Violent dolphin deaths in the U.S. a mystery for scientists

Tamara Lush Associated Press Yahoo News 20 Nov 12;

ALONG THE GULF COAST (AP) — Over the past several months, dolphins have washed ashore along the northern Gulf Coast with bullet wounds, missing jaws and hacked off fins, and federal officials said they are looking into the mysterious deaths.

The most recent case was of a dolphin found dead off the coast of Mississippi, its lower jaw missing.

Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday they're asking everyone from beachgoers to fishermen to wildlife agents to be on the lookout for injured or dead dolphins — and any unusual interaction between the mammals and people.

"It's very sad to think that anyone could do that to any animal," said Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal scientist for NOAA's southeast office in St. Petersburg, Fla. "There have been some obviously intentional cases."

Fougeres said five dolphins have been found shot. In Louisiana, two were shot in 2011 and one in 2012. And in Mississippi, three were found shot this year, the most recent one last week, which was first reported by the Sun-Herald newspaper.

Besides the shootings, a dolphin in Alabama was found with a screwdriver stuck in its head over the summer. Another in Alabama had its tail cut off, and that animal survived. Still others were missing fins or had cuts to their bodies.

"I think it is outrageous," said Moby Solangi, the executive director of Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Miss. "These animals are very docile, very friendly and they're very curious. They come close to the boats, so if you're out there, you'll see them riding the bows. And their curiosity and friendship brings them so close that they become targets and that's the unfortunate thing."

Dolphins are among the species protected by the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. Violators can be fined up to $10,000 per violation and sent to prison for a year.

The California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund said it is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever harmed the dolphins.

The gruesome discoveries are heartbreaking for Gulf Coast scientists, who follow the population. Fougeres said that two months before the 2010 oil spill disaster off the coast of Louisiana, dolphins began stranding themselves and that there were unusually high mortality rates — possibly due to a cold winter that year.

Since then, the spill and another cold winter in 2011 have contributed to several deaths within the Gulf's dolphin population, experts say. Investigators have also found discolored teeth and lung infections within some of the dead dolphins.

Since Feb. 2010, experts have tallied more than 700 recorded dolphin deaths.

Experts have also found increased "human interaction" cases, which include dolphins tangled in fishing lines — and the more violent incidents.

Fougeres cautions that some of the dolphin mutilations might have happened after the animal died from natural causes and washed ashore. She said that in the case of the dolphin with the lower jaw missing, someone could have cut off the jaw for a souvenir after the animal died.

"We have to do a necropsy on the animal and collect tissue samples to try to determine whether or not the injury was pre-or post-mortem" she said.

She also said that the increase in cases might be due to NOAA's dolphin stranding network becoming better trained to notice cruelty cases or unusual deaths.

Some have suggested that the deaths are the work of a few angry fishermen who are upset about bait-stealing dolphins. Yet the majority of fishermen say that while dolphins can be annoying, they wouldn't harm the creatures.

"I don't know who to suspect ... I was really sickened when I read about it," said Tom Becker, of T&D Charters out of Biloxi, Miss., and head of the Mississippi Charter Boat Captains Association, said he's never had a problem with dolphins.

The mammals tend to swim behind his boat until a fish too small to keep is tossed over the side.

"You'll see him under your boat," Becker said, about the dolphin. "He'll get it before it can reach the bottom. I usually leave the area if they're doing that."

Fougeres said she doesn't think the dolphins are being targeted by a gang of people or even by a lone, sick individual.

"The cases are fairly spread apart," she said. "I don't think there is one dolphin murderer out there."

She added that anyone who sees a dead or stranded dolphin, or spots people harassing a marine animal can call the NOAA Enforcement hotline at 800-853-1964.

AP writer Janet McConnaughey contributed from New Orleans.

Read more!

Tropical Reefs Become Biggest US Marine Sanctuary

LiveScience.com Yahoo News 20 Nov 12;

A pristine tropical reef that has weathered several natural disasters is now part of America's largest marine sanctuary.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) finalized a huge expansion of the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa last month, from 0.25 square miles (0.65 square kilometers) to 13,523 square miles (33,024 square km).

The boost takes the sanctuary from a single protected coral reef to a marine area larger than the state of Maryland. The agency also renamed the protected region, now calling it the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa.

Five new marine units joined Fagatale Bay's reef: Fogama'a/ Fagalua (Larsen Bay), waters around Swains Island and Muliva, also known as Rose Atoll, and some of the waters around Aunu'u Island and Ta'u Island.

NOAA cited the "tremendous advancement in marine discovery and exploration, marine conservation science, and ecosystem-based management" as factors in its decision to expand the sanctuary. The decision was published July 26 and finalized Oct. 31 in the Federal Register.

"The Sanctuary contains a unique and vast array of tropical marine organisms, including corals and a diverse tropical reef ecosystem with endangered and threatened species, such as the hawksbill and green sea turtles, and marine mammals like the Pacific bottlenose dolphin," NOAA said in the Federal Register.

Of the five new units, one was already under federal protection. Rose Atoll was designated a marine national monument in 2009 by President George W. Bush. It is the world's smallest atoll, and home to American Samoa's largest populations of giant clams, nesting seabirds and rare reef fish.

Ta'u Island hosts some of the oldest and largest known corals in the world, with one colony measuring 23 feet (7 meters) tall and 135 feet (41 m) in circumference, according to NOAA. And from June to September, southern humpback whales migrate north from Antarctica to calve in the protected waters surrounding American Samoa.

Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary was established in 1986 in response to a proposal from the American Samoa government. The impetus was a devastating attack on the region's coral reefs by crown-of-thorns starfish in the late 1970s. Millions of starfish ate their way across the reefs, destroying more than 90 percent of living coral. Hurricanes and coral bleaching have also hit the coral in the last 20 years.

Read more!

Deforestation risks turning Somalia to desert

Boris Bachorz (AFP) Google News 19 Nov 12;

JALELO, Somalia — Hassan Hussein cuts down 40 trees every month to fuel his charcoal business, fully aware of the impact his action has on the environment.

But for the livestock keeper, the forests are the last remaining resource. And he is not alone.

Hundreds of thousands of Somalia's traditional pastoralist herders do the same, putting their impoverished country on a path of heavy deforestation that risks turning large swathes of their country into a desert.

"I used to keep animals, but I lost my herd to famine and disease and am the eldest in the family," says Hussein, 27, adding that he has 10 mouths to feed back home -- two children, seven brothers and his mother.

Four years ago, Hussein had 25 camels and 300 goats. Now, only three camels and 15 goats from his once respectable sized herd are left.

Thus every morning, with an axe slumped over his shoulder, he sets off in search of wood for charcoal.

Once he locates and cuts down a tree, it takes two days of burning, and two more days of cooling the smouldering heaps before he can sell the charcoal, at six dollars (five euros) for a 20 kilogramme sack.

The village of Jaleo, in the northern self-declared state of Somaliland, once prided itself on being at the heart of the savannah.

British explorer Harald Swayne recounted, in his 19th century memoirs, the adventures he had while tracking and hunting "a large herd of elephants."

But the last elephant was killed in 1958, and were Swayne to retake his journey today, he would only find the smallest of game in a rocky landscape dotted with shrubs and charred tree stumps.

"Twenty percent of the forest has disappeared in the last ten years -- definitely this country is turning into a desert," Ahmed Derie Elmi, director of forests in Somaliland's environment ministry, recently tells AFP.

"If the deforestation continues at this pace, this country will be a desert in two or three decades," echoes Ahmed Ibrahim Awale of the Candlelight organisation, which tackles environmental and health issues in Somaliland.

Charcoal burning has not always been preferred in Jalelo.

Three years ago an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in the Horn of Africa forced Gulf states to suspend importation of animals or animal products from the region, forcing the herders to look for alternative sources of income.

But it is urbanisation and a population explosion that are the biggest threats to the country's environmental well-being.

Somaliland's capital Hargeisa has a population of 850,000 people, six times its population in the 1970s, which consumes approximately 250 tonnes of charcoal daily.

Elmi says that charcoal is the main source of energy, as electricity is rare and expensive for many.

The rampant deforestation is not unique to Somaliland. In southern Somalia, Al Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents turned charcoal burning and exportation into one of their major sources of income.

In a report, the UN monitoring group on Somalia and Eritrea says the Islamist group made up to 25 million dollars every year from charcoal trade.

Several regions of southern Somalia were declared famine zones by the United Nations last year, with the deforestation contributing to an extreme drought.

In a bid to put an end to rampant deforestation, Somalia's newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in one of his first official duties banned all exportation of charcoal, in line with a UN embargo in February.

However, much more than a UN declaration and a presidential decree are needed to bring the deforestation to an end.

"The underlying causes of poverty and the general decline of the size of livestock herds have to be addressed," says Awale.

Alternative sources of energy must be harnessed to cater for the population, massive reforestation campaigns need to be initiated and some of the pastoralists need to switch to agriculture.

In a country where the government faces numerous challenges, environmental matters are not a priority.

"The Ministry of Environment has the smallest budgetary allocation that only covers the salaries of 187 employees," says Elmi.

"All the mature trees have disappeared.... In the past one could get six or seven 25 kilogramme sacks of charcoal from a tree. Today, maybe one or two," Awale says.

As a consequence, charcoal prices in Somaliland have doubled in the past four years, to 10 dollars a sack.

"Each time I cut down a tree, I am left with a bitter taste in my mouth," Hussein says. "The future is bleak.... All the trees will have disappeared."

Read more!

No nation immune to climate change: World Bank

Anna Yukhananov PlanetArk 19 Nov 12;

All nations will suffer the effects of a warmer world, but it is the world's poorest countries that will be hit hardest by food shortages, rising sea levels, cyclones and drought, the World Bank said in a report on climate change.

Under new World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, the global development lender has launched a more aggressive stance to integrate climate change into development.

"We will never end poverty if we don't tackle climate change. It is one of the single biggest challenges to social justice today," Kim told reporters on a conference call on Friday.

The report, called "Turn Down the Heat," highlights the devastating impact of a world hotter by 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, a likely scenario under current policies, according to the report.

Climate change is already having an effect: Arctic sea ice reached a record minimum in September, and extreme heat waves and drought in the last decade have hit places like the United States and Russia more often than would be expected from historical records, the report said.

Such extreme weather is likely to become the "new normal" if the temperature rises by 4 degrees, according to the World Bank report. This is likely to happen if not all countries comply with pledges they have made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Even assuming full compliance, the world will warm by more than 3 degrees by 2100.

In this hotter climate, the level of the sea would rise by up to 3 feet, flooding cities in places like Vietnam and Bangladesh. Water scarcity and falling crop yields would exacerbate hunger and poverty.

Extreme heat waves would devastate broad swaths of the earth's land, from the Middle East to the United States, the report says. The warmest July in the Mediterranean could be 9 degrees hotter than it is today -- akin to temperatures seen in the Libyan desert.

The combined effect of all these changes could be even worse, with unpredictable effects that people may not be able to adapt to, said John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, which along with Climate Analytics prepared the report for the World Bank.

"If you look at all these things together, like organs cooperating in a human body, you can think about acceleration of this dilemma," said Schellnhuber, who studied chaos theory as a physicist. "The picture reads that this is not where we want the world to go."

SHOCKED INTO ACTION

As the first scientist to head the World Bank, Kim has pointed to "unequivocal" scientific evidence for man-made climate change to urge countries to do more.

Kim said 97 percent of scientists agree on the reality of climate change.

"It is my hope that this report shocks us into action," Kim, writes in the report.

Scientists are convinced that global warming in the past century is caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These findings by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were recognized by the national science academies of all major industrialized nations in a joint statement in 2010.

Kim said the World Bank plans to further meld climate change with development in its programs.

Last year, the Bank doubled its funding for countries seeking to adapt to climate change, and now operates $7.2 billion in climate investment funds in 48 countries.

The World Bank study comes as almost 200 nations will meet in Doha, Qatar, from November 26 to December 7 to try to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the existing plan for curbing greenhouse gas emissions by developed nations that runs to the end of the year.

They have been trying off and on since Kyoto was agreed in 1997 to widen limits on emissions but have been unable to find a formula acceptable to both rich and poor nations.

Emerging countries like China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, have said the main responsibility to cut emissions lies with developed nations, which had a headstart in sparking global warming.

Combating climate change also poses a challenge for the poverty-fighting World Bank: how to balance global warming with immediate energy needs in poor countries.

In 2010, the World Bank approved a $3.75 billion loan to develop a coal-fired power plant in South Africa despite lack of support from the United States, Netherlands and Britain due to environmental concerns.

"There really is no alternative to urgent action given the devastating consequences of climate change," global development group Oxfam said in a statement. "Now the question for the World Bank is how it will ensure that all of its investments respond to the imperatives of the report."

Kim said the World Bank tries to avoid investing in coal unless there are no other options.

"But at the same time, we are the group of last resort in finding needed energy in countries that are desperately in search of it," he said.

(Reporting by Anna Yukhananov; Editing by Diane Craft)

Climate Scientists Applaud Dire World Bank Report
Stephanie Pappas LiveScience.com Yahoo News 22 Nov 12;

Climate scientists who have been warning of the dangerous effects of global warming now have the World Bank on their side, after a new report from that organization calling for action to prevent climate catastrophe.

"The World Bank did a great service to society by issuing this report," said Michael Mann, a climate researcher at Pennsylvania State University and the author of "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars" (Columbia University Press, 2012).

Climate deniers often claim that solutions to global warming are part of a "global socialist agenda," Mann told LiveScience.

"The fact that the World Bank — an entity committed to free market capitalism — has weighed in on the threat of climate change and the urgency of acting to combat it, puts the nail in the coffin of that claim," he said.

A changing world

The report, issued by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics for the World Bank, urges nations to work to prevent the Earth from warming 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) past preindustrial averages. Already, global mean temperatures are running about 1.3 degrees F (0.8 degrees C) hotter than before the onset of the industrial revolution.

Likewise, carbon-dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is high and rising. As of September, the concentration was 391 parts per million, a record high, up from a preindustrial 278. That number is now rising by about 1.8 parts per million each year.

All of these changes are accompanied by ice loss, including accelerating melting in Greenland, according to research published this week. As a result, average sea level has risen between 6 and 8 inches (15 and 20 centimeters) or so on average around the world. [8 Ways Global Warming Is Already Changing the World]

Dire warnings

But what the World Bank warns of is an even bleaker future. Even if the world's nations deliver on their promises of emission limits and global warming mitigation, there is a 20 percent chance that the world will hit the 4 degrees C mark by 2100, according to the report. If emissions continue as is, the planet may reach that point by the 2060s.

International negotiators have agreed that warming should be limited to just half that, or 3.6 degrees F (2 degrees C), in that time. A world that is 2 degrees warmer would have its own consequences, but it is crucial to hold that line, the World Bank report argues. A 4-degree warming would mean a sea-level rise of 1.6 to 3.2 feet (0.5 to 1 meter) on average, with the tropics catching the brunt of the change.

Climate research also suggests tropical storms would strengthen and drought would increase across much of the tropical and subtropical world.

"A world in which warming reaches 4 degrees C above preindustrial levels (hereafter referred to as a 4 degree C world), would be one of unprecedented heat waves, severe drought, and major floods in many regions, with serious impacts on human systems, ecosystems, and associated services," the authors wrote in the World Bank report.

Climate scientists agree.

"I am inclined to think that things will break before we get there," Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said of a 4-degree-C world. Ecosystems would change so much and agriculture would be so disrupted that the result would likely be "major strife, conflicts and loss of population," Trenberth told LiveScience.

Among the flashpoints, according to the World Bank report, would be sparse water availability, food insecurity and loss of resources such as coral reefs, which are threatened by acidification as more carbon dioxide is dissolved in the oceans. Coral reefs provide not only food to many local economies, but also tourism dollars. Areas becoming unsustainable would likely lead to mass exodus, creating environmental refugees, Mann said. [10 Surprising Results of Global Warming]

Avoiding the 4-degree world

Avoiding the 4-degree-warmer world is a matter of political will, said Mann, who sees signs of optimism, including increased awareness and more calls to transition away from fossil fuels.

"The alternative energies (wind, solar, geothermal, etc) are there," Mann wrote in an email to LiveScience. "We just need to deploy and scale them up by investing immediately in the necessary infrastructure."

Slowing the warming may be as useful as stopping it, Trenberth said.

"It is not just the absolute amount of warming, but also the rate at which
we change things to get there," he said. "Two degrees warming in 50 years is extremely stressful, but 2 degrees warming in 500 years is perhaps manageable through adaptation."

If the world fails to act, the world will become a more disrupted, damaged place, the World Bank concluded — and the poor will suffer most.

"The projected 4°C warming simply must not be allowed to occur — the heat must be turned down," the authors wrote. "Only early, cooperative, international actions can make that happen."

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 19 Nov 12

Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [12 - 18 Nov 2012]
from Green Business Times

The Walking Leaf
from Macro Photography in Singapore

Random Gallery - Banded LineBlue
from Butterflies of Singapore

Magnificently Terumbu Semakau
from Peiyan.Photography and Fishy and Sluggy Day at St. John's Island and Stormy Trip to Hantu Lagoon

Some Critters Outside NTU
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Plant-Bird Relationship: 13. Bignoniaceae, Bombacaceae, Bromeliaceae, Caricaceae, Casuarinaceae and Combretaceae from Bird Ecology Study Group

Spotted House Gecko
from Monday Morgue

Read more!

Philippine authorities allow dolphin export to Singapore

Alice Chia Channel NewsAsia 18 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE: The Philippines authorities have approved the export of 25 Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins to Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park.

Animal welfare groups in the Philippines had tried to block export of the dolphins in a court case, which they lost last month.

A Marine Life Park spokesperson said the park is pleased to receive the permit and looks forward to welcoming the dolphins to their new residence.

The park said it has followed all international and multi-national regulations and guidelines.

For over three years, the dolphins have been under the care and supervision of a team of veterinarians and marine mammal specialists.

- CNA/xq

Philippines 'okays export of RWS dolphins'
Permit said to be granted for them to come here, despite talk of appeal
Alastair McIndoe Straits Times 19 Nov 12;

MANILA - The Philippine authorities have reportedly issued an export permit for 25 bottlenose dolphins to be sent to Singapore's Marine Life Park at Resorts World Sentosa.

Animal welfare groups in the Philippines had tried to block the move in court, but lost their civil suit last month.

The Philippine Star newspaper yesterday, quoting Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Asis Perez, said the Department of Agriculture had issued the export permit on the bureau's recommendation. It was not clear when the permit was issued.

Officials were not available for comment on when the dolphins, which were caught in the Solomon Islands and brought here between 2008 and last year, will be exported to Singapore.

On Oct 17, a court in Quezon City denied a petition by animal welfare groups to renew a "temporary environmental protection order" blocking the dolphins' export to Singapore.

While there has been talk of an appeal, nothing appears to prevent the dolphins from being sent to Singapore now that a permit has been granted.

But Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) maintained yesterday that not all legal avenues have been exhausted. Executive director Louis Ng said there would be a case at the courts today. He gave no other details but last month, Acres said it was planning to file an appeal to the courts.

The dolphins are being held in a special enclosure at Ocean Adventure, an open-water marine park at Subic Bay, where they were being acclimatised to a life in captivity while Marine Life Park was under construction.

The park is scheduled to open next month.

A spokesman for the park, responding to The Straits Times' queries, said it is looking forward to welcoming the dolphins to their new residence in Singapore.

"We have followed all international and multi-national regulations and guidelines, which is expressed by the favourable approval of our re-export," said the spokesman yesterday.

Additional reporting by Lim Yi Han in Singapore

Read more!

Green educational trails to be conducted at Lorong Halus Wetland

AsiaOne 18 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Environment Council (SEC) has launched a partnership with the North East Community Development Council (NECDC) to conduct monthly green educational trails at Lorong Halus Wetland for one year.

This first of its kind partnership seeks to raise environmental awareness among heartlanders and residents of the North East District, and foster a heightened sense of concern and ultimately action in line with environmental protection.

"Heartlanders represent a key target group in spreading the environmental message, as habits may be more deeply ingrained and require time and effort to change," said Mr Jose Raymond, Executive Director of the SEC.

SEC and NECDC will train volunteers from the district, who will in turn conduct the trails.

The trails will be conducted once a month at no charge to North East district residents. The duration of each trail is one hour and will cover topics such as water and nature conservation, as well as waste management.

To ensure quality control and audibility in an outdoor environment, the group size will be capped at 20 per trail.

To cater to different individuals, SEC is looking to ascertain the demographics of participants prior each trail to tailor the experience accordingly.

For example, based on the majority demographic of a particular trail, efforts will be made to translate key snippets into Malay, Mandarin or even in dialects, if necessary.

"The Green Trail@Lorong Halus Wetland serves two purposes. It heightens North East residents' awareness of the environment as this walk can enable them to learn more about nature in a location within our district. This is also a good bonding platform for neighbours and friends," said North East CDC's Mayor Teo Ser Luck.

Formerly a landfill site, Lorong Halus Wetland sits next to Serangoon Reservoir, Singapore's 17th reservoir.

The area was a dumping ground for Singapore's waste from 1970 to 1999, and occupied 234 hectares - more than 100 football fields - along the eastern bank of then Sungei Serangoon.

It has since been transformed to become an important source of water supply, and the wetland is now home to a myriad of biodiversity that provides opportunities for recreation, research and education.

Read more!

Be careful of wanting slower growth: Vivian Balakrishnan

Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 18 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE: Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has warned about wanting slower growth for Singapore in the hope that social inequality might be reduced.

He said if the country does not seize growth opportunities, it could mean fewer and poorer quality jobs for people.

Dr Balakrishnan was asking Singaporeans to think carefully about what they want for their future, in a dialogue with residents on Sunday.

Should Singapore hold on to the values which brought the nation to where it is today?

Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan posed this question to Bukit Panjang residents in the ongoing National Conversation.

He said the rapidly evolving global landscape means values in Singapore are also changing.

But the anchor, he suggested, is a fair and just society, so Singaporeans should have their chance to speak up.

Issues raised by residents at the session included overcrowding on public transportation, the adequacy of healthcare facilities, and stress brought about by the education system.

Some also suggested solutions to the problems.

"Subsequently, what the government is going to follow up on these issues are what I would be very concerned about," said resident Alice Lo.

"Because we don't want it to be empty talk, (with) no action or no follow up."

Dr Balakrishnan said there is good reason for Singaporeans to be anxious about the future, as the country is facing intense global competition not witnessed before.

He added that people have to be equipped through education, to take on the jobs of tomorrow.

Dr Balakrishnan said: "The fact that the changes are occurring so rapidly is very unsettling for many of us. So that's the backdrop behind the anxiety which we can feel on the ground. It's important that the conversation, however, leads to a positive conclusion and brings us forward."

Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore has to ensure its family structures and social safety nets are ready, for a future where the population is ageing and communal relations may not be as strong as before.

- CNA/xq

Read more!

Malaysia: Aerial patrols for the jungles

The Star 19 Nov 12;

PUTRAJAYA: Environmental protection efforts will be expanded to the skies following the decision to launch the Aerial Jungle Monitoring Programme early next year, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said.

The Cabinet had agreed during its meeting last week to provide RM2mil to fund the programme, which is aimed at improving enforcement of environmental laws and regulations, said Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas.

The aerial patrols would keep tabs on development projects that are carried out in the jungle.

Aerial monitoring would also be extended to other sources of pollution including open burning, release of black smoke from industrial chimneys, release of effluents into the groundwater, beach and coastal pollution and oil spills.

“The programme is needed to carry out enforcement of conditions laid out in the approval of the EIA (environmental impact assessment) for projects, especially at high altitudes.

“For projects in jungles that do not fall under activities laid out in the EIA, the need for erosion and sediment control plan (ESCP) and best management practices can be identified and stated in conditions for logging licences. It can also minimise river pollution,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Douglas added that the programme will be an integrated effort – called 1 NRE Enforcement – which would involve agencies under his ministry with the aim of utilising all available manpower and resources to check on the development projects.

“Aerial monitoring is aimed at improving effectiveness in locating sources of pollution or incidents where environmental laws are broken, especially in areas which are difficult to access overland,” he said.

Read more!

Malaysia: Sabah lauded as a beacon of hope for orang utan

The Star 19 Nov 12;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is becoming a beacon of hope in orang utan conservation in Borneo following the state government’s move to expand the areas designated as the primates’ key habitat.

Wildlife non-governmental organisation research group Hutan co-director Dr Marc Anrenaz said Sabah’s decision to gazette 128,000ha from the lowland Ulu Segama forest reserve in Lahad Datu as a protected area meant that about 60% of the state’s orang utan were now living in conservation zones.

“This is a huge improvement compared to the last decade when only 30% of the orang utan in Sabah were living in protected forests,” he said.

Dr Ancrenaz said this when revealing the findings of a research on orang utan in Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan which he was involved in and which was recently published in the scientific journal PLoS One.

He said the research found that since orang utan were often found in timber concession areas, good management of such areas was important in ensuring the continued survival of the primates.

The fact that Sabah’s Forestry Department now requires all timber concession areas to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) by the end of 2014 was good news for the conservation effort, added Dr Ancrenaz.

The situation in the rest of Borneo is however not as promising for the primates due to an expansion of agriculture activities often at the expense of orang utan habitat, the researchers found.

Dr Serge Wich, the lead author of the research report titled Under-standing the Impacts of Land-Use Policies on a Threatened Species: Is There a Future for the Bornean Orang-utan?, said lowland jungles – which were the favourite habitat of the orang utan – were often considered prime areas for timber extraction or agriculture activities such as plantations.

Orang utan population on the rise
New Straits Times 26 Nov 12;

KOTA KINABALU: The expansion of protected forests has boost the population of orang utan in Sabah.

New additions to existing totally protected areas (TPAs) since 2005, has seen their number increase from 38 per cent to 60 per cent in the past seven years.

HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Programme (HUTAN-KOCP) co-director Dr Marc Ancrenaz said the state government's move to increase protected forest areas not only benefited the wildlife but the people, too.

He said the Sabah Forestry Department had recently increased the percentage of forests under Class I Protection Forest Reserve, which in turn had increased the number of TPAs.

The protected areas are also home to the Borneo pygmy elephant, Sunda clouded leopard, Sun Bear, hornbills and other unique Borneo species.

(HUTAN-KOCP is a non-governmental Organisation based in Sukau, Kinabatangan)

It has been working with Sabah Wildlife Department to develop and implement innovative solutions to conserve the orang utans in Sabah for the past 15 years.

"The recent areas re-gazetted as Class I are lowland forests which are favoured for agriculture development.

"However, the state government has shown that they value environmental security in the long term by making them TPAs instead of going for short-term gains," said Ancrenaz, who has been involved in wildlife issues in Sabah since 1998.

However, Hutan-KOCP co-founder and primotologist Dr Isabelle Lackman said the isolation and fragmentation of TPAs remained the biggest issue when it came to the conservation of orang utans in the state.

She pointed that while the Kinabatangan had been protected by the department, the sanctuary was broken up with some TPAs being totally isolated.

"This is not healthy for the long- term survival of the orang utans in the area.

"Our studies have shown that we need to reconnect patches of forests to ensure that we have a viable orang utan population in the future."

She said this could be achieved by reconnecting forests, either by having patches of forests that the orang utans could roam, or a contiguous corridor of forests.

Lackman said all planned and future conversion of even small forest patches needed to be stopped to ensure the viability of the long-term survival of the orang utan population in the lower Kinabatangan area.

"The future of agriculture, such as oil palm, relies on an increase in yield productivity, and not on further agriculture expansion."

Read more!

Taiwanese oil firm denies scrapping Malaysia investment plan

Focus Taiwan 18 Nov 12;

Kuala Lumpur and Taipei, Nov. 18 (CNA) Taiwan's state-run oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan (CPC) denied reports Saturday that it was scrapping a planned investment project in Malaysia, saying the plan was still undergoing a feasibility assessment.

CPC Vice President Chen Ming-huei told Malaysia's Oriental Daily News that he was unaware of any Taiwanese reports that Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co., the CPC subsidiary making the investment, had dropped its plan to invest in Malaysia.

Taiwan's Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported Thursday that Kuokuang planned to build a NT$10 billion (US$343 million) methyl methacrylate plant at Taichung Port because its investment project in Malaysia had stalled. Methyl methacrylate is used to manufacture resins and plastics.

Analysts said Kuokuang hoped to build a petrochemical complex covering the full petrochemical supply chain in Malaysia, but progress has been slow because of difficulties in securing land, the report said.

Facing problems in Malaysia, Kuokuang decided to first invest in facilities producing high value-added petrochemical end-products in Taiwan, and it is expected to sign a NT$55.4 billion investment deal to put plants in Taiwan's main port areas, including the one in Taichung.

The report added that Kuokuang is planning to differentiate itself from local firms by using eco-friendly and more advanced petrochemical materials and techniques to improve the competitiveness of its products.

Chen clarified that Kuokuang is still evaluating its planned investment in Pengerang in the southern Malaysian state of Johor and has not decided to pull out of the Southeast Asian country.

He said that Kuokuang in principle would focus on research and development of high-end products in Taiwan and mass production overseas and described Kuokuang's investments in Taiwan and those in Malaysia as separate matters.

Chen said Taiwan has only a limited amount of land, and mass production of petrochemical products requires a place like Pengerang that has large tracts of land available for manufacturing.

Oil and natural gas authorities in Johor also said they have not received any word from CPC that it was withdrawing its investment plan.

Kuokuang had originally planned to build a naphtha cracking and petrochemical complex in Changhua in central Taiwan but was forced to scrap the project last year because it did not pass local environmental assessments, eventually deciding to move it overseas.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced in May this year that a Taiwanese petrochemical firm had promised to invest in a petrochemical complex in Pengerang set up by Petronas, Malaysia's state-run oil firm.

The investment plan, estimated at US$120 billion, will include an oil refinery and a naphtha cracker.

Taiwan Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang later confirmed that the Taiwanese firm Najib was referring to was Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology.

The Pengerang project has drawn opposition from local residents, however, who staged a protest in May over pollution concerns.

(By Kuay Chau-churh and Scully Hsiao)

Read more!

Thailand: Sustainable shrimp farming benefits CP

Taiwan industry decline taught species diversity
Bangkok Post 19 Nov 12;

The decline of Taiwan's shrimp industry in the 1980s not only opened up lucrative business opportunities but also taught Thailand a great lesson about operating aquaculture with the utmost concern for the environment.

A "gold rush" attitude drove Taiwanese investors to expand black tiger prawn farms until many mangrove forests had been destroyed.

Environmental problems caused by extensive shrimp aquaculture had developed before the industry was seriously affected by plummeting black tiger prawn production, which fell to only 20,000 tonnes in 1988 from 100,000 tonnes a year earlier.

The slump forced many Taiwanese producers to open new farms in Southeast Asia, with Thailand starting to prosper in the late 1980s when the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group was a key player.

Chingchai Lohawatanakul, vice-chairman of Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc, the conglomerate's flagship, said the CP Group began a study on the aquaculture of black tiger prawns in 1988 with the help of specialists and academics.

"A year later, the business took off with satisfactory production in the first year," he told participants at the Global Aquaculture Outlook 2012 (Goal 2012) conference held in Bangkok recently.

"Production in the first year was impressive, as was the profit. Our farm was big, and there was a shortage of shrimp supply in the world market at that time."

As supply from Taiwan declined, Thailand was not slow to seize the opportunity.

Through cooperation between public and private sectors, Thailand has gradually emerged as the world's top shrimp producer and exporter.

It produced 510,000 tonnes of prawns last year, with two-thirds exported to generate revenue of more than 110 billion baht.

Thailand's shrimp sector focuses now more on farming than on wild catches.

From 1987, production of farm-raised black tiger prawn in Thailand rose each year to surpass 100,000 tonnes in 1990 as demand grew from abroad.

The bright outlook continued as the country's 8th National Plan (1997-2001) set the target for black tiger prawn production at 350,000 tonnes by 2001.

It was set after aqua produce earned substantial export revenue of 43 billion baht and was listed among the top 10 export items in 1996.

Thailand remains the world's largest shrimp exporter, selling 427,580 tonnes valued at 100 billion baht in 2010 and 392,600 tonnes worth 110 billion baht last year.

In the first eight months of this year, Thailand exported 222,247 tonnes of shrimp products worth 61 billion baht.

Mr Chingchai, 72, who received a lifetime achievement award from the Global Aquaculture Alliance at the conference, helped drive the CP Group to become the world's leading producer of aquatic animals.

After the company's great success with black tiger prawn production in the first five years, the Thai sector suffered severely from an outbreak of white spot disease that plunged it into crisis.

Mr Chingchai decided intensive research and development (R&D) could be the key to combating the critical situation.

CP spent 2% of its business value on R&D of shrimp species for sustainability. That policy has continued until this year, when it spent almost US$40 million so that it would have a variety of shrimp species.

Mr Chingchai says Penaeus vannamei (Pacific white shrimp) is a good example of the company's success in developing shrimp species and its aquaculture.

Production of white shrimp had surged to 600,000 tonnes by 2010, less than 10 years since the species was introduced to the country.

Better farm management and proper care of wastewater will help the industry to expand sustainably, he said.

"The building of sustainability in aquaculture is meant to develop not only species diversity but also the systems of feeding, incubation, farming, processing and marketing," said Mr Chingchai.

Read more!