Best of our wild blogs: 6 Dec 08

Pasir Ris Mangrove Clean-Ups
upcoming trips in January with Grant Pereira on The Green Guy blog

Black-capped Kingfisher
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Poem?
Serendipity on the Psychedelic Nature blog

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Developing Singapore's shorelines the eco-friendly way

A Singapore-Dutch alliance hopes its 'building with nature' project will bear fruit
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 6 Dec 08;

'We want an aquatic centre in a marine setting, hopefully on one of the southern islands where we have the rare condition of pristine nature in close proximity to urban developments.'

IN FIVE years, there will be knowledge to build harbours in a way that can also sustain marine life, if a team of Singapore and Dutch researchers succeeds in a new venture.

At least $13 million will be spent by Ecoshape, a non-profit organisation headquartered in the Netherlands, and the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance based at the National University of Singapore, to take the concept of 'building with nature' to shorelines.

Sustainable coastal-related infrastructure supported by sound science is a new concept, the scientists said.

So far, such eco-friendly concepts have been applied mainly to the cityscape, said the programme manager of Ecoshape, Dr Jan van de Meene. 'This is the only programme in the world doing work on coastal infrastructure on such a scale.'

Hydraulic engineering, ecology, policy analysis and business sense will all have to be considered.

Singapore will be one of four sites for the studies, with the rest in the Netherlands.

The teams will create a coastal marine development programme, beginning with pilot tests, that can eventually be implemented at shorelines worldwide.

Dr van der Meene said: 'Singapore is an iconic project for us because we believe if we are going to develop this type of knowledge, it has to be shown by putting it into practice internationally.'

The director of the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, Associate Professor Vladan Babovic, said several shorelines here are being considered for the project. 'We want an aquatic centre in a marine setting, hopefully on one of the southern islands where we have the rare condition of pristine nature in close proximity to urban developments.'

A dream site for the researchers would be Pulau Semakau, where coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass meadows flourish alongside the dumping grounds of waste incinerators. A concrete wall separates the natural from the man-made. The marine aquatic centre will be similar to a freshwater research centre at Sungei Ulu Pandan, which has an open concept, inviting passers-by to come in and find out more about science.

Discussions with government agencies, including the National Parks Board, Building & Construction Authority and the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore, have begun to find the best sites for the projects, he said.

By the end of next year, there could be 30 researchers working on a total of 15 projects to find the best way to build with nature. The first three will begin designing methods for their studies next month.

Dr van de Meene, a physical geographer by training, said the team will learn precisely how the ecosystem reacts to stresses and will then conduct tests to try to develop more natural ways to prevent erosion or biodiversity loss. 'For example, we'll find out when we can use alternatives to concrete.'

In some cases, restoring coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves may provide enough protection for the shoreline. But as such buffers have to extend 100m inland from the waterline to land safe enough to build on, they can be put up only in areas far from the Central Business District. On coasts by the CBD or sites to moor vessels, a hard shoreline might be the only alternative as its width is 20m.

However, it could incorporate hiding places to encourage fish and corals to grow.

'This is about regional planning to increase the biodiversity for any type of coastal development, whether on the cityfront, port or nature park,' Dr van de Meene said.

The programme to develop greener harbours will run for five years, alongside as many as 15 smaller projects, also for coastal research. Dr van de Meene said the Dutch government and private sector have committed $8 million to the projects. The funds are expected by the end of the year, revealed Prof Babovic.

The alliance which Prof Babovic heads was formed last year by national water body, PUB, the National University of Singapore and Delft Hydraulics, a Netherlands-based research and consulting organisation. It has committed a separate $5 million for the projects.

Prof Babovic said work will begin on research models at the Tropical Marine Sciences Institute's laboratories on St John's Island. Once perfected, these projects will find a home in nature.

Shoreline projects

THE first three projects by the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance and Ecoshape will look at:

# What causes sedimentation to rise in local waters.

# The resilience and recovery rates of marine ecosystems like coral reefs in the presence of man-made and natural pressures.

# How to make use of natural ecological engineering like mangrove forests to defend mankind from the effects of climate change.

Ecoshape is hopeful other projects with other Singapore agencies, such as the Environment and Water Industry Development Council, will make the programme even more beneficial to Singapore. The researchers hope that by 2011, the alliance's work with Ecoshape will have produced methods for activities ranging from economic development to recreation, and improving the quality of life, for example, through nature parks.

Dutch environmental models have been adopted on Singapore shorelines since the 1970s, most recently with the use of powerful pumps to maintain water levels at the Marina Barrage.

More details and links on the wild shores of singapore blog.

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URA gazettes Singapore's Master Plan 2008

Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia 5 Dec 08;

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has gazetted its Master Plan 2008.

It is a statutory land use plan that guides physical development of the country for the next 10 to 15 years.

Some 200,000 people visited the exhibition of the Draft Master Plan 2008 over the past six months.

And as part of public consultation process, the urban planners also reviewed 300 feedback received during the exhibition.

URA says relevant suggestions have been incorporated into the final Master Plan 2008.

The plan will introduce new commercial and sub-regional hubs at various parts of the island.

They include the Jurong Lake District, Kallang Riverside and Paya Lebar Central.

A new leisure plan has also been developed to provide more recreational options.

Meanwhile, the city area will continue to be Singapore's key commercial centre, with seamless extension of the existing Central Business District into Marina Bay.

URA plan draws strong interest
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 6 Dec 08;

THE Master Plan 2008 - an ambitious blueprint setting out Singapore's physical development for the next 10 to 15 years - has attracted plenty of attention from the public.

Its exhibition received more than 200,000 visitors over the past six months, and about 300 submissions have been made - 80 per cent of them online - according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

The feedback ranged across several aspects of the plan, which was unveiled in May by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

It contains ambitious schemes to transform Jurong East, Kallang and Paya Lebar into sub-metropolitan hubs of offices, hotels, education and entertainment centres, parks and homes.

Some of the feedback included calls for the allocation of space for activities in Paya Lebar Central. The Station Plaza in front of the Paya Lebar MRT station and the plaza space next to the civic centre at Geylang Serai were cited as possible venues.

Feedback on the Leisure Plan was generally positive, including comments from members of the public that they were excited about the 150km round-island route, added the URA. Suggestions were also made on ways to enhance Jurong Lake District to improve transport with people movers and river taxis.

The URA said it would study the suggestions and is 'working with other agencies to see how we can incorporate (the public feedback) in our plan'.

The Master Plan was gazetted - or made official - yesterday. It can be viewed at the URA Centre in Maxwell Road.

Read more!

Singapore not ruling out nuclear power

Li Xueying, Straits Times 6 Dec 08;

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong does not rule out the possibility of Singapore having a nuclear power plant in the long term.

There would be difficulties, he acknowledged, because of the scale of such a project. At the same time, there would be safety issues. But technology may evolve so that such challenges can be resolved.

'I would not rule it out for the long term,' he said.

'I would not say never, because if global warming is a serious problem, if energy prices in the long term continue to rise, fuel prices continue to rise, and if you are worried about a carbon tax on top of that, then you have to seriously consider nuclear.'

Mr Lee's comments yesterday - in response to a question on whether Singapore has plans for nuclear power - are more positive than his stance a year ago, when he ruled it out as an option.

During the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali in December last year, he said nuclear energy was out because of the lack of a minimum 30km safety distance.

International standards require a 30km-wide safety zone around a nuclear plant.

This is an issue in small countries like Singapore, which stretches about 40km from east to west.

But Mr Lee said yesterday that technology may evolve, mitigating this consideration.

'Safety rules may evolve, there might be other possibilities such as putting it (a nuclear plant) underground,' he said.

This would help address the problem of safety - 'where we will put the plant, far enough away from dense concentrations of population'.

The Prime Minister, however, brought up another challenge.

'It is difficult to do because the scale is large, because when you talk about nuclear power plants, you are talking about a plant which can produce several gigawatts, and the Singapore market for electricity is not big enough to have such a big plant. That's one problem.'

He noted that nuclear power is an issue that 'many countries don't want to think about'.

'But we cannot put it off our mental map,' he said. 'We have to look ahead and be aware of the possibilities.'

Last month, a high-powered panel set up by the Trade and Industry Ministry to examine Singapore's energy policies said nuclear research, and even a nuclear power plant, could not be dismissed from Singapore's range of long-term solutions.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had also revealed that the Government had thought about possible locations for such a plant: Pedra Branca island east of Singapore, or on a floating platform out at sea.

Read more!

Drive to promote solar power

Straits Times 6 Dec 08;

POZNAN (Poland): If a solar-powered car can drive 52,000km around the globe without using a drop of oil, perhaps it can be forgiven for not having frills like a coffee cup holder.

Or maybe that makes Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer's journey even more remarkable.

Mr Palmer rolled into the United Nations climate conference in his solar-powered car on Thursday, a man with a mission: To prove that the world can continue its love affair with the car without burning any polluting fossil fuels and still enjoy a smooth ride.

While 11,000 delegates sought an ambitious new climate change deal to slash emissions of heat-trapping gases, MrPalmer was convinced that whatever they agreed upon would not be enough to avert environmental disaster.

'Here at the conference, we are talking about reducing emissions by 10 or 20 per cent,' he said. 'I want to show that we can reduce emissions by 100 per cent - and that's what we need for the future.'

Mr Palmer, a teacher on leave from his job, spent 17 months driving his own creation - a fully solar-powered car built with the help of Swiss scientists - through 38 countries, including Singapore.

The two-seater travels up to 90kmh and covers 300km on a fully charged battery.

'This is the first time in history that a solar-powered car has travelled all the way around the world without using a single drop of petrol,' he said, adding that he lost only two days to breakdowns.

For now, the aluminium and fibreglass car is still a prototype, and it feels like one.

The car, designed to be light and efficient, is powered by solar cells that it hauls on a trailer.

It has plastic windows, three wheels instead of four and, ironically, no climate control.

Designed like a race car, it can hold two people comfortably and has a radio. It meets all safety standards in Switzerland and has headlights, brakes, blinkers and other standard safety features.

Before his world trip, Mr Palmer, 36, used it for a year to commute to the school in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he taught.

Although he tried to avoid what he called 'dinosaur technology', his steering wheel was from a Renault, his windshield wipers from a Fiat and his wheels from a Smart car, the Daimler two-seater that is ubiquitous in many European cities.

He has given a ride to approximately 1,000 people so far, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and UN climate chief Yvo de Boer.

Mr Palmer believes there is no reason why car companies cannot make a much better version of his solar-powered car if they set their minds to it.

'These new technologies are ready,' he said. 'It's ecological, it's economical, it is absolutely reliable. We can stop global warning.'

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Zipping around

The Solar Taxi

# Is an electric vehicle with two wheels up front and one in the rear.

# It has a 5m-long trailer covered with 6 sq m of solar Q-Cells that generate the car's electricity.

# The car and the trailer each has a Zebra (sodium nickel chloride) battery pack. The electricity is stored in the battery, so the taxi can be driven at night.

# The maximum speed it can reach is 90kmh.


Around the world

# Since leaving Lucerne, Switzerland, in July last year, Mr Louis Palmer has driven his solar taxi through 38 countries, covering a distance of over 52,000km.

# The destinations include places in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, China, South Korea, Canada and North America.

POWERING AHEAD

'These new technologies are ready. It's ecological, it's economical, it is absolutely reliable.'
Mr Louis Palmer, who believes companies can produce a better version of his solar-powered car

'Solar taxi' goes round the world
BBC News 5 Dec 08;

A solar-powered car has arrived at the UN climate change talks in the Polish city of Poznan after a round-the-world trip covering almost 40 countries.

At the wheel of the "solar taxi" was Swiss teacher Louis Palmer who made the 52,000km (32,000 mile) 17-month trip.

He said the feat proved solar power was a viable alternative to oil-based fuels and could help fight global warming.

But he said the prototype would need serious modification before it could be mass produced.

The small blue-and-white three-wheeler tows a trailer packed with batteries charged by the sun. It can travel for 300km on a single charge and reach speeds of 90km/h (55mph).

"People love this idea of a solar car," Mr Palmer said outside the venue of the UN climate talks. "I hope that the car industry hears...and makes electric cars in future."

Mr Palmer, 36, said the car ran "like a Swiss clock," breaking down only twice during the gruelling trip through 38 nations starting in Lucerne in July 2007.

Passengers included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Monaco's Prince Albert, Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, he said.

The car runs on solar power but Mr Palmer also had a battery for travel at night or in less sunny nations, such as winter-time Poland, that he recharged from local electricity.

He says the prototype cost as much as two Ferraris to build, but would cost around 10,000 euros ($12,620) if mass produced, with an extra 4,000 euros for solar panels.

Mr Palmer said he now plans to return home: "I promised my mother to be back before Christmas."

But next year, he plans to arrange a trip with six vehicles around the world in 80 days drawing power from sources such as hydro, geothermal and wind energy.

Read more!

Battered sharks get critical listing

WWF 5 Dec 08;

Rome, Italy: Four commercially valuable shark species have just been recognized as being “of conservation concern” under the international Convention on Migratory Species.

The listing applies to northern hemisphere populations of spiny dogfish, a common ingredient of food staple fish and chips, and global populations of Porbeagle shark and both species of mako shark.

Intense debate saw southern hemisphere populations of spiny dogfish excluded from the listing on the agreement that a comprehensive population review will be conducted for the next meeting of the convention.

"WWF welcomes this listing by the CMS--the first listing by an international conservation convention of commercially utilized shark species,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, director of WWF International’s Species Programme.

“This shows that the world community now recognizes that sharks are over-fished, declining, and worthy of the kind of conservation concern afforded to other species."

The sharks have been listed under Appendix ll of the convention, which supports co-operation between range states on conservation plans for listed species. For migratory species it focuses attention on the status of the species and can help trigger other regional and international initiatives in fisheries management and trade.

The sharks, which are among the most valued of shark species for both meat and fins, suffer from excessive levels of targeted fishing as well as being bycatch casualties of other fisheries such as purse seining and long-lining for tuna.

The slow growth, late maturity, small litters and long lives of sharks make them vulnerable to over-exploitation. Porbeagle sharks gather together, making them especially easy targets for fishing – a critical factor in the collapse of their populations in the 1970s and continuing failure to demonstrate any lasting recovery.

Listing of all four species across their entire ranges was proposed but the porbeagle shark and the compromise on spiny dogfish were only agreed after intense negotiation.

WWF has also raised concerns over declining populations of Mediterranean bluefin tuna – subject of a recent International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) decision to continue fishing at well over scientifically recommended levels – as a species of concern before the migratory species convention.

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Downturn seen slowing CO2 rise

Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn, Reuters 4 Dec 08;

POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - Economic slowdown will give a respite from surging greenhouse gas emissions but the world will struggle to shift in the long-term to new, greener lifestyles, delegates said at U.N. climate talks on Thursday.

Most experts expect the downturn will dent a 3 percent a year rise in world emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels. But one scientist said a repeat of the Great Depression of the 1930s would mean them falling by 35 percent.

"What we're seeing in a number of countries is slower growth rather than a decline," Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters at the December 1-12 talks on a new climate treaty due to be agreed at the end of 2009.

"It would be a pretty depressing way to make progress, to find that recession was helping the world to kick an addiction to burning fossil fuels that spur rising greenhouse gases."

Many experts say that emissions in developing nations, such as China and India, are likely to keep rising and more than offset any falls in developed countries.

But opinions are divided.

Terry Barker, director of the Center for Climate Change Mitigation Research at Cambridge University said carbon emissions fell 35 percent from 1929 to 1932 during the Great Depression.

"I think there's a chance it could fall by more than that by 2012," he said. "The leading indicators are falling like a stone," he added, referring to oil and European carbon prices.

Lower energy demand has contributed to an oil price crash to $46 a barrel on Thursday from $147 in July -- and that may discourage a shift to greener lifestyles. Motorists may drive more, and in aging, more polluting cars because they cannot afford new ones.

"It affects both directions so it's very difficult to work out the total effect," said Jos Olivier, emissions scientist at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

PEAK

Global emissions of greenhouse gases have surged by about 50 percent since 1970 and under current trends are expected to rise by almost half again by 2030. A U.N. climate panel says they should peak by 2015 to avert the worst of global warming.

The U.N. Environment Program has urged the world to use the economic slowdown to shift to a "Green New Deal," inspired by President Franklin Roosevelt's drive to create jobs in the Great Depression. But a change in lifestyles is harder.

"Typically what you see is that after four or five years the (emissions) trend rebuilds back to where it was originally," said Bill Hare of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "We don't also, from the economic side, expect to see a long-term change in consumption," he said.

Harlan Watson, head of the U.S. delegation in Poznan, said U.S. emissions tended to rebound after falls in recessions. "Except in very few instances, our reductions in emissions have been associated with recessions," he said.

He said California showed there were some hopes for a shift to greener lifestyles -- when electricity prices spiked in 2000-01 in a crisis with rolling blackouts, people cut back and continued with lower energy use even after prices declined.

"It does demand a change of behavior and sometimes it sticks even if prices fall," he said.

Recessions tend to be temporary like big volcanic eruptions that eject dust that can briefly dim the sun worldwide and so offset global warming, scientists say.

Any emissions slowdown "is all temporary, it's a blip in the rising curve," said Bert Metz of the European Climate Foundation who was a leader of a U.N. Climate Panel report in 2007.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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UNEP Atlas Shows How Biodiversity Hotspots Are Also Major Carbon Sinks

UNEP 5 Dec 08;

Poznan/Nairobi/Cambridge, 5 December 2008 - Maps pinpointing overlaps of high carbon and high biodiversity areas were launched today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) with its Carbon and Biodiversity demonstration atlas.

The research gives shows how reducing emissions from deforestation can not only assist in combating climate change but can also help the conservation of biodiversity, from amphibians and birds to primates.

The atlas, believed to be the first of its kind, comes as nations meet in Poznan, Poland for the latest round of UN climate convention talks.

Close to 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions are a result of deforestation. Negotiators are looking to advance plans to fund Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in a post-2012 climate deal.

The Carbon and Biodiversity Demonstration Atlas was produced by UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) with support from the German government and initial seed funding from Humane Society International.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "At a time of scarce financial resources and economic concerns, every dollar, euro or rupee needs to deliver double, even triple dividends. Intelligent investment in forests is a key example where climate benefits and ecosystem benefits can be achieved in 'one transaction'."

He said paramount to a successful REDD mechanism is ensuring safeguards for local and indigenous people so that they can benefit from any future REDD arrangements.

"However, by pinpointing where high densities of carbon overlap with high levels of biodiversity, the atlas spotlights where governments and investors can deal with two crises for the price of one. This does not include the other benefits from investing in forests ecosystem 'infrastructure', from stabilizing soils to conserving and boosting local and regional water supplies," he added.

The Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP, an initiative coordinated by UNEP and the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is set to launch pilot activities to test the potential of achieving these "multiple benefits" from REDD in Central Africa and Southeast Asia.

The experts are looking at how investments in conserving carbon in the forests on the Nigerian-Cameroon border may also assist in conserving the habitat of the highly endangered Cross River gorilla, of which only 250-300 individuals remain. And in Indonesia, national and local authorities, communities and the oil palm sector will be engaged to reduce emissions from the carbon-rich peat-swamp forest, home of many populations of orangutan.

News of the pilot came earlier this week during the launch of the Year of the Gorilla 2009 initiative coordinated by UNEP's Convention on Migratory Species. The GRASP initiative will complement and may form part of a wider United Nations REDD Programme, led by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UNEP. The UN REDD Programme is assisting nine pilot countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia and will also provide support to the development of a global REDD mechanism, working in cooperation with the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and others.

The demonstration Atlas includes regional maps as well as national maps for six tropical countries (see below) showing where areas of high carbon storage coincide with areas of biodiversity importance. It also shows where existing protected areas are high in both carbon and biodiversity. The atlas includes a variety of statistics drawn from these maps demonstrating the different types of possible information that can be provided.

The atlas is at: www.unep.org/pdf/carbon_biodiversity.pdf (PDF)

Forest hotspots pinpointed for climate, animals
Alister Doyle, Reuters 5 Dec 08;

POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - A U.N. atlas pinpointed on Friday parts of forests from the Amazon to Madagascar where better protection could give the twin benefits of slowing global warming and preserving rare wildlife.

The atlas, issued at December 1-12 U.N. climate talks in Poznan, Poland, identified hotspots with a high diversity of animals and plants in forests that were also big stores of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, in trees and soils.

"It shows overlaps between carbon stored and areas of biodiversity importance," Barney Dickson, of the World Conservation Monitoring Center of the U.N. Environment Program, told Reuters.

"This offers the prospect of a double dividend," he said of the atlas, meant to guide governments in deciding where to protect forests by slowing logging and clearing of forests.

If a government wanted to aid gorillas and other great apes, forests in part of the eastern Congo basin could be set aside. Rare birds and amphibians could be helped by protecting carbon-rich forests in Ecuador.

Elsewhere, it pointed to parts of the Amazon basin, the tip of South Africa, central Papua New Guinea, parts of the Philippines and most of Madagascar as among priority areas.

The 187-nation talks of 11,000 delegates in Poznan are examining schemes to slow the rate of deforestation, such as payments to preserve tropical forests.

Current deforestation rates release about 20 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions by mankind, led by burning fossil fuels.

EXTINCTION

Some U.N. studies have said the world is facing the worst extinction crisis since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago, due to factors such as destruction of habitats, rising human populations and climate change.

Dickson said the maps, due to be expanded in more detail next year, were the first to make the overlaps.

"When countries plan they may wish to prioritize action in some areas ahead of others," he said. Other likely factors include protecting indigenous peoples' rights.

Worldwide, the loss of forests was 7.3 million hectares (18.04 million acres) a year between 2000 and 2005, an area the size of Sierra Leone or Panama -- according to U.N. data.

Separately, a report showed that protecting forests could be easier and have bigger effects than parallel drives to curb industrial emissions from factories, power plants and cars.

Reducing deforestation "is commonly seen as a significant, cheap, quick and win-win way to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions," the report by the Center for International Forestry Research said.

"The cost estimates vary, from $7 billion to $28 billion per year for halving deforestation," it said, adding that even the upper estimates compared favorably with industrial curbs.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 5 Dec 08

New Pulau Ubin flickr group!
set up by cheguthamrin. Share your favourite Ubin photos on the Pulau Ubin flickr group. More about this on the wild shores of singapore blog

Nesting saga of Peaceful Doves: Part 3 of 6
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

"Expect massive floods in Johor": impact on Chek Jawa?
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Dung beetles in Singapore
on the lekowala! blog

Portrait of a bird: Red-crowned Barbet
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Nat Geo News features the Santo 2006 crabs!
photos taken by the Raffles Museum, on the Biodiversity crew @ NUS blog

Queen puts toe in happy waters
Richard Black on the UK's new marine bill on the BBC News blog

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More orang utan after logging ban

Jaswinder Kaur, The New Straits Times 5 Dec 08;

KOTA KINABALU: The orang utan and other endangered wildlife are making their presence felt at the Ulu Segama and Malua commercial forest reserves almost a year after the Sabah government slammed the brakes on logging at the two sites, giving up billions in potential revenue from timber.
Sabah Forestry Department director Datuk Sam Mannan said that forests at the reserves were starting to look better, a signal that the government had taken the correct step when it announced to the world that it would halt logging at Ulu Segama and Malua, which collectively are almost four times the size of Singapore.

"The forest itself is looking better and we see animals more often now. We see tembadau (wild cattle) and orang utan," he said.

Sabah had in March 2006 said it would stop logging by Dec 31 last year at the two forest reserves due to the high concentration of wildlife.

There are an estimated 4,500 orang utan at Ulu Segama and Malua, almost half of that found in Sabah.
Mannan was speaking after signing a memorandum of agreement with Sime Darby Berhad group chief sustainability officer Puvan Selvanathan for the restoration of degraded forests on a 5,400ha site in the northern part of the Ulu Segama forest reserve.

Sime Darby has pledged RM25 million to restore the habitat of the orang utan by planting indigenous tree species and developing environmental awareness programmes and exchange knowledge to improve wildlife conservation efforts.

"Sime Darby has given us the biggest-ever endowment from outside the government to restore orang utan habitats degraded by years of bad logging practices, multiple forest fires and the threat of encroachments," he said.

"Despite the poor forest condition, northern Ulu Segama is rich in orang utan because it is the last forest refuge north of the Segama river, with its surroundings now developed.

"With this endowment, we believe we can restore the habitat and give the orang utan a better home."

Mannan also pointed out that forest restoration was an expensive business, with more than RM200 million poured in by the Sabah government over the last five years.

He added that political support was crucial in the quest for good environmental and forest governance.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who witnessed the event, said he was pleased that Sime Darby and other organisations had come forward to assist the state in its efforts to restore degraded jungles.

"Orang utan and other wildlife are important to us.

"We have lost billions in (potential) royalty from logging but we took this bold step to stop logging (at Ulu Segama and Malua)."

Sime Darby president and group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid said the company was proud to participate in the conservation effort.

"Sabah has taken a critical leadership position. Ulu Segama is nature's gift to the world but it paid the price of development.

"Now the government wants to restore it and it is not going to be a simple exercise," Ahmad Zubir said.

Read more!

Polluted Indonesian river to get major cleanup, says ADB

Stephen Coates Yahoo News 4 Dec 08;

JAKARTA (AFP) – One of the world's most polluted rivers, the Citarum in Indonesia, is about to receive a massive cleanup that will improve the lives of millions of people, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The regional bank said it had agreed to provide a 500-million-dollar multi-tranche loan package to support Indonesian government efforts to rehabilitate the strategic but horribly polluted river on Java island.

The loan, to be delivered in chunks of 50 million dollars over 15 years, is part of the government's 3.5-billion-dollar plan to restore the Citarum and improve the lives of 28 million people who depend on it in some way.

ADB Senior Water Resources Engineer Christopher Morris said pollution levels in the river compromised public health, while the livelihoods of fishing families had been hit by the widespread death of fish.

"The Citarum River basin urgently needs improved management and significant infrastructure investments," he said.

"ADB's initial assistance will provide safe water supply and sanitation facilities for poor families who currently use water from the polluted canal for bathing, laundry and other uses.

"It will also allow the cultivation of an additional 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of paddy, benefitting 25,000 farming families."

He said the loans would bolster local efforts to integrate water management along the river, which stretches from Bandung in central West Java province to the capital Jakarta, some 160 kilometres (100 miles) to the northwest.

Once it reaches the capital it becomes a canal bubbling with industrial and household waste, which provides 80 percent of the surface water supply to the city of 12 million people.

Along the way it is lined with hundreds of small-scale industries, only about 20 percent of which are estimated to have waste water treatment programmes.

Dozens of villages also use the river as a place to dump their untreated sewage and household garbage.

Morris said the ADB and the Indonesian authorities would work together with local communities to try to "stop some of the behaviour" that makes the river a "dumping site for all the household waste."

This would involve small-scale projects to build sanitation facilities in villages along the river, as well as larger wastewater treatment plants.

"There's a direct correlation between a lack of water supply, and a lack of sanitation, and poverty in the Citarum River basin," Morris said.

"The communities with toilets and better water supply and the communities which are protected from flooding ... are wealthier."

A health ministry survey published in The Jakarta Globe daily this week showed that 40 percent of households in the country of 234 million people were not fitted with toilets.

It found that 25 percent of households did not have a septic tank or other system for disposing of human waste, and only 73 percent had garbage disposal facilities.

"Many Indonesians know about the importance of using clean water in their daily activities, but if they don't have access to it they have no other choice but to continue living the way they are," ministry official Wan Alkadri was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"However there are still many Indonesians who ignore their hygiene even when they have access to clean water."

The dumping of solid domestic waste such as plastic bottles blocks drains and contributes to flooding that paralyses parts of Jakarta every wet season.

Morris said rapid urbanization, climate change, environmental degradation, public health and food security were issues affecting not only the Citarum but rivers across Asia and the Pacific region.

Polluted Indonesian river to get $500m clean-up
Jessica Aldred and agencies, guardian.co.uk 5 Dec 08;

One of the world's most polluted rivers, the Citarum in Indonesia, is to get a major clean-up that is hoped to improve the lives of millions of people, the Asian Development Bank announced today.

The Manila-based lender has agreed to provide a $500m (£340m) loan package to the Indonesian government support the restoration of the river basin, which supports a population of 28 million people, delivers 20% of Indonesia's gross domestic product, and provides 80% of water supply to the capital, Jakarta.

Rapid urbanisation over the last 20 years has seen a rise in untreated household sewage, solid waste and industrial effluents, affecting public health and threatening the livelihood of poor fishing families, the bank said.

The loan package will be delivered over the next 15 years, and will support sanitation projects and construction of waste treatment plants in the river basin to provide safe water supply to poor families who use the polluted river for fishing, bathing and laundry.

"Rapid urbanisation, climate change, environmental degradation, public health and food security are all important issues challenging water resources management in Asia and the Pacific region," said Christopher Morris, an ADB senior water resources engineer.

The loan also will allow the cultivation of an additional 61,700 acres (25,000 hectares) of rice paddy, benefiting 25,000 farming families, he said.

The river management programme also aims to supply water to 200,000 more households in Jakarta. It will ultimately increase Jakarta's water supply by 2.5% yearly, and benefit millions by resolving critical water shortages in Bandung, Indonesia's fourth largest city, the bank said.

Last month new research found that severe pollution has made one-third of China's Yellow river unusable.

Known as the country's "mother river", it supplies water to millions of people in the north of China. But in recent years the quality has deteriorated due to factory discharges and sewage from fast-expanding cities.

Much of it is now unfit even for agricultural or industrial use, the study showed.

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Sighting of rare birds brings thrills at Sungei Buloh

Birds could have been blown off-course or their numbers could have risen, says guide
Grace Chua, Straits Times 5 Dec 08;

BIRDWATCHER Danny Lau, 53, was so excited when he spotted the rare Nordmann's Greenshank that he forgot to have lunch.
After a false alarm a month earlier, Mr Lau was thrilled when on Nov 15, he, together with his two friends and his son, saw the rare bird at Sungei Buloh around midday. 'It was the real McCoy,' he said. 'We were so excited we missed our lunch.'

Later, another Nordmann's Greenshank was seen there as well.

Mr Lau's sighting was the first time the 30cm-tall bird had been spotted in Singapore since 1981. The bird breeds in Siberia and usually winters in East and South-east Asia, but can range as far as Australia.

Only 600 to 1,000 Nordmann's Greenshanks (Tringa Guttifer) are believed to exist in the wild.

Their wintering and breeding habitats are at risk, as coastal mudflats in Asia are being developed and wetlands in Russia are being degraded by reindeer.

The Nordmann's Greenshank is often confused with its less endangered cousin, the Common Greenshank, another migratory bird which has longer legs and a single-coloured bill instead of the Nordmann's bi-coloured beak.

Differentiating them is particularly tricky when the two species feed together. 'There are a few hundred waders and you have to spot the one weird-looking guy,' Mr Lau said.

His group spotted the bird during very high tide around 1pm, which forces shorebirds inland to search for crabs, invertebrates, shellfish and worms.

According to wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai, an experienced guide who leads nature trips, the Nordmann's Greenshanks could have strayed into Singapore for several reasons.

Accidents could have blown the birds off-course, while colder winters, fiercer monsoons or loss of feeding grounds could have driven them further south.

Alternatively, there is a small chance that their numbers could be on the rise again.

'It's too early to say if there are any adverse reasons for them turning up,' Mr Subaraj said.

In 1981, the Nordmann's Greenshank was last sighted by a Briton named Richard Arlington at Changi, near what is now the Tanah Merah golf course, he added.

'In terms of VIP status, this bird rates as a once-in-a-lifetime sighting,' he said.

This year's sighting coincides with Sungei Buloh's 15th anniversary, which the reserve will mark this weekend.

'Maybe Sungei Buloh is getting world-renowned, so the birds have heard about it,' Mr Subaraj quipped.

More about Sungei Buloh's Anniversary celebrations this weekend on the wildsingapore happenings blog

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