Bird flu breaks out in Seoul

Today Online 7 May 08;

SEOUL — Bird flu has spread to South Korea's capital Seoul despite a massive nationwide cull that saw the slaughter of 6 million ducks and chickens in recent weeks, officials said yesterday.

The Agriculture Ministry said a case was reported at a small aviary run by Gwangjin district officials in eastern Seoul.

"This was the first outbreak in Seoul. We believe it has been caused by infected pheasants that district officials purchased at an open market in the city of Seongnam south of Seoul," a ministry official said.

All 53 chickens, turkeys and pheasants at the aviary were recently slaughtered, he said.

The official added: "Initial blood tests showed pheasants and chickens were infected with bird flu, although the type of the virus isn't yet known".

"Officials are conducting blood tests to determine whether it was caused by the virulent H5N1 strain".

Quarantine officials slaughtered poultry in a nearby public park and also plan to decontaminate aviaries and poultry farms in other parts of Seoul.

A major theme park in southern Seoul culled 221 ducks, wild chickens and geese in its aviary.

More than 6 million chickens and ducks have been slaughtered since the country's latest outbreak was reported on April 1, the ministry said.

South Korea's previous outbreak was between November 2006 and March last year, resulting in the temporary suspension of poultry exports to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and elsewhere.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 240 people worldwide since late 2003.

No South Koreans are known to have contracted the disease. — AFP

Bird flu outbreak spreads to Seoul
Straits Times 7 May 08;

Virus reaches South Korean capital despite massive cull across the nation
SEOUL - SOUTH Korea's worst outbreak of bird flu has spread to the capital Seoul despite a massive nationwide cull that saw six million ducks and chickens slaughtered in recent weeks, officials said yesterday.

Four dead birds at an aviary in a district government office had tested positive for the virus, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Ministry official Kim Chang Sup said two pheasants purchased by district officials from an open market south of Seoul had carried the disease. They infected two other birds and later died.

'Initial blood tests showed pheasants and chickens were infected with bird flu, although the type of virus is not yet known,' he said.

He added that further tests were being conducted to determine whether it was the virulent H5N1 virus.

Quarantine workers slaughtered the 53 other pheasants, chickens and turkeys that were being raised at the aviary for children to view.

As a precaution, officials also culled 63 birds at Children's Grand Park, a major amusement park about 1.2km from the outbreak site, and 191 birds at Seoul Grand Park, another theme park south of the capital.

Other birds at the two parks have been disinfected and put off-limits to visitors.

Bird flu began sweeping southern parts of the country last month for the first time in more than a year, forcing the slaughter of about 6.5 million birds.

South Korea's previous outbreak was between November 2006 and March last year, resulting in the temporary suspension of poultry exports to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and elsewhere.

No South Koreans are known to have contracted the disease.

North Korea said on Monday it was stepping up measures to prevent the outbreak from being carried over its borders by migratory flocks.

In Japan, a dead swan tested positive for bird flu on Monday, less than a week after the government announced the first detection of the deadly virus in 13 months.

Officials were inspecting chicken farms within a 30km radius of where the bird was found, the health authorities said.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 240 people worldwide since late 2003.

Health experts fear the strain could mutate into a form easily transmitted from person to person, leading to a pandemic.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Thailand ditches plan for rice cartel

It instead proposes regional meeting to address issues of productivity and data-sharing
Straits Times 7 May 08;

BANGKOK - THAILAND is dropping its plan to create a South-east Asian rice cartel aimed at fixing the skyrocketing price of the commodity.

The proposal to create an Opec-style cartel was first floated last week by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to give rice producers greater control over prices, which have tripled since last December.

But the idea was heavily criticised by senators in the Philippines, a major importer, as well as some Thai rice exporters.

'We are not talking about setting up a rice cartel,' Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday, after meeting ambassadors from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. He said such a move would worsen food security.

Mr Noppadon said Thailand was, instead, proposing a meeting on rice within the next month or two, with the aim of improving productivity and sharing information.

He denied that the about-face on the cartel had anything to do with concerns about its impact on the Philippines.

'We are sympathetic to all human beings, not just the Filipinos,' he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia will almost double domestic rice distribution from today after demand surged for home-grown supplies which are subsidised by the state.

The government told the sole licensed rice supplier, Padiberas Nasional, to raise monthly distribution of price-controlled rice to 20,000 tonnes from 11,000.

Agriculture Minister Mustapa Mohamed said more Malaysians were switching to so-called broken rice, a variety that includes smashed grains. He also urged Malaysians not to hoard as there are sufficient stockpiles.

Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said the grouping had a rice stockpile ready for distribution to its members during emergencies.

Dr Surin, who was in Singapore to launch the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies set up by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said details on how and when to distribute the supplies were being worked out.

In his view, there is no food shortage in the region, despite soaring rice prices and fears of a shortfall in rice-importing countries such as the Philippines. The key problems now are the management of food supplies and the external pressures on prices, he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, BLOOMBERG

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KOR KIAN BENG

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$20m plan aims to boost solar tech in new buildings in Singapore

Chen Huifen, Business Times 7 May 08;

THE Economic Development Board has launched a $20 million solar capability scheme to help the private sector become more environmentally friendly.

Announced at the Semicon Singapore show yesterday, the scheme aims to encourage companies to install solar technology in new building projects. It is offering financial support of up to 40-50 per cent of the cost of solar solutions, capped at $1 million per project.

'The scheme enlarges the practice field for our solar energy ecosystem,' said EDB managing director Ko Kheng Hwa. 'We believe this will go a long way towards building up critical capabilities among various players, including system integrators, architects, engineers and developers.

'The implementation of capabilities nurtured under the scheme will be exportable, as there is growing demand internationally for eco-friendly developments. These capabilities will also support wider adoption of solar energy in Singapore as its cost continues to fall.'

The scheme is applicable to new private sector building developments that meet Green Mark Gold standard, under a benchmarking system administered by the Building and Construction Authority. Projects at existing buildings may be considered case by case.

The scheme is the latest initiative by the Clean Energy Programme Office (Cepo) led by Mr Ko.

Set up early last year, Cepo is an inter-agency workgroup tasked with coordinating clean energy efforts.

Yesterday, Cepo announced the formation of a clean energy international advisory panel . Chaired by EDB chairman Lim Siong Guan, the panel will advise Singapore on the development of a clean energy industry and help chart R&D direction. Panel members include British parliamentarian Ronald Oxburgh, European Photovoltaic Industry Association president Winfried Hoffmann and Norway's Renewable Energy Corp president and chief executive officer Erik Thorsen.

Here comes the sun

40 per cent funding for solar technologies
Teo Xuanwei, Today Online 7 May 08;

EVEN as solar energy has been identified as the main focus of Singapore's clean energy industry, there were no incentives dedicated to enticing businesses to hop onto the solar power bandwagon – until now, that is.

The Economic Development Board (EDB) yesterday unveiled the details of the Solar Capability Scheme (SCS), about two months after Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Mr S Iswaran first mentioned it in Parliament.

Owners of new private buildings — commercial, industrial and residential — will now be able to tap into the $20 million carrot, the latest programme introduced by the Clean Energy Programme Office (Cepo), to offset up to 40 per cent or $1 million of solar technologies installation works. But to qualify, these buildings will have to achieve the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark Gold standard. Existing buildings undergoing major retrofitting will be also considered on a case-by-case basis.

Seventy per cent of the grant will be reimbursed from the start of the project. The rest will be disbursed two years after the solar energy system becomes operational, provided it meets minimum electricity output requirements.

Before the SCS, only public sector buildings and facilities here enjoyed incentives to develop and test clean energy solutions under Cepo's $17-million Clean Energy Research and Test-bedding programme.

Speaking at the Semicon Singapore conference, EDB managing director Ko Kheng Hwa described the scheme as "very attractive", saying he hoped it would support about 100 projects "within the next few years". As awareness of solar energy technology seeps into the industry, interest and adoption rate should grow, he added.

The long-term goal, however, is to "enlarge the 'practice field'" so as to build up industry expertise in incorporating solar energy technology into design and engineering, noted Mr Ko, who is Cepo's executive director.

More importantly, the skills set will be "exportable" as demand for eco-friendly developments grow globally. "We believe that this scheme will go a long way in building up critical capabilities among various players in the solar energy ecosystem, including system integrators, architects, engineers and developers," he added.

Asked why a scheme to urge the adoption of solar energy technology emerged only now although the Government had announced a $350-million fund for clean energy research and development last March, Mr Ko explained that the clean energy initiative is only about a year old and at this early stage, it was already a "significant step".

But with solar-derived electricity costing two to three times more than normal electricity now, would the scheme entice businesses to make the switch?

Mr Christophe Inglin, managing director of Phoenix Solar, said the financial support will "make a big difference" when companies consider adopting green technologies. It will also complement the Green Mark Incentive Scheme — where building owners are rewarded for environmentally friendly practices — nicely, he added.

Meanwhile, the Clean Energy International Advisory Panel will sit for its first meeting here in June, said EDB. It was formed to advise Cepo on the overall development of the clean energy industry in Singapore.

$20m carrot for building owners to go solar
Govt scheme trims cost of tapping the sun for energy by 30% to 40%
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 7 May 08;

TAPPING the sun's energy has just been made easier for building owners.

The Government yesterday announced details of a $20 million scheme that could see as many as 100 solar projects sprout around Singapore in the next two years.

The carrot being dangled in front of private developers and building owners is a subsidy that trims the cost of a solar project by 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

The grant is capped at $1 million for each project.

Solar projects usually cost from $100,000 to a few million dollars, depending on the scale and technology used.

'This is a very attractive offer... We expect keen interest from the industry,' said Economic Development Board (EDB) managing director Ko Kheng Hwa, who unveiled the initiative yesterday at the annual Semicon Singapore conference at Suntec City.

The top priority of the Solar Capability Scheme, said Mr Ko, is to build up a critical mass of projects so as to develop manpower capabilities in Singapore's fledgling solar industry.

'We are focusing on boosting the demand side...so the local professionals will learn how to design good solar systems.'

The scheme, first mooted by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran in Parliament in March, is the Government's latest answer to increasing calls for incentives to kick-start the solar industry.

The sector has attracted headline investments in the last year, including a $6.3 billion giant solar manufacturing plant that Norwegian firm Renewable Energy Corp is building.

'This scheme will go a long way in building up critical capabilities among various players in the solar energy ecosystem,' said Mr Ko.

It starts with immediate effect and applies to new private buildings that meet a minimum Green Mark Gold standard, according to the EDB.

The Green Mark is a rating system developed by the Building and Construction Authority that rates buildings for their environmental impact and performance.

Developers like City Developments have already incorporated solar systems into new condos, which have been given the Green Mark stamp of approval.

Some factors that will determine the grant size include innovation, design, effectiveness and skills development, said Mr Ko.

The EDB also announced yesterday a new international advisory panel for clean energy that will hold its first meeting next month.

Industry players like Mr Christophe Inglin, the managing director of solar firm Phoenix Solar, hailed the new scheme, saying: 'It's the best news the industry has received for some time.

'We've seen an increase in interest in solar systems. Hopefully, this boost will convince clients that solar is the way to go.'

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EU farm chief defends biofuels, mulls tighter rules

Reuters 6 May 08;

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's agriculture commissioner criticized the media storm surrounding biofuels on Tuesday, but said the EU's executive Commission was open to raising targets for CO2 savings from biofuels from 2015.

The green credentials of biofuels have come under attack in recent weeks over fears they compete for farming land and push up food prices around the world.

"Those who see biofuels as the driving force behind recent food price increases have overlooked not just one elephant standing right in front of them, but two," EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel told a conference.

"The first elephant is the huge increase in demand from emerging countries like China and India ... The second elephant is the weather, and its effect on production," she added.

Bad weather hit cereal production in the EU, Canada, Russia, Ukraine and Australia last year, contributing to price rises, she added.

Fischer Boel replied to criticism that some biofuels can generate nearly as much CO2 as the fossil fuels they try to replace.

"It's because of anxieties like these that the Commission has proposed a safeguard: a given biofuel would count towards a member state's target only if it made a greenhouse gas saving of at least 35 percent compared to fossil fuels," she said.

"This would apply both to domestic production and to imports, and we are open to the idea of raising that threshold from 2015."

(Reporting by Pete Harrison; editing by Chris Johnson)

Biofuels answer to climate change: UN, EU
Yahoo News 6 May 08;

Biofuels must be developed more selectively to prevent competition with food-related crops, but they are still an answer to climate change, United Nations and European Union officials said on Tuesday.

"There is a concern that perhaps some of the investment and engagement in some of the biofuel production...in some cases did not go in the right direction," said Christophe Bouvier, European regional director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

"But I think it's a question of making sure that the correct biofuels are being promoted...we have to be vigilant," he said on the sidelines of a three-day conference on climate and energy security in Athens.

There are cases of crops such as corn where "productivity is very low" in terms of the energy consumed to produce fuel, Bouvier said.

But there are also crops such as sugar cane which "could be part of the solution" if grown "in the right places and with a sustainable production system," he said.

Speaking at the same conference, European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the EU was formulating new rules on biofuel development taking environmental and social concerns into consideration.

"The effects on the environment may not be all that beneficial, especially in the case of low-productivity biofuels," Dimas said.

Growing use of biofuels has been cited along with poor harvests due to drought, surging demand in Asia as living standards have risen, higher transport costs and trade restrictions for the rapid rise in food prices.

At least five demonstrators were killed Monday when Somali security forces fired at crowds protesting rising food prices in the capital Mogadishu and a fresh protest was held Tuesday.

Riots over soaring food costs also sparked riots last month in Egypt and Haiti as well as protests in other countries and restrictions on food exports in Brazil, Vietnam, India and Egypt.

Biofuels not raising food prices: German ministers
Reuters 6 May 08;

BERLIN (Reuters) - The global production of biofuels is not behind the recent rise in world food prices, two German ministers said on Tuesday.

Germany should retain its target of reaching 20 percent renewable energy use by 2020 including 10 percent biofuels, Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer told a press conference.

Rising food prices had largely been caused by the growing world population coupled with increasing spending power in several developing regions, he said.

Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told a separate press conference that poor harvests, rising spending power and growing financial investment in commodities was a major reason for rising food prices but not biofuel output.

Financial speculators had pushed up commodity prices dramatically and such speculators were "the real locusts" pushing up food prices in the Third World, Gabriel said.

Seehofer said the United Nations' World Food Organisation (FAO) estimated that only two percent of global farmland was used for biofuel crops.

He said he believed Germany could only reach its target of 20 percent renewable energy consumption by 2020 through the use of biofuels to meet 10 per cent of the goal.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel supported this target without reservation, Seehofer said.

Seehofer said a new German biofuels policy concept would be created before the summer at Merkel's request with Seehofer leading the coordination of ministries involved.

The food-verses-energy debate had failed to recognize that food prices were now falling in many sectors, Seehofer said.

"Milk prices are falling, pig prices have collapsed and grain prices are coming under pressure," he said.

Higher long-term food production was needed to counter high global prices, he said.

Germany would press the European Union to permanently end its set-aside scheme under which arable farmers must leave ten percent of their land fallow.

Set-aside was originally aimed to cut EU subsidies and EU food mountains. It has been temporarily suspended for the coming summer 2008 harvest to help counter high EU grains prices.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by David Evans)

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Climate change could hit tropical wildlife hardest

Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters 5 May 08;

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Polar bears may have it relatively easy. It's the tropical creatures that could really struggle if the climate warms even a few degrees in places that are already hot, scientists reported on Monday.

That doesn't mean polar bears and other wildlife in the polar regions won't feel the impact of climate change. They probably will, because that is where the warming is expected to be most extreme, as much as 18 degrees F (10 degrees C) by the end of this century.

But there are far fewer species living in the Arctic and Antarctic and in the temperate zones than in the tropics, said Curtis Deutsch of the University of California at Los Angeles.

Many of these tropical creatures are living at the edge of their temperature tolerance already. Even the slight tropical warming predicted by 2100 -- 5.4 degrees F (3 degrees C) -- could push them to the brink, Deutsch said in a telephone interview.

In research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Deutsch and his co-authors investigated what could happen to cold-blooded animals in the tropics over the next 100 years if the predictions of greenhouse warming hold true.

They chose cold-blooded creatures -- mostly insects but also frogs, lizards and turtles -- because warm-blooded animals have other ways of regulating their body temperatures, such as growing a thick coat of fur to guard against cold and shedding when it gets warm.

TROPICAL POPULATION CRASH

Cold-blooded organisms can either seek shade when it's hot or sun themselves when it's cool, but otherwise they are limited, Deutsch said.

"If nothing else happens, if they were just subjected to warming temperatures and everything else in their environment stayed the same, we would predict that their populations would crash more quickly," he said, meaning that many would die and their reproductive rates would plummet.

These animals do have other options besides a species crash, he said: they can migrate uphill or toward the poles to seek cooler climates, or they can evolve, and those with the best tolerance for heat would survive.

If they migrate or mutate, this could have an important impacts on humans living outside the tropics, Deutsch said, since insects particularly play key roles in pollinating agricultural crops and breaking down organic matter into essential nutrients for other creatures.

"The direct effects of climate change on the organisms we studied appear to depend a lot more on the organisms' flexibility than on the amount of warming predicted for where they live," said co-author Joshua Tewksbury of the University of Washington.

"The tropical species in our data were mostly thermal specialists, meaning that their current climate is nearly ideal and any temperature increases will spell trouble for them," Tewksbury said in a statement.

Tropical Trouble: Species to Struggle in Heat
Andrea Thompson, LiveScience.com Yahoo News 5 may 08;

Polar bears may be the poster children for the havoc that climate change could wreak on sensitive species, but animals and plants in the tropics could actually be in the greatest peril from global warming, a new study suggests.

While temperature changes in the tropics are expected to be much less extreme than those at higher latitudes, tropical species actually have a far greater risk of extinction from just a degree or two of warming, according to the results of the study, detailed in the May 5 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tropical species are accustomed to living within a much smaller temperature range than species at temperate and higher latitudes, so once temperatures exceed that range, many hot-zone species might not be able to cope, the authors said.

"There's a strong relationship between your physiology and the climate you live in," said study team member Joshua Tewksbury of the University of Washington. "In the tropics many species appear to be living at or near their thermal optimum, a temperature that lets them thrive. But once temperature gets above the thermal optimum, fitness levels most likely decline quickly and there may not be much they can do about it."

This threat to tropical species is particularly worrisome because, "unfortunately, the tropics also hold the large majority of species on the planet," said study team member Curtis Deutsch of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Tewksbury and Deutsch, who was a postdoctoral researcher at UW when the study was done, took temperature records from 1950 to 2000 and climate model projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the first years of the 21st century and compared them to data describing the relationship between temperature and fitness for a variety of temperate and tropical species, including insects, frogs, lizards and turtles. Their research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the UW Program on Climate Change.

How a given species would fare in a warming world appeared to depend more on how a temperature change would affect population levels and a species' physical performance than the actual amount of warming predicted for where they lived.

Some tropical species can now shield themselves from the heat of the day by sitting under a shady leaf or burrowing into the soil. But if they are already living close to their critical high temperature, a slight increase in air temperature could make staying out of the sun a futile exercise, Tewksbury said. Warming may simply come too fast for the creatures to adapt.

Tropics insects 'face extinction'
BBC News 5 May 08;

Many tropical insects face extinction by the end of this century unless they adapt to the rising global temperatures predicted, US scientists have said.

Researchers led by the University of Washington said insects in the tropics were much more sensitive to temperature changes than those elsewhere.

In contrast, higher latitudes could experience an insect population boom.

The scientists said changes in insect numbers could have secondary effects on plant pollination and food supplies.

In the research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the US scientists studied how temperature changes between 1950 and 2000 had affected 38 species of insects.

Unlike warm-blooded animals, cold-blooded organisms cannot regulate their body temperatures by growing a coat of fur or shedding it when it gets warm. They are instead limited to either seek shade when hot or sun themselves when cool.

The scientists predicted such species would struggle to cope with the 5.4C rise in tropical temperatures expected by 2100.

"In the tropics, many species appear to be living at or near their thermal optimum, a temperature that lets them thrive," said Joshua Tewksbury of the University of Washington.

"But once temperature gets above the thermal optimum, fitness levels most likely decline quickly and there may not be much they can do about it," he added.

Although some species might be able to migrate uphill and towards higher latitudes, or evolve to cope with the warmer climate, others might eventually die out, the scientists said.

Tropical insects risk extinction with global warming: study
Jean-Louis Santini, Yahoo News 5 May 08;

Global warming could pose a greater risk to tropical insects and other species sensitive to the slightest shifts in temperature than to creatures living in the world's tundra, US scientists warned Monday.

While cold weather animals are used to huge temperature changes, tropical species live under a much smaller temperature range and face a bigger risk of extinction with an increase of just two or four degrees Celsius, according to a team led by University of Washington scientists.

"In the tropics many species appear to be living at or near their thermal optimum, a temperature that lets them thrive," said Joshua Tewksbury, an assistant professor of biology at the Seattle, Washington university.

"But once temperature gets above the thermal optimum, fitness levels most likely decline quickly and there may not be much they can do about it," he said.

For their research, published in the May 6 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists examined daily and monthly global temperatures from 1950 to 2000.

They added climate model projections for warming in the first years of the 21st century drawn up by a United Nations group of international scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The university researchers then compared the information with data describing the link between temperature and fitness for 38 temperate and tropical insects as well as cold-blooded animals such as frogs, lizards and turtles.

While polar bears can develop thicker fur to shield them from freezing temperatures, tropical species must use other tactics to protect themselves from higher temperatures such as staying out of direct sunlight or burrowing into the soil.

But hiding from the sun could prove useless to tropical animals already living so close to their temperature comfort zone as the warmer weather could come too fast for their physiologies to adapt, the scientists said.

"Many tropical species can only tolerate a narrow range of temperatures because the climate they experience is pretty constant throughout the year," said Curtis Deutsch, an assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"Our calculations show that they will be harmed by rising temperatures more than would species in cold climates," he said.

"Unfortunately, the tropics also hold the large majority of species on the planet," said Deutsch, a co-author of the study who was a University of Washington postdoctoral researcher in oceanography.

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Tests show shark meat samples contain high levels of mercury

Channel NewsAsia 6 May 08;
and Today Online 6 May 07;

SINGAPORE: Shark's fin lovers beware. Some shark meat contains high levels of mercury that may be harmful to you.

The Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and international conservation group Wildaid on Monday said tests done on 10 random shark meat samples here show that three contained mercury readings higher than 0.5 ppm (parts per million) the maximum mercury residue limit in Singapore.

SEC executive director Howard Shaw said he hopes people will consume less shark's fin when they know the health issues.

"Our approach is 'If the buying stops, the killing will too'," he said.

WildAid director Peter Knights added: "The scale of demand for shark's fin far outstrips the supply, leading to illegal fishing and decimated populations. This will damage marine ecosystems and other fish stocks."

Mr Shaw said SEC will hold discussions with the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) within the next month regarding the possibility of printing health advisories on shark meat products here.

He explained that people should learn that mercury might affect certain groups of people very badly for example, pregnant women and children.

"Mercury has absolutely no health benefits whatsoever. We're not calling for a ban on shark meat products but for people to know what they're eating and the health concerns," added Mr Knights.

An AVA spokesman said it has been monitoring mercury levels in fish and seafood, including shark's fin, since 1980. He added that mercury readings in seafood here are "no cause for serious concern".

Mercury is present in the sea naturally because of volcanic activity. Fishes higher up in the foodchain, such as tuna and shark, tend to have higher levels of mercury.

The spokesman added: "Our advice to the public is to have a varied diet. Expecting mothers should consume tuna in moderation and choose smaller fish as the foetus is more susceptible to the neurological damage caused by mercury."

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Meet the architect of nature: Man behind Sentosa IR landscaping

Landscaping involves so much more than just planting flowers
Today Online 6 May 08;

British-born Henry Steed has been a landscape architect for 35 years. Some of his works — such as the Esplanade waterfront and all the open areas at the Safti Military Institute — will be familiar to Singaporeans.

After attending the Gloucester College of the Arts in England, he came to Singapore via Hong Kong. Mr Steed is an authority on tropical planting who has spent the last 24 years here, winning numerous awards, including a Gold at the inaugural Singapore Garden Festival in 2006 and another Gold at the Sila Design Award Competition in 2006 and 2007.

He started his own design company, ICN Design International, about 10 years ago, and is the President of the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects.

His latest projects include the Sentosa Integrated Resort (Resorts World), a park project at Fort Canning and a large hotel in Egypt. Landscape architecture, Mr Steed told Alicia Wong (alicia@mediacorp.com.sg), is more than just "superficial decoration".

Just what does a landscape architect do?

Our job is to create new landscapes. It is an art and a science. The art side involves how we make landscapes look great, and the science is the way we make it stay there.

We actually make steps and walls and the "hard stuff" that forms entire pathways. The "soft part" is the plants and water.

What are some common misconceptions?

People think it's just about making gardens. It's actually a lot more! At the Esplanade, there's a concealed car park, paved plazas, event areas, landscape areas, sitting areas, a showground, cafes and restaurant areas and a roof garden. We designed it from scratch.

Have attitudes towards this discipline changed?

In the '50s, people hardly thought about how a place would look and feel. By the '70s, it was becoming much more rooted in everybody's understanding.

Developers were beginning to understand landscaping was necessary to make the environment more pleasant, authorities were saying we must build parks for people so they can get out of their concrete environment.

Now, it's built into the system, that the quality of life is tied to a good environment. If everybody lived in a hard, hot, bare place, they'd go nuts.

So, it impacts peoples' lives?

Ultimately, it improves everything in a community. If you take a walk in a park when you're stressed and afterward you go into work feeling nice and refreshed, you're more productive. I don't like to put it this way, but there is a cash value in a high-quality environment.

How do you see landscape architecture contributing to environmental protection?

Individually, there's not much we can do to stem climate change. The best and cheapest way is to plant a tree. It will lower temperatures, produce oxygen, and absorb carbon dioxide. You plant enough of them; you can get a significant climate decline.

What is most important in landscaping?

I feel it's important for all of us — who live in a concrete jungle — to be in contact with nature.

It's good to have greenery. I live on the 16th floor of an apartment block and two sunbirds made a nest on my balcony.

They flew in one day and have just given birth to their second batch of babies. This is what I mean by being in touch with nature.

What is the message behind your landscape gardens showcase for the Singapore Garden Festival (July 25-Aug 1)?

My garden is actually two gardens, divided down the middle.

One is the manicured, urban, man-made environment. The other is the wilderness, all wild weeds and wild flowers. They are linked by a gate.

The gate lets you step into the wilderness because that's where your soul is refreshed. Singapore started with a garden city, then a city in a garden. I say we go further. It should be a city in nature, where we don't try to keep nature under control all the time.

How did you get started?

When I was less than six months old, I was whisked off to South Africa, which is a wonderland of wildlife and scenery. I became fascinated with birds. I also enjoy drawing; I do a lot of artwork. So, if you put drawing, artwork and nature together you get landscape architecture.

How does one study landscape architecture?

You have to understand all the earth's elements, starting with rocks. Geology influences the type of materials that grow.

If you go to the desert in Saudi Arabia you deal with a different kind of geology. In Singapore, the geology is different. You learn how to understand that in college.

Here, for instance, you need to understand the rain patterns, the wind, and the temperatures. It's not just about identifying a rose bush. But how you grow a rose bush, what bugs eat it, what fungi affects it, what seasonal changes affect it.

What's your favourite project?

This area (the Merlion Walk at Sentosa) is actually where I most like to be! For the last two years, flower festivals have been held on these terraces. When we built these terraces 20 years ago, there weren't any flowers.

So, when the opportunity to hold the flower festival here came, it was amazing. After all these years, the place is being used the way we dreamed of. I almost feel like it's my own garden.

What landscaping can we expect at Sentosa's integrated resort?

This involves constructing and designing the external components, such as the walkways, pavements and fountains.

So among the six hotels, theme park, waterfront along the sea and internal canal system, for instance, each will have a different character. Each hotel will have a different kind of look, some more formal, one with a tropical jungle environment, one with a beach setting.

It's really like a magical fantasy town.

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Upcoming strategic plan hopes to tackle rising dengue cases worldwide

Channel NewsAsia 5 May 08;

SINGAPORE: Dengue cases face a rising trend worldwide and hopefully the upcoming Asia-Pacific Dengue Strategic Plan will help countries tackle the disease.

Some 80 international officials from various environment and health ministries are here for a five-day meeting to finalise the plan. The plan's objectives include strengthening collaboration to control dengue and sharing resources in this area.

It will also provide a framework for countries such as Thailand and Malaysia to develop their own anti-dengue programmes.

Environment and Water Resources Minister, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, said: "Dengue does not respect international boundaries. As such, dengue control efforts cannot be limited to one country or a few countries and must be co-ordinated as a regional endeavour in order to be truly effective.

"Having a comprehensive regional dengue strategic plan is certainly a big step in the right direction towards the region's collective battle against dengue."

This is crucial because many governments today neglect the dengue problem.

Dr John Ehrenberg, Regional Adviser, Western Pacific Region, World Health Organisation, said: "They are very much preoccupied with diseases that have high mortality rates. Malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/Aids are diseases that attract a lot of attention, and so they tend to worry about dengue only when you have an outbreak.

"Our goal is really to raise the level of awareness towards the problem of dengue and be able to pay attention between outbreaks, not just during the outbreaks."

The global dengue incidence has increased 30-fold in the last 50 years. Today, dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries, where up to three billion people are at risk.

Singapore is also affected, registering 1,616 dengue cases in the first four months of this year, an increase of 421 cases from 1,195 cases in the same period last year.

Khoo Seow Poh, Director-General of Public Health, National Environment Agency, said: "Singaporeans are generally quite aware of what's dengue and they also know how to go about preventing mosquito breeding in their homes.

"But the question is how to make it a habit, make sure they do it on a routine basis, especially now (that) the weather is turning warmer. So there's a need for every household to be vigilant and do their part in keeping their homes free of mosquito."

In the fight against dengue, Singapore plans to host a regional training workshop here at the end of this year. This will allow international experts to come together and share experiences on tackling the disease.

Singapore will also share its knowledge in dengue prevention - such as in the area of surveillance and community mobilisation. - CNA/vm

Experts ganging up to fight dengue scourge

WHO and NEA to set up workshop on monitoring disease at year's end
Tan Hui Leng, Today Online 6 May 08;

With the global incidence of dengue increasing 30-fold in the last 50 years and Asia bearing 70 per cent of the global disease burden, the need for a regional training workshop in which experts from the region and other parts of the world share and learn from one another has never been greater.

Such an annual workshop will be set up here at the end of the year as a collaborative effort between the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Environment Agency (NEA).

"Singapore has spearheaded a number of initiatives, a number of strategies and techniques to put in place a very innovative surveillance system, and it's something we would like to take a look at as the potential for other countries in the world," said Dr John Ehrenberg, WHO Western Pacific Regional Adviser.

Ironically, even as Singapore is held up as a role model of dengue surveillance and monitoring, it is suffering from a dengue scourge.

In the first four months of the year, there has an increase of 35 per cent in dengue cases over the same period last year. Last week alone, there were 118 cases. As the warmer months from June to September approaches, the NEA is bracing for the traditional peak dengue period.

"We cannot eliminate dengue," said Dr Ehrenberg. "What we can do is control it, we can lessen the damage and this country has shown it can do that."

Singapore will offer sites for the sharing of both field and laboratory experiences, covering topics ranging from surveillance, vector control to community mobilisation, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim yesterday at the opening of the Asia-Pacific Dengue Programme Managers meeting.

The meeting, which is being held at the Amara Hotel, is being attended by 75 dengue experts from 22 countries.

During the five-day meeting, delegates will finalise the Asia-Pacific dengue strategic plan, which will suggest, among other things, ways to implement monitoring and response systems to better predict and react to outbreaks. The first draft of the plan, was reviewed in Phuket in September.

The WHO hopes that governments in the Western Pacific and South-east Asian countries will endorse the plan by September and commit more funds towards its implementation. This roadmap is part of the Asia-Pacific Dengue Partnership, formed in March 2006.

This is especially important in the developing world where there is a tendency to focus more on diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis rather than dengue.

Even in Singapore, awareness does not always lead to corrective action.

This year (until April 26), the number of mosquito breeding habitats in residential sites showed a 33-per-cent increase over the same period last year; at construction sites, there was a 46-per-cent increase.

"The software part — we need to put in more effort," said Mr Khoo Seow Poh, NEA director-general of public health. "That will help a lot in reducing the number of cases and cutting down chances of transmissions."

Dengue war: Singapore joins 21 countries to beat bug
Liaw Wy-Cin, Straits Times 6 May 08;

AS SINGAPORE attempts to stave off what could be its worst dengue fever epidemic, it has joined hands with 21 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region to draw up an ambitious eight-year battle plan against the disease.

This is the largest regional tie-up, said Dr John Ehrenberg, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Western Pacific regional adviser of malaria, other vector-borne and parasitic diseases.

Details of the Asia-Pacific Dengue Strategic Plan are being finalised during a week-long meeting, which began at the Amara Hotel yesterday and involves 75 regional representatives.

By Friday, they hope to pin down strategies on gathering, recording and analysing data, treating patients and combating the dengue-spreading Aedes aegypti, among other things.

What is crucial is that the plan, to be presented to regional health ministers in September, is compelling enough to draw both the funds and political will to fight the disease, said Dr Ehrenberg.

It also has to include the whole region, since the disease respects no borders, added Dr Michael Nathan, chief of vector ecology and management at WHO's department of control of neglected tropical diseases.

'It is an urban disease - a product of our global village, where people move around a lot,' he said.

During the meeting, countries will draft national-level plans. That is where they can draw from each other, said Mr Khoo Seow Poh, director-general of public health at the National Environment Agency, adding that Singapore hopes to pick up ideas on surveillance, community mobilisation and changing people's behaviour.

In the first 18 weeks of this year, Singapore has seen 1,734 dengue cases - about 36 per cent more than the same period last year. At least 26 cases were of the more serious type - dengue haemorrhagic fever.

Last month, the NEA warned that unless the trend of infections is halted, the number of sick people could hit record levels in three years' time.

The Asia-Pacific is the most dengue-riddled region in the world, and accounts for more than 70 per cent of dengue cases, says the WHO.

Some 50 million to 100 million cases of dengue have been reported worldwide each year - 30 times higher than 50 years ago.

Dengue is not the only worry, said Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim, pointing to other mosquito-borne diseases like chikungunya.

Chikungunya has affected more than one million people since 2005. It first appeared here in 2006, although all the cases were imported. Singapore saw its first locally transmitted cases this year.

What compounds the problem is that tackling dengue may not be a priority for some countries, which find diseases like tuberculosis and HIV more pressing, said Dr Ehrenberg.

That is why both adequate resources and political will are needed to back such a plan, dengue expert Duane Gublertold The Straits Times.

Either way, effective dengue prevention and control requires the region to work together, he said.

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Close to 12,000 Chinese kids with HFMD

Experts expect more cases as weather warms; no link with other cases in region
Tracy Quek, Straits Times 6 May 08;

FUYANG (ANHUI PROVINCE) - THE number of children stricken with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in China has hit 11,905, resulting in 26 deaths. Health experts expect the numbers to rise as the weather warms.

Olympic host city Beijing, neighbouring northern Hebei province and the south-western Chongqing municipality were the latest to report cases yesterday, adding to the growing list of areas hit by China's most severe outbreak of HFMD in recent years.

The health authorities in Beijing said 1,482 children have taken ill, according to state media yesterday.

But the outbreak in the Chinese capital is not a threat to the August Games as it affects mostly young children, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) China representative, Dr Hans Troedsson, told reporters on Sunday.

Elsewhere in China, children - most under the age of six - have fallen ill in Anhui, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hunan, Zhejiang and Hubei provinces.

Eastern Anhui province and southern Guangdong province are the worst hit. State media reported that 26 children have died.

Enterovirus 71, or EV-71 - the most vicious strain of the viruses which cause HFMD - has been blamed for the deaths of 22 children in Fuyang city in Anhui, three children in Guangdong and one in eastern Zhejiang province.

Around Asia, the virus has affected children in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.

HFMD, which could be caused by more than 60 viruses, is a common illness among children. It often starts with a fever, followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth, and rashes on the hands and feet. Although highly contagious, the disease is usually mild and children recover within four to six days.

Dr Jeffery Cutter from the Communicable Diseases Division of Singapore's Ministry of Health said EV-71 seems to rear its head every two to three years.

'It is uncertain why certain viruses are more dominant in one year rather than another,' he said, but said it could be due to a build- up in the number of non- immune children in the interim period.

Singapore has seen more than 9,000 cases. EV-71 is responsible for one in five of the HFMD cases.

China this year also saw many more cases triggered by EV-71. In some cases, children infected with EV-71 can develop viral meningitis, encephalitis, pulmonary edema and paralysis. There is no vaccine.

Mr Peter Cordingley, WHO's spokesman for the Western Pacific region, said there is no connection between the various HFMD outbreaks across Asia.

'These are all localised infections inside the affected countries,' he told The Straits Times.

Dr Troedsson told The Straits Times the disease is prevalent during warmer weather.

Referring to Anhui, he said: 'From my discussions with the (Chinese) Ministry of Health, one thing was that this province was affected by snow storm..but after that, it had an unusual warm spell early this year - the question is if it was a bit warmer. But that's speculation, we don't know.'

HK can expect to see a spike
Caryn Yeo, Straits Times 6 May 08;

WITH thousands expected to travel across the border for the long weekend, Hong Kong could see a spike in cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in the coming weeks, an infectious disease expert warned yesterday. The city marks Buddha's birthday on May 12.

Dr Lo Wing Lok said that there was now a higher risk of travellers carrying the virus back to Hong Kong as the outbreak had spread to neighbouring Guangdong province.

'The problem is that there is no way to detect a carrier of the virus at the border,' Dr Lo told The Straits Times.

'The only thing the government can do is to be prepared for an increase in the number of cases, especially in establishments where there are a lot of children.'

He added that the number of cases is expected to rise between May and July - the traditional peak season for the virus.

Hong Kong has recorded 10 cases of the deadly EV-71 strain of the virus since the start of the year, with no fatalities so far. There were 12 cases for the whole of last year.

A kindergarten was ordered to close last week after 23 children developed symptoms of HFMD. One of them was infected with EV-71.

Mrs Luk Wai Kin, mother of a six-year-old girl, said her family had decided to cancel their monthly shopping trip to Shenzhen.

'After the experience with Sars, I think it's better to be safe than sorry,' she told The Straits Times.

60 severe cases in Taiwan
Ong Hwee Hwee, Straits Times 6 may 08;

TWO children, aged one and three, have died in Taiwan this year after being infected by enterovirus-71, or EV-71.

As of yesterday, there were 60 severe cases of intestinal virus infection, compared to 12 in the whole of last year. All but two of this year's cases were caused by EV-71.

The Taiwan health authorities are expecting the numbers to climb, peaking next month.

'We have seen a huge jump in severe cases this year,' said Dr Chou Jih-haw, deputy director of Taiwan's Centre for Disease Control.

'Many Taiwanese children below five years old have never been infected with intestinal virus, hence they have no resistance against it,' he told The Straits Times.

But officials said that they do not expect a repeat of a major outbreak in 1998 when 78 children died and 405 others were left with severe neurological complications.

Dr Chou said that there was no evidence to suggest that the cases in Taiwan were related to the outbreak in China and other Asian countries. 'The patients have no record of travelling overseas,' he said.

So far, media coverage on the EV-71 outbreak has been relatively muted.

'I will still send my children to the childcare centre,' said Ms Du Juan, 41, who has two children aged three and six. 'But I will make sure that they stay at home if they are unwell.'

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Best of our wild blogs: 6 May 08

Works on our shores at Changi and Pulau Semakau
cable laying next to Changi Ferry Terminal and new fish farm off Pulau Semakau on the wildfilms blog

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Alberta puts C$55 million into pine beetle fight

Reuters 5 May 08;

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Alberta will spend C$55 million ($54 million) this year to stem the spread of pine beetles, which have ravaged forests in neighboring British Columbia, the Alberta government said on Monday.

The money will help remove trees already attacked by the tiny beetles or are considered at high risk, with the goal of having the infested trees removed before July when insects take flight.

The insects lay their eggs in ponderosa and lodgepole pines and the larvae kill the trees by destroying their ability to take in water and nutrients. The beetles also carry a fungus that stains some of the wood blue.

The decade-old infestation was expected to begin to ebb in British Columbia as the supply of older pines dwindles, but it has long been feared the insects will be able to make it east over the Rocky Mountains and into Alberta.

According to Alberta officials, mountain pine beetles pose a threat to about 15 percent of the western province's forest. Once beetles infest a tree it cannot be saved, though younger trees are able to use their sap to fight off infestation.

A report published last month warned the infestation was now so large it might be contributing to climate change, with the rotting trees releasing carbon dioxide at an equivalent rate to major forest fires.

($1=$1.01 Canadian)

(Reporting Allan Dowd, editing by Rob Wilson)

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One-third of ivory items in US may be illegal: study

Yahoo News 5 May 08;

Nearly one-third of ivory items for sale in the United States may have been illegally imported after a US moratorium on the trade imposed in 1989, conservation groups said in a report Monday.

A survey conducted for the groups Care For the Wild International and Save the Elephants found that more than 24,000 ivory articles are for sale in the United States, making it the second biggest market in the world after China.

The survey of 657 outlets in 16 US towns and cities found that "perhaps 7,400 ivory items, or nearly one-third of the total, may have been crafted after 1989 making their importation illegal."

Nearly all of the ivory items in the United States, or 95 percent, come from China, according to the study's author, Esmond Martin, who has dedicated his 30-year career to ivory trade research.

The per-kilogram price of raw ivory is between 154 and 346 dollars, compared to 110 to 144 dollars in 1990, the report said.

The United States consumes less than one tonne of raw ivory per year, down from seven tonnes a year in the 1980s, it said.

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