Vegetation fire in Marina East "the size of two football fields" brought under control

Joanna Seow Straits Times 12 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE - A large fire broke out near East Coast Park on Monday night (Aug 12), affecting an area the size of two football fields.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it responded to a vegetation fire near Marina East Drive that was "approximately the size of two football fields" at about 8.50pm.

About 50 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles were deployed, SCDF said in a Facebook post. It surrounded the fire with seven water jets and brought it under control at 10.30pm.

There are no reported injuries, said SCDF.

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815 birds seized from Malaysia-registered bus at Woodlands Checkpoint; largest haul in 5 years

Prisca Ang Straits Times 11 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE - Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) found more than 800 ornamental birds in a Malaysia-registered bus at Woodlands Checkpoint on Saturday morning (Aug 10), the largest haul in recent years.

The bus was stopped for a security check when it arrived at the checkpoint at 7am.

ICA officers noticed that the rear tyres of the bus had been modified and heard chirping sounds coming from within the bus, ICA and the National Parks Board (NParks) said in a statement on Sunday.

When they checked the modified compartments above the rear tyres, they found 15 containers with a total of 815 birds hidden in the compartments.

This is the largest seizure of ornamental birds in Singapore in the past five years.

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Malaysia: Most number of hotspots in Indonesia

RAZAK AHMAD The Star 12 Aug 19;

PETALING JAYA: Nearly 80% of hotspots detected in the Asean region over the past 29 days

are located in Indonesia, figures from the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) show.

The hotspots caused by forest fires and open burning are driving the current haze situation that is affecting parts of the region, including Malaysia.

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Malaysia: Haze reaching hazardous levels in various states

SHARON LING, IVAN LOH and HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM The Star 11 Aug 19;

PETALING JAYA: The haze hovering over the country finally breached the hazardous level when the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Miri, Sarawak, reached almost 400 due to peat fires there.The town has seen API readings above 300 since early yesterday morning.

Another area with an “unhealthy” API reading was Johan Setia in Klang, Selangor.

A check with the Department of Environment’s (DoE) API website showed that the reading at the Institute Latihan Perindustrian (ILP) monitoring station in Miri was 390 as of 5pm yesterday.

Another monitoring station in SK Kuala Baram 2 recorded an “unhealthy” API reading of 137 as of 5pm, having seen a steady “unhealthy” reading since early morning.

Both the ILP and SK Kuala Baram 2 stations are located in the Kuala Baram district of Miri.

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Indonesia: Satellites confirm presence of 192 hotspots on Sumatra Island

Antara 12 Aug 19;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - The Terra and Aqua satellites detected 192 hotspots indicating forest fires across Sumatra Island on Monday morning, a significant spike, from 13 hotspots on Sunday afternoon.

Of the total 192 hotspots, 156 were found in Riau Province, nine in South Sumatra, eight in Jambi, seven in Lampung, four each in North Sumatra and Bangka Belitung, three in Riau Islands, and one in West Sumatra, Sanya Gautami, analyst at the Pekanbaru meteorology station, remarked here on Monday.

In Riau, the detected hotspots comprised 40 in Pelalawan, 29 in Siak, 21 in Rohan Hilir, 15 in Indragiri Hulu, seven each in Meranti Island and Bengkali, six in Kampar, and two each in Kuantan Singingi and Dumai.

Of the 192 hotspots, 116 were identified as fire spots, with 28 detected in Pelalawan, 22 in Siak, 19 in Indragiri Hilir, and 15 in Rohan Hilir.

Haze lowered visibility in Pekanbaru to 2.5 kilometers on Monday at 10 a.m. local time.

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Malaysia: MCMC to assist in combating illegal business that is harming endangered animals

MEI MEI CHU The Star 12 Aug 19;

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has joined in the fight against illegal online wildlife trade.

It has voiced its commitment to help the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) and the police to investigate Amsyar Kejora, a wildlife trader who operated on numerous social media platforms.

“The MCMC will assist Perhilitan by providing technical assistance such as website blocking, and engaging with the platform providers as a way of controlling spread of misinformation, ” the commission said in an interview yesterday.

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Malaysia: Suitable area in Sabah sought to rehabilitate wild animals

The Star 12 Aug 19;

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is identifying a suitable area in the state to rehabilitate wild animals in a bid for better wildlife conservation.

Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said he has instructed state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew to identify areas that would be suitable for such conservation purposes, including to breed near-extinct Sumatran rhinos and pygmy elephants.

Thanking the Indonesian government for their pledge to help save the Sumatran rhinos by agreeing to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this purpose, he said it was the only move available to save the species from extinction.

For the state government’s part, he said they want to emulate Africa, where some 1, 000 acres of land has been set aside for elephants to roam freely.

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Best of our wild blogs: 8 -10 Aug 2019

Fish Expedition Day 8
wild shores of singapore

Fish Expedition Day 9 - National Day!
wild shores of singapore

Fish Expedition Day 10
wild shores of singapore

11 Aug (Sun): Registration opens for Sisters Islands Intertidal walks in September 2019
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

A Public Forum by SIBiol on "Environmental Education in a Changing World"
Psychedelic Nature

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Haze is less likely in Singapore for now, says NEA, as number of hotspots dropped

Clara Chong Straits Times 10 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE - The Republic experienced brief showers in the morning on Saturday (Aug 10) with prevailing winds blowing mainly from the south-southeast.

The number of hotspots detected in Sumatra dropped from 68 to 36 due to cloudiness. Localised smoke plumes from hotspots in Riau continued to be observed.

As of 5pm, the 24-hr PSI was in the moderate range, between 62-67.

Showers are to be expected over parts of Singapore on Sunday, where prevailing winds are expected to blow from the southeast or south. The 24-hr PSI range is expected to remain in the moderate range while the 1-hr PM 2.5 readings for the next 24 hours is expected to be in Band I (normal).

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Recycling bins are for recyclables, not junk

IKEA’s move to give 18,000 homes a free recycling bin might help raise awareness, but won’t do anything to improve Singapore’s recycling rate if we don’t learn how to recycle right, says CNA's Nazurah Razali.
Nazurah Razali Channel NewsAsia 9 Aug 19;

SINGAPORE: In a move to help Singapore residents recycle regularly, the National Environment Agency (NEA) announced last week that 18,000 households in Singapore will get free IKEA-sponsored recycling bins over the next few months.

While this move has been welcomed by many, the reality is that it is unlikely to do much to move the needle on our recycling rate unless we get to grips with what can or cannot go into recycling bins.

Unfortunately, many people in Singapore are terrible at recycling. While there are some who are better at sorting out trash and recyclables, most of us need a lesson in the basic skills.
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In April, a survey by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) and NEA found that many Singaporeans still do not know what cannot be recycled.

Out of 2,003 households surveyed, 67 per cent thought that soiled paper food packaging can be recycled and almost half thought that tissue paper can be placed in blue recycling bins or chutes.

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Malaysia: API readings very unhealthy in Miri, unhealthy in Klang

The Star 10 Aug 19;

PETALING JAYA: Miri in Sarawak recorded a "very unhealthy" Air Pollutant Index (API) reading, while in Klang the air quality has been determined to be "unhealthy".

A check with the Department of Environment's API website showed that the Miri station recorded an API level of 391 as of 2pm on Saturday (Aug 10).

It had been logging a steady "very unhealthy" readings from 2am.

SK Kuala Baram 2 in Sarawak had a "unhealthy" API level of 135. It had a steady "unhealthy" API reading since 6am.

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Malaysia: Dengue cases at an all-time high

LOH FOON FONG The Star 10 Aug 19;

KUALA LUMPUR: Dengue fever cases in Malaysia reached an all time high, hitting nearly 80, 000 cases and 113 deaths reported from January until Aug 3.

Deputy Health Minister Lee Boon Chye expects the number to hit 150, 000 cases by year end if all out efforts are not taken to keep it under control.

The last highest number of cases recorded was in 2015 which recorded 120, 836 cases with 336 deaths.

The figures between January and Aug 3 is almost double that of last year’s figures for the same period – 42, 496 cases with 70 deaths.

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