84-year-old woman dies from dengue in 5th fatal case this year

Channel NewsAsia 20 Jun 19;

SINGAPORE: An 84-year-old woman died from dengue last week, marking the fifth such death in Singapore this year, according to a joint statement by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Jun 20).

The woman, who died last Friday, lived within an active dengue cluster at Lorong 6 Geylang.

As of Monday, 108 dengue cases have been reported in the cluster at Geylang Road, said NEA and MOH.

Since it was notified of the cluster on Apr 26, NEA said it had detected and destroyed 64 mosquito breeding habitats.

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Malaysia: Johor rules out Sg Kim Kim repeat following Pasir Gudang air pollution incident

mohd farhaan shah The Star 21 Jun 19;

PASIR GUDANG: The Johor government has ruled out a repeat of the Sungai Kim Kim incident after 15 individuals, including 13 students, were admitted to hospital following breathing and vomiting difficulties.

State Health, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said the authorities have opened an operation centre at the Pasir Gudang Indoor Stadium, following the latest incident on Thursday (June 20).

“This incident has nothing to do with Sungai Kim Kim because the school is located some 6km away and so far, the Department of Environment (DOE) has found no illegal dumping here.

“The Fire and Rescue Department and DOE will lead the operation team, where they would inspect air quality within a 2km radius around the affected area,” he told a press conference at the operation centre here Friday (June 21).

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Indonesia to face drier dry season this year

Antara 21 Jun 19;

"NTB and NTT are harvesting rainwater for farming, hence they need to be supported by irrigation water," he said.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Forecasting that this year's dry season will be drier as compared to that of the previous year, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has reminded the regional authorities to intensify vigilance over possible forest fires and droughts.

"Regions which were affected by droughts during the June, July and August period of last year, should be vigilant this year," Adi Ripalsi, head of the agency's climate information analysis sub-unit, said here on Friday, adding, "Last year, the precipitation during the dry season was less than 20 millimeters a month, and this year, it can go lower."

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Indonesia: Flooding inundates 40 hectares of rice fields in Mukomuko, Bengkulu

Antara 20 Jun 19;

Mukomuko, Bengkulu (ANTARA) - Flooding caused by continuous torrential rains resulted in a local river overflowing its bank and inundating some 40 hectares of rice fields in Pondok Baru Village, Selagan Raya Sub-district, Mukomuko District, Bengkulu Province.

In spite of the flooding, two-month-old paddy plants in the affected rice fields were not destroyed, Sugiyanto, an official of the Mukomuko agriculture office, confirmed here on Thursday.

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Indonesia's two new biosphere reserves recognized by UNESCO

Antara 21 Jun 19;

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Tojo Una-Una Togean, Central Sulawesi, and Saleh-Moyo-Tambora (Samota), West Nusa Tenggara, were two new biosphere reserves recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the Paris congregation, France, June 19.

At the 31st Session of the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Program (ICC-MAB), Tojo Una-Una and Saleh-Moyo-Tambora Togean were the 15th and 16th biosphere reserves in Indonesia to be added to UNESCO's list.

"The Togean Tojo Una-Una Biosphere Reserve spans an area of 2,187,632 hectares in the heart of the Coral Triangle that has the highest coral diversity in the world as well as mangrove forests and small island ecosystems," IESCO-MAB UNESCO President Enny Sudarmonowati, also deputy for life sciences at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), noted in a written statement received in Jakarta on Friday.

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Thailand's $13 Billion Plan Could Woo 65 Million Tourists Yearly

Natnicha Chuwiruch Bloomberg 21 Jun 19;

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Thailand is already struggling to cope with the environmental impact of a tourism boom that’s expected to lure 40 million visitors this year. The influx is on course to hit 65 million a decade from now, signaling an even bigger challenge ahead.

Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy plans to pour about $13 billion into expanding airport capacity and connecting major terminals with high-speed railways. As a result, foreign tourist numbers could jump more than 60% by 2029 to about the size of the U.K. population, projections from The World Travel & Tourism Council show.

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Canada becomes first G7 country to ban shark fin imports

Leyland Cecco The Guardian 21 Jun 19;

It was on a family visit to Hong Kong that Kristyn Wong-Tam noticed her uncle – a well-regarded chef – was the only person at the table not touching a bowl of shark fin soup.

When he explained how fins are hacked from struggling sharks, before their bodies are tossed back into the water, the rest of the family soon lost their appetite.

“We didn’t understand how the food came to the table,” recalled Wong-Tam. “But it made me think about whether I wanted to eat it, if my uncle – who was actually preparing the food – didn’t want to.”

The experience became a pivotal moment for Wong-Tam: as a Toronto city councillor, she went on to lead efforts to stamp out the sale of shark fins in Canada.

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Best of our wild blogs: 20 Jun 19

Three-Clam day at Pulau Jong
wild shores of singapore

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Indonesia: Juvenile elephant initially thought dead released back into jungle

stephanie lee The Star 19 Jun 19;


KOTA KINABALU: A seriously injured juvenile male pygmy elephant thought to be already dead in May has been nurtured to reasonable health and released back into the wild.

Though wildlife rangers are not completely sure it has fully recovered, they have high hopes it will survive and be reunited with its herd.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga (pic) said the elephant was in bad shape when it was discovered at an estate in Sabah’s central Telupid district on May 22, and could not even stand.

He said the male elephant believed aged between five and eight, was immediately taken in for medical treatment.

“When the elephant was found, he could not even stand, there was a huge hole on its back and, at that time, there was a serious infection,” he said when contacted Wednesday (June 19).

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Indonesia: BKSDA rescues trapped, injured female elephant calf in East Aceh

Antara 19 Jun 19;

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA) - A team rescued a trapped elephant calf that contracted infection from injuries in a forest area in Batu Sumbang Village, Simpang Jernih Sub-district, East Aceh District, Aceh Province, Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Office (BKSDA) stated.

"The trapped elephant calf is a female. She is about a year old," Sapto Aji Prabowo, head of the Aceh BKSDA, remarked here on Wednesday.

The calf's left front leg got wounded following contact with a metal wire mesh.

"She has contracted a serious infection. Moreover, the elephant calf is suffering from dehydration. She got separated from her herd," Prabowo noted.

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Indonesia: Konawe flooding's impact wide-ranging, with 22,573 affected

Antara 19 Jun 19;

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that flooding in Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi Province, has affected 5,847 families comprising 22,573 people in 24 sub-districts with 166 villages devastated.

Torrential downpour triggered flooding that resulted in the rivers of Konaweeha, Lahambuti, and Rawa Aopa overflowing their banks, BNPB spokesperson Rita Rosita remarked here on Wednesday.

Information from the Konawe disaster mitigation office on Tuesday indicated that the sub-districts of Pondidaha, Wonggeduku, and West Wonggeduku are still submerged in floodwaters of between 30 centimeters and a meter in height.

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Indonesia to restore 200,000 hectares of peatland this year

Reuters 19 Jun 19;

JAKARTA, June 19 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Peatland Restoration Agency said on Wednesday that it aims to restore 200,000 hectares of peatland in 2019, as it races to reach a 1 million hectare restoration target by the end of next year.

The agency was set up in 2016 to restore carbon-rich peatland damaged by fires in seven provinces on Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua islands in 2015.

Indonesia was subsequently blamed for one of the worst ever peat and forest fire crises that blanketed much of Southeast Asia in thick haze and caused billions of dollars of economic losses.

Up to 2018, the agency had restored around 679,000 hectares of peatland, Nazir Foead, head of the Peat Restoration Agency, said.

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