Singapore’s proposed ivory ban would help save elephants

Reducing consumer demand coupled with government regulations and stricter enforcement will put an end to poaching imperiled species.
John Baker Channel NewsAsia 28 Dec 18;

CALIFORNIA: Is there a direct correlation between domestic bans and increased poaching? And if there is, does that mean countries like Singapore should abandon the proposed domestic ban? That’s the million-dollar question conservationists are debating.

Some local free-market conservationists argue that a ban on ivory will raise the perception of scarcity, drive up prices and snuff out demand.

At face value, it sounds reasonable. Diamonds are rare and they’re expensive. But upon closer inspection, this overly simplistic approach completely misses the point.

YES, AN IVORY BAN CAN BE EFFECTIVE

Ivory prices are down in China and Hong Kong, due to new domestic bans in these two of the biggest markets. Soon after China announced it would ban ivory in 2017, raw ivory prices fell to US$730 per kilogram, from US$2,100 per kilogram in 2014, according to Kenya-based conservation group, Save The Elephants’ researchers, Lucy Vigne and Esmond Martin.

That’s a substantial decrease of 65 per cent.

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SPCA to start new scheme to sterilise, manage strays

Cheow Sue-Ann The New Paper 28 Dec 18;

Community caretakers, members of the public and animal lovers will soon find it easier to get stray dogs sterilised.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said yesterday it will soon cease the current Sterilisation Voucher Programme and replace it with the nationwide trap-neuter-release-manage (TNRM) programme for stray dogs. The current sterilisation vouchers can be used till the end of this month.

The new programme, fully funded by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), will remove the need for members of the public to trap the stray themselves.

SPCA's executive director, Dr Jaipal Singh Gill, said: "Members of the public can approach any participating animal welfare group (AWG) to notify them about community dogs that require sterilisation.

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128 contractors taken to task since January for flouting drainage regulations: PUB

Cheryl Lin Channel NewsAsia 27 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE: In the first 11 months of this year, 128 contractors have been prosecuted and fined for a total of 203 offences involving unauthorised alterations and interference to the public drainage system or flouting Earth Control Measure (ECM) regulations.

This was revealed by Singapore's national water agency PUB in a press statement on Thursday (Dec 27).

The numbers represent an increase from 2017, which saw 104 contractors charged for a total of 141 offences.

Some of the more common offences include inadequate treatment capacity and lack of cut-off drains which separate clean water from silty water. As a result, silty water overflows from construction sites to nearby waterways during heavy rainfall.

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Indonesia raises alert, widens danger zone around volcano

SYAWALLUDIN ZAIN and NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press Yahoo News 28 Dec 18;

CARITA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia raised the danger level for an island volcano that triggered a tsunami on the weekend, killing at least 430 people in Sumatra and Java, and widened its no-go zone.

The country's volcanology agency on Thursday increased the Anak Krakatau volcano's alert status to the second-highest and more than doubled the exclusion zoneto a 5-kilometer (3-mile) radius. The eruption on Saturday evening caused part of the island in the Sunda Strait to collapse into the sea, apparently generating tsunami waves of more than 2 meters (6 1/2 feet). Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes.

The government has warned communities in the strait to stay a kilometer (less than a mile) away from the coastline because of the risk of another tsunami triggered by Anak Krakatau's eruptions. A navy vessel was expected to pass by the island, which could give scientists more information about the risks of a second collapse.

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Climate change: Huge costs of warming impacts in 2018

Matt McGrath BBC 27 Dec 18;

Extreme weather events linked to climate change cost thousands of lives and caused huge damage throughout the world in 2018, say Christian Aid.

The charity's report identified ten events that cost more than $1bn each, with four costing more than $7bn each.

Scientists have shown that the chances of heat waves in Europe were influenced directly by human-related warming.

Other events, say the authors, are due to shifts in weather patterns, said to be a consequence of climate change.

According to the report the most financially costly disasters linked to rising temperatures were Hurricanes Florence and Michael, with costs said to be around $17bn for the former, and $15bn for the latter.

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Dec 18

Why the Singapore Blue Plan 2018 matters?
Psychedelic Nature

Christmas corals at Kusu Island
wild shores of singapore

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Singapore's ‘quail man’ could lose decades-old farm amid industry shake-up

WONG PEI TING Today Online 25 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE — It is one of the oldest surviving farms in Singapore and the bigger of two quail egg producers here. But in three years’ time, Mr William Ho may lose the decades-old business started by his father, pioneering poultry farmer Ho Seng Choon, who died in August at the age of 95.

Mr Ho, 52, failed to secure either of the two land parcels in Lim Chu Kang awarded last Friday (Dec 21) by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) for quail egg farming.

The lease of his current 2.7-hectare farm runs out in December 2021, after a two-year extension given by the AVA last year.

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Indonesia: Bali enacts plastics ban, targeting 70 percent reduced use in 2019

The Jakarta Post 25 Dec 18;

Bali has taken a big step to curb pollution in its seas, enacting a ban on troublesome single-use plastics like shopping bags, styrofoam and straws.

Bali Governor Wayan Koster announced the ban on Monday, as stipulated in Gubernatorial Regulation (Pergub) No. 97/2018, expressing hope that the policy would lead to a 70 percent decline in Bali’s marine plastics within a year.

The new policy carries a six-month grace period dating from Dec. 21, when it was signed and took effect.

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Best of our wild blogs: 25 Dec 18

Seagrass stronghold at Sentosa
wild shores of singapore

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Digging deep: Singapore plans an underground future

Rina Chandran Reuters 24 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE, Dec 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - From its towering "supertree" vertical gardens to a Formula 1 night race, Singapore is known for many attractions; underground space is not one of them.

But that may soon change, as the city-state prepares to unveil an Underground Master Plan in 2019.

With some 5.6 million people in an area three-fifths the size of New York City - and with the population estimated to grow to 6.9 million by 2030 - the island nation is fast running out of space.

Singapore has been reclaiming land for decades, but that is increasingly unsustainable due to rising sea levels and other impacts of climate change. So the city is going underground.

Singapore has already moved some infrastructure and utilities below ground, including train lines, retail, pedestrian walkways, a five-lane highway and air-conditioning cooling pipes. It also stores fuel and ammunition underground.

Now, the city wants to go further.

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Best of our wild blogs: 23 Dec 18

Terumbu Pempang Laut is alive
wild shores of singapore

Assorted Nectaring Plants
Butterflies of Singapore

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PUB closes fishing spots at Lower Peirce, Upper Seletar reservoirs after non-native stingrays spotted

Channel NewsAsia 23 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE: PUB has suspended all fishing activities and closed designated fishing grounds at Lower Peirce Reservoir and Upper Seletar Reservoir until further notice, after non-native stingrays were spotted in Lower Peirce Reservoir.

Around 60 Motoro stingrays, also known as Potamotrygonidae motoro, were reportedly found in the water at Lower Peirce Reservoir last week.

PUB told Channel NewsAsia on Sunday (Dec 23) that it had suspended all fishing activities and closed the designated fishing grounds at the reservoirs until further notice.

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