First SG 50 Intertidal Walk to Pulau Hantu
News from Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
His final-year project looks at impact of new MRT line
Love our MacRitchie Forest
The One and Only True Bug (Not Really)
Saving MacRitchie
Variegated Green Skimmer ovipositing
Bird Ecology Study Group
Audrey Tan The Straits Times AsiaOne 12 May 15;
A slice of Singapore's wilderness has been recreated at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), complete with the sights, sounds and smells that come with a forest.
Visitors to the Developing MacRitchie interactive media exhibition will hear the chirping of birds, smell the forest and even walk on boardwalks similar to those found at the MacRitchie Nature Trail, a gateway to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
But they will also learn that all these could be at stake, when the new Cross Island MRT Line connecting Changi to Jurong is built by 2030.
Developed by NTU School of Art, Design and Media student Chu Hao Pei, 25, the exhibit - part of the ADM Show 2015 and his final-year project - draws attention to the threat faced by the nature reserve.
Said the interactive media major: "I hope people will rethink the idea that development is defined by new creations... I am not against the Cross Island Line, but I hope that it can be diverted."
The line was first announced by the Government in early 2013 and preliminary alignment plans show that it may cut through primary and secondary forests in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve near MacRitchie Reservoir.
Mr Chu's stand echoes that of the Nature Society (Singapore), which had suggested in a position paper to the authorities in July 2013 that the line be built along Lornie Road - a route that goes around Singapore's largest nature reserve instead of through it.
The exhibit took Mr Chu about a year to prepare. For 10 months, he went to the reserve about two times a week to take notes, videos and photographs of the flora and fauna.
Then he edited the footage, did research on the 150-year-old portion of the reserve that will be affected, and compiled them for the exhibit.
Included in the exhibit are three video monologues. Told from the perspectives of the primary rainforest, the plants, and the animals, they emphasise the impact of the construction on the inhabitants of the reserve.
The videos also provide the historical context of the nature reserve, such as how parts of it were used for gambier and pepper plantations in the early 19th century.
Environmentalists have cautioned that the land clearing needed for soil investigation works could affect the forest, home to birds such as the critically endangered white-rumped shama.
An environmental impact assessment to determine the effect of the development on the Central Catchment Nature Reserve is now under way and will be completed next year.
The study's results, input from green groups, and factors such as connectivity, travel times, costs and the compatibility of land use will help the authorities in deciding the final alignment of the rail line.
Ms Chloe Tan, project manager of nature group Love Our MacRitchie Forest, said that video clips from Mr Chu's exhibit could be shared on social media to help spread awareness. The group conducts outreach activities, such as monthly walks to the reserve, to raise the area's profile.
She added: "It is our hope that the efforts of various individuals and organisations to raise awareness about the issue will urge the Government to reconsider the (proposed) alignment of the MRT line."
Channel NewsAsia 11 May 15;
SINGAPORE: The results of the Request for Information (RFI) inviting proposals for the trial of an electric vehicle (EV) car-sharing programme will be revealed by the end of 2015, said the Minister of State for Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck in Parliament on Monday (May 11).
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Economic Development Board (EDB) had issued the RFI in December last year, and the period for submissions has ended, Mr Teo said, in reply to a question by NCMP Yee Jen Jong. The proposals are currently being evaluated by LTA and EDB, added Mr Teo.
As to why Phase 2 will span 10 years, when Phase 1 spanned between 2011 and 2013, the Minister of State said this is because operators under the second phase will have to incur significant upfront cost of investments in the vehicles and the network of charging infrastructure.
"EV Phase 2 will explore fleet-based, shared car operations with the potential to reap economies of scale through higher daily mileage and potentially lower running costs," Mr Teo said. "The 10-year period will allow adequate time for the companies to recover their investment."
He added that those who wish to purchase EVs can benefit from the recently enhanced Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS), under which low carbon emission vehicles stand to enjoy rebates of up to S$30,000 off the Additional Registration Fee (ARF).
- CNA/kk
Govt not adopting diesel hybrid buses on large scale for now: Lui
Olivia Siong, Channel NewsAsia 11 May 15;
SINGAPORE: The Government has decided not to adopt diesel hybrid buses on a large scale for now, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew. This is in view of the significantly higher cost and its unproven reliability in the local climate, he said.
Mr Lui said this in a written parliamentary response on Monday (May 11), to a question raised by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Yee Jenn Jong, who had asked for the results of the two diesel hybrid bus trials conducted by public transport operators from 2010 to 2012.
The trials had indicated an improvement in fuel efficiency by about 25 per cent, while the results were less conclusive for emissions. Mr Lui added that fuel savings were also insufficient to offset the 140 per cent higher cost compared to normal buses.
ComfortDelGro Engineering estimated the trials to cost S$1.7 million. The firm had partnered the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for the trials. LTA's share came up to about S$660,000.
SBS Transit's diesel hybrid bus trial began in March this year at the manufacturer's initiative, with no government funding. The trial is intended to test the performance of the manufacturer's diesel hybrid buses in Singapore's climate.
Mr Lui said the authorities will continue to monitor prices and find opportunities to test different models of such buses.
- CNA/hs
MICHAEL TAYLOR Reuters 11 May 15;
May 11 A palm oil industry body has ordered a unit of one of the world's major producers to stop buying or developing new plantations in Indonesia, in a dispute seen as a test case on expansion by agribusiness firms versus local land rights.
The subsidiary of Singapore-listed Golden Agri-Resources Ltd was ordered to stop buying or developing new plantation land by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) after it was found to have breached rules on land acquisition.
Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) is the parent of Indonesian palm company PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) , which has plantations spread over 473,000 hectares mostly in Sumatra and Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.
Rights groups accuse a separate subsidiary of taking land from local people without free and informed consent - breaching sustainability guidelines which require residents to approve land deals.
The showdown is just one of an estimated 4,000 land-related conflicts between palm oil producers and local communities recorded by Indonesia's government in the world's biggest palm oil producing nation.
The RSPO is a body of consumers, green groups and plantation firms that aims to promote the use of sustainable palm oil products and is used by many European palm oil buyers as the international sustainability benchmark.
In a letter dated May 6, the RSPO's complaints panel said Golden Agri-Resouces hadn't adhered to RSPO rules on conservation assessments and consultation and consent of local people before converting land for planting in West Kalimantan.
Golden Agri-Resources had until May 20 to respond to the panel's preliminary decision, Stefano Savi, spokesman at the RSPO said on Monday.
Conservation groups welcomed the decision.
"We are greatly encouraged that the RSPO is upholding its standard. We need to eliminate all land-grabbing from the RSPO-endorsed supply chain," Marcus Colchester, Senior Policy Advisor of the Forest Peoples Programme said in a statement.
The RSPO has the power to withdraw membership, which could potentially lead to lower purchases by Western consumers concerned at sustainability in the industry, although Savi said he was confident a settlement could be reached.
Golden Agri-Resources, which is due to report its first-quarter results on Tuesday, said it had voluntarily put on hold land preparation for all new plantings since early November.
"GAR reiterates that we remain committed to acting responsibly and working with stakeholders to address the outstanding issues raised."
Golden Agri-Resources has been working with the Indonesian government and green groups to set new environmental standards, following a 2010 deforestation campaign by Greenpeace attacking its Indonesian-listed unit SMART.
(Additional reporting by Rujun Shen in Singapore; reporting by Michael Taylor; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Dessy Sagita Jakarta Globe 11 May 15;
Riau province in Sumatra has more than seven million hectares of forest but less than two million hectares remain intact, thanks largely to oil palm plantations. (Antara Photo/F.B. Anggoro)
Tembilahan, Riau. It was almost 10 a.m. when a group of men rowed their kayaks along the lush and narrow swamp to a peat land forest located an hour away from their village in Pungkat, Indragiri Hilir, Riau.
The men have heard an oil palm plantation would be built in the forest despite their outcry.
The resistance had, just a few months ago, triggered a clash in which 21 villagers ended up behind bars charged with damaging the oil palm company’s property.
The site the men were headed to was a canal newly built by the company to dry out the peat land. The canal had polluted the main source of drinking water in the area.
Upon arriving, the men were unpleasantly surprised to see the new canal.
Trees, including the rare gonystylus bancanus, known locally as Ramin, have been cut and felled. Ramin trees are now so rare the government has issued a ban on cutting them down.
The forest near the canal has disappeared. Dead trees and logs are lying around on the vacant peat land.
“Oh my God!” Rasidi, one of the villagers exclaimed in English in utter shock. “It’s all gone, our springs, our livelihood has been destroyed.”
The villagers got off their kayaks to inspect the newly bulldozed peat land. Two excavators were parked but no operator was in sight.
“They knew we were coming, maybe they are hiding nearby right now, they will be back doing their jobs when the night comes,” another villager said.
The villagers have been voicing their opposition to the palm plantation operation over fears of forest destruction.
Growing frustrated, the villagers even wrote a letter to President Joko Widodo, asking him to take an action to stop the palm oil companies from destroying the environment.
Land dispute
Pungkat village, reached from Riau’s capital of Pekanbaru after a seven hour drive and two hours on a speedboat, has been entangled in a dispute with Setia Agrindo Lestari, or SAL, a palm plantation company and subsidiary of First Resources, which has been listed on the Singapore stock exchange since 2007.
The conflict began when villagers were made aware of SAL’s plan to open a palm plantation stretching over 17,000 hectares of peat land in several villages in the Gaung subdistrict where Pungkat is located.
Locals argued that the land was inside the moratorium area where no production activity is permitted. The community was concerned the palm oil plantation would destroy their livelihood. More than 80 percent of villagers make their living making wooden boats — and the forest is the source of raw material.
Asmar, a boat maker, said the villagers have been making boats since 1940 but there had never been a problem with the ecosystem until the company has started the land clearing.
Villagers began their protest by sending their complaint to the local government and legislators, to no avail.
The locals complained that not only had the SAL operation has made it difficult for them to find the wood needed to make the boats, it also polluted the river, forcing the community to rely on rain water to drink.
The district head of Indragiri Hilir, H.M.Wardan, issued three letters ordering the temporary suspension of SAL operations until the dispute about the permit and legality could be settled. His warnings were ignored and SAL continued the project.
Tensions escalated as angry villagers took matters into their own hands in June of last year. Dozens of Pungkat villagers torched heavy equipment and excavators used by SAL to bulldoze the land.
Villagers claimed they were provoked as the company had refused to comply with the government’s instruction.
One early morning in August, 240 police mobile brigade officers stormed into the village and raided dozens of homes. Those involved in the arson were lined up in a field and 40 men were arrested.
“We deeply regretted the arrest, not only because it was done only a week after Idul Fitri but also the procedures were flawed,” Riko Kurniawan, the executive director of Riau chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
Riko said the police did not bring any warrants for the arrests.
“They [the police] read an SMS text and those whose names were in the text were arrested,” Riko said.
After the arrest, the whole village was closed for 10 days. Schools and mosques were closed because the villagers were too scared to go out in case the police returned to arrest more people.
The police released 19 men after days of questioning but 21 men were declared guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison, including Rasidi, who was recently released on probation.
Rasidi said he was lucky to be treated well while in prison. Some other villagers claimed the police abused them during the investigation.
Asmar, who was detained for four days before he was released said the villagers resorted to arson because they were desperate after their numerous protests remained unheard.
“Why didn’t those officials pay any attention? What made us even more furious is that there was no talk about it, suddenly the company invaded our village,” Asmar said.
“Our forest has been robbed, our environment has been polluted,” he said.
Asmar said some people have sold the land and made a deal with the company on behalf of the villagers. He refused to name the person but other villagers indicated the perpetrator was the village head.
Riko said the whole operation of SAL in the area was problematic. The concession permit for the company was issued by former Indragiri Hilir district head, Indra Mukhlis Adnan a month before his tenure ended in 2013. Indra issued 27 land concession permits despite the forest moratorium still in effect.
“Even though the permit was issued by the former district head, the current district head could put the brakes on it if he wants to,” Riko said.
To ease tensions after the attack, the district head issued another instruction for SAL to halt its operation on October. The order was once again ignored as SAL is still operating to clear the land.
The village, assisted by Walhi and several other environmental groups such as the Riau Forest Rescue Working Network (Jikalahari) reported the case to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Riko said SAL did not have the right of cultivation, or HGU, the final permit required of commercial oil palm planters and only has the location permit.
SAL has not obtained the necessary permit from the Environment and Forestry Ministry to begin work on the land, said Riko.
The land belonging to SAL overlaps with land owned by companies Mutiara Sabuk Khatulistiwa and Bina Keluarga.
Walhi has expressed its intention to bring the dispute between Pungkat village and SAL to the next Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) summit.
“RSPO has expressed its commitment to fight against forest fire and First Resources is a RSPO member,” Riko said.
SAL spokesman Thomas did not respond to the Jakarta Globe’s repeated attempts to contact him for comment.
However, during the trial held for Pungkat villagers, Thomas was summoned to testify and told the court that SAL never received any letter from the district head ordering the company to stop its operation. He claimed that SAL only received the instruction after the arson incident.
His statement was promptly refuted by the villagers’ lawyer who showed the judges the evidence that the instruction letters had come before the attack.
The dispute issues in Riau has attracted much attention as the province has the largest peat land in Sumatra. More than 50 percent of Sumatra’s peat land area is found in Riau.
In the past few years, the province has been the target of massive criticism for frequent forest fires which send a severe haze over several neighboring countries and causes respiratory problems in Riau.
The province has more than seven million hectares of forest but less than two million hectares remain intact.
Forest and peat land use moratorium
Riko said the rampant violation of the land concession permit has proven that the forest use moratorium, first imposed by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2011, must be extended.
The moratorium was first imposed until 2013 and was extended for another two years until May 12 this year.
“Forest destruction in this country is unimaginable, the forest management is so messy and moratorium gives nature a time to breathe,” Riko said.
The forestry minister, Siti Nurbaya, last week announced the moratorium would likely be extended for another two years in the near future.
Riko said the government must implement a stricter regulation by announcing the moratorium extension with a presidential regulation (Perpres) instead of presidential instruction (Inspres).
“If the country wants to make a regulation, it has to be accompanied by a strict sanction when a violation happens, we have a concern that if the moratorium is announced with just an Inpres, it will be the same as before,” Riko said.
Siti however has said that the legal basis of the new moratorium would still be an Inpres, not a Perpres.
Riko said the government should not limit the forest use moratorium to a period of a few years.
Many activists have said that the short forest use moratorium could not save the environment if the government continued issuing forest use permits for major corporations which would be valid for decades. Some companies even managed to obtain a permit that is valid for 100 years.
“Moratoriums should not be limited to a yearly period, it must be regulated based on the specific intention because every place has a different problem,” Riko said.
Jikalahari activist Muslim Rashid said the moratorium use should also be strengthened by providing more access to the public for active involvement in the forest protection schemes.
“Social forestry and traditional forest schemes can be a basis for the public’s right to be actively involved and it will strengthen the moratorium itself,” he said.
It can be done
Allowing the locals to implement their local wisdoms to protect forests has proven successful for Rimbang Baling wildlife reserve, located some 90 kilometers from the capital of Pekanbaru.
The sanctuary stretches 136,000 hectares between Kampar and Kuantan districts and is home to several rare species including the endangered Sumatran tiger and 170 species of rare birds.
Unlike many forest in Riau which have been damaged by palm plantations, Rimbang Baling is relatively untouched.
The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) noted that more than 80 percent of the forest area in Rimbang Baling remains in a good condition even with some possibility of illegal logging.
In Muara Bio village, located within the wildlife reserve, the cultural leaders (ninik mamak) play a very important role to preserve the environment. According to local custom, villagers are not allowed to cut or fell trees within the protected forest area.
Although no sanction has been imposed, no violations has been found because the community pay the utmost respect to the leaders.
Not far from Muara Bio, in Tanjung Belit village, the locals have embraced the forest protection spirit and stipulated it into a village regulation.
“Catching fish using a bomb is prohibited and those who violate it will be fined Rp 10 million [$759], the regulation applies to both locals and visitors,” said Guntur, the Tanjung Belit village head.
The village is currently drafting another regulation to protect the forest by declaring a forbidden forest area in which all forest clearing is banned.
“We will make the traditional forest into a forbidden forest so people who wish to have an ecotourism activity should look for another place to visit,” Guntur said.
IPCC climate modelling proves right as scientists find a glitch in satellite led to inaccurate records in 1990s suggesting rate of sea level rise was slowing
Karl Mathiesen The Guardian 11 May 15;
Sea level rise sped up over the last two decades rather than slowing down as previously thought, according to new research.
Records from tide gauges and satellites have shown sea level rise slowing slightly over the past 20 years. But as the ice sheets of West Antarctica and Greenland shed ever more water into the ocean, climate models show it should be doing the opposite.
“The thing that was really puzzling us was that the last decade of sea level rise was marginally slower, ever so subtly slower, than the decade before it,” said Dr Christopher Watson from the University of Tasmania who led the new study.
Watson’s team found that the record of sea level rise during the early 1990s was too high. The error gave the illusion of the rate of sea level rise decreasing by 0.058 mm/year 2 between 1993 and 2014 , when in reality it accelerated by between 0.041 and 0.058 mm/year 2 . This brings the records into line with the modelling of the UN’s climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“We see acceleration, and what I find striking about that is the fact that it’s consistent with the projections of sea level rise published by the IPCC,” said Watson. “Sea level rise is getting faster. We know it’s been getting faster over the last two decades than its been over the 20th century and its getting faster again.”
Professor Jonathan Gregory from the University of Reading and a lead author of the IPCC’s most recent climate report said the study was “interesting and useful” and shored up the predictions of the models.
“The better agreement of the altimeter record after the correction ... is a reason for greater confidence in the projections,” he said.
Sea level rise is measured using tide gauges on shorelines around the world and, since 1993, altimetric satellites. But both sets of data are imperfect.
The land the tide gauges sit on is constantly shifting. For example, said Watson, measurements in Alaska are thrown out by the continent rebounding upwards after being covered in a heavy ice sheet during the last ice age. While in Perth, Australia, the continental plate is subsiding.
The satellites orbit 746 miles above the Earth at 4 miles per second, firing beams of radar at the sea’s surface and recording the time it takes to bounce back. Watson said their accuracy was “staggering”. But the level of precision required to measure the slight but significant changes in sea level driven by climate change is very high. During the 1990s the satellite instrumentation degraded, losing some of its accuracy.
Watson’s team were able to compare the two data sets and identify where each was going wrong. The results revise downwards the average rate of sea level rise since the 1990s. The IPCC’s landmark report in 2013 found the sea had risen on average by 3.2 mm per year since 1993. Waston’s study found the rate was slightly slower, between 2.6 and 2.9 mm per year.
“I have no doubt there are members of the community who may wish to reevaluate [the predictions for sea level rise]. But as a scientist I come back to the data,” said Watson, preempting claims that the study was a scaling down of the threat of climate change to coastal communities.
“A single number implies that that rate is constant over time. And I think what is emerging here is that that’s not the case. That rate of change is actually increasing. For everyone that lives around the coastal margin, that’s a really concerning fact.”
In 2013, Gregory’s report to the IPCC predicted that sea level could rise between 28cm and 98cm by 2100 depending on how much carbon human industry emits this century.
“There is no reason to change the projections,” said Gregory.
27 May (Wed): "The Future of Marine Science in Singapore" Workshop
wild shores of singapore
Otters and Low Tide at Chek Jawa!
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs and wild shores of singapore
Pulau Semakau (09052015)
Psychedelic Nature
bird traps at lim chu kang 10May2015
naturewatchersg
Red-shouldered Macaw eating flowers and seeds of the Rain Tree
Bird Ecology Study Group
Macro Photography Outings – April 2015
Bugs & Insects of Singapore
Moult of Mud Shrimp (Upogebia sp.) @ Pasir Ris
Monday Morgue
Exotic species can displace native species and disrupt healthy ecosystems. But what is of greater concern is the need to maximise native biodiversity and protect pristine forests.
NATALIA HUANG for The Straits Times 8 May 15;
Consider this familiar scene. A shopping centre with all the characters we know: shoppers, shop assistants, maintenance men and security guards. Everyone knows his role well and does what he needs to do: buy from this shop, sell to shoppers and keep the place running well and safe.
We've developed this system over many years, shed roles and actions we don't need, and kept those we do, so we can have a functioning shopping centre.
Then one day, a security guard in a pink uniform turns up. He scares off our security guard who's not used to his ways. He still keeps the place safe so nobody notices anything for a while. More pink-clad guards start to appear. Suddenly one of them snatches food from a shopper. He tries to sell shoes. Scared shoppers run outside for safety. Upset maintenance men stop fixing things. Confused sales assistants stop selling.
Some shoppers can handle this strangeness and continue with their day. But the pink guards have changed the characters and roles, and soon the shopping centre becomes unrecognisable. It no longer provides the services it was meant to provide, and may eventually crumble in a state of disrepair.
Some shoppers flee to other shopping centres, but each centre can hold only so many shoppers and some are left outside with nowhere to go.
In this scene, the shopping centre is our ecosystem and the characters our native species. Singapore's native flora and fauna have evolved alongside one another for many years, with each character playing its own important role in the ecosystem upon which others rely.
The shoppers which flee are our more sensitive forest species. The pink security guards are the invasive exotic species. Often more aggressive than native species, they can push native species out of the ecosystem.
Unfortunately these natives are usually species that are more shy, sensitive to disturbance, rare and threatened. With increasing invasive exotic species, the original ecosystem no longer provides the services it was developed to provide, and may become so disrupted it collapses.
A species is native if it occurred in a location naturally, while a species is exotic if it's living outside its natural range.
Exotic species appear as a result of deliberate or accidental human intervention, and are also called non-native, introduced, alien, feral or pest species.
The presence of exotic species is not necessarily bad. Some appear to have little effect on native ecosystems and biodiversity, filling an empty niche in the urban environment and getting along nicely with their new neighbours.
The banded bullfrog is one such species, now a permanent resident in Singapore. Listen carefully at night and you can hear its low moans coming from drains all over the island.
When species invade
BUT exotic species become invasive when their presence causes environmental or economic damage, and we do not know when an apparently harmless exotic species becomes invasive.
This is the case of the Javan mynah. We do not yet know if this exotic species is invasive in Singapore, although its rapid expansion (and the decline of the common mynah) suggests it might be. In our analogy, the Javan mynah could be a pink guard as it has displaced the native common mynah (as recently suggested by the Nature Society of Singapore bird census).
It may be ironic to consider that some native species which we fight to protect are considered invasive exotic species in other countries. Our pretty common mynah is the No. 1 invasive exotic species (that is, the naughtiest pink guard) in Australia, beating the cockroach and rat, while the Javan mynah is becoming rarer in its native habitat.
Invasive exotic species can have devastating effects on native flora and fauna, sometimes leading to species extinction and permanent ecosystem loss. This can happen through competition for food and shelter, predation, introduction of exotic diseases, seed dispersal of exotic plants, modifying the habitat so other species cannot survive as well as affecting ecological processes such as pollination, connectivity and succession, to name a few.
For example, introduced rats are notorious for devastating island ecosystems by preying on native reptiles, birds and mammals, leaving a once diverse island full of "pink guard" rats. Their ability to adapt and the lack of natural predators contribute to exotic species' success in foreign lands.
But what about people? Across the world, invasive exotic species have also affected people. The effects include disease transmission (caused by rats), crop destruction resulting in annual losses of millions of dollars (insects, birds), contaminated food stores (mice), property damage (pigs), native fish stock reduction (fish), and loss of ecosystem services such as clean air and water. So in the long run, controlling invasive species benefits humans as well as wildlife.
What does it mean to our native ecosystems that the Javan mynah has displaced the common mynah? The answer may simply be fewer common mynahs. Or perhaps there are more serious effects which may be direct or indirect, on a scale that is specific to one species or affects the entire ecosystem, and with effects that may be apparent only in the long term - effects which we have not yet understood, but which we should perhaps devote more research to.
Protecting pristine forests
WHAT impact do exotic species have on humans in Singapore? Not much directly, other than a diminished experience of the beauty of nature's diversity.
Like economies, ecosystems are dynamic and ever-changing, albeit at a much slower pace. Species experience boom and bust patterns in their population sizes as the environment and species composition change.
An exotic species may be the most abundant species this year, but may be displaced by another (exotic or native) 50 years later. What matters more is maintaining the diversity of native plants and animals, because diversity in nature, like in our shopping centres, contributes to the overall health of our environment.
By nature of the prevailing human disturbance, cities are almost always going to support a certain number of exotic species. And perhaps these urbanised areas are so modified by human interference already that having more exotic species does not really matter. What's important is to ensure exotic species do not enter our more pristine forests, where our rarer species live. With fewer or no pink guards, the other characters can continue with their roles and interactions, and contribute to a well-functioning, successful native ecosystem.
There is already some resistance from our more pristine forests such that exotic plant species have not been able to take hold there.
But for how much longer?
With forested areas being developed, disturbed and exposed areas become attractive to exotic pink guards, pushing our sensitive shoppers deeper into the forest, which is already low on space.
A robust and healthy ecosystem with high native biodiversity can naturally exclude exotic species, but maintaining that robustness and health is the tricky bit, especially when we live in a state of ceaseless development.
What we do depends on the importance we, as a society, place on our native ecosystems and biodiversity. And it also depends on the type of country we want to live in. A country with some development, native biodiversity and healthy forests, or a country with pervasive development, widespread exotic species and degraded areas?
If we want healthy ecosystems, we can do so by refusing further development of our more pristine forests, and managing exotic species when they become invasive.
The writer is principal ecologist at Ecology Matters, an environmental consultancy providing ecological advice and biodiversity studies for environmental impact assessments.
Melody Zaccheus The Straits Times AsiaOne 10 May 15;
When archaeology volunteer Margaret Wong pulled large ceramic pieces from the soil at an Empress Place excavation site near the Singapore River, she knew by their weight and smooth texture that they were centuries-old jade green fragments of high quality.
But the enormity of her find sunk in only after Chinese porcelain expert Tai Yew Seng, who had been digging nearby, recognised the fragments as imperial-grade ceramics produced between 1368 and 1398.
The pieces, which formed a 34cm diameter platter, turned out to be one of the most significant artefacts unearthed from the two-month dig that wrapped up last month.
It was carried out by members of the archaeology unit of the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas) and volunteers, who shared their experiences with The Sunday Times.
Recalled Ms Wong: "Even though the platter was covered in dirt, I could see that it was valuable and still in relatively good shape. "I felt a thrill digging up an artefact that had lasted 700 years."
Such ceramics were bestowed by China's Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty only on overseas leaders from countries such as Siam (Thailand) and Champa (Vietnam), according to Dr Tai, a professor at the Nanyang Technological University's Confucius Institute.
This led the team to believe that ancient Singapore, or Temasek as it was known, could have had an established government with a head ruler or chieftain as early as the late 14th century.
Another platter of a similar design dating back to 1381 lies in Syria.
The dig unearthed three tonnes of artefacts - the largest archaeological haul in Singapore in 31 years.
Within the first few days, a team of five Iseas staff and 10 volunteers dug up 150kg worth of artefacts from a 5m by 5m plot.
In comparison, just 303kg of artefacts were dug out from a plot six times larger at the National Art Gallery in 2010.
The Empress Place site is significant because it was where the ancient shoreline once ran.
For decades, Iseas had earmarked it as a potential excavation site.
Archaeologists saw the opportunity to excavate there when they learnt of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) plans to develop the place into an integrated arts, culture and lifestyle precinct for Singapore's 50th birthday.
Their wish was granted with the help of the National Heritage Board (NHB) after a trial dig to prove the site's richness.
But time was not on their side. Excavators loomed across the 1,000 sq m site - the size of about 10 four-room HDB flats.
Head archaeologist Lim Chen Sian said: "We've never worked on such a tight site and tight schedule. Sixty-tonne machines were moving in slowly and blowtorches were close by. We dug desperately."
Working 13-hour days, seven days a week, some of them barely clocked four hours of sleep.
At one point, as the deadline to return three of the 13 excavation zones loomed, a call for more volunteers was issued. Dozens showed up.
Iseas research officer Aaron Kao, 36, said the sense of urgency was palpable as the team rushed to salvage 700 years of history before it got destroyed. "We felt that we owed it to future generations of Singaporeans," he said.
Volunteer Natalie Khoo, 22, an anthropology and history graduate from the School of the Arts Singapore, said that while some of the work got monotonous, it was "extremely meaningful".
Due to the large volume of artefacts and the complexity of the dig, the team was given a month's extension to continue working on the three zones.
Officials gave the go-ahead after an Iseas report stated that the site was a treasure trove of ancient artefacts.
Still, the team rushed up to the 11th hour. On the last day of the dig, they scrambled to retrieve two timber structures, each measuring about 1m by 1m.
The wood had likely been part of an ancient ship, as its workmanship was typical of the South-east Asian style of shipbuilding. It was the first physical evidence of maritime activity in Temasek.
But a thunderstorm interrupted their excavation for three hours and as night fell, construction workers from the URA's upgrading project set up floodlights for them to retrieve the timber planks.
After the site closed, the core team spent the next three weeks cleaning the artefacts with toothbrushes and water.
At a press briefing last month, NHB said that work on seven of the site's excavation zones has been completed.
The board said the team managed to cover about 70 per cent of the remaining six zones.
Next up for the researchers is to clean, sort and analyse their finds in what is expected to be a three-year task.
So far, 120 large storage containers have been filled with more than a million artefacts and fragments.
They will also be producing a map of the ancient site, which was likely to have been a bazaar.
Sending soil samples for tests could also help pinpoint where sanitation lines ran, for instance. Botanical remains such as shells, seeds and bones could provide an idea of the paleoenvironment of ancient Singapore as well.
NHB, which referred to the excavation as "hitting the archaeological jackpot", will decide if the artefacts will be put into the National Collection and displayed in museums, or at exhibitions.
YVONNE LIM Today Online 11 May 15;
SINGAPORE — It is a route less taken by Singaporeans travelling to Malaysia’s southernmost state.
And there are only two places where passenger boats go from the Republic to Johor and back: From Changi Ferry Terminal and Changi Point Ferry Terminal.
Following the recent bilateral talks between the Singaporean and Malaysian governments, though, more ferry services will be allowed between Changi Ferry Terminal and Tanjung Belungkor, which is a 15-minute drive from the tourist spot of Desaru.
And this little-known mode of travel between the two states may just pick up if supply creates demand.
When TODAY visited Changi Ferry Terminal on Friday, there were hardly any passengers. Ms Julie Lopez, who manages the ticket counter, said there are about five to seven passengers per weekday trip on average, while the weekends usually see about 20 passengers per trip.
There are two scheduled trips from the terminal to Tanjung Belungkor and back on weekdays, and four return trips on weekends, on ferries operated by Limbongan Maju, a Malaysian company.
Most of the passengers are tourists, who sometimes book in groups, or Singapore residents who work on the cruise ships that dock at Tanjung Belungkor, said Ms Lopez.
One passenger who was there on Friday, and heading for a fishing competition in Desaru, did not even know there was a ferry service to Tanjung Belungkor from Changi Ferry Terminal until that very afternoon.
“We usually take the bumboat from Changi Point (Ferry Terminal) to Pengerang, and from there, make our way to Desaru,” said Mr Zul Yusof, 48, who was accompanied by his wife Ms Manisah Ibrahim, 47.
“But by the time we got to Changi Point today, we had missed the last boat. The guy at the ticket counter told us to come here and catch the 6pm ferry.”
Ms Manisah, an electrical technician, said she and her husband travel to Desaru up to thrice a year for short holidays. “Alternatively, we could drive from Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint, but we don’t want to get caught in the traffic jam on the Causeway. Taking the ferry is more relaxing, but not many people know that there are ferry services from Singapore to Johor,” she added.
Nor do many know about the bumboats over at Changi Point Ferry Terminal that pick up passengers headed for the small coastal town of Pengerang in south-eastern Johor, about an hour’s drive from Desaru.
When TODAY met Mr Kenneth Choo, 28, who was heading back to his hometown, he had been waiting for over an hour to board a bumboat, as the boat captains usually wait until there are 11 or 12 passengers before leaving. There were five other passengers at the time.
Mr Choo, an administrative clerk at a furniture company in Singapore, said he did not mind the wait, however, as he rarely went home — about two or three times a year. “Sometimes, I drive from Johor Baru, where my sister lives. But to drive from JB to Pengerang takes about two hours; it’s more relaxing to take a ferry,” he said.
The bumboat trips are priced at S$11 per person, and those who bring bicycles on board pay a S$2 surcharge.
Meanwhile, a return ferry ticket to Tanjung Belungkor costs S$38, and a one-way ticket costs S$25, while those who bring along surfboards or bicycles will be charged an extra S$10. Each ferry seats up to 90 passengers.
Plans seem to be under way for more ferry services beyond the current routes, though, such as from Singapore to Puteri Harbour in Nusajaya, one of the key flagship zones of Johor’s Iskandar Malaysia project and a mere 20-minute drive from Johor Baru.
A source in UEMSunrise — the master developer for Nusajaya — told TODAY that talks are ongoing with Singapore’s maritime authorities to fine-tune details of the service.
“We’re hoping to kick-start the service by the next half of this year. The ferry service will most likely depart from HarbourFront in Singapore,” the source said.
The Star 11 May 15;
PETALING JAYA: More of Malaysia’s rivers are being recorded as polluted, with 49 rivers having Water Quality Index ratings of 59 and below.
Data from Department of Environment showed that although the numbers of highly polluted rivers were going down, more rivers were being found to be “moderately” polluted.
According to the department’s river water quality report for February, 49 rivers were marked as “polluted” while 131 listed as “moderately polluted”.
During the same month last year, 59 were listed as “polluted” and 106 moderately so.
Moderately polluted rivers have ratings of between 60 to 80.
Many of the country’s worst rivers are in Johor, with Sungai Kempas recording an index reading of 21, making it the only Class V river in the country.
Last year, it marked a reading of 36.
According to national water standards, even Class IV rivers can be used, albeit only for irrigation while Class V rivers cannot be used for anything.
The WQI is an overall reading that shows how clean or dirty a river can be.
The cleanest river in the country was Sungai Ara, in Penang.
The two reports also show that there were 544 rivers recorded in the February 2015 report, compared with 382 last year.
Dirty water major cause of disruption
PATRICK LEE The Star 11 May 15;
PETALING JAYA: River pollution is becoming a major cause of unscheduled water disruptions in the country.
Between 2008 and 2014, pollution shut down water treatment plants in rivers across Malaysia for 1,005.75 days or a total of 24,138 hours.
More than a third of these shutdowns were in Selangor.
Over the past seven years, closure of treatment plants caused by river pollution disrupted supply to hundreds of thousands in the state for at least 8,000 hours or 333 days.
National Water Services Commission (SPAN) chief executive Mohd Ridhuan Ismail said various types of river pollution, including wastewater, detergents, oil spills, muddied flow due to floods, deforestation and quarrying, caused treatment plants to be shut down.
He said treatment plants had limits in processing water and might not be able to filter out high levels of pollution.
“More than 90% of the shutdowns in Johor between 2012 and 2015 was at the Skudai plant, caused by high amounts of ammonia in the river,” he said.
In March, The Star highlighted the massive algae bloom pollution in the Sembrong Dam in Johor, a water source for some 120,000 people in the districts of Kluang and parts of Batu Pahat.
Mohd Ridhuan said treatment plant closures in states other than Malacca were due to murkiness, also known as turbidity in the raw water, caused by upstream activities.
He said the Merlimau plant in Malacca was shut down for eight months from June last year because of a sudden rise in the raw water’s acidity and change in colour.
The full extent of these shut downs are not known, as SPAN does not have exact details on how many households were affected but if a plant ceases operating, even for an hour, households might be without water for several hours.
This is because it takes time for the emptied pipes to be refilled to the right amount of pressure to ensure regular water flow.
Mohd Ridhuan said it was vital for catchment areas to be kept safe, as they were water sources for millions of people.
He pointed out Sungai Selangor was one such area, adding that its four plants supplied water to 60% of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, or more than four million people.
“When pollution in catchment areas cause shutdowns of treatment plants, the impact on consumers is huge,” he said.
He said states needed to control development within water catchment areas and punish polluters harshly to serve as examples to others.
He said shutdowns in Perak were reduced “significantly” since 2011 when plants in the state were upgraded.
States which want to reduce the impacts caused by shutdowns can also relocate the plants in different catchment areas, he said, adding that the Langat 2 plant, which would pipe water from Pahang to Selangor, as an example of this.
The Langat 2 plant is set to be completed by 2017 and is designed to supply 1,130 million litres of water a day.
Local govts not doing enough to clean rivers, says Palanivel
DESIREE TRESA GASPER The Star 13 May 15;
KUALA LUMPUR: Local governments are not doing enough to clean up the rivers, says Datuk Seri G. Palanivel.
The Natural Resources and Environment Minister said it was challenging working with them but declined to elaborate why.
“We can’t deal with them,” he said, adding that he would instead write to the Local Government Minister to sort out the matter.
Palanivel said it was important for the local councils and municipal councils to work with the authorities, especially on cleaning up polluted rivers.
“It’s bad. In Cameron Highlands, the water is polluted. This is the same with Pahang, Penang and even the rivers in Selangor are heavily polluted,” he said after launching World Water Day celebrations at the Drainage and Irrigation Department office here yesterday.
Palanivel said that people’s attitude should change too.
“Everyone throws rubbish into the river,” he said, adding that it was becoming a major issue.
He said river cleaning activities were ongoing throughout the country but the people kept dumping more rubbish there.
On a separate issue, Palanivel said that 6,000 trees had been planted in Cameron Highlands to rebuild the destroyed forest reserve areas there.
“We may start another tree planting project soon.”
Landslides and floods have been a major issue in Cameron Highlands due to excessive clearing of land for illegal farming.
Bernama also quoted Palanivel as saying that the River Of Life project, which is part of the Greater Kuala Lumpur Project, was 56% completed since it started in 2011.
The project aimed to change the image of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang so that it would send out a positive impact.
World Water Day is marked on March 22 every year. This year’s theme is “Water and Sustainable Development”.
RUBEN SARIO The Star 11 May 15;
KOTA KINABALU: A comprehensive plan is being drawn up for the sustainable use of land in Sabah’s interior that is about 10 times the size of Penang island.
The ambitious plan would place an area of at least 260,000ha, including key conservation areas as well as land being used as forest and oil palm plantations, under a “common and integrated” strategy.
The Forestry Department recently placed advertisements calling for consortiums or companies to provide experts specialising in landscape modelling and environmental economy for the project.
Sabah Forestry Department director Datuk Sam Mannan said the project was crucial as it encompassed a land mass connecting three key protected areas.
These are the 105,443ha Maliau Basin, Danum Valley (42,800ha) and Imbak Canyon (16,750ha).
The project also partly covers the Kalabakan and Gunung Rara forest reserves that are part of the state-owned Yayasan Sabah sustainable forest management licence agreement area.
“Among the things we want to see under this project is the providing of corridors of forests in this area connecting Danum, Imbak Canyon and Maliau Basin for the benefit of wildlife,” said Mannan, whose department is spearheading the project.
Called the Biodiversity Conservation in Multiple-use Forest Landscapes, the plan would address multiple uses of the land to ensure that any activities there were sustainable.
Apart from the three conservation zones, the area would also include parcels of land that had been earmarked for forest rehabilitation, timber production as well as industrial tree plantations including oil palm cultivation.
“We are confident that what we are doing in Sabah can eventually become a model for other areas in South-East Asia,” Mannan said.
He said the project, which kicked off in 2012 and would continue for six years, was being partly funded by the United Nations Development Programme’s Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF).
Mannan said the department was working with Malaysian experts in the respective fields as well as the Royal Society of Britain and other groups in drawing up the strategies for the plan.
Considered Sabah’s “Lost World”, Maliau Basin contains an unusual assembly of 12 forest types.
They comprise mainly lower montane forest type that is dominated by majestic Agathis trees and the rare montane heath forest type and lowland type. There is also the seven-tier Maliau Falls.
Danum Valley which is home to animal species like the Borneo pygmy elephants, clouded leopards and five species of deer, is a rainforest dating back 130 million years.
Prince William and his wife had visited both Maliau Basin and Danum Valley when they visited Malaysia in 2012.
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