Best of our wild blogs: 21 Jan 10

Felled
from Flying Fish Friends

Butterfly of the Month - Common Birdwing
from Butterflies of Singapore

The Cruelty of Man
Python beaten to death from Life's Indulgences

first intertidal walk at Changi
from a spark of new hope

Is this Singapore??
from Psychedelic Nature

Malayan Night Heron takes a Garden Supple Skink
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Huge caterpillars seen crawling all over tree at Tampines
from The Lazy Lizard's Tales

More Grasses and Sedges
from Urban Forest

Long-tailed Shrike’s cross bill
from Bird Ecology Study Group

The attack of the killer everything
from BBC NEWS blog by Richard Black

Podcast of Life
from Encyclopedia of Life Blog

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New startup introduces environmentally-friendly postal service

Rachel Kelly, Channel NewsAsia 20 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE: A new startup in Singapore is cutting business costs and taking on an environmentally-friendly postal service.

Global leaders are continuing to urge international action on increasing clean energy usage and climate change awareness.

At the start of this week, President of the Maldives, Mohammed Nasheed, expressed concern over the Copenhagen Accord. He said in its present form, the accord would not be enough to prevent climate change.

While governments are working on fighting the effects of climate change, companies are coming up with innovative solutions for reducing carbon footprints.

It is estimated that, on average, every bill sent costs a company about S$1, but with paperless billing or e-billing, Singapore firm GreenPost said that cost could be reduced by as much as 80 per cent.

According to GreenPost, only 5 per cent of Singaporeans have gone paperless when it comes to receiving their bills. The firm has created a secure online portal or "mail box" for users to receive their bills and statements.

GreenPost plans to process 10 per cent of bills in Singapore by 2012.

Kris Childress, director for Marketing and Strategy, GreenPost, said: "In Singapore, our conservative estimates are (that) there are probably 200 million pages or bills a year that are sent out to consumers.

"So we are talking forests and forests of trees involved in that. The main reason we found that people aren't going paperless is because they were concerned about the amount of work it takes to go to different websites.

"So just as you have one post office box, you will have one computer box that your bills will come to. You go to a single screen, you call it up, you can look at the bills, you can pay the bills. You can go ... months back and view the bills."

GreenPost is working with telecommunications and energy firms in Singapore to provide paperless billing to consumers. It is also in discussions with some local banks.

The firm said it also plans to break into the international market. GreenPost believes that markets such as India, Australia and New Zealand offer potential for the development of paperless billing.

- CNA/sc

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Singapore 'among 9 to say yes to climate deal'

Straits Times 21 Jan 10;

UNITED NATIONS: Nine nations, including Singapore, have told the United Nations they will accept the Copenhagen Accord, the non-binding climate change agreement brokered last month.

The nine are Australia, France, Canada, Turkey, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Serbia, Ghana and the Maldives, while Cuba has rejected the accord, a UN Framework Convention on Climate Change spokesman said on Tuesday in an e-mail.

The agreement was brokered on Dec 18 by US President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, and heads of state from South Africa, India and Brazil. Under the deal, countries will aim to keep the global rise in temperatures to 2 deg C.

Countries have until Jan 31 to sign the accord and list the emission reduction targets and actions they will commit to. The United States, Brazil, China, India and South Africa have yet to formally say 'yes' to the Copenhagen Accord, according to the e-mail. The 27-nation European Union, Ethiopia and Grenada were among those that indicated support for the deal in Copenhagen.

BLOOMBERG

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Beyond the Coral Triangle Summit

James P. Leape and Arthur C. Yap, Jakarta Post 21 Jan 10;

This week’s Coral Triangle Business Summit see leaders from seafood, marketing, tourism, and travel industries engaging with representatives of the finance sector and government policy makers to forge new partnerships in the planet’s most important marine environment.

The summit comes at a time when there has never been more at stake for coastal communities and environments in the Coral Triangle – a region covering the marine areas of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. It focuses on sustainable growth and bring together business leaders and policy makers from across the region.

The Coral Triangle contains 75 percent of the world’s known coral species, one third of the world’s coral reef area and more than 3,000 species of fish, and its abundant marine life supports the livelihoods of more than 150 million people.

But the Coral Triangle is under threat. Under the current climate change path, and with the current rate of over-exploitation of marine resources, there will be 50 percent less protein available from the sea by 2050, and 80 percent less by the end of the century.

This represents a major food security threat for coastal communities in the Coral Triangle, to say nothing of the economic fallout on the millions of businesses that once relied on healthy marine environments across the region.

This looming threat to the region’s ongoing food security and economic prosperity inspired a historic demonstration of political will by leaders of all six Coral Triangle nations at the World Ocean Conference in Manado in May last year.

They stood together and committed to a plan of action to save the region’s marine environments by increasing protection for its natural wonders and reducing pressures on its marine environments.

The resulting Manado Ocean Declaration stressed the need for national strategies for sustainable management of coastal and marine ecosystems, in particular those with significant potential for addressing the adverse effects of climate change such as mangroves, coral reefs and other natural features that buffer communities from extreme weather events. As impressive and unprecedented as this declaration was, it can only bear fruit if it is matched with a similar level of commitment from the private sector.

Seafood businesses and fishing operators, tourism companies, airlines, oil and gas companies all exploit the Coral Triangle’s abundant marine resources for their businesses. With rapidly expanding populations, economic growth and the pressures of international trade, these businesses are competing more and more for fewer resources.

Cooperation for the sake of sustainable growth therefore makes more business sense now than ever before.

There are growing legislative, social and market pressures on the corporate world to take greater responsibility for environmental performances, at all stages of the supply chain from the sourcing of raw product to final retail.

Responses to these growing pressures have seen the rapid adoption of global environmental standards and management practices, including in the Asia Pacific region.

Many of the world’s biggest corporations are based in the countries with the most stringent requirements, and businesses in Asia and the Pacific will be increasingly obliged to comply with the demands of these multi-national corporations. Recently US seafood company Anova Food and global seafood supplier Culimer BV have expressed their plans to source tuna caught with circle hooks, which reduce the unwanted bycatch of sea turtles by up to 90 percent.

In 2006, the world’s largest retailer, Walmart, pledged that within three to five years it would source all fresh and frozen wild caught seafood from MSC-certified fisheries. Walmart has 1.6 million employees, over 6,000 stores and roughly 60,000 suppliers worldwide. As one of the largest sellers of seafood in the US, and by accessing 57 percent of seafood imports originating from Asia, Walmart has a significant influence over its suppliers globally.

Certification programs are also valuable business assets in tourism sector, where such programs reward operations that exhibit best practices and help differentiate them from those that are less environmentally sound. They also provide consumers with a way to identify tourism businesses they wish to support.

By taking early action to source only responsibly managed resources, and effectively marketing these endeavors, companies can achieve a business advantage in increasingly sophisticated and environmentally aware global and domestic markets.

Without measures to implement best practice environmental management, businesses risk losing market share, access to capital, and the goodwill needed to operate profitably.

Businesses that grow at the expense of the environment are becoming a thing of the past. The Coral Triangle Initiative ushers in a new approach to conservation in the region where the private sector has a vital role in being part of the solution.

How the business world decides to act now will determine whether we can lay the pathway to a safer future in which the Coral Triangle can continue to support millions of people living on the coast and remain the world’s most important marine environment.


James P. Leape is WWF director general and Arthur C. Yap is Philippine Agriculture Secretary.

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Poachers threaten Malaysia's defence of tigers: WWF

Google News 20 Jan 10;

KUALA LUMPUR — Conservationists called on Wednesday for a war on the poachers who are undermining Malaysia's ambitious goal to double its population of wild tigers to 1,000.

With 2010 declared the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, experts fear there will be an upsurge in poaching of one of the world's most endangered species.

"The demand (for tiger parts) has been strong. It will remain strong in the Year of the Tiger," said Dinoysius Sharma, executive director of WWF-Malaysia.

"Prices may increase amid dwindling numbers in the wild, which makes it more lucrative to hunt for tigers," he said. "Security should be beefed up for the tigers."

Sharma said that in the past year, 10 tigers have been taken by poachers from one of Malaysia's main habitats, the Belum-Temengor forest in northern Perak state.

"We have evidence of (poachers) living in the jungle for long period of times," he said.

Sharma said that in the last 12 months, 114 tiger traps have been destroyed and 10 poachers arrested in the Belum-Temengor forest.

Malaysia's wild tigers are mostly found near the Malaysia-Thai border, but there are also some living in central Pahang state and as far south as Johor, which borders Singapore.

In 2008 Malaysia unveiled an ambitious "National Tiger Action Plan" aimed at doubling the number of wild tigers in peninsular Malaysia to 1,000 by 2020.

In the 1950s, there were as many as 3,000 tigers in Malaysia but their numbers fell as the country opened up more land for agriculture.

Elizabeth John, from TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, said poaching "is the most immediate and worst threat" to Malaysia's wild tigers and that poachers are "well armed and well equipped".

"Other threats include loss of habitat and prey," she said, adding that areas close to the Thai border are "poaching hotspots."

Melvin Gumal, director for Malaysia's Wildlife Conservation Society, said that tigers are killed by poachers for their skin, meat, claws and other body parts which are prizes for their supposed medicinal value.

"Enforcement must be our priority to reach the ambitious target (of 1,000 tigers). The target is achievable," he said.

Year of saving the tiger
Yeng Ai Chun, The Star 21 Jan 10;

Groups roaring up support to save Malaysian big cat from extinction

KUALA LUMPUR: The Year of the Tiger is upon us – but for wildlife conservationists, it has to be the year of saving the tiger from extinction.

The Malayan tiger is down to a mere 500 in the wild in Peninsular Malaysia and it will need a concerted effort from all to double the number under the Tiger Action Plan, WWF Malaysia chief executive Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma.

However, saving Malaysia’s declining tiger population is no longer a job only for conservationists but needs wider support from the public and private sectors, said

“You can be the person who helped save the tigers, or you can be the one who helped wipe them out,” Dr Dionysius said yesterday.

The Tiger Action Plan, which was launched 2008, aims to have 1,000 wild tigers in Malaysia by 2020.

“This is the best chance we have to seriously attempt to save tigers from extinction, mainly because of the national Tiger Action Plan and policies in place and the unprecedented cooperation between the Government and NGO community.

“With the eyes of the world upon the tiger this year, it is our chance to showcase Malaysia’s commitment towards the target of 1,000 wild tigers,” said Dr Dionysius.

MYCAT (Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers) would also be launching a Year of the Tiger programme, a series of public awareness campaigns targeting schools and both the rural and urban public.

“We will be kicking things off at Dong Zen Temple (in Jenjarom, Selangor), where 1,000 faces will be painted to symbolise the 1,000 tigers we hope to have by the year 2020,” said Dr Dionysius.

The plan mainly identifies five factors threatening tigers – habitat loss and fragmentation; commercial poaching; human-tiger conflict; declining prey base; and science deficiency in the monitoring of tigers and their prey.

TRAFFIC senior communications officer Elizabeth John said commercial poaching was the “most urgent threat” to the tigers.

“Poaching has the capacity to do the most damage in the shortest period of time,” she said.

The tiger population has been decimated due to illegal hunting for their skins, bones and other body parts.

Those with information about illegal poaching or trading can make a report via the Tiger Crime Hotline at 019-3564194.

The Tiger Action Plan was formulated by the Government through the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, together with the Malaysian Nature Society, TRAFFIC South-East Asia, the Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme and WWF-Malaysia, using the collaborative platform of MYCAT.

1000 tigers for Malaysia
WWF Malaysia 20 Jan 10;

20 January 2010, Kuala Lumpur – This is the Year of the Tiger, the year of hope for tigers in the wild. Tiger numbers are dwindling worldwide, but the Malayan tiger has the best chance not just of survival, but also of doubling its current numbers to 1000 by the year 2020.

To build a brighter future for tigers, the Malaysian Government, through the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, together with the Malaysian Nature Society, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme and WWF-Malaysia, formulated the National Tiger Action Plan (TAP) in 2008 using the collaborative platform of the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT).

The target of the TAP, endorsed by the National Biotechnology and Biodiversity Council at its recent meeting chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, is to have 1000 tigers surviving in the Central Forest Spine; the 51,000 km2 backbone of Peninsular Malaysia’s environmentally sensitive area (ESA) network.

“The implementation of this visionary plan ensures not only that the tiger survives in the coming decades, but that it will increase in number,” said Dr Loh Chi Leong, Executive Director of the Malaysian Nature Society.

Malaysia is the most important tiger range country in Southeast Asia because it still has a sizeable wild tiger population and has blueprints for sustainable development such as the National Physical Plan. 2010 is also the Year of Biodiversity which presents a perfect opportunity to reaffirm the country’s commitment to the target of 1000 tigers surviving in the wild.

“Doubling Malaysia’s tiger numbers isn’t a job just for conservationists. We call for wider support from the public and private sector. There must be serious changes in consumer behaviour and an increase in support of government and NGO efforts. Everyone has a role to play” said Chris R. Shepherd, Acting Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

Malaysia has the benefit of a forward thinking government. “Well before the declaration by other countries to
double global tiger numbers, the Malaysian government had already taken that step,” said Dr Melvin Gumal,
Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme.

“This is the best chance we have to seriously attempt to save tigers from extinction, mainly because of the National Tiger Action Plan and policies in place and the unprecedented cooperation between the government and NGO community. With the eyes of the world upon the tiger this year, it is our chance to showcase Malaysia’s commitment towards the target of 1000 wild tigers,” said Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma, Executive Director/CEO of WWF-Malaysia.

For further information, please contact:

Malaysian Nature Society
Kanitha Krishnasamy, Senior Policy Officer
E: policy@mns.org.my T: 03 2287 9422

TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
Elizabeth John, Sr. Communications Officer
E: jlizzjohn@yahoo.com T: 012 2079790

Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia
Dr Melvin Gumal, Director
E: mgumal@wcs.org T: 03 7880 2029

WWF-Malaysia
Sara Sukor, Communications Officer
E: ssara@wwf.org.my T: 012 3060404

MYCAT Secretariat’s Office
Loretta Shepherd, Programme Coordinator
E: loretta@malayantiger.net T: 0123100594

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Climate change could drown out Sundarbans tigers - study

WWF 20 Jan 10;

One of the world’s largest tiger populations could disappear by the end of this century as rising sea levels caused by climate change destroy their habitat along the coast of Bangladesh in an area known as the Sundarbans, according to a new WWF-led study published in the journal Climatic Change.

Tigers are among the world’s most threatened species, with only an estimated 3,200 remaining in the wild. WWF officials said the threats facing these Royal Bengal tigers and other iconic species around the world highlight the need for urgent international action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“If we don’t take steps to address the impacts of climate change on the Sundarbans, the only way its tigers will survive this century is with scuba gear,” said Colby Loucks, WWF-US deputy director of conservation science and the lead author of the study Sea Level Rise and Tigers: Predicted Impacts to Bangladesh’s Sundarbans Mangroves. “Tigers are a highly adaptable species, thriving from the snowy forests of Russia to the tropical forests of Indonesia.

“The projected sea level rise in the Sundarbans will likely outpace the tiger’s ability to adapt.”

An expected sea level rise of 28 cm above 2000 levels may cause the remaining tiger habitat in the Sundarbans to decline by 96 percent, pushing the total population to fewer than 20 breeding tigers, according to the study.

Unless immediate action is taken, the Sundarbans, its wildlife and the natural resources that sustain millions of people may disappear within 50 to 90 years, the study states.

“The mangrove forest of the Bengal tiger now joins the sea-ice of the polar bear as one of the habitats most immediately threatened as global temperatures rise during the course of this century,” said Keya Chatterjee, acting director of the WWF-US climate change program. “To avert an ecological catastrophe on a much larger scale, we must sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change we failed to avoid.”

The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by India and Bangladesh at the mouth of the Ganges River, is the world’s largest single block of mangrove forest. Mangroves are found at the inter-tidal region between land and sea, and not only serve as breeding grounds for fish but help protect coastal regions from natural disasters such as cyclones, storm surges and wind damage.

Providing the habitat for between 250 and 400 tigers, the Sundarbans is also home to more than 50 reptile species, 120 commercial fish species, 300 bird species and 45 mammal species. While their exact numbers are unclear, the tigers living in the Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh may represent as many as 10 percent of all the remaining wild tigers worldwide.

Using the rates of sea level rise projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report (2007), the study’s authors wrote that a 28 cm sea level rise may be realized around 2070, at which point tigers will be unlikely to survive in the Sundarbans. However, recent research suggests that the seas may rise even more swiftly than what was predicted in the 2007 IPCC assessment.

In addition to climate change, the Sundarbans tigers, like other tiger populations around the world already face tremendous threats from poaching and habitat loss. Tiger ranges have decreased by 40 percent over the past decade, and tigers today occupy less than seven percent of their original range. Scientists fear that accelerating deforestation and rampant poaching could push some tiger populations to the same fate as their now-extinct Javan and Balinese relatives in other parts of Asia.

Tigers are poached for their highly prized skins and body parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The 2010 Year of the Tiger will mark an important year for conservation efforts to save wild tigers, with WWF continuing to play a vital role in implementing bold new strategies to save this magnificent Asian big cat.

Recommendations in the study include:

· Locally, governments and natural resource managers should take immediate steps to conserve and expand mangroves while preventing poaching and retaliatory killing of tigers.

· Regionally, neighboring countries should increase sediment delivery and freshwater flows to the coastal region to support agriculture and replenishment of the land;

· Globally, governments should take stronger action to limit greenhouse gas emissions;

“It’s disheartening to imagine that the Sundarbans – which means ‘beautiful forest’ in Bengali – could be gone this century, along with its tigers,” Loucks said. “We very much hope that in this, the Year of the Tiger, the world will focus on curtailing the immediate threats to these magnificent creatures and preparing for the long-term impacts of climate change.”

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Thai ivory-smuggling ring broken up

Crackdown on ivory smugglers as conservationists warn that wealthy buyers in US and Asia are putting fresh pressure on African herds
Jonathan Watts, guardian.co.uk 20 Jan 10;

Thai police have broken up an ivory smuggling ring spanning three continents as conservationists warn that Asian and US affluence is putting new pressure on elephant herds in Africa.

A Thai national was charged with trafficking today after a 17-month investigation, involving the first collaboration between US and Thai law enforcement authorities. Earlier this week, Thailand's nature crime police also raided ivory shops, seized tusks and arrested two other dealers in the crackdown.

Conservation groups said Samart Chokechoyma was the first suspected trafficker to be arrested in south-east Asia, which has become a hub of the illegal trade that led to the seizure last year of 10 tonnes of African elephant ivory.

Far greater quantities of smuggled ivory go undetected. The contraband is poached from reserves in Kenya and Uganda, shipped out of Entebbe, taken to Thailand for processing and re-sale, then sold to buyers in the US, China, the Middle East and elsewhere.

Chokechoyma was arrested in Bangkok in November, and could now be prosecuted in two countries: in Thailand, he faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted. In the US, the combined jail term for all his counts of smuggling could rise to 53 years.

The two other dealers who were arrested had been caught with six tusks, weighing a total of 32kg, from endangered African elephants. The value of the haul was estimated at US$30,222 (£18,560). Sources close to the operation said this was likely to be a fraction of the overall trade and the kingpins were still to be found.

Undercover customs investigators tracked the suspects by following the source of ivory products sold in the United States back to Asia with support from regional and independent conservation groups.

The first fruits of collaboration were hailed as an important step forward in international efforts to coordinate a crackdown on the trade, which is eating into elephant herds. The next step was to target the leaders of the smuggling chain.

Brad Coulter, the investigation operations officer of Freeland – one of the participating groups - said that, despite the arrests, the trade had now become so lucrative that elephant stocks were under attack. A kilogram of ivory now fetches US$700 in the markets of Thailand.

"Ivory smuggling is on the increase despite counter poaching operations and stiffer penalties," said Coulter. "This is not about trade bans. It's all about money."

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Marine bounty brings out poachers at Pulau Tioman Marine Park

T.N. Alagesh, New Straits Times 20 Jan 10;

PULAU TIOMAN: Despite being warned by the Pulau Tioman Marine Park authorities to stay away from gazetted areas near the island, fishermen keep returning to the restricted zone attracted by the rich marine life.

State Marine Parks director, Izarenah Md Repin said some fishermen took home as much as RM10,000 worth of catch after spending a short time in the restricted zone.

Investigations revealed the fishermen would use drag nets, trawl nets and gillnet which make it impossible for the fish to escape.

"There are nine small islands under the care of the marine park here and the main fishing areas are at Pulau Jahat and Telok Juara which are famous for kerapu and also cuttlefish.

"The intruding fishing vessels are willing to take the risk of being detained and fined as the fine is insignificant," Izarenah told the New Straits Times on Sunday.

She said for encroaching into the marine park, the boat owners would be charged under the Fisheries Act 1985 and are liable to a fine of up to RM2,500.

"The marine authorities can also seize the fishing boats if the fishermen are caught for encroaching on the park on more than three occasions. However, we have yet to do so."

"Some fishermen would often change their boat licence, making it difficult for us to trace their activities and when they obtain the new licence, all their previous records for encroaching will be erased from the records."

She said the park realised that many boat owners tend to change their licence between two and three years, especially after they were nabbed for illegal fishing in the marine park.

Izarenah said 35 people, including villagers and local fishermen, have been appointed to inform the marine park of any encroachment.

"Last year, we had 29 cases of encroachment by local fishermen, and so far this year there have been two cases."

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Security boosted on Sabah's east coast marine tourist spots

Cops boost security on Sabah’s east coast
The Star 21 Jan 10;

SEMPORNA: Tourists continue arriving at Sabah’s east coast, an area that is known for its rich marine heritage and home to one of the world’s top diving spots, Sipadan Island.

The United States recently issued an advisory against travel to eastern Sabah due to possible attacks on foreigners by terrorists.

Increased security surveillance, however, has helped restore confidence among tourists, many of whom are repeat visitors attracted by the beauty and tranquillity of the area.

Zeina Itaoui, 26, from Australia, has been visiting Mabul Island near Sipadan with her husband.

When met at Mabul recently, she said it was their third visit and they had no problems with security. “We are well taken care of,” she said, adding that she and her husband would spend nine days this time compared to only a few during their previous visits.

Carla Yodueno of Italy, who was in Semporna to study marine life over the past six months, said she had not encountered any tense situations.

“I have never felt my safety under threat,” Yodueno said.

Meanwhile, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim said that security in the state’s east coast was under control.

Nevertheless, he said that police would increase patrols to face any eventualities following the issuance of the US advisory on the possibility of criminals targeting foreigners there.

“We are giving priority to areas frequented by tourists. They have asked the police to ensure there is no repeat of the kidnapping incident of the year 2000,” he said during a recent dialogue with tour operators in Mabul Island in the wake of the issuance of the notice.

Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Seri Tengku Adlin Zainal Abidin said the increased surveillance had restored confidence over the area’s security.

A total of 25 representatives from 15 tour operators in Semporna participated in the dialogue. — Bernama

Review travel alert, US urged
Alang Bendahara, New Straits Times 20 Jan 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: The United States has been asked to review the warden notice and travel alert on Sabah that it issued through its embassy here, as it could create a “wrong, misleading and negative impression” on the security situation in Malaysia.
Foreign Affairs Ministry deputy secretary-general I Datuk Mohd Radzi Abd Rahman registered the government’s concern and reaction to the warden’s notice with US ambassador James R. Keith at a meeting here on Monday.

The US embassy had issued the notice on Jan 15, advising travellers to avoid travelling to the east coast of Sabah, particularly Semporna and the islands of Mabul and Sipadan.

The notice was upgraded to a travel alert the same day by the US State Department’s Bureau of Consumer Affairs. The alert expires on April 15.

Radzi said the alert had generated anxiety, confusion and surprise among government leaders and the public about the alleged security situation in eastern Sabah.

In a statement released yesterday, Radzi emphasised the government’s full commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of visitors.

“Foreign travellers and tourists need not be unduly worried when coming to Sabah as the situation there is peaceful,” he said.

The US State Department said American citizens should consider the risks associated with travel to eastern Sabah because
of the threat from terrorist and criminal groups.

It said there were indications that both groups were planning acts of violence against foreigners in eastern Sabah “notwithstanding the government of Malaysia’s increased ability to detect, deter and prevent such attacks”.

It made a reference to the Abu Sayyaf group, based in the southern Philippines, which had kidnapped foreigners in eastern Sabah in the past.

Criminal elements were also responsible for kidnapping and piracy committed against foreigners.

It also encouraged Americans in Malaysia to register with the consular section of the US embassy here through the State Department’s travel registration website in order to obtain updated information on travel and security.

This would make it easier for the embassy to contact US citizens in an emergency.

On Saturday, New Straits Times quoted National Security Council secretary Datuk Mohamed Tajudeen Abdul Wahab as saying that military and police intelligence had not indicated any imminent attacks against any part of the country.

Since the last travel warning was issued in the area, security and intelligence there had been tightened and there had been no reported attempts or acts of terror, including against foreigners.

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Bee decline linked to falling biodiversity

Plant loss 'leads to fewer bees'
Richard Black, BBC News 20 Jan 10;

The decline of honeybees seen in many countries may be caused by reduced plant diversity, research suggests.

Bees fed pollen from a range of plants showed signs of having a healthier immune system than those eating pollen from a single type, scientists found.

Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the French team says that bees need a fully functional immune system in order to sterilise food for the colony.

Other research has shown that bees and wild flowers are declining in step.

Two years ago, scientists in the UK and The Netherlands reported that the diversity of bees and other insects was falling alongside the diversity of plants they fed on and pollinated.

Now, Cedric Alaux and colleagues from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Avignon have traced a possible link between the diversity of bee diets and the strength of their immune systems.

"We found that bees fed with a mix of five different pollens had higher levels of glucose oxidase compared to bees fed with pollen from one single type of flower, even if that single flower had a higher protein content," he told BBC News.

Bees make glucose oxidase (GOX) to preserve honey and food for larvae against infestation by microbes - which protects the hive against disease.

"So that would mean they have better antiseptic protection compared to other bees, and so would be more resistant to pathogen invasion," said Dr Alaux.

Bees fed the five-pollen diet also produced more fat than those eating only a single variety - again possibly indicating a more robust immune system, as the insects make anti-microbial chemicals in their fat bodies.

Other new research, from the University of Reading, suggests that bee numbers are falling twice as fast in the UK as in the rest of Europe.

Forage fall

With the commercial value of bees' pollination estimated at £200m per year in the UK and $14bn in the US, governments have recently started investing resources in finding out what is behind the decline.

In various countries it has been blamed on diseases such as Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), infestation with varroa mite, pesticide use, loss of genetic diversity among commercial bee populations, and the changing climate.

The most spectacular losses have been seen in the US where entire colonies have been wiped out, leading to the term colony collapse disorder.

However, the exact cause has remained elusive.

A possible conclusion of the new research is that the insects need to eat a variety of proteins in order to synthesise their various chemical defences; without their varied diet, they are more open to disease.

David Aston, who chairs the British Beekeepers' Association technical committee, described the finding as "very interesting" - particularly as the diversity of food available to UK bees has declined.

"If you think about the amount of habitat destruction, the loss of biodiversity, that sort of thing, and the expansion of crops like oilseed rape, you've now got large areas of monoculture; and that's been a fairly major change in what pollinating insects can forage for."

As a consequence, he said, bees often do better in urban areas than in the countryside, because city parks and gardens contain a higher diversity of plant life.

Diverse message

While cautioning that laboratory research alone cannot prove the case, Dr Alaux said the finding tied in well with what is happening in the US.

There, collapse has been seen in hives that are transported around the country to pollinate commercially important crops.

"They move them for example to [a plantation of] almond trees, and there's just one pollen," he said.

"So it might be possible that the immune system is weakened... compared to wild bees that are much more diverse in what they eat."

In the US, the problem may have been compounded by loss of genetic diversity among the bees themselves.

In the UK, where farmers are already rewarded financially for implementing wildlife-friendly measures, Dr Aston thinks there is some scope for turning the trend and giving some diversity back to the foraging bees.

"I'd like to see much greater awareness among land managers such as farmers about managing hedgerows in a more sympathetic way - hedgerows are a resource that's much neglected," he said.

"That makes landscapes much more attractive as well, so it's a win-win situation."

The French government has just announced a project to sow nectar-bearing flowers by roadsides in an attempt to stem honeybee decline.

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Making a buzz: French roads to help honey bees

Yahoo News 19 Jan 10;

PARIS (AFP) – France is to sow nectar-bearing flowers on the sides of roads in an experiment aimed at helping the honey bee, hit by an alarming worldwide decline, the ministry of sustainable development said on Tuesday.

More than 250 kilometres (155 miles) of roadside will be sown in the coming months, launching a three-year test that could be extended to the country's 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) network of non-toll roads, it said.

"More than 35 percent of our food is provided by pollinating insects, including bees. Protecting them also means ensuring our survival," Ecology Secretary Chantal Jouanno said.

Bee hives in parts of North America, Europe and Asia have been struck by a mysterious ailment dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

At normal times, bee communities naturally lose around five percent of their numbers. But in CCD, a third, a half -- sometimes even 90 percent -- of the insects can be wiped out.

The suspected culprits include a blood-sucking mite called varroa, a single-celled fungal parasite called Nosema cerenae that causes bee dysentery and pesticides used in fields that are pollinated by bees.

Other explanations include poor nutrition -- that mega farms, stripped of hedgerows and wild flowers, and spreading suburbs, with their concrete, roads and lawns, are depriving bees of a decent diet.

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Australian police hunt koala shooters

Yahoo News 20 Jan 10;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian police said Wednesday they were investigating the shooting of koalas in two separates incidents, including one involving a baby animal which was repeatedly hit.

Police in the southern state of Victoria are looking for a group of men who allegedly killed one of the marsupials late Tuesday as a passer-by watched.

"The witness told police she saw three men from a late model, dark blue 4x4 utility shooting up a tree before seeing the animal fall to the ground," a statement from Victoria Police said.

"It is believed they fired another two shots as the koala lay there."

In the second incident, a mother and baby koala were found with injuries inflicted by a slug gun north of the east coast city of Brisbane on Tuesday.

The baby, which has been named Doug after one of his rescuers, has two pellets lodged in his abdomen and ribs and will face surgery on Friday.

His mother has already had one slug removed and is expected to make a full recovery.

Conservationists fear koalas, once hunted for their thick fur, could become extinct within decades as a result of disease and loss of habitat due to development and climate change.

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