Best of our wild blogs: 27 Sep 09

Mangroves from Punggol to Serangoon
from Urban Forest

International Coastal Cleanup Penang a success!
from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

Life History of the Rustic
from Butterflies of Singapore

The Fate of a Yellow
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

The Seletar effect
from The annotated budak

Another fabulous day out on the Chek Jawa boardwalk
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs with lovely guestbook entries and where discovery begins and wild shores of singapore and singapore nature

The tailorbirds return for the third time to nest
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher: Hunting-perching behaviour
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Milking your monkeys to the fullest
from The annotated budak

Saturday Morning at Sungei Buloh
from Manta Blog

Book recommendation!
from Psychedelic Nature

Staff, students and alumni at the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

Between the Tides – Semakau Intertidal Walk
from My Itchy Fingers

Photos of Recycling Day 2009
from Zero Waste Singapore

Read more!

Beware of randy peacocks on Sentosa

Tan Dawn Wei, Straits Times 27 Sep 09;

Some peacocks on Sentosa do not take a shine to cars there. That was what one resort manager found out two years ago.

Mr Rashid Mohd Sanif, who works for Costa Sands Resort and who drives a black Hyundai Tuscani, recalled the surprise he had in 2007.

A peacock was attacking a black car in front of the hotel, he was told. Could it be mine, Mr Rashid, 37, wondered? Indeed it was. He saw his car already covered with tiny scratches - and a lone peacock wandering off.

'I have been working here for three years, and this is the first time it happened to me,' he said.

But he, like many others who work at Sentosa, has a soft spot for what he calls 'our resident wildlife'.

There are now some 70 free-roaming peacocks and peahens on Sentosa.

One theory is that the fiercely territorial males see themselves in the reflective paintwork of parked cars. Thinking they are seeing a competitor, they attack it.

This happens especially around mating time, which is typically from August to April.

The island's management, Sentosa Leisure Group, and the hotels there, have signs at open-air car parks, telling drivers to park at their own risk.

Sentosa Leisure Group has also put up mirrors in most of the car parks.

No guests have been attacked and the peafowl are not a threat to people, the island's management said.

The animals were introduced to the island about 20 years ago - with just two pairs - to add variety to its wildlife and to complement its rustic feel.

The 70-plus peafowl are usually seen near Underwater World, Rasa Sentosa, Sentosa Cove and Sentosa Golf Club. They eat grasshoppers, worms and flowers.

Ms Elizabeth Loo, communications manager at Rasa Sentosa Resort, said the hotel advises guests not to feed the animals.

'As the peacocks are part of the wildlife here, we do not want them to be dependent on people for food,' she said. But it seems that the peafowl have enemies.

In 2006, 24 of them turned up dead with puncture wounds in an enclosure where they were temporarily housed to be vaccinated against Avian flu.

The culprit, it seems, was a wily water monitor lizard which had snuck into the fenced area.

The island is also home to bats, long-tailed macaques and plantain squirrels.

The hotels say they have not received any complaints from their guests. Ms Susie Lim-Kannan, director of marketing communications at the luxury resort, Capella, said doormen would sometimes survey the cars parked in front of the hotel.

'We're very careful, but we need to make sure we don't frighten the peafowl too. We co-exist because they're part of the island,' she said.

As for Mr Rashid, he now covers his car with a canvas sheet. 'I don't want to wait for more 'love bites' on my car.'

Read more!

Waste collectors to play bigger role in recycling efforts

S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 26 Sep 09;

SINGAPORE: Singapore's waste collectors will soon be required to play a bigger role in the National Recycling Programme when their contracts are up for renewal in 2011.

Launching this year's Recycling Week activities at Tampines on Saturday, Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said encouraging more homes to recycle continues to be a challenge, but efforts to reduce packaging waste at source are paying off.

After launching the Singapore Packaging Agreement in 2007, there has been a reduction of 2,500 tonnes of packaging waste, which translates to savings of nearly S$4.5 million for firms.

"We are studying various ways where we either want to legislate, or do a combination of legislation plus other means, to encourage recycling for some of the specific waste streams because we have been able to tackle a lot of the waste at the general level. But now, the challenge is to look at the specific streams and how we can reduce the amount at these areas," said Dr Yaacob.

From October 1, this effort will cover all types of product packaging, including detergents and personal care products.

The National Environment Agency believes spreading the recycling message is a many-hands approach and it will be involving stakeholders from all areas, such as schools, industries, libraries and also the waste collectors, to achieve a greater rate of recycling.

Dr Yaacob added: "At the moment, they (waste collectors) are obligated to provide recycling facilities and collect recyclables either once a week or twice a week, depending on the contract. We are looking at all those parameters to see whether we can improve."

He also feels this can be done if households are convinced that they, too, have a part to play in this national effort.

The Recycling Week activities will move to three different locations next weekend to cover areas in Bishan, Hougang Central and Jurong Point. Singapore hopes to achieve a recycling rate of 70 per cent by 2030.
- CNA/so

Lighter Coke bottles save costs and the environment
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 27 Sep 09;

That bottle of Coke sold at your nearest supermarket is now a tad lighter - in a bid to help save the environment.

Using fewer materials, F&N Coca-Cola, the distributor of beverages such as Coca-Cola and Sprite here, has shaved 2g off the 500ml and 1-litre plastic bottles sold since 2007.

Though the difference in weight is unnoticeable to consumers, it cuts down on the harmful gases emitted when the used bottles are incinerated.

The measures also save the company up to $280,000 annually. Yesterday, it was one of 12 companies given the National Environment Agency's (NEA) 3R Packaging award by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim.

Other recipients included food giant Nestle Singapore and food processor Tetra Pak Jurong.

They are among 84 signatories to the Singapore Packaging Agreement (SPA), a government-led initiative which commits companies from the food and beverage sector to reduce the weight, size or thickness of materials in packaging, among other areas.

The agreement was launched two years ago, with 32 firms. Since then, the number has nearly trebled.

Speaking to reporters at the ceremony, Dr Yaacob said: 'The packaging agreement has been a very successful effort on our part to get companies to reduce waste at source...to ensure that before anything reaches the waste stream, we reduce it as much as possible.'

To date, the 84 companies have chalked up $4.4 million in savings from using less packaging material.

NEA chief executive officer Andrew Tan noted that more companies are taking the green path to gain a competitive advantage.

Mr Sunny Koh, deputy chairman of the SPA governing board, noted that going green can help boost a company's bottom line as leaner products translate into savings in freight costs.

Mr Koh, who is also group managing director of frozen food retailer China Town Food Corporation, said the cost savings are a boon for small- and medium-sized enterprises grappling with the downturn.

'For a food products manufacturer, for example, packaging can take up about 25 per cent of cost. Saving just 5 per cent on the packaging material can cut costs by up to 10 per cent.'

At China Town, for example, using less packaging for products such as frozen roti prata and glutinous rice balls had gleaned annual savings of up to $50,000, he said.

Mr Ong Seng Eng, director of resource conservation at NEA, said one challenge companies face is the perception that smaller packaging means less value for money.

'If consumers pay $2 for a bag of chips, a smaller package size may give the impression that it contains less chips.

'In fact, only a third of the packaging volume is taken up by its content, leaving room for excess material to be reduced.'

The key going forward lies in educating consumers.

From next month, the SPA will be extended to shopping malls, hotels and companies in the manufacturing sector, among others, the NEA said.

Read more!

Time to rev up Park & Ride

Scheme needs to be made more attractive to more drivers at more locations
Christopher Tan, Straits Times 27 Sep 09;

Schemes and policies that worked in the past may be of no relevance today. Likewise, those that once failed to take off could have a second lease of life.

An example of the latter is the two-decade-old Park & Ride scheme, and its lesser-known two-wheeled version, the Cycle & Ride scheme.

Introduced in 1990 soon after Singapore's first MRT trains started rolling, the initiative to persuade car owners to park their vehicles in designated Housing Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) carparks and take the train to town on weekdays never took off.

But in recent years, demand has picked up quite a bit, especially in the north. Because of the proliferation of Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries, the infamously congested Central Expressway, and increasingly exorbitant city-centre parking charges, drivers from places like Yio Chu Kang, Seletar Hills, Sengkang and Yishun are turning to Park & Ride.

On the 15th of each month, they wait in line to buy limited Park and Ride sets, at $70 apiece, which allow them day-time parking at selected carparks and $40 worth of transit card value.

The Transport Ministry says 4,000 sets are available nationwide each month, but only one-third is taken up.

Demand, it seems, is not evenly distributed.

While Park & Ride carparks in Boon Lay, Chai Chee and Serangoon Sports Hall see few takers, those in Yio Chu Kang Sports Complex, Ghim Moh Road and Mei Ling Street are snapped up.

The monthly queues at Ang Mo Kio MRT station, for instance, speak of an overwhelming response. A line is formed by 7.30am, and sometimes snakes out of the station.

Seletar resident Joan Fong, who is in her 40s, said a second counter was opened at the station about a year ago, 'but the queues are still bad'.

Ms Fong, who works in the financial sector, started taking the train to work just over two years ago and parks her car near the Yio Chu Kang Sports Complex, a short walk from Yio Chu Kang MRT station. But the long queues for Park & Ride sets are putting her off.

'It's crazy to wake up so early to start queueing at 7.30am. We've given up. Now we just tear $3 worth of parking coupons for the car and take the train,' she said.

Other drivers The Sunday Times spoke to also resort to that option, which costs not very much more than $70 a month.

Civil servant Siti Aigah, 25, is one, explaining: 'If I'm just a little late, there will be no more tickets.'

Users are clamouring for improvements to the scheme. Suggestions include making the application paperless, making the application quarterly, and - most crucially - increasing the amount of parking space in the north.

A little over a year ago, the Transport Ministry said the Park & Ride scheme was being reviewed to make it more attractive, but to date there have been no hints of what the improvements, if any, might be.

Asked for an update recently, the Land Transport Authority said the 'study is ongoing'.

The slow and cautious approach is perhaps understandable. After all, the scheme has not been in the least popular for well over a decade.

There is also suspicion among policymakers that some people are abusing the system, with car owners buying the $70 sets as a cheaper alternative to season parking at URA and HDB carparks.

Season parking charges start from $65 a month, while the parking component of the Park & Ride set costs only $30.

Park & Ride schemes elsewhere have had patchy results, too. In Sydney, motorists complain about a dire shortage of parking. In the English city of Worcester, usage of a £6 million (S$13.8 million) scheme has halved in recent years.

In Singapore, a successful Park & Ride scheme is key to balancing the car ownership aspirations of a fast-growing population with demand for finite road space.

It is thus strange that the recently released Land Transport Masterplan did not give it due mention.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak, head of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, is one advocate for Park & Ride, and believes it can be improved.

He said one straightforward way of preventing drivers from applying for a Park & Ride set as a cheaper alternative to season parking would be to check applicants' addresses.

He also did not see why suggestions for making application more painless cannot be implemented.

Indeed, with the technology available, standing in line for an hour or more - a typical experience among Park & Ride users - is primitive.

For instance, with the new generation of ERP readers that can accept transit cards, and with the proliferation of carparks employing ERP-type charging, it would not be too difficult to issue a Park & Ride card that drivers can use for parking and for MRT rides.

Such a one-card system would be convenient for users as well as make it easy for operators to check for abuse.

Looking ahead, incorporating underground carparks into new MRT stations might be the way to go.

This would ensure a ready supply of parking spaces, which could be cordoned off electronically for Park & Ride users according to demand. So if demand dips - say, during school holidays - spaces can be freed up for other motorists.

For now, Dr Lim says one way to expand parking capacity at popular locations would be to free up nearby HDB carparks. 'These carparks are usually less utilised in the daytime as residents go off to work.'

The bottom line is this: The Park & Ride scheme has to cater to a lot more drivers if it is to have a meaningful impact on curbing congestion.

Because even if all of today's 4,000 sets are taken up every month, that translates to a mere 0.7 per cent of the car population. Having those cars off the road will not make any noticeable difference to average traffic speeds.

Hence it is imperative that the scheme is made more attractive to more drivers at more locations.

Read more!

Singapore hopes F1 weekend will be haze-free

S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 26 Sep 09;

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said on Saturday the country's haze situation remains under control for now.

He is hoping this weekend will be haze-free as the Formula 1 Grand Prix kicks off around the city. The Pollutant Standard Index (PSI) remains in the "good" to "moderate" range.

Singapore has also extended assistance to Indonesia to help fight its forest fires.

"Weather forecast said there will be wind blowing away the haze and rain, but at the end of the day, we hope the Indonesians will play their part. We have already extended the message to the Indonesians.

"SM Jayakumar spoke to Pak Rachmat when he was in New York to pass on the message that this is a very serious matter and he has promised SM Jayakumar that he will take it up with Jakarta and do something about it," said Dr Yaacob.


- CNA/so

Read more!

Fatal accidents and haze mar Idul Fitri holiday return

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post 26 Sep 09;

More people returning from their Idul Fitri holidays died in car accidents in various places across Java, while haze blanketing roads in Kalimantan and Sumatra worsened driving conditions.

As many as 77 people have died and 109 have been injured in traffic accidents in East Java as of the seventh day after Idul Fitri.

East Java Police operational division head, Sr. Comr. Abdul Madjid Tawil, said lack of discipline on the roads and human error were the cause of most deaths and injuries in accidents involving motorcycles, public buses and private cars.

"The number of casualties is likely to rise as returning traffic will peak on Sunday," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Madjid said the highest number of casualties in East Java had been recorded in Tuban regency, located along the main Pantura north coast highway, where 11 people had died and three were seriously injured in two collisions in Tuban - the first between a passenger car and a bus, killing seven people, and the second between motorcycles, claiming the lives of four people.

The National Police earlier said that at least 245 people had been killed in traffic accidents from Sept. 14 to Sept. 21 across the country.

Haze remains a threat for vacationers returning from their Idul Fitri holidays in cities in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

"We have to be more mindful of the haze because it can cause accidents," said Djoko, a bus driver in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, as quoted by state news agency Antara, on Friday.

Djoko said bus drivers plying the Palangkaraya-Pangkalan Bun route had complained about the haze, especially when driving at night.

The haze began to disappear in the middle of the Ramadan fasting month, but intensified again due to a lack of rain. The haze had returned to cover Pangkalan Bun from Sept. 20, Djoko added.

The Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) Manggala Agni Unit II in Pangkalan Bun has not yet been able to issue satellite images on the number of hotspots because of a shortage of staff during the Idul Fitri holidays.

"A number of employees are still on holidays," said a Manggala Agni employee who asked not to be named.

He said that data from the NOA satellite showed 13 hotspots in various locations in Kobar regency, and that fires were believed to be spreading fast as a result of poor monitoring.

Haze had also engulfed Jambi city for the past three days, especially in the morning, said a local official.

Remus L. Tobing, head of the Jambi office of the Meteorology and Geophysical Agency (BMG), said the thick morning haze two days ago had disrupted flight activity.

"This morning, the density of the haze did not disrupt flights because visibility was at 2,000 meters, which is above the 1,800 meters minimum distance for landing," said Tobing.

As of Friday noon, the density and altitude of the haze in Jambi city stood at 3,000 meters, much of which originated from South Sumatra. Tobing said winds moving from the southeast to the northwest had brought haze from Riau and Bengkulu, and especially from South Sumatra, to Jambi.

Read more!

Cleaning up coastal Penang, and ICC Singapore

New Straits Times 27 Sep 09;

The idea of holding a coastal clean-up in Penang was mooted by Penangite Alison Wee, who is pursuing her doctorate in Mangrove Kinetics at the National University of Singapore.

GEORGE TOWN: The newly-initiated International Coastal Clean-up Penang (ICCP) 2009 may help influence policy changes to protect and preserve the marine diversity in the state.

The ICCP 2009, organised in conjunction with the annual international event coordinated by the Ocean Conservancy that promotes healthy and diverse ocean ecosystems, saw about 320 participants from various organisations combing the white sandy beaches of Pasir Pandak and Teluk Aling near the Penang National Park in Teluk Bahang for garbage.

The clean-up, however, was no mere gotong-royong, as the garbage would be sent for data collection by the event organiser, Universiti Sains Malaysia's Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs).

Cemacs director Dr Khairun Yahya said the data collection would reveal what sort of foreign materials were prominent on the coastline and how they could endanger marine life and other creatures.

She hoped such data would pave the way for the implementation of laws and regulations that protect the sea.

The idea of holding a coastal clean-up in Penang was mooted by Penangite Alison Wee, who is pursuing her doctorate in Mangrove Kinetics at the National University of Singapore.

Wee said such coastal clean-ups had been held in Singapore for the last 18 years and data collected from the programmes had led to the banning of smoking on beaches.

"If we find a lot of plastic bags here, we may be able to push for the banning of plastic bags on beaches," she said.

Volunteers collect 677kg of rubbish in beach clean-up
The Star 27 Sep 09;

GEORGE TOWN: The stretch of the fine sandy beach at Teluk Aling in the Penang National Park appeared clean at first glance but proved otherwise to a group of people taking part in a coastal clean-up.

Hidden among the creepers and vegetation at the top of the beach were loads of rubbish, including a rusty anchor and a broken computer printer.

Some 150 volunteers who took part in the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Penang 2009 yesterday also found plastic bags, polystyrene containers, cigarette butts, slippers, clothes, fluorescent light tubes, fishing nets and pieces of zinc among other rubbish.

Besides Teluk Aling, they also combed the nearby 300m-long Pantai Pandak during the two-hour clean-up.

The participants collected 2,517 items, weighing a total of 677kg, which filled 67 trash bags.

The clean-up was organised by the Centre For Marine & Coastal Studies (Cemas), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Lions Club International District 308 B2 and ICC Singapore.

The ICC is an annual event held on the third Saturday of September which is co-ordinated by US-based Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit environmental advocacy organisation that promotes healthy ocean ecosystems.

More links
International Coastal Cleanup Penang a success! from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore.

Read more!

Reza is wild about the environment

Beatrice Thomas, New Straits Times 27 Sep 09;

KOTA KINABALU: FOR a man who has dedicated his life to changing the conservation habits of people across Southeast Asia and beyond, Reza Azmi is the first to admit that he was never much into nature.

The founder of environmental organisation Wild Asia says he spent a lot of time outdoors as a child but it was not until he entered university, and a subsequent opportunity to work for WWF Malaysia, that his attitude towards the environment changed.

"WWF basically said 'here's RM20,000 and we want you to go to Borneo'," he says of his first job with WWF Malaysia at the age of 24.


"They just said: 'We have no project there at the moment. We don't even know what we want you to do but you've got a botany degree and we know you're interested in people, so why don't you come up with something?'"

What Reza crafted was five years of research that looked at forest fragments -- or what are left after years of logging and development -- that eventually earned him a PhD.

That was in the mid-1990s.

In 1998, Reza left WWF Malaysia to start his own conservation project, which would go on to be known as Wild Asia.

With its beginnings as an online collection of stories about the places he had visited, Wild Asia has grown into a full-time project with a staff of seven people.



Reza says Wild Asia hopes to inspire businesses and communities.

"Our focus is literally on people's backyards, whether it's a community or a business with a land bank. This is because at the end of the day, these are people who are rooted to where they are."

A boarder from the age of 14 at the prestigious Aldenham School in Elstree, England, and later educated at St Andrews University in Scotland, the 38-year-old initially studied marine biology before he grew "fed up dissecting animals all the time" and switched to botany.


Born in Kuala Lumpur to a Malay father and Pakistani mother, Reza, the youngest of three sons, jokes that he is the only one in the family working outside the "corporate world". One brother is a partner in an auditing firm and the other is a chartered surveyor.

With Wild Asia, Reza concentrated first on Asia's forestry industry, which he claims is devastating the environment but since then, has steered it in a new direction -- palm oil production and the effects of tourism on the environment.

To gauge the impact of tourism on the environment, he has come up with the annual Responsible Tourism Awards, where self-assessments by tourism operators are judged by a team he put together.

He says despite palm oil being a lucrative business in Asia, the ever-growing thirst to expand the industry's footprint needs to be kept in check.

"We're at the stage where we are going into those areas where we shouldn't and developing land that people didn't want developed in the first place.

"That's where all the complications are now coming from. This isn't the 1950s, when we had a whole different scenario in terms of land and development pressures."

Sitting in a cafe near his apartment in Taman Desa, Reza has just returned from India and is suffering the effects of an upset stomach, something he shrugs off as an unfortunate side effect of the amount of time he spends in different, often remote, parts of the world.

Although easy to talk to and passionate about his work, he finds it difficult to describe Wild Asia in a few words, saying it is an ever-evolving concept and one which he is continually learning from.

"Having the confidence to do it is a big step, especially as we did not know what we were getting ourselves into.

"We have an idea of what people are saying that others should do. But it's tricky when you're looking at existing management systems. You tell them about climate change (and) they've got no idea about what's going on."

Companies are now hiring Reza's Wild Asia team to train their staff and advise them on how to improve their sustainability practices.

It's Wild Asia's biggest source of income, together with corporate grants.

Read more!

Australian town in 'world-first' bottled water ban

Yahoo News 26 Sep 09;

SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian town pulled all bottled water from its shelves Saturday and replaced it with refillable bottles in what is believed to be a world-first ban.

Hundreds of people marched through the picturesque rural town of Bundanoon to mark the first day of its bottled water ban by unveiling a series of new public drinking fountains, said campaign spokesman John Dee.

Shopkeepers ceremoniously removed the last bottles of water from their shelves and replaced them with reusable bottles that can be filled from fountains inside the town's shops or at water stations in the street.

"Every bottle today was taken off the shelf and out of the fridges so you can only now buy refillable bottles in shops in Bundanoon," Dee told AFP.

The tiny town, two hours south of Sydney, voted in July to ban bottled water after a drinks company moved to tap into a local aquifer for its bottled water business.

"In the process of the campaign against that the local people became educated about the environmental impact of bottled water," said Dee.

"A local retailer came up with this idea of well why don't we do something about that and actually stop selling the bottled water and it got a favourable reaction," he said.

Dee said the 2,000-person town had made international headlines with their bid, which he hoped would spur communities across the world to action.

"Whilst our politicians grapple with the enormity of dealing with climate change what Bundanoon shows is that at the very local level we can sometimes do things that can surprise ourselves, in terms of our ability to bring about real and measurable change that has a real benefit for the environment," he said.

The cash savings only made the project more compelling, he added.

"I think that's why this campaign is doing so well, because we're saying to people you can save money and save the environment at the same time," said Dee. "The alternative doesn't have a sexy brand, doesn't have pictures of mountain streams on the front of it, it comes out of your tap."

Activists say bottling water causes unnecessary use of plastics and fuel for transport. A New South Wales study found that in 2006, the industry was responsible for releasing 60,000 tonnes of gases blamed for global warming.

The Australian town that kicked the bottle
Drinking fountains replace shop-bought mineral water in environmental initiative
Kathy Marks, The Independent 28 Sep 09;

Plastic bottles were ceremoniously removed from shelves in the sleepy Australian town of Bundanoon at the weekend as a ban on commercially-bottled water – believed to be a world first – came into force.

The ban, which is supported by local shopkeepers, means bottled water can no longer be bought in the town in the Southern Highlands, two hours from Sydney. Instead, reusable bottles have gone on sale, which can be refilled for free at new drinking fountains.

Locals marched through the town on Saturday, led by a lone piper, to celebrate the start of the ban. John Dee, a campaign spokesman, said: "While our politicians grapple with the enormity of dealing with climate change, what Bundanoon shows is that at the very local level we can sometimes do things to bring about real and measurable change."

The ban was triggered by a Sydney drinks company's plan to build a water extraction plant in the town. Huw Kingston, a cafe owner, said townsfolk were horrified by "the idea of them taking water here, trucking it to Sydney and bringing it back in bottles to be sold in shops at 300 times the tap price".

Bottled water is widely viewed as an environmental menace, because of the energy consumed in producing and transporting it, and because most bottles end up in landfill sites. A New South Wales government study found the industry was responsible for releasing 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2006.

In recent years, dozens of local authorities in Britain and the US have stopped spending public money on bottled water. But Bundanoon, population 2,000, is believed to be the first community to ban it completely.

Shelf space previously reserved for bottled water in the town's supermarket, off-licence, cafes and newsagent is now occupied by the reusable bottles. Filtered water fountains have been set up in the main street and at the local school; bottles can also be refilled in shops, for a small fee.

Mr Dee said: "We're saying to people, you can save money and save the environment at the same time. The alternative doesn't have a sexy brand, doesn't have pictures of mountain streams on the front of it. It comes out of your tap."

Only two people voted against the ban. One was concerned it would lead to more sugary drinks being consumed. The other was Geoff Parker, director of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute.

Read more!

UK to get 'motorways for animals'

Corridors of greenery that will allow endangered species to migrate form part of comprehensive review of country's wildlife

Rachel Shields, The Independent 27 Sep 09;

Some of England's most endangered species could be brought back from the brink of extinction as the result of a year-long government wildlife review to be launched tomorrow, which will focus on "rewilding" – returning land to its natural state – and extending habitats.

The review, to be announced this week by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hilary Benn, is aimed at expanding "ecological corridors". These will allow animals to migrate across the country when climate change threatens their existing homes, and will slow the dramatic loss of species caused by decades of intensive farming and urban development.

According to Natural England, the English countryside has suffered over the past 50 years, with biodiversity loss widespread across the country. Only 3 per cent of grasslands remain rich in native plants, while a decline in the quality of wetlands has led to a 90 per cent decline in breeding snipe, and a lack of woodland management has contributed to a 50 per cent decline of woodland butterflies.

The UK is expected to miss an international target on halting biodiversity loss agreed at the EU summit in Gothenburg in 2001. Globally, a third of all amphibians, a fifth of all mammals and an eighth of birds are threatened with extinction.

"This is a much-needed review," said Sue Armstrong-Brown, head of countryside and species conservation for the Royal Society of the Protection of Birds (RSPB). "It has become clear that the infrastructure we currently have to protect biodiversity is not sufficient. Climate change has now brought a new urgency to the debate."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the review is being launched in response to a "general recognition... that conservation needs to be practised over larger areas", and an awareness that ecological corridors will become more important as climate change force species to migrate.

Keith Kirby, environmental forestry and woodland officer with Natural England, said wildlife sites are increasingly like islands. "If we think a species is going to die out at one place and reappear in another without anything to connect them, that will not happen. With climate change, conditions are going to change and species will need to be able to move to other sites."

A piece of arable land will be home to about 500 species, whereas a designated site of special scientific interest might have several thousand.

Defra is keen to emulate biodiversity schemes such as the Great Fen Project in Cambridgeshire, which aims to create 3,700-hectare wetland between Huntingdon and Peterborough. The habitat restoration project hopes to secure land between two existing nature reserves in order to create a vast green space and preserve rare species.

"Now we are fulfilling the original dream of the national parks, our next task is to enrich and link together more wonderful places where wildlife and bees, flowers and trees can flourish," said Mr Benn. "So I will now ask a group of people who best understand our countryside to come up with a plan that will do just that."

The Government is also looking to follow the example of the Wetland Vision, a 50-year project that aims to create new wetlands and restore the country's existing ones. Earlier this month Natural England announced that it is to give £4m of funding for 2,000 hectares of wetland recovery projects over the next two years. "It is about planning and farming," said Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts. "The Government will really have to work with farmers on this if they are going to join up sites, and innovate if they are to continue development. There is no reason we can't have things like green bridges over motorways like the Dutch do, to enable wildlife to move."

Five species doing well

Wasp spider Massively increasing population has moved northwards in response to our warming climate.

Brown hare The National Gamebag Census has shown a big increase over the past decade.

Pipistrelle bat The bat population has grown by 65 per cent since 1999.

Beaver In May the Scottish Beaver Trial reintroduced beavers into the wild for the first time in 400 years.

Bittern Declared extinct in the UK in the 1880s, this shy wading bird has been rescued by conservation programmes.

Five species that need help

Tiger moth Experts predict that climate change will send the threatened moth northwards.

Bumblebee Of the 25 species of bumblebee native to the UK, three are extinct here.

Bechstein's bat One of the rarest bats in Britain; only 1,500 are thought to live here.

Natterjack toad Now extinct in Wales, and restricted to 50 sites in Britain.

Wryneck The destruction of its woodland habitat has threatened this relative of the woodpecker.

Read more!

Nearly 70 percent of Argentine forests lost in a century

Yahoo News 26 Sep 09;

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) – Argentina has lost nearly 70 percent of its forests in a century, the Environmental Secretariat said at a UN conference on desertification.

Forests that spread across 100 million hectares (247 million acres) in 1900 have dwindled to 33.19 million hectares (82 million acres), officials said.

"In 100 years, we have lost between 60 and 70 percent of our forest heritage," Environmental Undersecretary Sergio La Rocca told reporters on Friday.

Forest destruction has accelerated in the past 10 years with the boom of soy crops, a major motor of growth in Argentina, the top exporter of soy flour and oil and the third-largest exporter of soy seeds.

The northern province of Salta alone lost 26 percent of its forests in the past 30 years, according to a study by the College of Agronomics at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

The UBA study found that in 2007, "the highest rate was reached: 2.1 percent of forests destroyed in a single year."

Faced with the breadth of the devastation in the province, the Supreme Court ordered a halt to deforestation in natural forests, following an appeal by indigenous populations.

The move ran counter to the provincial authorities, which had authorized forest exploitation.

La Rocca spoke at the ninth session of the conference of parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCDD) in Buenos Aires.

The scourge of desertification directly affects 200 million people, according to UN figures.

Buenos Aires will host the 23rd World Forestry Congress October 18-23, a forum where governments, civil society and the private sector exchange views to formulate forestry policy.

Read more!

Supertyphoons to Strike Japan Due to Global Warming

Julian Ryall, National Geographic News 25 Sep 09;

Increasingly powerful "supertyphoons" will strike Japan if global warming continues to affect weather patterns in the western Pacific Ocean, scientists say.

Supercomputer simulations show there will be more typhoons with winds of 179 miles (288 kilometers) per hour—considered an F3 on the five-level Fujita Scale—by 2074.

By definition, supertyphoons carry winds of at least 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour.

Such storms would be more destructive than Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into U.S. states along the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005.

"The most important factor in the creation of these typhoons is the warming of sea-surface temperatures in the western Pacific," said researcher Kazuhisa Tsuboki of Nagoya University.

Small but Severe

If global warming continues at its present pace, by 2080 the western Pacific Ocean will be 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) warmer, according to Tsuboki, who worked with a team from Japan's Meteorological Research Institute.

"That sounds like a small difference, but it will have a very big impact on a typhoon," Tsuboki said.

That's because even a relatively minor increase in seawater temperature adds an exponentially larger amount of energy to a storm, he said.

A rise in air temperature will also increase the amount of water vapor in the lower atmosphere, adding yet more fuel to the system.

Typhoons generally cover an area of between 311 and 497 miles (500 and 800 kilometers), Tsuboki said.

But to the researchers' surprise, the predicted supertyphoons will be smaller, stretching only 249 miles (400 kilometers).

However the storms will pack a far higher concentration of energy, wind speed, and overall destructive power.

Widespread Damage

The tempests would cause a great deal of damage across Japan, which is unprepared for such violent weather systems, Tsuboki said.

Ferocious winds would level homes and damage infrastructure such as bridges and power lines. Severe floods would also inundate low-lying areas.

The most destructive typhoon to strike Japan to date was Typhoon Vera, which barreled across the country in September 1959.

Known in Japan as the Isewan Typhoon, the storm came ashore in Ise Bay near Nagoya and killed 5,238 people.

Read more!