One Singapore resident's ecological footprint equals that of 33 Africans

Esther Ng Today Online 14 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE - If everyone on the planet enjoyed the same level of consumption as the average resident of Singapore, three Earths would be needed to sustain it.

This, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Living Planet Report 2010, which placed Singapore's ecological footprint per person at 5.34 global hectares, 21st in the world.

Put in another way: The ecological footprint of the average Singapore resident in a year is equal to that of 33 Africans.

The ecological footprint is calculated by comparing human demand on renewable resources against the regenerative capacity of the planet.

Carbon is the biggest component of Singapore's footprint, followed by demand for crop and grazing land to raise livestock, oil crops, rubber and livestock feed.

Since people consume resources from all over the world, the ecological footprint of consumption adds together these areas regardless of where they are located.

Asked whether Singapore can support a population of 7.5 million - a figure recently floated by former Housing and Development Board chief Liu Thai Ker - Dr Christopher Hails, chairman of WWF Singapore and director (network relations) of WWF International, said: "Singapore can never sustain its population from an island of this size, Singapore is always going to be an importer of all the resources Singaporeans need for their lives."

However, Singapore can make a positive difference to sustainable development by importing from the right sources, he said. For instance, buying fish and timber from sustainably-certified sources and by putting pressure on other countries to farm sustainably.

However, Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has been making efforts to increase its food production capabilities on a sustainable basis, including the setting up of more than 100 licensed floating fish farms in the country's coastal waters.

Dr Hails also commended the Republic's Garden City concept: "Singapore does have a role in the region, within Asean, to set some good examples ... Kuala Lumpur has used Singapore as a model for its own green programmes."

Why does the UAE have such a high carbon footprint?
Reuters AlertNet 13 Oct 10;

Oct 13 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates, the world's third-largest oil exporter, has one of the highest per capita carbon footprints in the world.

According to a U.N. Development Programme report in 2003, the UAE emitted 33.6 tonnes per capita, second only to nearby Qatar and over nine times the world average of 3.7 tonnes.

The 2008 WWF Living Planet Report gave the UAE the world's worst ecological footprint per person. It placed the United States second and fellow Gulf Arab state Kuwait in third place.

The ecological footprint measures humanity's demand on the biosphere in terms of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste.

The UAE has said it is becoming greener. The following lists some of the UAE's green and not so green credentials.

NOT SO GREEN

PRIVATE JETS

Dubai's Executive Flight Service handled 6,060 flights and 19,797 customers in 2009, according to figures from Dubai International Airport.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Dubai Taxis made 70 million journeys in 2009, in which they transported more than 140 million passengers, the emirate's transport authority said. That compares with 120 million people who took public buses in 2009.

Since its inauguration in September 2009, the number of passengers using the Dubai Metro has risen from about 40,000 a day to more than 120,000 a day. In total, it has transported more than 19 million people so far and expects 35 million passengers in 2010.

FUEL CONSUMPTION

In 2006, the UAE's population of around 6 million consumed nearly 500 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of gas.

Germany, which has a population of more than 80 million, burned 942 billion kWh in 2008, according to the German energy industry association (BDEW).

THE WORLD

One of the most ambitious schemes in Dubai, The World is a collection of man-made islands shaped into the continents and countries of the world. As the slump has frozen much building activity, homes have yet to be built there. If completed, the islands would be reachable only by private jet or boat.

Property developer Nakheel used 34 million tonnes of rock to build the 27 kilometre breakwater that surrounds the 300 islands in the development.

Nakheel has said its activities have no harmful effect on nature, although environmentalists have said the consequences of such extensive artificial islands on the natural ecosystem are unknown and could be damaging.

GREEN PROJECTS

MASDAR CITY

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, better known as Masdar, was set up in 2006 with a mandate to develop, commercialise and deploy renewable energy technologies and environmental solutions.

Its flagship project in Abu Dhabi is Masdar City, a $22 billion investment in what will be the first zero-emissions, zero-waste city when completed in 2020.

The plan is for Masdar City to be home to some 40,000 residents.

DESERT ISLANDS

The Desert Islands resort comprises the former royal nature reserve of Sir Bani Yas Island, and the Discovery Islands, six nearby offshore outcrops. All of them will be linked by a ferry and hydrofoil service, water taxis, private 'resort' boat service and regional and sea planes.

For every visitor to Sir Bani Yas, one mangrove plant is planted to offset the environmental impact of the visit.

Other initiatives include breeding programmes for rare and endangered wildlife, removal of human interference, including closing roads and removing old irrigation pipes, and water conservation.

FUEL STANDARDS

The UAE has set itself a goal of reducing the maximum sulphur target for both diesel and gasoline to 10 parts per million (ppm). Industry analysts say the target will be reached once a refinery upgrading project is finished.

Until then, the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology has set a maximum sulphur limit for gasoline at 100 ppm, which must be followed by all oil companies in the UAE. For diesel, the maximum limit is 500 ppm. (Reporting by Amena Bakr, Barbara Lewis, Nina Chestney and Henning Gloystein, editing by Lin Noueihed)

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Time to find a second Earth, WWF says

(AFP) Google News 13 Oct 10;

PARIS — Carbon pollution and over-use of Earth's natural resources have become so critical that, on current trends, we will need a second planet to meet our needs by 2030, the WWF said on Wednesday.

In 2007, Earth's 6.8 billion humans were living 50 percent beyond the planet's threshold of sustainability, according to its report, issued ahead of a UN biodiversity conference.

"Even with modest UN projections for population growth, consumption and climate change, by 2030 humanity will need the capacity of two Earths to absorb CO2 waste and keep up with natural resource consumption," it warned.

If everyone used resources at the same rate per capita as the United States or the United Arab Emirates, four and a half planets would be needed, it said, highlighting the gap in "ecological footprint" between rich and poor.

The "Living Planet" report, the eighth in the series, is based on figures for 2007, the latest year for which figures are available.

It pointed to 71 countries that were running down their sources of freshwater at a worrying, unsustainable rate.

Nearly two-thirds of these countries experience "moderate to severe" water stress.

"This has profound implications for ecosystem health, food production and human wellbeing, and is likely to be exacerbated by climate change," WWF said.

Signatories to the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are to meet in Nagoya, Japan, from October 18-29 to discuss ways of addressing Earth's dramatic loss of species.

The UN named 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. Under Target 7b of the Millennium Development Goals, UN members pledged to achieve by 2010 "a significant reduction" in the rate of wildlife loss.

Biologists say many species, especially mammals, birds and amphibians, are in headlong decline, their numbers ravaged by habitat loss, hunting or the likely impact of climate change.

The WWF said biodiversity showed a dramatic loss overall, but one with sharp disparities.

Between 1970 and 2007, an index of biodiversity health showed a global fall of almost 30 percent, it said.

In the tropics, the decline was 60 percent, but in temperate regions, there was an increase of 30 percent.

Temperate zones -- the first parts of the world to industrialise -- may be starting from a lower baseline of species loss, which could explain the gradual improvement in recent decades.

Improvements in pollution control and waste management, better air and water quality, an increase in forest cover and greater conservation efforts may also be making headway in some temperate countries, the WWF said.

Tropics in decline as natural resources exhausted at alarming rate – WWF 2010 Living Planet report
WWF 13 Oct 10;

Gland, Switzerland – New analysis shows populations of tropical species are plummeting and humanity’s demands on natural resources are sky-rocketing to 50 per cent more than the earth can sustain, reveals the 2010 edition of WWF’s Living Planet Report – the leading survey of the planet’s health.

The biennial report, produced in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network, uses the global Living Planet Index as a measure of the health of almost 8,000 populations of more than 2,500 species. The global Index shows a decrease by 30 per cent since 1970, with the tropics hardest hit showing a 60 per cent decline in less than 40 years.

“There is an alarming rate of biodiversity loss in low-income, often tropical countries while the developed world is living in a false paradise, fuelled by excessive consumption and high carbon emissions,” said Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International.

While the report shows some promising recovery by species’ populations in temperate areas, thanks in part to greater conservation efforts and improvements in pollution and waste control, tracked populations of freshwater tropical species have fallen by nearly 70 per cent – greater than any species’ decline measured on land or in our oceans.

“Species are the foundation of ecosystems,” said Jonathan Baillie, Conservation Programme Director with the Zoological Society of London. “Healthy ecosystems form the basis of all we have – lose them and we destroy our life support system.”

The Ecological Footprint, one of the indicators used in the report, shows that our demand on natural resources has doubled since 1966 and we’re using the equivalent of 1.5 planets to support our activities. If we continue living beyond the Earth’s limits, by 2030 we’ll need the equivalent of two planets’ productive capacity to meet our annual demands.

"The report shows that continuing of the current consumption trends would lead us to the point of no return,” added Leape. “4.5 Earths would be required to support a global population living like an average resident of the of the US."

Carbon is a major culprit in driving the planet to ecological overdraft. An alarming 11-fold increase in our carbon footprint over the last five decades means carbon now accounts for more than half the global Ecological Footprint.

The top 10 countries with the biggest Ecological Footprint per person are the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Denmark, Belgium, United States, Estonia, Canada, Australia, Kuwait and Ireland.

The 31 OECD countries, which include the world’s richest economies, account for nearly 40 per cent of the global footprint. While there are twice as many people living in BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – as there are in OECD countries, the report shows the current rate of per-person footprint of the BRIC countries puts them on a trajectory to overtake the OECD bloc if they follow same development path.

"Countries that maintain high levels of resource dependence are putting their own economies at risk,” said Mathis Wackernagel, President of the Global Footprint Network. “Those countries that are able to provide the highest quality of life on the lowest amount of ecological demand will not only serve the global interest, they will be the leaders in a resource-constrained world."

New analysis in the report also shows that the steepest decline in biodiversity falls in low-income countries, with a nearly 60 per cent decline in less than 40 years.

The biggest footprint is found in high-income countries, on average five times that of low-income countries, which suggests unsustainable consumption in wealthier nations rests largely on depleting the natural resources of poorer, often still resource rich tropical countries.

The Living Planet Report also shows that a high footprint and high level of consumption, which often comes at the cost of others, is not reflected in a higher level of development. The UN Human Development Index, which looks at life expectancy, income and educational attainment, can be high in countries with moderate footprint.

The Report outlines solutions needed to ensure the Earth can sustain a global population projected to pass nine billion in 2050, and points to choices in diet and energy consumption as critical to reducing footprint, as well as improved efforts to value and invest in our natural capital.

“The challenge posed by the Living Planet Report is clear,” said Leape. “Somehow we need to find a way to meet the needs of a growing and increasingly prosperous population within the resources of this one planet. All of us have to find a way to make better choices in what we consume and how we produce and use energy."

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Bakun dam flooding begins

Stephen Then The Star 14 Oct 10;

MIRI: The flooding of South-East Asia’s largest dam, the Bakun Dam, in Belaga district has begun.

Developer and manager Sarawak Hidro, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, dammed up the Balui River diversion tunnels to start the process of flooding 69,000ha of land.

The impoundment of the 205m high dam, the second highest concrete-rock filled dam in the world, started before 8am yesterday and by 10am, the massive gates of the diversion tunnels were closed.

There are three river diversion tunnels, each measuring 12m wide and 12m high.

A small outlet was still open in one of the tunnels to enable a controlled amount of water to flow downstream so that the Balui River downstream would not dry up completely.

The flooding was initiated in a somewhat sudden manner at short notice after Sarawak Hidro engineers held a late meeting on Tues­day night and decided that the weather and river conditions were safe enough for damming up of the tunnels.

Some Bakun folk lodged a police report on Tuesday morning in a desperate bid to halt the flooding.

Sarawak Hidro managing director and chief engineer Zulkifle Osman told The Star from Bakun that he and his group of engineers found the condition right for the impoundment.

“We have successfully closed tunnels number 2 and 3. A small outlet in tunnel 1 is still open to release some water downstream,’’ he said.

To a suggestion that the impoundment was rushed through despite the pre-conditions that there must be seven continuous days of dry weather and water depth of below 60m were not met, he said:

“We found that the weather was good enough in the past two days and the river level safe enough, so we went ahead with the impoundment.”

It will take about seven months and two weeks for the 69,000ha area to be flooded to the top of the dam wall, which is roughly about 44 storeys high or half the height of the Petronas Twin Towers.

Once the water level reaches 195m, the water will enter the inlet and turn the turbines and the power-generation process can start.

In the meantime, natives living downstream of Bakun and environmentalists and human rights groups, expressed shock that the impoundment had proceeded despite the Bakun folk lodging a police report.

Denis Hang Bilang, secretary of the Joint Committee of Lebu Kulit, Uma Bakah, Uma Lesung and Uma Balui Ukap, said he and his longhouse folk had lodged a police report at the Belaga police station against Sarawak Hidro.

“We lodged the police report at 10am yesterday (Tuesday) and today but they (Sarawak Hidro) went ahead with the flooding. We have called on the police to halt the flooding because the compensation issue for our land has not been settled yet.

“The land in Bakun still belongs to us be­­cause the government and the dam developer have not fully compensated us for uprooting us from our original longhouses in Bakun 15 years ago,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, a Sarawak coalition of environmentalists and human rights group expressed alarm at the manner in which the flooding began.

The Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment (SCANE) was unhappy with the manner in which Sarawak Hidro was allowed to proceed with the flooding.

“How could the Federal and state governments allow the impoundment to start when the Emergency Rescue Plan has not been made public? On Monday, a longboat capsized in Bakun and a man is still missing,” said SCANE national coordinator Raymond Abin.

“The people living in Bakun, especially downstream, have not been adequately informed of the precautionary measures to take. We fear the impoundment would trigger landslides and floods and may even trigger an earthquake,’’ he said.

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Police in Six Countries Nab 25 Suspected Tiger Traders

Environment News Service 13 Oct 10;

LYON, France, October 13, 2010 (ENS) - An international law enforcement operation coordinated by INTERPOL against the illegal trade in tigers has led to the arrest of 25 individuals suspected of taking part in the illicit trade of one of the world's most endangered species.

The two-month operation in August and September involved national enforcement agencies in six tiger-range countries - China, India, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The entire operation was co-ordinated by INTERPOL's Environmental Crime Programme at its General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon.

INTERPOL worked in close collaboration with the participating member countries to provide a single platform to National Central Bureaus for the exchange and coordination of intelligence via INTERPOL's I-24/7 secure police communications system.

In Russia, criminal intelligence obtained by national authorities revealed key smuggling routes.

Direct enforcement action during the operation included the arrest by Indian authorities of 10 suspected wildlife criminals.

In Thailand, the Royal Thai Police arrested a number of alleged tiger smugglers connected to cross-border trade, including at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.

In a single raid in Hanoi, Vietnamese police seized six whole tiger skeletons and six tiger skulls, while in a separate case two tiger carcasses were seized along with 50 kilograms of tiger bone. As few as 30 wild tigers are believed to survive in Vietnam.

In June, Vietnam's Environmental Police launched a 24-hour Wildlife Crime Hotline as a new enforcement measure in the battle against the illegal wildlife trade and other environmental crimes. More than 150 Environmental Police officers have been trained handle reports.

"The Government of Vietnam has strong laws in place to stop the illegal trade of protected plants and animals and the Environment Police is committed to enforcing these laws," said Capt. Luong Minh Thao, vice director of the Department of Environmental Police.

In addition to the 25 arrests during the two-month INTERPOL operation, more than 50 kg of tiger bone, including skeletons and skulls, were seized, and key smuggling routes broken up during raids across the six participating countries.

INTERPOL's Environmental Crime Manager David Higgins said, "The national agencies involved in this international operation supported by INTERPOL have shown unscrupulous criminals who target threatened species that action will be taken to combat their illegal activities."

Fewer than 3,200 tigers remain in the wild as a result of loss of habitat and the involvement of organized criminal networks engaged in poaching and in the illegal trafficking of their skins and bones.

"It's great to see news of arrests of criminals rather than seizures alone," said Debbie Banks, who heads the Tiger Campaign for the UK-based nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency, which investigates and campaigns against a wide range of environmental crimes, including illegal wildlife trade.

"Organized crime needs an organized response and Operation Tigre is a step in the right direction, but must be sustained," said Banks.

Conservationists hold out hope that concerted action and funding may be the outcome of a Heads of State Tiger Summit that will be held November 22-23 in St. Petersburg, Russia, hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

The summit aims to get unprecedented high-level commitment for tiger conservation from all of the 13 tiger range states.

Banks said, "Increased resources for slick, professional policing operations to bust the criminal networks controlling the tiger trade should be at the top of the agenda for the St. Petersburg tiger forum."

The global conservation organization WWF has been working with tiger range countries to strengthen protection for wild tigers. WWF hopes the St. Petersburg summit will deliver a high-level binding agreement committing countries to initiate actions, backed by sustainable financing mechanisms, to double the number of wild tigers by 2022.

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Snaring the Wealth: Can Negotiators Reach a Uniform Position on Patenting the World's Genetic Resources?

A new international regime hopes to help reverse the trend of biodiversity loss as well as spur economic growth and research for both industrial and developing nations

Robynne Boyd Scientific American 13 Oct 10;

High in the Cederberg Mountains of South Africa grows a bristly shrub that embodies the tug-of-war taking place between industrialized and developing nations over the value of genetic resources—the genes found in plant, animal or microbial cells used for research as well as in commercial products, such as enhanced seeds and naturally derived cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

The leaves of rooibos, translated from Afrikaans as "red bush," are sipped in ruby-hued teas around the world but were previously sought by early settlers for their capacity to heal skin and reduce inflammation. Now, Nestec, SA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Nestlé, is trying to patent rooibos's healing properties for use in beauty products, a process some call a misuse of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. Others consider it an advancement of science and an economic boon, given the industry's estimated value of $500 billion to $800 billion, as of 1999.

A truce in the worldwide tussle over the use and patenting of genetic resources is scheduled for the middle of October when the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)—an international legally binding treaty on upholding the world's ecological sustainability—are set to gather in Nagoya, Japan, in hopes of finalizing a protocol on "access and benefit–sharing [ABS]." The aim is to ensure that the benefits resulting from researching animals, plants and microorganisms, such as the invention of new medicines or enhanced genes to improve crop varieties, are "fairly and equitably shared" among the providers and users. Whereas most people agree on the need for such a legally binding agreement, the fine print is still being tweaked between industrialized and developing countries. Even if the protocol is adopted in Nagoya, the only way for it to be truly effective is for it to have a strong compliance component.

"I think there is a clear ethical mandate for developed countries to create partnerships with developing countries, rather than subordinate them," says Paul Root Wolpe, a bioethicist who directs Emory University's Center for Ethics. "There also needs to be clear ways for those countries to not only get paid, but receive the other benefits of their own biological resources."

Ethics aside, there is also a political mandate. It reaches back to 1992 when 154 governments adopted the CBD. At that time, developed countries such as Canada, Germany and Japan agreed to share the associated benefits of poorer countries' genetic resources. In return, developing nations would help preserve them.

The vision was for countries and biodiversity a win–win situation. Over time it would spur scientific knowledge, catalyze commercial production, protect species and help enable developing countries to undertake bioprospecting themselves. It is akin to the "teach a man to fish" philosophy.

Unfortunately, less industrialized countries have not received the intended compensation, says Krystyna Swiderska, senior researcher in the Natural Resources Group of the International Institute for Environment and Development, which has led to a growing feeling of distrust between providers and users. The term "bio-piracy" evolved from this distrust and numerous examples exist.

Take the example of açaí fruit pulp, which is found in high-antioxidant health drinks sold in the U.S. The name of the fruit was patented, causing Brazilians to have to fight over the right to use the name "açaí" in their own products. Brazil eventually won this battle in court. Similar arguments have erupted over basmati and jasmine rice, neem, ayahuasca, tumeric and the hoodia cactus, to name a few.

The new protocol would change this trend by legally binding the industrialized countries that utilize the genetic resources to the ABS laws of the countries of origin, adds Swiderska, even though the negotiation's outcome remains uncertain because delegations still need to agree on a number of key elements. One is whether the protocol should apply to genetic resources that have already been collected. Many developing countries hope this will be the case, although the E.U. and others oppose this proposal.

"Given the substantive implications of the ABS Protocol for research and industry, any application of the new rules to past activities would create legal uncertainty for users, not legal certainty," E.U. negotiator Matthias Buck wrote in an e-mail, "We are supportive of a legally binding instrument on ABS precisely because our stakeholders would appreciate greater legal certainty on access and benefit–sharing for genetic resources in the future."

To clarify, Buck used the metaphor of a speeding ticket, noting that a person cannot be punished for speeding yesterday if a traffic sign was only placed on the street today.

Another key area of disagreement is whether derivatives of genetic resources, such as biochemicals produced by DNA, should be included in or excluded from the text of the protocol or left to be negotiated bilaterally. The third relates to the inclusion of traditional knowledge. The negotiators have a few days before the Conference of the Parties to the CBD to finalize these details.

For all those involved in the negotiations it may help to remember that 2010 has been declared by the United Nations the "International Year of Biodiversity". This year was supposed to mark a reduction in the rate of global biodiversity loss. This has not happened. Instead, animals and plants continue to go extinct at an alarming rate. According to the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species, of the 47,000 species assessed by the agency the world is losing species about 1,000 times more than the assumed normal rate.

If negotiators are successful at hashing out their differences, ideally then, a new day may dawn for the global preservation of species and science.

"We need a regime that provides enough confidence for access, and in exchange the access is facilitated and facilitates interesting research and use," says Johanna von Braun of Natural Justice, an environmental law firm that's working on the rooibos issue. "This would help benefit everyone."

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How ecosystems protect communities against natural hazards

UNEP marks International Day for Disaster Reduction
UNEP 13 Oct 10;

Geneva, 13 October 2010 - Haiti, one of the poorest and most environmentally degraded countries in the western hemisphere, is one of the many examples in recent times of the crucial role played by ecosystems in reducing disaster risk. Prior to the earthquake in January 2010 which devastated the country, environmental degradation was already a critical challenge, as extensively degraded catchments made Haiti's rural and urban population vulnerable to floods, landslides and severe soil erosion. From August to September 2008, four major storms ravaged Haiti, triggering mudslides and flash floods, leaving thousands homeless, killing nearly 800 people and destroying 60% of the country's harvest.

Neighbouring Cuba and the Dominican Republic were also affected but to a significantly lesser degree than Haiti. Did deforestation play a role in multiplying the devastating impact of disasters in Haiti?

With less than 2% tree cover and high rates of deforestation driven primarily by poverty, Haiti has become extremely vulnerable to floods and landslides during heavy rainfall. Unfortunately, 2008 was not a one-off event. In 2004 tropical storm Jeanne killed an estimated 3,000 people as a result of mudslides and floods coming down exposed mountains. But these lessons are not confined to Haiti alone; flash floods linked to forest degradation are a recurring experience in countries like the Philippines and most recently Mexico and are stark reminders of how environmental degradation can contribute to disaster statistics.

In the past decade alone, an estimated 2.5 million people globally were affected by natural hazards, 97% of whom were impacted by climate-related and hydro-meteorological disasters.

Greater recognition of the vital role of well-managed forests and watersheds in reducing the risks of disasters will help make urban and rural populations more resilient to floods, landslides and other natural hazards, was the theme of the high-level forum convened in Geneva, Switzerland today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) to mark the International Day for Disaster Reduction.

The audience heard how forests and watersheds provide critical services to both rural and urban communities, including protection against natural hazards and critical support to local livelihoods and economies. Yet these multiple forest services, particularly for natural hazard regulation, continue to be under-valued, resulting in missed opportunities to maximize their potential for disaster prevention and mitigation.

Around the world, in countries such as Bolivia's Altiplano region, China, Switzerland and Japan, communities and governments are giving increased recognition to the value of forests for mitigating against floods, avalanches, rockfall and soil erosion while providing timber and non-timber products to support livelihoods.

The International Day, held annually on 13 October, aims to raise awareness on the impacts of disasters globally, and it originated within the framework of the World Disaster Reduction Campaign, initiated in 2008.

The roundtable, attended by members of the development community and the general public, provided a key opportunity to raise awareness of the environmental drivers of disaster risk and discuss the challenges faced by communities and countries in reducing disaster risk and recommendations to guide future actions. It was opened by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, and the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations of Geneva, His Excellency Manuel B. Dengo.

The International Day was also marked this year at the Shanghai Expo with a panel discussion around the theme "The City" which examined ways of building urban centers resilient to natural hazards and included the Assistant Mayor of Chendgu, Mao Zhixiong; the Editor-in-Chief of China Business Times, Li Zhong Chun, and the Chief of UNEP's Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch, Henrik Slotte, as well as representatives from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN ISDR).

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ASEAN ministers call for agreement on climate change in Cancun meet

S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 13 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE : ASEAN environment ministers have reiterated the importance of reaching agreement on climate change issues at the meeting in Cancun, Mexico in November-December this year.

In a joint statement after their meeting in the Bruneian capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, the 10 ASEAN ministers expressed concern over the slow pace of negotiations. They said many key issues remain unresolved at this late stage.

They stressed that the next Summit should strive for a legally binding agreement, particularly to limit the increase in average global temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.

They also called on developed countries to continue taking the lead by making more ambitious commitments.

The ministers added that these countries can also set out specific and binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support developing countries with adequate, predictable and sustainable financial resources.

On tackling the challenge of transboundary haze, the ministers noted that for the southern ASEAN region, the inter-monsoon season bringing shower activities will help to subdue hot-spot activities in October and November.

However, periods of dry conditions may occur, and hence the ASEAN members have pledged to remain vigilant, and continuously monitor and implement haze preventive activities.

The ministers also endorsed developing a Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS) for the ASEAN region as a tool to undertake monitoring and preventive actions to address the outbreak of fires.

The ASEAN ministers will meet their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea at the 9th ASEAN Plus Three Environment Ministers Meeting on Thursday.

They will exchange views on global environmental issues and discuss topics such as biodiversity, climate change, environmental education, water resources management, and hazardous waste management.

On Friday, they will also meet their counterparts from Australia, China, Japan, India, New Zealand, and South Korea at the 2nd East Asia Summit Environment Ministers Meeting.

- CNA/al

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Rich must make clearer climate cuts: UN

* "Absolutely critical" to spell out pledges clearly
* Mexico seeks cornerstone of new climate deal-Figueres
* U.N. talks to fall short of treaty
Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn Reuters AlertNet 13 Oct 10;

OSLO/LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Rich nations must spell out their plans for cutting greenhouse gases more clearly to enable U.N. talks in Mexico to agree the cornerstone of a pact to slow global warming, the U.N.'s climate chief said.

Christiana Figueres said the annual Nov. 29-Dec. 10 meeting in Mexico would fall short of a U.N. treaty to combat climate change, saying countries learnt there was no "magic bullet" for a quick new U.N. accord at a Copenhagen summit last year.

She urged rich nations to clarify promises to cut greenhouse gases, many of which have not been written into domestic laws, and also admit they were too weak to avert damaging climate change.

"It is absolutely critical that these mitigation pledges that are on the table be formalised and recognised as a first and necessary but insufficient step," she told the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit on Wednesday.

"Governments do need to double their efforts between now and Cancun," she said of the talks among environment ministers to be held in the Mexican Caribbean resort.

She said promises so far for cuts in emissions fall short of those needed to limit a rise in temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above pre-industrial times, a ceiling set at the U.N. summit in Copenhagen last December.

Figueres noted that many developing states wanted temperature rises limited to below 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid more floods, droughts, mudslides and rising sea levels.

Many promised curbs on greenhouse gases, mainly by cutting emissions from fossil fuels, are hedged. The European Union plans a cut of 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 with a cut of 30 percent if others act. Japan plans a cut of 25 percent, but only if there is an ambitious U.N. deal.

The U.N. talks are meant to agree a successor climate deal to the Kyoto Protocol whose first round ends in 2012.

U.S. CURBS

Some rich nations, notably Japan and Canada, say they can only agree new binding emissions cuts when the United States -- which never ratified the Kyoto Protocol -- does the same.

Figueres, who heads the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said Washington could bring plans in Cancun even though the Senate has failed to enact President Barack Obama's call for a law for cuts of 4 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

She said Cancun could agree elements of a dea, such as a fund to help poor nations curb emissions and adapt to global warming, a system to protect tropical forests or ways to share green technology.

A set of decisions in Cancun would be "the cornerstone on which (nations) may choose to build" in coming years. She said it was unclear they would try to set a deadline for a treaty.

She said among good news was that studies showed that rich nations had collectively promised about $28 billion in fast-start aid for developing nations from 2010-12.

But she said some of it fell short of being "new and additional" under a pledge in Copenhagen to provide funds approaching $30 billion for the three years, rising to $100 billion a year from 2020.

She also said that only the United Nations, not alternative groups or bilateral deals, could drive a global fight against climate change since it comprised all nations. "The multilateral process is...cumbersome and necessarily a slow process...but absolutely indispensable." (Additional reporting by David Fogarty in Singapore; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Hopes fade for Mexico climate tallks
* Low hopes for U.N. talks in Cancun, Mexico
* Disputes between China and U.S. on climate change
* Some suggest G20 may be better route than U.N.
Alister Doyle, Reuters AlertNet 13 Oct 10;

OSLO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Hopes for a deal on climate change at U.N. talks in Mexico next month have faded, undermined by splits between America and China and by fears the 194-nation process is too unwieldy to work out a pact to slow global warming.

Experts told the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit the Nov. 29-Dec. 10 annual meeting of environment ministers in Cancun might at best agree steps such as a new fund to help poor nations or ways to share green technology.

But there are risks of deadlock.

"If Cancun is a big disappointment, achieving nothing or not much, then I think a lot of governments around the world will start to say: What comes out of this process?" European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said.

"The world's citizens will be sick and tired if all we achieve at Cancun is a blame game over who is to blame for not doing anything," she said.

Most nations gave hopes of a quick all-encompassing treaty to curb greenhouse gases after world leaders at a 2009 summit in Copenhagen failed to work out a deal to avert projected heat waves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

Even a patchwork of smaller deals is now not certain for Cancun.

"We are in a very, very troubling situation," said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Programme, saying many nations blamed the economic downturn for less action.

But he predicted that factors including more extreme weather, such as the floods in Pakistan or the drought in Russia that pushed up grain prices, would eventually bring global cooperation on a binding U.N. deal.

Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said that the Copenhagen summit had taught the world that there was no "magic bullet" to solve climate change.

She said Cancun can agree a set of decisions -- such as on finance, technology or measures to protect tropical forests -- that might be turned into a formal treaty at later meetings.

"Governments do need to double their efforts between now and Cancun," she said.

GROUP OF 20

Some experts say the talks could shift from the United Nations to other groups, such as the G20 which includes all big emitters -- China, the United States, the European Union, Russia and India.

"The talks are going nowhere," said Bjorn Lomborg, Danish author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist". He said the world should abandon the U.N. process and agree to invest $100 billion a year in new clean technologies such as wind or solar power.

Figueres and Steiner said it was wrong to predict the demise of the U.N. track.

An objection to groups such as the G20 or G8 was that they excluded 3 or 4 billion people in poor nations, from Bangladesh to small island states in the Pacific, who have done little to cause global warming but are most at risk.

The world cannot afford to ignore their views, Steiner said.

"The multilateral process is ... cumbersome and necessarily a slow process ... but absolutely indispensable," Figueres said.

Last week in China, a final round of preparatory talks for Cancun was hit by disputes between Beijing and Washington, the top greenhouse gas emitters, about how to share out responsibility for combating climate change.

The United States, where President Barack Obama has failed to persuade the Senate to agree emissions cuts by 2020, says China must do far more. Beijing retorts that Washington must take the lead as the world's richest economy.

Investors have scant hopes for Cancun.

"It would be nice to get a sense that direction is moving forwards rather than backwards," said Rob Lake, head of sustainability and governance at Dutch pension fund APG.

A U.N. advisory group agreed in Ethiopia on Tuesday that it was feasible for rich nations to keep a promise made in Copenhagen of raising $100 billion a year in aid for developing nations from 2020 despite austerity in many donors.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who co-chaired the talks, said penalties on carbon emissions would be a major source of the funds. "I hope that this report will be ... a useful input to the (U.N.) negotiations," he said. (Additional reporting by Pete Harrison in Brussels, David Fogarty in Singapore, Gerard Wynn and Nina Chestney in London and Ernest Scheyder in New York; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Japan sees China, India backsliding on climate
* Japan urges emerging nations to keep Copenhagen pledges
* Copenhagen accord covers over 80 pct of global emissions
* Japan keeps looking to bilateral emission-reduction deals

Risa Maeda Reuters AlertNet 13 Oct 10;

TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - China and India are deviating from an accord they took part in last December to fight global warming, slowing the progress of U.N. climate talks, a key delegate from the Japanese government said on Wednesday.

Jun Arima, Deputy Director-General for Environmental Affairs at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, added that the backtracking undermined Japan's willingness to contribute funds that developing countries are seeking to mitigate the impact of cutting greenhouse gas emissions on their economies.

Facing the risk of a deadlock in U.N. talks, Japan will keep trying to make bilateral deals with countries in Asia to reduce CO2 emissions blamed for warming the globe, employing Japanese clean-energy technologies, and aim to achieve its own emission-reduction pledge, Arima told the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit.

"As a negotiator, it is impossible to ask taxpayers here to shoulder the cost for mitigation so long as there is little transparency in emission cuts by developing countries," he said, referring to resistance to accepting transparent ways to measure, report and verify claimed emission cuts.

Arima said he was disappointed to see China and India undermining their pledges for emission cuts listed under the Copenhagen Accord, because the deal, if and when accepted as the basis for a legally binding agreement, would cover more than 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

BILATERAL AGREEMENTS

China has responded to developed countries' criticisms on climate issues by stating that it is taking action, while the advanced economies are responsible for most of the emissions fuelling global warming. [ID:nSGE69801R]

The United Nations' Kyoto Protocol, which commits almost 40 rich nations excluding the United States to curb emissions by 2012, covers less than 30 percent of the total.

"We'd like to keep seeking a legally binding pact with balanced responsibilities between developed and developing countries, based on the Copenhagen Accord," Arima said.

In August, Japan selected 15 groups of companies that aim to offset a portion of the world's fifth-biggest emitter's greenhouse gas output by offering low-carbon technologies in eight Asian countries. [ID:nTOE678084]

In return, Japan is expected to use the offsets generated by any such bilateral technology transfer agreements to help it meet a pledge to cut its greenhouse emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. That pledge is conditioned on all major emitters adopting similar targets.

The government has closed a second tender to subsidise companies to do feasibility studies on such emission-reduction plans.

The number of applications for the second and last round totalled about 50, Arima said, reflecting high corporate interest. The results are expected to be announced next week.

One option to make bilateral deals attractive to emerging countries would be for the Japanese government or corporations to buy all of the carbon offsets generated by the adoption of Japan-originated technology, he said.

"There is risk to taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the U.N. talks because global warming is happening, and we should encourage private investment in this sector," he said. (Editing by Edmund Klamann)

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Best of our wild blogs: 13 Oct 10

Two Members of the Biodiversity Crew to Speak at TEDxNUS
from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

How is oil-slicked Tanah Merah doing?
from wild shores of singapore

Virgin trip to South Cyrene Reef
from wonderful creation

Cucumbers and carpets
from The annotated budak

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Bear-like creature spotted along Ulu Pandan

Vimita Mohandas Channel NewsAsia 12 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE: A bear-like creature was spotted along Ulu Pandan on Monday morning.

The strange scene was caught on an amateur video using a hand phone.

Eyewitness Wilson Tay, a civil engineer, was driving home with his son when he spotted "something strange".

He said his son took the video when the creature was spotted near a dustbin.

By Mr Tay's estimation, the bear was about the height of an average adult human being.

It's as yet unclear whether the creature is for real.

In a media release, Wildlife Reserves Singapore said no bears had been missing from its parks.

Wildlife Reserve Singapore manages the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park and the upcoming River Safari.

It added it was unable to verify yet, if the creature was a real bear.

-CNA/wk

Bear on the prowl?
Bryan Huang Straits Times 12 Oct 10;

TWO days after it was supposedly spotted , captured on video by an amateur photographer and posted on citizen journalism site Stomp, a strange, bear-like creature along Ulu Pandan Road is generating buzz online although it has yet to be verified.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) said on Wednesday that it is still seeking clearer pictures of the creature and more information from the public on the bear sighting.

The creature was seen standing by a dustbin at a bus stop along Ulu Pandan Road by Stomper Philip3D, who said he and his son first thought it was 'a big dog or some sort of creature'.

'After it caught sight of us and started heading our way, it made sense to drive off without hesitation,' the Stomper said, adding that it had been 'a close shave'.

WRS said in a statement that no bears have escaped from the premises of its parks, which include the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. The zoo is home to the Malayan sun bear and polar bear, and the sloth bear resides in the Night Safari.

WRS said it was unable to verify the authenticity of the bear sighting, adding: 'To our knowledge, there has been no prior report of wild bear sightings in Singapore in recent times.'

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More plants in Orchard Rd to attract butterfly breeding

Lynda Hong Channel NewsAsia 12 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE: Nature enthusiasts on Tuesday planted 2,570 plants, shrubs and trees at Orchard Road to entice butterflies to breed there.

The patch of lush green at Penang Road Open Space, along with the 280 square metre garden on the top two floors of Orchard Central are the 14th designated butterfly sites of Singapore's Nature Society.

The 14th designated butterfly sites of the Butterfly Trail Project is a strategic partnership project among Nature Society (Singapore), National Parks Board, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Orchard Road Business Association.

But enthusiasts said growing a butterfly population at 12 storeys high was a challenge.

Nature Society Singapore's Butterfly Interest Group chairperson Gan Cheong Weei said: "They will not fly up in (an) open area because there is no shelter; no protection.

"But if there are tall trees, they will fly up. (Or) if there is enough population (there) and (if) there are host plants and flowering plants up there.

"But of course this is all nature and we try our best to bring it there and we cross our fingers (that) they will do what we want them to do".

-CNA/wk

Butterfly trail at Orchard Rd
The Straits Times 13 Oct 10;

GLAMOUR girls strutting down Orchard Road will face competition from the beauties of the insect world as the Butterfly Trail takes flight.

So far, 24 butterfly species have been observed around the trail, which features clusters of greenery selected to attract butterflies. The trail will run from the Botanic Gardens to Napier, Tanglin and Orchard roads.

Spearheaded by Nature Society (Singapore) and sponsored by property developer Far East Organization, it is expected to be completed by December next year.

It is hoped that 54 of Singapore's 280 butterfly species will be attracted to the area.

The second major stop was added to the trail yesterday at the Orchard Central mall rooftop and Penang Road Open Space, next to Killiney Road Post Office. The Nassim Road stop, opposite The St Regis Singapore, was launched in June.

There will be five major stops along the trail. The other three to be developed are the area behind Ngee Ann City, the space opposite the Istana and a third at Stamford Green.

Orchard Road's butterfly love nest
by Lynda Hong Ee Lyn Today Online Oct 13, 2010

SINGAPORE - Orchard Road just got greener in a move to lure butterflies to breed there.

Nature enthusiasts planted over 2,500 plants, shrubs and trees yesterday at the Penang Road open space. This, along with a 280 sq m garden on the top two floors of Orchard Central, are the Singapore's Nature Society's 14th designated butterfly site.

This is the latest addition to the Butterfly Trail Project, a strategic partnership project between Nature Society (Singapore), National Parks Board, Singapore Tourism Board and Orchard Road Business Association.

Still, enthusiasts say growing a butterfly population 12 storeys up atop Orchard Central is a challenge.

The chairperson of the Nature Society's Butterfly Interest Group, Mr Gan Cheong Weei, said: "Butterflies will not fly up to an open area if there is no shelter or protection. But if there are tall trees, just like the old angsana trees in the area, they will fly up - especially once the population of butterflies abounds at the Penang Road open space."

Having done their part, butterfly lovers now have to wait and see if the butterflies will flit on over to the greened shopping belt. "We will try our best but we will just have to cross our fingers and hope they will do what we want them to do," said Mr Gan.

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Sumatran Tiger Home Is Being Destroyed, WWF Says

Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 12 Oct 10;

Jakarta. The environmental group WWF says one of its video camera traps has recorded a bulldozer clearing trees for an illegal palm oil plantation in a protected Sumatran tiger habitat in Riau.

WWF installed the camera traps in the Bukit Batabuh area last year to study the distribution and habits of the tigers, and the threats they face.

In May and June this year, one of the cameras captured footage of a male tiger walking straight toward it and sniffing it.

A week later the camera captured a bulldozer clearing trees, and the next day a Sumatran tiger walking through the devastated landscape.

The location is just 200 meters from another camera trap that captured a tigress and her cubs last October.

Bukit Batabuh was classified as a protected area by the Riau Land Use Planning Agency in 1994, and categorized as a limited production forest, meaning no company can exploit the forest.

The area is considered crucial for conservation because it connects the Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve and the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park.

“Because of its status, both as a protected area and limited production forest, the area cannot be developed as a palm oil plantation, therefore any forest clearance — including bulldozing activities to clear the path — strongly indicates this excavation was illegal,” Ian Kosasih, WWF Indonesia’s director of forest and species program, said on Tuesday. “The law should be enforced.”

However, Awriya Ibrahim, the director of investigations and forest protection at the Ministry of Forestry, said while the area was protected, it was not classified as a conservation area.

He said the government would check to see if permits had been issued to clear forests for road development in the area.

Awriya also said the ministry could not confer conservation status on the area, even with the recent tiger sightings, saying that was the responsibility of the local administration.

Camera Catches Destruction of Protected Sumatra Tiger Forest
Jakarta Globe 12 Oct 10;

Jakarta, Indonesia. A video camera trap installed by WWF and its partners has captured footage linking the destruction of a crucial Sumatran tiger forest to the expansion of palm oil plantations in Indonesia’s Riau Province.

A news release from the environmental nongovernmental organizations says videos and photos captured in May and June 2010 – released to the public for the first time on Tuesday — caught a male Sumatran tiger walking straight to a camera and sniffing it.

A week later, the heat-activated-video camera trap documented a bulldozer clearing trees for an illegal palm oil plantation in the same exact location. The next day, the camera recorded a Sumatran tiger walking through the devastated landscape, the release says.

Bukit Batabuh, where the film was taken, was classified as a protected area by Riau Province’s Land Use Planning in 1994 and categorized as a limited production forest based on Indonesia’s 1986 Land Use Consensus, meaning no company can legally exploit the forest.

“Because of its status, both as a protected area and limited production forest, the area cannot be developed as a palm oil plantation, therefore any forest clearance — including bulldozing activities to clear the path — strongly indicates this excavation was illegal,” said Ian Kosasih, WWF-Indonesia’s director of forest and species program. “The law should be enforced in this matter.

“And to stop illegal activities such as this, the palm oil industry should not source its material from farmers or producers who develop their plantations illegally.”

Since mid-2009, WWF has installed video camera traps in Bukit Batabuh to study Sumatran tiger distribution, habits, and threats they are facing. The wildlife corridor connects Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve and Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, making it a crucial area for tiger conservation.

“These video camera traps show that Bukit Batabuh area is an important habitat for the Sumatran tiger in Riau, functioning as a wildlife corridor between Bukit Tigapuluh and Rimbang Baling Tiger Priority Landscape, hence it becomes a priority area for tiger conservation,” said M. Awriya Ibrahim, director of investigation and forest protection at the Ministry of Forestry.

“Forest clearance in this area threatens this endangered species because it reduces natural habitat and consequently increases human-tiger conflicts, an unfortunate consequence for both sides. Therefore, we encourage all stakeholders — namely provincial and district level government, business sectors, and communities — to support protection for this landscape. The Ministry of Forestry is investigating this matter and will take strong measure in law enforcement, if this activity is proven violating the law.”

Indonesia has adopted protection for critical tiger habitats as part of its commitment to the Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for Sumatran Tiger 2007, and the National Tiger Recovery Plan, delivered at the Pre-Tiger Summit Partners’ Dialogue Meeting in Bali, in July 2010.

During the Bali meeting, which was attended by government delegates from all13 tiger range countries, a strategic plan to achieve an overarching goal of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022 was discussed. The plan is expected to be ratified by heads of government at the Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, in November.

“The Indonesian government’s commitment to improve protection for its biodiversity — including an ecosystem-based land-use planning delivered in international fora like the Pre-Tiger Summit Partners’ Dialogue Meeting in Bali last July, and upcoming Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October — should be supported by stakeholders in provincial or district levels especially on the issue of overlapping land-use planning,” said Chairul Saleh, general secretary of the Sumatra Land Use Forum (ForTRUST).

Saleh said sufficient prey and protection for the remaining wild Sumatran tiger populations will allow the species to procreate and provide it with an intact home range and habitat that will minimize incidents of human-tiger conflict.

“Bearing this in mind, a revision of Riau’s Provincial Land Use Planning—based on sustainable development principles adhering to ecosystem preservation and accommodating the tiger’s habitat — is crucial.”

Land clearing practices for palm oil plantations in the area have been going on for some time, pushing the tiger to have close contact with humans. Workers have testified that they frequently find tiger tracks in palm oil plantations.

The deforestation rate in Riau pushed WWF to intensify tiger population surveys in the province. Aside from vast deforestation, the population declines are exacerbated by illegal poaching. In March, WWF’s Tiger Patrol Unit and Riau’s Nature Conservation Agency confiscated more than 110 tiger snares in Bukit Betabuh.

There are as few as 400 Sumatran tigers left in Indonesia, or about 12 percent of the estimated global tiger population of 3,200 tigers. With its significant percentage of the global tiger population, Indonesia has a prominent role in tiger conservation efforts.

The tiger population is threatened by loss and fragmented habitat, decreasing prey populations, illegal poaching and trading of the tiger and its body parts, as well as human-tiger conflicts.

WWF News Release

Watch the video.

Footage 'shows land clearing threat to Sumatran tigers'
Yahoo News 12 Oct 10;

JAKARTA (AFP) – New infra-red footage released Tuesday captures a rare tiger roaming in protected forests on Indonesia's Sumatra island, which conservationists alleged to have been illegally cleared.

The video captured in May and June this year was released by environmental group WWF, which has been monitoring Sumatran tigers since last year in a wildlife preserve near Bukit Tigapuluh national park in Riau province.

In one clip, a male Sumatran tiger was seen walking towards a camera and sniffing it.

About a week later, a bulldozer was seen flattening land at the same spot, believed to be making way for roads to new palm-oil plantations, WWF spokeswoman Desmarita Murni told AFP.

"There were strong indications of illegal land-clearing activities and this must be investigated. The video showed concrete evidence that there were threats to tigers in this area," she added.

The WWF said it had reported the land clearing in the Bukit Batabuh area to the authorities and "the operations have since stopped".

"But we don't know when they will come back, so we're urging for monitoring to be intensified in the area," Murni said.

Human-animal conflicts are a rising problem as people encroach on wildlife habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests.

There are as few as 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild in Indonesia, WWF said.

WWF concerned about continuing destruction of tiger habitat
Vicki Febrianto Antara 16 Oct 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Although feared as ferocious predators, Sumatran tigers are helpless creatures when bulldozers wreak havoc in their habitat.

"The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WwF) is concerned about the destruction of the habitat of Sumatran tigers in Riau." Desmarita Murni, WWF Indonesia`s communications manager, told ANTARA, on Friday. She said WWF-Indonesia had reported the finding to the related institutions,

Based on monitoring conducted by WWF-Indonesia, Murni said, the Sumatran tigers` habitat in the Bukit Batabuh region was now being cleared of its natural vegetation and forests for oil palm plantations. A WWF team had found oil palm seedlings scattered on the cleared land.

Since mid-2009, WWF had installed video camera traps in Bukit Batabuh to study the Sumatran tigers` distribution and habits but also the threats they were facing. The wildlife corridor connects the Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve and the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park making it a crucial area for tiger conservation.

Murni said the results of the latest monitoring indicated that the bulldozers used in the clearing operation had disappeared. However, WWF-Indonesia did not know if the bulldozers were gone because of an order to stop the work or because the clearing job was completed.

"We have reported the case to related institutions, such as the Forestry Ministry and the local government," Murni said, adding that WWF-Indonesia was pleased that the institutions had given positive responses.

Riau province`s Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) had denounced the destruction of the Sumatran tigers habitat located in a protected forest in the Bukit Batabuh region which is part of Kuantan Mudik subdistrict, Kuantan Sangigi district, Riau province.

Sumatran tigers are endangered species and therefore protected. They are to be found only in Sumatra Island, and their population is now only 400 while the threat of poaching and destruction of the forest persists. "The destruction of the Sumatran tigers` habitat inside the protected forest can`t be justified," said head of Riau`s BBKSDA, Trisnu Danisworo.

Danisworo regretted that the local government had disregarded the destruction on the pretext that supervision of protected forests was the responsibility of the provincial government while BBKSDA could not interfere in this situation.

"We will send a letter to the local government to get clarification, and we`re ready to help," he said

Getting closer to extinction

Various sources, including WWF, believe that there are around 400 Sumatran tigers (panthera tigris sumatrae) left in the diminishing forests of Sumatra. The Sumatran tigers are really getting closer to extinction as evidence had indicated their habitats on Sumatera Island ware narrowing faster than previously calculated.

"Forests area encroachments by irresponsible people have been on the rise in recent years in Sumatera, in addition to the legal forest clearings for plantations," said Rasyid Assaf Dongoran, director of Sumatra Rainforest Institute (SRI), a Medan-based NGO, on Sunday.

Sumatran tigers, Dongoran added, would not make it to longer years to survive should their habitat become reduced and make them difficult to get food. "This rare species of animal is sure on the brink of extinction," Dongoran pointed out.

Dongoran added reports on forest areas being encroached and the trees felled down had come from virtually every provinces on Sumatera, from Aceh to Lampung. This dismaying fact adds to the previous announcement by the local governments on the legal clearing of forested land for oil palm plantations.

"If forest degradation rate goes unchecked because of the absence of serious attention from the government and society, then disaster would sure to come," Dongoran said.

There are as few as 400 Sumatran tigers left in Indonesia, or about 12 percent of the estimated global tiger population of 3,200 tigers. With its significant percentage of the global tiger population, Indonesia has a prominent role in tiger conservation efforts.

The tiger population is threatened by loss and fragmented habitat, decreasing prey populations, illegal poaching and trading of the tiger and its body parts, as well as human-tiger conflicts, according WWF.

Video camera

A video camera trap installed by WWF and partners has captured footage linking the destruction of a crucial Sumatran tiger forest to the expansion of palm oil plantations in Indonesia`s Riau Province. Videos and photos captured in May and June this year caught a male Sumatran tiger walking straight to a camera and sniffing it.

A week later, the heat-activated-video camera trap documented a bulldozer clearing trees for a palm oil plantation in the same exact location. The next day, the camera recorded a Sumatran tiger walking through the devastated landscape.

Bukit Batabuh, where the film was taken, was classified as a protected area by Riau Province in 1994, and catagorized as a limited production forest based on Indonesia`s 1986 Land Use Consensus, meaning no company can legally exploit the forest.

"Because of its status, both as a protected area and limited production forest, the area cannot be developed as a palm oil plantation, therefore any forest clearance-ncluding bulldozing activities to clear the path-strongly indicates this excavation was illegal," said Ian Kosasih, WWF-Indonesia`s Director of Forest and Species Program.

"These video camera traps show that Bukit Batabuh area is an important habitat for the Sumatran tiger in Riau, functioning as a wildlife corridor between Bukit Tigapuluh and Rimbang Baling Tiger Priority Landscape, hence it becomes a priority area for tiger conservation," explained M. Awriya Ibrahim M.Sc Director of Investigation and Forest Protection, Ministry of Forestry.

"Forest clearance in this area threatens this endangered species because it reduces natural habitat and consequently increases human-tiger conflicts, an unfortunate consequence for both sides. Therefore, we encourage all stakeholders-namely provincial and district level government, business sectors, and communities-to support protection for this landscape.

The Ministry of Forestry is investigating this matter and will take strong measure in law enforcement, if this activity is proven violating the law.

Indonesia has adopted protection for critical tiger habitats as part of its commitment to
the Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for Sumatran Tiger 2007, and the National Tiger Recovery Plan, delivered at the Pre-Tiger Summit Partners` Dialogue Meeting in Bali, in July 2010.

The deforestation rate in Riau pushed WWF to intensify tiger population surveys in the province. Aside from vast deforestation, the population declines are exacerbated by illegal poaching. In March, WWF?s Tiger Patrol Unit and Riau`s Nature Conservation Agency confiscated more than 110 tiger snares in Bukit Betabuh.

WWF: Sumatran Tiger habitat destroyed for plantations
Antara 16 Oct 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has expressed concern over the continued destruction of Sumatran tiger habitats in Riau for oil palm plantations.

"WWF is concerned about the destruction of the habitat of Sumatran tigers in Riau. We have reported the finding to the related institutions," Desmarita Murni, communications manager of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Indonesia told ANTARA, on Friday.

Based on the monitoring conducted by WWF-Indonesia, Murni added that the particular site, Bukit Batabuh, is being cleared of its natural vegetations and forests for oil palm plantations. There were oil palm seedlings found scattered over the cleared land.

She said the results of the latest monitoring indicated that the bulldozers used in the clearing operation had disappeared. However, WWF-Indonesia did not know if the bulldozers were gone under an order to stop the work or because the clearing job was done already.

"We have reported the case to related institutions, such as Ministry of Forestry and the local government," Murni said, adding that WWF-Indonesia is pleased with the fact that there have been positive responses from those institutions.

WWF had placed heat-activated video cameras since 2009 to study Sumatran tiger at Bukit Batabuh. The area was classified as a protected area by Riau Province in 1994, and categorized as a limited production forest based on Indonesia?s 1986 Land Use Consensus, meaning no company can legally exploit the forest.

The wildlife corridor connects Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve and Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, making it a crucial area for tiger conservation.

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