15-17 Jul (Fri-Sun): More biodiversity talks this weekend!
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!
Cannibals
from The annotated budak
Juvenile Asian Glossy Starlings begging to be fed
from Bird Ecology Study Group
brittlestar @ punggol - July 2011
from sgbeachbum
New articles on Nature in Singapore
from Raffles Museum News
Wildlife Research, Protection, and Legislation: A discussion with Dr. Jane Goodall from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS
Evelyn Lam, Lynda Hong Channel NewsAsia 12 Jul 11;
SINGAPORE: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said the number of animal abuse cases it handled this year went up by 10 per cent, as compared to last year.
And the number of animal abuse complaints last month reached a six-month high of 90.
SPCA also deals with an average of 600 abandoned animals every month.
But its current home can only house 180 animals.
SPCA's upcoming home in Sungei Tengah will have the capacity for more abandoned animals.
Bigger space also means higher overheads and the SPCA already exceeds its budget by S$2 million every year.
More volunteers will also be needed.
The number of animals adopted from the SPCA has remained steady at 85 animals a month.
SPCA does not expect the number of animals adopted from its shelter to change, as animal welfare groups have to compete with pet shops for potential pet owners.
Deirdre Moss, outgoing executive director of SPCA, said: "I think the adoption rate has been pretty stable for the past couple of years, or few years.
"Actually, I don't think it's going to increase greatly as long as we have so many pet shops selling animals.
"There's no limit on commercial breeding, and so animal welfare groups, in general, have to compete with these establishments."
And to prevent owners from abandoning pets, SPCA is looking to introduce new services when its Sungei Tengah home is operational.
Deirdre Moss said: "If they have a problem with their pets, maybe they can come in and consult us.
"In future, I hope we are going to have canine behavioural counsellors and in-house dog obedience trainers, where we want to provide solutions for people, who are thinking of giving up their pets or struggling to discipline their pets in terms of training.
"We would like to be a resource and we would like to offer it as a service."
- CNA/ck
Antara 12 Jul 11;
Liwa, Lampung (ANTARA News) - The regional government of West Lampung district, Lampung province, has not enough funds to re-green damaged coastal areas where turtles usually lay their eggs , a local marine affairs official said.
Head of the Marine and Fisheries Service of West Lampung Nata Djudin Amran said that because of the limited budget the regional government could not do much to re-green and repair areas damaged by abrasion.
He said that West Lampung had a stretch of 211.5 km of beaches, of which 100 km had so far become a place for turtles to lay their eggs. However, about 3.5 km of the 100 km stretches have been denuded and damaged due to abrasion.
It was recorded that there were four species of turtles that often landed on this beach to lay their eggs.
The four species are gray turtles, hawksbill turtles, green turtles and leather back turtles.
The number of the turtles has now declined to only165.
"Re-greening programs in the coastal areas must be carried out in order to attract turtles to lay their eggs. After all, the turtles would lay eggs on the site which is far from the conservation areas if re-greening is not conducted," H Ahyar (56), a turtle hatch activist in Sukamaju village, Ngambur subsdisrict.
He said that damage to the coastal areas threatened the population of turtles in West Lampung.
According to Nata Djudin, the regional government is now making its efforts to collect young mangroves to be planted in the coastal areas.
"This coastal areas are a turtle conservation location where all stakeholders should pay attention because otherwise turtle population in the area could become extinct," Nata said.
The coastal areas of West Lampung are designed to serve as a turtle conservation location for at least four species.
(Uu.A014/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Indonesia: Lampung Turtles On Brink Of Extinction Due To Coastal Damage
Bernama 12 Jul 11;
LIWA, LAMPUNG, July 12 (Bernama) -- The turtle population in West Lampung district, Lampung province, is on the brink of extinction due to coastal abrasion and lack of re-greening programs, a turtle lover activist said.
"West Lampung's coastal areas are damaged due to abrasion and lack of re-greening programmes so that turtles are discouraged to land on the beach to lay their eggs," H Ahyar (56), a turtle hatch activist in Sukamaju village, Ngambur subsdisrict, West Lampung, told Antara news agency on Monday.
He said that besides the unfavourable condition due to damaged to the coastal areas, turtle eggs were also prone to theft. Now only a small number of turtle eggs could be found at the beach.
"Re-greening programmes in the coastal areas must be carried out in order to attract turtles to lay their eggs. After all, the turtles would lay eggs far from the conservation areas if re-greening is not conducted," he said.
While, head of the Maritime and Fisheries Services of West Lampung, Nata Djudin Amran said that the government had no enough funds to carry out re-greening programs in the coastal areas.
He said that the limitation of budget has caused the regional government unable to do much.
The regional government, he said, was now making its efforts to collect young mangroves to be planted in the coastal areas.
"This coastal areas are a turtle conservation location where all stakeholders should pay attention because otherwise turtle population in the area could become extinct," Nata said.
The coastal areas of West Lampung are designed to serve as a turtle conservation location for at least four species, namely gray turtles, hawksbill turtles, green turtles and leather back turtles.
-- BERNAMA
Antara 12 Jul 11;
Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - Gunung Kidul district in Yogyakarta province, Central Java, plans to export long-tail monkeys (Macaca fascularis) to prevent their habitat in the region from becoming overpopulated.
The head of the district`s forestry and plantation service, Anik Indarwati, said in Wonosari here on Tuesday the district`s Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and administration had raised the issue of exporting the animals among others to China.
"The long tail monkey can be used in laboratory research and for experimental purposes," she said.
She said the BKSDA and the district administration still had difficulty exporting the animal because it had to be done through quarantines.
"The export destination country requires that the animal be quarantined first before being able to be used for research purposes and so the plan has not yet been implemented," she said.
Anik said the animal is not a rare animal and protected unlike orangutan of Sumatra.
She said the district administration had been overwhelmed by the fast increasing population of the animal and therefore had sought alternatives to solve the problem.
"The animal is not dangerous for men but damages agricultural plants," she said.
She said the Gunung Kidul district administration has taken efforts to reduce the population of the animal but its number was difficult to control.
"The animal is spreading in Tepus, Panggang, Purwosari, Paliyan, Semin, Girisubo, Ponjong and Wonosari sub-districts," she said.
She said the animal emerges during the dry season as water and food supply in their habitat drops and damages agricultural plants.
BKSDA veterinarian Yuni Tirtasari meanwhile said that the animal could produce polio vaccine.
"So far Biofarma Indonesia has been using the animal for research and test purposes," she said.
(Uu.H-YH/HAJM/S012)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Sam Yeh AFP Yahoo News 12 Jul 11;
Geckos in the Philippines are under increasing threat as demand intensifies from the Asia-wide alternative medicine trade that ravaged lizard numbers in neighbouring Malaysia, the government said Wednesday.
Trapping, selling or exporting geckos, regarded by some Asians as cure-alls, is punishable by hefty fines and jail terms of up to four years, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje warned in a statement.
"The law expressly provides that the collection, trade or transport of geckos without appropriate permits... is punishable by imprisonment of up to four years and a fine of up to 300,000 pesos (about $7,000)," he said.
Paje said the 300-gramme (10.6-ounce) tropical reptiles, known for their flamboyant skin hues and sticky footpads, now sold for 50,000 pesos each in a lucrative Asian market.
Population declines in the wild in countries such as Malaysia have forced traders and suppliers to source the carnivorous, usually night-feeding lizards from countries such as Thailand and the Philippines, Paje said.
Some folk healers in the Philippines are known to advise asthma sufferers to drink tap water sprinkled with pulverised, fried geckos.
"They play an important role in maintaining our fragile ecosystems," Paje said of the lizards, which mainly feed on insects and worms as well as moss.
Twenty-six gecko species are found only in the Philippines, which also has eight other varieties that are also found elsewhere, he added.
Some of the larger species hunt small birds and rodents, the ministry said.
Mark Kinver BBC News 12 Jul 11;
Plants in cities and towns make a major contribution towards removing carbon from the atmosphere, a study suggests.
The authors say the research is the first of its kind in Europe to quantify how much carbon is stored within this urban vegetation.
They add that the data are vital because local authorities are key in helping the UK reach its target of cutting CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050.
The findings will be published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
In this study, the researchers used information from satellite data and from field research to survey the amount of vegetation across Leicester - a city with a population of about 300,000 people.
The assessment included domestic gardens, public spaces, road verges and derelict industrial land.
The team estimated that 231,000 tonnes of carbon, equivalent to 3.16kg per square metre, was locked away in the city's vegetation - most of which was stored by trees.
"Large trees are particularly important carbon stores," said lead author Zoe Davies from the University of Kent.
"Most of the publicly owned land across Leicester is grassland.
"If just 10% of this was planted with trees, the existing carbon pool across the city could be increased by 12%."
Urban world
The researchers noted that during the past century, the planet's urban population grew ten-fold. Now more than than half of the world's population is living in urban areas.
As a result of this rapid expansion, urban areas continue to grow at a faster rate than any other land-use type.
Yet, the team observed: "Despite the importance of urbanisation as a major driver of land-use change, there have been surprisingly few attempts to explicitly quantify the provision of ecosystem services at a city-wide scale.
"This is likely to be a legacy of the perception that urban ecosystems have limited ecological value because they are heavily modified by humans and relatively small in size."
Dr Davies said current assessments hold that once land in the UK is classified as urban, its biological carbon density is assumed to be zero.
"Our study illustrates that this is not the case," she explained.
"There is a substantial pool of carbon locked away in the vegetation within a city - another reason why urban trees and green spaces should be valued."
The study is part of £2.5m project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), that is investigating the size of the urban carbon footprint.
The programme, involving five universities, is divided into four areas: domestic buildings, non-domestic buildings (offices, schools, factories etc), transport and biological sequestration.
The Star 12 Jul 11;
PETALING JAYA: The haze continued to shroud major parts of the country but the condition improved slightly by evening, thanks to stronger winds throughout the day.
Areas with moderate air quality readings of over 80 on the Air Pollutant Index (API) jumped from two at 5pm on Monday to nine at 11am Tuesday. However, this was reduced to six areas at 5pm.
Air quality improved with 76% or 38 areas recording moderate API readings at 5pm compared to 42 areas (82%) at 11am.
(A good reading is from 0-50, moderate 51-100, unhealthy 101-200, very unhealthy 201-299 and hazardous from 300 and above).
The worst-affected area was Bukit Rambai in Malacca which saw its readings hit near unhealthy levels when its API was 93 at 7am but this dropped to 89 at 11am and 81 at 5pm.
Poor visibility and skies chocked with smog were evident earlier in the day with many complaining of a burning smell. However, this improved as winds picked up.
While visibility was back to normal (more than 10km) in most parts, some areas still recorded poor to moderate visibility as of 8pm Tuesday including Butterworth (5km), Ipoh (4km) and Sitiawan, Perak (3km).
Skies were also clearer in the Klang Valley with visibility improving from between 3km and 6km earlier in the day to almost normal levels. Visibility in Petaling Jaya dipped to as low as 2km on Monday.
The Meteorological Department's Central Forecast Office said stronger wind speeds, especially at the upper surface level, caused the haze to disperse slightly yesterday afternoon.
"Wind patterns in peninsular Malaysia had remained consistent from a south-westerly direction.
"The weather should improve today (Wednesday) with rain expected in the evening in areas northward of Kuala Lumpur,” said a spokesman, adding that isolated rain was expected in Johor and Malacca.
According to a regional hazemap, the smoke plumes had shifted slightly away from the peninsula compared with Monday when it was part of the peninsula.
A spokesman from the PLUS Traffic Monitoring Centre said visibility along highways in the Klang Valley and the North South Expressway towards the north was reduced in the morning but improved in the evening although the haze was still present.
The Kuala Lumpur International Airport reported no delayed flights due to the haze while the Subang Airport control tower reported only one delayed flight due to haze and technical problems.
Indonesian news portal Media Indonesia reported Tuesday that the Kota Dumai area in Riau was still blanketed in smog from raging forest fires.
The southwest monsoons, which bring about drier conditions, will continue until September.
Rain to bring relief from haze
The Star 13 Jul 11;
GEORGE TOWN: Rain is expected over the next few days in Penang and that is good news as far as the haze is concerned.
A spokesman from the state Meteorological Department said the showers would help to clear the haze enveloping the state.
“Moreover, the numbers of hotspots has decreased in Indonesia,” he added.
He said visibility levels in the state yesterday improved from 8km at 8am to 9km from 1pm onwards in Bayan Lepas, and from 5km at 8am to 7km from 11am onwards in Butterworth.
A check with the Department of Environment website showed that the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading in Prai was 51 at 7am, increasing to 55 by 5pm.
The API reading in Seberang Jaya was recorded at 58 at 7am and rose to 61 by 5pm.
The reading at Universiti Sains Malaysia also showed a rise from 39 at 7am to 42 by 5pm.
Haze disrupts several flights
Roy See Wei Zhi, Ahmad Fairuz Othman and Jassmine Shadiqe
New Straits Times 12 Jul 11;
JOHOR BARU: The haze played havoc with flights at Sultan Ismail International Airport here yesterday morning when visibility on the runway dropped to a mere 20m.
A combination of haze and high moisture levels was identified as the cause for the low visibility which affected several flights.
Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Firefly flights were delayed for almost two hours.
A spokesman for Sultan Ismail International Airport said the overall visibility was about 300m and the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia had directed the airport to temporarily cease operations.
The first flight from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang to here, which was scheduled for take-off at 7.30am, was delayed for about two hours.
"Pilots reported that they could not see beyond 20m from the cockpit," said the spokesman.
"The haze lingered on the tarmac for almost two hours before it cleared and flight operations resumed."
Both AirAsia flights AK5442 to the Penang International Airport and AK5271 to the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) were scheduled to take off at 8.40am but were delayed until 10.20am and 10.24am respectively.
Firefly's FY2140 to Subang Airport was also grounded from 8.45am to 9.20am.
MAS flight MH1038, which was scheduled for departure at 8.50am, took off at 10.21am while flight MH1037 from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to here was delayed for more than an hour.
AirAsia flight AK5443 from Penang landed at Sultan Ismail International Airport at 9.50am instead of 8.15am while flight AK5270 from the LCCT was delayed for almost 11/2 hours.
Climate Reality Project aims to expose reality of global warming crisis and kicks off with a 24-hour live streamed event
Suzanne Goldenberg guardian.co.uk 12 Jul 11;
It should almost be called Inconvenient Truth 2.0. Five years after Al Gore launched his original documentary project, the former vice-president returned on Tuesday with a new campaign aimed at exposing the full scale of the climate crisis.
Gore's Climate Reality project announced it would kick off with a 24-hour live streamed event on 14 September. The day's events will include a new multimedia presentation by Gore that will "connect the dots" between extreme weather events and climate change, a statement said.
The campaign represents a modest comeback for Gore who has reduced his public profile on climate action in the past few years – probably out of consideration for the political consequences to his fellow Democrat Barack Obama.
It is being launched four years after Inconvenient Truth, based on Gore's climate change slide-show, won an Oscar for best documentary.
The project made Gore the most visible advocate for action on climate change in the US – but it also made him an even greater target for the oil and coal lobby and Republicans.
Republicans attacked Gore's calls for climate action as a symbol of government excess. In recent years, the new conservative majority in the house of representatives has gone even further, casting almost any sort of environmental issue – including even a move to energy-saving bulbs – as an assault on personal freedom.
But Gore came back into the spotlight last month in an essay in Rolling Stone in which he also accused Obama of failing to fight hard enough for climate action.
Tuesday's announcement, which echoed some of the themes in Gore's Rolling Stone piece, suggests the former vice-president thinks the time has come for a broader fightback.
"As the impacts of climate change are growing more prevalent, so is the resistance to finding the truth and implementing solutions. Just like the tobacco companies that spent decades in denial that smoking causes cancer, oil and coal companies are determined to sow denial and confusion about the science of climate change, ignore its impacts, and create apathy among our leaders," the release said.
"This event is the first step in a larger, multifaceted campaign to tell the truth about the climate crisis and reject the misinformation we hear every day."
Gore gave further details of the project in an interview with the climate blogger Joe Romm, saying the event would feature a new 30-minute slideshow with video on extreme weather events. Gore will host the event from New York City, but new content will be added to the slide show for the 24 locations used in each time zone.
"Each site where a presentation originates will have basically the same 30-minute slide show, but with slides used in each time zone that illustrate particular impacts and particular efforts towards solutions at the venue representing than that time zone. And then the second 30 minutes of each hour will include a panel discussion focused on the climate crisis and the solutions to it from the perspective of leaders and scientists and others in that particular location. So it will be a 24-hour event," he told Romm.
Sat 06 Aug 2011: Join us at the pre-National Day coastal cleanup @ Lim Chu Kang mangrove from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [4 - 10 Jul 2011]
from Green Business Times
Lazy Lizard's Links (8th July 2011)
from Lazy Lizard's Tales
Having a hoot with this cutie
from Life's Indulgences
Photography at a nature park
from Bird Ecology Study Group
burgundy anemones @ Punggol 01July2011
from sgbeachbum
Janice Tai Straits Times 12 Jul 11;
THE question of whether cats can be kept in Housing Board (HDB) flats will be among the issues tackled by an inter-agency task force led by the Ministry of National Development (MND).
The task force, which includes senior officials from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and the HDB, will begin work this month to review pet ownership and stray animal management policies.
The work, which will take four months, will focus on some key concerns and issues related to dogs and cats.
Currently, the HDB does not allow cats to be kept in its flats, and allows only one dog of an approved small breed per residential unit.
The announcement of the review by Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday comes about a month after a June 2 blog post by Mr Khaw Boon Wan.
The National Development Minister wrote then that he had asked the AVA to review its practice of culling stray cats.
He also tasked Brigadier-General (NS) Tan with working with the AVA, animal welfare groups and residents to 'forge a compassionate and mature approach' to the problem.
Speaking on the sidelines of his first official visit to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) yesterday, BG Tan said the impetus for the review came from the fact that pet ownership has gone up significantly over the years. The number of dog licences issued has increased from about 56,000 in 2008 to 59,000 last year.
Cats do not need to be licensed.
'So, I think it is important to now start focusing on going into a lot more details about the policies involved,' said BG Tan, who was at the SPCA to understand more about the work of the country's oldest animal welfare charity.
Noting that there had been tensions between animal lovers and others who may find animals a nuisance, he added: 'I think it is important for us to find out how to create a common space for people. It is not really about animals per se; it is really about the common space, the living environment that our people live in.'
The AVA received about 3,500 and 2,900 complaints on stray cats and stray dogs respectively last year.
The review will collect feedback from residents, town councils and animal welfare groups.
In addition, from this month, the AVA will pilot a Stray Cat Sterilisation Programme as an alternative means of managing the problem. It is a collaboration between the AVA, participating town councils and the Cat Welfare Society (CWS).
It will be carried out in specific zones under Sembawang-Nee Soon, Tampines, Ang Mo Kio and Marine Parade town councils.
The AVA will subsidise 50 per cent of sterilisation costs - up to $30 for male cats and $60 for females - and $20 to microchip the animal.
CWS will chip in with $10 for each cat, and the remaining amount will be borne by the caregiver - the person who feeds the cat and takes it for sterilisation.
The SPCA will subsidise 50 per cent of the sterilisation costs in the MacPherson division in Marine Parade.
The AVA had previously worked with animal welfare groups and town councils under a Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme to control the numbers through sterilisation and care of the sterilised animal by volunteers.
This scheme was terminated in 2003 as there was no reduction in the number of strays or complaints.
Animal welfare groups welcome the move to review policies.
'We have always believed that sterilisation was the more humane and effective approach to significantly reducing the stray cat population. Culling over decades has proven ineffective,' said Ms Deirdre Moss, outgoing executive director of SPCA.
Groups like CWS and Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (Acres) are happy that the public will be consulted, and that various agencies are working together in this review.
Mr Louis Ng, executive director of Acres, said: 'Members of the public want to be engaged in the policy formulation. The subsidy from AVA also helps to remove a huge burden for us so that more cats can be sterilised.'
It was also announced yesterday that the SPCA will be relocating in about three years to a 0.8ha site in Sungei Tengah.
The new site is double the size of its current Mount Vernon facility, which can house about 180 animals.
Taskforce to look into pet ownership, stray animal policies
Sara Grosse, Chitra Kumar Channel NewsAsia 11 Jul 11;
SINGAPORE: An inter-agency taskforce has been formed to conduct a four-month review that focuses on current pet ownership and stray animal management policies.
The taskforce comprises officials from the National Development Ministry (MND), the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
It will meet this month to discuss key concerns and issues related to cats and dogs.
The task force will gather feedback from Town Councils, residents and animal welfare groups.
Minister of State for National Development and Manpower, BG Tan Chuan-Jin, said: "It's important for us to figure out how to create a common space for people. So it's not really about animals per se, it's about the common space, the living environment that all of our people live in. As you know, in HDB flats, we all live in very close proximity."
Bank analyst Rufus Chan, 29, who currently does not own a pet, said: "I am not troubled by whatever concerns non-pet owners may have because animals are part of nature and have become a way of my life.
"I recently read they're looking to allow cats to be kept in HDB flats. I mean what took them so long to look into such matters?"
As part of the review, AVA will pilot a Stray Cat Sterilisation Programme (SCSP) as an alternative way of managing stray cats. AVA will subsidise 50 per cent of sterilisation costs and S$20 to microchip the cats.
This project is a joint collaboration between AVA, the town councils and the Cat Welfare Society. This is to better address issues such as abandoned pets, which contribute to the problem of stray cats.
It is also a move welcomed by the SPCA, which sees the number of stray cats it takes in decreasing due to sterilisation.
SPCA's Executive Director, Deirdre Moss, said: "If it picks up, and with government support, I think in the next few years you will see an even further drop, which means less animals need to be put down."
During the SARS period, AVA ceased sterilising cats. Since then, sterilisation was carried out with support from the Cat Welfare Society's reimbursement scheme and SPCA's sterilisation voucher scheme.
It is now important to bring the programme back, as there has been a surge in pet ownership. The programme will initially be carried out with the town councils of Sembawang-Nee Soon, Tampines, Ang Mo Kio and Marine Parade.
And town councils said they are willing to work with any organisation to ensure cats that have been sterilised, are later adopted.
Commenting on the Stray Cat Sterilisation Programme, cat owner Siti Abdullah, 25, said: "You can't go out and sterilise all the stray cats out there. There is a need to exercise a level of control.
"Unless there are too many stray cats in a particular neighbourhood and those residents call for such a SCSP programme to be implemented, there's no need to implement this programme. If the neighbourhood is happy living with stray cats, then focus on caring for them - like food and medical care."
- CNA/cc/ac/ck
Good move to set up animal task force
Straits Times 19 Jul 11;
LESS than a month after the first public forum on animal welfare policies in Singapore was held, the Ministry of National Development (MND) announced last Monday that it plans to form an inter-agency task force to review current pet ownership and stray animal management policies ('Task force to review pet ownership policies'; last Tuesday).
This is testament to the success of the forum organised by the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society, as well as MND's leadership in addressing public concerns by constructive dialogue.
The review will involve different stakeholders, from senior MND officials to residents. This is a departure from the way policies were developed and represents a move towards public engagement and more informed policymaking.
The review's ultimate objective of creating 'a conducive shared living environment for everyone' also shows MND's appreciation of the role animals - strays or pets - play towards a happier and more liveable society.
The inability of animals to communicate their suffering in words imposes on humans a higher moral obligation to discern their cries for help.
Mahatma Gandhi once said that the true nature of a community is revealed in the way it treats its animals. MND's commitment to have an extensive review of pet ownership and stray animal management policies represents a positive step.
Daisy Chee (Ms)
Valerie Tan Channel NewsAsia 11 Jul 11;
SINGAPORE: Rain water usually goes to the drain first after a downpour, but not along a stretch of road at the Dawson housing estate in Singapore.
Under a lush landscape of plants are what engineers call bio-retention basins, built earlier this year, to collect, and more importantly, clean rainwater.
Tay Bee Choo, Head of the Landscape Unit with the Housing & Development Board (HDB), said: "As the water runs towards these plants, these plants, have some fur, hairiness to it. It helps to trap silt. Then as the water settles into the pit, the roots in this pit will absorb the nutrients that is dissolved in the water."
What is then left is clean rainwater, which is collected and directed into the main drain.
Ms Tay added: "If we have more than an hour of rain, and the basin is full, the excess rain water will have a chance to flow into sumps. It's designed such that it is just below the level of the road and the footpath."
Even though man-made, these systems are essentially letting nature do its job by having the plants clean the water. The idea is not new and unique to Singapore, as it has been implemented in countries like Costa Rica, America and Australia.
But it is now adapted to Southeast Asia's tropical climate, with different soil and plants like the purple fountain grass.
Ms Tay said: "We barely need maintenance because if we choose the right type of plants, the only time you need to come in is when the plants overgrow, then you may need to trim it down."
There are now plans to build more of these basins in other parts of Singapore, starting with new roads and towns like for example, Choa Chu Kang.
-CNA/ac
Signs pointing to an imminent epidemic, say experts
Salma Khalik Straits Times 12 Jul 11;
SINGAPORE is going all out to prevent a dengue epidemic that could send hundreds of people to hospital.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) is sending out 1,000 officers daily to scour the island for possible mosquito breeding sites and to destroy them.
In spite of the heightened efforts, three people have already died of dengue so far this year, and about 800 hospitalised. Of the three who died, one had other medical problems. The other two were healthy adults in their 40s.
Last week, the number of new cases surged past the epidemic level, with 211 people infected. This is the highest weekly number in more than two years.
The good news is the numbers are still a far cry from the more than 700 infections a week during the peak of the last dengue epidemic in 2005. That year, 14,209 people fell ill, and 25 died.
Dengue is spread by the Aedes mosquito biting an infected person and passing the virus to other people it bites. Symptoms include a high fever, often coupled with a severe headache, rash, joint and muscle ache, and in some cases, pain behind the eyes and mild bleeding of the nose and gums.
Experts point to several factors that make an epidemic - which is when a disease spreads rapidly in the population - imminent.
One is that dengue epidemics come in five- to seven-year cycles, and it is now six years since the last epidemic in 2005. The recent rise in infections is a hint that things could get worse.
Another is that during the current warm season, mosquitoes mature faster, and the dengue virus replicates at a more frenetic rate.
Yet another reason is the predominant circulating strain of a dengue virus usually changes every three years - but this is the fourth year with the current Den-2 strain.
A switch to any of the other three dengue strains could trigger an epidemic, as people who have had dengue over the past four years are protected against only Den-2. This was why the NEA rushed to stop the small outbreak of Den-3 in Marsiling last month. Most people here have no protection against this strain.
Associate Professor Leo Yee Sin, who heads the Department of Infectious Diseases at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, noted that people who get dengue a second or third time have a higher risk of getting the more dangerous dengue hemorrhagic fever.
According to the Health Ministry, there has been 10 cases of hemorrhagic fever this year.
Lastly, due to the low rate of dengue in recent years compared to some decades ago or to neighbouring countries, Singapore's population lacks immunity and will be more susceptible to any outbreak.
The NEA explained that it now takes far fewer mosquitoes to start an outbreak. The spokesman said its teams are not just going to areas where dengue has surfaced, but also to estates which are clear of the disease to prevent it from taking root.
More breeding spots have been found in homes than in public areas or construction sites. Common sites for mosquito breeding are flower-pot holders, vases, bamboo-pole holders, unused pails and basins. All it takes is a teaspoonful of water for mosquitoes to breed.
The biggest dengue cluster now is at Jalan Kelichap and nearby Upper Paya Lebar Road, where 28 people are down with the disease. There was a new cluster of 10 cases yesterday at Paya Lebar Crescent and Lorong Ah Soo. Other active areas include Woodlands, Geylang, Joo Chiat, Ang Mo Kio and Hougang.
Prof Leo said the disease is more severe in the very young and very old.
'A higher proportion of younger patients develop dengue hemorrhagic fever, and we have more elderly die of dengue infection,' she said.
Patients with dengue tend to stay an average of four days in hospital, she added. And with most public hospitals facing a bed crunch, an epidemic could cause a severe bed shortage.
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