes to be released into Tampines West, Nee Soon East
Samantha Boh Straits Times 27 Feb 18;

There will be an added buzz in Tampines West and Nee Soon East come April with the release of male Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes into the estates.

It is part of phase two of an ongoing field study into a novel method to curb dengue transmissions in Singapore which has delivered promising results.

The Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which neither bite humans nor transmit disease, have been artificially infected with Wolbachia bacteria. When they mate with uninfected females, the resulting eggs will not hatch.

Phase two will involve more housing blocks in the two sites and even X-ray treatment. About one to six mosquitoes will be released per person each week, up from one to three mosquitoes previously.

Braddell Heights, which was part of the first phase, will not be involved this time as it does not have high-rise buildings - a focus of phase two.

These estates represent a cross-section of typical housing estates and have seen dengue outbreaks previously.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has been monitoring the mosquito population in these sites for years, providing a baseline for comparative studies.

In phase one conducted from October 2016 to December last year, NEA found mosquito populations in the study sites were reduced by half.

The phase two study will run till January next year and aims to overcome challenges that cropped up in the earlier study, NEA said yesterday.

The agency said the plan was to embark on a larger suppression trial after phase one. But the first trial threw up unexpected hurdles.

Only 6 per cent of the adult male Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes released on the ground floor were later found on the ninth-floor level and higher. So in phase two, the mosquitoes will be released on higher floors, in addition to being released on the ground floor.

They will also be released twice a week instead of once a week previously, in order to keep the population up for longer. The earlier study had found that only half of the mosquitoes released lived up to four days.

Containers holding male Wolbachia-carrying mosquito pupae will also be placed at the study sites this time, as the NEA wants to study if they will adapt better to the site conditions.

During phase one, the NEA noted that a small percentage of female Wolbachia-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were inadvertently released, as they had slipped through the sorting process which is about 99.7 per cent accurate.

While normal female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that mate with male Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes lay eggs which do not hatch, female Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes still go on to have offspring.

These offspring cannot transmit dengue, chikungunya and Zika, but in the long term, they would affect the ability of male Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes to suppress the urban mosquito population, said NEA.

Hence all batches of Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes, adult and pupae, will undergo X-ray treatment to ensure that any females present will be made infertile.

Studies show the X-ray treatment does not affect the virility of males.

The chairman of the Dengue Expert Advisory Panel, Professor Duane Gubler of Duke-NUS Medical School, said:"The phase one studies were very successful in helping us understand this ecology. Phase two will build on this knowledge and, hopefully, increase the efficacy of the male release method."

As for the use of X-ray, NEA said it does not harm humans or the environment, and is currently used in a field study in Guangzhou, China.

"Irradiation has been successfully used to sterile other insect species and should increase the efficacy of the trial," added Prof Gubler.

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Man gets 15 months’ jail for smuggling rhino horns, horn shavings

Today Online 26 Feb 18;

SINGAPORE — A smuggler who was found with eight pieces of cut rhino horns and a bag of rhino horn shavings at Changi Airport was sentenced to 15 months’ jail on Monday (Feb 26).

Nguyen Vinh Hai, 29, was flying from Dubai to Laos on Aug 31, 2017, when he was caught during his transit in Singapore.

The arrest was made after a joint effort by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), Singapore Customs, and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority “to investigate an attempt to smuggle illegal wildlife products through Singapore”, the agencies said in a joint statement on Monday.

DNA analysis conducted on the seized horns and shavings confirmed that they were derived from the rhinoceros, a critically endangered animal protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna or Flora (CITES).

Singapore is a signatory of CITES. If convicted, offenders face a fine of up to S$500,000 and/or up to two years’ jail.

Nguyen’s sentence will be backdated to Sept 6, 2017.

“The Singapore Government adopts a zero-tolerance stance on the use of Singapore as a conduit to smuggle endangered species and their parts and derivatives,” the statement read.

Noting that tackling illegal wildlife trade requires concerted efforts of all stakeholders, including the public, AVA noted that demand fuels the wildlife trade.

“The public can help reduce demand by not buying wildlife parts and products,” the authority said.

“AVA will take stern enforcement actions against any illegal wildlife smugglers.”

Members of the public can alert AVA of any suspected cases of illegal wildlife trade, and provide information through the agency’s online feedback form or at 6805 2992.

All information shared with AVA will be kept strictly confidential.

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Feb 18

24 Mar (Sat): Reefs 101 - FREE workshop at St John's Island
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

10 Mar (Sat): Marine Open House at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

NSS Blue and Green Survey 22 Feb 2018
Singapore Bird Group

Balik Kampung and RUMblings in January and February!
Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative

World Pangolin Day 2018
sundapangolin

From Booted & Striped to Snakes & Ladders
Winging It

Mangrove Horseshoe Crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) @ Coney Island (Pulau Serangoon)
Monday Morgue

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Angler filmed throwing stones at otters in Punggol Waterfront

Ng Huiwen Straits Times 25 Feb 18;

SINGAPORE - An angler was filmed throwing stones at a family of otters next to the Marina Country Club in Punggol Waterfront on Saturday evening (Feb 24).

A housewife, who wanted to be known only as Ms Chong, told The Straits Times on Sunday that she was in the area at about 6.30pm when she spotted the family of eight otters swimming away.

Ms Chong was filming the sight when she noticed that a man had started throwing stones at one of the pups.

"Obviously, I was shocked. He did it not once, but twice, at two of the pups," said Ms Chong, who declined to give her age.

A video of the incident was shared on the OtterWatch Facebook page on Saturday night.

Mr Jeffrey Teo, who is a member of the OtterWatch community, told The Straits Times that this particular family of otters have been spotted frequently in the Punggol stretch since about two months ago.

They comprise of parents, a sub-adult and five pups.

He said that a few otter watchers have since alerted the authorities to the incident.


Ms Chong, who was alone, said that there was a fence separating her and the man, who was part of a group of six male anglers.

While there were other groups of anglers in the area at the time, none of them did anything to stop the man, she added.

To ensure that the otters were unhurt, she stood at the location for a few minutes to monitor them.

"I was glad to see the pups were okay and that they were all accounted for," she said, adding that she hopes the video would help to raise the public's awareness of wild animals in Singapore.

"I hope that people will be more tolerant of wild animals and share some of their space with them. The otters were there for only about five minutes and they went away. There's no need to be cruel," she added.

A spokesman for the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it is investigating the incident. Members of the public who have information on the case or witnessed the incident can contact AVA at 1800-476-1600.

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