Man on a mission to lure players to real-life Pokemon

NUS undergrad uses popular game to create awareness of island's biodiversity
Audrey Tan Straits Times AsiaOne 26 Aug 16;

Like many Pokemon Go players, National University of Singapore life sciences undergraduate Sean Yap, 24, goes out as often as possible.

But, unlike such gamers whose eyes are glued to their phones in an effort to catch the virtual characters, Mr Yap looks up and around - at plants, birds and, especially, insects. The insect researcher is now on a mission to get others to do the same and learn to appreciate local biodiversity, and his strategy is to ride on the current popularity of the mobile game.

He has produced a Facebook album - called Real Life Pokemon of Singapore - that shows the similarities between Pokemon characters and native plants and animals.The water Pokemon Staryu, for example, resembles the knobbly sea stars that dot Singapore's shores, and the plant Pokemon Victreebel looks like the Raffles pitcher plant.

Mr Yap's comparisons include a tongue-in-cheek write-up about the native plant or animal.

He says, for instance: "Like Victreebel, pitcher plants are living toilet bowls, complete with a lid and a disgusting rim/seat... Except (they) eat bugs. Some species of pitcher plants even have symbiotic, resistant insects that live in the liquid and feed on the drowned bugs, and the pitchers get the nutrients from their excrement, so they are actually toilet bowls."

He points out that numerous Pokemon are based on real plants and animals, many of which can be found in Singapore. City dwellers often do not realise this, he says, and he hopes his project will enlighten them and prompt them to look out for these plants and animals.

"If Pokemon Go can be used as a marketing tool for shopping malls to attract customers, then it can probably do the same for science and biodiversity," Mr Yap said.

Besides raising awareness of Singapore's native biodiversity, he wants to highlight the plight of wildlife too. For example, in writing about Sandslash, a Pokemon which resembles the critically endangered Sunda pangolin - which is native to Singapore - he says: "Unlike Sandslash, the pangolin's large claws are not used for combat but for digging into ant or termite nests. And while Sandslash's signature move, Defense Curl, may work against predators like tigers (before they went extinct here), humans can just pick them up.

"It is humans that make the pangolin such a rare Pokemon worldwide: Poaching is the No. 1 threat to their existence."

Project manager Adriane Lee, 41, said he never knew that real animals were the inspiration for Pokemon until he saw Mr Yap's album.

"Sean's project is a refreshing take on educating a person on local biodiversity, as Pokemon is the latest craze and the game draws audiences normally not knowledgable of or interested in nature to have a more intimate knowledge of the topic," he said.

Nature groups such as the Herpetological Society of Singapore, which studies reptiles and amphibians, also plan to use Mr Yap's project at the upcoming Festival of Biodiversity educational fair to be held at the Singapore Botanic Gardens next weekend. The society's co-founder Sankar Ananthanarayanan said: "We want to show that Singapore has biodiversity that is pretty cool too, and that appreciating wildlife is just as fun and interesting as playing the game."

Mr Yap has so far matched about 40 out of the 721 characters in the Pokemon universe with native flora and fauna. He hopes to do so for as many Pokemon as possible.

But unlike the Pokemon Go game in which the aim is to catch them all, he stressed that handling and capturing wild animals in Singapore is illegal.

He cautioned: "Do not try to catch them. Do observe and marvel from a respectful distance. You can join guided walks, many of which are free, for a higher chance of seeing these real-life Pokemon."

Although he has been a fan of the Pokemon universe since he was a boy, Mr Yap does not play Pokemon Go. In fact, he deleted the app barely four hours after he first downloaded it on the day of its launch.

"I realised I was walking in the forest and constantly checking my phone instead of looking out for wildlife," he explained.

During a recent visit to Pasir Ris Park for a glimpse of a rare spotted wood owl, Mr Yap said he saw many people who missed the majestic bird because they were busy catching Pokemon.

But getting people out in the open is a first step, he pointed out.

"Some people may not visit the parks in the first place, and completely miss the opportunity to see our native wildlife, but having them outside presents us the opportunity to reach out to them."

Mr Yap's album can be found by searching "Real Life Pokemon of Singapore" on Facebook.

Read more!

Malaysia: Thank you Indonesia, for the absence of haze this year

BERNAMA New Straits Times 25 Aug 16;

PUTRAJAYA: Immediate action by the Indonesian authorities to put out forest fires before it spread managed to curb the recurrence of cross border haze this year.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said rainfall in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia also prevented forest fires.

He said Indonesia's President Joko Widodo and his Environment and Forestry Minister Dr Siti Nurbaya Baka had promised Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who recently contacted them on their efforts to deal with the forest fires and haze.

“Indonesia is keeping their promise. I hope the conditions will continue up to October when the wind changes (from the southwest to the northeast).

One more month to go, hopefully nothing worse than this happens,” he told the media after attending his ministry's monthly gathering here today.

According to the Department of Environment (DOE) portal, 12 places recorded moderate Air Pollutant Index (API) readings and 35 good API readings up to 1 pm today.

Last year forest fires in Indonesia caused cross border haze to badly hit the country, aggravated by the prevailing southwest monsoon wind.

On the female baby panda Nuan Nuan, Wan Junaidi said the ministry and Zoo Negara had not held discussions to extend the period of keeping the offspring of giant pandas Xing Xing and Liang Liang from China after next year.

"Operating costs may be high and not worth it in terms of visitors' return. They (Zoo Negara) should approach and discuss with us if they think they cannot afford to maintain the panda," he said. He said it was also a symbol of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations and the decision to extend the panda's stay or otherwise would be made by the Cabinet.

According to the Giant Panda Protection and Research Programme agreed by Malaysia and China, Zoo Negara has to pay a one-off cost of rental amounting to US$600,000 (RM2.4 million) for the baby panda which does not include its annual insurance premium at RM200,000. - BERNAMA

Indonesia reducing transboundary haze
MAZWIN NIK ANIS The Star 26 Aug 16;

PUTRAJAYA: It looks like Indonesia is keeping its word to contain incidents of transboundary haze with just a small number of hotspots found in the country.

Natural Resources and Environ­ment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said there had been positive response and commitment from Indonesia in addressing the haze situation.

He said compared with previous years, only a few hotspots were found in Sumatra and West Kaliman­tan so far this year.

“Indonesia is keeping its word to ensure forest fires and slash-and-burn activities on agricultural land are not rampant. We are pleased to see real efforts being made to minimise transboundary haze, which has affected its neighbours for years,” Dr Wan Junaidi told reporters after the ministry’s monthly gathering.

He added that significant rainfall was also helping the Indonesian authorities to minimise the haze.

The Air Pollutant Index for 27 locations in the country was good, with six recording moderate readings and most other areas recording very good readings.

Indonesia had given its assurance to Malaysia to tackle the issue during discussions held between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and President Joko Widodo.

During the recent Asean environment ministers’ meeting, Indonesia said 3,000 military and police personnel had been put on watch to monitor forest fires and open burning.

On another matter, Dr Wan Junaidi said there had yet to be any discussion to extend baby panda Nuan Nuan’s stay here after next year.

“We are aware of the costs incurred by Zoo Negara to keep the baby panda, but the decision to either return (to China) or extend its stay needs to be done by the Cabinet,” he said.

Read more!

Indonesia: Residents’ health at risk as haze lingers in West Kalimantan

Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 25 Aug 16;

Haze is causing concern for people in West Kalimantan where fires have razed land and forests for the past two weeks.

Residents are enduring the effects of smoke that usually appears each morning and evening, disrupting activities at airports and endangering people’s health.

Pontianak Health Agency head Sidiq Handanu told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that over recent days the air quality had worsened at certain times of the day.

“Various logistics have been prepared at every community health center, such as drugs and masks, and medical workers have been asked to be on alert,” said Sidiq, adding that air quality deteriorates from 7 a.m. until 12 p.m., then gradually improves in the afternoon.

Air quality can be monitored on the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency’s (BMKG) website at bmkg.go.id to determine the content of air particulates in real time.

At Pontianak’s Supadio Airport, haze in the morning interrupted flights and caused delays of 30 to 45 minutes. State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II’s Supadio Airport head, Bayuh Iswantoro, said the earliest flight schedule for 6:15 a.m. was affected by haze that left visibility at only 500 meters. Takeoffs and landings could only be carried out after 7 a.m. when visibility improved to 1,000 meters.

“Flights will be interrupted at a visibility of only 500 meters, but only briefly. Without haze, normal visibility is around 5,000 meters,” said Bayuh, adding that visibility below 800 meters was categorized as disrupting takeoffs and landings.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) data, information and public relations head, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, mentioned in a press release that the highest number of hot spots in Sumatra and Kalimantan would be defected from August to October, with its peak in September.

Six provinces have enacted emergency status for forest and land fires: Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.

The West Kalimantan provincial administration, which previously declared emergency status from June 1 to Sept. 1, reported that the status would be extended until November.

The status will ease access for the BNPB and each regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) to mobilize resources, including deploying eight helicopters and two planes for water bombing, as well as two aircraft to induce artificial rain.

“The BNPB is preparing to send a helicopter for water bombing and an aircraft to make artificial rain in West Kalimantan,” said Sutopo.

The West Kalimantan BPBD’s logistics and emergency response head, Bosman D. Hutahaean, said that eight of the 14 regencies and cities in the province had declared land and forest fire emergency status, while Ketapang, North Kayong and Sambas regencies and Singkawang and Pontianak cities were in the process of doing so.

He cited 135 villages prone to land and forest fires, located in the regencies of Kubu Raya (18 villages), Mempawah (five), Landak (three), Sintang ( 34 ), Sanggau (three), Bengkayang ( 10 ), Sambas ( 10 ), Ketapang ( 45 ) and North Kayong (seven).

Read more!

Malaysia: Water rationing in Mersing as water level in dam is depleting

Congok Dam water level depleting, necessitating scheduled water supply for Mersing
CHUAH BEE KIM - New Straits Times 25 Aug 16;

JOHOR BARU: The water level of the Congok Dam near Mersing which supplies raw water to the Tenglu water treatment plant is depleting and is unable to accommodate the needs of the plant.

Sungai Mersing, which channels water to the Sungai Mersing water treatment plant, is also unable to meet the demand of the Tenglu water treatment plant in the supply of treated water.

Both the water treatment plants were built to support the needs of one other. However, the water level of the Congok Dam is at 2.70 metres today, declining 0.04m daily, compared to the critical level of 4.50m.

The scheduled water supply exercise is still ongoing in some areas in Mersing until Sept 15, with 41,000 consumers getting a day's supply of water every two days.

In a statement issued by Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) today, the company said the frequency would depend on the conditions of the river and the dam.

SAJ Chief Executive Officer, Abdul Wahab Abdul Hamid said the current situation in both raw water sources is unstable and this will force SAJ to distribute treated water to all users either via pipeline or mobile tanker truck.

"Up to now, SAJ has mobilised 85 static tanks and nine lorries to transport water tanks to distribute treated water to the affected areas.

"Priority will be given to centres that provide dialysis, houses of worship, hospitals, boarding schools, and a few others," he said.

SAJ urged the public state-wide to refrain from water wastage.

For more information, call the SAJ Online Info Center through 1800 88 or Friendly SMS 7474 or 019 772 7474 or via e-mail customer.care@saj.com.my 24 hours.

Read more!

MPA scheme to help with cost of sustainability reports

The MPA’s co-funding initiative will help Singapore-listed companies with the cost of their sustainability reports, footing 50 per cent of expenses – up to $50,000 per company.
Straits Times 23 Aug 16;

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) yesterday announced a co-funding initiative to help Singapore-listed maritime companies with the cost of their sustainability reports.

It will foot 50 per cent of the costs - up to $50,000 per company - and reimburse the first 10 approved applications.

Companies which take up the co-funding offer will have to publish their sustainability reports before Dec 31 next year, to world standards such as those laid out in the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines.

Singapore Exchange's (SGX) new sustainability reporting rules require listed companies to publish sustainability reports for the financial year ending on or after Dec 31, 2017.

The co-funding initiative is part of the MPA's new Green Awareness Programme to share knowledge of the possible ways of carrying out sustainable shipping. Said MPA chief executive Andrew Tan: "MPA is the first local maritime organisation to publish both an integrated report and sustainability report last year, and we hope to encourage the rest of the maritime industry to adopt the best practices and mitigate any risks to the environment arising from their operations."

Ms Yeo Lian Sim, special adviser to SGX, said: "With MPA's Green Awareness Programme, shipping companies have every encouragement to become early adopters of sustainability reporting and lead the way in raising transparency and communication standards in the maritime sector."

Read more!

Malaysia: Only three Sumatran Rhino left in Malaysia

BERNAMA New Straits Times 26 Aug 16;

KUALA LUMPUR: The clock is ticking for the critically endangered Sumatran Rhino with their numbers down to just three in Malaysia.

xecutive Director of Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) Datuk Dr John Payne said there were only one male rhino and two female rhinos in Sabah.

He said conservationists were on a desperate mission to save the country’s remaining Sumatran rhinos.

“The three Sumatran rhinos left were caught and have been placed in captive breeding programmes until today,” he said after a media preview screening on ‘Uncover Malaysia’ about the ‘Operation Sumatran Rhino’ documentary at Sunway Pyramid here, today.

Dr John Payne said the biggest threat the Sumatran rhino faced was poaching which had caused their number to dwindle to only three in Malaysia.

He believed the species can be saved via In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) among the rhinos left, adding that the next IVF process would take place on November this year.

“BORA has been fighting an uphill battle trying to save Malaysia’s last Sumatran rhinos.

The only way this could be done was to capture all the remaining specimens in the wild - which was a dangerous and costly operation and to breed them,” he added.

According to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Sumatran rhinos are described as the smallest of all rhinos and it is the only Asian rhino with two horns.

Sumatran rhinos give birth to one calf at a time, every three to four years and their pregnancies last around 15 to 17 months.

To drive public awareness for the rhino’s plight, the National Geographic Channel, Astro and efforts led by BORA produced the ‘Uncover Malaysia’ documentary on current efforts to save the critically endangered Sumatran rhinos.

The documentary will be aired on National Geographic Wild, Astro channel 550 at 8.40pm on Sept 19.

Meanwhile, in conjunction with World Rhino Day on September 22, the documentary will be on National Geographic Wild, National Geographic Channel, Astro channel 553 and HD channel 573 at 7pm.

Operation Sumatran Rhino is part of the larger Uncover Malaysia campaign that takes a look at different aspects of Malaysia, featuring stories on culture, culinary arts and conservation. -- Bernama

Read more!

Indonesia: Reef Destruction Could Cost Indonesia Over $30 Billion in Annual GDP

Megan Herndon Jakarta Globe 25 Aug 16;

Jakarta. In a country where two thirds of the population live within 50 kilometers of the coast, coral reefs aren’t just a tourist attraction, they’re the source of livelihood for millions of people.

Researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) partnered with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), along with representatives from 22 countries to map over 1,000 kilometers of coral reefs and examine the economic impact of their destruction.

“[Coral reefs] are not just a lovely place,” the project’s chief scientist, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, said. “It’s not about environmentalism, it’s about economics. Its about the livelihoods and food systems of people.”

Hoegh-Guldberg said that Indonesia’s reefs produce $30 billion annually in gross domestic product, which is a conservative estimate when you take into account the number of fishery products that don’t go through formally recorded markets.

If coral reefs continue to die in Indonesia and around the world, the fisheries that support 500 million people will also be gone, costing seven percent of the livelihood of the world’s population.

Hoegh-Guldberg stressed the need to put natural capital, things like coral reefs, seagrass beds and terrestrial habitats, into the balance sheet along with other business assets. He used the example of mangroves, a small coastal forest, to illustrate this.

“Some people think best thing you can do with [mangroves] is cover them in concrete and put a resort on them,” he said. “But a lot of people don’t understand that mangroves are worth a trillion dollars in asset value when you take into account their contribution to fisheries. We’ve got to put natural capital into the same spreadsheet as we put our normal economic things, our earnings from X, Y, and Z.”

He explained that global warming, along with coastal pollution and over fishing, has caused the loss of 50 percent of the world’s coral reefs since the 1980s. To stop this, he said, the world needs to commit to following the Paris Agreement on climate change, where nations around the world will work to slow climate change through implementing more sustainable practices.

In Indonesia, he said creating and enforcing systems of marine spatial planning, reduction of plastic bag use, and having active community advocates could create healthier coral reefs that will sustain generations to come.

“Many people have been living on these coasts, have been fishing there for generations,” he said. “They might say ‘who is this fancy scientist to tell me to change my ways.’ But if we have a discussion, once they understand the impact, it's quite powerful because then they tell their friends, their fishing buddies and colleagues. We can get to a better place through education.”

UQ’s mapping project aims to collect baseline data, to understand the current state and path to recovery of the world’s reefs. They have taken over 600,000 images and mapped over 1,000 kilometers of coral reefs in the last four years.

In 2007, Indonesia's coral triangle has been named by the World Wildlife Fund as one of their conservation priorities. The coral triangle covered more than 6.5 million square kilometers and has been a living place of 600 coral reef species, or nearly 75 percent of the total species in the world. There's also around 3000 species of fish, including whale and a living fossil coelacanth who live in the deep water of Sulawesi.

Hoegh-Guldberg explained the project is aiming to inform the public, as there is only less than one percent of the world’s population who has seen a coral reef and don't realize how important it is to protect them.

To raise awareness, UQ teamed up with Google Maps to create a “virtual diving” map where anyone with Internet access can explore these reefs akin to using street view to explore cities on Google Maps.

“Understanding the challenges that coral reefs face is an important mission,” the lead scientist of the project’s shallow reef component, Manuel Gonzalez-Rivero, said. “Equally important, is bringing as many people as possible on the scientific journey through outreach and engagement. Without that, science may have little impact.”

Read more!

Indonesia: Boat hits whale shark in Jayapura waters

The Jakarta Post 25 Aug 16;

A whale shark, measuring around 4 meters in length, was killed after it was struck by a boat in Jayapura waters, Papua, on Thursday morning.

The police chief of Jayapura Seaport area, Adj. Comr. Abraham Soumilena, said the KM Labobar vessel hit the endangered species on its way from Serui in Yapen Islands regency to Jayapura.

“There has been two times during the last three years a ship hits a whale shark in Jayapura waters,” said Abraham as quoted by kompas.com on Thursday.

Jayapura Seaport’s fisheries quarantine coordinator Izaak Andrie said his institution had coordinated with the ship’s captain to dispose the body of the animal in the high seas.

“The shark’s corpse should not be released in Jayapura waters because it can spread illnesses. The corpse will be brought to the high seas so its decomposition process will not create any problems,” said Izaak.

Reportedly, the Labobar's crew members managed to fish out the whale shark from the water and put it on the ship's prow, 10:30 a.m. local time.

Local residents in Papua often refer to whale sharks as gurano bintang. The whale shark is one of the biggest fish in the world. It can measures up to 20 m in length while the smallest whale shark can measure just 55 centimeters.

Whale sharks can easily be found in Kwatisore waters, West Papua, and its surrounding areas. The diet of a whale shark consists of prawns, squids, small fish and tuna. (ebf)

Read more!

Economic growth doesn't have to wreck the planet

Megan Rowling Thomson Reuters Foundation 24 Aug 16;

"Human footprint" maps show people's impact on the environment has slowed

When researchers started looking at whether countries could expand their populations and economies without using up more of the Earth's limited natural resources, they expected the answer to be “no”. But their findings suggest it can be done.

A set of maps released this week show that people’s impact on the environment has been rising at a rate slower than that of economic and population growth.

While the world's population grew 23 percent and its economy 153 percent between 1993 and 2009, the global footprint of humans grew only 9 percent, calculated a team of researchers from the University of Northern British Columbia, the University of Queensland, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and six other universities.

Oscar Venter of the University of Northern British Columbia, the lead author of the study published in Nature Communications, called the results "encouraging".

"It means we are becoming more efficient in how we use natural resources," he said.

Some places even saw small decreases in environmental pressures as they got richer.

That happened in the wealthiest countries and those with strong control of corruption. They included Britain, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, large parts of France, and some areas of the United States, Australia and southeast Africa.

Eric W. Sanderson, a conservation zoologist with the WCS who worked on the original "Human Footprint" study in 2002, noted the results were the same after taking into account the effects of international trade, proving those countries have managed "in some small measure to decouple economic growth from environmental impacts".

Venter said the researchers' data sent clear messages about how the world could achieve sustainable development. "Concentrate people in towns and cities so their housing and infrastructure needs are not spread across the wider landscape, and promote honest governments that are capable of managing environmental impacts," he said.

AGRICULTURAL PRESSURE

By contrast, the areas subject to the highest environmental pressures tended to be forests: the temperate broadleaf forests of Western Europe, the eastern United States and China; the tropical dry forests of India and parts of Brazil; and tracts of Southeast Asia’s tropical moist forest.

Overall, around 70 percent of the world's different ecological regions saw marked increases of over 20 percent in their human footprints. That was measured by looking at the extent of developed areas, crop land, pasture land, human population density, night-time lights, railways, roads and navigable waterways.

The researchers said one of the main drivers of growing human impact on nature is the use of less-than-prime land for agriculture.

Areas moderately suitable for farming have seen a rapid increase in human use since 1993, likely due to the expansion of agriculture and other human pressures into these more marginal lands, they added.

Globally, a worrying amount of damage has already been done both to the landscape and the wildlife it sustains.

The maps show three quarters of the planet has been significantly altered, and 97 percent of the most species-rich places on Earth have seriously changed.

"There is little wonder there is a biodiversity crisis," said James Watson who leads the WCS' climate change programme.

Maintaining biodiversity will require extensive restoration to remove and reduce existing pressures in biologically valuable regions, the study said.

Among the remaining most unspoiled lands are the Sahara, Gobi and Australian deserts, and the most remote moist tropical forests of the Amazon and Congo Basins, it said.

But while the Amazon basin is still a largely intact ecosystem, it is susceptible to accelerated deforestation and other pressures following recent policy changes in Brazil, the study warned.

The researchers' findings will inform discussion at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, which brings conservationists and world leaders together once every four years, in Hawaii from Sept. 1 to 10.

Read more!

Coastal land expands as construction outpaces sea level rise

The Earth has gained coastal land equivalent to the size of Jamaica in the past 30 years
* China, Dubai among places where coasts expand
* Net land equivalent to Jamaica to coasts added since 1985
* Engineering keeps sea level rise at bay
Alister Doyle Reuters 25 Aug 16;

OSLO, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The Earth has gained coastal land equivalent to the size of Jamaica in the past 30 years with man-made construction outpacing erosion caused by rising sea levels, mapping data showed on Thursday.

Expansion of ports off China, construction of luxury resorts off Dubai or land reclamation in the Netherlands were among causes of coastal expansion, according to a study by Dutch research group Deltares.

Using satellite data with Google Earth, Deltares said coastal regions had gained a net 13,565 square kilometres (5,237 square miles) of land since 1985, roughly the size of Jamaica or the U.S. state of Connecticut.

Overall, coasts added 33,700 square kms of land and lost 20,135 square kms to water, it said. Loss of land included erosion dotted around coasts from Vietnam to the Mississippi delta in the United States.

"We expected on average the coast to shrink ... as sea level has risen," said Fedor Baart of Deltares, an author of the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. "But the coasts are actually growing."

"We have a huge engineering power," he said. Off China, "the coastline all the way from Hong Kong to the Yellow Sea has almost been redesigned."

A U.N. panel of climate scientists says world sea levels have risen by about 20 cms (8 inches) in the past century, and links it to a warming driven by man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are thawing ice from Greenland to Antarctica.

Inland, the data also show big shifts to lakes such as the shrinking Aral Sea in central Asia and showed changing courses of rivers including the Amazon and the Ganges, sometimes linked to natural variations.

In other areas, human influences were clear. In Myanmar, for instance, there were more reservoirs and dams than previously known. North Korea also has a reservoir on the Rimjin River that does not appear on maps.

Including both coasts and inland areas, the Earth's surface gained 173,000 sq kms of land and 115,000 sq kms of water in the past 30 years, it said.

The scientists said the freely available data could help countries sharing the same river to monitor their neighbours' dams or help planning by U.N. agencies to prevent floods.

Also, anyone planning to buy a beachfront home could check the local coastline for signs of erosion.

(Reporting By Alister Doyle; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Read more!

NEA to study disposable packaging's environmental impact

Channel NewsAsia 24 Aug 16;

SINGAPORE: A study to assess disposable packaging for takeaway food or dining in, and single-use carriers, was called by the National Environment Agency on Wednesday (Aug 24).

To better inform its policies on the use of disposable packaging, NEA will be conducting a study to analyse how different packaging materials commonly used for food compare in terms of cost and impact on the environment, it said in its press release.

The study will evaluate the environmental impact associated with all the stages of a disposable’s life cycle. This would cover the raw materials needed, as well as the manufacture, distribution, use and disposal of the disposable, the agency explained.

"The study will provide insights into whether alternatives to commonly used disposables can be less damaging on the environment," NEA said.

The tender will close on Sep 13, and the study is expected to start either in September or October this year and end by the second quarter of 2017, it added.

- CNA/kk

Read more!

Indonesia: Haze starts disrupting flights in Kalimantan

Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 24 Aug 16;

Haze from forest fires in West Kalimantan has caused delays in morning flights at Pontianak’s Supadio Airport over the past two weeks.

A flight that was scheduled to take off at 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday was delayed until the sky cleared at 7 a.m.

PT Angkasa Pura II's Supadio branch general manager, Bayuh Iswantoro, said Wednesday that at 6 a.m. visibility at the airport was only 500 meters.

“But it was only for a brief time because at 7 a.m. visibility was 1,000 meters,” said Bayuh. He said on haze-free days visibility averaged 5,000 meters.

West Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency head of emergency and logistics Bosman D. Hutahaean said that of the 14 regencies and municipalities in the province, eight had declared a haze emergency.

“Once a region declares an emergency, it can deploy personnel and financing and use infrastructure and equipment,” Bosman said.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) provides real-time information on particles in the haze to enable people to plan outdoor activities. When the figure exceeds 150 micrograms per cubic meter, it means the pollution is “unhealthy”. When it is between 0 and 50 micrograms, it falls in the “good” category.

On Wednesday morning, the pollution level reached “very unhealthy” with 314 micrograms per cubic meter. The figure decreased at noon. (evi)

Riau in Danger of Being Surrounded by Forest Fires
Tempo 24 Aug 16;

TEMPO.CO, Pekanbaru - Forest and land fires have continued to surround the Province of Riau - with satellite imagery from Terra and Aqua Satellites indicating that there are 35 active hotspots that are spread across the province. According to the satellite imagery, the majority of the hotspots are localised across the regencies of Rokan Hilir and Bengkalis - with each region contributing to 11 hotspots in the region.

"As per 06:00 Western Indonesia TIme (WIB), we have received reports of newly-formed hotspots," said the Head of Pekanbaru's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency on Wednesday, August 24, 2016.

Sugarin said that satellite imagery has shown that there five hot spots reported in Pelalawan, three in Dumai, two in Rokan Hulu, two in Siak, and one in Indragiri Hulu. "Out of the 35 hotspots observed, we can report with a significant degree of confidence that at least 15 of these hotspots may indeed turn into active fire spots," he said.

Sugarin further explained that generally speaking, the weather forecast across the province of Riau is sunny with a chance of some overcast conditions. That said, there are a significant possibility of light-to-moderate showers - followed by a chance of strong gale force winds and thunderstorms in the Riau's southern, central and northern regions. "Temperatures are expected to reach a maximum of 32.0-35.0 degrees centigrade," he said.

The fires have begun to produce haze that has caused a significant decline in air quality across several areas, including Dumai and Pelalawan - where visibility has dropped to 4 kilometres. "The haze is visible to the naked eye," said Sugarin.

The Chief Firefighter for Bengkalis Disaster Mitigation Agency, Suiswantoro said that fires have been reported in the village of Muara in Siak Kecil district - where fires have ravaged some 4 hectares of fields. "The fires were first reported three days ago," he said.

Fires on a larger scale have also been reported in the village of Tasik Serai in Pinggir District in Bengkalis, where scores of hectares have been ravaged by an ongoing fire. As of today, a joint-firefighting force - consisting of members of the Indonesian Army (TNI), the Police, and firefighters from the Ministry for the Forestry and the Environment (Manggala Agni) have continued to fight the ongoing fires in the area - aided by helicopters that are tasked to water bomb the affected areas.

Fires in Riau have been reported the dry season began - with the very first reports emerging as early as last month. Riau's Special Taskforce for Field and Forest Fires have since deployed six water bombers to fight the fires, and have begun to resort to weather modification techniques to create artificial rain - while the TNI, Police, and Manggala Agni utilised the land route to fight the fires.

The fires in Riau has claimed one casuaty - an enlisted TNI Officer from Dumai's 004 Aerial Artillery and Defence Detachment - Private 1st. Class Wahyudi - who perished during a fire fighter operation in the village of Pasir Putih in the District of Bagan Sinembag in Rokan Ilir. Prior to the discovery of Wahyudi's body, he had been reported missing from his group for a week.

RIYAN NOFITRA

Air Pollution Levels in West Kalimantan Improve
Sahat Oloan Saragih Jakarta Globe 24 Aug 16;

Jakarta. The air pollution index readings in Pontianak, West Kalimantan and its surroundings reduced slightly to the "moderate" range on Wednesday (24/08), after being marked as "unhealthy" on Tuesday following the increasing number of forest fire hotspots in the region.

An index reading between 51-100 is moderate and 101-199 is considered unhealthy.

Based on observations by the Modis satellite, 61 hotspots have been detected in West Kalimantan, scattered around the districts of Sambas, Mempawah, Sanggau, Ketapang, Sintang, Bengkayang, Sekadau, Melawi and Kubu Raya.

Sambas has the most number of hotspots reported, with 18, followed by Mempawah and Kubu Raya with 9 each.

Data from Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, or BMKG said the number of hotspots spreading in West Kalimantan reached 100 last week.

“But now, it has declined to 61 [hotspots],” Dasnian, Pontianak BMKG spokesperson said on Wednesday.

There is likely to be some respite over the next few days as visibility levels have improved from 7.30 a.m. and there is a predicted forecast of rain set to arrive by the end of the week.

“If the [hotspots persist], then the city of Pontianak and its surrounding areas will be blanketed by haze,” Dasnian said.

Read more!