Best of our wild blogs: 10 Apr 11

Observation Notes on the Variability of the Baron
from Butterflies of Singapore

Where's the Frogfish?!
from wild shores of singapore and Pulau Semakau checkup: corals, driftnets and more

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Best of our wild blogs: 9 Apr 11

Dealing with urban wildlife: A response to Frederick Ow
from Lazy Lizard's Tales

Talk at Teaching and Learning Centre, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 03 Mar 2011: 1200h from Otterman speaks

Moray eel at Tanah Merah!
from wild shores of singapore

Hunting octopus
from Compressed air junkie

Shameful slaughter of a Great Hornbill
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Aquaculture: where does the fish poop go?
from wild shores of singapore

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Flapping sounds give away bird smuggler

Andre Yeo Channel NewsAsia 8 Apr 11;

SINGAPORE: A car stopped at the Woodlands Checkpoint on Thursday by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers was found to have 240 Munia birds hidden under the passenger and driver seats.

ICA said in a statement on Friday that the Singapore-registered car was driven by a Singaporean man who looked nervous and avoided eye contact with ICA officers.

Checking the car, they heard flapping sounds from below the driver's seat and found the live birds, packed in plastic crates.

The 42-year-old man claimed he had bought the birds for religious purposes from a pet shop in Johor, Malaysia. The man, the birds and the vehicle, were referred to the Agri-food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) for further investigations.

The ICA and AVA would like to remind travellers against bringing live animals, birds and insects into Singapore without a proper permit.

The importation of any animals or live birds without an AVA permit is a violation of the Animals and Birds Act, which carries a maximum penalty of S$10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

-CNA/ac

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SCDF arms itself better against flash floods

Satish Cheney Channel NewsAsia 8 Apr 11;

SINGAPORE: In case of flash floods, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) wants to be even better prepared.

That was among key elements unveiled on Friday at its workplan for the year ahead.

Last year, Singapore experienced its worst flash floods in recent memory - including in some previously unaffected areas.

Not to be taken by surprise anymore, the SCDF has reviewed its equipment inventory, adding new ones that can tackle flood situations.

Among them are items such as personal flotation devices.

And to improve its response to flash floods, the SCDF has come up with a prototype of a multi-utility vehicle which can launch inflatable boats close to where people are trapped.

Minister of State for Home Affairs and Education Masagos Zulkifli welcomed the new equipment purchases and complimented the SCDF for being innovative.

He said: "You don't want to also over prepare by buying equipment that are configured for only one kind of emergency or one kind of situation. So for that purpose, the SCDF has been very innovative and creative to ensure that their vehicles are configurable and that the equipment can be deployed appropriately for the kind of emergencies we are likely to respond to."

Another innovation featured at the SCDF Workplan presentation is a Compressed Air Foam system which can put out fires about four times faster using using less water.

Also on show is a mechanical device that can assist in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). It delivers consistent chest compressions and will be fitted in 14 ambulances by June.

A nationwide programme was also launched on Friday to prepare Singapore families to take ownership and learn civil defence.

It will encourage residents to assess their household's level of emergency preparedness.

The project is a joint partnership involving SCDF, National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council and the People's Association.

- CNA/ir

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Time to step up clean-energy drive

The assumption of cheap conventional energy consumption is wrong and we can't wait for another energy shock to scramble for solutions.
Ron Mahabir Business Times 9 Apr 11;

ANYONE still keen on nuclear power generation after Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Idaho Falls and most recently Fukushima, should be encouraged to move their family within close proximity of the nearest nuclear power plant or radioactive waste disposal site.

The oil spill in the Gulf last year will result in hundreds of billions in clean up costs and years of lost revenue to local businesses. Significant changes in weather patterns have led to horrific floods in Pakistan and Queensland, destruction of crops and shortages of water.

Our consumption of conventional fuels comes at a huge cost that goes well beyond the per kilowatt hour price.

We have made significant progress in so many areas with advancements in technology, yet we are still in the dark ages where it relates to sourcing, generation, distribution and consumption of energy.

And we will remain in the dark and at the mercy of more resource-rich regimes until we truly commit to an accelerated and wide-ranging plan focused on efficiency, clean energy generation and alternative transport

What will it take though, for us to wake up to the economic, environmental, social and national security related costs of fossil fuel and nuclear consumption? We have entered an era of increasingly scarce resources with a planet that is many times oversubscribed. Not only do we have declining energy resources, but also we are facing crises in water, food production, pollution and climate change, all of which are fundamentally centred around energy.

We are making a major mistake in pricing resources on the basis of short-term supply and demand fundamentals without taking into account longer-term shortages and other environmental and social costs. The past century has been built on cheap conventional energy and despite all of the obvious warning signs we continue to use the same assumption of cheap resources.

Those nations that fully embrace cleaner, more sustainable and decentralised alternatives will dominate in the years ahead. Countries such as China, Germany, Israel, Korea and Sweden all get it because they realise that energy poses the greatest risk to their economic growth and political stability.

In fact, the 1973 oil crisis pushed Japan towards nuclear and coal as it was seemingly easier to obtain than oil from the Middle East. Now, as we have seen even those alternatives have significant pitfalls, and 'black swan' events keep showing up more often than we expect.

We have recently crossed a major tipping point in the energy sector. For three years in a row now, more than half of new power generation infrastructure installed annually in the US and Europe was renewable. Installed costs of clean power generation continue to decrease with improvements in technology and scale, while conventional power costs continue to increase.

Over recent years, we have seen impressive growth rates in areas such as wind and solar PV, but are we really making enough of an impact quickly enough to address the crises at hand?

Singapore, more than any other country, has no choice but to fully embrace the challenge of, and opportunity in, clean resources. Without any resources of our own and surrounded by countries that heavily subsidise fossil fuels and continue to demand more energy, Singapore needs to tap even further into its intellectual capital, governmental support, flexible business environment and ability to test-bed technologies and services.

With most major economic regions in the world distracted by unemployment and growing deficits, Singapore is extremely well positioned to take a leadership position in the new energy field.

But we can't make the mistake of having a 20-year view on this. We need to continue improving existing technologies and innovating new ones. We need the clean-energy equivalent of the Manhattan Project focused on this, looking into areas such as algae, ocean power, solar, capacitors and electric vehicles.

And, while philosophically subsidies are generally a bad idea, the incorrect assumption we are making in the pricing and supply of conventional fuels warrants support of clean technologies to accelerate advancement in technology and achieve scale.

Human ingenuity is at its best when economic incentives are there, but we do need to accept that the fundamental assumption of cheap conventional energy consumption is wrong. Those days are over and we can't wait for another energy shock to scramble for solutions.

Finally, we need to start factoring in the massive real costs that conventional fuels have on the environment and disasters like Fukushima as well as national security issues we are experiencing from tensions in the Middle East.

Resource scarcity and nationalism are approaching quickly, and the black swan is becoming more visible. Once you truly understand where we are headed, the solutions are not coming quickly enough. With kids of my own, the biggest question I ask myself is what kind of world are we creating for them?

Is Singapore sustainable in the longer-term? Will they have the same opportunities in a world centred on resources and geopolitical tensions?

While extremely sad, I hope we view the recent tragedies as a major wake up call. We have an opportunity to act now, but time is another rapidly declining precious resource.

The author is the founder and managing director of Asia Cleantech Capital

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Malaysian Underwater Parks To Be Reopened Soon

Bernama 9 Apr 11;

BESUT, April 9 (Bernama) -- Nine scuba diving sites in the vicinity of several islands in the country are expected to be re-opened soon.

The diving sites closed were located off Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Redang, Pulau Tenggol and those off Pahang and Kedah.

Last June, the marine parks were closed due to bleaching of coral reefs which were badly damaged as a result of changes in sea temperature at that time.

The coral reefs had recovered by between 90 and 100 per cent, said Malaysian Marine Parks director-general Dr Sukarno Wagiman.

In view of the recovery, he said the department had asked the natural resources and environment ministry to decide on the most suitable time to reopen the marine parks.

"According to the department's monitoring efforts, we find the condition of the sea water has improved, resulting in 90 to 100 per cent regeneration of the coral reefs," he told reporters here Saturday.

Earlier, Dr Sukarno had launched the Bank Rakyat corporate social service which involved anchoring three sunken automated teller machines and cleaning the beach at the Pulau Perhentian marine parks here.

At the function, the bank, and private entity Dorken Reef Resources which is involved in research and manufacture of ceramic artificial reefs, contributed 75 ceramic enviro-reefs and several machine components for use as artificial reef.

Previously, confiscated foreign fishing boats served as artificial reef to breed coral reef and marine life.

-- BERNAMA

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Thailand seizes 2,000 monitor lizards

Yahoo News 8 Apr 11;

BANGKOK (AFP) – Thailand said on Friday it had made its largest-ever seizure of monitor lizards after finding more than 2,000 of the reptiles being smuggled in a convoy of pick-up trucks heading for the capital.

The live Bengal monitors were found in plastic baskets on the back of three vehicles when they were stopped by authorities in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, south of Bangkok, on Thursday.

Customs officials, who put the estimated street value of the reptiles at 1.8 million baht ($60,000), said officials believe they were destined for Chinese customers.

"They are from Malaysia and transported through southern Thailand and northeastern Laos to China for eating," said Seree Thaijongrak, head of the customs investigation and suppression bureau.

"We knew there was a monitor lizard racket... this time it's the largest seizure ever," he said.

Wildlife anti-trafficking organisation Freeland said monitor lizards are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and are threatened with extinction.

International trade in the reptiles is banned and they are protected under Thai and Malaysian law.

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Collectors threaten world's carnivorous plants

Mark Kinver BBC News 8 Apr 11;

The collection of specimens from the wild is one of the main threats facing the world's carnivorous plants, a study has recorded.

It found that the most common threat was habitat loss, while other factors that threatened the plants included invasive species and pollution.

Half of the meat-eating plant species that had been assessed were listed as threatened, the research observed.

The findings will appear in the journal Biological Conservation.

Co-author David Jennings, a researcher from the University of South Florida, US, said he had been quite surprised to see overzealous collectors listed as a such a threat, especially as a growing number of places were monitoring poaching behaviour.

"But it is still a problem because many of these species are fairly slow growing," he told BBC News.

"Even though there are good alternatives, such as growing them in greenhouses or labs, people who are after a quick fix will just go out and take them because it can take several years for the plants to reach a decent size."

He added that carnivorous plants were targeted more than any other taxa, probably as a result of the plants' exotic appearance.

"It is pretty safe to say that they are one of the most charismatic group of plants - one of the reasons why they interest me is because they are quirky, intriguing and capture their prey."

Biologists suggest that the plants evolved the ability to capture prey as a way to adapt to living in moist, nutrient-poor soils.

Usual suspects

Loss of habitat is, unsurprisingly, the main threat to the plants.

"The habitats that the plants are found in are quite easily disturbed," Mr Jennings explained.

"A lot of these areas get drained and used for agricultural land and farming. Any sort of change in the water-table can really affect them."

He added that a number of species, especially pitcher plants found in South-East Asia, had a very limited distribution and were only found over a small area - for example, the foothills of just a few mountains.

"Many of them have very restricted ranges, which is why we think that many of them are found on the IUCN's endangered list."

Across the globe, there are about 600 known species of carnivorous plants, spread across 17 genera.

Writing in their paper, the researchers said that out of the 107 species to have been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), seven were listed as Critically Endangered; 11 Endangered, and a further 39 were listed as Vulnerable.

For their study, Mr Jennings and co-author Professor Jason Rohr gathered data on 48 species from nine genera.

When they examined the data collection, they said that they were surprised that pollution was considered to be such a problem for the plants.

"Habitat loss was not really that surprising because it is a major threat for many species, but pollution was quite surprising because it seems to have been listed as a threat without a lot of empirical evidence at this point," Mr Jennings said.

They found that 18 of the 48 species in their study were affected by pollution, such as urban waste, fertiliser and pesticide run-off.

"Some forms of pollution (such as herbicides) can be lethal to carnivorous plants directly, while other forms (such as nutrient additions) have a more indirect effect by degrading the habitat and making conditions more conducive for other plants," they explained.

Mr Jennings said that, as a group, carnivorous plants had been generally overlooked and more research and analysis was required, especially Africa and Australia, when there were very few records.

"We found next to nothing in terms of documentation for these regions, if though they are really diverse areas in terms of carnivorous plant species."

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Your number is up: Species doomed by mathematics

Kathy Marks The Independent 8 Apr 11;

It seems rather grim: a mathematical formula to calculate the probability of animals becoming extinct.

But its Australian creators say that it will aid any decisions on where to target resources – as well as helping to recognise species so close to the brink that they are beyond help.

The Red List of Threatened Species, produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), already ranks plants and animals in categories ranging from safe to critically endangered.

But it does not distinguish between species at the top and bottom of a category, which is where the new index – called Safe (Species Ability to Forestall Extinction) – comes in.

Devised by researchers from the University of Adelaide and James Cook University, in northern Queensland, Safe can determine how close a population is to its minimum viable size. Professor Cory Bradshaw, director of ecological modelling at Adelaide's Environment Institute, called it "the best predictor yet of the vulnerability of mammal species to extinction".

The issue is particularly sensitive in Australia, which has the world's worst record for mammal conservation. Of all the mammals that have disappeared in the past 200 years, nearly half were Australian.

The Safe index, detailed in a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, builds on previous studies into minimum population sizes required to survive in the wild. According to Professor Bradshaw, the tipping-point is 5,000; below that, the risk of extinction from extreme events such as bushfires or cyclones is much higher. Among the animals close to the tipping-point are the tiger and the African wild dog.

Professor Bradshaw acknowledged that, based on the index, some species – such as the Javan rhinoceros and the New Zealand kakapo, the world's largest parrot – might not be worth trying to save. There are just 40 to 60 rhinos left, and 120 or so kakapos.

"If an animal is so rare, and it's going to take a lot of money and resources and could be impossible to restore because the habitat is not there... it might not be worth saving," Professor Bradshaw told The Australian newspaper.

"It's controversial, but when you have a finite amount of resources, one species might be more likely to be brought back from the brink."

The index would assist "practitioners of conservation triage", he said, explaining that: "During wartime, medicos have to go out and say: 'Well, this guy's too far gone, we're not going to waste our time because there's too few of us.' So we have to say: 'These ones are probably too far gone.'"

The Safe index exposes subtleties within the Red List. Both the Javan rhino and Sumatran rhino are critically endangered, but while it may be too late to save the former, the latter – with a population of 220 to 275 – may still be capable of being rescued.

So it therefore makes no sense, argues Professor Bradshaw, to spend more on the Javan species, as is currently the case. "Not all critically endangered species are equal," he said.

To test their formula, designed to be used in conjunction with the Red List, researchers applied it to 95 mammal species. They found that nearly one-fifth were close to extinction, and more than half of those had populations that had already fallen to unsustainable levels.

The Australian animal species that may have to be "cut loose", based on the Safe index, include the hairy-nosed wombat, which is now a critically endangered mammal. The high extinction rate in Australia is believed to be mainly due to the introduction of feral cats and foxes.

Conservationists fear species index may lead to extinctions
ABC Net 8 Apr 11;

MARK COLVIN: Conservationists have criticised suggestions that some rescue programs for endangered species could and should be cut. Australian scientists have created a new tool which they say will help approach the conservation of threatened species in order of priority.

The index is a mathematical analysis that can be used to weigh up which creatures to bring back from the brink.

But it's worried Australian and foreign agencies which have been working to rescue vulnerable animals including the hairy nosed wombat. Adrienne Francis reports.

ADRIENNE FRANCIS: A new tool designed to improve conservation of vulnerable species has ignited concerns among some conservationists. Patrick Medway is the secretary of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia.

PATRICK MEDWAY: We could not accept that even any or some of these species should be allowed to become extinct. It would be against the grain of our members and our organisation who have worked so hard to save and conserve Australia's wildlife for the next generation.

ADRIENNE FRANCIS: The charitable organisation, staffed by volunteers has been working to rescue threatened species since 1909.

PATRICK MEDWAY: They used to shoot koalas, platypus, wombats and turn them into skins. Now we have gone past that, we've been able to get legislation through federal and state Parliament to protect Australia's wildlife.

To think that you might be allowed to, for some to become extinct, is contrary to what we would believe and what we would oppose.

ADRIENNE FRANCIS: The tool that has ignited this discontent was designed by a team of researchers from James Cook University and the University of Adelaide. They've created a 'SAFE index', which is a probability tool for conservation triage.

Co-author Corey Bradshaw says they based the index on existing research which suggests populations of less than 5,000 individuals are hard to rescue.

What are the Australian species that your index suggests we shouldn't save?

COREY BRADSHAW: Well you know I wouldn't go so far as to say we shouldn't save them but I mean if you take a strictly empirical view, you know things that are well below in sort of numbering in the hundreds; white footed rock rats, we've got certain types of hare wallabies, a lot of the smaller mammals that have been really nailed by feral predators like cats and foxes.

And in some cases it's probably not worthwhile putting a lot of effort because there's just no chance.

ADRIENNE FRANCIS: He says the WA dibbler and the hairy nosed wombat are among the Australian species where conservation is clearly not cost effective.

COREY BRADSHAW: Certain species like that, if they are truly numbering in the hundreds if not even lower than that, without a huge investment and a lot of time and effort they are pretty really probably not worth trying to throw too much at them.

ADRIENNE FRANCIS: The Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia strongly disagree. The society has been a long time advocate for efforts to increase the estimated 140 surviving northern hairy nosed wombats in central Queensland.

PATRICK MEDWAY: Now it's not a case of assessing it on a dollar basis. It's a commitment as a civil high group of people who do not want to have species go extinct on their watch.

ADRIENNE FRANCIS: That commitment is echoed among other conservation organisations. Dr Barry Trail is the director of the Australian arm of the US based philanthropic conservation organisation, the Pew Environment Group.

BARRY TRAIL: Unfortunately I do find is that there is a thread that has been coming up over the last few years of academics doing what I find is frankly a bit academic exercises, almost like a household budget showing oh this year we can't afford both a swimming pool and an overseas holiday, so we'll just go for the pool.

ADRIENNE FRANCIS: A spokeswomen for the Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke says the Government welcomes the new tool which could assist the identification and support the recovery of threatened species.

The Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia fears the index could be used by the Government to knife some project funding. But the Pew Environment Group remain optimistic that the public and other organisations will continue to give generously.

MARK COLVIN: Adrienne Francis.

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Population boom threatens Indonesia

Antara 8 Apr 11;

Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Head of the National Population and Family Planning Coordination Board (BKKBN) Sugiri Syarief has again warned of a possible population explosion threat.

"A population explosion will possibly happen in Indonesia if the government fails to control the pace of growth" Sugiri said here on Friday.

He explained that the total of Indonesian population at present is 237.6 million with its growth rate of 1.49 percent and it has caused a lot of problems related to garbage, floods, and even traffic jams.

According to him, the problem could get even worse if the possible population explosion was not overcome.

"Not to mention the difficulty of access to clean water, air, and other climate change issues. Then we can imagine what happens if the population continues to grow to reach 500 million people," Sugiri said.

He said it was possible for the population to grow if the government failed to suppress the rate of population increase.

"In the past ten years the population has increased by 1.49 percent to 32.7 million to be equal to the number of population in Canada and more than that of Malaysia," he said.

Sugiri added that if the population growth remained at 1.49 percent then it was predicted that in 2045 the population would reach 450 million people.

Therefore he said the government and the BKKBN are at present making every effort to revitalize family planning program and population issue to control its growth.(*)

Editor: Heru

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IUCN helps businesses value nature

IUCN 8 Apr 11;

Today, IUCN and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released a Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation (CEV) – a new message to enhance business understanding of the benefits and value of ecosystem services like fresh water, food, fibre and protection against natural disasters.

The economic value of nature and the services it provides us is enormous, but it is rarely taken into account in policies, financial systems and markets. The Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation (CEV) aims to enable companies to better understand the value of nature’s services that they affect and depend on. This will improve business decision-making by creating more alignment between businesses’ financial, ecological and social objectives.

“Consumers are demanding more sustainable products,” says Nathalie Olsen of IUCN’s Economics and Environment Programme. “Companies that are able to demonstrate that they invest in natural capital and measure and reduce their environmental footprint will reap significant advantages in the market place. The Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation can help provide information and insights about the value of ecosystem services in order to strengthen decision-making for both sound business decisions and more sustainable production.”

The Guide complements The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study, a key report released in October 2010 by the G8+5 Environment Ministers at the Convention on Biological Diversity summit in Japan. TEEB urges companies to support sustainable use and management of biodiversity as an integral part of their business plans. But businesses cannot manage what they don’t measure. With the CEV guide, they will be able to to value their ecosystem impacts, use and management.

“CEV allows business to fully recognize and value ecosystems and the services they deliver,“ said Björn Stigson, President of the WBCSD.

The guide was developed through an 18-month process of close collaboration with four partner organizations – International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Environmental Resources Management (ERM), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and IUCN Member World Resources Institute (WRI) – and businesses themselves. Fourteen WBCSD member companies ‘road-tested’ the guide, exploring and analyzing business risks and opportunities associated with ecosystems.

“IUCN’s work with Holcim suggests that expenditure on wetland restoration following extraction is an investment which pays dividends by ensuring continued access to minerals and a good corporate reputation”, said Nathalie Olsen. “This is essential to operate within communities which increasingly value their environment”.

IUCN also worked with Rio Tinto to investigate the value of forest ecosystems and the possibilities to capture it through innovative financial mechanisms such as Payments for Ecosystem Services and channel payments to communities affected by extractive industries, with the aim to develop sustainable livelihoods.

The Guide to Corporate Ecosystem Valuation (CEV) was unveiled today at a launch event in Geneva, Switzerland.

For a full copy of the guide: http://www.wbcsd.org/DocRoot/MFjSs2eRbr7dm6qV6efx/WBCSD_Guide_CEV_April_2011.pdf?bcsi_scan_F3293F689D82B9C2=0&bcsi_scan_filename=WBCSD_Guide_CEV_April_2011.pdf

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Drive to save Bangkok's old trees takes root

Young Thai professionals join hands to save Bangkok's ecosystem from urban sprawl
Nirmal Ghosh Straits Times 9 Apr 11;

BANGKOK: In my first year in Bangkok in 2003, a pair of giant squirrels would cross my balcony each morning to get to two big old rain trees in an empty plot next door. One day, men with chainsaws chopped down the trees and bulldozed the plot to make way for a hotel. I never saw the squirrels again.

My story is a familiar one in the Thai capital. Increasingly dense construction has crowded out nature in downtown areas, producing more traffic jams because more people with cars live in high-rise buildings. It also creates flooding problems because the plinths of many new buildings are higher than the narrow lanes.

And it destroys the last refuges of urban wildlife, a variety of birds and squirrels that live in the mini-ecosystems of big trees - like the banyan and rain trees.

The germ of a movement to save these trees, however, has now taken root. The Big Tree group was born inside a small design studio on a lane off busy Sukhumvit, when the young Thai designers there noticed several big, old trees at the top of their lane being marked to be chopped down to make way for a carpark of a massive new mall. There were dozens of trees big and small in the sprawling plot; the designers reckoned some were well over 60 years old.

Together with other concerned residents in the area, they approached the plot owner's son to persuade him to change the mall's layout and save the trees. He listened sympathetically, nodded a lot - but one day chopped all the trees down anyway.

That event just four months ago kick-started the group that today - based entirely on Internet social networking - has 13,000 members, with an active core of 30.

'To me, it is a question of protecting the value of a city. Big Tree is a stepping stone to more social or more civic responsibility,' co-founder Pongprom 'Joe' Yamarat, 38, an economist by training, said in an interview.

The group comprises fairly young professionals and not necessarily only misty eyed tree-huggers. Many are designers, architects and lawyers. Almost all are Thais. Every Saturday, they get together and go on a cycle tour of areas in the city, visiting landmark old trees in parks, Buddhist temples, universities and sprawling diplomatic compounds.

Outside these environs, old trees are endangered - mainly by the redevelopment of roads and booming real estate development.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) is generally pro-environment, but under current laws only trees deemed to have economic value - such as teak - are protected from chainsaws. The rest are fair game.

The Big Tree group plans to change that.

It began by simply inviting ideas - and they flew thick and fast. At least one proved a novel move: a contest to find the 'best tree' in Bangkok.

'This is the first time we are doing this (contest),' said Mr Pongprom. 'We want to build awareness first; then we want to push the authorities into planting more trees in the city.'

The contest has drawn an enthusiastic response, with more than 200 trees nominated for the award.

Members can see the nominated trees online and click on them to vote.

There is no paperwork involved, and it hardly costs any money.

Big Tree co-founder Oraya Satabutr, 43, a former English teacher at the elite Thammasat University, said: 'It is encouraging that young people are getting involved because they bring creativity to this.

'The older generation just thinks in terms of seminars and protests and lawsuits.'

One of the nominated trees is an ancient 'lamphu' - a mangrove species - a symbol of what Bangkok once was.

The more than a century-old tree stands in several feet of water at the edge of the Chao Phraya river at the park called Santichai Prakarn. Once there were many like it; the district of Banglamphu - the historic heart of Bangkok - was named after these trees.

The group members gathered at the spot on a recent Saturday to start their bicycle tour. A woman in her 30s - a teaching assistant - who was not even a member but had read about the event in the newspaper, turned up with her bicycle.

So did Dr Oy Kanjanavanit, an early member of the group. She also runs the Green World Foundation, which tries to make the general public conscious of their immediate environment and monitor it.

'It's about ecological literacy,' she explained.

Eventually, about 40 members turned up. Many brought their own bicycles; others used the BMA's bicycles at a stand at the park where one can 'rent' a bicycle by depositing one's passport.

Deputy Governor of Bangkok Porntep Techapai-bul, who is pro-cycling, joined them as they wound their way through the roads of the old city, visiting giant peepul and tamarind trees.

At one park, eight members linked hands to show how broad across the base a giant, old peepul tree was. In this park, two generations ago, royalty once threw extravagant parties, with guests relaxing under the shade of this same tree.

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