Support for Earth Hour growing in Singapore

More firms have signed up this year, with some going the extra mile
Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 24 Mar 10;

THE movement to turn off the lights for an hour this Saturday to raise awareness about climate change is gathering steam.

More than 500 companies have pledged to take part in Earth Hour, up from last year's total of 450 companies.

Individuals are also signing up to do their bit. The number of pledges is growing, and the Earth Hour organiser here, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), is hoping that it will top last year's 10,000.

Earth Hour, to be observed here for the second year in a row, requires its supporters to switch off their lights between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday.

Iconic buildings across the island - from Orchard Road's Ion to the Central Business District's HSBC Building and Maybank Tower to Changi Airport - will go dark during that time.

But some buildings are going beyond turning off their lights during that hour, noted Miss Carine Seror, who heads the WWF's Earth Hour project.

For example, property giant CapitaLand will switch off the lights on the facades of about 180 of its properties across Asia at the appointed time - and for the next nine hours after that.

Event sponsor SingTel will switch off the air-conditioning at its offices during lunch hour on Friday. Resorts World Sentosa, taking part for the first time, will switch off its facade lights, fountain lights and half of its lobby and carpark lights.

A bicycle convoy made up of 50 cyclists will make its way from the campus green of the Singapore Management University at 6pm to the Esplanade Park in time for the Earth Hour concert.

The Earth Hour Cycle, organised by Baik, a Singapore-based bike-touring company, drew only 10 cyclists last year. This year, the group is welcoming public participation. Ms Yvonne Lim, part owner of the business, said: 'I thought it was ironic that people used their cars to get to a green event last year, so we are hoping to encourage more people to cycle.'

The concert will feature a yoga lesson and performances by guitar duet Jack and Rai, a Michael Jackson impersonator, illusionist J.C. Sum and 'Magic Babe' Ning, youth drumming group Freedom Percussion and a cappella group Juz B. From the show venue, concert-goers will be able to see the city skyline in darkness for an hour.

Miss Seror said the WWF hopes the initiative will grow year on year, and that the evening's deliberate blackout will lead to more long-term action.

'We hope companies aren't using it for green-washing and that the message goes beyond this hour,' she said, referring to the practice of giving a misleading picture of environmental friendliness to cover up damaging activities.

Individuals may sign up online at earthhour.wwf.sg to pledge their participation in Earth Hour, a movement which began in 2007 in Sydney. That year, 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for an hour; today, the movement has more than five million supporters in over 100 countries.

Things to do when darkness descends
Today Online 24 Mar 10;

SINGAPORE - Orchard Road may be a little dim on Saturday but shoppers and visitors will not be shortchanged for want of things to do.

They can, for example, watch the inaugural Earth Hour concert at 313@Somerset, which will use used cooking oil converted into biodiesel to provide the power and lights for the show.

To date, more than 10 shopping malls belonging to the Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) have committed to switching off some of their lights to support this year's Earth Hour. Some have also planned activities and promotions for the time their lights are off.

Besides 313@Somerset, where the show starts at 8.30pm, ION Orchard will hold a Lights-Out party from 8pm, which will include an interactive mass drumming performance. It will also turn its facade lights off for 10 hours from 8.30pm on Saturday to 6.30am on Sunday to mark CapitaLand's 10th anniversary. More than 190 of CapitaLand's properties worldwide will do the same.

Wisma Atria will also mark the occasion with activities that include star-gazing on its rooftop gardent and a countdown to Earth Hour 2010.

Ms Amy Ho, managing director of World Wildlife Fund Singapore, said it hopes Orba's move "marks the first step towards longer term collaboration about educating shoppers on sustainable lifestyle and more environmentally friendly consumption practices".

Malls join Earth Hour
Reico Wong, Straits Times 24 Mar 10;

Mrs Sng Ngoi May, Chairman of the Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA), said that during Earth Hour, the malls, hotels, restaurants and other businesses on Orchard Road will switch off their facade and other non-essential lights for at least an hour starting from 8.30pm. -- PHOTO: ST

SHOPPING malls along Orchard Road will join global efforts to mark Earth Hour on Saturday.

More than 10 shopping centres, including new malls such as ION Orchard, 313@Orchard, Orchard Central and Mandarin Gallery, will switch off their facade and other non-essential lights for at least an hour starting from 8.30pm.

The move is an attempt to demonstrate that with concerted efforts, mankind can make a difference in the fight against carbon emissions and climate change. Earth Hour is organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), one of the world's largest and highly recognised conservation organisations with almost five million supporters globally.

Mrs Sng Ngoi May, Chairman of the Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA), said: 'Switching off our lights is a simple act which sends out a powerful message. During Earth Hour, our malls, hotels, restaurants and other businesses on Orchard Road will be united with millions around the globe to demonstrate that in our own little ways, we can all make changes to reduce our total energy consumption.'

Many of the malls will also hold a variety of related activities and promotions. Wisma Atria is organising a countdown to Earth Hour as well as star gazing and polaroid picture-pledging, while CapitaLand will hold an Earth Hour Lights-Out party with live performances at ION Orchard.

Ms Amy Ho, Managing Director of WWF Singapore, said: 'ORBA's pledge to join the Earth Hour switch-off is a resounding statement for Singapore staying true to its commitment in joining the fight against climate change.

'We hope that this marks the first step towards longer term collaboration about educating shoppers on sustainable lifestyle and more environmentally friendly consumption practices.'

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Pricey pulp to lead to higher paper prices

Demand for pulp up even as producers face supply disruptions
Esther Teo Straits Times 24 Mar 10;

SINGAPOREANS should brace themselves for hikes in the cost of paper as a result of surging global pulp prices, the Singapore Paper Merchants Association (SPMA) has warned.

Supply disruptions in some of the world's largest pulp producing countries have coincided with a recovery in demand in countries such as China, SPMA president Chua Kee Teang noted yesterday.

Much of Chile's pulp capacity was taken out by the recent earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale, with mill production shut down due to power failure or for clean-up, repair and safety inspection.

The supply from Chile accounts for 8 per cent of global pulp capacity and is one of the key factors to ensure price stability.

In Finland, several mills had been brought to a standstill by a dock strike staged earlier this month, which had halted shipping into and out of the country, Mr Chua said. Although ended by a new wage deal inked last week, the dispute has succeeded in temporarily crippling the industry.

North American pulp producers have been unable to pick up the slack, with wet weather conditions making it difficult for farmers to harvest the raw material, which has slowed pulp supply dramatically.

Ms Joanne Lam, sales director of Hiap Moh Paper, said several American mills had already informed her that they will no longer be able to supply her company with paper because of the supply problems.

Most consumers, she added, were unaware of this 'critical situation'.

Industry players are predicting an increase of about 10 per cent for the price of paper and packaging over the next three to six months as reductions to the supply of pulp - used to manufacture newsprint, fine paper, magazine paper and cardboard - begin to be felt by markets.

Pulp prices have already risen by more than 40 per cent over the past year, according to SPMA.

It expects the price of woodfree paper to rise to between US$970 (S$1,360) and US$1,070 per metric tonne in the second quarter of the year, compared to between US$780 and US$800 for the same period last year.

Speaking in Mandarin, Mr Chua said: 'Prices are controlled by the market and there has been increasing demand worldwide...Current prices make me a little nervous, but with the cost of raw materials going up, consumers should be prepared for further increases in the prices of paper products.'

Mr Jackson Wong, assistant general manager of paper trading firm JPP Far East, said that the price of all paper products had already risen 15 per cent to 20 per cent since the beginning of the year.

The upward pressure on prices has been heightened by the very low level of pulp inventories around the world, he said.

Those who buy on a spot basis, such as publishers of textbooks and periodicals or purchasers of photocopying paper, will be most hit by increases, he said.

Newsprint publishers will see a gradual rise because their long-term purchasing will mean exclusive agreements with larger paper mills, he added. Their substantial use of recycled paper will also mitigate this increase.

SPMA noted that certain overseas mills had recently decided to cease supplying pulp to Singapore paper merchants, while others had refused to rule out further price increases due to 'exceptional circumstances'.

'Especially in this situation, mills are starting to get particular in the consistency of purchase... They want bigger buyers who can pay higher prices,' Mr Wong said.

Any immediate hike in the price of education textbooks seemed to be ruled out by the Ministry of Education (MOE) when contacted yesterday. It said that it had contractual agreements with publishers that fixed the prices of educational materials.

'Publishers will have to abide by the agreements and are not allowed to raise prices without seeking permission. Changes to prices can be made only on a yearly basis and MOE does not allow for month-on-month fluctuations,' a spokesman said.

However, if the trend of rising pulp prices persists and the costs of production increase, the publishers will renegotiate with MOE and it will then assess if it is fair to increase the price, the spokesman added.

MOE said, however, that it will continue to ensure that educational materials remain reasonably priced.

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Going green tech for a bigger, better yield

Straits Times 24 Mar 10;

In the fourth of a six-part series on innovative start-ups, agribusiness firm Agro Genesis tells Francis Chan how it is taking a concept from lab to market with help from Spring Singapore's Technology Enterprise Commercialisation Scheme (Tecs)

CHEMICAL fertilisers have long replaced manure and other decaying organic materials to help farmers enhance soil fertility and crop yield.

But a fertiliser usually requires dissolving the substance in water before it is added to farmland and that leads to wastage as most of the nutrients get filtered away through soil.

Dr Sung Do Song, director and co-founder of local start-up Agro Genesis, said only a measly one per cent of nutrients in chemical fertilisers is absorbed by crops. 'The rest of the 99 per cent? It's just all waiting on chance.'

'The fact is, nutrients in common fertilisers - usually water-soluble - can be washed away by rain or get too tightly combined with the soil,' he said.

That conundrum inspired Agro Genesis to come up with an alternative. It is field-testing Miracle Sweet, an environmentally-friendly fertiliser that not only cuts wastage but also substantially increases crop yield.

Test results from Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and South Korea have been encouraging, said Ms Karen Kon, the firm's co-founder and associate director.

Latest test estimates show that 5kg to 10kg of Miracle Sweet can replace up to 100kg of common fertiliser used for one hectare of arable land.

'Conventional fertilisers have to be water soluble so that it can be uptaken by plants, but our invention is actually water insoluble, but yet it can uptaken by plants,' said Ms Kon, who has been in agribusiness for more than 15 years.

The firm plans to roll out the product this year once final field tests are completed. Said Ms Kon: 'It's a huge market out there but we're a small company, so we hope to work with the right distributors and the right partners to make it big.'

Size does matter in the business of agriculture, a fact not lost on Dr Sung and Ms Kon, who first worked together at German chemical giant BASF.

But when it came to increasing the efficiency of fertilisers - what the industry refers to as fertiliser use efficiency (FUE) - Dr Sung knew that he had to go nano.

'The smaller the nutrient particle, the higher the chance of uptake by plants, and we know that,' said Dr Sung, who has a PhD in agricultural science.

Miracle Sweet was developed using Micro Suspension (MS) technology, a process developed by Agro Genesis that breaks down nutrient and mineral particles further into 'micro-size'.

'That way plants can uptake the minerals faster and more easily, so it's like we cook the food for plants and it says, 'Thank you, I'll eat it now' - that is the idea,' explained Dr Sung.

Miracle Sweet has been tested on various crops such as rice, corn, soya bean, sweet potato and tapioca in fields and greenhouses.

Dr Sung said the product reduces wastage and hence costs, because it can be applied directly to the seeds - a process called seed-coating - before planting.

'So if you have a large plantation, and you use the coating method, it can save you a lot of money,' he added.

Besides promoting root growth and a marked increase in the size of crops treated with Miracle Sweet, Agro Genesis tests have also recorded increases in sugar and starch content in crops such as corn and potato and increased essential oil content in some herb plants.

'So on top of increasing crop yield, it also increases the sugar or starch content in crops by up to 20, 30 per cent and that's very important because of the growing demand for biofuels,' said Ms Kon.

Another positive 'green' factor was that unlike conventional fertilisers - which are typically composed of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, or what farmers call NPK fertilisers - Miracle Sweet comprised natural elements.

While advocates say NPK fertilisers help improve plant growth, the synthetic substance's impact on the environment bothered Ms Kon.

'Phosphorus is taken from rocks and they are a depleting resource, plus phosphorus and nitrogen also run off from the soil into water bodies causing algae blooms like in China just a few years ago,' she said.

The firm's Micro Suspension technology uses renewable resources like animal bones to produce Miracle Sweet.

Dr Sung said that because it is an insoluble phosphate and calcium liquid, the product is an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical fertilisers.

Although the firm's technology is under a patent review, Agro Genesis is already making headway into Europe, with several Dutch and German contacts expressing keen interest.

'We definitely saw a growing demand for agricultural technology solutions when we started in 2005,' said Ms Kon.

'And our markets are not really confined to the Asia Pacific, because fertilisers can be used everywhere else in the world. That is why we applied for patents globally.'

Revenue mainly from product sales and consultancy fees at the firm have grown consistently by about 20 to 30 per cent over the last five years.

The firm's innovative work earned it a $500,000 grant from Spring Singapore under its Technology Enterprise Commercialisation Scheme in 2008.

Funding support from the scheme has helped the firm set up a 600 sq m farm in Seletar for product testing, and a quality control lab in Ang Mo Kio. Both facilities - where most of Agro Genesis' 15 research staff work - are helping to accelerate the development of Miracle Sweet.

'If we were just running our consultancy business, R&D would have to take a back seat or we would have to outsource it,' said Ms Kon.

'But with the grant from Spring, we could work on our innovations in-house and that helped a lot... and we are expecting revenue to more than double once Miracle Sweet takes off.'

Read more!

CleanTech Partners to develop fund to help businesses

May Wong Channel NewsAsia 23 Mar 10;

SINGAPORE: CleanTech Partners, a consortium of six Singapore-based clean technology firms, is planning to develop a fund to help businesses expand in the clean-tech sector.

It is working with a French corporate advisory company, Gereje, on this.

The Eco-Venture Fund will start with about S$380 million initially and is due to be set up within nine months.

Demand is fast rising for clean technology, and the CleanTech Partners consortium is signing up with a Chinese partner to develop an eco-friendly industrial and commercial park in Hangzhou.

The new agreement and its Eco-Venture Fund will help Singapore businesses explore the Chinese market.

"The projects we find will probably be Asia-based with China being perhaps a 50 per cent centric in that fund," said Patrick Teo, chairman of Cleantech Partners. "It'll be open to anybody who wants to acquire exposure in clean technology in Asia through us.

"The minimum size is not small - we don't want a lot of small investors. We prefer a smaller number of larger investors. They on their own, aren't large enough and they may not want to expand that kind of resources that is required to develop, identify, evaluate, assess, develop a project... but as a consortium, you spread the cost and you get a lot more networking and feedback through a CTP-led effort I think and it makes sense for a small country like Singapore."

Two other agreements signed will help companies make further inroads into Zhejiang province.

Having facilitated this, the Singapore-Zhejiang Economic and Trade Council wants to do more.

It wants to focus on infocomm technology and environmental services and encourage firms to use Singapore as a trading hub.

The council, which held its sixth meeting in Singapore on Wednesday, was formed in November 2003. It was set up to promote economic exchanges and cooperation between Zhejiang province and Singapore.

"The first is of course to get Zhejiang companies to think about using Singapore as a trading hub, as a communications centre to help them expand (into) markets outside of China," said Lim Hwee Hua, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.

"We have all the linkages to Southeast Asia, we have the Free Trade Agreements that we've signed, which we can make available to companies that are based in Singapore.

"The second is actually in areas where the services sector is actually expanding within China itself, in terms of like urban solutions, transportation, infrastructure development and so on.

"These are the very areas that we've gone through ourselves in Singapore and in many other places and for which I think we can bring something to the table to work with the companies there."

Last year, bilateral trade between Singapore and Zhejiang amounted to nearly US$2 billion, down 15 per cent on-year.

Singapore's exports to Zhejiang amounted to US$675 million, while imports from Zhejiang reached US$1.32 billion (S$1.85 billion) last year.

Singapore and Zhejiang usually hold its council meetings biennially. But from this year, the meetings will be held on an annual basis instead.

Mrs Lim hopes that the frequent meetings would lead to more collaborations.

Last year, Singapore's actual foreign direct investments into Zhejiang increased by 2.6 per cent to S$450 million. That makes Singapore Zhejiang's sixth largest investment partner in 2009.

- CNA/yb

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Keppel unit bags deal for German wind farm

Harsha Jethnani, Straits Times 24 Mar 10;

A KEPPEL Corp unit has won a $117.6 million contract to build a vessel that will be used to erect a wind farm off the German coast.

Keppel Verolme, which is based in the Netherlands, will partner German firm Areva Energietechnik to undertake the project.

It is Keppel Verolme's first contract to build a vessel for the wind energy sector.

The deal was awarded by Wetfeet Offshore, which will build and operate the wind farm in the North Sea, according to a Keppel Corp statement yesterday.

'This marks Keppel's entry into the offshore wind energy business, and affirms Wetfeet Offshore's confidence in our ability with Areva to deliver the best solution for the job,' said Keppel Verolme managing director Harold Linssen.

The barge will serve as a platform to carry the transformers and high voltage switchgear for the wind turbines, which will eventually deliver electricity to Germany's power grid.

'Germany aims to raise its percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources to at least 20 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2050,' said Mr Linssen.

'A major element in achieving this target is to further develop the capacity of its offshore wind sector.'

The wind farm will be able to generate about 1.4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity once it is fully operational in 2013.

It could power nearly 134,000 average American homes a year, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The farm will supply one million people with clean energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.2 million tonnes each year.

Keppel Verolme will handle the engineering and construction work for the barge while Areva Energietechnik will fabricate and install special equipment. The vessel should be completed later next year.

Areva Energietechnik is a German subsidiary of French energy company Areva.

Keppel Verolme is in a strategic position to add value to the offshore wind industry, given its proximity to the European and North Sea markets, Mr Linssen said.

The project 'augments our strong track record and expertise in delivering a variety of advanced offshore rigs and vessels on time, within budget and without incidents', he added.

Keppel Corp closed 19 cents higher at $9.16 yesterday.

Keppel bags first contract for German wind farm
Georgina Joseph Channel NewsAsia 23 Mar 10;

SINGAPORE: Keppel Verolme and consortium partner AREVA have secured a S$117.6 million contract to build a barge for a new offshore wind farm in the German Zone of the North Sea.

Mr Harold Linssen, managing director of Keppel Verolme in The Netherlands, said this latest contract marks Keppel's successful entry into the offshore wind energy business.

When fully operational in 2013, the wind farm will be able to generate some 1.4 billion kilowatt hours of electrical energy annually. This will supply one million people with clean energy. It is also expected to help cut some 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Keppel Verolme will carry out the detailed engineering and construction work on this new platform design, while AREVA will design, fabricate and install the transformers and other equipment.

The vessel is targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The contract is not expected to have material impact on the earnings per share of Keppel Corporation for the current financial year.

- CNA/sc

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Show us the proof of Dubai Atlantis whale shark release

Animal rights group and Dubai residents call for evidence of whale shark’s release
7 Days 23 Mar 10;

Campaigners are calling for Dubai’s Atlantis hotel to disclose details surrounding the release of its controversial whale shark amid speculation over the fate of the giant fish.

International campaign group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) branded the release “secretive” after the five-star resort refused to publicly discuss the decision to free the creature, provide photographs of the release or share details on how the female’s progress can be tracked by the public or marine researchers not associated with Atlantis.

Rumours have also surfaced on various web sites and forums that the creature may have been ill before she was released or is even dead.

Questions raised after ‘secretive’ release of Atlantis whale shark

PETA’s Asia director Jason Baker said: “We are concerned about her condition and hope Atlantis clarifies this soon.

She has been imprisoned in an environment that could never compare to the vast ocean she was used to.

Captivity creates a whole new set of health problems for whales and other marine mammals.

Most captive whales and dolphins, even in the ‘best’ captive enclosures, never reach old age.”

Adrian Steyn, a Dubai-based whale shark campaigner, said the secrecy surrounding the release would fuel speculation.

“The fact they are not releasing information is raising a justifiable level of suspicion.

The obvious standpoint now is that the whale shark has been released to save Atlantis embarrassment because they could not afford to have it die in their care.

The information about its tagging and progress is critical and should be shared with everyone - especially marine researchers who are still in the dark.”

Atlantis has remained, as ever, tight-lipped on the subject even as online campaigners are fearing the worst.

One person posted on a facebook site dedicated to the animal: “Atlantis are not normally publicity shy, its opening is proof
of that. So why did Atlantis keep the release of the whale shark so quiet?”

Another poster asked: “Do you think she might be dead?”

The shark was caught off Jebel Ali in August 2008.

Atlantis has consistently refused to comment on her condition since then and only a short statement was issued when she was freed on Thursday.

7DAYS emailed questions to Atlantis yesterday and received a brief response which said the whale shark was in “good health”.

It also said the tagging device will begin to transmit information to a marine lab in Florida after three months. It did not say who would have access to the tagging data or comment on why the whale shark was relea-sed or why there are no photos of the release.

It has also removed any posts on its facebook page relating to the whale shark, including a list of questions posed by 7DAYS.

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Trade in wildlife meat still rampant in Sarawak

The Star 24 Mar 10;

KUCHING: Some rural towns in Sarawak are hotspots for the wildlife meat trade.

The Star observed that the sale of wildlife meat has been thriving in Julau in Sarikei Division, Kanowit in Sibu Division and Kapit.

Protected species under the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 such as pangolins, civets and pythons are sold openly by the roadsides, and at grocery shops and wet markets.

Some animals are brutally killed before being brought to the market.

According to a trader in Julau, his fresh wildlife meat supply came from longhouse natives.

Another trader who was selling civets said he had shot the animals himself.

While the authorities are trying their best to end the trade in wildlife meat, it is obvious that more needs to be done, particularly in educating the people.

Traffic South-East Asia’s senior programme officer Noorainie Awang Anak urged the Sarawak Forestry Corporation to hold more awareness campaigns for villagers on the law regulating wildlife trade and protection.

“Maybe the message on the ban on wildlife trade in Sarawak did not reach the village level and that is why you still have locals hunting and selling wildlife meat openly,” she said.

Noorainie also said enforcement had to be strengthened to curb the wildlife trade.

Malaysian Nature Society Kuching branch chairman Rebecca D’Cruz said as Sarawak strived to be developed, its people should stop consuming wildlife meat.

“The people should realise by now that there is no scientific proof that eating wildlife meat would enhance one’s health,” she said.

D’Cruz stressed that people should help protect and conserve the animals for posterity and the development of tourism.

D’Cruz also noted that the wildlife trade exposed humans to disease carried by animals.

Under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance, it is illegal to sell or buy any wildlife or wildlife products that had been hunted from the wild.

Those found guilty can be fined between RM10,000 and RM50,000.

State Forest Director and Wildlife Controller Datuk Len Talif Salleh, who last week said the trade in wildlife meat in Sarawak was not rampant, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

He also said the authorities realised it was still happening in some rural areas but the department was more concerned with poaching and the commercial trade of such meat.

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'Majestic' Raptors Flying High At Tanjung Tuan, Malaysia

Soraya Jamal, Bernama 24 Mar 10;

TANJUNG TUAN, March 24 (Bernama) -- Not many among us are aware that the raptors or birds of prey are the direct descendants of the velociraptors (the voracious dinosaurs with bird-like hips that walked on two legs featured in the 'Jurassic Park' movies).

And, in Melaka's Tanjung Tuan, formerly known as Cape Rachado, thousands of these birds can be seen circling majestically overhead on their incredible journey back to their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere.

Raptors have been using this promontory for thousands of years to cross over the Melaka Straits and this annual migration is definitely one of nature's spectacular events. Truly, it is a sight to behold that takes place every March over the protected forest area of Tanjung Tuan.

The birds of prey are not the only avian species that could be observed over Tanjung Tuan at this time of the year as there are also migratory bee-eaters, swifts and wagtails that could be seen heading north.

RAPTOR WATCH

To mark the return of these birds of prey and raise awareness on the conservation of raptors and their habitat, the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) has been organising the Raptor Watch weekend annually since year 2000.

It has become the biggest and most widely attended public event for MNS, attracting visitors from all over the world for a mere two-day period.

The chairman MNS' Bird Conservation Council Mohd Rafi Kudus says raptors are birds of prey (such as hawks, eagles, falcons, vultures and owls) and are highly mobile, wide-ranging, area sensitive land-based predators.

Raptors are large carnivorous birds. They have many adaptations for hunting other animals including having light wings, acute vision, hooked beaks and large sharp talons.

Many originate from the cold northern hemisphere and can be found in the forests of Siberia, northern China, Mongolia, Japan and Korea.

MIGRATION

The act of migration is influenced by the availability of food sources and climate. During the northern winter, when food resources in their breeding range are scarce, raptors migrate to other areas where food is more readily available.

A very interesting fact is that these raptors are highly territorial in their own habitats.

Each requires several square kilometre as their personal hunting ground. Yet, in the migratory season, they would gather into flocks numbering over thousands and fly over the open seas to warmer destinations.

Raptors can fly over long distances.

To do so, they cruise at high altitudes and make use of the thermals, or warm air rising to gain height before gliding. That way, they do not have to flap their wings much and are able to conserve energy.

Raptors migrate during the day and require thermals to travel efficiently.

This is the primary reason why Tanjung Tuan is the focal point for raptor migration. The warm air rising from Tanjung Tuan means the birds can rise, and they circle as they gain height.

It also offers the shortest crossing from Peninsular Malaysia to Sumatra over the Melaka straits and vice versa.

FLYING GRACEFULLY UP CLOSE

However, many would reach the Malaysian mainland utterly exhausted. Some birds do not make it. Some fall into the sea and drown while others die from starvation or exhaustion and some, unfortunately, are shot.

As they approach the Malaysian coast, the birds lost height, and have to flap their wings in order to reach land. Because they come in so low, bird watchers have a chance to see them flying gracefully up close.

As there are no thermals at night or on wet days, this is when they rest and feed.

MNS head of communication, Anthony Sebastian says visitors can expect to view five main species of migratory raptors around Tanjung Tuan after the birds crossed the straits.

They are the Oriental Honey-Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus), Black Baza (Aviceda leuphotes), Japanese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis), Chinese Goshawk (Accipiter soloensis) and the Grey-faced Buzzard (Butastur indicus).

The best time to watch these raptors is between 11am and 3pm.

The main negatives are rain, haze or a change in wind direction. On some days, more than 3,000 birds are recorded passing over a period of six to seven hours.

This year, the MNS volunteers at the Tanjung Tuan's lighthouse spotted some 33,806 raptors over a 21-day period from February 21 to March 14 compared to 37,176 birds spotted over a 65-day period last year.

The MNS monitor these birds passing through and the data would be carefully recorded and posted on www.worldbirds.org/malaysia where it will be validated by skilled birders.

The website also serves as a tool for Malaysian birders to share their sightings of birds. MNS is the first in South East Asia to launch this database.

ENVIRONMENT HEALTH INDICATOR

MNS president, Tan Sri Dr Salleh Mohd Nor says it is extremely important to conserve raptors because since the birds exist at the top of many food chains, their populations are especially sensitive to the alterations in ecosystem structure and energy flow.

As a result of this factor, raptors are relatively good indicators of the health of the environment and food chain.

For example, the decline of the Brahminy Kite (a resident raptor in Malaysia) population is intricately linked to the disappearance of the mangrove habitat.

Raptors currently face a variety of human threats, most notably the loss of natural habitat and consequent decline in prey availability.

They are also threatened by the widespread use of pesticides, shooting, tapping and the wildlife trade.

Dr Salleh says bird watching is one of the oldest and most popular hobbies in the world, and there are thousands of birders who enjoy watching their feathered friends and willing to spend thousands to pursue this hobby.

"Eco-tourism is a US$60 million a year industry. Raptor watch is a truly unique event and definitely one of the best eco tourism in Malaysia.

The local economy, especially the local hotels and resorts have both benefited from the event," he says.

TANJUNG TUAN

Tanjung Tuan has been listed as an important raptor site by various international bird organisations and also by the National Geographic Society.

Apart from gawking at the raptors overhead, visitors will be able to embark on short nature walks into the forest and the mangrove in order to have a first hand encounter with the beauty of this last remaining coastal rainforest on the West Coast of Malaysia.

It is also home to small mammals and primates such as the shy silver-leafed monkey. Hawksbill and Olive Ridley turtles have been spotted playing off the shores and its quiet beaches are little-known turtle nesting grounds.

The coral reef surrounding the Tanjung Tuan peninsular is healthy and diverse too, in spite of the lack of clarity of the water.

Listed in the Directory of Important Bird Areas in Malaysia, Tanjung Tuan, together with 54 other sites in the Peninsula and East Malaysia, has been identified as key sites for conservation of biodiversity using birds as key indicators to gauge the health of the environment.

-- BERNAMA

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Turtle awareness campaign launched

Vietnam Net 23 Mar 10;

"What is the turtle's greatest enemy in Viet Nam?" one card reads during Dinh Hong Anh's turn.

Contemplating for a while, Anh finally says, "Human beings."

Bingo! The student couldn't be more correct.

This interesting game was designed by Education for Nature Viet Nam (ENV) to equip students with knowledge about turtles and their current situation, as many precious species are now on the verge of extinction, mainly due to human activity.

Anh said, "Turtles are a familiar animal to us; I often find them in my grandmother's garden, but I've only learned about the biological characteristics through this game. It's very interesting, and now I know to count a turtle's age by the number of rings on its shell."

Asian Turtle Programme (ATP) official Hoang Van Ha, who was also the game's instructor, said, "We'll work together with secondary schools to integrate this play-to-learn activity for students in the 6th grade as a mandatory lesson, particularly in areas where turtles are highly susceptible to being wiped out."

It was gradually revealed to the class at Cuc Phuong Secondary School that Viet Nam was one of the most important Asian hot spots in terms of turtle varieties, and was home to 25 species of tortoises and freshwater turtles.

Particularly, Viet Nam is host to two of the last four Rafetus swinhoei turtles thought to be left in the world. This species is listed under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red Book 2009 as critically endangered.

One is the famous turtle living in Hoan Kiem Lake in the heart of the capital. The other was recently photographed in Dong Mo Lake in Son Tay District, Ha Noi, the first images of a Rafetus in the wild taken since 2007.

According to ENV director Dang Minh Ha, over the past 15 years, most of the turtle species in the wild in Viet Nam have witnessed remarkable losses, mainly due to smuggling to China.

Douglas Hendrie, ENV technical advisor, said, "We've seen tonnes of turtles shifted over the border to China. The authorities stop some, but they can't catch them all."

The ENV has recorded 434 cases of illegal hunting, trading and transporting of tortoises and freshwater turtles since 2005. This includes 163 smuggling cases with a total weight of 25,000 tonnes, or more than 3,000 turtles.

Turtles delivered from Viet Nam satisfy China's increasing demands for the animal as a gourmet food and valued ingredient for traditional medicine.

Tim McCormack, the ATP programme co-ordinator, said, "The extinction of some [turtle] species is probably happening within our lifetime if the situation doesn't improve dramatically."

Another species, pond turtles, which are only endemic to lowland wetland areas in central Viet Nam, are also critically endangered. The construction of a rescue station and conservation park in the central province of Quang Ngai starting earlier this month is one of the efforts to save these rare turtles right at the place where they belong to.

Turtles rescued from illegal trading cases are often transferred to live in the Turtle Conservation Centre under the Cuc Phuong National Park in the northern province of Ninh Binh.

The centre, on an area of 2,300sq.m, is now home to 1,100 turtles of 20 different species, according to Bui Dang Phong, deputy director of Cuc Phuong National Park.

Phong said, "Besides taking care of turtles that have been confiscated, we also breed new ones."

A visitor's centre was officially opened to public last Wednesday to provide information about 25 tortoise and freshwater turtle species.

Visitors also have the chance to enjoy interactive exhibits and hands-on displays as they walk through the centre, which houses information boards, a turtle aquarium, an incubating room, a young turtle nurturing room and trap emulating logs.

Phong said as the average amount of visitors could reach up to 80,000 people per year, the centre hoped that information on the turtle crisis would reach a very large audience. "The situation is so desperate that the existence of several species now heavily depends on public awareness."

After the lesson, Anh and his friends travelled to the Turtle Conservation Centre as its first visitors. Seeing how gentle they were playing with turtles, it was hard to tell those innocent kids how cruelly other turtles were being treated elsewhere.

VietNamNet/Vietnam News

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City pollution harms sea turtles

University of Queensland, Science Alert 24 Mar 10;

University of Queensland researchers have discovered that one of the effects of inceased human population is stress being placed on the environment leading to sick turtles.

Staff from the Veterinary Marine Animal Research, Teaching and Investigation (Vet-MARTI) unit within the School of Veterinary Science have been conducting an in-depth investigation to determine the diseases and causes of death in green and loggerhead turtles in Southern Queensland.

Director of Vet-MARTI, Dr Mark Flint, has found that these turtles are dying due to the environment they live in, rather than from the ingestion of foreign items.

“The increases in disease syndromes we are seeing within Moreton Bay are likely to be caused by environmental stressors reducing the quality of the waters in which the turtles live," Dr Flint said.

"This contrasts to open ocean studies that have focused on the ingestion of items such as garbage bags, shredded plastic and ghost nets,” Dr Flint said.

“There is a growing body of evidence that increased populations in major cities such as Brisbane are having an effect on the health of marine turtles.”

Dr Flint said findings conducted by Vet-MARTI had shown that green turtles found stranded within the shallow waters of Moreton Bay were dying due to parasites, gastrointestinal disorders and infectious diseases. This differed from reports of turtle deaths studied in deep waters outside of the Bay.

“The approach we have taken to this investigation has allowed us to make more accurate diagnoses of diseases and causes of death," he said.

"We have established baseline medical data to determine which animals are ‘healthy' and used this to compare with ‘unhealthy' animals to diagnose diseases through working with a variety of veterinary specialists and expert biologists.”

Dr Flint believes they have only just begun and need to continue to discover improved and more accurate ways of identifying diseases in turtles and other marine animals.

“We need to use these findings to help rehabilitation centres attempting to save these animals, work these results into Marine Area Protection management plans and raise public awareness,” Dr Flint said.

This project has been running for three years and is a joint collaboration with Australia Zoo, Sea World, Underwater World and the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management.

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Why Malaysia's Taps Are Running Dry

Sakina Mohamed, Bernama 21 Mar 10;

In conjunction with World Water Day (March 22)

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Bernama) -- Imagine, one day we are forced to using reverse osmosis (RO) water for our daily needs. RO water costs around 50 sen a litre and if you used 1,000 litres a month, the bill could reach a hefty RM500.

Would you pay that much of money for water to cook, bathe and wash your clothes?

Malaysians, on an average, pay only 70 sen for 1,000 litres of water, or one cubic metre. So the scenario may seem unthinkable for many of us, who think clean and treated water will be around in abundance forever.

But the truth is, Malaysia is fast running out of sources for clean water.

This problem does not only plague Malaysia, but the whole world.

Remember, only two per cent of the world's water resources is consumable while the rest is all sea water.

And if we fail to protect that two per cent of water resources, we may have to resort to desalination. Desalination is a process that makes sea water drinkable (such as reverse osmosis), but the cost is very high, so the public would have to pay dearly for it.

GRADUAL DESTRUCTION OF WATER CATCHMENTS

Why is clean water so hard to come by?

"In Malaysia, the main reasons are pollution and poor governance of our water catchments areas," says Water and Energy Consumer Association Malaysia Secretary General, S. Piarapakaran.

And one of the first indicators this is happening is a higher water tariff.

He said water catchments and areas surrounding them should be gazetted. But what has been happening is that state governments are giving the green light for plantation and timbering companies to use the land for profit.

This usually results in pollution of water catchments, high treatment costs and if the pollution is too bad, a permanent shutdown.

He cited a project in a state as an example where a rubber plantation project spanning across 443 hectares that required deforestation at two water intake and treatment points.

"What they are doing is clearing the forest and planting the rubber trees along with a generous amount of fertiliser and pesticides. All these chemicals will seep into the soil or flow down into the rivers when it rains.

"If a settlement at the foot of the hill relies on well water, this is going to go straight in. Fertilisers and pesticides carry ammonia, nitrates and phosphates. These three chemicals cannot be present inside your water and the treatment cost for it is high. The moment you have ammonia pollution you have to shut down the water treatment plant," he said.

He said this was what happened to water treatment plants at Sungai Nilai and Sungai Langat, which had to be shut down because of ammonia pollution.

Piarapakaran reminded that pesticides are used to kill pests and can do the same to humans.

QUALITY DOWN, TARIFF UP

He said in another case in Cheras, the water treatment plant had to be shut down because of ammonia pollution from sewage.

"They don't have septic tanks to filter the sewage, so the effluents just flow into the river. It's not that we cannot treat it, we can treat all these but when water quality is low, the cost of treatment is high.

When quality goes down, he said, the tariff will definitely go up.

"This is what we don't want. Even as a consumer association we cannot fight to keep the tariff low. The people will have to realise forests have to be kept because the more forests disappear, the more all these things will come in."

He cited the case of the Ulu Muda water catchment, which was gazetted during the British rule in Malaya. However, indiscriminate logging took place from the '60s through the '90s.

Despite a cabinet ruling that the logging be stopped and the forest gazetted as a water catchment area in 2003, the state government wanted to continue with "selective logging" in the forest as it claimed it needed "a good source of funding".

According to reports the selective logging will result in Kedah deriving revenue of RM16 billion with three to four trees felled for every hectare. As a result, the ecosystem of the Ulu Muda rainforest is seriously compromised.

"This will definitely disrupt the water quality, and once again the treatment cost will go up. And this will not only be a problem for Kedah. Fourty per cent of Penang's water supply relies on these sources, so Penang will also face the problem.

He said as Penang has very few water catchment areas, if Kedah does not take care of its forests, Penang will lose its water resources.

OUR FORESTS, OUR WATER SUPPLY

Malaysia still has plentiful of water supply because of our forests.

"Our forests are our water catchment areas. But if the authorities keep bowing to timber companies who wish to do "selective logging" activities, we may have a really big problem in our hands," said Piarapakaran.

He said in Perak, many rainforests of the Titiwangsa Range are being destroyed.

A cross-section of Peninsular Malaysia reveals how the range is supporting the lives of Malaysians. When it rains, water will flow down from the east and west coast, with the forests controlling the water it catches by and releasing it slowly to the entire peninsula, ensuring it with a constant supply of water.

And that is how the forests are sustaining us, said Piarapakaran. Losing the forests would mean an immense water problem.

This was what is happening in Perak, a state where you will rarely hear cases of flooding, especially in areas like Larut Matang in Selama, he said.

The area receives 5,000mm of rainfall a year, which is the highest in Malaysia but it was never flooded - until recently, when Bukit Larut (formerly Maxwell Hill) in Taiping was flooded.

What happened was that excessive logging took place, causing the area to lose its forests. This caused a low recharge rate with rainwater flowing straight to the lake and then flooding it. When the lake dries out, the entire water resources will disappear, he explained.

Piaparakaran said the same thing happened in Gunung Semanggol, Perak, which lost a river due to the logging activities around it.

He noted that other states with similar water stresses are Selangor, Penang, Melaka and Kelantan.

"Take the example of Melaka, which had terrible water shortage. Why? Look at how many forests it has. Almost none, everything was wiped out to make way for plantations," he said.

Meanwhile, he said, logging would have immediate disastrous effect to Kelantan, which soil is prone to waterlog due to the high content of clay. This can be seen through the serious flooding the state experiences throughout the years.

DON'T BLAME CLIMATE CHANGE

Many would be quick to blame the current water crisis to drought, floods and other effects of climate change.

"But it's not just the climate change that is causing water shortage. We are abusing the system as well," said Piarapakaran.

And the system is straight forward - if we disturb our forests, it impacts our water supply.

He said two things could happen to Malaysia because of climate change. We may have more rain or, we might not have rain at all.

"When the fluctuation of rain is disturbed, the survival of a tropical country is disturbed. This is because the rainfall does not support ground water. In a Glacier system (a country with four seasons), the recharge rate is higher because the snow melts slowly.

"Here the forests are capturing most of the water, and helping us by letting it go slowly. For example, if it rains in KL, the Klang River level goes up. But when it's raining there, the level here is very low," he said.

As such, the river only floods after two hours because of the delay, which is a natural process. But when we destroy the forest, this delay time will be reduced.

The endured consequences are lack of water supply, increasing tariff and poor water supply quality so much so that consumers have to fix their own water filters.

Will these sufferings recur to us Malaysians? You decide.

-- BERNAMA

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Cleaning up the Klang River is a start; a relook at water prices is needed

Pouring oil on troubled waters
S Jayasankaran, Business Times 22 Mar 10;

THE Selangor state government is to be lauded for its plan to rehabilitate the Klang River - a 120 km channel between Klang and Ampang that vacillates between death and uneasy existence in fits that parallel the country's dry and wet seasons, respectively.

Kuala Lumpur has talked about similar projects often enough. Indeed, funds have been released for ad-hoc clean-ups that have never achieved any sort of permanence because of a lack of follow-through measures - such as making sure that the factories and squatter houses that pollute the waterways are permanently removed.

But Selangor is trying. The state government recently gazetted the river bank, ensuring that no development can take place there. It has also named four companies - selected after an open tender involving 37 firms - to begin the clean-up.

It's part of the state's economic stimulus package to catalyse growth, and Selangor's leaders obviously hope that their efforts will be appreciated by the people and validated at the next election. There is much at stake here. Selangor is Malaysia's richest state with a gross domestic product per capita at roughly RM24,000 (S$10,120) - which is comfortably ahead of the national average. Indeed, its size and relative affluence is reflected in the fact that just one municipality - Klang - collects more rates than the entire state of Negeri Sembilan.

That makes it a prize and am unending source of regret for the Barisan Nasional coalition which lost it to the opposition during the March 8, 2008 general election. The state is headed by Khalid Ibrahim, a former corporate hotshot who is from the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Getting power is one thing; keeping it for the wrong reasons another thing altogether. So while the Klang River project should win him kudos, his attempts at populism should not. Immediately after winning the elections, the state government announced that it would waive charges for the first 20 cubic metres of water used by households in Selangor.

In truth, the measure is a populist sop as a household will save just RM12 a month. But it sends the wrong signal - water is a valuable resource, too valuable to be made a political tool.

In fact, there is an argument to be made for increasing the tariff for heavy users such as households that use more than 20 cubic metres a month. Indeed, there was a suggestion that people should be charged double for the 21st to 30th cubic metre with the rates rising geometrically with usage. There is considerable merit in the suggestion.

In the present dry season, there is talk that the water levels at dams nationwide are dropping. Despite all the rainfall, we do not seem to be able to collect enough.

Compounding matters is a simple truth: the country is a notorious waster of water. Malaysians tend to overuse water to the tune of about 300 litres per person per day. That is a mind-boggling number as the international standard is only about 165 litres a person a day.

In Singapore, high tariffs have brought the usage down to 150 litres a day while people in India and Africa, more from sheer lack, use 100 litres and 50 litres respectively.

Water can never be 'free'. Making it thus only incentivises people to waste it. And as an avowed foe of public sector waste, Mr Khalid should know better.

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