Energy versus Environment: Three Gorges Dam

Is the cost too high?
Straits Times 5 Jan 08;

The Three Gorges Dam project promises clean power and flood control, but is its impact on the environment and human settlement justifiable?

China correspondent TRACY QUEK finds dissatisfaction and uncertainty among dam officials, environmentalists, academics and the people who have left their homes to make way for the rising waters

FOR millennia the Yangtze River has run untamed, cutting a jagged path from the mountains of Tibet through the heart of China and on to the country's eastern coast.

Along its marathon 6,300km course lies one of China's most stupendous landscapes: a 200km stretch of three towering gorges hewn out of the rock by the rushing waters.

Throughout history, this spectacular scene has inspired poetry, music and paintings.

In recent years, however, the region known as the Three Gorges has been capturing the world's imagination for vastly different reasons.

With the Chinese government's decision 15 years ago to build the world's largest hydroelectric dam in the Yangtze's middle reaches, the Three Gorges region has come to symbolise the anxieties of a fast-modernising China. In particular, it reflects the tension between economic interests and a desire for environmental and social balance.

The dam will be an environmental disaster in the making, environmentalists cried. Cultural activists bemoaned the loss of thousands of historical artefacts. Relocated residents tell of families torn apart, resettlement troubles and unemployment.

But Beijing insisted then - as it does now - that the benefits of flood control and the clean hydropower generated by the 180 billion yuan (S$36 billion) facility far outweigh these costs.

The project is less than a year from completion. Construction of its centrepiece, the 185m-high dam, was finished in 2003, forever plugging the Yangtze's flow.

Behind it, an immense reservoir is rising in stages and has submerged hundreds of towns and villages between Hubei province and Chongqing municipality. More than a million people in the affected region have been forced to relocate.

Critics have chafed, but official censors have lowered the decibel level of dissent over the years.

In recent months, however, a series of unexpected events has re-ignited the dam debate with a ferocity that has caught Beijing by surprise.

First, there was the uncharacteristically stark warning last September about a potential 'environmental catastrophe' in the Three Gorges by China's usually docile, government-controlled Xinhua News Agency.

Two weeks later, Xinhua caused another stir when it reported that another four million people in the region will be relocated by 2020 in a second phase of migration due to environmental concerns.

That was misleading, officials said later. The move was part of a plan to encourage voluntary urban migration in Chongqing municipality and had nothing to do with relocation for the dam.

Still, this comes alongside the news last November of a major landslide that killed 31 bus passengers in a river town a few bends upstream of the dam and freakish, unexplained weather patterns in the region. People were left asking: Is the Three Gorges Dam causing more problems than officials have let on?

And, if so, is the clock really ticking down to a major disaster?

Reopening the floodgates

THE project has been controversial from the start.

In 1992, China's National People's Congress put it to a vote. So great was the rift in opinion that a third of the 2,600 legislators did not give the project a 'yes' vote, an unprecedented show of dissent given China's usually pliant parliament.

Chongqing University Professor Lei Hengshun was among those who abstained.

The 81-year-old engineer said he had held back because he was not convinced that enough had been done to study the human and environmental cost of the project.

Now, after two decades doing his own research, he says the issue remains far from clear-cut.

'To condemn it entirely or to say that it is entirely beneficial would be simplifying an immensely complex issue,' he told The Straits Times.

Prof Lei was present at the high-level meeting in Wuhan last September in which, according to Xinhua, senior dam experts and officials had warned of an imminent environmental catastrophe if preventive measures were not taken.

Xinhua said the participants had 'admitted that the dam project had caused an array of ecological ills, including more frequent landslides and pollution'.

The water quality in the Yangtze and its tributaries had deteriorated and outbreaks of algae or aquatic weeds were occurring more frequently.

The huge dam reservoir was eroding river banks and triggering landslides in many places, threatening lives, the report added, quoting officials and experts from Chongqing and Hubei.

The news reverberated throughout China and beyond. The international media latched on to the report as rare official confirmation of the true extent of the dam's dangers.

Prof Lei recalled that the participants had spoken openly about problems and 'in strong language', and that they had also discussed concrete, practical solutions.

But it was not the first time officials had recognised the dam's severe environmental challenges, he said.

'From the start, we knew that such a massive project would come with many difficult and complex problems,' he said. 'People who don't know this background would perhaps find the contents of the Wuhan meeting unusual.'

Finding a way to generate clean, much-needed energy was the Chinese leadership's main consideration in building the dam, he reckoned.

The dam's 26 turbo-generators will produce 84.7 billion kwh of electricity annually by the end of the year, enough to power the whole of Shanghai.

There are plans to add another six turbines by 2012. This will push power output to 104.2 billion kwh annually.

The project will also bolster China's push to boost reliance on renewable energy.

'We cannot satisfy the economy's need for energy by buying more oil or burning more coal. Those methods are not sustainable,' said Prof Lei. 'There was no alternative but to build the dam.'

Others take a decidedly different view. 'The dam is a total mistake and an ecological disaster,' declared Mr Wen Bo, a Beijing-based environmentalist, echoing the strong views in the green camp.

Environmental time bomb?

MR SHEN Zhuwu of Shuang Long town, which is located on the banks of the Daning River in the Chongqing region, remembers a time when the water in the Yangtze tributary upstream from the dam was so clear he could see the pebbles on the river bed.

Now, although government-employed cleaners keep it free from flotsam, the water appears as liquid jade.

'The water may look fine to outsiders but we know that it's not as clean as it used to be before the dam,' said Mr Shen, 57, who runs a boat ferry service.

Such talk is 'unscientific', said officials on a recent trip to the dam.

'We monitor water quality closely and tests show there is no discernible difference in water quality before or after the dam,' said Mr Zhou Wei, an official involved in the management of the Three Gorges Dam reservoir.

But local environmentalists are not quite convinced.

'The effects of pollution don't show up immediately,' said Mr Xiang Chun, who is with the Chongqing-based non-profit group Green Volunteer League. 'Things might be controllable now, but in future, there could be unforeseen, disastrous consequences.'

One major worry, they say, is the long-term accumulation of pollutants in the vast 660km-long dam reservoir. Sewage, fertiliser run-off and other domestic waste washed down from populated areas will be locked in instead of being flushed out to the sea.

Fishermen told The Straits Times that, in recent years, they have noticed a build-up of water weeds and algae in some tributaries, a sign of excess nutrients from fertiliser and other types of run-off, especially during the summer months. Previously, weeds could not thrive in the Yangtze's swift-flowing waters.

Another concern is that the weight of the 39.3 billion cubic metres of impounded water behind the dam could increase soil erosion, landslides and earthquakes in a region marked by fragile hillsides.

'The authorities have taken remedial measures but to what extent can the dam's environmental impact be controlled? That is the difficulty,' said Mr Lu Wei, head of a green group in Wanzhou city.

Then there is the human toll. The flooding of 21 counties and cities by the rising water in the dam reservoir, the forced relocation of some 1.3 million people to higher slopes or distant cities and provinces, and the building of new cities to accommodate the exodus: This has been fraught with problems, such as official embezzlement of resettlement funds.

Uncertain future

ALONG the banks of the Three Gorges, white signs reading '156m' stand right at the water's edge. Higher up, the markers say '175m', a reminder that the water level will rise higher soon.

Since the dam blocked off the Yangtze's flow in 2003, the water level in the vast reservoir behind it has risen gradually.

In 2006, it reached 156m above sea level, displacing 1.06 million people from their homes in towns and villages that had remained virtually undisturbed for centuries.

The remaining 300,000 or so will be resettled by the middle of this year, when the water hits its maximum of 175m this September.

All those whose homes or land have been swallowed up have had to relocate.

Resettlement began in 1997. Farmers were allowed to move to new cities built on higher ground. Other residents have been moved to distant counties and provinces such as Shanghai and Guangdong, some 1,500km from their homes, in order to guarantee that the amount of arable land per person remains the same after inundation.

Those displaced outside of their home communities are supposed to go voluntarily but, many times, local resettlement bureau officials decide who must move and apply some heavy persuasion before they leave.

This is how some extended families that had lived together for centuries in one village or town have been split up.

'You cannot imagine the scene on the day people had to leave,' said Madam Liu Tinghui, 36, who owns a confectionery shop in Dachang, a newly built city upstream from the dam. 'Everyone wept.'

Six years ago, her parents and two brothers had to leave the now-submerged old Dachang city for neighbouring provinces.

She has not seen her brothers since because of the distance and cost of travelling.

'The dam is a government project so we must show support,' she said. But, lowering her voice, she added: 'Sometimes it's hard to feel positive. If not for it, my family would still be together.'

For some, moving was just the start of their troubles.

Like the 200 other residents of Shuang Long town, Mr Dong Zetian relocated once to make way for rising waters.

The 81-year-old could not have picked a worse spot for his new house. It is built against a 3m-high wall put up by officials to mark where the river will be when the water level hits 175m above sea level.

In poor health and living alone, he is unaware that the water will rise again and that he will have to move once more. His neighbours were equally confused.

'We've been told we must move again because our house will be too close to the water,' said Madam Sheng Changying, 62. 'But we thought that the water was going to stop at 156m. We don't want to move again. It's such a bother.'

It would not be so hard if she and her husband, Mr Li Jiagui, 65, had their two sons to help them, but the sons were relocated elsewhere.

'All our young people have left; only the old and sick are left here,' said Mr Li.

Living on the edge of uncertainty has taken an emotional toll on the villagers.

'When I look at that sign every day, I feel a heavy pressure in my heart,' said Madam Sheng, referring to the 175m marker. 'I'm not sure what the future will be like for us.'

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Low-energy bulb disposal warning

BBC News 5 Jan 08;

The Environment Agency has called for more information to be made available on the health and environmental risks posed by low-energy light bulbs.

It says because the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, more information about safe recycling is needed.

It also wants health warnings printed on packaging and information on how to clear up smashed bulbs in the home.

But a toxicologist has played down the risks, saying several bulbs would have to be smashed at once to pose a danger.

Toxic substance

Environmental scientist Dr David Spurgeon said: "Because these light bulbs contain small amounts of mercury they could cause a problem if they are disposed of in a normal waste-bin.

"It is possible that the mercury they contain could be released either into the air or from land-fill when they are released into the wider environment.

"That's a concern, because mercury is a well known toxic substance."

Official advice from the Department of the Environment states that if a low-energy bulb is smashed, the room needs to be vacated for at least 15 minutes.

A vacuum cleaner should not be used to clear up the debris, and care should be taken not to inhale the dust.

Instead, rubber gloves should be used, and the broken bulb put into a sealed plastic bag - which should be taken to the local council for disposal.

Unbroken used bulbs can be taken back to the retailer if the owner is a member of the Distributor Takeback Scheme.

Otherwise, many local waste disposal sites now have the facilities to safely collect and dispose of old bulbs.

However, this advice is not printed on the packaging that low-energy bulbs are sold in.

Toxicologist Dr David Ray, from the University of Nottingham, said about 6-8mg of mercury was present in a typical low-energy bulb, which he described as a "pretty small amount".

"Mercury accumulates in the body - especially the brain," he said. "The biggest danger is repeated exposure - a one off exposure is not as potentially dangerous compared to working in a light bulb factory.

"If you smash one bulb then that is not too much of a hazard. However, if you broke five bulbs in a small unventilated room then you might be in short term danger."

Information campaign

Adrian Harding of the Environment Agency said: "More information does need to be made available by retailers, local authorities and the government to alert people to the best way of dealing with these products when they become waste."

Louise Molloy from the environmental group Greenpeace said that a public information campaign was needed in order to advise people how to dispose of low-energy bulbs safely.

But she added: "Rather than being worried about the mercury these light bulbs contain, the general public should be reassured that using them will actually reduce the amount of mercury overall in our atmosphere."

The lighting industry and the government say the risk of mercury pollution posed by low-energy bulbs is minimal.

Kevin Verdun of the Lighting Association said: "Fluorescent strips, like the ones used in garages and kitchens, also contain mercury and have been used for many years without poisoning anyone."

But he said that warnings on how to safely dispose of smashed bulbs "might" be put on packaging in future, if the government and the public demanded it.

This month shops in the UK will begin the process of phasing out traditional tungsten bulbs as part of a government plan to completely replace them by 2011.

Ministers hope that using the more environmentally-friendly bulbs will save at least save 5m tonnes-worth of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

Low-energy bulbs 'worsen rashes'
BBC News 4 Jan 08;

The switch to energy-saving light bulbs may put thousands at risk of painful skin reactions, health charities warn.

Fluorescent bulbs can exacerbate skin rashes in people with photosensitive skin conditions, experts said.

The government is planning to prevent the sale of conventional bulbs by 2011 to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

Several groups including the British Association of Dermatologists called for exemptions to allow those affected to continue using traditional bulbs.

But representatives of the lighting industry said there would be alternatives to fluorescent lighting available.

Health conditions which can involve some form of light sensitivity, include the auto-immune disease lupus, the genetic disorder Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), certain forms of eczema and dermatitis, photosensitivity, and porphyria.

It has been estimated about 100,000 people in the UK with these skin conditions will be affected.

Spectrum - an alliance of charities that support people with light sensitive conditions - says they have also been contacted with people suffering from ME who have had bad reactions to fluorescent light.

Other groups have warned that low-energy bulbs, which use approximately a quarter of the energy of conventional bulbs, cause migraines and increase the risk of seizures in people with epilepsy.

Phase-out

Conventional or "incandescent" bulbs are being phased out in a voluntary agreement with retailers and will no longer be on sale from December 2011.

Campaigners want people who have light sensitive conditions to be able to continue to buy conventional bulbs for their homes.

They warned that employers must also be able to purchase incandescent lighting as employees have a right to such adjustments under the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Andrew Langford, chief executive officer of the Skin Care Campaign, one of the charities involved, said: "Incandescent light bulbs are the only source of electric light for many thousands of people with light sensitive conditions.

"Add to this the thousands of people whose conditions or treatments may secondarily cause them to be light sensitive, and you have a large number of people potentially being isolated in the dark.

"We certainly don't want to say no to greener bulbs just that other bulbs need to be available.

"It's hard for people to understand what it's like to live with one of these conditions."

He also called for a government-funded study into the effects of fluorescent lighting on photosensitive conditions as little research had been done to date.

"We have the anecdotal information - it's a shame people don't listen to those affected.

Dr Colin Holden, President of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: "It is important that patients with photosensitive skin eruptions are allowed to use lights that don't exacerbate their condition.

"It is essential that such patients are able to protect themselves from specific wavelengths of light emitted by fluorescent bulbs, especially as they are often trapped indoors because they can't venture out in natural sunlight."

Kevin Verdun, chief executive of the lighting association said only two-thirds of incandescent bulbs were being phased out.

"These things have been taken into consideration and there will be bulbs they can still use.

"There are also halogen bulbs and LED bulbs coming in in the next two or three years."

Low-energy bulbs 'cause migraine'
BBC News 2 Jan 08;

Energy-saving light bulbs could trigger migraines, say campaigners.

The Migraine Action Association says members have told them how fluorescent bulbs have led to attacks.

The government is set to prevent the sale of conventional light bulbs within the next four years in a bid to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

Concerns have already been raised by epilepsy charities about an increased risk of seizures from energy-saving bulbs.

Some bulbs use similar technology to fluorescent strip lights, and some users have complained that there can be a "flickering" effect.

They use approximately a quarter of the energy of conventional bulbs, and in September, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said that a voluntary agreement with retailers would remove all conventional bulbs from the shops by December 2011.

However, Karen Manning, from the Migraine Action Association, said this could be damaging to some sufferers.

She said that up to six million people in the UK suffer from some sort of migraine attack.

"These bulbs do trigger migraines for some of our members - it's either the flickering, or the low intensity of the light, causing eye strain.

"We would ask the government to avoid banning them completely, and still leave some opportunity for conventional bulbs to be purchased."

Old technology

However, the Lighting Association, which represents bulb manufacturers, said that the latest energy-saving bulbs did not produce a flicker.

A spokesman said: "A small number of cases have been reported by people who suffer from reactions to certain types of linear fluorescent lamps.

"These were almost certainly triggered by old technology."

Last year the charity Epilepsy Action reported that a small number of people with the illness could have seizures triggered by low-energy bulbs.

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More deaths of rare Indian gharials

BBC News 4 Jan 08;

The number of endangered crocodiles that have died this month in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has risen to 67, officials say.

The crocodiles, known as gharials, have been found dead of an unknown disease in the Chambal River sanctuary.

One or two are washing up every day on the river banks, causing concern among wildlife officials and organisations. They are appealing for help and a team of international veterinarians is expected in the country soon.

'Critically endangered'

Forest officials have collected water samples and conducted post-mortems on some of the reptiles.

The results have shown that the deaths are the result of disease which is still to be identified.

Last month one official said cirrhosis of the liver was the cause of the deaths. Tests were then carried out on the water for the presence of any liver-damaging toxins.

There are only about 1,500 gharials left in the wild in India. They have a distinctive long, narrow snout adapted for eating small fish,

The gharial, also known as the Indian Crocodile, is one of the longest of all living crocodilians - an adult male can approach 6m (20ft) in length.

In the 1970s, the reptile was on the brink of extinction and recently the species was reclassified, from being 'endangered' to 'critically endangered' by the World Conservation Union.

RELATED ARTICLE

Mass deaths of rare crocodiles in India
BBC News 15 Dec 07;

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Tuna sells for record 55,700 dollars in Japan

Yahoo News 5 Jan 08;

A Hong Kong sushi restaurant owner Saturday paid a record 55,700 dollars for a massive bluefin tuna in the first auction of the year at the world's largest fish market in Tokyo, an official and media reports said.

The 276-kilogram (607-pound) bluefin tuna -- caught off Japan's northern region of Aomori -- sold for 6.07 million yen (55,706 dollars) or 22,000 yen (about 202 dollars) per kilo, an official at the Tsukiji fish market said.

The final price was a record for Japan and nearly two million yen more than the previous year, he added.

A Hong Kong-based sushi restaurant chain owner made the highest bid, local media reported although the fish market official was unable to confirm details about the buyer.

Prices of tuna caught overseas were on average 20 to 30 percent higher than the previous year as imports of cultured tuna from Mediterranean countries including Croatia and Spain have dropped sharply, Kyodo News said.

The record prices come amid a decline in tuna supply due to tighter international controls on the catch for bluefin tuna.

Japan, which eats a quarter of the world's tuna, is moving towards limiting bluefin tuna fishing in its own waters in a bid to help protect the species from extinction.

The Tsukiji market sold a total of 2,904 bluefin tuna or 176.6 tonnes Saturday, down from 3,268 or 178.6 tonnes at last year's opening auction.

Japan reached an agreement in January 2007 with the European Union to slash its tuna quotas by more than 20 percent.

This was in line with a decision by an international commission in November 2006 to cut the total hunt of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean by 20 percent by 2010.

The 43-member International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna approved a quota of 28,500 tonnes for 2008 and 25,500 by 2010 but failed to set national quotas.

Environmentalists have warned that tuna face eventual extinction if fishing continues at current rates to feed a worldwide fad for Japanese food such as sushi.

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Big waves slam coasts from Riau to Java

Oyos Saroso H.N. and Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 5 Jan 08;

High waves swept through the eastern coastal regions of Lampung and Riau and also parts of Java the last few days, wrecking one commercial ship and four fishing boats and leaving two passengers dead.

Dozens of Sulung Putra boat passengers were reported injured, and two others were killed, when the boat was slammed by high waves east of Lampung on Wednesday evening.

The body of one of the two victims, Riza Andriyanto, 11, was found about 200 meters from the wrecked boat on Thursday evening. The body of Irman Siswantoro, 16, has not been found yet.

"The Search and Rescue (SAR) team ... is still searching for Irman," said the Head of Labuhan Maringgai Pos Kuala Penet harbor in East Lampung, Feri Sakhtiawan.

He said the SAR team, helped by police officers, the military and hundreds of fishermen, ran an intensive search throughout the coastal area, but the high waves had finally put a halt to their efforts.

The Sulung Putra was slammed by waves as high as four meters after sailing about three kilometers from Labuhan Ratu village. The passengers were on their way to Kuala Penet village to celebrate the new year.

Strictly speaking the Putra Sulung was a fishing boat, but residents around the Lampung coastal areas use such boats for cheap transportation.

Before the accident, the Lampung Meteorology and Geophysics Agency issued warnings about the possibility of high waves around Lampung, but some residents insisted on sailing.

The agency predicts that in the coming days high waves will occur along the western coastal area of Lampung up to West Sumatra and along the southern coast of Banten in West Java.

High waves also forced the administrators of Bakauheni harbor to stop speed boats from operating. Usually 12 speed boats serve passengers on the route from Bahauheni harbor in Lampung, South Sumatra, to Merak harbor in Banten, West Java.

Head of administration at Bahauheni harbor, Rochadi, said passengers must now use ferries.

In Pekanbaru, four fishing boats were wrecked after being swept by high waves and heavy storms near Teluk Pambang village in Bengkalis regency. One of them was hit Wednesday evening and the three others on Thursday evening.

There were no casualties reported.

One resident of Teluk Pambang village, Rusli, said local authorities had warned residents not to sail, but some fishermen went out anyway.

"They keep on going out because they have to fulfill their daily needs. I hope these incidents will make them be more careful and want to postpone their trips," Rusli added.

The Kupang Meteorology and Geophysics Agency also warned residents to stay away from the beach due to high waves and heavy storms that could occur throughout the region.

The agency predicts the high waves and heavy storms will last until the middle of January.

Yemris Fointuna contributed to this article from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

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Best of our wild blogs: 5 Jan 08

Can we sell our land?
Powerful response of Chief Seattle to the offer to buy traditional land, full text on the nature scouter blog. Here's an extract of the poignant prose..

So we will consider your offer to buy our land.
If we decide to accept, I will make one condition:
The white man must treat the beasts of this earth as his brothers.
I am a savage and do not understand any other way.
I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie,
left by the white man who shot them from a passing train.
I am a savage and I do not understand
how the smoking iron horse can be more important
than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

Open up your eyes to the beach
and see the living shores! on the justin dive blog

Blackle: a new green?
a black screen to save energy, on the reuters environment blog

Save your trash: because there is no such thing as away
just started by the man who saved his trash for a year

Powering the Planet with Garbage
bacteria power on the daily galaxy blog

Do birds only have a water bath when its hot?
find out on the bird ecology blog

Read more!

A year in honour of reefs, Planet Earth and potatoes

Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 5 Jan 08;

TAKE your pick: 2008 is the Year of the...

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has declared 2008 the International Year of Planet Earth.

But even the humble potato can have its day, er, year - courtesy of the UN too.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's declaration said The International Year of the Potato is a 'major event', presenting 'many opportunities to raise the profile of the potato among civil society'.

Past UN efforts have indeed created an impact.

The International Women's Year in 1975 led to the creation of the UN Development Fund for Women, to improve women's health, education and job opportunities.

Now, the world body hopes to raise general issues of agriculture through the unassuming tuber, to address issues of hunger, poverty and threats to the environment.

Specifically, it wants to raise awareness of the importance of the potato itself.

The official Potato2008 website said the tuber produces more nutritious food more quickly, on less land and in harsher climates than any other major crop. Also, up to 85 per cent is edible, compared to 50 per cent in cereals.

This year is also International Year of the Reef, according to the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). This is the second global campaign to reduce threats to coral reefs and to motivate people to take action to protect them. The first ran in 1997.

Of the reefs in 93 countries, those in South and South-east Asia, East Africa and the Caribbean are among those at greatest risk of destruction.

Explaining its significance, Dr Nigel Goh, assistant director at the National Parks Board's Marine Diversity Centre, said coral reefs absorb carbon dioxide, a key factor in global warming.

'Coral reefs make an impact on climate change, acting as a major global carbon sink,' he said.

Taking a shot at the spotlight this year are frogs and toads too. The Minnesota-based Amphibian Ark, an international non-governmental organisation, has decided it is time amphibians - cold-blooded vertebrates - had their day in the sun.

Meanwhile, the UN's International Year of Planet Earth is the largest global effort to promote earth sciences. It aims to raise US$20 million (S$28.8 million) from industries and governments to co-fund research and outreach activities.

The money will go towards projects like detecting deep and poorly accessible groundwater resources, lowering risks to man from natural and human-induced hazards, and encouraging the young to study earth sciences.

Chief executive officer of Science Centre Singapore, Dr Chew Tuan Chiong, said the move will raise awareness of the subject in Singapore and 'help us understand sustainable actions better'.

He is positive the campaign can work.

'Already, we get calls from Singaporeans asking why we are not more involved in international campaigns,' he said.

2008: The International Year of the...
Straits Times 5 Jan 08;

POTATO

WHO DECLARED IT: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation

WHY: It will be an important staple in times of food scarcity. It occupies less land than other cereal crops for the amount of nutrition provided. It also draws the attention of the world to food crops and agriculture.

WEBLINK: www.potato2008.org

PLANET EARTH

WHO DECLARED IT: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and the International Union of Geological Sciences.

WHY: Attention to earth sciences will make the world a safer place to live. Scientists estimate that hundreds of thousands of lives could have been saved during the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, with properly trained geologists, equipment and networking among meteorological stations around the globe.

WEBLINK: www.yearofplanetearth.org

CORAL REEF

WHO DECLARED IT: The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), a 13-year partnershipamong world bodies, governments and non-government organisations.

WHY: To raise awareness about reefs and motivate action to reverse damage done. If trends continue, this decline is likely to lead to the loss of most of the world's reef resources in the next century.

WEBLINK: www.iyor.org

See also http://iyor08singapore.blogspot.com/ for singapore celebrations of International Year of the Reef.

FROG

WHO DECLARED IT: Amphibian Ark

WHY: A third of all amphibians are threatened. The campaign draws attention to frogs, which are a key indicator of environmental health.

WEBLINK: www.amphibianark.org

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Food detective: Tiger prawns

Sheila Keating, The Times 5 Jan 08;

Thinking of a little seafood after all the excesses of Christmas?

Before you buy those big juicy-looking tiger prawns, ask a few questions about where they have come from.

The Marine Conservation Society’s advice is to choose northern coldwater prawns from sustainable sources instead of pot-caught prawns, which involve trawling the oceans and discarding a shocking 10kg of by-catch (other fish) for every kilo of prawns.

Over the past 30 years there has been an explosion of tiger-prawn farming in places such as Bangladesh, Honduras, India and Thailand, but these, too, are fraught with problems.

In order to create the farms, thousands of miles of coastal mangrove forests have been destroyed, and with them the ecosystem and fishing communities they support. The mangrove swamps act as buffers between the land and sea, and also serve as nurseries for juvenile fish. “One third of South-East Asian fish landed are dependent on mangroves during their life cycle,” says Steve Trent, director of the Environmental Justice Foundation (www.ejfoundation.org).

The foundation campaigns for sustainable, ethically produced prawns, and in particular highlights the social and labour problems that have sometimes ensued from the boom in farming, not to mention issues of pollution, over-use of chemicals and antibiotics, and the need to catch even more wild fish for feed – further depleting the seas.

What can we do to change things?

“As environmentalists, it would be easy to tell people, ‘Just say no,’” says Trent. “On the other hand, we are talking about an industry that is worth something in the region of £20 billion, so what would happen to the livelihood of all the people involved if the world boycotted farmed prawns?

The truth is that it is perfectly possible to farm prawns ethically and sustainably, so we are trying to encourage people to make a difference by asking questions and telling supermarkets that they only want prawns that have been farmed in an environmentally and socially acceptable way.

Waitrose, for example, has made a real and commendable effort to source sustainable fish and shellfish across the board.”

The kind of farms we should support, says Trent, are “not set in the intertidal zone, haven’t involved the clearing of mangroves and operate closed systems, where pollutants can’t come in or go out. They are organic, or at least moving towards using fewer chemicals and antibiotics, aren’t squeezing people off their land, and are trading fairly in terms of the local community.”

The problem, he admits, is how to identify prawns from such systems. “There is still no adequate labelling system, so it is really down to us to ask questions.”

Are there any other alternatives?


It could be that langoustines, also known as Dublin Bay prawns, are set to be the new tiger prawns. According to Seafish, UK sales have grown year on year by 100 per cent. What is more, they are now being fished from sustainable stocks in Scotland.

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Research gone awry strangles Hawaii reefs

By Kenneth R. Weiss, Los Angeles Times, the Honolulu Advertiser 5 Jan 08;

The hopes of long-term solution rest largely on the sea urchin, a softball-size creature with hard, sharp spines. They eat the invasive algae. One of the problems is that the populations of urchins around Hawaii have plunged because of excessive harvesting. They are collected for their gonads, prized by sushi-bar patrons.

COCONUT ISLAND, O'ahu — What was intended as a noble science experiment in the 1970s has turned into a modern-day plague for the delicate coral reefs surrounding the University of Hawai'i's research station here.

A professor scoured the seas for the heartiest, fastest-growing algae to help poor nations develop a seaweed crop for carrageenan — the gelatinous emulsifier used in products ranging from toothpaste and shoe polish to nonfat ice cream.

The late Maxwell Doty succeeded, in one regard. His research helped the Philippines and other island nations establish multimillion-dollar industries to supply carrageenan to the food, beverage and cosmetic industries.

Yet his efforts also left an unwanted legacy. Open-cage experiments inoculated Hawaiian coastal waters with a half-dozen types of foreign algae. These aggressive invaders have smothered at least half the reefs in Kane'ohe Bay on O'ahu's east coast and have begun to spread to waters beyond.

The sprouting problem has kept professors, graduate students and state officials busy trying to rein in the shaggy mats of thick-stemmed seaweed that threaten coral reefs and the fish, turtles and other sea life that depend on them. After years of trial and error, scientists believe they have arrived at a solution.

It involves a giant underwater vacuum they call the Super Sucker.

On a recent Sunday, a pair of divers ripped chunks of the foot-thick blanket of algae from atop a coral reef and fed it into a fat hose. The suction is created by a special vacuum pump that doesn't damage any animals inadvertently scooped up or chop the algae into bits, which could make the effort futile. Even small seaweed fragments flushed back into the water would simply reseed the reef.

On a barge above the divers, Cynthia Hunter sifted through the piles atop tight-mesh screens to remove any animals accidentally vacuumed up. She then bagged the seaweed to be taken ashore for composting and use as fertilizer in agricultural fields.

"It's pretty clean work," said Hunter, a biology professor. She showed that only a few bits of coral ended up in the glistening mix of golden-green seaweed.

Yet it's also a slow and tedious task, even though the Super Sucker can scoop up about 800 pounds of algae an hour.

No one knows that better than Eric Conklin, who holds a doctorate in zoology. He has spent hours and hours feeding clumps of "gorilla ogo" and "smothering seaweed" and other types of invasive algae into the Super Sucker.

"If all we were doing is vacuuming the reef, it would come back and we'd be back at it again," Conklin said. "Our plan is to knock back the growth so it won't spread and (to) give our long-term solutions a chance to take hold."

The hopes of long-term solution rest largely on the sea urchin, a softball-size creature with hard, sharp spines. They eat the invasive algae. One of the problems is that the populations of urchins around Hawaii have plunged because of excessive harvesting. They are collected for their gonads, prized by sushi-bar patrons.

University researchers are learning how to propagate one species, called the collector urchin, at the lab on Coconut Island so that they can scatter baby urchins on freshly vacuumed reefs.

"The urchins can do the much harder, tedious work of grazing the little bits of algae," said Celia Smith, a botany professor.

The strategy has worked in small test plots, where thumb-size nubs of corals have rebounded. Now the university, working with The Nature Conservancy and Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources, is scaling up the program to attack the invaders one reef at a time.

Researchers here have sought a gentle approach, given what lies beneath the interwoven mats of smothering algae and gorilla ogo, which go by the scientific names Eucheuma denticulatum and Gracilaria salicornia.

Coral reefs around the world are struggling from a combination of assaults besides the extra-warm water that causes coral bleaching. Decades of overfishing have removed fish and other animals that keep overgrowth of algae in check. And excessive plant food — nitrogen and phosphorus compounds — is spilling into reefs because of runoff from agricultural fields and effluent spewing from sewer pipes.

The resulting algal overgrowth shades coral reefs and colonies of tiny animals that need sunlight to survive. It also promotes the spread of harmful bacteria and various types of infections.

Smith, the university's botanist, calls it "one of life's rich ironies" that she has spent so much of her career trying to protect corals from something unleashed by her former professor, Maxwell Doty. Smith was hired in 1988 to take his job as the university's algae specialist.

"One thing I've learned about these reefs: They are really balanced on a knife's edge," Smith said. "You can push them so far, and then you lose them. We are perilously close."

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Alert: Our frog friends may all croak

...so we should all play our part to rescue them in this Year of the Frog
Leong Tzi Ming, Straits Times 5 Jan 08;

In our human-centred world, we often ask ourselves: 'What can we get from nature that will benefit our society?' For a change, I believe we should instead ask what we can do for nature.

ACCORDING to the Chinese zodiac, we will usher in the Year of the Rat very soon. But I would like to think of 2008 as the Year of the Frog.

The frog will, of course, not be replacing the rat during Chinese New Year celebrations - but it has been singled out.

Designating 2008 as the Year of the Frog has been an initiative by the newly formed international group, Amphibian Ark (AArk), a partnership between the Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG), Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) and World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (Waza).

The primary objectives of this international programme include promoting public awareness of amphibian population declines and attempting captive-breeding of selected frog species which are on the brink of extinction.

Frogs are the main members of the amphibian family - the cold-blooded, smooth-skinned creatures whose young hatch with gills and later develop lungs.

Never before has the world seen such a concerted effort to pool its expertise, time and resources to give our frog friends a helping hand.

Never before has the frog, often considered an unimportant 'lower vertebrate', been put on a pedestal to be showcased as a flagship species for conservation.

This sudden leap into the limelight has happened for a reason.

In the last three decades, over 100 species of frogs have crossed that thin red line and gone extinct.

And the results of the Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA) have revealed that about one-third of the world's close to 6,000 amphibian species are threatened.

It has now become apparent that the most likely causes of amphibian declines can be traced to a combination of culprits, including climate change and a recently discovered fungus.

But so what if a species of frog becomes extinct?

First, when any kind of indigenous frog disappears entirely, an important slice of the eco-system pie is removed, leaving a gaping ecological void which may not be filled by any other animal, thus tilting the natural balance that has been in place for eons.

Secondly, when a frog is declared extinct from any country, its name is 'struck off the register' and the amphibian fauna becomes poorer, contributing to a drop in the nation's biodiversity and an irreversible loss of a natural heritage.

Finally, another kind of loss that always accompanies a frog's extinction is its vast potential as a source of bioactive or pharmaceutical products.

Numerous tests have already been conducted using the skin secretions of a wide spectrum of frog species from around the world, with promising prospects for medical applications.

Despite having a relatively thin skin, the frog possesses special glands that are capable of creating a potent concoction of complex chemical compounds.

These include alkaloids with anaesthetic or mosquito-repellent properties, peptides with antibiotic or blood anti-coagulant properties, enzymes (ribonucleases) with anti-tumour properties, and even a hormone (thyrotropin-releasing hormone) which is also found in the hypothalamus of the human brain.

Yet another important discovery from the frog's skin is a form of sticky natural glue which has been successfully tested in the repair of torn cartilage.

From a physiological perspective, frogs that periodically hibernate in winter - such as the wood frog (Rana sylvatica) - have been found to possess their own natural anti-freeze, which keeps them alive beneath cold ice.

This offers much potential in the fields of cryopreservation and long-term storage or transplant of human organs.

Frogs, as well as salamanders, have another 'magic trick' up their sleeves. After a sustained injury resulting in the loss of arms or legs, some species have the amazing ability to regenerate an entire lost limb, complete with fingers or toes.

Scientists studying the genetics of limb regeneration have discovered a key growth factor, which has been manufactured synthetically. This may bring hope to amputees some day.

In our human-centred world, we often ask ourselves: 'What can we get from nature that will benefit our society?'

For a change, I believe we should instead ask what we can do for nature.

The humble amphibians of Planet Earth have been around far longer than we have, and they have every right to continue their existence here.

Since frogs cannot speak for themselves, I am very glad to have been a small voice for some of my favourite friends.

Let's get our hands wet and do something to rescue them from the great flood of decimation.

The writer, a zoologist specialising in amphibians and reptiles, is based at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at the National University of Singapore. He has discovered a new species of frog in Malaysia and two species previously unrecorded in Singapore.

Hopping into the spotlight
Straits Times 5 Jan 08;

There are 25 species of frogs and toads in Singapore but most people will be familiar with just one or two, particularly the bellowing call of the Banded Bullfrog (Kaloula pulchra) after a downpour as it searches for a mate. Zoologist Leong Tzi Ming, with the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, takes a look at some of the other species found here and in the region.

DISCOVERED HERE FIRST

THE Malesian Frog (Limnonectes malesianus) was first described as a new species in 1984, based on specimens found in the Bukit Timah forest in Singapore.

This nocturnal forest species may venture into clearings at night.

One distinguishing feature is the W-shaped skin fold on its back. Another unique feature of this frog is a dark blotch on the tympanum - the external eardrum of frogs.

It is one of three species of amphibians that place Singapore on the map for taxonomic significance.

The frog can also be found in West Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.

A 'DWARF' DISCOVERY

DISCOVERED in Singapore only in 1997, the small size and soft calls of this tiny Bornean Narrow Mouth Frog (Microhyla borneensis) might have helped it to remain undetected in our forests for such a long time.

It is distinguishable from other frogs by the dark brown cross bands on its legs.

More sensitive than its relatives - the Dark Sided Narrow Mouth Frog and Painted Chorus Narrow Mouth Frog which can survive in degraded habitats and open grassland - this species needs forest cover to thrive.

POND DWELLERS

THE classic frog depicted sitting on a lily pad, this native to Singapore resides in prime pond property, such as the Botanic Gardens.

The grinning Common Greenback (Rana erythraea) is often spotted in lotus ponds and is easily identified by the pair of white bands running along the sides of its body.

Quite easy to inspect up close, it generally sits still when approached. It may also be encountered clinging to shrubs, in puddles of water or by small streams.

Its range extends across most of South-east Asia.

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

THE Horned Frog (Megophrys nasuta) would win top awards in any local 'beauty pageant'' for amphibians for best camouflage, sharpest nose or most elongated snout, and longest eyelashes - really extensions of the skin above the eyes.

Like most frogs and toads, they are ambush predators - lying in wait in disguise in the litter of the forest floor.

They move only during rainy weather to streams for the mating season, giving out a single metallic loud honk as a call to potential partners.

Their tadpoles have mouths which are positioned upwards more like a fish, allowing them to filter feed from the water surface. This is unlike most species, which have lips that face downwards to eat off the bottom of streams.

Found only in forests, its habitats are under threat. Between 1980 and 2004, 122 species of amphibians went extinct. The World Conservation Union says a third of the world's known amphibians are threatened.

THE ODD COUPLE

IN NATURE, unusual pairings occasionally occur. For example, a cheeky Copper-cheeked Frog mating with a Common Tree Frog (Polypedates leucomystax).

Also called the Four-lined Tree Frog, the Common Tree Frog has four rows of brown markings on its back. These markings can change colour to blend in with its surroundings.

It lives near fresh water - pond edges, drains and small puddles, where it hides in low vegetation nearby. Its tadpoles have a silvery white dot at the tip of their snouts.

TOXIC TOAD

WHEN alarmed or disturbed, noxious secretions from the paratoid glands of this Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) can be poisonous to any potential predator.

This species certainly tops the list as the single most widespread and invasive amphibian, wreaking havoc in countries such as Australia.

While experts in the country despair because more money and study have been devoted to the pest than any native species, a great deal can be learned from this much maligned amphibian.

It may be top on the 'Wanted Dead'' list but it's the perfect example of good intentions gone wrong when a new species is introduced into a country.

The Green Truth
POEM BY LEONG TZI MING
Straits Times 5 Jan 08;

From the time I detect darkness descend on my pond
My senses awaken and begin to respond
You may guess that I am a creature who is active by night
That's right! I hop most happily when there is less light
When I'm hungry, I look out for worms, bugs or flies
With my long, sticky tongue, they're easily caught by surprise
My skin is green and I like keeping it wet
Because when it's moist, more oxygen I'll get
You'll know by now that I'm really a Frog
Singing my songs from the top of a log
But now I must tell you the latest news I've heard
It's weird - many friends of mine have disappeared
I'm so afraid for myself and all the family
What if we should vanish for all eternity?
I sense the climate changing, our weather's been getting hot
If I finally go extinct, I hope you'll 'froget' me not!

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Lure of the albizia woods

Ho Hua Chew, Straits Times 5 Jun 08;

THE Straits Times reported recently that some Singaporeans have taken a stand against the destruction of an albizia woodland at South Buona Vista. These people deserve our applause.

The albizia (Paraserianthes falcataria), one of the world's fastest-growing tree species, has proliferated in underdeveloped areas all over Singapore since it was introduced from Indonesia. Unfortunately, it has become an anathema to park managers, who are wary of its fragility. It has also upset botanical purists, who want to uproot the aliens no matter how long they have been established here.

It is also heartening to learn that National Parks has shown great sensitivity to the appeal by the Zehnder Road residents, by cutting down only 15 trees identified as likely to pose a hazard. Human safety and prevention of property destruction cannot be ignored.

However, care needs to be exercised in removing these trees, because a pair of the spotted wood owls, a nationally rare and endangered species, have been known to haunt the woodland. The tree-culling should proceed in ways that will not deprive these spectacular owls of a roosting or a hunting ground.

Despite its foreign origin, the albizia tree has become an indispensable habitat for many species of birdlife in our suburbs and countryside. When they grow into mature woodlands, these trees provide a sort of replacement habitat for the original forest that was destroyed.

The variety of birdlfe is amazing - as attested by the Zehnder Road residents. I have observed at least 40 species, migratory and resident, that have benefited from the albizias. Prominent examples include the common goldenback woodpeckers that sidle along the branches picking up ants; the long-tailed parakeets that screech softly as they rest in big flocks on the upper branches; the handsome dollarbirds that sit stolidly on the highest twigs in between sallies for aerial insects; and the hill mynas that use holes in the trunks for their nests.

Importantly, the white-bellied sea eagle, the changeable hawk eagle and the grey-headed fish eagle also depend on these trees for nesting sites outside forest nature reserves. The latter two are nationally endangered.

The white-bellied sea eagle favours the albizias nearer the sea, where it usually hunts for fish at places such as Pulau Ubin and Punggol, while the grey-headed fish eagle favours those at the edge of our rivers and reservoirs, like at Khatib Bongsu and Seletar Airbase. The changeable hawk eagle prefers the denser albizia woodlands, for example those at Khatib Bongsu and Ulu Pandan.

Why are albizias favoured? Outside forest nature reserves, mature albizias are the only trees that are sufficiently high and open at the canopy to be used as perches and nesting sites. The eagles have to find a towering perch to consume their prey in peace and build their nests of twigs beyond the reach of human predators.

In providing our eagles with nesting sites as well as perching and roosting places outside the very limited forests of the nature reserves, the albizias play an important ecological role in the Singapore countryside. They should not simply be dismissed as ecological undesirables.

It has been suggested that the albizias should be slowly replaced with indigenous species. This is a better policy, but a systematic and costly scheme of tree-removal and tree-planting is unnecessary. The existing albizias should be allowed to stand. But the natural process of plant succession that will enable native species to make a comeback should also be allowed.

Given time, the albizias will likely be overwhelmed by native species that are more adaptable to local conditions. Such a change will be gradual and non-disruptive, allowing the birds and other wildlife that they harbour to have time to adapt to the re-emerging native habitat.

The albizias have beautified the Singapore landscape immensely. Without them, it would be monotonous. Our country is flat as a result of the flattening of most of our hills. The mature albizias, massive and towering with their widespreading open canopies, strike the eyes from a great distance, lending an aura of green enchantment. Whether they are present in a cluster or as a woodland, their green foliage softens the landscape. Looking upwards into the canopy, the fine lacy pattern of the foliage is delightful.

I hope that that the relevant authorities will take heed of the ecological, aesthetic and psychological value of these woodlands. They contribute to making our lives satisfying beyond the obsession with material security.

The writer is the chairman of the Conservation Committee of the Nature Society (Singapore). The views expressed here are his own.

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Singapore: Do we want to be No 1 for population density?

Letter from John Lucas, Today Online 5 Jan 08;

I am bewildered why people do not express their concern at the push for a bigger population. The financials that will come with a population of 6 million people may be sound, but the cost to the quality of life may not make that justifiable.

With a population of 4.48 million people, Singapore is ranked fourth in the world for population density, and this is only slightly less than Hong Kong's.

Almost everyone will agree that overcrowding degrades the quality of life.

Waiting in line for a long time, waiting in traffic, or not being able to find a place to park do not add to the quality of life. In the past couple of years, it has become almost impossible to find a parking space at any shopping centre in Singapore during the weekend. The same is true at the East Coast Park, Botanic Gardens and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Take a stroll through West Mall on a weekend, and you will see the extent of overcrowding. Once the casino, hotels and private homes are finished on Sentosa Island, VivoCity will be also be filled to the brim.

Buses and the MRT are jammed with commuters for hours during the morning and evening peak hours, and car traffic is already very heavy.

Can you imagine what it will be like when the population increases to 6 million people? All these problems will worsen, but it will be too late then, and the result will be some very undesirable conditions.

I am bewildered why people do not express their concern at the push for a bigger population. The financials that will come with a population of 6 million people may be sound, but the cost to the quality of life may not make that justifiable.

Singapore is already breaking financial records worldwide, so does it really need to push harder? Do we really want to be number one for population density?

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