Nagoya 2010: Bridging Business and Biodiversity

The A-Z Electronic Guide to Assist Business to Navigate Maze of Nature
UNEP 25 Oct 10;

Nagoya, Japan, 25 October 2010 - What is a 'Key Biodiversity Area'? Why is it important, how was it established and what is its relevance to business? The answers to these and other key questions can be now found on the 'A-Z Areas of Biodiversity Importance' website, which was launched today at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Nagoya, Japan.

Spotlighting some 35 important areas worldwide -such as Ramsar, World Heritage sites and Protected Areas -this electronic guide also explains the species and habitats they seek to protect as well as in their legal status and the extent to which local communities are present.

"The A-Z guide is a useful reference to support business and other sectors with their biodiversity commitments to mark our contribution to the Year of Biodiversity," said Jon Hutton, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) which created the guide in partnership with the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The guide, the first of its kind, is geared to assist the business community, governments as well as NGOs by providing useful expert reviewed information, links to tools with spatial data, and further online resources to raise awareness and support decision-making about areas important for biodiversity conservation.

"The A to Z guide is a useful tool to inform decisions by businesses on the siting of projects so as to minimize the environmental footprint and maximize conservation opportunities associated with infrastructure development," said Ernani Pilla, Natural Resources Senior Specialist of the IDB.

The guide also covers the criteria behind the management practices for protecting different areas and important information, like legal and compliance aspects as well as the biodiversity and socio-cultural values that need to be upheld in each location.

"For the mining and metals sector, this practical and easy-to-access tool will help those in the industry better understand the many different areas of biodiversity significance," said Andrew Mackenzie, Senior Program Director ICMM.

The A-Z is a one-stop information shop on over 30 different areas of biodiversity importance. It can be used by all sectors including business, government and environmental agencies and is easily accessible via the website - www.biodiversityA-Z.org.

"This online tool is a useful resource for the oil and gas sector. Whilst explaining the different types of areas protected for their biodiversity importance, it also provides informative business context for managing operations," added Ruth Romer, Biodiversity Project Manager of IPIECA.

"The A-Z will add value to the increasing biodiversity management toolbox by providing information and knowledge to help the private sector better address the risks and opportunities associated with the business-biodiversity interface," said Peter Carter, Associate Director, Head Environment and Social Office of the EIB.

More information about the areas of biodiversity importance can be found at www.biodiversityA-Z.org

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Nagoya 2010: Weighing up the risks and benefits of biofuels development

Water, land use change and invasive species are key factors that must be addressed alongside greenhouse gas cuts
UNEP 25 Oct 10;

Nagoya, Japan, 25 October 2010 - Water could determine the degree to which bioenergy can contribute to combating climate change by reducing the world's reliance on fossil fuels, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in an Issue Paper presented at the Convention on Biodiversity meeting (CBD COP10) in Nagoya, Japan, today.

Increasing water demand for biofuels production in areas where water is already scarce could increase environmental and social pressures, the paper entitled Water and Bioenergy (pdf), stated.

Bioenergy development can have an impact on biodiversity on a number of levels: by changing land-use, introducing invasive species for use in biofuel production, overusing water and pushing agricultural production into areas with high conservation value (indirect land use change). But there can be beneficial impacts as well: for instance, replacement of firewood use can decrease deforestation.

A joined-up approach to bioenergy development, one that balances greenhouse gas emissions with impacts on biodiversity, water and food security, is needed. Proper planning and management will be essential at the national level, as well as in individual projects.

"There is no doubt that we need to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and move to cleaner, more environmentally friendly options, but we need to make sure we are not creating more problems than we solve" said Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and UNEP Executive Director.

"Biofuel production has risks and opportunities. We need to examine all the risks, so that we can take full advantage of the opportunities, for emissions cuts, for new green jobs, and for raising the standards of living for some of the world's poorest communities," he added.

UNEP spells out some of those considerations in four issues papers circulated today, which compliment a landmark report-Accessing Biofuels- launched last year by the UNEP-hosted International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management.

In Water and Bioenergy, the second in the bioenergy paper series, UNEP cites research which shows that two per cent, or 44 km3, of the global water withdrawals for irrigation are being used for bioenergy production.

But if current bioenergy standards and targets were fully implemented, a further 180km3 of irrigation water would be needed, creating additional pressure on water resources and potentially impacting on food production and water supplies, especially in those areas already experiencing water stress.

As the water footprint of bioenergy can be up to 400 times greater than that of traditional fossil fuels, the greatest challenges will be to determine how to meet future bioenergy demand without overexploiting or damaging water resources, and how to better manage bioenergy supply chains to reduce the pressure on water use and minimize impacts on water quality.

So important are the links between water and biofuel production that the UNEP is preparing a report

which for the first time examines in depth the links between biofuel production and water availability, use and quality. The report, called Zoom on the Bioenergy and Water Nexus, draws on the work of more than 40 experts and will be released early next year.

Measures that help reduce the impact of bioenergy on water include:

* Matching bioenergy feedstocks with locally available water resources, favoring those that require less irrigation and added agrochemicals, which through run-off can contaminate water supplies.

* Using sustainable agricultural techniques and technologies to minimize water use, and encouraging the switch to sustainable agriculture.

* Conducting life-cycle analyses of total water use and water quality of biofuels.

* Fostering market mechanisms that encourage sustainable water use and reduce potentially harmful effluents and take into account regional needs and contexts.

In another issues paper circulated today, Gain or Pain- Biofuels and Invasive Species, UNEP, UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) say that while many of the currently available biofuels are produced from food crops that have been grown for centuries, some of the plant species being considered for advanced biofuels are potentially invasive.

The very qualities that make these plants ideal for biofuels - fast growth, ability to outperform local vegetation, abundant seed production, tolerance of and adaptability to a range of soil and climatic conditions, resistance to pests and diseases, a lack of predators - mean they could become invasive in a given landscape.

Invasive species can do serious damage to the environment, local livelihoods and economies. Careful risk assessment that weighs up the likelihood of impacts on biodiversity, and measures preventing spread are needed.

So far, in the rush to pursue the benefits of biofuels, the risk of invasive species being introduced for biofuels production has received too little attention.

The paper highlights the need for more research and sharing of information about these plants, and methods to assess the likelihood to which invasiveness could materialize.

In Beyond the Talk: Engaging Stakeholders in Bioenergy Development, UNEP examines the critical link between biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities around the world, building on a recent Decision Support Tool prepared with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the framework of UN Energy, a mechanism to coordinate the work on sustainable energy.

As bioenergy projects creep into the backyards of these communities, they need to be properly engaged and communicated with to ensure that these practices are not harmful to them, that land tenure is secured, and that local biodiversity providing ecosystem services is maintained.

And in Land Use, Land Use Change and Bioenergy, UNEP points to global estimate that, on current trends and with current technologies, bioenergy could compromise up to 36 per cent of arable land by 2030. This could have a serious impact on biodiversity.

The challenge is to create processes and methodologies that help designate areas that are suitable and available for bioenergy development,and those where special care needs to be applied. Comprehensive land-use planning and management systems need to be enacted.

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Best of our wild blogs: 25 Oct 10

27 Oct (Wed): Marine insects – diversity and habitat conservation
from Raffles Museum News

Last Week's Reef Survey @ Big Sister Island
from colourful clouds

Chek Jawa with the Naked Hermit Crabs
from wild shores of singapore

Oil palm plantation fires driving air pollution in Singapore
from Mongabay.com news

Obstacles to nature protection emerge as stakes rise
from BBC NEWS blog by Richard Black

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Biodiversity and cities

Straits Times 25 Oct 10;

This is an edited excerpt of a speech by Professor Tommy Koh at The Third Linnaeus Lecture in Nagoya, Japan, on Friday. The lecture series is named after Swedish father of modern taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus.

INSTEAD of viewing cities as the enemies of biodiversity, let us change the paradigm and focus on how cities can contribute positively to conserve biodiversity. Cities - such as Nagoya in Japan, Curitiba in Brazil, Montreal in Canada, Bonn in Germany, and Stockholm in Sweden, and Singapore - are part of the movement.

The Singapore story is important to the world because it shows that a city need not be an enemy of nature and biodiversity. On the contrary, it demonstrates three propositions:

# that achieving economic prosperity need not be at the expense of care for the environment;

# that a small, densely populated city can still be clean, green and nature-loving; and

# that a city can play a positive role in the conservation of biodiversity and in our campaign to reduce the loss of biodiversity.

Singapore is a very small island, with a total area of 710 sq km. It is smaller than the city of Tokyo. Our population has exceeded five million, making us one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It was a British colony from 1819 until 1963, when it became a state within the Federation of Malaysia. It became an independent state in 1965.

From 1819 until the 1970s, the imperative was to clear the original forest cover, mangrove forests and to level the hills, for development. As a result, Singapore has lost more than 95 per cent of its original forest cover, about 50 per cent of its animal species and 25 per cent of its vascular plants. Yet, when we look at a Google Earth satellite photograph of Singapore, we see that half the island is green. Forests cover 9.2 per cent and dense vegetation covers 14 per cent of Singapore.

How did Singapore, which is so densely populated, become so clean, green and nature-loving?

I think the secret is that we have one of the world's first green political leaders, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee insisted that Singapore would accept no investment proposal if it did not have the support of the anti-pollution unit. The unit was located in the Prime Minister's Office and was empowered to overrule the economic agencies. Mr Lee believed that nature has economic value and that our clean and green environment would give us a comparative advantage in attracting foreign investment to Singapore. His successors have taken the vision to another level.

Singapore is fortunate to be located within the world's richest biodiversity region. Although we have lost a significant percentage of our biodiversity, what remains is not insignificant. We have more than 2,900 species of plants, 360 species of birds, 270 species of butterflies, 120 species of reptiles, 75 species of mammals, 25 species of amphibians, 200 species of hard corals, covering 55 genera and 111 species of reef fish belonging to 30 families. One of our four nature reserves - the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, only 163ha in size - is home to more species of trees than the whole of North America.

Let me now share with you a few of the best practices which Singapore has undertaken to protect and enhance our biodiversity. First, the government's lead agency on biodiversity, the National Parks Board (NParks) has been proactive in leading the way. Last year, it launched the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Apart from championing a wide range of conservation projects, the plan also aims to give voice to biodiversity issues in policy and decision-making. NParks also has an admirable attitude of seeking to work closely with the civil society, the corporate sector, students and volunteers.

Second, I must praise the contributions of our universities, research institutions and scientists. At the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, at the National University of Singapore, visitors can learn about the region's plants and animals, through an extremely comprehensive collection of preserved specimens. It is also training the next generation of the region's scientists. They are also planning to build a new museum of natural history which will showcase the natural heritage of South-east Asia.

Individual scientists have been extremely active in their research, teaching and publications, on Singapore's biodiversity. Next year, the National University of Singapore will launch a new multi-disciplinary bachelor's degree in environmental studies.

Third, we have an active and responsible civil society. The Nature Society (Singapore), for example, is a blue-chip NGO. Its members conduct guided nature walks, bird and butterfly watching, talks as well as undertake conservation projects and surveys. Working closely with the Singapore Environment Council, the Nature Society (Singapore) works with schools and community organisations to promote the appreciation of nature and biodiversity.

Fourth, one of Singapore's best practices is our ability to bring government, academia, civil society and the corporate sector to work together. The business community in Singapore is increasingly supportive of the environment and biodiversity. In one project, the Nature Society (Singapore), NParks and the private sector decided to do something which has never been done in the world.

Singapore's main shopping street, Orchard Road, is like the Champs-Elysees in Paris. In a 4km stretch linking the Singapore Botanic Gardens, on one end, and Fort Canning, on the other, we have trees and shrubs planted by volunteers along Orchard Road which are either host plants for butterflies or plants which provide them with nectar. When the plants mature and the butterflies arrive, the shoppers and pedestrians along Orchard Road will have the unique experience of being accompanied by butterflies.

Prof Koh is Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large and patron of the Nature Society (Singapore).

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Singapore shows world how to move people

From Dublin to Rio, clients are tapping local expertise in transport
Goh Chin Lian Straits Times 25 Oct 10;

TRAIN and bus commuters in Dublin who use integrated transit cards next year and future metro passengers in Rio de Janeiro will have something in common.

The know-how behind their transport systems tracks back here - from the ticketing software for the Irish contactless card to the passenger-information displays on the Brazilian trains.

Singapore's expertise is also what officials in China's Tianjin relied on in their World Bank-funded study of improvements to its public transport system.

In the past decade, several companies that have built up experience developing public transport infrastructure here have, with the support of IE Singapore, hawked their expertise overseas - and clients from China to the Middle East are biting.

The companies' success reflects what is valued about Singapore-style systems - not just the technology, but also the integration of different systems that view transport planning in totality, transport engineers told The Straits Times.

Examples include Singapore Technologies (ST) Electronics, CPG Consultants which was born out of corporatising the Public Works Department in 1999, and MSI Global, the external arm of the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

The contracts they clinch are no small potatoes: For example, a dozen of ST Electronics' rail, road traffic and taxi projects in the past four years have exceeded $270 million in total value.

MSI, which started out as a $2 shell company in 1995, is today a $22 million firm with a mostly foreign client list.

The Dublin Rail Procurement Agency is one of its clients, to which it delivered software enabling commuters to use one card for trains, buses, coaches and trams. MSI pipped its Hong Kong, Korean and American rivals to the contract, said MSI business unit head Silvester Prakasam.

Reasons include Singapore's success with contactless cards usable not only on trains and buses, but also in shops. Knowing how to achieve this kind of integration, which Dublin valued, came from the way MSI's parent, the LTA, worked with other government agencies here.

Similarly, CPG's clients from Fiji, Brazil and China also recognise its holistic transport planning skills.

For the project in Tianjin, completed last year, CPG roped in veteran consultants Joseph Yee and Gopinath Menon. Their work on Singapore's land transport system, spanning more than 30 years, has taken them from planning to developing congestion-pricing measures like the Area Licensing Scheme and its successor, Electronic Road Pricing (ERP).

The study they did for Tianjin examined issues such as the city's masterplan, road-building programme, bus-priority lanes and plans for a city-rail system.

But transport engineers here say they are careful not to insist the Singapore way is the best way. Often, they have to adapt their expertise to local conditions and hire local consultants to get access to the right people and cut through red tape.

Mr Yee noted that, unlike in Singapore, other countries have more than one level of government; competing jurisdictions can create roadblocks to a project.

Political will is also not a given abroad. In Singapore, 'we dare to do what's unpopular when we know the long-term benefits for the country', he said.

Getting a grip on the local situation in a third world country is thus crucial, said Associate Professor Menon.

ST Electronics president Lee Fook Sun cited one such experience in Guangzhou in 2005. A single contactless card system looked like the neatest solution for the city, but the company had to accommodate its client's wish for a system that also accepted tokens. This was because its commuters included people from other provinces who were passing through and would not pay for a stored-value card.

ST Electronics has since sunk roots in foreign soil. It hired 150 research engineers in Shenzhen and transferred technology and production to a Shanghai subsidiary, where costs are lower than here.

This subsidiary has even come full circle: It has worked with trainmakers from China to clinch deals elsewhere - including here for the Downtown Line trains.

Big lessons in the Little Red Dot
Straits Times 25 Oct 10;

MORE than 10,000 officials and professionals from 100 countries have come here to observe Singapore's land transport system under programmes run by the training arm of the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

The LTA Academy has, increasingly, drawn participants from Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin in China, and Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai in India, said its dean Mohinder Singh.

One top draw for these visitors is the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), but they are all reminded not to emulate the ERP in isolation in managing road congestion and vehicle usage. A good public transport system needs to be in place as well, they are told.

The academy also showcases Singapore by holding international land transport conferences here. It organised the World Roads Conference in October last year, the World Urban Transport Leaders Summit in June and the World Urban Transit Conference for railway specialists last week.

Three months ago, the academy also started, in conjunction with SIM University, the region's first master's programme in urban transport management. A panel of local and foreign specialists from Britain, the United States and South Korea is teaching the course to 18 Singapore citizens and permanent residents.

Plans have been made to market the programme to transport professionals, government officials and others in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, India and the Middle East, said a spokesman. The target is to take in 25 students for the second run next July.

GOH CHIN LIAN

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Haze in Singapore: Skies all clear - for now

Cheryl Ong Straits Times 25 Oct 10;

THE haze that blanketed Singapore for most of last week cleared up yesterday, with the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading going as low as 13 in the evening.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the islandwide 24-hour PSI reading was 44 at 4pm, bringing air quality back to the 'Good' range.

An NEA spokesman said heavy rain on Saturday in Singapore and Sumatra, including parts of Riau province and the Strait of Malacca, had a big part to play in the improved situation yesterday.

Associate Professor Matthias Roth, who is deputy head of the geography department at the National University of Singapore, said the wind blowing towards Singapore is no longer just from Indonesia, but from other directions as well.

This, he said, could have led to the improvement in the haze situation here at the weekend.

The haze has been attributed to Indonesian farmers from the south Sumatran provinces of Jambi and Riau, who are burning forested areas to prepare for the planting season.

The haze may persist for the next two days if the burning goes on, the NEA said.

However, these fires, or hot spots, are tough to track.

Said Prof Roth: 'It is possible that the hot spot count has reduced during the last couple of days.

'This, however, is difficult to verify because forest fires cannot be detected by satellites during cloudy or overcast conditions.'

Haze in moderate range as 10,000 runners hit the streets
Shaffiq Alkhatib Today Online 25 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE - More than 10,000 people took part in the Nike City 10K Run (picture), which flagged off next to the Marina Bay Floating Platform yesterday morning.

Many decided to sweat it out after finding out that the air quality was in the good range before the start of the race.

The Pollutant Standards Index or PSI was below 40 till noon.

The air quality becomes moderate once the PSI hits 51.

Heavy showers in various parts of the island in the afternoon helped clear the haze to some extent.

At 8pm yesterday, the 3-hour PSI measured 18, which is in the "good" range. Many participants felt that the haze had little effect on their performance during the race.

"Actually, my timing was even better. I've been preparing for quite a long time. I didn't want it to go to waste by not running.

"So, I thought, why not just go ahead and run. Plus I'd already paid for it," said one of the faster runners.

The participants were energised by four vibrant entertainment zones, featuring four genres of music - dance, pop, rock and hip hop - as they sped along the race route in a bid to raise US$30,000 ($39,000) for the Singapore Children's Society.

In a related development, more people are turning to Chinese herbs as a preventive measure against the haze, some traditional Chinese medicine practitioners told Channel NewsAsia. Sales of herbs over the past two days have soared by nearly 40 per cent, said the practitioners.

They have also seen an increase in the number of patients, suffering from dry eyes and throats, by about 20 per cent.

The TCM practitioners said herbal concoctions made from chrysanthemum can help with dry eyes, while liquorice can soothe sore throats.

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‘Bad air quality locally induced’: Malaysian Minister

The Star 25 Oct 10;

KUCHING: A major contributor to the bad air quality in Peninsular Malaysia now is actually due to emissions from vehicles and factories as well as illegal burning, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas.

He said that to the best of his knowledge the haze from Sumatra had not reached Kuala Lumpur.

“There are many causes for the haze. Emission from vehicles is one that has led to air quality going down. Another reason is emission from industries.

“Also, there’s illegal burning,” he added when asked to comment on the 432 Air Pollution Index (API) reading in Muar, Johor, last week.

In various news reports, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, said the unhealthy air level was due to fires in Sumatra, which was sparked by the hot weather.

As at 4pm yesterday, no areas in Malaysia had an API reading above 100. Nonetheless, 12 API reading centres in peninsula recorded between 51 and 100, which is moderate.

Healthy API readings are below 50, 101-200 is unhealthy, while anything above 301 is deemed hazardous.

Updates on API reading nationwide is available at www.doe.gov.my.

Improved air quality recorded in Johor and Malacca
The Star 25 Oct 10;

PETALING JAYA: The haze in Johor and Malacca which forced the closure of schools in Muar has improv-ed.

As of 5pm yesterday, both Muar and Malacca recorded an air pollutant index (API) reading of 52 and 32 respectively, a sharp drop from the 432 and 111 figure on Wednesday.

The API experienced an improvement in quality from only 47% of 37 areas showing a good reading to 82% as of 5pm yesterday.

Healthy API readings are below 50, moderate (51-100) and unhealthy (101-200). Readings above 301 are deemed hazardous.

Despite the improving condition, government hospitals and clinics remain on standby to treat more people with haze-related illnesses if the air quality remains poor.

The haze has been attributed to fires at about 300 hotspots in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Many of these hotspots were caused by smallholders who clear trees from areas of peatland in order to grow oil palm or other crops.

According to Department of Environment (DoE) director-general Datuk Rosnani Ibrahim, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry had informed its counterpart in Indonesia to express concern over the matter.

On whether the ministry could compel Indonesia to stop smallholders from continuing with the practice, Rosnani said the government could only make a request.

On Friday, the Indonesian government sent hundreds of firefighters to battle blazes, concentrating on Sumatra’s Riau province, which lies opposite Singapore across the Straits of Malacca.

The most severe outbreak of haze took place in 1997.

Rosnani had said the current haze conditions would not be as bad as the one in 1997. In fact, she said the haze woes had improved over the years.

For updates on the API nationwide, visit the DoE website at www.doe.gov.my.

Haze at park puts frown on visitors
The Star 25 Oct 10;

PONTIAN: Visitors to the Tanjung Piai National Park here are leaving disappointed as hazy conditions are impairing the view of the sunset and surrounding environment.

Park manager Khalid Zahrom said the hazy conditions for the past four days had caused many visitors to leave without enjoying the attractions.

“The park is located within a mangrove forest which overlooks parts of Pulau Karimun, Indonesia, the Tanjung Bin power plant and Singapore,” he said, adding that visitors who wanted to view the beautiful sunset were unable to do so.

He said that when the haze first began in Muar on Oct 20, conditions at the national park were normal, but over the last few days, the winds had brought the haze to the area.

“Visibility towards the sea is only about 100m,” he said.

Student Muhammad Azamuddin Mohd Saman, 12, said he was disappointed that he could not enjoy the full view of the Straits of Johor and Straits of Malacca from the park jetty.

“I was told by a park ranger that on a regular day, we can see as far as Singapore and Indonesia, but the haze has made that impossible,” he said.

Another student, Muhammad Zulhisham Mohd Affandi, 12, said that the haze had made it difficult to view the ships in the straits.

“I was looking forward to seeing some of the large ships and tankers today, but the haze prevented this,” he said.

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Rainfall Helps Firefighters Clear the Air in Haze-Choked Riau

Budi Otmansyah Jakarta Globe 24 Oct 10;

Pekanbaru, Riau. Lambasted from all sides last week for inaction in tackling blazes that caused choking haze to spread to Singapore and Malaysia, Indonesian officials had their blushes spared over the weekend after Mother Nature came to the rescue.

Three days of heavy rain starting on Friday coincided with the government’s dispatch of firefighters to Riau to battle forest and ground fires causing the haze, reducing most of the blazes to a fizzle.

“Eighty percent of the fires have been put out, thanks to the rain and the hard work of our team on the ground,” said Isbanu, head of the Forest Fire Mitigation Division at the provincial Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).

The Pekanbaru office of the National Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said the dry weather pattern caused by Super Typhoon Megi had ended.

“The situation has returned to normal. Riau and Sumatra are now entering the rainy season,” said Marzuki, head of the local BMKG weather analysis department.

“There is no more haze from the fires. The air in Singapore is also fine now because it is also raining there.”

Sultan Syarif Kasim II airport in Pekanbaru has returned to normal operations. “The conditions at the airport are normal. There is slight rain and visibility is 6,000 meters,” said Ibnu Hasan, the airport’s deputy chief.

The conditions were a marked improvement from Saturday, when four flights were delayed.

“Visibility on Saturday was only 300 meters. It was up to 500 meters at 7 p.m., and at about 3,000 meters at 9 p.m.,” Ibnu said.

Officials from Malaysia and Singapore — two countries affected by smoke drifting across from Sumatra — last week called on Jakarta to deal with the sources of the smoke and offered assistance.

But Indonesia declined help, saying it could take care of the problem on its own.

Isbanu added that firefighters were still searching for remaining hot spots in peatland areas.

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Haze highlights weak ASEAN cooperation: analysts

Martin Abbugao Yahoo News 24 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE (AFP) – Just a week after Southeast Asia hailed "substantive progress" against cross-border air pollution, Singapore and parts of Malaysia are again being blanketed by smog from forest fires in Indonesia.

The problem, known euphemistically as "the haze", raises fresh questions about the effectiveness of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose leaders will hold a summit in Hanoi from October 28-29.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo phoned his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa on Friday to press for action and offer help in extinguishing forest fires largely set by farmers in the vast island of Sumatra to clear land for cultivation.

Malaysian officials also vented their frustration at the persistent problem, which analysts said highlights weakness both within individual ASEAN countries and the bloc itself in enforcing domestic laws and regional pacts.

"This just shows that ASEAN must move from talk to action," said Joko Arif, Southeast Asia forest team leader at environmental group Greenpeace.

"ASEAN has been talking for more than 10 years on how to combat forest fires and haze, but I think more concrete action needs to be done," he told AFP.

For its part, Indonesia should effectively implement laws that ban the use of fire to clear land and be more transparent in giving out information on the location and size of the burning activities, Arif said.

Haze has been on ASEAN's agenda since 1997-1998, when a choking pall of smoke caused by fires on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan wafted across Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

More than nine million hectares (22 million acres) of land were burnt, costing the region an estimated nine billion dollars in economic, social and environmental losses, according to ASEAN.

In 2002, the grouping adopted the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution to coordinate efforts to fight the fires, often caused by slash-and-burn practices by farmers and companies as they clear massive tracts of land for products like palm oil.

Only Indonesia has yet to ratify the treaty.

ASEAN also boasts a Regional Haze Action Plan, the ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy and a Panel of ASEAN Experts on Fire and Haze Assessment and Coordination.

Yet the forest fires recur every year and the smoke continues to afflict Indonesia's neighbours with varying degrees of seriousness.

The latest fires on Sumatra this month triggered health alerts in Singapore and parts of Malaysia.

"ASEAN really has to transcend its reputation as a talk shop," said Rafael Senga, the Asia Pacific energy policy chief at World Wildlife Fund International.

"We all know that ASEAN has achieved some headway in some areas as an organisation. But for issues that have a domestic character like deforestation, ASEAN is basically toothless," Senga told AFP.

"They can issue communique after communique every year but at the end of the day, it still depends on the national governments involved to do something about it."

Senga said that Indonesia's drive to significantly increase its palm oil production is leading to massive deforestation, while Indonesian officials often blame poor farmers for the fires.

The region is susceptible to haze pollution because 60 percent of the world's tropical peatlands are in Southeast Asia, covering around 24 million hectares, with Indonesia accounting for 70 percent, ASEAN's website said.

When set on fire, dry peatland can burn for weeks because the blaze can be extinguished on the surface but continue to burn underground.

Mely Caballero-Anthony, a Singapore-based expert on non-traditional security threats, said that while ASEAN has a haze agreement, it cannot be fully implemented because Indonesia has yet to ratify it.

Moreover, the bloc has yet to draw up an implementing mechanism for the treaty, said Caballero-Anthony, who heads the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at Nanyang Technological University.

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Coral bleaching in Malaysia: Nine snorkelling sites still out of bounds

The New Straits Times 25 Oct 10;

ALOR STAR: Nine popular snorkelling sites at marine parks in Kedah, Pahang and Terengganu, which were closed in July because of coral bleaching, remain off limits to divers and coral enthusiasts.

The Marine Parks Department's newly-appointed director-general, Dr Sukarno Wagiman, said the ban on recreational activity remained in effect although work on preservation of corals at the dive sites had shown results.

The ban, which was to be lifted by the end of this month, will continue for an indefinite period.

"There has been tremendous improvement on the condition of the corals after the department imposed a temporary closure on the dive sites.

"(But) we will continue to monitor and conduct preservation work on the sites until the condition of the reefs return to normal," he said after launching a half-day seminar on coral preservations here yesterday.

Sukarno believes the corals will turn colourful when the sea temperature improves, following monsoon changes, which is expected to take place early next month

The affected dive sites in the three states were closed after the areas recorded coral bleaching of between 51 and 100 per cent.

Sukarno said the department would also beef up security by increasing the number of patrols at the marine parks.

"We want to preserve the corals and reduce the number of encroachment activities at the parks," he said.

There are six marine parks in the country, which are made up of 42 islands in Kedah, Perak, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor and Sabah.


Underwater patrols to nab those who damage corals
The Star 25 Oct 10;

ALOR STAR: Underwater patrols will be conducted at 42 marine parks nationwide from January to nab those who damage or collect corals.

Marine Parks Department director Dr Sukarno Wagiman said 100 enforcement personnel would conduct patrols to nab culprits.

He said stricter enforcement was aimed at preventing damage to the corals.

Those caught could be fined under the Fisheries Act, he said, but did not specify the amount.

Dr Sukarno also said the temporary closure of several dive sites at three marine parks since June due to coral bleaching has been extended.

He said this was because the corals at these sites have not fully recovered. “When we first proposed the time frame, we thought that it would give ample time for the corals to recover.

“It seems the corals need a much longer period of time,” Dr Sukarno said yesterday at a seminar on coral protection, organised by Tourism Malaysia here.

He said the department had yet to decide when to reopen the dive sites to the public.

It was reported in June that several dive sites at the Tioman marine park in Pahang, Redang marine park in Terengganu and Payar marine park in Kedah were made off-limits to divers and snorkellers until the end of this month.

The sites were affected by coral bleaching, a phenomenon caused by global warming that has increased sea water temperature by 2°C to between 28°C and 29°C.

The affected dive sites are Pulau Chebeh and Batu Malang in Pahang; Teluk Dalam, Tanjung Tukas Darat, Tanjung Tukas Laut, Teluk Air Tawar, Pulau Tenggol and Teluk Bakau in Terengganu; and Teluk Wangi, Pantai Damai and Coral Garden in Kedah.

Pulau Regis, Pulau Soyak and Pulau Tumok in the Tioman marine park are also temporarily closed.

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Coral bleaching in India-Sri Lanka: Corals on decline in Gulf of Mannar

S M Arun Express News Service 24 Oct 10;

THOOTHUKUDI: Corals in the Gulf of Mannar may soon be a thing of the past if the current die-off trend continues.

A reef research team from the Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI) in Thoothukudi recorded coral mortality this October — a first since 2002 — during a meticulous rapid monitoring in the Gulf of Mannar.

The reputable research institution has regularly been monitoring coral reef in the Gulf of Mannar since 2005 after developing a baseline on coral status here during 2003-2005.

According to the director of the institute, Dr J K Patterson Edward, mass bleaching and coral mortality were earlier witnessed in 1998 and 2002.

Explaining the phenomenon of bleaching and mortality, Edward said coral bleaching occurs when the water temperature reaches 31ºC in mid-April every year in the Gulf of Mannar and recovery is usually recorded in June-July, depending on rainfall and winds.

“In 2010, we found that due to the elevated temperature (32.2-33.2ºC), which prolonged for four months (April to July), recovery could not take place,” he said.

He pointed out that due to this six to eight per cent of live coral in the Gulf of Mannar had died and since most are covered with turf algae, chances of recovery were slim.

Interestingly, live coral cover in the Gulf of Mannar increased from 37 per cent in 2005 to 42.85 per cent in 2009, which according to Edward had been due to the proactive measures of the government.

According to the data provided by SDMRI, the average percentage of bleached corals during 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 was 14.6, 15.6, 12.9, 10.5, 8.93 and 9.01, respectively.

Edward called for eco-friendly fishing and support for protection measures by the park management to save the coral reef. The SDMRI, an acclaimed underwater research institution in India, is one of the five institutions identified by the Government of India for environmental monitoring of the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project.

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Deadlock in UN biodiversity talks in Nagoya

Karl Malakunas Yahoo News 24 Oct 10;

NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) – UN talks aimed at brokering a deal to protect the world's diminishing natural resources have made little progress, green groups said ahead of the summit's crucial second phase starting Monday.

The 12 days of negotiations in the central Japanese city of Nagoya are aimed at securing agreement on how to stop the rapid loss of the world's plant and animal species, as well as their habitats.

But after the first week environment groups said the conference was becoming bogged down in the same kind of acrimony between developed and developing nations that have plagued UN climate change negotiations.

"What we need to see is a global alliance to protect life on earth but what we have seen so far are alarming divisions and a hardening of positions," WWF international director general Jim Leape said.

In a best-case scenario, the negotiations would wrap up on Friday with a set of agreed targets for slowing the dramatic rate of biodiversity loss by 2020.

There would also be a deal on how developed countries would provide poor ones with funding to protect the world's natural habitats, plus an agreement on how to equitably share genetic resources.

However, the WWF and other environment groups monitoring the event said rich and poor nations were at loggerheads over many aspects of the potential agreement.

In one crucial stand-off, Brazil was insisting there would be no overarching deal unless there was agreement on how to share the benefits of genetic resources such as wild plants from forests that are used to make medicines.

Developing countries, which have most of these genetic riches, want an "equitable share" of the profits Western companies enjoy from the natural resources.

Some of the sticking points on this issue are determining exactly which resources would be included and whether a potential agreement would be retroactive.

Greenpeace policy advisor Nathalie Rey said the negotiations were in danger of heading the same way as climate change talks in Copenhagen last year, when world leaders failed to secure a binding agreement to tackle global warming.

"The world can't afford another Copenhagen," Rey, who is in Nagoya, told AFP.

But the European delegation insisted there had been some progress and that a deal could be achieved in Nagoya.

"There are some outstanding issues but... we are seeing movement forward," Karl Falkenberg, the European Commission's director general of the environment, told reporters.

"For the moment I am satisfied with the progress, I would have wished for it to be faster... but we hope we can still conclude negotiations successfully."

There are also hopes the talks will pick up steam when environment ministers arrive in Nagoya this week and take over from their advisers for the final three days of the summit.

On the opening day of the talks last Monday, delegates from the 193 members of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) were told that a meaningful deal in Nagoya was crucial to save the world's biodiversity.

"Business as usual is no more an option when it comes to life on Earth," CBD executive secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf said in his opening address.

"We need a new approach, we need to reconnect with nature and live in harmony with nature."

Delegates were told human population pressures were wiping out ecosystems such as tropical forests and coral reefs, killing off animal and plant species that form the web of life on which humanity depends.

"This meeting is part of the world's efforts to address a very simple fact. We are destroying life on Earth," said the UN Environment Programme's executive director, Achim Steiner.

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