2 Dec (Sun): Let’s Act on the Singapore Blue Plan 2018!
wild shores of singapore
Wild fun for kids during the December school holidays!
wild shores of singapore
Butterfly Anatomy : Part 3
Butterflies of Singapore
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Best of our wild blogs: 12 Nov 18
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Singapore works to tackle threats to food supply
Researchers studying how to develop rice that is more resistant to effects of climate change
Jose Hong Straits Times 11 Nov 18;
Rice plants stand in rows of pots, some stained yellow with fungus infections, others wilting after days without water.
Before The Sunday Times entered the greenhouse, rice researcher Rapee Heebkaew handed over white lab coats and plastic bags to place over shoes. "Wear this," she said. "You'll be fine from whatever's in there, but we need to protect the rice plants from you."
This is the Singapore greenhouse of Germany's pharmaceutical and life sciences giant Bayer, where Ms Heebkaew develops ways to make rice more resistant to rice blast fungus, a devastating infection that annually destroys so much rice that could have fed millions, and will only spread and worsen with climate change.
Since Bayer began operating its seeds laboratory in 2008, it has tested 12 rice varieties that are relatively resistant to the negative effects of climate change.
Though Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of its food, this is among its efforts to help a warming world.
Even local outfits are working on rice resilience.
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Best of our wild blogs: 11 Nov 18
Night Walk At Punggol Promenade Nature Walk (09 Nov 2018)
Beetles@SG BLOG
Singaporeans got eat giant clams!?
Mei Lin NEO
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National sterilisation programme to manage Singapore's 7,000 stray dogs
Tan Tam Mei Straits Times 11 Nov 18;
SINGAPORE- A five-year sterilisation programme to manage the stray dog population in Singapore was launched on Saturday (Nov 10) by Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development, Mr Desmond Lee.
Stray dogs, or "Singapore Specials" as Mr Lee prefers to call them, have caused occasional "human-animal friction" as they evoke a range of reactions from people with concerns that vary from animal welfare to public safety and public health.
"Some care for them, and feed them out of compassion. Some are oblivious to them. Other people are afraid of them, and will press the authorities to take action," said Mr Lee who was speaking at the Happy Pets, Happy 'Hoodcarnival at Hillion Mall in Bukit Panjang.
To address the different concerns, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) has launched a nationwide initiative known as the Trap-Neuter-Release-Manage (TNRM) programme, which is a humane, scientific and sustainable method of managing the stray dog population, said Mr Lee.
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What can be done to make Singapore buildings more green?
CHRISTINE LI Today Online 8 Nov 18;
The Building & Construction Authority (BCA) launched the BCA Green Mark Scheme in 2005 to encourage building owners to adopt environmentally sustainable practices. The BCA has set a target for 80 per cent of all buildings to be certified by 2030.
Today, more than 3,000 buildings – covering 89 million square metres in gross floor area - have undergone Green Mark certification. However, two-thirds of the current stock remain uncertified.
What’s holding building owners back and what can be done to make buildings here more environmentally friendly?
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Commentary: The Marina Barrage, a dream 20 years in the making
An iconic landmark, a symbol of the city-state’s success in water management, the Marina Barrage is a culmination of decades of visionary foresight, planning and execution, say Cecilia Tortajada and Asit K Biswas.
Cecilia Tortajada and Asit K Biswas Channel NewsAsia 10 Nov 18;
SINGAPORE: The Marina Barrage has become an iconic landmark and a popular social space for many Singaporeans.
Clean, green, open, free and accessible to all Singaporeans and visitors, built at a cost of S$226 million, this impressive infrastructure, with a breath-taking view of the sea, was completed only in four years in 2008.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Barrage. Its objectives range from the functional, like flood control, to the strategic, of ensuring water security, and the symbolic, in providing a landmark waterfront attraction. It has received 16 million visitors since it was built, almost three times Singapore’s entire population.
It is the result of visionary planning at the highest political level, and painstaking planning and implementation by scores of officers at PUB, Singapore’s national water agency.
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The harsh realities behind the rising sugar cane prices in Singapore
With bad weather, small farms in danger of closing, larger ones downsizing and suppliers calling it quits, might Singaporeans even have to go without the popular juice? The series For Food’s Sake investigates.
Derrick A Paulo Channel NewsAsia 10 Nov 18;
SINGAPORE and MALAYSIA: They are too young to have beer. But the many youngsters who go to Chomp Chomp Food Centre at Serangoon Gardens can still drink to their heart’s content from the popular tower dispensers at the hawker centre.
The quenchers on their tables are sugar cane towers, however, and not beer – drink stall owner Brendon Tan’s solution for his thirsty customers.
“We used to sell smaller cups,” he said. “(Gradually) we upsized from 700 millilitres to 1 litre, then 1.5 litres. People were looking for (a bigger) jug, so I thought maybe we can try a (sugar cane) tower.”
In the past year though, he had to raise the prices of the juice – for the first time in the two decades he has been selling the drink. A tower now costs S18, up from S$15.
In fact, the cost of sugar cane in Singapore has risen by much more. Between last November and this July, the price per box rose from around S$16.50 to S$29 – a 75 per cent increase.
With food prices rising by more than 10 per cent over the past five years, the series For Food’s Sake finds out what is behind the hikes in the prices of various foods and beverages.
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Sunseap to build floating solar energy generator off Woodlands
Channel NewsAsia 9 Nov 18;
SINGAPORE: Sunseap, a sustainable energy provider, is building an offshore floating photovoltaic (PV) system in Singapore, it said in a press release on Friday (Nov 9).
The five-hectare development will be located north of Woodlands Waterfront Park, along the Straits of Johor.
"Originally, we were looking around the Straits of Johor; to put it simply, there was a concern about whether the floating platform would float elsewhere," said Mr Frank Phuan, co-founder and CEO of Sunseap Group.
"If you're in the southern waters, it may float to other parts that are unknown but if it's in the Straits of Johor we are restricted by the Causeway, we are restricted (within the waters) between Singapore - and Malaysia and I think the Maritime Port Authority felt that this was a safe location."
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Will lower prices in open market make consumers use more electricity? Experts weigh in
Aqil Haziq Mahmud Channel NewsAsia 10 Nov 18;
SINGAPORE: As electricity retailers in the Open Electricity Market (OEM) dangle discounted tariffs at cost-savvy consumers, experts are divided over whether this could lead to higher consumption.
Some said this could lead to a "rebound effect", which refers to consumers using more electricity because it is cheaper. Others said the OEM would make users more aware of their consumption habits, leading to a decrease in consumption.
On Nov 1, the OEM was expanded to households with postal codes beginning with 58 to 78, such as those in Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Batok and Yishun. This means they can switch to a different retailer that offers a cheaper electricity plan.
After the market was first opened on Apr 1 to households in Jurong, the Energy Market Authority said that roughly a third of consumers there have chosen to switch retailers, enjoying savings of about 20 per cent.
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NUS study: Mangroves can help countries mitigate their carbon emissions
National University of Singapore NewsWise 9 Nov 18;
After examining 14 of the world’s most common ecosystems, coastal environments were found to be the most effective at capturing carbon
Geographers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have found that coastal vegetation such as mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes may be the most effective habitats to mitigate carbon emissions.
The study, which was conducted by researchers from the Department of Geography at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, indicates that nations with large coastlines could expand these ecosystems to further counteract their fossil fuel emissions. These findings were published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters on 24 October 2018. With the recent Paris Agreement setting a target for all nations to become carbon neutral in the future, utilising these natural ecosystems could help to achieve this goal.
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