Mediterranean and Black Sea sharks risk extinction

FAO 14 Mar 13;

14 March 2013, Rome - Shark populations in the Mediterranean and Black Sea have dropped dramatically over the last two centuries and now risk extinction, with serious implications for the region's entire marine ecosystem and food chains, according to a new FAO study.

"Sharks in the Mediterranean Sea have declined by more than 97 percent in number and ‘catch weight' over the last 200 years. They risk extinction if current fishing pressure continues," the study found.

In the Black Sea, although information is scarce, catches of the main shark species have also declined to about half of catches in the early 1990s.

"This loss of top predators could hold serious implications for the entire marine ecosystem, greatly affecting food webs throughout this region," it added.

The study, Elasmobranchs of the Mediterranean and Black Sea: Status, Ecology and Biology, was undertaken by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, one of several FAO regional bodies working in the fisheries sector.

Critically endangered

It found that cartilaginous fish species, such as sharks and rays, "are by far the most endangered group of marine fish in the Mediterranean and Black sea where 85 species are known to occur. Of 71 species assessed in the Mediterranean Sea in 2007, 30 (42 percent) were found to be threatened, including 13 percent critically endangered, 11 percent endangered and 13 percent vulnerable. Another 18 percent were categorized as near-threatened.

Cartilaginous fish have skeletons made of cartilage, rather than bones. Within that group, sharks, rays and skates are scientifically termed Elasmobranchs. Their biological characteristics, including low fecundity, late maturity and slow growth make them more vulnerable than bony fish, as their regeneration rates are slower.

Issues such as "overfishing, wide use of non-selective fishing practices and habitat degradation" are therefore affecting these species more than others.

In general sharks and rays have not been deliberately targeted in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, but caught accidentally. Annual aggregated reported landings in the Mediterranean and Black Sea currently amount to some 7 000 tonnes, compared to 25 000 tonnes in 1985 - an indication of the severity of their decline.

At the same time, however fishing activities targeting sharks are intensifying due to rapidly increasing demand for shark fins, meat and cartilage.

Habitat disturbance

This is compounded by extensive damage to, or disturbance of, their habitats, caused by shipping, underwater construction and mining or by chemical, sound and electromagnetic contamination.

Among the most recent measures adopted by the Commission to protect sharks and rays is the prohibition of ‘finning' (removal of fins at sea and discarding of carcass) and the reduction of trawl fishing within 3 nautical miles off the coast to enhance protection of coastal sharks.

The Commission has also recommended Mediterranean and Black Sea countries to invest in scientific research programmes aimed at identifying potential nursery areas and to consider time and area closures to protect juveniles of sharks and rays from fishing activities.

Other initiatives undertaken by the Commission have included the organization of several meetings and courses aimed at better understanding these species and their habitats and creating a background of Regional knowledge to guide GFCM Members in developing national plans to protect these key species.

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Florida rescuers struggle to save manatees hit by deadly algae

Saundra Amrhein PlanetArk 15 Mar 13;

Virginia Edmonds, standing in shallow water, used her legs to slowly nudge an ailing young manatee to one side of a treatment pool. A half dozen other female members of a manatee rehabilitation team hovered close by - one with a syringe - waiting for the signal.

"OK!" Edmonds called, as the others jumped in and threw a mat over the manatee to try and hold it still.

The 545-pound (247-kg) mammal bucked, thrashed, rolled and tossed the women off before they could inject an antibiotic; just one minor challenge in an effort to rescue and treat members of this endangered species that are dying in record numbers from an algae bloom.

The so-called Red Tide algae bloom has killed a total of 181 manatees so far this year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

That figure already surpasses the highest number of Red Tide manatee deaths on record - 151 in 1996 - and experts expect the number to keep rising through the spring.

"We'll probably have Red Tide victims several more months," said Dr. Larry Killmar, head of animal science and conservation at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, which is home to the manatee rehab team.

So far 12 rescued manatees have been brought in for treatment from Red Tide poisoning.

"We're not even getting a chance to work on many of them," Killmar said of the large number of deaths. "If we can get them early enough, we can save them."

TOXINS IN THE WATER

The problem, Killmar and other experts note, was Florida's warm winter, which appears to have sparked an earlier-than- normal algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico along a 70-mile (112-km) swath of southwest Florida's coast, home to a large share of the state's estimated 5,000 manatees.

The naturally occurring algae that blooms into Red Tide carries toxins that are usually inhaled by manatees when they come up for air, typically every 20 minutes. But now they animals are also ingesting the toxins when they eat, after the Red Tide saturated sea grasses the manatees graze on, Killmar said.

The toxins spark seizures and paralyze the manatees, which struggle to breathe or surface for air - causing them to drown.

Most of the victims have been found in coastal rivers in the area of Fort Myers.

"Most are passed out when they come in," said Edmonds, the animal care manager of Florida mammals at Lowry Park Zoo. After they are brought in by a rescue team from the wildlife conservation commission, the manatees immediately receive an injection of the anti-toxin atropine and the first of three possible antibiotic injections.

For the past few weeks, staff members in the zoo's manatee hospital stood in shallow pool waters around the clock to help keep the manatees' heads above water.

"One woke up in 15 minutes," Edmonds said. Others take hours, possibly depending on the length of time they were exposed to Red Tide.

To make room for more critical care patients, two recovered manatees were sent to Sea World last week and three other Red Tide survivors are headed to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park this week.

The animals cannot be released back into the wild until the Red Tide dissipates because they will migrate back to the same area and become sick once again.

Meanwhile, the others will stay at the zoo's manatee hospital with several other resident patients recovering from a mixture of ailments, including boat strikes, which are one of the biggest killers of manatees.

HELPING HANDS

They manatees will be monitored and continue to get follow-up antibiotic injections like the one Edmonds and her team were trying to administer to a feisty 2-year-old male manatee on Wednesday.

About 20 zoo spectators had gathered to watch the unexpected display, holding up cameras and placing toddlers on their shoulders to see.

"I want to help," 9-year-old Ben Arnett of Englewood, Florida, whispered to his brother, 11-year-old Josh, an aspiring marine biologist.

Normally it is against state law to touch, chase, harass and - in one recent notorious case that unleashed public outrage and brought criminal charges - to ride manatees. But now fast-thinking residents are playing a critical role in saving them - holding their heads above the water until rescuers arrive.

The state released a hotline number for residents to call if they see a distressed manatee. "If they didn't have people in the public trying to help," said Lee Ann Rottman, the zoo's animal curator, "those manatees wouldn't make it."

(Editing by David Adams, Eric Walsh and Dan Grebler)

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Southern California coast sees deluge of sick sea lion pups

Dana Feldman PlanetArk 15 Mar 13;

Sick and malnourished sea lion pups are stranding themselves on Southern California beaches in some of the largest numbers seen in over a decade, perplexing scientists and leading one care facility to declare itself near capacity.

Officials at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California, have said they are in emergency mode.

The last time they saw such an onslaught of the mammal pups this early in the year was 1998, when an "El Nino" weather pattern warmed the waters off the California coast.

Fish migrated away from shore, which forced adult sea lions to swim farther to chase them and made it harder for mother sea lions to care for their young.

Animal rescuers believe adult sea lions are again foraging deeper into the ocean this year, but the reasons are unclear. What has been evident is the poor health of the many sea lion pups stranding themselves on beaches.

"As of a month ago, there were high numbers but in a less critical state - now we have high numbers in a critical state," Keith Matassa, executive director of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, told Reuters.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center, located about 45 miles south of Los Angeles, took in 12 sea lion pups on Saturday, which was the largest number of admissions in a single day in the center's 42-year history.

Officials at the facility, the only one of its kind in Orange County, said they were caring for over 90 sea lions on Wednesday. "We're not at max capacity but we're reaching a critical state," Matassa said.

Pacific Marine Mammal Center's busy season is normally from April through August, which coincides with when most of the mammals are born. Last year in March, the facility was caring for only 10 sea lions, which was an average number.

Marine Mammal Care Center at Fort MacArthur in Los Angeles also has seen many sea lion pups in need of care and is housing over 100 of the mammals, said director David Bard.

Christine Sephenson, 24, and her friend Raeann Rodriguez, 30, were walking along the sand in Laguna Beach on Wednesday when they almost tripped over a sick pup and called the center to have it picked up.

"He had wounds all over and was coughing and could barely open his eyes," Stephenson said. "You could see his ribs, he was crying."

Back at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, several emaciated pups, with visible rib cages, lay in bundles in temperature-controlled rooms as veterinarians cared for them.

When the pups first arrive, they are put on a formula that includes dehydration remedy Pedialyte and sweetener Karo syrup. As the mammals get more healthy, fish is blended into their diet. It takes two to four months for the pups to get well.

"We're a hospital so not all patients will make it through," Matassa said.

A necropsy is performed on any animal that does not survive, as part of the effort to understand what is ailing the pups this year. "Even in death they can give us a lot of answers as to what's going on," Matassa said.

Spike in Sick Sea Lions Along Calif. Coast Puzzles Scientists
Megan Gannon LiveScience.com Yahoo News 4 Apr 13;

Sickly, emaciated sea lion pups have been turning up on California's coastline in unusually high numbers since January — with live strandings nearly three times higher than the historical average.

Officials say the strandings have intensified this month, and they're starting to investigate the possible causes, while marine mammal rehabilitation centers in the area have been overwhelmed with starving, hypothermic and dehydrated pups.

The problem is most pronounced in Los Angeles County, where 395 sea lion strandings have been reported this year as of March 24, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). During the same period in 2012, just 36 strandings were reported.

Stranding rates are also high in Orange County, where 189 sickly sea lions have come ashore, compared with 20 last year. And in San Diego County, strandings stood at 214, compared with 32 last year.

Last week, NOAA declared an "unusual mortality event," from January to the present and has launched an investigation, which will involve testing blood and tissue samples from both live and dead sea lion pups for bacterial, viral and other infectious agents as well as radioactive traces. [Photos: World's Cutest Baby Wild Animals]

Officials from the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, Calif., told the Los Angeles Times that they are treating about 100 animals and have seen as many cases since January that they would normally see in a year.

The goal is to get these sea lions healthy and rehabilitated so that they can be safely released back into the wild. But sometimes the animals strand themselves again and again and then go on to become research subjects.

Take Ronan, for example, a California sea lion that stranded three times before she was taken in to the Pinniped Cognition and Sensory Systems Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She made headlines this week when researchers published the results of a study that showed the sea lion had learned how to headbang to songs like the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody." Ronan might be the first non-human mammal to prove she can dance.

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New Zealand suffering biggest drought in 30 years

Nick Perry Associated Press Yahoo News 15 Mar 13;

CARTERTON, New Zealand (AP) — Dairy farmer John Rose has sent more than 100 of his cows to the slaughterhouse over recent weeks as a severe drought browned pastures in New Zealand's normally verdant North Island.

He had to thin his herd so the remaining 550 cows have enough to eat, and he's supplementing their diet with ground palm kernel as the grass in his fields withers.

"We try and make sure they've got water and shade during the day and do the best we can for them," he said. "It's very hard to remember when the last rainfall was."

The drought is costing farmers millions of dollars each day and is beginning to take a toll on New Zealand's economy. On Friday, the government officially declared its most widespread drought in at least 30 years.

Parts of the North Island are drier than they've been in 70 years and some scientists say the unusual weather could be a harbinger of climate change. There has been little significant rainfall in the northern and eastern parts of the country since October.

Still, some are finding the dry, sun soaked days a boon. Vintners call the conditions perfect. And city dwellers are reveling in eating lunch outdoors or spending evenings at the beach in a Southern Hemisphere summer that never seems to end.

Farmers estimate the drought has so far cost them about 1 billion New Zealand dollars ($820 million) in lost export earnings with the damage rising daily as they reduce their herds, which in turn reduces milk production.

Farming, and dairy cows in particular, drives the economy in the island nation of 4.5 million and the drought is expected to shave about a percentage point off economic growth.

New Zealand's last significant drought was five years ago and also cost farmers billions of dollars.

Bruce Wills, president of farming association Federated Farmers, said North Island slaughterhouses are processing about 40 percent more cows and sheep this year as farmers reduce their herds. The increased numbers and lighter weight of the animals has resulted in plummeting prices, he said.

North Island farmers are also sending stock to the South Island, which hasn't been so affected. Wills said farmers have sent 1.5 million lambs and other stock on ferries to the South Island to graze or be slaughtered there.

"One of the challenges with a drought is that the impact can go on for a number of years," he said. "We'll have a lower lambing percentage next year because there hasn't been enough feed this year," he said of the impact on animal fertility.

The official government designation of a drought provides farmers some financial relief through increased government funding of rural groups and tax breaks. Farmers facing serious financial hardship will also be eligible to apply for temporary unemployment benefits.

"It's a very serious problem," said lawmaker David Shearer. "It's obviously affecting farmers, but the other part is it's also going to flow through to our rural communities — the retail shops and the businesses."

Bill English, the country's finance minister, said that despite the economic difficulties caused by the drought, he believes the government can still maintain its goal of returning the national budget to surplus by the year beginning July 2014. The country was sent into the red after the 2008 global financial crisis.

James Renwick, a climate scientist at Victoria University of Wellington, said New Zealanders should expect more summers like the current one due to global warming. He said the dry subtropical weather that helps forms deserts in places like Africa and Australia is expanding toward the world's poles.

He said the risk of drought in New Zealand will keep increasing and water resources will become more stretched. He said that in certain places, dairy cows, with their reliance on abundant water, may not be as viable in years to come but that other more drought-resistant crops and species could replace them.

"We may need to change our approach to farming," Renwick said. "Whatever the climate is, there's always something you can do."

Like, perhaps, growing grapes.

"The weather for us is stunningly good," said Philip Gregan, the chief executive of New Zealand Wine, an association representing grape growers and winemakers. "We're getting warm, dry, cooler nights. It's the perfect recipe for fully ripe fruit with fabulous flavors."

Gregan said winemakers across the country are expecting an excellent vintage as the annual grape harvest begins.

New Zealand's sauvignon blanc is well-regarded internationally, but the industry remains small when compared to farming. Winemaking accounts for about 1.2 billion New Zealand dollars ($1 billion) in exports while farming accounts for about 25 billion New Zealand dollars ($20.6 billion).

The sunny weather in the capital city Wellington has been drawing thousands of tourists and office workers to the waterfront.

Simon Edmonds, who owns the waterfront cafe Tuatua, said late summer business is up 30 to 40 percent over the same time last year. But, he said, locals seem to have become so accustomed to sunny days this year that they're not arriving in the same numbers as they did on fine days in previous years.

"People can't go out and buy lunch every single day," he said.

Some relief may come with rain in the forecast on Sunday — although one dousing won't be nearly enough to undo the drought.

For Rose, the dairy farmer, the end of the golden weather can't come quick enough.

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Environmental threats could push billions into extreme poverty, warns UN

UN's 2013 human development report urges action on climate change, deforestation and pollution before it is too late
Claire Provost guardian.co.uk 14 Mar 13;

The number of people living in extreme poverty could increase by up to 3 billion by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to tackle environmental challenges, a major UN report warned on Thursday.

The 2013 Human Development Report hails better than expected progress on health, wealth and education in dozens of developing countries but says inaction on climate change, deforestation, and air and water pollution could end gains in the world's poorest countries and communities.

"Environmental threats are among the most grave impediments to lifting human development … The longer action is delayed, the higher the cost will be," warns the report, which builds on the 2011 edition looking at sustainable development.

"Environmental inaction, especially regarding climate change, has the potential to halt or even reverse human development progress. The number of people in extreme poverty could increase by up to 3 billion by 2050 unless environmental disasters are averted by co-ordinated global action," said the UN.

"Far more attention needs to be paid to the impact human beings are having on the environment. Climate change is already exacerbating chronic environmental threats, and ecosystem losses are constraining livelihood opportunities, especially for poor people. A clean and safe environment should be seen as a right, not a privilege."

The British prime minister, David Cameron, and US president Barack Obama have both made eradicating extreme poverty a key plank in their respective development agendas.

The proportion of people living under $1.25 a day is estimated to have fallen from 43% in 1990 to 22% in 2008, driven in part by significant progress in China. As a result, the World Bank last year said the millennium development goal to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015 had been met ahead of schedule.

Thursday's report says more than 40 countries have done better than previously expected on the UN's human development index (HDI), which combines measures of health, wealth and education, with gains accelerating over the past decade. Introduced in 1990, the index aims to challenge gross domestic product and other purely economic assessments of national wellbeing. Norway and Australia are highest in this year's HDI, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Niger are ranked lowest.

Some of the largest countries – including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey – have made the most rapid advances, it says, but there has also been substantial progress in smaller economies, such as Bangladesh, Chile, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda and Tunisia. This has prompted significant rethinking on routes to progress, says the report: "The south as a whole is driving global economic growth and societal change for the first time in centuries."

The report points to cash-transfer programmes in Brazil, India and Mexico as examples of where developing countries have pioneered policies for advancing human development, noting how these efforts have helped narrow income gaps and improve the health and education prospects of poor communities. The presence of proactive "developmental states", which seek to take strategic advantage of world trade opportunities but also invest heavily in health, education and other critical services, emerges as a key trend.

The rise of China and India, which doubled their per capita economic output in fewer than 20 years, has driven an epochal "global rebalancing", argues the report, bringing about greater change and lifting far more people out of poverty than the Industrial Revolution that transformed Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries. "The Industrial Revolution was a story of perhaps 100 million people, but this is a story about billions of people," said Khalid Malik, lead author of the report.

The report singles out "short-sighted austerity measures", inaction in the face of stark social inequalities, and the lack of opportunities for citizen participation as critical threats to progress – both in developing countries and in European and North American industrial powers. "Social policy is at least as important as economic policy," Malik told the Guardian. "People think normally you're too poor to afford these things. But our argument is you're too poor not to."

He said more representative global institutions are needed to tackle shared global challenges. China, with the world's second largest economy and biggest foreign exchange reserves, has only a 3.3% share in the World Bank, notes the report, less than France's 4.3%. Africa, with a billion people in 54 nations, is under-represented in almost all international institutions. "If institutions are not seen as legitimate, people don't play, or don't play nice," Malik said.

Developing countries now hold two-thirds of the world's $10.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, including more than $3tn in China alone, and nearly three-quarters of the $4.3tn in assets controlled by sovereign wealth funds worldwide, notes the report, adding: "Even a small share of these vast sums could have a swift measurable impact on global poverty and human development."

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Singapore on track to reducing carbon footprint below targeted 2020 levels: Iswaran

Channel NewsAsia 13 Mar 13;

SINGAPORE: Singapore is on track to meeting its unconditional pledge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by seven to 11 per cent below targeted 2020 levels. This is according to Second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Iswaran said there are measures in place to reduce the carbon footprint of Singapore's industries.

These include tax incentives and third-party financing schemes which encourage private financing of energy-efficient projects.

But while the use of fuel oil and natural gas are less polluting energy options used by industries, the Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex located on Jurong Island uses a mix of clean coal and biomass to produce steam and electricity for chemical companies.

Mr Iswaran said: "Clean coal is a significantly cheaper fuel option compared to fuel oil and natural gas, and the use of coal is expected to reduce steam prices by at least 10 per cent for customers of TMUC.

"To strike a balance with environmental concerns, only the use of low ash and low sulphur coal has been permitted, and biomass is mixed with coal to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to below that of an equivalent fuel oil plant.

"The co-generation process employed by TMUC is also more efficient than the separate production of steam and power through boilers and combined cycle gas turbines.

"In addition, measures have been put in place by our environmental agencies to ensure that the TMUC meets environmental standards as stipulated under the Environmental Protection and Management Act and its regulations. TMUC is held to stringent requirements for pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) and mercury. The company is also required to transport coal via covered transportation systems to prevent fugitive dust emissions, and recycle ash as construction material."

-CNA/ac

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Deep sewerage tunnel to extend to west of Singapore

Work on underground 18km 'super highway', costing $3b, to start in 2016
Tan Dawn Wei Straits Times 14 Mar 13;

THE new extension of an underground "super highway" that carries Singapore's used water will cover the western part of the island, including the downtown city area and major upcoming developments such as Tengah New Town.

Construction on the new tunnel, which will be 18km long and cost about $3 billion, will start in 2016 and take about six years.

When it is ready, the new tunnel will carry waste water from these areas to a new water reclamation plant in Tuas.

There, the water will be treated before being either pumped out to sea or reclaimed as Newater, purified water mostly used by industries.

The new extension is part of the award-winning Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS), which runs about 20 storeys underground.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan announced this in Parliament on Tuesday but gave few details.

In response to queries, Singapore's national water agency PUB disclosed the specifications of the new tunnel extension yesterday.

But it added that it is still in the early stages of planning and will launch tenders for it later this year.

Phase 1 of the system - a 48km-long tunnel running from Kranji to Changi - was completed in 2008 at a cost of $3.65 billion. Phase 2 will be comparable in cost and scale. Running at depths of between 20m and 50m, the tunnel, about 6m in diameter, goes even deeper than MRT tunnels.

Currently, used water in western Singapore is collected through an existing network of underground sewers and intermediate pumping stations, and sent to water reclamation plants in Ulu Pandan and Jurong.

Together with plants in Kranji and Changi, Singapore treats about 216,800 Olympic-size swimming pools of used water a year.

Once the new extended tunnel is ready, the Ulu Pandan and Jurong plants and intermediate pumping stations will be progressively phased out and the land freed up for development.

By then, Singapore will have the capacity to treat more than 600,000 Olympic-size swimming pools of used water a year. It will be enough to meet the country's growing population, said PUB.

With the DTSS, water is carried largely by gravity to the plants as the tunnel is sloped, which saves energy needed for pumping stations to do the job.

At the recycling plants, the water goes through a series of screens to remove debris, then a bioreactor where micro-organisms break down impurities and organic waste. It also goes through two sedimentation tanks where particles are allowed to settle.

What comes out will either be pumped 5km out into the deep sea, or be further purified to produce Newater.

The sludge collected during the treatment is blended and thickened to reduce its volume, before being decomposed by micro-organisms. It eventually gets sent to incineration plants to be burned and used as landfill.

Hailed as a radical move to solve Singapore's long-term used water needs, the DTSS was named Water Project of the Year in 2009 at the annual Global Water Awards, which honour top achievers in the areas of water management and treatment.

Associate Professor Ng How Yong of the National University of Singapore's department of civil and environmental engineering said having a single large tunnel criss-crossing the island that consolidates smaller sewerage pipes makes for better management and control.

PUB said it will work to minimise surface road disruptions during construction.

"As with all major projects, we will coordinate closely with agencies on their service infrastructure including the Land Transport Authority for the MRT lines," said a spokesman.

It added that it will also incorporate new technologies into the new Tuas plant to save on manpower and improve its energy efficiency.

Prof Ng does not think competing tunnelling works for upcoming underground rail lines are a cause for worry.

"Planners would have planned where all your tunnels and MRT lines will be," he said.

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210km of cycling paths in 16 towns by 2020

LTA identifying areas to test on-road lanes, piloting bike-sharing in 2015
Royston Sim Straits Times 14 Mar 13;

CYCLISTS can look forward to another 90km of cycling paths here, bringing the total network of such dedicated off-road paths to 210km in 16 HDB towns by 2020.

And there are plans for every town to have a comprehensive cycling network eventually.

This will allow residents to cycle to the MRT station or to buy groceries at the neighbourhood centre. Work is under way to build paths in seven towns.

Transport Parliamentary Secretary Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said the priority will be to build off-road paths, which "provide a safe cycling environment for a larger group of cyclists".

He has asked the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to prioritise plugging short gaps in the cycling network, such as connecting existing park connectors to the nearby MRT station at Sengkang. This is so cyclists need not go onto the road or footpath when riding to the MRT station.

He pledged that cycling paths will be well integrated with park connectors in the long term.

The LTA is also studying the possibility of building cycling paths at major industrial estates for workers to use.

Moving to commuting by bicycle, Dr Faishal said he supports the idea of allowing foldable bicycles on public transport during the morning pre-peak window.

"This will enable cycling to effectively close the last-mile connectivity gap for trips to work," he said, adding that the challenge lay in finding the right cut-off timing in the morning. The idea will be carefully studied, he said.

Several MPs, including Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Teo Ser Luck, raised the issue of safety for cyclists yesterday.

Dr Faishal said more signs alerting motorists to the presence of cyclists will be put up by the middle of this year on popular routes.

The LTA will also launch a guidebook on safe cycling tips in a few months' time. To encourage more cyclists to dismount at crossings, new markings at zebra-crossings will be on trial at three locations in Tampines.

Responding to calls for an on-road cycling lane pilot, Dr Faishal said Singapore may not want to follow other countries' examples due to the heavy traffic situation here.

He added: "On-road cycling is risky, and no one, young or old, who is not confident of cycling on the road, should do so."

He noted that on-road cycling lanes would "also affect the movement of buses, require the removal of street-side parking and expose cyclists to turning traffic" if lanes are not properly designed.

Still, he said the LTA is identifying roads where these issues could be overcome, and studying if it is feasible to try out on-road cycling lanes along those roads.

Many cyclists have been requesting for more to be done for those who cycle on the roads.

Dr Faishal also said the LTA plans to conduct a pilot bicycle-sharing scheme in the Jurong Lake District in 2015, which will have a network of cycling paths by then.

Proposals from the industry will be requested in the coming months. He added that bicycle-sharing can be piloted in other cycling towns if there is interest from the community.

In terms of bicycle facilities, another 600 bicycle racks will be built at 12 more MRT stations by the third quarter of next year.

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Protecting coastal biodiversity supports our fisheries

Swansea University 12 Mar 13;

New research by Swansea University is helping to understand the importance of sensitive coastal habitats, in Wales and the UK, for supporting our fisheries.

The research, which uses novel stereo video technology, has been assessing the fish communities and their age ranges in different habitats around Wales. Specific focus has been on trying to understand the value of seagrass meadows, kelp forests and horse mussel beds for supporting juvenile fish, particularly those species of commercial importance.

The research was carried out by members of the Seagrass Ecosystem Research Group, at the College of Science, Swansea University and was conducted in collaboration with SEACAMS, the Countryside Council for Wales, the Pen Llyn a’r Sarnau SAC, and the National Trust. It has resulted in the creation of a publically available short film accessible on the internet. The film is available at our group website (www.seagrass.org.uk/news).

Studies were conducted around the coast of Pembrokeshire and the Llyn Penninsula and were co-funded by the Welsh Government Ecosystem Resilience and Diversity Fund and the ERDF funded SEACAMS project.

Explaining the background to research, the project leader Dr Richard Unsworth said: “In the UK we are trying to develop a vitally important network of marine protected areas. Making decisions about their proposed exact locations requires making reasoned judgements as to the relative value of different habitat types. Due to the difficulties in sampling many sensitive habitat types without being destructive, we don’t know enough about how threatened habitats such as seagrass, kelp and horse mussel provide support for juvenile fish such as Cod, Pollock and Whiting."

"Researchers at Swansea University used a combination of Baited Remote Underwater Video systems and traditional beach seine netting to quantify the fish species present in seagrass, horse mussel and kelp. These are three habitat types that have all been degraded and disturbed over time, and continue to be under threat in Wales and throughout the UK.”

Dr Unsworth explained the results of the work conducted by the whole team. He said: “Our studies provided evidence of the value of sensitive coastal habitats for supporting economically important fisheries. Our results clearly show how seagrass is important as a juvenile habitat. This was particularly the case for seagrass meadows that contained juvenile fish of at least 10 commercially important species (Cod, Pollock, Whiting, Bass, Mullet, Bass, Plaice, Saithe, Bib, Brill).”

He added: “We all too commonly think of biodiversity conservation as being an activity that is in conflict to industry. But our research is beginning to show that conservation of sensitive coastal habitats in the UK is as much about supporting the fisheries industry as it is about protecting biodiversity.”

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Sumatran tiger kills Indonesian farmer: villagers

Channel NewsAsia 13 Mar 13;

SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia: A Sumatran tiger has killed a cocoa farmer in Indonesia, villagers claimed Wednesday, in the latest apparent attack by the rare wild cat as its habitat is rapidly cleared for plantations.

The body of Karman Lubis, 32, was found decapitated around one kilometre (0.6 miles) from a cocoa plantation on Sumatra island at 02:00 on Tuesday (1900 GMT Monday), while his head was found hours later in another area, a relative said.

Lubis' right hand was still missing, Amiruddin Nasution added, saying he was likely attacked by a tiger sighted days earlier near their village of Rantau Panjang, adjacent to the Batang Gadis National Park on the island's north.

A national park office staff member said there were no witnesses to confirm a tiger was to blame.

"Given the body's condition, he could have been attacked by a bear, a clouded leopard or a tiger," said the staff member, who declined to be named.

The Sumatran tiger is the world's smallest tiger and is critically endangered, with only an estimated 400 to 500 alive on the Indonesian island.

Rampant deforestation and poaching have led to a decrease in the number of Sumatran tigers, experts say.

-AFP/fl

Tiger Mauls Rubber Plant Worker to Death in North Sumatra
SP/Arnold Sianturi Jakarta Globe 13 Mar 13;

Panyabungan, North Sumatra. Villagers say a tiger has killed a rubber planter on the outskirts of the Batang Gadis National Park in the Mandailing Utara district of North Sumatra, a report on Wednesday said.

The body of Karman Lubis, 32, was found in a rubber plantation in Ranto Panjang village on Tuesday, relatives of the victims said.

His head was separated from the body, Amiruddin Nasution, the uncle of the victim said.

Karman, who was a rubber sap tapper at the plantation, had been missing since Monday and a tiger had been seen roaming the area a few days earlier.

“Several days ago, there were several villagers who did indeed see a roaming tiger, but at the time the tiger did not attack. The wild animal did not attack maybe because there were many villagers,” Amiruddin said.

Amiruddin and the villagers said they believed a tiger killed Karman.

He said that he and other villagers went out to the plantation to look for Karman, who had failed to return home the day before.

“We immediately went to the rubber plantation and found the bloodied clothes of the victim. The headless body was found not far from the clothes,” Amiruddin said, adding that the head and the body were full of claw marks.

The incident has spread fear among villagers in Ranto Panjang, with many opting to remain home, for fear of being attacked by the prowling beast.

“Some of the people here are scared and it has been jointly agreed to form a group to conduct surveillance on the village to anticipate attacks by the tiger who is looking for new prey,” Darma Lubis, another villager, said.

Darma admitted that the human activities have increasingly encroached into the national park — a habitat for many wildlife species, including the threatened Sumatran tiger.

The Sumatran tiger is a subspecies that lives only in Sumatra and are estimated to number between 400 and 660 individuals.

Massive deforestation has been blamed for the increasing number of encounters with the endangered Sumatran tigers.

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Indonesia: Call to stop Aceh city plan amid fear of environmental damage

Amie Fenia Arimbi Antara 13 Mar 13;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Coalition of NGOs in Aceh province here on Wednesday launched a petition at www.change.org urging the local government to revoke its plan to implement forest clearing for development arguing that it harms the environment.

Spokesman to the coalition Effendi said here on Wednesday, according to the draft of plan, which has been sent to the central government for approval, about 1.2 million hectares of the total of 3.7 million hectares of protected forest area will be made into public housings, plantations and road.

"This is dangerous for the continuation of biodiversity in the forest. Protected forest in Aceh is home to rare habitats such as Sumatran elephant, Sumatran Tiger and Orang Utan. Deforestation will harm their population. Not to mention the possibility of natural disasters such as flood and landlside to occur if there`s not enough forest area that can contain water," he said.

Effendi who spoke on behalf of Aceh-based NGOs such as Transparency International Indonesia-Aceh, JKMA Aceh, Orang Utan Forum, and WWF Aceh expressed concern that deforestation planned by the local government may be implemented only to accommodate many entrepreneurs who want to develop palm oil plantation and other forest-related business in Aceh.

Meanwhile another environmental activist Farwiza said of the total of proposed protected forest area to be explored by the government, only 14,000 hectares or less than 10 percent of it being built for public places such as housings and roads.

"The rest is for mining and plantation," she said.

Another activist Rudi Putra expressed concern that deforestation in Aceh may lead to the presence of natural disasters such as flood and landslide. The native of Tamiang district, eastern Aceh, took example of flash flood that hit his hometown in 2006. The flood which took 67 casualties and destroyed hundreds of houses was said to be the result of deforestation in the area.

"The government must stop deforestation immediately or else it will harm the local people and biodiversity that lives in the forest," he added.

Up till now 3,097 people have signed the petition online.
(Uu.A051/B003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH

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Poachers kill 28 forest elephants in Cameroon: WWF

Tansa Musa PlanetArk 14 Mar 13;

Poachers have killed 28 endangered forest elephants in the Nki and Lobeke national parks in southeast Cameroon in recent weeks, the conservation organization WWF said on Wednesday.

With demand for ivory rising from Asia, poachers have reduced the population of Africa's forest elephants by 62 percent over the last decade, putting the species on track for extinction, conservationists say.

The parks of southeast Cameroon, along with parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon, have some of the last significant populations of forest elephants.

"Elephants in these two protected areas in the Congo Basin are facing a threat to their existence," said Zacharie Nzooh, WWF Cameroon representative in the East Region.

Nzooh said that between February 10 and March 1, WWF found the carcasses of 23 elephants, stripped of their tusks, deep in the Nki national park. A further five were found without their tusks in the Lobeke national park, further to the east.

"The poachers used automatic weapons, such as AK-47s, reflecting the violent character of elephant poaching," he said, adding that park wardens lacked good weapons.

Smaller than its African savannah cousin, the forest elephant has straighter tusks. If urgent measures are not taken, Cameroon's forest elephants, estimated to number about 2,000, could disappear in less than a decade, Nzooh said.

Ivory sells for hundreds of dollars per kilogram on the black market. Most is smuggled to Asia, especially China, to be carved into jewelry and ornaments.

In early 2012, heavily armed poachers on horseback from Chad and Sudan massacred some 200 savannah elephants in Cameroon's Bouba Ndjida National Park.

In December, Cameroon deployed military helicopters and 600 soldiers equipped with night vision gear to try to protect the park and its wildlife.

(Reporting by Tansa Musa; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Andrew Roche)

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