Yao Ming urges Chinese to give up shark fin soup

(AFP) Google News 22 Sep 11;

SHANGHAI — Basketball star Yao Ming and British entrepreneur Richard Branson on Thursday launched a campaign urging Chinese to stop eating shark fin soup to help save the predators.

Shark fins are used in a thick soup that is viewed as a delicacy by Chinese people and served at luxury restaurants in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The method of shark-finning -- slicing off the fins of live animals and then throwing them back in the water to die -- is condemned by animal rights campaigners and blamed by scientists for a worldwide collapse in populations.

The campaign, launched in Shanghai, includes advertisements featuring the two celebrities and a website for people to make an online pledge to stop eating the soup, said the organiser, international conservation group WildAid.

Yao, who retired from the sport in July but remains one of China's biggest sporting names, made a pledge to stop eating shark fin soup five years ago and has since served as an ambassador for WildAid, the group said in a statement.

Branson is backing the campaign through his non-profit foundation Virgin Unite.

"I simply cannot imagine a world without sharks -- we must not let this happen," he said in the statement.

WildAid, which seeks to halt the trade in wildlife, estimates up to 73 million sharks are harvested annually, mainly for shark fin soup.

"The ongoing and increasing demand for shark fin is holding many species on the brink of extinction, further threatening marine ecosystems the world over," it said.

Earlier this year, a member of China's parliament proposed a ban on the trade in shark fins.

Ding Liguo, a businessman delegate to the National People's Congress, said China should lead the world in banning the trade since 95 percent of shark fin is consumed in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

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Philippines eats, sells biodiversity riches

Cecil Morella (AFP) Google News 23 Sep 11

MANILA — A Philippine brown deer hobbles on three legs in a tiny mud pit of a pen at a government-run wildlife rescue centre, a grim symbol of the country's rapidly vanishing flora and fauna.

The deer was a victim of a snare set by villagers hunting it for food that claimed its front right foot six years ago, forcing the old male to live out the rest of its days a long way from home at the animal shelter in Manila.

The deer is just one of hundreds of local species that are being hunted close to extinction mainly by the rural poor who want them for food or to sell to dealers as part of an increasingly lucrative global pet trade.

"It is in our culture to catch, kill, and or cook anything that moves," said Mike Lu, treasurer of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, who has observed a dramatic decline in bird species over many years.

Massive habitat loss compounds the problem, according to Theresa Mundita Lim, head of the government's protected areas and wildlife bureau.

"One-fifth of our major fauna species will disappear within 20 years' time if we don't do something," Lim said.

With more than 53,000 species, environment group Conservation International lists the tropical Southeast Asian nation among 17 "megadiverse" countries that harbour two-thirds of Earth's species.

But it also says the Philippines is one of the world's most threatened hotspots, with just seven percent of its original forests left and one of the world's fastest-growing populations that needs ever-greater amounts of land.

But, with roughly a third of the 95 million Filipinos living on a dollar a day or less, the immediate value of the country's biodiversity is one of its greatest threats, according to Lim.

As an example, Lim said the poor rural villagers had nearly wiped out the country's indigenous orchid species by collecting and selling them.

"It is the main livelihood for some communities," she said.

The Philippines' biodiversity riches makes it a major force in the global illegal wildlife trade, which is worth up to $20 billion annually, according to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network.

The network says wildlife is the world's third-largest black market trade, surpassed only by arms and drugs.

Among the higher-profile animal species to have all but vanished in recent years due to hunting are the brown deer and the national bird, a monkey-eating eagle.

And only about 200 tamaraw, a wild buffalo, remain at a protected mountain range.

Some of the prices are astounding.

Several species of geckos, colourful nocturnal lizards, are collected for the alternative medicine trade, with those believed to cure AIDS selling for up to $1,200 dollars, while some of the rarest Philippine birds of prey are rumoured to fetch upwards of 20,000 dollars, according to Lim.

She said trappers -- typically poor farmers -- got as little as 500 pesos ($12) for a coveted Philippine parrot, but middlemen then sold the critically endangered bird for five times that.

President Benigno Aquino's government, which came to power last year, has stepped up efforts to combat the rampant wildlife trade.

High-profile police raids of pet-shop and trophy suppliers this year have uncovered a wide range of rare or critically endangered species, including sea turtles, snakes and corals.

Protected wildlife used to be openly hawked at big pet markets such as Arranque in Manila's Chinatown and Cartimar near the financial district.

A recent AFP visit to Arranque found no prohibited species, and market administrator Rene Sese said the shopkeepers now observed a wildlife ban.

"Before that was a practice here. Now they only sell those bred in captivity," Sese told AFP.

But the government acknowledges that, despite the higher-profile markets appearing to be better behaved, the illicit trade in protected species continues to flourish under the table.

"Traders are aware that they can be monitored so what they do is offer it for sale clandestinely... you can get it if you want. You can order," Lim said, adding the Internet also fuelled the trade.

Ashley Fruno, senior Asia campaigner for the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also said penalties remained far too light to dissuade people from participating in the lucrative trade.

A wildlife protection law was passed in the Philippines in 2001, but fewer than 20 people have been convicted and judges often fine them instead of sending them to jail, said Josefina de Leon, wildlife section head of the environment ministry.

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Fears for koalas as study reveals 'marked decline'

(AFP) Google News 22 Sep 11;

SYDNEY — Australia's much-loved koala is under increasing threat and should be considered a vulnerable species, an official report found Thursday, with habitat loss seeing their numbers plunge.

The furry native marsupial has experienced a "marked decline" as the species faced down threats on a range of fronts including dog attacks and car accidents, according to a government inquiry into koala protection.

Thought to number in excess of 10 million before British settlers arrived in 1788, there are now believed to be as few as 43,515 left in the wild, though their existence high in the treetops makes them difficult to count

Drought, land-clearing, urban development, wildfires and disease were among other serious dangers to the tree-dwellers.

"The koala is an instantly recognisable symbol of Australia as well as being an integral part of Australian cultural heritage," the inquiry said.

Habitat loss was the single greatest threat facing the koala population, leaving them more susceptible to diseases including chlamydia and the koala retrovirus, and fragmenting breeding populations.

Groups in Australia's north were more endangered than those in the south, where they were so abundant in some areas food was running scarce, and the dangers varied from region to region, meaning there were "no easy solutions".

The report urged the government to consider the koala for classing as a vulnerable species, warning that urgent action was required to keep it from drifting "ever closer to the threatened species list."

"The committee is deeply concerned about the sustainability of Australia's koala population," it said.

Mapping and monitoring populations across Australia and genetic research were also among the inquiry's 19 recommendations, which called for the establishment of protected habitat areas, especially on government land.

Disease studies were also vital, including possible vaccination against chlamydia and retrovirus and the impact of changing leaf chemistry.

Wild dog management in priority areas was key, as was lowering speed limits, fencing off danger zones and, if required, building overpasses or underpasses to protect the native creatures, the report said.

Female koalas typically live for 15 years, males for 12, subsisting on a diet of native eucalyptus leaves.

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Welcome baby seven billion: we've room on earth for you

The modern Malthusians' lament at overpopulation is a mask for misanthropy. It's sustainable if the rich world consumes less
Lynsey Hanley guardian.co.uk 22 Sep 11;

On one day – one minute – in the next month, the world's 7 billionth human resident will be born. The United Nations is marking the occasion on the last day of October with what it describes it as an "opportunity" to promote "7 billion actions" for environmental sustainability and women's education, estimating that the world's population will top out at 9 or 10 billion mid-century before declining as economic development matures in countries with higher birth rates.

They appear to be right. Worldwide, fertility rates in countries such as Mexico and Bangladesh have fallen vastly in a single generation – thanks, in large part, to what the economist Amartya Sen terms "development as freedom". Yet Thomas Malthus, who at the turn of the 19th century predicted that population growth would inevitably lead to famine, still has his fans among those inclined to believe that humans mean little but bad news.

In Britain Population Matters, the Green party and the naturalist David Attenborough are united in agreeing that the UK population is too big and needs to be "encouraged" to bring about the conditions for its managed decline. Rather than place their focus on the waste and overconsumption endemic to rich nations such as ours, their solution to environmental pressure is to make sure there are fewer of us around in the future to mess things up.

The Greens have had a discrete population policy for more than 20 years and encourage the promotion of "informed debate on a sustainable population for the UK", coyly refraining from suggesting its own preferred figure. That's not to say the party's leaders haven't in the past: two years ago its former leader, Jonathon Porritt, described our over-fecundity as "the ghost at the table".

For its part, Population Matters reveals the moral crusade beneath its rational concern in a summary of its UK policy. First, it advocates reducing the rate of immigration so that it matches the rate of emigration – leaving us with a reduced population of ageing people. Second, it plans to "reduce the number of teenage pregnancies": an interesting target for attention, considering the age of the average first-time mother is now very close to 30. Third, it proposes that families "stop at two" children, which is what the overwhelming majority of households do already.

At 62.3 million, Britain's population in 2010 was about 10 million short of mid-1960s estimates for the year 2000. Back in 1965, the Central Statistical Office projected that 1,527,000 live births would take place in the first year of the new millennium, based entirely on trends at the time. The actual figure, when that year came around, was 604,441, suggesting that greater equality and opportunities for women had led them to "stop at two" without having to be told to.

Around the world, policies to promote family planning only work when people of child-bearing age are able to factor in the prospect of stability and choice in other areas of their lives. We have found ways of making it possible to sustain ourselves at a time when the world population has increased exponentially. What prevents the world being fed equitably and healthily is the fact that rich-world governments can't bear the thought of doing two unpopular things.

First, they won't encourage individuals to reduce their own consumption; and second, they won't facilitate moving that consumption away from petrol, meat, imported fruit and other adoptive "necessities" of the world middle class. Stuffed and Starved, the incisive 2008 book by Raj Patel, shows the symbiosis between obesity in rich nations and undernourishment in poor ones, caused by the hogging of food markets by those best placed to profit from them.

Even Population Matters admits that "managing population decline is like trying to hit a moving target". The question is, then, why even try? Nevertheless, let's assume that the world's population could be engineered to decline significantly from seven billion. For there to be any significant impact on the environment, that decline would have to take place in countries that already consume a far more than sustainable share of the world's resources.

Looked at from any angle, advocates of population control put across subjective moral arguments that masquerade as practical concerns. We now have the grotesque spectacle of the government of Australia, a continent-sized country with a minuscule population, simultaneously inviting people from other rich countries to live and work there while producing YouTube videos intended to deter people from poor countries from trying to enter.

To paint humans in their struggle for healthier, more prosperous, lives as somehow grabbing and greedy is as miserly and unimaginative as it gets. So let's see this apparent rationalism about population for what it is: fear and misanthropy wearing a mask of concern.

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Carbon capture progress has lost momentum, says climate change agency

Meeting of senior ministers in Beijing hears that CCS is being left behind due to financial crisis and weakening political will
Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk 22 Sep 11;

The financial crisis and fading government support for climate action have seriously eroded global plans to capture and store carbon, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Thursday.

Sequestration – the depositing of greenhouse gases underground rather than into the atmosphere – was supposed to account for a fifth of the world's emissions reductions under the agency's roadmap for keeping global temperature rise within 2C (4F) by the end of the century.

But delegates including the US energy secretary, Steven Chu, heard at a meeting, held in Beijing, that the global temperature is on course to rise by 3.5C, due to poor progress both on carbon capture and storage, and on acceptance of a carbon price and other carbon-cutting efforts.

IEA deputy executive director, Richard Jones, told the meeting, hosted by the Washington-based Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, that this would wreak havoc on human wellbeing. He added that time was running out to avoid this scenario because of slow progress on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

"Every year that passes makes it more difficult," Jones said. "With current policies, CCS will have a hard time [being] deployed ... There is less of a global push for climate action, and tighter government finances."

According to the IEA, global energy demand has more than doubled in the past 40 years and even with the most favourable assumptions will grow another 35% by 2035, which will take carbon dioxide emissions above 35 gigatonnes per year.

Projects to capture and bury a major chunk of that are behind schedule and finding it harder to secure funds.

To reach the 2C goal, the IEA estimates there will have to be 1,500 large-scale CCS projects around the world by 2035. However, only 74 have been announced, and the trend is in the wrong direction.

"We're seeing a decline in new projects due to a softening global economy and an uncertain carbon price," said Brad Page, head of the Australia-based Global CCS Institute.

Outside Europe, few countries have set a price for carbon. Australia's government is now trying to do just that, and is expected to set a level of about $23 per tonne of carbon.

This alone will not be enough. US energy secretary Steven Chu told the meeting the price of carbon would have to be $80 a tonne for CCS to be economically viable with current technology.

But, he continued, the US has yet to even set a price, which makes it difficult for companies to invest and financial institutions to make loans to CCS projects.

"The US needs a price on carbon sooner rather than later," said Chu. "This is something where we are losing time. It is very important that we get moving."

The US has 24 CCS projects – more than any other country – but they are mostly for enhanced oil extraction, which is more economical but has a relatively limited capacity for carbon sequestration.

Delegates said other forms of CCS need more state aid to get going but cash-strapped governments are backing away from financial commitments. Industry representatives said the sector was plagued by delays, doubts and weak policy support.

China has soared through the global economic crisis with double-digit economic growth but it is cautious about taking the lead with expensive CCS technology. Adoption by the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter is crucial as China is expected to account for a third of the global growth in emissions over the next 25 years. According to the International Energy Agency's plan to keep carbon dioxide in the atmosphere under 445 parts per million, China should have 270 major CCS projects by 2035. So far it has six at the planning stage. Xie Zhenhua, vice-chairman of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, said carbon capture and storage was a "last resort" for China.

With little political and financial capital behind CCS, however, its prospects are diminishing. Delegates said commodities firms – who are profiting from the rise in energy prices – should step in.

"Time has been lost as a result of the financial crisis. No one can deny that," said Martin Ferguson, who called on mining companies to make a greater financial contribution to the development of CCS technology. "Coal companies must look at themselves as beneficiaries of the rise in the price of coal."

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Best of our wild blogs: 22 Sep 11

24 Sep (Sat): Moving Planet Singapore
from Moving Planet Singapore

Resorts World Sentosa: will it kill half a million fishes?
from wild shores of singapore

Pelagic Outing September 2011
from Con Foley Photography

Plumage of the Asian Glossy Starling
from Bird Ecology Study Group

The Encyclopedia of Life-Echinoderm Edition!
from The Echinoblog

Featured video: Sumatran species spring to life on video camera traps
from Mongabay.com news

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Haze casts slight pall over F1 weekend

Feng Zengkun Straits Times 22 Sep 11;

THE haze seemed to play peekaboo across Singapore's skies yesterday, spiking to 60 on the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the morning, but dipping to 18 by evening.

Visibility varied from place to place. The 24-hour average reading at 4pm hit 53 in the northern part of the island, but only 40 in the south, where the fourth edition of the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix is slated to take place this weekend.

Yesterday morning's reading of 60 on the PSI translated into 'moderate' air quality.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said there may be slight haze the rest of this week.

The apparent unpredictability of the smoky pall has raised questions as to whether it could affect visibility and air quality on the race track, although race car drivers have told The Straits Times that they are more worried about the rainstorms forecast for the week.

They say that although the rain will dissipate the haze, it will make the track more dangerous.

McLaren driver Jenson Button, for example, said: 'It's a big concern because spotlights can reflect off water on the circuit, which can cause big issues for visibility. I'd rather it was dry this weekend.'

He added that the race would be discontinued if conditions became unsafe.

'There's a regulation that says that if we can't see a certain distance, then we don't race,' he said.

Race organisers had said earlier this week that there was 'no chance' the race would be called off, unless the haze worsened to unprecedented levels.

The PSI was at its historic highest in September 1997, when the air-quality gauge hit 226 - almost four times the 'moderate' number yesterday morning.

Mr Lawrence Foo, the technical director of race organiser Singapore GP, said of yesterday's situation: 'I noticed it today, but out in the open, it's not too bad. We don't expect any problems yet.'

The NEA said the haze returned this week on the back of light winds that allowed particulate matter to build up in the air. A south-westerly wind will continue to bring such particles into Singapore skies at times the rest of the week, but stronger winds may yet disperse them.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, will meet his counterparts from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in Bangkok tomorrow to discuss the matter.

A statement from the ministry said it will 'review and enhance measures to monitor, prevent and mitigate land and forest fires in the southern Asean region'.

Additional reporting by Fabius Chen

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Social media "double-edged sword" for firms

Imelda Saad Channel NewsAsia 21 Sep 11;

SINGAPORE: More companies now have a social media presence, but experts have said technology is a double-edged sword.

Social media opens a new channel of communication but also exposes an organisation to malicious cyber attacks.

The latest to be hit was Singapore's downtown integrated resort, the Marina Bay Sands. Its Facebook page was "bombed" with pornographic pictures late Tuesday night.

The company said the images were removed within 20 minutes after the posts were spotted by its social media administrator.

Embarrassment aside, social media experts said this is one example how companies have little control over third-party websites.

In the case of Facebook, blocking its sharing function would simply mean limiting online engagement with stakeholders.

Asia PR Werkz director Cho Pei Lin said: "It's very much a gamble that they would have to take.

"An organisation would have to measure prior to going on the online field. The first question they have to ask is what the benefits are and then weigh the risks and such benefits."

Organisational strategist Manoj Sharma added: "It's hugely risky for those who do not have a proper appreciation of social media, its genesis, the tools available and what they are designed to do.

"When it comes to social media for organisations initially embarking on it, it will be a case of 'possibly damned when you get started and definitely damned if you don't get started' - because the rule of social media is 'you either create the conversation or the conversation will recreate you'."

As recent incidents have shown, there is some amount of risk being "social" online.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore got itself into a cyber-bind as it is being flamed for the abrupt cancellation of a signature Halloween event.

Meanwhile, Resorts World Sentosa had to temporarily suspend fan postings on its Facebook page after what it deemed as "pre-meditated cyber harassment" from animal welfare activists wanting to put a stop to the confinement of dolphins at the resort.

Experts said the danger of social networking sites is that even when posts get deleted, they can still be re-posted or re-tweeted elsewhere.

The online world is not just about Facebook or Twitter, and experts said there are thousands of blogsites which may make mention of companies.

Organisations are slowly realising this, and are employing online monitoring companies to trawl through the layers of cyberspace.

SIM University communications programme head Brian Lee said: "When the mainstream media start to report, talk about your company or talk about your product or services, it's probably too late already, so I think you need to nip it in the bud.

And while one cannot control cyberspace, potential fallouts can be mitigated.

Experts recommend a dedicated in-house social media specialist team and a technical support team that can look into security issues, as well as active engagement with opinion leaders familiar with your brand.

Asia PR Werkz's Ms Cho added: "Organisations should consider sitting down with the management to work out a flow chart or a standard operating procedure about what they should do if people post comments on these platforms, even if they are just forming a website and that website allows people to post photos or comments.

"And work out if there is a criticism, which department should deal with it? Is it marketing department or the sales department or communications department? And they should designate certain resources (such as) who would look after these spheres?"

Another key element is transparency.

Mr Sharma said: "Be prepared to have every facet of your organisation take on a whole new level of transparency because the very nature of the media is as such.

"As a matter of fact, transparency for better or worse is the overarching defining quality of social media."

Amid the cyber noise, experts said keeping mum is the last thing you would want to do.

In the case of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, a Facebook user had put up a page allegedly from its 2008/2009 yearbook disputing an earlier statement by the company's CEO Isabella Loh that its Halloween Horrors event did not contribute to a rise in visitorship.

A screen grab of the yearbook said "the Halloween Horrors event from 10 October to 1 November 2008 shored up attendance... the promotional period saw a 13 per cent increase (in visitorship) from the year before".

The post elicited responses from other users who pointed to the "contradiction".

When Channel NewsAsia highlighted this post to Wildlife Reserves Singapore, the company did not reply.

SIM University's Dr Lee said: "In most cases, I don't think the company should stop (engaging) because I think that social media is a free channel and at least if they don't want to discuss further, on other platforms, they have their own social media website and they can continue to feed netizens with information and explanation.

"The key is to continue communication instead of just stopping. If you actually keep quiet, people will think that you admit it."

As for Marina Bay Sands, it said "Facebook is an important social media channel for us to connect and engage with people and organisations from all over the world".

The company added: "Keeping with the open nature of the Internet and in the spirit of Facebook, we will continue to welcome sharing on our Facebook wall from our growing community of fans.

"We continue to monitor our page closely and will be working with Facebook and necessary partners to look at the possibility of preventing a recurrence with existing tools without disabling a key sharing function of Facebook."

Mr Sharma said organisations should manage fallouts with "dignity".

"Taking responsibility is the key here. Admit to mistakes early and take immediate corrective action where appropriate," he said.

"Spinning the issue is unlikely to work, as is using newspeak, so it's best to avoid it. Lay out the facts, communicate your thinking and be willing to change your stance if necessary."

He added: "Social media has become such that everyone has a voice. And while it's debatable if all voices are equal, the voices still demand engagement. The challenge is to be both professional and personable while doing it."

-CNA/wk

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In Kalimantan, Hard at Work Reversing the Damage to Peat Forests

Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 21 Sep 11;

Sebangau, Central Kalimantan. Deep in the heart of the Sebangau forest lies a 50,000-hectare swath of peat swamp, the kind that fueled the thick, choking clouds of smoke that blanketed much of Southeast Asia in 1997.

That was the worst year for haze in the region, and though annual fires still rage on during the dry season, it was never meant to be like that.

Two years earlier, the Sebangau peat swamp had been designated a research area, the Natural Laboratory for the Study of Peat Swamp Forest, under the management of the Center for International Cooperation in Tropical Peatland (CIMTROP).

A year later, then-President Suharto initiated the ill-advised Mega Rice Project, a scheme to clear-cut a million hectares of centuries-old peat forest in Kalimantan, including Sebangau, drain the soil and plant rice — even though CIMTROP and others warned that peat was a poor medium in which to grow rice.

Within two years the project was halted, but by then the environmental damage wrought was sizeable. Clear-cutting saw forest cover in the area drop from around 65 percent in 1991 to 45 percent in 2000.

Illegal loggers moved in, felling virtually all the area’s commercially viable trees. And 96 drainage canals, stretching more than 4,000 kilometers, bled the peat layer dry, making it more prone than ever to wildfires.

“It was just havoc,” Kitso Husin, a researcher with CIMTROP, said of the period until 2000. “There were so many people running around here and cutting down large trees in the forests. Logs were stacked end to end for almost a kilometer to be towed to Surabaya by sea.”

Conserve and Restore

The environmental carnage has since died down, Kitso says, and the CIMTROP scientists have been able to return to their original purpose of researching ways to conserve peat forests and restore damaged areas. Part of the research includes the building of a tree nursery to grow the saplings best suited for regreening the damaged areas.

CIMTROP also works with scientists from the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop), who study the orangutans and other animal species endemic to the forest.

Sebangau National Park is home to around 7,000 orangutans and 20,000 gibbons, as well as 315 tree species.

Susan Cheyne, a researcher from Scotland who has spent seven years at the laboratory, says the study of biodiversity goes hand in hand with that of conservation.

“We’re mostly learning about biodiversity, however we also study about peatlands because you can’t have biodiversity without a habitat,” she said.

Ecological Ways

There have been some hiccups, though. Cheyne says the researchers’ attempt to replant some of the heavily logged areas has been foiled by an inordinately extended rainy season.

“We lost 600 seedlings because there was no dry season for the past 18 months,” she said.

“Now we’re trying to develop other seedlings that we hope to plant on the riverbanks to restore the damaged peat forest. We are collecting at least seven native plant species to be planted here.”

Another project the scientists are hard at work on is blocking the canals built for the rice project, which continue to drain the swamp of much-needed moisture and serve to feed the rivers that illegal loggers use as conduits to move timber out of the forest.

“We have tried all sorts of methods to try to block the canals because if the peat swamp gets too dry, it burns very easily,” Cheyne said.

In addition to preventing forest fires, keeping the peat intact and replanting degraded areas will keep large amounts of climate change-inducing carbon dioxide locked in the deep peat layer.

Although the government is pushing for more carbon capture projects as part of efforts on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), Kitso says the Sebangau lab is not part of the scheme.

REDD is a UN-backed initiative for forest conservation in which the main idea is to give people incentives to keep forests intact. The problem, says Kitso, is a lack of clarity about the scheme.

“There’s a lot of confusion about REDD because it’s not clear how much you can get from carbon capture or what kind of method pays,” he said.

“For instance, is there a different incentive structure for keeping the forest intact, for reforestation and for re-wetting the peat swamp? And how do you measure the amount of carbon sequestered? All I know for sure is that if you cut down forests then you don’t get any money, that’s it.”

“If we’re confused about how to interpret REDD, how do we explain it to the local people?” adds Kitso, who is studying at Central Kalimantan’s Palangka Raya University for a master’s in carbon management, the first such degree offered in the country.

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Malaysia: mangrove swamp has become a construction dumpsite

R.S.N.Murali The Star 22 Sep 11;

MALACCA: A protected tropical mangrove swamp along the Bandar Hilir coastline here has been turned into a construction dumpsite by an irresponsible contractor since July.

Construction debris, weighing an estimated 30 tonnes, was strewn all around the diverse wetlands that is rich in biodiversity.

Members of public alerted officials from the Malacca Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (PPSPPA) which took over the management of solid waste in the state early this month.

PPSPPAs deputy director-general Zainuddin Abdul Samad said the debris could damage the eco-system of the mangrove swamp.

“We found the site based on information and preliminary findings showing the area has been turned into waste dump site by a contractor, probably since July,” he said.

Zainuddin said his team would conduct investigations based on provisions granted under Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007.

He added the discovery of the dumpsite would also be referred to Malacca Historical City Council and State River and Coastline Development Corporation.

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Malaysia: Debate over seized animals

Ong Han Sean The Star 22 Sep 11;

KUANTAN: The living conditions of several animals seized by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has sparked a debate between the department and a non-governmental organisation.

It was learnt that three seized tigers were all kept in a cage of about 6m long while a sun bear confiscated from a villager here was left in a small cage in the garage of the Temerloh Perhilitan office.

The animals were apparently held there as evidence pending the disposal of court cases.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) president S.M. Mohd Idris said seized animals were usually sent to the Malacca Zoo until the court cases were settled.

However, the zoo is currently full and there is a lack of facilities, so there is no proper place to put them, he said.

Mohd Idris also raised the question of what Perhilitan would do with the animals once the cases were disposed of.

“Will they be rehabilitated or released into the wild? If they cannot be rehabilitated, what are they going to do with the animals?”

Mohd Idris suggested that closed-down zoos be turned into wildlife sanctuaries where the animals could have a proper place to stay.

WWF-Malaysia and the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers declined to comment on the matter.

Pahang Perhilitan director Khairiah Mohd Shariff said seized animals were only kept temporarily at the Temerloh Perhilitan office which served as a rescue centre.

“We still make sure that the animals' basic needs are fulfilled, especially their food. Each Perhilitan office also has veterinarians to make sure the seized animals are healthy,” she said here yesterday.

Khairiah added that the temporary enclosures were also cleaned daily by staff members.

“Most of these animals come from places where they had been mistreated. We are supposed to be their guardians. If we cannot do better, then what is the point?

“We made the rules so of course we also have to abide by them,” she said.

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China's new forests aren't as green as they seem

Impressive reports of increased forest cover mask a focus on non-native tree crops that could damage the ecosystem, says Jianchu Xu.
Jianchu Xu nature.com 21 Sep 11;

In the United Nations' 2011 International Year of Forests, China is heralded as a superstar. Almost single-handedly, the country has halted long-term forest loss across Asia, and even turned it into a net gain. Since the 1990s, China has planted more than 4 million hectares of new forest each year.

Earlier this month, President Hu Jintao pledged that China would do even more. He told a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Beijing that the nation would increase its total area of forest by 40 million hectares over the next decade. China, he said, is ready to make new contributions to green, sustainable growth.

It sounds impressive, but we risk failing to see the wood for the trees. In China, 'forest' includes uncut primary forest, regenerating natural forest and monoculture plantations of non-native trees. The last of these accounts for most of the 'improvement' in forest cover.

The State Forestry Administration has claimed that total forest cover in China reached 20.36% in 2008. Most of this results from the increase in tree crops such as fruit trees, rubber and eucalyptus, not recovery of natural forest, yet Chinese data do not record this shift. The change threatens ecosystem services, particularly watershed protection and biodiversity conservation.

Exotic tree species are being planted in arid and semi-arid conditions, where perennial grasses with their extensive root systems would be better protectors of topsoil. Plantation monocultures harbour little diversity; they provide almost no habitat for the country's many threatened forest species. Plantations generate less leaf litter and other organic inputs than native forests, so soil fauna and flora decrease, and groundwater depletion can be exacerbated by deep-rooted non-native trees that use more water than native species. Afforestation in water-stressed regions might provide wind-breaks, and tree plantations offer some carbon storage. But these benefits come at a high cost to other ecological functions.

Why the intense focus on forest cover? China has long promoted the planting of tree crops. Since 1999, the Grain for Green programme has resulted in some 22 million hectares of new trees on sloping farmland. The programme began after the 1998 Yangtze River floods, which the government blamed on loss of tree cover, although reductions in riparian buffers and soil infiltration capacity probably also had a major role.

Since 2008, forest tenure reform has encouraged the privatization of former collective forests, with more than 100 million hectares affected. Privatization can benefit local economies. But in the absence of any management framework, it has also promoted conversion of natural forests into plantations: smallholders often fell natural forests for immediate income, then plant monoculture tree crops for long-term investment.

Although the Chinese government has shown that it understands environmental fragility, its scientific and policy guidelines do not adequately address the country's diversity of landscapes and ecosystems. I have seen massive tree plantations on the Tibetan Plateau, in areas where forests never grew before. Local governments face the need to respond to the national imperative for increased forest cover by planting fast-growing species, while also generating the biggest local economic benefits possible. This explains why unsuitable species such as aspens are planted in north China, whereas eucalyptus and rubber trees proliferate in the south.

Perhaps the International Year of Forests can help decision-makers to focus on the various meanings of 'forest', and the trade-offs each type entails. Natural recovery is still the best way to restore damaged forests, but restoration requires targeted involvement using the best science.

Afforestation can restore ecosystem function only if the right species are planted in the right place. Further studies are needed on how the mix of species affects ecosystem functions. Sloping lands, for example, benefit from perennial root systems and associated soil microfauna, but trees are not the only, or necessarily the best, way to establish these root systems.

China's forestry mandate should focus on enhancing environmental services, but policy-makers cannot ignore rural livelihoods. Technical know-how should be provided to local foresters and farmers. Doing away with narrow, one-size-fits-all management targets would also help. The country, with its state-managed market economy, can afford direct payments for forest ecosystem services, but they should only be offered for natural or regenerated forests with proven biological or ecological value.

As an ecologist and agroforestry practitioner, I would like to see China establish parallel forest-management programmes for recovery and restoration of natural forests, and for incorporating working trees into farmlands. Each should include best practices from ecosystem science; a clear definition of tree crop plantations for timber or non-timber products would clarify the separate systems. A dual strategy would require increased collaboration throughout China's land-management ministries, well supported by interdisciplinary research. But it could ensure that China's massive investment in forests provides maximum benefits, to both local livelihood and the environment.

Jianchu Xu is a senior scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre and a professor at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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