Malaysia: Green turtle found dead at Pohon Batu beach; cause of death unknown

Bernama New Straits Times 9 Feb 19;

LABUAN: A green sea turtle was found dead at Pohon Batu beach here, with portions of its intestines allegedly taken out from its abdomen.

The most endangered and threatened species of the sea turtle was found by a villager at Kg Pohon Batu on Friday morning and it was subsequently reported to the Fisheries Department at 2.15pm the same day.

The discovery came as a shock to the Labuan Marine Park, turtle conservationists and villagers, who urged for a thorough investigation to be carried out on any elements of illegal hunting of sea turtles for eggs and meat.

Labuan Fisheries Department director Faizal Suhaili Ibrahim told Bernama that based on a preliminary investigation, there seemed to be no ‘foul play’ in the turtle’s death, but assured that thorough investigation would be conducted.

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Asia's palm oil industry braces for backlash at home

Environmental concerns no longer an issue only in Western markets
SARAH HILTON and ERI SUGIURA, Nikkei 9 Feb 19;

A worker collects fruit at a palm plantation in Malaysia, one of the world's biggest producers of palm oil. (Getty Images)
TOKYO -- Signs that a consumer backlash against palm oil is spreading to Asia has prompted companies in the region to take action, from pledging to adopt sustainable sourcing to joining international certification standards.

One of Japan's largest supermarket chains Aeon has pledged to source only sustainable palm oil for its private brand by 2020, while Chinese membership in one of the world's most stringent certification regimes has soared in the last five years.

These moves come amid an ongoing spat between Malaysia and the European Union over imports of palm oil for use in bio fuels. The environmental impact of palm oil -- which is used in consumers goods ranging from toothpaste to snacks to cosmetics -- has long been a hot-button issue in the West, where it has sparked calls for boycott and other action against the industry.

A similar backlash in Asia could hit palm oil growers and consumer goods companies even harder given the scale of the market. While the EU consumes around 10% of the world's palm oil, the top four Asian markets -- India, Indonesia, China and Malaysia -- accounted for nearly 43% of consumption by volume in 2017.

Malaysia and Indonesia maybe have the most to lose if Asia sours on the commodity -- the two together account for 85% of global output.

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Best of our wild blogs: 9 Feb 19

Crocodiles Uncovered: Read this if you have a fear of reptiles
BES Drongos

Register now for the 2019 Biodiversity Challenge!
Biodiversity Friends Forum

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In land-scarce Southeast Asia, solar panels float on water

Rina Chandran Reuters 8 Feb 19;

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Solar power companies in Southeast Asian that are competing for land with agriculture, industry and expanding populations have found an innovative alternative: placing floating panels in lakes, dams, reservoirs and the sea.

Earlier this week, the state utility Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) said it will submit a proposal for a 45-megawatt floating solar plant in the Sirindhorn dam in the country’s northeast.

EGAT plans to invest in about 16 such projects across nine dams in the country, deputy governor Thepparat Theppitak told reporters.

Elsewhere in the region, Singapore is developing one of the world’s largest offshore floating solar systems in the Strait of Johor to the north of the island.

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Malaysia: Whale shark starved to death after consuming plastic bag, says Sabah Wildlife Dept

Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 8 Feb 19;



KOTA KINABALU: A dead whale shark that washed ashore at Menumbok beach in Kuala Penyu district, about 155 kilometres away from here, was believed to have starved to death after consuming a large plastic bag.

The carcass of the male juvenile whale shark was found on Feb 5, by a teacher who happened to be jogging along nearby Tanjung Aru beach.

Sabah Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Rescue Unit was alerted and rushed to the scene to conduct necropsy. The team was shocked to find a plastic bag, measuring 46cm in length and 32cm in width, inside the shark's stomach.

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Malaysia: Firefighters use water bombing against raging Gunung Baling Fire

Bernama New Straits Times 8 Feb 19;

ALOR STAR: Firefighters are conducting water bombing to put out a raging fire on Gunung Baling.

A Mi-17 helicopter is being used to conduct the water bombing to put out the fire which started on Wednesday evening and has spread across 2.8 hectares, Baling Fire and Rescue Station chief Mohd Jamil Mat Daud said today.

He said that since the firefighting operation resumed at 8am today, seven to eight instances of water bombing had been completed.

“The weather this morning is fine. It is feared that it will become hot in the afternoon. We are attempting to use the water bombing method to put out three more large spots of fires,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

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Indonesia dam burst raises alarm over unchecked forest clearing

Ian Morse Reuters 8 Feb 19;

MAKASSAR, Indonesia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In the Indonesian city of Makassar, where the rainy season often brings floods, Hasriani didn’t worry when a day-long downpour last month saw water rise to her knees by the time she had picked up her children from school for afternoon prayers.

But within an hour, the water level had climbed above her head, threatening to drown her family inside their home, already built a meter (3 ft) off the ground.

“It wasn’t caused by the rain - it was Bili-Bili!” said Hasriani, 30, referring to a dam completed in 1998 in order to prevent flooding, located 9 miles (14.5 km) away.

In late January, the dam overflowed, unleashing run-off from the mountains that swamped thousands of homes close to the city.

Disaster officials were shocked that one intense bout of rain could cause the dam to fail. But the provincial governor and environmental experts believe it could have been predicted.

Earth shaken loose by years of forest-felling in the mountains above the city had been washed down into the dam’s reservoir, they said, silting it up and displacing water.

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Australia: 'Hundreds of thousands' of cattle feared dead after floods

AFP Yahoo News 9 Feb 19;

Townsville (Australia) (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of cattle weakened from a severe drought are feared to have died in record-breaking floods in northeastern Australia, authorities said Friday, as they stepped up efforts to feed surviving livestock.

Incessant rains over an almost two-week period have flooded swathes of Queensland state, with the full scale of the devastation on drought-hit cattle stations becoming clearer as floodwaters recede.

"We are expecting hundreds of thousands in terms of stock losses," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Sydney.

"This will be heartbreaking to these communities that have been experiencing years of drought, only to see that turn into a torrential inundation which threatens now their very livelihoods in the complete other direction."

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Best of our wild blogs: 8 Feb 19

10 Feb: Registration opens for Sisters Islands Intertidal walks in Mar 2019
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

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Burning smell reported over several parts of eastern Singapore including Tampines, Bedok

Tee Zhuo Straits Times 8 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE - A strong burning smell has been reported over several parts of eastern Singapore on Friday morning (Feb 8), including Tampines, Bedok and Pasir Ris.

Mr Jon Lee, 45, who lives in Tampines, likened the smell to the haze or offerings being burnt during the Chinese seventh month.

"I was taking my son to school on the way to work at around 6am, and there was a strong burning smell. At 7am, when I dropped my son off in the East Coast area, it was still there," said Mr Lee, who works in sales.

He told The Straits Times that there was no burning smell when he reached his workplace in the west. He added that his colleague who lives in Bedok also described a similar burning smell.

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Malaysia: Introduced fish disrupts water, habitat quality of river

The fish had the potential to weaken the river- bank structure caused by their burrowing habit during spawning season.
Esther Landau New Straits Times 7 Feb 19;

KUALA LUMPUR: The presence of Amazon Sailfin Catfish or ‘Ikan Bandaraya’ could threaten the native fish species and affect water and habitat quality of the Malaysian rivers and lakes, said Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) School of Environmental and Natural Resources Sciences senior lecturer Dr Abdullah Samat.

Besides that, the fish had the potential to weaken the river- bank structure caused by their burrowing habit during spawning season, he added.

“This kind of fish does disrupt our aquatic ecosystem.”

The fish, from the South American continent, is imported as a ‘janitor’ fish for the aquariums and once they have outlived their purpose or gets too big, it’s thrown away.

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Indonesia: 'Future proofing' forests to protect orangutans

Helen Briggs, BBC News 7 Feb 19

A study has identified key tree species that are resilient to climate change and support critically endangered apes.

Planting them could help future proof rainforests, which are a key habitat for orangutans, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature - IUCN.

Researchers surveyed 250 plants in Indonesia's Kutai National Park.

Over 1,000 orangutans are thought to inhabit the park, as well as other rare animals such as the Malayan sun bear.

"Selecting which species to plant is a significant contribution to restoring the health of this ecosystem," said study co-author Douglas Sheil.

"Of course, the reasons why forest cover was lost in the first place must also be addressed for reforestation efforts to succeed."

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