Plastic Trash Invades Arctic Seafloor

Megan Gannon LiveScience.com Yahoo News 25 Oct 12;

Plastic bags strangling sea sponges. Beer bottles colonized by sea lilies. Such images of ocean pollution aren't usually associated with the remote, icy waters of the Arctic, but snapshots of the seafloor suggest the northern region is becoming increasingly littered with plastic.

Scientists regularly drag an underwater camera just above the sea bed during expeditions to HAUSGARTEN, a deep-sea Arctic observatory in the eastern Fram Strait, between Greenland and Norway's Svalbard archipelago. The photos it takes are usually analyzed for the presence of sea cucumbers, fish, shrimp and other large inhabitants, which could indicate changes in Arctic biodiversity. But the camera sometimes catches unwelcome guests: plastic bags and other trash resting on the seafloor.

"The study was prompted by a gut feeling," said researcher Melanie Bergmann in a statement. "When looking through our images I got the impression that plastic bags and other litter on the seafloor were seen more frequently in photos from 2011 than in those dating back to earlier years. For this reason I decided to go systematically through all photos from 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2011."

Bergmann, a biologist with the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, found waste in 1 percent of the pictures from 2002 and 2 percent in the 2011 images, marking a twofold increase over the decade. The sharpest rise in garbage occurred between 2007 and 2011, according to the study of more than 2,000 images.

Two percent is a high figure for a region thought to be one of the most secluded on the planet, the researchers said. Bergmann pointed out that they recorded more garbage in their study than was observed in a deep-sea canyon not far from the industrialized Portuguese capital Lisbon.

Almost 70 percent of the litter in the pictures was in contact with deep-sea organisms, the researchers said, warning that garbage can injure creatures like sea sponges and impair their ability to breathe and absorb food. Moreover, chemicals in plastic can have toxic effects and alter gas exchange on the seafloor.

Plastic even poses a threat when it's no longer visible to the naked eye. Earlier studies have demonstrated how plastic that has broken down into microscopic particles can soak up pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. When ingested by tiny ocean animals, these toxin-loaded plastic particles contaminate the food chain.

On a positive note, waste could provide a good surface for some organisms to latch on to and flourish, but researchers are not sure how this would affect the deep-sea composition of species and biodiversity in the region.

The scientists, whose study appears online this month in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, pointed to melting sea ice and increasing ship traffic in the Arctic as possible causes for the rise in plastic.

"The Arctic sea ice cover normally acts as a natural barrier, preventing wind blowing waste from land out onto the sea, and blocking the path of most ships," Bergmann explained. "Ship traffic has increased enormously since the ice cover has been continuously shrinking and getting thinner. We are now seeing three times the number of private yachts and up to 36 times more fishing vessels in the waters surrounding Spitsbergen compared to pre-2007 times."

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Best of our wild blogs: 24 Oct 12

A New Taxon for Singapore!
from Butterflies of Singapore

Tigertail seahorse feeding
from Pulau Hantu and Damselfish nesting

Northern Expedition in the news!
from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore

What has the Mega Marine Survey found so far?
from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore

VIP visit and otter again at the Northern Expedition Day 9
from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore

Another Ladybird Mimic?
from Macro Photography in Singapore

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Northern Expedition: Creatures of the sea, great and small

200 scientists and volunteers taking part in biggest marine life audit, dredging the seas and examining waterways
Grace Chua Straits Times 24 Oct 12;

BENEATH the scorching noon sun and pelting rain, a small army of scientists and volunteers have been scouring Singapore's northern shores.

Whether they are examining the Chek Jawa mudflats or trawling the sea off Changi by boat, their lives have revolved around tide tables, boat landings and the persistent smell of fish.

The researchers are taking part in Singapore's largest marine biodiversity expedition to date. Close to 200 people - including 20 scientists from abroad - are involved in the audit of marine life around the Republic's northern islands and coasts.

The Northern expedition, which started on Oct15, is led by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and National Parks Board, and is part of the five-year Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey.

About $1.5million in funding has been obtained for the survey from corporate sponsors and the Government, but at least another $1.5million needs to be raised, said the board's deputy chief executive, Dr Leong Chee Chiew, at the expedition's official launch at Pulau Ubin yesterday.

Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin, who was at the launch, said the survey will allow government planners to assess and prioritise the areas to conserve.

Mr Tan, who is also Acting Manpower Minister, said in a Facebook post last night: "Much as we would like to, we will not be able to conserve all areas with biodiversity as some of these areas will be needed for development."

A typical day for those taking part in the expedition goes as follows: A pair of young scientists from the United States might lug metres of net out to catch thumbnail-sized ponyfish that give off their own light.

A National University of Singapore shrimp researcher might sift through bits of shell and coral as though panning for gold. And an Australian fish expert might net gobies in tide pools.

The highlight of the expedition is a series of seabed trawls and dredges, for example, between Pulau Ubin and Punggol. Dredges are preferable to diving in Singapore's murky waters.

Scientists and crew on the university's 12m-long boat, the Galaxea, winch a beam trawl - a net with a beam to keep it open - 18m down to the seabed. When it comes up 15 minutes later, it is full of spider crabs, soft corals and even a small electric stingray.

Mishaps can happen. NUS biologist Peter Ng sprains his hand as he stumbles backwards while trying to shake a crab out of a tree. But he is richly rewarded: The crab lives only on nipah palms, and this is the first time it has been spotted in Singapore.

Specimens are lugged back to Outward Bound School on Pulau Ubin, where student volunteers in a large shed pore over trays of tiny shells, looking for movement and sorting out the creatures.

Dr Kathe Jensen, of the University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum, is excited over a minuscule sea snail that looks like a leaf. It has been seen in Australia before, but not here.

Said Professor Ng: "The myth of Singapore is that because we are so urbanised, everything has changed, and there's not much around." But Singapore plays host to a third of the world's hard coral species, and other creatures are still being discovered. Some may be tiny and not "sexy", he said. "But at the end of the day, these are all fellow Singaporeans."

Additional reporting by Melody Zaccheus

Photos by Ng Sor Luan

An assortment of sea creatures dredged up from the seabed near Coney Island off Punggol. The creatures, originally covered in mud, have been given a rinse and are awaiting an initial phase of sorting out on the dredging vessel. The creatures are caught by lowering a beam trawl - a net with a beam to keep it open - 18m to the seabed.

Scientists study specimens brought in from the field trips and dredging (above, left) in a temporary laboratory at the Outward Bound School on Pulau Ubin, while (above, right) Dr Joelle Lai and Dr Arthur Anker of NUS pan for shrimp, which Dr Anker studies, at Chek Jawa's seagrass beds.

These ponyfish give off their own light. The Northern expedition is led by the National University of Singapore and National Parks Board, and is part of the five-year Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey.

Creatures like this crab may not be "sexy", says NUS biologist Peter Ng, but they are "all fellow Singaporeans". The myth of Singapore, he says, is that everything has changed with urbanisation.But discoveries are still being made, and the survey will help the Republic decide what to conserve and how to develop industry with minimal harm to marine life here. -- ST PHOTOS: NG SOR LUAN

1,000 specimens collected in marine biodiversity expedition
Today Online 23 Oct 12;

Singapore - About 1,000 specimens have been collected, including five new records and two rediscoveries, as the country's biggest scale marine biodiversity expedition gets underway in the Johor Straits.

Among the new discoveries included Subtidal Lantern Shells, which are found in intertidal habitats, as well as Plate Crabs, known from several places in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.

The expedition is part of Singapore's first Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey, which is a national initiative to take stock of the Republic's marine ecosystem, species diversity and distribution.

The survey, launched in 2010, was initially projected to last for only three years, but has been extended to five, in view of the diversity and volume of specimens collected, said the National Parks Board (NParks) today.

The three-week long expedition, which began on Oct 15, involves 150 local scientists, conservation officers and volunteers. A team of 20 renowned scientists from 10 countries is also participating in the expedition to help collect and study specimens from Singapore's estuarine and seabed habitats.

NParks said it plans to conduct coral reef surveys next year. There are also plans for deep sea surveys, to sample the seabed fauna in areas which are deeper than 80 metre.

New marine specimens found in Johor Straits
Today Online 24 Oct 12;

SINGAPORE - About 1,000 specimens, including five new records and two rediscoveries, have been collected in Singapore's biggest-scale marine biodiversity expedition in the Johor Straits. Among the new discoveries are Subtidal Lantern Shells, which are found in intertidal habitats, as well as Plate Crabs, known from several places in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.

The expedition, which begins on Oct 15, is part of Singapore's first Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey, a national initiative to take stock of the Republic's marine ecosystem, species diversity and distribution.

The survey, launched in 2010, was initially projected to last for only three years but has been extended to five, in view of the diversity and volume of specimens collected, the National Parks Board (NParks) said yesterday.

NParks added that it plans to conduct coral reef surveys next year. There are also plans for deep sea surveys, to sample the seabed fauna in areas which are deeper than 80m.

Scientists take part in largest ‘sea-fari’
The Star 25 Oct 12;

Beneath the scorching noon sun and pelting rain, a small army of scientists and volunteers have been scouring Singapore’s northern shores.

Whether they are examining the Chek Jawa mudflats or trawling the sea off Changi by boat, their lives have revolved around tide tables, boat landings and the persistent smell of fish.

The researchers are taking part in Singapore’s largest marine biodiversity expedition to date. Close to 200 people – including 20 scientists from abroad – are involved in the audit of marine life around the Republic’s northern islands and coasts.

The northern expedition, which started on Oct 15, is led by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and National Parks Board, and is part of the five-year Com­­prehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey.

About S$1.5mil (RM3.75mil) in funding had been obtained for the survey from corporate sponsors and the government, but at least another S$1.5mil needed to be raised, said the board’s deputy chief executive Dr Leong Chee Chiew at the expedition’s official launch on Pulau Ubin yesterday.

Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin, who was at the launch, said the survey would allow government planners to assess and prioritise the areas to conserve.

Tan, who is also Acting Manpower Minister, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday night: “Much as we would like to, we will not be able to conserve all areas with biodiversity as some of these areas will be needed for development.”

A typical day for those taking part in the expedition goes as follows: A pair of young scientists from the United States might lug metres of net out to catch thumbnail-sized ponyfish that give off their own light.

A National University of Singa­pore shrimp researcher might sift through bits of shell and coral as though panning for gold. And an Australian fish expert might net gobies in tide pools.

The highlight of the expedition is a series of seabed trawls and dredges, for example, between Pu­­­lau Ubin and Punggol. Dredges are preferable to diving in Singa­pore’s murky waters.

Specimens are lugged back to Outward Bound School on Pulau Ubin, where student volunteers in a large shed pore over trays of tiny shells, looking for movement and sorting out the creatures. — The Straits Times / Asia News Net­work

Related links
Chinese media reports on the Raffles Museum News blog.

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Malaysia: Stalking sea mammals in Langkawi

Marc De Faquite The Star 23 Oct 12;

Marine biologist Dr Louisa Ponnampalam is ‘living her dream’, studying marine mam mals. Marine biologist Dr Louisa Ponnampalam is ‘living her dream’, studying marine mam mals.

Biologists are collecting data on cetaceans in Langkawi in a bid to understand how best to protect them.

WHENEVER Langkawi is mentioned, it usually conjures up images of sandy beaches, rainforests, waterfalls, mangroves and duty-free shopping. Few visitors realise that the waters around Langkawi’s 104 islands are home to dolphins, porpoises and even whales.

Marine biologist Dr Louisa Ponnampalam, co-founder of the MareCet Research Organisation which is involved in marine mammal research, hopes that this will change and is working hard to increase awareness and collect data about marine mammals in the island off Kedah.

“If we can do good research here in Langkawi, then we can start to think about starting similar research projects in places like Penang and Perak,” she says.

Last month, she conducted a week-long survey of marine mammals with volunteers and members of Langkawi Dolphin Research, a project of MareCet. The organisation derives its name from the Latin mare – meaning sea – and a contraction of the word cetacean, which is the collective noun for whales, dolphins and porpoises. As the name suggests, these are the animals that are the object of Ponnampalam’s study.

“We’ve been doing this since 2010. The more data we collect, the more we will know about the habits of these mammals in their natural environment. We can use this knowledge to understand how best to protect them.”

Some of the data gathered during the field trip includes new information on the distribution of marine mammals around Langkawi, including estimates of group size and the movement and abundance of these groups. By comparing photos from previous field trips, Ponnampalam has shown that some individual humpback dolphins seem to prefer certain sites around Langkawi, while others tend to move around the archipelago a bit more.

When asked why the organisation chose to focus on Langkawi, she replies: “We had already heard of quite a few sightings in Langkawi, so we knew there were marine mammals here, but there was no reliable data to say exactly how many and of what species. Since Langkawi is one of Malaysia’s top tourism destinations, we felt it important to understand the dynamics of how land-based and water-based human activities may be affecting the animals and their marine environment. The fact that Langkawi is easily accessible compared to the islands on the east coast of the peninsula makes a difference, too.”

As well as spending time at sea looking for cetaceans, members of MareCet are also actively involved in establishing a dialogue with local fishermen who are also an important source of first-hand information about the presence and behaviour of marine mammals. MareCet provides guidelines to them on safe fishing practices, particularly the types of nets and hooks to be used to avoid injuring or killing marine mammals. Their website also provides advice for tourism operators, which include not allowing anyone to feed, touch or swim with the animals.

Living her dream

Ponnampalam is a dynamic young woman who clearly has the dedication and drive necessary for her chosen career.

“This is what I’ve always wanted to do,” she says. “I am living my dream. When I was 13, I told everyone that I would go to Hawaii and study to become a marine biologist and that I would set up my own research facility back in Malaysia. I haven’t quite achieved the second part yet, but MareCet is a starting point.”

Although she studied in Hawaii and Scotland and did research for her PhD in Oman, she always planned on returning to Malaysia. “I love to travel, but Malaysia is my home. And the marine mammals here are begging to be studied. Marine biology is still very young in Malaysia. Compared to other countries, there is still a lot to do here. That makes it exciting to be a marine biologist in Malaysia. In a way, we are pioneers.”

During last month’s survey, the group sighted Indo-Pacific finless porpoises, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins and Bryde’s whales around Langkawi as well as Irrawaddy dolphins close to Kuala Perlis. Group sizes for the dolphins and porpoises ranged from one to 150 individuals but for whales, only one or two were seen at a time.

I was lucky enough to be invited to join the survey team on two of their field trips. Both days, we set off before 7am and did not get back until 10pm. Most of that time was spent out on the water.

“It’s a reality check for some of the young students who are considering a career in marine biology,” says Ponnampalam. “My friends say, ‘Oh, you’re so lucky to go out on the boat’ but they don’t see the long hours we put in. Not everyone is willing, or able, to spend time in such basic conditions, or eat peanut butter sandwiches every day,” she says with a laugh.

Most of her days on board are spent in a high seat that reminds me of a tennis umpire’s chair. From that vantage point, there is a greater field of vision, but it is exhausting to keep watching the waves for any sign of movement in the water. Every wave and shadow makes you wonder if something is there.

The first morning, after barely half an hour out of Kuah harbour, we spot something. The boat idles to a halt. The silence ringing in my ears after the engine cuts out is soon replaced by the splash of waves against the fibreglass hull of the boat.

“Indo-Pacific finless porpoise – three, possibly five,” calls out Ponnampalam from her perch, looking through a pair of binoculars. This information is noted down, along with the GPS coordinates. Visibility and wave swell height according to the Beaufort scale are jotted down as well and we take measurements of depth, water temperature, salinity, level of dissolved oxygen and the presence of any other boats in the vicinity. All this raw data will be fed into a computer at the end of the day and will provide Ponnampalam with plenty of work at her post in the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences in Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

“We’ve seen large groups of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins during this trip and they appear to consist mainly of mother-calf pairs, perhaps a strategy of ‘safety in numbers’. We also observed very high-energy social and sexual activity in the groups of humpback dolphins that we encountered.”

Helpful technology

This year, another boat has joined in the survey. Dr Satoko Kimura of Nagoya University in Japan is an acoustics specialist conducting research on freshwater ρnless porpoises found in the Yangtze River in China and has come to Langkawi to further her research.

“We are very lucky that she can join us on this field trip,” says Ponnampalam. “It’s the first time that we are using acoustic methods to study dolphins in Malaysia.”

I join Kimura’s boat in the afternoon. The skipper is a sleepy fisherman who spends his nights fishing for squid. I help Kimura keep him awake, but occasionally he falls asleep and the boat steers wildly off course. Her boat travels more slowly than the lead boat and trails a long cable with specially designed microphones attached.

“Dolphins and porpoises make sounds all the time,” says Kimura. “If there is poor visibility, they use sounds to let each other know where they are. They communicate in very high-frequency sounds that humans cannot hear. We can hear 16-20 hertz but Yangtze finless porpoises can hear up to 125 hertz.”

There are two NBHF (Narrow-Band High-Frequency) units on the cable, each with two microphones. Analysing the sounds by triangulation can give the precise location of a mammal and, in a small group, give an idea of the number of individuals present. This data will later be compared to Ponnampalam’s visual sightings.

“Maybe she can see two or three dolphins but the acoustic readings can sometimes show that there were more individuals below the surface. This gives us more accurate data,” says Kimura.

Other than the few porpoises in the morning, we don’t see anything else for the rest of the day. The steady hypnotic hum of the boat engine and the rocking of the waves conspire to lull me to sleep. I wake to find that the wind has picked up. White crests are zipping across the peaks of the waves as the weather hovers between three and four on the Beaufort scale.

GPS coordinates have been pre-set and we follow invisible transect lines along the sea, ranging from almost all the way south to Pulau Payar, where fishing trawlers hover just beyond the border of the designated marine park, close to Kuala Perlis in the north, just a couple of nautical miles shy of the border with Thailand. It is dark by the time we return to Kuah harbour.

Biggest fish

The following evening, Ponnampalam tells me that the team sighted 152 Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins. This was something I really wanted to see, so I joined the team again the following day in the hopes of sighting something similar. This time, the transect lines were shorter and ranged more to the south of Langkawi, skirting Pulau Tuba, Pulau Dayang Bunting and dozens of smaller islands with isolated empty beaches and interesting rock formations. I discovered parts of Langkawi that I had never seen before, well off the paths of the standard island-hopping tours that are so popular with the island’s visitors.

I was travelling in Kimura’s boat. Ponnampalam and her team had reached the end of the line and were waiting for us to arrive. Suddenly everyone was standing up and pointing at something in the water. I saw see a few ripples, but couldn’t tell what it was.

“A whale shark,” shouts Ponnampalam excitedly. I took from her demeanour that this was something quite exceptional.

Our boatman took us in a bit closer to the ripples, but I still couldn’t see anything except the reflected glare off the surface of the water. Then suddenly it was there right beside our boat, barely a metre beneath the surface. I was stunned by the size of it – almost as long as our boat and more than big enough to overturn us if it should so wish, but the whale shark seemed content to let us admire the rows of star-like patterns on its back and give us the time to snap a few photos. The whale shark is the world’s biggest fish and can measure up to 14m. The creature we spotted is roughly half that size.

After a few minutes, it dived deeper and then the surface ripples appeared further out. The boatmen turned their boats and we headed back towards the main island.

“According to local fishermen, they are found near Langkawi from September to February,” says Ponnampalam .

The following day, the MareCet team made two more whale shark sightings in addition to all the other data gathered over the week.

Malaysia is a maritime nation and a fish-eating nation. It depends on the health of its waters to feed its population and maintain its fisheries. In order to protect its maritime assets, more has to be understood about these complex ecosystems and that requires dedicated researchers like Ponnampalam and her team and the facilities necessary to do their work.

“I hope that we can raise awareness of the importance of marine conservation in Malaysia and that the work we are doing will someday materialise into a permanent research facility here in Langkawi,” says Ponnampalam.

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World pledges more money to protect biodiversity

Mariette le Roux (AFP) Google News 21 Oct 12;

HYDERABAD, India — Efforts to stem the worrying loss of Earth's dwindling natural resources received a boost Saturday when a UN conference in India agreed to double biodiversity aid to poor countries.

But in a week that saw 400 plants and animals added to a "Red List" at risk of extinction, some observers said this was not enough to reverse the decline in species and habitats that humans depend on for food, shelter and livelihoods.

A quarter of the world's mammals, 13 percent of birds, 41 percent of amphibians and 33 percent of reef-building corals are now at risk of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

"Efforts to conserve nature must be urgently scaled up if we want to meet the 2020 deadline to save all life on Earth," it said of the deal.

Governments reached an early-morning agreement after long nights of tough bargaining in Hyderabad, south India, to double biodiversity-related funding to developing countries by 2015 and maintain the rate until 2020.

This was from a baseline of average annual aid in the period 2006-2010, said a document issued at the close of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting.

No figures were mentioned, but there was consensus among observer groups that a doubling of government biodiversity aid from developed countries to poor ones should yield an annual figure of about $10 billion (8 billion euros).

It was also agreed that at least 75 percent of recipient countries must report on their spending by 2015 and draw up national biodiversity plans.

UN countries decided at the last CBD conference in Nagoya, Japan, two years ago to an ambitious 20-point plan to turn back the tide of biodiversity depletion by 2020.

The so-called Aichi Biodiversity Targets include halving the rate of habitat loss, expanding water and land areas under conservation, preventing the extinction of species on the threatened list, and restoring at least 15 percent of degraded ecosystems.

Green group WWF said about $200 billion must be invested in biodiversity every year if the targets are to be met.

"What's been agreed in Hyderabad represents less than half this number," it said in a statement and called the deal "disappointing".

Conservation International, too, said much more must be done.

"We do have concerns about what the investment levels will actually be and whether or not they will be sufficient," said the group's biodiversity director Lina Barrera.

In crunch talks that once again saw battle lines drawn between developing and affluent states, negotiators in Hyderabad clashed over the extent and timing of additional aid.

Canada objected to the deal, but did not block its adoption, complaining that many recipient countries had failed to meet a target for reporting on their biodiversity spending and needs.

Francisco Gaetani, chief negotiator for Brazil -- a country which other delegates accused of taking a tough stance on behalf of the developing world -- said the deal "could be more ambitious", but the country was "satisfied".

CBD member countries lamented at the close of the talks that "the lack of sufficient financial resources" was hampering progress.

And they called on one another in a joint statement "to consider all possible sources and means that can help to meet the level of resources needed".

The global economic troubles have left governments less keen to divert money to conservation, especially in developing countries battling inflation, poverty and unemployment.

"In the context of the financial crisis, this is a good deal," French Environment Minister Delphine Batho told AFP.

And European commissioner for the environment Janez Potocnik said it was "an essential contribution".

The conference awarded the next CBD meeting in 2014 to South Korea.

It also identified more than 50 zones that need protection on the high seas, where no national laws apply and international rules are often vague, leaving them vulnerable to damaging fishing and oil prospecting practices.

The CBD, to which 193 countries are signatories, marks its 20th anniversary this year.

It has already missed one key deadline when it failed to meet the target set to arrest biodiversity loss by 2010.

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GM Crops To Boost Malaysia's Food Security

Linda Khoo and Nur Syuhada Shamsudin Bernama 22 Oct 12;

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- Rapid population growth, climate change, escalating food prices, diminishing agricultural land and water resources pose a serious setback in increasing food output to feed the world's fast growing population.

Hence, scientists have to seek better solutions for farmers for increasing productivity on smaller tracts of land using less water, energy, fertilisers and pesticides.

Local researchers, like their counterparts in the developed world, believe that Genetic Modification (GM) Technology could well be the holy grail for enhancing the country's food output in the future.

GM crops not only help to boost yields and nutrients, but also enhance taste and quality, improve resistance to diseases and pests which in turn reduces the use of pesticides and herbicides.

Malaysia is making significant progress in GM crops with the first genetically modified crop set to make its way to the farms or fields within the next six to eight years.

GETTING INTO THE GM BANDWAGON

GM crops not only help to enhance output using fewer resources but also help in addressing many nutritional and health issues confronting Malaysian society, like those pointed out by the Malaysian Agricultural Research Institute's (Mardi) Deputy Director of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering Programme, Dr Indu Bala Jaganath.

"While Malaysia is not on the verge of a food crisis, it is facing nutritional insecurity where communal diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes and cancer are increasing.

"Genetic Modification (GM) can be applied to increase the nutritional and therapeutic status of the crop," explained Dr Indu, providing the Transgenic Golden rice variety being developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to address Vitamin A deficiency as an example.

Mardi has already embarked on developing a variety of genetically modified rice with better traits, including better adaptability to climatic changes such as drought, submergence (flood) and tolerance/resistance to pests and diseases.

"We cannot depend on conventional agriculture techniques alone.

"We need robust technological innovations to revolutionise current agriculture to meet food self sufficiency. We have to radically transform agriculture.

"GM technology may hold the key. We cannot afford to overlook GM technology, in our efforts to address the global challenges of growing population, compounded with changing climate and limited fertile land," she said to Bernama.

GM TECHNOLOGY IN MALAYSIA

Dr Indu noted that Mardi is developing GM rice that could withstand sheath blight caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia Solani. Sheath blight is a major disease that affects the yield and grain quality whereby farmers suffer huge losses.

As rice varieties resistant or tolerant to the disease are lacking, farmers and researchers cannot depend on conventional breeding methods to improve the resistance to sheath blight.

Looking at the fact that there is no effective chemical or agricultural practice to control the disease, Mardi has adopted the GM approach to develop rice varieties resistant to the disease.

"We are currently working at the lab and confined field level. Our next step will be to carry out open field evaluation where comprehensive bio safety analysis will be conducted.

"We can see the first GM crop in Malaysia within the next six to eight years. However, it all depends on the success of the trials and the stability of the incorporated gene," she said.

DELAYED-RIPENING PAPAYA

Meanwhile, Mardi's Director of Biotechnology Research Centre Dr Umi Kalsom Abu Bakar said that transgenic papayas with delayed-ripening traits were being developed to enable the fruit to stretch its shelf life and maintain its quality during shipment.

"If we want to export our papaya by air, it is very costly. To reduce post-harvest losses and improve the quality and marketability of papayas, Mardi is developing delayed-ripening papaya to slow down the ripening process to help the exporters.

"The idea of developing papaya with longer shelf life for export has been there for quite some time but we did not have the particular traits then. Now, since we have the traits, we hope to develop them further and commercialise them soon," she said.

Several potential transgenic Eksotika papaya lines with delayed-ripening characteristic have been produced and further confined field trial evaluation is on the way to validate the required trait in the GM papaya.

Dr Umi added that apart from this Mardi has been developing papaya varieties with resistance to dieback disease that destroys papaya plants.

Papaya dieback disease was first reported in 2003 and the disease caused papaya export volumes to plunge from 57,000 tonnes in 2003 to 10,000 tonnes in 2008, and the losses amounted to RM51.5 million.

"Papaya dieback disease is a threat to Malaysia's papaya plantation industry. Our scientists are working hard to identify the resistant gene that can withstand the papaya dieback disease."

ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

Meanwhile, the Director of PG Economics Limited, Graham Brookes said that GM crops have reduced pesticide use by 438 million kgs and this has decreased the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use in the area planted with biotech crops by 17.9 per cent.

Brookes, who is also the co-author of the seventh annual report on "Global Impact of Biotech Crops: Economic and Environmental Effects 1996-2010", said GM crop has significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural practices.

In 2010, this was equivalent to removing 19.4 billion kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or removing 8.6 million cars from the road for a year.

"After 16 years of growing and consuming biotechnology crops, there has been no credible and documented evidence of any negative safety, health or environmental impact," he said referring to the scepticism harboured by the opponents of GM crops.

In a nutshell, GM crops could well be the answer for feeding mankind in the future and Malaysia is well aware of the GM crops' vast potential in achieving its food security target.

-- BERNAMA

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Best of our wild blogs: 22 Oct 12

Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [15 - 21 Oct 2012]
from Green Business Times

Surprises in sea anemones and wood at the Northern Expedition Day 7 from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore

Mangrove Madness (Part 1)
from Darwin Shrugged

Ruddy-breasted Crake having a bath
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Daisy Sunday
from The annotated budak

Pink Mud Eel
from Monday Morgue

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Campaign Against Use of Dolphins in Indonesian Circuses Appears to Have an Impact

Firdha Novialita Jakarta Globe 12 Oct 12;

Nearly 90,000 people from around the world have backed a campaign by activist group Change.org Indonesia to ban traveling circuses in the country from using dolphins in their shows.

“It could reach 100,000 pretty soon. The traveling circus is ... really bad for the dolphins,” Arief Aziz, the group’s communications director, told a media conference on the campaign in Jakarta on Thursday.

Arief said many companies had joined the movement, including LotteMart, Carrefour, Coca-Cola, Hero and Garuda Indonesia. Celebrity supporters include Coki, a guitarist in band Netral; Riyanni Djangkaru from DiveMag; and Nadine Chandrawinata, a former Miss Indonesia.

“The petition was launched a few months ago with only about 5,000 in support. It grew to 10,000 after receiving support overseas,” Arief said.

He added that support grew as word of the petition spread. Signatories were later encouraged to target companies involved in the use of dolphins in circuses.

Human rights activist Usman Hamid said he will continue to ask the public to spread the petition.

The petition appears to have having some impact. The refusal by some major companies to offer space to traveling circuses with dolphins has apparently prompted managers to approach regional governments for performance space, and school teachers to boost crowds.

“In the past, if they received permission from sponsors, they would also secure a space [to hold the circus]. But now they can’t even secure permission, let alone space. They know that companies can no longer [grant permission] and that’s why they go to city administrations for [permission] to use city squares,” Coki told BeritaSatu.com on Thursday.

Coki said that he and other signatories will approach the Forestry Ministry and the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry as well as schools to cooperate with the movement.

“Many traveling circuses offer packages to teachers. They receive a fee if they take students to see [the circus],” Coki said.

Coki said that teachers should not take students to see the circus, adding that many fellow musicians also supported the cause.

Change.org Indonesia will promote the petition in this year’s social media festival, which runs starts today and runs until Sunday at the Senayan Aquatic Center in South Jakarta.

Previously Coki said that he was moved to join the movement after witnessing the condition of the dolphins.

“They were in containers that exactly fit the width of their body, and rubbed with Vaseline to keep them moist,” he said.

Pramudya Harzani from Jakarta Animal Aid Network said that the circuses put the animals’ health at risk. After enduring stress from long hours in cramped containers during transit and then resting in heavily chlorinated pools, the dolphins have to perform in several five shows a night.

“These dolphins are treated as a cash machine to cover circuses’ costs,” Pramudya said.

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Malaysia: Rubbish in drains and rivers are the main cause of flooding

Manjit Kaur The Star 22 Oct 12;

IT is clogged drains that usually cause flash floods in Ipoh.

Perak Drainage and Irrigation Department deputy director Juhaimi Jusoh said this was because drains had been turned into dumping grounds these days.

“People have always been advised not to discard rubbish into drains whether it is during the monsoon season or otherwise.

“This will help alleviate problems of flooding,” he pointed out.

Juhaimi was also concerned over the indiscriminate dumping of rubbish into the rivers although the waterways were not as badly polluted compared to those in other states.

“A television set was among garbage fished out from Sungai Kinta during a gotong-royong session recently,” he said, describing plastic bags, bottles and cans as the normal garbage retrieved during gotong-royong sessions.

Juhaimi said most of the rivers in the urban areas have been installed with gross pollutant traps (GPT) to prevent trash and silt from polluting the rivers.

“We have contractors to collect the trapped rubbish weekly,” he said.

In Kampung Temiang, Ipoh, villagers were disgusted by litterbugs whose behaviour were getting from bad to worse; and wooden planks were among garbage thrown into the drains.

Villager Harison Udoh, 60, said there were several clogged drains nearby.

“The JKKK (village security and development committee) members have conducted several rounds of gotong-royong, and we removed heaps of rubbish from the drains each round.

“We are fearful of floods whenever there is a downpour,” she lamented.

Zahidah Mat Yazid, 59, who is also the JKKK’s welfare bureau chief, said some people were still littering despite several gotong-royong sessions to clean up the place and educate the public on the need to maintain cleanliness in the surroundings.

“When they throw rubbish into drains, the villagers staying in the low lying areas will suffer because these areas will be the ones hit by floods,” she said, adding that those who found littering a convenience was doing it at the expense of others.

Over at Kampung Seri Kinta in Pasir Puteh, Zakiah Md Shaid, 70, said a flood gate installed in Sungai Kinta a few years back had helped to reduce the severity of flood in the area.

“Floods occurred just before the fasting month this year but the situation was not as bad as compared to previous years,” she said.

Zakiah complained there were people who dumped rubbish into the river and drains nearby

“The drains get clogged, and the conditions worsen when it rains, resulting in flash floods,” said Zakiah who has been staying in the village for over 30 years.

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Malaysia: Elephant herd helps researchers identify new sanctuaries

Ruben Sario The Star 22 Oct 12;

KOTA KINABALU: A herd of elephants is helping researchers identify areas that need to be set aside as wildlife forest corridors in Sabah's lower Kinabatangan region.

Since 2008, researchers from the Sabah Wildlife Department, Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) and non-governmental organisation HUTAN, have tracked nine elephants eight cows and a bull using satellite collars.

Data from the satellite collars on four of the nine elephants is providing crucial information on suitable and available elephant habitats in the region, department director Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu said.

“One of the four elephants has already provided two years of data made up of 24 positions per day which will allow us to prioritise areas where landscape connectivity along the Kinabatangan river has to be rebuilt,” he added.

Of the four elephants providing data, three are female. On Oct 19, researchers replaced the satellite collar on the fourth, a male elephant named Gading.

DGFC director Dr Benoit Goosens said Gading was collared in July 2008 and October 2011, but the device fell from its belt in May 2012.

The researchers also collared one of the three females named Puteri by Nurzhafarina Othman, a Malaysian PhD student at Cardiff University conducting research on the social behaviour of the Bornean elephant.

Nurzhafarina said the satellite collars allowed researchers to track the herd and study how the elephants adapted their social behaviour in the degraded and fragmented landscape of the Kinabatangan floodplain.

“I am also able to understand how social units work, how females are associating within and between family units,” said Nurzhafarina, who had been following the herd of elephants for more than two years.

The collaring exercise was funded by the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund under the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, the Elephant Family charity, Houston Zoo and Columbus Zoo.

Four members of the London-based Elephant Family also took part in the collaring exercise.

Wildlife veterinarian Dr Diana Ramirez from the department's Wildlife Rescue Unit, who led the tagging operation, said the exercise was a team effort.

“Tracking, sedating and collaring an elephant is not an easy task. We are concerned about the health of the elephant and the safety of the members of the team,” she said.

Helpful info from collared elephants
Roy Goh New Straits Times 22 Oct 12;

SATELLITE TRACKING: Data enable Sabah officials prevent human-wildlife conflicts

KOTA KINABALU: THE survival of Borneo pygmy elephants in Sabah is brighter with data collected from pachyderms fitted with satellite collars.

Since 2008, nine elephants had been fitted with such collars in the Kinabatangan area, allowing wildlife officials to gather crucial information.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu said of the nine elephants, the satellite collars of four were still emitting their location points, providing data on their habitats and movements.

"A female has already provided two years' of data and 24 positions per day.

"This data will allow my department to pinpoint crucial areas in order to establish connectivity along Sungai Kinabatangan."

Senior veterinarian of the department, Dr Sen Nathan, said with the data, they could take preemptive steps to avoid human-wildlife conflicts and re-route the elephants' path to avoid plantations or villages.

Last Friday, two elephants were fitted with satellite collars -- a male named Gading and a female named Puteri -- near Danau Pitas at the Lower Kinabatangan Sanctuary.

The exercise was part of a joint project between the department, a non-governmental organisation called HUTAN and the Danau Girang Field Centre.

The project was funded by the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Mohamed Zayed Species Conservation Fund, a London-based charity organisation called Elephant Family, Houston Zoo and Columbus Zoo.

Danau Girang director Dr Benoit Goosens said the male elephant was being collared for the third time. It had been collared in 2008 and last year.

The department's Wildlife Rescue Unit veterinarian Dr Diana Ramirez led the latest exercise.

"Sedating and collaring an elephant is not an easy task. We have to take care of the health of the elephant and safety of the team members.

"Experience is important and my unit has more than 15 trained workers to assist in such projects."

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India: Whale, dugong washed ashore

The Hindu 21 Oct 12;


A Whale ashore at Vadakadu sea shore in Rameswaram. Photo: L. Balachandar

For the first time a sperm whale has been found near the Palk Strait

A 14-metre-long male whale, which has been dead for at least 10 days and a dead dugong (Kadal pasu), measuring two metre long, were found washed ashore in the Vadakadu and Panaikulam seashore, respectively, off the Palk Strait in Rameswaram on Saturday morning.

Additional Conservator of Forest T. Rajendran, who inspected the carcasses, along with N. Nagarajan, Ranger, Tuticorin, said the whale’s circumference measured 10-metre.

The front fin was 1.5 metre long and the head measured 3.5 metre. He identified it as Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus).

Citing records, he said this was for the first time, a sperm whale, which live in deep sea, has been washed ashore off the Palk Strait.

The carcass was highly decomposed and tail portion got severed and found washed ashore 200 metres away in the coast, he told The Hindu.

Sei whales (Belaenoptera borealis) have earlier been washed ashore off the Gulf of Mannar, he said.

Due to seasonal changes, especially during the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon and setting in of northeast monsoon, the mammal would have lost its way.

It could have either crashed into rocks or died of starvation, he said. The exact reason for its death, however, could not be ascertained, he added. The carcass would be buried in the coast after post-mortem on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, Mr. Rajendran said.

Earlier, on being informed by the local fishermen, S. Venkatachala Boopathi, Forest Ranger and M, Jafer Forester, also visited the carcass.

Mr. Nagarajan said the dead Dugong at Panaikulam seashore was buried after post-mortem. Its width measured 134 cm and it weighed 400 kg, he said. It had no injuries and could have died after hitting against rocks, he said.

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UN Biodiversity talks move forward but nature needs more - IUCN

IUCN 20 Oct 12;

Hyderabad, India, 20 October 2012 – Despite good progress towards achieving the 2020 targets to halt the loss of biodiversity, efforts to conserve nature must be urgently scaled up if we want to meet the 2020 deadline to save all life on earth - says IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

The UN Biodiversity talks closing today in Hyderabad, India, saw an overall consensus on the urgent need for more and better managed funds to reach the targets but countries have failed to agree on the exact amount needed to ensure their successful implementation.

“The lack of agreement on public funds required to conserve biodiversity and save the natural world highlights the need for innovative ways to seek support from other sources,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General. “We’ve seen good progress towards achieving the targets we set two years ago. These efforts now need to be urgently scaled up with adequate funding from all sources if we want to avoid failure.”

Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity met in Hyderabad to evaluate progress towards the implementation of decisions taken at the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit in 2010, including the 2020 Aichi Targets to save and restore nature. The meeting saw examples of concrete conservation action and a strong focus on turning the decisions taken in Nagoya into action on the ground.

Some key issues have been agreed in Hyderabad, such as the recognition of marine ecologically and biologically significant areas, including those in the international waters, which should largely increase their chances to be protected under international law.

“This is good but it’s not enough,” says Jane Smart, Global Director of IUCN’s Biodiversity Conservation Group. “If we want to respond to the growing biodiversity crisis, we need more concrete action. We must engage with all levels of society, including the private sector, and look into conserving all levels of biological diversity: the diversity of genes, species and ecosystems. Two years into the International Decade of Biodiversity, this is now more urgent than ever.”

According to the latest update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ released during the meeting, 20,219 of the 65,518 species listed are threatened with extinction, including 83% of Madagascar’s palms, putting the livelihoods of many people at risk.

Addressing the ministers gathered in Hyderabad, IUCN President Zhang Xinsheng highlighted the need for new sources of funds to conserve nature, such as the private sector, and stressed the importance of including the protection of the natural environment in national development policies.

“The government of India has done a fantastic job in organizing this meeting,” said IUCN President Zhang Xinsheng. “In two year’s time we’ll be looking at a mid-point towards the 2020 deadline to save the natural environment. We look forward to working with the government of South Korea to make sure that at the next meeting of the Convention, we see more positive progress. We’re up against a crisis that’s threatening all life on earth - we cannot afford to lose this race.”

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