Lavish light-up? Re-direct generosity for Christmas, next year

'I enjoy driving past the house when the lights are on. But I question the extravagance.'
Straits Times Forum 25 Dec 08;
MR VERNON YONG: 'I refer to Tuesday's report, 'Bright Xmas at home' about the lavish light-up of Mr Leonard Francis' home. I enjoy driving past the house every evening when the lights are on. But I must question the extravagance, especially in the current economic climate and considering the current global drive to conserve natural resources. May I humbly encourage Mr Francis to re-direct his generosity for Christmas, next year, to the many charitable and voluntary welfare organisations in Singapore.'
X'mas XXL
Yen Feng, Straits Times 22 Dec 08;

CLUNY Road is one of the poshest streets in Singapore, but none of the private homes there inspire awe quite like that of Mr Leonard Francis.

The house features what is likely Singapore's most lavish display of Christmas decorations.

An $8,000 nativity scene, forged by Italian statue-makers, graces the front lawn, a life-sized Santa and his reindeer sit on the roof and the entire property is awash in light.

While Mr Francis was not home , he has developed a reputation as one of Singapore's most ardent Christmas decorators.

Last year, he reportedly spent $25,000 on the display and this year's edition has some new additions.

A new, larger 'star' looks down on baby Jesus, who is swaddled in the manger. Around the house, at least two more pine trees have been put up. Outside, along the home's grassy perimeter, more twinkling reindeer have joined the fold.

Mr Francis, who is Catholic, is following up on a tradition of decorating that was started by his grandfather, a former employee said last year.

It is one he wants to continue for his two teenaged sons.

On Monday, Mr Francis' home burst into colour when the lights came on at 6:35pm.

One neighbour came up to the house with a video camera in his hand.

Another, walking his golden retriever, stopped and took a photo with his cell phone, while traffic along the narrow road slowed to a crawl.

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Programme mooted in Malaysia to save Sumatran rhinos

The Star 25 Dec 08;

KUANTAN: Global warming, greenhouse gasses, destruction of forests, pollution of oceans, air and land are some of the problems affecting the environment.

Keeping this in mind, Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd decided to do its part for conservation efforts by organising an special programme in the East Coast Mall recently.

The ‘Save Our Sumatran Rhinos’ programme received good response from visitors particularly children, who learnt more about environmental issues.

As the specie was categorised as critically endangered in 1996 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Honda took up the challenge to be only corporate sponsorship solely dedicated to the animal.

There are less than 24 Sumatran rhinos left in Sabah, around 60 left in Peninsular Malaysia and less than 300 worldwide based on the last comprehensive estimate.

If nothing is done to save them in the next 15 to 20 years, the animal will most likely become extinct based on the current rate of loss.

Several trees were displayed for members of the public to write and paste their pledges to save the environment and the Sumatran rhino.

To complement the programme, the organiser also conducted a sand art workshop and taught the children to make simple items such as pen holder, kite and paper bag using recycled items.

Since it was the school holidays, the children enjoyed the activities.

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Ipoh rubber tapper caught for poaching Malayan sun bear

Caught with bear meat in fridge
Hah Foong Lian, The Star 25 Dec 08;

IPOH: A rubber tapper has been detained for allegedly poaching an endangered Malayan sun bear in the wild for his own consumption.
The 56-year-old tapper, who has a wild boar trading permit for the past three years, was arrested following a tip-off to the Selangor Wildlife and National Parks Department.

Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department director Shabrina Shariff said her officers raided the rubber tapper’s home at Jalan Ketoyong in Tanjung Malim at 11am on Tuesday after receiving information from her Selangor counterpart.

“We found the head and four limbs of the protected animal in a refrigerator.

“There was also 15kg of the animal meat stored in a plastic bag in the freezer,” she said at her office here yesterday.

She added that pellet marks from a shotgun could be seen on the animal’s head.

Shabrina said she believed that the Malayan sun bear was an adult animal weighing some 95kg but its sex could not be determined because all its organs were removed.

The suspect, she said, had told her officers that he had poached the endangered sun bear for his own consumption.

Explaining that the sun bear was a protected animal, Shabrina added that the general belief was that the sun bear was used as an aphrodisiac for men and that its meat fetched some RM200 per kg.

She said her officers had lodged a police report and the suspect would be prosecuted under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972/76.

The case would be mentioned in court next year, she added.

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Gas-producing countries set up Opec equivalent

Energy group to study price-setting and ways not to flood market
Straits Times 25 Dec 08;

MOSCOW: With Russia's support, a dozen large natural gas-producing countries including Indonesia and Malaysia have founded an organisation that will study ways to set global prices for the fuel, much as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) does for crude oil.

The development on Tuesday seems likely to further unnerve European Union nations, already wary of their dependence on Russian energy and what critics say are efforts by Moscow to use oil and natural gas exports as leverage to reassert sway over former Soviet nations.

Russia's foray into energy diplomacy, affecting natural gas producers from the Middle East to South America, also underlined its ambitions to assert itself on the world stage despite the slump in energy prices.

Initially, officials from member countries said, the group will focus on coordinating investment plans to dissuade countries from flooding the market with gas.

But if its longer-term goals are realised, the Forum of Gas Exporting Countries holds the potential to extend an Opec-like model of price modulation to another basic commodity, even as natural gas is expected to play a larger role in global energy supplies.

The forum 'will represent the interests of producers and exporters on the international market', Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the gathering of energy ministers. 'The time of cheap energy resources and cheap gas is surely coming to an end.'

The formation of the group was a coup for Russia, the world's largest producer of natural gas and oil. But most members also belong to Opec, which has been at odds with Russia over its reluctance to reduce crude oil output in coordination with the oil cartel.

The countries in the forum have been meeting informally since 2001; what was new on Tuesday was the group's adoption of a charter that would establish a permanent secretariat. Doha was chosen as the group's headquarters.

The Russian government, in a statement, said falling energy prices had impelled members to quickly formalise their organisation. As in Opec, the ministers in the new group espoused an ideology of defiance to the industrialised countries that are the primary customers, and stated the rights of commodity exporting nations to coordinate efforts to improve the terms of trade.

Moscow, which also belongs to the Group of Eight industrialised nations, insisted the group was not a cartel, like Opec. A deputy chairman of the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, Mr Aleksander Medvedev, said the natural gas business, which relies on long-term contracts, would make the use of production quotas, the backbone of Opec's pricing policies, impossible.

But the Energy Minister of Venezuela, the country that initiated the formation of the original Opec in 1960, was not coy about his hopes for the new group as liquefied natural gas traded on spot markets is projected to become a more important fuel in the global energy mix.

'We see this organisation as Opec,' Mr Rafael Ramirez said on the sidelines of the meeting. 'We are producer countries and we have to defend our interests.'

But Opec has not had a good track record of being able to control prices over the year. Despite pledges of cuts this year totalling 4.2 million barrels a day, or nearly 12 per cent of Opec's capacity, oil prices, which topped US$145 a barrel this summer, continue to fall. Prices settled on Tuesday at US$38.98 a barrel in New York.

A study that the group commissioned said natural gas prices would inevitably remain linked to the price of oil.

However, the study said that the environmental benefits of natural gas, including lower releases of greenhouse gases, are not priced into the fuel, offering room to negotiate higher prices.

The study also concluded that the market for shipborne natural gas is transforming the fuel into a global commodity, suggesting the industry will transform from one modelled as a utility serving pipeline customers to one built around trading.

The forum members include Algeria, Bolivia, Brunei, Venezuela, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Qatar, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and, as observers, Equatorial Guinea and Norway.

NEW YORK TIMES

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First detection of Ebola-Reston virus in pigs

FAO/OIE/WHO offer assistance to the Philippines
FAO Newsroom 23 Dec 08;

Manila/Roma, 23 December 2008 - Following the detection of the Ebola-Reston virus in pigs in the Philippines, FAO, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that the government of the Philippines has requested the three agencies send an expert mission to work with human and animal health experts in the Philippines to further investigate the situation.

An increase in pig mortality on swine farms in the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Bulacan in 2007 and 2008 prompted the Government of the Philippines to initiate laboratory investigations. Samples taken from ill pigs in May, June and September 2008 were sent to international reference laboratories which confirmed in late October that the pigs were infected with a highly virulent strain of Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) as well as the Ebola-Reston virus.

Ebola-Reston in swine

Although co-infection in pigs is not unusual, this is the first time globally that an Ebola-Reston virus has been isolated in swine. It is not, however, the first time that the Ebola-Reston virus has been found in the Philippines: it was found in monkeys from the Philippines in outbreaks that occurred in 1989-1990, 1992, and 1996.

The Ebola virus belongs to the Filoviridae family (filovirus) and is comprised of five distinct species: Zaïre, Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, Bundibugyo and Reston. Zaïre, Sudan and Bundibugyo species have been associated with large Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) outbreaks in Africa with high case fatality ratio (25-90%) while Côte d'Ivoire and Reston have not. Reston species can infect humans but no serious illness or death in humans have been reported to date.

Since being informed of this event in late November, FAO, OIE and WHO have been making every effort to gain a better understanding of the situation and are working closely with the Philippines Government and local animal and human health experts.

The Department of Health of the Philippines has reported that initial laboratory tests on animal handlers and slaughterhouse workers who were thought to have come into contact with infected pigs were negative for Ebola-Reston infection, and that additional testing is ongoing. The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) of the Philippines Department of Agriculture has notified the OIE that all infected animals were destroyed and buried or burned, the infected premises and establishments have been disinfected and the affected areas are under strict quarantine and movement control. Vaccination of swine against PRRS is ongoing in the Province of Bucalan. PRRS is not transmissible to humans.

The planned joint FAO/OIE/WHO team will work with country counterparts to address, through field and laboratory investigation, important questions as to the source of the virus, its transmission, its virulence and its natural habitat, in order to provide appropriate guidance for animal and human health protection.

Basic good hygiene

Until these questions can be answered, the FAO and WHO stressed the importance of carrying out basic good hygiene practices and food handling measures.

Ebola viruses are normally transmitted via contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected animal or person. In all situations, even in the absence of identified risks, meat handling and preparation should be done in a clean environment (table top, utensils, knives) and meat handlers should follow good personal hygiene practices (e.g. clean hands, clean protective clothing). In general, hands should be regularly washed while handling raw meat.

Pork from healthy pigs is safe to eat as long as either the fresh meat is cooked properly (i.e. 70°C in all part of the food, so that there is no pink meat and the juices run clear), or, in the case of uncooked processed pork, national safety standards have been met during production, processing and distribution.

Meat from sick pigs or pigs found dead should not be eaten and should not enter the food chain or be given to other animals. Ill animals should be reported to the competent authorities and proper hygiene precautions and protection should be taken when destroying and disposing of sick or dead pigs. The Philippines Department of Agriculture has advised the Philippine public to buy its meat only from National Meat Inspection Services certified sources.

As a general rule, proper hygiene and precautionary measures (wearing gloves, goggles and protective clothing) should also be exercised when slaughtering or butchering pigs. This applies both to industrial and home-slaughtering of pigs. Children and those not involved in the process of slaughtering should be kept away.

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Best of our wild blogs: 24 Dec 08

Bumper Seagrass-Watch Newsletter rings in the New Grassy Year!
on the teamseagrass blog

Happy Holidays from TeamSeagrass
on the teamseagrass blog

Why does the Hooded Pitta stand on one leg?
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Read more!

UNDP's Way To Conserve Malaysia's Marine Parks

Melati Mohd Ariff, Bernama 24 Dec 08;

PULAU TIOMAN, Dec 24 (Bernama) -- Almost two years into its implementation, the Marine Parks Project funded by the Government of Malaysia, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) is well on its course to conserve the three islands chosen under this initiative.

The islands are Pulau Redang (Terengganu), Pulau Tioman (Pahang) and Pulau Sibu-Tinggi (Johor).

According the national project manager for UNDP's Marine Parks Project, Ramzi Abu, the five-year project began in 2007 and the planning itself took about six years.

"Actually the project is called Conserving Marine Biodiversity Through Enhanced Marine Park Management and Inclusive Sustainable Island Development and UNDP is the project manager.

"Normally, UNDP projects are funded by the World Bank but because this marine parks project falls under biodiversity and involves environment, we received funds (US$2 million) from Global Environment Facilities (GEF)", he told Bernama in an interview here recently.

GEF is a global partnership among 178 countries, international institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives.

MARINE PARK PROJECT

Marine Park is a sea-zoned area of two nautical miles from the lowest sea level during low tide and is established to protect and conserve various marine habitat and aquatic life.

The project is to assist the Malaysian Government to integrate development planning with effective conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity, resources and ecosystems.

As the implementing agency for this project, the Malaysian Marine Parks Department (DMPM) would ensure improved marine resource conservation and management at the islands of Redang, Tioman and Sibu-Tinggi.

These three locations would be used as pilot sites where the management plan model and activities could be replicated to other marine parks in Malaysia.

The project's goal is to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity and sustainable island development in Malaysia.

This five years project targets 164,534.2 hectares of Malaysian sea (project sites only), for the conservation of marine bio-diversity.

CHOICE, APPROACH

On the choice of islands, Ramzi explained the three islands (Redang, Tioman and Sibu-Tinggi) were chosen because of three different scenarios.



"Tioman we can say is advanced in terms of tourism as it receives more than 200,000 visitors a year. Redang is rather moderate (at that time when it was picked for this marine project). Now the number of visitors is almost 200,000 a year.

"As for Pulau Sibu-Tinggi, there is not much tourism now but that does not mean we are abandoning the island. In marine conservation terms, less people would be good but without tourists, there would be problems for the islanders in terms of job opportunities. They may resort to fishing and we have to find alternative livelihood for them", he said.

In implementing the marine parks project, Ramzi said, the approach used comprised three components, namely to protect biodiversity, enhancing the management capacity and sustainable island management.

DIFFERENT PHASES

The Marine Parks Project has several phases and according to Ramzi the first year alone was spent on the Project document (drafted some six years ago) and socializing.

"We have to re-look at the conceptual report as some of it are redundant and some have been carried out by the DMPM and at the same time, some new problems occurred and so we incorporated what we have resolved.

"We have to look at the conditions at every side. We have to call all the stakeholders to attend a workshop and go to the ground and it took us some time to gain the confidence of the villagers and resort operators of what we are going to do.

"Those who were vocal at first later became our partners. They were concerned but they definitely care. One of them became the chairman of Rakan Park", said Ramzi, referring to the village head of Kg Air Batang, Kamarulzaman Ismail, popularly known as Tok Empat.

MAIN CHALLENGE

According to Ramzi, as the project has multiple stakeholders (local people, state and federal governments), the main challenge is to get everybody together to speak a 'common language'.

"To a certain extent, we have managed to cross this hurdle through the Rakan Park (in Pulau Tioman) and Redang Reef Rangers (Pulau Redang). It would be easier if we can engage the local community to be our 'eyes' and 'ears'", he said.

Ramzi said, the Rakan Park Pulau Tioman is the first Malaysian community park ranger corps founded by the Pahang Marine Park Unit and established by the DMPM.

Its main purpose is to help combat marine issues especially illegal activities and environmental problems within the Marine Park protected areas.

Tioman Rakan Park was established on Sept 6 last year as a pioneer project in Tioman and it is a vital link between the local communities with DMPM.

Members of Rakan Park comprise representatives from all villages in the Marine Park islands.

But as Ramzi said, the UNDP's role in the Marine Parks Project is very low profile and what is more prominent is the DMPM.

"We are not going to be here forever, we would make our exit after five years. That is why capacity building for Marine Park is very important and each island has its own officers", he said.

WHY CONSERVE MARINE PARKS?

Once a marine park is damaged, it may take years for it to recover and that also, depends on the extent of the damage.

DMPM's Marine Parks Project Director, Rahim Gor Yaman, who has been involved in the Marine Parks project since the planning stage shared his experience in rehabilitating a damaged marine park.

He told Bernama of a place called Pasir Akar in Pulau Redang.

"There was a small cove and many boats would take refuge from the storm and when they anchor, huge areas of coral reefs were destroyed. The place is just next to a village.

"Looking at the damage, we had to close the area in 1990 and by 2000, we noticed the corals have re-grown. It has not been re-inhibited and we have heard comments from people to let the area as it is. Now the place has become a research area for marine park", Rahim said.

He also told of a damaged area in Pulau Pinang off Pulau Redang that took about 10 years to be rehabilitated. The corals there, he said, were also destroyed by anchors thrown from boats.

"That particular stretch of beach of the rehabilitated area is only about 250 metres in length but has become a major tourist attraction including for snorkeling.

"The last count in terms of tourists arrival I heard is between 85,000 to 90,000 a year. We do minor management there, asking people to wear life jackets and not to damage the corals", Rahim said.

CORALS ARE VITAL

The establishment of marine parks, as Rahim said was basically for food security.

"We need to protect the breeding ground for fish and also for eco-tourism which is very important for the country. If you imagine the sea, brimming with islands where fish can hide and breed and protected from waves and predators.

"But if you destroy the corals and the seabed is left sandy and muddy, it is not a productive ecosystem. It is very important for us to protect their habitats for them to breed", he said.

According to Rahim, coral reefs is a living organism and any two-degree rise in temperature would cause them to die.

"Corals are very sensitive pre-historic organism and they are a cross between the animals and plants. Corals are very unique living organisms that have evolved for so long.

"We are lucky because Malaysia is located in the tropics. Their redistribution is within the tropics between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Major diversity of coral reefs is around the Equator and Malaysia is located on the fringe of the coral triangle.

"People fail to see what anchors could do to corals. If one boat anchors, the area of corals that could be damaged is about one square metre and if the anchor is dragged, the damage would be worse.

"Multiply by the number of boats and days, there you have it. As I have said, it take years for corals to re-grow as corals grow very slow", said Rahim.

-- BERNAMA

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11 more Solomon dolphins for Philippines, ultimately for Resorts World Sentosa

Makili: More dolphins ready for export here
Solomon Star 24 Dec 08;

ELEVEN more bottlenose dolphins are expected to leave the country before the end of this year, Earth Island Regional Director Lawrence Makili claimed.

Mr Makili said documents be obtained confirmed 11 more dolphins will be exported to the Philippines before the year ends.

“I have confirmation from the receiving party in the Philippines that 11 dolphins should be sent before the end of this year,” he said.

However he said whoever will be exporting the dolphins from this end is still unclear.
The Ministries of Fisheries and Conservation when contacted said they have no knowledge of the matter.

But a senior officer in the Fisheries Ministry who want his name withheld said if things are sorted out properly, it is not an illegal deal.

“Licence holders are allowed by the government to export up to 100 dolphins each year,” he said.

The country has five licence holders.

One of them, Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Centre, owned by Canadian Chris Porter, recently exported seven bottlenose dolphins to a marine park in the Philippines.

The dolphins will be trained there before they are sent to Resorts World Park in Singapore.

Mr Makili accused the Government of ignorance, saying a research which export of live dolphins should base on has not been completed.

“There’s a research which was not completed, and the research will determine the population of wild dolphins in our waters,” he said.

He said to allow the export of live dolphins without knowing exactly the population in our waters is ridiculous.

Mr Makili said they will ensure the 11 dolphins that is ready for export will not go unnoticed like the seven that left early this month.

“We will ensure the public and the rest of the world know about the movement of the dolphins and to see how bad-mannered Solomon Islands is towards these friendly mammals,” he said.

Mr Makil said all the dolphins are only sent to the Philippines for training.
“They’ll be re-exported to Singapore later next year.”

By EDNAL PALMER

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Four baby Rhinos discovered in Ujung Kulon, Indonesia

The Jakarta Post 23 Dec 08;

Ujung Kulon National Park (TNUK) employees discovered four baby rhinoceroses during a routine census in Pandeglang, Banten, West Java, earlier this month, tempointeraktif.com reported Tuesday.

"Finding these baby rhinos proves they're still procreating and regeneration is ongoing," TNUK head Agus Primabudi said.

He added the four varied in size. The smallest baby had hind feet measuring at 17 and 18 centimeters in diameter; the largest baby's feet measured 23 and 24 centimeters.

TNUK reported they had recorded a total of 50 rhinoceroses in the park in 2008. (amr)

Rare rhino calves found in Indonesian jungle
Yahoo News 23 Dec 08;

JAKARTA (AFP) – Four calves of the world's rarest species of rhino have been found in remote jungle on Indonesia's Java island, giving hope to efforts to save them from extinction, an official said Tuesday.

"Four Javan rhinos of six to seven months age were seen by scientists on the beach near the jungle during a recent field survey," Agus Primabudi, the head of the Ujung Kulon National Park in West Java, told AFP.

Alerted to the presence of humans, the baby rhinos fled into the park to where two adult rhinos aged roughly 35 to 36, believed to be their parents, were staying, Primabudi said.

Primabudi said that the birth of the four calves has given new hope that the Javan rhinos can breed in the wild at levels high enough to keep the local population alive into the future.

"The most important thing we can do is to protect their habitat so that they can breed easily," he said.

The Javan rhino, which is distinguished by its small size, single horn and loose skin folds, is likely the most endangered large mammal on the planet, according to WWF.

Roughly 90 percent of the world's 50 or so Javan rhinos live in Ujung Kulon park, an oasis of wilderness on the western edge of one of the world's most densely populated islands.

The Javan rhino is classified as critically endangered by WWF and none of the animals currently live in captivity.

Calves of rare Javan Rhino found in Indonesia
Thaindian News 24 Dec 08;

Jakarta, Dec 24 (Xinhua) Four calves of Javan Rhinoceros, one the world’s most endangered species, have been found in an Indonesian jungle this week, indicating that they have started breeding and raising hope of saving it from extinction.It is believed that the specie, which is found only in the Ujung Kulon National Park in West Java, could not breed due to unfavourable environmental conditions, said Hadi Alikadri, head of species programme of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Indonesia.

The park is home to some 40-60 Javan Rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros sondaicus).

“Conservationists have found four calves (Javan Rhinoceroses) during a survey this week,” Alikadri said Wednesday, adding that the calves are around four-year old.

He said the finding put the total number of calves that have been born in the last three years to seven.

“The high population of wild bulls coupled with a type of plant widely grown, but disliked by the rhinos, hampered their breeding in the park,” said Alikadri.

“These factors must be reduced. The population of wild bull (around 700) and the amount of the plant must be slashed,” he said.

The Javan Rhino is sensitive to disturbances, which can force them to abort breeding that is limited to just once a year, said Alikadri.

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A rubbish life for US marathon recycler

Tangi Quemener, Yahoo News 23 Dec 08;

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Dave Chameides has spent almost an entire year living a life full of utter garbage, and hoping he can inspire other Americans to do the same.

The Los Angeles-based cameraman has lived in his comfortable Hollywood home without throwing away a single piece of trash, from wine bottles to chewing gum and pizza boxes.

Instead the 39-year-old Chameides -- nicknamed "Sustainable Dave" -- recycles his garbage or else stores it in his basement. He says he wants to show that it is possible to dramatically reduce his family's consumption habits.

And he can show astounding results. Rather than the 1,600 pounds of trash the average American family produces each year, Chameides, his wife and two daughters have amassed only 32 pounds over the last 12 months.

"If I were the average American, this entire basement would be filled with plastic water bottles," said Chameides, who chronicles his campaign with an Internet blog (http://365daysoftrash.blogspot.com).

Chameides has shunned bottled water in favor of filtered tap water -- except when on holiday in Mexico, but even those water bottles were brought back to his home, compacted and stored with other trash.

His war on packaging also extends to the family groceries. Rice and pulses are bought by the kilo and placed in containers, while fresh fruit and vegetables are purchased at a weekly neighborhood farmers' market.

In fact, groceries was one of the easiest areas to eliminate packaging, Chameides said.

"The food is not so bad, but with DVDs, kids toys and so on, it's packaging you don't want, and it's frustrating," he told AFP. "What you don't realize is that you're paying for it, and pay for it again to dispose of it."

"So I buy rice and beans in bulk, there's no packaging. I pay less, it just makes sense. People need to wake up and say, this is not OK."

Ironically, even Chameides's rubbish will not go to waste. In January, his refuse will be sent to the Trash Museum of Connecticut to be exhibited.

Meanwhile, organic waste, such as banana skins and egg shells, is minced up by worms and used as compost. "Any kind of organic food and paper, except meat and fish. It's a really amazingly efficient system," Chameides enthuses.

His southern California home is fitted with solar panels while his car runs on used cooking oil. However, he insists that even if you don't follow his example to the letter, "sustainable living" can be achieved without huge sacrifices to your quality of life.

"I'm eating fresher food, I'm saving money, helping the local economy, supporting farmers instead of corporations. For me that's worth it. It's just thinking about doing the right thing," he says.

"It's just little steps. I'm not living in a cave. People think that the US quality of life should be living in a house with lights on all the time. We live a pretty decent life, by many people's standards we live a phenomenal life."

Even wrapping paper for Christmas gifts presents an opportunity to recycle.

"If we wrap something, it would be either in comics or something useful, reusable," he says.

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'Global land grab' causing alarm among NGOs

Fabien Zamora Yahoo News 23 Dec 08;

MADRID (AFP) – The global food and financial crises have combined to create a new form of colonialism in which countries short of resources and corporations desperate for profits are buying up arable land in emerging nations, NGOs say.

The non-governmental organisations have expressed concern at this "global land grab," which they say is threatening the survival of rural livelihoods in some parts of the world.

The practice is being carried out in part by countries which have little arable land and have been hit this year by soaring food prices, and by investors who are getting burned in the financial crisis and are tempted by the profits from food products.

"On the one hand, 'food insecure' governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of farmland abroad for their own offshore food production," said the Spanish-based NGO Grain.

"On the other hand, food corporations and private investors, hungry for profits in the midst of the deepening financial crisis, see investment in foreign farmland as an important new source of revenue."

The result is that fertile agricultural land is becoming privatised and concentrated.

"Did someone say colonialism was a thing of the past?" Grain asked.

Among the countries looking for concessions are Arab countries in the Gulf, as well as China, Egypt, India, Japan and South Korea.

Among the target countries are the Philippines, Cambodia, Uganda and Brazil, said Grain.

Another NGO, International Land Coalition, has also voiced unease at the trend.

"The globalisation of land markets, combined with increasing opportunities for profit from agricultural production, is provoking increased speculation in agricultural land by multinational companies, including investment banks," it said.

South Korean group Daewoo Logistics is negotiating with the government of Madagascar for the acquisition of 1.3 million hectares of land, the equivalent of more than half of the land under cultivation in the country, to produce maize and palm oil.

The buying up of arable land "is a phenomenon of huge magnitude" which has undergone "a sudden acceleration," said Paul Mathieu, of the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation's Land Tenure and Management unit.

He said the trend presents risks as well as opportunities.

The investors will "not only remove the land, but also the local farmers", with "real and major risks: impoverishment, extreme social tension, civil unrest," he said.

On the other hand, "more investment capital in agriculture, when well-managed, can contribute to real rural development."

But Grain is more pessimistic.

"If left unchecked, this global land grab could spell the end of small-scale farming, and rural livelihoods, in numerous places around the world," it said.

The FAO recently issued a document on good real estate practices in which it called for increased transparency in transactions between investor states and local communities giving up territory.

"There may be very positive practices in the negotiations between outside investors and the local community, in which both are looking for a win-win situation," it said.

"But it is not won in advance as the negotiations are very uneven in terms of economic power and access to information."

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 23 Dec 08

First signs of 'Long Island' reclamation off the East Coast?
on the wild shores of singapore blog and is more reclamation on Singapore possible?

Massive reclamation off Labrador continues to Jun 09
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Pollution at Punggol: what goes on nearby?
on the wild shores of singapore blog

The Oldies
an interesting clam on the Psychedelic Nature blog

Pretty rare
on the annotated budak blog

Merry Christmas (聖誕快樂)
sluggy seasons greetings from the colourful clouds blog

Sentosa Shore Walk
with the Naked Hermit Crabs on the Voices of the Reefs blog

Looking and studying birds at your doorsteps
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Hooded Pitta eating a land mollusc
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Valley of The Trees 2
on the Aesthetic Voyager blog

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