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from Water Quality in Singapore
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from AsiaIsGreen
Wildfacts updates: January sightings - special snails galore!
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Whoa! How come EOL has more pages than species?
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Today Online 22 Jan 10;
SINGAPORE - The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has launched the Institute of Catastrophe Risk Management (ICRM) to help the international community better understand the characteristics of risks related to natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as non-traditional risks including infectious diseases and terrorism.
Supported by the finance, insurance and reinsurance industry, ICRM will develop models and tools to allow governments and the industry to analyse potential losses and develop risk-management strategies.
It will allow decision-makers worldwide and Asia in particular, "to use such tools to identifyvulnerabilities, prepare for arange of possibilities and allocateresources", said NTU yesterday.
Recent studies indicate that occurrences of natural catastrophes are on the rise, said Mr Heng Swee Keat, Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director, at the institute's launch yesterday.
Asia's geographical position makes it "vulnerable", but many Asian countries are not well prepared.
Institute to study cost of disasters
It then hopes to find ways to cut damage
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 22 Jan 10;
THE destruction in Haiti underscores the need for governments to better understand the risks associated with natural disasters.
A new research facility at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is trying to do just that by studying the long-term cost of disasters in the region, which have become more common and destructive in the past few years.
From there, the Institute of Catastrophe Risk Management hopes to come up with proposals for governments to reduce the amount of damage caused by colliding tectonic plates.
The institute, set up at $35 million, will house 15 experts from various disciplines such as science, policy planning and finance. It aims to raise $50 million over the next five years to fund its research.
In every disaster, apart from the immediate loss of lives, there is significant damage to infrastructure, health care and utilities.
A recent study by global re-insurer Munich Re showed that in 2008, 750 natural disasters around the world cost countries US$200 billion (S$280 billion) in economic losses.
And the incidence seems to be rising.
The number of major weather-related disasters has tripled since the 1980s. In 2008 alone, an estimated 160,000 lives were lost in natural calamities such as earthquakes, tsunamis and floods.
Professor Haresh Shah, a member of the NTU's board of trustees, said a multi-disciplinary field is needed to develop disaster mitigation strategies.
'The kind of research we are doing has a very poor database in Asia. We are going to create a clean, reliable and robust database of all catastrophes, historical and current, so that researchers can understand what has been going on,' he said.
'Once that is understood, we can start looking at what can be done today to mitigate that risk.'
Asian communities are often poorer than Western nations, and also hit harder by the elements, said Prof Shah. In this regard, one major focus of the research will be in micro-insurance, insurance strategies tailored for the poor.
The Munich Re's study said that only 5 per cent of the US$200 billion economic loss incurred in 2008 was covered by insurance.
Catastrophe risk coverage remains relatively unpopular in the region.
Speaking at the opening of the institute, Mr Heng Swee Keat, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, noted that most countries in the region had a more reactionary stance to catastrophes, preferring to cobble together emergency relief efforts after disaster has struck rather than preparing early.
It would take greater public awareness and a willingness to act for more countries to be like quake-prone Japan, where extensive data gathering has translated into comprehensive disaster mitigation policies.
Said Mr Rowan Douglas, managing director of global reinsurer Willis Re: 'Fundamentally, we have to try to answer the question of what is the maximum possible loss this region could suffer in the next two centuries.
'This will dictate where capital is allocated, where we think hurricanes, for example, will occur, and where governments will spend in future.'
He added that Singapore has a role to play in developing the nascent risk insurance industry in the region.
'The fact of the matter is we will require a hub in this region to connect with South-east Asia and beyond...so as to concentrate fragmented expertise in the region and integrate it into public policy and financial markets.'
The Star 22 Jan 10;
PUTRAJAYA: Only 10 lorries are transporting sand from Johor to Singapore daily — far less than the alleged hundreds, the Customs Department said.
Department deputy director-general (enforcement) Datuk Mohamed Khalid Yusof has set the record straight following statements that 500 to 700 lorries were involved in transporting sand to the republic daily.
He said the activity was not against the law as long as those involved possess valid documents. “This is the average figure we recorded daily from Jan 1 to 20. In fact, on certain days, no lorries carrying sand entered Singapore so the figure can even be less than 10,” he told reporters yesterday.
The number of lorries transporting sand to Singapore from Johor has become an issue of dispute.
Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said 500 lorries were involved in the activity, while Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad claimed that the number of lorries was higher, reaching 700 per day.
The former prime minister had said that Malaysia should stop the sale of sand to Singapore as the republic was using silica sand to make microchips.
Civil servants to be probed in sand theft case
The Star 22 Jan 10;
PETALING JAYA: Four more people were arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday for alleged involvement in illegal sand-mining and smuggling.
The commission said in a statement that the latest arrests — three in Pahang and another in Johor — brought the number of people detained this week to 38.
It said all four were civil servants, bringing the tally of government officers detained to 28.
The others include two political aides, three businessmen and five members of the public.
The commission also said 20 people were placed under remand yesterday for a period of between four and seven days while the rest had been released on bail after their statements were recorded.
It is learnt that more arrests are expected within the coming days as investigations intensify.
On Wednesday, deputy chief commissioner Datuk Shukri Abdull announced that with the arrests in five states, it had smashed a syndicate smuggling sand into a neighbouring country.
He said the total amount of bribes traced so far stood at RM280,000 while three of those arrested had received sexual favours.
The bribes were meant as an inducement for the officers to approve or expedite approval of sand-mining permits and to refrain from taking action against those illegally mining or transporting sand.
In Putrajaya, the Kajang magistrate’s court issued a five-day remand order against nine suspects being probed in the sand theft cases.
The suspects are to be remanded until Monday.
Guilty civil servants in sand scam to face the music
The Star 22 Jan 10;
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said civil servants found accepting bribes or abusing power in connection with the mining and smuggling of sand out of the country must face the consequences of their actions.
However, he said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission should be allowed to complete its investigations into the 38 people arrested, including 28 government servants and two political aides.
“This is the job of the MACC, and I don’t know the details as they don’t report to me. If there is a case against those nabbed, it will be referred to the Attorney-General and taken to court,” Najib told Malaysian journalists here yesterday.
“If it can be proven that there was corruption or abuse of power, they will face the consequences. Until then, we will just have to wait for the probe to be over,” he said.
Najib said the Federal Govern-ment could not interfere in matters concerning sand mining as it came under the jurisdiction of state governments.
“Besides, Selangor is not under the ruling party,” he said.
MACC deputy chief commissioner Datuk Shukri Abdull had said on Wednesday that the 34 were nabbed in a series of arrests in Selangor, Johor, Perak, Pahang and the Federal Territory.
Several of the government servants were reputedly high-ranking officers, while the two aides were a private secretary and a special officer.
Bribes ranging from between RM500 and RM50,000 were allegedly given to the officers to approve or speed up approval of sand-mining permits, or to refrain from taking action against those illegally mining or transporting sand.
Shukri said the amount in bribes traced so far was RM280,000, with three of the officers arrested having also received sexual favours.
Only Three Types Of Sand Need Licence For Export
Bernama 21 Jan 10;
PUTRAJAYA, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Only silica, quartz and sea sand need licence for export, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department said on Thursday.
Department deputy director-general, Datuk Mohamed Khalid Yusuf, told reporters here today that river sand and sand from mining areas were not under the prohibited export conditions.
Two days ago, former prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in his blog questioned whether sand sent to Singapore from Johor was ordinary or silica sand.
Asked about no need for a licence to export unlimited river or mining sand to Singapore for whatever purpose, Mohamed Khalid said the permission to do so was under other departments and not the Customs Department.
On the actual amount of sand exported to Singapore, Mohamed Khalid said: "For silica sand, the average quantity is 10 lorry loads a day. We can determine each type of sand exported. We have declaration forms."
-- BERNAMA
Aides among 34 held over sand smuggling
Farrah Naz Karim The New Straits Times 22 Jan 10;
PUTRAJAYA: In its biggest operations to date, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested 34 people linked to the illegal sale of sand to a neighbouring country.
Investigations revealed that the suspects received gratification in the form of sexual favours and cash to facilitate the sand-smuggling activities.
The operation intensified in the past two days when MACC officers picked up the suspects, comprising civil servants and civilians, from Pahang, Johor, Perak, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
Among those nabbed included two political aides, 24 civil servants including department heads and enforcement officers, and those from the private sector.
Several of the suspects were said to have received monthly pocket money and large one-off payments to "close an eye" on the activities.
More arrests were expected to be made.
Deputy chief commissioner Datuk Shukri Abdull did not rule out the possibility that more senior civil servants were among those who will be arrested soon.
"Operations are ongoing. We are helping the states concerned as we believe they had been losing millions of ringgit because of corruption," said Shukri.
All suspects are expected to be charged under Section 16 of the MACC Act which carries a maximum 20 years' jail sentence and a minimum fine of five times the value of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
Shukri said investigations began in April. Several of the suspects had been placed under surveillance for several months before the MACC moved in on Tuesday.
They also seized RM50,000 from the suspects.
Investigations revealed that several suspects received between RM500 and RM50,000 in bribes from the syndicate.
Three of them were also suspected to have received sexual favours for expediting applications for sand-mining activities, as well as for not taking action against those found to be involved in smuggling.
The commission, he said, received 410 complaints last year on sand-smuggling activities.
The two-day operation was not without its drama.
At the Selangor State Secretariat building yesterday afternoon, a MACC team was involved in a two-hour standoff with staff who attempted to stop them from carrying out their duties.
The MACC team, led by Superintendent Prem Raj Victor, raided the office of a Selangor executive councillor where they confiscated documents related to sand-mining activities and summoned the exco's executive secretary to their headquarters for further questioning.
As they were leaving, a commotion broke out when an officer from the exco's office demanded that the MACC officers fill in the visitors' log book.
The standoff took place when the MACC officers refused to give in.
After lots of shouting and finger-pointing, the officers wrote their names on a piece of paper and gave it to the officials.
The executive secretary was then taken to the MACC headquarters, here.
Shukri said the commission would contemplate taking action against those who had obstructed its officers from carrying out their duties.
38 nabbed in crackdown on sand smuggling
The Straits Times 22 Jan 10;
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's national graft-fighting watchdog arrested scores of government employees and business officials for allegedly accepting bribes and sexual favours to help smuggle sand out of the country, an official said yesterday.
The crackdown is the latest bid by the government's Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to repair its reputation, which took a big hit last year when an aide to an opposition lawmaker died under mysterious circumstances after being interrogated by anti-graft officials. A government-ordered inquest is investigating the death.
Opposition leaders have accused the MACC of using brutality against witnesses and suspects and failing to successfully investigate corruption cases.
The commission's new chairman took over on Jan 1 and pledged to restore its credibility. Commission officers have arrested 38 people - including political aides, civil servants and business officials - since Tuesday in a crackdown on illegal sand mining and smuggling in several states, a commission official said on condition of anonymity.
The suspects allegedly received bribes totalling RM280,000 (S$116,000) and 'sexual favours' to facilitate illegal sand mining and smuggling to a neighbouring country, the official said. The commission declined to provide details.
The suspects could be charged with bribery, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years, the official said. More arrests are expected.
The crackdown began last week when the MACC arrested an irrigation department worker involved in sand mining, the official said. A court sentenced the man to five months in prison earlier this week after he pleaded guilty to receiving RM6,000 to help secure a permit to mine river sand.
Critics say the MACC has a low success rate in investigating and prosecuting cases. Some have also accused the commission of often targeting opposition politicians but officials have denied any bias.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zazali Musa, The Star 22 Jan 10;
JOHOR BARU: Malaysia and Singapore will jointly promote the Ramsar sites in Johor and the republic’s Sungai Buloh Nature Reserves as new eco-tourism products.
The co-operation will be the first tourism initiative under the Joint Ministerial Committee (JCM) of Iskandar Malaysia in which the neighbouring nations will work closely on the development of Iskandar.
“We have engaged international consultants to do an in-depth study on the project and determine how both countries can work together to promote the products.
“The consultants are expected to submit their report by the middle of the year,” said Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.
He was speaking at the launch of a coffee-table book entitled Echoes of Life – a collaborative effort of Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and Malaysian Nature Society of Johor (MNSJ) in documenting the Sungai Pulai mangrove areas.
Also present at the event were PTP chairman Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman and MNSJ president Associate Professor Dr Maketab Mohamed.
Ghani said, among numerous aspects, the consultants would look at the number of visitors to allow to visit the sites per day, the upgrading of present facilities and building new ones, and maintenance of the Ramsar sites and the Sungai Buloh Nature Reserves.
Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention. Of the five Ramsar sites in Malaysia, three are located in Johor.
The Sungai Pulai wetlands is the biggest of the three sites and covers of 7,563ha. The others are Pulau Kukup (647ha) and Tanjung Piai (526ha) while Singapore’s Sungai Buloh covers 12.14ha.
“We will ensure that development activities at the Sungai Pulau site will take into consideration the environmental impact on the surroundings areas,” said Ghani, adding that there should be a balance between development and protecting the environment.
Meanwhile, Dr Maketab said that promoting the Ramsar sites as the latest tourist destinations in Johor would create job opportunities for the Orang Seletar (sea gypsies) who had been living along the banks of Sungai Pulai for generations.
He said, although the tourism activities would generate revenue, everyone including state agencies and departments, non-governmental organisations and tourists must play a part in ensuring the Ramsar sites were well protected for future generations.
Dr Maketab said that MNSJ would forward its proposal to the Johor government to gazette the Merambong seagrass meadow and Pulau Merambong at the Sungai Pulai estuary as conservation areas.
The 19.42ha seagrass meadow is the biggest seagrass bed in Malaysia.
The seagrass bed is the natural breeding ground for seahorses and a favourite playgorund for dugong that feed on the grass.
Arlina Arshad Yahoo News 21 Jan 10;
JAKARTA (AFP) – The Indonesian government has hatched a plan to save Sumatran tigers from extinction by allowing people to adopt captive-born animals as pets for 100,000 dollars a pair, officials said.
The forestry ministry said the plan could be put into practice as early as this year despite reservations from environmentalists, who say the focus should be on protecting habitats for the remaining 200 tigers in the wild.
"We're not selling or renting tigers. We're only authorising people to look after them," forestry ministry conservation chief Darori told AFP.
"These people will have to follow certain conditions. The tigers will still belong to the government."
He said interested owners would have to "deposit" a billion rupiah (108,000 dollars) for a pair of tigers, which he called a "guarantee towards conservation".
The minimum area required to keep a pair would be around 60 square metres (646 square feet), although something the size of three football fields would be better, ministry officials said.
The animals' health would be monitored by government experts and mistreatment would be punished by fines or jail terms.
"Let's think of the tigers' new homes as mini-zoos," Darori said.
Another ministry official, Didi Wuryanto, dismissed fears the scheme could put a price on the heads of the few remaining wild tigers, which are nearing extinction due to habitat loss on their native Sumatra island.
Much of the jungle which the tigers call home has been destroyed by rampant illegal logging overseen by the forestry ministry, forcing the animals into lethal competition with villagers.
"The chances of people trapping Sumatran tigers alive in the wild and selling them are very low because of the high risk of getting caught and people finding out about it," Wuryanto said.
"Also, it's very hard to look after tigers trapped in the wild. They might refuse to eat and die."
He said there were about 30 captive-born tigers in Indonesia.
"This idea of selling the tigers to the public came about after several wealthy businessmen proposed buying them," Wuryanto said.
"They don't just want to own horses. They want to be acknowledged as special people with prestige, so they want to keep tigers.
"But we're not in it for the money... We want to save the tigers."
Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said the government might not like to admit its plan amounted to selling critically endangered tigers as pets, but that was what would happen.
"Whatever the term used, this is the same as selling tigers. The government doesn't care about tigers, only about people with money," he said.
"This isn't the solution to save tigers. The correct solution is to save the forests first."
Activists also said the forestry ministry, seen as one of the most corrupt organs of the Indonesian government, could not be trusted to administer a tiger trade.
"Who's going to manage this money? How do we know the money will go towards animal conservation?" asked Harito Wibisono of tiger conservation society Harimau Kita Forum.
Indonesia sells tigers to the rich
The Indonesian government has announced plans to sell tigers as pets for £67,000 a pair in what it claims is a move to protect the critically endangered species.
Barney Henderson, The Telegraph 21 Jan 10;
However, environmental groups have criticised the scheme as a money-making scam that will do nothing to save tigers, which face an increased risk from poachers on the eve of the Chinese Year of the Tiger.
Three people have already applied to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jackson and Mike Tyson and keep a tiger as a pet.
The criteria for taking ownership of 30 available tigers is having a spare billion rupiah (£67,000) and a minimum of 5 sq kilometre of land on which to keep the animals.
The government said the tigers would be constantly monitored in their new homes and any mistreatment would be punished by fines or jail.
"This idea of selling the tigers to the public came about after several wealthy businessmen proposed buying them," said Didi Wuryanto, a forestry ministry official.
"They don't just want to own horses. They want to be acknowledged as special people with prestige, so they want to keep tigers."
Environmentalists warned selling off tigers as pets would encourage tiger poachers. Tiger poaching is on the rise across Asia ahead of Feb 14, the start of the Chinese Year of the Tiger.
"It is an irresponsible move by the Indonesian government," said Bustar Maitar, a Greenpeace forest campaigner.
"Selling tigers is not the solution. The government must protect the animal's habitat and stop palm oil plantations taking over. This move will just encourage poaching among locals at a time when poaching is on the rise because of the Year of the Tiger."
There are just 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild across Asia, according to the World Wildlife Fund, and they are nearing extinction due to habitat loss.
Indonesia Allows Public To Keep Sumatran Tiger As Pet
Bernama 21 Jan 10;
JAKARTA, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Indonesian government unveiled a plan to allow public to acquire Sumatran tigers as pets in an effort to prevent the critically endangered species from extinction, China's Xinhua news agency reported, citing a local daily as saying on Thursday.
The Director General for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation at the Forestry Ministry Darori said that under the plan, people could purchase a pair of tigers by paying one billion rupiah (about US$100 million) deposit and annual tax to the government.
"We are discussing the regulation," he said at Sumatran tiger conservation workshop.
He said that the ministry required owners to possess at least 5,000 square-meters of land.
Darori said that tigers would be taken from a breeding center in Lampung which has two pairs of tigers.
Darori admitted that activists protested the plan, fearing it would lead to Sumatra tiger's extinction.
"But we need to take action to cut the illegal trade of tigers, " said Darori.
Protection of Sumatran tigers is one of the government's priorities in environmental field.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had launched a plan of action to protect Sumatran tigers on the sideline of the climate change conference in Bali, 2007.
-- BERNAMA
Indonesia's tiger adoption plan angers greens
Sunanda Creagh, Reuters 22 Jan 10;
JAKARTA (Reuters Life!) - An Indonesian government proposal offering rare Sumatran tigers up for adoption by wealthy citizens has drawn scorn from environmental activists, who say it's the wrong approach to conservation.
There are only 400 Sumatran tigers left in Indonesia, where deforestation has destroyed much of their native habitat and they are hunted for traditional medicines and illegal menageries.
Tiger "adoption" -- where a pair can be rented out as pets in exchange for a 1 billion rupiah ($107,100) deposit -- could help curb illegal hunting and trade, a Forestry Ministry official said on Friday.
"There are many orders from rich people who want them, who feel if they own a tiger they are a big shot. We have to take concrete steps to protect these animals," said Darori, the ministry's Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation.
The tiger "renters" must allow visits at three-monthly intervals by a team of vets, animal welfare officers and ministerial staff.
The animals will come from those already kept in captivity, and must be given cages with minimum dimensions of five meters high, six meters wide and 10 meters (16 feet by 19 feet by 32 feet).
"That's almost as big as my house," said Darori. "And because these people are rich, they will definitely give them good food."
The tigers will remain state property and will be returned to the state if they are no longer wanted, he said. Any cubs the tigers produce will be the property of the state.
Darori said he had received complaints about the plan from 12 environmental NGOs.
"So we have invited them for consultation before we continue with this plan. If we can agree, it will be put into practice as soon as possible," he said.
Greenpeace's forest campaigner, Bustar Maitar, said the plan was tantamount to selling the tigers off.
"It shows the government is not serious about addressing the real issues threatening Sumatran tigers. They need to stop issuing forest concessions," he said.
(Additional reporting by Chatrine Siswoyo; Editing by Sara Webb and Miral Fahmy)
Bernama 21 Jan 10;
PETALING JAYA, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- WWF-Malaysia is to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in April on the need to enact comprehensive federal laws for the conservation of turtles.
Its executive director, Datuk Dr Dionysius S.K. Sharma, said the enactment of federal legislation required an amendment to the Federal Constitution because, under the Federal Constitution, only the states had the authority to make laws on turtles.
"As we (Malaysia) are still one of the top countries in the world for the leatherback turtles to nest, it is time for the government to make the changes before the situation worsens and turtles become extinct in Malaysia," he told reporters after launching the "Egg=Life" Advocacy Campaign for Turtles here Thursday.
He said Peninsular Malaysia had been the nesting ground of green turtles, especially in Terengganu. However, their nesting population had declined by more than 80 per cent since the 1950s, primarily due to the collection of eggs for human consumption.
Thus, the development of comprehensive and holistic laws, coupled with strict enforcement and adequate resources to implement such laws, were directly and urgently needed, he said.
-- BERNAMA
Launch of WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” Advocacy Campaign
WWF 22 Jan 10;
Petaling Jaya, 21st January 2010 - Following the success of last year’s “Egg=Life” campaign, which garnered 100,000 signatures from the public in support of improving turtle conservation legislation, WWF-Malaysia today launched their advocacy campaign for turtles.
“We thank the public who have demonstrated their concern for turtles through the 100,000 signatures in support of the “Egg=Life” campaign. Following this encouraging start, WWF-Malaysia today launches the advocacy campaign. We call for the enactment of comprehensive Federal Legislation, which requires the Federal Constitution to be amended, for the conservation of turtles,” said WWF-Malaysia Executive Director/CEO Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma at the launch.
WWF-Malaysia’s “Egg=Life” campaign was initiated last April in view of the serious threats faced by marine turtles. The main threats include the continued consumption and trade of turtle eggs, habitat degradation and destruction as well as incidental capture in fishing gear and direct capture of turtles in foraging habitats in Malaysian waters. Apart from these current threats, turtles also face potential impacts from climate change. State laws which currently regulate turtles have simply not been able to mitigate these threats effectively.
The principle issue that WWF-Malaysia sought public support via the “Egg=Life” campaign was the enactment of comprehensive Federal Legislation for the conservation of turtles.
At the launch, WWF-Malaysia National Policy Coordinator Ms Preetha Sankar explained, “WWF-Malaysia’s hope is to see the development of Federal Laws which are in form, substance and foresight truly holistic and able to provide the best protection possible to marine turtles. However, the issue of Federal legislation is a little complex and there is a need to explain the current legal framework pertaining to turtles to put it in context. The Federal Constitution with specific reference to the 9th Schedule outlines various areas in which the power to make laws is vested in the Federal Government and the State Government. By what is known as the State List under Schedule 9 of the Federal Constitution, the power to make laws in relation to turtles rests with the State Government.”
“Following WWF-Malaysia’s assessment of various State Laws regulating turtles currently, and from our experience through on the ground projects, we find the laws inadequate and limited in scope. For example, State laws do not impose a total ban on the sale and consumption of eggs of all marine turtle species found in the State. State laws are also not uniform, and to make matters worse, not enforceable outside of that State. Additionally, the laws have poor and undeveloped provisions relating to the protection of turtle habitats and lack prescription for an overall management regime for these endangered species. In addition to the State laws regulating turtles, not all States have placed turtle protection and conservation as a priority.”
“Turtles are a national heritage and an endangered species. Their cultural and scientific status (as endangered and critically endangered) warrants Federal legislation to govern them before the situation gets worse and turtles become extinct in Malaysia. Federal law has the ability and force to be holistic, comprehensive, applicable and enforceable throughout Malaysia, unlike State laws, and is able to take into account future threats such as the impacts of climate change on this species and their habitats. Additionally, only the Federal government has the jurisdiction to implement Malaysia’s obligations under various international environmental treaties through Federal law.”
“WWF-Malaysia therefore strongly calls on the Federal government to urgently address the issue of turtle regulation at the Federal level. It is our opinion that in order to secure the best possible legislative and managerial control over turtles at the Federal level, the Federal Constitution, with particular reference to Schedule 9 must be amended. Such an amendment must effectively remove turtles as a subject matter under the State’s purview and place them under Federal purview.”
She concluded by saying that WWF-Malaysia hopes in the next few months to submit to the Prime Minister a Memorandum that details the current status and threats facing turtles, the current legal framework concerning turtles and a set of recommendations for actions to be initiated at the Federal level.
Talek Harris Yahoo News 21 Jan 10;
SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia is taking the bold step of moving Tasmanian Devils to new islands in a desperate bid to save the iconic species from being wiped out by a hideous face cancer.
Starting this year, Australia will ship healthy Devils -- known for their fearsome shrieks and wild temperament -- to islands off Tasmania to create a back-up group in case the general population fails.
Some 70 percent of Devils have already been lost to the infectious disease, which is spread by biting as the feisty creatures mate and fight over animal carcasses.
"It's 100 percent fatal. If you get it, you die," said Mark Williams, a spokesman for Sydney's Taronga Zoo.
"The face bursts into lesions, they can't feed so they starve to death in agony. It's a terrible illness."
Experts have been gathering healthy Devils and breeding them in zoos for the past six years, developing an "insurance population" of 220. But the species was declared endangered last May, raising pressure for a more drastic approach.
Save the Tasmanian Devil Program manager Andrew Sharman said experts had weighed up the risks of disturbing fragile island ecosystems with the animals, Australia's largest meat-eating marsupial.
He said the programme was studying Maria Island off Tasmania, as well as setting up "virtual islands" by fencing off areas untouched by the disease.
"There's any number of examples around the world about island introductions that have gone wrong," Sharman said.
"We're being really careful, considered and cautious about how we introduce devils to islands. We have to look at what impacts the introduction we have on that island's fauna."
The islands project is due to take shape in the coming months, marking a major step forward in the project to save the Devils and appeasing critics who had said the conservation campaign was moving too slowly.
"There's always going to be some risk involved in putting Devils on an island, but it's a case of the Devils or the island," said Peter McGlone of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust.
The Devil is Tasmania's top predator, meaning it plays a key role on its native island but could wreak havoc with different ecosystems.
"It's vital that we save them not just because they're an iconic animal but because they're top of the tree in Tasmania, they're the primary carnivore," said Tony Britt-Lewis, senior keeper at Taronga Zoo.
"There might be foxes in Tasmania and devils can play a role in controlling fox populations, cleaning up the paddocks and sick animals or whatever. They're the lion of Tasmania, that's why it's so important that we save them."
Scientists recently cracked the cancer's genetic code, raising hopes of a diagnostic test and an eventual cure.
"It's an iconic animal and it could go in our lifetime. It could go in 20 years unless there's a breakthrough," Williams said.
The Devils first came to prominence when their unearthly shrieks and grunts while devouring corpses of dead animals terrified Western settlers arriving in Tasmania in the 19th century.
"These newcomers ... lying in their tents at night, listened nervously to the beast's alien shrieks and screams emanating from densely wooded mountains and valleys," wrote David Owen and David Pemberton in their book, "Tasmanian Devil, a unique and threatened animal".
Some 150 years later, the Devil is best known by the wild "Taz" Warner Brothers cartoon character that now fronts the conservation campaign. But according to experts, the Devils hardly deserve their formidable reputation.
"They're not really an overtly aggressive animal. They're very shy and nervous and they'd much rather hide in their den than come out and attack you," said zoo keeper Britt-Lewis, despite nursing a bleeding thumb.
"I can understand how they got that name from our early settlers 150 years ago but they really don't deserve it. They've all got different personalities, they're a great animal.
"They're not really a crazy, nasty animal like Taz the cartoon character."
ScienceDaily 21 Jan 10;
At the Development Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, the European countries agreed to rebuild their fish stocks to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield, no later than 2015.
According to scientists of the Excellence Cluster "Future Ocean," that goal is already out of reach: Of 54 analysed stocks, only saithe, western horse mackerel and Baltic sprat have a sufficiently large stock size and are fished at a sustainable rate.
The state of 12 stocks, including North Sea cod, plaice and halibut, is so bad that they can not recover sufficiently until 2015, even if all fishing was halted. Other stocks could reach the target if fishing pressure was reduced substantially, but that has not happened so far.
These results were published by Dr. Rainer Froese, Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) und Prof. Dr. Alexander Proelß, Walter-Schücking-Institute of International Law of the University of Kiel, in the journal Fish and Fisheries. The German scientists, both members of the interdisciplinary Excellence Cluster "Future Ocean," point out that the continuous overfishing of European stocks constitutes a breach of the precautionary principle, which is a binding principle of Community law.
"The precautionary principle is a binding legal principle for the organs of the European Commission and for the Council of Ministers. The current practice of continuous overfishing violates international law as well as Community law," says Prof. Dr. Alexander Proelß, expert of international law at the Walter-Schücking-Institute.
The obligation to manage fish stocks such that they can produce the maximum sustainable yield is part of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, which entered into force in 1994. In the "Johannesburg Plan of Implementation" (2002), the European Union as well as Norway, Russia and Iceland, agreed to rebuild their fish stocks to the level that can produce the maximum sustainable yield, no later than 2015. "Until now, the provisions of the Law of the Sea have not been introduced into national law, and the plan of implementation had no visible impact on European fisheries management," says Proelß.
On the contrary: the fishing quotas for 2010 decreed by the Council of Ministers again exceed by far the catches that would allow the rebuilding of the stocks. "If this practice continues, Europe will miss by more than 30 years the goal that it has propagated," says Dr. Rainer Froese, fisheries biologist at the Kiel Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR).
Yet, catches from sustainably managed stocks could be substantially higher. "Our analysis suggests that landings could be 79% higher if stocks had been managed according to the international agreements," says Froese. "However, in European waters stocks are intentionally managed such that they stay close to the brink of collapse. This policy makes no sense from an ecological or economic point of view."
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 20 Jan 10;
Green groups criticized the government’s ambitious target to limit illegal logging to 1 hectare per province annually in line with the administration’s plan to mitigate climate change.
Activists from Greenomics Indonesia and Institute Indonesia Hijau said the target did not make sense as long-standing snags from poor forest management to a lack of enforcement were still in place.
“The figure is irrational. It is a lie,” executive director of Greenomics, Elfian Effendi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
“The government must revise it.”
The Forestry Ministry’s program to mitigate climate change put combating illegal logging as one alternative to meet the government’s target to reduce 26 percent of the country’s emissions by 2020.
The forestry sector was expected to contribute 14 percent to the target, which was announced by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the country’s commitment to tackle climate change.
Data from the ministry said illegal logging was expected to reach only 488 cases from 2010 to 2020 with the total volume of illegal timber of 17,226 cubic meters.
The ministry predicted that there would be 88 cases of illegal logging this year compared to 104 in 2009.
In 2020, there would only be 17 illegal logging cases with 594 cubic meters of illegal timber.
The Greenomics’ assessment of the ministry’s data showed the illegal logging would take place only in 1 hectare per province per year.
Elfian said predictions showed the ministry’s lack of accurate data concerning the country’s forests.
Director of Institute Indonesia Hijau, Chalid Muhammad agreed the target did not make sense
since demand for timber and timber products, both domestically and internationally, remained uncontrolled.
“It is just a ‘green wash’ campaign from the government to show that they are trying to cut emissions.”
Chalid said illegal logging remained high in the country due to the lack of law enforcement and rampant corrupt practices.
He said the government should be encouraged to stop converting forests if it wanted to meet the emissions cut target.
“The government must impose a logging moratorium per island to make them easily monitor illegal logging cases.”
Indonesia has 120 million hectares of rainforests but the deforestation rate remained high with more than 1 million hectares per year thanks to rampant illegal logging and forest fires.
Indonesia has said it would go forward to stop deforestation to cut emissions to get financial assistance through the carbon-trading scheme.
The reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scheme would allow forestry nations like Indonesia to harvest dollars from forest protection programs.
A report from Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has warned that the REDD scheme would only succeed if corruption, financial management capacity and transparency for financial transfer were addressed.
It said many of the countries with the most remaining forests were also those with the weakest governance structures to control corruption.
“Our report underlines that we should be paying increased attention to the measurements, reporting and verification of REDD-related financial flows,” Cifor director Frances Seymour said.
Antara 22 Jan 10;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is currently preparing a legal umbrella in the form of a presidential decree to achieve the target of greenhouse gas reduction by 26 percent nationwide by 2020.
"The legal umbrella in the form of a presidential decree is still being prepared," the environment minister`s deputy for improvement of natural resource conservation and control of environment destruction, Masnellyarti Hilman, said accompanying environment minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta in a press conference here on Thursday.
Masnellyarti said the legal umbrella was needed as the basis for implementing the program to be carried out by various government institutions led by the environment ministry.
"The environment ministry conducts cooperation in various sectors coordinated by the coordinating minister for economic affairs to determine sectors that have to cut emissions," she said.
She said the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) followed up the results of the coordination program in reducing gas emissions by implementing them into the National Action Plan for Dealing with Climate Change (RAN MAPI).
Based on the RAN MAPI six sectors targeted for emission reduction are energy, transportation, processing industry, agriculture, forestry, waste processing and emissions in peat lands.
Masnellyarti said based on the RAN MAPI the forestry sector would become the main target for emissions reduction by an equivalent 392 mega tons per year, followed by emissions reduction from peat lands by an equivalent of 48 mega tons a year and emissions reduction from waste processing by an equivalent of 48 mega tons a year.
The next sectors are energy by an equivalent fo 30 mega tons a year, transportation by an equivalent of eight mega tons a year, agriculture by an equivalent of eight megatons a year and processing industry by an equivalent of one megaton a year.
Masnellyarti said the six sectors had been elaborated in the National Communications II Indonesia report to the UNFCCC.
According to Law Number 32 of 2009 on environment protection and processing, the environment ministry is obliged to make an inventory of national greenhouse gas emissions.
"This will be used as the basis for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of the implementation of the efforts to achieve the target," she said.
As funding for the 26 percent emissions reduction program comes from home the MRV is carried out domestically based on methods and procedures set by the environment ministry.
"The environment ministry has prepared the system and procedures for MRV based on the IPCCC (inter-government panel on climate change)," she said.
On a separate occasion, Oxfam International East Asia Climate campaigner Rully Prayoga said it is more important for Indonesia to preparre adaptations and mitigation on the impact of climate change for the poor than targeting emissions reduction.
"As Indonesia is not a country obliged to reduce carbon emissions in line with the Kyoto Protocol Indonesia could create a pilot project or strategy for adapting to climate change," she said.
In view of that the most important thing is preparing legal means to deal with climate change problems such as laws or regulations so that implementation by ministries will not overlap, she said.(*)
Several residents already bitten by the plague of poisonous arachnids
Kathy Marks in Sydney, The Independent 21 Jan 10;
Forget sharks and crocodiles: the real menace at this time of year, at least for surburban Sydneysiders, is a backyard spider whose bite can kill you in the space of two hours.
Insect experts have warned that the city is being invaded by funnel-webs, considered one of the world's most aggressive and poisonous spiders. A reptile park north of Sydney where people can drop off captured specimens, and where they are milked of their venom to make antidote, has received more than 40 males in recent weeks. Males are deadlier than females.
A lengthy dry period, followed by unseasonable downpours and high humidity over the Christmas break, is blamed for the plague. "We've had a long spell of very warm weather combined with rain," said Mary Rayner, general manager of the Australian Reptile Park. "They are starting to come in thick and fast."
The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, has also reported unusually large numbers of the feared arachnids this summer. Rex Gilroy, who runs a dangerous spiders hotline in the area, told the Sydney Morning Herald: "I think climate change might have something to do with it. This season there's more moisture and coolness, and the spiders have been able to breed up... [The numbers] are definitely up from the previous year, and I think it's not going to get any better."
Several people, including a 12-year-old boy in the Blue Mountains, have already been bitten this summer, but not fatally.
Unlike most spiders, which scuttle away when disturbed, funnel-webs – which can grow to up to two inches long – may rear up and bare their fangs. They make burrows in moist, dark places, such as garden sheds, outdoor laundries and shrubberies.
Ms Rayner warned parents to keep a careful eye on young children. "People should always shake their shoes, never leave washing on the ground or out overnight, and really be careful around laundries and other dark, damp places," she said. "It's important that [parents are] very vigilant about children's clothing and shoes, and where they play."
Last year, a two-year-old boy had to be flown to hospital after being bitten by a funnel-web which had crawled into his gumboot. He displayed the classic symptoms, including vomiting, convulsions and breathlessness, but recovered after being given the anti-venom.
Thirteen people, including seven children, have died from funnel-web bites over the past 100 years, but none since 1981, when an antidote was developed. Still, the experts warn, it pays to be cautious. One species, the paperbark funnel-web, has a bite so lethal that one victim required 17 ampoules of anti-venom.
The spiders are most active in the breeding season, which is normally in February, but weather conditions such as those seen recently can bring them out earlier. Found mainly in eastern Australia, they are said to be able to leap 18 inches, and their fangs can penetrate soft shoes and fingernails.
98 per cent drop in river's population in the past five years
Michael McCarthy, The Independent 22 Jan 10;
London's eels, for centuries the staple of Cockney cuisine, are rapidly vanishing from the River Thames, conservationists revealed yesterday.
Over the last five years scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have recorded a 98 per cent drop in the number of European eels within the river.
Their disappearance reflects a massive decline right across Europe, which has led to the eel being classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as "critically endangered".
No one knows why the eels are disappearing – it may be because of their migratory lifestyle, which sees them swim across the Atlantic to spawn – but there seems to be no doubt about the rapidity of their decline in the Thames.
Every year, ZSL's Tidal Thames Conservation Project places eel traps on a number of the river's tributaries. In 2005 about 1,500 eels were captured, but last year, fewer than 50 eels were seen in the traps.
Conservationists are now concerned that the eel, which, jellied or stewed, or served in eel pies, has been sold as an iconic East London dish for centuries, is no longer returning to the river. "Eels are mysterious creatures at the best of times, but we are very concerned about the rapid disappearance of the species in the Thames," said Dr Matthew Gollock, the manager of the project.
"It's difficult to say what is going on – it could be due to a number of potential factors including changes in oceanic currents due to climate change, man-made structures such as dams and the presence of certain diseases and parasites.
"Other rivers in the UK are also seeing a European eel population decline – so it seems to be a worrying trend."
Scientists believe that European eels originate from the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean and can spend up to three years travelling to their designated waters in Europe. They remain in river catchments, such as that of the Thames, for up to 20 years before they make their mammoth 4,000-mile return voyage back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die.
European eels and flounders were the first two fish species to re-colonise the Thames River after the estuary was considered biologically dead in the 1960s.
Conservationists believe that any serious and rapid collapse of the eel population could have a knock-on effect for other species in the river.
"Time appears to be running out for eels in the River Thames and this could have a domino effect on other Thames species," said Dr Gollock. "We need to understand why this decline is occurring so we can be in with a chance of saving this extraordinary animal."
Eels disappearing from Thames
Emily Beament, Press Association
The Independent 21 Jan 10;
Eel populations in the River Thames have crashed by 98 per cent in just five years, scientists warned today.
The eel, which has been a traditional East London dish for centuries, now appears to be vanishing from the capital's river, according to researchers from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
Each year, ZSL's Tidal Thames Conservation Project places eel traps in a number of the river's tributaries, to catch the fish and allow scientists to record numbers before setting them free.
While 1,500 were captured in the traps in 2005, just 50 were recorded last year.
The eels are thought to take up to three years migrating as larvae from the Sargasso Sea to European rivers, where they spend up to 20 years before making the 6,500km (4,000-mile) return journey across the Atlantic to spawn and die.
But conservationists are concerned the species is not returning to the Thames, or is facing problems in the river and its tributaries.
European eels and flounders were the first species to recolonise the Thames Estuary after it was considered "biologically dead" in the 1960s, and there are fears the rapid collapse of the eel population could have knock-on effects for other species in the still-fragile ecosystem.
Other rivers in the UK are also seeing declines in eel populations, ZSL said.
Matthew Gollock, tidal Thames conservation project manager, said: "Eels are mysterious creatures at the best of times but we are very concerned about the rapid disappearance in the Thames.
"It is difficult to say what is going on - it could be due to a number of potential factors including changes in oceanic currents due to climate change, man-made structures such as dams and the presence of certain diseases and parasites."
And he said there was a need to find out why the declines were happening, in order to save the fish and help other species in the estuary's food web who would be affected by its disappearance, such as birds which feed on it.
"Time appears to be running out for eels in the River Thames and this could have a domino effect on other species in the Thames," Dr Gollock said.
"The Thames is a very urban, developed estuary. It's much healthier than it was 50 years ago, but there is constant pressure on it.
"It's quite a precarious ecosystem and the fast removal of any species - whether it is a fish or a plant - is going to upset the balance," he warned.
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