Indonesia: Weekend downpours inundate several parts of Java

Suherdjoko, Ganug Nugroho Adi and Agus Maryono The Jakarta Post 11 Oct 16;

Heavy rains in nearly all parts of Java over the weekend have resulted in flooding, forcing hundreds to seek temporary shelter while one remains missing.

Three Semarang State University students were swept away by a flash flood in a river near their campus in Semarang, Central Java, as they took part in a student activity on Sunday afternoon. Two students were rescued, but a student named Dwi Wahyu Kurnia, 18, remained missing as of Monday afternoon.

Semarang National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas Semarang) head Agus Haryono said on Monday that the students were in the middle of the Curug River in Banaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, for the activity when the flash food occurred. Initially 11 students were swept away by the swift currents, but eight of them saved themselves, while three were swept away.

“Currently, the search and rescue team, assisted by a community group of around 90 people, are looking for the missing. We combed along the river estuary,” said Agus.

Heavy rains from Sunday evening also triggered floods in Cilacap, Central Java, on Monday. The floods hit at least 10 villages in Kedungreja, Patimuan and Sidareja districts in Cilacap regency. No casualties were reported, but hundreds of homes were engulfed by floods and forced residents to take shelter.

In addition, the main road in Patimuan district, Cilacap, was also inundated, causing congestion going toward Pangandaran, West Java, due to the overflowing Pelimpahan River to the nearby highway.

“The water level on the highway is currently 40 centimeters,” said Cilacap Disaster Mitigation Agency (Cilacap BPBD) head Tri Komara Sidhy on Monday.

Patimuan district chief Muji Utomo said the flooding cut off road access in the district at 8 a.m. on Monday.

“Water gradually increased from 40 cm to 1 meter and eventually cut off access to the road connecting the border of West Java, between Pangandaran and Cilacap regencies,” said Muji.

Downpours in Wonogiri regency, Central Java, on Saturday and Sunday triggered flooding in Eromoko and Giriwoyo districts, located in the southern part of the regency. At least six villages were engulfed by flood waters of up to 1-m-high.

Inundation occurred in Sindukerto, Baleharjo, Minggarharjo and Pucung villages, where dozens of homes and hundreds of hectares of rice fields were effected. As of Monday, hundreds of residents were evacuated as flood waters had yet to completely recede.

“Besides rain, flooding in the southern region caused drains to clog with garbage and mud,” said Wonogiri Disaster Mitigation Agency (Wonogiri BPBD) head Bambang Haryanto.

Around 30 residents in Tameng hamlet, Girikikis village in Giriwoyo district were trapped by 1-m-high flooding. The Wonogiri BPBD has dispatched medical supplies and food using bamboo rafts.

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Indonesia: Wild Aceh elephants guided back to forest

Hotli Simanjuntak The Jakarta Post 11 Oct 16;

Human’s friends: Three domesticated elephants are taken on a patrol near oil palm plantations to drive away a parade of wild elephants in East Aceh on Monday. The wild elephants sometimes attack villages in the area.(JP/Hotli Simanjuntak)(JP/Hotli Simanjuntak)

Three trained elephants named Bunta, Lilik and Midok are being used to drive away their wild cousins that have been rummaging through farms and homes in Seumanah Jaya village, East Aceh regency, Aceh.

The regency administration deployed the three bull elephants from the East Aceh Serbajadi Conservation Response Unit (CRU) and others from the Saree Elephant Training Center (PLG) on Monday after receiving a report that a herd of wild elephants had often been trespassing into human settlements in the area.

The Serbajadi CRU program, a cooperation effort between Flora Fauna International, the forestry office, the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and the regency administration, was initiated as a way to use trained elephants to stop wild elephants from rampaging through human settlements.

Aceh BKSDA Regional 1 head Dedi Irvansyah said the deployment on Monday was aimed at minimizing elephant rampages that have often occurred in the area over the past decades.

“The ushering efforts we are carrying out are in response and reaction to the demands of residents who are victims of a prolonged human-elephant conflict,” said Dedi.

The efforts are to take place for a week and to be carried out by the Aceh BKSDA together with the East Aceh Forestry and Plantation Office, Leuser Conservation Forum, Wildlife Conservation Society, Directorate General of Law Enforcement on Environment and Forestry, KRPH Peunaron and mahouts from the Serbajadi CRU.

According to the head of the East Aceh Forestry Office, Iskandar, more animals, especially elephants, are coming into conflict with humans because their natural forest habitat in East Aceh is being converted into oil palm plantations.

“Widespread illegal logging and forest conversion have great impact on human-elephant conflicts in Aceh,” said Iskandar.

According to Iskandar, 26 plantation companies have permits to cultivate about 70,000 hectares of oil palms in East Aceh.

The presence of wild elephants on farms and in human settlements has caused public anxiety.

“The presence of feral elephants in our farms has a direct impact on our livelihood as farmers,” said oil palm plantation worker Abu Namin in Seumanah Jaya village.

According to him, elephants often damage farms and homes in the area.

“We’re always overwhelmed with fear when the elephants invade the village, but we cannot do anything except report them to the government,” said Namin.

Based on his experience, Seumanah Jaya residents have been in conflict with wild elephants for decades. He said in the 1990s as many as 60 elephants at a time would invade the village.

“They usually trespass into the village in herds at certain times, but now they come almost every year, although in smaller numbers,” said Namin.

On Nov. 18 last year, a 6-year-old male elephant was found dead on a piece of farmland in Pucok Turue village in Mane district, Pidie regency, allegedly after being poisoned by eating pesticides stored by a farmer in a hut in the middle of the field.

A week earlier, a female elephant was found dead in Seumanah Jaya subdistrict, Ranto Peureulak district, apparently as a result of electrocution.

The current population of Sumatran elephants is estimated to be between 2,400 and 2,800, a 50 percent decline since 2007, when between 3,000 and 5,000 elephants were recorded.

Wild elephant with GPS tracker wanders to oil palm plantation
Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 11 Oct 16;

A wild elephant with a GPS tracker on its neck wandered to an oil palm plantation, damaging some plants in Anak Talang village in Batang Cenaku, Indragiri Hulu regency, Riau.

Indragiri Hulu Police spokesperson First Insp. Yarmen Djambak said Tuesday the male elephant had been entering residents' plantations since Sept. 29. After eating young palm kernels, the elephant went in the direction of an acacia plantation. He was spotted in the oil palm plantation again in search of food.

“The last time we spotted him was last Friday at 11 a.m. local time,” Yarmen said.

He said the elephant likely came from a conservation area in Tebo regency in the neighboring province Jambi.

He warned residents working on the plantations to be on alert and to try their hardest to avoid conflict with the protected animal. To anticipate its movements, the elephant is being monitored by four employees at Frankfurt Zoological Society in Jambi, in coordination with the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BBKSDA) in Riau and the Forestry Agency in Indragiri Hulu.

An employee at BBKSDA Riau, Parmohonan Lubis, said the animal entered the village due to its shrinking habitat. “In the Bukit Betabuh protected forest, we prepared 40 square kilometers of fields for wild elephants. But now, many residents have opened fields there,” he said.

Local media have reported for years that besides residents, companies had also entered the conservation area and opened plantations in Bukit Betabuh, Indragiri Hulu regency. (evi)

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Indonesia says it’s ready for first nuke power plant

Haeril Halim The Jakarta Post 11 Oct 16;

As the government completes preliminary studies and prepares human resources to build and operate the country’s first nuclear power plant, it is keeping its options open for countries to invest in the project.

The country established the Nuclear Law in 1997 as a legal basis to build a nuclear power plant, but attempts to realize it have been hampered by environmental concerns, especially following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

A recent visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in mid-September boosted Indonesia’s confidence after the agency concluded that the country had a high level of readiness to carry out the environmentally friendly program.

The National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) said it had studied two strategic locations for the plant — in Bangka Belitung province and in Jepara, Central Java — both of which are low earthquake risk areas compared to other regions in Indonesia, also known as part of the Pacific Ring of Fire that is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis

Bangka is considered strategic to meet electricity demand for both Sumatra and Java, while Jepara is another option, should the plant be designed only to support Java.

Nuclear plants, if finally built in Jepara and Bangka, could each produce more than 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power.

“Nuclear power plants [PLTN] are a political decision. We will stick to the President’s decision [on the matter],” BATAN chief Djarot Sulistio Wisnubroto told The Jakarta Post.

BATAN has briefed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo with regard to which country Indonesia should work with to establish its first nuclear power plant. The countries on the table are Russia, South Korea, France, China, the US and Japan.

BATAN has also carried out a capacity building program with Rusatom Overseas, a subsidiary of Russian state corporation Rosatom to assist the country in preparing the project.

A nuclear power plant takes around seven to 10 years to build and Indonesia risks missing its target to fulfill 19.6 percent of its total energy demand by 2025 with new and renewable energy, as recorded in the country’s national energy plan, if it fails to start building its first nuclear plant by 2017, at the latest.

Nuclear is one of several new energy options that will contribute to achieving the 19.6 percent target.

By 2025, the government hopes 50.3 percent of electricity generation will be fueled by coal, 29.4 percent by gas, 0.7 percent by petroleum-based fuel and the remaining 19.6 percent by new and renewable energy sources. “If we assume that the establishment of the PLTN will take around seven to 10 years, then the nuke decision has to be made soon,” Djarot said.

Funding will be a huge barrier for Indonesia to kick off its first nuclear project, as it is estimated that a nuclear power plant would cost around Rp 60 trillion (US$4.62 billion) to Rp 70 trillion for a 1,400-MW power plant.

Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten) deputy for permits and inspection Khoirul Huda said the IAEA had concluded that Indonesia had the adequate regulations and infrastructure to build its first nuclear power plant.

“The response [from the IAEA] is positive. It only suggests that all relevant institutions in Indonesia increase coordination and communications with regard to the nuclear plan,” Khoirul told the Post.

Bapeten said there were several technologies considered by Indonesia to materialize its nuclear plan, including a light-water reactor (LWR), advanced heavy-water reactor (AHWR) and nuclear coolant reactor.

Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) geologist Benyamin Sapiie said Bangka and Jepara were located in regions that had strong terrains, making them less prone to earthquakes. “According to current data on long-term stability of the regions, there is nothing that could potentially cause a big earthquake in those places. Jepara is located near a volcano, but there is no earthquake risk in the region,” Benyamin said.

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Australia: Coalition urged to regulate Indigenous hunting of endangered animals

Warren Entsch tells party room dugongs and sea turtles are being subjected to cruelty and being hunted commercially
Gareth Hutchens The Guardian 11 oct 16;

The Turnbull government is considering greater regulation of Indigenous Australians’ hunting of dugongs and sea turtles.

Malcolm Turnbull has asked the environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, to investigate serious complaints that vulnerable and endangered animals are being subjected to great cruelty by some Indigenous families and killed merely for commercial purposes, not cultural purposes.

The Coalition MP Warren Entsch raised the matter in the Coalition party room on Tuesday.

He showed the partyroom a photo – since seen by Guardian Australia – of a green sea turtle lying upside down on a beach, its flippers cut off and its breast plate removed, its innards exposed.

He told his Coalition colleagues the turtle had not been killed before it was mutilated, and it had been left to die in agony because its intestines were found to be inflamed (a sign the animal was diseased).

He referred to scores of other incidents involving dead baby dugongs and boatloads of dead sea turtles that he said were killed by Indigenous hunters.

He said some Indigenous families were killing the animals for commercial gain and selling the meat to all parts of the country.

He called for a moratorium on the hunting of the animals in areas where they were deemed vulnerable so authorities could determine how many were left.

He said vulnerable animals should only be allowed to be eaten where they were hunted, rather than flown around the country to be sold for a profit.

Frydenberg has accepted Turnbull’s request to investigate the matter.

“I’m an absolute supporter of native title rights for traditional hunting for ceremony and cultural reasons,” Entsch later told Guardian Australia.

“But there is a very small number of family groups that has commercialised it, so under the guise of traditional hunting they’re taking significant numbers of animals and flogging them off.

“We make a lot of noise about the Japanese whaling, but all these conservation groups, when it comes to this sort of thing, are absolutely mute.

“These families should not be allowed to be packing those animals up in cryovac packs and flying them around the country. They should be consumed where they’re killed.”

He said Indigenous rangers working on the far north Queensland coast were trying to protect the animals, and many of the communities in which they worked had put their own prohibition on hunting the animals, but they lacked the authority to enforce the prohibition.

“What I’ve said that rather than duck-shove it from one department to another, what we need to do is to look at it collectively and put in appropriate checks and balances to stop this nonsense.”

Colin Riddell, a conservationist from a group called Animal Coalition, has supplied Entsch with many of the photos.

He told Guardian Australia he had been promoting the issue for seven years, working with everyone from the former environment minister Greg Hunt to the former Queensland premier Campbell Newman, and the new federal senator Derryn Hinch.

“I’m hoping Josh Frydenberg will do something,” Riddell said. “Greg [Hunt] said he would have a moratorium all around Australia for a minimum of two years when he was opposition environment spokesman but he didn’t do it.”

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Best of our wild blogs: 11 Oct 16

Welcome to Kampung Kampus!
The Tender Gardener

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Mandai parks project: More measures to lesson impact on nature

TOH EE MING Today Online 10 Oct 16;

SINGAPORE — The Government has accepted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report commissioned by Mandai Park Holdings (MPH) on its proposed mega-nature attraction for the Mandai area, after additions were made to further mitigate the impact of development works.

This includes the possibility of widening the planned Eco-Link to beyond the proposed 30m, in consultation with technical agencies and nature groups. The forested strip that runs through the middle of the proposed Bird Park site will also be maintained, so that it can act as a passageway for wild native birds and mammals living in trees to get to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

The extra measures, announced in a statement by MPH on Monday (Oct 10), were made after a month-long public consultation that kicked off in July 26 this year on the EIA report. Plans were revealed earlier in June to transform the Mandai area into two wildlife parks — a rainforest-themed adventure park and a new bird park relocated from Jurong — adding to the wildlife attractions already in the area.

Other measures to lessen the environmental impact include long-term noise monitoring to be con-ducted at the fringe of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, and the prohibition of night-time con-struction works. MPH — which manages the Singapore Zoo, River Safari, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park — will also develop and implement biosecurity and disease management procedures to minimise any risk of disease transmission.

All the mitigation measures are documented in the Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan, which will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in consultation with relevant government agencies.

An environmental advisory panel — which includes experts, academia, nature groups and the private sector — will also be set up to monitor the implementation of the plan during the detailed design, con-struction and operation phases.

Mr Mike Barclay, group chief executive officer of MPH, said: “We have listened carefully to all the feedback, and strengthened the mitigation measures associated with the project to help ensure we can deliver an enhanced Mandai nature precinct, of which we can all be proud.”

Experts who spoke to TODAY acknowledged the efforts to try to minimise the impact on nature.

Wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai said that while most of the extra mitigation measures, such as monitoring the wildlife and noise levels, were good, it should have been a “given” when setting out such development plans.

And while the widening of the Eco-Link would give the wildlife more room to roam, there should be more connections for animals to move among the trees.

Ben Lee, founder of nature conservation group Nature Trekker, noted that it was still quite “vague” how much wider the Eco-Link would be, since there is a difference between adding “another 5m” or “an-other 30m”. He added that beyond giving space for wildlife to flourish, the widening of the link could min-imise the occurrence of roadkill.

Mr Subaraj hopes that the door is not closed to more suggestions and that these are “just the first few of many more mitigations to come” to protect nature and wildlife.

When asked about the timeline of the development, MPH said that it is taking a “phased approach” to construction, with the first phase targeted to be done by 2020, and all works to be completed by 2023.

The development and building plans for the Mandai project would be submitted progressively to ob-tain the necessary regulatory approvals for construction preparation works to start in early 2017, it add-ed.

Dr Ho Hua Chew, vice-chairperson of the conservation committee from Nature Society (Singapore), said that they had reiterated their position to MPH that there should not be a bird park and another safari park in the area because they were not in “ecological harmony” with the Central Catchment Nature Re-serve.

He suggested that an alternative would be to have more eco-friendly developments, such as an ad-venture camp that allowed participants to immerse in the rich biodiversity already existing in the planned project area, and not just introduce species “in a corralled-up park”.

“This is our position since 2007 when the development plan for this area was first mooted by Singapore Tourism Board, and we are sticking by it,” Dr Ho said.


More measures to minimise impact of Mandai Rejuvenation Project
Channel NewsAsia 10 Oct 16;

SINGAPORE: Additional measures have been included in Mandai Park Holding’s (MPH) revised Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to mitigate the effects of the area's redevelopment.

This is in line with its continued efforts “to promote sustainability and conservation for the rejuvenation of the Mandai area”, the organisation said in a press release on Monday (Oct 10).

MPH said the revised EIA report follows the conclusion of the public consultation round on the EIA for plans to develop Mandai into an integrated nature and wildlife destination. “The Government has accepted the revised EIA report and MPH will be embarking on detailed design planning and a wildlife shepherding programme to facilitate the sensitive development of the area,” it said.

The key refinements and enhanced mitigation measures include:

Studying the possibility of widening the Eco-Link beyond the proposed 30 metres;

Long-term noise monitoring to address possible noise pollution during construction and operation phases;

No night-time construction works;

Daily recording and tracking of collection animals in the new parks to enable timely recovery and corrective actions in the event of any escapees;

Maintaining the forested strip that currently runs through the middle of the proposed Bird Park site as a passageway for wild native birds and arboreal mammals to connect to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve;

Locating the building footprint for the West Arrival Node at least 10 metres away from the fresh water stream adjacent to its boundary;

Developing and implementing biosecurity and disease management procedures in consultation with the relevant regulatory agencies to minimise any risk of disease transmission.

“We have listened carefully to all the feedback, and strengthened the mitigation measures associated with the project to help ensure we can deliver an enhanced Mandai nature precinct, of which we can all be proud,” said MPH Group CEO Mike Barclay.

ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY PANEL TO BE SET UP

All mitigation measures for the project identified through the EIA process are documented in an Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan (EMMP). The EMMP will be reviewed on an ongoing basis to “maintain its relevance to the detailed design, construction and operation plans as these progress through the project’s lifecycle”, said MPH.

MPH added that an Environmental Advisory Panel will be established to monitor the implementation of the EMMP during the design, construction and operation phases. It will consist of independent subject matter experts from the scientific community, academia, nature groups and private sector.

The EIA was commissioned and released by MPH on Jul 26 to consider environmental risk and protection measures from the outset as the project masterplan was being conceptualised.

“The completion of the EIA process represents a significant milestone in what will be a long journey,” Mr Barclay said. “We take our role as stewards of biodiversity very seriously, and we will continue to work with interested parties to help us deliver on our commitments as the project progresses.”

The final EIA report can be viewed on MPH’s website.

- CNA/ek

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WHO: Zika likely to spread in Asia Pacific

The Star 10 Oct 16;

Manila, Oct 10, 2016 (AFP) - The Zika virus is set to spread through Asia, the World Health Organization warned Monday, with hundreds of cases reported in Singapore and two Thai babies diagnosed with Zika-linked microcephaly.

The mosquito-borne virus has been detected in 70 countries worldwide including at least 19 countries in the Asia Pacific region, said WHO director for health security and emergencies Li Ailan.

A WHO report released at the annual regional meeting in Manila said the virus was “highly likely to further spread in the region” which includes China, Japan, Australia, most Southeast Asian nations and the Pacific islands.

”It is highly likely that the region will continue to report new cases and possibly new outbreaks of Zika,” the report added.

WHO director Margaret Chan said leaders in the region had expressed concerns over the outbreak, adding that experts were still grappling with ways to tackle the scourge.

”Unfortunately, scientists do not yet have answers to many critical questions,” she said.

There have been more than 400 Zika cases detected in Singapore, while Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia have reported fewer than 20 each, said Chan.

Zika causes only mild symptoms in most, including fever, sore eyes and a rash. But pregnant women with the mosquito-borne virus risk giving birth to babies with microcephaly -- a deformation that leads to abnormally small brains and heads.

Li said Zika has been in the region since 1947 but said it was difficult to pinpoint if individuals had been infected overseas, with the region’s tropical weather, large mosquito populations and international travel hubs potential factors.

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Malaysia: Prevent development on river reserve land, state governments told

ALLISON LAI The Star 10 Oct 16;

SHAH ALAM: State governments should not allow any industrial and housing development to take place on river reserve land, said Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

The Natural Resources and Environment Minister said all states in Malaysia should take a positive and strong stance in protecting the rivers and most importantly, preventing any contamination.

“State administrations should not allow any factory, plant or residential project to be build on river reserve land. The existing ones should be relocated.

“All rivers must be taken care of properly. It is the source of water that we consume everyday.

“I am not just talking about a particular state but this concerns all states in Malaysia,” he told a press conference after opening the MSU Environmental Sustainability Campaign 2016 at the Management and Science University here Monday.

With the management of land and rivers falls under each state’s prerogative according to the Federal Constitution, Dr Wan Junaidi said the ministry could only advise state administrations to seriously look into the relocation and take appropriate action.

“It is each state’s responsibility in resettling the affected factories and housing areas and they should take a positive stance on this issue.

“What is important is that we are on the same page. No political affiliation should exist in taking care of the very environment we live in,” he added.

The Department of Environment (DOE), he said, and its state offices would soon embark on a study to identify the number of factories built on river reserve land in each state, especially those along rivers that are intake source for raw water.

“Besides industrial, the DOE will also check on residences that are used as storage for materials that may release pollutants into the rivers.

“This is no easy task as there are thousands of households living along the Sungai Langat and we cannot simply go into a house without a warrant,” he added.

When asked about the contamination in Sungai Semantan, Dr Wan Junaidi said the ministry had so far identified two factories that operate along the river in Pahang that might have discharged effluent into the river.

“So far we have not ascertained the source of the contamination and investigation is still underway,” he said.

It is learnt that samples have been taken from a plastic processing plant and a natural rubber processing factory along the Sungai Semantan for lab analysis at the state Chemistry Department.

The Langat and Cheras water treatment plants were shut down at 8.30pm and 10pm respectively on Friday due to odour pollution suspected from Sungai Semantan in Pahang.

Both these plants receive raw water from the same river.

Several areas in Kuala Lumpur and parts of Klang Valley are still experiencing temporary water disruption.

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Malaysia: WWF calls for gazetting of Setiu wetlands as protected state park

ADRIAN DAVID New Straits Times 10 Oct 16;

KUALA TERENGANU: Gazetting the Setiu wetlands as a protected state park is crucial in conserving it as a critical water catchment area and maintaining its biodiverse ecosystem.

In making the call, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia’s Setiu Wetlands conservation team leader, Dr Wan Faridah Akmal Wan Jusoh, said authorities should make concerted efforts to formulate effective laws to ensure the protection of the park’s flora and fauna.

“Wetlands are environmentally-sensitive and high conservation-value areas that need proper protection against development into aqua- and agriculture land.

“Worse still is when wetlands are developed into incompatible industrial or housing estates,” she said in her paper ‘Experiencing Setiu Wetlands: Connecting communities and conservation’ at the Terengganu International Eco and Marine Tourism Conference (Temco) at the Primula Beach Hotel.

Dr Faridah added that a balanced and sustainable development is important to protect wetlands which are vital not just for plants and animals, but our own well-being and quality of life.

“Wetlands provide numerous benefits for people, ranging from food resources, building materials, water supply, flood mitigation, erosion control, economic income and fisheries livelihood.

“We should also remember that wetlands provide great potential as ecotourism destinations that can generate additional or alternate income for local communities,” said Dr Faridah, who is also Setiu Wetlands senior programme officer.

She warned that wetlands are increasingly facing threats from degradation due to land conversion and expansion for unsustainable practices that lead to water pollution from sedimentation caused by land clearing.

“Unregulated coastal development affects key nesting beaches for turtles, terrapins and birds. To stop the degradation of wetlands, we need to strengthen the local communities’ abilities and interests to conserve natural resources which they depend on,” said Dr Faridah.

She called for local communities to be integrated into conservation, tourism and development planning, as they are the key stewards of wetlands.

“Working in synergy with communities, government agencies and non-government organisations is crucial to achieving lasting conservation solutions,” she said.

Meanwhile, Temco organizing chairman Alex Lee, who is also Terengganu Tourist Association deputy president, said that apart from the Setiu wetlands, the conference also discussed various conservation efforts for the Setiu boardwalk, the Marang River Safari, bird watching activities, BRIS (beach ridges interspersed with swales) forests and boat building.

Also discussed were issues related to fishing villages, turtle hatcheries, terrapuri, fireflies, mangroves, river cruises, fish and oyster farming, the anchovy and budu industries, and local handicrafts such as lekar (pot stand woven from bamboo or rattan), kerecut, tikar (mat) and atap nipah.

“Swales are depression areas that are seasonally water logged to form freshwater swamps, while the ridges remain dry.

“The gelam putih tree, or melaleuca cajuputi, grows well in BRIS areas to form gelam forests,” said Lee.

In his conference welcome speech, Terengganu tourism and culture committee deputy chairman II Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman said Temco is an ideal platform for Visit Terengganu Year 2017.

“Temco offers great potential for eco- and marine-tourism, with its unique products which are a wonderful spectacle for nature lovers and tourists alike.

“Every effort should be done to preserve wetlands and other tourism heritages for the benefit of future generations, rather than wantonly damaging them with excessive development,” said Tengku Zaihan.

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Malaysia: Social media fumes over images of foreign tourists manhandling fragile marine life, thought to be in Malaysia

HANI SHAMIRA SHAHRUDIN New Straits Times 10 Oct 16;

KUALA LUMPUR: Images circulating on social media of tourists removing marine life out of their habitat, thought to be near a beach in Malaysia, and posing with them in pictures have outraged nature lovers.

In one image, a group of sixteen people believed to be tourists from China, pose in their swimwear, with six of them holding corals and starfish.

One of the women is seen holding a sign by WorldVentures travel club with the message ‘You Should Be Here'.

The exact location of the beach is not yet known, but claims have been made that it is on an island in Malaysia.

Malaysia-based Worldventures in a statement to the NST denied organising the trip and believed it was arranged by the members themselves.

"WorldVentures has not organised any trip to Semporna (in Sabah).

The trip was probably organised on the members’ own initiative.

"The incident is being investigated internally by our compliance department," the statement said. The company added that conservation and preservation of the environment, including the marine habitat has always been its top priority.

It is understood that the compliance department is tracking down the said members involved in the incident. Reaction to the images by nature lovers ranges from irritation to fury.

Diver Mohd Azwan Ali, 27, said he was shocked and outraged when he saw the pictures.

"Sea creatures should be respected. As 'visitors' in their habitat, we should not simply touch anything under the water, let alone take it out to pose with for pictures.

"Such behaviour would stress the starfish and even the corals, which might cause them to die," he said.

Another diver, Muhammad Izzat Mainur, 25, said he could not believe how some people could be so ignorant when dealing with sea creatures.

"It saddens me to see how the corals and starfish were treated by this group of tourists.

"We are not supposed to touch corals, as our hands are contaminated with bacteria, which can kill them, as they are very sensitive.

"We are supposed to protect them, and such behaviour could damage the ecosystem," he said when contacted.

Izzat said he hopes that such behaviour will stop, and that tourists will be more careful when going for holidays at islands.

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Malaysia: ‘Laws regarding marine life need to be reviewed’

Borneo Post 11 Oct 16;

SHAH ALAM: Laws regarding marine life need to be reviewed to make it more inclusive, including in the aspect of preserving coral reefs, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

“As we all know, laws regarding marine life are under the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry

Ministry, but it has not been reviewed for the past 10 years,” he said after officiating the Management and Science University (MSU) Environmental Sustainability Campaign (MESC) 2016 here yesterday.

He said the lack of awareness on the preservation and conservation of coral reefs among public could inhibit the fish reproduction as it was the main element that acts as a source of oxygen in the sea bed.

“Currently, only five per cent of our ocean areas are covered with coral reefs. Preservation and conservation need to be enhanced to achieve 10 per cent, so they can be declared as marine park.

“Sabah and Sarawak are on the move to add more declarations to their marine protected areas which are quite big and this will help to increase our chance of expanding conservation programmes to safeguard this treasure,” he said.

Wan Junaidi said efforts by MSU in breeding and preserving coral reefs in Redang Island, Terengganu, need to be lauded for assisting the country in safeguarding the marine ecosystem. — Bernama

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Indonesia: Surakarta plans relocation of flood victims

Ganug Nugroho Adi The Jakarta Post 10 Oct 16;

The Surakarta city administration in Central Java has no choice but to relocate residents from flooded low-lying parts of the city as these places are inherently prone to flooding.

Floods repeatedly hit residential areas along the banks of the Jenes River in Pasar Kliwon district and Premulung River in Laweyan district, in downtown Surakarta.

Mayor FX Hadi “Rudy” Rudyatmo said there was no short-term solution for the flooding because the floods were related to the natural conditions and the environment.

“The recent flooding was due to the massive volume of water flowing from Boyolali and Klaten. There is only a long-term solution. The people have to be relocated to rusunawa [low-cost rental apartments],” Rudy said, referring to two neighboring regencies.

Floods hit downtown Surakarta on Tuesday, inundating hundreds of houses along the banks of the Jenes and Premulung rivers up to 50-90 centimeters in depth and forcing some 1,000 people to flee their homes. The flooding subsided at about midnight.

Rudy said the flooding was made worse by the narrow width of the rivers and thick sedimentation. As such, the capacity of the rivers to accommodate rainwater from Boyolali and Klaten had decreased.

As a short-term solution, Rudy added, he could only evacuate affected people to safer places. For the long-term solution, the banks of the two rivers as well as of those of the Pepe River in Boyolali needed to be widened and strengthened.

“The city administration has coordinated with the Bengawan Solo River Agency [BBWSBS] for the normalization of the rivers. Hopefully this can be realized next year,” he said.

At least 400 families or over 1,000 people live along the banks of the Jenes and Premulung rivers. The city administration has developed nine rusunawa complexes in five areas. So far, priority to live in the rusunawa has been given to families residing along the river banks.

Meanwhile, some residents of Bumi subdistrict expressed the hope that the government would dredge and normalize the Jenes River, arguing that the inability of the river to accommodate rainwater from Boyolali and Klaten had resulted in floods in their area. They also blamed garbage dumped in the river for the situation.

“If dredged, rainwater from Boyolali would run smoothly so that no relocation would be needed,” said local resident Bahtiar, 54, adding that the river had not been dredged for years.

Separately, head of daily operations of the city’s disaster mitigation agency (BPBD), Gatot Sutanto, said the city was facing an increased flood threat. Apart from Bengawan Solo, the threat of flooding also came from the Pepe, Kali Anyar, Jenes and Premulung rivers, he said.

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