New book shows the power of ecosystems to protect us

IUCN 21 May 13;

Healthy and well-managed ecosystems reduce the risk of disasters and strengthen our ability to adapt to the effects of climate change, according to a new book launched by the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR).

The role of ecosystems in disaster risk reduction is one of the first volumes to compile latest knowledge and evidence on the links between ecosystems and disasters. It provides case studies from various geographical locations, types of ecosystems and hazards from around the world. The book was co-edited by experts from the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), IUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

“This book scientifically demonstrates what local people around the world intuitively know: that healthy ecosystems offer protection and resources for resisting and surviving disasters,” says Karen Sudmeier-Rieux of IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management and one of the editors of the book. “This is why it is better to work with, rather than against nature.”

During the past few decades the number of disasters and their impacts on communities worldwide has increased. As a result of climate change, this trend is set to continue, with an increase in the number of extreme weather events.

In many circumstances, healthy and well-managed ecosystems such as wetlands, forests, mangroves and reefs reduce this risk and act as physical protection for the people and the environment that are exposed to it.

“There is no such thing as a natural disaster, only natural hazards that due to a combination of social, political, economic and environmental contexts may cause severe damages to a community and result in a disaster,” says Marisol Estrella, UNEP’s Project Coordinator on Disaster Risk Reduction and the book’s co-editor. “This book shows evidence that restoring ecosystems and sustainably managing natural resources can play an essential role in strengthening people's ability to prevent and recover from such events.”

“Ecosystems allow us to address all the dimensions of risk: they can reduce the intensity and frequency of some environmental hazards and minimize the vulnerability of communities and their exposure," says Fabrice Renaud, Head of Section at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and lead editor of the book. "There is increasing evidence for this and examples are provided in the book.”

In the Chinese Hubei Province, a wetland restoration programme has reconnected lakes to the Yangtze River and rehabilitated 448 km2 of wetlands with a capacity to store up to 285 million m3 of floodwater. The local government subsequently further reconnected eight lakes covering 350 km2. In addition to contributing to flood mitigation, restored lakes and floodplains have enhanced biodiversity, increased income from fisheries by 20-30 % and improved water quality to drinkable level.

In Argentina, extensive areas of natural forest are protected for flood control, which is seen as a low-cost alternative to infrastructure, with added biodiversity benefits.

European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Switzerland and the Eastern European countries bordering the Danube River aim to mitigate floods by removing built infrastructure such as concrete river channels and restoring wetlands and rivers to improve their water retention capacity.

Many forests in the Alps protect people and their assets from rock falls, avalanches, erosion, landslides, debris flows and flooding. The management of these forests is five to ten times less expensive than the construction and maintenance of technical measures. In monetary terms, this risk reduction corresponds to approximately 1,000 Swiss francs per ha per year.

The book was written by 59 professionals from science and practice communities from around the world, representing state of the art knowledge, practices and perspectives on the topic. It was launched yesterday at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Best of our wild blogs: 21 May 13

About the Singapore Ladybird Diversity Survey
by sgbeetlenut and How Can YOU Help?

Three Tours!
from a.t.Bukit Brown. Heritage. Habitat. History.

New donut nudi on Day 1 of the Southern Expedition
from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore

Bukit Brown and Bidadari do not a Global Eco-city make
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Population of two
from Life's Indulgences

Blue-rumped Parrot eats starfruit (Averrhoa carambola)
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Beautiful Blue-Eared Kingfisher
from Photojournalist

Top Indonesian official calls out misinformation in environmental campaign
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

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Fishing with long nets endangers wildlife, people

Straits Times Forum 21 May 13;

MANY people have taken up recreational fishing as a hobby.

Using a fishing line seems to be the top choice of anglers. This is followed by using long nets that are stretched across the width of a river or canal - anything that gets caught in the net gets hauled out of the water. However, this poses a danger to certain creatures such as monitor lizards and terrapins, which may get caught in these nets.

Kayaks and motorised boats that ply the area may also get ensnared. I once saw the propeller of a boat getting caught in a long net at a canal in Kallang.

I hope the authorities will answer these questions:

- What fishing methods are permitted in our water bodies, and how do the authorities view the use of long nets in rivers and canals?

- What regulations are in place to protect wildlife in such areas?

To strike a balance between recreational fishing and wildlife conservation, signs could be put up to educate the public on how to fish using low-impact methods.

As a number of anglers are from countries such as China, India and Thailand, the signs should carry translations and make use of pictures to convey the message.

Mallika Naguran (Ms)

Have single agency to enforce law against illegal fishing
Straits Times 21 May 13;

WE HAVE made great strides in turning Singapore into a garden city with natural waterways and lush vegetation. However, are we doing enough to protect our precious fauna?

Every day, one spots people fishing in our reservoirs and canals despite the presence of "no fishing" signs. Besides using fishing rods, these poachers use long drift nets and fish traps.

The seeming lack of enforcement sends a wrong signal to the public that it is permissible to fish in our protected water bodies.

What penalties do these poachers face, or are they merely given a warning? Perhaps it is time to impose hefty fines and publicise these cases in media reports, to serve as a warning to others.

The present "no fishing" signs are not conspicuous and there is no hotline for people to call if they spot illegal fishing.

I have called the national water agency PUB but it was unable to locate the place I was trying to describe.

I also found out that parks come under the purview of the National Parks Board while the water bodies in them come under the PUB. This leads to confusion over which agency is in charge of enforcing the law against illegal fishing. Would it be better to have one agency in charge of all matters relating to the protection of our natural resources?

Lee Swee Mun

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Malaysia: Malacca tops in Hawksbill turtle landings

Jason Gerald John New Straits Times 20 May 13;

CONSERVATION SUCCESS: Padang Kemunting centre hatches 25,300 turtles for release to habitat

ALOR GAJAH: A total of 25,264 Hawksbill turtles have been successfully hatched at the Turtle Conservation and Information Centre in Padang Kemunting here last year, as part of efforts to save the species from extinction.

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Hassim Abdullah said the number made up 60.22 per cent of the 41,952 Hawksbill turtle eggs incubated at the centre.

Last year, some 353 turtle landings were recorded in the state.

"Malacca has the highest landings of the Hawksbill turtles in Peninsular Malaysia and one of the highest in Southeast Asia. Between 2006 and 2012, a total of 2,952 turtles have landed on the beaches of Malacca.

"This is a huge success for the conservation centre in Padang Kemunting, which began operations in 1990.

"It has now gained a reputation as one of the outstanding conservation centres, popular among local and foreign tourists and researchers," he said after releasing 120 Hawksbill hatchlings to the sea near the conservation centre.

The release was part of the Fisheries Department's 2013 Media Expedition Programme, jointly organised with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Skudai and SMK Ghafar Baba here

Also present were Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Ahmad Sabki Mahmood, Tanjung Bidara assemblyman Md Rawi Mahmod and state Fisheries Department director Rosmawati Ghazali.

Hassim said Malacca was now the most important location for turtle landings in the Southeast Asian region with Pulau Upeh, located off the coast of Klebang becoming a key location as between 350 and 550 turtles of various species, especially the Hawksbill, landed on its shores each year.

Ahmad Sabki said the Fisheries Department aimed to create safe landing areas on the beaches throughout the country, especially for the highly endangered Leatherback and Olive Ridley turtles.

"These two species of turtles are now under threat of extinction and we have established a monitoring and regulatory system with third parties in conducting various management and conservation programmes.

"The threat to these turtles include marine pollution, coastal erosion, exploitation of turtle eggs for food and fishing activities."

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Malaysia Hydropower Meeting to Open Amid Controversy

Agence France-Presse Jakarta Globe 20 May 13;

Kuching. The world hydroelectric industry’s decision to meet in a Malaysian state where dams have uprooted rainforests and native peoples is drawing bitter fire from environmental and tribal groups.

The International Hydropower Association’s four-day biennial meeting to push “sustainable hydropower” opens on Tuesday in Kuching, the languid capital of Sarawak state on Borneo island, and a highly contentious choice.

Sarawak’s powerful boss is widely accused of felling huge swathes of rainforest in a much-criticized dam-building drive.

Opponents of Taib Mahmud — Sarawak’s chief minister for 42 years — plan to hold their own “parallel congress” in Kuching and other protests, bringing to the capital a resistance campaign previously confined to the interior.

“The Taib government is using the IHA name to ‘greenwash’ all the damage it has done,” said Peter Kallang, head of Save Sarawak Rivers, a coalition of local NGOs and tribal groups.

“The IHA also will promote dams and get more business. It’s scandalous.”

Malaysia’s largest state, yet one of its poorest, Sarawak was a vast jungle wilderness of mighty rivers and hunter-gatherer tribes.

But activists say 95 percent of primary forest has been destroyed, accusing Taib of profiting through his grip on land and timber concessions.

Swiss-based forest-protection group Bruno Manser Fund estimates his worth at $15 billion, based on financial and corporate records, which would make him Malaysia’s richest man.

Taib, 76, is regularly cited by antigraft groups as the prime example of endemic corruption, which watchdogs say bleeds Malaysia of billions of dollars annually.

Yet Malaysian authorities have failed to act against Taib, whose political party is vital to keeping the 56-year ruling coalition in power.

“He is basically untouchable,” said BMF head Lukas Straumann.

Taib’s office did not respond to requests for comment. He has previously denied wrongdoing and defended his policies as necessary to develop Sarawak.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s office declined comment.

“IHA is pleased to be convening its congress where hydropower is under focus, and where we can share knowledge and experience,” IHA President Richard Taylor said in emailed comments to AFP, adding the congress will hear “alternative” voices.

But Kallang said those voices will be chosen by Taib, and that poor native stakeholders are excluded by high delegate fees.

The IHA board includes the head of Sarawak’s Taib-linked energy firm, which Kallang said raises questions about how Kuching was chosen.

Activists say Taib and his family, through control of some of Sarawak’s biggest companies, pocket huge kickbacks for ill-advised big projects.

Malaysia’s biggest dam, Sarawak’s Bakun hydroelectric facility, has been called a “monument to corruption” by Transparency International, displacing more than 10,000 people, many now living in squalid resettlements.

Officials admit Bakun will produce twice as much energy as Sarawak needs, yet plans for up to a dozen more dams have been mooted. Construction has begun at one, sparking native protests last year.

Resource-rich Sarawak remains poor and leaders are keen to diversify from mining, agriculture and forestry into heavier industries, saying ample power is needed to lure foreign investment.

Josie Fernandez, secretary-general of TI’s Malaysia office, said there are grave concerns about graft and further ecological damage from the industrial drive, adding Sarawak’s people have not benefited from Taib’s development.

“Sarawak is so rich in resources. It could have been developed for the good of its people, but hasn’t,” she said.

Renewable hydropower has received a boost amid climate-change concerns, especially in Asia with its growing energy needs. But projects in the region are often plagued by allegations of corruption and environmental and social harm.

Straumann said the Sarawak congress weakens the IHA’s credibility in addressing such problems.

Agence France-Presse

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Malaysia: 'Less than 1pc of forests illegally logged'

New Straits Times 20 May 13;

IPOH: The problem of illegal logging in the peninsula is under control, said Forestry Department director-general (peninsula) Professor Datuk Dr Abd Rahman Abd Rahim.

Abd Rahman said that of the 5.6 million hectares of forests in the country, less than one per cent was being illegally logged.

He said people tend to push the blame of illegal logging on the lack of enforcement by the department.

"Logging that is being carried out in government reserve land and privately owned land are not under our jurisdiction."

Asked on complaints of illegal logging in Cameron Highlands, Abd Rahman said the issue was best answered by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

Abd Rahman was reacting to a call by the Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands (REACH), a community-based organisation formed by a group of residents in Cameron Highlands, for Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, who is their newly elected member of parliament, to solve critical pollution issues in the constituency.

Its president, R. Ramakrishnan, said that uncontrolled land clearing carried out in several forest reserve areas was so severe that it was causing river pollution in Cameron Highlands.

In Kuala Lumpur, Palanivel said destruction of forests and hillslopes, mainly in Cameron Highlands, should be stopped.

Palanivel, who is also natural resources and environment minister, said that there was rampant and careless destruction of forests, not only in Cameron Highlands, but also in other areas, including Sabah and Sarawak.

He said he would set up a special team from his ministry to work together with state governments to look into the matter.

"The ministry already has some plans in line and it is my duty to implement them as well as initiate further action."

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Why We Need to Put the Fish Back Into Fisheries

Science Daily 19 May 13;

May 19, 2013 — Overfishing has reduced fish populations and biodiversity across much of the world's oceans. In response, fisheries are increasingly reliant on a handful of highly valuable shellfish. However, new research by the University of York shows this approach to be extremely risky.

The research, published today in the journal Fish and Fisheries, shows that traditional fisheries targeting large predators such as cod and haddock, have declined over the past hundred years. In their place, catches of shellfish such as prawns, scallops and lobsters have rocketed as they begin to thrive in unnaturally predator-low environments often degraded by the passage of trawls and dredges.

In many places, including the UK, shellfish are now the most valuable marine resource. The research by the Environment Department at York suggests that although a shellfish-dominated ecosystem appears beneficial from an economic perspective, it is highly risky. Like simplified agricultural systems, these shellfisheries are unstable in the long-term and at great risk of collapse from disease, species invasions and climate change. Warming and acidification of our oceans due to greenhouse gas emissions is expected to affect shellfish worst. Ocean acidification, in particular, will limit the ability of scallops and other shellfish to form proper shells, and lead to widespread mortality.

Lead author, Leigh Howarth, says: "Prawns are now the most valuable fishery in the UK, with catches currently worth over £110 million a year. But this fishery has come to exist only after we overexploited populations of cod, haddock and other predators. If shellfish now collapsed the social consequences for fishermen would be devastating. There are simply very few remaining species left to target."

The study reports similar findings from all over the world. In the United States and Canada, catches of lobster, scallops and crab have also come to dominate following the collapse of cod. However, disease and climate change again put these species at great risk. While in the Black Sea, Baltic and off the west coast of Africa, overfishing of large predators have caused the ecosystems to become overrun with jellyfish, resulting in severe oxygen depletion and eruptions of hydrogen sulphide, thereby wiping out important food chains across 100,000 square kilometres of seabed.

Co-author Dr Bryce Stewart adds: "Shellfish make a valuable contribution to our fisheries. But we cannot just assume everything is rosy. There is an urgent need for continued improvements in management of finfish fisheries, and an ecosystem approach which rebuilds the diversity, resilience and productivity of our oceans into the future."

Co-author Professor Callum Roberts concludes: "The rise of shellfish has been welcomed by many as a lifeline for the fishing industry. However, such changes are not a result of successful management, but rather a result of management failure, a failure to protect stocks and their habitats in the face of industry innovation and overfishing. This study highlights why the UK needs to urgently act to protect our seas. We need more marine protected areas to stop our seas from becoming a wasteland and to restore the diversity and productivity of fisheries well into the future."

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Best of our wild blogs: 20 May 13

Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [13 - 19 May 2013]
from Green Business Times

Biodiversity for kids during the June school holidays
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

Butterflies Feeding on Ripened Melastoma Fruits
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Random Gallery - Two Sergeants
from Butterflies of Singapore

Giant Top Shell
from Monday Morgue

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A transportation plan that crosses the line

Vinita Ramani Mohan Today Online 20 May 13;

I continue to read with dismay the ongoing plans to develop the Cross Island Line, which will cause habitat damage in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

As one who is interested in regional development issues, I have travelled widely in South-east Asia.

Citizens I have met from large, densely populated cities such as Bangkok, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta seem somewhat resigned to the pollution, traffic and poor urban planning in their cities.

But they are proud of their respective country and its vast hinterlands: Beaches, hillsides, forest reserves and ancient monuments or temples nestled in jungles.

Friends from smaller cities such as Dili, Phnom Penh and rapidly developing Yangon are determined to ensure that their cities are green, well-planned and mindful of conservation values.

But they, too, have hinterland to be proud of, and they tell me to venture into provinces beyond the capital or main city.

Here lies the critical difference between Singapore and almost every other country in the region: We have no real hinterland.

We would tell visitors to head to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Bukit Brown, the rail corridor or farms in Lim Chu Kang. We are proud of these places, since we have nothing by way of vast countryside, ancient temples or other heritage sites.

Each time I go away and return to Singapore, I long for our nature reserves. I am not a botanist or zoologist, but I feel a proud sense of stewardship and marvel at what exists on such a tiny island.

We withdraw from the crowds in urban areas and visibly relax in an environment that alleviates stress.

I take foreign visitors to these places and emphasise this: What we lack in size, we more than make up for in the diversity of species that our natural environment, the primeval and old secondary growth forests, support.

There is also a strong spiritual and cultural value attached to these places. I see Singaporeans meditating, doing tai chi and stilling their minds in the forest reserves. I see families teaching their children about nature.

The Cross Island Line is worrying because it sends the message that we need not care about stewardship and responsibility.

Unlike the Burmese, Cambodians or others in the region, we have little to point to as our heritage and legacy. The forests are our heritage, a vital relic of old Singapore. They existed long before immigrants arrived here, and they survived colonial rule and the war.

It would be a pity to see them irreparably damaged by transportation developments.

In a word, destroyed by Singaporeans who have a responsibility to protect their land.

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Changi Airport steps up in the battle against stray wildlife

Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 19 May 13;

SINGAPORE: A truck that "thinks its a bird" -- Changi Airport's weapon of choice for scattering winged wildlife off its premises. A loudhailer, which emits birds' distress calls, is mounted above the truck -- helping chase away stray wildlife.

Singapore's air hub is finding innovative ways to keep stray animals from crashing into planes.

Four patrols are done daily from dawn to dusk to scour the airport for stray wildlife. More patrols are added during peak seasons when birds migrate, typically towards the year-end.

Afzal Laily, a patrol officer with the wildlife management team at Changi Airport, said: "What we look out for is birds. Birds in concentration. Things like bird species. And birds in concentration is not good for the airport, so what we do is bird dispersal."

Mimicking birds' distress calls to disperse them is one method.

Another is using anti-perching devices to discourage the creatures from roosting.

See Seng Wan, vice president of airside operations at Changi Airport, said: "Changi Airport is actually located in a area whereby you have a coast on one side, and a little bit of forested area on the other side. And definitely it's a very good place for wildlife to come, but we're trying our very best and taking all kinds of measures to minimise the wildlife coming (into the airport)."

On the list of new measures that may be introduced include the use of bird deterrent chemicals, avian radars and bird dispersing lasers.

In 2012, over 27,000 planes took off and landed monthly.

An average of 13 aircraft and wildlife collision reports are lodged every four weeks, but flight delays seldom result. That is because in a contest of wills, the "metal bird" usually triumphs over the real one.

- CNA/ac

Changi keeps fowl-ups to a minimum
Airport adopts measures to halve cases of birds hitting planes
Royston Sim Straits Times 20 May 13;

WHEN a bird comes up against an aeroplane, the result is not always pretty, sometimes even for the machine.

But various initiatives, from mimicking birds' distress calls to covering canals, has seen Changi Airport halve the number of such wildlife strikes from 13 to around seven a month in the last year.

The most serious incident to date happened last June, when a Brahminy Kite, a medium-sized bird of prey, flew into the engine of an Airbus A320 shortly after its wheels touched the ground.

The arriving plane's schedule was delayed by around two hours, as airport staff removed the carcass and inspected the aeroplane to ensure it was safe to fly.

Such incidents are rare at Changi, which has more than 27,000 flights per month. Most wildlife strikes are minor, with little or no damage to aircraft.

Yet they can pose significant problems, said Changi Airport Group (CAG) vice-president of airside management See Seng Wan.

In 2009, in what has been labelled the "Miracle on the Hudson", a US Airways plane struck a flock of geese after take-off and lost power in both engines. Its pilot made an emergency landing in New York's Hudson River. All 155 occupants were safely evacuated.

The issue of wildlife strikes is more pertinent for Changi which, given its proximity to wooded areas and the coast, naturally attracts animals. Birds commonly spotted there include mynas, crows and egrets.

The largest is the white-bellied sea eagle, which weighs up to 4kg. Other wildlife include bats, snakes and dogs.

To minimize the risk of wildlife strikes, CAG has ramped up a range of initiatives to keep birds and other animals out. Its wildlife management team, which comprises 12 officers, began conducting four to six two-hour patrols a day last year, compared to eight times a month previously.

Birds spotted near aircraft movement areas are dispersed by broadcasting bird distress calls from the patrol vehicle or through loudhailers. Officers can select up to 20 calls that mimic the sounds made by different species when in distress.

All bird sightings and subsequent actions taken are recorded in a system, so hot spots can be identified.

There are specific measures for different birds. Distress calls are mainly for birds that flock, while anti-perching devices were installed on railings in three locations last year to discourage larger birds.

Added Mr See: "Birds and animals are always looking for two things, food and shelter. So we also try and eradicate their source of food."

The CAG horticulture team ensures no fruit-bearing trees or plants that attract animals are planted within the airport.

Its engineering team has a grass cutting and maintenance programme that keeps the 600ha of turf around the airport unattractive to birds. For instance, grass is not cut when it is wet, so that the soft topsoil along with its insects will not be churned out and attract birds, said Mr See.

All dustbins are covered so animals cannot forage for food. Staff are also forbidden from eating or drinking airside, where aircraft can access, and those caught face a fine.

CAG works with various partners such as the National University of Singapore's Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, which conducts a quarterly census to determine the amount of bird activity within the airport.

Another partner is the Nature Society, which shares its knowledge of local bird species and helps identify unknown carcasses.

Its bird group chairperson Alan Owyong said the key solutions are to remove nesting sites and food sources. He has also advised CAG to cover bodies of water, which attract birds such as herons, and it has taken action.

The CAG has awarded a contract to cover these bodies of water, which include canals, with netting. Its staff also remove silt and floating plants from these areas.

All these measures have brought the number of reported bird strikes down by half, and without the CAG having to cull birds in the past three years.

Still, it is currently assessing new methods to manage wildlife, such as long-range acoustic devices and grass sprays which help keep birds away.

Said CAG spokesman Robin Goh: "Animals are naturally able to adapt, so we constantly explore new measures to manage wildlife for the safety of our flights and passengers - which is always top priority."

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From risk to opportunity: reducing the risk of disasters the natural way

IUCN 19 May 13;

Healthy ecosystems and sound environmental management can go a long way in protecting people from disasters. But this fact is not yet widely appreciated among the many parties responsible for reducing the risk of disasters and responding to them once they happen.

The task of IUCN experts gathering in Geneva this week is to showcase the evidence that conserving biodiversity and improving the way we manage ecosystems such as forests, river basins and wetlands can boost human security and sustainability.

IUCN’s delegation will be talking to government agencies, insurance companies, humanitarian aid organizations, civil society agencies and many others at the Fourth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction that starts today.

Human and economic losses from hazards such as floods, landslides and hurricanes are increasing at an unprecedented rate/intensity with environmental destruction and climate change as the main causes.

Environmental degradation reduces the capacity of ecosystems to meet people’s needs for food and water, and to protect them from hazards through flood regulation, slope stabilization and coastal protection.

“The services provided by ecosystems are not luxury but rather a basic necessity to disaster risk reduction. We must work with nature if we are to keep ourselves safe while facing an increasingly hazardous time,” says Radhika Murti of IUCN’s Ecosystems Management Programme.

“The lessons we have learned are that investing in nature-based solutions not only reduces risk by being better prepared, but can also be a cost-effective means to address restoration and recovery,” says Trevor Sandwith, Director of IUCN’s Global Protected Areas Programme.

“Global studies such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) indicate clearly that the maintenance of healthy and resilient ecosystems are a foundation of any strategy for sustainable development,” adds Sandwith.

There are many examples of nature-based approaches being successfully implemented. In Switzerland, management of ‘protection forests’ is approximately 5-10 times less expensive than the construction and maintenance of alternative technical measures to reduce risks from rock falls.

In South Africa, the Working for Water Programme has resulted in watershed restoration for job creation, business and skills development, water production, flood and fire risk management and biodiversity conservation.

Japan, a highly influential country in the disaster/humanitarian aid community, recently declared a national park along the entire coast that was affected by the March 2011 tsunami. It also plans to expand existing protected areas to restore the coastal and marine ecosystem, together with the associated fisheries and livelihoods, in cooperation with local communities.

The Global Platform is the world's leading gathering of stakeholders committed to reducing disaster risk and building the resilience of communities and nations. This conference aims to build the momentum of prior meetings into a sustained effort from all actors (governments, NGOs, international agencies and organizations, academic and technical institutions and the private sector) to take shared responsibility in reducing risks and reinforcing human resilience.

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Climate change meltdown unlikely but human disaster looms, claims new research

But forecast global temperature rise of 4C heralds disaster for large swaths of planet with oceans absorbing most global warming
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 19 May 13;

Some of the most extreme predictions of global warming are unlikely to materialise, new scientific research has suggested, but the world is still likely to be in for a temperature rise of double that regarded as safe.

The researchers said that warming was most likely to reach about 4C above pre-industrial levels if the past decade's readings were taken into account.

That would still lead to catastrophe across large swaths of the Earth, causing droughts, storms, floods and heatwaves and with drastic effects on agricultural productivity leading to secondary effects such as mass migration.

Some climate change sceptics have suggested that because the highest global average temperature yet recorded was in 1998, climate change has stalled. The new study, which is published in the journal Nature Geoscience, shows a much longer "pause" would be needed to suggest that the world was not warming rapidly.

Alexander Otto, at the University of Oxford, lead author of the research, told the Guardian that there was much that climate scientists could still not fully factor into their models. He said that most of the recent warming had been absorbed by the oceans, but this would change as the seas heat up. The thermal expansion of the oceans is one of the main factors behind current and projected sea level rises.

The highest global average temperature ever recorded was in 1998, under the effects of a strong El Niño, a southern Pacific weather system associated with warmer and stormy weather, which oscillates with a milder system called La Niña. Since then, the trend of average global surface temperatures has shown a clear rise above the long-term averages – the 10 warmest years on record have been since 1998 – but climate sceptics have claimed that this represents a pause in warming.

Otto said that this most recent pattern could not be taken as evidence that climate change has stopped. "Given the noise in the climate and temperature system, you would need to see a much longer period of any pause in order to draw the conclusion that global warming was not occurring," he said. Such a period could be as long as 40 years of the climate record, he said.

Otto said the study found that most of the climate change models used by scientists were "pretty accurate". A comprehensive global study of climate change science is expected to be published in September by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, its first major report since 2007.

Jochem Marotzke, professor at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg and a co-author of the paper, said: "It is important not to over-interpret a single decade, given what we know, and don't know, about natural climate variability. Over the past decade, the world as a whole has continued to warm, but the warming is mostly in the subsurface oceans rather than at the surface."

Other researchers also warned that there was little comfort to be taken from the new estimates – greenhouse gas emissions are rising at a far higher rate than had been predicted by this stage of the 21st century, and set to rise even further, so estimates for how much warming is likely will also have to be upped.

Richard Allan, reader in climate at the University of Reading, said: "This work has used observations to estimate Earth's current heating rate and demonstrate that simulations of climate change far in the future seem to be pretty accurate. However, the research also indicates that a minority of simulations may be responding more rapidly towards this overall warming than the observations indicate."

He said the effect of pollutants in the atmosphere, which reflect the sun's heat back into space, was particularly hard to measure.

He noted the inferred sensitivity of climate to a doubling of carbon dioxide concentrations based on this new study, suggesting a rise of 1.2C to 3.9C was consistent with the range from climate simulations of 2.2C to 4.7C. He said: "With work like this, our predictions become ever better."

Climate slowdown means extreme rates of warming 'not as likely'
Matt McGrath BBC News 19 May 13;

Scientists say the recent downturn in the rate of global warming will lead to lower temperature rises in the short-term.

Since 1998, there has been an unexplained "standstill" in the heating of the Earth's atmosphere.

Writing in Nature Geoscience, the researchers say this will reduce predicted warming in the coming decades.

But long-term, the expected temperature rises will not alter significantly.

The slowdown in the expected rate of global warming has been studied for several years now. Earlier this year, the UK Met Office lowered their five-year temperature forecast.

But this new paper gives the clearest picture yet of how any slowdown is likely to affect temperatures in both the short-term and long-term.

An international team of researchers looked at how the last decade would impact long-term, equilibrium climate sensitivity and the shorter term climate response.
Transient nature

Climate sensitivity looks to see what would happen if we doubled concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere and let the Earth's oceans and ice sheets respond to it over several thousand years.

Transient climate response is much shorter term calculation again based on a doubling of CO2.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2007 that the short-term temperature rise would most likely be 1-3C (1.8-5.4F).

But in this new analysis, by only including the temperatures from the last decade, the projected range would be 0.9-2.0C.

"The hottest of the models in the medium-term, they are actually looking less likely or inconsistent with the data from the last decade alone," said Dr Alexander Otto from the University of Oxford.

"The most extreme projections are looking less likely than before."

The authors calculate that over the coming decades global average temperatures will warm about 20% more slowly than expected.

But when it comes to the longer term picture, the authors say their work is consistent with previous estimates. The IPCC said that climate sensitivity was in the range of 2.0-4.5C.
Ocean storage

This latest research, including the decade of stalled temperature rises, produces a range of 0.9-5.0C.

"It is a bigger range of uncertainty," said Dr Otto.

"But it still includes the old range. We would all like climate sensitivity to be lower but it isn't."

The researchers say the difference between the lower short-term estimate and the more consistent long-term picture can be explained by the fact that the heat from the last decade has been absorbed into and is being stored by the world's oceans.

Not everyone agrees with this perspective.

Prof Steven Sherwood, from the University of New South Wales, says the conclusion about the oceans needs to be taken with a grain of salt for now.

"There is other research out there pointing out that this storage may be part of a natural cycle that will eventually reverse, either due to El Nino or the so-called Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and therefore may not imply what the authors are suggesting," he said.

The authors say there are ongoing uncertainties surrounding the role of aerosols in the atmosphere and around the issue of clouds.

"We would expect a single decade to jump around a bit but the overall trend is independent of it, and people should be exactly as concerned as before about what climate change is doing," said Dr Otto.

Is there any succour in these findings for climate sceptics who say the slowdown over the past 14 years means the global warming is not real?

"None. No comfort whatsoever," he said.

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