Indonesia: Sumatran tiger attacks Bengkulu villager

Antara 15 Oct 11;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - A Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) attacked and injured Iwal (40), a resident of Pino Baru, Cawang village, Lubuk Sandi sub district, Seluma District, Bengkulu Province, on Wednesday (Oct 12) at 4 am local time.

Iwal was injured in his leg and thigh but he managed to free himself from the animal`s claws and run to safety, Sukirman, Iwal`s neighbor, said here on Friday.

He was attacked by the tiger when he was working in his coffee garden located inside the Bukit Sanggul protected forest area.

Sukirman said Iwal had managed to reach a nearby hut after being attacked by the wild animal.

At around 7 am, Sukirman arrived at the location and helped take him to M Yunus Bengkulu Regional Public Hospital.

Around three weeks ago, at the same location, a young man working as a coffee planter, was killed by a tiger.

The local Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) is now dealing with the wild animal attack case.

At least 10 man-versus-tiger conflicts occurred in Bengkulu province in 2011 causing the death of one person and one tiger, a local nature conservation official said.

"We have recorded 10 conflicts between humans and tigers that happened in areas between villages and forests," Amon Zamora, the head of the Bengkulu Nature Conservation Agency (BKSDA) said in Bengkulu last September.

The conflicts had occurred among other things in the border area between Air Ipuh forest and Malin Deman sub district, Muko Muko District, he said.

The tiger population in the wild in Sumatra is believed to have dwindled to only 400 heads due to illegal logging in industrial forest areas, a Greenpeace activist said.

"We from Greenpeace urges all industrial forest companies, especially those operating in Riau Province, to stop their illegal logging activity for the sake of our grand children in the future," Rusmadya, a Greenpeace forest campaign coordinator , said recently.

Because their habitats have been destroyed, the wild animals often enter villages and come into conflict with villagers, he said. (*)

Editor: B Kunto Wibisono

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Australia: Private hands shape the future for species

Tom Arup The Age 15 Oct 11;

It's been three years since Peter and Emma Ashton packed up their lives and headed to the outback to work on the frontline of conservation.

The Ashtons manage the 63,000-hectare Boolcoomatta Reserve in South Australia for owners Bush Heritage. They are helping to rid the former sheep station of feral species such as foxes and rabbits, removing old fencing and maintaining the historic buildings, some built in the 1870s.

With the property located 100 kilometres west of Broken Hill, their two young children are home-schooled most of the week. Recently, they have been caring for a young red kangaroo, ''Priscilla'', who they found struggling without a mother on the property.

Peter Ashton, a ranger for Parks Victoria for 13 years, says they were looking for a challenge and a unique experience, and had a window to seek it before the kids got too old.

''When we first got out here, we sort of thought, 'What are we doing?' But now, its pretty natural,'' he says, driving through the expansive arid scrubland environment.

Tomorrow the Ashtons and Boolcoomatta will host Bush Heritage's 20th birthday party. Heritage's aim is to raise money through donations, buy properties and manage them as private environmental reserves.

For the anniversary, Heritage science and monitoring manager Dr Jim Radford has prepared a report on the environmental gains made across the group's properties, including increased protection for 73 threatened animal and 92 threatened plant species.

The report also outlines major gains made at Boolcoomatta - where The Saturday Age travelled this week with help from Bush Heritage - after Heritage bought the property in 2006. Cleared of sheep grazing after 150 years, scrubland bird numbers are rebounding, including white-winged fairy-wrens (up 235 per cent), rufous field wrens (up 395 per cent) and redthroats (up 655 per cent). In March, Peter Ashton was the first person to see a yellow-footed rock wallaby on the property since 1924.

Heritage had modest beginnings. In 1990, Greens leader Bob Brown used $49,000 he won with the Goldman environmental award on a down payment for a property slated for woodchipping in the Liffey Valley in Tasmania. Heritage was formed a year later around the resulting campaign to find the other $200,000 to buy the property outright.

Ten years later, Heritage remained a small operation - led by chief executive Doug Humann, who joined in 1997 - whose yearly turnover was well under $500,000 and just 3000 hectares in reserves.

On a cold winter evening in 1999, Humann flew from Hobart to Melbourne to meet a woman who was thinking of helping Heritage. Humann met her at a cafe on Smith Street and she told him she was going to write a cheque but wanted the gift to remain anonymous. The cheque was made out for $1.3 million.

Heritage used some of the donation to buy the 60,000-hectare Carnarvon Station in central Queensland in 2001, with the help of a Commonwealth grant. Humann says Carnarvon brought Heritage prominence to attract other donors and buy more properties.

Since then Heritage has expanded dramatically and owns almost a million hectares over 33 reserves. It is now aiming to protect 1 per cent of Australia by 2025.

The growing number of private conservation reserves held by a number of groups such as Heritage and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy have now become a significant plank in efforts to halt Australia's disturbing decline in biodiversity and high species extinctions. From a low base a decade ago, private reserves -such as those owned by Heritage - have grown to 3 per cent of the reserve system. New opportunities are also opening up via the ability to generate carbon credits through the land management.

Heritage's 20th year will also be Humann's last at the helm. After 14 years, he says it is time for a personal change.

Back at Boolcoomatta, Emma Ashton says the family will think about leaving in a year or two.

''There are no weekends out here'' she says, ''that's what I'll miss … the days just kind of roll into each other.''

Peter Ashton agrees.

''I'll miss the freedom of it all,'' he says.

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Leading NGOs lobby for guidelines to protect 'land grab' victims

Organisations petition FAO's committee on world food security for new rules to protect communities affected by land grabs
John Vidal guardian.co.uk 14 Oct 11;

Victims of "land grabbing" have joined 800 of the world's leading environment and development groups to press the UN to establish strong guidelines to protect communities affected by large-scale land investments.

Countries meeting at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome this week are due to adopt a voluntary code on 17 October in response to growing alarm about the scale of international investments being made in poor countries, and the alleged human rights abuses that have followed.

La Via Campesina, Oxfam, Friends of the Earth International and more than 800 other organisations presented a petition against land grabbing to the chair of the FAO's committee on world food security.

"Mounting evidence shows that land grabbing violates human rights and is placing the survival of billions in peril, while corporations and private interests reap the benefits. We urgently need governments to oppose land grabs. They must instead enforce binding human rights instruments and take responsibility for their companies' actions abroad," said Friends of the Earth International's food sovereignty co-ordinator, Kirtana Chandrasekaran. "Ensuring communities access to land and investing in local small-scale food producers is essential to feed the world sustainably in the future."

The EU is leading calls for human rights to be emphasised in the guidelines, but observers said the US was resisting attempts to place too many conditions on large-scale acquisitions.

Faliry Boly, secretary general of Sexagon, a peasant organisation in Mali, said: "Agribusiness projects such as the ones comprising thousands of hectares do great harm and are profoundly illegitimate. We call on parliaments and national governments to immediately cease all massive land grabs current or future and return the plundered land."

The meetings to establish voluntary guidelines take place as a new United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) analysis paper shows that British companies are the third largest investors after China and Saudi Arabia buying, or leasing, more than 1m hectares of land in Ethiopia, Angola, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Ukraine and Sierra Leone. China has acquired 6.5m hectares, and Saudi Arabia 5.5m.

The paper, from the Unep's global environmental alert service, attributes the rush for land partly to a lack of water in some countries. "The desire to capture water resources to irrigate farmlands has motivated the rush for land," it says. "Middle Eastern states are among the biggest land investors in Africa, driven not by a lack of land, but a lack of water. Between 2004 and 2009 Saudi Arabia leased 376,000 hectares of land in Sudan to grow wheat and rice following declining underground domestic water. China and India have leased thousands of hectares of farmland in Ethiopia; both countries have well-developed irrigation systems but, in the case of China, for example, moving water from the water-rich south to northern China is likely to cost more than leasing land in Africa."

The paper also outlines the potential ecological consequences of large-scale farming and growing biofuel crops. "Monoculture has been widely accepted as the most efficient type of large-scale agriculture," it says. "High yields may result, at least for a time, but growing one crop, such as biofuels, over a large area for several years has a number of negative environmental impacts. Studies in Malaysia and Indonesia have shown that 80%-100% of fauna species in tropical rainforests cannot survive in oil-palm monocultures due to increased pressures from various crop diseases and pests, often requiring large-scale use of chemical pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. In addition, increased fertiliser use to safeguard crop yield may increase pollutant levels in downstream waters and nitrous oxide emissions.

"Semi-mechanised sorghum and sesame production in Sudan illustrates the risks of large-scale farming and holds lessons for current investors. In an agro-ecological environment comparable to Australia, where yields are four tonnes per hectare, sorghum yields are only 0.5 tonnes per hectare and have been stagnant or declining."

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Greenpeace slams Indonesia after deportation

(AFP) Google News 14 Oct 11;

JAKARTA — Greenpeace on Friday accused Indonesia of waging a vendetta against the environmental group, after the head of its British branch was denied entry to Jakarta to campaign against deforestation.

Greenpeace UK director John Sauven was blocked by immigration officials on arrival at Jakarta international airport Thursday evening and was sent back that night to Britain.

"Parts of the government want to attack Greenpeace," the environmental group's Indonesia forestry campaigner Bustar Maitar told AFP. "It's obvious that some government officials are involved," he added.

In recent years, Greenpeace has run several campaigns against Indonesia-based Sinar Mas, a privately owned paper and palm oil giant which environmental groups accuse of illegally logging swathes of carbon-rich and biodiverse forests.

Greenpeace campaigns have seen the likes of Unilever, Kraft, Burger King and Barbie maker Mattel cut supply chains from Sinar Mas companies, including Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the world's largest paper makers.

"Immigration never gave us any official notification that Sauven's visa had been rejected. We are still trying to find out why he was deported," Maitar said.

The Human Rights and Justice Ministry did not respond immediately to AFP requests for comment. But a spokesman told the Financial Times that Sauven was deported for portraying Indonesia "in a negative light through bad campaigns".

Several Greenpeace activists and journalists were deported in 2009 as the environmental group campaigned on Sumatra's Kampar Peninsula, where private paper company APRIL has allegedly been destroying carbon-rich peatland.

Greenpeace's campaign ship the Rainbow Warrior was denied entry into Indonesia in 2010.

Greenpeace says its campaigns support President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's pledge to cut Indonesia's carbon emissions by up to 41 percent by 2020, largely through reducing deforestation.

Deforestation in Indonesia is among the fastest in the world and accounts for up to 80 percent of the country's carbon emissions, according to Indonesia's National Council on Climate Change.

Greenpeace accuses Indonesia after director refused entry
Reuters 14 Oct 11;

JAKARTA Oct 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia is trying to undermine Greenpeace's work in halting deforestation in the archipelago of 17,000 islands, the environmental group said on Friday, a day after its head was blocked from entering the country.

Over the past few weeks, Greenpeace, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last month, said there had been accusations about the legal status of its Indonesia office and the source of its funding and small demonstrations outside its Jakarta office.

Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven was blocked from entering the country on Thursday, despite having a business visa, Greenpeace said.

"Over the past few months, there have been a number of attempts to undermine our work in Indonesia to halt the country's spiralling deforestation rates," it said in a statement on its website.

"It has been challenging for Greenpeace staff and volunteers there to say the least."

Sauven had planned to discuss plans with the campaign team in Jakarta, visit deforested areas in Sumatra province and take part in discussions with officials and Indonesian companies.

The Indonesian immigration office was unavailable for comment.

Indonesia is seen as a key player in the fight against climate change and is under intense international pressure to curb its rapid deforestation rate and destruction of carbon-rich peatlands.

A year ago, Greenpeace accused palm oil giant Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) of clearing peat land and forests that sheltered endangered species.

The palm oil producer said in February it would work with the government and a non-profit body to improve its forest conservation policies.

In June this year, Greenpeace attacked toy manufacturers which it accused of using packaging produced by Indonesian paper firm Asia Pulp and Paper, which it accused of destroying rainforests. (Reporting by Michael Taylor; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Greenpeace Rainbow sails again

Richard Black BBC News 14 Oct 11;

If only ships could tell stories...

Whose would you like to listen to first? HMS Victory? Titanic? The Beagle? A chorus from the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria?

If you wanted something a little more contemporary, you could do worse than listen to the Rainbow Warrior, the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet since 1978.

Its story would be a tour d'horizon around some of the toughest battles since environmentalism was invented: against whaling and nuclear testing, in support of the conservation of Antarctica, against coal burning, in relief of tsunami and nuclear test victims, in support of marine reserves, and - most recently - against deforestation and the rampant exploitation of bluefin tuna.

The Rainbow Warrior could be your guide for the environmental age.

In cocking an ear, though, you'd have to deal with three voices of varying vintages.

The original ship, a converted British trawler, came to the most violent of ends in 1985 when it was blown up by French special forces in New Zealand, in an attempt to scuttle the Greenpeace campaign against French H-bomb tests in its Pacific colonies.

As Greenpeace put it at the time, the ship was sunk but not the rainbow... and so the second Rainbow Warrior came into service.

Now it's being retired, and the third vessel in the series has just left port in Germany.
Green rainbow

Rainbow Warrior 3 is bigger, faster, greener and in better communication with the outside world than either of its predecessors.

It should be able to go most places under sail, for example. It's equipped with "black" and "grey" water systems to minimise fresh water requirements, and features a helicopter landing deck for the first time.

The question facing Greenpeace, though, as it celebrates the launch, is how the vessel should best be deployed in support of various environmental goals.

The biggest issue of all for the organisation is climate change.

But how do you use a ship to unblock a political process that appears to be winding itself into a tighter and more convoluted ball every time it convenes?

Combating whaling was a cinch by comparison.

Only a few countries did it by the time Greenpeace entered the battle, and each had only a few vessels.

So frustrating them at sea was a relatively simple thing to do; and in the earliest days, the footage filmed during the fray was spectacular and novel enough to make a huge contribution to the organisation's cause.

Atomic bomb testing, as well, was the domain of just a few nations.

And sailing close to the mushroom clouds, evacuating islanders who'd felt the ash rain down from a colonial power half a world away, was again a sure-fire way to win in the court of public opinion - even if the French government had not guaranteed itself a defeat by its cack-handed resort to force in Auckland.

The modern tuna campaign carries echoes of the old whaling years, though the emotions it raises in public hearts may not be as fierce.

But climate change? It's a truly tough one.
River of fire

Some while back, I was talking about priorities for environmental groups with someone who was in virtually at the beginning of it all.

The thing is, she said, that the easy victories have all been won.

When you had chemical pesticides turning spring silent, when you had rivers catching fire because of all the pollutants in them, when you had pictures of whales covered in blood dripping from their half-exploded heads - how could you not, eventually, win?

But persuading people to increase energy efficiency, drive a bit less, curb flying, swap their economies to alternative fuels - in a context that involves every single country in some way or other - well, that's tough.

One place the Rainbow Warrior 3 might be going soon, I guess, is Indonesia.

If it were feasible, Greenpeace might want to sail it up to the door of President Yudhoyono and ask why the organisation's UK director, John Sauven, was refused entry to Indonesia and deported earlier this week - despite having a valid visa.

Mr Sauven's trip was connected to highlighting deforestation in Sumatra. Mr Yudhoyono said last month he would dedicate the final three years of his presidency to fighting deforestation.

You might have thought their stars were aligned.

The on-going loss of tropical forests, and the implications that has for climate change, biodiversity, rural livelihoods and water supplies illustrates the reason why environmental groups are still very much needed, despite the successes of the past.

One wonders, though, what tales Rainbow Warrior 3 will have to tell at the end of its working life - and how much of a dent it'll manage to make on the less tractable issues that head today's agenda.

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Best of our wild blogs: 14 Oct 11

Sunset trip to Cyrene
from wild shores of singapore

Gardening for birds: 1. The garden
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Reviving the Lost Legacy of Rice Biodiversity: The Story of Ghani Khan
from EcoWalkthetalk

Five ways to feed billions without trashing the planet
from Mongabay.com news by Jeremy Hance

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11 recommendations to tackle climate change

Esther Ng Today Online 14 Oct 11;

Singapore - Free public transport during certain hours, quarterly food, electricity and water rationing, and farmers' markets in housing estates are some recommendations the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) has made to NCCS 2012, the National Climate Change Secretariat's public consultation exercise.

Top on the list of its 11 recommendations is a call for a more holistic transport strategy which encourages "behavioural change as a longer-term solution".

For instance, schools could increase "bicycle parking areas" and get students living nearby to ride to school instead of having their parents drop them off.

Bicycle racks can be installed on public buses, so that people who wish to cycle to work, but live too far from their workplace, can split their commute between bicycle and bus routes.

The Greater Richmond Transit in the United States and bike-sharing schemes in London and Dublin are some successful examples, the council noted.

Free public rides on public transport during peak hours on weekdays or one weekend a month could encourage more people to take public transport.

Said the SEC's executive director Jose Raymond: "Singapore needs a strategy to balance the needs of a growing population with cost effectiveness and environmental sustainability. This balance cannot be achieved simply by growing public transport infrastructure or by continuing to tax vehicle owners heavily."

The SEC said air-conditioning bus interchanges and hawker centres was "unnecessary" and "contributes to avoidable energy wastage" and called on the Government to consider "alternative measures" to cool down public spaces.

With climate change affecting food, energy and water security, the council recommended quarterly food, electricity and water rationing for schools, offices and households. The intent is to "encourage a greater understanding of the energy-intensive and expensive processes that bring food, water and energy ... and that these scarce resources should not be taken for granted".

Additionally, farmers' markets and produce from rooftop gardens in public housing estates will enhance Singapore's food security and reduce the Republic's carbon footprint from food imports. ESTHER NG

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Sea barriers in Singapore: Police Coast Guard was 'grossly overcharged'

Ong Dai Lin Today Online 14 Oct 11;

SINGAPORE - The latest audit by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) has found "pervasive" lapses in two projects undertaken by the Police Coast Guard (PCG), resulting in the department "being grossly overcharged and making large payments for materials before delivery".

The AGO, which audits all government ministries, organs of state, 10 statutory boards and four government funds, focuses on internal controls over the management of public funds, such as payments and refund.

The PCG had engaged a project management company to manage the two projects - the supply of floating sea barriers and repair work on a coastal barrier.

"AGO's audit revealed irregularities at every stage of the projects," it said its latest report released yesterday.

In the supply of floating sea barriers, the PCG was overcharged by S$885,000 and exceeded the approved project budget of S$4.76 million, to S$5.73 million. During the project, at least S$1.65 million worth of materials were paid for before delivery. During AGO's audit last November - seven months after the payment - some of the materials were still not delivered. All the materials paid for were later accounted for in April. The AGO also observed "tell-tale signs of falsification in documents" provided to it by the project manager to support payments of S$2.64 million to a term contractor.

Irregularities of the same nature were also found in another S$1.13 million project by the PCG to repair a coastal barrier and it was likely to have been overcharged, said the AGO.

In response to Today's queries, a police spokesperson said the PCG has recovered S$1.81 million from both project contractors. The Commercial Affairs Department has also commenced investigations against the project manager from the project management company for possible falsification of survey reports and other documents. "Police has also commenced internal investigations into possible lapses by its staff," said a police spokesperson.

While the two projects deterred illegal landings, the Coast Guard commander, Senior Assistant Commissioner Teo Kian Teck, said: "There is no excuse for such lapses. Upon receiving the report, we set up a high-level team to look into various issues and have since taken corrective measures to prevent future occurrences."

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also issued a directive to guide all Home Team departments on the proper use of term contracts and to exercise greater vigilance in their dealings with contractors and project managers.

Auditor-General Lim Soo Ping felt "public agencies must not over-rely on external parties" to comply with government control procedures on procurement and payment. "They may not share the same values and instincts expected of public officers, with regard to financial prudence," he said. "Financial prudence cannot be outsourced."

Mr Lim noted that many lapses found in the audits of government ministries and statutory boards were in procurement. For example, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) was taken to task for not ensuring that the construction work done on the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway by its contractors is fully in compliance with contract specifications. It was also found to have awarded a S$2.16 million contract for a road camera system although the offer did not meet technical requirements specified.

Mr Lim observed that the lapses found were "largely due to administrative expediency taking precedence over financial prudence".

"The agencies concerned can do more to ensure adequate financial vigilance in their procurement and payment practices," he said.

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Malaysia Seizes 5,000 Sea Turtle Eggs

Bernama 13 Oct 11;

SANDAKAN, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- The Marine Operations Force (MOF) thwarted an attempt to smuggle in 5,000 turtle eggs into Sabah after detaining a boat in waters off Kampung Forest near here Wednesday.

Sandakan deputy police chief Supt Fadzil Mohd Ali said the eggs worth some RM8,000.

"However, the boat's skipper escaped during the operation," he told in a statement here today.

Possesing or selling turtle eggs in Sabah is an offence under the state's Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.

-- BERNAMA

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Thai floods damage rice, threaten exports

Naveen Thukral and Ho Binh Minh
Reuters 13 Oct 11;

(Reuters) - Thailand's worst floods in half a century have inundated farms and mills, squeezing rice supplies from the world's top exporter, while rival Vietnam is expected to default on half a million tonnes as prices of the staple climb.

Flood-damage to Thai rice comes as the nation's new government implemented a scheme that gives farmers a big increase in farmgate prices, raising concerns over food inflation among buyers in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Swollen rivers were hampering the movement of barges, while ships at the ports were unable to load cargoes in the face of heavy rains, traders said on Wednesday, adding that at least 300,000 tonnes of rice exports would get delayed, forcing buyers to seek alternatives such as from India and Pakistan.

"The situation is really bad as it is raining non-stop, a lot of mills have been affected and a lot paddy which was lying around in the open or under tarpaulin has got submerged," said a trading manager with an international rice exporter in Bangkok.

"We see it as a serious problem."

The floods have already prompted the government to reduce its estimate of the main rice crop to 21 million tonnes from 25 million for which the harvesting was due to start this month.

"Even loading for vessels which are waiting for cargo will get delayed," said another trader from Bangkok. "It is raining heavily, so loadings have fallen and it is difficult to get cargoes alongside the vessel."

Thailand's prime minister warned businesses not to take advantage of flooding around the country to push up prices as residents of Bangkok cleared supermarket shelves, worried that the capital could be swamped in coming days.

At least 281 people have been killed by heavy monsoon rain, floods and mudslides since late July and 26 of Thailand's 77 provinces are inundated, said the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

The north, northeast and central plains have been badly affected and Bangkok, which is only two metres (6.5 ft) above sea level, is in danger as water overflows from reservoirs in the north, swelling the Chao Phraya river.

But the floods have limited impact on sugar output, Thailand's other major export, with about 200,000 rai of cane plantation hit, said the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board, accounting for 2-3 percent of the 8.7 million rai (1.4 hectares) of plantation estimate for 2011/12 production.

For PDF on surging grain prices fuelling Asian inflation: click link.reuters.com/jez62s

For graphic on top importers and exporters: click link.reuters.com/muq53s

The export price of Thai benchmark 100 percent B grade white rice rose to $670-$680 a tonne last week from $650, while Vietnamese rice climbed to its highest in more than three years on thin stocks and expectations of higher demand.

On Wednesday Vietnam's 5 percent broken rice stood at $575-$590 a tonne, FOB, against $575-$580 a week ago. It touched $580-$590 on Monday.

VIETNAMESE DEFAULTS, INDIAN EXPORTS

Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter, could default on deliveries of 520,000 tonnes of the grain this year as exporters failed to buy on domestic markets for loading due to a price surge, a state-run newspaper reported.

The projected defaults would account for 7 percent of Vietnam's annual export volume forecast at 7.5 million tonnes this year, breaking the record of 6.83 million tonnes in 2010.

The market is expecting higher rice demand in 2012 from the Philippines, where the volume of unmilled rice damaged by two recent typhoons has climbed to about 1 million tonnes, a senior agriculture official said.

"The price is rising to intercept the Philippines' demand," a Vietnamese trader in Ho Chi Minh City said. "The Philippines will buy for next year, following the impact of storms and floods and a decline in stocks."

President Benigno Aquino said the Philippines did not need to import more rice for this year's supply despite crop losses from typhoons because it had ample stocks. However, officials have said it was reviewing import plans for 2012.

Before the strong typhoons hit major rice-growing provinces in northern Philippines, the government had said it could limit rice imports for 2012 to not more than 500,000 tonnes on anticipation of a record paddy output of 17.3 million tonnes.

The Southeast Asian country bought 860,000 tonnes of rice this year, after importing 2.45 million tonnes for 2010, making it the world's biggest rice buyer.

India, which eased curbs on rice exports in September, is likely to make the most of the situation in Southeast Asia with plentiful stocks.

"We estimate about 1.0-1.5 million tonnes of Indian rice have been contracted for exports after the government freed overseas sale," said Vijay Setia, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association.

Traders said about 700,000 tonnes would be shipped by December from ports on India's east coast to destinations such as Bangladesh, Nigeria and South Africa. The export deals are happening in the range of $420-$480 a tonne, free on board (FOB) basis, for common rice.

On Sept. 1, India's rice stocks at government warehouses stood at 22.7 million tonnes against a target of 9.8 million tonnes.

India's summer rice production is expected to be 87.1 million tonnes in the crop year 2011/12, compared to 80.65 million tonnes a year ago, according to the farm ministry's first of the four forecasts released on Sept. 13.

(Additional reporting by Jutarat Skulpichetrat in BANGKOK, Ratnajyoti Dutta in NEW DELHI and Erik Dela Cruz in MANILA; Editing by Ramthan Hussain)

Indochina floods may force Malaysia to seek rice from elsewhere
Sira Habibu The Star 14 Oct 11;

PETALING JAYA: As flood waters rise to threaten parts of Indochina, there is growing concern over public safety and food supply, including rice.

Some 1.5 million hectares of the region's famous padi fields including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos with their rich, low-laying lands along the rivers have already been affected.

This has prompted Malaysia, which depends on these countries for 30% of its rice supply, to look towards other nations for the precious commodity.

With one-third of the country's overseas rice supply coming from Thailand, Malaysia has already received half of its consignment but the other half is still in Bangkok that even now is seeing rising water levels.

Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Johari Baharum said the country would look into sourcing rice from Pakistan, India or other countries.

“We have a stockpile of close to a million metric tonnes of rice lasting more than five months. Our padi fields, from which we are getting 70% of our supply, are not affected,” he said, adding that Malaysia's move towards self-sustainable rice production would eventually reduce dependence on imports.

Malaysians consume 180,000 tonnes of rice each month.

UN disaster reduction chief Margareta Wahlstrom said the entire region would suffer from rising cost of food prices as potential harvests had now been devastated.

“The damage is very serious this year and it will be some time before people can resume normal lives,” she said in a statement.

As the Thai capital braces for the worst floods in decades, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had warned that many provinces could remain submerged for the next two months, including the country's rice fields.

Workers hurriedly dredged canals and cut new waterways yesterday in an attempt to protect the city.

At least 283 people have been killed in Thailand since late July by floods and mudslides that have devastated rice crops and shut dozens of factories.

American computer hard drive manufacturer Western Digital Corp and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp became the latest to suspend production in Thailand yesterday.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department confirmed that the Haitang tropical storm and the Nesat and Nalgae typhoons had caused downpours and strong winds in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

“Continuous rain has aggravated the situation and the floods are said to be the worst in 50 years.

“Furthermore, the May to September period is the rainy season in the northern and western coasts of Thailand, brought about by the southwest monsoon,” it said in a statement.

However, the department said there was no indication that the northern part of Malaysia, where the country's rice bowl is located in Kedah, would be affected by the storms.

Bangkok Strengthens Defenses As Floods Close In
Panarat Thepgumpanat PlanetArk 14 Oct 11;

Workers and soldiers raced to finish defensive walls around inner Bangkok on Thursday as floodwater that has covered about a third of Thailand threatened the capital.

At least 283 people have been killed around the country by heavy monsoon rain, floods and mudslides since late July and in the past week industrial zones north of Bangkok have been inundated, adding to the damage to the economy.

After a meeting with ministers, army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters that flood barriers in three vulnerable locations in Bangkok had almost been completed.

"We talked about evacuation plans to help people living near the Chao Phraya river. If there's an emergency, we're ready to act," he said.

"The worry now is that from today until October 19 there will be a high tide and the important thing is to push water out to the sea as fast as possible."

Bangkok accounts for about 41 percent of Thailand's economy and any serious disruption to life in the capital could cause growth forecasts to be slashed further.

Kittirat Na Ranong, deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, told reporters that the flood damage was estimated at more than 100 billion baht ($3.2 billion), over 1 percent of GDP, and could get worse.

Consumer confidence fell in September because of the floods and could plunge in October, according to economists at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

Last week, the university cut its forecast for GDP growth this year to 3.6 percent from 4.4 percent and then cut it again on Thursday to 3.0-3.5 percent.

The Finance Ministry has cut its growth forecast to 3.7 percent from 4.0 percent.

The province of Ayutthaya to the north of Bangkok has been badly hit and at least three big industrial estates there have closed temporarily. A Nikon Corp digital SLR factory and a Honda Motor Co Ltd assembly plant have closed.

The north, northeast and central plains of Thailand have been worst hit and Bangkok -- which is only two meters (6.5 ft) above sea level -- is in danger as water overflows from reservoirs in the north, swelling the Chao Phraya river.

Some outer areas of greater Bangkok have already flooded but authorities hope the center will be saved by existing defensive structures plus three new walls, which will help channel water to the east and west of the city into the sea.

"UNDER CONTROL"

Run-off water from the north will arrive in the Bangkok area at the weekend at the same time as high tides. This may also coincide with storms and heavy rain.

Sanya Cheenimit, director of Bangkok's drainage and sewerage department, reported flooding in three eastern districts of Bangkok that were mainly farm areas.

"I want to reassure you that the flood situation in Bangkok is still under control," he told Reuters. "All the 50 districts of Bangkok have readied evacuation plans ... But for now, there's still no sign that we need to move people out."

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was also optimistic.

"Bangkok we can say is safe, especially inner Bangkok, behind the embankments there won't be a problem. Outer Bangkok might have problems but the water won't be very high," she said after surveying the area by helicopter.

Despite the reassurances, residents have stocked up on bottled water and foodstuffs such as instant noodles.

More than 2 million people are estimated to have been affected by floods around the country and essential goods are in short supply in some areas because of disruption to road and rail traffic, with some main roads to the north cut off.

Hundreds of volunteers gathered on Thursday at the government's flood crisis center at Bangkok's old Don Muang airport, loading donated water, food and medicines on to trucks to be distributed to the worst-hit areas outside the capital.

In Bangkok, authorities are most concerned about 27 communities with 1,200 households along the river.

"We are worried about all the areas near the Chao Phraya river," army chief Prayuth said.

"We've asked people not to break the flood barriers because it may cause water to overflow into Bangkok," he added.

Some residents of flooded outer areas have vented their anger at the temporary walls put up to protect the capital.

The governor of the neighboring province of Pathum Thani called on Wednesday for a state of emergency to be declared to give the security forces power to stop such acts, but Yingluck ruled that was not necessary.

(Editing by Sugita Katyal and Yoko Nishikawa)

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Starbucks concerned world coffee supply is threatened by climate change

Starbucks sustainability chief Jim Hanna says the coffee giant has been pushing the Obama administration to little result
Suzanne Goldenberg guardian.co.uk 13 Oct 11;

Forget about super-sizing into the trenta a few years from now: Starbucks is warning of a threat to world coffee supply because of climate change.

In a telephone interview with the Guardian, Jim Hanna, the company's sustainability director, said its farmers were already seeing the effects of a changing climate, with severe hurricanes and more resistant bugs reducing crop yields.

The company is now preparing for the possibility of a serious threat to global supplies. "What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road – if conditions continue as they are – is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain, which is the Arabica coffee bean," Hanna said.

It was the second warning in less than a month of a threat to a food item many people can't live without.

New research from the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture warned it would be too hot to grow chocolate in much of the Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world's main producers, by 2050.

Hanna is to travel to Washington on Friday to brief members of Congress on climate change and coffee at an event sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The coffee giant is part of a business coalition that has been trying to push Congress and the Obama administration to act on climate change – without success, as Hanna acknowledged.

The coalition, including companies like Gap, are next month launching a new campaign – showcasing their own action against climate change – ahead of the release of a landmark science report from the UN's IPCC.

Hanna told the Guardian the company's suppliers, who are mainly in Central America, were already experiencing changing rainfall patterns and more severe pest infestations.

Even well-established farms were seeing a drop in crop yield, and that could well discourage growers from cultivating coffee in the future, further constricting supply, he said. "Even in very well established coffee plantations and farms, we are hearing more and more stories of impacts."

These include: more severe hurricanes, mudslides and erosion, variation in dry and rainy seasons.

Hanna said the company was working with local producers to try to cushion them from future changes.

"If we sit by and wait until the impacts of climate change are so severe that is impacting our supply chain then that puts us at a greater risk," he said. "From a business perspective we really need to address this now, and to look five, 10, and 20 years down the road."

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World prone to food-borne disease outbreaks: WHO

(AFP) Google News 13 Oct 11;

SINGAPORE — The world has become more vulnerable to outbreaks of disease caused by contaminated food because of growing global trade, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

Investigating these outbreaks has also become more difficult because food can contain ingredients from around the world and is transported through a complex global supply chain, top WHO officials said.

"Outbreaks of food-borne disease have become an especially large menace in a world bound together by huge volumes of international trade and travel," said WHO director-general Margaret Chan at a conference in Singapore on improving preparedness against global health threats.

"They are large in their potential in terms of geographical spread often involving multiple countries."

One challenge faced by governments worldwide is how to "reduce the health and economic consequences of food-borne diseases", Chan said.

She cited an outbreak this year of a new killer E.coli strain, which infected almost 4,000 people and left 51 dead across Europe and caused massive losses to vegetable farmers.

European farm products such as tomatoes, lettuces, courgettes and sweet peppers were withdrawn from the market between late May and the end of June as a result of the disease, while Russia briefly banned EU vegetable imports.

The European Union had blamed the outbreak on fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt, although Cairo denied any responsibility.

"Problems nowadays can arise from any link or kink in a convoluted food chain," Chan said.

WHO assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda said food-borne outbreaks have occurred in the past.

"But what is different now is that food goes all around the world, so if you have something which gets contaminated or infected in one country it can be in 50 countries or 100 countries or 200 countries," Fukuda told reporters on the sidelines of the Singapore conference.

"So the scope of these outbreaks could be much larger and more complex and affect many more people."

Fukuda said however that while the risks have become higher, the WHO is also working to make sure that authorities are able to deal with the problem.

"It's a kind of a race," he said.

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