Factbox: Big emitters signal support for Copenhagen Accord

Reuters 28 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE - Restated plans to cut emissions by 7-11 percent below business as usual levels by 2020 on January 11. It would expand the offer to a 16 percent cut "when a global agreement on climate change is reached."

(Reuters) - The United States, the world's top industrial emitter of greenhouse gases, on Thursday joined other countries in support of the "Copenhagen Accord" on combating climate change.

Governments are meant to tell the United Nations by Sunday if they want to be associated with the accord, worked out last month, and submit their plans for curbing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The deadline is flexible.

The accord, falling far short of many countries' hopes, seeks to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times, with the prospect of an annual $100 billion in climate aid for the poor from 2020.

Worked out by big emitters led by China and the United States, the deal was not formally adopted by the U.N. summit on December 19 after objections by a few developing nations. That triggered a demand for all to take sides by the end of January.

Following are plans announced since Copenhagen (followed by percentage of world emissions in brackets -- based on U.S. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center data of emissions from fossil fuels and cement production):

CHINA (22 percent), INDIA (6), SOUTH AFRICA (1), BRAZIL (1) -- known as the BASIC group. Environment ministers said after a meeting in New Delhi on January 24 they would respect the deadline to submit plans for 2020 emissions and challenged donors to deliver on aid promises.

Their past pledges are:

-- China said on November 26 it would cut the amount of carbon produced per unit of economic output by 40 to 45 percent below projected growth levels by 2020 from 2005. The "carbon intensity" goal would let emissions keep rising, but more slowly than economic growth.

-- India said on December 3 it would cut "carbon intensity" by between 20 and 25 percent by 2020 from 2005.

-- South Africa offered on December 6 to slow the growth of its emissions by 34 percent below projected levels by 2020, conditional on a broad international deal and aid.

-- Brazil reaffirmed on December 28 a goal announced before Copenhagen of reducing emissions by between 36 and 39 percent below projected levels by 2020. At the most ambitious end of the range, it said emissions would fall by 20 percent from 2005 levels back to 1994 levels.

UNITED STATES (18) - U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said on Thursday that the country will aim to cut emissions about 17 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels, confirming a goal set by the White House late last year. Earlier in the month he said, "We have an accord that is lumbering down the runway and we need for it to have enough speed to take off.

The target -- 4 percent below 1990 levels -- may be harder to achieve after the Democrats lost a key Senate seat.

EUROPEAN UNION (15) - Reiterated on January 27 an offer of a unilateral goal of a 20 percent emissions cut by 2020, from 1990 levels, and 30 percent if other nations deepened their reductions.

JAPAN (4) - Japan's foreign ministry said on January 26 that it was reiterating an offer to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 -- on condition other emitters led by China and the United States agreed an ambitious deal.

AUSTRALIA (1) - Australia reaffirmed its 5 to 25 percent emissions cut range, below 2000 levels and corresponding to 3-23 percent under 1990, the government said on January 27. A decision to move beyond a unilateral 5 percent would not happen until the "level of global ambition becomes sufficiently clear."

Smaller emitters:

NORWAY - Reiterated on January 28 a unilateral promise to cut emissions by 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 40 percent if other nations set tougher goals.

SINGAPORE - Restated plans to cut emissions by 7-11 percent below business as usual levels by 2020 on January 11. It would expand the offer to a 16 percent cut "when a global agreement on climate change is reached."

MALI - Said on January 22 it wanted to be associated with the deal.

CUBA - Wrote to U.N. Secretariat expressing opposition to the accord.

The U.S. Climate Action Network also published letters from BANGLADESH, SAMOA, THE MARSHALL ISLANDS and MACEDONIA expressing support for the accord. THE PHILIPPINES said it will back the deal if rich nations in the next few months make "deep and early cuts" in emissions.

(Compiled by Alister Doyle in Oslo, additional reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington, editing by Michael Roddy)

U.S. Formally Embraces Copenhagen Climate Deal
Richard Cowan, Planet Ark 29 Jan 10;

WASHINGTON - The United States on Thursday formally notified the United Nations that it has embraced the Copenhagen Accord setting nonbinding goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that was negotiated last month.

Todd Stern, the top U.S. climate negotiator for the Obama administration, also gave notice that, as expected, it will aim for a 17 percent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming by 2020, with 2005 as the base year.

A final emissions reduction target will be submitted, the U.S. said, once the U.S. Congress enacts domestic legislation requiring carbon pollution cuts. But such legislation has an uncertain fate in the Senate.

(Editing by Sandra Maler)

US recommits to climate goals
Shaun Tandon Yahoo News 29 Jan 10;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States Thursday officially told the United Nations it will cut carbon emissions, predicting Congress would move ahead on fighting climate change but pressing other countries to do likewise.

President Barack Obama's administration outlined US climate goals in a submission to the United Nations, which was requested of all nations by January 31 as part of the Copenhagen summit held last month.

The United States, long the industrial world's main holdout from climate change agreements, said it would cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming "in the range of 17 percent" by 2020 compared with 2005 levels.

"The US submission reflects President Obama's continued commitment to meeting the climate change and clean energy challenge," US climate envoy Todd Stern said in a letter to Yvo de Boer, head of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Stern said that robust action "will strengthen our economy, enhance our national security and protect our environment."

However, Stern said that the US pledges were made "on the assumption" that major developed and developing nations would make similar submissions.

"We expect that all major economies will honor their agreement in Copenhagen to submit their mitigation targets or actions," he said.

The summit had asked nations to report by January 31 whether they would associate themselves with the accord and join efforts to draft a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, whose legal obligations run out at the end of 2012.

The United States appears to be one of the first to formally submit its papers. The UNFCCC has indicated that it did not consider January 31 a strict deadline amid rancor around the world over how to battle rising temperatures.

The submission came hours after Obama made his first State of the Union address, where he urged a joint session of Congress to move ahead on climate legislation.

But Obama's Democratic Party last week suffered a stinging upset in which a Republican who opposes restrictions on carbon emissions won the seat held for decades by late liberal icon Ted Kennedy.

The Senate has yet to vote on climate legislation, which squeaked through the House of Representatives in June.

In the State of the Union address, Obama did not specifically ask the Senate to approve the House vision of a "cap-and-trade" system -- in which companies must curb emissions and have an economic incentive by trading credits.

Instead, Obama focused on building a green economy and supported nuclear power and offshore drilling for oil and gas -- measures opposed by many environmentalists but offered as a compromise to woo Republicans.

The two-week Copenhagen summit was marred by discord between wealthy nations and several developing countries, which have pressed for more action from nations historically responsible for climate change.

Only a handful of nations have submitted their papers to the UNFCCC including Bangladesh, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines and Samoa, according to a running list by the US Climate Action Network, which supports action against global warming.

However, other key players have indicated that they are in the process of submitting the papers.

The United States is the only major industrialized nation to shun the Kyoto Protocol. Former president George W. Bush argued that it was too costly and unfair by making no demands of fast-growing emerging economies such as China and India.

Australia to put forward unchanged carbon cuts to UN
Yahoo News 27 Jan 10;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia on Wednesday said it would cut greenhouse gas emissions by between five and 25 percent of 2000 levels by 2020, depending on the commitments of other nations.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the proposal, consistent with that taken to global climate change talks in Copenhagen last month, would be submitted to the United Nations.

"Consistent with our commitment to do no more and no less than the rest of the world, we are today submitting our existing target range: five percent unconditional, with up to 15 percent and 25 percent both conditional on the extent of action by others," Wong said in a statement.

The minister said Australia's target range was in step with that expected from other nations.

The non-binding Copenhagen Accord noted in the global talks committed nations to limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), but it failed to set targets for greenhouse gas emissions cuts.

Experts say Australia's proposed cut of up to 25 percent of 2000 levels would be roughly equivalent to cuts of up to 24 percent of 1990 levels because record land-clearing allowed up until 1990 no longer occurs.

EU maintains pledge for deeper emissions cuts, if others follow
Yahoo News 27 Jan 10;

BRUSSELS (AFP) – EU nations decided Wednesday to maintain their pledge to make 30 percent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions if other industrialised nations do the same, diplomats said.

Representatives of the 27 European Union countries, meeting in Brussels decided to stick to the conditional pledge to make the deep cuts by 2020, an offer that was on the table at international climate talks in Copenhagen last month which failed to fix binding targets.

The EU has already agreed unilaterally to cut emissions by 20 percent, compared to 1990 levels, a pledge which puts Europe at the forefront of the fight against climate change.

The letter of agreement called for "comparable offers" from the industrialised world and "adequate contributions" from emerging nations.

The Copenhagen Accord set a broad goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) but did not specify the staging points for achieving this goal or a year by which greenhouse-gas emissions should peak.

At the end of the Copenhagen conference, the United Nations asked industrialised nations to formalise their offers on paper by January 31.

Several European countries, including Italy and coal-dependent Poland, were reluctant at first to maintain the 30 percent reduction offer, a diplomat said.

They argued that one reason for the stalemate in Copenhagen was that other major polluters had made markedly inferior offers to cut emissions, in particular the United States.

They also argued that an obligation to make a 30 percent cut would be extremely painful as their nations attempt to emerge from the global economic crisis.

However the doubters were finally persuaded to accept the common EU position, the source said.

In its letter to the United Nation, the EU said it "remains determined to negotiate a legal and binding agreement," during future international talks, notably at the end of the year in Mexico.

Environmental activists argue that even 30 percent cuts would not be enough to mitigate the effects of global warming.

Some countries, with France to the fore, are calling for the introduction of a 'carbon tax' to penalise imports from countries where there are lax industrial restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Jan 10

I love SG reefs!
a new facebook group about Singapore reefs.

Hanging parrot, leafbird and spiderhunter eating rambutan
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Eye can't see you
from The annotated budak

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Littering in parks and beaches: set a shutdown quota

Straits Times Forum 28 Jan 10;

CLEAN and green Singapore? Certainly not for some inhabitants as shown in Monday's report, 'Litterbugs turn public parks into rubbish dumps'.

Indeed, anti-littering campaigns held over the years have had little effect on litterbugs. Like all bugs, they have grown more resistant to treatment. Fines, unless they break the banks, no longer work as a deterrent. I suggest three ways to treat this public menace.

- First, the authorities should just leave the litter alone. Instead of sending out cleaners to clean parks and beaches every day, clean them once a month. These places are supposed to be the great outdoors anyway, so why clean them? Let the litter be. Eventually, if litterbugs persist in their bad and ungracious habits, there will be enough trash to make even them uncomfortable.

- Alternatively, set a limit to the amount of litter collected in a month. When the limit is reached, close the park or beach concerned for an indefinite period. Litterbugs need to be inconvenienced to learn.

- Finally, the authorities could consider making litterbugs cleaners in schools or institutions of higher learning, homes for the aged or pubic hospitals. Let them be cleaners for a week and discharge them only when they have done a good job. This way, there will be no need to spend more to hire cleaners, to clean up after people who should be punished. Best of all, litterbugs will learn that it is better to spend a little more time to walk to the trash bin than spend a week or more cleaning public buildings.

Grace Chua (Mdm)

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Housing and Development Board faces 3 key challenges

Joanne Chan and S Ramesh Today Online 28 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE - Public housing in the 21st century must evolve to meet changing needs, according to National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

And the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will face three key challenges: Shifting demographics, ageing estates and a need for sustainable development.

On emerging population trends that will shape future housing policies, he said: "With globalisation and changing demographics, we also see an increasingly affluent population with a growing international outlook and rising expectations. Through immigration, the population is rising and becoming more diverse with different needs."

These changes will require not only greater integration efforts but may prompt other lifestyle changes and, thus, increased expectations of what public housing can provide.

Mr Mah was speaking yesterday at the opening of the International Housing Conference in Singapore.

Singapore's ageing society may require further innovations in housing policies or building design, he also said, highlighting the second challenge: The steadily ageing profile of HDB flats and towns. There will be an urgent need to upgrade, redevelop and rejuvenate older estates to keep them relevant and vibrant.

The third consideration was the need to minimise the impact of growth on the environment and to use resources efficiently. This will contribute to Singapore's overall quest to provide a green and healthy living environment, through careful long-term planning.

Mr Mah said that environmental, economic and social sustainability have been major and constant considerations in the design of HDB towns and flats. "Design guidelines are developed to take into account Singapore's tropical climate. The choice of materials, design and construction methods are also carefully considered, as they have major bearings on buildability, resource consumption and future maintenance requirements," he said.

In the past half century, the HDB has garnered significant international recognition, including the United Nations Public Service Award.

And while new challenges may shape housing policies differently in the future,Mr Mah said the core mission of HDB remained unchanged: Providing Singaporeans with affordable quality homes and building cohesive communities.

He urged the HDB to continue its pursuit of sustainable public housing for the next 50 years and beyond.

Public housing in 21st century must meet changing needs: Minister Mah
S.Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 27 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE: Singapore's National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said public housing in the 21st century must evolve to meet changing needs.

But the core mission of the HDB remains unchanged - that of providing Singaporeans with affordable quality homes and building cohesive communities.

Speaking at the International Housing Conference in Singapore, Mr Mah noted the HDB will face increasing challenges due to shifting demographics. These include an aging population which may require further innovations in housing policies or building design.

These include an aging population, which may require further innovations in housing policies or building design.

In addition, with more new Singapore citizens, greater integration efforts will be required.

Mr Mah said rapid globalisation and affluence may also prompt other lifestyle changes and with it, increased expectations of what public housing can provide.

Singapore is also facing the steadily ageing profile of HDB flats and towns. So there will be an urgent need to upgrade, redevelop and rejuvenate older estates.

Mr Mah said HDB must meet these challenges and continue achieving environmental, economic and social sustainability. This will contribute to Singapore's overall quest to provide a green and healthy living environment, through careful long-term planning.

In the past half century, HDB achieved much for Singapore and garnered significant international recognition, including the UN Public Service Award.

And he urged HDB to continue its relentless pursuit of sustainable public housing for the next 50 years and beyond. - CNA/vm

HDB looks forward on its 50th birthday
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 28 Jan 10;

EVEN as Singapore's public housing agency looks back to celebrate its achievements over the past 50 years, it will face increasing challenges that mean evolving to meet changing needs.

The Housing and Development Board (HDB), which marks its 50th birthday on Feb 1, must meet these challenges while maintaining its three-pronged approach of environmental, economic and social sustainability, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.

He was addressing more than 500 delegates from around the world at the opening ceremony of a three-day international housing conference hosted by the HDB and held at Suntec City.

'In this globalised world, we face many common challenges: climate change, migration, demographic shifts, shrinking resources, among others,' he told the conference. 'These changes impact all cities alike, large or small, developed or developing, sooner or later.'

The conference was a great opportunity for policymakers, architects and urban planners to exchange ideas.

The growing challenges that HDB will face include an ageing population, which may require further innovations in housing policies or building design, he said. Others included integrating the growing number of new Singapore citizens and the effects of rising affluence.

'As the public housing authority, HDB's key task is to find innovative ways to accommodate our people, taking these challenges into account,' he said.

Speakers at the three-day conference, which discussed themes such as environmental sustainability, include housing ministers from Spain, Finland and Australia, and senior government officials from the United States and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng said Hong Kong faced similar challenges as Singapore over land size and a growing population, and had ensured public housing for lower-income earners. She will be speaking at the conference today.

Addressing the audience, HDB chief executive Tay Kim Poh also acknowledged yesterday that HDB has 'achieved much that we are proud of', but it is also mindful of the 'challenges to housing that are shaped by the changing needs and expectations of our people'.

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JB worst area in Johor for dengue cases

Hamdan Raja Abdullah, The Star 28 Jan 10;

MUAR: Johor Baru recorded the highest number of dengue cases in the state at the start of 2010 with 35 cases reported up to Jan 9 this year.

The city has four areas regarded as hot spots namely Taman Dahlia, Taman Century, Taman Desa Cemerlang and Taman Megah Ria.

State Women, Family, Health and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said the number of cases showed that city residents still kept water containers around their homes.

“These containers and uncollected rubbish make good breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes.

“We urge the people, especially those living in apartments and flats, to check their surroundings for such breeding places,” she told reporters after launching a wild boar hunting party in Kampung Parit Kemang near Sungai Balang recently.

Dr Robia said the state recorded a drop in cases last year with 2,528 falling ill compared to 3,911 in 2008.

The number of deaths due to dengue was 15 in 2008 and only three last year.

She said the drop was due to increasing awareness in looking after cleanliness of homes and the surroundings among Johoreans.

She said the State Health Department had checked 494,564 premises and found 7,438 of them to be Aedes breeding grounds.

The department issued 3,383 summonses and collected RM519,150 in compounds, she said, adding that it fogged 1,104,677 premises last year.

The department held more than 6,000 talks and distributed more than 500,000 pamphlets on the matter.

“We hope that people will be more proactive in cleaning their homes and ridding all breeding grounds and rubbish in their areas this year,” she added.

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Why palm oil does not deserve its bad press

Tim Wilson, Science Alert 28 Jan 10;

Recent campaigns against palm oil show non-governmental organisations are more interested in pandering to rich country donors than promoting sustainable economic and environmental development for South-East Asia's poor.

Following attacks from palm oil industry interests in November last year, the chief executive of NatureAlert, Sean Whyte, claimed "Non-governmental organisations don't want to see it (the palm oil industry) closed down and neither are they seeking a boycott of palm oil", but to see it prosper without doing "damage to the environment".

In making such claims, however, Whyte clearly cannot see the oil palm from the plantation.

In Australia and New Zealand, NGOs have convinced celebrities, television stations and taxpayer-funded zoos to campaign for government regulation requiring manufactured food products to label palm oil ingredients separately from vegetable oils.

Their objective of mandatory labelling is to encourage consumers to choose products that don't contain palm oil and effectively introduce a consumer boycott.

The NGO campaign has had some success, with Australian Senator Nick Xenophon recently announcing he would introduce legislation directing the bi-national regulator, Food Standards Australia New Zealand, to require compulsory separate palm oil labelling.

With mandatory palm oil labelling in force, supported by consumer boycotts, food manufacturers will be faced with the business reality of either losing sales or switching to other oils in manufacturing to keep customers.

It's a decision confectionery manufacturing giant Cadbury made last year after NGOs identified they were using palm oil in their chocolate products and encouraged a consumer boycott, leading Cadbury to dump palm oil as an ingredient.

In Europe, NGOs have gone one step further and successfully lobbied to introduce Europe-wide regulations blocking palm oil biofuel imports unless they meet strict emission standards.

In developed countries, NGO campaigns often prey on the ignorance of well-intentioned donors who aren't confronted with the consequences of NGO policies on out-of-sight and, therefore, out-of-mind rural workers.

NGOs then add images of "cute" orang utans whose habitats are claimed to be lost to palm oil-caused deforestation, to encourage donors to open their wallets.

But garnering donor sympathy to fight the palm oil industry comes at the expense of the exports and livelihoods of the more than 40 per cent of Malaysia and Indonesia's smallholder oil palm growers who rely on the crop for their incomes.

In total, at least two million Malaysian and Indonesian workers depend on the palm oil industry for their livelihoods, including from the large plantation communities that make up a majority of the planted oil palm, who don't just provide salaries for workers but also heavily, or wholly, subsidised healthcare, housing and education services.

Attacks on the industry also ignore the clear benefits of palm oil. At a side-event at the United Nations Copenhagen climate change conference, critics attacked palm oil because, like many other comestibles, it may contribute to the contraction of diabetes.

But palm oil is also a rich source of vitamin A and, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, each year a million infant deaths are caused by vitamin A deficiencies.

But there's no choice between accepting one million preventable infant deaths and allowing the consumption of palm oil that may lead to the contraction of a manageable chronic disease later in life.

And the crop is also substantially more sustainable in comparison with other oils because oil palm yields at least five times the same tonnage per hectare as equivalent seeds. As a consequence, oil palm needs less land and less resources to produce more.

The irony of the attacks on the oil is that if activists were successful in blackballing its use in food manufacturing, producers would have to switch to alternative lower-yielding crops to maintain their livelihoods. The consequence would be that they would require more land and more resources to produce less.

Palm oil isn't perfect and it is responsible for some deforestation caused by rogue growers. But the benefits of palm oil far outweigh the costs.

NGOs may think that eliminating consumer demand may remove the environmental consequences caused by the industry, but attacking the root of environmental degradation won't be solved by attacking palm oil.

Around the world, the key driver of environmental degradation is rarely a single industry, but poverty.

When urban and rural communities are poor, their best escape option is through the exploitation of primary natural resources that promote economic growth and drive the development of manufacturing and service industries.

Without the development of these industries, communities will always be trapped in subsistence living, where the environment will always come second to families finding ways to stay alive and secure food and shelter, especially in rural areas.

Protecting the environment only becomes a priority when societies prosper and can afford environmental protection regulation and the resources to sustainably manage and conserve their natural assets.

Anti-palm oil NGOs like NatureAlert, Greenpeace, Wetlands International and Friends of the Earth may think demonising palm oil will help Malaysia and Indonesia improve their environmental health.

But any short-term environmental improvements will be traded off against the livelihoods of the rural poor, who would be better able to protect their environment when they have economically developed and can afford to do so.

An opinion provided by OnlineOpinion.com.au - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate.

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Understanding Chinese consumer motivation the key to controlling unsustainable wildlife consumption

TRAFFIC 28 Jan 10;

A survey of consumer attitudes in China concluded urgent action is needed to reduce consumer demand for endangered wildlife Click photo to enlarge China, Beijing, 28 January 2010—Concerted action is needed in China to reduce consumer demand for endangered wildlife, according to a new report by TRAFFIC, wildlife trade monitoring network, into consumer attitudes in China.

Released ahead of Chinese New Year of the Tiger, which begins on 14 February, the report, Understanding the motivations: the first step toward influencing China’s unsustainable wildlife consumption, calls for a reduction in wildlife consumption during the New Year celebrations, normally the peak time for wildlife consumption in the country.

“The Chinese people favour eating wildlife meat as a tonic in winter and many believe it’s good for their health. They are not aware that this kind of consumption could threaten the survival of endangered wildlife,” said Prof. Xu Hongfa, Head of TRAFFIC East Asia China programme.

TRAFFIC, working with a professional market research company, found that 44% of respondents claimed to have consumed wildlife in the past 12 months, the majority (36%) as food. However, most respondents were aware of the conservation status of China’s National Grade 1 and Grade 2 protected species, and relatively few consumed these in any form.

The surveys found that consumption of wild species, particularly consumption of wild meats and wild animal medicines/tonics is widespread, with most people having either a neutral or acceptance attitude towards the consumption of wild animals as food.

The report, which focused on six major cities in China, found that the scale and pattern of wildlife consumption varies across the country. Guangzhou has the highest incidence of consumption, followed by Kunming, Chengdu and Harbin. Those with higher incomes and education levels were consistently more likely to consume wildlife as food, possibly due to the prevalence of wildlife consumption in the Chinese business sector.

The factors motivating wildlife consumption are complex and rooted in culture, motivated by both ‘emotional’ and ‘functional’ reasons. Respondents consumed wildlife because they saw it as representing social status and showing respect for guests (‘emotional motivation’) and because they believed it to be nourishing and to have curative values, ideas rooted in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) (functional motivation’).

Prof Xu added: “This report aims to let consumers understand that unsustainable consumption of wild meat can threaten wild animal's survival.”

This persistent consumer demand is increasingly placing wild animals and plants, and their ecosystems—both in China and abroad—at risk through unsustainable and often illegal wildlife trade. As a result, wild populations of many species have become depleted in China, and sourcing has shifted to countries in South-east Asia, South Asia, the Russian Far East and further afield.

The study found three principal barriers to unsustainable wildlife consumption: limited availability, illegality, and price.

The government of China has demonstrated it has the ability to control wildlife trade through the highly effective temporary suspension of such trade following the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003. However, trade in wild animals for meat and medicinal purposes has subsequently resumed, and is believed to be on the increase, said Prof Xu.

The report suggests that an effective long-term communications campaign should target both end-users, focusing on those segments of the population that consume the most wildlife and/or have high potential for cutting down on wildlife consumption, and influential individuals and sectors of society able to reach wider audiences.

In China, the media, government wildlife law enforcement agencies, and the TCM community are already helping combat unsustainable wildlife consumption, and these efforts should be strengthened and sustained through a long-term strategy.

Notes
Understanding the motivations: the first step toward influencing China’s unsustainable wildlife consumption (PDF, 1.6 MB)

The report presents the results of a survey of consumer attitudes conducted in six cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming, Harbin and Chengdu) aimed at understanding attitudes and behaviour toward wildlife consumption in these cities. TRAFFIC’s research team conducted 10 expert interviews and eight focus group sessions, as well as a survey of 969 people from various age groups, income and education levels.

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1,000 endangered turtles found dead in Orissa beach

Thaindian News 27 Jan 10;

Bhubaneswar, Jan 27 (IANS) At least 1,000 endangered Olive Ridley turtles have been found dead in an Orissa beach since November, a senior state wildlife official said Wednesday.

The carcasses were spotted at various places between the mouths of the Devi and Dhamra rivers under Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, one of the world’s largest turtle nesting sites, in Kendrapada district, 174 km from here.

“We have spotted the carcasses of at least 1,000 turtles this winter. Some of them were spotted this week,” Divisional Forest Officer P.K. Behera told IANS.

Around this time last year, the total carcasses of turtles found on the same beach were about 2,000, he said.

The turtle mortality has come down this year due to various protection measures the government has initiated, he said.

Citing the measures, Behera said government has set up several camps near the coast and deployed dozens of officials to keep vigil.

The turtles arrive and congregate in the shallow coastal waters in October, they nest between December and March, and most hatchlings emerge by May.

Thousands of turtles have already arrived for mating. Behera said forest officials have already spotted the turtles in the sea water. They are likely to climb ashore for mass nesting in February, he said. About 700,000-800,000 endangered Olive Ridley turtles nest every winter at this site.

More at : 1,000 endangered turtles found dead in Orissa beach http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/1000-endangered-turtles-found-dead-in-orissa-beach_100310286.html#ixzz0dnFXuWr7

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Mangrove rehabilitation in Bali urged

Wasti Atmodjo, The Jakarta Post 27 Jan 10;

Bali Forest Office has frequently asked several government offices and state-owned companies to return the borrowed mangrove forest areas in Nusa Dua to the office.

Head of the office AAN Buana said Monday that the governmental offices and private companies had utilized 169.4 hectares of mangrove forest areas for various facilities including office buildings and headquarters under an agreement of five to 10 years of utilization.

A number of government agencies included Bali provincial administration, Bali Public Works Office, the Public Works Ministry, the state-owned PLN electricity company, the state-owned oil company PT Pertamina, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) office, and Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC), which managed the Nusa Dua resort complex.

"Many of the offices have been occupying the reclaimed mangrove forest areas for more than 10 years. There should be clarification from the related users," Buana said.

Based on the Forestry Ministry's Decree No.P 43/2008, the utilization of forested areas must be limited to 20 years.

Buana added that the agreement period had already expired.

"We must take further action - legal action if necessary."

He said the forest office had reported the case to the Prosecutor's Office, and was awaiting a response.

Data from the forest office revealed BTDC had asked permission to utilize 30 hectares of mangrove forests for the development of a lagoon in the Nusa Dua resort complex for the 1994-1999 period.

The company was also granted a permit to use a 3.03-hectare mangrove forest as the site for an alternative entrance road for the 1992-2000 period.

"Up to the present, there has been no renewal agreement," Buana said.

The Public Works Ministry used 46.08 hectares for an estuary estate (1994-1999) and 14.40 hectares (1984-1989) for a waste disposal center. BMKG used 0.02 hectares of forest area to construct a wind-monitoring tower (1991-1996).

Bali provincial administration built a ceramic study and research center on a 1.37 hectares of land, while Pertamina used 0.04 hectares for the construction of a connecting pipe to the Ngurah Rai Airport.

PT PLN used 66.55 hectares of mangrove areas to construct the Pesanggaran power plant.

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Ecotourism in Indonesia exempted from EIA permit

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 28 Jan 10;

Investors can now develop a conservation forest into an ecotourist destination without carrying out a study on its impact on the environment, as part of the government’s latest policy to relax bureaucracy.

The decision was made when many conservation forests were converted into palm oil plantations or mining fields, as had occurred in Kalimantan.

The Forestry Ministry and State Environment Ministry agreed to revise the 1990 government regulation on tourism in an effort to lure investors to develop ecotourism across the country.

“We agree to drop the requirement for Amdal documents for investors who are interested in developing ecotourism in conservation forests,” Darori, director general of forest protection at the Forestry Ministry told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The revised government regulation is due this month.

He said that the money generated from the business would be used to fund conserving forests and help improve locals’ income.

Darori said that developers were prohibited from building infrastructure and other facilities that would damage the environment.

“There will be no asphalt roads and cement buildings in the ecotourism sites,” he said.

The permits to transform the conservation forest into ecotourist sites were issued by the Forestry Ministry.

The authority to issue the Amdal document, which was aimed to assess whether activities could harm the environment, lies with the State Environment Ministry.

Deputy for spatial planning at the State Environment Ministry Hermien Rosita said that ecotourism would not harm the environment.

“Our assessment shows there is no significant impact and that’s why we agreed to drop the Amdal requirement,” she told the Post.

She said that developers should instead implement the environmental management scheme (UKL) and the environmental monitoring scheme (UPL).

The 2009 Environmental Law requires that each business obliging to secure the UKL/UPL should secure the environmental permit issued by the State Environment Ministry.

The decision to ease the regulations on ecotourism was also made as the State Environment Ministry promised to tighten the Amdal process to prevent further environmental degradation in the country, often blamed for major natural disasters.

Almost all forested provinces in the country have suffered annual floods in the wet season and water crisis in the dry season. Experts blamed the problem on poor forest management.

The 1990 regulation stipulates the ecotourist sites be developed by cooperatives, individuals, the private sector or the government, with a total renting period of 30 years.

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Kalimantan great for oil-palm investment

The Star 28 Jan 10;

BALIKPAPAN (East Kaliman-tan): Kalimantan offers vast potential for Malaysian investors to venture into oil palm plantation.

PT Dermaga Perkasapratama operations director Leong Kim Wah, who is from Kuala Lumpur, said there were vast tracts of land suitable for oil palm plantation in Kalimantan.

“Those who are keen should liaise directly with the district officer or mayor, and the governor,” he told a group of businessman from Sabah led by former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh on a 10-day tour of Kalimantan.

The trip sponsored by Berjaya Foundation was to look into the investment potential in the Indonesian province.

On Pt Dermaga Perkasapratama, a subsidiary of the Bayan Group, Leong said the company had been in East Kalimantan since the 1980s and was involved in infrastructure construction for the oil and gas industry.

He said the company ventured into coal mining in 1974.

“Last year, it produced 10 million tonnes of coal and exported it to Asian countries, including Malaysia, and Europe,” he added.

Leong said the company, which had its head office in Jakarta, produced up to 11 million tonnes of coal a year from six mines in Balikpapan. — Bernama

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Kalimantan Seen as Perfect Test Case for New Green Law

Fidelis E Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 27 Jan 10;

It’s the all too familiar good news-bad news story for the country’s environment. The good news is the law to take down those involved in the destruction of the environment is in place and ready for action. The bad news is that the government does not seem particularly eager to use it.

“We don’t want the law to turn into another paper tiger,” said Asep Warlan Yusuf, an environmental law expert at Bandung’s Parahyangan University. “It’s high time the government took some real action against environment offenders.”

The State Ministry for the Environment, Asep said, “lacks the courage to fight the good fight by taking environmental cases to court.”

The Environmental Protection and Management Law became effective on Oct. 3, 2009.

Siti Maimunah, national coordinator of the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), said the government should immediately begin putting the law to work in Kalimantan, where the environment is in full retreat in the face of massive mining operations and the spread of palm oil plantations.

“You want this law to work, you start with Kalimantan,” she said. “This would be a real test because the Kalimantan case is very urgent.”

Siti said Kalimantan for years had been the scene of unchecked exploitation, as large companies dug up its coal and minerals, cut down its forests and created massive palm oil plantations.

Siti said local administrations in Kalimantan had tried to contain the destruction with spatial planning, which she described as little more than a “suicide plan.”

“Kalimantan is staring at its own destruction because the development planning [of the various government departments] is a mess that concentrates on exploitation,” she said.

Kalimantan, she said, seems to have implemented “mismanagement planning.”

“Look at Samarinda [the capital of East Kalimantan],” she said. “The local government has been forced to spend billions of rupiah to build a canal to prevent massive floods caused by the coal industries surrounding the city.”

East Kalimantan is home to 1,212 coal mining operations, permits for which were issued by local administrations as authorized under the Regional Autonomy Law. There are an additional 32 permits issued by the central government. In neighboring South Kalimantan, there are around 400 mining operations.

Many of these permits, however, are allegedly being misused due to a lack of control and kickbacks, which has allowed miners to open sites in conservation areas or nature reserves. Reclamation or rehabilitation of the exploited sites is almost nonexistent.

On Monday, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan threatened to revoke the permits of mining companies operating in Kalimantan conservation areas.

“[We] will check those mining operations this week and if there are any violations, we will not hesitate to review their permits and urge them to rehabilitate the areas,” Zulkifli said. The minister was responding to a report in a national newspaper that around 200 mining concessionaires are operating in conservation areas in South Kalimantan.

Environmental law expert Mas Achmad Santosa lauded the new law, but said the government needed to make immediate use of it to go after companies damaging the environment.

“This law should help resolve the longstanding problem of departmental egoism,” Santosa said. “Although this law is perceived to be solely the province of the State Ministry for the Environment, in fact, it can be used by other [government departments], such as the mining and forestry [ministries].”

“[The other ministries] don’t need further education or information on the law, they should be able to jump right in. However, the State Ministry for the Environment should be the one to make the breakthrough.”

Santosa said the new law no longer dealt only with “brown issues,” that is only toxic chemical pollution, but had been expanded to deal with “green issues” linked to forestry and other sectors.

“Compared to other laws this is a strong one, especially for Kalimantan because it defines corporate crimes, introduces a more integrated monitoring system through clauses in the operation permits and even has a back-up control from the district to the central level [of the government],” he said.

Asked to comment on demands by activists that the law be deployed immediately, State Minister for the Environment Gusti Muhammad Hatta said he had already instructed his staff to carry out an inventory of the mining activities in Kalimantan and to compose a government regulation to accompany the new law.

“[The mining operators] will be punished according to their level of non-compliance, and not all of the cases will be settled in court,” he said on Wednesday.

In another development, a number of green groups, including Jatam and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), have filed a suit against the State Ministry for the Environment at the Jakarta Administrative Court concerning the ministry’s environmental assessment of two major mining companies in Sulawesi, PT Meares Soputan Mining and PT Tambang Tondano Nusajaya.

Eight villagers, representatives of residents in North Minahasa district, North Sulawesi, claim the ministry’s decision to allow the companies to operate was a violation of regional environmental regulations. The villagers say that the companies’ operations will hurt the environment.

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