Malaysia: Green technology to power 11% of electricity generated nationwide by 2020

The Star 28 Sep 10;

MUAR: A target has been set for 2080 megawatts or 11% of all the electricity generated nationwide by 2020 to be sourced from environment-friendly renewable energy, said Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui.

This was in line with a framework of the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015) announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak which gave emphasis to the use of such energy, he added.

“Although the application of green technology is still new in our country, we should not lag in taking advantage of opportunities to introduce green technology products,” he added.

Chin said this in a speech at the opening of a new building of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in Jalan Temenggung, Muar, by the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, here yesterday.

The text of his speech was read out by the deputy minister, Noriah Kasnon.

Also present were the Tunku Mahkota of Johor, Tunku Ismail, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and TNB chairman Tan Sri Leo Moggie.

In Kuala Lumpur, Chin said public consultation was crucial before the country decide on having a nuclear power plant.

He added that a timeline from now until 2015 had been set to have nationwide consultations on the proposal.

“At the end of the day, if the public does not wish for a nuclear reactor, we will respect that decision,” he told reporters at the National Water and Utilities Summit here yesterday.

On another matter, Chin said Malaysians might have to bear with higher water tariffs in the future.

He added that state-owned water utility operators needed to repair or replace old water pipes, in which a substantial amount of expenditure would be needed.

Green light for green technology
New Straits Times 29 Sep 10;

AT last year's climate change summit in Copenhagen, Prime Minister Da-tuk Seri Najib Razak pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 40 per cent if there were green technologies and funding from the West.

The government set up a RM1.5 billion green technology funding scheme to encourage companies, especially in the energy, water and waste management industries, to use green technology.

It allocated RM20 million under the 2010 Budget to promote green awareness and lifestyle among consumers.

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui said the ministry had approved 10 per cent or RM104.8 million for six projects in the scheme.

"We are lagging behind Thailand and Singapore in green technology, which has a huge potential."

Chin blamed this on the lack of awareness among industry and consumers about environmental concerns such as inefficient energy use and carbon emissions.

The ministry will host the International Greentech & Eco-Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia next month. Its Dare to Dream challenge will encourage young minds to report on issues and suggest sustainable measures through green technology.

Malaysia Energy Centre chief operating officer Ahmad Zairin Ismail notes the potential of the green technology industry, which includes information and communication technology, transportation, buildings, water and waste water management, energy and manufacturing.

Najib said in his blog in May that the renewable energy sector could create at least 52,000 jobs by 2020.

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Sep 10

Down-under
from Psychedelic Nature

A quick look at Chek Jawa
from wild shores of singapore

Two prominent birds on Pulau Ubin – calls on movie clips
from Otterman speaks

Hornbill!
from Trek through Paradise

Some Sightings From Kusu Island
from colourful clouds

Feeding Spotted Dove: 10. More on eyelids
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Arachnophilia
from The annotated budak

Trash busters at Changi Beach Sites 3 and 4
from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

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Sea turtle watching in Malaysia by invitation

Ng Ai Fern The Star 28 Sep 10;

SEA turtles mating for long hours off Talang-Talang islands in the Talang-Satang National Park, one of the primary sites for turtle nesting in Sarawak, is an amazing sight for a privileged few.

“I thought there were turtles approaching the island. I walked to the beach and saw two pairs of turtles mating. It’s the greatest sight in the morning on a beautiful turtle island,” said Teresa Lim, a volunteer diver who stayed a night on the island recently for a reef cleaning project organised by Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC).

Another volunteer diver, Mark Justin, also reported that his group had spotted a pair of mating turtles underwater during their third reef monitoring dive.

As the islands are part of the totally protected area managed by SFC, the only way to see turtles nesting is to be among the invited few or to become one of the few privileged participants of a Turtle Adoption Programme.

Each year between May to September, female turtles will cross several hundred kilometres of ocean to return to the place where they hatched to lay eggs.

Female turtles normally mate with several male turtles near their nesting grounds, which is also where they hatched.

After crawling up the beach and digging a deep hole, they can lay up to 100 eggs. The eggs will hatch after 45 to 70 days.

“I once saw the same turtle coming back seven times to lay eggs in a year. Some of them come four to five times a year. I can tell by the tag on their flippers,” said, Abu Seman, 51, who has been working on the islands for about 12 years.

SFC has recorded a total of 9,980 mother turtles since 1996 and 755 nests at the island annually.

Most of the eggs collected by SFC will be incubated. However, among the hatchlings released, only one out of 1,000 will survive and reach maturity.

About 3mil hatchlings have been released in the past 40 years and only 3,244 mature turtles were produced.

“They grow very slowly in the wild, they usually make a long breeding migration of up to 3,000km from the feeding ground to a nesting beach,” said the park warden Tonny Ganyai.

Sea turtles are very sensitive and may return to the sea without nesting if they are disturbed while stranding or excavating the nest, explained Tonny.

The Turtle Adoption Programme was introduced to protect the turtles.

“There are only 12 slots each year and only six volunteers are allowed in each slot. Most of the participants are foreigners and we are always fully booked a year ahead,” said SFC general manager Wilfred Landong.

To adopt a turtle, a local would have to pay RM600 and a foreigner RM1,200.

Wilfred said SFC had limited tourism on the islands despite demands from the industry.

“Tourists coming, turtles going. This (turtle adoption programme) is the maximum level we can open the island for eco-tourism, not more than that. We do not allow day-trips as it would be too noisy, too many speed boats in the area will definitely drive the turtles away,” he said.

In the adoption programme which was launched in 2007, volunteers can actively participate in turtle conservation efforts from locating turtle landings, monitoring sea turtle nesting activities, tagging and measuring turtles, transferring eggs to hatchery, release hatchlings, data recording and other in-situ conservation activities.

Lim agreed with SFC that she and her group of nine other volunteer divers were privileged to stay overnight on the island and witness the reproduction of sea turtles without having to fight for the limited spots to join the adoption programme.

“The efforts done in turtle conversation is encouraging. The public should learn more about this programme and understand the life span of turtles, so they would know how important it is to stop buying or eating turtle eggs,” Lim said.

The group of volunteer divers also adopted a baby turtle for RM300 and a nest for RM100 to show their support to the conservation programme. The baby turtle was named, 1Malaysia, to commemorate the inaugural reef-cleaning project on the island.

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Gawking tourists give Bryde's whales the hump

Flood of boat tours in Gulf scare giant mammals away
Bangkok Post 26 Sep 10;

An influx of whale watchers to the upper Gulf of Thailand could scare the marine animals away from the ecologically fragile area, experts say.

Fishermen and villagers in the coastal provinces along the upper part of the gulf, including Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Samut Songkhram, and Phetchaburi, are familiar with the sight of Bryde's whales and Irrawaddy dolphins in the area.

However, since videos and pictures of the mammals swimming in the upper gulf off Phetchaburi coast appeared in the media last week, the number of whale watchers has drastically increased.

Conservation groups have started to worry about the impact of whale-watching activities on marine animals and have asked boat operators to proceed with caution. They say too many boats could disturb the whales' habitat.

"An increase in tourists might affect the Bryde's whales, especially mother whales and their offspring," said Vorapol Dounglomjan, leader of the Upper Gulf Conservation Network.

He said whale-watching guidelines are needed to prevent the activity harming marine life.

His group has proposed limiting whale and dolphin watchers to three or four locations to minimise the risk of disturbing the animals.

Boat operators would not be allowed to take tourists to other areas.

The group also proposed designating a 10.45 square kilometre area in the upper gulf as a conservation area which is off-limits to tourism activities.

The area covers mud flats and parts of the sea where marine animals go to feed. Migratory birds can also be found there.

''We need to provide some quiet zones for marine animals, especially whales and the dolphins, or we might not see them again,'' said Mr Vorapol.

Bad tourism management can lead to a decline in marine life.

In Chachoengsao province, the number of Irrawaddy dolphins has dropped after a boom in tourism.

Bancha Wadwaree, a seafood restaurant owner of Ban Klong Mai who provides a free boat service for Irrawaddy dolphin and Bryde's whale watchers, said the number of tourists booking boat trips had jumped sharply in recent weeks.

He played down the impact of whale-watching activities on marine life.

''We have a regulation that boat operators must not get too close to the whales.

''We will try our best to protect them since locals regard them as auspicious animals that will bring us luck,'' said Mr Bancha.

However, he agreed that strict regulations were needed if more boat service operators were to start work in the upper gulf as their activities could pose a threat to the ecological system.

Veera Plairaksa, vice-chairman of the Samut Sakhon-based Pantai Norasing Fishery Network, said fishermen and tourism operators in the upper gulf may announce closure of part of the gulf to allow the marine environment to recover.

''We don't want Thai waters to turn into a dead sea. We want to maintain fertility in the sea for succeeding generations of whale admirers,'' said Mr Veera.

Sombat Poovachiranon, chief of the Samut Sakhon-based marine and coastal resources research centre in the upper gulf, said marine biologists had been collecting data about the Bryde's whales and Irrawaddy dolphins to learn more about their habitats and feeding grounds.

About 100 Irrawaddy dolphins and 20 Bryde's whales live along the upper gulf.

''Sea water quality is a key to their survival. Our study found that Bryde's whales have moved away from the coast as sea water quality has deteriorated,'' he said. The whale-watching boom could also affect the animals, the official said.

He said tourist boats should stay at least 100 metres away from the whales. Boat engines must be turned off when boats draw close to the whales as engine noise could disturb the animals.

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Dolphin-stranding in the Philippines ‘unusually high’

Tonette Orejas Philippine Daily Inquirer 27 Sep 10;

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – More than 500 dolphins, whales and dugong (sea cows) were stranded on Philippine shores or swam in shallow waters in the last 11 years, producing several hotspots around the archipelago, according to the country’s first database on marine mammal-stranding from 1998 and 2009.

A team of 10 scientists, veterinarians and policymakers put the database together through a grant given by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. The international journal “Aquatic Mammals” published a paper summarizing its contents and findings.

Doctor Lemnuel Aragones, the team leader, said the Philippines was in a better situation now because it has a database as well as a response program. These, he said, were “often nonexistent in developing countries.”

Stranding happens when sea creatures that are sick, lost and weak take refuge on shores or when their remains are washed ashore, the team said.

The database documented 178 stranding incidents. In 163 incidents, the sea mammals were found to be alone or a few with calves. In 10 incidents, 36 creatures were seen in groups of two or up to 14. Five “out-of-habitat” stranding incidents, or when animals stayed near shores, counted 370, mostly dolphins in Pilar, Bataan, in February 2009.

On the average, 15 stranding incidents were reported yearly.

The database also included information on illegal fishing practices and environmental changes that caused what the team called “unusually high incidence of stranding.”

“It might be likely that the annual average number of stranding of 15 from 1998 to 2009 represents an underestimate in events because past incidents might have been unreported,” the team said.

At least 116 of 163 individually stranded dolphins, whales and dugong were found alive, a rate considered by local scientists to be high.

These animals might have sought refuge on the beach due to noise trauma from dynamite fishing, interactions with fish or biotoxins from harmful algal blooms, the team said. Countries like Thailand, Taiwan, South Australia and eastern United States had low live stranding cases, it said.

The stranding incidents happened mostly in Central Luzon, Central Visayas, the Ilocos and Bicol.

Zambales, Cagayan, Zamboanga City, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Pangasinan and Bataan are considered hotspots because of the frequency of stranding incidents there.

Some places are also considered hotspots because rare species retreated to their shores.

The Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus) was seen in Davao City. The first recorded specimen of the pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) was seen in Bulakan, Bulacan, while the highest number of stranding baleen whales was documented in Batangas.

It was through the database that the team validated that 23 of the 28 confirmed species of marine mammals in the Philippines had been stranded. These included the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), pygmy sperm whale and Longman’s beaked whale.

The database showed that the top five stranded species were the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra), Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) and common bottlenose dolphin (T. truncatus). Records showed seven stranding cases of dugong (Dugong dugon) since 2001.

Stranding happened throughout the year, but mostly during the northeast monsoon (amihan) season when winds caused strong water current from November to March.

Its members said it was not surprising to see stranded mammals in the country because the Philippine coastline stretches 36,289 kilometers.

The team collected the data from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, nongovernment groups, Museum of Natural History at UP Los Baños in Laguna, the private marine park Ocean Adventure in Zambales and incidents documented by team members.

Too few data are available before 1998, the oldest being that of the stranding of 12 sperm whales in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental in 1967, the team said.

It made a stranding report form to systematize the recording of incidents. It said the database confirmed the diversity of marine mammals in the Philippines and growing awareness of the public to help animals in need.

The database called attention to the plight of the Irrawaddy dolphin and dugong because these have been most endangered by human activities.

The team recommended the continued collection of comprehensive data to reach “greater accuracy in determining the possible causes of stranding [incidents] and the influence of human activities on these events.”

It urged further investigation on the impact of dynamite fishing and other causes of stranding.

The team suggested improving the response capability of communities and groups and opening facilities to support the rehabilitation of stranded marine animals. To date, Ocean Adventure is said to be the only place capable of doing that.

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Sinar Mas Says Audit Finds Greenpeace Report ‘False’

Fidelis E Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 27 Sep 10;

Jakarta. Jakarta-based Asia Pulp & Paper, a subsidiary of Sinar Mas Group, on Monday went on the counterattack, accusing Greenpeace of using false and misleading information to damage its credibility.

Greenpeace has accused APP of massive expansion in Indonesia, destroying peatlands and other unsustainable forestry practices.

In a statement, APP said an independent peer-reviewed audit released by consultancy ITS Global on Monday showed the environmental watchdog’s report “is highly misleading and simply not defensible,” citing ITS chief executive Alan Oxley.

According to the Melbourne-based ITS, which was commissioned by APP to conduct the audit, Greenpeace had in its report on APP provided unattributable quotes, maps that showed concessions that did not exist and used source material with high margins of error, trying to pass them off as facts.

However, Bustar Maitar, lead forest campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, dismissed ITS’s report, saying it was biased. “If they claim it’s an independent report, it’s a joke because Alan Oxley is speaking as an APP representative,” he said.

Oxley is well-known for his strong support of the palm-oil industry, which he says is an effective vehicle for relieving poverty in the developing world.

He was also a former Australian ambassador to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the precursor to the World Trade Organization.

When contacted by the Jakarta Globe, an ITS representative was unable to provide any details about the audit and did not respond to further questions submitted by e-mail.

Sinar Mas also commissioned a separate audit last month to analyze Greenpeace’s claims. British auditor BSI Group, however, complained that the company had misrepresented its findings.

BSI Group and Control Union Certification had found that some of Greenpeace’s claims were false or exaggerated, but also found that Sinar Mas had cleared high-value deep peatlands and 38,000 hectares of natural forest without conducting an impact assessment.

Last week, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, in apparent response to the BSI Group audit, publicly censured Sinar Mas Agro Resources & Technology for its practices.

The RSPO, a group of industry planters, green groups and palm oil buyers, said Smart was in “serious noncompliance” with its principles and criteria, and faced suspension or expulsion if it did not “take the necessary remedial actions.”

It was the first time that the RSPO had censured a member.

Greenpeace Slammed for Using 'False Data' on Sinar Mas: Report
Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 27 Sep 10;

Jakarta. Greenpeace on Monday rejected allegations of using "false and misleading information to attack a company's credibility," after an independent study questioned the environment watchdog's data.

International Trade Strategies Global, also known as ITS, conducted a peer-review on Greenpeace's report, "How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet."

The report was launched in July 2010, highlighting the environmentally devastating actions of one of the world's leading pulp and paper companies, Asia Pulp and Paper, also known as APP, owned by Sinar Mas.

"The evidence shows that Greenpeace provided quotes that don’t exist, maps that show concessions that don’t exist, and used source material with high margins of error that was cited as absolute fact," said Alan Oxley, chief executive office of the Melbourne-based ITS Global on the press release.

Oxley said the Greenpeace report was highly misleading and indefensible. In addition, the audit stated that a map in the Greenpeace report shows four concessions which don't exist.

“Sadly this is not an isolated incident. Greenpeace has exaggerated claims in the past.

"When we see reports like this with such obvious factual inaccuracies it makes us call into question the real Greenpeace agenda, risking the greater good to achieve its own political ends."

However, Bustar Maitar, team leader of Greenpeace SouthEast Asia, retaliated saying that the reviews were not independent considering the reviewer was allegedly paid by the company.

"If they claim it's an independent report, it's a joke because Alan Oxley is speaking as an APP representative," Bustar said.

Concerning the maps, he said the maps were based on data drawn from the government and the company's internal sources.

"So, if they said that those maps don't exist then they should have corrected the government and their own sources," he said.

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'Pollination crisis' hitting India's vegetable farmers

Mark Kinver BBC News 28 Sep 10;

A decline in pollinating insects in India is resulting in reduced vegetable yields and could limit people's access to a nutritional diet, a study warns.

Indian researchers said there was a "clear indication" that pollinator abundance was linked to productivity. They added that the loss of the natural service could have a long-term impact on the farming sector, which accounts for almost a fifth of the nation's GDP.

Globally, pollination is estimated to be worth £141bn ($224bn) each year.

The findings were presented at a recent British Ecological Society meeting, held at the University of Leeds.

Each year, India produces about 7.5 million tonnes of vegetables. This accounts for about 14% of the global total, making the nation second only to China in the world's vegetable production league table.
Lack of data

Despite the concern, no study had been done to assess directly the scale of the decline in natural pollinators, explained Parthiba Basu, from the University of Calcutta's Ecology Research Unit.
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"The ideal situation would have been if we were able to compare the overall pollinator abundance over the years, but that kind of data was just not available," he told BBC News.

Instead, his team compared the yields of pollinator-dependent crops with pollinator-independent crops.

"Data shows that the yields of pollinator-independent crops have continued to increase," Dr Basu said. "On the other hand, pollinator-dependent crops have levelled off."

He explained that certain crops did not depend on insects for pollination, including cereals. Instead, the plants used other mechanism - such as relying on the wind to carry the pollen.

However, many vegetables - such as pumpkin, squash, cucumber and gherkin - were reliant on insects, such as bees.

He added that the fall in yield per hectare was against the backdrop of a greater area being turned over to crop production each year.

In an attempt to identify an underlying cause for the pollinator decline, the team is carrying out a series of field experiments, comparing conventional agriculture with "ecological farming".

Defined as "a farming system that aims to develop an integrated, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable agricultural production system", ecological farming is almost a hybrid of conventional and organic farming, looking to capitalise on returns from modern farming methods as well as drawing on natural ecological services, such as pollination.

Dr Basu said: "There is an obvious indication that within the ecological farming setting, there is pollinator abundance. This method typically provides the habitats for natural pollinators - this is the way forward."

He added that if the team's findings were extrapolated, this would offer a "clear indication" that India was facing a decline in natural pollinators, as ecological farming was only practiced on about 10-20% of the country's arable land.

Figures show that agriculture accounts for almost one-fifth of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), compared with the global average of just 6%. The sector also provides livelihoods for more than half of India's 1.2 billion population.
Troubling times

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that of the slightly more than 100 crop species that provide 90% of food supplies for 146 countries, 71 are bee-pollinated, primarily by wild bees, and a number of others are pollinated by other insects.

In order to gain a clear insight into the scale of the global problem, the FAO has established the International Pollinators Initiative, which includes a project involving seven nations (India is among them) with the aim of identifying practices and building capacity in the management of pollination services.

In a 2007 assessment of the scientific data on the issue, the UN Environment Programme observed: "Any loss in biodiversity is a matter of public concern, but losses of pollinating insects may be particularly troublesome because of the potential effects on plant reproduction and hence on food supply security."

Dr Basu said food security was unlikely to be the main consequence facing India.

"There has been a debate within India about this, but most of the cereal crops are not pollinator dependent, so if there is a pollination crisis it is not going to affect food security as such.

"What is going to be affected is nutritional security."

The concept of food security was first established by a FAO committee in 1983. Nutritional security was soon added as a key pillar to ensure "access by all people at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life".

Dr Basu said that vegetables such as pumpkins, squash, cucumber, and gherkins were "quite substantial" in terms of delivering necessary nutrients to the population.

"But there are many other vegetable crops that are eaten by people who are around the poverty level, so-called minor vegetable crops like eggplant, for which is there is no or very little data," he explained.

About a quarter of India's population is believed to live below the poverty level, which - under the UN's Millennium Development Goals - refers to people who live on less than US$1 a day.
Uncertain times

In industrialised nations, such as the US and in Europe, many farms employ the services of commercial hives to pollinate fruit trees and food crops, and ensure they harvest adequate yields.

But Dr Basu said the use of domesticated bees in this context was not widespread in South Asia.

"There are honey farmers, but using hives in the field to pollinate crops is not at all common in India," he said.

"That is why a lot of the political noise about a global pollination crisis came from the US and Europe, because their managed/domesticated bee population was declining."

In 2007, about one third of the US domesticated bee population was wiped out as a result of a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), with some commercial hive owners losing up to 90% of their bees.

The exact cause remains a mystery, and last year a number of UK agencies - including the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) - began a £10m project to help identify the main threat to bees and other insect pollinators.

A number of possible causes have been suggested, including the misuse of pesticides, habitat loss and fragmentation, and the spread of parasites and diseases.

Dr Basu said that as a result of his team's field experiments, it was clear that India too was experiencing a decline.

However, he cautioned: "There are many kinds of natural pollinators. As a result, we - not only in India, but in other parts of the world - do not really know what is happening to natural pollinator populations."

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Palau, at risk from rising seas, aims to drill for oil

Justin Nobel Reuters AlertNet 27 Sep 10;

Palau is a paradox: The low-lying Pacific island nation is threatened by climate change but may soon be drilling for oil.

Seismic tests in the 1970s indicated the presence of petroleum but exploratory wells were never dug. Now, President Johnson Toribiong is pushing for exploration, hopeful oil will bring cheaper fuel, revenue and jobs.

"Right now we are importing fossil fuel and that is very, very expensive," Toribiong said in a telephone interview. "If we find oil we will use the proceeds to make Palau a green country."

Many island nations around the world are looking for creative solutions to a pending crisis - predicted boosts in sea level, associated with climate change, that could ruin their drinking water supplies and crops, put them at greater risk from storms and tidal surges and, in some cases, submerge their homelands entirely.

Officials in Kiribati, a group of Pacific Ocean atolls, are trying to train their young people as nurses and other sought-after professions, in hope they - and eventually their families - can migrate legally to other countries, particularly Australia. The president of the Maldives is exploring buying land elsewhere - perhaps in India or Sri Lanka - to accommodate an eventual wholesale migration.

Other island officials think finding ways to improve the economic plight of their people will give them more resources and options to adapt to the coming changes.

Palau, however, may be the only imperiled island nation aiming to raise needed funds by pumping oil, which when burned boosts carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and drives climate change.

Toribiong, Palau's president, established the world's first shark sanctuary in Palau but also, prior to becoming president in 2009, did legal work for Palau Pacific Exploration (PPX), the Australia- and U.S.-based company now drilling for oil.

His position on drilling is in marked contrast to that of Tommy Remengesau Jr., Palau's former president, who launched a project called the Micronesia Challenge to conserve 30 percent of Palau's near-shore marine resources by 2020 and was cited by Time magazine in 2007 as a "Hero of the environment" for trumpeting the threat of climate change. Presently, he is a member of Palau's Congress.

The island's Congress has criticized the President's contract with PPX, which gives the company until May 2011 to drill two exploratory wells and which Toribiong signed before giving Congress a chance to draft legislation guiding the development of petroleum resources.

Palau is now working with the World Bank to craft such legislation, which will ensure that as the country pursues an oil economy, social and environmental concerns are considered and a means for the fair distribution of profits is set up.

'I HOPE WE DON'T HAVE TO DRILL'

"In the end I hope we don't have to drill," said Noah Idechong, a renown marine conservationist who is now a leading member of Congress. "But I kind of sat down myself and realized that if you don't get the legislation done right it will pop up in the future and we won't be able to control it."

Some analysts question why the World Bank is helping Palau develop fossil fuel resources when the island's very existence is threatened by the burning of them.

"It is gut-wrenching and kind of sickening that Palau has been put in this position by those who have developed on the backs of the country's future," said Janet Redman, a sustainable energy researcher with the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. "We are contributing to the process of an entire country disappearing."

When asked why the World Bank was helping Palau pursue oil, Silvana Tordo, the lead energy economist in the World Bank's oil, gas and mining policy division replied: "The choice of developing Palau's resources is theirs, not ours. They will develop them with or without World Bank assistance. It is therefore important for the Bank to be part of the dialogue."

Palau has 16 states and a complex system of governance that includes both state- and nationally-elected officials and traditional chiefs. Nearly two-thirds of the country's 21,000 people, and most of its hotels and institutions are in the capital state of Koror.

The oil is located far from the capital, some 13 miles offshore from the remote state of Kayangel, a sandy reef-ringed isle of sparse tribal villages.

"Kayangel is not like Koror," said Kayangel Governor Edwin Chokai. "They have a lot of jobs over there; over here we don't have a lot of jobs, so over here we want to start the [oil] project so we can help the people of Kayangel."

But even President Toribiong worries about what oil might bring.

"I am concerned. It is easy for people to be friendly in advance, but once you get the money greed sets in and shysters and phony consultants come," Toribiong said. "Kayangel is a simple state, and these are not sophisticated people."

Justin Nobel has reported on science and culture in Nunavik, Micronesia and northern California, and has on ongoing interest in climate issues in the South Pacific.

Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.

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Greening the high-street: big brands and the eco-revolution

Emma Charlton Yahoo News 27 Sep 10;

PARIS (AFP) – Poisonous pesticides, soil pollution and water waste: high-street fashion has a lot to answer for in the environmental game. But can big brands use their global clout to drive the green revolution?

If green is the new black on the high-street, then global retailers are lining up to parade their eco-credentials, from Marks and Spencers in Britain, to sportswear behemoth Nike or the fashion giant H&M.

"There's a paradigm shift in the textile sector," John Mowbray, editor of the green trends magazine Ecotextile, told AFP at the Texworld trade fair in Paris this month.

"Three years ago sustainability was not on the agenda" he says. "Now a lot of retailers and brands want to move regardless of what their suppliers think. They think consumers want transparency. Brands are driving change."

Sourcing cleaner fabrics -- from organic yarns to recycled polyester -- and rooting out sweatshop practices in Asia and elsewhere are the twin planks of the sustainability mantra adopted by many of the West's top brands.

And the most visible example of this is organic cotton.

Until recently an expensive rarity, organic cotton t-shirts are cropping up on supermarket and bargain retail shelves, from Tesco or Topshop in Britain to Auchan in France or Primark in the United States.

Global retail sales of organic cotton apparel and home textile goods have been soaring 40 percent per year since 2001, according to the Organic Exchange (OE) non-profit group.

The world's top 10 organic-cotton using brands last year, according to the OE, reads like a Who's Who of the high-street fashion and sports industry, including C&A, Nike, Walmart, H&M, Levi Strauss & Co and Adidas.

The global organic cotton market is still a baby, making up one percent of the total harvest. But the market is booming -- and the growth appears recession-proof.

Organic cotton production grew 20 percent in 2008/09 over 2007/08, across India, Turkey, Pakistan and 19 other countries, with growth forecast to continue at 20 to 40 percent through 2011.

Last year, even as the economic slowdown sliced seven percent off the global apparel and textiles market, the organic segment grew by 35 percent, with sales of 4.3 billion dollars.

"We weren't affected by the crisis," said H.L. Ding, a Chinese entrepreneur whose natural fibre firm Hemp Fortex turned over 10 million dollars in 2009 selling to the likes of Walmart.

"We're a small part of a market that's still growing."

Short of going organic, meanwhile, dozens of brands and retailers -- who together consume 15 percent of the world's cotton -- have signed up to a global scheme called the Better Cotton Initiative.

Aiming to cut water and soil pollution while battling child and bonded labour, it involves 100,000 cotton farmers in China, Central Asia, Brazil and West and Central Africa.

Retail giants Ikea and Levi Strauss sit on the council of the scheme, whose first crop is set for harvest in the coming months.

-- 'Organic cotton, yes, but at what price?' --

So the figures are impressive. But how much is this really doing to reduce the industry's ethical footprint? Is this real change or mere "greenwashing"?

"Sure, they are buying organic cotton, but at what price, and how is it made?" warned Isabel Quehe, founder of the Ethical Fashion Show which was holding its seventh edition in Paris this week.

Looking beyond fabrics, "consumers need to think about where their clothes come from, whether the person who made them was paid a living wage."

Just this week, a report in France's Liberation newspaper exposed the "prison-like" conditions in a textile complex in southern India that supplies many of the West's top brands, like Gap or H&M.

"I saw an organic t-shirt selling for 2.90 euros -- at that kind of price you can only be producing it in terrible conditions," said Christan Tournafol, one of the designers at the Paris show whose label Les Racines du Ciel sources organic fibres around the world.

But there was also evidence at the Texworld fair that support from big retail partners is helping green, ethical suppliers to thrive.

Some 120 certified organic and fair-trade fabric suppliers made the trip to Paris this year -- double the number a year ago.

"It's not easy for companies to transform themselves," says Bernd Muller, in charge of sustainable textiles at the show.

"There have been problems with whole villages who converted to organic, and ended up with unsold cotton on their hands," added the fair's managing director Marie-Armelle de Bouteiller.

A case in point: JCT Limited ships a million yards of organic yarn each year from the Indian Punjab to clients including Nike and Decathlon.

Under a lock-in deal with Nike, it says it plans to convert huge acreage to organic farming within three years, educating farmers about the technique and pledging to buy their whole crop.

OE research also suggests that organic cotton is being spurred by "strong commitment and support from brands".

"Big companies always tread very carefully but once they feel its right for the market, it can be really big," agreed Hemp Fortex's Ding. "They are taking serious steps."

Quehe believes it is easier for a small firm to be truly ethical, by keeping watch on environmental and labour practices all along its supply chain.

But she concedes that "large firms have the power to set an example."

"Change has been set in motion on a global scale. And the more of us there are, the better."

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Best of our wild blogs: 27 Sep 10

The wonderful spirit of the Independents @ Sungei Ubin
from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

ICCS 2010 @ Kranji bund
from isn't it a wonder, how life came to be

Nothing but lice
from The annotated budak

A Quiet Morning @ Wild Wild West
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

小逛裕廊湖 Jurong Lake
from PurpleMangrove

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Singapore-Johor eco-tourism package deal

Singapore and Malaysia are in talks to link Sungei Buloh with 3 Johor sites rich in biodiversity
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 27 Sep 10;

THE sleepy seaside village of Kukup, a short hop across the Causeway, stirs to life only on weekends when tourists descend on its famous seafood eateries.

But all that could change if an eco-tourism project combining the lure of Malaysia's biodiversity spots with Singapore's Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve takes off.

The two countries are in talks to look at how three gazetted nature sites in Johor - Pulau Kukup, Tanjung Piai and Sungai Pulai - can be marketed with the popular Sungei Buloh wetlands, to tap the burgeoning eco-tourism market.

The 647ha Kukup island, a five-minute boat ride from the mainland, is one of three Ramsar-accredited nature reserves in Johor state teeming with rich

biodiversity such as flying foxes, bearded pigs and long-tailed macaques.

The title is granted by the Swiss-based Ramsar Convention Bureau to identify wetlands of international importance.

In total, Sungei Buloh with the three spots in Johor will mean more than 1,300ha of lush green reserves, full of flora and fauna, that can be managed holistically and can attract tourist dollars.

The tourism agencies of both countries are conducting a feasibility study, separated into four phases, which includes looking at the environmental impact of visitors on these sites and the best modes of transport between the spots, said Ms Jeannie Lim, tourism concept development director at the Singapore Tourism Board.

She added that Malaysia and Singapore are now studying examples of cross-boundary eco-tourism products overseas.

The collaboration, first mooted last year as part of Singapore's involvement in the Iskandar Malaysia development region, was reiterated during talks between the two countries' prime ministers last week.

The talks secured a historic land swop deal to settle the issue of Malayan Railway land in Singapore, and the leaders also agreed to cooperate on projects such as a rapid transit system link between Johor Baru and Singapore, and an iconic wellness project in Iskandar.

While the feasibility study is on, the lure of Kukup remains a cheap weekend getaway where a mere RM85 (S$36) gets a night's stay and three meals at one of the sprawling holiday chalets overlooking dozens of fish farms dotting the sea.

Fishing remains the main source of income for most locals here, but for years Kukup has crumbled under the weight of a declining fish industry. The busy Strait of Malacca is riven by pollution that has dwindled the supply of red snappers and garoupas in the waters. The issue has been compounded by soaring food prices and a weakening economy.

Kukup is expected to benefit greatly if the eco-tourism plan succeeds. So, too, is the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve here.

Already, more than 140,000 visitors passed through its gates last year, more than three times the number visiting the three Johor sites.

Tourism experts such as travel consultant Subaraj Rajathurai, 47, who for the past 20 years has toured the nature sites in Johor, sees the initiative between the two countries as a 'win-win' situation.

Singapore can leverage on its world-class hotels and efficient transport networks - attributes that already make it a strong tourist hub regionally, while tapping a market dominated by neighbours with bigger and lusher green spaces, he said.

'Many of the roads in Johor are narrow and riven with potholes. A lot of work must be done to make it more attractive to international tourists,' he added.

Experts point to a largely untapped market of eco-tourists who can be wooed - estimates put the number of bird watchers in the United States, for example, in the millions.

Then there are the environmental benefits. Protecting wetlands which are separated by small stretches of water could also slow the loss of mangroves and allow birds to migrate back and forth, noted Assistant Professor Edward Webb from the department of biology at the National University of Singapore.

He said: 'The old school way of managing ecosystems, in which each country takes care of its own spaces, is outdated.

'Ecosystems do not respect national boundaries.'

Biodiversity boost to sleepy spots
Straits Times 27 Sep 10;

Amresh Gunasingham susses out the three Johor sites, which may be linked with Sungei Buloh if an eco-tourism project between Malaysia and Singapore takes off.

SUNGEI BULOH

THREE decades ago, a visitor to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve would be greeted by a smattering of prawn ponds situated within acres of wasteland.

Today, through a concerted effort to protect the 138ha green space, which was gazetted as a nature reserve in 2002, the area now teems with a variety of flora and fauna, including more than 220 species of birds.

Concerns have been raised about the need to protect the site from excessive public exposure.

Some 140,000 visitors walked through the reserve's gates last year. To try and alleviate the crowds, the authorities want to lower the number to 100,000 by channelling some of them to a 38ha park that will be built soon surrounding the reserve.

Linked to the nearby Kranji trail, the new park will be replete with facilities such as observation pods, coastal boardwalks and wireless learning trails.

The prospect of developing a cross-border tourist attraction involving the reserve and the three Ramsar green spaces in Johor has caught the attention of researchers and nature enthusiasts alike.

'It makes both economic and ecological sense,' said Assistant Professor Edward Webb from the department of biology at the National University of Singapore.

SUNGAI PULAI

JOHOR is a state blessed with an abundance of natural wonders and Sungai Pulai is a good example.

Spanning 9ha, it is the second-largest mangrove area in the state and was gazetted by the state government in 1923, the first mangrove forest to receive that distinction.

For years, the reserve has played an important economic role in supplying wood products such as timber.

It is also home to the rare small tree, Avicennia lanata, and animals such as the smooth otter and flat-headed cat. Threatened bird species like the mangrove pitta are known to live there.

The reserve, much of which remains protected and open only to environmental groups and researchers, sits at the mouth of a lowland tropical river basin, teeming with animal life.

Yet over the years, the mangroves there, like those in the rest of Malaysia, have fallen victim to illegal logging, the clearing of upland vegetation and land reclamation.

It is estimated that, between 1980 and 1990, 12 per cent of the country's mangrove forests disappeared.

TANJUNG PIAI

LOCATED at the southern tip of Malaysia, the Tanjung Piai National Park is home to more than half of the 40 known freshwater mangrove species in the world.

Named after a local fern known as 'Paku

Piai', the park supports many threatened species, such as the pig-tailed macaque, and birds such as the mangrove pitta.

The site has been conferred the status of a state park for eco-tourism by the Johor government, meaning it is funded by an estimated RM5 million (S$2.15million) annual budget that is shared with four other such parks.

The park is easy to navigate - a raised boardwalk network runs through the mangroves, while an ample number of maps and directional signs are also provided.

The site already appears to be popular with Singaporean nature lovers and schools alike, with schools taking students on annual nature trails and rubbish clean-ups there. More than 70 per cent of the 35,000 visitors to Tanjung Piai annually are from overseas.

Said Mr Yeo Suay Hwee, a nature guide: 'The reserve supports 23 species of mangroves. Considering there are only 30 known freshwater mangrove species in the region, that is a substantial number.'

PULAU KUKUP

A CENTURY ago, the seaside town of Kukup in south-west Johor was a famed fishing hub. Yet, just a stone's throw away from its coast, the 647ha island of Pulau Kukup holds the distinction of being the world's second largest uninhabited mangrove forest.

Local legend has it that the island is cursed - it was once home to five celestial princesses until one of them committed the forbidden act of falling in love and eloped with a sailor.

Gazetted as a national park in 1997, the lack of human intervention has seen it become home to more that 70 bird species and 30 mangrove species, crabs and wild boars, while the mudflats are rich with shellfish.

A thriving marine cage industry exists in the coastal waters between the island and the mainland. Its geographical position enables it to shield the mainland from the elements.

'Kukup has huge mudflats, which are important for the stabilisation and maintenance of mangroves,' said assistant professor Edward Webb from the department of biology at the National University of Singapore.

However, the western part of the island has been eroding in the last 15 years, leading to some mangroves vanishing.

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UN biodiversity chief warns of 'difficult' North-South talks

Yahoo News 27 Sep 10;

MONTREAL (AFP) – Just a month before a major international meeting on biodiversity, talks remain "difficult" between northern and southern countries, the Convention on Biological Diversity chief said Saturday.

CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf noted that southern countries generally want northern countries to share with them the advantages they gain from exploiting national resources.

"These benefits can be monetary or non-monetary, such as technology transfers or sharing research results," Djoghlaf told AFP in an email exchange.

For their part, northern countries want to establish "clear procedures" in exporting countries, he added.

But neither group "has yet agreed on the reach of the (new) international regime or the type of measures that need to be taken to ensure that benefits are shared," the Montreal-based CBD chief acknowledged, before urging more "flexibility."

A meeting of the 193-nation CBD in Nagoya, Japan next month is due to discuss the question of how to pay for the "equitable sharing" of the benefits from natural resources.

But many experts and ministers say the world cannot afford to delay setting up a new panel to assess Earth's biodiversity, a plan that has bitterly divided world powers.

The mooted organization, the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), would list Earth's species at global and regional level, and spell out the value of them.

Yet Djoghlaf denied that the differences were prompting the global south to block the creation of the IPBES panel, which is slated to be modeled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"I was lucky to participate in several high level events on the IPBES and I can assure you that no developing country is opposed to this momentous idea," he added.

The CBD chief said "procedural errors" had damaged the credibility of the initiatives, noting that developing countries have requested that a decision be taken on the panel during the Nagoya meeting so that it may be approved by the UN General Assembly before the end of the current 65th session in December.

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