Best of our wild blogs: 29 Jan 19

29-30 Jan: Eco-fest at NUS UTown 2019
Green Drinks Singapore

CRL Phase One to open in 2029 with 12 stations – Channel NewsAsia
Love our MacRitchie Forest

Chinese New Year Resolution – Let’s ‘KonMari’ our lifestyle for the environment!
Mei Lin NEO

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Malaysia: Forest connectivity crucial to survival of Sunda clouded leopard, say experts

Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 27 Jan 19;

KOTA KINABALU: Lack of forest connectivity in Sabah threatens the vulnerable Sunda clouded leopard.

Even though Sabah is a stronghold of the species, Dr Andrew Hearn of Oxford University’s wildlife research unit said it is found at very low population densities.

There are only one to five animals for every 100sq km of forest.

“Such rarity, coupled with the fact that their forest home is shrinking and becoming increasingly isolated may expose these beautiful cats to the negative effects of population isolation, as individual animals struggle to disperse across the landscape,” he said in a joint statement.

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Malaysia: 1,200 reef balls deployed to conserve marine life in Sarawak waters

Goh Pei Pei New Straits Times 28 Jan 19;

KUCHING: The Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) placed 1,200 reef balls in the Belawai-Paloh waters and Miri-Sibuti Coral Reefs National Park last year to conserve the environment and marine resources.

SFC chief executive officer Zolkipli Mohamad Aton said the flagship project was aimed at supporting turtle conservation and marine life protection.

“This year, we have identified an area in Kuala Lawas for the same purpose (reef ball deployment). However, we are still finalising the details,” he said at a media appreciation luncheon.

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Indonesia: Dozens killed as bad weather continues to loom across the country

The Jakarta Post 28 Jan 19;

Hydrometeorological disasters such as floods, landslides and strong winds have hit several areas across Indonesia. Dozens of people have been killed and thousands displaced in the last week.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) warned that according to rainfall patterns in the last 20 years, January and February were the peak months for hydrometeorological disasters.

“The rainy season has begun in almost all regions in Indonesia, with a tendency for extreme rain,” BMKG spokesman Taufan Maulana told The Jakarta Post on Monday. “There are also other factors, such as tropical cyclones, problems with urban spatial planning and the government’s readiness to minimize the impact of extreme weather.”

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Jan 19

Open for registration – Love MacRitchie Walk with NUS Toddycats! on 9 February 2019 (Sat)
Love our MacRitchie Forest

Return of the Angled Castor
Butterflies of Singapore

The less known tales of the web
Love our MacRitchie Forest

The Idyllic Days of Changi Creek and Villages
Remember Singapore

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Wild boar euthanised after accident with lorry in Bukit Batok West

Timothy Goh Straits Times 26 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE - A wild boar was euthanised after suffering spinal injuries in an accident with a lorry in Bukit Batok West on Thursday night (Jan 24).

This is the second reported fatal accident between a lorry and a wild boar this month, with a similar incident less than two weeks ago in Punggol.

The wife of a motorist who witnessed Thursday's accident sent a video of the injured boar to citizen journalism website Stomp.

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Malaysia: Research centre restoring giant clams into the ocean

Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 26 Jan 19;

KOTA KINABALU: A research centre here aspires to educate more people to leave natural filter species alone for sustainable marine ecosystem.

Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC) ambassador Lizio Godfrey Mosigil was referring to giant clams which play a role in filtering the system, just like mangrove forests and other similar species.

“If Giant Clams are missing from the system, it will leave some impact or different chain reactions.

“That is why the centre has put focus on propagating and putting back giant clams into the ocean,” he said.

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Indonesia: 90 percent of orangutans live outside preserved forests - BKSDA

Antara 25 Jan 19;

Pontianak, (ANTARA News) - Some 90 percent of the orangutan population are living outside preserved forests and are exposed to conflicts with humans, according to the Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of West Kalimantan.

"To protect the orangutan population, we need a joint commitment to preserve its habitat," an official of the agency Lidia Lili stated here on Friday.

Orangutans are currently only found in the rainforests of Kalimantan and Sumatra, and some in Malaysia, Lili pointed out.

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Indonesia: South Sulawesi hit by worst flooding in last decade

Fardah Assegaf Antara 26 Jan 19;

Jakarta (ANTARA News)- The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned of possible flooding as the country is currently in the peak rainy season, but the devastation caused by widespread flooding and landslides hitting South Sulawesi has shocked the nation.

Flash floods believed to be the worst in the last decade affected 106 villages in 61 sub-districts in 13 districts and cities in South Sulawesi Province. The 13 districts and cities were Jeneponto, Maros, Gowa, Makassar, Soppeng, Wajo, Barru, Pangkep, Sidrap, Bantaeng, Takalar, Selayar and Sinjai.

So far, 59 were dead, 25 missing, 47 injured and 6.596 displaced due to flooding and landslides in the province. Besides, the natural disasters damaged 10 bridges, 79 homes, two traditional markets, 12 places of worship, 22 school buildings, and submerged 4,857 homes, as well as 11,876 hectares of rice fields.

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Jan 19

Night Walk At Pasir Ris Park (25 Jan 2019)
Beetles@SG BLOG

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Nature parks and reserves to receive boost against climate change

NICHOLAS KHONG Today Online 26 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE — When Rifle Range Nature Park reopens to the public next year, visitors will return to a forest that is more resilient to climate change and caters better to native animals such as the Sunda Pangolin.

They will see a larger number of native plants such as Kumpang trees.

There may even be a chance for them to see the Common Palm Civet climbing new aerial rope bridges across Rifle Range Road, or the pangolin crossing beneath it using underground tunnels.

Rifle Range Nature Park is one of the eight nature parks buffering the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Nature Reserve that the National Parks Board (NParks) will restore over the next 10 years.

Announcing the Forest Restoration Action Plan on Friday (Jan 25), NParks said that it will also restore disturbed patches within the two nature reserves, which cover more than 3,000ha — around 4 per cent of Singapore’s land area — and are home to around 40 per cent of Singapore’s native flora and fauna.

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Turn trash into treasure, says Masagos

Generating new economic value from waste the way forward for Singapore, region: Minister
Chang Ai-Lien Straits Times 26 Jan 19;

Transforming trash into treasure is the way forward to safeguard the future of Singapore and the region, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli at a key environment meeting yesterday.

Countries need to embrace a new form of economic growth and adopt circular economy approaches, and not be purely reliant on resource exploitation, he said.

"By transforming waste into resources, we will generate new economic value from something that would have been thrown away," he said, pointing out that new industries can emerge where skilled workers design innovative products and manufacturing processes for waste.

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