Muslim world to promote ‘green haj’ concept

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 6 Apr 10;

Muslim community representatives from 17 countries will hold an international conference on climate change to hash out tangible action to tackle global warming, including through the “green haj” concept.

The April 9-10 conference in Bogor will feature around 200 participants, including 90 from Islamic boarding schools across Indonesia.

“This is an action-oriented conference to motivate Muslims to protect the planet from the threat of global warming,” organizing committee member Ismet Hadad said Monday.

“We want to show the world that Muslims are also doing their part to combat climate change, which affects all people regardless of religious or ethnic background.”

The conference will be held at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture’s convention center, and will be funded in part by Conservation Inter-national.

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta and Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan are expected to open the conference.

The list of speakers includes Fazlun Khalid from the London-based Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environment Science; Muhammad Hassan from Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, and Moroccan Abdelkader Allali, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The inaugural Muslim conference on climate change was held in Kuwait in 2008.

At last year’s meeting in Istanbul, the conference adopted the “Muslim seven-year action plan for climate change”.

The plan includes proposals for a more environmentally management of the annual haj, eco-friendly mosques and publishing the Koran with paper from sustainable forests.

Ahmad Fauzi, the Forestry Ministry’s liaison for the conference, said organizers expected to come up with concrete results on how to implement the proposals agreed on in Turkey.

He said one of the more ambitious targets was the “green haj”, in which haj pilgrims would be encouraged to minimize and offset their carbon footprints from the pilgrimage.

“If each of the 250,000 or so Indonesian haj pilgrims set aside US$10 toward that end, we’d have a $2.5 million fund to combat climate change,” Ahmad said.

Another measure for adoption is to phase out the use of plastic bottles throughout the haj.

“The idea is for the pilgrims to bring back an understanding of caring for creation as an act of faith,” the action plan says.

It also calls on Muslim communities to build “green mosques” through energy-saving designs.

Ahmad said the conference would help boost awareness of environmental issues among Muslims at schools and universities, and help draw up guidelines on climate change issues to be distributed among Muslim scholars.

He added the Bogor conference was unlikely to see the establishment of the planned Muslim Association for Climate Change Action (MACCA), an umbrella organization to implement the action plan to mitigate the impact from climate change.

Conservation International’s Fakhruddin Mangunjaya said the conference would declare Bogor as a green city in the Muslim world.

The conference will select 10 such green cities in the Muslim world as models for other Muslim-majority cities to aspire to.

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Forest Carbon Incentive Rules Need Time, Definition

Nina Chestney, PlanetArk 7 Apr 10;

Talks to define a mechanism for global forest protection should not be rushed if it is to work efficiently and fairly, a panel of experts said on Tuesday.

Talks began in Paris last month to define an interim and global architecture for a financial incentive scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation called REDD-plus.

"We know any system which looks good on paper on day one is no good if it doesn't stimulate long-term results," said Lars Lovold, director of the Rainforest Foundation Norway.

U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen last December failed to deliver much guidance on the scheme and a meeting in Bonn on April 9-11 is not expected to make much progress on the issue.

Under REDD-plus, governments could receive payments for their emissions cutting efforts while ensuring the sustainable management, conservation and restoration of forests.

Norway, which will host the next round of the talks in May, would like to get plans defined for an interim mechanism, ideally defining governance and administrative bodies, the distribution of funds, application of standards and the monitoring and verifying of emissions.

The idea is to arrive at the U.N. climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, in December with a concrete plan aimed specifically at the issue of deforestation.

But balancing the interests of 64 nations, local governments, indigenous peoples, private investors and environmental organizations will be tough.

"We need to be realistic about what we can achieve and how quickly. With different countries involved there are different drivers and conflicts," said Pat Hardcastle at consultancy LTS International.

The direct participation of all parties, especially including indigenous peoples in all parts of the process is crucial, the panel said.

"We need to revise the timeframe to allow for proper consultation. Putting a document on a website is not enough," said Francesco Martone, policy adviser at the Forest Peoples Programme.

Defining financial rewards for governments that make progress in cutting emissions and sustaining forests was also key, said Dan Nepstad, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center.

"It will be a rough road but if there are no rewards for good performance it will not work," he said.

(Editing by James Jukwey)

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End of the IPCC: one mistake too many

'Climategate' suggests a conspiracy to commit fraud by a small gang of influential UN panel scientists
S Fred Singer, Singapore Business Times 7 Apr 10;

THE United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has acknowledged they made a mistake in their projection of 2035 as the date when all the Himalayan glaciers would melt. But the Himalayan blunder is not a one-off mistake; it is only the latest of a long list of errors that have dogged the IPCC over the past 10 years. And by now, after the 'Climategate' flap of last November, 'Glaciergate' seems to have opened the floodgates with reports on 'Amazongate', 'Natural-disaster-gate', and many more.

In their 2001 report, the IPCC had claimed that the 20th century was 'unusual' and blamed it on human-released greenhouse gases. Their infamous temperature graph shown there, shaped like a hockey stick, did away with the well-established Medieval Warm Period (around 1000AD, when Vikings were able to settle in southern Greenland and grow crops there) and the following Little Ice Age (around 1400 to 1800AD). Two Canadians exposed the bad data used by the IPCC and the statistical errors in their analysis.

Since then, the litany of IPCC errors continues to grow.

# In mid-August 2009, after repeated requests for such data under the Freedom of Information Act, the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (CRU), one of the three international centres that publish global temperatures, announced that it discarded the raw data used to calculate global surface temperatures. The CRU action renders independent review and verification of the temperature trends published by the CRU impossible - a clear violation of principles of science.

# In October, at the 2009 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Dr Don Easterbrook presented graphs demonstrating how tree-ring data from Russia showing a cooling after 1961 was disguised in IPCC publications. The artful deceit so exposed indicates that the IPCC Assessment Report-4 (AR4) of 2007 contains deceptions rendering its conclusion that global warming is anthropogenic (human-caused) scientifically questionable.

# In November, emails from the CRU were leaked to the public, creating what became known as 'Climategate'. These emails reveal efforts to suppress independent studies that are contrary to IPCC conclusions of AGW (anthropogenic global warming). Thus, the IPCC scientific review process has a systematic bias of an unknowable magnitude in favour of human-induced warming.

# In mid-December, the Russian Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) reported that the Hadley Centre for Climate Change of the British Meteorological Office (Met Office) had probably tampered with Russian climate data and that the Russian meteorological station data does not support human-caused global warming. Thus the reported global surface temperature trends are unreliable and probably have a strong warming bias of an unknown magnitude.

# In January this year, American researchers Joe D'Aleo and E Michael Smith reported that the US-National Climatic Data Center (NOAA-NCDC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Institute of Space Studies (NASA-GISS) dropped many meteorological stations from their databases in recent years. The dropped stations, many of which continue to make appropriate reports, are generally in colder climates. Thus, all global surface temperatures and temperature trends announced by the three international reporting organisations probably have a warming bias of an unknown magnitude - rendering their announced temperature trends scientifically unreliable.

# On Jan 23 this year, the Sunday Times (London) reported that the AR4 wrongly linked natural disasters to global warming. The published report upon which this claim was based actually stated: 'We find insufficient evidence to claim a statistical relationship between global temperature increase and catastrophic losses.'

# In January also, Dr Murari Lal, the coordinating lead author of the AR4's chapter on Asia, stated that the IPCC deliberately exaggerated the possible melt of the Himalayan glaciers. 'We thought that if we can highlight it, it will impact policymakers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action.' This admission demonstrates that the AR4 is a political document and not a scientific one.

# More recently, additional reports reveal that the IPCC's claims that warming will cause extensive adverse effects in the Amazon rainforests and on coral reefs came not from science studies but from publications by environmental advocacy groups, such as the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace. More scandalous even, the IPCC based their lurid predictions on anecdotal, non-peer-reviewed sources - not at all in accord with its solemnly announced principles and scientific standards.

These events show not only a general sloppiness of IPCC procedures but also an extreme ideological bias - quite inappropriate to a supposedly impartial scientific survey. Yet all of these missteps pale in comparison to 'Climategate', which calls into question the very temperature data used by the IPCC's main policy result. In my opinion, Climategate is a much more serious issue than simply sloppiness and ideological distortion; Climategate suggests a conspiracy to commit fraud by a small gang of influential IPCC scientists.

In this enterprise, the group was aided not only by environmental zealots, anti-technology Luddites, utopian one-worlders and population control fanatics, but also by bureaucrats, businesses, brokers and bankers, who had learned how to game the system and profit from government grants and subsidies for exotic schemes to produce 'carbon-free' energy and from the trading of carbon permits. Hundreds of billions have already been wasted - most of this in transfers of tax revenues to a favoured few.

These sums pale, however, in comparison to the trillions that would have been spent in future if some of the mitigation schemes had come to fruition. Fortunately for the world economy, these schemes all collapsed at the Copenhagen conference last December. Clearly, developing nations did not want to take on the sacrifices and restrictions on growth. There was little concern expressed about climate; Copenhagen was mostly about transfer of money.

The 'climate establishment', with a vested interest in maintaining climate scares and fanning fears, is desperately trying to save the IPCC and the AGW myth. A number of 'investigations' have been started, mostly trying to excuse IPCC errors and 'whitewash' the frauds committed. The latest such effort involves national science academies, called on by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. But it's too late: the public no longer trusts the UN, the IPCC, and its prophets of doom.

The writer - an atmospheric physicist, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and former director of the US Weather Satellite Service - is the organiser of the NIPCC (Non-governmental International Panel on Climate Change) and co-author of its reports, 'Nature, not Human Activity, Rules the Climate' (2008) and 'Climate Change'

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Best of our wild blogs: 6 Apr 10

Easter Eggs
from Raffles Museum News

Spawning (in situ and ex situ methods)
from Psychedelic Nature

BINGO!
1.5million coral eggs collected from the SEACORE weblog

Frustrated about wildlife trade? Do something about it
from wild shores of singapore

Sentosa again!
from Diary of a Boy wandering through Our Little Urban Eden

10 Apr (Sat): Talk on "Native Trees of Pulau Ubin"
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

The World of Rubiaceae and Pavetta wallichiana
from Flying Fish Friends

The forgotten mangroves at Sungei Pandan
from Water Quality in Singapore

Sea Bunnies!
from Diary of a Boy wandering through Our Little Urban Eden

勇敢的父母 Brave parents
from PurpleMangrove

katydid and jumper
from Mendis' World

Javan Myna with yellow collar
from Bird Ecology Study Group

An odd looking sub-adult Yellow-vented Bulbul
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Are volunteers the answer to Singapore's green woes?

Letter from Wang Seow Pang Today Online 6 Apr 10;

TO HELP keep our parks, rivers and reservoirs clean and tidy, and to raise the awareness of the public about the need to conserve and preserve water resources and the environment, we could consider a volunteer warden programme.

Under the programme, volunteer wardens may report to the relevant environment agency and be its eyes and ears on the ground to undertake activities including reporting littering and pollution.

They could monitor footpaths and educate people who litter or dog owners who do not clean up after their pets.

These volunteers may commit to as much time as they want to and choose the area that they want to monitor and they could work in pairs or groups.

They can come from any section of society and whether they are retirees or students, they should be provided with the necessary training and equipped with caps and T-shirts, etc.

Let's try it.

A volunteer programme helps bring people together and instils ownership of shared values.

Besides, it will be a great way to keep one's local area tidy.

Everyone plays a part
Join us in ensuring a sustainable water supply: PUB
Letter from Yap Kheng Guan Director, 3P Network, PUB
Today Online 12 Apr 10;

PUB, the national water agency, thanks Mr Wang Seow Pang for his suggestion to have a volunteer programme to keep our rivers clean and litter-free and to raise public awareness to conserve and preserve water resources and the environment ("Are volunteers the answer to green woes?", April 6).

While PUB has put in place a sustainable supply of water, we also call on everyone to take joint ownership of this precious resource.

PUB's Friends of Water programme recognises individuals and organisations that contribute towards raising awareness about water and what it takes to sustain Singapore's water supply. Organisations can pledge to take care of various waterbodies and waterways by conducting clean-ups and other educational activities under PUB's Our Waters programme. Individuals can also do their part, for example, by looking out for and reporting leaking pipes and taps in public areas, or volunteering their time to promote the water cause.

Over the last few years, PUB has been actively engaging volunteers of various interest groups to value our waters and keep them clean, as well as to advocate the importance of water conservation.

Our volunteers undergo a comprehensive training programme and get opportunities to take part in existing initiatives such as waterways patrols, conducting talks and serving as guides for public education programmes.

PUB also encourages active citizenry by supporting volunteer-initiated projects to galvanise greater involvement across the 3P (People, Private, Public) sectors. The Waterways Watch Society (WWS), a volunteer group with about 200 members from all walks of life, champions the water cause. WWS has been relentlessly patrolling waterways and catchments, reporting pollution activities to PUB as well as educating the public on the importance of keeping our waterways and riverbanks clean.

We welcome Mr Wang and members of the public to join us in the various programmes by contacting us at PUB_VoW@pub.gov.sg. More information can also be found at www.pub.gov.sg/value.

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Star-Patterned Tortoise Could Die Out in 20 Years

livescience.com 5 Apr 10;

A tortoise that wears a brilliant yellow star pattern on its back and lives in Madagascar is rapidly nearing extinction due to poaching for its meat and the illegal pet trade, a team of biologists reports today.

The radiated tortoise (Geochelone radiata) could die out within the next 20 years unless drastic conservation measures are taken, say biologists from the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

The tortoise, whose carapace reaches a length of 16 inches (41 centimeters), weighs up to 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and is considered one of the most beautiful tortoises in the world, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo. Its legs, feet, and head are yellow except for a black splotch on top of its head. Yellow lines radiate outward from each dark plate on its domed shell.

The team recently returned from field surveys in southern Madagascar's spiny forest, where the once-abundant tortoises occur. The team found entire regions devoid of tortoises. Local people told the team that armed bands of poachers had taken away truckloads of tortoises to supply open meat markets in towns such as Beloha and Tsihombe. Poaching camps have been discovered with the remains of thousands of radiated tortoises, and truckloads of tortoise meat have been seized recently, the team says.

"The rate of hunting of radiated tortoises is similar to the hunting pressure on American bison during the early 19th century, where they were nearly hunted to extinction when they once numbered in the tens of millions," said Brian D. Horne, turtle conservation coordinator for the WCS's Species Program.

The tortoises once numbered in the millions across a vast swath of the southern portion of the island nation.

One of the most troubling trends is that poachers are now entering protected areas to collect tortoises and the staff there are poorly equipped to patrol and protect populations, the biologists say.

The team found the situation is exacerbated by several factors, including:

* Extreme drought, which has resulted in diminished agricultural production and increased poverty, which leads people to tortoise hunting for survival;
* Enforcement action is often days away so that local officials can't stop poachers;
* Severe habitat degradation, due to burning and clearing for agriculture, has made the spiny forest the most endangered forest type in Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world;
* Current political instability has resulted in an increased open access to natural resources and illegal pet trade.

The researchers say the radiated tortoise can still "make a living" and survive in this degraded habitat, but the animal can't survive the current threat of wholesale collection for food markets. Community mobilization linked to sustainable habitat protection is needed to save this unique critically endangered species, they say.

Madagascar's radiated tortoise threatened with extinction
Illegal hunting for meat and pet trade is wiping out critically endangered species
EurekAlert 5 Apr 10;

A team of biologists from the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reported today that Madagascar's radiated tortoise – considered one of the most beautiful tortoise species – is rapidly nearing extinction due to rampant hunting for its meat and the illegal pet trade.

The team predicts that unless drastic conservation measures take place, the species will be driven to extinction within the next 20 years.

The team recently returned from field surveys in southern Madagascar's spiny forest, where the once-abundant tortoises occur. They found entire regions devoid of tortoises and spoke with local people who reported that armed bands of poachers had taken away truckloads of tortoises to supply open meat markets in towns such as Beloha and Tsihombe. Poaching camps have been discovered with the remains of thousands of radiated tortoises, and truckloads of tortoise meat have been seized recently.

"Areas where scores of radiated tortoises could be seen just a few years ago have been poached clean," said James Deutsch, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Africa Program. "Back then one could hardly fathom that this beautiful tortoise could ever become endangered, but such is the world we live in, and things can – and do – change rapidly."

"The rate of hunting of radiated tortoises is similar to the hunting pressure on American bison during the early 19th century, where they were nearly hunted to extinction when they once numbered in the tens of millions," said Brian D. Horne, turtle conservation coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society's Species Program.

Tortoise populations near urban centers have crashed with poachers moving closer and closer to protected areas; it is simply a matter of time before those areas are targeted too, the biologists predict.

"Radiated tortoises are truly under siege now as never before, and if we can't draw a line in the sand around protected areas, then we will lose this species" said Rick Hudson, president of the TSA. "I can't think of a tortoise species that has undergone a more rapid rate of decline in modern times, or a more drastic contraction in range, than the radiated tortoise. This is a crisis situation of the highest magnitude."

Formerly occupying a vast swath of the southern portion of the island nation of Madagascar – the radiated tortoise was once considered one of the world's most abundant tortoise species, with an estimated population in the millions. It is now ranked as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List.

One of the most troubling trends is that poachers are now entering protected areas (Special Reserves, National Parks, World Heritage Sites) to collect tortoises and the staff there are poorly equipped to patrol and protect populations. The situation is exacerbated by several factors:

1. Years of extreme drought that have led to diminished agricultural production and increased poverty, which leads people to tortoise hunting for survival;

2. Enforcement action is often days away so that local officials do not have the capacity to stop poachers;

3. Severe habitat degradation has made the spiny forest the most endangered forest type in Madagascar. After burning and clearing for agriculture invasive plant species take over and today thick stands of opuntia (prickly pear) and sisal (agave) dominate the landscape;

4. Current political instability has resulted in an increased open access to natural resources and illegal pet trade.

The radiated tortoise is still able to "make a living" and survive in this degraded habitat. However, the tortoise cannot survive the current threat of wholesale collection for food markets. Community mobilization linked to sustainable habitat protection is needed to save this unique critically endangered species.

Dr. John Robinson, WCS's executive vice president for Conservation Science, testified before Congress recommending that freshwater turtles and tortoises receive greater attention under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-administered Marine Turtle Conservation Fund.

The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo owns many radiated tortoises kept at the Behler Chelonian Conservation Center and other U.S. zoos and about a dozen held at the WCS Bronx Zoo. Many of these are Species Survival Program-recommended animals for breeding. These animals form a significant percentage of the animals in the U.S.

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Stranded Ship "Time Bomb" To Great Barrier Reef

PlanetArk 6 Apr 10;

A stranded Chinese coal ship leaking oil onto Australia's Great Barrier Reef is an environmental time bomb with the potential to devastate large protected areas of the reef, activists said on Monday.

The ship was a "ticking environmental time bomb," Gilly Llewellyn, director of conservation for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Australia, told Reuters.

She said this was the third major international incident involving its owners in four years.

Australian government officials say the stricken Shen Neng I belongs to the Shenzhen Energy Group, a subsidiary of China's state-owned China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, better known by its acronym COSCO.

In 2007, COSCO was linked to a major oil spill in San Francisco bay, while last year it was tied to another in Norway, both of which damaged environmentally sensitive areas.

"We are seeing a concerning pattern potentially associated with this company," Llewellyn told Reuters.

COSCO officials in Australia could not be contacted for comment on Monday.

The Great Barrier Reef stretches along Australia's northeastern coast and is the only living structure on Earth visible from space. It is the world's largest coral reef and a major tourist draw.

As salvagers struggled on Monday to stop the ship breaking up and spilling hundreds of tons of oil and thousands of tons of coal, environmentalists told Reuters tighter controls on shipping were needed to protect the reef as Australia's energy industry expands.

SHIP NEEDS HELP

Although only a small amount of the 975 tons of fuel oil on board has so far leaked, Australian officials have warned the ship is unable to move off the shoal unaided, as its engine and rudder were damaged.

International salvage firm Svitzer has been engaged and has attempted to use tugs to stabilize the vessel, but the head of the government agency overseeing the operation said on Monday the ship was still moving on the reef.

The 230-meter (754-ft) ship was carrying 65,000 tons of coal to China when it ran aground on Saturday with 975 tons of heavy fuel oil on board, a type of oil environmentalists say is particularly sticky and damaging to marine organisms.

The ship was off-course and traveling at full speed when it hit, Australian officials have said. If it broke up as feared, environmentalists said the effects could be devastating.

"We would potentially be looking at an environmental disaster," Llewellyn said." It would be an extremely large spill."

Among the animals affected would be protected species of turtles, dugongs, and marine birds, as well as the sensitive corals, she said.

Chris Smyth, an ocean campaigner with the Australian Conservation Foundation, said with Australia planning to expand its energy industry, its government needs to consider whether ships should be traveling through the reef at all.

"It is going to actually increase shipping traffic substantially and the likelihood of these kinds of incidents occurring in the future," he told Reuters.

This is Australia's third such recent disaster, he said, following two last year, another oil spill off the Queensland coast and a major oil well blowout in the Timor Sea.

It should be clearer within the next few days what the likely scale of this disaster may be, Smyth said. In a worst case scenario, the spilled oil could reach protected areas on the Australian mainland, he said.

On Monday, Queensland state premier Anna Bligh called for tough legal action against the shipowners, saying they could face fines of up to A$1 million ($920,000), with the captain facing a further fine of up to A$220,000.

Investigations are underway by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

A spokeswoman for AMSA told Reuters its investigation would be "exploring breaches and possible offences" under Australian law. Some 23 crew who were on board the vessel when it ran aground so far appeared to be safe, she said.

Rescue officials have said the ship will require a long and careful salvage operation, expected to take weeks.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

Australia rushes to contain Barrier Reef oil spill
Rob Griffith, Associated Press Yahoo News 5 Apr 10;

ROCKHAMPTON, Australia – Workers rushed to contain an oil spill Monday from a coal-carrying ship grounded on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, sending two tugboats to stabilize the vessel so that it would not break apart and further damage the fragile coral beneath.

The Chinese-registered Shen Neng 1 rammed into Douglas Shoals late Saturday, an area that has shipping restrictions in order to protect what is the world's largest coral reef and one that is listed as a World Heritage site because of its gleaming waters and environmental value as home to thousands of marine species.

About 2 tons (metric tons) of oil have already spilled from the 1,000 tons (950 metric tons) of fuel on board, creating a 100-yard (meter) slick that stretches 2 miles (3 kilometers), Marine Safety Queensland said in a statement.

Queensland State Premier Anna Bligh said a boom will be put around the ship by Tuesday to contain oil leaking from the hull. Aircraft sprayed chemical dispersants in an effort to break up the slick Sunday.

"Our No. 1 priority is keeping this oil off the Barrier Reef and keeping it contained," she told reporters in Brisbane.

Bligh said a salvage team had reached the ship Monday and were attempting to stabilize it.

"It's in such a delicate part of the reef and the ship is in such a badly damaged state, managing this process will require all the specialist expertise we can bring to bear," she told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. She said it could take weeks to dislodge the ship.

The ship's owner, Shenzhen Energy, a subsidiary of the Cosco Group that is China's largest shipping operator, could be fined up to 1 million Australian dollars ($920,000) for straying from a shipping lane used by 6,000 cargo vessels each year, Bligh said.

"This is a very delicate part of one of the most precious marine environments on earth and there are safe authorized shipping channels — and that's where this ship should have been," Bligh said.

Authorities fear the ship will break apart during the salvage operation and wreck more coral, or spill more of its heavy fuel oil into the sun-soaked sea. However, Bligh said the risk of the ship breaking apart appeared to have lessened since the first of two tug boats arrived and reduced its movement.

Two tugs arrived Monday to stabilize the ship, Marine Safety Queensland said.

"One of the most worrying aspects is that the ship is still moving on the reef to the action of the seas, which is doing further damage" to the coral and hull, according to the agency's general manager, Patrick Quirk. Initial damage reports showed flooding in the main engine room and damage to the main engine and the rudder.

A police boat was standing by to evacuate the 23 crew members if the ship breaks apart.

The bulk carrier was taking about 72,000 tons (65,000 metric tons) of coal to China from the Queensland port of Gladstone when it slammed into the shoals off Queensland's coast in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Numerous conservation groups have expressed outrage that bulk carriers can travel through the reef without a specialized marine pilot. Shipping lanes in Australian waters typically require a seasoned captain to go aboard an incoming ship to help navigate around hazards. Until now, the government has said there is no need for a marine pilots around the protected area because large ships are banned there.

Maritime law specialist Michael White of the University of Queensland said oil is the major environmental threat posed by the grounding. While coal could do "considerable localized damage," it would be quick to dissipate.

Marine geologist Greg Webb from the Queensland University of Technology said the effects of an oil and coal spill could have unknown consequences.

"In the past we always just thought a reef could put up with anything," he told ABC radio. "And I guess over the last decade or so, we're beginning to understand that maybe they can't."

Stranded coal carrier threatens Great Barrier Reef
Madeleine Coorey Yahoo News 5 Apr 10;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian authorities were Monday battling to prevent a badly damaged Chinese coal carrier stranded on the Great Barrier Reef from spilling tonnes of oil into pristine waters teeming with marine life.

The Shen Neng 1 ran aground on Saturday when it hit a shoal off the eastern state of Queensland at full speed, apparently breaching a fuel tank and causing a three-kilometre (two-mile) slick in the scenic tourist spot.

Authorities remain concerned that the ship, which is being hit by a two to three-metre swell and grinding against the reef, may break up but professional salvage experts on board believe that risk has diminished.

"The ship is stuck on a shoal and wave action is meaning that it's moving," Marine Safety Queensland (MSQ) spokesman Mark Strong told AFP.

"Every time that happens you increase the risk of damage to the structure.

"The assessment as of now from the salvors is that the ship is reasonably stable."

The Chinese-registered carrier, which is loaded with 65,000 tonnes of coal and about 975 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, is stranded 70 kilometres east of the resort destination Great Keppel Island.

One tug boat was already at the scene trying to stabilise the vessel and another will arrive early Tuesday, while aircraft were being used to monitor the spill in waters that are home to hundreds of species of coral and fish.

"In the current conditions we are reasonably assured, as far as we can be, that there will be no catastrophic break-up of the ship, but if the weather turned bad it will be another problem," MSQ general Patrick Quirk said.

The vessel hit Douglas Shoal at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, 15 nautical miles outside the nearest shipping channel, at full speed.

Authorities said the damage was serious, confirming that the rudder was seriously damaged, the ship's double bottom tanks which provide buoyancy had been breached and one of the fuel tanks had also likely been breached.

So far, however, the oil spill has been limited to about three or four tonnes. After dispersant was used on the slick on Sunday, workers will now place a boom around the oil to prevent it from spreading further.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said salvage teams were assessing how they might be able to refloat the China-bound carrier, including removing all the oil from the ship first.

"This is going to be a very specialist and delicate operation," she told the Nine Network.

"If this ship was to break further apart, if there was another very significant oil spill, then we would not only see tonnes of oil into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park but modelling shows it is likely to come up onto the beaches of Shoalwater Bay, which is a national park area."

Bligh said the vessel was in a restricted zone of the Great Barrier Reef which was "totally off limits" to shipping and the government would investigate why the ship was so far off course.

The carrier's Chinese owners, a subsidiary of Cosco Group, could be fined up to one million dollars (920,000 US) and the captain handed a 250,000 dollar penalty over the incident, she said.

The accident, which follows a large oil spill from the container carrier Pacific Adventurer in March 2009 which polluted Queensland beaches, has prompted warnings from conservationists about the impact on the reef as shipping increases.

The number of seaborne exports of coal and natural gas is set to surge in the coming decade as Queensland opens new resource developments to supply Asia's growing energy needs.

The Great Barrier Reef, which covers 345,000 square kilometres (133,000 square miles) along Australia's northeast coast, is a major tourist attraction and home to hundreds of species including dugongs, dolphins and sea turtles.

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China dismisses Mekong dam criticism at regional meeting

Rachel O'brien Yahoo News 5 Apr 10;

HUA HIN, Thailand (AFP) – China rejected criticism Monday of its dams on the shrinking Mekong River, telling Southeast Asian leaders that it was not to blame for a regional drought affecting millions of people.

At a landmark meeting with the heads of four Southeast Asian nations, Beijing's Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao denied activists' criticism that the hydropower dams had exacerbated decades-low water levels downstream.

"Statistics show that the recent drought that hit the whole river basin is attributable to the extreme dry weather, and the water level decline of the Mekong River has nothing to do with the hydropower development," he said.

The leaders of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam -- the member-states of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) -- convened in the Thai coastal town of Hua Hin to discuss management of the river, on which more than 60 million people rely.

China -- itself suffering the worst drought in a century in its southwest, with more than 24 million people short of drinking water -- attended the talks as a dialogue partner of the MRC, as did military-ruled Myanmar.

"China itself is also a victim of the present severe drought," Song told the summit, where the four MRC states signed a treaty pledging to prioritise tackling climate change and responding to drought.

The so-called "Mighty Mekong" has dropped to its lowest level in 50 years in northern Thailand and Laos, alarming communities who depend on the critical waterway for food, transport, drinking water and irrigation.

More than 60 million people rely in some way on the river, which is the world's largest inland fishery, producing an annual estimated catch of 3.9 million tonnes, according to the MRC.

The commission has warned that the health of the Mekong Basin and the river's eco-systems could be threatened by proposed dams and expanding populations.

The abnormally low levels have raised fears over already endangered species such as the Mekong giant catfish.

At the first summit in the commission's 15-year history, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva warned the Mekong "will not survive" without good management.

"The Mekong River is being threatened by serious problems arising from both the unsustainable use of water and the effects of climate change," he said, adding the meeting was "an important wake-up call."

The Chinese delegation arrived Sunday and met for bilateral talks with MRC countries seeking more information about the economic power's dams, seen by activists as being behind the current water shortage.

In a bid to end speculation about its river projects, China -- which has eight planned or existing dams on the mainstream river -- recently agreed to share data from two stations during this dry season.

During the talks, Beijing offered to release further information from its mainstream dams -- which was hailed as a "significant step forward" by the MRC Secretariat's chief, Jeremy Bird.

Abhisit for his part said he hoped China's cooperation would become "more regular" in the future.

Priorities laid out in the summit's declaration included identifying the opportunities and challenges of hydropower and other infrastructure development in the Mekong Basin, as well as improvements in information sharing.

Environmentalist Anond Snidvongs, director of the Southeast Asia START Regional Centre, which researches environmental change, called for the data also to be made available to the general public and scientific communities.

Thailand invoked a tough security law and deployed thousands of troops in Hua Hin to ensure protesters did not disrupt the summit, in light of mass anti-government "Red Shirt" rallies in Bangkok since mid-March.

China says dams not to blame for low Mekong levels
Ambika Ahuja, Reuters 5 Apr 10;

HUA HIN, Thailand (Reuters) - China on Monday denied that its dams were reducing water levels on the Mekong River and blamed problems along the river on unusually dry weather, but it also offered to share more data with its neighbors.

Leaders of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, badly hit by the Mekong's biggest drop in water levels in decades, met in the Thai coastal town of Hua Hin to discuss management of Southeast Asia's longest waterway. Some 65 million people depend on the river.

China sent vice foreign minister Song Tao to rebut criticism of the eight hydropower dams it has built or is building in its south.

"Statistics show the recent drought that hit the whole river basin is attributable to the extreme dry weather, and the water level decline of the Mekong River has nothing to do with the hydropower development," Song said in an official statement after the meeting.

The Mekong originates in the Tibetan plateau and flows 4,800 km (2,980 miles) through rice-rich areas of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia before emptying into the South China Sea off Vietnam.

Song said southwestern China was suffering its worst drought in decades. Beijing says the drought has left about 18 million people and 11 million animals with insufficient drinking water and affects 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of crops.

Activists and environmentalists say China has not provided relevant data to assess the impact of the dams on water flows.

But Song said it had given rainy season data since 2003 and dry-season data from two hydrological stations since March in response to requests from its four downstream neighbors through the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission (MRC).

Environmental organizations in the lower Mekong basin, particularly in Thailand, have long accused China of a lack of transparency in water management policies.

In particular, they are demanding more detailed data from Xiaowan hydroelectric dam on the upper reaches of the Mekong. Xiaowan, China's second-largest hydroelectric station, began storing water in its reservoir last October.

Government officials in the four Mekong countries are more guarded in their comments, mindful of trade and investment flows.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters the dialogue with China had been positive, commending the powerful northern neighbor for cooperation and for providing data.

"The heart of effective management of the water is information sharing. I am optimistic it will become more systematic and more consistent. It will allow for more effective management of the river as well as building of trust," he said.

ONE STEP FORWARD

Activists said giving data was a step in the right direction.

"We need more and we need effective management of available data. But simply breaking that silence is progress for us after years of very little information on what's going on upstream," said Pianporn Deetes, spokeswoman for the Save the Mekong Coalition, an alliance of environmental groups.

But Pianporn said the water level problem could not be put down simply to drought and more cooperation was needed.

"If the dams don't contribute to the loss of water level, China should publicly release information on water level flows that goes back several decades, not just the latest."

Song said China had responded to the concerns of downstream countries, even at the expense of some hydropower projects.

To prevent any impact on fish migration, Beijing canceled one hydroelectric plant, the Mengsong, on the upper reaches, Song said, and it was planning to build a counter-regulation reservoir to prevent abnormal downstream fluctuations in water level.

(Editing by Alan Raybould and Ron Popeski)

Q+A: Is China to blame for the Mekong drying up?
Ambika Ahuja, Reuters 5 Apr 10;

HUA HIN, Thailand (Reuters) - Leaders of four countries hit by falling water levels in the Mekong river, Southeast Asia's longest waterway, meet on Monday with China, blamed by activists for squeezing the river with dams.

Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia have been affected by the Mekong's biggest drop in water levels in half a century.

Severe drought has played a part but conservationists say the problem has been exacerbated by hydropower dams, eight of which China has built or plans to build in its south.

The intergovernmental Mekong River Commission (MRC) was set up 15 years ago but the summit in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin is its most significant effort yet to tackle the crisis.

Beijing's vice foreign minister, Song Tao, is attending along with the prime ministers of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Here are some questions and answers about the crisis.

HOW BAD IS THE SITUATION ON THE MIGHTY MEKONG?

Originating in the Tibetan plateau and flowing through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia before emptying some 4,800 km (2,980 miles) later into the South China Sea off Vietnam, the Mekong is the lifeblood for some 65 million people.

The upper reaches in China are called the Lancang River, accounting for about 44 percent of its total length.

Water levels in the upper Mekong in China are lower than they were even in 1993 after a serious regional drought in 1992. Thai officials found the lowest level in 50 years at one point last month near Thailand's border with Laos.

Most of southwest China has suffered drought since November, leaving about 18 million people and 11 million animals without enough drinking water and affecting 4.3 million hectares (10.63 million acres) of crops in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

Tour boats and ferries came to a halt and cargo vessels have been stranded in Yunnan.

The crisis has also raised concern about falling fish stocks in one of the world's largest and most diverse inland fisheries.

In Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, drought has destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of farmland and officials warned rice production may decline. In the delta in Vietnam, low fresh water levels are forcing salt intrusion, destroying land.

WHAT'S CAUSING THE DRAMATIC DROP IN WATER LEVELS?

China blamed the drop in water levels downstream on severe drought, which saw an early end to the 2009 wet season as well as unusually low rainfall during the monsoons due to El Nino.

But non-governmental organizations and villagers in the lower stream say dams in China are contributing to the problem and accuse China of failing to provide adequate hydrological data.

NGOs, activists and some scientists say China's dams cause big fluctuations in water levels in the Mekong, disturbing the ecosystem and disrupting breeding and migratory patterns.

Beijing rejects claims it is choking off the water supply, saying that existing reservoirs are small and that the operation of hydropower stations and use of water for agricultural purposes upstream have little effect on water volume downstream.

Beijing said the existing dams retain only 4 percent of water flowing to the Mekong river.

Jeremy Bird, head of the MRC, based in the Laos capital, Vientiane, -- as well as Thai and Cambodian officials -- agrees with the Chinese, saying there is so far "no indication that the existence of dams upstream has made the situation more extreme than the natural case."

WHAT IS CHINA DOING TO ADDRESS ITS CRITICS?

Going on a public relations offensive, China has started providing daily dry-season data -- water levels, flows, rainfall -- from hydro-meteorological stations in Yunnan since March 22. Officials say China is ready for more cooperation to manage the river's resources jointly and has extended an invitation for MRC countries to visit its hydropower stations.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya says dialogue with China has been positive and that Beijing has shown itself willing to provide necessary data to its southern neighbors.

In general, Southeast Asian officials remain extremely careful in their public statements, putting a positive spin on cooperation with their influential northern neighbor.

Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand rely heavily on China for investment and trade.

WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED AFTER THE SUMMIT?

High on the agenda is better management of the regional waterway and the rapid fluctuation in water levels, which reached the highest in 30 years in 2008, causing flooding in Laos and northern Thailand, before the dramatic drop this dry season.

As the Himalayan glaciers shrink and more dams in the upper reaches begin operations, scientists warn disputes over water may worsen. Smith Dharmasaroja, director of Thailand's Disaster Warning Foundation, warned of the risk of geopolitical conflict.

"We may see more conflicts over water, especially if China continues to operate in a manner which is not transparent. Drought is highlighting diplomatic tension and difficulty in sharing resources with a powerful neighbor and it will get worse over the years."

(Editing by Alan Raybould)

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'We're depending on the heavens for our next bowl of rice'

Drought-hit south-west China faces tragedy if dry spell continues
Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief Straits Times 6 Apr 10;

CHUXIONG (YUNNAN): The Prosperity Pagoda overlooking Chuxiong city is a cruel reminder to residents that the heavens can sometimes heed their prayers only too well.

The seven-storey piece of architecture was first built during the Ming Dynasty as an offering to the gods to put an end to floods that had battered the town whenever the Longchuan River overflowed. That was about 500 years ago.

Now, the Longchuan is dry, Chuxiong is parched after six months without rain, and the pagoda has become a tower of irony.

If the heavens do not open up soon, tragedy could befall the half a million residents of this prefecture in south-western Yunnan province, more than a two-hour drive west of capital Kunming.

'May 20. That's the last day rain must come,' said Mr Li Xingzhou, the chief of Shiteng village. 'Or it would be too late for us to plant our summer crops.'

The village and other parts of the Chuxiong prefecture have seen their spring harvest almost completely wiped out as south-western China battles its most severe drought in nearly a century.

Wheat, rape plants and long beans have failed to make the cut, as the dry spell damaged at least 3 million hectares of crop land in Yunnan.

Large swathes of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and the Guangxi region also remained parched, with agricultural losses estimated at 23.7 billion yuan (S$4.8 billion) and about 24 million people hit by water shortage.

In Chuxiong city, within Chuxiong prefecture, urban folk have to live without water two days a week, as the local authorities turn off the taps. Saucemaker Chen Shunyi, 54, said: 'We used to shower twice a week, but now we do it just once. I have not even mopped my floor for the past month.'

In the villages, the conditions are much harsher. In Shiteng village, the government has been rationing drinking water too, with deliveries once every three days. Each household gets a vat.

'We have to use it very carefully or it will not be enough,' said farmer Zheng Mingying, 60, amid a very slight drizzle last Friday, which was the result of rainmaking efforts by the government, which tried to succeed where the gods have so far failed, shooting silver iodide into the air to induce rain.

The village received a little more water last month when the government drilled two emergency wells, part of 1,600 that have been dug across the drought zone.

The water holes have earned Shiteng a bit of a shine in the area, with farmers from neighbouring villages eagerly pointing this reporter in their direction to 'take a look at the wells'.

But village chief Li told The Straits Times that the wells can supply potable water to only half of its 1,000 households, and they are still desperately in need of external aid.

They have been preparing seedlings of tobacco and rice in tiny plots that are still arable, to be ready for the moment rain comes. Villagers are banking on the heavens to stick to its annual rain season timetable, opening its floodgates next month.

Still, there are fears that the summer rains might not fall. A senior drought relief official warned last week of no wet weather in the middle of next month. 'In the worst-case scenario, there would be no water supply. A dry spell will also emerge in north China, where spring drought occurs in nine out of every 10 years,' he told state-run newspaper China Daily.

If that happens, there could be a food crisis and prices of vegetables, which have already tripled in the last month in Chu-xiong prefecture, could soar even higher.

There could also be a larger outflow of farmers to the cities, forsaking the fields for a daily wage, no matter how low.

Mr Song Defu, 36, for instance, who has just returned home to prepare for the sowing season, is thinking of heading out again, back to back-breaking work at brick kilns.

He said: 'There are few people here because there is nothing left to do. More and more young men are leaving to be workers in the city. This drought has made it impossible for us to survive in the countryside.'

At the neighbouring field, Madam Luo Qiping, 38, one of four women tending to the farmland, pointed out that most of the men have gone to the cities to find work. She added: 'We are praying for rain to come soon, otherwise we are going to be in big trouble. We are now depending on the heavens for our next bowl of rice.'

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After Copenhagen setback, UN seeks way forward on climate

Richard Ingham Yahoo News 5 Apr 10;

PARIS (AFP) – Countries gather this week in the hope of erasing bitter memories of the Copenhagen summit and restoring faith in the battered UN process for combating climate change.

Negotiators meet in Bonn from Friday to Sunday for the first official talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since the strife-torn confab.

Their first job will be stocktaking: to see what place climate change now has on the world political agenda.

Disappointment or disillusion swept many capitals when 120 heads of state and government returned from Copenhagen after coming within an inch of a fiasco.

Over the past three months, political interest in climate change has ebbed, says Sebastien Genest, vice president of a green group, France Nature Environment.

"The summit prompted a widespread sense of failure and a kind of gloom," says Genest.

Moving to fill the vacuum are climate skeptics and pragmatists -- those who call for priority to domestic interests and the economy rather than carbon emissions.

On the table in Bonn will be how to breathe life into the summit's one solid outcome: the Copenhagen Accord.

The slender document was hastily crafted by the heads of 28 countries as the December 7-19 marathon wobbled on the brink of collapse.

It sets the goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), gathering rich and poor countries in action against carbon pollution.

It also promises 30 billion dollars (22 billion euros) for climate-vulnerable poor countries up to to 2012, and as much as 100 billion dollars annually by 2020.

The deal falls way short of the post-2012 treaty that was supposed to emerge from the two-year haggle which climaxed in Copenhagen.

Its many critics say it has no deadline or roadmap for reaching the warming target and its pledges are only voluntary.

It was not even endorsed at a UNFCCC plenary, given the raucous reception it got from left-leaning countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. So far, less than two-thirds of the UNFCCC parties have signed up to it.

Yet the Accord also has powerful supporters.

While acknowledging its flaws, they note it is the first to include advanced and emerging economies in specified emissions curbs.

And, they argue, it could provide the key to resolving climate financing, one of the thorniest problems in a post-2012 pact.

A big question in Bonn will be how to dovetail the Copenhagen Accord with the UNFCCC, so that money can be disbursed.

But negotiators will be unable to duck what went wrong at Copenhagen -- the cripplingly slow textual debate, the entrenched defence of national interests and the deep suspicion of rich countries among the developing bloc.

"The meeting... is going to be very important to rebuild confidence in the process, to rebuild confidence that the way forward will be open and transparent on the one hand, and efficient on the other," UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer says.

Many voices, such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy, are arguing for changes to the UNFCCC's labyrinthine, two-track negotiating process.

The final hours at Copenhagen showed how quickly things could move when handled by a small group, as opposed to gaining unanimity of all 194 parties in one go, they say.

The way forward could lie with a representative group which would advance on major issues and consult the full assembly, which would also vote on the outcome, according to this argument.

Some are looking closely at the G20, which accounts for rich and emerging economies that together account for some 80 percent of global emissions.

Lord Nicholas Stern, a top British economist, says the G20 has gained clout and credibility thanks to the financial crisis.

"We've essentially marginalised the G8 and replaced it with the G20," Stern said in an interview in Paris.

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Best of our wild blogs: 5 Apr 10

Murder in the name of Art??
from Butterflies of Singapore

SECORE Workshop - Coral spawning in Singapore (1-2 April 2010)
from Psychedelic Nature

New guided walk: Trees of the Fort 10 Apr (Sat)
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

Seringat-Kias in the mizzle
from wild shores of singapore and Singapore Nature

From Ascidians to Zoanthids: The Intertidal Zone of St. John’s Island from G33k5p34k's Blog

黄臀鹎 Yellow-vented bulbul@Chinese garden
from PurpleMangrove

Mangrove Pitta breeding: 3. Vigilance and parenting
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Monday Morgue: 5th April 2010
from The Lazy Lizard's Tales

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SHARKS ALIVE! See what Singapore supermarts are selling

Esther Au Yong, my paper AsiaOne 5 Apr 10;

A LONELY baby nurse shark in a tiny tank caught his eye - while he was in a branch of a well-known supermarket chain. It was being sold at $13.80 per kg at a Sheng Siong outlet in the east, while two others were being sold at $12.80 per kg.

Assistant manager Tay Zhi Qi, 29, was shocked to see the sharks, as well as sea anemone and clownfish, being kept in tanks in the supermarket. He told my paper: "The shark couldn't even move as it was slightly longer than the tank it was housed in. Is the sale of a "live" shark allowed?"

Indeed, the sale of such "live" wildlife is legal in Singapore. It is "driven by consumer demand", said a Sheng Siong supermarket spokesman.

She said: "Demand from consumers led us to bring in a wide variety of seafood, including "live" and fresh shark. As a retailer which caters to the daily needs of its customers, the things that we source for and bring in are all based on serving the needs and wants of consumers.

"As long as they are legal, of good quality, are safe for consumption, and command reasonable prices, we will give due consideration." But animal-welfare and conservation groups feel that the sale of sharks should be banned. Mr Louis Ng, the executive director of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, said: "This practice should be made illegal. Sheng Siong can also take the initiative as a socially responsible corporate citizen and stop the sale of sharks."

Under the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority's (AVA) Pet Shop Licence Conditions, pet shops are not allowed to sell fish with a large territorial range in their natural habitat, such as sharks and rays, he said.

He added: "We clearly acknowledge that it is detrimental to the welfare of sharks, to keep them in small tanks in pet shops, and it should similarly apply to the small tanks at the supermarkets." Animal activists are also concerned about the survival of shark species worldwide.

Ms Amy Ho, the managing director of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Singapore, said: "Our advice to the public is to avoid consuming sharks, especially young ones, and shark products, so as not to create demand, and not to aggravate the overfishing of these species. As consumers, you can make a difference through your choices and help safeguard marine life."

Last month, WWF launched the Singapore Seafood Guide, which advises consumers on the types of seafood to eat via a "traffic-light" system: Green means "recommended", yellow stands for "eat only occasionally" and red means "avoid". All sharks are labelled red. Mr Howard Shaw, the Singapore Environmental Council's executive director, said that, generally, "all wildlife should not be kept alive in tanks in supermarkets".

"It sends a wrong signal to the public that wildlife can be taken for granted," he said. AVA spokesman Goh Shih Yong said that AVA officers have investigated the matter. He said: "As the turnover rate of food fishes is quick, the important factors to consider for short-term housing are that the water quality is good and that the fishes are able to turn around.

"The shark on display is a nurse shark. It does not need to swim constantly, unlike other types of sharks. Nevertheless, as the size of this particular shark is too large for the tank, AVA officers requested that the manager of the outlet house it in a larger tank or to return it to the supplier."

On the anemone and clownfish, which are not for sale, Mr Goh said: "The management of Sheng Siong agreed to remove them from all its outlets." Last month, four species of sharks failed to get listed under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Appendix II, despite studies showing that their numbers were plunging due to a booming fin trade in Asia and demand for their meat in Europe.

Once a species has been listed in Appendix II, exporters need special permits before they can export it, and experts will regularly assess the population of the species to determine that trade in it is not detrimental to its survival.

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