TBWA Singapore resigns Resorts World Sentosa account

Kenny Lim Financial Times 28 Apr 09;

SINGAPORE – TBWA Singapore has resigned the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) account with immediate effect, citing "creative and strategic differences".

“Much progress was made in RWS’s branding and marketing since TBWA’s appointment in 2007, most notably the launch of a new logo and tagline for the resort last year,” said Angela Lam, head of marketing, Resorts World at Sentosa.

“TBWA has a fantastic team, but both companies have decided that this would be the best move at this point in time. We thank the TBWA team for their contribution, and we hope to have the opportunity to work with them again someday.”

In a statement, Dan Paris, managing director of TBWA Group Singapore, said: “We have been working with Resorts World Sentosa for two years now and we have reached the point where it is time to move on and let someone more appropriate pick up from here.”

He added: "Resorts World Sentosa will be a tremendous experience when it opens and we wish the team at Resorts World Sentosa all the best for their launch."

The city-state’s second integrated resort operator is on course for a soft opening in the first quarter of 2010.

Resorts World at Sentosa to seek new agency
Kenny Lim, Financial Times 29 Apr 09;

SINGAPORE - Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) is to launch a search for a creative agency after parting ways with TBWA yesterday.

According to a spokesperson representing the integrated resort, RWS is currently “looking at options” and would be “on track” to hiring a new agency given that it would be opening its doors in the island-state early next year.

Other sources have suggested that “several” agencies have already held talks with the client, while one argued that a pitch consultant could be brought in to invite agencies to pitch in time.

TBWA Singapore resigned the RWS creative business after two years, citing "creative and strategic differences".

Angela Lam, head of marketing at Resorts World at Sentosa, said: “Both companies have decided that this would be the best move at this point in time.”

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Solomon dolphin trade to be scrutinized by CITES

Government Dolphin Trade to be Scrutinized by International Body
Earth Times 28 Apr 09;

WASHINGTON, April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Solomon Islands controversial trade in wild-caught dolphins is to be subject to an in-depth review under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as decided by the CITES Animals Committee at its annual meeting last week in Geneva.

Evidence from leading cetacean experts in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Cetacean Specialist Group (CSG) reveals a lack of population data for bottlenose dolphins in the Solomon Islands. This led the specialists to conclude that it is impossible to determine that the export of bottlenose dolphins is not detrimental to the wild population - a CITES requirement. Despite these findings, the Solomon Islands exported 28 wild-caught dolphins in 2007 and 19 more to the Philippines this past winter.

The CSG's evidence was critical to the decision to place this dolphin trade into the CITES significant trade review process, a mechanism to ensure compliance with Convention. If the Solomon Islands is violating the rules, it will be given a chance to comply before trade sanctions could be implemented.

"This should be a wake-up call to the Solomon Islands' government that the sustainability of its controversial trade in wild-caught dolphins will now be under CITES scrutiny," says D.J. Schubert, Wildlife Biologist of the Animal Welfare Institute, who attended the CITES meeting. "The government is obligated to comply with the rules of CITES - rules that it has, to date, ignored. AWI encourages the government to suspend future live captures and exports of bottlenose dolphins, pending completion of the review process."

The Animals Committee also recommended that the Solomon Islands' government set a more cautious dolphin export quota. A total quota (including all causes of dolphin mortality and live captures) of ten bottlenose dolphins per year for up to four years as a precautionary standard until population surveys are completed was suggested by a CSG representative. Currently, the government has established an annual export quota of 100 wild-caught dolphins - a level of trade the CSG deemed unsustainable.

Though only a CITES member since June 2007, the Solomon Islands is quickly developing a rogue reputation. Its role in the illegal international trade of wild-harvested giant clams was also discussed at the Geneva meeting with the clams also being placed into the significant trade review process.

SOURCE Animal Welfare Institute

Dolphin export quota drops
Solomon Star 29 Apr 09;

THE Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species (CITES) has endorsed that Solomon Islands will now only export 10 dolphins a year.

This has reversed government’s current annual export quota which allowed 100 animals to be exported annually.

Christopher Porter, Director of Solomon Islands Mammal Marine Entertainment Centre (SIMMEC) and Marine Export Limited (MEL) confirmed this after the CITES Animal Committee endorsed the recommendation during its annual meeting in Geneva last week.

"This new quota was endorsed during last week's CITES meeting in Geneva," he said.

Mr Porter who closely monitored the meeting said the drop in quota from 100 to 10 is better than being stopped at all and said he has no problem with the new recommendation.

He said the new quota will still benefit the country if it continues to export dolphin this year and the coming years.

“With the world wide endorsement it should encourage Solomon Islanders to work hard and value these natural resources,” he said.

Mr Porter said when he first arrived in the country he knew what he was doing based on the recommendations from CITES.

Over the past seven years, the country has benefited much from such export, he said.

Last year about 28 animals were exported and early this year, 11 were sent to the Philippines.

By MOFFAT MAMU

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Entire fish species disappearing from Malaysian waters

Sira Habibu, The Star 28 Apr 09;

GEORGETOWN: More than 80 types of fish have either become extinct or gone missing from local waters, said Sahabat Alam Malaysia president S. M. Mohd Idris.

These include various varieties of yu, pari, gelama, pelata, bagok, semilang and kurau.

Describing the situation as alarming, Mohd Idris said it was high time the authorities implemented preventive measures to safeguard the fisheries sector.

“Our fisheries sector is in crisis because of the lack of effective policies and laws on the conservation of marine resources, as well as a lack of enforcement of existing laws,” he said at the National Fisheries Dialogue here Tuesday.

Mohd Idris said the dialogue was organised by Sahabat Alam Malaysia to identify weaknesses in policies and practices, and to suggest ideas for sustainable and effective management of fisheries resources.

“The other objective is to advocate strong and sustainable fisheries policies that emphasise the interdependency of ecosystems and communities,” he said.

“The authorities must also take measures to check the destruction of marine life habitats. There must be a concerted effort to protect mangrove forests, sea grass and coral reefs,” he said.

He said that the impact of modern fishery practices must also be looked into, and added that there was no long-term policy to protect the coastal ecosystem.

“Extinction, over-exploitation and the depletion of fisheries resources must be addressed in the fourth Malaysian Fisheries Policy that is currently being formulated.

“Draft copies of the policy should be made available to the public, and a platform must be given for groups to give feedback and highlight concerns,” he added.

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Work begins on Marina expressway

The 5km road will be the most expensive in S'pore, costing $4 billion
Maria Almenoar, Straits Times 29 Apr 09;

WORK on Singapore's 10th expressway, and its most complex and expensive one to date, started yesterday.

The Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) is meant to deal with traffic expected at the new attractions, offices and residences going up in the Marina Bay area.

These include the new integrated resort, the Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Cruise Centre at Marina South.
With five lanes in each direction, it has the capacity to move up to 10,000 cars per hour each way, compared to the 6,000 cars per hour each way on the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE).

Once completed in 2013, the MCE will link the KPE and East Coast Parkway (ECP) in the east, and with the Ayer Rajah Expressway in the west.

Motorists who are not headed downtown can also use the MCE to bypass the Marina Bay area.

There will be four exits and four entrances along its 5km length.

To ease congestion, the ECP stretch just after Benjamin Sheares Bridge will be converted into a network of normal arterial roads to serve the area. Currently, this portion of the ECP splits the Marina area into two unlinked sections.

Said Transport Minister Raymond Lim at the launch of the mammoth project yesterday: 'The MCE will be a valuable addition to our expressway network. It will improve our road connectivity and help to support the future development of our city.'

Of its 5km length, 3.6km will be underground, including a 420m stretch parallel to the Marina Barrage which will duck 20m below the mean sea level.

It will be 120m wide at some points, almost three times the width of the KPE.

The project is so massive that civil works have to be carved up into six portions so that the construction crews are not overstretched.

So far, the cost of the project has come up to $4.1 billion - far exceeding the $2.5 billion estimated in 2007.

In comparison, the 12km-long KPE, which has 9km of road underground and some parts under the Singapore River, cost $1.7 billion.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that it considered alternatives like building a network of bridges to link the area, but decided against it as it would 'devalue' property in the area and 'look messy'.

Reasons for the high costs include:

# Large-scale excavations of up to 25m deep and 120m wide;

# Difficult soil conditions - the soil is made up mostly of soft marine clay;

# The need to drill up to 59m - or 20 storeys - in some areas of the seabed to get to solid ground for piling work;

# Reclamation of 13.1ha of land at the Marina Wharf and Marina East area;

# High raw material costs when tenders were awarded. A clause in LTA's contracts ensures that if raw materials are purchased by contractors at lower prices, the Government will be reimbursed the difference; and

# The cost of Electronic Road Pricing gantries at the entrances and exits, which is included in the construction cost.

Despite the technicalities of the project, Mr Lim assured the public that all work will be done safely.

Among the safety measures employed for the MCE is an SMS alert system that will send continuous alerts to engineers on data like ground movements that is collected and analysed on a regular basis.

Professor Robert Mair, who is on an international panel of consultants called in to review the MCE, noted that the complexity of the project was 'right up there with the toughest in the world'.

Similar projects include Shanghai's Yangtze River tunnel and Japan's Tokyo Bay Aqua Line.

The head of civil and environmental engineering at Cambridge University added, however, that LTA is well-equipped and experienced to handle this project.

Said Prof Mair: 'Looking at their robust structures, soil investigations and monitoring systems, they have taken on board the lessons learnt from Nicoll Highway.'

Work begins on Singapore's 10th expressway
Completion due 2013; it is first road tunnel under the sea
Joyce Hooi, Business Times 29 Apr 09;

(SINGAPORE) The Land Transport Authority (LTA) broke ground yesterday on the construction of Singapore's first road tunnel under the sea, the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE).

The new expressway, slated for completion in 2013, will connect the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) and the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

'The MCE underscores the government's commitment to continue investing in Singapore's road network,' Transport Minister Raymond Lim said at the ground-breaking ceremony.

'The MCE will be our 10th expressway, after the KPE which opened last year. We will continue to invest in road infrastructure for the future, within the constraints of our limited land space. By 2020, we will complete the North South Expressway (NSE), which will provide an additional route from the north to the city.'

The 5 km MCE is the most ambitious project undertaken by the LTA and involves the widest road tunnel in Singapore, with five lanes going in each direction.

A 420 m section of the expressway will be beneath the sea bed. At its deepest point, it will be about 20 m below mean sea level. Some 13.1 ha of land will be reclaimed for the project - 9.1 ha at Marina Wharf and 4 ha at Marina East.

Singapore's 10th expressway is also notable for another superlative - it will be the country's most expensive expressway, with the value of contracts awarded so far coming up to $4.1 billion.

Exceeding a budgeted figure of $2.5 billion, based on lower construction and engineering costs in 2006, the contracts awarded so far comprise six major civil contracts and four major system-wide contracts. One minor civil contract and three other system-wide contracts are still to be awarded.

In comparison, Singapore's second most expensive expressway, the KPE, cost $1.8 billion to build.

According to LTA, some of cost of the MCE may be recovered if the prices of materials fall, due to a price fluctuation clause in contracts.

Apart from higher tender prices, construction of the MCE in difficult ground and soil conditions, as well as additional safety requirements for the sub-sea tunnel, added to the overall cost.

Construction will take place in soft clay that runs as deep as 60 m in some places.

'Soft clay is not very good for construction,' said Chuah Han Leong, LTA's director of the MCE project. 'It is like working with toothpaste. So we have to conduct extensive ground improvement to enhance the safety of the excavation.'

Planning for the MCE was done with an eye on property values. To increase the development potential of prime land in Marina Bay, the section of the ECP that runs through Marina South will be realigned and downgraded to an arterial road.

'The MCE will add to the long-term growth of Singapore and increase accessibility to the Marina Bay downtown area,' said LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee.

Marina Coastal Expressway to cost more than S$4b to build
Lin Jiamei, 938LIVE Channel NewsAsia 28 Apr 09;

SINGAPORE: Construction for Singapore's most expensive highway, the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), has begun.

Costing more than S$4 billion, it is much higher than the initial estimation of S$2.5 billion due to the difficult soil conditions.

When completed, the 5-kilometre road will serve as a high speed link to the new Downtown area in Marina Bay. It will also link up to the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, East Coast Parkway and the Ayer Rajah Expressway.

The connection will in turn allow a section of the ECP to be coverted into arterial roads serving nearby developments such as the integrated resort.

Commuters who are not heading to the area can also use the MCE to bypass Marina Bay.

A special feature of the new expressway - Singapore's tenth - is the road tunnel that runs under the sea, parallel to the Marina Barrage.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim, who broke ground for the project at the barrage, explained the complexity of the construction process.

"A 420-metre section of the MCE will be directly beneath the sea bed, making it one of LTA's most technically challenging projects yet. At its deepest point the MCE will be at about 20 metres below mean sea level," he said.

The difficult soil condition in the area means that excavation works could run as deep as 60 metres in certain sections, not to mention the width of the expressway - five lanes in each direction.

Director of the MCE project, Chuah Han Leong, said part of the road will also be constructed on reclaimed land.

He said: "We are working very close to the coast and also quite far away from all the developments that are happening now, like the IR, the Marina Bay and the Financial Centre.

"We are basically next to the sea and we will use the right material as well as construction methods to make sure that all our construction is safe."

The MCE is expected to be ready by 2013.

- 938LIVE

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Singapore is Asia's most liveable city

It also boasts best infrastructure in the world: Survey
Fiona Chan, Straits Times 29 Apr 09;

SINGAPORE has risen six places in a global ranking of cities with the highest quality of living, overtaking cities such as Paris in France and Honolulu and San Francisco in the United States.

At 26th place, the Republic also surpassed all its Asian neighbours to be the region's best performer in the latest Worldwide Quality of Living Survey by human resource consultancy Mercer.

As the icing on the cake, Singapore also topped Mercer's list of cities with the best infrastructure in the world. It proved superior in various areas, including electricity and water supply, telephone and mail services, public transport, traffic congestion and range of international flights from local airports.

Although it is often taken for granted, infrastructure 'has a significant effect on the quality of living experienced by expatriates', said Ms Cathy Loose, Mercer's Asia Pacific global mobility leader.

The development of Marina Bay and Sentosa Cove as new waterfront living areas appear to have boosted Singapore's position in the rankings.

'Singapore already has excellent housing, but now its new ocean-front and seafront living options have allowed the ranking to move even higher,' said Mr Derrick Kon, Mercer's Singapore global mobility leader.

He added that the 'high-quality houses and apartments' that are available for rent and the 'excellent selection of appliances and furniture' for residents definitely helped elevate Singapore's quality of life.

The other factor that contributed to Singapore's higher ranking is the presence of 'many good schools' in the city, said Mr Kon.

'Singapore has always had a lot of good schools and international schools, but now there are also more private schools offering university degrees,' he said.

'If expatriates come here with their children, this is one area they would be looking at, and in Singapore they would have a lot of options, with international programmes and university programmes.'

Singapore's strong position in quality of life rankings such as these could stand the nation in good stead in the current financial crisis, said Mr Mark Ellwood, managing director of Robert Walters, another human resource consultancy.

With companies looking to cut costs, many are reducing the number of international assignments and localising their expat compensation packages where possible, which means not giving out the 'hardship' allowances or benefits that are offered to expats who have to live in cities with a lower quality of life.

'There is perhaps less of an argument these days that Singapore is a hardship posting, so you don't have to give many expat benefits in terms of additional bells and whistles,' said Mr Ellwood.

Singapore is the only Asian city on the top 100 list that managed to increase its ranking this year, with the rest largely maintaining their previous positions.

China's capital, Beijing, moved up three places from 116 to 113 due to public transport improvements stemming from the Olympic Games last year, but Bangkok in Thailand and Mumbai in India both dropped in the rankings amid worsened stability and security.

Globally, the Austrian city of Vienna overtook Switzerland's Zurich to boast the best quality of life this year. European cities continued to dominate the top positions in the ranking, amid a sprinkling of Canadian and American cities.

Mercer publishes this list annually to help multinational companies determine an appropriate amount of compensation for expatriates sent to work in difficult locations.

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More efficient appliances in the offing

Higher energy efficiency standards to apply to fridges, air-conditioners in 2 years
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 29 Apr 09;

TWO ticks and you're in. One or none, and you're out.

Under a new easy-to-follow ratings system for energy efficiency, major home appliances will need to get more than one tick out of four to be sold here in two years' time.

The higher standards - some appliances now have no ticks - mean that 20 per cent of existing refrigerators and air-conditioners will be phased out of the market by 2011.

The Minimum Energy Performance Standard, or MEPS, scheme, run by the National Environment Agency (NEA), aims to encourage consumers to conserve energy.

The appliances which must comply are fridges and air-conditioners, which can contribute up to 50 per cent of a typical utilities bill.

The tick ratings, which indicate energy consumption, are based on criteria set by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

Suppliers and retailers have been given a grace period of two years to phase out energy inefficient models that do not meet the new standards.

And retailers appear to be heeding the call.

In the first three months of this year, only 18 per cent of new air-conditioning models registered under NEA were zero or one-tick models, while no energy inefficient refrigerator models were registered.

Mr Andy Toh, an operations manager at electrical retailer Harvey Norman, said consumers like energy efficient appliances due to their long-term cost savings.

An energy efficient refrigerator with a three-tick rating can cut up to 30 per cent off a household's utility bill compared with a zero-tick rated fridge, he said.

The measures are part of the $1 billion sustainable development report released on Monday to enhance energy efficiency and sustainability standards here.

Speaking at the launch, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said: 'If we want to face the challenges of the future - living in a more resource-scarce world while also tackling global warming - then we have to start taking action now.'

The Government also introduced water efficiency labels for appliances such as taps, cisterns and urinals earlier this year. This may be extended to shower heads and washing machines.

From July, new developments and renovated properties will also have to install more efficient low-capacity flushing cisterns.

amreshg@sph.com.sg

Rating energy efficiency

# Energy labelling was made mandatory for air-conditioners and refrigerators in January last year. It was extended to clothes dryers earlier this month.

# An appliance with a poor efficiency rating carries a zero tick, while an 'excellent' rating carries the maximum four ticks.

# From 2011, all refrigerators and air-conditioners sold here must meet minimum energy performance standards.

# About 20 per cent of the 475 air-con models and 403 refrigerator models registered under the National Environment Agency will be phased out in two years' time.

# From July, new and renovated properties must install flushing cisterns with at least a 'one-tick' rating.

AMRESH GUNASINGHAM

Rating energy efficiency

# Energy labelling was made mandatory for air-conditioners and refrigerators in January last year. It was extended to clothes dryers earlier this month.

# An appliance with a poor efficiency rating carries a zero tick, while an 'excellent' rating carries the maximum four ticks.

# From 2011, all refrigerators and air-conditioners sold here must meet minimum energy performance standards.

# About 20 per cent of the 475 air-con models and 403 refrigerator models registered under the National Environment Agency will be phased out in two years' time.

# From July, new and renovated properties must install flushing cisterns with at least a 'one-tick' rating.

AMRESH GUNASINGHAM

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CDCs take green message to heartland

Straits Times 29 Apr 09;

SAVING the Earth starts at home for environmentally conscious Cindy Chng, a 20-year-old undergraduate.

She coaxed her mother to stop overloading the fridge and to switch off unused lights and appliances.

With the cooperation of everyone else at home, she shrank the family's utility bill by nearly a third.

The Chngs, who live in Choa Chu Kang, were among the finalists in a South West Community Development Council (CDC) energy-saving competition, run under the council's district-level 'sustainability' plan.

Other CDCs also have such district-level plans to promote energy saving, recycling and protecting the environment, all of which are in sync with the national sustainable-development blueprint launched on Monday.

The messages in this national drive are expected to reach an estimated 700,000 households - two million people in all.

The South West CDC, which looks after Hong Kah, Jurong, Clementi and other estates in south-west Singapore, aims to get 80,000 households there to switch to energy-efficient light bulbs and plant a million native plants in its HDB estates.

Likewise, the South East CDC has its '10% Energy Challenge', under which it urges households to cut their energy usage by 10 per cent.

Schoolchildren are another target of environment-education plans.

For instance, pre-schoolers in the North West District are drilled on good toilet etiquette and how to keep toilets clean.

And in the South East District, schoolchildren are trained as 'eco-ambassadors' and given the job of spreading the sustainability message to their peers.

GRACE CHUA

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Call for new laws to meet 70% recycling target

Straits Times 29 Apr 09;

SINGAPORE'S target of recycling 70 per cent of all its waste by 2030 is an achievable one, the chairman of the Sustainable Energy Association here has said.

But new laws will have to be enacted for that extra push towards it, said Mr Edwin Khew, who heads the lobby group of small and medium-sized enterprises interested in green initiatives.

He is also the chief executive of local waste recycling firm IUT Global and a Nominated Member of Parliament.

Mr Khew called for new laws, for instance, to require waste to be separated by type at the source, and for more food waste to be recycled.

Of the 570,000 tonnes of food waste generated here last year, only 12 per cent was recycled.

He noted that current efforts to promote recycling have skewed it towards construction debris, metal and paper, and that recycling rates were still low for food waste, glass and plastics.

The overall rate of recycling - the total amount of waste recycled out of the total amount generated - is now 56 per cent.

The new recycling target of 70 per cent was announced on Monday at the unveiling of the blueprint for building a greener, more energy-efficient and sustainable nation over the next 20 years.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said it is looking into following the example of Japan, which has laws governing the recycling of food waste.

Over the last decade, the push for recycling among consumers has raised the rate from 40 per cent in 2000 to last year's 56 per cent.

Under the National Recycling Programme launched in April 2001, those living in HDB estates are given recycling bags and those living in landed property are given bins, into which can be deposited recyclable paper, plastics, glass, clothing, metal cans and drink cartons.

Waste collectors who make fortnightly visits have been picking up these recyclables. This programme has raised the proportion of participating households from 15 per cent to 63 per cent in eight years.

Recycling has also been made more convenient. More than 3,800 recycling bins dot HDB estates, shopping centres, MRT stations and bus interchanges across the island.

Most residents live no more than 150m from a recycling bin, said the NEA.

Another move taken: urging companies to cut waste by redesigning their product packaging and using recyclable packaging materials.

The latest move in this direction came last week, with the NEA launching its $8million Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Fund, or the 3R Fund for short. It subsidises up to 80 per cent of the cost of recycling projects by companies for two years, subject to a maximum of $1 million a project.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim called on the public to also 'take 3R as a way of life - as far as possible reduce, reuse and recycle'.

In other words, people need to get into the habit of cutting back on the waste they generate and of separating their recyclables.

'Singapore is no different from most other countries in having to deal with the environment issue in a more creative way,' he said.

AMRESH GUNASINGHAM

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Comments on the $8m recycling fund

A lot of carrots but where are the sticks?
Letter from Lucia Maes, Today Online 29 Apr 09;

I REFER to “$8m recycling fund” (April 23), and wonder how sustainable is it?

It is one thing to provide start-up capital to new projects and another to ensure that these are self-sufficient. Although much of the latter is dependent on the company’s business model, a lot has to do with equally strong Government intervention in the form of legislation that will subsequently impart public support to them.

During my one-years stay in Singapore, I was confused about the Government’s initiatives and the reality on the ground when it came to recycling practices. There are recycling trucks making collections, but communities are not provided incentives nor forced by law to recycle their waste.

There is no critical mass to support the recycling companies’ operations due to the lack of holistic Government schemes to ensure that everyone recycles their product waste.

Singapore is fortunate to enjoy strong political will in the programmes it rolls out, but communities do not have the desire to better the environment. The only way to do this is to use a combination of sticks and carrots. The carrots have been generously offered to the industry, but the sticks are lacking. The grant sounds just like any other handouts which will send companies into a sprint, only to end up breathless.

New ways to recycle the karung guni spirit
Straits Times 29 Apr 09;

IN LAUNCHING an $8 million 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Fund, the National Environment Agency (NEA) is aptly reworking something old into something new as well as useful and sustainable. The karung guni habit is diminishing among holdouts of the older generation, to whom hard times had taught thrifty ways. Younger Singaporeans need to cut out waste by reducing consumption, reusing what is still usable, and recycling much of the rest. They face a more complex challenge in environmental conservation than the economic necessity that drove their parents and grandparents to making the most of available castaways.

The rag-and-bone trade has survived and, indeed, rallied briefly a year ago when high raw commodity prices made it worthwhile to recycle rather than discard old newspapers, clothing and such. The present economic downturn will likely help discourage waste. Household appliances will get used longer. More people might salvage and sell disposable items to the karung guni man even if prices have dropped. The 3R system, however, must go beyond purely economic motivation and rely more enduringly on awareness of environmental protection.

The NEA deployed 1,600 sets of recycling bins in Housing Board estates in recent years, each no farther than 150m from any flat. Yet, how well have residents responded? How many take the trouble to sort out household waste and take it to the bins, instead of dumping it all down the chute? The campaign to persuade shoppers to take along their own bags on certain days of the week also shows little sign of developing into a habit.

Going beyond HDB estates, the new NEA fund will substantially offset the cost of waste-sorting projects among landed households as well as food and beverage outlets and students. Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim offered two principles that also made the national water recycling project a success: Rely on technology; and view waste as a useful resource, not as a problem. Public support, nevertheless, will be more critical than in the water initiative. Participants literally need to get down and dirty, unless technological ingenuity spares them the chore.

It is still a matter of cultivating a habit that must be sound and also sufficiently strong to survive any loss or absence of financial incentive. With the new fund, the NEA continues to focus on public awareness and education to promote an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Making recycling mandatory with warnings and fines can wait. It might not even be necessary, if 3R converts recapture the old karung guni spirit out of environmental concern as well as economic necessity.

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IUCN welcomes reprieve for whales

IUCN 28 Apr 09;

IUCN is delighted that Sakhalin Energy followed the advice of an expert panel and stopped all seismic surveys affecting the Western Gray Whale.

The Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel, set up by IUCN, recommended on Friday that all oil and gas companies working just off Sakhalin Island in eastern Russia stop any activity that might harm the whales.

“The fact that Sakhalin Energy decided to listen to the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel is excellent,” said Finn Larsen, of IUCN’s Global Marine Programme. “We are now calling on all other oil and gas companies operating in the same area to follow Sakhalin Energy’s lead and make the right decision for the sake of these magnificent creatures.”

There are only an estimated 120 Western Gray Whales left in the world, with 25 to 35 reproductive females. The whales come to feed in the waters off Sakhalin Island in summer and autumn, in preparation for the breeding season.

The Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel said it is extremely concerned by observations in 2008 suggesting whale distribution and behaviour have changed.

It concluded that all activities planned for 2009, including Sakhalin Energy’s seismic survey, should be postponed until the Western Gray Whale population has been fully monitored and assessed.

It added that if the monitoring in 2009 reduces the uncertainty and concern over the Western Gray Whale population, the panel may be able to accept a seismic survey in 2010.

For more information about the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel, please visit: http://www.iucn.org/wgwap/

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Why freeing Willy was the wrong thing to do

Catherine Brahic, New Scientist 28 Apr 09;

Willy was never really free. The killer whale star of the Hollywood movie Free Willy had to be cared for by humans even after he was released and he never successfully integrated with his wild kin. Researchers now say attempts to return him to the wild were misguided.

"We believe the best option for [Willy] was the open pen he had in Norway, with care from his trainers," says Malene Simon of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, who participated in efforts to reintegrate the cetacean in the wild and is lead author of the study. "He could swim as much as he wanted to, had plenty of frozen herring – which he was very fond of – and the people that he was attached to kept him active."

The killer whale, whose real name was Keiko, died in December 2003, at about 26 years old. Despite efforts to integrate him with wild killer whales in Iceland towards the end of his life, he proved unable to interact with them or find food.

"While we as humans might find it appealing to free a long-term captive animal," the researchers say in the paper, "the survival and well-being of the animal may be severely impacted in doing so." The only cetaceans that have successfully been returned to the wild have been young and only kept in captivity for short periods.

The team's comments contradict those made by members of the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, who declared in 2003 that his case had challenged the perception that whales cannot be returned to the wild. But Simon's account of Keiko's last few years shows just how unsuccessful his release was.
Public pressure

Keiko was born into a wild group of killer whales, also called orca, in Icelandic waters. He was captured in 1979 at about two years old and spent over a decade in a small tank in a Mexican amusement park, isolated from others of his species.

It was during this time, in 1993, that Keiko made animal stardom when he "played" a leading role in the hit film Free Willy, which tells the story of a boy who befriends and eventually releases a captive orca.

The film's success engendered an international letter-writing campaign, Free Keiko, which sought to release him into the wild. "There was a strong public pressure to release Keiko to the wild, preferably to his 'family' group in Iceland," say the researchers.

Yielding to this pressure, Keiko's owners transferred him to Iceland and in the summers of 2000 and 2001, he was trained to follow a boat out into the open water where wild orcas were feeding.
Going hungry

In 2002, he was fitted with tracking devices, and once again led out to join the wild orcas. This time, his trainers would hide below deck when Keiko approached in an attempt to minimise human contact. But lacking the necessary social skills, Keiko at first mostly floated motionless at the surface, facing towards the wild pods several hundred metres away.

After 10 days, he returned of his own accord to his penned-off area in a nearby bay. Vets extracted a sample from his stomach – the transparent, slimy liquid they found suggested Keiko had not fed.

Two days later he was led back out to sea. Again he didn't feed, although he did start to make dives. The tracking devices showed that he spent most of his time above 4 metres, and most of his dives were less than 26 metres. In contrast, wild orcas spend most of their dive time between 50 and 75 metres.

He was seen diving among the wild orcas only once, on 30 July 2002. And after physical contact at the surface, Keiko swam away, seeking out human company on the tracking boat.
Crowded out

Keiko managed to migrate to Norway for most of August, arriving in apparently good health. However, his film-star status and love of humans were to bring to an end his stint in the wild.

"When Keiko arrived in Norway, he actively sought out human company, swimming to boats and people," say the researchers. "After a few days, he became inactive, staying near a small boat, possibly to avoid the large and steadily increasing crowd of people now seeking his attention."

Local authorities forbade people from approaching or touching him, and his trainers – who thought he may have caught an infection from his human admirers – eventually took him back to Iceland. "At that time there was a crowd of people very close to Keiko," says Simon. "All the kids of the town wanted to touch him and swim with him."

With encouragement from his carers, Keiko's activity levels increased to previous levels, but although he lived in a pen that was open to the ocean, he never again ventured outside the bay. A year after his failed migration, Keiko died at the age of 26 or 27, apparently of pneumonia.

Journal reference: Marine Mammal Science (DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2009.00287.x)

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Arabian Tahr gets royal protection

WWF 28 Apr 09;

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – In a major conservation decision, the United Arab Emirates has established the Wadi Wurayah Fujairah – home to the endangered Arabian Tahr and possibly the rare Arabian Leopard – as the country’s first protected mountain area.

The Wadi is a 129 km-square catchment that occupies the northern reaches of Fujairah between the towns of Masafi, Khor Fakkan and Bidiyah, and is an important natural and cultural region in the Middle East.

The area has been an important source of water for local communities for thousands of years, and is home to rare and endangered species such as the Arabian Tahr and Arabian Leopard.

The Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) is considered critically endangered with less than 250 adult leopards left, according to the IUCN Red List. The Arabian Tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) is endangered, with fewer than 2,500 adults in the wild. Both species face threats from hunting and habitat loss because of development.

In addition, the Wadi is located within WWF’s Ecoregion 127 Arabian Highlands and Shrublands, one of the conservation organization’s global ecoregions grouping the richest, rarest and most distinctive of the Earth's natural habitats.

Under the proposed protection plan reviewed by the royal court, EWS-WWF calls for management and park rangers to patrol the area and help educate visitors. Visitors will also be fined for leaving litter behind, polluting the water and painting graffiti – problems that currently threaten the Wadi.

“Wadi Wurayah is of considerable ecological significance allowing among the rarest species found in the UAE, Arabian Peninsular and the world to survive this harsh climate,” said Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director EWS-WWF. “Over the past 3 years, we have revealed the presence of 12 species of mammals, 73 species of birds, 17 species of reptiles and amphibians, and one species of fish and 74 invertebrate families, of which 11 are new species for science.”

More than 300 species of plants have been recorded in the area, including species that are found only in wetlands such as Typha dominginsis and the unique orchid species of UAE: Epipactis veratrifolia, Al Mubarak said.

His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Fujairah, issued a decree this week that officially establishes the Wadi’s protected status.

The decree comes after the completion of a successful 3 year project launched in 2006 by Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS) - WWF and the Fujairah Municipality with the support of HSBC Bank Middle East ltd, to assess the importance of Wadi Wurayah for nature conservation and to establish it as a protected area.

“We are extremely excited about the decree and thank HH Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi for signing the official document, making history and securing that this gem of nature and culture is here for future generations to enjoy. We also thank Fujairah Municipality and HSBC Bank Middle East for their on-going support and dedication to this important cause,” Al Mubarak said.

The decision follows a 2006 survey Fujairah among the residents of the areas surrounding Wadi Wurayah and its visitors to measure support for the area’s protection.

The survey, conducted by EWS-WWF and students from the Higher Colleges of Technology, found that 67% of residents and visitors supported the move. Only 18% of those surveyed objected to the plan and 13% of respondents were ambivalent. Significantly, the survey also revealed the amount of wildlife seen by residents in the area has dropped dramatically over the past 10 years.

“Wadi Wurayah is an extremely important part of the UAE’s national heritage and our on-going discoveries of the species residing in the area, and support of the locals is a testament to that fact,” said Dr. Christophe Tourenq, Science and Research Manager at EWS-WWF and manager of the Wadi Wurayah project. “At the start of the project we discovered that the endangered mountain wildlife was increasingly threatened, either by direct transformation or through unregulated recreational use.”

“This decree will go a long way in ensuring the wildlife and area is closely monitored and protected for future generations,” Tourenq said.

In 1995, His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, ruler of Fujairah, created the first marine protected areas of the UAE.

“The declaration of Wadi Wurayah as the first mountain protected area of the country shows the commitment of the Fujairah government to the conservation of their natural and cultural heritage. The project also illustrates perfectly the collaboration between a local NGO, a local government to protect our heritage with the support of the private sector,” Tourenq said.

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