Tuas: Journey to the west
from wonderful creation
Sharing about our shores at NIE Learning Festival
from wonderful creation
Mangrove Salvaging
from Project Orion
Yellow-vented Bulbul’s reaction to chick’s death
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Rain? Excellent!
Sun, wind and rain are put to good use at this green temple off Pasir Panjang.
TEH JEN LEE, KELVIN CHAN and TEOH YI-CHIE lookat the way nature is harnessed.
The New Paper 29 Aug 09;
IT'S a 55-year-old temple that aims to be on the cutting-edge of environmental technology, with plans to make drinking water from rain. (See graphics.)
But Poh Ern Shih Temple, off Pasir Panjang Road, has encountered an unexpected obstacle in trying to install a water filtration system on its premises.
Last month, it was found that the water storage area meant to house the filtration system would cause the temple to exceed its maximum gross floor area (GFA).
The amount of GFA, which generally refers to the covered spaces of a building, has to be approved by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in any development project.
Mr Lee Boon Siong, 70, the temple's honorary president and director, said: 'I appealed to URA not to count the area as GFA so my plan can go ahead.
'I don't know how much potable water my system can produce because I need to work out the specifications of the water tanks. But the idea is to try it out and see if it can be replicated.'
Alternative source of water
He thinks it's important to have emergency sources of drinking water because Singapore's water supply can be affected by natural disasters and weather phenomenon like El Nino.
A URA spokesman said the proposed rainwater harvesting system at the temple is part of its development proposal that was submitted for assessment and planning approval early this year.
She said: 'We have no objections to the system as a facility and approval has been granted. However, the GFA issue is still being worked out.
'We are in discussion with the management of the temple and are also working closely with the appointed architect to resolve it.'
It is understood that the architect will make design modifications in other parts of the temple to reduce its total GFA.
Besides the plan to make drinking water from rain, Mr Lee also wants to have micro-hydro power generation in the temple's water pipes.
This is possible because rain from the roof falls nearly 25m to the base of the temple's buildings.
The electricity will be used to charge the batteries of devotees' motorised wheelchairs and will also power landscape lights.
A check on the Internet shows that micro-hydro technology has been developed in countries like the US for over 25 years.
The temple's innovative features will be showcased at a seminar on 8 Sep at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas).
Mr Lee will be giving the talk on the temple's solar panels, solar water heaters, wind turbines and other eco-friendly installations.
The free seminar is open to the public who can register for it through the Iseas website (www.iseas.edu.sg).
More details about the talk on the Green Business Times
Buddhist temple shines as model of energy efficiency
Straits Times 9 Sep 09;
SINGAPORE'S first green temple is soaking up more of the planet's solar energy on its pagodas. By year end, the Buddhist temple in Pasir Panjang will be completely self-sufficient in its energy use and will have more than enough to spare.
After the first phase of construction was completed, the Poh Ern Shih Temple at Chwee Chian Hill generated 15MW of solar energy last year - enough to power the temple daily, though not during festivities when additional lights and fans are switched on.
In December, the installation of an additional 390 sq m of solar panels - on both the temple's pagoda and roof of its main prayer hall - will crank up its annual energy output to 65MW.
'By that time, we will be totally self-sufficient, in fact, we will have more than we need,' said Mr Lee Boon Siong, 70, the temple's president. Excess energy generated by the temple will be routed back to the neighbourhood's power grid for public use.
The $23 million upgrade of the temple was funded by donations. Mr Lee said the temple would recover its investment in about 15 years through savings on electricity bills.
The new construction also takes into account the needs of its devotees, more than 80 per cent of whom are more than 60 years old. Replacing the many steps, a new sloped walkway with handrails now leads from the entrance to the prayer hall.
YEN FENG
In first such move, it awards $27.5m to 28 projects by local scientists
Liaw Wy-Cin, Straits Times 29 Aug 09;
THE Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) has jumped on the environmental research bandwagon in a big way.
Yesterday, it awarded $27.5 million to 28 projects by local researchers working in the field.
A*Star wants them to come up with new ideas that put less stress on the environment.
This is the first time Singapore's national body driving science and technology research and development (R&D) is going into sustainable development in such a concerted way.
Previous efforts to push green research had been on a smaller, ad hoc basis, said a spokesman.
This latest effort is part of the national sustainable development R&D push which began three years ago.
It looks at ways to manage environmental deterioration, reduce the depletion of natural resources and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Other large funding programmes for such research come from national agencies such as the National Research Foundation and the Economic Development Board.
The 28 projects will look at how to trap and use carbon dioxide, harness energy and fuel from plant matter such as algae, and develop environmentally friendly materials for the construction, aerospace and automotive industries.
The projects are being funded for three years by A*Star's Science and Engineering Research Council.
Dr Wong Pui Kwan, deputy director for research at A*Star's Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, is managing seven projects on re-using carbon dioxide, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
He said current technologies to do this were very expensive and used a lot of energy.
'We are trying to make this process cheaper and less energy-intensive, by using new materials to capture the carbon dioxide.'
He is hoping to generate enough data by the end of the three years to get companies interested in helping with the development of the products.
National University of Singapore associate professor Jeffrey Obbard is leading seven projects on producing bioenergy and biofuels from biomass such as marine microalgae, the world's fastest-growing plant.
He has identified about 50 strains of microalgae in Singapore, and has shortlisted a few to work on.
Six projects to develop environmentally friendly materials for the building and construction industry come under a joint effort between A*Star and the Building and Construction Authority.
Another eight projects on developing composite and lightweight materials that are energy-efficient, non-toxic and recyclable for, say, the aerospace and automotive industries, are being managed by Dr He Chaobin from A*Star's Institute of Materials Research and Engineering.
wycin@sph.com.sg
Boost for environmental projects
DR WONG PUI KWAN
Deputy director (research) at A*Star's Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences
# Dr Wong will be managing seven projects on capturing and utilising carbon dioxide, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.
# A total of $9 million has been awarded for these projects.
# Twenty proposals were received.
# He will work with a staff strength of 21.
# Funding for his projects began in May and will last for three years.
DR JEFFREY OBBARD
NUS associate professor
# Dr Obbard is managing seven projects on producing bioenergy and biofuels from biomass such as marine microalgae, the world's fastest-growing plant.
# A total of $5 million has been awarded to these projects.
# He will work with a staff strength of 17.
# Twenty-nine proposals in this area were submitted.
# Funding for his projects began last month and will last for three years.
A*Star pumps in $27.5m to develop green technologies
Agency wants to make sustainable development research a key focus, with funding directed at four areas
Felda Chay, Business Times 29 Aug 09;
THE push for sustainable development has been given a boost by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) injecting $27.5 million into research in areas such as the production of bio-cement and bio-fuels.
With more countries waking up to the idea of growing in a way that does the least damage to the environment, the agency hopes to go into sustainability in a big way by making it a key research focus.
'This will help develop Singapore into a global centre of knowledge and expertise in the emerging area of sustainable development,' said Charles Zukoski, chairman of A*Star's Science and Engineering Research Council.
Funding has been provided in four areas of sustainable development research - storage and use of carbon dioxide; bio-fuel and bio-energy production; creation of environmentally friendly construction materials; and making non-toxic, energy-efficient materials for the aerospace and automotive industries.
A key aim is to develop technologies that are cost-efficient - an issue that has plagued the green technology industry.
For instance, research into energy-efficient materials for fuel-guzzling industries such as the aerospace and automotive sectors will look to enhance mobility while improving fuel economy.
Projects on sustainable construction materials will look at ways to make cement from cheap organic waste and naturally occurring, non-pathogenic micro-organisms to reduce the reliance on sand and conventional cement.
'The intent of this programme is to develop new and sustainable engineering materials for industries that are strategically important to Singapore,' said He Chaobin, senior scientist at A*Star's Institute of Materials Research and Engineering.
'The materials will be developed with an understanding of industry needs and with one key focus in mind - to minimise the environmental footprint over the lifetime of a given product so there will be less waste produced, less energy consumed and less damage caused.'
Liaw Wy-Cin, Straits Times 29 Aug 09;
SCIENTISTS in Singapore have come up with a better, faster and cheaper way of studying why some malaria parasites are becoming resistant to even the best drugs available.
They have created a fluorescent chemical compound that adheres or tacks itself onto malaria drugs.
If malaria parasite cells found in a patient's blood respond to the drug - that is, absorb it - the inside of the cell lights up a fluorescent blue.
But if the parasite cell is resistant to the drug, the inside of the cell does not change colour.
This way, scientists can study how parasites resist the effect of conventional malaria drugs, a growing problem in South-east Asia.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) team is now in a global race to be the first among several research groups to get their fluorescent tags out in the market.
The scientists say the tag can also be used to study the behaviour of drugs for other diseases such as cancer and HIV infection.
Current methods of studying drug-resistant malaria parasites are laborious and expensive, using radioactive substances, said malaria researcher Laurent Renia, from the Singapore Immunology Network, part of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research here.
Current methods take some 48 hours, said a member of the NUS team, microbiologist Kevin Tan.
With the fluorescent compound, the process is reduced to under 10 hours, because it does away with some of the steps, said Dr Tan.
Malaria patients are generally not tested to see which drugs they might be resistant to, as the process is long and complicated and drugs need to be administered quickly.
But blood from infected patients is later analysed by scientists trying to solve the puzzle of why malaria parasites are becoming increasingly drug-resistant.
In some south-eastern provinces of Indonesia, up to 60 per cent of relapsing malaria patients no longer respond to first-line treatment drugs such as chloroquine, said Dr Renia.
Singapore has been declared malaria-free since 1982, although it still sees between 100 and 300 cases a year, largely people contracting the disease overseas.
But in 2006 and this year, local outbreaks of about 15 and 30 cases respectively have occurred.
Researchers here said chloroquine and other drugs remain effective against the predominant strain of malaria in Singapore.
So for now, the NUS chemical is just for research use.
But with more research and development, doctors might be able to use it for patients, said another member of the team, chemist Martin Lear.
This may help doctors prescribe the right drug to the patients, depending on which parasite is present in their blood, said infectious diseases doctor Kang Mei Ling from the Singapore General Hospital.
Said Dr Kang: 'Currently, we rely on the patients' travel history to predict if they might have a resistant form of the malaria parasite and, therefore, which drugs to give them.
'For example, if they were in Central America or parts of the Middle East, chloroquine is still effective.
'If they were in parts of Thailand or Myanmar, where parasites are known to be resistant to chloroquine and some other drugs, we will give them an artemisinin combination.
'How we know there is drug resistance is when we see the patient responding poorly to the treatment, then we will have to give another drug or combination of drugs.'
It is hoped the new fluorescent tag will help get the most effective drug to the patients more quickly.
Current methods of studying drug-resistant malaria parasites are laborious and expensive, using radioactive substances... With the fluorescent compound, the process is reduced to under 10 hours.
Chinese artist Lu Hao uses an excavator for his critical take on the impact of rapid urbanisation and consumerism
deepika shetty, Straits Times 29 Aug 09;
Contemporary Chinese artist Lu Hao has done something striking with a construction site digger, a familiar object on building plots all around town.
The Beijing-based artist has recreated part of it as a giant sculpture, transforming the excavator's mechanical arm into a menacing feature complete with fangs.
It is made from cast bronze, stainless steel and rosin, a solid form of resin.
The towering 2.18m digger arm and spade, a work entitled Tool Of Construction, is part of Lu's first solo museum show in South-east Asia at the Singapore Art Museum from today until Oct 25.
The exhibition, Cities Here And Now, presents an overview of the renowned artist's work with sculptures, recent ink paintings and other new pieces such as his 2008 Landscape Series done by using ink and colour on silk.
The theme is a critical take on the impact of rapid urbanisation and consumerism.
Lu, 40, who has lived in Beijing all his life and seen the cityscape change beyond his wildest imagination, tells Life!: 'I feel a sense of regret. We have developed so much but we have lost a lot along the way.'
On his dramatic sculpture of a digger's arm, he says: 'In Beijing, we are all familiar with something like this. There is construction going on all the time and demolition and relocation have become a way of life.
'To me, an excavator is both a tool of construction and destruction. To give it a sinister look, I have created something with long, sharp fangs.'
The idea of this modern savage beast is to make people think about the rapid stride of urbanisation and how it can never be reversed.
Also on display is The Flower, Bird, Insect, Fish series, which is widely considered Lu's breakthrough work.
This series features acrylic architectural models (below) of The Great Hall of the People, the National Art Museum of China, Tiananmen and Xinhaumen, all of which signify political authority and cultural grandness in Beijing.
When they were first exhibited internationally - to much acclaim at the Venice Biennale in 1999 - these transparent and miniature models included live flowers, birds, grasshoppers and fish and transformed China's iconic places and institutions into a bird cage, a fish bowl and a flower point.
The idea was to look at places of power with humour.
In Singapore, the live elements are missing but the models still evoke a sense of power and grandeur.
The artist, who graduated from Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1992, has taken part in several international exhibitions and biennales, including the Lyon Biennale in 2000, the Istanbul Biennale in 2001 and the Sao Paulo Biennale in 2002.
Singaporeans can also see him use another technique in his 2008 Landscape Series on display here.
From a distance, it looks like a printed poster. But everything in this series, right from soy sauce bottles, beer cans and shoes down to books, are real objects that have been hand-painted.
Lu says: 'Consumerism in China is very wasteful. It is all pervasive. There is no stopping the goods from filling our shelves, our lives and our homes.'
He also makes viewers stop in their tracks by switching to the medium of a 17m-long hand-scroll painted in ink and colour on silk, entitled Landscape. It depicts a world of buildings, but no people.
Professor Wu Hung, 64, who is guest curator and director of the Center for the Art of East Asia at The University of Chicago, says Lu's ability to combine traditional elements with contemporary events is what sets him apart.
'His concerns may seem common - rapid urbanisation, the loss of a way of life - but his visual language is unique,' says Prof Wu.
'He may explore the same themes, yet he does it in so many different ways, from traditional Chinese-style scroll painting to sculpture. This makes him a very exciting artist to watch.'
deepikas@sph.com.sg
view it
CITIES HERE AND NOW
Where: Singapore Art Museum, 71 Bras Basah Road
When: Till Oct 25. From 10am to 7pm daily and 10am to 9pm on Fridays
Admission: $8 (adults), $4 (students)
Info: Call 6332-3222 or go to www.singaporeartmuseum.sg
Olivia Rondonuwu, Reuters 28 Aug 09;
JAKARTA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - An Indonesian environment agency has set out a roadmap for the government to adopt forestry, energy, transport, industrial and agriculture policies that would slash carbon emissions by the world's No. 3 emitter.
Indonesia's government-backed National Climate Change Council, or NCCC, said significant cuts in emissions could be made through efforts to conserve forests and peatlands, among its top recommendations in a report published this week ahead of the key climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.
The United States and China are the world's top two emitters.
The Indonesian agency said forestry, agriculture, power, transportation, buildings, and cement account for most of Indonesia's emissions, which it put at 2.3 gigatons (billion tons) of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2005 -- or 10 tonnes per Indonesian -- and forecast would reach 2.8 gigatons in 2020 and 3.6 gigatons by 2030.
But Indonesia could potentially reduce emissions by as much as 2.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents by 2030, the NCCC said, with the adoption of 150 different programmes, in effect bringing the level down to 1.3 gigatons.
Most of the reduction needs to be focused on the forestry, peatland and agriculture sectors, where there is the greatest potential to cut emissions resulting from deforestation, forest fires, drainage of peatlands, and rice cultivation, the NCCC report showed.
It recommended a halt to deforestation coupled with more active reforestation programmes, as well as turning forests into carbon sinks, and better water and nutrient management in agriculture.
While Indonesia faces considerable pressure to lift power production and is building new power plants, it needs to ensure the use of clean and renewable energy sources and increased use of clean coal technologies, the NCCC said.
The agency also recommended a shift towards the use of hybrid and electric vehicles, improvements in internal combustion engines, the use of more efficient electrical appliances, efficient lighting and water heating.
"This will provide guidance for the environment ministry and the council to move forward to follow the world's trend to enter a low carbon development growth," environment minister Rachmat Witoelar told reporters on Thursday at a briefing for the report.
NCCC officials said the study would help the government to revise its environmental policies, develop pilot strategies in the provinces, and decide on its position in the next UN Climate Change Conference meeting in Copenhagen.
Under an emerging U.N. scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, or REDD, developing nations can potentially earn billions of dollars by setting aside and rehabilitating their forests.
The valuable carbon offsets they earn could be sold to rich nations to help them meet their emissions goals under the scheme that is likely to be part of a broader climate pact from 2013. (Editing by Sara Webb and Sanjeev Miglani)
New Straits Times 29 Aug 09;
EYES twinkling, Dr Francis Ng spoke animatedly of his daring scientific expeditions in remote jungles to record the trees of Peninsular Malaysia.
At times, the going was so tough that he was left clinging onto roots for dear life while dangling off a cliff.
"Other times, we had to swim across a flooded river," the consultant botanist reminisced in Kuala Lumpur recently. Those were some of the best times, he said, with nature as his classroom.
"Scientists those days had the global view. Nowadays, young scientists are happy to sit in their air-conditioned office and rely on their research assistants to collect data and specimens."
Ng said taxonomy, the science of identification and classification, was "fundamental to human knowledge and applies to everything".
"Taxonomy is about how we make knowledge of the natural world from the crude understanding we have of it."
He said taxonomy was "fun" then.
"We used to travel widely to study a species. It was arranged on a scientist-by-scientist basis. Now, it must be done via governments," the Academy of Sciences Malaysia fellow said.
But Ng refused to believe that taxonomy was dying as claimed by many scientists worldwide.
"Look at it in a worldwide context. Taxonomy is the basics of science. Perhaps when we talk about taxonomy of plants and animals, there is a decline of expertise.
"It takes up to 20 years for a dedicated scientist to build his expertise in one group and there are many groups in the natural world."
He said there was nothing to worry about lack of taxonomists. Instead, we should overcome our "hang-up" from our colonial past, he added.
"What we have now is still very much the old colonial system. The old empires, such as Britain, aspired to become world powers so they set up centres to collect and store specimens from their colonies."
Over the years, these centres, like the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens in London, became some of the best libraries of the natural world.
"After independence, we should have set up our own natural history museum and our scientists must be world or at least regional experts."
Ng said local scientists seemed to be confined to only Malaysia.
"We're not producing scientists with a global outlook.
"To be a world expert, you must travel and study species in your chosen group. Look at it in totality."
For Universiti Malaysia Sabah's Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation deputy director Dr Bakhtiar Effendi Yahya, "it needs time to really love taxonomy".
"Students nowadays are more attracted to molecular and biotechnology fields. They go to the field, collect samples and return straight to the laboratories.
"They never spend time in the jungles. Comparatively, in classical taxonomy, we spend long hours searching for organisms in their natural habitat, understanding their biological needs in the field and observing their morphological differences under microscopes."
Bakhtiar said they would examine thousands of samples and that could put off new scientists.
However, Ng stressed that classical and molecular taxonomy went hand in hand.
"Taxonomy is undergoing a revolution as it moves towards genetic technology. But both are integrated."
He said taxonomy was about using the information available "to make sense of the world".
"Taxonomy is not old fashioned. It's just that we operate differently now."
New Straits Times 29 Aug 09;
AS one of 12 hot spots for biodiversity, Malaysia needs more people to take up taxonomy, or the science of naming plants and animals.
This message from the Malaysian Nature Society comes in the trail of global environmental problems linked to loss of biodiversity, climate change and population growth.
Its president, Tan Sri Dr Salleh Mohd Noor, said there were many species that were not named, although taxonomy as an area of study started more than 500 years ago.
"Until we name all the plants and animals that we have in Malaysia, we cannot study them in greater detail. It's a boring subject but it is important.
"For example, a forester must know about the different species (that exist) in the forest. Our rainforests are rich in biodiversity, but species are endangered because of human activities.
"Loss of biodiversity means a loss of ecosystem. This ecosystem is the home that we live in, so ultimately, it is the loss of life itself when we start to lose plants and animals."
Salleh said this at a talk entitled "Sharing the Environment: Global Problems, Local Solutions" as part of the Merdeka Award lecture series at Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Kota Kinabalu recently.
MNS received last year's Merdeka Award for the environment category for its work at the Belum-Temenggor forests in northern Perak.
Salleh said Malaysians must understand that environmental problems facing the world were real and that it was time to stop taking for granted resources like water and fossil fuels.
"We don't have a conscious effort to conserve energy, and we must stress on effective development to safeguard nature.
"The people must also understand why we need to recycle, reuse and reduce, and how to get rid of items like handphones and computers.
"Environmental problems are on a global scale but we must offer local solutions."
Salleh also touched on nuclear energy, saying that he was in favour of it if there were regulatory safeguards.
"I was against nuclear energy but I changed my mind because other resources like petrol are limited. yet.
"In the long run, we may have to turn to nuclear energy but we must put in place laws first as safety is important."
New Straits Times 28 Aug 09;
KUALA LUMPUR: In the battle against poachers and the illegal wildlife trade, two non-governmental organisations have called on the government to set up a task force to stamp out the activities.
With the recent arrest of a Thai poacher in the Belum-Temengor forest complex in Perak on Sunday, WWF Malaysia and Traffic feel that a well-coordinated effort between the enforcement agencies is needed to fight the menace.
WWF Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma said the police, Wildlife and National Parks Department and WWF's Wildlife Protection Unit (WPU) are doing a good job, but a greater commitment is needed.
"Stopping armed poachers is dangerous and difficult work that needs the support of many agencies.
"I urge the government to form a task force, comprising additional enforcement agencies such as the army, Immigration, Customs and forestry departments and the Perak State Parks Corporation to join the fight to stamp out poaching and cross-border encroachment," he said recently.
Traffic Southeast Asia's Chris R. Shepherd said there must also be a move towards more intelligence-led investigations to smoke out the masterminds and backers of poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
"Ridding the forests of poachers is an on-going and important task, but it is essential to remove the main culprits behind the scene -- the big dealers running the show," he said.
The Thai poacher from Chiang Rai was among five poachers ambushed by police at their camp site where 30kg of rice and other essentials were stocked, indicating they were planning a long-term operation.
TRAFFIC 28 Aug 09;
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 28 August 2009—In its biggest seizures of pangolins this year, Malaysia’s Wildlife and National Parks Department confiscated 98 animals from a house in Alor Setar in the northern state of Kedah.
The department’s Wildlife Crime Unit raided the house at 6.30 am on Wednesday after about three weeks of surveillance and investigations.
The unit found the totally protected animals hidden in a store room behind the house and have arrested a man in his 40s in connection with the crime.
He has been released on a MYR5,000 (USD1,400) bail.
The seizure included 58 adult male pangolins, 38 adult females, two juveniles and 3.2 kilogrammes of pangolin scales. The pangolins were later released into a protected area.
The man arrested in connection with the case faces five separate charges under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 including a charge of cruelty to wildlife, said Saharudin Anan who heads the Department’s law and enforcement division.
If found guilty on all counts, he could face a maximum of 23 years in prison, up to RM27,000 in fines, or both, he added.
The pangolin is the most heavily traded mammal in Southeast Asia despite being protected by local and international laws.
There is a demand for its meat as well as its scales, which are used in the making of traditional medicines, both locally and for markets abroad. The animals seized in this case are believed to be for export.
Recent seizures provide an alarming indication of the numbers being taken out of the wild.
In July Guangzhou Customs officials seized over a tonne of frozen pangolins and sentenced the leader of a wildlife smuggling gang to life imprisonment for trafficking more than 2000 pangolins and other animals.
In 2008, Thai Customs officers stopped a smuggling attempt when it seized 130 pangolins near its border with Malaysia.
Findings of a panel of experts recently showed that incessent poaching has decimated pangolin populations in the wild in many parts of Southeast Asia where they were once abundant.
Reported last month by the wildlife monitoring network TRAFFIC, the expert findings cited better enforcement and monitoring as the key to tackling the crisis.
The experts on pangolins included scientific researchers, government law enforcement officers from most Asian pangolin range States, CITES Management and Scientific Authorities and animal rescue centres, who convened at a workshop hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore at the Singapore Zoo.
Malaysian authorities rescue 98 pangolins: official
Yahoo News 29 Aug 09;
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysian authorities on Saturday said they have rescued nearly 100 pangolins and arrested a man attempting to smuggle the protected species, destined to be sold to restaurants and medicine shops.
Officials from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks raided a house in northern Kedah state on Thursday and seized 98 of the animals, the department's enforcement chief Saharudin Anan told AFP.
Three kilograms (6.5 pounds) of pangolin scales were also found in the house, he added.
"We believe the animals were destined to be sold to Asian countries for their meat, as well as their scales to be used as traditional medicine," Saharudin said.
"The man, in his 40s and self-employed, will be charged in court for five different charges of illegal possession of the totally protected species and he faces up to 23 years in jail and (a) fine if convicted," the official added.
Pangolins are indigenous to the jungle of Indonesia, parts of Malaysia and areas of southern Thailand, with its meat considered a delicacy in China.
It is classified as a protected species under the UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Wildlife officials have said pangolins face a serious threat from poachers and smugglers in Southeast Asia with inadequate punishment and lack of information encouraging the burgeoning trade.
A senior official with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network said in March the main route for smuggling Pangolins is from Indonesia to Malaysia and then through Thailand to Laos or Vietnam, which border China.
Arrest Raises Concerns Over Poaching in Belum - Temenggor Forest
WWF 2 Sep 09;
A Thai poacher was nabbed with scales of a pangolin and six sacks of agarwood (gaharu) by police on Sunday morning in a forested area just off the Gerik-Jeli Highway in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex, Perak.
Police were acting on information provided by WWF’s Wildlife Protection Unit (WPU), which regularly patrols the area with other enforcement agencies.
The 55-year-old from Chiang Rai, was among a party of five poachers ambushed by police. Four others escaped, leaving behind a camp stocked with 30 kilogrammes of rice and other essentials – indicating they were planning long-term operations.
The man now faces charges under three separate laws. Gerik OCPD, Superintendent Mahad Nor bin Abdullah, confirmed that the poacher would be charged under Section Six of the Immigration Act, for illegally entering the country. The poacher will also face charges under Section 64 (2) (a) of the Protection of Wildlife Act for possession of the Pangolin scales and Section 15 of the Forestry Act, for collecting agarwood without a license.
Cases involving foreign poachers like this one, in Perak’s forests, are becoming an issue of increasing concern, with several cases already documented so far this year.
In May, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) caught three Cambodian poachers in the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve in Ulu Lawin, near Gerik with several kilogrammes of smoked Wild Boar meat, Argus Pheasant meat and feathers, and agarwood.
That same month in Sungai Mendelum, near the Royal Belum State Park, authorities uncovered poaching camps and confiscated six wire snares, while in March, three Thai nationals were caught with several protected birds in Felda Kelian Intan, in Pengkalan Hulu.
In January, Anti-Smuggling Unit officers detained two Thai nationals attempting to smuggle seven Pig-tailed Macaques from a forested area in Bukit Berapit, near the Malaysia–Thailand border.
These forests are home to many of the world’s most threatened mammals, including Sumatran Rhinos, Malayan Tigers and Asian Elephants.
According to a scientific report, the Belum-Temengor forest complex is also part of an area of global priority for Tiger conservation, yet it is one of the most accessible areas because of the 80-km long Gerik-Jeli highway that cuts across this landscape, providing hundreds of easy entry points for poachers.
“Together with Perhilitan and Police, the WPU have jointly-removed over 73 snares and arrested nine poachers in the last seven months in this very area.” said Ahmad Zafir, leader of the WPU. “Camera traps set up to capture wildlife pictures for research also often capture photographs of poachers.”
“Intelligence-led investigations are needed to remove the masterminds and backers behind the scourge of poaching and illegal trade,” says Chris R. Shepherd of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia. Ridding the forests of poachers is an on-going and important task, but it is essential to remove the main culprits behind the scenes – the big dealers running the show.”
“While Perhilitan, police and the WPU have been doing a good job so far, stopping armed poachers is dangerous and difficult work that needs the support of many agencies. I urge the government to form a Task Force , comprising additional enforcement agencies such as the Army, Immigrations, Customs, Perak State Parks Corporation and Forestry Department, to join the fight in Belum-Temengor to stamp out poaching and cross-border encroachment.” said Dato’ Dr. Dionysius Sharma, CEO of WWF-Malaysia.
Pangolin scales, tortoise shells smuggled into Hai Phong
thanhniennews.com 25 Aug 09;
Customs officers in the northern port city of Hai Phong have found around four tons of pangolin scales and tortoise shells smuggled from Indonesia.
The city customs on Monday counted 51 sacks containing two tons of tortoise shells in one container whose waybill declared that the sacks contained dried tuna stomach.
A separate container whose waybill stated the contests as dried seaweed was full of mostly pangolin scales.
The smuggled animal parts were believed to be shipped-on to another country.
Mai The Huyen, head of Hai Phong Customs, said the goods arrived at Hai Phong Port last Wednesday and were checked on Saturday as customs officers found unclear details in the waybill, which lists Hoa Vuong Investment and Commerce Company in Hanoi as the receiver.
Sacks containing the smuggled goods were marked differently for recognition.
Earlier on Friday, the city customs officers found more than two tons of elephant tusks in a container stated as carrying shells from Tanzania and also to be received by Hoa Vuong Company.
The two cases are being investigated.
Matt Walker, BBC News 28 Aug 09;
Poachers are threatening the survival of the northern Madagascar spider tortoise, which only lives along a narrow strip of the island's coast.
The animal has disappeared from swathes of its habitat, taken by collectors to supply the exotic pet trade.
Wild numbers of the tortoise may have already fallen by 90%, say scientists who have just surveyed its population.
The problem continues to worsen due to political instability in the country, which makes it easier for smugglers.
The Madagascar spider tortoise is one of the smaller species of tortoise, and is distinguished by the intricate spider web patterning on the shells of adults. Hence its scientific name Pyxis arachnoides .
It occurs as three distinct subspecies, each of which has a slightly different shell shape and lives in a different part of the coastal spiny forests within southwest Madagascar.
However, the tortoise's appearance is also its downfall.
A new survey suggests that the northern Madagascar spiny tortoise ( P. a. brygooi ) is now extinct across 50% of its former historical range, with huge numbers being collected to supply the international trade in exotic pets.
Trade in the species is banned, but thousands of the animals are still being smuggled out of the country illegally, says Ryan Walker, a senior wildlife biologist at Nautilus Ecology based in Greetham, Rutland, UK.
Walker, who is also a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, conducted a survey in March covering all the whole range where the tortoise was once thought to live.
Together with biologists from the Open University in the UK, the IUCN specialist group and the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar, Walker searched 60 sites in detail for wild spider tortoises, recording their occurrence and population density.
He presented the results this month to the Turtle Survival Alliance Meeting in St Louis, US and is also submitting them to the journal Herpetologica.
"The most striking aspect of the survey was that huge areas of suitable habitat were completely devoid of tortoises. A sure sign that the collectors had been in to collect them for either local consumption as food or collection for black market to supply the pet trade," says Walker.
He estimates that two million wild northern spider tortoises remain.
"That sounds quite a lot. But 35% occur in a very small area of forest and are susceptible to being wiped out pretty quickly by collectors."
"The remaining animals are in very isolated and fragmented populations with very low numbers of tortoises, which are unlikely to recover into healthy populations," Walker says.
"As an educated and conservative guess I would say that the global population of northern tortoises have probably decreased by greater than 90% since human induced pressure has been placed on the animals."
Some local communities hunt the tortoise for food. But the greatest threat comes from organised gangs visiting the area and collecting spider tortoises for illegal export.
A single spider tortoise can reach US$1000 each on the pet and exotic reptile market, prices that drive the unsustainable trade.
The northern subspecies is probably facing greater threats than the other two subspecies from poaching, by local populations as a food source and also by gangs for export to support the illegal pet trade in the animal.
The other two subspecies don't tend to end up as readily on the pet market and the tribes further south won't eat them, however they are suffering from an alarming rate of habitat destruction, says Walker.
He also says the threat to the tortoises from poaching is currently greater due to the current political turmoil in Madagascar brought about by the political coup in January.
Disorganisation at government level has meant that it is easier to get endangered species out of the country with false paperwork or blank permits that are easier to get hold of, he explains.
SPIDER TORTOISE SUBSPECIES
# The northern subspecies has a ridged plastral lobe, the hinge at the front of the tortoise's shell under and into which it can tuck its head and front legs. It lives up to 10km inland along a narrow 600km strip of coastline.
# The mid subspecies lives further south, separated by river systems, and has a semi-ridged pastral lobe.
# The southern sub species has a completely mobile lobe, allowing the animal to retract its head and limbs and then close up the flap at the front, an adaptation that may help it conserve water in its drier southerly habitat.
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