Study of world's richest marine area shows size matters

(AFP) Google News 23 Feb 13;

GENEVA — A new study of Asia's Coral Triangle, which contains nearly 30 percent of the world's reefs, shows that when it comes to ensuring a rich and diverse range of species, size matters.

"The study suggests that marine protected areas should be as large and diverse as possible," Peter Etnoyer, a marine biologist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said in a statement Thursday.

Etnoyer, who co-authored the study published by open access peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE, stressed that providing more protected marine space made it possible to "include more species, more habitats, and more genetic diversity to offer species the best chance of adapting to sea temperature and other environmental changes."

The Coral Triangle covers a triangular area stretching across the Philippines, eastern Sabah, eastern Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

It's sheer size has made it a treasure trove of marine life -- it contains nearly 30 percent of the world's reefs and more than 3,000 species of fish and is often referred to as the "Amazon of the seas".

The fact that its size, according to Thursday's study, is also what will help it adapt to change is important, since previous reports have shown that more than 85 percent of the reefs there are considered to be threatened by human activities like coastal development, pollution and overfishing.

For the study, scientists at NOAA, the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), Old Dominion University in Virginia and the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies had "analysed over 10,000 maps of marine species," said Jonnell Sanciango, the head author of the study and a researcher at Old Dominion.

They had "found that habitat, calculated as coastline length, was the best predictor of species richness, followed by the variety of habitats and sea surface temperature," she added.

Their research led them to suggest stretching the borders of the Coral Triangle further to also include Brunei, Singapore and peninsular Malaysia, "to ensure that these areas are included in the management and conservation of the region."

The study also found that sea surface temperature plays an important role in the proliferation of marine life.

This suggests that "climate change may have a direct impact on species diversity," the authors said in the statement.

"The conservation implication is that if climate change raises sea temperatures it may have a profound influence on evolution rates and how species are distributed over time," Kent Carpenter of IUCN said.

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Best of our wild blogs: 22 Feb 13

Feeding strategies: 2. Birds feeding on palm fruits
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Job: Part-time field assistant for vegetation plot research in secondary forests of Singapore (Mar-Jun 2013) from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

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A plan to house 2m more people

Veteran architect proposes building up southern coast
Leonard Lim Straits Times 22 Feb 13;

Even as the debate continues over the 6.9 million figure in the population White Paper, veteran architect Tay Kheng Soon said at an industry lecture last night that Singapore can accommodate a population increase of up to two million.

All two million would be housed on a 2,187ha swathe of land along the southern coastline, stretching from Pandan Reservoir in the west to the East Coast Park beach.

Land where the Keppel and Marina Bay golf courses are currently sited would make way for housing, as would the port area once container port functions are consolidated in Tuas in the long term.

Space around the Gardens by the Bay would cater to the super-rich, with homes built on the sea to entice those keen on waterfront living. Some parts of the south would also be for schools, offices and factories.

And while this might mean Singapore loses its biggest beach, he said all other areas, including green and heritage spaces, need not be "disturbed".

Mr Tay's "southern intensification" proposal comes two weeks after an intense parliamentary debate over the population White Paper that projects Singapore's population rising by 1.6 million by 2030.

"What I hear is a lot of grumbling (about the White Paper), so let us as a profession contribute," said the former president of the Singapore Institute of Architects who is known for his outspoken and at times radical views.

The 73-year-old said his ideas came about before the policy document was unveiled, and were several years in the making. "I've been wanting to know the density limit for Singapore."

Unlike the Government Land Use Plan which also proposes reclaiming more land and consolidating military activities onto Tekong Island, his proposal focuses on the single large strip of land, building more densely on it.

Based on an assumption of 50 sq m of floor area per person that is comparable to a region in Virginia on the East Coast of the United States, a gross plot ratio of 4.5 can accommodate 1.968 million, he said. If this ratio is lowered to 4, then about 1.75 million people can be housed in the south.

Gross plot ratio is a measure of the density of building units in a given space. He said that the highest ratio here currently is 3.24, in Punggol.

Meanwhile, he proposed restructuring estates in other parts of Singapore, by having a central corridor in each. Schools, businesses and other amenities would be located along it, to build social cohesion and bonding.

The lecture drew a crowd of about 100 guests, including vice-president of the Economic Society of Singapore Yeoh Lam Keong.

Despite the seemingly controversial nature of the southern intensification plan, no one raised questions about it during a question-and-answer session after the lecture, at the Singapore Institute of Architects' premises in Tanjong Pagar.

Mr Yeoh, who has been following the population White Paper debate, told The Straits Times later: "Physically you might be able to squeeze in another two million... but it doesn't fully measure or avoid the negative impact on social well-being from increase in income and wealth inequality and overcrowding in common facilities."

Responding, Mr Tay said: "That's why I proposed not intensifying land use in other parts of Singapore, so that we can build social cohesion there. It will be like New York in the south of the country, and Bali in the north."

Keep kampung spirit, even in a big city
Pioneering Singapore architect Tay Kheng Soon says the real concern for any society isn't overcrowding, but how cohesive and trusting the community will be.
Cheong Suk-wai Straits Times 23 Feb 13;

WHILE many Singaporeans are complaining of cramped and intense city living these days, pioneering architect Tay Kheng Soon is confident that Singapore still has room for two million more people - and keep the kampung community spirit.

The solution is to house them compactly within a 2,187ha stretch of land in southern Singapore, from Pandan Reservoir in the west to East Coast Park, he said.

This was his startling proposal at a talk on Thursday night to about 100 people here, as part of an ongoing lecture series by master architects organised by the Singapore Institute of Architects.

Singaporeans fed up with crowded trains and public spaces flinched at the projection in the recent population White Paper that the 5.3 million-strong population here may burgeon to 6.9 million in 2030. The Government's Land Use Plan then detailed how it would reclaim more land and consolidate military training grounds to free up more space for all.

But disquiet continued, even after a five-day debate on the issue in Parliament.

Mr Tay however thinks "if it has to", the city-state can accommodate two million more residents comfortably.

He elaborates on his proposal: The southern coastline will house homes, offices, schools and factories for the extra two million residents. Places like the Keppel and Marina Bay golf courses there would have to go, along with the port, whose operations will be consolidated in Tuas in future.

The area around Gardens By The Bay could feature waterfront homes, he suggested.

Interestingly, no one at the talk challenged his proposal. The audience posed only three questions: whether or not women should do national service; how to deepen the dialogue between architects and city planners here; and if a research institute for architects should be set up.

Mr Tay, 73, is well-known for thinking out of the box or, as his detractors might say, throwing a spanner in the works.

But the respected architect said that his proposal was not in response to the White Paper; he had, in recent years, been trying to determine the density limit in Singapore.

The limit proved a hard nut to crack, he added, because very few places, including Singapore, publish or even track total floor area, which is necessary to calculate density.

"At the moment," he noted, "because we do not know how much floor space there is, we just add more floor area here and not put so much there. Such over- developing is wrong."

Fortunately, one place that did track total floor area was Fairfax County, just outside Washington, DC in the American state of Virginia, which has a population of one million and is 11/2 times the size of Singapore.

Mr Tay thought Fairfax's figures instructive for Singapore because it also grew rich via the aviation industry and was a hub for many multinationals, including Innova, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

He settled on 50 sq m as the "magic figure" of comfortably habitable total floor area per person, which is about half the size of the average HDB flat.

The method for planning space for each person in society takes into account every building in which he or she would likely be in, so that would include one's entire workspace, from office desk to boss' room to office corridor, and one's entire living space from bedroom to bathroom. But it would exclude recreational space.

With that 50 sq m criterion, and with a gross plot ratio (GPR) of 4.5, Mr Tay calculated that the southern strip he proposed for denser build-up would house 1.97 million people comfortably. This, he said, would result in an estate that would look like a cross between the 50-storey blocks of Pinnacle@Duxton and the quite dense Punggol estate, which has the highest GPR in Singapore today, that is, 3.24.

GPR is a measure of density of building units in a given space.

If that ratio dropped to four, then a cosier number would be 1.75 million. If it was lowered further to three, the optimal population density for that space would be 1.31 million.

Mr Tay said he suggested what he called "southern intensification" so as to leave the rest of Singapore today untouched in future.

That meant no cementing over nature reserves, public parks or other spaces to breathe.

Speaking to The Straits Times right after the talk, he said: "It's about not aggravating the rest of the island, and helping us plan in detail how to make everything here super-accessible."

But wouldn't building over East Coast Parkway, Singapore's biggest beach, take yet another beloved place away from Singaporeans? That, he said, could be replaced with man-made lagoons, filtered by rock bunds, along the southern coastline that could function as public swimming pools.

Mr Tay, who teaches architecture at the National University of Singapore (NUS) twice a week, said his deeper concern was how to reconfigure Singapore's neighbourhoods so that the people who live there could build their resilience, learn to look out for one another and, ultimately, be much happier.

His ideal HDB estate would have a spine running right through the centre of the neighbourhood, on which will be shops, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), civic space and individual classrooms - as opposed to fully built-up schools - which children could go in and out of for lessons, like undergraduates on campus.

While some may find this suggestion not very different from the rows of shops and amenities that already exist in their estates, Mr Tay said these would be much more stretched out in his plan.

"The spine would be a 1.5km necklace on which will be strung shops, schools, civic spaces and arts and culture spaces to encourage residents to walk in the streets and make the estate abuzz.

"This would enable successful sharing," Mr Tay said, "which would break down walls, including prejudice."

As for encouraging SMEs in neighbourhoods, he said the entrepreneurial spirit was crucial to build resilience. He cited Spain's Mondragon cooperative whose owner-workers ran their own banks, grew their own food and provided for the community in general.

"We should not be producing employees, we should be producing employers," he stressed, adding that housewives could earn money by taking turns to deliver meals to the elderly within the estate, give them massages or run errands for them.

Might it not be too late to put such kampung spirit back into HDB neighbourhoods? Surely it is dissonant to be talking about kampung-like living in the 21st century, when the IT-weaned youth live in their minds?

"That is why schools should be integrated within the community," he pointed out. "Children should live in the real world, not the abstract."

He added that the way forward, perhaps, was to build a test neighbourhood, say, at MacPherson, one of the oldest estates here - and one with many old people - where, since 2011, he and his team of 20 NUS students have been researching how to turn a big, old housing estate here into a "modern kampung" that can accommodate toddlers as well as their grandparents-cum-babysitters.

He recalled how old folk in MacPherson were initially chary of his idea to bond the community, that is, by getting them to plant fast-growing greens like chye sim for sale and their own consumption, in the passageways between their HDB blocks.

He even designed a waist-high table for the elderly so that they would not have to bend over for long minutes while tending their mini vegetable plots set in polystyrene boxes.

But when Mr Tay showed the elderly there that they could actually make $500 a month from cultivating vegetables for only two hours a day, they were all for it.

While Mr Tay had all these ideas, he was also a realist. "For all this to work, we will need solidarity and trust, but we are still far from that.

"But we should start somewhere, otherwise, we will only be fighting gridlock."

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Singapore called on to ‘do more to intercept illegal ivory shipments’

Neo Chai Chin Today Online 22 Feb 13;

SINGAPORE — Although Singapore has become less of a market for ivory, two conservation groups say the Republic could do more yet in preventing the contraband from landing in other countries.

Calling for greater enforcement to intercept illegal ivory shipments transiting through Singapore — despite the authorities here seizing a major haul last month — wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and the World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore pointed to illegal ivory tusks that have reportedly passed through Singapore undetected.

Last September, the Vietnamese authorities seized 19kg of ivory from a woman who had taken a Vietnam Airlines flight from Singapore. And last July, 405 tusks that had passed through Singapore were seized in Johor, the groups said.

Last month, however, the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and Singapore Customs intercepted a shipment of about 1.8 tonnes of raw ivory tusks declared as “waste paper” from Africa — the second-largest seizure since 2002.

Ivory is generally smuggled from Africa to Asia. And Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, according to Traffic South-east Asia’s Senior Programme Officer Kanitha Krishnasamy, are the region’s major transit points.

The amount of illegal ivory seized globally reached a record-high of 38.8 tonnes in 2011, according to the Elephant Trade Information System, which tracks seizures by countries party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This amounted to at least 2,500 elephants killed, said Ms Kanitha. There were 17 large-scale seizures (where over 800kg is seized) in 2011, more than double the previous high of eight in 2009.

She added that closer collaboration with ivory-exporting countries could also help enforcement, as the authorities there are more likely to have access to information on shipping routes or individuals. “A lot of times we see the buck stop at seizures. There should be more effort put into investigating who’s behind the trade, how things are being moved around, what else is involved,” she said.

International trade in ivory has been banned under the CITES since 1989. In Singapore, domestic trade in specimens acquired before 1990 — when elephants became listed as protected species — is allowed.

CITES permits must be obtained from the AVA by anyone who wants to import or re-export ivory products as personal effects, and they must have documentary proof that their specimens were legally acquired.

An AVA spokesperson added that ivory traders here are required to register their pre-convention ivory with the authority. The AVA tracks their stock balances during inspections.

Meanwhile, a survey of 100 shops here by Traffic and WWF Singapore found 19 selling ivory that vendors said were pre-convention stocks, down from 55 out of 100 surveyed in 2002. Vendors reported that ivory products were no longer popular here.

Keep close watch on illegal wildlife trade
Straits Times Forum 21 Feb 13;

THE report ("$2.5m shipment of illegal ivory from Africa seized"; Jan 31) revealed that about 1.8 tonnes of raw ivory tusks were seized in Singapore last month.

According to a 2012 report by the Traffic wildlife monitoring network, groups involved in the illegal wildlife trade have been tapping Singapore's status as a trading hub.

Singapore has also been identified as a key laundering point for illegally caught birds from the Solomon Islands ("S'pore named 'bird-laundering point'"; July 19, 2012).

More often than not, those who smuggle illegal wildlife products also smuggle other illegal items such as drugs. It is important that the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority and Singapore Customs keep a close watch on the illegal wildlife trade.

The money coming from consumers who pay high prices for ivory products fuels the black market run by rebels and smugglers.

In recent years, the illegal ivory trade has greatly empowered poachers with riches that buy them heavy weapons, and an increasing number of park rangers have been killed by poachers.

There have been incidents in Africa where armed groups of up to 30 rebels drove their trucks into national parks, shooting both animals and humans on sight. There have also been reports of poachers shooting elephants and rhinos from their helicopters. A rebel group known to kidnap and use children as soldiers and sex slaves is now also killing elephants for ivory.

The type of poaching we see today is no longer the poaching we knew a decade ago.

When we buy illegal animal products, we fund black market operations and help rebels buy weapons. We approve brutal violence to not just animals but also humans. While the riches of the black market soar, those working to conserve the wildlife in Africa struggle to work with limited money and resources.

Elephants that are poached for ivory die a horrific death. They are shot multiple times by automatic weapons, and as the root of their tusks is located near the eyes, approximately half of their faces together with their mouths and trunks are hacked off completely by axes or chainsaws. This allows poachers to extract full-length tusks from their kill.

In Singapore, all ivory products attained after the international trade ban in 1989 are illegal. We urge travellers never to buy ivory and other illegal wildlife parts when travelling, and to contact the authorities if ivory products are spotted on sale in Singapore.

Jennifer Lee (Ms)
Founder
Project: WILD

Fewer shops sell ivory, demand here 'bucks global trend'
Wildlife groups call for Republic to do more to halt illegal trade
Grace Chua Straits Times 23 Feb 13;

THE number of shops selling ivory here has more than halved in the last decade, a survey by two wildlife conservation groups has found.

In 2002, 55 of 100 ornament, antique, jewellery and souvenir shops polled at random sold ivory. Last year, only 19 of 100 did.

Worldwide demand for ivory is on the rise but these findings suggest that Singapore is bucking the trend, said Ms Kanitha Krishnasamy, senior programme officer at Traffic Southeast Asia, which carried out the survey with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Singapore.

The amount of ivory seized in 2011 worldwide hit a high of 38.8 tonnes, according to an Elephant Trade Information System report - which translates to about 2,500 animals killed.

Last year, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) reported that elephant poaching levels were at their worst in a decade.

Singapore laws state that it is legal to sell ivory obtained only before 1990 when elephants became listed as an endangered species under an international agreement.

Such trade must be backed by documentary proof that the ivory was acquired legally.

Those who want to import or re-export ivory products must also have such proof and a permit from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

Traders here must register their pre-convention ivory stocks with the authority, which tracks their stock balances during inspections but does not disclose the total figure.

A Chinatown Complex stall, Wo Cheung Classic, - with a glass case of ivory bracelets and beads - displays its certificate showing that the material was imported before 1990.

But its proprietor, a woman who gave her name only as Mrs Ching, believes ivory is becoming unfashionable. She said: "No one buys ivory any more. Everyone knows elephants are endangered."

But Ms Krishnasamy said there is a possibility the trade may be shifting online or underground.

Traffic Southeast Asia and WWF Singapore have called for the Republic and other countries to disclose how much ivory stock they have, "simply to help figure out the dynamics of the trade", she said.

They also called for Singapore to do more to halt the illegal ivory trade by working with African countries which are exporting it.

As an international trading hub, Singapore is said to be a transit point for such contraband shipments, which are banned under Cites, an international convention on endangered species trade.

Last month, the AVA and Singapore Customs seized a 1.8 tonne, $2.5 million shipment of tusks from Africa disguised as waste paper. These were sent back to Africa for investigations.

Other recent illegal ivory shipments have been recorded as passing through the Republic. Last September, the Vietnamese authorities seized 19kg of ivory from a woman on a flight from Singapore and in July a shipment of 405 raw tusks that had earlier passed through Singapore was seized in Johor.

Most illegal ivory flows from Africa to Asia, said Ms Krishnasamy. "Africa has opened its doors to development from Asia, so there are larger flows of everything both ways." Contraband shipments may get missed in this higher volume of material.

Destination countries include China and Vietnam, while Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are transit points, she said.

Besides the disclosure of ivory stocks, methods like DNA mapping can tell where in Africa a piece of ivory came from.

Other tests can show how old the elephant was at death and even how recently it was killed, University of Washington conservation biologist Samuel Wasser told The Straits Times.

Such methods have been used on seizures, including those made in Singapore, to trace them back to specific countries, he said.

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Malaysia: New law to bite back at animal abusers

Joseph Sipalan The Star 22 Feb 13;

PUTRAJAYA: A new law that is ready for tabling in Parliament is about to get nasty with animal abusers.

The Animal Welfare Bill proposes that first time offenders be fined between RM20,000 and RM100,000 or sit behind bars for up to three years.

Commit the crime again, and they will not only be fined up to double the amount imposed for their previous offence, but also face at least three months in jail.

The final draft of the Bill which included several amendments suggested by participants in a series of public engagements was also aimed at more extensive and intensive enforcement of the law, said Veterinary Department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin.

“Animals cannot talk, they cannot take to the streets and hold a demonstration. We need to have something punitive to act as a deterrent (against animal abuse).

“The severity of the penalties was proposed by the public, not just by us,” he said.

Now, the penalty for animal abuse is a fine of up to RM50,000, not more than a year’s jail, or both, following last year’s amendments to the Animal Act 1953.

Prior to the amendments, the penalty was a paltry RM200 fine, six months’ jail or both.

How the new regulations are to be enforced is a major aspect of the final draft, with the proposed creation of Malaysia’s own Animal Cops – a team of officers who will keep a close watch on the treatment of animals.

Unlike the department’s existing enforcement officers – who are only mobilised for specific operations – the animal welfare officers would be on the ground at all times to make sure nobody took advantage of hapless animals, Dr Abdul Aziz said.

“Just like welfare officers, they will inspect and monitor their areas to make sure the law is upheld. There will be no need to wait for cases to be reported before we send people over.

“If, for example, they come across a pet that has not been fed for days, they will have the power to investigate the case and take the owner to court ... so you had better make sure your pet is taken care of before flying off for your holiday,” he added.

Dr Abdul Aziz hoped the Bill could be debated and passed by Parliament this year for it to be gazetted and enforced in 2014.

Groups: Spell out powers of animal welfare officers
Yuen Meikeng The Star 22 Feb 13;

PETALING JAYA: Animal rights groups have welcomed the stricter enforcement on animal abuse in the final draft of the Animal Welfare Bill but want more details about the role of animal welfare officers.

PAWS shelter manager Edward Lim said the Veterinary Services Department should explain the powers of these officers.

“Can they enter someone’s house compound without a warrant? Also, how does one draw the line on what is abuse and what is not?” he asked.

Lim said animal abuse should also be clearly defined because people might have different interpretations.

“I may chain up my dog for a long time and some may view it as abuse but others may not,” he said.

He lauded the proposed fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000 for first-time animal abusers, describing it as “wonderful news”.

“For a start, the amount is sufficient to deter offenders. However, it should be revised periodically according to current needs,” he said.

Furry Friends Farm president Myza Nordin said the proposal to introduce animal welfare officers was a good step, likening them to policemen making their rounds.

“However, the procedures for taking action should be spelled out. Will they be able to issue compounds for offenders on the spot?” she asked.

She said increasing the fine for animal abuse from a mere RM200 to a minimum of RM20,000 would help prevent animal cruelty.

Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better rescue coordinator Irene Low said the proposal to introduce animal welfare officers was long overdue.

“It is a good idea to have our own version of ‘Animal Cops’. But those selected for the job should be people who are on the ground and have experience in working with animals.

“They should not be those who only know policies by way of theory,” she said.

Animal officers with a bite
New Straits Times 22 Feb 13;

PUTRAJAYA: Animal welfare officers appointed under the proposed Animal Welfare Bill will be given the power to arrest animal abusers.

The proposed law will put some teeth into efforts to curb cruelty against animals in the country, Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Abd Aziz Jamaluddin said yesterday.

"The animal welfare officers can make an arrest and build a case, but the prosecution will be done by the Attorney-General's Chambers."

Aziz said the proposed law would not spare pet owners who forgot to feed or care for their dogs and cats, or other animals that they kept as pets. The animal welfare officers would also work with non-governmental organisations.

The draft law also suggested a fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000 for animal abuse, and a jail term of not more than three years. Aziz said the quantum of punishment proposed had been suggested by the public, and not the department.

The director-general said pet owners would be made to register their animals and this would be carried out in stages.

He said under the Animal Welfare Bill, premises that conducted activities related to animals, including circuses, pounds, zoos, shops, clinics, animal boarding establishments, safari parks, recreational places, breeding premises and even schools and universities that use animals for research purposes, were required to register with the department.

Their details would be kept in the department's database.

To date, about 3,000 cats, dogs and horses had been registered by their owners via the department and private veterinary clinics.

On the horse meat scandal in Europe, Aziz said Malaysia was not affected.

"In this respect, the public should not have any doubts about the integrity of meat products in Malaysia. The meat products coming in are from abattoirs that have received the department's and Jakim's accreditation," he said.

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Best of our wild blogs: 21 Feb 13

Seahorses and Hermaphrodites
from Pulau Hantu

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Shaping a loveable liveable Lion City

Can a city of 6.9 million be both liveable and loveable? What goes into making a city liveable anyway?
Grace Chua Straits Times 21 Feb 13;

THE recent Population White Paper had Singapore's planners declaring their aim of making Singapore "a city which is liveable, lively and well-loved".

Singaporeans hear the term "liveability" bandied about - particularly in international rankings of the island-state against other cities. There's even a whole think-tank, the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), dedicated to it under the auspices of the Ministry of National Development.

But what does liveability mean? It depends on whom you're talking to.

International rankings like the Quality of Life ranking by human resources firm Mercer and one from the Economist Intelligence Unit are specifically used to work out how much an international firm might pay employees to live and work in Moscow, Melbourne or Mumbai. These take into account economic strength, political stability, health care, environment, safety, education and transport, among other measures.

These are important, but most people don't pick where to live based on liveability rankings. So liveability needs to be relevant to a wider range of people than business executives.

So what kind of liveable city would appeal to "real" people?

Dr Dietmar Hahlweg, the highly regarded former mayor of the German city of Erlangen, wrote: "The liveable city is a city for all people. That means that the liveable city should be attractive, worthwhile, safe for our children, for our older people, not only for the people who earn money there and then go and live outside in the suburbs and in the surrounding communities."

For one, there needs to be a clearer distinction between "stayability", which is short term, and liveability, which is about how nice a place is for people to live in, to put down roots and call home.

Indeed, speakers of Singapore English often use the words "stay" and "live" interchangeably, as a direct translation from the Malay word "tinggal". In fact, "stay" refers to a short-term stint, while "live" refers to a long-term one.

Hard or soft?

THE ingredients of liveability could be divided into hard and soft ones.

Hard or concrete liveability might mean: Can I get a better job with higher pay? Is the air polluted or clean? Are crime rates low? Can I get a hospital bed when I need one?

Singapore scores well on these indicators. Others include working water pipes and rail lines; energy consumption; economic growth; even levels of corruption or the presence and enforcement of anti-pollution laws and safeguards.

"Soft" liveability could refer to less tangible measures such as cultural tolerance and diversity. Is the city friendly to those who are different? How does it treat those - within and beyond its boundaries - who are less privileged?

Is there income equity, as well as equity of access to decision-making? (An analogy: If you are a transient renter, you don't get to have much say in what colour you paint the walls. But if you own your home, you get a say within your household on what goes on the walls, how you want the furniture to be arranged and so on.)

Five years ago, the CLC commissioned the more comprehensive Global Liveable Cities Index, comprising measures of economic vibrancy, environmental friendliness and sustainability, social harmony and cultural diversity, security and governance.

In that index, income equality, social harmony and cultural diversity are measured by things like the Gini coefficient, a measure of the gap between the wealthiest and poorest; by the percentage of foreigners or immigrants, by the number of religions and by attitudes towards foreign visitors.

National University of Singapore associate professor Tan Khee Giap, who led the development of the index, explained that the index is useful for governments to gauge how they fare and where they need to improve.

While progress on hard liveability measures is usually quite clear, some soft liveability goals contradict each other. For example, cultural or heritage elements make neighbourhoods like Chinatown or Tiong Bahru authentic, which make them desirable.

But when a neighbourhood becomes too desirable, driving up home prices, the resulting gentrification as wealthier residents move in can drive out the very elements, such as incense shops or traditional bakeries, that make them authentic and desirable in the first place.

Whatever their use, liveability rankings only go so far. Rankings, after all, pit cities against each other - comparing Zurich to Hong Kong, Manila to Teheran.

For those who live there, what's more important is how liveable the city is over time - whether the quality of life progresses or deteriorates.

And a city can have a high standard of living, but a poor quality of social life.

Liveable or loveable?

OR AS Nominated Member of Parliament Janice Koh asked in Parliament recently: "It is one thing to build a liveable city. The harder question is: How do we build a loveable one?"

Fellow NMP Faizah Jamal suggested that "well-being goes beyond gross domestic product growth". Instead, "it is about fulfilling careers, emotional security, equitable distribution of wealth, affordable housing, health care and education, and factors in the existence of places that evoke childhood memories, natural spaces and access to these places".

That suggests people yearn for a sense of place in their hometown - spaces and buildings that connect them to their past even as the city forges on to the future.

If you merely stay somewhere, you might not mind if the landlord comes in to renovate or repaint, since you aren't going to be there long. But if you have settled on a permanent abode, constant change is like someone barging in to renovate your home and change the furniture every year.

There is a fine line, perhaps different for different people, between progress and disorientation.

Apart from giving people a sense of ownership, a loveable city might be one which is child-friendly. Or as urban planning consultant Suzanne Crowhurst Lennard of the International Making Cities Liveable Council in Oregon notes, that does not mean playgrounds or enrichment centres, but "walkability" that allows children to explore their built and natural environment independently.

Check in on your neighbours

THEN there is resilience, another component of making a city loveable.

In a 1995 Chicago heatwave, two equally low-income neighbourhoods were a study in contrasts: in one, a dying neighbourhood with little social cohesion, lonely older men died alone of the heat, as there was no one to look in on them.

In the other, neighbours and church members went door to door to check on each other, and it had the same mortality rate as a much richer neighbourhood.

Singapore may technically be able to house 6.9 million people not unpleasantly, but would neighbours, so recently strangers, look out for each other if another Sars epidemic hit?

Infrastructure and technology can help promote such soft liveability.

For instance, instead of "checking in" to locations on Facebook or Foursquare, can you literally check in with your neighbours on an app from the local community development council?

In a hometown, one might also want a sense of autonomy and control over what happens, and the speed of what happens. Today, there are several not-in- my-backyard protests over the prospective development of space for nursing homes, for example. Protesters are spurred by a sense that the city is developing too fast around them.

Planners could do more to plan for unplanned space. What does that mean? Today, there are open fields such as in Old Holland Road and Marina Bay, where people fly kites and remote-controlled planes or play soccer or cricket until planning authorities decide they should be used for something else. And at the Kreta Ayer town square in Chinatown, older men sit and play Chinese chess and line-dancing groups go through their routines. At least a few of these unplanned spaces should be dedicated spaces for such activities, not interim empty space.

Just as a stable political climate encourages investment, a stable spatial climate could encourage social investment in the community, with people coming up with new and creative temporary uses of the space instead of protesting when it is to be turned into nursing homes or new blocks.

In the end, liveability measures are static snapshots that assume people are passive consumers of their city.

But "city-zens" have the autonomy to shape a city: to plant trees, start new businesses and invent new technologies, organise volunteers to cook for lonely old folk, start running groups that pick up trash as they go.

When people feel they care enough to make their common space a better one for themselves and their neighbours, that is when a city becomes loveable.

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HDB to fund green ideas for its estates

Daryl Chin Straits Times 21 Feb 13;

THE Housing Board is providing funding of up to $100,000 to spur the development and testing of green ideas for its estates.

The money for this first-ever initiative will come from a $1 million Greenprint fund that was launched yesterday.

The ideas need to be original and revolve around areas such as saving water and electricity, increasing recycling rates, reducing heat in the environment and improving the quality of life.

The test-bedding site is in Yuhua, specifically Blocks 209 to 240 along Jurong East Street 21.

"This provides anyone, from industry experts and students to ordinary members of the public, with the chance to put their great green ideas into action and see them developed," said the HDB.

Ideas that prove to be workable after testing could be implemented in other towns, it added.

Interested participants can apply on their own or form a team of up to five members. They can also be companies or schools.

Proposals will be evaluated by a panel of experts from the HDB, among others, who will also determine the grant amount.

Environment consultant Eugene Tay said the initiative will help raise awareness of eco-issues. "When residents see the actual solutions being implemented in their backyard, they will have a better sense of what it takes to save the environment and in turn try to pitch in," he added.

He is optimistic that the "substantial" funding will help generate good ideas.

Applications, which have opened on the HDB website, will close on May 20.

The projects will run till next year and the HDB will also gather feedback from Yuhua residents.

The latest move is part of the HDB Greenprint, which was announced in October last year.

So far, various activities are already up and running for residents in Yuhua.

For example, the HDB is working with vendors to sell energy-saving appliances such as air-conditioners, refrigerators and lighting fixtures to residents at discounted rates.

The board is also implementing by next year a pneumatic system that sucks rubbish from flats to a central collection point via an underground network of pipes.

Under another programme, the HDB has also committed some $15 million to put up solar panels in areas like Punggol.

The energy is used to power facilities such as lifts, lights in corridors and staircases, as well as water pumps.

The hope is to test-bed such technology in 200 public housing blocks by 2015.

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Malaysia: RM35m allocation for viaduct to link forests

New Straits Times 21 Feb 13;

IPOH: The Federal Government has approved a RM35 million to build a viaduct for the Central Forest Spine (CSF) project.

The viaduct will serve as an as an ecological link and provide safe passage for animals between their habitats.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the federal authority was expected to call for a tender soon.

"We expect it (the project) to be completed in about two years after the tender is awarded," he said after chairing the state executive council meeting here yesterday.

The CFS is a master plan to ensure animals and plants in the country can continue to thrive for future generations.

Under the plan, the forest complexes will be connected through a network of 37 linkages to form a 5.3 million hectare forest complex. These linkages will allow animals to roam freely from north to south of the peninsula.

The four forest complexes are Titiwangsa-Bintang-Nakawan Range; National Park to Eastern Range; Southeast Pahang Swamp Forest, Tasik Chini and Tasik Bera; and Endau Rompin National Park-Kluang Wildlife Reserve.

Perak has, to date, gazetted about 20,000ha of the the Lower Belum Forest along the Grik-Jeli Highway as a permanent forest reserve under the CFS.

"This if proof of our seriousness to the Federal Government's initiative," Zambry said, adding that the state had engaged experts to help ensure the success of the project.

"We have obtained positive feedback on how we can go about developing a safe environment for the wildlife.

"They have even suggested the kind of plants we can grow as a food source."

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Indonesia announces shark, manta ray sanctuary

(AFP) Google News 20 Feb 13;

JAKARTA — Indonesia has announced a new shark and manta ray sanctuary, the first to protect the species in the rich marine ecosystem of the Coral Triangle, known as the "Amazon of the ocean".

Environmentalists Wednesday welcomed the creation of the 46,000-square-kilometre (18,000-square-mile) protection zone, in an area at risk from both overfishing and climate change.

The local government in Raja Ampat on the western tip of New Guinea island announced the move this week, issuing local regulations to ban the finning and fishing of sharks in the area, a tourist destination popular with divers.

Rizal Algamar, Indonesia director of the Nature Conservancy, described the regulations in a joint statement with Conservation International as a "breakthrough in policy".

"Scientific evidence states that the value of live sharks and manta rays far outweighs the one-time profit of dead sharks and manta rays, benefiting a growing world-class and increasingly popular marine tourism and dive destination," he said.

Scientists have warned the Coral Triangle, which spreads across a vast area of Southeast Asia's waters, is under threat, with heat-trapping carbon gases blamed for creating acidic seas hostile to much marine life.

Overfishing has also been a problem, but the sanctuary will support existing no-take zones that have helped shark numbers slowly recover.

"Sharks in particular play an important role, as apex predators at the top of the food chain, maintaining fisheries and ecosystem health," the statement said.

The sanctuary is also expected to prevent a drop in manta ray numbers, with the species' gills increasingly used in Asian medicines.

Shark populations are in a rapid and steep decline worldwide, facing intense pressure from fishing and in high demand for shark fin soup.

Up to 73 million sharks are killed annually, mostly for their fins, the statement said. As a result, many shark species have suffered declines greater than 75 percent and in some species up to 90 percent or more.

Indonesia ranks as the world's largest exporter of sharks and rays.

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India: Olive Ridley Turtles mass nesting begins in Odisha coast

zeenews.india.com 20 Feb 13;

Berhampur: A record number of over 3 lakh Olive Ridley turtles have laid eggs in Odisha coast within a span of only one week, officials said today.

This time the turtles mostly laid their eggs near the river Rushikulya mouth in Ganjam district, about 60 km from here.

The mass nesting of turtles began in Rushikulya river mouth on February 13. Last year, the turtles had congregated for mass nesting at the Rushikulya beach on February 29.

While around 2.60 lakh turtles had laid eggs in the Rushikulya rookery in 2008-09. Last year, 1.07 lakh turtles nested the beach.

"This time, they broke the previous record and over three lakh Olive Ridley Turtles laid eggs so far," said divisional forest officer, Berhampur S S Mishra. Despite rains lashed in the area on Sunday evening,over 8,700 Olive Ridley turtles laid eggs in the wee hours of Monday, he said.

Since some more turtles were floating in the sea, DFO said the nesting was likely to continue for some more days.

The Olive Ridleys, listed under Schedule 1 of the endangered species list, nested in two places this time. While around 2.50 lakh were nested in the 3.50-km long Sandbar between Kantiagada and Podampeta, another 50,000 turtles nested near Purunabandh area, he said.

Mass nesting of the Olive ridley started today followed by the sporadic nesting in the area.

Clean nesting sites and conducive atmosphere are some of the reasons attributed to the record number of Olive Ridleys visited the rookery for nesting, experts said.

This time, the turtles started nesting about a fortnight earlier in the rookery, forest officials said.

Forest officials made elaborate arrangements for smooth and safe nesting of the turtles. The entire area was divided into 32 sectors. Forest personnel and local volunteers have been deployed in each sector for counting the eggs.

They also provided protections to the eggs in absent of their mother turtles, said DFO.

After laying eggs, the female turtles go to the deep sea without waiting to see the hatchels, which generally emerged around 45 days of the nesting.

"The local people in the area are cooperating with the forest personnel to protect the eggs," said Rabindra Nath Sahu secretary of the Rushikulya Sea Turtles Protection Committee.

Besides Rushikulya river mouth, the turtles also nest in Gahiramatha beach and Devi river mouth in the state. But the mass nesting in other two places are yet to start.

PTI

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After China's multibillion-dollar cleanup, water still unfit to drink

David Stanway PlanetArk 21 Feb 13;

China aims to spend $850 billion to improve filthy water supplies over the next decade, but even such huge outlays may do little to reverse damage caused by decades of pollution and overuse in Beijing's push for rapid economic growth.

China is promising to invest 4 trillion yuan ($650 billion) - equal to its entire stimulus package during the global financial crisis - on rural water projects alone during the 2011-2020 period. What's more, at least $200 billion in additional funds has been earmarked for a variety of cleanup projects nationwide, Reuters has learned after scouring a range of central and local government documents.

That new cash injection will be vital, with rivers and lakes throughout China blighted by algae blooms caused by fertilizer run-off, bubbling chemical spills and untreated sewage discharges. Judging by Beijing's cleanup record so far, however, the final tally could be many times higher.

Over the five years to 2010, the country spent 700 billion yuan ($112.41 billion) on water infrastructure, but much of its water remains undrinkable. The environment ministry said 43 percent of the locations it was monitoring in 2011 contained water that was not even fit for human contact.

"The reason why they have achieved so little even though they have spent so much on pollution treatment is because they have followed the wrong urbanization model - China is still putting too much pressure on local resources," said Zhou Lei, a fellow at Nanjing University who has studied water pollution.

A close look at publicly available documents shows limited environmental ambitions, as Beijing strives to prolong three decades of blistering economic growth and fill the estimated annual water supply shortfall of 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) required to feed growing energy and agricultural demand.

At the same time, the government faces growing pressure to address environmental effects of fast growth, as public anger over air pollution that blanketed many northern cities in January has spread to online appeals for Beijing to clean up water supplies as well.

The huge costs suggest that treatment, rather than prevention, remains the preferred solution, with industrial growth paramount and pollution regarded as just another economic opportunity, Zhou said.

"They always treat environmental degradation as an economic issue. China is even using pollution as a resource, and using the opportunity to treat environmental degradation as a way to accumulate new wealth," he said, referring to business contracts local governments offer to big water treatment firms.

"INDUSTRIAL-USE ONLY"

On top of the 10-year rural water plan, China last year vowed to spend another 250 billion yuan on water conservation, and has since allocated a further 130 billion yuan to treat small and medium-sized rivers over the next two years.

Local governments are also spending heavily, with Dianchi Lake in southwest China's Yunnan province being lavished with 31 billion yuan of investment in the next three years in order to produce "obvious improvements" in water quality, records show.

East China's Lake Tai, a test case for China's environmental authorities after suffering a notorious bloom of algae and cyanobacteria in 2007, has spent 70 billion yuan in the five years since, and more is expected.

Both cleanup projects have been designed merely to bring water up from "grade V" - meaning "no human contact" - to "grade IV", which is designated "industrial use only", according to detailed plans listed on local government websites.

Even such negligible gains could be crucial for a country that has the same amount of water as Britain although its population is 20 times as big.

Data from China's Ministry of Water Resources shows that average per capita supplies stand at 2,100 cubic meters, 28 percent of the global average. The government has vowed to cap total use to 700 bcm a year by 2030, but that will still require a big increase in supplies, with consumption now about 600 bcm.

Costly engineering and technological feats, though unlikely to address the underlying causes of pollution, could at least make more water available, allowing marginal quality improvements without interfering with industrial growth or the country's ambitious and water-intense urbanization plans.

"Part of this increase in the supply of water will come from removing all 'grade V' water supplies, which is actually useless even for agriculture," said Debra Tan, director at the China Water Risk organization. "Grade IV is not safe to swim in, but it at least is usable." ($1 = 6.2270 Chinese yuan)

(Editing by Ken Wills)

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