Watch out for flash floods this weekend

High tide and heavy rain could coincide to produce deluge in low-lying places
Grace Chua Straits Times 12 Jan 13;

THERE could be localised flash floods this weekend and early next week, if the forecast heavy rain coincides with high tide levels.

The highest tides will range from 3.3m to 3.4m in the late morning and early afternoon today to next Tuesday.

Afternoon showers are also expected over the next few days, said national water agency PUB and the National Environment Agency.

If the two occur at the same time, flash floods could hit low-lying coastal areas such as Fort Road and Meyer Road which are vulnerable to tidal surges (see box).

Water levels will already be high in canals that open directly into the sea, such as the Bedok and Siglap canals, before more water is dumped into them by the rain.

January marks the middle of the north-east monsoon season, and thundery showers, mainly in the afternoon and evening, can be expected for the rest of this month.

In general, January is the third wettest month of the year, with average monthly rainfall of 243.2mm.

Tides are affected by astronomical factors such as the sun and the moon, said a Maritime and Port Authority spokesman. High tides occur when the moon and Earth are closest to each other.

Today's new moon also means the moon, sun and Earth are aligned, reinforcing the gravitational pull of both sun and moon to cause a spring tide.

At such times, maximum tides are very high and minimum ones are very low - for instance, minimum tides are expected to be about 0.3m in Changi this afternoon.

The highest recorded spring tide in Singapore since 1975 was 3.68m in December 1999. And the last time high tides and heavy rain coincided was in November 2011, causing flash floods on the Ayer Rajah Expressway and Neo Pee Teck Lane in Pasir Panjang.

Residents in affected areas can protect their properties by installing flood barriers such as aluminium panels or stop-boards with sandbags, and by storing belongings at a high level.

The PUB has staff on the ground monitoring the situation, as well as equipment such as pumps on standby, said a spokesman.

Mr Tony Tan, who runs the Betel Box hostel in Joo Chiat Road, recalled the last floods in the area some years ago: "Some of my neighbours' ground floors were flooded."

But flash floods have "not bothered us" for a couple of years, he added. "The recent infrastructure works seem to have been effective."

Since 1991, the Government has mandated that new reclaimed land be 1.25m above the highest recorded tide.

In 2011, the PUB revised its drainage code for better protection against floods. Now, new reclaimed land must be 1m above the previous requirements, while building platform levels must be 60cm above the highest recorded flood level or 30cm to 60cm above ground level.

For weather alerts, the public can visit www.nea.gov.sg or weather.nea.gov.sg, check the @NEAsg Twitter account, call the weather forecast hotline on 6542-7788, or listen to radio broadcasts.

Background story

Areas that may beaffected

LOW-LYING coastal areas, and places where canals and drains open directly into the sea, could be affected by flash floods if high tides coincide with heavy rain. These are:

IN THE EAST: Changi Lorong 101 to 106, Everitt Road North, Langsat Road, Changi Road, Meyer Road, Margate Road, Broadrick Road, Jalan Seaview, Tanjong Katong Road South and Mountbatten Road.

IN THE WEST: Wan Lee Road, First Lok Yang Road, Jalan Mat Jambol, Yew Siang Road, Jalan Pasir Ria, Neo Pee Teck Lane and Clementi Road.

HIGH TIDE TIMES

DATE TIDE (m) TIME

Jan 123.3 10.52

Jan 133.4 11.41

Jan 143.4 12.28

Jan 153.3 13.13

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Regional cooperation on Mekong River in tatters

WWF 11 Jan 13;

Gland, Switzerland – Ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam meeting next week in the Lao city of Luang Prabang must put derailed decision-making on Mekong River mainstream dams back on track or risk sabotaging management of one of the world’s great rivers, warns WWF.

Environment and water ministers had agreed in 2011 to delay a decision on building the US$3.5-billion Xayaburi dam pending further studies on its environmental impacts. This agreement was swept aside last November when Laos decided to forge ahead with construction of the controversial dam.

The 16-17 January Ministerial-level meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) – an inter-governmental agency made up of representatives from the four lower Mekong countries – will put transboundary cooperation to the test and the fate of the Mekong River, vital to the livelihoods of 60 million people.

“The Xayaburi dam experiment threatens the health and productivity of the Mekong River and Delta, and could leave millions of people facing critical food insecurity,” said Dr. Jian-hua Meng, WWF’s Sustainable Hydropower Specialist. “Ministers must take a stand against Xayaburi-style diplomacy or it will be the dangerous precedent for the future.”
Xayaburi dam is a crucial test case
As the first dam to enter the MRC’s consultation process, the Xayaburi project is a crucial test case for 10 other dams proposed for the lower mainstream of the river. The MRC process requires countries to jointly review development projects proposed for the Mekong mainstream with an aim to reach consensus on whether or not they should proceed. Laos is now constructing Xayaburi dam without consensus among its neighbours or notifying the MRC.

In November last year, the MRC delivered the much anticipated concept note for a joint study aimed at filling critical data gaps and guiding sustainable development of the Mekong River, including mainstream hydropower projects. The study was requested by Ministers at the 2011 MRC meeting.

“Without the results of the study, dam development on the lower Mekong mainstream is now largely guesswork,” added Dr. Meng. “A fix it as you go approach with Xayaburi dam, and throwing money at problems as they inevitably arise, is not sound engineering nor smart development.”
Thai banks back dam despite severe risks
Thailand is slated to be the prime consumer of the electricity produced by Xayaburi dam, and at least four Thai banks have confirmed their interest in financing the project, despite the acute environmental and social costs, and the uncertainties surrounding the financial return of the project.

“Thailand must act responsibly and cancel its premature power purchase agreement until there is regional consensus on dams,” added Dr. Meng. “And if the Thai banks do their risk assessment homework well, and value their international reputation and financial returns, they’d do well to reconsider and to pull out of this project.”

WWF urges Mekong ministers to defer a decision on the dam for 10 years to ensure critical data can be gathered and a decision can be reached using sound science and analysis.
Future of MRC hangs in the balance
“If decision-making continues to occur outside of the MRC, the institution will soon lose its legitimacy and US$300 million of international donor support to the Commission will be wasted,” added Dr. Meng. “Mekong countries need to stop wasting time picking apart the MRC process, and start using common sense and sound science again to reach joint decisions that are to the benefit of all.”

Reviews of the dam development have identified serious gaps in data and weaknesses with the proposed fish passes for the mega dam, and confirmed the Xayaburi project will block part of the sediment flow, destabilising the river’s ecosystem upon which farmers, fishers and many other economic sectors depend.

WWF advises lower Mekong countries considering hydropower projects to prioritise dams on some Mekong tributaries that are easier to assess and are considered to have a much lower impact and risk.

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Pollution turns Hong Kong harbour from 'fragrant' to foul

Beh Lih Yi (AFP) Google News 11 Jan 13;

HONG KONG — Hong Kong's name may mean "fragrant harbour", but cargo ships burning dirty fuel in what is one of the world's busiest ports add to a foul layer of pollution that kills more than 3,000 people a year.

Now the government is vowing to get tough, with activists hoping mandatory restrictions on shipping emissions will be among a raft of measures announced next week aimed at making the city more environmentally friendly.

A total of 410,560 vessels arrived and left the port in 2011, with cargo ships vying for space in the crowded waters alongside public ferries, tourist junks and luxury yachts.

This level of activity means shipping is a key polluter in a city where, according to the University of Hong Kong, air pollution kills about 3,200 people every year.

Simon Ng of the Civic Exchange think-tank blamed the pollution, which often shrouds the city's dramatic skyline in thick smog, for driving away talent.

"Just imagine a small power plant right next to your doorstep, producing a lot of pollution every day, almost 24 hours a day, what would you do?" he said.

"Ships are now producing a lot more pollutants than we had anticipated, and it is becoming a major problem that we need to address."

Rising emissions from ships, which burn heavily polluting bunker fuel, will have seen shipping overtake the power industry as the biggest source of the colourless toxic gas sulphur dioxide last year, Ng predicted.

Nearly 400 Hong Kong people died last year from breathing in pollution from bunker fuel alone, he added, citing a study on marine pollution by his think-tank.

Activists say Hong Kong lags behind the rest of the world on environmental issues ranging from recycling to cycle lanes.

And when it comes to shipping, while vessels calling in northern Europe and North America are mostly restricted to fuels with 1.0 percent or less sulphur content, Hong Kong allows 3.5 percent.

Last year however, it did introduce a voluntary scheme in which ships using 0.5 percent or less are given a 50 percent discount in port dues.

Christine Loh, an environmental crusader who has become the government's environment undersecretary, said the scheme was just a "small start".

"We want to regulate. We want it to become mandatory and we want to take the scheme across the border to our neighbours in Guangdong," she told an air quality conference last month.

"We would like, within the next few years, to collaborate and work very closely with the Guangdong province so the whole of the water of the (Pearl River Delta) could be turned into a low emission zone."

The Environmental Protection Department said it was working with the mainland Chinese authorities to look into a switch to cleaner fuel for vessels berthed in the delta, which includes Macau and industrial hubs like Shenzhen.

But the Hong Kong Shipowners Association said the reduction in port dues was only enough to cover 30-40 percent of the yearly costs of using cleaner fuel, which amounted to about $2 million per company.

"Asking carriers to spend money that they don't have on switching fuel is quite a difficult thing," the association's managing director Arthur Bowring said.

The industry was operating in a "terrible" environment amid an unpredictable trade volume due to the global financial crisis, he added.

But he said liners were prepared to work with the government and noted that about 18 companies had taken part in a two-year unsubsidised, industry-led initiative to use cleaner fuel that expired at the end of last year.

Orient Overseas, Hong Kong's biggest container ship operator, which took part in the initiative, said mandatory regulation would at least create a level playing field.

The city's chief executive Leung Chun-ying has pledged to make pollution one of his top priorities during his five-year term.

But when the Beijing-backed leader takes up the issue in his first annual policy address next week, the question will be not just whether the field is level but also whether he is willing to set the bar high enough.

New air quality objectives announced last year for seven pollutants including sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide were criticised as too little, too late and in August the city choked under the worst smog it had ever recorded.

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Zambia bans hunting of endangered lions, leopards

Chris Mfula PlanetArk 11 Jan 13;

Zambia has banned the hunting of lions and other endangered wild cats such as leopards because it sees more value in game viewing tourism than blood sport, the country's tourism minister said on Thursday.

Sylvia Masebo told Reuters big cat numbers were also too low to have a sustainable hunting industry.

"Tourists come to Zambia to see the lion and if we lose the lion we will be killing our tourism industry," Masebo said.

The estimated $3 million that Zambia earned from safari hunting of all its wild animals annually was too little to merit the continued depletion of Zambia's wildlife, she said.

"Why should we lose our animals for $3 million a year? The benefits we get from tourist visits are much higher," she said.

The leopard population for the sprawling southern African country is not known while lion numbers are not believed to exceed around 4,500.

Estimates for Africa's lion population vary from around 20,000 to 30,000, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and is falling in the face of numerous threats including conflict with livestock farmers and loss of prey and habitat.

Zambia's moves follow neighboring Botswana's decision to ban all sport hunting from 2014 as it also works to promote itself as a game viewing destination.

Wildlife-rich Kenya set this trend when it halted trophy and sport hunting decades ago.

Lions and leopards are the feline pair of the so-called "Big 5" group of dangerous African animals coveted by some trophy hunters. The others are elephant, rhino and Cape buffalo.

But there are growing concerns about Africa's big animals in the face of a surge in poaching of elephants for their ivory and rhino in South Africa for their horns to meet soaring demand from Asian countries.

In a separate development, Zambia last week suspended 19 hunting concessions and fired the top management at the Zambia Wildlife Authority because of corruption allegations and a lack of transparency.

(Editing by Ed Stoddard and Paul Casciato)

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Up to half of world's food goes to waste, report says

Nina Chestney PlanetArk 11 Jan 12;

Up to half of all the food produced worldwide ends up going to waste due to poor harvesting, storage and transport methods as well as irresponsible retailer and consumer behavior, a report said on Thursday.

The world produces about four billion metric tons of food a year but 1.2 to 2 billion metric tons is not eaten, the study by the London-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers said.

"This level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands," said.

In developed countries, like Britain, efficient farming methods, transport and storage mean that most of the wastage occurs through retail and customer behavior.

Retailers produce 1.6 million metric tons of food waste a year because they reject crops of edible fruit and vegetables because they do not meet exacting size and appearance criteria, the report by the engineering society said.

"Thirty percent of what is harvested from the field never actually reaches the marketplace (primarily the supermarket) due to trimming, quality selection and failure to conform to purely cosmetic criteria," it said.

Of the food which does reach supermarket shelves, 30-50 percent of what is bought in developed countries is thrown away by customers, often due to poor understanding of "best before" and "use by" dates.

A "use by" date is when there is a health risk associated with using food after that date. A "best before" date is more about quality - when it expires it does not necessarily mean food is harmful but it may lose some flavor and texture.

However, many consumers do not know the difference between the labels and bin food after "best before" dates.

Promotional offers and bulk discounts also encourage shoppers to buy large quantities in excess of their needs.

RISING POPULATION

In Britain, about 10.2 billion pounds' ($16.3 billion) worth of food is thrown away from homes every year, with one billion pounds' worth being perfectly edible, the report found.

By contrast, in less developed countries, such as in sub-Saharan Africa or South East Asia, wastage mostly happens due to inefficient harvesting and poor handling and storage.

In South-East Asian countries, for example, losses of rice range from 37 to 80 percent of their entire production, totaling about 180 million metric tons per year, the report said.

The United Nations predicts global population will peak at around 9.5 billion people by 2075, meaning there will be an additional 2.5 billion people to feed.

The rising population, together with improved nutrition and shifting diets will put pressure for increases in global food supply over the coming decades.

Rising food and commodity prices will drive the need to reduce waste, making the practice of discarding edible fruit and vegetables on cosmetic grounds less economically viable.

However, governments should not wait for food pricing to trigger action on this wasteful practice, but produce policies that change consumer behavior and dissuade retailers from operating in this way, the study said.

Rapidly developing countries like China and Brazil have developed infrastructure to transport crops, gain access to export markets and improve storage facilities but they need to avoid the mistakes made by developed nations and make sure they are efficient and well-maintained.

Poorer countries require significant investment to improve their infrastructure, the report said. For example, Ethiopia is considering developing a national network of grain storage facilities which is expected to cost at least $1 billion.

"This scale of investment will be required for multiple commodities and in numerous countries, and co-ordinated efforts are going to be essential," the report said.

(Editing by Pravin Char)

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Best of our wild blogs: 11 Jan 13

Kampung Ramble, Sunday Jan 13
from a.t.Bukit Brown. Heritage. Habitat. History.

Purple Herons - Advertisement Displays
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Best of our wild blogs: 10 Jan 13

Job Opportunities in Freshwater Ecology with Tropical Marine Science Institute from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

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Flying frog: new species discovered near Ho Chi Minh City

Samantha-Jo Harris Sydney Morning Herald 10 Jan 13;

Usually when the Australian Museum's Dr Jodi Rowley searches for new species of frogs she has to trek to remote locations and through the difficult terrain of Vietnam's mountains.

But Dr Rowley and her Vietnam colleagues were stunned to find their latest discovery of a new species of "flying frog" not too far from one of the largest cities in south-east Asia.

"It was really surprising to come across this huge frog so close to a heavily populated area," Dr Rowley said.

Helen's tree frog (Rhacophorus helenae), named after Dr Rowley's mother, was discovered in a lowland forest in Vietnam, an area completely surrounded by agricultural land, less than 100 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City.

Despite being commonly referred to as a "flying" frog, Dr Rowley says: "The name 'flying' frog is a little misleading as it doesn't really fly. Rather it uses its feet as parachutes to help it glide through the canopy."

But the canopy this 10-centimetre long frog calls home is under threat due to habitat loss and land degradation.

"Usually species are protected because they are in remote locations, but as this frog is so close to human activity it is at a great risk." Dr Rowley said.

She says discoveries of new species are important to conservation as it ensures species are protected.

"These forests are some of the most threatened habitat in the world so discoveries like this are very important. The first thing we need to know is what we have and the second step is to conserve what we discover."

Dr Rowley has been working in the area since 2006 and has made previous discoveries of new species, including the vampire flying frog and working in collaboration to discover and describe 12 new species in south-east Asia.

She says it is not uncommon for certain species to remain undiscovered when they live in the forest canopy.

"Species still do escape scientific attention, which makes every discovery exciting. We often don't know about them and they are protected because they live in areas that are so hard to get to."

Dr Rowley said naming the frog in honour of her mother, Helen, was the perfect way to thank her for years of support.

"At the time my mum had just been recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer and I thought it was about time I show her how much I appreciate all she has done for me over the years," she said. "It was a very difficult time, but she finished chemotherapy about a year ago and she is doing OK."

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Rogue geoengineering could 'hijack' world's climate

Techniques aimed at averting global warming could lead to an unpredictable international crisis, a report has warned
John Vidal guardian.co.uk 8 Jan 13;

The world's climate could be hijacked by a rogue country or wealthy individual firing small particles into the stratosphere, claims a warning that comes not from a new Hollywood movie trailer but a sober report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The deployment of independent, large-scale "geoengineering" techniques aimed at averting dangerous warming warrants more research because it could lead to an international crisis with unpredictable costs to agriculture, infrastructure and global stability, said the Geneva-based WEF in its annual Global Risks report before the Davos economic summit later this month. It also warned that ongoing economic weakness is sapping the ability of governments to tackle the growing threat of climate change.

"The global climate could, in effect, be hijacked. For example, an island state threatened with rising sea levels may decide they have nothing to lose, or a well-funded individual with good intentions may take matters into their own hands," the report notes. It said there are "signs that this is already starting to occur", highlighting the case of a story broken by the Guardian involving the dumping of 100 tonnes of iron sulphate off the Canadian coast in 2012, in a bid to spawn plankton and capture carbon.

The top two global risks identified for the WEF by more than 1,000 business leaders and experts were the growing wealth gap between rich and poor and a major financial economic crisis. But the next three on the list of 50 were environmental, including climate change, and water and food supply crises.

Lee Howell, the editor of the WEF report, said: "Following a year scarred by extreme weather, from hurricane Sandy to flooding in China, respondents rated rising greenhouse gas emissions as the third most likely global risk overall, while the failure of climate change adaptation is seen as the environmental risk with the most knock-on effects for the next decade. These global risks are essentially a health warning regarding our most critical systems. With the growing cost of events like superstorm Sandy, huge threats to island nations and coastal communities, and no resolution to greenhouse gas emissions, the writing is on the wall. It is time to act."

The economic costs associated with extreme weather and climate change should make governments act, suggests the WEF. "Recent climate and weather events have reminded us of the economic and human cost of the kind of natural disasters that we know are likely to become more frequent and severe as climate continues to change. The estimated economic cost of the 2011 Thailand floods, for example, was $15-20bn and hurricane Katrina $125bn; meanwhile, the 2003 European heatwave resulted in more than 35,000 fatalities and the Horn of Africa droughts in 2011 claimed tens of thousands of lives and threatened the livelihoods of 9.5 million people."

According to the report, the cumulative economic cost of changes to the physical environment as well as health and food security from climate change, range from US$2 trillion to $4tn by 2030.

The authors fear that climate change could become a centre of litigation. "Although the Alaskan village of Kivalina – which faces being "wiped out" by the changing climate – was unsuccessful in its attempts to file a $400m lawsuit against oil and coal companies, future plaintiffs may be more successful. Five decades ago, the US tobacco industry would not have suspected that in 1997 it would agree to pay $368bn in health-related damages. For some businesses, investing in climate change mitigation now could be as much about enterprise risk management as about mitigating a global risk."

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Pasir Ris Heights: Fight to save forest patch hots up

Pasir Ris Heights group protests against plans to build school
Grace Chua Straits Times 9 Jan 13;

A GROUP of Pasir Ris residents, unhappy with a decision to build an international school on a patch of forest near Pasir Ris Heights, is locked in a battle with the authorities.

They claim they will lose a precious piece of woodland and had suggested alternative nearby plots for the school. They also want an independent study of the biodiversity of the forest and for the Government to provide statistical data to support its decision.

But the Ministry of National Development said that the school site was "based on planning considerations, including the need to provide a good distribution of such school sites islandwide".

Still, the group is not satisfied. In a post on its Facebook page on Monday, it said it was "disappointed" with MND's response, which it felt did not "adequately address" the issues it had raised.

It added: "We are seriously considering proceeding with a legal recourse to save the forest."

The battle to save the green space started with a petition last July, after plans to develop the land on either side of the forest patch at the intersection of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Elias Road were made known. The residents also met their MP, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

But one incident on Dec 29 tipped them over - when HDB ordered a tree with about 90 parakeets chopped down because other residents had presumably complained about the noise. They confronted workers preparing to cut it down and, after a discussion about whose authority they were acting on, the workers took their ropes and left.

Two days later, the group published a letter on Facebook which it sent to the MND, Urban Redevelopment Authority, National Parks Board and Singapore Land Authority. It asked if they were "doing this to achieve their end of destroying the forest on the quiet, using what appears to be a fictitious pretence".

It threatened legal action unless the Government gave figures supporting its decisions by Jan 7.

Late on Monday, the MND told residents the attempted felling was to stop the wild tree being toppled by strong winds. It said it was now assessing the tree and insisted the attempted felling "was with the intent to ensure public safety and not to commence clearance of the site".

It also said the dialogue in August with DPM Teo and government officials "was not intended as 'a PR exercise' - it was arranged to allow the agencies to hear the residents' concerns".

"After consideration of the assessment of the local biodiversity and the many competing land uses, we were unable to accede to the residents' request," it added.

The group had insisted that the area was a wildlife haven but the MND said visits by NParks from 2004 to 2012 found "the number of species is considerably lower than in the nature reserves or in many parks and nature areas".

The plot is about the size of two football fields.

A member of the group's committee, lawyer Deepak Natverlal, 42, who has lived in Pasir Ris for 16 years, said the Government's decision to "raze the forest to build an international school despite objections from residents is an unfair and an unreasonable one". He also insisted that surveys by NParks were not independent enough.

Dr Ho Hua Chew of the Nature Society said it did a bird survey at the patch last year and found 30 to 40 species, including hawk-eagles, white-bellied sea eagles and oriental pied hornbills. "Of course you can't compare forest fragments with nature reserves, but the carrying capacity of the nature reserves has been exceeded for some species. That's why they are resorting to these areas outside nature reserves," he said.

Associate Professor Lye Lin Heng, an environmental law scholar at the National University of Singapore, said a legal challenge could be a test case that rests on whether residents have legal standing to stop developments on state land. An argument can be made that the Government holds the land on trust for the people, then they have a right to be consulted, she said.

Background story

10-month battle

April 2012: Land on either side of a forest patch at the intersection of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Elias Road is earmarked for development. June: Residents form the Pasir Ris Greenbelt Committee to protect the patch, which is about the size of two football fields.

July: They start a petition to protect the woodland.

Aug 5: They hold talks with their MP, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Oct 30: The Ministry of National Development (MND) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) send the group a letter saying the site is slated for an international school. It will be encouraged to retain the trees there as a buffer between the school and homes at Pasir Ris Heights.

Nov 18: The group meets DPM Teo, URA, MND and the National Parks Board.

Dec 29: Residents are alarmed when they see workers about to cut down a large tree. Workers stop work after residents protest.

Dec 31: The group sends a letter to agencies following the Nov18 meeting. They want a reply in seven days or "we shall instruct our solicitors to commence legal proceedings".

Jan 7: MND replies that the tree was being felled for safety reasons, and the school was picked based on planning considerations; the group says its questions have not been adequately addressed, so it is seriously "considering proceeding with a legal recourse to save the forest".

No rub of the green for Pasir Ris woodland
'Considerably lower' number of species at proposed school site than in nature reserves: MND
Neo Chai Chin Today Online 9 Jan 13;

SINGAPORE - The Ministry of National Development (MND) has provided more details on its decision to develop an international school at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 3 and Elias Road - the latest round of engagement between the authorities and some residents who want the forested area preserved.

The secondary vegetation on the land is suitable for a range of animal and bird life, but the number of species there is "considerably lower" than in nature reserves and many other nature areas in Singapore, wrote the MND's Manager for Strategic Planning Loo Jian Sheng in an email to the Pasir Ris Greenbelt Committee on Monday. The committee comprises residents who initiated a petition last July that garnered over 1,200 signatures.

Sites designated as nature reserves must be rich in native biodiversity across several taxonomic groups, such as plants, mammals and reptiles, he said.

Mr Loo's reply, posted on the committee's Facebook page, stated that the authorities had considered options to salvage and relocate the plants and animals at the site, but identified no rare plant species that needed to be salvaged.

"There are lower risks in permitting animal species to move out of the area themselves at the start of land clearance, than would be incurred by attempting to capture and remove them," he added.

The area in question is the size of two football fields and home to more than 30 bird species, including the endangered Changeable Hawk Eagle and critically endangered Oriental Pied Hornbill.

Before Monday's reply, Mr Loo had written to residents last October to say that plans for the international school would go ahead.

The residents then met with their Member of Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, and government agency representatives on Nov 18 and expressed dejection at what they felt was a lack of transparency and sincerity from the authorities in managing the issue. The MND promised to follow up with a clearer explanation, but things came to a head on Dec 29, when a big tree in the woodland nearly got cut down.

Residents halted the contractor's work and wrote again to the authorities. The MND told TODAY that the Albizia tree was identified for removal for public safety under the National Parks Board's (NParks) Tree Management Programme.

Mr Loo wrote to the residents that NParks is now doing a "detailed assessment" of whether the tree needs to be felled for safety reasons.

But the Greenbelt Committee is still unsatisfied with the MND's reply. Committee member Cherry Fong said the Urban Redevelopment Authority has yet to explain the need to clear the woodland "when there may be other alternative sites" for the school.

"Every effort" should be made to protect areas with endangered or uncommon species, even if they belong to one taxonomic group, and the committee has proposed an alternative site of less biodiversity importance, she said.

The committee will deliberate on further options to preserve the woodland, Ms Fong added.

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Trawling ban in Hong Kong waters hopes to increase fish numbers

WWF 8 Jan 13;

Since 2005, WWF-Hong Kong has tirelessly campaigned for a ban on trawling in Hong Kong waters. Finally this long awaited ban came into effect on 1 January 2013.

WWF sees this as a bold and encouraging step taken by the government on local marine conservation. This first-ever fisheries management measure will safeguard the diversity of marine life and ecological integrity of the Hong Kong marine environment.

Populations of marine fish like croakers and groupers should increase by 20 to 30 per cent from now on. WWF hopes that the Hong Kong government will continue to provide support to the affected fishers and help them switch to other livelihoods such as marine eco-tourism.

The fishing practice of trawling has resulted in catching different marine species at random and damaging the seabed over the past few decades. It is also believed to be one of the main reasons leading to the almost collapsed status of the marine ecosystem in Hong Kong.

According to fisheries scientists, it was predicted that five years after the implementation of the trawling ban, populations of squid and cuttlefish would increase by 40 per cent and reef fish by 10 to 20 per cent, populations of larger fish, such as groupers and croakers, would surge by 30 to 45 per cent.

In the long term, the increase in fish catch will result in the stability of supply and quality of local seafood, and the public will also be able to enjoy a healthier marine environment.

Responding to the argument that trawling ban may impact the livelihoods of fishermen, Ms Samantha Lee, Senior Conservation Officer, Marine of WWF-Hong Kong stated that, “WWF has been actively engaging with fishing communities, marine related business operators and the government for one year. We believe that developing marine eco-tourism would unlock the potential of the sea and provide viable alternative livelihoods for the fishermen. WWF also urges the government to continue to help the affected fishers to switch jobs, consult the relevant stakeholders and formulate a holistic policy towards sustainable marine eco-tourism.”

WWF points out that apart from overfishing, rampant coastal development also contributes to the depletion of marine resources. WWF urges the government to implement Marine Spatial Planning immediately, which will put sound strategies and plans in place while ensuring better conservation of marine life, and better utilization of marine resources. Through this proactive and integrated planning approach, society will be able to achieve the ecological, economic and social objectives.

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Australia battles hundreds of wildfires, fanned by outback winds

Rob Taylor PlanetArk 9 Jan 13;

Australian fire crews battled hundreds of wildfires, a searing heatwave and powerful, hot outback winds on Tuesday, but we're hopeful they had dodged a potentially catastrophic fire day without loss of life or major damage.

Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate homes as fires raged in southeast Australia, while some had no choice but to seek shelter in their homes as fires approached. Temperatures soared to more than 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).

Fire fighters hope cooler weather sweeping up the Australian east coast late on Tuesday, which saw temperatures fall 20 degrees Celsius in a matter of hours in some coastal towns, would ease the incendiary conditions.

"It's very much a moveable feast with many fires still being identified," said New South Wales (NSW) state fire commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, warning a respite would not come for some hours and would last only days before searing heat driven by outback winds returned.

The severe fire conditions replicated those of 2009, when "Black Saturday" wildfires in Victoria state killed 173 people and caused $4.4 billion worth of damage.

After a week-long heatwave bushfires are ablaze in five of Australia's six states, with more than 137 fires in the most populous state NSW, and in forests around the capital Canberra.

Around 100 houses, the majority on the island state of Tasmania, have been destroyed by bushfires in recent days, and many people are still missing in fire-ravaged areas.

More than 40 fires raged out of control on Tuesday as thousands of firefighters and more than 60 water-bombing aircraft battled the blazes, some suspected of having been lit by arsonists.

Fire officials declared five areas of southern NSW as catastrophic, meaning if fires ignited they could not be controlled and advised people to evacuate.

"We grabbed the photo albums, suitcases, clothes and jewelry and ended up getting out while we could," said Hallie Fernandez who runs a bed and breakfast motel at Brogo in NSW, where an out-of-control bushfire was burning.

In Australia's biggest city Sydney, where the temperature hit 41.8 degrees Celsius, thousands flocked to the city's iconic beaches, while zookeepers hosed down animals to help them cope with temperatures that tested national records.

The blistering heat also caused a blaze at a nuclear research facility in southern Sydney after cabling overheated in a nearby electricity substation, while thousands of homes in the city's north experienced power outages due to soaring demand.

In the outback city of Broken Hill, the mercury hit 45.1 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), while the country's biggest highway between Sydney and Melbourne was cut by fires that surrounded people in the township of Tarcutta.

"The heat has been so intense that tar on the road has been melting and sticking to my shoes," retired Australian journalist Malcolm Brown said from central NSW.

The record heatwave forced the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to extend its extreme temperature limit, adding new pink and purple colors to forecast maps to allow for temperatures of above 54 degrees Celsius (129 Fahrenheit).

The bureau is forecasting 54 degrees Celsius in central Australia next Monday.

The heatwave, which began in Western Australia on December 27 and lasted eight days, was the fiercest in more than 80 years in that state and has spread east across the nation, making it the widest-ranging heatwave in more than a decade.

Strong wind gusts had created a "dome of heat" covering much of the island continent, said climate experts.

Australia, the world's driest inhabited continent, is particularly vulnerable to bushfires, fuelled each summer by extreme heat and by what scientists say is creeping climate shift blamed for hotter average temperatures globally.

Authorities warned earlier in the Australian summer that much of the country faced extreme fire conditions this season, after several years of cooler conditions that had aided forest growth, but also created tinder dry fire fuel conditions.

(Editing by Michael Perry)

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