Alarm Bells After Death of Tens of Sea Turtles in a Month

Patrick Mayoyo, The Nation (Nairobi) allafrica.com 12 Feb 08;

The killing of 28 sea turtles in less than a month on the Kenyan coast has raised the alarm among conservationists.

Initial investigations portray a catastrophe of international proportions.

The deaths were not only the highest number recorded on the Kenyan coast in less than a month but the biggest set-back to conservation efforts.

According to data compiled by both the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee (Kescom), 22 marine turtles have been killed at Vipingo and two at Kuruwitu both in Kilifi, three at Diani in Kwale and one in Mombasa last month.

The sea turtles are endangered species protected under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (Cites) that prohibits commercial trade in the animal and its parts.

The programme coordinator of Kescom, Mr Andrew Wamukota, said initial investigations into the matter had disclosed that all the dead turtles had been caught in fishing nets.

This has raised queries on the monitoring of fishing activities in the country as fishermen are supposed to comply not only with local fishing regulations but also international ones.

Mr Wamukota said although the gill nets in which the turtles are caught are not prohibited, fishermen were using them unprofessionally.

"Some of the nets stretch up to long distances and are turned into beach seines thereby resulting in them catching even turtles," he said.

He said following the alarming rate at which turtles had died at the Kenyan coast there's need to review the licensing of gill nets to prevent fishermen from using them unprofessionally.

Possible link

Mr Wamukota said they were investigating the possible link of fishermen from a neighbouring country in the scandal after two of them were arrested fishing in Kenya's territorial waters using a local fisherman's licence.

"The Fisheries Department is set to revoke the licence of the local fisherman as a deterrent to those who are encouraging such underhand fishing practices," he said.

Researches conducted by both the Fisheries Department and the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (Kemfri) show that apart from the threats posed to turtles by artisanal fishermen, trawling remains a big threat to the marine creatures.

Both studies reported a 70 per cent by-catch rate that includes turtles by trawlers and it established that Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) currently in use are not effective in the protection of the animals from trawling activities.

The research shows that there were a total of 18 cases of incidental capture of turtles in the trawl nets during the survey period.

The Current Status of Trawler Fishery of Malindi-Ungwana Bay survey recommends the development of appropriate bycatch reducer devices to curb incidental capture of young fish and turtles.

According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) the biggest threats to turtle conservation come from dynamite fishing, indiscriminate harvesting of eggs, conversion of the sandy areas where turtles nest to resorts and other commercial activities.

Coastal resources

Trade in turtle eggs has been a source of income for many fishing communities not only on the Kenyan coast but throughout the entire Indian Ocean region where most of them depend on coastal resources for livelihood.

The turtle egg is popular as a delicacy-with some believing it is an aphrodisiac while its shell is considered a choice material for decorative items among some coastal communities.

According to WWF, Southeast Asia is considered the world's biggest consumer of turtle eggs with Hong Kong, Singapore and Brunei being cited out as some of the leading markets.

Research has shown that although sea turtles have managed to survive natural hazards over the years they are now under severe threat from human activity.

It is because of these developments that the United Nations has put in place concerted efforts to save the endangered species.

Conservationists in the country have consequently put in place a number of initiatives aimed at creating awareness as part of the global effort to protect the endangered sea creatures.

According to Mr Wamukota, there are more than 18 community-based groups involved in different turtle conservation initiatives on the Kenyan coast through the Kescom project.

Mr Wamukota said 25 countries under the Indian Ocean Southeast Asian (IOSEA) region, which include Kenya, have signed a memorandum of understanding for the protection of the sea turtles.

"Through this initiative we are expected to develop an integrated sea turtles conservation framework for the Western Indian Ocean region under the Nairobi convention," he said.

The Kescom official said human impacts contributed to more than 85 per cent of turtle deaths in the country.

"Of the seven known species of marine turtles in the world, five are found in Kenya. They are loggerhead, leatherback, olive ridley, hawksbill and green turtle. Three of them, the green, the hawksbill and the olive ridley nest in Kenya while the others only come to forage," he said.

Mr Wamukota said since 1997 more than 2,000 turtle nests have been reported in Kenya resulting in more than 150,000 hatchings. However, research has shown that out of 1,000 hatchings only one turtle reaches maturity.

Sold by fishermen

He says although studies had shown more than 150,000 turtle eggs have hatched along the Kenyan coast in the past 10 years many of these ended up being sold by fishermen.

"And a belief among some Kenyan communities that if you take turtle oil you will get cured of asthma has also greatly contributed to the high turtle mortality in the country," he said.

Mr Wamukota said it is estimated that about 30,000 hatchings were reported on the Kenyan coast last year although the exact number will be established after all the data has been compiled.

The campaign to enhance sea turtle conservation activities in the country have been intensified through an integrated project sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid).

Thee project brings together different stakeholders who include WWF, Kescom and the KWS.

"This project aims to involve more Government institutions and local communities in sea turtles conservation activities," he said.

He said the project would help build the capacity of the community monitoring system, introduce satellite sea turtles monitoring and spearhead awareness and education campaigns.

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Best of our wild blogs: 12 Feb 08

My bird garden
for and by the birds on the bird ecology blog

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Energy outlook for Asia: The future is fraught

Richard Halloran, Straits Times 12 Feb 08;

A FRESH assessment of Asia's energy future asserts that the region, along with the United States, is being confronted with a 'daunting challenge' as oil consumption is rising much faster than production and the end of the world's oil supply is in sight.

'Today,' says a book published by the East-West Centre, the research and educational institute in Honolulu, 'the challenge of energy security is greater than ever. The days of cheap and plentiful oil are over. World oil production is likely to reach a peak some time in the next 10 to 15 years.' It will level off and decline after that.

The book's principal authors, researchers Fereidun Fesharaki and Kang Wu, warn: 'Coupled with emerging supply limitations, the Asia-Pacific region's increasing demand for oil raises fears of tensions among Asian nations and between Asia and the West.'

Mr Frederick W. Smith, the chief executive officer of FedEx, the world's largest express transport company with 700 airplanes and 80,000 trucks that drink prodigious litres of jet fuel and petrol, is more pointed. Writing in Newsweek, Mr Smith says: 'It shouldn't be forgotten that the proximate cause of World War II was the US oil embargo against Japan.'

He adds: 'The first Gulf War was caused totally by oil - it was Saddam Hussein's insistence that he owned certain oil fields that led to his invasion of Kuwait and (the US) ouster of his forces there.'

What he calls 'the subsequent presence' of the US in the Middle East, evidently meaning Iraq, has been driven by oil. Mr Smith says some analysts think 40 per cent of US military spending 'can be attributed to protecting the oil trade'.

Indeed, the competition for energy in Asia, even more than the confrontations between North and South Korea, China and Taiwan, and India and Pakistan, could be the cause of hostilities across the entire region, with unpredictable consequences.

The East-West Centre's book - Asia's Energy Future - points to the obvious cause of the increased consumption of oil, which is economic growth. 'Since 1900,' author Fesharaki says in an overview, 'well over one-half of the annual growth in global oil consumption has originated from Asia and the Pacific.'

In one year, 2004, 'China alone accounted for nearly one-third of the growth in oil consumption in the entire world'. India was not far behind, the book says, 'and this pattern is projected to continue'.

The demand is 'driven primarily by the growing number of motor vehicles'. Heavy industry is partly responsible in China, slightly less so in India, which emphasises information technology.

A complicating factor: Half of China's oil imports come from the Middle East while India is even more dependent on Middle Eastern sources. That is not likely to change, which gives Beijing and New Delhi reason to dip into the power politics of that already volatile region.

Both nations, the book says, are experiencing 'a renewed emphasis on hydropower and nuclear energy'. Hydropower in China accounted for 3 per cent of the nation's energy in 1980 and is expected to rise to 8 per cent by 2015.

The famed - and controversial - Three Gorges hydroelectric plant is scheduled to be completed next year at an enormous cost in funds, displaced people and submerged cultural treasures.

China appears to have lagged in nuclear energy, which produced only 1 per cent of the nation's needs in 1993. But Beijing plans to build enough nuclear plants to meet 4 per cent of demand by 2020.

In India, hydroelectric capacity provided 26 per cent of installed power capacity in 2005 but has been growing at a rate slower than demand. Nuclear power then accounted for only 3 per cent of electrical generation but that is expected to double this year.

To counter these trends in oil production and consumption, the East-West Centre researchers, who are experts in the energy field, assert: 'Business as usual is not an option.'

They recommend policies to reduce price volatility, such as building strategic oil reserves. They also advocate policies to bring a better balance between supply and demand, such as reducing bottlenecks in transport.

The authors call on political leaders in the US, the world's largest consumer of energy, and the Asia-Pacific region, the fastest growing consumer of energy, 'to make bold and profound changes'. They insist: 'Half-measures are not enough, and they may even make the situation worse.'

They suggest that 'high oil prices, although painful for consumers, may provide a needed incentive'.

But they close, with academic understatement, on a less than confident note: 'Heightened competition in international oil markets may work against cooperative efforts.'

The writer, formerly with The New York Times in Asia and Washington, writes about Asia from Honolulu.

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Singapore fiscal incentives for eco-friendly business suggested: PwC

PwC favours carrots for Singapore's green push
Matthew Phan and Chen Huifen, Business Times 12 Feb 08;

It suggests slew of fiscal incentives for eco-friendly business measures

(SINGAPORE) High on the Budget 2008 wish list from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) this year is an item that wasn't there just a few years ago, but which should not be unexpected today.

'Tax and the Environment', it reads.

The first wish is for the creation of a National Fund to promote and finance 'green' initiatives, with donors rewarded by tax deductions. The other 15 bullet points suggest how Singapore could encourage environment-friendly behaviour.

Some are obvious and generic, like encouraging business and individuals to adopt energy-efficient practices, or subsidies or clean energy research.

Others are technical and more targeted.

For example, the government might want to consider 'on an immediate basis,' having zero rating of GST for the procurement of energy-saving devices, said Abhijit Ghosh, tax partner at PwC Singapore.

Or it might give enhanced capital allowances, say 125 per cent of cost, on energy-efficient equipment used by business.

A capital allowance refers to a deduction granted to firms that purchase fixed assets for use in their business. Only certain assets qualify, such as machinery, furniture or electrical equipment.

PwC also suggested giving tax deductions for approved programmes for carbon offsetting - for example, where a firm buys carbon credits to offset the greenhouse gases emitted when its executives fly overseas.

Generally, the 'carrot' approach, or giving companies incentives to change their behaviour, are more effective than the 'stick', said Mr Ghosh.

New Zealand wanted to adopt the 'stick' approach last year with a carbon tax, but is now reconsidering and thinking of fiscal measures that would be fair to everyone, he said.

Further, a group of British Columbian economists has argued that poor people will disproportionately bear the burden of a carbon tax, because it is essentially a flat tax on an essential resource, he said.

'The well-off will be able to buy their way out of any responsibility and continue to buy Hummers and 5,000 sq ft homes,' the economists said, according to Mr Ghosh.

A 'carrot' approach would thus be more equitable, if the Singapore government is considering any fiscal measures, he said.

While the government has recently introduced non-fiscal initiatives, 'we believe that fiscal measures should also be considered as early as possible, provided the government is prepared to use tax policy to address this issue', he said.

Some businesses here appear to be echoing the same tone. According to Phillip Overmyer, chief executive of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, one of the top items on his association's Budget wish list is a package of incentives that 'will encourage corporate participation in eco-friendly initiatives'.

'For example, the provision of investment allowances in certain kinds of energy equipment,' he said. 'So you might allow someone to take a tax deduction for some portion of a new (energy-efficient) equipment that they put in place. Or, we could provide deduction against tax for architectural and engineering fees that are directly related to building a building that meets global standards for energy savings.'

The Budget wish list of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) includes a further cut in the corporate tax rate to bring it closer to 15-16 per cent, reduction in personal income taxes, as well as the abolition of estate duty.

Although the latter two will not have a direct impact on companies, SICCI executive director Pradeep Menon said they will help alleviate cost pressures indirectly.

'Companies are hoping that there will be a significant cut in personal taxes to help employees manage rising costs,' explained Mr Menon. 'If they can make some savings on that front, it will then indirectly lead to less pressure on wage push.'

As for estate duty, he reckons eliminating it will have a long-term impact on Singapore's business environment, as it continues to draw more people to start and retain their businesses and families here.

'It's also a part of wealth management as we try to attract more people to bring in their wealth and manage it out of Singapore,' he added. 'As they build up their wealth, there's always this concern about the fact that they have to pay estate duty, when they pass it on.'

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Genting $4.9billion loan for Sentosa Integrated Resort

Genting Int'l gets $4.2b loan for Sentosa resort
Fiona Chan, Straits Times 12 Feb 08;

GENTING International has secured a massive $4.19 billion in syndicated funding that will pay for about two-thirds of the integrated resort it is building in Sentosa.

The funding is a record for Genting and one of the largest syndicated credit deals in Singapore banking history. It comprises $4 billion in loans and a $192.5 million banker's guarantee facility, Genting said yesterday.

The company is the sponsor for the funding for Resorts World at Sentosa. Five banks are involved as arrangers and underwriters: DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

The credit facilities were obtained on the eve of Chinese New Year at around 6pm, but much of the work on getting the loan started around November last year, Genting said.

The Singapore-listed company, a unit of Malaysian casino operator Genting Bhd, added that the process was 'relatively smooth', given the group's long-standing relationships with the banks.

This is despite the global credit crunch and volatile stock markets that have resulted from the United States subprime mortgage meltdown.

But 'notwithstanding the current market conditions', DBS said it expects the financing to be completed 'very successfully and in good time'.

This is due to Genting's 'impeccable standing', coupled with the 'iconic nature of this project', said DBS managing director and head of syndicated finance Peter Chan.

Genting was reported in October to be seeking a loan of $3.2 billion. But higher building expenses have pushed up its original budget for the casino by about $800 million to nearly $6 billion now.

Its $4.19 billion funding is slightly less than the $5 billion that Las Vegas Sands borrowed to build Singapore's other casino in the Marina Bay area.

That loan, arranged by eight banks including Goldman Sachs and Singapore's three banks, is said to be the largest private Singapore dollar-denominated financing ever completed.

Banks bet on IR developer with $4b loan
Arthur Sim, Business Times 12 Feb 08;

THE credit markets may have become more risk averse lately, but banks still appear bullish on the Resorts World at Sentosa, home to one of Singapore's two planned integrated resorts (IRs).

In a statement released yesterday, Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd (RWS), a subsidiary of Genting International, announced that it had secured $4 billion credit facilities for its IR development.

Five local and international banks - DBS Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), Royal Bank of Scotland and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation - will underwrite, bookrun and arrange the syndication of the loan, which has a tenure that extends to end-2015.

The credit facilities will fund two-thirds of the $6 billion IR at Sentosa, with the remaining to be funded through the equity raised from Genting International's rights issue last year.

RWS chief executive Tan Hee Teck said: 'Amid the turmoil in the global credit markets, they have given us a resounding vote of confidence.'

That RWS's gaming component could be a key factor in instilling this sense of confidence among the banks is perhaps not so surprising if one considers the latest gaming revenue figures coming out of Macau.

Citigroup analyst Anil Daswani believes that January 2008 could prove to be a record month for Macau with gross gaming revenue projected to be around 11 billion Macau patacas (S$1.94 billion).

Gross gaming revenue averaged only 6.77 billion patacas per month last year and according to Citi's estimates, the highest monthly revenue so far was 8.6 billion patacas set in October 2007.

In a Citi report, Mr Daswani said: 'The continuing strong growth in Macau gaming revenues should be immune to the possible recession in the United States, in our view. History also suggests that the gaming industry in fact outperformed the market during recessionary periods in the last decade.'

RWS's own estimates have put the number of expected visitors by 2010 at 15 million. These people could, of course, also be visiting RWS's other attractions, including the Universal Studios theme park.

Peter Chan, managing director and head of syndicated finance at DBS, added: 'Notwithstanding the current market conditions, we believe that based on the impeccable standing of the sponsor, coupled with the iconic nature of this project, as well the strong team of arrangers put in place, we should see this financing being completed very successfully and in good time.'

Genting's gamble
Casino developer borrows $4.2 b to fund building of IR
Today Online 12 Feb 08;

Genting International, a unit of Asia's biggest gaming operator by market value, borrowed as much as $4.2 billion to fund the building of its casino resort in Singapore, more than double its outstanding debt.

The unit of Kuala Lumpur-based Genting Bhd hired DBS Group Holdings, Oversea- Chinese Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, HSBC Holdings and the Royal Bank of Scotland to arrange the borrowing, it said in a statement.

"It is a big gamble," said Mr Lim Kok Boon, chief investment officer at Fortis Private Banking, which manages US$9.5 billion ($13.5 billion) in assets. "It is hard to tell how it is going to pan out for them, but clearly the casino project cannot fail as Genting International and the Singapore banks will be badly implicated."

The company's funding will help it to compete with the Las Vegas Sands as both race to open the first casino resort here in about two years. The two gaming developments will have Singapore's casino market for at least 10 years before the government opens up the industry to further competition.

Genting International's funding will add to the $2.17 billion raised in an August rights offer and $450 million of convertible bonds sold in April to fund its project on Sentosa. The development will include South-east Asia's first Universal Studios theme park.

The company's borrowing consists of a $4 billion loan and $192.5 million in a bank guarantee facility, the statement said. The company has US$1.4 billion of outstanding debt. Genting International declined to comment on the terms of the loan except that it is "very happy" with them.

"The credit facilities were raised as scheduled and planned for the development," said Mr Tan Hee Teck, chief executive officer of Resorts World at Sentosa. "Despite the challenging environment in the global credit markets, the banks have been very supportive."

The mall and gaming resorts are part of Singapore's efforts to triple tourism revenue to $30 billion by 2015. The Republic ended a four-decade casino ban in 2005.

The Singapore resorts aim to capture a slice of the regulated gambling market in the Asia-Pacific region, expected to expand 16 per cent a year to US$30.3 billion in 2011.

Genting Bhd runs casino resorts in Malaysia. Genting International, which holds the parent company's overseas assets, also owns the UK's biggest casino operator, Stanley Leisure. — Bloomberg

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World Cities Summit to be held in Singapore

Business Times 12 Feb 08

SINGAPORE will host the first World Cities Summit, a premier international conference on public governance and sustainable development of cities, from June 23-25 this year.

The summit, which has as its theme 'Liveable and Vibrant Cities', will discuss the challenges of urbanisation and examine best practices for the sustainable development of cities.

Discussion topics include issues related to effective governance, urban planning, infrastructure development, environmental sustainability, quality of life, and economic competitiveness.

The event will feature several prominent and internationally renowned speakers, including Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Haruhiko Kuroda, president of the Asian Development Bank; Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific; and Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al-Hussayen, minister for water and electricity in Saudi Arabia.

The World Cities Summit is jointly organised by Singapore's Civil Service College, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and the ministry of national development.

A joint press statement from the organisers said the summit will bring together ministers, city mayors, senior government officials, experts and business leaders from around the world, including a good number from Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

The inaugural World Cities Summit will be held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

During that same week, Singapore will launch the inaugural Singapore International Water Week 2008, which has as its theme 'Sustainable Water Solutions for Cities'.

A third event, the East Asia Summit Conference on Liveable Cities, is also being held in conjunction with the World Cities Summit. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will officiate at the joint opening ceremony for all three events and will deliver the keynote address.

Apart from the plenary sessions and breakout tracks, the World Cities Summit will offer site visits for delegates to engage practitioners and get a better understanding of policy implementation.

Singapore to host first World Cities Summit
Fiona Chan, Straits Times 12 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE will host the world's first-ever international conference on the public governance and sustainable development of cities in June.

The World Cities Summit will focus on the challenges of urbanisation and discuss how to develop 'liveable and vibrant' cities, the theme of the conference.

About 300 ministers, mayors, senior officials and business leaders from around the world are expected to attend the three-day event, which is organised by the Ministry of National Development, the Singapore Civil Service College and the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

The summit's strategic partners include the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and several United Nations programmes.

Speakers will include ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Saudi Arabia's Minister for Water and Electricity Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al-Hussayen. They will discuss important issues facing cities such as urban planning and conservation, solid waste management, land transportation and environmental sustainability.

The conference will be at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre from June 23 to 25. It will be held at the same time as the inaugural Singapore International Water Week, and in conjunction with the East Asia Summit Conference on Liveable Cities.

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'Stop live animals exports for slaughter'

Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 12 Feb 08;

A worldwide campaign aimed at banning the long-distance transport of live animals for slaughter has been launched in London.

Animal charity workers shot secret film footage during a two-year long investigation of the global trade in live animals which they say is cruel and unnecessary.

The Handle With Care coalition is using shock pictures of animals being shipped around the world in overcrowded and filthy conditions before they are finally slaughtered.

They hope consumers will be so horrified by the images of sheep, cattle, horses, pigs and chickens moved in horrendous conditions in journeys that can take weeks they will embarrass governments into finally banning the trade.

Rules on minimum standards of care for live animals in transit - including regular feed, water and rest - are frequently flouted. To save on costs animals are also illegally crammed into lorries, containers and ships where they do not have enough room to lie down.

And animals are shipped from one side of the world to the other for slaughter so that producers can charge higher prices by fraudulently claiming the meat was locally sourced.

The Handle With Care coalition, made up of leading UK-based animal welfare charities the World Society for the Protection of Animals, Compassion in World Farming, the RSPCA and the International League for the Protection of Horses claims thousands of animals die in transit every day from disease, hunger and stress in overcrowded and filthy conditions.

They say human health is also being put at risk because animals being transported can help spread potentially deadly diseases such as bird flu across the world.

The coalition says that animals should be reared and then slaughtered at the nearest possible abattoir and the meat frozen before being shipped.

World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) Campaigns Director Leah Garcés said: "British people are growing increasingly concerned with the way animals are treated and I am sure they will be horrified by the cruelty and suffering that can clearly be seen in this new undercover film.

"We were determined to show people the truth of this hidden and brutal traffic in animals - if you see it for yourself - you just know it must be stopped."

The campaign will focus on four of the worst routes involving animals:

#Sheep from Australia to the Middle East.

Australia is the world's biggest exporter of live animals and every year sends millions of sheep to the Middle East in vast ships. More than 30,000 die annually on the journey which can take three weeks.

#Cattle from Brazil to Lebanon.

Cattle can spend 3-4 days without food and water on road transporters before arriving at the port for shipment. They are herded into overcrowded holds where 10 per cent will die during the 18-day sea journey.

#Horses from Spain to Italy.

100,000 horses are transported across Europe for sale every year mainly from Spain to Italy where they are slaughtered for food. Lorries are supposed to transport about 16-18 horses at a time in individual stalls but often 25-30 are packed in together for distressing journeys that take two days.

#Pigs from Canada to Hawaii.

Pigs reared in extremely low temperatures in Alberta are moved on overcrowded trucks to California before being shipped to Hawaii. Forced to endure extreme temperatures lying in their own waste many die from stress during the seven day journey. Those that survive are then slaughtered and their meat sold as "Island Produced Pork".

The coalition claims that the technology to freeze meat before it is shipped abroad has been available for more than a century and there is no reason to continue the export of live animals.

Compassion in World Farming Chief Executive Philip Lymbery said: " The cruelty these animals endure is completely unacceptable in the 21st century. This trade is one in which millions of animals suffer cruel and unnecessary journeys each year. It must stop."

Campaigns and demonstrations in the 1990s led to a huge fall in the number of live animals sent for export from the UK. In 1995 2m sheep and lambs and 500,000 calves were exported. By 2007 the numbers had tumbled to 80,000 sheep and lambs and 70,000 calves.

The coalition is demanding a stricter enforcement of EU laws governing the live transport of animals and hopes that existing laws will be strengthened when they come up for review in 2009.

Jo White, Director of Campaigns for the international League for the Protection of Horses, said: " You cannot put a price on cruelty. This trade is cruel and unnecessary and must be brought to an end.

"Our message is that logic and compassion must be applied to farm animals and they should be sent to the nearest slaughter house. If you have passed the slaughter house you have already gone too far."

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Consumers must stop forest destruction

John Nelson, BBC's The Green Room 11 Feb 08;

Some people may not sit so comfortably on their patio furniture if they knew where the wood came from, argues John Nelson. In this week's Green Room, he says the demand for wood products is threatening the long-term survival of communities around the globe.

Most DIY enthusiasts would be shocked to find that their new garden decking helped to increase the poverty of hunter-gatherer communities in the Congo Basin of Central Africa.

What about the recently purchased hardwood table and chairs? Did these come from a 300-year-old tree that, until cut down for export to Europe, supplied a hundred poor people in Cameroon with oil, protein and medicine?

Armed with this knowledge, would the customers' new furniture be quite so comfortable?

Ngola Baka typifies Pygmy hunter-gatherer communities in Cameroon; it is small, remote, cash-poor and surrounded by small fields of manioc and plantain to supplement a varied and healthy forest diet based upon meat, fish, fruits, nuts, honey, leaves and mushrooms.

Since there is no dispensary, and little money, medicines are found in the forest, in the barks, roots and leaves gathered during hunting and gathering excursions up to 20km (12 miles) away.

Diminishing returns

Forest biodiversity is at the heart of Baka community subsistence, and Congo Basin forests are widely recognised as a global asset. The UK government has committed more than £50m ($25m) towards protecting them.

The wealth of the basin's rainforests is also targeted by big business. Logging and mining companies are legally entitled to exploit millions of hectares.

Only two kilometres from Ngola Baka, for example, the community forest gives way to an industrial logging concession. The Moabi tree found there is particularly favoured by loggers for its hard, dark wood and high market price.



The Moabi's fruit is also a key component of Baka subsistence, especially for the rich oil pressed from the nut. People rely upon it for their survival.

Last year, it was harvested by Baka women in a forest grove 12km from the village, in the middle of the logging concession, as has been done seasonally for years.

But those trees are now gone, cut down during 2007 and exported to Europe to make garden furniture and coffee tables. Ngola Baka is a poorer, hungrier place as a result of European tastes for luxury.

Last week I saw once again - like a scratched record repeating a verse - how the systematic exploitation of such areas by industrial loggers progressively undermines the welfare of indigenous forest communities.

New forest-use maps, created by local Baka communities with the support of the UK Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) and the Centre for Environment and Development in Cameroon (CED), illustrated the huge overlap between Baka traditional lands and the legal boundaries of neighbouring logging concessions.

We discovered that up to 40,000 hectares of forest used by Ngola Baka are now being logged. Moabi are targeted along with a host of other tree species used by Baka. The future of the community is at stake as its forest is stripped of trees. This should be stopped, but who on Earth is going to do that?

Cameroon law stipulates that commercial loggers must consult with local communities over their logging plans.

They must help local communities to document their traditional use areas, negotiate with them where overlaps are identified, and establish mechanisms to avoid conflicts with communities in areas targeted for logging.

However, there is little evidence that this occurs anywhere in Central Africa. The results are systematic, long-term degradation of forest wealth, reduced forest community welfare and increasing poverty of an indigenous population experiencing jaw-dropping rates of mortality for children aged under five.

Logging on

Up to now, indigenous communities such as Baka have been powerless to stop logging from occurring on their lands. However, with the support of a few progressive European donors, some have started to document their traditional lands.

They are entering into dialogues with government, conservation agencies and logging companies to negotiate protection for their forest rights.



New GPS mapping technologies developed for use by non-literate communities such as Baka are helping forest communities to take over documentation of their traditional forest use.

They are putting themselves on the map and being given a stronger negotiating position with loggers, as well as with conservation and development agencies targeting their regions.

But these fire-fighting efforts by communities and their local supporters alone are not enough. Without significant additional support from European timber dealers - the buyers who drive the industrial wood trade - indigenous communities will remain powerless to stop their forests being destroyed by unscrupulous producers.

Their children are doomed to increasing poverty because there is too much money being made in Europe.

Most European consumers do not understand the impact on poor African communities of their timber purchases, due to the lack of information about where it comes from and how it is produced, and the impacts of its harvest on forest community welfare.

I believe that if most knew the reality, they would be far more discerning about what they bought.

The cruelty of battery poultry farming in the UK, which has received so much attention recently, pales into insignificance when compared with the logging injustices and increasing poverty of indigenous forest communities who simply want their children to survive childhood, to gain greater access to health services, and to learn to read even a little bit.

Europeans, and consumers across the globe, have the power to stop the disaster that is overwhelming forest peoples, but will they take up the challenge?

John Nelson is Africa policy adviser for the Forest Peoples Programme, a UK Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working to support forest communities around the world to secure their lands and destinies

The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website

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Indonesians being tricked out of rainforest land

Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 11 Feb 08;

Native peoples who depend on the rainforest for survival are being tricked out of their land by corrupt officials so they can grow lucrative biofuel crops, according to environmental groups.

Forests that have supported generations of native peoples are being snatched and levelled for palm oil plantations, says Friends of the Earth.

Unscrupulous companies are using force or conning families in the Indonesian rainforests into giving up their rights to the land by promising jobs and new developments.

In its report Losing Ground FoE claims people end up in poorly paid work and locked into debt while the companies profit from palm oil plantations which destroy the forest and pollute village water supplies.

It blames the rush to biofuels for fuelling demand for the huge amount of land needed to grow oil palm and calls on the EU to scrap its 10 per cent target for road transport biofuels by 2010.

The report claims that although the EU wants to use biofuels sustainably it has not addressed the problems caused by its production and this will lead to more of the types of problems seen in Indonesia.

More than 85 per cent of the worlds palm oil is produced in plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia alone plans a further 20m hectares of plantations by 2020 - an area the size of England, Holland and Switzerland combined.

The palm oil industry says that plantation expansion is vital for economic development and methods used are both environmentally sustainable and benefit the local people. In reality little else survives in the plantations and half the habitat of the orang-utan lost in the last decade has been linked to palm oil plantation expansion.

The deforestation and drainage of peat swamps for palm oil production has made Indonesia the third highest emitter of green house gases after the USA and China.

FoE, which worked with environment groups Sawit Watch and LifeMosaic on the report, says there is mounting evidence that biofuels cannot deliver on the reduction needed in CO2 emissions to combat climate change.

Hannah Griffiths, Friends of the Earth biofuels campaigner, said: "This report shows that as well as being bad for the environment, biofuels from palm oil are a disaster for people. MEPs should listen to the evidence and use the forthcoming debate on this in the European Parliament to reject the 10 per cent target.

"Instead of introducing targets for more biofuels the EU should insist that all new cars are designed to be super efficient. The UK Government must also take a strong position against the 10 per cent target in Europe and do its bit to reduce transport emissions by improving public transport and making it easier for people to walk and cycle.".

The environment groups have been helping communities affected by palm oil plantations in Indonesia since 2005 to give an insight into the social, economic and cultural impacts of oil palm plantations.

Serge Marti from LifeMosaic said: "Indonesia is a uniquely diverse country whose communities and environment are being sacrificed for the benefit of a handful of companies and wealthy individuals.

"This report should help the Indonesian government to recognise that there is a problem, and to step up efforts to protect the rights of communities. In Europe we must realise that encouraging large fuel companies to grab community land across the developing world is no solution to climate change. The EU must play its part by abandoning its 10 per cent target for biofuels."

Abetnego Tarigan, deputy director of Sawit Watch, said: "Oil palm companies have already taken over 7.3 million hectares of land for plantations, resulting in 513 ongoing conflicts between companies and communities.

"Given the negative social and environmental impacts of oil palm, Sawit Watch demands reform of the Indonesian oil palm plantation system and a re-think of plantation expansion plans."

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KL embarks on $142b boost for Sarawak

Today Online 12 Feb 08;

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday launched a develop- ment project worth nearly US$100 billion ($141.8 billion) to fuel growth in resource-rich Sarawak state on Borneo island.

Mr Abdullah said the government will spend an initial RM5 billion ($2.2 billion) to kickstart the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy, with private investment targeted at RM300 billion. The Sarawak plan focuses on developing energy resources of hydropower, coal, natural gas and petroleum.

The government is gearing up for elections expected in March and has launched another four big-budget masterplans worth billions of dollars to attract foreign investment and develop rural states over the next two decades.

The Premier said the project aims to bring economic growth and eradicate poverty in Sarawak by 2030, by creating 800,000 jobs and luring billions in private investment. The area earmarked for development is a 320km stretch along the Borneo coast facing the South China Sea, and covers 57 per cent of the state.

Officials say the main engine of growth for the project is the use of hydroelectricity supplied by the controversial Bakun Dam to power heavy industries.

Sarawak also signed 13 agreements yesterday with several firms, including a deal with global miner Rio Tinto Alcan for an aluminium smelter. — Agencies

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Philippines Strives to Control Boom on Paradise Isle

Raju Gopalakrishnan, PlanetArk 11 Feb 08;

BORACAY, Philippines - It's getting crowded in paradise.

About 600,000 tourists came last year to Boracay in the central Philippines, regarded as one of the world's best holiday destinations, and swam, ate and slept on an island that has only about 18,000 full-time residents.

Arrivals should rise to about 670,000 this year, and pressure is mounting on the island's infrastructure as more and more hotels and resorts are built to cater for the boom.

The single narrow road that runs the length of Boracay is jam-packed, drain pipes bring floodwater to the beach and hotel taps can suddenly run dry. About 10 tonnes of garbage need to be treated and disposed of each day.

"It's really taken off (in terms of) congestion, overgrowth," said David Light, a retired American actor who has been visiting Boracay for its windsurfing since 1991.

"It was a pristine natural environment and I hated to see it change, but it did."

Three decades ago, Boracay was the legendary secret destination for a generation of backpackers, pretty much deserted, with stunning beaches, a few huts and only basic facilities.

Now, over 150 hotels and restaurants are crowded along the 5-km (3-mile) White Beach, renowned for its soft, powdery sand and the clear blue water that it gently descends into. Other parts of the island are less crowded but may be getting there.

The government, concerned that the crown jewel of its tourism brochures is getting shopworn, is trying to step in but with limited success.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza announced a ban on construction on Boracay in August, but it was not implemented until January, and then only for new projects. The moratorium will stay in place at least until July. A master plan for developing the island will be in place by then.


FRAGILE

"I feel that the island is very fragile," said Loubelle Cann, president of the Boracay Foundation, a local business association.

"I don't really know how much the island can carry in terms of physical capacity so we are pushing that we should at least study these things because you cannot just build and build and build."

Despite the moratorium, about 100 unfinished shops, hotels and restaurants have been allowed to be completed and the noise of jackhammers, excavators and power saws can be heard across the island.

These include a huge 183-room deluxe resort being built by Shangri-La north of White Beach. The hotel will cost $100 million and will offer rooms starting at $500 per night. It is expected to open by November this year.

Nearby, a hillside is being excavated to build the Alta Vista resort while the Shangri-La's staff quarters are being constructed across the street.

But still, there's no let up on the boatloads of tourists who cross from the main Panay island through the day.

White Beach, despite the crowds, is clean, and all buildings are a maximum two storeys high, lower than the coconut palms that fringe the sands. Unlike beaches elsewhere in the world, it remains safe at night and there are no overt signs of sleaze or drugs.

"It's nice," said Roger Mestric, a Frenchman from Nantes who was on the island with his wife after visits to China and Cambodia.

"It's not particularly crowded. From an ecologist's point of view, Martinique (in the Caribbean) is better, but you can live here easily."

The government and the resort-owners, residents say, have to find the balance between controlling expansion, providing infrastructure, offering facilities and retaining some mystique.

It's not the big resorts like the Shangri-La or the Alta Vista that are the problem, they say, it's the smaller buildings which sometimes block natural waterways or do not have proper sewage or waste disposal.

And there is never an easy answer for those who hanker for the good old days.

"Some people moan that it was much better 20 years ago," said Victor Ocskai, a German who owns a resort on the beach. "And then they want cold beer, running hot water and air-conditioning.

"Twenty years ago, it was quiet, but there was no cold beer."

(Editing by Megan Goldin)

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King penguins could be wiped out by climate change: study

Yahoo News 11 Feb 08;

One of the emblems of the Antarctic, the king penguin, could be driven to extinction by climate change, a French study published on Monday warned.

In a long-term investigation on the penguins' main breeding grounds, investigators found that a tiny warming of the Southern Ocean by the El Nino effect caused a massive fall in the birds' ability to survive.

If predictions by UN scientists of ever-higher temperatures in coming decades prove true, the species faces a major risk of being wiped out, they say.

Second in size only to the emperor penguin, king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) live on islands on the fringes of Antarctica in the southern Indian Ocean, with an estimated population of two million breeding pairs.

The species is unusual in that it takes a whole year for all the birds to complete their breeding cycle -- the ritual of courtship, egg laying, incubating and chick rearing.

This extreme length, spanning the Antarctic winter and summer, means the birds are vulnerable to downturns in seasonal food resources for incubating their eggs and nurturing their chicks.

Their main diet, small fish and squid, depends on krill. These minute crustaceans are in turn extremely sensitive to temperature rise.

The team, led by Yvon Le Maho of France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), marked 456 penguins with subcutaneous electronic tags at a big breeding ground on Possession Island on the Crozet archipelago in the southern.

They buried radio antennas on pathways used by the penguins on the island and connected them to a computer that automatically recorded when the birds came and went.

The surveillance programme ran from November 1997 to April 2006, a period that included an El Nino, the cyclical warming event that is not linked to climate change.

During the El Nino, penguins that were early breeders did well, but those that bred later were badly hit, as the progressively warmer seas made food rarer.

But the overall impact on population only became visible two years later, because of the penguins' long reproductive cycle.

An increase of just 0.25 degrees Celsius (0.45 degrees Fahrenheit) in surface sea temperature translated into a nine-percent decline in an adult bird's chance of survival, Le Maho calculates.

According to the UN's Nobel-winning panel of climate scientists, the mean global temperature is already set to rise by around 0.2 C (0.35 F) per decade over the next two decades as part of a longer warming trend this century.

"Our findings suggest the king penguin populations are at heavy extinction risk under the current global warming predictions," the scientists say.

Their paper is published on Monday by the US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

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