Mass coral bleaching at Saipan lagoon

Federal surveys reinforce status of imperiled coral, sea life in lagoon
Dennis B. Chan Saipan Tribune 21 Aug 16;

The Bureau of Environmental Quality on Friday concurred with recent survey observations from federal biologists revealing wide spread coral death in the Saipan lagoon and ongoing coral bleaching.

The local environmental agency points to warming sea surface temperatures as the likely causes.

This month, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marine ecologists Matt Kendall and Bryan Costa completed a two-week survey on the Saipan lagoon, covering about 550 dive spots where they recorded high resolution video and observed the state of coral, sea grass, and bottom life there.

Kendall says that most of the staghorn coral they saw were dead.

“Ninety percent of it, especially, in the Wing Beach and Sugar Dock area is dead. And the 10 percent that is left, is bleached.”

“That’s not good,” he added. This means if bleaching is severe, the coral will probably die. And if the bleaching does not kill the coral, a burst of disease usually hits a few months after bleaching occurs.

“That kills a lot of coral too, if the bleaching doesn’t do it,” Kendall said in a recent interview.

On Friday, BECQ said bleaching events in 2013 and 2014 caused the majority of the death.

BECQ lead biologist Lyza Johnston said these events as well as the current bleaching are due to “warmer than usual sea surface temperatures.”

She added, though, that other local stressors like polluted runoff, physical damage (anchors, stepping on the corals), sedimentation, and overfishing can reduce the resilience of the corals—making them more susceptible to broader scale disturbances like bleaching from thermal stress.

“So we need to try to reduce or eliminate as many of the stressors as possible to keep the reefs healthy so they have a chance to bounce back from disturbances,” Johnston said in an email to Saipan Tribune.

Johnston said BECQ has also observed the same patterns as the NOAA biologists.

After the 2013/14 bleaching, she said, BECQ recorded a loss of 85 percent of staghorn corals at their long-term monitoring sites in the lagoon.

The agency, she said, will be going out in the next few weeks to assess the current bleaching, which seems to be restricted to the lagoon at this point.

“These [recent] storms and cloudy weather have actually been really good for the coral as it has caused a drop in water temperatures and sunlight. So hopefully it won’t be as bad as was predicted earlier in the summer when we thought we would start seeing widespread bleaching by the end of August.”

Habitat harmed

Kendall said that even the coral survives the bleaching and disease, they may not grow or reproduce as fast.

For the 90 percent of dead staghorn seen, Kendall says there are still standing coral, and not broken down into rubble yet.

“What happen is, sponges and other organism burrow in there, algae puts in little roots, organism bore into it to make their homes, waves come along and break that coral skeleton and you still have these complex thicket of branches where fish and other organism like to live—all of it breaks down and gets flat. And that’s a total different habitat that is not great for a lot of the fish that need to hide in those branching areas of the coral,” Kendall said.

Kendall also said they were surprised to find large swaths of cyanobacteria in the lagoon, where otherwise they expected plain sand.

The NOAA biologists drew on maps from biologist Peter Houk some 10 years ago for their initial drafts of the lagoon.

They hope to finish their high resolution mapping replete with depth and other features by the end of the year, to make it public by early next year.

The previous maps, for one, did not show large swaths of algae that the biologists say covered a large area in the lagoon.

“We swam down there and it was this algal mat…It covered huge areas. It’s not a good thing. It’s a sign of too much nutrients in the water. It’s a sign that something is not right. What it tends to do is kind of smother everything and does not leave enough room [for life] to grow,” Kendall said.

‘Lagoon use mapping plan’

All the recently recorded data will go toward helping BECQ’s “lagoon use mapping plan.”

Big picture in mind, BECQ and NOAA are working really closely to understand “what’s out there and how it’s changed” since the last time the lagoon was mapped some 10 years ago, Kendall said.
The biologists aim to get more spatially resolved maps, or extremely detailed and precise maps of the lagoon’s bottom.

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Sisters’ Island dive trails closed until end-Sept due to coral bleaching

KELLY NG Today Online 21 Aug 16;

SINGAPORE — Dive trails at the Sisters’ Island Marine Park, Singapore’s first marine park, will be closed until the end of September due to the extensive bleaching of coral reefs in the southern waters, including some reefs that have been totally bleached.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the National Parks Board (NParks) said that the trails have been closed since June — seven months after it was opened to the public — as a “pre-emptive measure” to minimise extra “stress” to the corals.

Various stages of bleaching was reported at reefs within the southern waters since June, NParks said. “This includes some that are completely bleached, while the majority are partially bleached or not bleached at all,” Dr Karenne Tun, director (coastal and marine) at NParks’ National Biodiversity Centre, said.

Higher temperatures can be a source of stress for corals, causing them to eject the tiny algae that live in their tissues and that give them their colours. The corals then turn white (“bleached”) and they cannot survive long-term without the algae, which is also a food source.

NParks added that it has been monitoring global and local temperature trend since the onset of the El Nino phenomenon last year, reportedly one of the most powerful in history and is characterised by unusual weather patterns. El Nino occurs every two to seven years and last year’s episode has wreaked havoc across the globe, causing record droughts in Ethiopia, extensive wildfires in Indonesia, and typhoons in the Philippines, to name a few.

NParks said that a “conservative estimate” of the bleaching threshold ranges between 30.95°C and 31.35°C.

Early this year, Singapore’s sea surface temperatures increased between half a degree and one degree Celsius beyond monthly averages, but they were still below the threshold. NParks was on the alert for the possibility of bleaching extending to Singapore waters. 
In end-April, sea surface temperatures started rising beyond the bleaching threshold, peaked at 0.8°C above the threshold sometime in May, and then dipped to just below the threshold from early June.

This month, the bleaching situation saw an improvement, when a recent assessment found the corals showing signs of recovery. Dr Tun said: “We are hopeful that those that are partially bleached will recover completely if temperatures do not increase further.”

The last mass coral bleaching in Singapore occurred in 2010 when Singapore also experienced moderate to strong El Nino effect. A similar situation occurred in 1998.

Apart from a monitoring exercise early this year on the bleaching situation, which includes checking sea surface temperatures and responses of corals, NParks initiated a survey in June to determine the severity and extent of bleaching.

This exercise will help determine if any species has to be safeguarded with specific intervention measures. For instance, rare local species may be moved to deeper waters with stronger currents, or into more controlled environments.

There are habitat enhancement projects and species recovery programmes that were started to focus particularly on rare species. Individual corals have been tagged so that their health may be monitored over the next few months. Also under NParks’ watch is also a 100m stretch of reef area with bleaching patterns among various species and functional groups of corals.

The board will continue to monitor the bleaching responses of the reefs with partners from National University of Singapore and the Tropical Marine Science Institute, and will update dive operators and the public regarding the status of the trails via its website.

NParks also shared that since the trails opened last November, all dive dates have been fully subscribed, with at least four divers on each trip. Its website show that there were two trips each in March, April and June.

Some of the approved dive operators contacted by TODAY said that response from divers has been positive, but the limited number of dive slots makes it difficult to entertain all queries.

Diving Solutions (Asia), for example, has received about 50 queries. However, it observed that despite the overwhelming interest, it was unable to fill the only slot it was allocated because the date was on a weekday.

Mr Stephen Beng, Padi course director at Sea Hounds, said that coral bleaching “is an opportunity for us to share the plight of our coral reefs” and there is a need to protect Singapore’s “amazing marine biodiversity” from multiple threats.

“The closure of the park is a good thing and in line with marine park management protocols,” he said, adding that this would allow the reefs to recover from the pressures of human activities such as diving, even as they face other threats.

“(Bleaching) can also happen because of pollution or any other unhealthy environment,” he added, pointing out that waste from fish farms, for example, is carried by the currents and settles over corals.

“(This) is a visible reminder that climate change is real and that our consumption choices have a cumulative impact on the environment,” Mr Beng said.


We all have a part to play in saving coral
DARREN CHAN KENG LEONG Today Online 27 Jun 16;

I refer to the report “Coral bleaching forces closure of Sisters’ Islands dive trails” (Aug 22).

Climate change plays a significant role in coral bleaching, as fluctuations in water temperature and changes in the sea’s chemistry could cause corals to lose their ability to sustain the tiny algae they survive on.

It is important to take precautions to monitor the situation, to ensure that there are no significant stressors that may affect the biodiversity of the area.

In the event of sustained bleaching, the National Parks Board (NParks) may consider moving rare local species elsewhere, to save them.

NParks can even consider growing coral in controlled environments — conditions that could make them more robust against the climate change — and transplanting them to the reef.

Given that there are dive trails on Sisters’ Islands, NParks should also run reef clean-up operations, as pollution in the ocean also vastly affect the health of the reefs. Also, it is essential that proper waste disposal methods are practised by fish farms, as well as the public, as these are small steps that can help reduce the amount of pollution at the source.

In addition, it is important that the dive operators are engaged in safe and responsible dive practices. Prolonged contact with corals may damage them, which in turn affects the marine life that depends on the reef for sustenance.

Perhaps NParks could work with an organisation like the World Wildlife Fund Singapore to certify “reef-friendly” businesses, to promote the protection of the environment.

Active coral reef ecosystem management methods can also be shared with members of the public who are interested in diving at these trails, so that they are aware and motivated to respect the environment.

Everyone has a part to play in protecting the coral reefs and the environment, and taking precautions and measures is the responsibility of all.


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Indonesia: Lapan detects 74 hotspots across Sumatra

Antara 20 Aug 16;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Indonesias National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) has reported that the number of hotspots across Sumatra Island reached 74 on Saturday, seven more than the 67 reported a day earlier.

Of the 74 hotspots, 34 were found in Riau, 15 in South Sumatra, nine in North Sumatra, six in Bangka Belitung, five in West Sumatra, four in Lampung, and one in Aceh, Slamet Riyadi, spokesman of the Pekanbaru meteorology station, said here on Saturday.

In Riau, Rokan Hilir District had 14, Bengkalis nine, Dumai seven, Siak two, Rokan Hulu one and Indragiri Hilir one.

Of the 34 hotspots in Riau, 24 were believed to be fire spots. Of these, nine each were detected in Rokan Hilir and Bengkalis, four in Dumai and one each in Rokan Hulu and Indragiri Hilir.

An army officer from Dumai who had been helping in extinguishing the fire in Pasir Putih village, Rokan Hilir District, went missing while doing his task.

"The search effort continues and police has been involved," Colonel I Nyoman Parwata of the Wirabima/031 Military Resort Command stated.

The Commander of the Wirabima/031 Military Resort Command, Brigadier General Nurendi, has sent 100 military personnel to fight the wildfires.(*)


Military officers build barriers to prevent wildfires from spreading
Antara 20 Aug 16;

Pontianak, W Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - A number of military officers were deployed to build barriers to prevent wildfires in Selakau, Sambas District, West Kalimantan Province, from spreading to a wider area.

"Now we are making land partitions to prevent wildfires in Selaku from spreading to North Singkawang", Captain Taufik Wiramansyah, commander of the Seadau military unit, said here on Saturday.

The efforts to extinguish the forest, peatland and plantation fires involved military and police personnel, as well as local inhabitants.

In Sedau, the wildfires have razed some 100 hectares of area in Semelagi (North Singkawang) covering 50 ha, Pangmilang (South Singkawang, 30 ha), and Senggang (East Singkawang, 20 ha).

As the weather in West Kalimantan is now hot, Captain Wiramansyah urged local farmers not to clear land by using slash and burn methods.

He also urged smokers not to throw cigarette butts into peatland and forest areas, since they could cause fires.

The commander said those causing fires intentionally or unintentionally would be prosecuted.

Due to forest, peatland and plantation fires, Singkawang town was shrouded in haze on Saturday morning. (*)

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Malaysia: Dept wants pangolin protection status upgrade

The Star 21 Aug 16;

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Wildlife Department is trying to get pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, upgraded into a totally protected species in the state.

This comes after a Sessions Court in Lahad Datu fined a man RM25,000, in default three years’ jail, after he pleaded guilty to the possession of live pangolins and 900g of scales on Thursday.

Department director William Baya said pangolins were categorised as a protected species under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.

“Our department is putting its efforts to upgrade this endangered species to Schedule 1 (Totally Protected) of the Enactment,” he said here yesterday.

Abdullah Rappe, 56, was found with 24 live pangolins, a carcass and a plastic bag full of internal organs and the scales when he was arrested at a roadblock by the department on Feb 20.

The animals and other items were stored inside the vehicle he was driving along the Sandakan-Lahad Datu road.

Endangered: A wildlife ranger releasing confiscated pangolins back into the wild.
Endangered: A wildlife ranger releasing confiscated pangolins back into the wild.
Abdullah paid the fine.

Baya said the live pangolins seized during the roadblock had been sent to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre for imme­diate veterinary care.

Twenty of these, he said, were successfully released back to a forest reserve.

“I am glad that the pangolins are now back in the wild and did not end up on someone’s dinner plate or used in traditional Chinese medicine,” Baya said.

Pangolins are deemed an exotic delicacy among many, with their parts, including the scales, being used for medicine, although there is no proof in their value.

Called the most trafficked animal in the world – making up 20% of the wildlife black market – all the eight species of pangolin in the world are now considered threatened.

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Indonesia: Flash flood hits elephant habitat in Bengkulu

Antara 20 Aug 16;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - A flash flood triggered by the overflowing of the Seblat River in North Bengkulu District hit the habitat of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus Sumatrae).

"The flash flood hampered officers from crossing by a boat to the elephant training center," Asep, an elephant tamer in the Seblat elephant training center, said Friday.

The flood that started Thursday evening, swept away a crossing boat in to the rivers currents.

Tens of households living in Sukabaru Village were forced to evacuate to higher grounds due to the flood.

The flash flood began at 9 p.m. local time Thursday, Sub-district Head of Marga Sakti Seblat of North Bengkulu District Jalaludin said.

Some 120 villagers took refuge in four safe places due to the floodwaters reaching a height of up to 1.5 meters, he said.

(f001/INE/B003)

Edited by INE.

Two Rafflesia flowers bloom in Bengkulu
Antara 20 Aug 16;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - Two Rafflesia Arnoldi flowers are in bloom at two separate locations in the districts of Kepahiang and Central Bengkulu in Bengkulu province.

The two Rafflesia flowers were spotted by a group of people who regularly monitor the presence of rare flowers in the forest, Bengkulu Community Care for Rare Flowers coordinator Sofian Ramadhan said here Saturday.

"Each of the two Rafflesia Arnoldy flowers 75 centimeters (cm) and 55cm in diameter," Sofian remarked.

One of the flowers found in Central Bengkulu is in Taba Teret village, some 48 kilometers (km) from the city of Bengkulu, while the other one in Kepahiang district is found in Bukit Daun protected forest area, some 54km from Bengkulu city.

Sofian then urged the local government to protect the forest area in order to preserve the habitat of the flower.

Rafflesia is the largest, heaviest, rarest and one of the most fragrant flowers in the world. In full bloom, its crown can reach a diameter of 1 meter and it weighs about 10 kilograms.

Interestingly, Rafflesia is a parasitic plant without any leaves, stems or roots.(*)

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Haze is heading Singapore’s way, Indonesia warns

Today Online 19 Aug 16;

JAKARTA — Indonesia warned on Friday (Aug 19) that haze from forest fires was floating over the Malacca Strait towards its neighbours, and that the rising number of blazes as a result of the dry weather in the coming weeks could make fire-fighting efforts more challenging.

Indonesia’s disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho warned that smoke had on Thursday started floating across the waterway that runs between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

“Smoke from forest and land fires in Riau (province) has started to enter the Malacca Strait,” he tweeted. “Let’s prevent and put out the fires.”

Riau, on western Sumatra island, is a major centre of the palm oil and pulpwood industry, and many fires occur there every year.

The fires and resulting smog are an annual dry-season problem in the archipelago, when blazes are started illegally to quickly and cheaply clear land, typically to make way for palm oil and pulpwood plantations.

But last year’s haze outbreak from September to November was among the worst in memory, shrouding Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Thailand in acrid smoke. The crisis affected tens of millions of people, forcing school closures and caused thousands to fall sick across the region.

While this year’s fires have yet to reach the levels of 2015, the number has been rising in recent weeks as Indonesia heads towards its peak dry season in September.

Mr Nugroho also said the number of “hot spots” detected by satellites — areas of intense heat that are either already on fire or vulnerable to going up in flames — had increased in West Kalimantan province, on Indonesia’s part of Borneo island.

A total of 158 hot spots were detected in the province yesterday, up from 106 a day earlier.

“Scattered hot spots with localised smoke plumes continued to be observed in West Kalimantan. The prevailing winds in the region are expected to blow from the south or south-west in the next few days,” said the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) on its website on Friday.

The ASMC on Thursday declared “level 2” alert for hotspots in Kalimantan after more than 150 hot spots were detected for two consecutive days.

Malaysia’s Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said this means all Asean countries are required to submit daily situation reports on the status of the fires, steps taken to extinguish them and haze mitigation efforts.

“This will allow the authorities to activate a joint emergency response should the forest fires or haze situation get out of hand,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

There are four levels of alert with the highest, level 3, activated twice in September last year — first in Sumatra and then Kalimantan after more than 250 hot spots were detected.

Mr Wan Junaidi had said he would write to his Indonesian counterpart Siti Nurbaya Bakar to inform her of these latest development, including the haze that shrouded parts of Malaysia a few days ago.

Mr Nugroho told Reuters on Friday that dry weather, which complicates firefighting efforts, would reach its peak in September, noting that the “critical period” for fires was from this month to October.

The government’s early announcement of a state of emergency for fires in five provinces this year had helped to prevent them from spreading as extensively as in 2015, he said, when El Nino made the problem worse.

“Countermeasures, including the response from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, have been faster and better. Last year the emergency status was declared only after the fires were widespread,” Mr Nugroho added. AGENCIES

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Indonesia: Hot spots increase in West Kalimantan

Jakarta Post 20 Aug 16;

The number of hot spots in West Kalimantan increased to 636 on Friday, raising concerns that thick haze could disrupt flights at Supadio Airport in Pontianak.

Bayuh Iswantoro, the Pontianak general manager of airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II, said his office had prepared for possible haze in the near future.

“Internally, we have maintained the readiness of our facilities. We have ensured the instrument landing system is in a primary condition,” Bayuh said Friday.

In anticipation of thick haze that could disrupt flights, Bayuh said his office had also discussed delay management with some airlines.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has recorded 636 hot spots in 13 regencies and cities in the province as of 7 a.m. on Thursday.

Since Aug. 1, rainfall has decreased in the province.


Concerns grow in Pontianak as number of hot spots increases
Severianus Endi and Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 19 Aug 16;

The number of hot spots in West Kalimantan has increased rapidly in the past two weeks, from a dozen to over 100, raising concerns over air pollution and the disruption of flights at the province’s Supadio Airport.

Haze resulting from forest fires has covered Dumai, Riau, too.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, detected 177 hot spots in nine of the province’s 14 regencies or cities as of Wednesday morning.

In anticipation of potential haze, the West Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency plans to soon bring two helicopters to the province, like it did last year.

“The helicopters are needed for water bombing and air patrols,” the agency’s head, TTA Nyarong, said on Thursday.

As part of the province’s readiness, he said the provincial administration had established a taskforce to anticipate potential technical problems.

Another taskforce has been set up specifically to organize mass prayers to ask for rain.

Nyarong said, however, that compared to last year, the number of hot spots had decreased by 80 percent due to the absence of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

By August last year, 1,000 hot spots had been detected. This year, for the same period, the figure is just 200.

Haze has also been routinely detected at night and in the morning across the region although so far the haze has not disrupted flight activities at Supadio Airport in Pontianak.

Meanwhile, at least eight persons have been questioned by the police as witnesses in forest and land fire cases in the province. West Kalimantan Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Suhadi SW said the witnesses were land owners, workers and owners of the land next to the burned hectares.

“It’s not impossible that they will be named suspects,” said Suhadi, adding that a map organized by a joint team of stakeholders showed that 135 subdistricts in the province were prone to fires and were under monitoring.

Last year, the police processed 35 forest and land fire cases, four of which allegedly involved corporations. The other 31 involved individuals. Later, the four cases were dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Pontianak Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Iwan Iman Susilo said his office had so far examined two persons alleged to have cleared land by burning it. The fire allegedly spread to the land bordering their own.

“There are a number of other cases that are still under investigation. Some other cases were dropped due to a lack of supporting evidence,” Iwan said.

West Kalimantan Governor Cornelis called on the owners of oil palm plantation concessions to build artificial lakes or canals to hold water in anticipation of fires.

“Every region has established a fire alert post so people can participate and not just depend on the apparatus,” Cornelis said.

Meanwhile in Riau, the provincial forest and land emergency alert taskforce has succeeded in decreasing the number of hot spots in the province. However, smoke is still emanating from burned land in the area.

Data from the Terra and Aqua satellites collected by the BMKG’s Pekanbaru station showed that as of Thursday morning, there were only 43 hot spots left in Riau, while a day before, the figure was 278, the highest so far this year.

“Of the hotspots detected, 22 are indicated to be fires, with a 70 percent reliability level,” station head Sugarin said on Thursday.

He said the regions confronting forest and land fires included Pujud, Rimba Melintang and Tanah Putih districts in Rokan Hilir, Teluk Meranti in Pelalawan, Bonai Darussalam, Rambah Hilir and Rokan IV Koto in Rokan Hulu and Batang Cenaku in Indragiri Hulu.

Sugarin said forest and land fires had caused haze in the subdistricts located around the fire spots as well as in the city of Dumai on Thursday morning, decreasing visibility from 8 kilometers to just 5 kilometers in Dumai.

Separately, Catur Hargowo, the head of the technical managing unit at Pinang Kampai Airport in Dumai, said the haze on Thursday had not yet disrupted flights at the pioneer airport.

Indonesia urges action against slash-and-burn clearing as haze season arrives
Bernadette Christina Munthe and Glenys Kirana Reuters 19 Aug 16;

Indonesia's disaster agency urged prompt action against slash-and-burn plantation fires on Friday as the annual smoke "haze" begins to drift across the Malacca Strait to neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.

Fires in Indonesia, set in the dry season by companies clearing land for plantations, cause an annual crisis that at times blankets large parts of the region in choking smog, closing airports and schools and prompting warnings to residents to stay indoors.

Home to the world's third-largest area of tropical forests, Indonesia has been criticized by green activists and by neighboring Southeast Asian nations for failing to stop the annual fires.

"Smoke from forest and land fires in Riau has started to enter the Malacca Strait. Let's prevent and put out the fires," agency spokesman Sutopo Nugroho said on his Twitter account @Sutopo_BNPB on Friday, referring to a district on the main island of Sumatra.

He said that over the past week, the numbers of fire "hotspots" in West Kalimantan, on the nearby island of Borneo, had "increased significantly."

Dry weather that complicates firefighting efforts would reach its peak in September, Nugroho told Reuters, noting that the "critical period" for fires was from August to October.

The government's early announcement of a state of emergency for fires in five provinces this year had helped to prevent them from spreading as extensively as in 2015, he said, when El Nino made the problem worse.

"Countermeasures, including the response from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, have been faster and better. Last year the emergency status was declared only after the fires were widespread," he said.

Heavy smoke from slash-and-burn clearing often comes from the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, where large forest concessions are used by pulp and paper and palm oil companies, some of which are listed in Singapore.

"As we go through the legal process, all the information will be publicly available," Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said on Thursday.

Indonesia imposed record fines against a local plantation company last week in the hope of deterring companies and individuals from using fire to clear land.

(Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Nick Macfie)


Indonesia in haze warning as fires flare
Channel NewsAsia 19 Aug 16;

JAKARTA: Indonesia warned Friday (Aug 19) that haze from forest fires was floating over a key waterway towards its neighbours, and that the number of blazes was rising.

The fires and resulting smog are an annual dry season problem in the archipelago, when blazes are started illegally to quickly and cheaply clear land, typically to make way for palm oil and pulpwood plantations.

But last year's haze outbreak was among the worst in memory, shrouding Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Thailand in acrid smoke. The crisis forced school closures and caused thousands to fall sick across the region.

While this year's fires have yet to reach the levels of 2015, the number has been rising in recent weeks as Indonesia heads towards its peak dry season in September.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho warned that smoke had Thursday started floating across the Malacca Strait, which runs between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

"Smoke from forest and land fires in Riau (province) has started to enter the Malacca Strait," he tweeted.

"Let's prevent and put out the fires."

Riau, on western Sumatra island, is a major centre of the palm oil and pulpwood industry, and many fires occur there every year.

He also said the number of "hotspots" detected by satellites -- areas of intense heat that are either already on fire or vulnerable to going up in flames -- had increased in West Kalimantan province, on Indonesia's part of Borneo island.

A total of 158 hotspots were detected in the province on Friday, up from 106 a day earlier.

The governor of the province, a centre of the palm oil industry, had asked the disaster agency to provide helicopters for water-bombing and "cloud-seeding", or chemically inducing rain, said Nugroho.

Indonesia has faced intense criticism from its neighbours and the international community over its failure to halt the annual smog outbreaks.

Jakarta has promised tougher action. It has announced a plan to stop granting new land for palm oil plantations, and established an agency to restore millions of hectares of carbon-rich peatlands susceptible to fires.

- AFP/mn

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Malaysia: Klang Valley air quality improving though 183 hotspots detected in Kalimantan

BERNAMA New Straits Times 19 Aug 16;

KUCHING: A total of 183 hotspots have been detected in Kalimantan and seven in Sumatera, Indonesia, since yesterday, triggering the possibility of haze blanketing areas in Sarawak should the winds blow this way.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said, however, the haze in the country was still under control as no unhealthy Air Pollution Index reading (API of over 100) had been recorded anywhere.

He said that since yesterday the hotspots were only detected in four areas in Sibu, four in Sri Aman, two in Miri, two in Kapit and one each in Limbang, Bintulu and Sarikei.

“The situation in haze-hit areas in the Klang Valley and surrounding areas is reported to be improving today,” he told a press conference after visiting Sekolah Kebangsaan Gersik here today.

Haze hit the Klang Valley a few days ago and areas around Manjung were the worst affected when the API hit the moderal level of 97 yesterday.

An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy and 300 and above, hazardous.

Nevertheless, until noon today, no areas in the country recorded an API of more than 70.

Wan Junaidi said the 183 hotspots detected by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre based in Singapore since yesterday were a significant increase from the 177 hotspots reported the day before.

He anticipated that the haze this time would not be as bad as the situation experienced in the country late last year as the Indonesian government as well as other Asean countries have shown their full commitment in tackling the problem to ensure the situation would not recur. --Bernama

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Malaysia: Man fined RM25,000 for having pangolins

STEPHANIE LEE The Star 20 Aug 16;

KOTA KINABALU: A man was slapped with a RM25,000 fine in default three years’ jail after he pleaded guilty to illegal possession of live pangolins and 900g of pangolin scales.

Abdullah Rappe, 56, pleaded guilty before Lahad Datu Sessions Court judge Zaini Fishir on Aug 18.

Abdullah was arrested during a roadblock mounted by the Sabah Wildlife Department at about 7.10am on Feb 20, where he was found with 24 live pangolins, a carcass, and a plastic full of pangolin’s internal organs along with 900g of scales.

The animal and other items were found inside the vehicle he was driving along the Sandakan-Lahad Datu road.

He paid the fine.

Sabah Wildlife Department director William Baya said pangolins were categorised as protected species under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment (WCE) 1997.

“Our department is putting its efforts to upgrade this endangered species to Schedule 1 (Totally Protected) of WCE 1997, “ he said.

Meanwhile, all the live pangolins that were seized during the roadblock have been sent to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre for immediate veterinary care.

A total of 20 pangolins were successfully released back to a forest reserve in Sabah.

“I am glad that the pangolins are now back in the wild and did not end up on someone’s dinner plate or used in traditional Chinese medicine,” Baya said.

Pangolins are deemed as an exotic delicacy among many whereas their parts including the scales are being used as medicine although there has been no proof of medicinal value as yet.


Man fined RM25.000 for illegal possession of pangolins
OLIVIA MIVIL New Straits Times 20 Aug 16;

LAHAD DATU: A 56-year-old man was fined RM25,000 fine for illegal possession of live pangolins and pangolin scales.

The sentence, in default of three years’ jail term, was meted out by Sessions Court judge Zaini Fishir here on Thursday.

Abdullah Rappe pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 41 (2) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for possession of protected wildlife product without permit.

The Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr William Baya said in a statement that Abdullah had pleaded for leniency through his counsel Edward Paul but Prosecuting Officer Augustine Tuuga pressed for harder deterrent sentence to prevent further depletion of the species due to poaching activities.

Abdullah was picked up during a roadblock near Pusat Timbangan JPJ Sandau along Sandakan-Lahad Datu road on Feb 20.

The state Wildlife Department personnel found 24 live pangolins, a carcass, and a plastic bag full of pangolin’s internal organs along with 900g of pangolin scales in his car.

"Those live pangolins received immediate veterinary care at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre upon seizure and 20 of them which had recovered were released back to a forest reserve.

"I am glad those pangolins are now back in the wild instead of ending up on someone’s dinner plate or being used as traditional medicine." said Baya.

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France seizes 2,000 dead seahorses en route to Vietnam

Channel NewsAsia 19 Aug 16;

PARIS: French customs officials said Friday (Aug 19) they had intercepted some 2,000 dead seahorses, prized in Asia for use in traditional medicine and as aphrodisiacs.

The "dead and dehydrated" seahorses - a protected species - were found on July 28 and August 8 hidden in airmail packages sent from the west African country of Guinea destined for Vietnam, it said.

Paris customs official Olivier Gourdon told AFP that seahorses, protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), are confiscated "pretty often".

He said they are generally trafficked from African countries to Vietnam as well as China and Japan.

In addition to their use in traditional medicine and as aphrodisiacs, seahorses are sold to tourists as souvenirs, Gourdon said.

He did not put a value on the find but some 19,000 seahorses seized in February 2015, en route from Madagascar to Hong Kong, had an estimated value of 200,000 euros ($225,000).

- AFP

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