Future ‘ocean cities’ need green engineering above and below the waterline

Artificial islands can cause huge environmental issues for coastlines. The Forest City Project
The Conversation 26 Mar 18;

Population growth has seen skylines creep ever higher and entire cities rise from ocean depths. The latest “ocean city” is the Chinese-developed Forest City project. By 2045, four artificial islands in Malaysia will cover 14km² of ocean (an area larger than 10,000 Olympic swimming pools), and support 700,000 residents.

Often overlooked, however, is the damage that artificial islands can cause to vital seafloor ecosystems. But it doesn’t have to be this way. If proper planning and science are integrated, we can develop the design strategies that will help build the “blue-green” ocean cities of tomorrow.

Ever growing numbers of human-made structures are occupying our oceans. Cities built on artificial islands in the ocean are providing a solution for urban planners trying to manage the population squeeze.

And yet, so-called “ocean sprawl” dates as far back as Ancient Egypt. Over the past few centuries, artificial islands have been built through land reclamation. Land reclamation is the process of creating new land from existing water bodies.

The Netherlands, for instance, has been draining lakes and expanding its coastline to fight the advance of the sea since the 1500s. The Dutch actually built one of the first and largest artificial islands, which is now home to some 400,000 people. Japan’s third-busiest airport, the Kansai International Airport, was built on an artificial island in 1994. China has also been building into the oceans, reclaiming more than 13,000km² of seafloor and an estimated 65% of tidal habitat since the 1950s.

Using Google maps, we were able to identify more than 450 artificial islands around the world, including the famous Palm Islands of Dubai. These are often celebrated as engineering marvels, but at what cost to the marine environment?

We can’t ignore what lies beneath
Marine habitats have always been essential for human life in coastal regions. They provide food, building and crafting materials, and less-known services such as coastal protection, nutrient cycling and pollution filtration.

The creation of artificial islands causes large changes to the seabed by permanently smothering local habitats. In many parts of the world, existing habitats provide the foundation for artificial island construction. For instance, artificial islands in the tropics are often built directly on top of coral reefs. This leads to considerable destruction of already threatened ecosystems.

Land reclamation also impacts nearby habitats that are particularly sensitive to murky waters, such as coral reefs and seagrass beds. In Singapore, land reclamation is associated with coral reef decline due to sedimentation and resulting light reductions. Singapore has lost nearly 45% of the country’s intertidal reef flats and almost 40% of intertidal mudflats.

When the ecological, economic, and social value of marine habitats are considered, artificial islands and ocean sprawl seem to be indulgences that we cannot afford. The effects would be akin to the suburban sprawl of the 20th century. To avoid this cost, we need to address the complexities of the underwater world in urban planning and development.

“Blue urbanism”

In his book Blue Urbanism, Timothy Beatley calls for urban planners to consider and value ocean ecosystems. He argues that we need to recognise the psychological value of human connections to blue space, and extend green practices on land into marine environments. While some artificial island developments such as the Forest City project are touted as “eco-cities”, more could be done both to minimise impacts below the waterline and integrate underwater environments into city life.

Why not combine a “Forest City” with the principles of a “Sponge City”? While native plantings in a forest city could help to reduce air pollution, sponge cities seek to “absorb” and reuse rainwater, thus reducing pollution entering the oceans through stormwater runoff. Around artificial islands, developers could also embrace the water filtration powerhouse of the oceans: active oyster reefs.

The location of future constructions should also be carefully evaluated to ensure the preservation of important marine habitats. Artificial islands have the potential to create fragmented seascapes, but with careful spatial planning and smart designs, they could create corridors for some climate migrants or those threatened species most at risk from habitat loss.

Designs based on ecological principles can reduce the impacts of artificial islands on natural habitats. However, applications of “blue-green” infrastructure remain largely untested at large scales. New designs, building strategies and spatial planning that integrate seascapes and landscapes are an opportunity for both “smarter” cities and experimentation for the development of successful blue-green technologies.

The Authors

Katherine Dafforn
Senior Research Associate in Marine Ecology, UNSW

Ana Bugnot
Research Associate, UNSW

Eliza Heery
Research Fellow in Marine Ecology, National University of Singapore

Mariana Mayer-Pinto
Senior Research Associate in marine ecology, UNSW

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Greens take on China's infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia

Tougher environmental compliance facing Chinese companies at home and abroad
MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Nikkei Asian Review 26 Mar 18;

BANGKOK -- Rural communities in Thailand have been challenging Chinese companies with street protests, court petitions, and occasionally sorcery, to block environmentally-damaging projects in their back yards -- and their call to action is being taken up across mainland Southeast Asia.

Grassroots activists in the northern province of Chiang Rai have successfully lobbied the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), a state power utility, to suspend its decision to purchase electricity from a controversial hydropower dam proposed by China's Datong Corporation on the Lao side of the Mekong river, Southeast Asia's longest body of water.

Villagers have rallied against the feared impact of the Pak Beng dam on both sides of the huge river. "Local communities sent a letter to EGAT questioning its power-purchasing agreement," said Piaporn Detees, the Thailand campaign director for International Rivers, a global environmental group. "They said the Pak Beng dam will affect their lives, and they also have a case against the dam in the Supreme Court."

Two other Chinese ventures face similar uncertainties. China Communications Construction Company Second Harbor Consultants has been forced to put its plans to blast stretches of the Mekong on hold. It had won a contract to clear islands and reefs to create channels for 500-ton cargo ships connecting China and Laos.

Beijing has a five-year action plan to open up the Mekong, which has its headwaters in China, as a waterway. Discussions between Thai diplomats and their Chinese counterparts led to the suspension of the project for now. Bangkok reportedly took note of the hostile groundswell.

China's state-owned China Ming Ta Potash Corporation is meanwhile pressing ahead with plans to exploit rich potash deposits in Sakhon Nakhon, a northeastern province, despite opposition from local communities. "If this project goes ahead, it would completely change our way of life, turning us from farmers to jobless people," said Satanon Chuenta, a local resident who heads the Wanon Niwat Environmental Conservation Group. "How can we grow plants and make money from farming if this mine is right behind our houses?"

Thailand's military government has weighed in, dispatching soldiers to suppress the potash mine's opponents. Last week, troops showed up on a bare patch of ground to stop a group of middle-aged women from staging a ceremony to lay a curse on the company. Undeterred, locals plan to petition the military government.

Local communities have already had some success battling major investments. In February, the government gave in to angry protesters in Krabi, a southern province famed for its beaches and resorts, where a coal-fired power station was planned. Siri Jiraphanpong, the energy minister, agreed to review likely environmental and health impacts.

A consortium led by China's Power Construction Corporation and Italian-Thai Development had won the contract to build the 800 megawatt facility. It is a serious setback given that this was the first major infrastructure project awarded to a Chinese construction company in Thailand --but not the first such glitch in Southeast Asia. In 2011, President Thein Sein of Myanmar suspended the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project. It was the largest of a cascade of dams in the upper waters of the Irrawaddy, Myanmar's largest river.

Thein Sein's freezing of one of China's biggest investments in his country was partly prompted by local environmental concerns and came just as the military-ruled country was opening up to political reform. Six years on, it remains a diplomatic sore between the two countries.

Similar pressures on two other Chinese investments in Myanmar, a dam on the Salween river and a controversial copper mine, have also caused friction. Myanmar's civilian government led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, faces pressure from ethnic minorities to halt the Mong Ton dam planned for Shan State in order to protect a pristine wilderness area.

Chinese money has poured into numerous enterprises in the five lower Mekong countries, ranging from hydropower and energy to logistics, manufacturing, and mining. This effort to promote mutual economic development is being pushed back by local groups who fear environmental degradation, but they are not out of step with legislation being introduced in China. A more reformist tone was set by President Xi Jingping whose speech at last year's 19th party congress raised some green issues.

Leading Thai business consultants expect Chinese investors to take note. "I have witnessed environmental protection go from a nuisance to one of the top priorities in China over just a few years," Joe Horn-Phathanothai, chief executive of Strategy361, a Bangkok-based investment consultancy for Thai and Chinese companies, told the Nikkei Asian Review.

The Chinese investors in the Pak Beng dam took heed of the changing winds, and hosted two public consultations in Chiang Rai -- but these failed to allay the concerns of locals.

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Mar 18

Photographing marine life in Singapore
Peiyan.Photography

An awe-sss-ome day out at Pasir Ris Mangrove!
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Favourite Nectaring Plants #16
Butterflies of Singapore

Raffles the botanist..?
PokeZoology

Roads Named after Cargo Boats, and the Vanished Charcoal/Firewood Trade at Tanjong Rhu
Remember Singapore

East Asian Ornate Chorus Frog (Microhyla fissipes) @ Windsor Nature Park
Monday Morgue

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Singapore boat saves 9 men after collision at sea

Audrey Leong New Paper 26 Mar 18;

What started out as a normal cargo pick-up for Mr Mohamed Sharjahan, 30, and his four-man crew turned into a mission to rescue nine Indonesian crew members of a sinking boat.

On Thursday night, Sunlight Poseidon, an 18m by 4m cargo boat, left Penjuru Terminal and was heading to a nearby anchorage to drop off cargo when the crew saw the silhouette of a small boat in the distance at about 10.30pm.

Mr Sharjahan, the captain and boarding officer of Sunlight Poseidon, knew something was wrong when he realised the ship did not have its navigational lights turned on.

"Though we were moving closer to it, the boat in the distance seemed to be getting smaller. That was when we decided to investigate," Mr Sharjahan told The New Paper on Friday.

NO SIGN

The crew cast the boat's spotlight to the sea but only saw a few floating planks, with no other sign of the vessel or survivors.

The captain was about to turn away when he heard cries for help and saw the frantic waving of the survivors in the dark.

He said: "They were calling out 'tolong, tolong' (Malay for help), and there was nothing else on my mind but their safety."

Mr Sharjahan, a seaman of four years, said his fear was they would hurt the survivors.

"We couldn't go closer for fear that the current from the boat might kill them, so we encouraged them to swim to us."

The crew spent 20 minutes pulling up the nine men.

A spokesman for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it received a report of a collision between an Indonesian-registered craft, Samudra Indah, and a Singapore-registered bunker tanker, Explorer, at East Jurong Channel at 10.25pm on Thursday.

While the Samudra Indah sank, the Explorer did not sustain any damage. No injuries or oil pollution were reported.

Investigations are ongoing.

In a statement to TNP yesterday, Equatorial Marine Fuel Management, owner of the Explorer, confirmed the collision. It is conducting its own investigation and cooperating with the authorities.

After they were pulled on board, the Samudra Indah survivors were shivering and weak from the ordeal.

Said Mr Sharjahan: "They kept thanking us for saving them, but were too in shock to give us any other details."

The crew informed the MPA and the Police Coast Guard, who took the survivors back to shore.

By 4pm on Saturday, the Samudra Indah had been pulled out of the sea.

Mr Foong Jun Jie, 28, an operations executive for RW Marine Services, which owns Sunlight Poseidon, said: "The crew took the initiative to go out of their way to save these survivors.

"We are all proud of what they did."

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5,000 free meals made from ‘ugly food’ to raise awareness about food waste

LOUISA TANG Today Online 25 Mar 18;

SINGAPORE — About 1,500kg of blemished or unused vegetables that would otherwise have been discarded were used to cook halal and vegetarian meals for 5,000 people at City Square Mall on Sunday (March 25).

The event, which seeks to increase awareness about food waste, was the first edition of ‘Feeding the 5,000’ in Asia, which has been featured in more than 40 locations worldwide.

It took about six months to plan and execute the event, said Mr Ashwin Subramaniam, chief executive officer of Singapore-based sustainability research and implementation company Gone Adventurin.

About seven to eight partners, including community non-governmental organisations such as The Food Bank Singapore, were involved in helping make the event happen on Sunday. They picked and transported the “ugly food” to the caterers for cooking, and also set up booths to educate the public on food waste at City Square Mall.

The vegetables, collected from Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre by volunteers from SG Food Rescue on Saturday, were used in dishes such as nasi biryani and vegetarian fried bee hoon which were handed out to members of the public for free on Sunday.

The rice and noodles were donated, while all plates and cutlery used were compostable.

Some challenges that Gone Adventurin faced in bringing the event here were maintaining high hygiene standards. Mr Ashwin said that they strictly monitored the food preparation process, and the caterers were present when the produce was being sourced.

He said: “At the consumer level, there is a lot of food waste, but a lot of food waste also comes from industries — manufacturing, retail industries. Some retailers are taking steps to address it but what we would love to see more is responsibility across the food chain … not just at the stores.”

He noted that Singaporeans contribute 791,000 tonnes of food waste annually across households, supermarkets, food establishments and the food industry, costing the average Singaporean household up to S$1,440 every year.

“We hope to change the perception of ‘ugly food’ that is still perfectly edible – it just has a little bit of blemish here and there,” he added.

“Consumers’ demand for perfect looking fruits is fuelling food waste, yet an ugly apple tastes just as good as a good looking one. Why bin it when you can still eat it?” said The Food Bank Singapore management associate Margarita Seah.

SG Food Rescue co-founders, Mr Daniel Tay and actress Judee Tan, told TODAY that their wish is to have “no food waste”. The group collects vegetables from Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre on a weekly basis, scoring between 1,000 and 2,000kg of vegetables every time.

About 25 per cent of food produced at farms go to waste, while 10 per cent is lost at the wholesale level, Mr Tay pointed out.

“We’ve forgotten where food comes from … Don’t just let supermarkets tell you what is edible,” he said.

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Indonesia: Jakarta’s flourishing trade in threatened turtles and tortoises under the spotlight again

TRAFFIC 26 Mar 18;

Jakarta, Indonesia, 26th March 2018—They are shy creatures, but for the thousands of threatened tortoises and freshwater turtles found on sale in Jakarta’s shops and markets, there’s no shelter from the glare of the illegal trade spotlight, finds a new TRAFFIC report.

Researchers found 4,985 individuals of 65 different species of tortoise and freshwater turtles in just seven locations over a four-month period. Nearly half of these were threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Slow and Steady: The Global Footprint of Jakarta’s Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Trade, released today, also revealed that at least eight non-native species recorded were prohibited from international commercial trade under CITES¹ and were likely to have been illegally imported.

This survey in 2015 found more turtles and tortoises on sale in Jakarta than previous TRAFFIC surveys carried out in 2004 and 2010. Between 92 and 983 animals were observed in any given week.

“If this trade and the open markets that sell species illegally are not made a priority for law enforcement action, many of the currently threatened species will be pushed closer to extinction,” said Kanitha Krishnasamy, Acting Regional Director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.

This study also found indications of a worsening situation with the discovery of higher proportions of non-native, CITES-listed and threatened species compared to earlier studies. On the list were the Critically Endangered Ploughshare Tortoise Astrochelys yniphora and Radiated Tortoise Astrochelys radiata, both endemic to Madagascar and listed in CITES Appendix I (meaning all international trade is banned) since 1975.

Non-native turtles are not protected by Indonesian law and this includes the most commonly observed species in this study – the Indian Star Tortoise Geochelone elegans. This tortoise is also totally prohibited from harvest and trade in its range states of South Asia.

Researchers found no recent records of Indian Star Tortoise imports for commercial purposes or records of legal exports from range countries in the UNEP-WCMC² CITES database. There was also no information on specimens reportedly bred in captivity in other countries. The authors concluded that high levels of illegal import of these tortoises into Indonesia was still occurring as recently as in 2015.

This research deepens two concerns experts have held for some time: that high levels of illegal turtle trade occur in the country and that loopholes within national legislation continue to undermine protection of local and non-native species of tortoises and freshwater turtles.

Indonesia is currently revising legislation relating to wildlife protection (Act No. 5, 1990) and the protected species list (Regulation No. 7, 1999). The report recommends that these laws are amended to include non-native, CITES listed species and provisions for effective enforcement.

“For international agreements like CITES to be effective, Indonesia must move to protect not only its native species but also non-native ones, especially those that have been repeatedly shown to be heavily trafficked within the country, said Krishnasamy.

Last week, experts gathered at Night Safari Singapore for the Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle IUCN Red List Workshop to assess the status of 90 South and Southeast Asian tortoise and freshwater turtle species, many of which are threatened by trade. Over half of these species are native to Southeast Asia, including over 20 that occur in Indonesia.

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Best of our wild blogs: 25 Mar 18

27 May (Sun): Pesta Ubin WalkRunBike 2018
Pesta Ubin 2018

New edition of the Southern and Northern shore guidesheets!
wild shores of singapore

Horseshoe crabs at Pasir Ris
wild shores of singapore

Deep sea exploration by Singapore scientists!
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year (SGPY) 2017
Peiyan.Photography

Night Walk At Windsor Nature Park (23 Mar 2018)
Beetles@SG BLOG

Bittern In The Chestnuts
Winging It

Singapore Bird Report – February 2018
Singapore Bird Group

New 3M survey showed that 1 in 2 Singaporeans think everyday life wouldn’t be much different if science didn’t exist at all
Mei Lin NEO

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Government grant available for green initiatives from Apr 1

Elizabeth Neo Channel NewsAsia 24 Mar 18;

SINGAPORE: Interest groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and constituencies that are interested in holding green events in support of the Year of Climate Action can apply for a government grant from Apr 1.

Each group will be eligible for up to S$5,000 on a reimbursement basis, announced Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor on Saturday (Mar 24).

Interested groups have until the end of the year to apply for the grant.

The Climate Action SG Grant was first announced by Dr Khor during the Committee of Supply debate earlier this month, to help organisations defray costs of developing preogrammes to raise awareness of climate change.

Speaking at an eco-carnival at Our Tampines Hub, Dr Khor also touched on the subject of energy conservation.

Dr Khor said the Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme (MELS) for household appliances, which currently covers air-conditioners, refrigerators, clothes dryers, televisions and general purpose lamps, will be expanded to cover more types of lamps.

This includes the compact fluorescent lamp without the integrated ballast, the T8 fluorescent tube as well as the LED direct replacements.

Dr Khor said the National Environment Agency will be consulting the industry and public on a proposal for this matter.

“Our studies show that for a household, if they actually choose a three tick LED instead of a two tick fluorescent lamp for instance, they will actually save 40 per cent of energy,” she added.

Dr Khor pointed out that the scheme has not only helped consumers choose more energy efficient models of household appliances but also transformed the market in two ways.

Suppliers are motivated to bring in more energy efficient appliance models due to the product differentiation offered by MELS, she said, and households have a wide selection energy-saving models to choose from.

“In 2016 ... three-quarters of fridges that were sold were actually energy efficient ones," Dr Khor said.

She added that more energy efficient models of appliances regulated under MELS have entered the market, thus giving consumers more choice.

Saturday's event, called the Just One Earth (JOE) Carnival, is in its fourth year.

Organised by the North East CDC, the carnival aims to engage the community and inspire children and their parents to contribute towards a sustainable future for Singapore, through a variety of activities.

Residents got to try their hand at making a natural cleaner with fruit peels, as well as self-watering planters with plastic bottles and old cloth.

Source: CNA/ad

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World cities go dark as global Earth Hour climate campaign kicks off

Channel NewsAsia 24 Mar 18;

SYDNEY: The Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower and Moscow's Red Square were among the world landmarks to go dark on Saturday (Mar 24), as part of a global campaign to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change.

Earth Hour, which started in Australia in 2007, is being observed by millions of supporters in 187 countries, who are turning off their lights at 8.30pm local time in what organisers describe as the world's "largest grassroots movement for climate change".

"It aims to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife," Earth Hour organiser WWF Australia chief Dermot O'Gorman told AFP.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower plunged into darkness as President Emmanuel Macron urged people to join in and "show you are willing to join the fight for nature".

"The time for denial is long past. We are losing not only our battle against climate change, but also our battle against the collapse of biodiversity," he said on Twitter.

Moscow's Red Square also fell dark and the Russian section of the International Space Station dipped its lights, the Ria Novisti news agency said.

Images from across Asia showed buildings including Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers, as well as the famous harbour skylines of Hong Kong and Singapore, blacking out to mark the occasion.

Other global landmarks that will take part include New York's Empire State Building.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the event "comes at a time of huge pressure on people and planet alike".

"Resources and ecosystems across the world are under assault. Earth hour is an opportunity to show our resolve to change."

THREAT OF EXTINCTION

With global temperatures the highest on record, O'Gorman said this year's theme was the impact of climate change on biodiversity and plant and animal species.

"More than half of plant and animal species face local extinction in some of the world's most naturally rich areas in biodiversity by the turn of this century if we continue along the current path that we are trending in terms of global warming," he said.

Species at risk include Australia's green turtles, black-flanked rock wallabies and koalas, as well as the Adelie penguin colonies in Antarctica, the conservation group said in a report it commissioned that was published in the science journal Climatic Change.

The analysis, released last week, said key biodiverse sites around the world projected to be most affected by localised extinction include the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, and southern Africa's Miombo Woodlands.

While the lights-off event is a symbolic gesture, Earth Hour has led successful campaigns over the past decade to ban plastics in the Galapagos Islands and plant 17 million trees in Kazakhstan.

Sydneysider Dianna Ali, who was having dinner with family as the lights went off in the city, said the initiative had made her more aware of the impact of her lifestyle on the planet's health.

"Since Earth Hour started, it's made me more conscious of how much power I'm using," she told AFP.

"I think... about how much one individual can make a difference."

Source: AFP/ad/ec

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Jurong Lake Gardens West to open in early 2019; largest water lilies collection part of attraction

ASYRAF KAMIL Today Online 24 Mar 18;

SINGAPORE — From the largest collection of water lilies in Singapore, to roaming the gardens in autonomous vehicles, these are some of the attractions Singaporeans can look forward to when construction for the Jurong Lake Gardens (JLG) Central and East completes progressively from 2020 onwards.

JLG West, which is currently under development, will be the first section to open next year, while the construction tender for JLG Central and East – which include the Chinese and Japanese Gardens – will be called in mid-2018.

In a media statement on Saturday (March 24), the National Parks Board (NParks) said that more than 14,000 suggestions and feedback were gathered for the concept design for JLG East and West, which the statutory board then “incorporated” into the project.

“The feedback received strongly supports the proposed concept design for JLG Central and East, especially for features that showcase tropical horticulture, nature and sustainability, and spaces for the community,” said NParks.

During a community tree planting event at JLG West on Saturday, Minister for National Development and Chairman of the Jurong Lake District Steering Committee Lawrence Wong said that the feedback sessions are “an important ground-up process to shape our national gardens”.

He said: “We’ve had a very productive consultation exercise, with many useful suggestions from the public… for more community and family spaces. (This) has enabled NParks to improve the final concept plans for JLG Central and East.”

The public engagement exercise consisted of roving exhibitions, townhall sessions, and online surveys conducted from November 2016 to April last year.

NParks noted from the feedback that many of the buildings and features in the Chinese and Japanese Gardens hold special memories for Singaporeans and that “most of the structures in the Chinese Garden and landforms in the Japanese Garden will be retained”.

“The design for JLG Central hence seeks to retain the natural ambience and key features of the Gardens by working with the existing landforms and key buildings and features, and leveraging on the water surrounding the Gardens,” it said.

NParks added that the public feedback received had also indicated strong support for garden features related to water, which is “in line with the concept design of the Gardens”.

More than 140 varieties of water lilies will be showcased within water terraces at the Aquatic Gardens, making it the largest collection of water lilies here in the Republic. Some 100 varieties of the flower will be new to Singapore, NParks said.

Visitors to the gardens will also be able to get up close to the water lilies to observe and photograph them as boardwalks will extend across the terraced ponds.

There will be a Nature Rambling Trail, where families and children can learn about native riverine environments. There will also be a Water Gallery Trail consisting of outdoor spaces featuring art and plants, said NParks.

NParks also said that it had received suggestions on the use of smart technology to “enhance visitor experience and enable efficient garden management and operations”.

“Useful information related to weather, directions and events listings will be displayed on interactive information screens in the Gardens, which will also be served by a people mover system which includes the use of autonomous vehicles,” said the statutory board.

Visitors who wants to cycle to the Gardens can ride on an East-West cycling route across the Chinese Garden to connect Taman Jurong to Jurong Town Hall and Jurong East.

To inject vibrancy to the Gardens, NParks added there are plans for farmers’ markets and thematic displays for visitors to enjoy.

The public is invited to share their views on the different types of programmes and activities that they would like to see at JLG during a public exhibition at Taman Jurong Community Club, which will be held from March 25 to April 1.



Jurong Lake Gardens to be home to Singapore’s largest collection of water lilies
Loh Chuan Junn Channel NewsAsia 24 Mar 18;

SINGAPORE: The new Jurong Lake Gardens will be home to the largest collection of water lilies in Singapore, with more than 140 varieties, announced the National Parks Board (NParks) on Saturday (Mar 24).

More than 100 varieties of water lilies will be new to Singapore, such as the Australian Giant Water Lily and the Foxfire Water Lily, added NParks.

Visitors will be able to see the aquatic plants up close from boardwalks which will extend across the terrace ponds.

These are part of the concept design for the gardens' east and central zones which was unveiled on Saturday.

Touted as the next national gardens in the heartlands, the Jurong Lake Gardens is part of a larger transformation of the Jurong Lake District.

There are three parts to the gardens - west, east and central - and proposed plans for the latter two zones had been put up for public consultation from November 2016 to April 2017.

More than 14,000 suggestions were received, said NParks on Saturday.

Sharing some of the feedback, NParks said many people noted that the buildings and features in the Chinese and Japanese Gardens - in the central zone - held special memories for Singaporeans.

"The design for Jurong Lake Gardens Central hence seeks to retain the natural ambience and key features of the gardens by working with the existing landforms and key buildings and features, and leveraging on the water surrounding the gardens," said NParks.

The iconic seven-storey pagoda at the Chinese Garden, for example, will be retained.

One new feature will be a water gallery trail where boats can travel along the banks of the lake surrounded by a swamp forest.

As public feedback showed that people wanted more public spaces for activities, the northern shore of the gardens will be transformed into a space comprising a lawn, a pavilion housing food and beverage outlets and a youth park.
ill also be transformed into a space comprising a lawn, a pavilion housing food and beverage outlets and a Youth Park.

To make the area more accessible, an East-West cycling route will be provided across the Chinese Garden to connect Taman Jurong to Jurong Town Hall and Jurong East.

A public exhibition on the new Jurong Lake Gardens will be held from Mar 25 until Apr 1, where people are invited to share their views on the programmes they would like to see at the new gardens.

A construction tender for the central and east zones will be called in the middle of this year, and works are expected to be completed progressively from 2020.

As for the western part of the gardens, works started in April 2016, and it is slated to open early next year.

Source: CNA/ad

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Indonesia: Erin the elephant's plight casts spotlight on conservation

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times 24 Mar 18;

JAKARTA - The plight of Erin the baby elephant, who was found in a poacher's trap with a severed trunk, has received national attention this week after her story was told online.

The Sumatran elephant was discovered in July 2016 when she was two years old near a housing settlement in Lampung province's Susukan Baru area, within the 1,300 sqkm Way Kambas National Park.

She was weak, thin and had pinworm in her intestine. Her trunk was severed about 10cm from the distal edge, an injury likely sustained when she fell into the trap, Kompas.com reported on Wednesday (March 21).

Erin was taken to the nearby Rubini Atmawidjaja Elephant Hospital.

Actress Wulan Guritno expressed her grievance on Instagram account and appealed to her 2.4 million followers to save Sumatran elephants, and donate for Erin.

"So sad seeing this young elephant. Erin needs assistance when she feeds herself," Wulan said in her post.

The Way Kambas national park housed 248 wild elephants, as per the last census in 2010. The park's rehabilitation centre has 66 tamed elephants, including Erin.

Dr Diah Esti Anggraini, a vet at the elephant hospital, told Kompas that Erin's physical condition was weak due to the injury. She had been left behind by a group of wild elephants and could not keep up.

Like other injured elephants left behind by their herds, she relied on her survival instincts and walked towards a settlement.

Since her rescue, Erin has been learning to eat without using her trunk.

"She manoeuvres her front limbs to help pick up food or sometimes bends them to reach food," Dr Diah said.

Sumatran elephants are critically endangered. Illegal ivory trade and dwindling habitat due to deforestation have raised fears that elephants could become extinct within decades.

On Feb 12, a female Sumatran elephant aged around 20 was found dead with her tusks removed, in Way Kambas national park, which is also home to critically endangered Sumatran rhinos and tigers. There were five bullet wounds in her chest and head, Kompas.com also reported, citing the park's patrol officials.

This came a month after a male Sumatran elephant was found dead with its tusks removed in a protected forest in South Sumatra.

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Best of our wild blogs: 24 Mar 18

3 Apr (Tue): Action Against Plastic Workshop for Educators and Students
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