Only 1 pct of Japan's biggest coral reef healthy: survey

Phys.org 18 May 18;

Japan's biggest coral reef has not recovered from bleaching due to rising sea temperatures, with only one percent of the reef in a healthy condition, according to a government study.

The overall volume of coral in Sekisei Lagoon in southwestern Japan near Okinawa had already plunged by 80 percent since the late 1980s due to rising water temperatures and damage caused by coral-eating starfish.

Now only 1.4 percent of the lagoon, which stretches over 67.89 square kilometres, is in a healthy condition, the environment ministry said, after it was hit by mass bleaching in 1998, 2001, 2007 and most recently 2016.

"If coral reefs don't recover, it means a loss of rich fauna for a variety of creatures and would have grave impact on the ecosystem in the region," ministry official Chihiro Kondo told AFP on Friday.

For the first time since 2008, the ministry analysed satellite photos and information from some 1,000 monitoring sites for the Sekisei Lagoon and two other reefs around the Ishigaki and Iriomote islets in Okinawa.

The ratio of healthy corals stood at 14.6 percent in 1991 but dropped to 0.8 percent in the 2008 survey, Kondo said.

Two other neighbouring lagoons had similar results with the ratio of healthy areas around one percent.

Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.

Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonise them.

"But the latest study shows that corals haven't recovered much since 2008, presumably partly because of the 2016 bleach," Kondo said.

One of the worst mass bleaching episodes on record took place in 1998 when the El Nino phenomenon was exceptionally strong, affecting reefs in 60 tropical countries.

Coral reefs are also under pressure from ocean acidification linked to CO2 emissions, scientists warn.

Corals make up less than one percent of Earth's marine environment, but are home to more than 25 percent of marine life.

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Leaked report warns Cambodia's biggest dam could 'literally kill' Mekong river

Government-commissioned report says proposed site at Sambor reach is the ‘worst possible place’ for hydropower due to impact on wildlife
Tom Fawthrop The Guardian 16 May 18;

A Chinese-backed plan to build Cambodia’s biggest dam could “literally kill” the Mekong river, according to a confidential assessment seen by the Guardian which says that the proposed site at Sambor is the “worst possible place” for hydropower.

The report, which was commissioned by the government in Phnom Penh, has been kept secret since it was submitted last year, prompting concerns that ministers are inclined to push ahead regardless of the dire impact it predicts on river dolphins and one of the world’s largest migrations of freshwater fish.

The proposed hydropower plant would require an 18km-wide barrier across the river at Sambor, Kratie province. This quiet rural district is best known as a place for watching Irrawaddy dolphins, whose critically low numbers have just shown their first increase in 20 years.

To examine the environmental impact of the dam and the 82km-long reservoir that would form behind it, the Cambodian government commissioned the National Heritage Institute, a US-based research and consultancy firm, to undertake a three-year study in 2014.

But it has refused to make public the results of the Sambor Hydropower Dam Alternatives Assessment, despite numerous appeals from civil society organisations. A copy has now been leaked to the Guardian.

In its key findings the report notes: “The impact on fisheries would be devastating as it would block fish migration from the Tonle Sap (Cambodia’s Great Lake), a vital tributary to the Mekong and the spawning grounds upstream.”

The Mekong is the world’s most productive inland fisher y, sustaining the food security of 60 million people. The Mekong River Commission puts the value of wild-capture fish at $11b n, shared between the four member states of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

The stakes are very high for a country where 80% of Cambodians count on fish as their main source of protein.

It is also a potential game-changer for other species in the Mekong’s ecosystem. Marc Goichot, WWF’s water resources specialist, said: “After 15 years WWF and our Cambodian partners are finally winning the battle to conserve Mekong dolphins with 15 new calves born since 2015. A Sambor dam would ruin all those efforts. Together with the plight of the dolphins, fisheries, livelihoods and nutrition of rural communities would all suffer, as well as precipitating the sinking of the Mekong delta in Vietnam.”

The plan for the dam dates back to a memorandum of understanding signed with China Southern Power Grid in 2006. Widespread opposition prompted the Chinese investor to withdrew from the project in 2008.

The country’s chronic energy shortage, high prices and its 50% import dependency prompted the government to revive the Sambor project in 2016, after Laos had already launched two controversial dams upstream - the Xayaburi and the Don Sahong dams.

In the executive summary, the report declares “a dam at this site could literally kill the river, unless sited, designed and operated sustainably. The Sambor reach is the worst possible place to build a major dam.”

Cambodia’s deputy minister of energy, Ith Praing , said: “It is a very sensitive issue and too early to publish any kind of information on Sambor.”

The survey team looked at 10 alternative locations for a Sambor dam site by deploying the world’s most advanced mitigation technology. The project director, Gregory Thomas, said: “Even the most advanced mitigation measures still pose high risks. There is no evidence that any large dam on a tropical river has ever been successful in the use of the latest fish mitigation technology.”

In place of a new dam, the study recommends integrating floating solar photovoltaic panels into the already operational Lower Sesan 2 dam , and operating the reservoir as a single integrated hybrid facility. Power capacity would be doubled to more than 800MW. This technique of augmenting existing hydropower facilities with solar photovoltaics plants has been widely developed in China and India.

According to the report, “solar energy is the only option with a positive net economic benefit after all costs and benefits are taken into account, and the cost of solar would be cheaper than the best possible mitigated dam”.

Cambodia’s Energy Ministry has so far taken only small steps in the direction of solar energy, and has given a tepid response to the 400MW solar proposal, which suggests it is still batting for a mitigated dam.

Praing said no decision would be taken until after July’s general election. If the dam is approved, the leading candidate to build it is China’s Hydrolancang International Energy Company.

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Water shortages to be key environmental challenge of the century, Nasa warns

Freshwater supplies have already seriously declined in 19 global hotspots – from China to the Caspian Sea – due to overuse, groundbreaking study shows
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 16 May 18;

Water shortages are likely to be the key environmental challenge of this century, scientists from Nasa have warned, as new data has revealed a drying-out of swaths of the globe between the tropics and the high latitudes, with 19 hotspots where water depletion has been dramatic.

Areas in northern and eastern India, the Middle East, California and Australia are among the hotspots where overuse of water resources has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater that is already causing problems. Without strong action by governments to preserve water the situation in these areas is likely to worsen.

Some of these hotspots were previously undocumented or poorly understood: a region in north-western China, in Xinjiang province, has suffered dramatic declines despite receiving normal amounts of rainfall, owing to groundwater depletion from industry and irrigation.

The Caspian Sea was also found to be showing strong declines owing to similar forces, which is resulting in a shrinking shoreline. Previously, this change had been attributed to natural variability, but the new report demonstrates it was caused in large part by the diversion and extraction of water from rivers that feed it, for agriculture and industry. This depletion mirrors the well-known fate of the disappearing Aral Sea in the same region: because the Caspian Sea is much bigger it would take millennia to disappear altogether, but its shrinking shoreline and pollution will cause major problems throughout its borderlands.

The comprehensive study, the first of its kind, took data from the Nasa Grace (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite mission to track trends in freshwater from 2002 to 2016 across the globe.

“What we are witnessing is major hydrologic change. We see for the first time a very distinctive pattern of the wet land areas of the world getting wetter, in the high latitudes and the tropics, and the dry areas in between getting drier,” said James Famiglietti, of the Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, and co-author of the paper published today in Nature. “Within the dry areas we see multiple hotspots resulting from groundwater depletion.”

Climate scientists, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have predicted such a global trend. The new paper’s authors said it was too soon to confirm whether their observations were definitely the result of global warming, but said their results showed a “clear human fingerprint” on the global water cycle.

The study is unprecedented, as the Grace data allowed the scientists to see in detail the changes in freshwater resources around the world, even where locally amassed data has been scarce or unavailable. By linking the satellite data with local monitoring, they added another crucial dimension.

Marc Stutter, of the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, who was not involved with the study, said: “Such new data add insight into how we manage both obvious surface waters and hidden subsurface water stores [as] the satellite techniques see vital hidden water reserves under our feet, much like an x-ray to see the health of our unseen water reserves.”

He said it provided an early warning that could allow better management of water resources across the world, which was needed.

In northern India, groundwater extraction for irrigation of crops such as wheat and rice have caused a rapid decline in available water, despite rainfall being normal throughout the period studied. “The fact that extractions already exceed recharge during normal precipitation does not bode well for the availability of groundwater during future droughts,” the authors said, adding that the much-discussed melting of Himalayan glaciers was of only minor significance in the period studied.

In Iraq and Syria, widespread over-reliance on groundwater has resulted from the construction by Turkey of 22 dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, over the last three decades. This has made the area the biggest hotspot identified by the study, outside of sparsely or uninhabited regions such as Antarctica and Greenland, with water resources nearly a third below their normal state.

Jonathan Farr, senior policy analyst at the charity WaterAid, said governments must take note of the findings and increase their role in preserving water resources and providing freshwater to people in a sustainable manner. “This report is a warning and an insight into a future threat. We need to ensure that investment in water keeps pace with industrialisation and farming. Governments need to get to grips with this,” he said, pointing to estimates that between $30bn and $100bn of investment was needed per year to provide freshwater where needed.

Sustainable solutions were available, he said. “We have been solving the problem of getting access to water resources since civilisation began. We know how to do it. We just need to manage it, and that has to be done at a local level.”

Providing access to clean water provides knock-on benefits to health, education, equity and the economy, he added, so investment in water assets yields both economic and social dividends.

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Mysterious rise in banned ozone-destroying chemical shocks scientists

CFCs have been outlawed for years but researchers have detected new production somewhere in east Asia
Damian Carrington The Guardian 16 May 18;

A sharp and mysterious rise in emissions of a key ozone-destroying chemical has been detected by scientists, despite its production being banned around the world.

Unless the culprit is found and stopped, the recovery of the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging UV radiation, could be delayed by a decade. The source of the new emissions has been tracked to east Asia, but finding a more precise location requires further investigation.

CFC chemicals were used in making foams for furniture and buildings, in aerosols and as refrigerants. But they were banned under the global Montreal protocol after the discovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica in the 1980s. Since 2007, there has been essentially zero reported production of CFC-11, the second most damaging of all CFCs.

The rise in CFC-11 was revealed by Stephen Montzka, at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Colorado, and colleagues who monitor chemicals in the atmosphere. “I have been doing this for 27 years and this is the most surprising thing I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I was just shocked by it.”

“We are acting as detectives of the atmosphere, trying to understand what is happening and why,” Montzka said. “When things go awry, we raise a flag.”

Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, said: “If these emissions continue unabated, they have the potential to slow down the recovery of the ozone layer. It’s therefore critical that we identify the precise causes of these emissions and take the necessary action.”

CFCs used in buildings and appliances before the ban came into force still leak into the air today. The rate of leakage was declining steadily until 2013, when an abrupt slowing of the decline was detected at research stations from Greenland to the South Pole.

Scientists then embarked on an investigation, published in the journal Nature, to find out the cause. The detective work began by assessing whether there had been changes in how the atmosphere distributes and destroys CFC-11 that could explain the changed measurements. But this factor was mostly ruled out and in the most recent data – 2017 – it appears to have played no role at all.

Next, the researchers looked at whether the release of CFC from older materials could have doubled, as required to explain the data. “But we don’t know of any folks who are destroying buildings at a much more dramatic rate than they were before,” said Montzka.

Lastly, the team considered whether the new CFC-11 was being produced as a by-product of some other chemical manufacturing process. But they ruled this out too, as the quantities involved are too high, representing a 25% rise in global emissions.

“You are left with, boy, it really looks like somebody is making it new,” said Montzka, who noted that the less damaging replacement for CFC-11 is more expensive to make.

“If the increased emissions were to go away [soon], it’s influence on the recovery date for the ozone layer would be minor,” he said. “If it doesn’t go away, there could be a 10-year delay, and if it continued to increase, the delay would be even longer.” The last option is a possibility, as if the new CFC-11 is being used in foams, then only a small fraction will have made it to the atmosphere so far and more could leak out for many years into the future.

Michaela Hegglin, at the University of Reading, UK, and not part of the research team said researchers had taken rigorous steps to rule out alternative explanations for the rise in CFC-11 when reaching their conclusion that new production must be occurring.

She said: “The study highlights that environmental regulations cannot be taken for granted and must be safe-guarded, and that monitoring is required to ensure compliance.” Prof Piers Forster, at the University of Leeds, UK, said: “This new study is atmospheric detective work at its finest.”

Paul Young, at Lancaster University, UK, said: “The Montreal Protocol has been rightly hailed as our most successful international environmental treaty, so the suggestion that there are possibly continued, unreported emissions of CFCs is certainly troubling and needs further investigation.”

Montzka said the world’s nations are committed to its enforcement. “I have a feeling that we will find out fairly quickly what exactly is going on and that the situation will be remedied,” he said. Even just the publicity about the new CFC-11 production could lead to its shutdown, he said: “Somebody who was maybe doing it purposefully will realise – oh, someone is paying attention – and stop doing it.”

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Best of our wild blogs: 18 May 18

Amazing seagrass meadows of East Coast Park!
wild shores of singapore

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Green growth integral to Singapore's economic development, says Masagos Zulkifli

Audrey Tan and Luke Anthony Tan Straits Times 18 May 18;

SINGAPORE - There has been a paradigm shift when it comes to growing economies, from a "grow now, clean up later" approach to one that prioritises both growth and environmental concerns, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli on Friday morning (May 18).

"We have started viewing green growth as integral to, and not separate from, long-term economic development. Green growth is the foundation of real and sustainable prosperity," said Mr Masagos during a sustainability event held at the Grand Hyatt hotel.

Highlighting that the "grow now, clean up later" approach could lead to high costs for current and future generations, in terms of climate change, pollution or scarcity of resources, Mr Masagos said that Singapore has integrated sustainability in its long-term economic growth, and is now reaping the fruits of that foresight.

He added: "Singapore today enjoys the dividends of our early investment in green growth and environmental resilience." These dividends, he said, include a clean, safe and liveable Singapore that attracts talent and investment; as well as the creation of jobs and business opportunities.

One example, he said, was how Singapore managed to turn its water scarcity to business opportunity. In 2015, the water sector contributed $2.25 billion to Singapore's gross domestic product and 14,000 jobs, he said.

But Singapore's success did not come by chance, he said during the fifth Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources organised by think-tank Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

Instead, it boiled down to three things: policies, partnerships and passion, Mr Masagos added.

Policies such as the upcoming carbon tax next year would not only help to curb earth-warming emissions, he said. It would also encourage large emitters to invest in energy-efficient technologies, with the tax revenue being ploughed into schemes that help firms achieve this, he added.

"The Government will spend more than the carbon tax collected in the initial years, to support green growth projects that deliver emissions reductions," said Mr Masagos.

It was also important to forge partnerships - with Asean and the international community, as well as with non-governmental groups and individuals, he added. Doing so could help identify new green growth areas, and allow Singapore start-ups in these areas to gain access to larger markets in the region, he also said.

But "to unleash the potential for green growth", Singapore must have a critical mass of people who are passionate about the environment, Mr Masagos said.

He cited accountant-turned-business owner Joline Tang as an example. Ms Tang set up The Sustainability Project, which sells items such as metal straws and beeswax wraps that can help people reduce their use of single-use plastics.

Said Mr Masagos: "As we look to the future, it is clear that green growth is the only sustainable path for development. It is the key that can unlock continuing prosperity and well-being for the current and future generations."

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Singapore to see 'most extensive urban transformation' as Govt aims to build better city

SIAU MING EN Today Online 17 May 18;

SINGAPORE — Cities must evolve and adapt to survive in an ever changing world and there is "no such thing as status quo", said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong during the Parliamentary debate on the President's Address on Thursday (May 17).

"We are either improving or we are declining and going backwards… So the choice for Singapore is simple – adapt or perish," said Mr Wong as he laid out the Government's blueprint to build a better city, one that is more innovative, inclusive and resilient.

Citing the various development projects spread across the island, Mr Wong said that the Government has a "single-minded commitment and mission to keep building and improving our city".

"I can confidently say that over the coming years and decades, Singapore will be undergoing its most extensive urban transformation yet," he added.

Major parts of Singapore will be transformed, including the east, where the area around the expanded Changi Airport is being reviewed to see how it can renewed and put to better use. The possibilities include developing new industries related to the aviation sector.

Over in the western part of Singapore, the authorities are looking at new industry clusters that can be located next to the new Tuas megaport and connected to other developments there, such as the Jurong Innovation District and Jurong Lake District.

Up north, the Government is bringing together multiple developments from Woodlands to Sembawang and Seletar, as well as the upcoming Punggol Digital District. This "Northern Corridor" can anchor new businesses and investments, said Mr Wong.

Residential estates are also part of the transformation, with the new Housing and Development Board (HDB) town in Tengah expected to be about the size of Bishan.

The city will also be extended further to the Greater Southern Waterfront, which will be three times the size of Marina Bay.

But Mr Wong noted that an outstanding city also needs to be socially inclusive, as he touched on the recurring theme of social mixing throughout the debate so far. It needs to be a place that embraces diversity, allows different groups to mix easily, and provides equal opportunities for people to participate.

This is not always the case in other cities, where the downtown areas are well-maintained but others are left to deteriorate and end up as urban slums. There is also a segregation of neighbourhoods elsewhere, between the rich and poor, between ethnic groups, as well as between the young and old, he added.

Mr Wong added that the Government has "worked very hard to avoid these problems in Singapore'. For instance, every HDB town has a balanced mix of residents across different ethnic groups and backgrounds. Every town also has a mix of public-private developments, as well as common spaces for residents of different backgrounds to socialise.

Mr Wong added: "Our housing and urban plans must continue to push back against the growing pressures of inequality and social stratification. We cannot just leave things to chance, but we must deliberately plan for a more equal and inclusive society."

To that end, HDB has been building more rental flats – with newer and better designs – alongside purchased flats in various towns to allow families to grow up in the same neighbourhood. Rental and sold units are also integrated within the same HDB block.

In Mr Wong's budget speech for his ministry earlier this year, he said HDB launched three Build-to-Order projects in Woodlands, Bukit Batok and Sengkang that contain both rental and sold units in the same block.

The authorities will also continually renew buildings and infrastructure to avoid ending up in a situation "where certain parts of Singapore are left to degrade and we end up with deteriorated neighbourhoods or towns, inhabited largely by lower-income or elderly residents".

But Mr Wong stressed that this is not just a government matter, and that it is a shared responsibility of the Town Councils and residents to take care of the neighbourhood.

Resilience is also required in Singapore's urban development, said Mr Wong, as the world faces climate change and other unpredictable threats.

This includes systems designed to counter any sea-level rises – such as the dike system in the polder development in Pulau Tekong – undertaking detailed modelling and engineering studies, and recommending appropriate protection strategies.

He added: "We want to build a city that reflects the aspirations, the values, and the spirit of our people. That's the work we have to do together over the next 50 years."

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Indonesia: Leopard trespasses local resident`s house in Sukabumi

Antara 18 May 18;

Sukabumi, W Java (ANTARA News) - A leopard (Panthera pardus) entered into a local resident`s house in Perbawati Village, Sukabumi District, West Java Province, and attacked the poultry.

"At first, I heard a noise from my chicken coop and thought that a stray dog may have entered. However, when I checked the space underneath my house, I found a leopard there," house owner Hendi noted here on Thursday.

Based on the information collected, a leopard trespassed into the settlement of the local residents in Perbawati Village, Sukabumi District, at around midnight local time.

Hendi then checked his house out of curiosity and concern that his cattle was being harassed by a stray dog. He was surprised to see several chicken feathers scattered across his yard.

He initially thought that a chicken was being devoured by a stray dog, but after checking under the house with a flashlight, he saw a leopard hiding.

"I ran into my house, as I am afraid that the leopard will attack me. Hence, I called my friend and neighbor at dawn. Two of my chickens were eaten by that leopard," he added.

The leopard allegedly trespassed into the settlement owing to hunger. Moreover, the settlement is quite close to a forest in the Great Hall of Mount Gede and the Pangrango National Park.

Assistance from the Center for Natural Resource Conservation of West Java is awaited to catch the leopard, as it is still hiding under the house and has evaded the trap.

Reported by Aditya A Rohman
(T.KR-TQA/INE)
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Heru Purwanto

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Climate change on track to cause major insect wipeout, scientists warn

Insects are vital to ecosystems but will lose almost half their habitat under current climate projections
Damian Carrington The Guardian 17 May 18;

Global warming is on track to cause a major wipeout of insects, compounding already severe losses, according to a new analysis.

Insects are vital to most ecosystems and a widespread collapse would cause extremely far-reaching disruption to life on Earth, the scientists warn. Their research shows that, even with all the carbon cuts already pledged by nations so far, climate change would make almost half of insect habitat unsuitable by the end of the century, with pollinators like bees particularly affected.

However, if climate change could be limited to a temperature rise of 1.5C - the very ambitious goal included in the global Paris agreement - the losses of insects are far lower.

The new research is the most comprehensive to date, analysing the impact of different levels of climate change on the ranges of 115,000 species. It found plants are also heavily affected but that mammals and birds, which can more easily migrate as climate changes, suffered less.

“We showed insects are the most sensitive group,” said Prof Rachel Warren, at the University of East Anglia, who led the new work. “They are important because ecosystems cannot function without insects. They play an absolutely critical role in the food chain.”

“The disruption to our ecosystems if we were to lose that high proportion of our insects would be extremely far-reaching and widespread,” she said. “People should be concerned - humans depend on ecosystems functioning.” Pollination, fertile soils, clean water and more all depend on healthy ecosystems, Warren said.

In October, scientists warned of “ecological Armageddon” after discovering that the number of flying insects had plunged by three-quarters in the past 25 years in Germany and very likely elsewhere.

“We know that many insects are in rapid decline due to factors such as habitat loss and intensive farming methods,” said Prof Dave Goulson, at the University of Sussex, UK, and not part of the new analysis. “This new study shows that, in the future, these declines would be hugely accelerated by the impacts of climate change, under realistic climate projections. When we add in all the other adverse factors affecting wildlife, all likely to increase as the human population grows, the future for biodiversity on planet Earth looks bleak.”

In the new analysis, published in the journal Science, the researchers gathered data on the geographic ranges and current climate conditions of 31,000 insect species, 8,000 birds, 1,700 mammals, 1,800 reptiles, 1,000 amphibians and 71,000 plants.

They then calculated how the ranges change when global warming means some regions can no longer support particular species. For the first time in this type of study, they included the 1.5C Paris target, as well as 2C, the longstanding international target, and 3.2C, which is the rise the world will experience by 2100 unless action is taken beyond that already pledged.

The researchers measured the results in two ways. First, they counted the number of species that lose more than half their range and this was 49% of insect species at 3.2C, falling to 18% at 2C and 6% at 1.5C. Second, they combined the losses for each species group into a type of average measure.

“If you are a typical insect, you would be likely to lose 43% of your range at 3.2C,” Warren said. “We also found that the three major groups of insects responsible for pollination are particularly sensitive to warming.”

Guy Midgley, at University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and not part of the research team, said the new work built on previous studies but is far more comprehensive. He said major impacts on wildlife would be expected given the potential scale of climate change: “Global average surface temperatures in the past two million years have rarely approached the levels projected over the next few decades.”

Warren said the new work had taken account of the ability of species to migrate, but had not been able to include the impact of lost interactions between species as ranges contract, or of the impacts of more extreme weather events on wildlife. As both of those would increase the losses of range, Warren said the estimates of losses made were likely to be underestimates.

Warren said that the world’s nations were aware that more action on climate change is needed: “The question is to what extent greater reductions can be made and on what timescale. That is a decision society has to make.”

Another study published in Science on Thursday found that one third of the world’s protected areas, which cover 15% of all land, are now highly degraded by intense human pressure including road building, grazing, and urbanisation.

Kendall Jones, at the University of Queensland, Australia, who led the work, said: “A well-run protected area network is essential in saving species. If we allow our protected area network to be degraded there is a no doubt biodiversity losses will be exacerbated.”

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A third of world's nature reserves severely degraded by human activity

New study’s author says failure to protect biodiversity in places identified for that purpose is ‘staggering’
Lisa Cox The Guardian 17 May 18;

A third of global protected areas such as national parks have been severely degraded by human activities in what researchers say is a stunning reality check of efforts by nations to stall biodiversity loss.

A University of Queensland-led study, published on Friday in the prestigious academic journal Science, analysed human activity across 50,000 protected areas worldwide.

Researchers found more than 90% of conservation sites, such as national parks and nature reserves, showed some signs of degradation from human activities including logging, mining, tourism and urbanisation and a third – or 6m square kilometres of protected land – had been severely modified.

The worst damage was found in highly populated parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, but researchers said there was significant degradation in all nations, including wealthy and less-populated countries such as Australia.

James Watson, the paper’s senior author and a conservation scientist at the University of Queensland, said the results were alarming and showed countries were failing to protect biodiversity even in places specifically identified for that purpose.

“What we found was massive amounts of high-level human infrastructure, for example mining activity, industrial logging activity, industrial agriculture, townships, roads and energy,” he said.

“These are the places that nations have said they are setting aside for nature’s needs not human needs.

“So for us to find such a significant amount of human infrastructure in places governments have set aside for safe-guarding biodiversity is staggering.”

He said there were some glaring examples in Australia, such as Barrow Island off the Western Australian coast, a nature reserve that is home to 13 mammal species and the Gorgon gas plant.

“Some of these species are found nowhere else on the planet and yet we allow significant human infrastructure to occur inside these boundaries,” Watson said.

“Australia should be setting the standard that other nations should look to and yet we are one of the worst behaved of the lot.”

Martin Taylor, conservation scientist at WWF Australia, said the Turnbull government’s proposal to downgrade high-level protections in sensitive marine parks, including critical waters around the Great Barrier Reef, was another example of industry being given precedence over conservation.

He said there was also a low level of public awareness of the extent to which a range of industries had been able to encroach on protected areas.

“The public just aren’t aware that these kinds of things are going on and we hope this paper builds awareness of it,” he said.

“The community expects a national park to be reserved for wildlife.”

In Australia alone, more than 1,800 plants, animals and ecological communities are known to be at risk of extinction.

Conservationists and scientists have described the situation confronting Australia’s vulnerable wildlife as a “national disgrace” and the systems that are supposed to protect it as broken.

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Best of our wild blogs: 17 May 18

13 June (Wed): FREE Public Talks on Seagrass!
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

Pulau Sekudu with Intertidal Watch
wild shores of singapore

Endangered Species Day
BES Drongos

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Singapore to create 'largest' artificial reef at Sisters' Island

Vanessa Lim Channel NewsAsia 17 May 18;

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s largest artificial reef habitat will be created at the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park by the end of this year, announced JTC and the National Parks Board (NParks) on Thursday (May 17).

The project will see between four to eight giant artificial reef structures being pre-fabricated off-site and sunk in the waters off Small Sister's Island, within the Sisters' Islands Marine Park. The number of structures will depend on the final design.

Each reef structure will be made from materials including concrete, steel and rocks recycled from other JTC projects.

Standing at 10m, the equivalent of a three-storey terrace house, the structures will occupy the entire water column from sub-surface to the seafloor, sitting on the seabed. To avoid disturbing the underwater environment, no piling or major works will be carried out, said NParks and JTC.

Mostly bare with a sandy substrate, the area where the structures will be placed was chosen in consultation with relevant government agencies, experts, as well as members of the Friends of the Marine Park Community.

Expected to contribute some 500 sq m of additional reef area to the Marine Park, the project will also help to support existing habitat enhancement and reef restoration efforts to conserve marine biodiversity.

Finding solutions to conserve marine reefs is important, given rising temperatures which will lead to more coral bleaching.

"If we can find strategies now, we can hedge against future climate change challenges," said Dr Karenne Tun, director of the coastal and marine branch at NParks' National Biodiversity Centre.

Professor Chou Loke Ming, a coral expert from the National University of Singapore (NUS), stressed that exploring ways to restore and sustain coral habitats is paramount.

"Size for size, Singapore has one of the largest variety of marine species in the world. However, development and the fast-changing climate remain constant threats to our marine ecosystem," said Prof Chou.

Currently, more than 250 species of hard coral are found in Singapore's waters, which accounts for about one-third of the world's hard coral species.

Beyond enhancing reefs and expanding habitat restoration efforts, the project will also provide opportunities for various research initiatives to be implemented and serve as test beds for new technologies to study coral reef resilience.

Going forward, JTC says it hopes to work with NParks to double the artificial reef areas created at Sisters' Islands, bring it to 1,000 sq m by 2030.

Source: CNA/zl(hm)


Undersea housing for marine life to create Singapore's largest artificial reef
Noel Low Straits Times 17 May 18;

SINGAPORE - "Terrace houses" for coral and marine life will soon have pride of place in the waters off the Southern Islands, in an ambitious effort to create the nation's largest artificial reef.

The National Parks Board (NParks) and JTC Corporation are working on the project at the Sisters' Islands Marine Park, which will see 10m high structures placed in the waters by the end of the year. They will be made from concrete and recycled rocks from JTC's other projects.

The idea is to transform what is now bare seabed into a thriving marine ecosystem by giving corals a place to take root, which will in turn attract fish and other sea life.

Singapore is home to more than 250 species of hard corals, about one-third of the worldwide diversity. Singapore reefs have also responded more resiliently against recent bleaching events, compared to other parts of the world.

NParks Director for Coastal and Marine at the National Biodiversity Centre, Dr Karenne Tun, said the location of the artificial reef is ideal for a "source reef" due to the geography and current flow.

"It's spawn will reach other areas and feed the other reefs in Singapore."

Noted JTC's deputy director for Engineering and Operations John Kiong: "It's akin to a three-storey terrace house lowered into the sea." To avoid environmental impact, the structures, which will be off Pulau Subar Darat (Small Sisters island) will behave anchor pins to hold them in place without the need for piling. The structures also require no maintenance.

While previous research projects used artificial structures to renew parts of existing reefs, this is the first time an entire reef will be created. It will have a total surface area of 500sqm, and pave the way for future projects.

Coral reef scientist Professor Chou Loke Ming, who is the project consultant, said he expects to see "coral recruits" - or tiny coral colonies, forming just six months after the structures are installed. This could be even faster if coral fragments are transplanted from other reefs.

Nparks also has a nursery where corals are bred, which can then be introduced to the artificial reef. It hopes to introduce rarer species and increase the variety of corals at the reef.

JTC said the project is part of its commitment to responsible development. Its engineering expertise also comes in handy with the building of the reef structures.

The project was also designed with input from the public, such as Friends of the Marine Park Community.

Prof Chou said that he was excited by the size and scaleability of the project.

Stressing the the importance of sustaining marine biodiversity in the face of rapid urbanisation and climate change pointing out that 60 per cent of Singapore's natural reef area has already been lost due to development.

He added that sedimentation has also compressed the coral growth zone. Corals previously grew at water depths in excess of 12m, but are now restricted to around depths of 8m because sunlight, which the corals need to survive, does not penetrate deeper.

Dr Tun added that active intervention is needed to sustain marine biodiversity. Giving one example, she said that that researchers found a specimen from the rare coral species, Stylophora pistillata, in 2006, and monitored its growth in the wild. Unfortunately, the coral died in 2010.

"It showed us that we needed to step in", Dr Tun said.

Nparks has managed to breed six offspring of another rare coral species, Gardineroseris planulata, in the nursery.

The announcement coincides with the start of NPark's Biodiversity week. Members of the public are invited to the Festival Of Biodiversity on 2 and 3 June, at the open space between Tampines MRT and Tampines mall. A prototype of the artificial reef will be on display.

Sisters’ Islands Marine Park to get Singapore’s biggest artificial reef by the year end
CHEN LIN Today Online 17 May 18;

SINGAPORE — Sisters' Island Marine Park will be home to the Republic's largest artificial reef by the end of this year.

The project is jointly launched by JTC and the National Parks Board (NParks) to support Singapore's Year of Climate Action 2018 on Thursday (May 17). It will see the marine park get an additional 500 sq m of reef area to support existing habitat enhancement and reef restoration efforts to conserve marine biodiversity.


The red-boxed area is where the first artificial reef structures will be placed. Source: JTC.


The artificial reef, covering an area slightly bigger than a basketball court, will be formed by pre-fabricated concrete structures about 10m tall that will be sunk in the waters of the park.

Occupying the entire water column from sub-surface to the seafloor, the structures, which are the size of three-storey terrace houses, are designed to provide numerous and unique habitat niches for a wide variety of marine life.

Recycled rocks will also be attached to their surfaces to increase surface complexity and promote the growth of coral, which will in turn attract fish and other sea life.

The artificial reefs are also designed to be self-sustaining, requiring minimal or no maintenance.

It is hoped that the seafloor, which is currently mostly bare with sandy substrate, can turn into a thriving marine ecosystem.

The structures, which would sit on the seabed without piling or major works, are conceptualised to minimise impact to the existing marine environment.

The project's proposed site was chosen in consultation with relevant government agencies, academic experts and members of the Friends of the Marine Park community.

JTC, which is marking its 50th anniversary this year, is contributing its engineering expertise to support NPark's work in marine reef conservation.

And JTC and NParks' aim is to double the artificial reef areas created at Sisters' Islands to 1,000 sq m by 2030.

They hope the artificial reef would also provide opportunities for various research initiatives to be implemented as well as serve as test beds for new technologies to study coral reef resilience.

For example, they could be a platform for transplanting corals that have been grown in the nursery, and some of these may include locally rare species, such as Gardineroseris planulata.

While the public can access dive trails at the marine park during designated dive windows, NParks said there are no plans to include the artificial reef into the trails, as they need areas that are managed and monitored, for the healthy growth of corals.

Coral at the marine park have been bleaching due to climate change, and can only be accessed only during designated dive windows to protect the reefs.

Addressing concerns that artificial reefs may cause pollution to seawater and their ineffectiveness in increasing biodiversity, Mr John Kiong, deputy director of JTC's Engineering and Operations Group, said the main material used, concrete, has been shown to support marine biodiversity.

Furthermore, coral reef scientist Chou Loke Ming from the National University of Singapore said that while it is true that artificial reefs can attract fishes from other coral reefs initially, after a few years, the fishes will redistribute and establish their own populations on various reefs.

"So (the presence of artificial reef) does not lower the population on the natural reefs," Professor Chou added.

Such active intervention is needed to sustain marine biodiversity, said Dr Karenne Tun, director (coastal and marine) at NParks' National Biodiversity Centre.

Citing an example of how researchers discovered a rare species of coral not seen in local waters for a very long time in 2006, despite active monitoring, it bleached and died in 2010.

"That was when we realised it is not just about monitoring, it is about active intervention," Dr Tun said.

The project is launched in conjunction with NPark's Biodiversity Week. For more information on the series of events, visit www.nparks.gov.sg/biodiversityweek.

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