Tigers not deterred by selective logging

WWF 13 Mar 09;

Recent research conducted by WWF shows that selectively logged forests may be able to support high population of tigers in Malaysia, and in turn boost the role of protected areas in tiger conservation.

A nine-month camera-trapping survey in a forest reserve in Kelantan, Malaysia revealed that selectively logged forests can accommodate a high population density of tigers, according to a research article published in the conservation journal Oryx.

Selective logging is a forestry practice that aims to better conserve forest areas by only cutting a select number of trees in a stand instead of the whole stand at once.

Researchers carried out the survey in a forest reserve which has been selectively logged since the 1970s. Using camera traps, they obtained a tiger density estimate of 2.59 adult tigers per 100 km².

“Although the study illustrates the potential of selectively logged forests to accommodate a high population density of tigers, the long term response of tigers and other wildlife particularly arboreal animals to conditions created by disturbance due to logging remains poorly understood” said Mark Rayan, field biologist for WWF-Malaysia’s Tiger Conservation Programme and the article’s lead author.

“Our results demonstrate the conservation importance of existing logged over forests and the need to halt subsequent conversion of such habitats to other land uses such as plant commodity crops,” Rayan said. “Existing selectively logged forests may also serve as important core tiger habitats as subsequent camera-trapping in the study area provided photographic evidence of breeding success,” he added.

Selectively logged forests are an integral part of habitat management for tigers as outlined in the National Tiger Action Plan for Malaysia, said Nawayai Yasak, the Department of Wildlife and National Park’s (DWNP) Biodiversity Conservation Director,

“These areas are identified as important tiger habitats due to their sheer size as well as being a major component of Malaysia’s Central Forest Spine,” Yasak said. “DWNP will continue to work with the Forestry Department and support the activities of NGOs in efforts towards conserving Malayan tigers, both in terms of population numbers and health,” .

Apart from a study conducted in a primary forest in Taman Negara National Park between 1999 and 2001, there have been no other robust density estimates of tigers in other forest types in Malaysia. With almost 85 percent of confirmed tiger habitats located within reserve forests, these habitats are critical towards the long term survival of tigers in Peninsular Malaysia.

“With results such as these, there is clearly a need to enhance management guidelines for selectively logged forests,” said Dato’ Dr. Dionysius Sharma, CEO of WWF-Malaysia. “With adequate enforcement and monitoring, these habitats will not only provide long-term economic and environmental benefits, but also enable tigers to proliferate in order to reach Malaysia’s target of 1000 wild individuals by 2020.”

Selectively-logged forest still important for tigers
WWF 18 Mar 09;

Selangor – A nine-month camera-trapping survey in a Permanent Reserved Forest (PRF) in Kelantan has revealed that selectively logged forests have the potential to accommodate a high population density of tigers, according to a recent research article published in the conservation journal Oryx.

The survey, carried out in a forest reserve which has been selectively logged since the 1970s until present-day, was conducted by deploying camera-traps. By applying a capture-recapture sampling framework, a density estimate of 2.59 adult tigers per 100 km² was obtained.

“Our results demonstrate the importance of existing selectively logged forests in Malaysia for tiger conservation and the need to halt subsequent conversion of such habitats to other land uses such as plant commodity crops,“ said lead author Mark Rayan, field biologist for WWF-Malaysia’s Tiger Conservation Programme.

Mark Rayan also stated that existing selectively logged forests may also serve as important core tiger habitats as subsequent camera-trapping in the study area provided photographic evidence of breeding success. With almost 85% of confirmed tiger habitats located within PRFs, these habitats are critical towards the long term survival of tigers in Peninsular Malaysia.

According to Mohamad Nawayai Yasak, the Department of Wildlife and National Park’s (DWNP) Biodiversity Conservation Director, PRFs are integral part of habitat management for tigers as outlined in National Tiger Action Plan for Malaysia.

“These areas are identified as important tiger habitats due to their sheer size as well as being a major component of the Central Forest Spine (CFS). DWNP will continue to work with the Forestry Department and support the activities of NGOs in efforts towards conserving Malayan tigers, both in terms of population numbers and health,” he added.

There is a tendency in Malaysia to perceive selectively logged-over forest as having lesser conservation and economic value. As tigers have large habitat requirements, the effects of conversion, leading to fragmentation and isolation of forest reserves, will severely affect the long-term viability of tiger populations across the landscape.

Apart from a single study conducted in a primary forest in Taman Negara National Park between 1999 and 2001, there have been no other robust density estimates of tigers in other forest types in Malaysia.

Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma, CEO of WWF-Malaysia said, “With results such as these, there is clearly a need to enhance management guidelines for PRFs. With adequate monitoring and enforcement, selectively logged forests will not only provide long-term economic and environmental benefits, but also enable tigers to proliferate in order to reach Malaysia’s target of 1000 wild individuals by 2020.”

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Conservationists voice concern for eastern plains of Cambodia

Brendan Brady, The Phnom Penh Post 13 Mar 09;

FOR the poorest rural Cambodians, the forest acts as a safety net, providing a variety of products they could not otherwise afford.

If not managed, exploitation of forests in the eastern plain provinces of Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri could push communities there over the brink, according to Seng Teak, country director of the conservation group WWF.

The provinces are home to some of the country's poorest communities - including hill tribe minority groups that have largely remained outside the market economy and the gains it has made - that depend on their natural surroundings for survival.

Government and WWF officials met in Mondulkiri's capital, Sen Monorom, Thursday to commend two community-protected areas in the Mondulkiri province covering 3,000 hectares.

The nearly 300 households in the villages of Sre Thom Mleung and Ronous Khnhen in the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary have been part of a nearly one-year-old project that allows them to extract resources such as rattan and honey in limited amounts as long as they abstain from
logging and abrasive slash-and-burn agricultural practices.

"We're promoting subsistence use," said Bas van Helvoort, conservation program manager for WWF.

Communities there are in a fragile state that could be shattered by anticipated climate changes, he warned.

"Computer models show the area becoming warmer and dryer, and a rise of extreme events weather patterns," he said.

Such conditions could prove devastating, he said: "reduced water for crops, increased risk of fire ... and drying-up the small ponds ... that are vital sources of water for villagers."

Living in extreme isolation, many communities in the area would not know how to change their primitive agriculture practices to accommodate the environmental change, he said.

His concern comes on the heels of a stern warning last month that climate change could prove particularly disastrous for Cambodia's eastern plains.

Mondulkiri province ranked as the most susceptible area to climate change in Southeast Asia, after the Indonesian capital Jakarta, according to a recent report by a Singapore-based research group.

The report, released February 2 and prepared by the Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia, identified Mondulkiri as the 4th-most vulnerable of 530 administrative zones assessed throughout Southeast Asia. Ratanakkiri ranked 6th.

Unlike other parts of Southeast Asia that are repeatedly pounded by flooding, earthquakes and hurricanes, among other devastating natural disasters whose frequency is linked with climate change, Cambodia's northeastern provinces have remained relatively unexposed to such shocks, said Arief Anshory Yusef, one of the report's authors.

Their vulnerability - and that of Cambodia, in general - stemmed largely from an inability to adapt to climate-related threats, and not the severity of the risks themselves, he said.

In the study, Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri received the lowest and second-lowest scores, respectively, in the ability of people there to adjust to environmental changes - dismal rankings that correlated with their ranking as the 3rd- and 4th-poorest areas in the region, respectively.

An official with the Climate Change Department at the Ministry of Environment, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the government had not studied the vulnerability of Mondulkiri or Ratanakkiri to climate change.

"We have been conducting a report for the last two years on the effect of greenhouse gases on Cambodia," he said. "We hope to finish the report by the end of this year."

Pains of land development
Development workers in the eastern plains have echoed predictions of imminent trouble, saying land development and land speculation have degraded the area's environment at an alarming rate.

Bill Herod of Village Focus Cambodia, who works with indigenous Phnong minority youth in Sen Monorom, said land acquisitions - whether through aggressive purchasing or illegal grabs - are expediting environmental degradation by pushing off the land the Phnong, whose modest lifestyles have traditionally put little pressure on their habitats.

"There's been a devastating impact on the area's ecosystem over the last few years," he said. "When people buy land, one of the first things they do is clear it of trees.

"It's an extremely remote area, and it's difficult for indigenous groups here to cope with any changes to their lives," he added.

Jack Highwood, who works in Mondulkiri with the Bunong ethnic group, also sees the situation as dire.

"Mondulkiri is currently experiencing an unprecedented level of deforestation due to the sale of land to companies foreign and domestic, organised land-grabbing and the knee-jerk reactions of the Bunong peoples," he said.

He said development pressures have led the Bunong to clear-cut their land and sell it before it is appropriated without compensation.

The loss of their land and forests is pushing the group, which still relies on primitive farming and hunting and gathering, to the brink - and a change in climate, by changing their livelihoods, would surely push them over the edge, he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SAM RITH

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Best of our wild blogs: 13 Mar 09

I signed the No Whaleshark petition, have you?
on the Midnight Monkey Monitor blog

Help Keep Me Free In The OCEAN
on the colourful clouds blog

Sand mining at Changi East continues
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Of nesting shiftwork and Coppersmith Barbets (Part 4)
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

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Animal friends say no to whale sharks in Singapore oceanarium

EarthTimes 12 Mar 09;

"We respect the views of this group of petitioners, although they may not be representative of the broader society," the Resorts World Sentosa spokesperson said.

Singapore - A group of Singapore and international animal welfare groups on Thursday launched an online campaign to oppose plans by the developer of a resort to bring whale sharks to his oceanarium on the city state's Sentosa Island. The groups launched a website, www.whalesharkpetition.com, and called on the public to sign a petition against the plans to import whale sharks for the Marine Life Park at Resorts World on Sentosa, which is still under construction.

"Whale sharks are vulnerable to extinction and have never done well in captivity," the petitioners said. "No man-made environment, no matter how large, could accomodate their needs."

Whale sharks "can grow as large as two city buses, migrate thousands of kilometers in the wild, and live up to a hundred years. It is just plain cruel to keep them in glass cages," said the groups, including the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Resorts World of Sentosa defended the plan to bring whale sharks to its Marine Life Park, which is supposed to become the world's biggest oceanarium upon completion, with 700,000 fish in 20 million gallons of water.

"The Marine Life Park ... has consistently pledged its commitment to develop a word-class facility that will set the standard in Asia for animal care, learning and education and the promotion of marine conservation," a spokesperson said.

Resort World of Sentosa had not finalized details for the Marine Life Park and continues to explore various options.

"We respect the views of this group of petitioners, although they may not be representative of the broader society," the spokesperson said.

Related links

• Animal welfare groups oppose import of whale sharks at Sentosa IR
• The petition is at http://www.whalesharkpetition.com/
  
• I will boycott Resorts World Sentosa and its Marine Life Park Facebook group:
• Resorts World Sentosa at what price? on the wild shores of singapore blog
  
• More about the issues with lots of links on the wild shores of singapore blog

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Resorts World Sentosa press statement on petition against captive whale sharks

Marine Life Park Statement 12 March 2009

We are aware of the online petition that has been addressed to the Singapore Government and the Marine Life Park.

The Marine Life Park has consistently pledged its commitment to develop a world-class facility that will set the standard in Asia for animal care, learning and education and the promotion of marine conservation. A world-class team of experienced professionals and animal experts will be set up to deliver this promise.

Just as zoos have educated millions of people worldwide on the need for, and importance of, protecting wildlife, we believe our Park will likewise play a crucial role in educating visitors on the variety and conservation of marine animals. It will be a unique window for visitors – many of whom would never get to see such marine life up close -- to appreciate the ocean and the need for its conservation

Details on the Marine Life Park have not been finalized and we continue to explore various options. As we move forward, we will abide by the Singapore regulatory guidelines on the import and treatment of marine life.

We welcome feedback and remain committed to dialogue with special interest groups, supporters and any individual who is keen to learn and act on marine conservation.-Marine Life Park.

Related articles

• Animal welfare groups oppose import of whale sharks at Sentosa IR
• The petition is at http://www.whalesharkpetition.com/
• I will boycott Resorts World Sentosa and its Marine Life Park Facebook group:
• Resorts World Sentosa at what price? on the wild shores of singapore blog
  
• More about the issues with lots of links on the wild shores of singapore blog

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Singapore top in Asia for attractiveness in developing tourism industry

Channel NewsAsia 12 Mar 09;

SINGAPORE: Singapore has been ranked top in Asia and 10th out of 133 countries globally for the attractiveness of their environments in developing the travel and tourism industry.

This is according to the World Economic Forum's latest Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009.

Improving six places from its overall ranking last year in the 2008 report, Singapore was placed first for its policy environment, indicating that its rules and regulations are highly conducive to the development of its travel and tourism industry.

Such policies include those that facilitate foreign ownership and Foreign Direct Investment, well-protected property rights, few visa restrictions and transparency of policy making.

Singapore also came in first in human resources, scoring high in the quality of its education system, extent of staff training, ease of hiring foreign labour, as well as hiring and firing practices.

According to the report, an excellent educational system, top-notch training facilities, healthy workforce, and flexible labour market are key factors contributing to Singapore's good performance in this area.

In terms of overall prioritisation of travel and tourism, Singapore was ranked second, improving by three places against last year's ranking. Citing indicators such as government expenditure on the sector, strong destination-marketing campaigns, and country-level presence at key international tourism fairs, the report said that these factors signalled the importance of the travel and tourism sector to the overall economy.

Singapore also benefited from its excellent transport infrastructure, with ground transport infrastructure, air transport infrastructure and air networks being ranked highly. Its Info-Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure has also seen a measurable improvement since last year.

The STB recently rolled out a S$90 million initiative – Building On Opportunities to Strengthen Tourism (BOOST) – for the tourism sector.

BOOST includes measures such as "2009 Reasons to enjoy Singapore", the STB's global marketing campaign that aims to drive demand for travel to Singapore, as well as enhanced funding support for tourism businesses and training schemes to raise the skills and service excellence of tourism workers in Singapore.

STB's director of strategic planning, Mr John Gregory Conceicao, said the ranking "is an indication of Singapore's strengths in its tourism management and infrastructure. It will in turn strengthen our efforts to ride out the current downturn and position ourselves for future growth."

- CNA/ir

Singapore among top 10 in tourism rankings
Improvements in areas like infocomms, infrastructure help it rise six places in WEF report
Lim Wei Chean, Straits Times 13 Mar 09;

NEVER mind that Singapore has no natural or cultural resources.

Its travel and tourism sector is the 10th most competitive, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report on 133 countries and regions.

Ranked 16th last year, Singapore pipped Britain to the last slot in the top 10.

It was also top in Asia.

The annual report's scoring system gave the Republic top marks for the quality of its workers and for its rules and regulations being 'extremely conducive' to the growth of travel and tourism.

Other plus points were the quality of its port infrastructure and the transparency of its Government's policymaking.

The report by the non-profit WEF appraised 133 countries and regions in 14 areas, ranging from infrastructure for air and ground transportation to safety and security, policy rules and regulations.

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, as the ranking is called, was developed four years ago to measure how regulatory and business-

related issues shape the efficiency of a country's travel and tourism sector.

In this year's ranking, countries like Switzerland, Austria and Germany continued tohog the top spots as they had done for the last two years.

Singapore's leapfrog into the top 10 came from improvements made in the building of tourism infrastructure, such as hotel rooms, and having teller machines that accept Visa cards, among other things.

It also made strides in information communication technology, measured by the number of subscribers to broadband Internet and mobile phones, and the extent of Internet-use among businesses.

Ms Ng Lee Li, a section head at the Tourism Academy@Sentosa, said Singapore's small size was an advantage as it 'certainly gives us more control over what we want to achieve and by when'.

The ranking also suggests Singapore has become more attractive to tourism-related businesses looking to invest here, which should help it ride out the current downturn, said Mr John Gregory Conceicao, the Singapore Tourism Board's director of strategic planning.

But although the improved ranking gives Singapore 'more visibility', it is not about to turn this island into an instant tourist magnet, said Professor John Davis, who teaches marketing at the Singapore Management University (SMU).

Noting that these rankings are geared more towards governments and businesses, he added: 'Most people do not decide to travel somewhere based on these ranking charts, but rather on whether they have any interest in going there.'

Still, the ranking is a measure of how attractive Singapore is as a place to do business in this sector, said Mr Aaron Hung, who teaches world travel and tourism at SMU.

For example, he said, many companies base their regional headquarters here, not because Singapore receives many tourists, but because 'it has the talent and excellent policy environment for businesses to thrive'.

1. Switzerland (1)
2. Austria (2)
3. Germany (3)
4. France (10)
5. Canada (9)
6. Spain (5)
7. Sweden (8)
8. The United States (7)
9. Australia (4)
10. Singapore (16)

Figures in brackets indicate last year's rankings

Singapore is top Asian nation in travel and tourism
Business Times 13 Mar 09;

SINGAPORE has emerged as the highest-ranked country in Asia - and the only Asian country in the world's top 10 - in the third annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report.

Switzerland is ranked No 1 overall, followed by Austria and Germany in the latest report from the World Economic Forum. Singapore is ranked 10th among 133 countries, up from 16th last year.

The rankings are based on the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, which measures regulatory and business-related issues that are seen as levers for improving travel and tourism competitiveness.

Areas in which Singapore scored well are policy rules and regulations, ground transport infrastructure, prioritisation of travel and tourism, and human resources.

The survey also identified areas for improvement. Singapore is perceived to be at a competitive disadvantage in environmental sustainability, price competitiveness, cultural resources and natural resources.

According to 2008 estimates in the report, Singapore's travel and tourism industry contributed 2.3 per cent of GDP, while the 2009-2018 annual growth forecast is 1.6 per cent. 2008 estimates put tourism employment here at 64,000.

'This is an indication of Singapore's strengths in its tourism management and infrastructure,' said John Gregory Conceicao, director of strategic planning for the Singapore Tourism Board. 'It strengthens our efforts to ride out the current downturn and position ourselves for future growth.'

Geoffrey Lipman, assistant secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization, said: 'This index will help governments and the industry identify areas where supporting the sector can show big gains in the response to both the recession and climate change. Tourism competitiveness is a major element to be included in economic stimulation packages.'

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Singapore committed to Jurong oil storage project

It is looking at other solutions to solve land shortage problem: Iswaran
Ronnie Lim, Business Times 13 Mar 09;

THE government is committed to the Jurong Rock Cavern (JRC) oil and petrochemical storage project and is looking at other creative solutions such as floating oil storage to alleviate the land shortage on Jurong Island, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran said yesterday.

He was responding to media queries on what the government can do for investors who have been unable to secure land on the island for storage. Only those who bring higher value-added activities, such as oil refining or petrochemical production, have been able to obtain sites.

Mr Iswaran was officiating at the opening of Horizon Singapore Terminals following the recent completion of its third phase. Horizon earlier planned to build another petrochemical storage terminal but has not been able to secure land.

Mr Iswaran said: 'At the end of day, the government's investments and facilitation of this kind of infrastructure - whether floating or underground oil storage - is driven by the overall value proposition to the industry. Clearly, that depends in turn on global market conditions.

'The key consideration in all this is to make sure we have a suite of options. We work with industry to make sure which offers the best value proposition. That's how JTC has to proceed - it has to make sense for businesses and for Singapore.'

Despite protracted delays with the $700 million JRC - with JTC Corporation now saying that it will pick the main contractor and operator only by June - Mr Iswaran said that the project is 'something we've already committed to, and the work proceeds'.

'How it will essentially be used will be a function of demand, market conditions and business plans of individual companies working together with our agencies,' he said.

The first phase of JRC is expected to provide 1.47 million cubic metres of oil storage - more than Horizon Singapore's 1.24 million cu m - with a second phase adding another 1.32 million cu m.

Saeed Khoory, chief executive of Emirates National Oil Company, the leading player in Horizon Singapore Terminals, said that there is an acute shortage of oil storage here.

The project has helped boost oil trading in Singapore, he said. Before recent investments in storage, the value of physical oil traded through Singapore was about US$150 billion in 2005. This had doubled to US$300 billion last year, after more than five million cu m of storage was added over the three years.

Horizon Terminals chief executive Yusr Sultan said the Singapore facility is its largest investment outside the United Arab Emirates.

Horizon, which is bidding to operate the JRC, hopes to leverage on its relationship with Gulf producers to get them to use Singapore's underground storage, he told BT. But it has not yet started talking specifics with any party.

On JTC's plan to build floating oil storage, Mr Sultan said Horizon does not have much experience with this but will not rule out participating in the project.

'We will look at the technicalities once Singapore finalises the design,' he said. 'That could prove a viable alternative if it is technically feasible, although we have to assess the market at that time.'

Iswaran: Growth may be minus 5%
Yang Huiwen, Straits Times 13 Mar 09;

GROWTH could be at the lower end of the Government's forecast of minus 2 per cent to minus 5 per cent this year, said Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran yesterday.

He said recent trends suggested 'the lower end of the range' looks more likely now but the ministry will have a better idea once first-quarter data comes in.

Mr Iswaran was talking on the sidelines of an event that augers well for the local economy - the official opening of Horizon Singapore Terminals (HST).

The $470 million storage terminal on Jurong Island was built by United Arab Emirates (UAE) firm Horizon Terminals to store refined petroleum products such as fuel oil and gasoline. It has a capacity of 1.24 million cubic metres, making it the largest storage terminal outside of the UAE, said Horizon Terminals chief executive Yusur Junaidy.

The terminal - comprising 59 tanks and four jetties - was built in three phases and started operating in October 2006. It just completed its third and final phase. 'The completion of Horizon Singapore Terminals comes at a time of acute shortage of oil storage capacity that was potentially hampering the volume of physical oil being traded through the country,' said Mr Saeed Khoory, group chief executive of HST's parent, the Emirates National Oil Company.

Mr Khoory, who also chairs the HST board, said a wave of terminal investments has sharply lifted the value of offshore physical oil traded through Singapore, the world's No. 3 refining and oil trading hub.

It was about US$150 billion in 2005 but had doubled to US$300 billion (S$462 billion) last year thanks to the addition of over five million cubic metres of storage capacity over three years.

The demand for storage is even more relevant given weakening consumption of refined petroleum products, Mr Khoory added, pointing out that his firm's tanks are '100 per cent full'.

Unfortunately, the scarcity of land on Jurong Island makes it difficult to further expand operations here, said Mr Khoory.

Mr Iswaran said the Government is 'looking for creative solutions' to increase oil storage capacity.

JTC Corporation, which is responsible for the island's broad-based industrial property market, has identified underground rock caverns as an alternative storage facility.

It is also looking offshore at what are known as 'very large floating structures' to store oil products and petrochemicals.

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Public outcry over hamster promotion leads to its halt

‘Small, puny, but still a pet’
Loh Chee Kong Today Online 13 Mar 09;

SPEND $35 at a pet shop and you can take a hamster home for free. If you hold a PAssion Card — a membership card for grassroots leaders — you only need to spend $25.

This joint promotion between Pets’ Station and the People’s Association (PA) sparked a public outcry yesterday after a flyer was sent out by email to PAssion Card holders.

And in a truimph of civic action, the promotion — due to take place next week at Tiong Bahru Plaza where Pets’ Station has an outlet — was stopped even before it could begin. This was after the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) acted on the complaints.

Readers who wrote to Today were particularly disappointed that a Government agency had endorsed the promotion, includingMr William Fong who was “appalled” when he learnt of it through an online forum. He said: “Pets should never be meant as gifts or presents because having a pet is a lifetime responsibility and commitment.”

Another reader, Dr Tan Chek Wee said he was “deeply shocked and saddened”. Online forum posts described the promotion as“ridiculous”. Said one: “A hamster is very small and puny but it’s still a pet, and should be treated as one ... not like a free gift.”

SPCA executive officer Deirdre Moss told Today the society had received more than 20 email voicing strong objections to the promotion. Besides contacting the AVA, which was “already onto it”, SPCA wrote to the PA to “strongly object to such a practice” and stressed that “pets are living things which shouldn’t be exploited as free gifts for promotional purposes”, said Ms Moss.

Mr Madhavan Kannan, who heads AVA’s centre for animal welfare and control, said the authority had contacted Pets’ Station and “instructed them not to proceed with the promotion”. The pet shop complied.

Reiterating that the AVA bans the sale or gift of animals at exhibitions, Mr Madhavan said this is to prevent impulse buying and subsequent abandonment of pets.

When contacted, Pets’ Station declined to comment as its spokesperson was “unavailable”. On its part, the PA apologised for its “oversight”. A PA spokesperson told Today: “When alerted on the concerns raised on Thursday morning, we immediately withdrew thePAssion Card from this promotion, before it could take effect. (We) share the views that pets like hamsters should be cared for by people who are genuinely interested in them.”

Still, Ms Moss gave full marks to the civic action which “resulted in almost instant action by the authorities”. She said: “I was quite stunned and amazed that so many people are speaking up for animals. We are very encouraged that there was so much awareness over an issue like this.”

Shop under fire for hamster giveaway
Netizens up in arms after seeing e-flyer
Liew Hanqing, The New Paper 14 Mar 09;

IT WAS a marketing tactic that failed even before it started.

The offer: Spend $35 in a single receipt and get a free hamster.

The promotion, offered by Pets' Station in Tiong Bahru Plaza, backfired after incensed netizens lashed out against it.

The advertisement had begun circulating online this week. The pet shop had planned to offer a free hamster for every $35 spent in a single receipt, or $25 for PAssion card holders.

The PAssion Card is a membership card for People's Association grassroots leaders and members of the Community Clubs.

The shop's e-flyer, which was later posted on a popular online forum, has caused an uproar among netizens. Many expressed the view that the promotion was cruel and that it was not right to give away an animal as a freebie.

Promotion cancelled

After netizens bombarded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) with e-mails and phone calls, the pet shop was instructed to cancel the promotion, which was supposed to run from 16-22 Mar.

A spokesman for Pets' Station confirmed that the promotion, to be held at the atrium at Tiong Bahru Plaza, is off.

She told The New Paper: 'We have responded to all e-mails and will stop all promotional activities which involve live pets.

'We acknowledge negligence on our part, and would like to apologise to the public.'

A spokesman for AVA said it had received feedback from the public and had instructed the pet shop to cancel the promotion.

Said the spokesman: 'At animal exhibitions, AVA does not allow the sale or giving away of any animal. This is to prevent impulse buying of pets and animals being given to people who do not really need them or are unable to take care of them, resulting in the abandonment of pets.'

Discussion was lively on the forum thread related to the promotion.

One netizen wrote: 'After they adopt (an animal), they may abuse or just abandon them. It's ridiculous to give out pets.'

Numerous bloggers also posted entries criticising the pet shop.

One blogger, dead_cockroach, wrote: 'This is a very irresponsible marketing tactic. I foresee a number of these hamsters being neglected or abandoned at the void decks in due time when the novelty wears out.'

Another blogger, Dawn, wrote: 'This is terrible. When you buy accessories, you get a free hamster?'

SPCA executive officer Deirdre Moss said: 'It is marvellous that so many people are speaking up for animal welfare. These are people who received the promotion via e-mail and had acted on it immediately by voicing strong objections.'

Mr Louis Ng, executive director of About Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), a charity aimed at fostering respect and compassion for animals, agreed that animals should not be given away as freebies.

He said: 'People need to think of the commitment that comes with owning a pet. The whole family must be willing to commit to taking care of the pet.'

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Spaniards lobby Madrid on shark protection: campaigners

Yahoo News 12 Mar 09;

MADRID (AFP) – Thousands of Spaniards have signed a petition demanding greater protection for sharks from overfishing, marine protection campaigners Oceana said Thursday.

The document, signed by about 13,000 people, has been handed to Spain's marine ministry, the group working with fellow environmental campaigners the Shark Alliance said in a statement.

According to these organisations, Spain is fourth in a world league table for shark fishing, with the European Union, "principally due to Spain," a global hotspot for shark "capture, consumption and commercialisation."

"We are asking the Spanish government to protect sharks" through "the rapid application" of conservation measures outlined in a European Commission action plan drawn up in February, the statement added.

The Commission recommended that fishing boats be banned from hacking off valuable fins on board then throwing the rest of the shark back in the water.

Its plan also includes possible temporary fishing exclusion zones to protect young or reproducing sharks and tightened rules on fishing gear to minimise unwanted catches and ensure such catches are released back into the water.

Oceana and the Shark Alliance said that measures should also include quotas based on scientific research, saying "urgent action" was needed to avoid the "exhaustion of species vital to marine ecology."

EU member countries are due to present their responses to the action plan by April, with the package requiring approval by member states and the EU parliament.

A recent study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature suggests that as many as one-third of the shark species caught in EU waters are threatened by excessive fishing.

Sharks are targeted by British, French, Spanish and Portuguese fleets, with the Spanish fishing fleet taking more than half of the European catch of around 100,000 tonnes each year, according to the Shark Alliance, which provided Brussels with data.

Shark meat is served in restaurants across Europe, including at traditional British fish-and-chip shops, according to WWF.

The European Commission said that between 1984 and 2004, world shark catches grew from 600,000 to over 810,000 tonnes per year.

Of these, more than half are taken in the North Atlantic, including in the North Sea.

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Can We Keep Swimming in Sushi?

Casson Trenor’s New Book Says Yes and Ty Warner Sea Center Explains How
Alastair Bland, Santa Barbara Independent 12 Mar 09;

When that sashimi platter arrives at your table, how easy it is to forget that those creamy slices of flesh came from living animals—and how tempting to ignore that some of those creatures are teetering on the brink of extinction. In his new book, Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time, environmentalist, seafood lover, and restaurant consultant Casson Trenor tells readers about the grave reality behind most sushi menus while assuring that it’s possible to make sustainable choices when dining out—and it needn’t require ordering seconds of the seaweed salad.

The pocket-sized book runs 40 short chapters, each dedicated to a common sushi menu item, including uni, hamachi, toro, hotate, and suzuki. Trenor translates for readers, providing taxonomic identification of the species from which each item derives. He also describes each animal’s biological history, the common methods used to harvest it, and whether eating the creature is a “sustainable” pleasure.

The greatest taboo of the standard sushi menu is toro, that buttery belly meat of the bluefin tuna. Toro may be the most desired item in the industry, but less savory than each slice of marbled flesh is the bloody story behind it: At the current rate of slaughter, the bluefin tuna will be extinct in a matter of years, warns Trenor. “Bluefin tuna stocks are beyond exploited,” he explained. “The bluefin is in so much trouble all across the planet. If we have any hope of saving this fish, we need to stop eating it.”

In recent history, bluefins commonly grew to more than 1,000 pounds. Today, most are caught before they reach 400, and even 300-pounders have become rare, said Trenor. “This fish is on its way out.”

Bluefin aquaculture is making the matter worse. Bluefin farms technically are not farms but “ranches,” operating by capturing juvenile bluefins and transporting them en masse to pens where they are fattened for slaughter. “We’re stealing the juveniles before they’ve had a chance to breed,” explained Trenor.

Sushi menus worldwide are riddled with other woeful favorites, and Trenor urges diners to follow five rules of thumb when dining out: 1) Never order farmed salmon. 2) Avoid shrimp farmed in tropical countries, especially nations of Southeast Asia. 3) Don’t eat wild fish taken by longlines, and this can include yellowtail, swordfish, mahi-mahi, tuna, shark, and others. 4) Steer clear of hamachi. 5) Say no to unagi.

All of this is old news to the Ty Warner Sea Center’s Sustainable Seafood Program. Launched two years ago and operating in conjunction with the venerable Seafood Watch Program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Sea Center’s program has accelerated during the last six months as more and more restaurants express interest in phasing out unsustainable items and phasing in better options, said Sea Center manager Amanda Hendrickson. Visitors to the Ty Warner Sea Center can pick up pocket-sized Seafood Watch cards to carry as dining-out guides. Seafood Watch also distributes cards specifically geared toward sushi menus.

“We all have the power to turn around the state of the ocean’s fisheries by making informed and knowledgeable seafood choices,” said Hendrickson. “One way to do that is by carrying these cards.” Restaurants that have signed up for consulting advice from the Ty Warner Sea Center include Elements, bouchon, Seagrass, Downey’s, and Wine Cask.

Though more and more seafood items are slipping into the red as fisheries everywhere suffer from overexploitation, numerous sustainable items are available, many of them the products of clean aquaculture. Farmed arctic char, now gaining popularity, is an excellent alternative to salmon. Barramundi, tilapia, catfish, and scallops and other bivalves are also good choices when farmed. Yet consumers must beware of farming operations that produce salmon, hamachi, and unagi, which are ecological disasters. Smart wild options include pot-caught shrimp, pole-caught mahi-mahi (an extremely fast-growing fish), and hand-caught yellowfin tuna. Sustainable Sushi and the Seafood Watch cards reveal many more.

Perhaps the root of most seafood sustainability problems is humans’ tendency to dine off the top of the food chain. We happen to favor large, fast, predatory fish that take many years to grow and require great amounts of smaller fish to sustain themselves. Trenor explained, “We have to stop eating sharks, tuna, and swordfish and instead eat the things that sharks, tuna, and swordfish eat.”

A still wiser choice is to eat species that are themselves herbivorous or omnivorous, like striped bass, tilapia, catfish, and crawfish. Whereas the “fish-in-fish-out” ratio for tuna may be more than 20 pounds of feeder fish for every pound of tuna, plant-eating species can grow at a fish-in-fish-out ratio of fewer than one to one.

In 160 pages, Sustainable Sushi formats an ocean’s worth of information into a manageable handbook, and diners who carry it will hold the power to order wisely, enjoy a guilt-free meal, and help assure that sushi is not just a short-lived pleasure of the present, but a sustainable industry of the future.

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Malaysia urged to force big oil to produce biofuel

Yahoo News 12 Mar 09;

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia must force major oil firms to produce biofuel if the once-vaunted biodiesel industry is to have any future, industry experts told a conference Thursday.

When crude oil prices rocketed last year, Malaysia and Indonesia, which produce most of the world's palm oil, heavily promoted their version of biofuel -- a mixture of diesel with five percent processed palm oil.

But the industry's fortunes waned when the price of crude oil tumbled, triggering a crash in the palm oil price which made supply uncertain and jeopardised the long-term contracts needed to develop the biofuel industry.

Malaysia already requires government diesel vehicles to use biofuel, with privately owned diesel vehicles compelled to make the shift by next February.

But M.R. Chandran, an adviser to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, told an industry conference this week that the measures did not go far enough.

"The government has to get their own national corporations like Petronas and other oil companies here like Shell and Esso mandated and say, 'look chaps, here is the 5.0 percent blend and you have to do it and that is it and get it done,'" he said.

"That's the only way to save the biofuel industry here."

However, Plantations Minister Peter Chin told the conference that while Malaysia was unable to roll out its ambitious biodiesel programme because of logistical problems, oil companies were not ready to act, either.

"Our car industry is not ready. Petronas is not 100 percent ready. Neither is Shell and Esso," he said.

"We intend to do it but at the same time we have to get our logistics right. There are certain (geographical) constraints which we must acknowledge," he said, referring to problems in transporting biodiesel.

Chandran said that out of the 92 government licences issued for palm oil plants in 2006, only 16 were built and most were not operating due to the low prices.

"If Indonesia and Malaysia want to see a fair demand for palm oil and avoid all this fluctuation in prices, you have to create domestic demand," he said.

Indonesia's state oil company Pertamina has been ordered to sell fuel with at least a one percent biofuel content and this is expected to rise to five percent by 2025.

Crude palm oil prices plummeted from a peak of 4,312 ringgit (1,168 dollars) per tonne a year ago to a low of 1,390 ringgit in October last year. Prices have recovered to 2,047 ringgit per tonne currently.

Chin said Malaysia was comfortable with current prices and did not expect a rally in the near future.

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Oil spill will 'kill marine life for years'

news.com.au 13 Mar 09;

ONE of Australia's leading conservation groups has warned the oil spill along Queensland's coast will affect every level of the marine food chain.

Martin Taylor from WWF said everything from fish and crabs to water birds, dugongs and dolphins, would feel the effects after oil spilled from a cargo ship caught in cyclonic winds on Wednesday.

"It's a mass poisoning event, effectively," Mr Taylor said.

It goes away very slowly naturally, mostly through bacterial attack, and then breakup and emulsification with the action of water.

"So unless people get out there and clean it up as fast as possible, that poison will kill marine life for years."

Mr Taylor said the oil not only affected the feathers of birds, it also clogged up the feeding systems of crabs and shellfish.

But it was not just the small creatures that were in danger, he warned, saying animals like dugongs, turtles and dolphins were also at risk.

"Fuel is poisonous, and very toxic," he said.

"The hydrocarbons get absorbed and end up in the tissues of the fish larger animals are eating.

"Dugongs eat seagrass and a lot of that's tidal, so when the tide goes out a lot of seagrass gets exposed and the oil will settle on it."

Mr Taylor said turtles were susceptible to the black slicks as well.

"It can affect their metabolism and make them ill and could also affect their breeding,: he said.

About 100,000 litres of oil have washed up on the shores of Moreton and Bribie island and parts of the Sunshine Coast after spilling from the cyclone-stricken Pacific Adventurer on Wednesday.

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