Best of our wild blogs: 26 Nov 07

Updates on large concrete slabs on Labrador shore
more photos and questions following the Straits Times report on the wildfilms blog

Labrador Park seashore enviroment ... with CONCRETE?!
more photos and thoughts on the justindive blog

Return of the Common Sea Star on Chek Jawa
a celebration of the sadly now uncommon on the CJ project blog

Go Paperless!
Some tips on getting rid of those paper bills on AsiaIsGreen

Discovery at Changi
splendid encounters on an almost forgotten shore on the discovery blog

More Changi encounters
on the manta blog

Rainy day at Chek Jawa
on the tidechaser blog

More about Semakau TeamSeagrass
Another account of the trip on the nature scouter blog and budak blog

Long Toes
for birds that is, on the bird ecology blog

A feast of flowers: bulbuls and starfruits
on the bird ecology blog

Daily Green Actions: Buy Nothing Day
and lights out in full on the leafmonkey blog

Read more!

Mexico funds will protect butterflies

Jessica Bernstein-Wax, Associated Press Yahoo News 26 Nov 07;

President Felipe Calderon unveiled a sweeping plan Sunday to curb logging and protect millions of monarch butterflies that migrate to the mountains of central Mexico each winter, covering trees and bushes and attracting visitors from around the world.

The plan will put $4.6 million toward additional equipment and advertising for the existing Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, covering a 124,000-acre swathe of trees and mountains that for thousands of years has served as the winter nesting ground to millions of orange- and black-winged monarch butterflies.

Calderon said it would help boost tourism and support the economy in an impoverished area where illegal logging runs rampant.

"It is possible to take care of the environment and at the same time promote development," the president said.

The new initiative is part of ongoing efforts to protect the butterflies, which are a huge tourist attraction and the pride of Mexico. In some areas, officials can even be found standing guard along highways and slowing cars that might accidentally hit a butterfly flying across the road.

The plan also meshes nicely with one of Calderon's main policy planks: protecting the environment and combatting global warming. He has drawn up a national anti-global warming plan and committed to plant some 250 million trees in 2007.

While the monarch butterfly does not appear on any endangered species lists, experts say illegal logging in Mexico threatens its existence in North America because it removes the foliage that protects the delicate insects from the cold and rain.

"By even taking a single tree out near the butterfly colony you allow heat to escape from the forest and that then jeopardizes the butterflies," said Lincoln Brower, professor emeritus of zoology at the University of Florida and at Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Va.

Brower, who has studied the insects for 52 years, described the Mexican nesting grounds as "the Mecca of the whole insect world."

The reserve already receives some $36.4 million in government funding, and its staff includes a team of park rangers who patrol the area equipped with assault rifles and body armor searching for armed gangs of lumber thieves.

The World Wildlife Fund and the Mexican Fund for Nature Conservation say the efforts are paying off. They say this year saw a 48 percent drop in illegal logging, compared to a year ago.

"We're gaining ground in the fight against illegal logging," Calderon said.

Each September, the butterflies begin their 3,400-mile journey from the forests of eastern Canada and parts of the United States to the central Mexican mountains. The voyage is considered an aesthetic and scientific wonder.

The butterflies return to the U.S. and Canada in late March, where they breed and cycle through up to five generations before heading back south. Scientists say they are genetically programmed to return to Mexico, where they settle into the same mountains their ancestors inhabited the year before.

According to Brower, sometimes they even return to the exact same trees — probably because previous monarchs have marked the area through a mechanism scientists don't yet understand.

The monarchs that spend the winter in Mexico do not reproduce until they return to the U.S. and have a much longer life span than those born in the spring and summer.

Omar Vidal, director of the World Wildlife Fund's Mexico program, applauded Calderon's plan.

"This is the longest migration of all insects, a unique phenomenon and a natural wonder and Mexico has the biggest responsibility to protect them because they come here to hibernate," he said.

Brower said the monarch isn't at risk of extinction because it can be found in Mexico, Canada, the U.S., most of South America and even parts of Australia and New Zealand. But disappearing habitat could threaten a delicate migratory route that has existed for an estimated 10,000 years.

"The whole migratory phenomenon which involves two continents and over a million square miles could just go down the drain," he said.

Read more!

Indonesia says no to bird flu virus sharing

Yahoo News 26 Nov 07;

Indonesia will not share bird flu virus samples unless there is a guarantee developing nations will have control over their use and have access to cheap vaccines, a health ministry spokeswoman said on Monday.

Indonesia, the nation worst hit by bird flu with 91 human deaths, has held back its virus samples since August and wants guarantees from richer nations and drugmakers that poor countries get access to affordable vaccines derived from their samples.

Health officials from around the world failed to reach an agreement on a new virus sharing system at talks hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva last week.

Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari insisted on "equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of viruses" at the meeting.

Sharing samples is deemed vital to see if viruses have mutated, become drug resistant or grown more transmissible.

"Talks hit a deadlock because the health minister was relentless in pushing for a material transfer agreement for each virus sample, but not everyone agreed to that," ministry spokeswoman Lily Sulistiowati told Reuters.

"We hope that negotiations will continue," she said. "But for her (the Indonesian health minister) one thing remains unnegotiable. We will not send samples overseas without an

MTA."

Indonesia wants a "material transfer agreement" for each virus sample sent to foreign labs, that specifies the sample is used only for diagnostic purposes and not for commercial gain.

Under this proposal, any commercial use of the virus would require prior consent of the country providing it. Jakarta said would retain the intellectual property rights and allow access to global vaccine stockpiles at an affordable price.

The WHO agreed last May to revamp its 50-year-old system for sharing flu virus samples with researchers and drug firms. It had wanted its 191 member states to adopt an agreement by May but divisions remain.

Experts fear the constantly mutating H5N1 virus could change into a form easily transmissible among humans and sweep the world and kill millions of people.

Sharing samples are vital for tracking the deadly H5N1 virus and developing vaccines against a potential pandemic, according to the WHO.

Jakarta has shared just two specimens this year, both from Indonesian women who died in the popular tourist resort of Bali in August, according to the WHO.

Sixteen companies are at various stages of licensing a vaccine against H5N1. These include GlaxoSmithKline which announced last June it would donate 50 million doses of its "pre-pandemic" bird flu vaccine to WHO's global stockpile.

The Indonesian government and a unit of the U.S. firm Baxter International Inc have agreed to develop a vaccine. Under the accord, Jakarta has been supplying virus specimens while Baxter is providing technology to develop the vaccine.

(Reporting by Adhityani Arga, editing by Sugita Katyal)

RELATED ARTICLES

Sharing H5N1 Viruses: "What's in it for us?"
Sharing H5N1 Viruses to Stop a Global Influenza Pandemic
The Poultry Site 23 Nov 07

WHO fails to reach deal on sharing bird flu virus
Reuters 23 Nov 07;

Read more!

Japan launch 'prince fish' catch-and-eat drive

Yahoo News 26 Nov 07

Authorities around Japan's largest lake have launched a "catch-and-eat" drive to eliminate the bluegill as the emperor himself voiced regret about introducing the fish.

Emperor Akihito, a fish expert, brought the bluegill from the United States a half-century ago when he was crown prince, hoping to offer a new source of food to Japan.

But the bluegill, once celebrated as "prince fish," has turned into a nuisance in Japanese rivers and lakes by feeding on native species, leading the emperor to offer unusually personal comments of regret earlier this month.

The central province of Shiga has introduced what it calls "catch-and-eat," encouraging people who fish bluegill in Japan's largest Lake Biwa not to release but to eat them.

The prefecture's official website has pictures showing how to slice open the fish along with recipes to make bluegill fries and cook them with sweet-and-sour sauce.

"The fish taste very good," Shiga fisheries official Kunihiko Kuwamura said, adding there was also "bluegill sushi" offered by a private company.

Bluegill is common dinner fare in the United States and is the state fish of Illinois, where Chicago's legendary mayor Richard J. Daley offered the fish specimen as a gift to the visiting Akihito in 1960.

Akihito voiced regret in a speech at a fisheries event on November 11, saying Lake Biwa's catch had plunged due to foreign-origin fish.

"I brought bluegill back from the United States nearly 50 years ago and donated them to a research institute of the Fisheries Agency," said Akihito, whose public remarks are usually ceremonial.

"Its cultivation started as there were great expectations of raising them for food in those days. My heart aches to see it has turned out like this," Akihito said.

The Fisheries Agency says its research institute received the fish in 1960 and bred and distributed them around the country.

Shiga prefecture denies bluegill escaped its institute's nets. They were first spotted swimming in Lake Biwa in 1965, according to Kuwamura.

Kuwamura said the prefecture has tried for years to get rid of foreign-origin fish and that the emperor's remark "is a boon for us."

"We will keep pushing ahead," he said.

Read more!

Labrador Beach: Nature lovers fear coral project will cause damage

But NParks says it is not true that artificial reef structures harm the environment
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 26 Nov 07;

A GROUP of nature lovers say the coral and marine life of Labrador Park is being destroyed by the very structures which a Singapore Polytechnic (SP) team built to save it.

The enthusiasts, who have posted their views on an online blog belonging to a Ms Ria Tan, have observed that, at low tide, 2m-long structures made of PVC pipes and concrete can be seen lying on the shore.

The pipes and struts, which shift on the silty sand, are crushing the seagrass, they say.

Ms Tan, 46, told The Straits Times she saw such a structure on Labrador beach in the middle of last year, but didn't know what it was until this newspaper ran a report on them last month.

She said: 'My initial blog entry was to find out whether what I'd seen on the beach last year had anything to do with The Straits Times article, because it had a striking resemblance.

'I didn't expect to get such strong responses from readers.'

The nature activist leads a group of about 100 volunteers who scour Singapore's shores at low tide to document the range of marine life there and what affects it.

The structures she and some readers of her blog have seen are what the SP team calls 'seacils' - frames of concrete, PVC piping and plastic on which the team hopes that coral and marine life - which it rescued from a Labrador Park site slated for dredging by the Maritime and Port Authority - will take hold.

It is too soon to say if this conservation effort is succeeding.

But the 40 seacils in the SP project were laid in place about 100m offshore.

Of the seacils, National Parks Board (NParks) spokesman George Tay said: 'The project is not harming the environment, since the artificial reef and garden sit on the sea floor, away from the natural coral reef zone of the nature reserve.'

Those on the beach could have come loose and been washed ashore, he said, adding that NParks had asked the SP team early last week to remove them.

He said the structures are in the process of being removed.

When The Straits Times revisited Labrador beach yesterday, one such structure, with two larger moulds to build it, were still on the beach, just like they were last month. Some PVC piping had been removed.

Asked about the structures on the shore, their creator, a volunteer on the SP team, Mr Charles Rowe, said that was where the team has been building them since March last year. When completed, they are moved out to sea.

Captain Frederick Francis, who heads the SP volunteer team, confirmed that the team had been asked by NParks to remove the structures from the beach.

He maintained that the structures were not damaging marine life, and that sea grasses and algae can be seen growing on the beach.

Professor Leo Tan, former chief of NParks, said, while those trying to do good for the environment should not be discouraged, experiments should be monitored more closely, with NParks, scientists and sociologists working with them.

Prof Tan, himself a marine biologist, said: 'The only way to find the right technique to regenerate corals is to conduct experiments like this, but the project's methodology has to be made clear and follow-through must go on for up to 10 years before we know if an experiment is a success.

'Projects should not just be praised at the outset and forgotten.'

RELATED LINKS


Undersea garden takes root S'pore
Poly team creates marine site off Labrador for corals to regrow By Shobana Kesava Straits Times 29 Oct 07

Updates on large concrete slabs on Labrador shore
on the wildfilms blog 26 Nov 07

Large debris on Labrador explained?
on the wildfilms blog 29 Oct 07

Read more!

Have we become greener?

Liang Dingzi, Today Online 26 Nov 07;

A check-out assistant at a supermarket recently reminded me: "Tomorrow is the first Wednesday of the month. Don't forget to bring your own bag. Otherwise, you must pay for the bag."

She had just attended to a customer who insisted on double-bagging all the items he had bought. She then grumbled, saying: "Actually, the things he bought are not heavy; there was no need to use two bags."

Six months after the start of the Bring Your Own Bag campaign, have we become greener?

If the aim is to inculcate the habit of recycling, we would have succeeded only if people take their own bags every time — rather than just on an appointed day — they visit the supermarket.

The problem with such campaigns is that people no longer are enthusiastic about them once the novelty wears off.

However, according to a BBC poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries, four out of five people are prepared to alter their lifestyles to address climate change. Many favoured green taxes if the monies are channelled to improving energy efficiencies.

And you don't have to be an ascetic to do your part in the global green effort.

More than limiting the use of plastic bags, it is a good time to do a personal audit of whether you are doing as much as you can to recycle.

When the last light bulb blew, did you replace it with an energy-saving one? We can follow Australia's lead by banning incandescent light bulbs, but rather than wait for that to happen, we can start using energy-saving bulbs.

Are you someone who habitually leaves the lights on when they are not in use?

You may also consider waking up early as it makes sense to do all your activities when it is still bright, instead of burning lamps late into the night.

Some of us may be habitual late risers while others may be more inspired at night. You should still save whenever you can. Use a lamp only when you need it and don't run the drier when there is sunlight.

Also, when was the last time you rode the bus or train instead of driving? Or when was the last time you walked to get to a place two blocks down the road?

Some car owners may worry that taking public transport may not be as convenient or reliable as driving their own cars.

You can always try going to work using the bus or train on a day that will be the least inconvenient. You may even be surprised by your new-found "freedom" of not having to suffer traffic jams and look for a parking space.

Do you put aside articles such as old newspapers, bottles, cans and cardboard boxes to be recycled? Or, do they get dumped down the chute with other non-recyclable rubbish?

Do you recycle other reusable things, such as books? Donate them; and accept that you do not always need new things. I cannot remember when I last bought envelopes because I recycle those I receive.

During your last shopping trip, did you choose energy-efficient appliances or eco-friendly products?

In Singapore, we are blessed with plenty of rain. Wherever possible, collect rainwater and use it to to scrub your yard or feed plants that are sheltered from the rain.

A lot has been said about jet planes contributing to global warming. For Singaporeans who live on a tiny island, travelling for business or leisure has become a necessary evil.

But hopefully, we can offset our negative actions by making an effort to do something positive. It is not that demanding, is it?

The writer is a management consultant with more than 25 years of experience.

Not quite green, yet
Today Online 27 Nov 07;

NEA itself needs to practise being eco-friendly
Supermarkets can have a deposit counter for bags
Letter from TAN QIAN HUI
Letter from JENNY SWEE

I applaud the efforts of the National Environmental Agency (NEA) in urging the public to play their part in saving the environment, including the current initiative to reduce the use of plastic bags.

Participating stores can consider extending the number of "bring your own bag" days, and I also hope to see more stores taking part in the green effort.

On a separate issue, I note that despite encouraging the public to adopt more ecologically friendly lifestyles, the NEA, while promoting its "Clean and Green Week" recently, gave out an unnecessarily large amount of plastic files, plastic shopping bags and other souvenirs that are not biodegradable. This runs counter to — and undermines — the goal of the campaign. I am sure there are other creative ways to instil the idea of a green lifestyle.

I hope the NEA can offer an explanation and re-look its campaign strategy.

We need to incorporate ecologically sustainable modes of living (for instance, buying local produce that travels less food miles, and reducing consumption), otherwise we will be contributing to the obliteration of the planet that is our home.

I refer to the comment "Have we become greener" (Nov 26) and agree with the writer that once the campaign ends, no one really bothers about using their own shopping bags.

May I suggest that all supermarkets set up a deposit counter, where regular shoppers (perhaps those who shop 10 times within two months) can deposit up to three shopping bags. This will help those who forget to take bags along.

To prevent an accumulation of too many shopping bags, there could be a cutoff point after which the shop can remove your bags — for example, if you have not shopped at the store in the last six months.

Apart from supermarkets, banks and telecom companies should start going green, too. For a start, they can consider printing bills on both sides to save paper.


Time to get more eco-friendly
School's action teaches green lesson Don't blame it all on humble plastic bag
Today Online 28 Nov 07;

Letter from GOPALA KRISHNAN
Letter from VASANTHAN GOVINDASAMY

I refer to "NEA itself needs to practise being eco-friendly" and "Supermarkets can have a deposit counter for bags" (Nov 27).

All organisations should go green. It would not cost much, and at times it may be cheaper.

My school, APMI Kaplan, gives cotton bags to students collecting study books and materials. This is good as the bags are not only durable, they are reusable too.

Now I use my cotton bag whenever I carry books.

When I visited India last year, I was amazed that most shopping malls and clothes shops pack their merchandise in cotton or jute bags. Perhaps our malls should consider doing this too.

I refer to the debate on global warming and cutting back on plastic bag use. If you think it is the humble plastic bag that drives the world heat, think again.

Air-conditioned shopping complexes burn a lot of energy. They are there because we want them. The fuel-guzzling multi-purpose vehicles are there as many of us want to drive them. The skies were cleaner when I was schooling because our parents never drove us to school even if we had cars.

Stop complaining about how bad the National Environment Agency was with its Clean and Green campaign or how supermarkets could better serve the green effort. We must first start with ourselves, then our homes and the rest will fall in place.


Every little green effort counts

NEA took care to distribute reusable souvenirs
Today Online 30 Nov 07;
Letter from TAN WEE HOCK
Director
3P Network Division
National Environment Agency

I refer to the letter by Mr Tan Qian Hui, "NEA itself needs to practise being eco-friendly" (Nov 27).

We thank Mr Tan for supporting the NEA's Bring Your Own Bag Day (BYOBD) campaign and efforts in getting the public to adopt an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, the theme of this year's Clean and Green Singapore (CGS) campaign.

All of us can adopt an environmentally-friendly lifestyle by making small changes in our lifestyle to conserve energy and resources, and to help care for the environment.

For example, we can help to reduce the excessive use of plastic bags by using reusable bags when making purchases at stores. Hence, BYOBD is introduced to educate the public on not taking more plastic bags than they need for reuse at home.

We are still monitoring the impact of BYOBD and will continue to encourage greater participation of the public and more retailers/department stores to join the scheme.

To encourage more people to adopt an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, we made a conscious effort to give out reusable shopping bags and other functional souvenirs such as water bottles, which can be reused, to participants during the recent CGS launch event.

These souvenirs also carried green messages and were intended to spread the message of leading an environmentally-friendly lifestyle by, for example, reducing the use of single-use bags. Hence, these souvenirs helped enhance the objectives of the CGS campaign.

In addition, to minimise wastage, just enough of these souvenirs were produced for the expected number of visitors.

We would like to encourage everyone to incorporate simple environmentally-friendly practices into their lives.

Individually, it may not seem like much, but collectively, all our small efforts can have a greater positive impact on our environment.

Read more!

Singapore: Building an eco-winner

Straits Times 26 Nov 07;

Singapore has gained a green and clean edge with such environmentally-targeted products and processes

NEED and ability are combining to propel China and Singapore to build an ecologically friendly township.

The Tianjin eco-city agreement the two countries signed last week is further recognition by China that rapid economic growth with too little regard for the environment is unsustainable.

For Singapore, the project will play to its strengths in green technology maturing after several years of development and application. So, as with the Suzhou industrial park, the cooperation is more than a symbol of expanding and deepening ties; it serves real needs and purposes and will result in many tangible and lucrative benefits.

China is in an environmental crisis. As many as 750,000 people a year die prematurely from respiratory disease due to foul air, according to the World Health Organisation. Tainted water causes another 60,000 early deaths. Health and other costs of air and water pollution lop 5.8 per cent off gross domestic product, the World Bank reported last July.

According to China's own estimates, two-thirds of the 338 cities that monitor air-quality suffer from pollution. Contamination affects almost all rivers to some extent and 90 per cent of urban water severely. One in two Chinese lacks drinking water.

Unsurprisingly, the government has made environmental protection a top priority. A theme the recent 17th Party Congress took up was 'comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development'. The current five-year plan aims to reduce carbon emission by 10 per cent and boost energy efficiency by 20 per cent.

Singapore's contribution may be small initially, but nevertheless could be significant eventually.

The eco-project will allow high-profile demonstration - and likely replication elsewhere - of benefits Singapore has realised in turning environmental adversity to advantage.

Limited size has long forced it to use land, water, clean air and energy with utmost efficiency. Optimisation and innovation have reduced costs and contributed to growth.

The quality environment thus achieved has offered it competitive advantage in attracting business, talent and tourists. It has gained a green and clean edge with such environmentally-targeted products and processes as Newater, integrated water and sanitation systems, efficient power generation and consumption, effective people, private- and public-sector (3P) partnership, and smart legislative and policy options.

Singapore has abundant expertise to showcase in Tianjin, with prospects of enhancing its strong international reputation as a leader in the green cause. Now, the test is whether the model can be replicated elsewhere.

Read more!

Jurong Town Council launches "Cash For Trash" programme

Channel NewsAsia 25 Nov 07;

SINGAPORE: The Jurong Town Council is set to launch a first-ever GRC-wide "Cash For Trash" programme to drive home the message that it pays to care for the environment.

Come 9 December, Jurong residents will be able to cash in on their trash every Sunday morning from 7.30am to 12 noon at recycling stations located around the estate.

This will, hopefully, encourage residents to adopt a greener lifestyle.

Halimah Yacob, MP of the Jurong GRC, said: "People find it convenient to dump their rubbish on the way to the market or to the coffee shops. We started a pilot (programme) in Bukit Batok and managed to gather over 128,000 kg of rubbish and we paid the residents S$26,000, so it's really tangible, very successful. Now we are starting another five stations in Jurong Town Council."

After a tree planting exercise that symbolised the community's commitment to keep the estate clean, Mdm Halimah said there are further plans to cut down energy consumption.

The Town Council is looking to adopt new energy-saving practices such as replacing fluorescent tubes to LED lighting for all block signages.

Park lighting will also be replaced with amalgam lamps.

All in, this could result in cost savings of up to 80 percent, which could be channelled to fund more activities for the residents.

Apart from caring for the environment, the Town Council also hopes to promote active ageing by providing cleaning jobs for senior citizens.

A good role model is 77-year-old Haji Hussin Majid, who is one of the 17 winners of the Best Cleaner Award for this year's island-wide Cleanest Estate Competition.- CNA/so

Read more!

Singapore attempt to patent concept of sky gardens

Sceptics contend bid is like seeking copyright protection for modernism
Tan Hui Yee, Straits Times 26 Nov 07;

A RELATIVELY unknown Singapore designer is defying industry experts by attempting to win a patent for his concept of high-rise gardens in apartment blocks.

Mr Lim Tong Kay wants to replicate the greenery found at ground level by stacking publicly accessible gardens at alternate levels of housing blocks.

Each garden space would be about two storeys high, allowing more space and light for trees and plants.

Mr Lim, 50, is not an architect but a project manager who once managed Punggol Marina.

He submitted his 'garden house in the sky' concept to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) in April.

Ipos will conduct a range of checks, including those on the concept's originality, before deciding if it can grant the patent.

A patent means Mr Lim can stop others from using or copying his concept without his consent.

A decision from Ipos, which has granted 28 patents related to building design since 2004, may take about two years.

Mr Lim said his patent attempt was an effort to 'document something which is useful'.

Registering ownership of the idea, he said, would 'encourage other people to look at patents closely and look into developing the sky terrace concept'.

He wants to collaborate with developers, architects and consultants 'to advance this concept worldwide'.

Architects, however, have been quick to dismiss his ambitions.

Mr Siew Man Kok from MKPL Architects told The Straits Times: 'It is not possible for architectural designs to be patented.'

'All designs evolve from previous ideas. Can you imagine if someone tried to patent modernism?' he asked.

Mr Siew added that elements of Mr Lim's concept can already be found in existing or upcoming projects in Singapore.

Pinnacle@Duxton, a public housing project coming up in Tanjong Pagar, and some proposed precincts in Queenstown already have sky gardens at intermediate levels.

Award-winning architect Chan Soo Khian of SCDA Architects also expects the application to fail.

'I don't think it is correct,' he said, explaining that such a patent would restrict other architects' ability to explore various spatial concepts.

Intellectual property experts say, however, such a patent is technically possible.

Singapore laws do not preclude anything from being patented, Dr Stanley Lai, a lawyer from Allen & Gledhill, said.

As long as the product or method is new, inventive and has an industrial application, it has a chance, but not if it encourages offensive, immoral or anti-social behaviour.

So, while home-grown toymaker Stikfas has patented its figures' ball-and-socket design, something like a method of medical treatment would not be granted the same protection, as it would not be deemed to have an industrial application.

Although uncommon, patents for architectural concepts do exist elsewhere, such as in the United States.

Other countries, like Britain, however, do not award patents for literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, which may include architectural concepts, Dr Lai said.

Last year, 9,164 patent applications were filed in Singapore. Seven per cent were made by local parties.

In the same period, 7,390 patents were granted. Six per cent went to local parties.

Read more!

ComfortDelGro pledges to go green and cut emissions

Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 26 Nov 07

TRANSPORT group ComfortDelGro - which has a fleet of more than 40,000 vehicles - has become the latest to pledge to reduce its carbon footprint.

The mainboard-listed company is due to issue a 'Green Statement' today that will see it streamlining its worldwide transport operations in order to reduce its carbon emissions and their impact on the environment.

Among the targets in the company's new green charter is a drive to reduce its emissions for each kilometre that a passenger travels.

ComfortDelGro also aims to minimise waste output and increase recycling, encourage greater use of public transport and support research into alternative fuels such as biofuels.

A new green committee, made up of three department heads, will lead the group's new efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its global fleet of 41,000 vehicles, which operate in seven countries in Europe and Asia.

The transport sector typically accounts for the bulk of a country's carbon emissions, alongside energy-intensive industries.

Group corporate communications officer Tammy Tan said: 'We want to articulate clearly what we stand for and what we want to achieve, partly to spur others to do the same and to inculcate a sense of environmental awareness among our staff.'

She added: 'However, a complete elimination of harmful emissions is not possible, and we will explore how best we can offset any negative impact we have on the environment.'

The company runs about 15,000 taxis, 3,200 buses and 1,600 rental cars. Last year, about 2,600 taxis were converted to engines that comply with Euro IV emission standards.

SBS Transit, a unit of ComfortDelGro, has placed an order for 500 Euro IV buses this year, and Singapore's first Euro IV bus will ply the roads this month.

In Europe, most of ComfortDelGro's vehicles run on low-emission diesel.

Going green helps the bottom line, the company confirms. It saves $300,000 a year just by regulating the air-conditioning at its stations. Also, it recycles the water used for washing its bus fleets; the dirt is filtered out in a recycling tank before the water is used for the next wash.

Other local transport firms, though much smaller, are also playing a part.

Taxi operator Prime Leasing, for example, operates an environmentally friendly fleet that runs on compressed natural gas.

Public transport user Ms Lynne Huang, a 25-year-old teacher, said it was encouraging that transport companies were taking steps to mitigate their environmental impact.

However, she added: 'If we want faster results, some government enforcement or more incentives can be provided to push the industry towards adopting vehicles with much lower emission levels.'

Read more!

Jellyfish Swarm Hits Scotland, Prompts Warnings

PlanetArk 26 Nov 07;

LONDON - Millions of stinging baby jellyfish have been spotted off Scotland just days after another swarm wiped out Northern Ireland's only Salmon farm, the Marine Conservation Society said on Friday.

The organisation, which said the abnormal swarms of baby mauve stinger and compass jellyfish were due to wind and tidal factors, urged fish farmers and the public to report any sightings to help monitor their progress.

"It is quite unusual for this number of juvenile jellyfish to be occurring in UK waters at this time of year," said Anne Saunders, MCS Scottish Projects Officer.

"But these blooms are phenomenal and consist of millions of individuals, being washed here by strong Atlantic currents."

Compass jellyfish are common in British waters during the summer, but mauve stingers are relatively uncommon.

In recent years the mauve stinger has bloomed in vast numbers in the Mediterranean, forming a major bathing hazard.

"Jellyfish swarms can impact on fish and shellfish farms, and while the conditions causing these current events remain unclear, such swarms may become more prevalent in Scottish waters as a result of climate change," Saunders said. (Reporting by Jeremy Lovell; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Read more!

Natural disasters have quadrupled in two decades: study

Yahoo News 25 Nov 07;

More than four times the number of natural disasters are occurring now than did two decades ago, British charity Oxfam said in a study Sunday that largely blamed global warming.

"Oxfam... says that rising green house gas emissions are the major cause of weather-related disasters and must be tackled," the organisation said, adding that the world's poorest people were being hit the hardest.

The world suffered about 120 natural disasters per year in the early 1980s, which compared with the current figure of about 500 per year, according to the report.

"This year we have seen floods in South Asia, across the breadth of Africa and Mexico that have affected more than 250 million people," noted Oxfam director Barbara Stocking.

"This is no freak year. It follows a pattern of more frequent, more erratic, more unpredictable and more extreme weather events that are affecting more people."

She added: "Action is needed now to prepare for more disasters otherwise humanitarian assistance will be overwhelmed and recent advances in human development will go into reverse."

The number of people affected by extreme natural disasters, meanwhile, has surged by almost 70 percent, from 174 million a year between 1985 to 1994, to 254 million people a year between 1995 to 2004, Oxfam said.

Floods and wind-storms have increased from 60 events in 1980 to 240 last year, with flooding itself up six-fold.

But the number of geothermal events, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, has barely changed.

Oxfam urged Western governments to push hard for a deal on climate change at a key international meeting that runs December 3-14 on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Rich Western nations and the United Nations must act to "make humanitarian aid faster, fairer and more flexible and to improve ways to prepare for and reduce the risk of disasters," it said.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Bali aims to see countries agree to launch a roadmap for negotiating cuts in climate-changing carbon emissions from 2012.

The Oxfam study was compiled using data from the Red Cross, the United Nations and specialist researchers at Louvain University in Belgium.

Read more!