Australia's capital cities face water restrictions as dams near 50%

Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have seen water levels hit near-decade lows after a hot summer and dry autumn
Naaman Zhou The Guardian 6 May 19;

Sydney, Darwin, Brisbane and Melbourne are all facing the prospect of dams below 50% capacity after low rainfall and high temperatures across the country.

In Sydney, inflows are at their lowest since 1940. Greater Sydney’s 11 dams were at a combined 55% capacity on Sunday – compared to 73% at the same time last year.

Sydney activated its desalination plant in January, when dam levels dropped below 60%, but levels continue to drop 0.4% a week. Stricter water restrictions will come into effect if the level drops below 50%. The last time Sydney’s dam levels neared 50% was in 2011.

In the Northern Territory, the Darwin river dam received its lowest-ever rainfall in March, as the territory recorded its driest wet season in 27 years. On Sunday, Darwin’s dam was at 76% capacity, compared with 98% last year.

In Melbourne, dam levels were at 51% on Monday, compared with 59% last year and 61% the year before.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 5 May 19

International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (Sat 21 Sep 2019): Registration for Organisers is open!
News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

Call for Toddycats Volunteer Festival of Biodiversity 2019 – signups are still open!
Toddycats!

A Walk At Pasir Ris Park (26 Apr 2019)
Beetles@SG BLOG

Read more!

Why doesn’t recycling rope in the karang guni?

Singapore’s National Recycling Programme could be boosted if our rag-a-bone men were given a new lease of life as employed ambassadors, says Kavickumar Muruganathan.
Kavickumar Muruganathan Channel NewsAsia 5 May 19;

SINGAPORE: On Saturday (Apr 27), Nee Soon East, led by Member of Parliament Louis Ng, pledged to eliminate the use of plastic disposables from meetings and events over the next two years.

The community also announced a range of efforts to curb waste as part of its newly launched zero-waste masterplan, including innovative ways for residents to communicate with each other when they have excess food to give away through the use of Telegram.

Such local efforts to reduce waste ought to be commended. Unfortunately, recycling woes continue to plague Singapore in its designated year of climate change action.

Despite efforts to improve awareness, our overall recycling rate dipped slightly from 61 per cent in 2017 to 60 per cent in 2018, according to statistics from the National Environment Agency (NEA).

While the household recycling rate increased marginally from 21 per cent in 2017 to 22 per cent in 2018, these numbers need to show a significant improvement for Singapore to meet its 30 per cent recycling rate target by 2030.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NATIONAL RECYCLING PROGRAMME?

Read more!

HDB unveils plans for new park in Bidadari estate

Channel NewsAsia 5 May 19;

SINGAPORE: A new park will be developed to form a “green lung” in the upcoming Bidadari estate, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) announced on Sunday (May 5).

The 10-hectare Bidadari Park will feature a lake, a heritage walk, experiential trails and a play area for children.

In designing the park, the team drew inspiration from the fictional Hundred Acre Wood in the Winnie-the-Pooh children’s series, said HDB.

“The team behind the planning and design of the park saw the opportunity to retain the wooded and rustic nature of Bidadari and to create a unique park experience for visitors,” it added.

Read more!

Malaysia: ‘Brace for heatwave’

clarissa chung The Star 5 May 19;

PETALING JAYA: Thunderstorms are likely now especially in the evenings, but Malaysians should brace themselves for dry and hot weather with the onset of the southwest monsoon.

The Malaysian Meteorological Depart­ment (MetMalaysia) said the southwest monsoon is due now and expected to last till September.

The winds during the southwest monsoon period would lead to a drier climate and less rain cloud formation, its director-general Datuk Alui Bahari said.

As such, heatwaves and dry spells are forecast to take place in many parts of the country.

Read more!

Malaysia: Man frees dolphin from fishing net in Sungai Kilim

Bernama New Straits Times 4 May 19;

LANGKAWI: A tourist boat skipper saved a dolphin that was entangled in a fishing net at the Sungai Kilim estuary here on Thursday (May 2).

Afiq Ali, 27, said during the 9am incident, he and a friend were heading towards the Teluk Mempelam and Gua Cherita beaches from the Sungai Kilim tourist jetty.

“About two kilometres from the jetty, I saw a wooden stick, used to fasten fishing nets, moving slowly in front of the boat.

"At the same time, I saw two or three dolphins swimming nearby.

Read more!

Malaysia: New oil spill detected off Tanjung Balau

Mohd Sabran Md Sani New Straits Times 3 May 19;

KOTA TINGGI: Another oil spill, estimated to weigh 60 tonnes, was detected in the waters off Tanjung Balau here on Thursday evening.

Southern Region (Johor) Marine Department assistant marine officer Roslee Ibrahim said the new oil spill was captured via satellite, and the images were forwarded by a United Kingdom-based non-governmental organisation.

“The oil spill was detected at 7pm yesterday (Thursday).

“The matter was relayed to the Johor Marine Department director Dickson Dollah at 8pm.

Read more!

Indonesia: 10 critically endangered Javan leopards spotted in West Java

THE JAKARTA POST 4 May 19;

A recent field survey conducted by environmental organization Conservation International (CI) Indonesia, in collaboration with the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BBKSDA) and supported by Chevron, has spotted 10 endangered Javan leopards in Guntur Papandayan conservation forest, West Java.

The leopard sightings were caught on 60 camera traps previously set up by CI Indonesia for a two-year field survey, from 2016 to 2018.

Eighty-three images captured by the cameras show that the leopards roam the conservation forest in the morning from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and at night from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Read more!

Carbon tax best way to cut greenhouse gas emissions: IMF

AFP Yahoo News 4 May 19;

Washington (AFP) - At $70 per ton of carbon dioxide, a carbon tax would be the most efficient means of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, according to an International Monetary Fund report published Friday.

But for the moment, carbon taxes remain unpopular, particularly in France, where plans to increase it to 55 euros (or $61.60) from 44.60 euros recently ignited the Yellow Vest protest movement.

The French government was forced to suspend the plan in the face of popular revolt.

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 by more than 200 countries, aims to cap overall increases in global temperatures at two degrees centigrade above the pre-industrial era.

"The 2C target would require cutting emissions by roughly a third by 2030 and a global carbon price of around $70 per ton," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Vitor Gaspar, the fund's head of fiscal affairs, said in a joint blog post.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 3 May 19

5 May: Registration opens for FREE St. John's Island tour on 9 Jun (Sun)
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

Join us as volunteer educators at Festival of Biodiversity!
News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

Read more!

Singapore shoppers given tool to choose products using ethical palm oil

Michael Taylor Reuters 2 May 19;

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A new online shopping tool gives Singaporeans the option of buying products made using ethical palm oil, a non-profit behind the scheme said on Thursday, as it looks to tackle the region’s haze fires.

Launched by the Singapore-based People’s Movement to Stop Haze (PM Haze) and advertising agency Havas Group, EcoCart is a Google Chrome ‘plugin’ that allows online shoppers to identify items that use sustainability produced palm oil.

As well as flagging items that do not contain sustainable palm oil, the tool suggests similar products that do.

Read more!

Malaysian minister criticises 'sensationalised' signs on palm oil at Singapore Zoo

NAVENE ELANGOVAN Today Online 2 May 19;

SINGAPORE — A Malaysian government minister has used a speech in Singapore to take a swipe at what she called “sensationalised” signs at Singapore Zoo that deal with palm oil production and deforestation.

Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok called for solidarity among the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) on the issue, in a keynote address at the 6th Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources, a forum organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, a think-tank.

She said that Malaysia is working hard to create a sustainable palm oil industry and “it is sad to hear that sentiments against palm oil have also taken root in Singapore”.

“For example, the Singapore Zoo has on several occasions created sensationalised displays on palm oil and deforestation at its orangutan’s enclosures,” she told the audience at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore.

“These damage the image of palm oil producing countries within this region despite progressive efforts towards sustainability and wildlife conservation. In this case, Singapore Zoo acted possibly in haste and (is) reflecting emotions expressed by many ill-informed visitors.”

Read more!