Malaysia: Second dugong found dead in Johor

The Star 9 May 16;

GELANG PATAH: The carcass of a young dugong was found floating in the sea near Kampung Pendas Laut here after getting caught in a fishing net.

Fishermen spotted two dugong, believed to be a mother and its kid, on Thursday.

A few hours later, the carcass of a young dugong emerged and was spotted floating in the sea.

A fisherman from the village, Azman Adan, said the dugong was found floating near a mega development project.

“The dugong, weighing about 60kg, was already dead, so the fishermen brought the carcass back to shore.

“We immediately alerted the Fisheries Department and handed the carcass to them,” he said.

State Fisheries Department director Zamani Omar said that a team of officers went to the location after being informed of the sighting.

“The dugong suffered injuries after it got caught between some fishing nets.

“We will conduct a post-mortem first,” he added.

This is the second dead dugong sighting this year after the first carcass was found washed ashore at Pantai Tanjung Logok, near Kota Tinggi in February.

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Indonesia, Lake Toba: Fish cages blamed for dead fish, environmental damage

Apriadi Gunawan and Syofiardi Bachyul The Jakarta Post 7 May 16;

Tourists expecting to enjoy the beauty of Lake Toba over the long weekend may be disappointed as the lake has been contaminated by thousands tons of dead fish in the Haranggaol waters, Simalungun, North Sumatra.

In response, 1,000 people of Haranggaol sub-district joined together to remove the carcasses of goldfish and tilapia ( ikan nila ) from the lake on Friday.

Hasudungan Siallagan, a cage-culture fish farmer, said the locals were willing to clean Lake Toba because they wanted to prevent the dead animals from polluting the water, which could affect tourism and make the water unsafe for use by residents.

“Up to 820 tons of dead fish have been lifted from the fish cages in Lake Toba in the past two days. And today, 1,000 tons of dead fish will be lifted out,” Hasudungan told The Jakarta Post in Haranggaol on Friday, adding that 1000 tons of dead fish had been found as of Wednesday.

He added that about 116 cage-culture farmers in Haranggaol had reported that their fish were dead.

“We have been managing fish cages in Lake Toba for decades and this is for the first time we have seen the mass death of fish,” he said.

“All of the fish from two zones are reportedly dead, from a total of six zones of fish cages in Haranggaol. So, there are only four zones left and I haven’t got any news about that,” he said.

Hasudungan said the farmers had suffered billions of rupiah in losses because of the mass death of fish. He also said local government research into the incident had concluded that the cause of the mass death was lack of oxygen.

Head of the Simalungun district Agriculture and Fisheries Agency, Jarinsen Saragih, confirmed that the cause of the mass death of fish in Lake Toba was an oxygen shortage triggered by the postponed fish harvest.

“Lack of solar radiation since April 28 has also aggravated the oxygen shortage,” he told the Post on Friday.

Jarinsen dismissed speculations that the mass death of the fish was because of water pollution in Lake Toba, adding that “the dead fish were only found in the fish cages, not in the lake”.

Meanwhile, the local government of Agam district in West Sumatra plans to decrease half of floating net cages in Maninjau Lake in order to improve the ecosystem.

Head of Agam Maritime and Fisheries Affairs Agency, Ermanto, said that his team had recorded the number of floating net cages and instructed their owners to gradually reduce the amount in the lake.

“The lake water is heavily polluted. There is a lot of sediment from residual feed and tons of dead fish found every year. If left unchecked, fish will not be able to live inside the cages,” Ermanto told the Post recently.

According to the fisheries agency’s records, there are 16,964 fish cage swaths containing 4,000 minnows in the lake area of 99.5 kilometers. A total of 10,765 swaths are made of iron and 6,199 are made of bamboo.

Ermanto said he would regulate that all fish cages must be made of fiber and not iron, which can rust, or bamboo, which can decay.

Currently, there are 5,520 fish cages owned by 146 locals. Each of them own up to 250 cages. The local government plans to limit cage ownership to a maximum 20 fish cages per owner.

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Best of our wild blogs: 8 May 16

Chek Jawa check-up with net
wild shores of singapore

200m net removed at Chek Jawa (7 May 2016)
Project Driftnet Singapore

Butterfly Photography at Our Local Parks - Gardens by the Bay
Butterflies of Singapore

Night Walk At Dairy Farm Nature Park (06 May 2016)
Beetles@SG BLOG

ICCS volunteers spread awareness about marine trash at the Asia Dive Expo 2016!
News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

Discover Pulau Ubin during Pesta Ubin, 14 May – 12 June 2016!
Otterman speaks

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Malaysia: Fishermen baffled by poor daily catch

The Star 8 May 16;

BALIK PULAU: Some 1,000 fishermen from Pulau Betong and Kuala Sungai Pinang are claiming dwindling financial returns due to low catch for the past one month.

They claimed they did not know the cause and hoped the authorities would carry out water quality analysis in the sea to get to the bottom of the matter.

Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhammad Farid Saad said some of them had stopped going out to sea as the money spent on petrol was more than their income.

“The fishermen claimed that they managed to catch only two to three prawns and very little fish nowadays.

“Their livelihoods have been affected severely,” he said after accompanying the fishermen out to the sea in Pulau Betong yesterday.

Muhammad Farid said that according to several fishermen, the anchors of their boats would be covered with black silt emitting foul smells.

He urged the National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia, the Fisheries Department, and the Department of Environment to conduct immediate investigations.

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Malaysia: Bukit Bintang next to be polystyrene-free in KL

The Star 7 May 16;

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Bintang is set to become the second area here to be free of polystyrene food containers as Kuala Lumpur City Hall pursues its green city initiative.

City Hall planning executive director Datuk Mohd Najib Mohd said Satuday that the move would be implemented by the end of this year.

Dataran Merdeka was declared a prohibited area for polystyrene food containers in July last year.

"Polystyrene food containers are non-biodegradable, have an undesirable effect on the environment and complicate the management of solid waste," he told reporters after launching the 'Jom Bersih Bukit Bintang', the 10th in a series of a cleanliness programmes.

About 800 people from various government and private sector agencies participated in the programme to clean up the Bukit Bintang area.

Mohd Najib said City Hall was working with other agencies to organise "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" (3R) programmes to create awareness and educate city dwellers. – Bernama

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Malaysia: Seven caught ferrying 'exotic bushmeat' in Keningau

OLIVIA MIWIL New Straits Times 7 May 16;

KENINGAU: Sabah Wildlife detained seven people after they were caught ferrying different types of dried bushmeat.

They were arrested when the department’s rangers and honorary wildlife wardens mounted a road block along the Keningau-Kalabakan stretch early morning.

The four-wheel drive vehicle the men were in contained a variety of exotic wildlife meat including wild boar, barking deer, monitor lizard, mousedeer and flying squirrel.

The dried bushmeat were found inside a box and three plastic bags in the rear bucket of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, several stalls at the Nabawan weekly market or "tamu" here, notorious for selling bushmeat, were not in operation during checks.

All vehicles coming from the direction of Nabawan were inspected but none were found to carry any bushmeat.

Wildlife director William Baya said the enforcement effort would be ongoing to curb any forms of wildlife offences.

Between Jan 2014 and Sept 2015, more than 20 people were charged with possession of wildlife.

Crackdown on bushmeat trade
MUGUNTAN VANAR The Star 9 May 16;

KOTA KINABALU: The wildlife department has ratcheted up pressure on illegal hunters in Sabah’s Nabawan and Keningau districts.

Seven people were arrested with about 35kg of dried bushmeat, from wild boar, barking deer, monitor lizard, mousedeer and flying squirrel apparently caught illegally in forest reserves in interior Nabawan.

Sabah Wildlife Department enforcement chief Augustine Tuuga said the seven, who were timber camp workers, were detained at a roadblock along the Keningau-Kalabakan road on Saturday.

“The dried bushmeat was inside a box and three plastic sacks in the bed of their four-wheel-drive vehicle,” he said, adding that an initial investigation found that the men had hunted the animals and smoked the meat.

The arrests come amid calls by conservationists for more enforcement against the trading of bushmeat in the interior of Sabah, particularly at Nabawan tamu (market) where it is sold openly and enforcement officers who try to crack down on the activity are threatened.

The department sent an undercover team to the tamu at around noon on Saturday but found the stalls empty, said Tuuga.

“We believe the customers, particularly those from outside the district, were reluctant to buy bushmeat after they saw our roadblocks while driving into the town.

“They may have been afraid of being stopped by our enforcement team on the way back,” he said, adding that no bushmeat was found despite checks on all vehicles coming out of Nabawan.

Department director William Baya said it was stepping up enforcement and intelligence gathering in different parts of the state.

Recently, the department said it was targeting hunters in efforts to stop the bushmeat trade, having arrested two groups of hunters and seized wild boar, barking deer, pangolin and civet cat meat last month.

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Indonesia: Land and forest fires rarely stop in Riau’s unique climate

Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 7 May 16;

Hot spots are still present in a number of regencies in Riau province despite it being the rainy season.

The province — which is prone to disruptive, haze-producing land and forest fires — hopes to reduce its number of hot spots this year, especially in the fire-prone areas of Bengkalis, Rokan Hulu, Indragiri Hilir, Pelalawan and Meranti Islands.

“This is what the provincial and local administrations have been doing, controlling the growing number of hotspots,” acting Riau Governor Arsyadjuliandi “Andi” Rachman said on Tuesday.

A number of efforts have been made to reach the target, he said, including issuing a gubernatorial decree on land and forest fire prevention. There are 16 action plans that need to be executed by the government and the administrations, especially those related to preparing equipment and personnel at companies with concession areas located on peatland.

“Firms with fires on their concession areas will be evaluated,” Andi said.

The Riau administration will involve not only the military, the National Police and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency ( BNPB ), but also ask locals to be more aware of potential fires in their areas.

The Riau administration has allocated Rp 123 billion ( US$9.4 million ) to preventing and dealing with the fires.

It also coordinates with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency ( BMKG ) to detect fires.

“The experience of dealing with haze disasters since 2014 has left Riau better prepared to face dry seasons,” Andi said.

Riau has been made a pilot project in the prevention of land and forest fires, he said.

Head of Riau BMKG, Sugarin, said the province’s coastal areas of Bengkalis, Rokan Hilir, Pelalawan, Siak, Indragiri Hilir, Meranti Islands and Dumai were prone to fires because they rarely received rain.

He suggested the provincial and local administrations continue to be cautious of the emergence of hotspots in the eastern coastal regions, which are also home to a lot of fire-prone peatland.

Riau’s eastern coast has a unique climate, Sugarin said, as the areas did not follow rainy or dry seasons. He said there was such a difference in climate there that hotspots continued to emerge in Riau even during rainy season.

In many cases, companies have been deemed responsible for land and forest fires. In 2015 alone, from 8,399 hotspots detected by NASA satellites, 3,355 were inside the concession areas of industrial forestry companies and another 458 in oil palm plantation areas.

Many of the companies denied accusations made against them, arguing that lighting fires in their own concession areas would, in the end, cause huge financial losses for them.

They mostly blamed the fires on flames leaping from neighboring lands.

Law enforcement agencies has been frequently mentioned as an effective way to help control land and forest fires in the region.

This year alone, Riau Police have named 65 suspects of causing land fires. All of them were landowners and farm workers.

Riau Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Guntur Aryo Tejo said that some of the suspects were caught red-handed while carrying out slash-and-burn methods. Others were arrested following a series of investigations.

“We have warned people not to clear land by burning it, but such practices still continue,” he said.

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Indonesia: Authorities Begin Water Bombing After Fast-Spreading Fires Detected in Riau

Jakarta Globe 7 May 16;

Jakarta. Authorities have dispatched helicopters to assist efforts to extinguish land and forest fires across Riau province after at least 13 hot spots have been detected, officials said on Friday (06/05).

The spots were detected on Friday in five districts throughout the coastal area of Riau, with five hot spots in Pelawan, four in Siak, two in Indragiri Hilir, as well as one apiece in Meranti and Indragiri Hulu.

Of the 13, four were confirmed to be fire spots — indicating land and forest fires with a level of credibility at over 70 percent — Pekanbaru Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) head Sugarin said.

"They were detected in the Siak subdistrict of Sungai Apit," Sugarin said on Friday, as quoted by state-run news agency Antara.

An MI-8 helicopter was dispatched on the same day to begin water bombing fire spots which can't be accessed through land, Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Edward Sanger said.

While the approximate size of the affected areas is not yet known, he said they are peatlands which have faced dry conditions, causing the fire to spread faster.

"We have to take prompt action in response," Edward added.

Land and forest fires are an annual environment disaster in Indonesia for the last decade. Some observers have described last year's fires as the worst on record.

The fires destroyed vegetation on millions of hectares of land, afflicting more than half a million people with health problems and resulted in billions of dollars in economic losses.

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Illegal wildlife trade campaign enlists tourists

Mark Kinver, BBC News 8 May 16;

Conservationists have launched a global campaign asking the public to help tackle the illegal trade in wildlife.

They have developed a smartphone app that allows people to submit images and data of suspicious items on sale, possibly helping enforcement agencies.

The United Nations estimates the illegal trade is worth billions of pounds each year.

Despite efforts to crack down on the slaughter, it continues to grow, say campaigners.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence in the poaching of threatened species, raising concern about the long-term survival of iconic animals such as tigers and rhinos.

Growing demand for protected animal body parts and products on the Chinese black market is widely viewed as one of the main drivers for the growth in the trade.

A recent report by UK think-tank Chatham House said demand was rising at an "alarming rate".

The authors said that activity in the illegal ivory trade had more than doubled since 2007, with ivory reaching a price of US $2,205 (£1,526) per kilogram in Beijing.

Rhino horn was reaching mind-blowing prices of US $66,000 per kilogram - more than the price of gold or platinum.

Crime prevention agencies recognise the threat posed by criminal targeting wildlife - listing the global trade alongside drugs, arms and human trafficking.

The app - Wildlife Witness - was developed by Taronga Conservation Society Australia in partnership with Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

Its focus was the South East Asia region, which has been identified has a hub in the global illegal wildlife trade.

In this expansion of the scheme, Chester Zoo will look to raise awareness of the project across Europe while San Diego Zoo will do the same in the US.

"The reason why it is important for zoos to get involved is because we have access to really large audiences, and zoos have an important role to try and get these messages out," said Scott Wilson, head of field programmes at Chester Zoo.

"Rather than us just saying 'Look at this, isn't it terrible?' this campaign allows people to download the app and actually be involved and take action."

Mr Wilson told BBC News how people could submit data: "If people are travelling or are on holiday and if they see something as they are walking through the markets and they see something - say a baby sun bear that should not be there, or ivory on sale that they suspect is illegal, they can record it with this app and the data goes straight to Traffic.

"This will really boost the amount of information that is coming through to them, and this helps them to identify trends in wildlife trade and - more importantly - they can use that data to try and influence the enforcement policies and the really big changes that need to take place."

However, Mr Wilson was quick to point out that people should not take unnecessary risks.

He urged: "We do not want people putting themselves at risk and we certainly do not want them confronting people in a marketplace. If they can take a picture, great, if not then just put the data in the app afterwards."

Chris Shepherd, South-East Asia regional director of Traffic, said there had been an "unparalleled spike in illegal wildlife trade".

He observed: "Sadly, animals are being illegally killed or taken from the wild around the world to be sold for traditional medicines, luxury food, horns or other parts, restaurant dishes, fashion items or pets."

Dr Shepherd explained how people could help using the app: "We want people to be the eyes and ears in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade."

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Haze may be less severe due to La Nina rains

Audrey Tan, My Paper AsiaOne 5 May 16;

This year, Singapore may not experience haze as severe as last year.

This is because the El Nino weather phenomenon, which last year caused forest and peatland fires in Indonesia to burn harder and for longer, is expected to subside by the time the traditional dry season rolls in about next month.

Five ministers from countries in the region, who yesterday attended a haze meeting in Singapore, also noted that La Nina - a weather phenomenon associated with more rain this region - is also expected to kick in by the third quarter of this year.

While this could bring more rain to the fire-prone landscape in Indonesia during the dry season, meeting chair Masagos Zulkifli - Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources - told reporters at a press conference that there could still be dry spells in between bouts of rain.

"Whether the fires restart within this dry spell, and be put out quickly by the timely coming of rain, is something only God knows.

"But with more rain coming during that period, hopefully, the fires will abate," he said.

International climate expert Peter Hoeppe, who heads the Geo Risk Research division at German reinsurance firm Munich Re, said after a strong El Nino like the one experienced last year, there is a high probability that La Nina would kick in immediately.

In comparison, for El Nino years that are less strong, there would be a neutral phase for about a year or two before La Nina conditions set in, Dr Hoeppe noted.

The assumption of a La Nina following right after a strong El Nino is based on statistical analyses of events in the past 45 years.

Dr Hoeppe added: "This could mean relief for Singapore; I expect that the air quality would be better this year than last year as it is likely that there will be more rain in Indonesia, and less fires."

After the last major El Nino event in 1997, there was a strong La Nina event that followed in July 1998, pointed out Assistant Professor Winston Chow of the National University of Singapore's geography department.

He said: "The irony was that fires weren't the concern as the larger-than-average rainfall across Indonesia resulted in floods across the country.

"Likewise, my concern is that areas throughout the region that are currently experiencing drought due to El Nino will be subject to potential flood risk if La Nina occurs."

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Indonesia: Satellites detect 13 hotspots in Riau

Antara 6 May 16;

Pekanbaru (ANTARA News) - The Terra and Aqua satellites detected 13 hotspots in five districts in Riau Province, on Friday at 5 a.m. local time.

"Based on a monitoring by the Terra and Aqua satellites at 5 a.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB) today, 13 hotsptos are detected in five districts in Riau," Sugarin, head of the Pekanbaru meteorology station, said.

Pelalawan District has five hotspots, Siak four, Indragiri Hilir two, Meranti and Indragiri Hulu one each.

Riau is predicted to experience summer again from May to August this year.

To anticipate forest fires, military and police officers have built thousands of canals to maintain humidity of peatland.

The Peatland Restoration Agency has planned to make artesian wells as water resources needed in case of forest fires.

The Riau Forest Fire Task Force has also deployed two MI-8 helicopters to carry out water bombings to extinguish fires.

The Russian helicopters are staying in Riau until June 2016, as part of the governments efforts to prevent forest fires.

On March 7 this year, the Riau provincial government declared an emergency alert status.

The status effective for three months, is aimed at expediting the measures to handle and prevent forest and land fires.

Riaus district administrations of Meranti, Bengkalis, Dumai, Rokan Hilir, Siak, and Pelalawan had earlier also declared the emergency alert status.
(Uu.F001)

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Solomon Islands: Rising sea levels blamed for the disappearance of five reef islands

* New evidence first time anecdotal accounts of sea level rising impacts confirmed
* Nuatambu Island lost more than half of its habitable area, 11 houses washed into the sea since 2011
* 21 islands exposed to high wave energy, five disappeared, six eroded substantially
* Sea level rise, erosion and coastal flooding are some of the greatest challenges facing humanity from climate change.

Simon Albert, Alistair Grinham, Badin Gibbes, Javier Leon and John Church, The Conversation ABC News 7 May 16;

At least five reef islands in the remote Solomon Islands have been lost completely to sea level rise and coastal erosion, and a further six islands have been severely eroded.

The islands lost to the sea range in size from one to five hectares and supported dense tropical vegetation that was at least 300 years old.

Nuatambu Island — home to 25 families — has lost more than half of its habitable area, with 11 houses washed into the sea since 2011.

This is the first scientific evidence, published in Environmental Research Letters, that confirms the numerous anecdotal accounts from across the Pacific of the dramatic impacts of climate change on coastlines and people.

Previous studies examining the risk of coastal inundation in the Pacific region have found islands can actually keep pace with sea level rise and sometimes even expand.

However, these studies have been conducted in areas of the Pacific with rates of sea level rise of 3-5 millimetres per year — broadly in line with the global average of 3 millimetres per year.

Solomon Islands sea levels rising at three times the average

For the past 20 years, the Solomon Islands have been a hotspot for sea level rise.

Its seas have risen at almost three-times the global average — about 7-10 millimetres per year since 1993. This higher local rate is partly the result of natural climate variability.

These higher rates were in line with what is expected across much of the Pacific in the second half of this century as a result of human-induced sea level rise.

Many areas will experience long-term rates of sea level rise similar to that already experienced in Solomon Islands, but the very lowest emission scenarios.

Natural variations and geological movements will be superimposed on these higher rates of global average sea level rise, resulting in periods when local rates of rise will be substantially larger than that recently observed in Solomon Islands.

The current conditions in Solomon Islands are an insight into the future impacts of accelerated sea level rise.

The coastlines of 33 reef islands were studied using aerial and satellite imagery from 1947 to 2015.

This information was integrated with local traditional knowledge, radiocarbon dating of trees, sea level records, and wave models.

Wave energy appears to play an important role in the dramatic coastal erosion observed in Solomon Islands.

Islands exposed to higher wave energy in addition to sea level rise experienced greatly accelerated loss compared with more sheltered islands.

Twelve islands we studied in a low wave energy area of Solomon Islands experienced little noticeable change in shorelines despite being exposed to similar sea level rise.

But of the 21 islands exposed to higher wave energy, five completely disappeared and a further six islands eroded substantially.

The human story behind rising sea levels

These rapid changes to shorelines observed in Solomon Islands have led to the relocation of several coastal communities that have inhabited these areas for generations.

These are not planned relocations led by governments or supported by international climate funds, but are ad hoc relocations using their own limited resources.

The customary land tenure (native title) system in Solomon Islands has provided a safety net for these displaced communities.

In fact, in some cases entire communities have left coastal villages that were established in the early 1900s by missionaries, and retraced their ancestral movements to resettle old inland village sites used by their forefathers.

In other cases, relocations have been more ad hoc, with individual families resettling small inland hamlets over which they have customary ownership.

In these cases, communities of 100-200 people have fragmented into handfuls of tiny family hamlets. Sirilo Sutaroti, the 94-year-old chief of the Paurata tribe, recently abandoned his village.

"The sea has started to come inland, it forced us to move up to the hilltop and rebuild our village there away from the sea," he said.

In addition to these village relocations, Taro, the capital of Choiseul Province, is set to become the first provincial capital in the world to relocate residents and services in response to the impact of sea level rise.

The global effort to protect the Pacific

Interactions between sea level rise, waves and the large range of responses observed in Solomon Islands — from total island loss to relative stability — shows the importance of integrating local assessments with traditional knowledge when planning for sea level rise and climate change.

Linking this rich knowledge and inherent resilience in the people with technical assessments and climate funding is critical to guiding adaptation efforts.

Solomon Islands National Disaster Council chair Melchior Mataki this "ultimately called for support from development partners and international financial mechanisms"

"This support should include nationally driven scientific studies to inform adaptation planning to address the impacts of climate change in Solomon Islands," he said.

Last month the Solomon Islands government joined 11 other small Pacific Island nations in signing the Paris climate agreement in New York. There was a sense of optimism it would signify a turning point in global efforts.

However, it remains to be seen how the hundreds of billions of dollars promised through global funding models such as the Green Climate Fund can support those most at need in remote communities, like those in Solomon Islands.

Simon Albert is a senior research fellow a the University of Queensland School of Civil Engineering, Alistair Grinham is senior research fellow at the University of Queensland, Badin Gibbes is a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland School of Civil Engineering, Javier Leon is a lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast, John Church is a CSIRO fellow.

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