Should Singapore go for clean coal?

The Daedalus Column: Technological triumphs and challenges
Coal's a real power player
Andy Ho, Straits Times 3 May 08;

If or when CCS becomes commercially viable, should Singapore diversify into clean coal? Australia is the largest exporter of coal in the region, with Indonesia fast catching up, so stable supplies would seem to be assured.

If carbon emissions were our only concern, we should go with clean coal. But we would also have to be comfortable with the devastation that coal mining inflicts on the earth. If we were, we would be in good company.

LAST week, some members of the European Parliament started pushing for new financial incentives to jumpstart 'clean coal', or to turn the black stuff into clean gas.

Widely used technology to turn coal into gas can already remove 95 per cent of its sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and ash impurities - but not carbon. Coal produces double the amount of carbon emissions per unit of electricity generated compared to natural gas. Some people have proposed trapping deep underground the carbon dioxide created when coal is gasified.

If successful, this carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology would result in zero carbon emissions when gasified coal is burnt to generate electricity. But forcing carbon dioxide deep underground under very high pressure is unproven technology, at least on an industrial scale. Turning coal into gas is proven technology but the problem there is economic: Gasified coal is not as efficient as natural gas in generating power.

The most widely used coal-to-gas technology - pulverised fuel plants - can achieve only 45 per cent efficiency converting coal energy into electricity. By comparison, gas turbines are 60 per cent efficient - and 25 per cent cheaper.

So utility companies prefer conventional coal, which is 20 per cent cheaper than gasified coal. The cheapest fossil fuel around, there is enough of it to last two more centuries - and there is no coal cartel. The United States has 27 per cent of the world's known reserves while Russia has 17 per cent, China 13 per cent and India 10 per cent.

With petroleum and natural gas prices rising - fuel costs have risen 151 per cent since 1996 - electricity companies in Italy, Germany, Britain and the Czech Republic are currently building 50 new coal-fired power plants that will run for the next 50 years - with or without CCS.

If or when CCS becomes commercially viable, should Singapore diversify into clean coal? Australia is the largest exporter of coal in the region, with Indonesia fast catching up, so stable supplies would seem to be assured.

If carbon emissions were our only concern, we should go with clean coal. But we would also have to be comfortable with the devastation that coal mining inflicts on the earth. If we were, we would be in good company. An interdisciplinary report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year - The Future Of Coal - focused on the carbon issue and did not delve into coal mining's assault on the land at all.

Forget about the shaft coal mines seen in movies, with legions of soot-smudged men wielding picks emerging from them. In the US, where half - as well as in Australia, where three-quarters - of power comes from coal, massive-scale, open-pit, surface mining for coal is now the norm.

This method uses 7,000-tonne excavating behemoths called draglines. Requiring just a few operators, these can gouge out 200 tonnes, or 10 truckloads, of soil at one go from the sides of a deep valley of their own making. In some cases, explosives and draglines are used to amputate mountain tops; bulldozers would then push the loosened earth (with coal) down into the valleys below. Such methods make some of the biggest holes in the world. In the past few decades, these super-mines have come to dominate the industry in the US and Australia. China is adopting them too.

Besides the land, coal mining hurts people too. The black lung disease that shaft miners suffer from is well known but even non-miners living near mines can be exposed to dust from surface mining, truck and train loading facilities, chemicals used in coal cleaning that are discharged into surface waters, and so on.

In April, the American Journal of Public Health published a study of non-mining residents in West Virginia counties where coal is heavily mined. It found that the residents suffered a 70 per cent higher risk of kidney disease, 64 per cent higher risk of lung disease and 30 per cent increased risk of hypertension.

Yet, the US continues down this self-destructive path. Boston University's business ethicist James Post reasons that Americans can't assess holistically the economic, energy, ecological and health impact of coal. Moreover, there is just no stopping so wealthy an industry with so powerful a lobby in Washington DC.

Professor Post, who teaches corporate accountability, explains: 'The politics of coal is very complex and intense as lots of jobs and profits are at stake. Much of King Coal's political clout is attributable to the venerable 90-

year-old Senator Robert Byrd from West Virginia, who has unparalleled influence in DC and is unyielding in his determination to create economic advantage for his constituents. His influence affects the way every other energy policy interest has to play the game.'

Symbolically, coal is not just the least expensive US domestic energy source, it is also to be preferred to 'foreign oil' or 'Middle East oil', says Prof Post.

The fear of foreign domination abounds even though the reality is globalised trade in commodities, products and services. Substantively, Senator Byrd's influence translates into the protection of coal interests and the obscuring of other important considerations such as health-care costs and environmental harm.

'Against this backdrop, a multitude of union interests and dependent industries like power utilities creates a lobbying force of great significance,' adds Prof Post. It's not only that laws to rein in the industry's wanton rape of the land cannot be passed, but also that federal funds cannot be channelled into projects to optimise coal gasification, perfect CCS technology and so on.

Of course, West Virginians are economically better off with, rather than without, coal mining, which is why Mr Byrd fights so hard to protect these interests. So opposing coal out of a sense of pique with the industry may be unproductive. After all, even with huge reserves of its own, China imports Australian coal, which releases more energy when burnt than its own soft coal. What this trade shows is that while coal mining might harm Queensland's ecology, say, it is good for both economies, Prof Post notes.

In other words, economics trumps ecology. Higher oil and gas prices are making coal very attractive for power generation not only in Europe but also in China and India. According to the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook 2007 report, the two Asian giants will account for 80 per cent of the increase in coal use up to 2030, when coal usage will be double today's level.

Should industrial-scale CCS eventually work, it could raise coal power prices by 40 to 90 per cent. Thus, the economic case for clean coal seems quite weak. So don't expect dramatic changes - unless carbon emission cuts were mandated in the US and China, the world's biggest emitters. Coal is really a power player.

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Rice prices overshadow Asean trade ministers' meeting

Business Times 3 May 08;

(NUSA DUA, Indonesia) South-east Asian trade ministers met yesterday for talks on how to respond to soaring rice prices, after US President George W Bush proposed US$770 million in new US food aid to stave off a global food crisis.

The weekend gathering of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on the resort island of Bali, famed for its shimmering green rice terraces, also discussed efforts to build momentum for long-delayed world trade talks.

'Our minister will talk about the rice price. We share the general concern,' said an official from the Philippines, which is the world's top rice importer, buying about 10 per cent of its annual needs from overseas.

Asian rice prices have almost trebled this year and prices on the Chicago Board of Trade have risen more than 80 per cent.

Mr Bush, expressing concern as rocketing world food prices intensified unrest in poor countries, promised on Thursday that the US would take the lead as hunger takes hold of a greater swathe of the developing world.

'With the new international funding I'm announcing . . . we're sending a clear message to the world that America will lead the fight against hunger for years to come,' Mr Bush said.

The World Food Programme issued an emergency appeal in late February for an extra US$500 million to help feed 73 million hungry people in 80 countries. Last month, a spokeswoman said that soaring rice prices has pushed the emergency appeal to US$756 million.

At the Bali talks, which conclude tomorrow and also involved representatives from Australia, New Zealand, India and the US, Malaysian Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that he would press for the 'hot topic' of food security to be higher on the agenda.

'It is about how Asean countries could cooperate to use their resources,' he told reporters, adding that Malaysia intended to raise its food production to reduce imports but that it could take his nation 10 years to be self sufficient in rice.

The world's biggest rice exporter, Thailand, is also at the Bali meeting of Asean economic ministers and an official from its delegation said that the seller's perspective should also be heard.

'The cost for producers, such as fertiliser, is going up. Everything is going up,' said the official.

With only 30 million tonnes traded annually, government export curbs, such as those from India and Vietnam, have spooked importers, such as the Philippines and Bangladesh, at a time when global stocks have halved from a record high in 2001.

Media reports quoted Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who was also due to attend the meeting, as saying that rice exporters such as India, Thailand and Vietnam had a key role and would support Bangkok convening a 'rice summit', without elaborating.

An Indian official in Bali confirmed that New Delhi had floated the idea, but doubted that it would be brought up at this meeting.

A Thai trade official, who declined to be named, sought to soothe concerns about a further rise in rice prices, reaffirming the country's policy not to curb rice exports.

'Thailand's policy remains the same. We don't have any problem over the supply of rice,' he said. -- Reuters

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ADB to meet amid food crisis, growing poverty

Channel NewsAsia 2 May 08;

MANILA : The Asian Development Bank holds its annual meeting this weekend reeling from a global food crisis that has led to stinging criticism of its international governors for failing to see it coming.

The soaring price of basic foods such as rice -- the benchmark Thai variety now fetches some 1,000 dollars a tonne, up threefold on a year ago -- has led to a supply crunch that is worrying governments wary of popular unrest.

There are other tough issues facing the bank, notably a simmering internal row among its members over its continuing relevance in a region that has been transformed since the lender was founded 42 years ago.

The United States, which with Japan is the ADB's largest shareholder, took the unprecedented recent step of voting against its long-term strategic plan, which is also on the agenda for the meeting in Spain's capital Madrid.

But a source within the bank, who asked not to be named, said: "While the bank faces a number of critical issues about its role and relevance, all this may be overshadowed by the food crisis."

ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda warned recently that soaring food prices had pushed back Asia's fight against poverty, and that some countries may one day need foreign aid to feed their hungry.

The rises are blamed on higher energy and fertiliser costs, greater global demand, droughts, the loss of rice farmland to biofuel plantations and price speculation.

"The food crisis did not happen overnight," said Shalmali Guttal, a senior associate at Focus on the Global South, a Bangkok-based political and economic advocacy group.

"Asian farmers have been drawing attention to the growing agrarian crisis for years, but no one with the power to change policy listened," she told AFP in a telephone interview.

"Many of us civil society researchers and activists saw this crisis coming, why didn't the ADB and the World Bank?"

While the ADB boasts some "spectacular progress" over the last 40 years in poverty reduction, most notably in China, the region is still home to some 600 million people living on less than a dollar a day -- two thirds of the global population.

"Agriculture has clearly been neglected by governments and international institutions alike for at least two decades and the world is now suffering the results of such neglect," Bruce Tolentino, director for economic reform and development with the Asia Foundation, told AFP.

He said the ADB and others "should have seen this crisis coming."

"But unfortunately it is a weakness common to many institutions, including the ADB, that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and vice versa."

Based in Manila, the ADB is owned by its 67 member countries -- 48 from the Asia-Pacific region, and 19 from elsewhere around the world.

In 2007, it approved 10.1 billion dollars of loans, 673 million dollars in grant projects, and technical assistance amounting to 243 million.

Since it was established, the ADB has grown from helping Asian governments develop infrastructure projects to promoting the role of the private sector in development.

But some critics say its loan conditions unfairly pressure governments to deregulate and privatize agriculture -- leading to problems such as the rice supply crunch.

Arze Glipo, the convenor of the Asia Pacific Network on Food Sovereignty, which represents farmers' groups, said ADB projects "tended to weaken farmers' livelihood."

She cited a 175-million-dollar loan to the Philippines to finance a grain sector development programme, under which the ADB urged the privatization of the National Food Authority.

The ADB also wanted restrictions on rice imports replaced with a system of tariffs, and cancelled the loan when Manila failed to act, she charged.

That kind of tactic -- "regardless of its costs and consequences" -- is at the very heart of the problem, said Guttal of Focus on the Global South, as it forced governments to change policies to fit in with the ADB's conditions for credits.

"The new policies favour large, mostly foreign, private sector actors and corporations and not the poor," she added.

- AFP/ir

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Cooking oil prices on the boil

Prices up by as much as 56%; failed crops and competition from biofuels blamed
Jessica Lim & Esther Tan, Straits Times 3 May 08;

WHILE rice has grabbed the headlines, the price of cooking oil has also been on a steady march north, driven by failed crops and competition from new-age biofuels.

In the last two months, retail prices have jumped between 9per cent and 56 per cent, depending on the brand, according to a survey released yesterday by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case).

The cheapest oil available to consumers at major supermarkets here is the Cabbage brand of vegetable oil at $4.90 per 2kg bottle.

But even this is up from $4.50 in March. Its Knife brand counterpart - a premium brand - costs almost twice as much, according to the Case study, which was based on checks at eight supermarkets.

The association's survey is the first on monthly food prices and will be published on its website, www.case.org.sg.

Rising retail prices reflect a global trend in increased edible- oil prices, say importers.

They have seen prices more than double in the last three years. A tonne of refined liquid palm oil - the industry benchmark - costs US$1,200 (S$1,630), up from about US$450 in 2005.

Recent reports show that global edible oil prices rose 15 per cent in the first two months of this year.

The price increases have been driven by decreased crop yields due to climate change and competition from biofuels, which are made from the same plant extracts.

Said Mr Wong Mong Hong, deputy president of the Food Manufacturers Association: 'I have been in the industry for 38 years and this is the second time prices have been this high. The last time was in 1982 when there was a palm-oil shortage. This time, biofuels are the culprit.'

He said about 12 per cent of cooking oil produced by the world is now being directed to biofuels, a much-touted and clean-burning alternative to fossil fuels.

Demand for biofuels is expected to expand by almost 20per cent per year through 2011 despite recent concerns about their impact on the environment and world food supplies.

Price-conscious consumers 'can get around the price hike', said Case president Yeo Guat Kwang, by 'looking at their budget and comparing prices at different supermarkets'.

He said: 'Vegetable oil is among the cheapest kind of oil, while other types of oil, like sunflower oil and canola oil, are more expensive.'

However, vegetable oil, popular with hawkers, is still prone to wild jumps.

Said Mr Wong Shu Kiat, 43, owner of a coffee shop in Serangoon: 'Prices have fluctuated from about $10 to about $40 these three months. It cannot be helped. What matters is business must be good.'

Mr Chen Kern Wuan, president of the Newton Hawker Centre Stallholders Association, said hawkers usually refrain from changing the types of oil they use. But they may soon have to.

Mr Chen added: 'We will think of switching types of oil if things get worse, but we try not to do that because the taste of our food might change.'

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Small ethanol plants key to efficiency: Canada

Randall Palmer, Reuters 2 May 08;

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Building more and smaller ethanol plants could help overcome concerns that production of the biofuel consumes more in energy than it provides, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Friday.

One of the reasons so much energy is used to make ethanol is that trucks travel long distances carrying corn, chaff or other plant material to ethanol plants.

"Smaller and locally owned I think are the right way to go," Ritz said as he kicked off debate in the House of Commons on the final stage of a bill that would ensure that gasoline contains 5 percent ethanol by 2010.

Dennis Bevington of the opposition New Democratic Party said one study showed that ethanol made from Canadian corn would lead to a net reduction of only 21 percent in greenhouse gases compared with the use of gasoline.

If the corn actually had to be imported from the United States to make ethanol, it would actually lead to a net increase in emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change.

The Conservative government is proceeding with plans to mandate more ethanol use despite questions that have been raised both about ethanol's efficiency and about whether it would contribute to rising food costs.

The opposition Liberals and Bloc Quebecois both voted in favor of the government legislation at an intermediate stage on Thursday, leaving the smaller New Democratic Party as the only opponent.

Ritz said farmers were able to increase food production at the same time as boosting ethanol output.

"Due to the innovation and industriousness of Canadian agriculture and Canadian forestry, we have the capacity to do this and in no way affect our food lines," he said.

"A lot of people say we cannot do both. They say we cannot grow food for energy and for consumption. Nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone who has analyzed food production in this country knows that we are growing more, that it is better quality, and that it is safer."

He also said there were many factors behind higher food prices unrelated to the production of biofuels. Among them is the increased meat consumption by emerging middle classes in India and China, Ritz said.

The government's biofuel bill faces one more vote in the House. It will then move to the Senate, dominated by the Liberal Party, which has lent its support to the measure.

In addition to ethanol in gasoline, the bill will also provide for diesel to contain 2 percent renewable fuels by 2012.

(Editing by Rob Wilson)

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Major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer

Randoph E. Schmid, Associated Press Yahoo News 2 May 08;

The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday.

"The long-term prognosis is not very optimistic," atmospheric scientist Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University said at a briefing.

Last summer sea ice in the North shrank to a record low, a change many attribute to global warming.

But while solar radiation and amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are similar at the poles, to date the regions have responded differently, with little change in the South, explained oceanographer James Overland of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

What researchers have concluded was happening, was that in the North, global warming and natural variability of climate were reinforcing one another, sending the Arctic into a new state with much less sea ice than in the past.

"And there is very little chance for the climate to return to the conditions of 20 years ago," he added.

On the other hand, Overland explained, the ozone hole in the Antarctic masked conditions there, keeping temperatures low in most of the continent other than the peninsula reaching toward South America.

"So there is a scientific reason for why we're not seeing large changes in the Antarctic like we're seeing in the Arctic," he said.

But, Overland added, as the ozone hole recovers in coming years, global warming will begin to affect the South Pole also.

The briefing covered data being reported in a paper scheduled for publication next week in Eos, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Overland said he used to be among those skeptical about the effects of global climate change. The new findings, which he termed "startling," were developed at a recent workshop, he said.

There is agreement between weather observations, the output of computer climate models and scientific expectations for what should happen, added Francis.

All the evidence points toward human-made changes at both poles, she said, a conclusion that "further depletes the arsenals of those who insist that human-caused climate change is nothing to worry about."

Climatologist Gareth Marshall of the British Antarctic Survey said that while the term global warming is widely used, things are more complicated at the regional level.

In the Antarctic, he explained, climate change strengthened winds blowing around the continent, helping trap colder air. But that will decrease in the future, allowing warmer conditions to begin, he said.

And, Marshall added, all studies now show that human activities are the drivers of climate change in the Antarctic.

Asked if this summer will match last year's record low sea ice in the North, Overland that is likely.

"The tea leaves point to a minimal amount of sea ice next September, that would be the same as we had last summer, 40 percent loss compared to 20 years ago," he said. Overland added that the winter freeze got a late start last fall.

Francis added: "Over this entire fall, winter and right up 'till today the ice concentration, the amount of ice that's floating around on the Arctic, has been below normal every single day."

"All arrows are pointing towards, certainly not a recovery, something like we had last summer and possibly worse," she said.

Climate change warms Arctic, cools Antarctica
Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters 2 May 08;

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Arctic and Antarctica are poles apart when it comes to the effects of human-fueled climate change, scientists said on Friday: in the north, it is melting sea ice, but in the south, it powers winds that chill things down.

The North and South poles are both subject to solar radiation and rising levels of climate-warming greenhouse gases, the researchers said in a telephone briefing. But Antarctica is also affected by an ozone hole hovering high above it during the austral summer.

"All the evidence points toward human-made effects playing a major role in the changes that we see at both poles and evidence that contradicts this is very hard to find," said Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

An examination of many previous studies about polar climate, to be published May 6 in the journal Eos, "further depletes the arsenal of those who insist that human-caused climate change is nothing to worry about," Francis said in a telephone briefing.

In the Arctic, Francis and co-authors of the research said, warming spurred by human-generated carbon dioxide emissions has combined with natural climate variations to create a "perfect Arctic storm" that caused a dramatic disappearance of sea ice last year, a trend likely to continue.

'NEW STATE'

"Natural climate variability and global warming were actually working together and they've sent the Arctic into a new state for the climate that has much less sea ice," said James Overland, an oceanographer at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "There's very little chance for the climate to return to the conditions of 20 years ago."

In Antarctica, the ozone hole adds a new factor to an already complicated set of weather patterns, according to Gareth Marshall of the British Antarctic Survey.

The changes in air pressure that go along with depleted stratospheric ozone are responsible for an increase in the westerly winds that whip around the Southern Ocean, at latitudes a bit north of most of Antarctica.

These winds isolate much of the southern continent from some of the impact of global warming, Marshall said. The exception is the Antarctic Peninsula, which reaches northward toward South America. There, the effects of warming have been dramatic, he said, because the winds that protect the rest of Antarctica do not insulate the peninsula.

The stratospheric ozone hole, caused by the ozone-depleting release of chemicals found in refrigerants and hair sprays, is likely to fully recover by 2070 as less of these chemicals are in use, as a result of international agreements.

The ozone layer shields Earth from harmful solar radiation, but its recovery is likely to open the way for warming in central Antarctica, the scientists said.

(Editing by Patricia Zengerle)

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Femke den Haas: Rescuing endangered animals in Indonesia

Ani Suswantoro, Jakarta Post 27 Apr 08;

How many Jakartans have seen the Braminy Kite (Haliastur Indus) or know that this endangered bird has been a symbol of the captial since 1995?

The falling number of kites can be traced back to the early 20th Century, when Pulau Elang (Raptor Island) was renamed Pulau Pramuka (Scout Island)because few raptors could be found on the island.

How many know that the White-Bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) is a protected species?

Despite their status as protected species as stated by Regulation No. 5/1990 on Conservation on Natural Resources and Ecosystems and Regulation No. 7/1999 on Flora and Fauna Preservation, they are still threatened by illegal poaching and trade, habitat destruction, public ignorance and the lack of attention from authorities.

But there is still hope through the organizations that are working to protect these birds. One of them is the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), established in early 2008 by Femke den Haas and several other conservationists.

Den Haas, a Dutch national born in 1977 in Yaoende, Cameroon, has been working to improve the welfare of animals in Indonesia through the JAAN.

Her encounter with Indonesian wildlife began at the age of 17, when she volunteered to monitor the release of 70 orangutans in East Kalimantan. The province's rich flora and fauna fascinated her, and she even took 6 months' leave of her senior high school studies in the Netherlands to join the project.

Back in Holland, she became involved in several animal conservation and rescue projects in Europe and Africa.

"I learned that the illegal primate trade in Holland mainly came from Indonesia, so I decided to come back, where I could work right at the source," said den Haas.

She returned to Indonesia, and from 2002-2006, worked at the Gibbon Foundation, an international non-profit organization that works to stop wildlife trafficking and trade. The foundation set up several Pusat Penyelamatan Satwa (PPS)or Animal Rescue Centers - in Jakarta, Sukabumi, Yogyakarta, Denpasar and Manado, as well as other cities.

During her tenure as manager at PPS Tegal Alur, West Jakarta, den Haas began to realize the intricate chain of illegal animal trade and the difficulties to eradicate it, but she and her team persevered. It was during her work there that she met and married her Indonesian husband, Sudarno.

"Unfortunately, in 2006 the foundation stopped its cooperation, considering that Indonesia was not serious enough to protect its natural richness. I then resigned and joined International Animal Rescue (IAR) in 2007," said den Haas.

"In 2008, together with some dedicated individuals, Rio Cornel, Ardiansyah, Natalie Stewart and Karin Franken, we established the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), to be more able to cater local needs. Sponsorship and support come from individuals and organisations alike," she said.

JAAN provides help to all kinds of animals, including caring for and finding homes for stray dogs and cats. It also rehabilitates and releases sea turtles, monkeys and other endangered species.

At present, JAAN is focusing on the rehabilitation and release of the Brahminy Kite and the White-Bellied Sea Eagle with the support of the Taman Nasional Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands National Park), Coconut Island Resort, IAR and local residents.

The project, based on Kotok and Penjaliran Barat islands, was initiated in 2004 when PPS Tegal Alur received many of those birds. *

The local economy, sea and coastal conditions, and even the bad habits of some Jakarta citizens affect the birds' well-being. For example, the currents carry garbage thrown into the city's rivers to Kepulauan Seribu regency, contaminating the habitat.

JAAN's program is multifaceted to address these conditions and to protect the birds, including through public education, waste management and recycling, fertilizing and composting, ecotourism, and the protection and monitoring of coral reefs, fish and sea turtles.

The birds at the rescue center on Kotok and Penjaliran Barat islands have been confiscated or handed over voluntarily by their owners, and come from Jakarta, Sukabumi and Yogyakarta. So far, JAAN has released 40 birds into the wild and is rehabilitating 27 birds. Those birds that cannot be released will spend their entire lives at the center.

"Femke's care for animals does not end in ideas only, but is manifested into concrete actions. Upon observing the suffering of animals, she will do anything to help them," said Sumarto, former head of the Thousand Islands National Park.

"Her dedication is beyond question, as reflected in her willingness to stay on the island to tend to the animals on New Year's Eve, when all staff are on leave. She is an extraordinary woman," he said.

JAAN welcomes assistance from volunteers in their rehabilitation and release program, and their tasks include monitoring and observing the birds after release, cleaning and maintaining cages and the beach, as well as participation in brainstorming ideas for a conservation campaign.

External funding is also highly appreciated for the continuation of JAAN's missionimprove the welfare of Indonesian animals and to stop illegal wildlife trade", according to den Haas.

When wildlife thrives, so does human life. Hopefully an increased understanding of this relationship among Jakarta's citizens and an improvement in the welfare and economy of local residents will help den Haas and her team's dream come true.

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Southeast Asia's Rich Biodiversity Is Facing Threat

Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah, Bernama 2 May 08;

PUTRAJAYA, May 2 (Bernama) -- The Asean region, though covering only three percent of the earth's surface, serves as the natural habitat of up to 40 percent of the world's plant and animal species.

The region is the home to one-third of the world's coral reefs, translating to 284,000 square kilometers of coral reefs that are among the most diverse in the world.

The region is home to seven of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots. Out of the 64,800 known species in the region, 1,312 are endangered.

The region includes three 'mega-diversity' countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The other members of the grouping are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

But sadly today Asean's biodiversity is facing threat from mankind's activities and from the wrath of nature itself.

NATURE'S WEALTH UNDER THREAT

According to Rodrigo U. Fuentes, the Executive Director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity, deforestation rates in the region are at least two times higher than other tropical areas.

Forest conversion is the major cause of biodiversity loss in the region. It is driven by logging activities, shifting cultivation, large-scale mining, and agricultural expansion.

These lead to loss of habitat for many birds, mammals and other animals, reduced pollination activities, decline in species richness and populations, and overall reductions in biodiversity.

If present levels of deforestation continue, Asean will lose nearly three-fourths of its original forest cover and up to 42 percent of its biodiversity by the next century.

"There will be massive species declines and extinctions which will result in catastrophic biodiversity loss. Biodiversity loss could trigger enormous effects on food security, health, shelter, medicine, and aesthetic and other life sustaining resources," Fuentes warned.

ASEAN LOSING ITS FOREST COVER

In Sumatra, for example, there has been a decline from 80 to 33 percent (1980-2001) in forest cover within 50 km periphery of protected areas. Smaller protected areas are most greatly affected as the conservation capacity of protected areas is greatly reduced.

In 1997-1998, up to five million hectares of forests in Indonesia (Sumatra and Kalimantan) were lost due to forest fires. In 2002 and 2006, forest fires destroyed several million hectares, including peat swamp forests.

He said these resulted in disappearance or population decline and high infant and juvenile mortality in many animals, as well as reduced seedling and sapling population for many tree species.

ASEAN'S WILDLIFE ALSO AFFECTED

Wildlife hunting and trade for food, pet and medicinal purposes also contribute to biodiversity loss in Asean.

In Sarawak, 2.6 million animals are hunted each year for bush meat while in Sabah, 108 million animals suffered the same fate. In 2000, Indonesia contributed about 29 percent of global exports for snake and lizard skins.

In the same year, Singapore imported 7,093 live animals and had a total net export of 301,905 animal skins.

Between 1975 and 1992, Korea imported 6,128 kilograms of tiger bones, 60 percent of which were from Indonesia.

Overall, wildlife was extracted from forests at more than six times the sustainable rate.

The marine environment did not fare any better. Almost 80 percent of coral reefs in the region are at risk due to destructive fishing practices and coral bleaching.

OTHER ASPECTS OF THREAT

Increasing human population and poverty is a primary socio-economic driver of forest biodiversity loss.

Climate change can have the largest proportional effect on biodiversity in extreme environments (e.g., arctic, boreal zones).

This phenomenon threatens the Asean region, possibly in very cold mountain environments, on small islands or low coastal areas.

Lack of financial resources contributes to biodiversity loss in the region as governments put more emphasis on budget allocation for food, health, education, infrastructure and other priorities.

ASEAN'S RESPONSE

In response to this dire situation, Asean has taken efforts to protect and save its rich biodiversity.

Asean member countries have ratified a number of international agreements concerning biodiversity, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, World Heritage Convention, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

Asean has designated 1,523 protected areas and declared 27 areas as Asean Heritage Parks.

To date, Thailand has nominated three additional parks and the Philippines nominated two to be declared as Asean Heritage Parks.

Several conservation plans have been prepared especially for endangered species, such as the Tiger, the Elephants, Gaur, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Otter, and Pheasants. The conservation plans include aspects of research, ex-situ conservation, monitoring, and enforcement activities.

Further responding to the need for concerted action to protect and conserve the region's dwindling biodiversity resources ASEAN, with funding support from the European Union (EU), has established the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).

ACB TO SPEARHEAD THE ROLE

As an intergovernmental regional centre of excellence, ACB facilitates cooperation and coordination among the members of Asean, and with relevant national governments, regional and international organizations, non-government organizations, private corporations and individuals on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

To contribute to the achievement of socially responsible access, equitable sharing, utilization and conservation of natural ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain, ACB builds strategic networks and partnerships geared to mobilize resources towards optimally augmenting effective programmes on biodiversity conservation.

On the occasion of Earth Day, 22 April, ACB is inviting international and regional organizations, governments, private corporations and foundations, communities, and individuals to contribute financially or in kind to its programmes.

"Join ACB and the international community in saving Southeast Asia's rich yet highly endangered biodiversity. Save humanity," Fuentes appealed.

-- BERNAMA

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Scientists to capture DNA of trees worldwide for database

Deepti Hajela, Associated Press Yahoo News 2 May 08;

The New York Botanical Garden may be best known for its orchid shows and colorful blossoms, but its researchers are about to lead a global effort to capture DNA from thousands of tree species from around the world.

The Bronx garden is hosting a meeting this week where participants from various countries will lay the groundwork for how the two-year undertaking to catalog some of the Earth's vast biodiversity will proceed.

The project is known as TreeBOL, or tree barcode of life. As in a similar project under way focusing on the world's fish species, participants would gather genetic material from trees around the world.

A section of the DNA would be used as a barcode, similar to way a product at the grocery store is scanned to bring up its price. But with plants and animals, the scanners look at the specific order of the four basic building blocks of DNA to identify the species.

The resulting database will help identify many of the world's existing plant species, where they are located and whether they are endangered. The results are crucial for conservation and protecting the environment as population and development increases, said Damon Little, assistant curator of bioinformatics at the Botanical Garden and coordinator of the project.

"If you don't know what you're potentially destroying, how can you know if it's important or not?" he said. "We know so little about the natural world, when it comes down to it, even though we've been working on it for hundreds of years."

The undertaking is massive. Trees make up 25 percent of all plants, and Little estimates there could be as many as 100,000 species. The participants hail from countries such as South Africa, India, and, of course, the United States.

In order for the database to be useful, the same section of DNA must be used in all the samples so comparisons can be made across species. Part of the work at this week's meeting is to figure out which section to use, as well as other logistical issues among the more than 40 participating organizations.

The garden received a grant of nearly $600,000 to coordinate the project. While the genetic database won't be completed for two years, Little anticipates making headway in some specific areas — such as the flora of the Northeastern U.S. and parts of Malaysia, India and South Africa, as well as endangered tree species — in the meantime.

While the garden is a city cultural institution, researchers say visitors shouldn't be fooled by the pretty flowers — serious science goes on here.

"I think your average visitor comes here and sees the conservatory and the orchid show and goes home thinking it's a beautiful place, but doesn't realize this is home to one of the most active research programs in plant sciences in the world," said James Miller, the garden's dean and vice president for science.

The garden was started with a science mission, since founder Nathaniel Britton and his wife, Elizabeth, were dedicated to researching the plant world, Miller said. They had a research interest in the botany of the Caribbean, which remains a focus at the garden.

These days, the research has expanded. The garden has projects in South America, is helping the government in Micronesia with habitat preservation and has an emerging program in Southeast Asia.

And back at home in the Bronx, state-of-the-art labs allow researchers to examine plant DNA to figure out how genes influence plant development and to examine the relationships between plant species. The garden is also home to a collection of more than 7 million dried plant specimens, Miller said.

"It is some of the best and brightest botanical science done anywhere in the world," said Thomas Lovejoy, president of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment in Washington and a member of the garden's board.

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U.S. closes most of West Coast to salmon fishing

Teresa Carson, Reuters 1 May 08;

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday closed almost all of the ocean off the West Coast to salmon fishing, clearing the way for governors of states hard hit by years of declining catches to seek federal relief aid for losses estimated at $290 million.

West Coast salmon populations have declined sharply in the last few years, with experts citing a variety of reasons including climate change and hungry sea lions.

"Today NOAA's Fisheries Service will close most of the West Coast salmon fisheries based on the recommendations of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council," James Balsiger, acting assistant administrator of fisheries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, citing "low returns of fall Chinook salmon to the Sacramento River system."

Balsiger said NOAA has not pinpointed the cause of the "sudden" collapse of the Sacramento River run, but "NOAA scientists are suggesting changes in the ocean conditions."

NOAA estimates fewer than 60,000 salmon will make it back to the Sacramento River this year -- about one-third the number needed to sustain a healthy fish population.

Consumers should brace for higher salmon prices. Balsiger said wild salmon "will cost a lot" at the supermarket, even though salmon supplies from Alaska are expected to be "in pretty good shape."

Governors and congressional delegations of the affected states have been working to get relief for fishermen, charter businesses, suppliers, motel operators and others that will be hit by closure of commercial and recreational fishing.

"Given skyrocketing gas and food prices, getting aid to these fishing communities quickly is critical," Oregon Senator Gordon Smith said in a statement. "It's a matter of survival. This declaration allows us to begin pushing for funds immediately."

(Editing by Lisa Baertlein and David Gregorio)

Federal agency declares West Coast salmon fishery a disaster
Jeff Barnard, Associated Press Yahoo News 2 May 08;

Federal authorities have declared the West Coast ocean salmon fishery a failure, opening the way for Congress to appropriate economic disaster assistance for coastal communities in California, Oregon and Washington.

The declaration Thursday stems from the sudden collapse of the chinook salmon run in California's Sacramento River, where the salmon return to spawn. Scientists are studying the causes of the collapse, with possible factors ranging from ocean conditions and habitat destruction to dam operations and agricultural pollution.

Only 60,000 chinook are expected to return to the river this fall, about a third of the minimum set by fisheries managers for spawning the next generation. That compares with 775,000 that returned in 2002 when times were flush.

"This is a bleak year," Jim Balsiger, acting assistant administrator of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, said at a news conference Thursday in Portland, Ore.

The fisheries service, the federal agency in charge of salmon management, estimated that the value of this year's lost catch was $22 million and that direct income losses to sport and commercial fishing boats, processors, bait shops and other related businesses were $60 million in the three states.

The states' governors, who requested the declaration, have estimated that those losses rise to $290 million as they ripple through the economy. California is seeking $208 million in disaster aid, Oregon $45 million and Washington $36 million.

"Certainly this has a dramatic effect on all the coastal fishing communities," said Bob Lohn, Northwest regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries.

This marks the second year in the past three that a federal fishery failure has been declared for West Coast salmon, and last year's catch was poor, despite liberal fishing seasons. Fishing cutbacks in 2006 because of the collapse of chinook run in the Klamath River, which straddles the Oregon-California line, caused a drop in catch value estimated at $16 million. Congress appropriated $60 million in disaster assistance that was distributed last year.

Fisherman Jeff Reeves said he was happy to hear of the latest declaration because disaster assistance from the 2006 season closure kept him from bankruptcy.

"Salmon was my moneymaker," Reeves said from his boat off Charleston, Ore. "It just seems to be getting more and more difficult to stay in the fishing business."

The Sacramento chinook run is the backbone of commercial fisheries off California and Oregon, where the Pacific Fishery Management Council last month recommended the first total shutdown in ocean salmon fishing. Poor returns along the coast left room for only vestigial sport and commercial fishing off Washington this year.

Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said members of Congress from the West Coast hoped to attach a disaster aid measure to the supplemental war funding bill expected to make it to the Senate floor in coming weeks, but the amount remains to be worked out.

He added that the White House has opposed attaching extra measures to the bill, but he was confident that Congress would approve aid before the end of the session.

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Death of 500 ducks in oil sands tragic: Imperial CEO

Scott Haggett, Reuters 1 May 08;

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The death of about 500 ducks that landed in a pond of oily, toxic sludge operated by Canada's biggest oil sands producer was tragic, the chief executive of Imperial Oil Ltd said on Thursday.

Imperial has a 25 percent stake in oil sand producer Syncrude Canada Ltd, owner of the tailings pond in northern Alberta, where the ducks died earlier this week because a warning system meant to keep them off wasn't operating.

"Without question, I think it was not only an unfortunate event but a really tragic one," Imperial CEO Bruce March told reporters following the company's annual meeting.

"I'm deeply disappointed and I know the Syncrude leadership team shares that disappointment."

Migrating waterfowl are supposed to be kept from the poisonous waste-water ponds at the mines, where massive shovels pull tons of oil-laden sand from the ground, by sound-cannons that simulate gunfire. But a winter storm had delayed deployment of the system, a Syncrude spokesman said.

The fate of the ducks has focused more attention on the environmental costs of exploiting the oil sands, where more than C$100 billion is being poured into projects to tap the biggest storehouse of oil outside the Middle East.

Production from the region, 380 km (235 miles) northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, is expected to nearly triple to 3 million barrels a day by 2015.

Environmental groups have already raised concerns about carbon-dioxide emissions, destruction of the boreal forest that is stripped away to get at the oil deposits, and the potential for tailing ponds to contaminate local rivers.

Greenpeace said the ducks' deaths showed the government's ability to monitor environmental safeguards on the region's oil producers were inadequate because regulators were tipped to the incident by an anonymous caller.

Others have also branded the incident a tragedy, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta's environment minister.

A regional aboriginal group, the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation, called for a federal inquiry on Thursday on how to protect migratory birds, fish and other species at risk in the oil sands area.

Imperial's March said Syncrude would change its processes and procedures to prevent a repeat of the incident.

"There are really no excuses for what happened," March said. "It shouldn't have happened and we're deeply upset."

(Reporting by Scott Haggett; editing by Rob Wilson)

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Best of our wild blogs: 2 May 08

The "green" agenda has gained prominence in recent times
A case study of Chek Jawa and Labrador Park in Singapore; a great paper shared on the wonderful creations blog

Shore extravaganza: Dugong Ambassadors at Chek Jawa
a fabulous event! more on the wildfilms blog

Bumping into Betsy
a marvellous encounter at Pulau Hantu on the compressed air junkie blog

Pedal Ubin ride on Sat 07 June 2008 - Registration Open!
on the Toddycats blog

Chek Jawa walk
a guide-to-be shares on the above and under sea forest blog

Tiger shrike eating cicada
on the bird ecology blog

Jumping spider UV mate choice - paper in Current Biology
on the Biodiversity crew @ NUS blog

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