Women to power Sri Lanka's mangrove conservation plan

Amantha Perera PlanetArk 9 Jun 15;

Sri Lanka's new mangrove protection scheme, the world's first country-wide initiative, is relying on women like Michel Priyadarshani, head of a fisherwomen's group in eastern Ambantotam village.

Priyadarshani and her colleagues did not understand the importance of mangroves for the ecosystem, including the fish population, until they benefited from a program offering microcredit in return for looking after the coastal forests.

"Now we know - and from us, our husbands and our community also have become aware," Priyadarshani said.

Since 1997, Sudeesa, a national organization that works to protect coastal ecosystems, has given women living near mangrove forests financial assistance - mainly loans of $50 to $2,000 each - incentivizing them to care for the delicate trees.

Now the program is about to go island-wide. Sudeesa, together with the Sri Lankan government and U.S.-based environmental conservation group Seacology, recently launched a five-year, $3.4 million mangrove preservation initiative.
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Sri Lanka is the first nation to promise to protect all its mangroves, experts said.

Mangrove trees grow in saltwater, forming a vital part of the natural cycle in coastal lagoons. Fish and other marine creatures like prawns use the deep roots as breeding areas.

The forests protect coastal communities from abrupt tidal shifts and storms, while slowing shore erosion.

"People who live near mangroves tell us the trees act as a buffer against the wind and heavy rains, breaking their intensity just before they make landfall," said Douglas Thisera, director for coastal conservation at Sudeesa, formerly known as the Small Fishers Federation of Lanka.

Mangrove swamps also store carbon, sequestering it in the top few meters of underwater soil and keeping it there longer than other trees.

MICRO-LOANS

K D Wijitha, who runs a group bringing together women from 23 villages in the northwestern Kalapitiya area, said they had learned to look after the mangrove forests.

"We make sure that they are safe," she said.

Thanks to the Sudeesa program, Kristina Jospin from Samadigama village in northwestern Puttalam District received training and financial aid to operate a small bakery, which allows her to support her sick husband and four children.

Sudeesa credit officer Suvinetha de Silva said the program usually targets the poorest women, who are unable to seek credit from banks.

The new national scheme aims to set up 1,500 community groups around Sri Lanka's 48 lagoons, which will offer alternative job training and micro-loans to 15,000 people. The groups will be responsible for the upkeep of designated mangrove forests.

Pilot projects showed a high success rate, said Duane Silverstein, executive director of Seacology. Almost 2,000 loans were made to women, with a repayment rate of over 96 percent.

"With very small loans of around $100, several of the women were so successful that they already employed additional women," he said.

Half of loan recipients under the new program will be widows, while the rest will be male and female school dropouts.

Seacology and Sudeesa officials said each community group will be responsible for around 21 acres (8.5 hectares) of mangrove forest. The government has agreed to provide rangers to patrol the forests.

The program also plans to replant 9,600 acres (3,885 hectares) of mangroves.

The new government of President Maithripala Sirisena has brought the island's 21,782 acres (8,815 hectares) of mangroves under the Forest Ordinance Act, making it illegal for anyone to exploit them for commercial purposes.

"It is an extremely vital decision because now all mangroves around the island can be protected with the active participation of the Forestry Department," said Sudeesa chairman Anuradha Wickramasinghe.

PRAWN DAMAGE

Some three decades ago, Sri Lanka had at least 40,000 hectares (98,842 acres) of mangroves, Thisera said. But the bulk has been destroyed due to commercial exploitation and firewood use.

"The biggest threats to mangroves in Sri Lanka include prawn farms, which have been greatly curtailed in recent years, collateral damage from the civil war, and impoverished people cutting down mangroves to use or sell as charcoal," Seacology's Silverstein said.

The worst damage occurred in the northwest of the island nation, where commercial prawn farms took off in the 1990s. But most of these farms have been abandoned in the last few years due to the spread of disease.

The new mangrove protection scheme plans to introduce other trees that can provide an alternative fuel source, such as coconut husks.

Silverstein said the government's enthusiasm for protecting the mangrove forests could push other countries in the region to follow suit.

Defense Secretary B.M.U.D. Basnayake told Silverstein the national armed forces could help with replanting efforts.

Sudeesa's Wickramasinghe said the program's success would depend on how far local communities buy into it.

"We have to make them understand the mangroves are a boost to their lives and their incomes," he added.

(Editing by Megan Rowling; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)

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Active cities 'boost bottom lines'

Mark Kinver BBC News 9 Jun 15;

Providing cycling friendly infrastructure would encourage more people to get on their bikes, research suggests
Cities that actively promote physical activities enjoy an economic advantage, research has suggested.

It says areas designed for physical activities have increased retail activity and revenue, and lower healthcare and crime costs.

The report's authors describe active cities as urban areas with easy access via cycling or walking to parks, schools and workplaces.

The details have been presented at an Active Cities Summit in Bristol, UK.

The findings - compiled by a team from the University of California, San Diego - identified five "settings" in an urban environment that encouraged physical activity:

Open spaces and parks: ensuring residents lived near a green space; accessible and safe fitness trails

Urban design: mixed-used communities; streets designed for safe and enjoyable cycling and walking

Transportation: infrastructure to support cycling an walking; access to safe and reliable public transport

Schools: located near students' homes; recreational and exercise facilities

Buildings and workplaces: encourage physical activity, eg visible stairs etc

It added that studies that assessed the economic benefits of walking and cycling interventions provided an average return of £13 for every £1 invested. In the UK, the return was shown to be as high as £19.

'Eye opening'

Providing safe streets is one of the key ways to encourage people to become more active

Visible sporting events also positively affected residents' perception of the city in which they lived, the authors observed. They quoted a US study that found that nine out of 10 people said that cycling events made them view their home city in a more positive light.

The report, commissioned by UK charity Sustrans and global sports brand Nike, based its results on more than 500 findings from studies in 17 nations.

"We hope this research will open the eyes of government leaders to the many important benefits of designing cities to support active living," said co-author Chad Spoon from Active Living Research at the University of California.

"This includes economic benefits of increased home value, greater retail activity, reduced healthcare costs and improved productivity.
"A city's ability to compete depends on an active population," he added.

"The research on this is clear - it shows how an active city can be a low-cost, high-return investment."

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Best of our wild blogs: 9 Jun 15

REGISTRATION OPEN – Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium IV, 1 Aug (Sat) @ UTown Auditorium 2
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"The day the weather can't decide what it wants to be" on Terumbu Pempang Tengah (08062015)
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Terumbu Pempang Tengah in the rain
wild shores of singapore

You can see 100 different birds in a day here
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Impulse buys of pets down with new law

Jessica Lim The Straits Times AsiaOne 8 Jun 15;

A new law forcing pet shop owners to screen potential buyers appears to be cutting impulse animal purchases.

The Pet Enterprises and Trade Association's vice-chairman Matthew Lim said that its 20 store members have seen a 10 per cent fall in sales since the rules were introduced in December 2013.

They prevent anyone under the age of 16 from buying animals unless accompanied by their parents or legal guardian.

Pet shops were also given until June 30 last year to introduce a checklist to educate the buyer and evaluate their suitability to own an animal.

The checklist includes requirements for stores to find out about a customer's pet ownership history, if they know how to look after an animal and if they know a vet.

Both the buyer and the retailer must sign the form.

"With this extra step, sales have slowed down. It makes people think twice," said Mr Lim, whose association has trained its members on how to conduct the pre-screening.

"In the past, some parents would buy a pet on impulse for a child who pesters them. But with the checklist, the parents think twice about what they are doing."

At Animal Kingdom in Punggol, customers are turned away if they are deemed unfit. Its sales have fallen by about 15 per cent since it started pre-screening and the store has turned away 10 customers in the past six months.

Its retail manager Carolyne Tan, 36, said: "I remember a couple with three young children who came in looking for a rabbit. When we asked them why, they told us it was because rabbits were cheap, easy to look after and that their kids could play with them."

She asked them other questions and eventually found them unsuitable as the children were too young and the parents did not like rabbits.

Sixty-store chain Pet Lovers Centre displays signs advising customers not to buy pets on impulse.

It also has pet care consultants who teach customers how to care for their animals.

The trickle-down effect on pet abandonment remains to be seen.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals executive director Corrine Fong said it has not seen any decrease but added that falling sales at stores are a good sign.

The House Rabbit Society Singapore said it usually receives at least 10 abandoned rabbits a month and its vice-president Jacelyn Heng is not convinced the checklist will minimise pet abandonment.

"Some pet stores don't even know how to look after the pets," she said. "It's like the blind leading the blind."

Pet stores that flout the new rules face a composition fine of $500 while recalcitrant offenders may have their licences suspended or revoked.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said routine and surprise pet shop inspections are conducted.

It also makes random checks on the authenticity of the forms by calling the signatory for verification.

The AVA has so far taken enforcement action against four retailers for uncompleted forms.

It said the public can play an important role in encouraging pet shops and dog farms to raise their standards by patronising only the responsible ones.

Ms Syafa Yusoff, 27, who bought a dwarf rabbit from Animal Kingdom for $480 in April, said the checklist made her consider the responsibility she was taking on.

The store assistant also taught her how to care for the pet and made sure she signed the checklist.

"She told me so many things that I didn't know, like how rabbits are prone to pneumonia," said the housewife, who was buying a rabbit for the first time.

"She also told me that rabbits need to always chew on something to grind their teeth down. If not, their teeth will grow long and they can't eat, and they will starve to death. I didn't know all these things."

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Malaysia: Orang utan make comeback

PATRICK LEEPATRICK The Star 9 JUn 15;

PETALING JAYA: Ten years ago, a heavily-logged forest in central Sabah was nearly empty of its original dwellers, the orang utan.

The tall trees that once dotted the Ulu Segama-Malua forest range had been wiped off by loggers, leaving the area with bushes and only a few small trees.

Today, the great apes are coming back, thanks to WWF-Malaysia, which has been planting trees in an area a quarter of the size of Petaling Jaya.

“After so many years of logging, Sabah’s forests had become badly degraded … The quality of forest wasn’t good enough to support the orang utan.

“Now we’re seeing nests in areas where there were none,” WWF-Malaysia chief executive Datuk Dr Dionysus Sharma told The Star.

He said orang utan were less likely to breed if the forests were in a poor state, with little food to eat or if there were any disturbances like logging.

Orang utan are also solitary animals with females having one baby every five to six years, he said.

Dr Sharma hoped that by having a more complete forest, the great apes would return. This, he said, was done by putting in fruit trees and other plant species.

There are only about 53,000 to 60,000 orang utan left in all of Borneo, one of only two places worldwide where they exist.

The island was home to 300,000 orang utan in 1900. Many died because of logging and over-development.

After nearly a decade of replanting, WWF’s work there led the state government to turn 2,400ha of the jungle into a Class One forest reserve, meaning it cannot be logged. It was even given a new name, and is now known as the Bukit Piton Forest Reserve.

However, some 300ha of forest still needs to be replanted with more new trees.

“It is back-breaking work and also expensive,” said Dr Sharma.

Some RM8mil was spent to reforest the first batch of 2,100ha and RM2mil is needed for work that will go on until 2017.

Dr Sharma said he was confident that the orang utan would once again nest in this part of Sabah.

For more information on how to help fund the effort, visit www.simplygiving.com/50for50.

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Best of our wild blogs: 8 Jun 15

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Vietnam: Sea, river erosion threat to farmers in Mekong

Vietnam News 8 Jun 15;

HA NOI (VNS) — Erosion in many places in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta has claimed about 500 hectares of land as authorities struggle to find effective answers.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, sea water intrudes about 30-40m into coastal land in the region. Erosion occurs in 20 places along a 200km stretch of coastline.

Places reporting severe erosion include Binh Dai and Thanh Phu districts in Ben Tre Province, and in Hiep Thanh and Dan Thanh districts in Tra Vinh Provinces.

Tang Quoc Chinh from the ministry's Irrigation Department said erosion had also occurred along riverbanks in the delta.

"Erosion has hit 265 places along the delta's rivers and estuaries. The total length of collapsed riverbanks is 450km," he said.

Chinh told a conference on the issue on Saturday in Soc Trang Province that the erosion was mainly caused by the construction of irrigation and hydropower reservoirs along the upper parts of the Mekong river, which had changed the flow of water.

He also said that over-exploitation of underground water and climate change impacts were among the causes.

The erosion has affected cultivation and the lives of millions of residents living in the coast and along the eroded rivers.

Christian Henckes of the German International Co-operation Agency (GIZ) suggested that agencies should take prompt action to deal with the problems.

He said preventive forest plantations, construction of sea walls and river embankment should be carried out.

The delta supplies nearly 90 per cent of rice for Viet Nam, one of the world's leading rice exporters.

Deputy Minister Hoang Van Thang agreed with Henckes, saying the delta needed an integrated approach to deal with the problems.

Erosion and sea water intrusion are expected to become more severe. Experts forecast that 39 per cent of the delta area will be under 30m under sea water in 2100 because of climate change. — VNS

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Understanding the ocean's value

WWF 7 Jun 15;

The ocean is changing more rapidly than at any other point in millions of years – and not for the better.

The ocean feeds families, safeguards coasts, stores carbon and creates employment, yet we are allowing it to collapse before our eyes.

Two recent WWF reports detail the ocean's staggering wealth and undeniable role in supporting human and economic well-being. Those same reports highlight the threats facing this critical global resource as well as the solutions that can help support it.

Reviving the Ocean Economy shows that the ocean ranks seventh among the world’s top 10 economies. The report conservatively estimates the ocean's annual output of goods and services to be US$2.5 trillion and places its overall value at US$24 trillion.

“The ocean rivals the wealth of the world’s richest countries, but it is being allowed to sink to the depths of a failed economy,” said Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, at the time of the report's release.

A separate analysis of the ocean focusing on marine protected areas concludes that every dollar invested in marine protection would be at least tripled in benefits from employment, coastal protection, and fisheries.

Further underscoring the ocean's enormous economic potential, the analysis demonstrated that increased protection of critical habitats could result in net benefits of up to US$920 billion between now and 2050.

Despite all of the benefits offered by the ocean, we are assaulting it through over-exploitation, habitat destruction, climate change and pollution. With most of the ocean's economic output reliant on its health, current conditions will only further erode the ocean's ability to provide essential services to humans and nature.

In coming months, governments will make critical decisions that will direct the fate of the ocean for generations. WWF argues that it is not too late to reverse the troubling trends and ensure a healthy ocean that benefits people, business and the environment.

“The ocean is collapsing before our eyes, but the good news is that we have the tools to fix it. We have serious work to do to protect the ocean, starting with real global commitments on climate and sustainable development,” added Lambertini describing the conclusions of WWF's research.

Among the most urgent solutions presented by WWF are embedding ocean recovery throughout the UN’s post-2015 agenda, including the Sustainable Development Goals, taking global action on climate change and delivering strong commitments to protect coastal and marine areas.

As human reliance on the ocean increases so does the need for us to protect it. WWF’s global ocean campaign, Sustain Our Seas, recognizes this need and builds on decades of work by the organization and its partners on marine conservation. WWF is working with governments, businesses and communities to encourage leaders to take urgent measures to support the ocean and protect the lives and livelihoods of billions of people around the world.

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Best of our wild blogs: 7 Jun 15

Big stars on big Beting Bemban Besar
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The marine trash on Tanah Merah beach is appaling!
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“Marine Life and the Threat of Marine Trash” – ICCS talks for your organisation in Jun-Jul 2015!
News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

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Singapore's green efforts get mixed report card

Feng Zengkun and Audrey Tan The Straits Times AsiaOne 6 Jun 15;

SINGAPORE received a mixed report card for its environmental efforts yesterday, even as global citizens marked the United Nations' World Environment Day.

While the Republic has made strides in protecting marine plants and animals, and in getting people to use less water and electricity, it still has some way to go in recycling and in getting people to throw away fewer gadgets and household appliances.

That was the view of experts at the Eco Action Day panel discussion yesterday. They also called for more organisations here to switch to buying greener products, for example, when sourcing office supplies.

The forum was organised by Ricoh Asia Pacific and website Eco-Business, with other partners such as the National Environment Agency (NEA), Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and Singapore Business Federation.

NEA chief executive Ronnie Tay, who was among the panellists yesterday, said Singapore has to minimise its use of natural resources and reduce waste and pollutant emissions for the sake of future generations.

"Considering our resource constraints, improving sustainability even as we grow economically is very important. Our efforts have paid off to a large extent, since Singapore is one of Asia's most globalised, investor-friendly and green cities," he said.

Eco-Business editor Jessica Cheam pointed out that Singapore had stepped up its green efforts in recent years.

"The government has come up with policies that tackle heavier issues such as recycling, energy efficiency and the green economy. The Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015 in particular has outlined the effort, and our aspirations to become a car-light, zero-waste nation are all very good ideals," she said.

However, she noted, there is still no legislation on electronic waste or household recycling.

"It is high time we did that, instead of waiting for multi-sector collaborations and people to become aware," she said. "Without government efforts to legislate, the progress will be very slow."

SEC executive director Edwin Seah said he, too, would like to see greater commitment by organisations and individuals to buying products from sustainable sources.

"The Government can come up with platforms and infrastructure, but the individual consumer must also want to take action," he said.

Ms Ria Tan, who runs website wildsingapore.com, told The Straits Times that more Singaporeans became aware of environmental issues after the 2013 haze crisis, and they are working more closely to tackle the problems.

"An example is the Ubin Project, which brought people together to work on the complex issues affecting Singapore's last unspoilt island," she said.

The ongoing project, by the Ministry of National Development, aims to maintain the island's rustic charm.

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900 HDB blocks, eight govt sites to be equipped with solar panels

SIAU MING EN Today Online 5 Jun 15;

SINGAPORE — Less than four years after it explored solar leasing as a power option, the Government has pushed on more aggressively to tap the sun’s energy with a first-ever tender for photovoltaic (PV) panels to be installed across multiple public-sector premises.

The tender put up today (June 5) for solar panels capable of collectively producing 40 megawatts-peak (MWp) — the largest to date in both the private and public sectors — will include 900 Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks as well as installations at eight Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Public Utilities Board (PUB) sites. The contracts for the housing blocks alone is nearly as large as all those awarded by the HDB from September 2011 until now.

Under this tender, solar PV systems will be installed at Tuas Checkpoint, Woodlands Checkpoint, Home Team Academy, Airport Police Division and MHA-HQ at Phoenix Park under the MHA. For the PUB, the installation will be at Changi Water Reclamation Plant, Bedok Waterworks and WaterHub. The solar energy generated will be used to power their facilities.

The systems will also be installed on the rooftops of about 900 HDB blocks managed by the Pasir Ris-Punggol, Holland-Bukit Panjang, Ang Mo Kio, Chua Chu Kang, Sembawang and Nee Soon town councils.

The solar energy will be used for common services, such as to power lifts, corridor and staircase lights. A capacity of 40MWp could potentially generate enough electricity to power about 10,000 four-room units for a year.

With the latest tender, close to 2,000 HDB blocks will be partially powered by solar energy. There are currently more than 9,000 HDB blocks in Singapore.

In a joint press release today, the HDB and the Economic Development Board (EDB) made clear that more tenders would be called in the next four to five years, as the Government goes for the target of having solar power contribute 350MWp to Singa­pore’s system by 2020.

More public agencies are primed to harness solar energy under the SolarNova programme spearheaded by the EDB, which encourages government bodies to hop on the bandwagon. With the Government driving the push, it will spur the growth of the solar industry in Singapore, said an EDB spokesperson, while agencies with a smaller solar PV demand will benefit from economies of scale and enjoy cheaper solar energy.

Last August, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said the defence and education ministries had expressed interest in having solar panels installed on their premises. TODAY understands both ministries are keen on participating in future tenders.

In response to queries, executive director of Cleantech in EDB Goh Chee Kiong said the programme is open to all government agencies to participate in, and more than 10 agencies and ministries had expressed interest in the programme. Some examples of government buildings with solar panels include the National Environment Agency’s Upper Air Observatory building and Jurong Town Council’s Cleantech One.

An MHA spokesperson said the ministry would explore the feasibility of extending the use of solar technology to more of its facilities.

Unlike solar leasing tenders awarded before October last year, the HDB and the other agencies taking part in the latest bulk tender will not need to fund any portion of the upfront costs of such projects due to the economies of scales reaped from larger tenders.

The HDB also noted the development of the local solar industry, citing the growing participation from companies in the HDB’s past solar leasing tenders — there were three bidders in its first tender in 2011, while the latest one last year attracted seven firms. “As the scale of and capabilities in the local solar industry grow, the implementation of solar technology on a larger scale has become more cost-effective,” it added.

Experts whom TODAY spoke to welcomed the Government’s lead in calling for the bulk tender, noting that the industry would become more competitive and encourage more in the private sector to take up solar technology.

Installation works that fall under this bulk tender are expected to be finished by the end of 2017. The tender will close on Aug 14, and will likely be awarded in the fourth quarter of this year.

Bigger, more competitive solar market ‘possible with Govt push’
SIAU MING EN Today Online 6 Jun 15;

SINGAPORE — By ramping up its push for the adoption of solar leasing across public agencies, the Government would drive the emergence of a more competitive market and spur more widespread take-up in the private sector, said experts.

Mr Nilesh Jadhav, programme director (EcoCampus) at the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N), said the Government’s first bulk tender consolidating demand across multiple agencies put out yesterday makes an impactful statement.

It will be a shot in the arm for the solar industry, and the winning bidder will be able to secure lower prices with the huge volume of orders, he said.

As a result, more parties would pay attention to the Singapore solar market, said Mr Nilesh. “This way, we can also attract solar companies from outside, which will bring in (better) quality of installations ... the really good quality engineering solutions ... will also be brought in,” he added.

Besides lowering the overall cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment, Dr Thomas Reindl, deputy chief executive officer of the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), said demand aggregation from the bulk tender would be effective in standardising, and therefore simplifying, the procurement process.

Both experts noted that the Housing and Development Board (HDB) is one of the biggest adopters of solar energy. “If we include HDB blocks, currently more than 50 per cent of the total solar capacity in Singapore is installed on government buildings,” said Dr Reindl. He added: “It wouldn’t make sense that every agency builds up and trains its own PV team on how to optimally call for a PV tender. The HDB has a long history in test bedding and rolling out solar PV systems, and therefore is naturally the (consolidating) agency.”

Mr Nilesh also noted that the solar leasing model seemed to be the only model working well here, where building owners do not have to fork out high upfront costs and yet pay for cheaper green electricity.

Despite the relatively high adoption rates, there is potential for even more buildings to be powered by solar energy, said Dr Reindl. Citing two major documents — the Solar PV Roadmap by SERIS and the White Paper on solar and biomass by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore — he said both papers “expect a market in the Gigawatt range by 2020”.

Solar firms TODAY spoke to said they are keen to bid on the bulk tender. Having worked with the HDB on a handful of solar leasing contracts, Sunseap Leasing business development manager Shawn Tan said this particular bulk tender is attractive.

While Phoenix Solar said a tender of this size “merits close consideration”, REC Solar’s vice-president of sales and marketing in Asia-Pacific Jen Tan hopes the authorities would also focus on the quality and durability of the solar PV systems when evaluating the bids. SIAU MING EN

Big boost for solar power
Janice Heng The Straits Times AsiaOne 7 Jun 15;

THE Government's solar energy push is hotting up, with solar panels to be installed at places such as the Tuas and Woodlands checkpoints by the end of 2017.

Another 900 HDB blocks will also get solar panels, taking the total to almost 2,000, or about a fifth of all blocks here.

The energy generated at HDB blocks helps to power lifts and lighting in common areas.

The increase comes under a tender called by the HDB yesterday, the first to consolidate multiple government agencies' demand for solar-panel installation.

It is for a capacity of 40 megawatt-peak or MWp, making it the largest solar leasing tender in Singapore to date, the HDB and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) said in a joint statement yesterday.

The HDB will take up about four-fifths of the capacity.

The rest will be taken up by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and national water agency PUB, with solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to be installed at eight sites.

The five MHA sites are Tuas Checkpoint, Woodlands Checkpoint, Home Team Academy, Airport Police Division and the MHA headquarters at New Phoenix Park.

For the PUB, solar PV systems will be installed at Changi Water Reclamation Plant, Bedok Waterworks and WaterHub.

The tender closes on Aug 14 and is estimated to be awarded in the fourth quarter of the year. Installation is expected to be finished at the end of 2017.

This is the first tender to be called under SolarNova, a programme spearheaded by the EDB to lead demand for solar energy.

The scheme encourages government agencies to come together to tap solar power. This government demand is then meant to spur the growth of the solar industry in Singapore.

The aim is for solar power to contribute 350 MWp to Singapore's energy system by 2020, or about 5 per cent of projected peak electricity demand.

Increased adoption of solar energy will create opportunities for innovation in smart energy grids and energy management, said EDB executive director for cleantech Goh Chee Kiong.

"This initiative will strengthen Singapore's position as the leading clean-energy hub in the region," he said.

More tenders will be called under SolarNova over the next four to five years.

With HDB acting as the Government's central procurement agency for solar panels, agencies with smaller demand can enjoy solar energy at a lower cost, thanks to economies of scale.

The HDB has procured about 55 MWp of solar power so far, excluding the latest tender.

By the end of this month, about 250 HDB blocks islandwide will have solar panels, with installation works in progress for another 772 blocks. With the latest tender covering another 900 blocks, almost 2,000 HDB blocks in total will be ready to harness solar energy by 2017.

By 2020, the goal is to have solar panels at 5,500 HDB blocks - more than half of all blocks here.

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Wildlife crime still thriving in Indonesia

Warief Djajanto Basorie, Jakarta Post 7 Jun 15;

Pangolins and cockatoos, two species native to Indonesia, command high value. They are, however, endangered wildlife. Trading in them is illegal. Two recent police busts, one in North Sumatra and the other in East Java, revealed the lengths smugglers go to in order to profit from wildlife crime. The two cases underscore the huge, shady business of illicit wildlife trafficking, which has been given a further boost by online technology.

In Medan in late April, authorities seized 5 tons of frozen pangolin, 77 kilograms of pangolin scales and 96 live pangolins. Meanwhile in Surabaya on May 4 officials found two dozen yellow-crested cockatoos stuffed in plastic bottles.

Pangolins, or trenggiling in Indonesian, are scaly anteaters. One place where they thrive is in West Kalimantan province. In the Gunung Bulat area in the district of Sambas, night poachers use trained dogs to track and sniff out pangolins, a nocturnal creature.

The anteaters are smuggled out to Sarawak ,north of the border with East Malaysia. They are then routed through Tawau in Sabah to China. The meat is a delicacy. The keratin-based scales are used to make (scientifically unproven) medicine.

Human fingernails are made from keratin. One kilo of the pangolin’s plate-like scales, similar in appearance to a pine cone or the skin of the salak fruit, can fetch Rp 3 million (US$230) for the trader.

“Certainly, if exploitation in the wild becomes intensive, extinction is within sight,” declared Albertus Tjiu, project leader for WWF Indonesia’s West Kalimantan program. The Bali tiger, the Javan tiger and the West Kalimantan rhino are believed to have already become extinct.

Kalimantan is a rich depository of biological diversity. Its land area mass is under 1 percent of the world’s land mass, yet it houses 6 percent of the world’s flora and fauna. One hectare of Kalimantan forest, for instance, holds more than 150 tree species. As for fauna, its lowland tropical forests are home to 30,000 kinds of beetle, 666 species of dragonfly and 122 species of swallowtail butterfly.

Online wildlife trafficking, especially of protected species, is becoming more widespread, according to Profauna, an environmental organization based in Malang, East Java, which tracks illicit wildlife trading. In 2014 the group counted no fewer that 3,640 online ads offering the Javan hawk-eagle, Siamang gibbon, Surili, Javan langur, palm cockatoo, black-capped lory, slow loris and eclectus parrot, Profauna stated in a January 2015 report.

The organization filed at least 78 cases of wildlife crime in Indonesia in 2014, including the attempted smuggling out on Aug. 23 from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, of 28 helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil) beaks. These beaks are worth Rp 2 million per 100 grams. On Oct. 28, officers thwarted the shipment of 53 black-capped lories, four yellow-crested cockatoos, one eclectus parrot, three cassowaries, and a number of deer tusks on a ferry in Bitung, North Sulawesi.

Indonesia has at least 16 laws that relate to biodiversity. They include the 1999 Forestry Law, the 2007 Coastal and Small Islands Management Law, the 2009 Environment Protection and Management Law and the 2013 Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction Law, to name four. Against illegal wildlife trading, prosecutors tend to use the 1990 Living Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Law (UU KSDA).

Activities that “lead to a change in the integrity of a natural sanctuary” are classified as crimes. Such acts include poaching and setting forest fires. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison and a Rp 200 million fine.

“Without strong law enforcement, biodiversity will be devastated. When all is gone, there is no return,” declared Society of Indonesian Environmental Journalists (SIEJ) director Maha Adi. Law enforcement officials confess to a common handicap. In trying biodiversity cases, they lack qualified prosecutors and judges knowledgeable of the environment and environmental law.

Weak law enforcement can be remedied by enhancing the capacity of judicial officials in environmental law. Chemonics, a USAID contractor in international development, has a “Changes for Justice” project. It supports the Supreme Court’s enhancement program in environment law for district court and high court judges.

Similar enhancement work must also be undertaken for prosecutors, police officers, environmental campaigners, investors in environment-related businesses and journalists. Officials at national and subnational levels must boost their awareness of environmental issues. The new Environment and Forestry Ministry must get involved in reinforcing the legal knowledge and capacity of biodiversity stakeholders.

A business-as-usual attitude to biodiversity would be tantamount to a license to let Indonesia’s biodiversity die.

The writer, who teaches at Dr. Soetomo Press Institute, Jakarta, is a senior environmental journalist.

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