2 Russians jailed in Singapore for smuggling endangered turtles

The two men were caught smuggling the animals when they were in transit at Changi Airport, while travelling from Bangladesh to Indonesia, says AVA.
Channel NewsAsia 14 oct 15;

SINGAPORE: Two Russian nationals were on Wednesday (Oct 14) sentenced to 15 months in jail for smuggling 206 endangered turtles, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).

Pavlychev Maksim, 38, and Radkov Aleksei, 34, were detained at Changi Airport on Jul 9, 2015, when they were in transit while travelling from the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka to Surabaya, Indonesia, said AVA in a news release. Their jail terms were backdated to the same day.

An aviation security officer at Changi Airport had found four luggage bags stuffed with 206 live black pond turtles. The animals are a critically-endangered species protected under the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Investigations revealed that the men had been approached by a friend to deliver the turtles to Indonesia. The turtles are estimated to be worth S$90,000 and are believed to be in high demand in the exotic pet trade, said AVA.

The luggage bags were lined with diapers and cloth to absorb the turtles’ excrement, said AVA, adding that the animals were found dehydrated and “in poor condition”. So far 27 of the turtles have died or had to be put down, while the remaining animals are under the care of Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

Those found importing, exporting or re-exporting CITES species, including their parts and products, without a permit could be fined up to S$50,000 per species and/or sentenced to up to two years in jail. Also, those found guilty of animal cruelty could face a maximum fine of S$10,000 and/or up to 12 months’ jail.

- CNA/xq

Two men jailed 15 months each for trying to smuggle 206 endangered turtles through S’pore
Today Online 14 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE — With four luggage bags stuffed with 206 live turtles, they tried to make their way from Bangladesh to Surabaya, Indonesia. However, while transiting in Singapore on July 9, the duo’s ploy to smuggle the critically endangered reptiles was discovered.

Today (Oct 14), Russian nationals Pavlychev Maksim, 38, and Radkov Aleksei, 34, were each sentenced to 15 months’ jail for the attempted smuggling. Their jail sentences were backdated to July 9.

The black pond turtles (Geoclemys hamiltonii), estimated to be worth S$90,000, were placed in luggage bags lined with diapers and cloth to absorb their excreted waste, said the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) in a press release today.

Twenty-seven of them have since died or had to put down for welfare reasons. “Unfortunately, the turtles arrived dehydrated and were in poor condition,” said the AVA. The remaining turtles are under the care of Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

Investigations revealed that Maksim and Aleksei were approached by a friend to deliver the turtles to Indonesia. The turtles are believed to be in high demand in the exotic pet trade. The two men were immediately detained after their exotic stash was detected by a Certis CISCO aviation security officer at Singapore Changi Airport.

International trade of the endangered turtles is prohibited, as it is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act, CITES permits are required for any import, export and re-export of CITES species, including their parts and products. It is also an offence under the Act if the CITES species or their parts and products are not accompanied by proper CITES permits when they are in transit or being transhipped through Singapore.

Penalties for infringing the Act include fines of up to S$50,000 per scheduled species (not exceeding a maximum aggregate of S$500,000) and/or up to two years’ jail.

Under the Animals and Birds Act, any person who neglects to supply the animals with food and/or water or subject them to unnecessary suffering and distress, shall be guilty of animal cruelty and shall be liable, on conviction, to a maximum fine of S$10,000 and/or jail of up to 12 months.

“The Singapore Government has zero tolerance on the use of Singapore as a conduit to smuggle endangered species and their parts and products. We will not hesitate to take harsh enforcement actions against any person or company that smuggles wildlife through Singapore,” said AVA’s Lye Fong Keng, Deputy Director, Quarantine & Inspection Group (Wildlife Section).

Anyone with information on illegal wildlife trade may contact AVA at 6805-2992 or via AVA’s online feedback form. AVA said all information would be kept strictly confidential.

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Does green living always result in higher monetary cost?

Switching to eco-friendly practices does not necessarily cost more, according to some companies and consumers.
Rachelle Lee Channel NewsAsia 15 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE: The haze in Singapore has focused attention on green living, and while some companies have said switching to eco-friendly practices can result in higher costs, others have said that this does not have to be the case.

Those whom Channel NewsAsia spoke with said green practices may even help to save money.

Interior designer Sky Creations has said green features do not necessarily cost more. Over the past three years, they have seen a significant increase in demand from home owners for such green features, particularly energy-efficient designs which offer the largest potential for savings.

For Ms Lee Kheng, she said she chose to include eco-friendly features in her home as it could save money in the long run. The furnishings in her HDB flat are made from sustainable materials certified by the Singapore Green Label. The eco-friendly appliances help to reduce energy consumption, and she has also installed a master switch that can power down the house, with the exception of the refrigerator, when no one is home.

"Before I renovated my house, my electrical bills were very expensive. Now, I save more than a hundred dollars on electrical bills every month,” she said.

More consumers are also making environmentally-friendly choices when they go shopping as prices of such products have dropped. Supermarket chain FairPrice said it has seen a rise in demand for eco-friendly products, with a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent in sales.

"In FairPrice, we have more stores carrying (green products). I think the consumers themselves are also finding that the prices are coming down, so more people are buying them,” said FairPrice’s Green Committee chairperson Koh Kok Sin. “We call this economies of scale - the more consumers support them, the more that our suppliers and manufacturers can produce them at a lower cost. So if more of us support these products, first of all it’s better for the environment, secondly it helps to lower cost.”

Some new eco-friendly items in the market include bamboo toilet paper and coconut charcoal.

But some consumers are still not aware of the green choices available. They told Channel NewsAsia that they have not come across them in the market, or that they have not thought of switching to buying environmentally-friendly products.

Olive Green, which brings in eco-friendly tableware, said one reason that may be stopping people from making greener choices is a lack of awareness.

"We are so used to the norm, if something strange comes along, it takes time for us to adjust. When they are so used to a particular supply chain and then out of the blue someone comes along and offer something completely different, the first questions they ask are, ‘Is somebody else using it? How good is it?’” said Mr Aloysius Cheong, CEO of Olive Green.

The recent episode of haze, however, has helped to raise awareness of how consumers can make a difference when they choose environmentally sustainable products.

"Sometimes negative events like the haze creates more consumer awareness of the need to support sustainable products,” said Mr Koh.

The Singapore Environment Council said large retail outlets can take the lead by providing consumers with the opportunity to choose green products. But it added that a more sustainable alternative is to enact a green procurement policy at a national level, which could generate an influx of green products in the market to meet consumer demand.

- CNA/xq

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NParks aims to increase motivation, productivity with new park facilities

NEO CHAI CHIN Today Online 15 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE — Should the future Jurong Lake Gardens be chockful of features that enable people to connect with nature on many levels, chances are that this did not happen by accident.

Guidelines on how developments in Singapore can nurture such attachment could be out early next year, said the National Parks Board (NParks) today (Oct 14). The importance of nature and its elements have been shown in what experts call a thin but growing body of research. Studies have found that contact with nature reduces stress, shortens post-surgical hospital stays after gall bladder surgery and even results in higher productivity and employee motivation.

The guidelines will be developed by NParks and the Centre for Liveable Cities, together with three international experts — Yale University professor emeritus Stephen Kellert, the University of Virginia’s Professor Timothy Beatley and Curtin University professor of sustainability Peter Newman.

The three experts and local thought leaders spoke at Singapore’s first-ever symposium on biophilia today. Biophilia describes humans’ innate attachment to nature, and the symposium was followed by a two-day workshop exploring how the guidelines can be applied in Singapore.

NParks chief executive Kenneth Er said the guidelines will help various agencies to “refine and develop facilities that support the principles of biophilia, thereby bringing us even closer to our vision of A City in a Garden”.

The workshops and guidelines will cover upcoming projects such as the Jurong Lake Gardens, said Dr Lena Chan, director of NParks’ National Biodiversity Centre. Part of Jurong Lake District, the Jurong Lake Gardens’ three sections will include the grounds of the new Science Centre and the Chinese and Japanese Gardens. Its first section will be ready in 2017.

Dr Chan said the authorities want to leverage on its existing features such as the freshwater swamp and bird habitat, while meeting the recreational needs of various age groups.

Affiliation with nature ought to be integrated into the every day, and not happen only on a vacation or the occasional trip to the nature reserve, said experts at the symposium, attended by over 300 civil servants, academics and those in urban planning, landscape design and architecture.

Biophilic design provides users with direct experience of nature in the form of natural light, for instance. It can also provide indirect experience with nature through the use of natural materials, colours and natural geometries, said Prof Kellert.

Designs are rarely sustainable if people lack emotional attachment or the motivation to sustain the structures over time, he argued.

On people unhappy about trees shedding too many leaves, bird droppings and early-morning bird calls, Prof Newman said: “A bit of education, perhaps, would help a lot in enabling … that innate connection.” Civil servants on the ground could tell residents about the species of birds in question and the roles of the birds and trees in the ecosystem, he suggested.

Notions such as nature being “out there” or “something you visit when you have the time, opportunity and motivation” need to be broken down, said Prof Kellert. “There are many layers, levels, dimensions of our inherent connection to nature and they’re all legitimate,” he said.

“So, growing things is important. Controlling our environment is important. Recognising that there’s fear and aversion … in certain kinds of habitats and that needs to be addressed,” he said. “The more levels of connections we have, the more the benefit, the more the value — ecologically , economically and socially.”

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Malaysia: FRIM canopy walkway and rover track closed

P. DIVAKARAN The Star 14 Oct 15;

PETALING JAYA: Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) has closed its canopy walkway and rover track due to extensive damage following the recent heavy downpours.

The announcement was made on FRIM’s Facebook page on Tuesday.

FRIM will be conducting a through safety assessment of the areas of Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve where the canopy walkway and rover track are located.

FRIM Corporate Head Norhayati Nordin apologised for any inconvenience caused by the incident adding that the decision was made with public safety in mind.

“We apologise for any inconvenience and appeal for understanding and cooperation from all visitors especially FRIM regular joggers to refrain from using the rover track,” she said.

She also asked all visitors to stay away from FRIM during thunderstorms and urged them to check the weather forecast before planning a trip.

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Malaysia: The forests are our lifeline

A. BAKAR WEBB New Straits Times 14 Oct 15;

ILLEGAL logging in Malaysia is not a new phenomenon. According to a non-governmental organisation with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, Malaysia has an illegal logging rate of 35 per cent.

About 40 per cent of its consumption and timber export was estimated to have been acquired illegally. Indeed, according to Transparency International Malaysia, the amount lost to illegal logging annually is estimated to be between RM800 million and RM900 million, about five per cent of the total timber export of some RM20 billion.

A 2011 study by the World Bank revealed that two-thirds of the world’s top tropical timber producing nations were losing at least half of their timber to illegal loggers. Although the activity is overshadowed by other crimes, such as terrorism, drugs and human trafficking, illegal logging is an environmental crime that poses a number of challenges.

In many developing countries, including Malaysia, environmental crime has not been the subject of great public attention. The chief minister of Sarawak’s initiatives to curb illegal logging should be praised as his no-nonsense approach has made him a sincere defender and friend of the forests. Among the reasons the chief minister is fighting tooth and nail against illegal logging are:

FIRST, it is the cause of widespread environmental damage and rapid loss of primary forest. Deforestation translates into a loss of the many environmental services that forests provide, such as water regulation, soil formation and stabilisation. Indeed, the removal of forests can exacerbate catastrophic flooding. The recent devastating floods in Gua Musang, Kelantan, should serve as a lesson for the people of Sarawak. Illegal logging has also resulted in the loss of wildlife and threatened endangered species.

SECOND, economic losses due to tax evasion, fees and other revenues associated with legal forestry. According to the United Nations Environment Programme and Interpol, the economic value of global illegal logging, including processing, is estimated to be worth between US$30 and US$100 billion (RM126 billion to RM420 billion) or 10 to 30 per cent of global wood trade.
THIRD, the social impact. It has been argued that illegal logging has been shown to fuel poverty, and increase uneven power relations and access to resources and land. Local communities and indigenous groups that are directly dependent on forest resources for subsistence needs are often those severely affected. Indeed, illegal logging represents the starting point of a complex process of interconnected organised criminal activities undertaken at international level.

What is the principle motivation behind illegal logging? The answer is simple — the very high profits for the perpetrators and low risks of detection.

According to Interpol and the World Bank, timber is a commodity no different from narcotics, weapons, vehicles or any other internationally traded goods that can generate profits. The fact that timber is “easy to launder” and appears as a “clean business” compared with drug or human trafficking leads to the notion that the activity is not a serious crime. In fact, it is often mistakenly seen as a “victimless” crime.

It has been argued that the logic is not only forestry companies harvest illegally, but they are fundamentally supported by non-environmentally sensitive markets that demand timber products without considering whether the timber was harvested illegally. It is a fact that combating illegal logging is not easy despite the government’s efforts to control it. Timber may be transported through several countries before reaching its final destination, logging firms may be based in different countries, and profits may be invested in tax haven countries or recirculated into other legal or illegal enterprises. The more countries are involved, the harder it is to trace the origin of the wood, and easier it is to take advantage of the lack of harmonisation between different national legislation and international treaties.

As expounded by the chief minister of Sarawak, weaknesses of governance and poor law enforcement are major issues when it comes to curbing illegal logging. He had lambasted some enforcement officers in Sarawak whom he sarcastically referred to as “having eyes but cannot see, having mouth but cannot talk and having ears but cannot hear”.

Indeed, illegal logging is not only undermining the rule of law but also democratic governance and respect for the environment and human rights.

There is room for hope. The efforts of the chief minister of Sarawak to tackle illegal logging deserve recognition and support. The establishment of a more accountable forest management and political system is very much needed. Improved law enforcement is also needed to reduce corruption. We should prove that Sarawak is not the land of the blind, deaf and mute, as far as our forests are concerned. Stand up for our endangered forests. They are our friends, our heritage and our lifeline.

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Indonesia: Rangers Bust Suspected Sumatran Tiger Poachers

Radesman Saragih Jakarta Globe 14 Oct 15;

Jambi. Forest rangers in Sumatra have arrested three suspected members of a trafficking syndicate allegedly involved in the poaching of endangered tigers and trading of their pelts.

The arrests were the result of an undercover operation on Monday by the Jambi provincial conservation agency, or BKSDA, and the local police. Acting on a tipoff, rangers pretending to be tiger-skin buyers arranged a meeting with the suspects, who duly turned up with a tiger pelt and were promptly arrested, according to BKSDA chief ranger Krismanko Padang.

He identified the three suspects only by their initials and ages, ranging from 32 to 45 years old.

“The three suspects come from different regions in Sumatra,” Krismanko told reporters in Jambi on Wednesday. “We’re still investigating to see how far the syndicate extends outside the province.”

He said the suspects had confessed to obtaining the pelt from a tiger they claimed to have hunted inside the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Jambi, ostensibly a protected area.

Krsimanko said the killing of tigers in the province was “very high” and that the BKSDA was ramping up its efforts to crack down on poachers and traders. The agency has arrested 15 people so far this year in six cases connected to the hunting of tigers or trade in their skins or other body parts.

The Sumatran tiger, the smallest of the extant tiger subspecies, is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or just a step away from being extinct. There are an estimated 300 to 400 of the animals left in their wild, with their numbers fast dwindling as a result of poaching and habitat loss to make way for oil palm, rubber and logging concessions.

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Global mangroves to be submerged by 2070

AAP Perth Now 15 Oct 15;

Mangrove forests across the Indo-Pacific could be under water by 2070, though Australian and New Zealand plants are well-placed to withstand the rising tide.

Even accounting for lower-than-expected sea-level rises in the coming years, many mangrove forests have a poor outlook, the study suggests.

Mangroves in Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are predicted to be submerged within the next 45 years.

But it's brighter news for other Australasian mangrove hotspots.

"Our modelling shows mangroves are likely to persist in east Africa, the Bay of Bengal, eastern Borneo and north-western Australia," Queensland University Professor Catherine Lovelock said.

Areas with relatively large tidal ranges and more sediment are better prepared, she said.

The submerging of mangroves could have a significant economic effect with some forests valued at $US194,0000 ($A2.67 million) per hectare per year for their ecosystem services to fisheries, coastal protection and carbon sequestration.

"This is of particular concern as this region is expected to have variable but high rates of future sea-level rise," Professor Lovelock said.

The results of the study, undertaken at 27 sites across the Indo-Pacific, will be published in Nature.

Australia could lose mangroves to sea level rise, research warns
Sara Phillips ABC News 15 Oct 15;

Parts of Australia could lose their coastal mangroves to sea level rise before the end of this century, according to new research.

The loss of the quintessential coastal tree with built-in snorkels could have major knock-on effects for fisheries and nearby communities.

"Without mangrove forests, fish decline, there's reduced coastal protection, there's reduced coastal carbon sequestration," lead researcher Catherine Lovelock, who is a professor of biological sciences at the University of Queensland, said.

"Mangroves provide a whole range of ecosystem services."

In Australia, there are approximately a million hectares of coastal mangrove forests.

A rough estimate of the value of the services they provide to Australians has been put at $194 billion each year.

Australia has the second largest area of mangroves in the world, behind Indonesia. And it is not just Australia's trees that would be affected.

Calculations by Professor Lovelock and her team for the Indo-Pacific region showed that even with measures to control the release of climate-changing greenhouse gases, areas along the Gulf of Thailand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands could lose their mangroves in the next 50 years.

"We singled out the Mekong [River, in Vietnam] because it's one of the locations where mangroves are very important for people and it's also a river that has large dams proposed," she said.

"In the process of building dams, the sediment supply to the coast will be altered. That will be a negative for coastal systems. That will pose a problem in the future."

She said sediment washing off the land was usually trapped in the knotted roots of mangroves, building up soil as time goes by.

In most places in the world, mangroves accumulating soil in this way are expected to keep pace with sea level rise resulting from climate change.

But when sediments are reduced, the tidal flats that are usually home to the trees will gradually become inundated and become unsuitable for mangroves.

If there is development on the coast, the trees would have nowhere new to colonise, sealing their fate.

Mangroves in areas where there is only a small difference between high and low tide are especially at risk.

Professor Lovelock nominated Shark Bay in WA and around Adelaide as mangrove flats in Australia that are particularly vulnerable.

Mangroves in places such as north-western Australia, where the tidal range can be as much as 10 metres, are expected to cope even in scenarios with high sea level rise.

Loss of mangroves of concern to fishing community

Professor Lovelock said measuring rising sea level against accumulating sediment was all about finding a steady reference point. The technique is surprisingly low-tech.

"We go out into the mangroves with lots of stainless steel and hammer down rods that are connected to each other until they can't go anymore," she said.

"So we basically fix them into the sediment as deep as we can. Often that means hitting the rock surface that's below.

"And that forms this point deep in the sediment that we measure everything relative to."

Professor Lovelock said a loss of mangroves was particularly concerning for communities that rely on fishing for their livelihood.

"Mangroves are nurseries for some fish species. In some part of their life cycle, many fish species will use mangroves," she said.

"They might forage into mangrove forests when the tide is in... they are refuges for predation in some cases.

"Another good reason to conserve your mangroves is to stop CO2 emissions. Land use change accounts for 25 per cent of global CO2 emissions.

"And the destruction of mangroves and seagrasses and salt-marsh might actually contribute to that substantially because they're so carbon rich."

The research was published in Nature.


Rising seas will drown mangrove forests
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND EurekAlert 15 Oct 15;

Mangrove forests around the Indo-Pacific region could be submerged by 2070, international research published today says. Even with relatively low sea-level rises, many mangrove forests had a poor outlook said Professor Catherine Lovelock, a University of Queensland ecologist.

"Mangrove forests are particularly vulnerable," she said.

"Mangroves are predicted to be submerged in parts of Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands."

However the outlook in other parts of the world was more positive.

"Our modelling shows mangroves are likely to persist in east Africa, the Bay of Bengal, eastern Borneo and north-western Australia - areas where there are relatively large tidal ranges and/or higher sediment supply," said Professor Lovelock, who works in UQ's School of Biological Sciences and the Global Change Institute.

"Even in other areas though, the good news is that through accretion of sediment and maintenance of wetland soils, mangrove forests do have the capacity to avoid inundation and keep pace with sea-level rise."

Professor Lovelock said this was why there was an urgent need to plan for the maintenance of sediment supply in river systems that were likely to be dammed or heavily modified in future.

"The Indo-Pacific region holds most of the world's mangrove forests, but sediment delivery in this region is declining, due to activities such as dam construction," she said.

"This is of particular concern as this region is expected to have variable but high rates of future sea-level rise."

Forest degradation had to be reversed because it reduced organic inputs to soils that was vital for mangrove survival, Professor Lovelock said.

Plans should be made for the landward migration of vulnerable mangrove forests to higher elevations.

"Intertidal mangrove forests occur on tropical and subtropical shorelines, and provide a wide range of ecosystem services - to fisheries, in coastal protection and in carbon sequestration - with an estimated value of $USD194,000 per hectare per year," she said.

"Sea-level rise could threaten the long-term sustainability of coastal communities and of valuable ecosystems such as coral reefs, salt marshes and mangroves.

Professor Lovelock said the researchers analysed trends based on data from an international network of 27 sites.

UQ's Global Change Institute and the Australian Research Council funded the project.

The vulnerability of Indo-Pacific mangrove forests to sea-level rise is published today in Nature.

###

Co-authors are from the US Geological Survey; National University of Singapore; Cambridge University; University of Wollongong; Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia; National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand; Macquarie University; Vietnam National University; and the International Crane Foundation, US.


Rising seas will drown mangrove forests
University of Queensland Science Daily 14 Oct 15;

Summary: Mangrove forests around the Indo-Pacific region could be submerged by 2070, international research says. Even with relatively low sea-level rises, many mangrove forests had a poor outlook according to an ecologist.

Mangrove forests around the Indo-Pacific region could be submerged by 2070, international research published today says. Even with relatively low sea-level rises, many mangrove forests had a poor outlook said Professor Catherine Lovelock, a University of Queensland ecologist.

"Mangrove forests are particularly vulnerable," she said.

"Mangroves are predicted to be submerged in parts of Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands."

However the outlook in other parts of the world was more positive.

"Our modelling shows mangroves are likely to persist in east Africa, the Bay of Bengal, eastern Borneo and north-western Australia -- areas where there are relatively large tidal ranges and/or higher sediment supply," said Professor Lovelock, who works in UQ's School of Biological Sciences and the Global Change Institute.

"Even in other areas though, the good news is that through accretion of sediment and maintenance of wetland soils, mangrove forests do have the capacity to avoid inundation and keep pace with sea-level rise."

Professor Lovelock said this was why there was an urgent need to plan for the maintenance of sediment supply in river systems that were likely to be dammed or heavily modified in future.

"The Indo-Pacific region holds most of the world's mangrove forests, but sediment delivery in this region is declining, due to activities such as dam construction," she said.

"This is of particular concern as this region is expected to have variable but high rates of future sea-level rise."

Forest degradation had to be reversed because it reduced organic inputs to soils that was vital for mangrove survival, Professor Lovelock said.

Plans should be made for the landward migration of vulnerable mangrove forests to higher elevations.

"Intertidal mangrove forests occur on tropical and subtropical shorelines, and provide a wide range of ecosystem services -- to fisheries, in coastal protection and in carbon sequestration -- with an estimated value of $USD194,000 per hectare per year," she said.

"Sea-level rise could threaten the long-term sustainability of coastal communities and of valuable ecosystems such as coral reefs, salt marshes and mangroves.

Professor Lovelock said the researchers analysed trends based on data from an international network of 27 sites.

UQ's Global Change Institute and the Australian Research Council funded the project.

The vulnerability of Indo-Pacific mangrove forests to sea-level rise is published today in Nature.

Co-authors are from the US Geological Survey; National University of Singapore; Cambridge University; University of Wollongong; Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia; National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand; Macquarie University; Vietnam National University; and the International Crane Foundation, US.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Queensland. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

Catherine E. Lovelock, Donald R. Cahoon, Daniel A. Friess, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Ken W. Krauss, Ruth Reef, Kerrylee Rogers, Megan L. Saunders, Frida Sidik, Andrew Swales, Neil Saintilan, Le Xuan Thuyen, Tran Triet. The vulnerability of Indo-Pacific mangrove forests to sea-level rise. Nature, 2015; DOI: 10.1038/nature15538

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150 countries pledge to curb carbon emissions

Countries represent 90% of global carbon emissions, leading to hopes for deal at Paris climate summit
Arthur Neslen The Guardian 13 Oct 15;

Some 150 countries representing around 90% of the world’s carbon emissions have now filed pledges to curb them, dramatically increasing the chances of a deal at the Paris climate summit in December.

The promises made so far would still put the world on track for dangerous global warming rise of 3C (around 9F). But they could be adjusted in the future to meet the 2C target recommended by international scientists, the EU’s climate commissioner, Miguel Cañete, told a UN conference in Rabat, Morocco.

“The gap is not as big as expected if the INDCs (intended nationally determined contributions) are transformed and fully implemented,” said Cañete. “Their scope and scale is an achievement in itself.”

The French development minister, Annick Girardin, said that many of the pledges came from developing countries, and had brightened prospects for a climate treaty in December.

“We’ve now got a global positive dynamic telling us that the world is moving on climate change,” said Girardin. “It was unexpected to receive all these contributions and it sends a very strong signal from Rabat that we can reach a global agreement in Paris.”

Privately, EU officials admit that many national pledges have been conservative, reflecting caution about an untried INDC process. Ambitions were also dented by the onus on countries to make pledges in advance of a final deal or, often, knowledge of other countries’ offers.

But there is growing certainty among diplomats that a deal will be signed in Paris, succeeding the 1992 Kyoto protocol. By the time the US withdrew from it in 2005, Kyoto only covered 35 countries, and 14% of the world’s emissions.

Unlike that treaty, the Paris agreement will have no ‘stick’ of legal sanctions or formal enforcement to use against countries which renege on their commitments. “It is a bottom up approach as there are no compulsory targets and sanctions,” said Cañete.

Instead, officials hope that performance reviews will take place at regular five-yearly intervals to “facilitate” emissions-cutting reforms. “If you are serious about this message, the INDCs need to be revised before they start in 2021,” said Wendel Trio, the director of Climate Action Network Europe. “Unfortunately, there is no agreement on that and I wouldn’t expect any.”

Cañete suggested that the EU would consider progress towards meeting carbon-cutting promises, when assessing future climate funding payouts. “We have to assess globally how the INDCs have been implemented,” he said. “If there is additional financial support available, those who have made conditional pledges, we will have to look at them and see how we target financial support.”

The EU is the world’s biggest donor of funds for climate aid and disaster relief, and the UK, France and Germany say they will double their climate spending by 2020. France has promised revenues for an early warning system that can be installed in developing countries, while Germany has pledged €400m (£298m) of funds for an insurance scheme to help people in poor southern countries that are vulnerable to natural disasters.

Globally, countries have signed off on the creation of a $100bn-a-year green climate fund, which should disburse climate aid by 2020. Only a tenth of that has been ring-fenced so far, but the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says that£40bn was channelled to developing world climate projects by their richer neighbours last year.

Oxfam is unhappy that much of this money may be double counted from overseas development aid budgets. But after fears at the highest level this summer that slow progress could doom an agreement in Paris, a sense of relief, if not optimism, was tangible in Rabat.

“We are making history,” the Moroccan environment minister, Hakima el-Haité told the UN meeting. “The fight against climate change is not going to end in Paris. It is not going to end with our generation. It is a long term struggle and our efforts so far are not sufficient. But in terms of progress, we have made a revolution in just one year.”

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Best of our wild blogs: 14 Oct 15

How Much Food Do You Waste In Singapore?
Zero Waste Singapore

Long-tailed Parakeet picking Alexandra Palm flowers
Bird Ecology Study Group

Jokowi enforcer roasts APP supplier while Kalimantan orangutan charity reels from fires
Mongabay Environmental News

Palm oil company caught destroying primary forest in endangered ecosystem
Mongabay Environmental News

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Indonesia: 156 hot spots in Sumatra still

thejakartapost.com 13 Oct 15;

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Pekanbaru, Riau, have reported that NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites still detect 156 hot spots in Sumatra, 126 of which are in South Sumatra.

"These hot spots were detected at 7 a.m.," said BMKG Pekanbaru head Sugarin Widayat on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co. He added that the hot spots had also spread to other regions, such as Jambi, which had 19, Lampung, with 8, and Riau, with 1.

But, compared to several days ago, the number of hot spots in Sumatra has decreased significantly. There was recently up to 725 hot spots on the island.

According to Sugarin, the weather in Riau in general was slightly cloudy in addition to the haze, with a chance of light rain in the northern, western and central parts of the region.

"The maximum forecast temperature is around 33 degrees Celsius," said Sugarin.

Leftover ashes from burned land and forest in Sumatra are still interfering with Riau's air quality, with the Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU) there still an unhealthy 173. The haze is also still affecting visibility in several regions, limiting it to 1,000 meters in Pekanbaru, 800 m in Rengat, 700 m in Pelalawan and 500 m in Dumai. (kes)(++++)

Coordinating ministry, BNPB to coordinate properly to extinguish fires: President
Antara 13 oct 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo has urged the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs to coordinate with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to tackle the fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"Besides the BNPB, I emphasize that all parties should cooperate to extinguish forest and land fires," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said here on Tuesday.

According to Luhut, the Indonesian authorities have spent Rp385 billion to fight forest fires and the consequential haze blanketing most of the region, including Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"There will be an additional budget amounting to Rp700 billion," he said.

The budget has been approved by the House of Representatives and the Minister of Finance.

"The operation is expected to reduce the extent of forest and land fires in the next two weeks," he said.

Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) district in South Sumatra Province has been accorded priority in efforts to put out land and forest fires as it had become the biggest source of haze, compared to other districts in Indonesia, Luhut Pandjaitan had said earlier.

"Visibility in OKI is only about 100 meters. It still remains the worst hit by haze, based on data we have received," he told the press here on Monday.

Luhut said after observing the burnt areas in OKI, he found that the district was the worst region to have been hit by forest and land fires.

"Once these fires were extinguished, they came back due to the winds blowing since the land there is covered by peat, which is very inflammable," the Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister said.

He said efforts to put out the fires through water bombing were also postponed due to low visibility.

"It was also very difficult to induce artificial rain there because the air was foggy and the clouds were still inadequate. We are still waiting for the arrival of a Hercules aircraft which would help support the efforts to produce man-made rain," he said.

The chief security minister also underscored that all related parties have been coordinating well.(*)


Lawmaker proposes special committee on haze issue
Antara 13 Oct 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The House of Representatives should set up a special committee on the issue of haze that has been impacting several provinces across Kalimantan and Sumatra.

"A blanket of thick smoke now covers the constituency of Jambi. The haze has disrupted flights and schools in the region," Sutan Adil Hendra, a member of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party faction, said here on Tuesday.

According to him, the haze problem has not been addressed comprehensively by the government.

The Vice Chairman of Gerindras Board of Trustees said firm legal action should be taken against parties found responsible for these fires.

He also said that the personnel deployed to extinguish forest and land fires were not equipped with sufficient equipment.

"The government must declare forest fires as a national disaster and the House of Representatives should establish a special committee on the problem of haze," he said.

By declaring haze as a national disaster, all stakeholders and community would be able to work jointly to tackle forest and land fires in Indonesia.

"In addition, the budget can be disbursed easily," he said.

He proposed that such a special committee can comprise members from Commission IV, Commission II, Commission I and Commission X.

Earlier, House Speaker Setya Novanto had proposed that Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan be assigned the role of a coordinator in the efforts to fight forest and plantation fires.

"I have conveyed this proposal to the president, urging him to name a coordinator to tackle the haze problem. The right person (for the purpose) is, indeed, Mr Luhut. But we leave the decision to the president," Novanto noted here Tuesday.

He said the government should be serious in dealing with forest fires that have claimed lives, affected a large number of people and inflicted material losses.

Just spraying water would not solve the problem, he emphasized, adding that heavy rains would be immensely beneficial.

"Indeed, there have been some ideas, including, for instance, the one from Mr Prabowo (chairman of Gerindra Party) who suggested that the haze problem should be declared a national disaster," he said.

In the meantime, the problems posed by land fires in Indonesia and the resultant haze, that has also affected neighboring countries, are expected to end soon as teams from foreign countries commenced fire extinguishing operations on Monday.

The fires and haze have affected public health and disturbed daily activities in Indonesia and the neighboring countries.

Teams from Singapore and Malaysia joined the local forest and land fire prevention task force to commence fire extinguishing operations on Monday, focusing on the hotspots in Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) district in South Sumatra.

"Teams from Singapore and Malaysia along with South Sumatras Forest and Land Fires Prevention Task Force have begun aerial and land operations to extinguish the fires in OKI and Musi Banyuasin District," South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin stated on Monday (Oct. 12).(*)


Govt sanctions 4 companies for involvement in lighting fires
thejakartapost.com 13 Oct 15;

The government has revoked the forest concession license of one company and suspended the licenses of three others for their alleged involvement in starting the land and forest fires currently affecting several provinces across Kalimantan and Sumatra.

“The companies cannot operate anymore,” the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s director general of environment and forestry law enforcement Rasio Ridho Sani said as quoted by tempo.co in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The company sanctioned with a license revocation is plantation company PT Hutani Sola Lestari while the three companies hit with license suspensions are PT Langgam Hibrindo Inti, PT Tempiray Palm Rosources and PT K. Agro Jaya.

Rasio further explained the ministry was still investigating 18 other companies. “We cannot yet publish [their names] as we are still in the process of collecting data,” he said.

Rasio said license suspensions and permit revocations were among the forceful measures the government had planned to take against companies allegedly involved in lighting land and forest fires. It was hoped that the sanctions would serve as a deterrent for the perpetrators, he added.

Rasio further asserted that the ministry would take tough measures against any company, either from Indonesia or abroad, involved in lighting forest fires. “Every fire starter has an equal position before the law,” he said.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry says it has also targeted individual perpetrators of the forest fires. Rasio said the ministry’s investigators were looking into 21 people allegedly involved in the fires. He refused to give details on their identities.

"It's still in the hands of the investigators. Criminal law enforcement is a long process, from the investigation to the prosecution and trial," Rasio said.

Meanwhile, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Willem Rampangilei stated that the government had disbursed Rp 500 billion (US$37.3 million) to solve haze problems in South Sumatra and several other provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan over the past two months.

"Of the six provinces affected by haze during this year’s dry season, South Sumatra is the province absorbing most of the funds," he said. (ami/ebf)(++++)


Two foreign firms blamed for fires, haze
Nani Afrida and Haeril Halim, The Jakarta Post 13 Oct 15;

National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti announced on Monday that the police had named two foreign companies suspects in clearing land by burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan, a practice that has led to thick haze covering the two islands, as well as parts of neighboring countries.

“The two companies are from Malaysia and China,” Badrodin told reporters during a press conference at the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry in Jakarta.

The police, he said, would investigate the two foreign companies’ possible motives for burning land in Indonesia.

“One company from Singapore is still under our investigation for its involvement, too. However, I cannot give anymore information now,” Badrodin said, adding that the companies were all involved in the plantation business.

He refused to give the names or initials of the companies.

“We do not intend to involve foreign police forces in our investigations yet,” Badrodin said.

He added that the investigations would continue and that more suspects might be named in coming days.

Separately, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Suharsono said that the police had named 16 domestic and multinational companies suspects for their roles in burning land in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The spokesman refused to reveal the names of the suspects.

Suharsono further said that the National Police were currently investigating a total 244 cases with regard to peatland and forest fires in the two islands.

“Some 122 cases are already in the primary investigation phase and another 24 cases are still in the preliminary investigation. Of the 122 cases, 78 involve individuals and 44 involve corporations,” Suharsono told The Jakarta Post on Monday night.

Most of the cases relate to alleged crimes in South Sumatra and West Kalimantan provinces.

The National Police said they had named 16 corporations suspects, while police investigators were still working to collect evidence on another 28 companies, both domestic and foreign-owned, before naming them suspects.

The police will charge the suspects under Law No. 32/2009 Article 108, with any parties found guilty liable to face a 10-year prison sentence and Rp 10 billion in fines.

Badrodin said, however, that the police could not directly blame the landowners.

“It is possible that it was not the landowners themselves who burned the land,” he said.

Previously, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called for heavy punishment for companies responsible for starting forest fires, including prosecutions and revoking their licenses.

Jokowi stressed that the police would not be severe only with low-profile individuals.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has reportedly spent Rp 500 billion to extinguish hot spots. The agency has asked for an additional Rp 750 billion, a request approved by the Finance Ministry.

The hazardous haze has forced the closure of thousands of schools, grounded hundreds of flights and caused transboundary air pollution affecting Indonesia’s neighbors, Malaysia and Singapore.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan acknowledged that it would take some time to extinguish all hot spots in the country.

“I don’t think we will manage [to extinguish] the fires within two weeks. But [the hot spots] will be reduced significantly. I’m holding out hope that heavy rains will come,” Luhut said.

He added that the government would focus on the Ogan Komering Ilir Area of South Sumatra, where much of the haze was coming from.

Luhut insisted that the government was pulling out all the stops to deal with land and forest fires, and that efforts were on the right track.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that more foreign countries were planning to aid efforts to deal with the haze. Japan for instance, is expected to help by providing a chemical substance to extinguish the fires.

Russia, meanwhile, is preparing to send two BE-200 amphibious aircraft, which can carry 12,000 liters of water.

Malaysia, Singapore and Australia have already stepped in with support to help Indonesia to put out the fires and end the haze.

Thailand and China have also expressed their intention to help.

Foreign efforts have, as of Monday, been concentrated in South Sumatra.


Indonesia to Spend Rp 700b to Quell Forest Fires in Fortnight
Basten Gokkon Jakarta Globe 12 Oct 15;

Jakarta. The ongoing Sumatra and Kalimantan haze crisis will be over in a fortnight, President Joko Widodo has promised, but extinguishing all the fires will cost Indonesia at least a total of Rp 1.3 trillion ($97 million).

Joko set a bold target on Saturday to have all fires — often started by people burning land and forest to clear the way for agriculture — under control within two weeks.

Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal and Security Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan told reporters in Jakarta on Monday that the government is set to spend Rp 700 billion to achieve this, which would bring the total amount spent on quelling forest fires to more than Rp 1.3 trillion.

"The House of Representatives and the Finance Ministry have approved the budget," Luhut told a press conference at his office with the environment and forestry minister, the foreign affairs minister, the health minister and the chief of National Police.

According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), haze mitigation efforts have already cost the state Rp 500 billion, as more than 20,000 police and military personnel and volunteers have been deployed to fight the fires since last month.

An additional 6,000 personnel are expected to be deployed in the coming days, while last Friday Indonesia finally accepted aid from six countries, including Japan, China and Russia.

Asean solidarity

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar — who previously declined Singapore's military assistance in putting out the wildfires — said the government wanted to do all it could before deciding to accept the aid from Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries as regulated under the region's Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

"This is solidarity from the Asean countries,," Siti said. "The amount of burned peatland has reached 580,000 hectares."

The agreement, established in 2002 but only ratified by Indonesia in September 2014, requires all parties to cooperate to mitigate transboundary haze pollution, as well as to respond promptly to "a request for relevant information sought by a state or states that are or may be affected" by such pollution in order to minimize the impacts.

Malaysia and Singapore, who were both forced to close schools, pressured Indonesia to contain the haze crisis which also ended up blanketing the sky over southern Thailand earlier this month.

Previously, the Indonesian government would brush off cries from the neighboring countries while vowing to end slash-and-burn practices, a technique that has been used for decades and is estimated to be five times less costly than the safer method of using heavy machinery.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has made snide comments, asking the neighbors to be grateful for the 11 months of clean air that Indonesia's forests provide.

Humanitarian aid

On Sunday, the country already employed help from Singapore and Malaysia to extinguish land and forest fires in South Sumatra.

Seven helicopters and three fixed-wing aircraft were tasked with a water bombing missions and a Cessna plane assigned to perform cloud seeding operations was deployed by the joint task force to the province, where 65 of 90 hotspots detected across Sumatra can be found, the BNPB said on Monday.

Among the planes is a Malaysia-owned Bombardier 415 MP plane with a six-ton water capacity, which will be on loan to Indonesia until Friday, while Singapore's contribution comes in the form of a Chinook helicopter with a five-ton water capacity that will remain available through Oct. 23.

Meanwhile, Australia is scheduled to send a Hercules L 100 aircraft, capable of carrying 15 tons of water, on Tuesday or Wednesday, which will remain on hand for five days.

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said on Monday that all foreign aid would come purely in the form of humanitarian efforts.

"None of the foreign aid is commercialized," she said.

Facing trial

On Monday, the chief of National Police, Gen. Badrodin Haiti, said that 12 plantation companies — including firms from Malaysia and China — have been named as suspects for setting fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan and will face prosecution.

Meanwhile, more than 200 companies, mostly from countries in Southeast Asia, are under still under police investigation.

If found guilty of violating Indonesia's 2009 Law on Forest Conservation and Monitoring, companies will be placed on Indonesia's blacklist, expected to be completed in December, and may have operational permits revoked.

One million face masks

Six provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan — Riau, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan — have declared a state of emergency because of the fires and haze.

But the situation escalated as reports of deaths believed to have been caused by the choking smog surfaced, including a 28-day-old baby named Huseun Saputra who died last Wednesday from an acute respiratory ailment.

The Health Ministry has shipped more than one million face masks and 5,200 N95 respirators to all areas hit by haze in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Carbon emissions

Environmental group Greenpeace estimated that the amount of carbon emitted in this year's fires might exceed that of 1997, when Indonesia produced between 0.81 and 2.57 gigatons of the pollutant, equivalent to 13 to 40 percent of the entire world's annual fossil fuel emissions.

Indonesia has vowed a 29 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 — a 3 percent hike from its previous pledge of 26 percent by 2015 — and will likely be in the spotlight at the UN's climate change conference in Paris in December.

This year's haze crisis will likely to cause the country to break its 1997 carbon emissions record, Greenpeace says.


Minister blasts execs of firm that denied burning forest
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, The Straits Times AsiaOne 14 Oct 15;

Retired general Luhut Pandjaitan, the most senior Indonesian official in charge of tackling the haze crisis, recalls how he once stuck his head out of a helicopter in midair to survey the damage done by forest fires.

That was decades ago when he was a young army major.

Last Friday, the former Special Forces soldier, now 68, did just that again. This time, over concession land under Bumi Andalas Permai, a supplier to Singapore-based Asia Pulp and Paper. The two companies share the same parent, Indonesia's Sinar Mas.

Mr Luhut, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, saw fires raging over thousands of hectares in the Ogan Komering Ilir regency. This, even though the firm had denied burning the forest to clear land.

The retired general landed at the office of Bumi Andalas Permai and vented his frustration.

"We flew low and I opened the helicopter door. All the fires I saw were on your concession," he said in a meeting attended by the company executives and military officers who coordinated soldiers deployed to South Sumatra to help douse fires.

"For almost 15 minutes, we hovered above your concession, practically all below was on fire. You are blaming the local farmers. I know it was you who burned the forest," Mr Luhut added.

Mr Sapto Nurlistyo, forestry operations director of Bumi Andalas Permai, said in the meeting - also attended by national police chief Badrodin Haiti and army chief Mulyono - that the company has a fire prevention system in place, with 160 water pumps and one helicopter ready for water-bombing.

The firm has a total of 192,000ha of pulpwood concessions, of which 108,000ha have been planted.

In addition to that, 8m-wide blocked canals line its plantations to help retain moisture.

"We did not expect it would turn out this bad," Mr Sapto responded to Mr Luhut.

"You have only one helicopter and your concession is more than 100,000ha. That is clearly insufficient," said Mr Luhut, again in a raised voice.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar disclosed a range of breaches by companies in terms of fire prevention that the ministry will follow up on, according to the minister's presentation booklet distributed during the Sept 30 ministerial coordination meeting on haze. No company names, however, were mentioned.

A number of firms did not have enough in-house fire control teams and staff had never been trained.

Companies had also failed to prevent fires with ground patrols and should have mapped fire-prone areas within their concessions, according to the minister. Other breaches were with fire control equipment and water storage.

"In January, February, March, you have to report what you have and what you plan to do. I will come back here in February to check," Mr Luhut told the company officials.

Some 1.7 million ha of forest and plantation land have been razed by fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan this year, mostly as a result of firms opting for the cheap slash-and- burn alternative to hiring bulldozers and other machines to clear land. "These soldiers and officers left their families at home to fight fires here because of your greed. If you want to cut costs, do not do it this way (burn to clear land). Find other ways," said Mr Luhut.

Local chiefs urged to revoke burning law
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times AsiaOne 14 Oct 15;

Indonesia wants its local chiefs to revoke a law that allows small-time farmers to clear up to 2ha of forested land using fire - this as a multilateral effort to put out hot spots in South Sumatra entered its third day yesterday.

Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo called on regency officials to repeal Article 69, which under a 2009 environmental law bans the use of the slash-and-burn method to clear land for cultivation.

The law, however, exempts farmers who may still use the method, provided the land they burn does not exceed 2ha, or the size of four football fields. But these farmers will need to build blocking canals around the area to prevent the fire from spreading.

Slash-and-burn practices have been carried out for decades across Indonesia, which has 35 provinces made up of more than 500 regencies and cities.

Each regency has its own bylaw detailing how the regulation can be implemented, such as when farmers burn the land and what crops they are allowed to cultivate.

Local farmers as well as plantation companies and their suppliers tend to use the slash-and-burn method because it is cheaper than hiring excavators to clear the land, but also because the ashes from the burnt vegetation provide calcium, which neutralises acidic peatland, making it more fertile.

Burning the land also greatly reduces the risk of the crops being infested by pests.

Fires from peatland, however, have produced a thick haze that has blanketed many parts of the region from Indonesia to Thailand.

That is why Mr Tjahjo wants to put a stop to it.

"Local leaders who have issued bylaws allowing farmers to burn to clear land must review the bylaws," he said yesterday.

Environmental groups, including Greenpeace Indonesia's forest campaigner Teguh Surya, yesterday hailed Mr Tjahjo's call, but warned that a major challenge is patrolling the huge concessions over peatland that the government has already issued.

Mr Tjahjo has also appealed to the regents to review the issued plantation concessions that are located on deep peatland, which catches fire easily during the dry season.

Reviewing and revoking concessions on peatland would promise a better solution to help end the annual haze problem in Indonesia, Mr Teguh said.

However, the focus of the government for now should be to deal with the raging forest fires causing the haze.

Indonesia has been grappling with the transboundary haze crisis for weeks now.

The smoke from the fires, often burning over dry peatland in Kalimantan and Sumatra, has affected millions across Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as people in parts of the Philippines and Thailand in recent weeks.

The Indonesian government has started multilateral firefighting operations involving aircraft from Singapore and Malaysia.

The Indonesian authorities decided last week to deploy the majority of the multilateral resources to South Sumatra province, where conditions were the worst last week.

Water-bombing aircraft from Singapore and Malaysia have been deployed since Sunday.

But firefighting should cover all regions in Indonesia, Mr Teguh told The Straits Times yesterday, adding that the water-bombing drive in South Sumatra has led Kalimantan to be overlooked.

He said: "I'm now in central Kalimantan and the fires are raging wild here and no one is around to deal with them."

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Malaysia: Water-bombing is ineffective: Fire and Rescue Dept

TEOH PEI YING New Straits Times 13 Oct 15;

SEREMBAN: The Indonesian government’s effort of fighting forest fire that caused transboundary haze using “water-bombing” is ineffective, said Fire and Rescue Department director general Datuk Wira Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim.

Wan Mohd Nor said at the moment, Indonesia was keen on getting expert assistance on how to manage peat land fire as well as requesting for asset, such as airplane from Malaysia to support the operation.

However, he said the best approach to dealing with peat fire (like in Indonesia’s case) is ground troop.

“It is difficult to completely extinguish fire on peat land by using airplane as it only sprays water from above.

“When deal with peat fire, we need to flood the area to douse the fire,” he told reporters at a press conference after the Kualiti Alam Sdb Bhd’s Emergency Response Command Centre (ERCC) opening ceremony at Bandar Seri Sendayan, here.

He said the department is ready to dispatch 1,500 personnel to the different hotspots in the republic to help combat the fire.

“We are ready to deploy and send the manpower to the different hotspots. I believe it is a more effective method.

“However, we still waiting for the instruction,” he added.

1,500 Msian firemen on standby to battle Indonesian blaze
TEOH PEI YING New Straits Times 13 Oct 15;

SEREMBAN: The Fire and Rescue Department is still waiting for the go-ahead from Indonesia to dispatch its firemen to aid in combating forest fires in the republic.
Its director general Datuk Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said at present, Indonesia has only requested for helicopters to conduct ‘water bombing’ runs at the hotspots.

“We are ready to send 1,500 of our firemen to help put out the fires as the method being used now is ineffective to deal with peat fire.

“However, we are waiting for the nod from our Indonesian counterparts,” he said after officiating Pusat Kualiti Alam’s Emergency Response Command Centre at Bandar Seri Sendayan, here, today.

Yesterday, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) entered its second leg of operation to combat raging forest fires in Indonesia.

Its Bombardier CL415 aircraft pilots carried out 13 water bombing runs, dumping a total of 78,000 litres of water onto the blaze in Palembang.

The operation, which took four hours and 40 minutes, was carried out in an area spanning 20sq km, located 80 nautical miles southeast of Palembang.


Haze: MMEA Bombardier Aircraft Carries Out 13 Water Bombings In South Sumatra
Bernama 13 Oct 15;

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- The Bombardier CL 415 aircraft owned by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), which is involved in a mission to put out the forest fires in South Sumatra, Indonesia, carried out 13 water bombings on the second day of the operation Monday.

MMEA deputy director-general (Operations), Rear Admiral (Maritime) Datuk Che Hassan Jusoh said the mission which lasted four hours and 40 minutes involved the use of 78,000 litres of water.

The operation was conducted over an area of 20 square kilometres about 80 nautical miles southeast of Palembang, he said.

"With the limited visibility of only one kilometre, it presented a challenge to the pilots and the crew to ensure that the firefighting operations in the affected areas could be carried out smoothly and effectively," he said in a statement, here Tuesday.

On Friday, besides the Bombardier aircraft, the MMEA also sent an AS 365 N3 Dauphin helicopter with 29 MMEA officers to help fight the fires which has been causing the prolonged haze that is sweeping across neighbouring countries over the past two months.

The Bombardier aircraft had carried out water scooping 10 times and water bombing 10 times within four hours of assignment on the first day of the operation on Sunday.

-- BERNAMA

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Indonesia Must Be More Earnest In Its Efforts To Resolve Haze Crisis, Say Malaysian Academics

Norshazlina Nor'azman Bernama 14 Oct 15;

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- Indonesia must set out earnestly to eliminate the root causes of the haze as only through its sincere efforts and commitment can the issue be resolved permanently, say academics.

They say the haze will be here to stay if the republic continues to give its neighbours the impression that it lacks the "burning desire" and political will to settle the issue once and for all.

Last week Indonesia, which had earlier insisted that it did not need international help to douse forest fires raging in Sumatera and Kalimantan, finally decided to seek the help of other countries to extinguish the fires, which had caused widespread haze in Southeast Asia.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo had earlier said that his country would need about three years to overcome the haze as it was in the process of building water reserves and canals in the forests to get water to the hotspots, while also making progress to enforce laws against forest-burning.

However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who met Joko in Jakarta on Sunday, said the three-year wait was "too long" as it would mean that Malaysia would be forced to face the haze for "three more years".

Pointing out that the haze was threatening the interests of Malaysians and disrupting economic, social and educational activities, including leisure and sports events, Najib said Indonesia was prepared to study Malaysia's suggestion that tube wells be used to fight peat soil fires in plantation areas.

Will Indonesia adhere to its promise to make a more concerted effort to wipe out the haze menace?

SOLUTION IN THE HANDS OF INDONESIA

Where there is a will, there is a way, so says geostrategy expert Asso Prof Dr Azmi Hassan, who is attached to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia's Institute of Geospatial Science and Perdana School of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.

He said like Indonesia, Malaysia too has an extensive acreage of land under plantations, but open burning was minimal due to its stringent laws and enforcement.

"Compared with Indonesia, our plantations are managed in a more systematic manner," he told Bernama. In the republic, the fires are mainly caused by illegal land-clearing, as well as slash-and-burn, activities in plantations.

He said Indonesia should prove that it was sincere in its intention to put an end to the annual smog that enveloped its neighbours by coming up with a concrete action plan.

"It's entirely in its hands how it plans to go about resolving the issue... it will be pointless to talk about resolving the crisis as long as Indonesia doesn't have a proper plan or effective laws to do so.

"It could have made a firm commitment to tackle the haze issue as far back as 1997 but it didn't do so," he said.

INDONESIANS SHOULD PUT PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENT

Azmi said the people of Indonesia should put pressure on their government to resolve the smog issue quickly as it was "choking" them as well.

"The Indonesian government may view the matter lightly in the absence of political pressure. But once the people start griping about it, then it may have political implications and when this happens, there's a better chance for their complaints to be heard," he said.

He also said that under the ASEAN pact, member nations could offer to help Indonesia fight the forest fires.

"But Indonesia had in the past rejected their offers, supposedly because the help that they had offered was short term in nature. However, I believe that it (the rejection) has something to do with prestige issues.

"Nevertheless, extending a helping hand each time the haze strikes is not enough to fix the problem... it's Indonesia which has to take the necessary action," he added.

Head of the National Council of Professors' Political, Security and International Affairs Cluster Prof Datuk Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak said Indonesia was not amenable to outside assistance earlier probably because it really could cope on its own or it did not like other countries interfering in its affairs.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH

"Clearly, what they (Indonesia) need is proper regulatory control and more stringent enforcement of the law to prevent the occurrence of open burning.

"Of course, Indonesia doesn't want to be perceived as weak but then, it is not the neighbouring countries' intention to interfere...all they want to do is extend a helping hand as Indonesia's internal problems are causing much difficulty to their own populations," he said.

He felt that the measures taken so far by the republic to combat the haze were "not good enough", which gave the impression that Indonesia was not being earnest enough in its efforts to contain the crisis.

While there have been suggestions that Malaysia take legal action against the plantation companies said to be responsible for the fires in Indonesia, there have also been demands for Indonesia to compensate Malaysia for losses it had incurred from the haze.

Mohamed Mustafa said although Malaysia could seek compensation or resort to legal action, "how sure are we that their laws would be favourable to us?"

"We can take legal action but we have to do it in Indonesia and will, therefore, be subject to their laws. Even the Malaysian-owned plantation companies there are subject to their laws.

"Taking legal action will be a complex and complicated affair, more so if the Indonesian authorities don't cooperate," he said, adding that the best platform to raise the matter would be ASEAN, which is chaired by Malaysia this year.

-- BERNAMA

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