Indonesia: President Takes to Twitter Over Riau Haze Debacle

Yudo Dahono Jakarta Globe 14 Mar 14;

Jakarta. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono aired his frustration over the Riau administration’s unsuccessful attempts to get the province’s annual forest fires under control in a flurry of tweets posted to his official Twitter account.

“I understand the restlessness and anger of some of the people over the smoke and fire happening in Riau again. *SBY*” Yudhoyono tweeted on Wednesday night.

The president criticized the local administration of failing to stop illegal land clearing on Wednesday as the haze blanketing Riau province worsened this week, spreading as far as Bukittingi, West Sumatra, where visibility dropped to 300 meters. This year’s haze, which previously showed signs of ending without a significant impact on the region, returned earlier this month as forest fires spread.

On Thursday, most of Riau and West Sumatra reported significant levels of haze, with nearly 50,000 suffering respiratory distress in Pekanbaru and the surrounding areas, according to reports by BBC Indonesia. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported some 183 hotspots after viewing satellite images, the BBC reported.

The BNPB plans to do additional water drops from helicopters on Friday in the latest effort to douse the flames. The agency is also working with the Indonesian Air Force to conduct cloud seeding above the heaviest hit areas, according to reports in the local news portal Jaringnews.com.

“We are prepared to cloud seed tomorrow,” Syamsul Maarif, of the BNPB, told Jaringnews.com on Thursday. “We’re planning to seed [the area] to reduce the intensity of the haze.”

Police have charged 40 people with setting fire to forest and scrubland as of Friday, according to the Indonesian news portal Tempo.co. One company, Nasional Sagu Prima, was also charged with the fires after officers reportedly discovered fires on 21 thousands hectares of land owned by the plantation company, according to the local news portal Riau Terkini.

The company, a subsidiary of Sampoerna Agro, was implicated in the haze earlier this week. Police are now investigating a dozen other companies over hotspots seen inside their concessions.

Those caught setting fires should face harsh penalties, Syamsul said.

“It is a national crime, many people are affected by the [poor] conditions,” he said. “The state will punish the perpetrators straight away.”

If local officials in Riau fail to get the burning under control, the president will oversee the mitigation efforts himself, Yudhoyono tweeted.

“If in the next 1-2 days the Riau Administration and the ministers can’t handle it, I will take over the leadership and mitigation. *SBY*” he wrote.

Government prepares water bombs to mitigate Riau haze
Antara 13 Mar 14;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will drop water bombs in several hotspots to mitigate haze from land fires in the Riau Province on Friday.

"We will deploy Hercules C-130 from Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Base to drop water bombs in several hotspots in Riau," the Chief of Information of National Disaster Mitigation Agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said here on Thursday.

The haze had spread to another city outside the Riau Province, Padang City in West Sumatra Province, and disrupted several flight schedules.

"The visibility range in the Sultan Syarif Kasim II of Pekanbaru City decreased from 500 meters on the morning to 300 meters in the afternoon," he said.

The haze also affected the air quality in Pekanbaru, which caused respiratory diseases.

"The people who suffered from respiratory diseases had increased. The preliminary report from the local health sub-official noted that at least 49,591 people suffered from these illnesses, due to haze," Sutopo said.

Sutopo added that the thick haze also affected the operation of weather modification and water bombing efforts.

"The government effort to mitigate the hotspots by dropping water bombs was hampered as the haze affected the visibility range of the airplane," he added.

He said the government hoped the haze would decrease so that the water bombing flight can be operated.

The haze disaster in the Riau Province had affected the activities and health of 37,500 people in the last six weeks, causing them to suffer from respiratory infections.

There are tens of flight schedules from and bound for Pekanbaru that have been delayed or canceled due to haze.

The Riau province had suffered a loss estimated at Rp10 trillion due to haze from forest and plantation fires.

Riau provincial administration had declared a state of emergency, following the expanding forest and plantation fires, mostly set deliberately to clear land for new plantations. (*)

Editor: Heru

Haze halts flights in Sumatra, 3 men nabbed
The Jakarta Post 14 Mar 14;

Thick haze has disrupted flights in Sumatra due to a lack of visibility.

Several flights were canceled on Thursday at Minangkabau International Airport (BIM) in Ketaping, Padang, West Sumatra.

The general manager for state-run airport management firm PT Angkasa Pura II, Rian Hadihito, said three Citilink flights had been canceled as visibility at BIM dropped to 700 meters, while Garuda Indonesia delayed a flight from Jakarta to BIM.

“Flights early in the morning landed and departed as normal, but they were disrupted from 9 a.m. local time as visibility went down to 700 meters. At 2:20 p.m., the flight schedule returned to normal as visibility increased to 1,000 meters,” Rian told The Jakarta Post.

Besides Minangkabau airport, all flight arrivals and departures at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, were canceled, Antara reported on Thursday

Separately, Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan confirmed the cancelation of the flights, which included both domestic and international routes, due to the lack of visibility because of the haze.

“We won’t jeopardize people’s safety,” he said on the sidelines of an event at the Vice Presidential Office on Thursday, adding that he had urged local administrations to provide travel alternatives for the public.

Mangindaan added that the government would continue to ground flights if the haze posed a threat to safety.

The West Sumatra administration has issued an emergency haze alert due to the continuing density of the haze originating from neighboring Riau province.

At least eight of the 19 cities and regencies in West Sumatra have been affected by the haze, which has restricted visibility to less than 800 meters.

West Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Yazid Fadli said the emergency alert, which the administration issued on Wednesday, would remain in place until further notice.

“We have told each city and regency to set up emergency response posts, distribute masks, monitor air quality every day and instruct schools to close if conditions become a health hazard,” Yazid said.

He added that the BPBD had run out of masks, while all those sold privately had sold out. The BPBD is currently getting more supplies, but a lot of parties need to be involved in replenishing the masks.

“[West Sumatra] Governor Irwan Prayitno has verbally complained to the Riau governor and is due to send him a formal letter,” he said.

Meanwhile, the police in Jambi are holding three people on suspicion of setting fires in the People’s Forest Park (Tahura), located in Muaro Jambi regency. They are currently being detained at Jambi Police headquarters.

Jambi Police chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Almansyah said the three suspects had been identified as Nofri, 39, a heavy vehicle operator from Kota Baru, Jambi city; Harjo Tamin, 63, a farmer, also from Kota Baru; and Sutrisno, 30, a farmer from Muara Sabak.

Almansyah said the three men had been arrested at the park on Tuesday by a joint team comprising personnel from the Jambi Police, Muaro Jambi Police and the local Forestry Agency. Police seized evidence in the form of an excavator and chain saws.

“The three men were apprehended in Tanjung village, Kumpeh Ilir district, Muaro Jambi, as they were clearing a 12-hectare plot within the Muarojambi Tahura,” Almansyah said on Wednesday.

The suspects allegedly felled trees with the chain saws and later burned them, while the heavy machinery was used to dig trenches.

Ina Parlina contributed from Jakarta

Chevron to relocate employee families affected by haze
The Jakarta Post 13 Mar 14;

PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI), the local subsidiary of US-based oil company Chevron, plans to relocate the families of its employees from areas affected by air pollution from land fires, to avoid negative health effects.

“Chevron plans to relocate those who seem to be at high risk of developing haze-related problems -- such as newborns, pregnant women, children under five years old and people with a history of lung or heart disease -- and have recommendations from the Chevron Medical team,” said Chevron Riau communications manager Tiva Permata on Thursday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

She further said the employees’ families could evacuate to guesthouses at Camp Rumbai, provided by Chevron, or could stay with other families living in locations with better air quality.

Tiva said that affected employees as well as other Chevron employees who were not included on the recommendation list from the medical team could leave on furlough with approval from their superiors.

Air quality in several areas of Riau, such as Bangko, Dumai, Duri and Rumbai, has worsened due to pollution caused by thick haze from land fires in the province.

Tiva said Chevron had initiated joint measures with the local administration to control the situation by -- among others things -- dispatching fire brigades to land-burning locations near its operating areas.

Chevron has also distributed masks and information on air quality to residents in need.

Internally, Tiva said, Chevron had taken all measures necessary to guarantee the safety and the health of its employees and their families.

“Chevron has distributed respirators to all employees and their families, informing them to refrain from activities outside their homes and to close ventilation in their houses to avoid smoke, and to prepare relocation plans as well,” said Tiva. (yln/ebf)

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Malaysian scientist awarded coveted marine conservation fellowship

Yahoo Newsroom 14 Mar 14;

For the first time, a Malaysian scientist has been awarded the coveted 2014 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation to conduct new research on Malaysia’s population of dugongs.

Pew Fellows receive USD150,000 (RM491,000) for a three-year project to address conservation issues facing the world’s oceans and Dr Louisa Shobhini Ponnampalam, a scientist with Universiti Malaya and co-founder of NGO, the MareCet Research Organisaton, will identify areas that are critical for the country’s last remaining population of dugongs.

Using the findings of this research, Dr Ponnampalam will make recommendations to protect the dugong’s habitat.

“Seagrass beds in Malaysia, which are a crucial part of the dugong’s habitat and diet, and support a diversity of marine life including our seafood resources, are currently not afforded any legal provisions,” said Ponnampalam.

“This project would allow us to further understand dugong distribution and behavior and their reliance on this particular area, so that government authorities can soon make informed decisions about enabling the protection of important habitat areas,” she said in a statement.

For the next three years, Ponnampalam will gather scientific data on dugongs and their habitat using visual, acoustic, and underwater surveys. This research will also assist other scientists working to protect dugongs around the world.

The dugong is currently listed as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, but certain populations of dugongs are likely to be critically endangered, including those found along the coasts of Malaysia.

These herbivorous marine mammals and their seagrass habitats are threatened by human activities such as coastal development, commercial fishing, and a lack of provision for habitat protection.

“The dugong is an increasingly rare and fascinating creature, but little of the habitat it relies on is protected within its range,” said executive vice president and head of environment initiatives for for The Pew Charitable Trusts Joshua S. Reichert.

“Dr. Ponnampalam’s study will shed light on how and where dugongs live in Peninsular Malaysia, and will encourage an exchange of data among countries to better protect these extraordinary creatures,” he added.

Ponnampalam is a research fellow at the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences of the University of Malaya in Malaysia. She earned a B.A. in marine science at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and a Ph.D. in marine biology at the University Marine Biological Station Millport, a program of the University of London. She also co-founded The MareCet Research Organization in 2012, a local NGO dedicated solely to the research and conservation of marine mammals as a basis for marine conservation.

The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation has awarded 135 fellowships to individuals from 31 countries. The fellowships fund projects that address critical challenges in ocean conservation

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Malaysia: Wild elephants a danger on highways

The Star 14 Mar 14;

HERDS of wild elephants seen walking along the East-West Highway between Perak and Kelantan are posing a danger to motorists, says Datuk Hasbullah Osman (BN-Gerik).

He said there are an increasing number of elephants in the area because some of them were caught elsewhere and relocated to the Royal Belum Forest Reserve bordering Gerik.

“Although attempts have been made to fence off the road to prevent elephants walking along the highway, the danger to motorists is still there.

“You can see them walking along the highway,” he said in his motion of thanks on the Royal Address.

He called on the Wildlife and National Parks Department to create an elephant sanctuary along the border of the Belum Royal Forest and his constituency.

Hasbullah said villagers, especially small rubber holders, have suffered financial losses after their crops were damaged by the elephants.

Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah (BN-Lenggong) supported Hasbullah’s call for a new elephant sanctuary. He said farmers in his constituency also faced the same issue as their areas bordered the Belum forest reserve.

“The farmers lost hundreds of thousands of ringgit. There was a recent case in a village where an entire 200ha of crops belonging to a villager was destroyed by wild elephants, which resulted in RM500,000 in losses,” he added.

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Malaysia: Green groups in overdrive to preserve Selangor State Park

isabelle lai The Star 14 Mar 14;

PETALING JAYA: With slightly less than two weeks left to provide feedback over the degazetting of parts of the Selangor State Park for a road, environmental groups are going into overdrive to get at least 100,000 signatures against the project.

Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) conservation head Balu Perumal said the Protection of the Selangor State Park (SSP) coalition, of which MNS is part, had gathered around 500 signatures so far.

“We have to work 10 times harder. We are taking it upon ourselves to spread awareness among the public and we need support,” he told The Star.

Balu said that based on the latest public notice by the Selangor Forestry Department published on Feb 26, stakeholders could voice their objections to the proposal within 30 days.

The proposal aims to degazette 106.55ha of land from four forest reserves, namely the Ampang, Bukit Seputeh, Ulu Gombak and Ulu Langat forest reserves for the Kuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road project. The Ampang and Ulu Gombak reserves form part of the state park.

More information can be found at selangorstatepark.blogspot.com.

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Coral triangle ratification needs Indonesia's leadership

Alan T. White and Abdul Halim Jakarta Post 14 Mar 14;

The six-country Coral Triangle Initiative created to ensure the survival of one of the most critical coastal and marine habitats on earth is at a decisive moment. The Indonesian government, as both the brainchild of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) and the leader of its interim secretariat, should push forward on formal establishment of the institution before political will and funds run out.

After seven years in the making, the world is looking to the six countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste — to cement their commitment through the May 2014 launch of the permanent CTI-CFF Secretariat. The lives and livelihoods within the Coral Triangle region depend on a multi-national approach to reverse the imminent collapse of this incredibly important and severely threatened shared coastal and marine resource. As the largest of the CTI-CFF countries and most populous, Indonesia’s leadership at this moment is crucial.

Stretching across marine waters that bridge the natural resources of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and their related seas, the Coral Triangle is recognized as the global center of marine diversity. It is home to more than 600 species of coral (over 75 percent of the global total), more than 3,000 species of reef fishes (almost 40 percent of the global diversity), six out of seven marine turtle species, over 30 percent of the world’s coral reef area (17 percent are within Indonesian waters), and the largest extent of mangrove forests in the world.

More than 130 million people in the six countries depend directly on these fish and marine resources as their principal source of income, food and livelihoods. But these resources are under significant and increasing threat, with more than 85 percent threatened by overfishing, destructive fishing, watershed-based pollution and the impacts of coastal development. When the influence of rising sea temperatures is combined with these local threats, the portion of coral reefs rated as threatened increases to more than 90 percent.

In response to these threats and in recognition of the incredible value of natural marine resources at risk, in May 2009, the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste signed the Coral Triangle Initiative Declaration on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF). The CTI-CFF is a multilateral partnership that aims to safeguard the marine and coastal resources of the Coral Triangle region. The six Coral Triangle countries collectively adopted a regional plan of action, followed by each country’s adoption of a national plan of action.

More than US$200 million in multiyear grants has been committed by various international donor agencies to directly support implementation of the Coral Triangle Initiative, and each Coral Triangle country has substantially increased its own national investments in coastal and marine resources management.

For example, Indonesia has mandated the 3.3 million hectare Savu Sea National Marine Park, the largest in the Coral Triangle region and has instituted a process to review and improve the effectiveness of all of its marine protected areas. The Philippines has budgeted for a major national coral reef restoration program, Malaysia is progressing to gazette its largest marine protected area to date located in Sabah which will utilize state-of-the-art design criteria, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have both scaled up their national marine resources management programs through improved legislation and capacity building at the local scale, and Timor Leste is actively beginning implementation and community engagement in its one large marine protected area.

But the six Coral Triangle countries must still ratify the CTI-CFF agreement which will authorize the operation of a permanent regional secretariat and establish the CTI-CFF as a permanent program, to coordinate the enhanced protection and stewardship of the coastal resources and well-being of coastal communities in the region.

The ratification is not yet done and several key actions are pending which must be accomplished in the next two months, because the official launch of the CTI-CFF Permanent Secretariat it scheduled for mid-May in Manado. Of the six countries, only Malaysia has ratified the CTI-CFF agreement in 2013 and the other five countries, including Indonesia, are still completing the ratification procedures.

The initiative has attracted support from members of the G8 and global and regional bodies. Today, the core CTI-CFF partners include the United States, Australia, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, the Global Environment Facility, international NGOs — The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International — and the Coral Triangle Center. These partners believe that it is critical for the ratification to be accomplished very soon to ensure that the investment of the last five years by all concerned is not jeopardized.

In the case of Indonesia, it was President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who initiated and led the CTI-CFF process in the margin of the UN Convention on Climate Change meetings in Bali in 2007. Then in May 2009, Indonesia hosted the six Presidents of each CTI-CFF country in Manado to endorse the CTI-CFF regional plan of action. Indonesia also contributed the time and expertise of key staff in the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry to assist in guiding the CTI-CFF activities since 2009.

We strongly encourage the government to sign for ratification of the document soon. This action will once again show the true leadership of Indonesia and President Yudhoyono of the CTI-CFF, which will encourage the other countries to follow so that the Permanent CTI-CFF Secretariat can be formalized in May in Manado on the fifth anniversary of the CTI-CFF launch.

Alan T. White is a senior scientist of the Indo-Pacific division at The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Abdul Halim is senior marine policy advisor of the Indonesian Program at TNC.

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Vietnam to clean river with $4 mil mangroves project

Thanhnien news 13 Mar 14;

Vietnam will clean up a heavily-polluted river with the help of mangroves and German experts thanks to a new US$4.13 million project.

The Thi Vai River in Dong Nai Province neighboring Ho Chi Minh City will be filtered by mangrove forests downstream in the city’s coastal district of Can Gio, thanks to a new project announced Monday by the Institute of Environment and Natural Resources at Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City and partners from the Technical University of Braunschweig.

Prof. Nguyen Van Phuoc, head of the institute, said the new method has shown effects in several countries as mangroves can absorb pollutants, especially those from the leather industries like hard metallic element chromium, which has been discharged illegally and in copious amounts into the Thi Vai by local factories.

The experts said the project will treat waste discharged from factories along the river first before pushing the pollution down to Can Gio.

The Thi Vai is a tributary of the Dong Nai River, the longest to run exclusively within Vietnam.

The results will be officially announced October next year as the project is scheduled to finish in June.

The project began in July 2012, aiming to build an environment management system for the area, taking into effect the possibly disastrous effects of climate change.

The Taiwanese MSG maker Vedan dumped 105 million liters of untreated wastewater into Thi Vai through a secret pipe system between 1994 and 2008, when the scheme was uncovered.

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Best of our wild blogs: 13 Mar 14

Butterflies Galore! : Suffused Flash
from Butterflies of Singapore

Heron Watch - participate in the second island-wide survey of resident herons of Singapore from Habitatnews

Conservationists catch wild Sumatran rhino, raising hope for world's most endangered rhinoceros from Mongabay.com news

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Indonesia: Team formed to hunt for land burners in Riau

Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 13 Mar 14;

The Riau Police have established a team to hunt for forest and land burners as open burning activities have become more rampant in the province.

Excessive burning has aggravated thick clouds of haze affecting areas in Riau and has forced the provincial administration to extend its smoke emergency status until March 26.

The joint team comprising police and military personnel, forest rangers, as well as prosecutor offices and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) officials, is divided into nine groups consisting of between 50 and 70 personnel each.

Riau Police chief Brig.Gen.Condro Kirono said similar teams were formed in the past.

“They all worked on their own, however. Now, they are united under one command,” said Condro, who is also deputy commander for law enforcement at the Riau haze mitigation task force.

He was speaking after dispatching the team in a ceremony at the Roesmin Nurjadin Air Force Base in Pekanbaru on Wednesday.

“We deliberately formed a team to hunt for alleged land burning perpetrators so that, from now on, law enforcement can be carried out widely,” Condro said.

He further said police and military personnel involved in the operation would be equipped with weapons to create a deterrent effect.

Two locations that will reportedly be the main targets of the team are Giam Siak Kecil biosphere reserve area in Bukit Batu district, Bengkalis and peat forests in Teluk Meranti district, Pelalawan.

Five groups have been dispatched to Giam Siak Kecil to hunt for thousands of illegal loggers who have destroyed the conservation area while the remaining four groups will be sent to Teluk Meranti to prevent fires in the peat forests from spreading.

“Teluk Meranti was one of areas that was worst hit by forest fires in Pelalawan,” said Condro.

There was a significant rise in the number of hotspots detected in Riau on Wednesday. According to satellite observations by the Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the total number of hotspots in Sumatra had reached 2,390, 2,046 of which were in Riau.

“[On Tuesday] there were only 63 hotspots in Riau,” said the BMKG Pekanbaru’s head of data and information, Slamet Riyadi. (tjs/ebf)

Task force deploy 558 personnel to hunt down forest encroachers
Antara 13 Mar 14;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - The Riau Haze Emergency Task Force has deployed 558 personnel to hunt down forest encroachers and arsonists that caused forest, plantation and peat-soil fires in Riau.

"The deployment of hundreds of personnel is to strengthen the legal enforcement," Chief of the Riau Police Brigadier General Condro Kirono, in his capacity as the commander of the task forces legal enforcement unit, stated here on Wednesday.

The personnel include police officers, military officers, forest rangers and members of the intelligent agency, he pointed out.

The 558 personnel are divided into nine teams with each consisting of 62 people. The legal enforcement operation will be organized until March 26.

Four teams are deployed to Pelalawan District with the focus on Meranti Gulf that shares border with the Kerumutan sanctuary, where a number of hotspots were detected, he added.

The other five teams are deployed to Bengkalis District and they will particularly hunt down those who had encroached the Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu biosphere reserve.

"The teams going to Bengkalis could also go to Rupat Island where a number of hotspots have been detected," he explained.

The Riau police have detained 36 people who allegedly set fires illegally to clear land for farming and plantation.

Of the 36 detainees, 16 were encroachers of the Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu biosphere reserve.

The Riau military office has also detained a military officer identified by as Chief Sergeant Sudigdo alias Digdo, who was suspected of having financed the encroachment. (*)

Editor: Heru

Schools closed in Tanahdatar due to choking haze
The Jakarta Post 12 Mar 14;

The Tanahdatar regency administration in West Sumatra suspended school activities on Wednesday due to the thick and choking haze blanketing the city over the last few days.

“As air pollution has reached a very hazardous level, the authorities are forced to send students home from several schools so as to protect their health,” Tanahdatar Regent M. Sadiq Pasadigoe said on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Desrizal, spokesman of Tanahdatar regency administration, said that all students from kindergartens to senior high schools had been instructed to remain at home.

"The school closures will be from Thursday to Saturday. If the haze problem worsens, the closures will be extended," he said.

Sadiq said that the thick haze in the regency was sparked by uncontrolled peatland and forest fires in neighboring Riau province.

The thick haze has disrupted the daily activities of local people with visibility dropping sharply and many residents suffering from respiratory illnesses.

“We've asked the residents to reduce outdoor activities,” said Sadiq, adding that he would encourage residents to pray for rains on Friday. (yln)

Thick haze disrupts flights in Riau and Bengkulu
The Jakarta Post 12 Mar 14;

Dense haze blanketing Riau, caused by haze forest and peatland fires from rampant slash-and-burn techniques for land clearance, forced authorities to suspend flights at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru on Wednesday as the air-pollution situation deteriorated.

"From morning till noon not a single airplane attempted to land," Sultan Syarif Kasim airport duty manager Hasnan said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Despite the disruption, however, the airport remained open and the authorities would order closures if the facilities were severely affected, he said.

He explained that visibility at around 9:30 a.m. was only 300 meters, far below the minimum requirement of 1,000 meters. These conditions continued until noon, when the visibility increased to 600 meters.

Haze has disrupted flight activities in Riau for a month causing delays, diversions and cancellations of flights. In normal conditions Sultan Syarif Kasim airport accommodates around 80 flights per day, each carrying 100 to 150 passengers.

The haze problem not only disrupted flights to Pekanbaru, but also to Fatmawati Soekarno Airport in Bengkulu on Wednesday.

“Two flights [scheduled to arrive in Bengkulu] were diverted to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport in Palembang [South Sumatra] due to the haze,” said Bengkulu Transportation Agency chief Eko Agusrianto.

Eko explained that it was impossible for the flights to land as visibility was only around 200 meters in Bengkulu. (atw)

Haze Forces Indonesian Province To Shut Down Airport
Bernama 13 Mar 14;

JAKARTA, March 13 (Bernama) --- Thick haze from land-clearing bushfires in Riau province of Sumatra led the closure of a main airport in the province on Thursday, China's Xinhua news agency reported an official as saying here.

The decision to halt operation of Sultan Syarif Kasim II airport was made by airliners following the worsening of feasibility that impaired operations, said transport ministry Bambang spokesman Ervan.

"The airliners decided to stop the airport operation today ( Thursday), tomorrow and the day after tomorrow as the feasibility is very short, it is only 400 meters," Ervan told Xinhua by phone.

"The resumption of operation would be done once there is a certainty" on the improvement of air quality particularly feasibility, he said.

Days prior to the closure more than 60 flight schedules had been aborted as thick smog worsened feasibility, according to Transport Ministry E.E. Mangindaan.

The thickening haze has also worsened air quality in the province, and the number of people suffering from respiratory trouble increased to a staggering 42,000, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster agency.

Indonesia has scrambled to extinguish blaze in the bush as farmers or companies make way for plantations in Riau province, home to the world's largest palm oil industry. Satellite observation on Tuesday detected 145 hotspots in the province.

Indonesia has been battered by land-clearing bush fires since the 1990s, as the haze engulfed neighboring Asean countries and caused losses of several billion US dollars.

-- BERNAMA

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Vegetation fire breaks out along Woodlands Road

Reshma Ailmchandani Channel NewsAsia 12 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE: A vegetation fire broke out along Woodlands Road on Wednesday at 7.05pm.

Pockets of fire in an area the size of one football field was extinguished using one water jet.

Two fire engines were also dispatched, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said, and no injuries were reported.

Three other fires were spotted on Wednesday.

The SCDF said there were 198 vegetation fires from January to February this year, a jump from 25 fires compared with the same period last year.

Most of the vegetation fires in January and February were minor in nature and there were no reported injuries from the vegetation fires.

Although there is an increase from last year, the figures are still lower when compared with the peak periods in 2005 and 2009.

In 2005, there were 532 fires in January and February, and in 2009 there were 341 fires during the same period.

SCDF advises the public not to throw lighted materials such as lighted cigarette butts onto grass patches, fields and rubbish dumps.

It added that the public should not discard unwanted items such as furniture, beds and mattresses at grass areas, fields or gardens as they can serve as additional fuel to burning vegetation.

Home owners with grass compounds should keep grass trimmed and watered, and incense papers should be burnt in incense burners such as those provided for by the town councils.

The burners should be placed on flat open ground at a safe distance from combustible materials and electrical sources (e.g. switch room).

After a prayer session, one should check around for smouldering incense in the vicinity and ensure that it is completely extinguished.

- CNA/gn

Fires break out as dry spell continues
Woo Sian Boon Today Online 13 Mar 14;

Four vegetation fires were reported around Singapore yesterday, with firefighters taking four hours to put out a blaze in an area measuring about eight football fields near Aviation Park Road. There were 198 vegetation fires in the first two months of this year, compared with 25 fires in the same period last year. Commenting on a bushfire at MacRitchie Reservoir in a Facebook post last week, Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan had reminded the public to be careful and protect parks during the dry spell, which began on Feb 17.

Four vegetation fires reported around Singapore
Today Online 12 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE — Four vegetation fires were reported around Singapore today (March 12), with firefighters taking four hours to put out one of the blazes in an area measuring about eight football fields near Aviation Park Road.

The fire, which was reported at 4.09pm and involved pockets of fire, was extinguished using seven water jets, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Close to 20 fire engines, Red Rhinos and support vehicles were sent to the scene.

Vegetation fires were also reported along Woodlands Road, Kheam Hock Road and Jalan Bumbong today. There were no reported injuries in all four incidents and investigations are ongoing.

The fire along Woodlands Road was reported at about 7.05pm. There were pockets of fire in an area measuring one football field. The fire was extinguished using one water jet, said the SCDF, which sent two fire engines to the location.

There were 198 vegetation fires for the first two months of this year, as compared to 25 fires for the same period last year. The SCDF said steps have been taken to monitor hot spots to detect fire risks and mitigate fires in light of the dry spell that Singapore has been experiencing since January.

Bush fires break out in Changi and Bukit Brown
David Ee, and Yeo Sam Jo The Straits Times AsiaOne 15 Mar 14;

Firefighters spent two hours putting out a large fire at Bukit Brown Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon as Singapore's spate of bush fires continued during the record-breaking dry spell.

The blaze near Kheam Hock Road covered an area the size of 1½ football fields, according to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), which was alerted to it at 11.55am.

Two fire engines and one Red Rhino were deployed.

A second bush fire on Wednesday near Aviation Park Road in Changi took firefighters about four hours and seven water jets to extinguish. SCDF was alerted to the blaze at 4.09pm. It involved "pockets of fire" in an area about eight football fields in size. Five fire engines, five Red Rhinos and nine supporting vehicles were sent.

No injuries were reported in both fires.

There have been 198 bush fires in the first two months of this year, compared with just 25 during the same period last year, latest SCDF figures show.

Last Wednesday, a patch of forest near the MacRitchie Reservoir nature trail caught fire, while blazes have also broken out in vegetated areas in Yio Chu Kang, Punggol and Jurong East in the past fortnight.

Singapore is enduring one of its longest stretches of dry weather with barely any rain. Last month was the driest since 1869.

February is typically drier than other months here, which can lead to a higher risk of fires starting as vegetation dries out.

An SCDF spokesman said most of the fires have been minor, and there were no injuries.

The number of bush fires this year has already eclipsed the 185 for the whole of last year.

But it still pales in comparison to 2005, when a long dry spell sparked 800 fires, some of which even forced residents to evacuate their homes.

The SCDF said it is closely monitoring the trend and has stepped up patrols in vegetated areas. It has also sent an advisory asking government agencies in the Wildfire Task Force Committee to put in place fire prevention measures on land under their jurisdictions.

These include trimming vegetation more frequently, keeping land moist and building fire breaks or barriers to contain their spread.

Biggest fire the size of 8 football fields
Anne Hwarng The New Paper AsiaOne 15 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE - With the dry spell lingering, bush fires broke out around the island on Wednesday, including at a patch of forest near Woodlands Bus Interchange, at Bukit Brown cemetery and within 4km of Changi Airport.

Ms Michelle Xu, 32, was initially disturbed by smoke from the fire at Woodlands at around 7pm. She then saw from the window of her 15th-floor flat that the fire had grown.

"I was surprised at how big the fire became. It was burning up an area about the size of two basketball courts," said the shift manager.

The fire was later extinguished by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

Earlier, there was a bush fire about 4km from the Changi Airport Tower.

Pockets of fire covered an area of about eight football fields near 9, Aviation Park Road.

The SCDF received a call about the fire at 4.09pm and it took about four hours to extinguish it.

Over at Bukit Brown, pockets of fire were spreading over an area of about one football field, with smoke trails seen from as far as Holland Village.

The SCDF was alerted at 11.55am to the fire, off Kheam Hock Road.

Officers used three water jets to tackle the fire within two hours.

When The New Paper arrived at the scene at around 4.20pm, there were still small pockets of fire in the forest.

The SCDF was carrying out damping-down operations to prevent deep-seated embers from reigniting the forest.

A member of the Heritage Singapore - Bukit Brown Cemetery Facebook group, Mr Chew Kheng Chuan, 56, tipped off TNP. The remains of his great grandfather, Mr Chew Boon Lay, a Singapore pioneer, rest there.

At press time (for Thursday's publication), SCDF was unable to confirm the number of bush fires on Wednesday. No one was injured.



How to prevent bush fires

The Singapore Civil Defence Force's appeal to the public to help minimise bush fires:

- Do not throw lit materials such as cigarette butts onto grass patches, fields or rubbish dumps.

- Do not discard unwanted items such as furniture, beds and mattresses on to grassy areas/fields/gardens as they can serve as additional fuel to burning vegetation.

- Keep grass trimmed and watered if you have grass compounds.

- Burn incense papers in burners and ensure that it is completely extinguished before leaving the site.


Bush fires

JAN & FEB 2014: 198
JAN & FEB 2013: 25
(Most of the fires in January and February were minor. There were no reported injuries.)

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Food waste a big concern: Maliki

Grace Chua The Straits Times AsiaOne 13 Mar 14;

SINGAPORE - Singapore needs to cut food waste, and its food industry should share resources such as procurement and equipment to improve food security.

These were the recommendations of an inter-ministry committee formed in 2012 to tackle Singapore's food security risks and vulnerabilities, Minister of State for National Development Maliki Osman said in Parliament on Monday.

Some companies are already cooperating, he said. For example, the Restaurant Association of Singapore set up an online portal that allows restaurants to automate procurement processes, and so far, 62 restaurants have signed up. But food waste from households, food manufacturing and catering, retail, malls and other sources is still a concern, he said.

"In 2012, about 703,200 tonnes of food waste was generated in Singapore. This is equivalent to, on average, an individual wasting about 650 bowls of rice per year."

So, the National Environment Agency, Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, and Spring Singapore are developing guidelines for food manufacturers and retailers to manage food waste, while the NEA and AVA are "looking into developing a comprehensive public education outreach programme" on food waste targeted at schools, the community and retailers.

Dr Maliki also said that diversifying Singapore's food sources "will continue to be our core strategy" for food security.

Still, Singapore produces some of its fish, leafy vegetables and eggs locally. So, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority will pay 70 per cent of restocking costs for fish farms which suffered losses during a spate of mass fish deaths last month.

Dr Maliki also said the AVA will review and strengthen the current alert system that warns fish farmers of adverse environmental conditions, and "work with the fish farms to develop a more sustainable sea-based farming system so that they are less susceptible to changes in environmental conditions".

For those keen on small-scale community farming, Dr Maliki said all new multi-storey carparks in HDB estates will get facilities such as planter beds and irrigation systems for community farms.
- See more at: http://www.soshiok.com/content/food-waste-big-concern-maliki#sthash.ViWe1h1S.dpuf

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Malaysia: Haze intensifies as 11 areas record unhealthy API readings

D. Kanyakumari The Star 13 Mar 14;

PETALING JAYA: The haze in Malaysia is worsening as 11 areas recorded increasingly unhealthy API readings as of 8am on Thursday.

The Klang Valley and Negri Sembilan recorded most of the high readings
The area with the highest reading is Kuala Selangor (155) followed by Nilai (143), Port Klang (137), Banting (134) and Putrajaya (124).

Other areas include Bukit Rambai (117), Seremban and Batu Muda (112), PJ (107), Shah Alam (103) and Sri Aman (101).

Areas like Sri Aman, Shah Alam and PJ actually recorded moderate readings as of 6am but worsened.

Other areas recorded moderate and healthy readings.

An API of between 51 to 100 is considered moderate, 101-200 unhealthy, 200-300 very unhealthy and 300 and above hazardous.

Air quality worsening in Selangor, Seremban
The Star 13 Mar 14;

PETALING JAYA: Unhealthy air levels have been recorded in Port Klang, Nilai, Banting, Putrajaya, Cheras, Kuala Selangor and Serem-ban.

According to the Department of Environ­ment’s website, the air pollutant index (API) in Port Klang was 142 as at 5pm yesterday.

At noon, the reading in Port Klang was 132, progressively increasing to 133 at 1pm, 135 at 2pm, 136 at 3pm and 139 at 4pm. In Nilai, the API reading was 107 from noon to 2pm, rising to 108 at 3pm, 112 at 4pm and 118 at 5pm.

Banting experienced moderate API readings before 2pm but the air quality worsened to 113 at 3pm, 135 at 4pm and 107 at 5pm.

Putrajaya, Cheras, Kuala Selan-gor and Seremban experienced­ moderate readings early yesterday but the air quality worsened­ later.

At 5pm yesterday, API levels in Putrajaya was 110, Cheras 108, Kuala Selangor 104 and Seremban 102.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above hazardous.

Unhealthy API levels may cause chest discomfort, coughs and shortness of breath.

Meteorological Department national weather centre director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said it was not unusual for parts of Malaysia to experience hazy conditions during this time of the year as it was the dry season due to the end of the north-east monsoon season.

Firemen working non-stop Department responding to 500 calls every day this month
austin camoens The Star 13 Mar 14;

PETALING JAYA: The Fire and Rescue Depart­ment continued to have its hands full dealing with widespread incidents of peat and bushland fires nationwide.

Its director general Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said his department responded to a total of 6,463 fires, of which 5,256 were peat, bush and open fires for the past 12 days.

“On average, we have been responding to 500 calls every day this month for peat, bush and open fires.

“Just between 8am Tuesday and 8am yesterday, we responded to 643 calls regarding these fires,” he told The Star yesterday.

On states with the highest number of fires during that timeframe, Johor came out tops with 110, followed by Kedah (81), Perak (79), Selangor (74), Negri Sembilan (68), Malacca (57), Penang (50), Pahang (33), Sarawak (33) and Terengganu (18).

“We are still battling fires in Terengganu, Selangor, Pahang, and Perak.

“In these areas, we combated fires over a total of 2,931ha (7,244 acres) and have put out fires covering about 1,213ha (2,998 acres) of that figure,” he said, adding that his men were working themselves to the limit to fight these fires.

He said these fires were also contributing to the unhealthy air quality that several states were subjected to at the moment.

Wan Mohd Nor added that water shortage was also affecting operations to fight fires.

“If the weather pattern holds steady, we can expect more fires to start,” he said, urging people to refrain from burning rubbish, throwing cigarette butts indiscriminately as well as using fire for land clearing.


Water levels in Sungai Selangor Dam nearing critical level
patrick lee The Star 13 Mar 14;

PETALING JAYA: Water levels in Selangor's dams are reaching critical levels, with its largest - the Sungai Selangor Dam - recording a mere 40.53% capacity as of 8am Thursday.

According to the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) website, the Sungai Selangor Dam which serves over 60% of the Klang Valley and Selangor's 7.1 million people was at 40.99% capacity at the same time Wednesday.

This was consistent with a statement by the Selangor government in early Feb that said that water in the dam was diminishing by 0.4% every day, a matter caused by a heatwave in the Peninsular lasting several weeks and lack of substantial rain in water catchment areas.

Selangor's other dams also showed worryingly low water levels: Batu (90.72%), Langat (61.53%), Semenyih (77.49%), Sg Tinggi (71.22%) and Tasik Subang (91.63%)

A previous The Star report cited sources saying that water levels at dams would be deemed critical if they were below 40%.

However, LUAS director Md Khairi Selamat disagreed with this figure, adding that the dam's critical capacity level was at 30%.

"If it continues like this, that is if it doesn't rain at all, we have about 30 days before it (Sg Selangor Dam) reaches critical level," he told The Star.

Selangor's depleting water resources have led the state to set up water rationing measures for the whole of March.

The state is currently going through a third phase of this measure, which according to the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) affects 722,032 households or about 3.6 million people.

As such, many households in the state have to face a two-day on and two-day off water availability pattern.

Brief rainfall in certain parts of the state has barely helped to increase water levels.

Cloud seeding operations have also been put on hold indefinitely as aircraft meant for this have been deployed to aid the search and rescue mission for missing flight MH370.

Meanwhile in Johor, thousands of households there will be forced to rely on water tankers due to dried-up rivers.

According to SPAN, the Sembrong Timur water treatment plant serving the Kluang district can now only produce less than 0.4 million litres (MLD) of treated water a day, as opposed to 31 MLD on normal days.

Johor water operator Syarikat Air Johor has mobilised 23 water tankers and 88 static tank to serve 4,075 water accounts there.

In the Mersing district, the Congok Dam has reached critical levels at 4.47m, forcing a two-day on and two-day off water release pattern for 6,418 accounts there.

In the Kulaijaya district, up to 1,172 accounts will be affected by a 12-hour on and 12-hour off water release pattern.

Finally, 4,839 accounts in Kota Tinggi district will be affected by a one-day on and one-day off water release pattern.
SPAN added that the water rationing measures for the affected Mersing, Kulaijaya and Kota Tinggi accounts will last from March 17 to March 31.

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'Shocking' scale of pangolin smuggling revealed

Ella Davies BBC Nature 12 Mar 14;

Official records show that pangolins are being illegally traded on a "shocking" scale, according to a report.

The globally threatened animals are sought for their scales which are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Approximately 10,000 seizures are made every year but experts warn the illegal trade is far more extensive.

Chinese enforcement officials worked with researchers from the UK to assess the extent of the problem.

Zhao-Min Zhou, from the Public Security Bureau for Forests in China's Yunnan province, worked with researchers from the University of Oxford to analyse official records of pangolins seized from smugglers.

The findings are published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

"The numbers of pangolins traded are shocking, and all the more so considering the pharmaceutical pointlessness of the trade. This trade is intolerably wasteful," said Prof Macdonald, director of the University of Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), and a co-author of the paper.

He praised the leadership of Mr Zhou in the study, which gives conservationists the first glimpse of official records of seizures.

The research team uncovered records that 2.59 tonnes of scales, representing approximately 4,870 pangolins, along with 259 intact pangolins (220 living; 39 dead) have been seized since 2010, resulting in 43 enforcement cases.

There are eight species of pangolin, four of which are found in Asia and four of which live in Africa.

Chinese and Sunda pangolins are listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Indian and Philippine pangolins are considered Near Threatened, as are Africa's giant and white-bellied species.

The animals roll into a ball for protection but this only makes it easier for poachers to collect and transport them unnoticed.

n traditional Chinese medicine, roasted pangolin scales are thought to detoxify and drain pus, relieve palsy, and stimulate lactation.

Rapid economic growth in Asia has resulted in soaring demand in recent years.
Pangolins by post

In addition to smuggling whole animals, traffickers use the postal system to transport their contraband.

In the report, Prof Macdonald and colleagues highlight that last November, Beijing customs officials intercepted five parcels of pangolin scales weighing 70kg each.

They subsequently discovered a further tonne of scales had been shipped in this way since April, the equivalent of 1,660 individual animals.

Prolific smugglers have received prison sentences from 11 years to life but with demand out-stripping supply, the trade is only becoming more lucrative.

According to the report, pangolin scales are currently worth £360 ($600) per kilo, twice the amount they traded for in 2008.

Pangolins only give birth to one offspring per year and conservationists warn that current declines are unsustainable.

Richard Thomas, from the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, described the animals as "overlooked" in comparison with the more "charismatic" targets of smugglers.

"Poor old pangolins are a bit of a forgotten species. There's been a lot of attention to the big iconic animals: elephants, rhinos, tigers but not much attention to pangolins."

He explained that Asian species of pangolin are protected under CITES legislation and have a "zero quota", meaning their removal from the wild for international trade is illegal.

TRAFFIC staff in Asia are helping to train customs and postal workers to help them detect smuggling attempts and raise awareness of the animals' plight.

"We've uncovered a disastrous situation and currently all the omens for the pangolin are bad but hopefully by drawing attention to this useless trade, international opinion may contribute to changing the situation of the pangolin," said Prof Macdonald.

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