Seizures From Illegal Indonesian Loggers Show Deforestation Impact

Farouk Arnaz Jakarta Globe 27 Nov 11;

Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan. With millions of hectares of forests being cleared each year to make way for palm-oil plantations, even illegal loggers are now starting to see the impact of dwindling rainforests in Indonesia.

Unlike previous years when illegal loggers were spotted with top quality wood, the National Police this year have only been able to seize low quality goods during a series of raids conducted between Nov. 8 and Nov. 26.

“The quantity and quality of illegal logging has dropped significantly, but that’s because there isn’t as much forest area,” West Kalimantan police chief Brig. Gen. Unggung Cahyono said.

“We have been conducting a joint operation between the National Police and West Kalimantan Police in terms of enforcement, intelligence, preemptive and preventive measures designed to reduce deforestation and state losses.”

A total of eight suspects were arrested during the operation.

During the operation 6,300 logs of woods were confiscated, but they were mainly under 1 meter in diameter. It is estimated that the logs were worth Rp 1.5 billion to Rp 2.5 billion ($165,000 to $275,000).

The dwindling rate of illegal logging seems to confirm earlier estimates from the Indonesian Forestry Ministry that there is now less forest to log.

Indonesia had been losing 3.5 million hectares of forest per year since 2003, but this number was reduced to 1.1 million hectares in 2009 and 700,000 hectares in 2010.

Despite government efforts, Indonesia still has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, according to a survey released by British risk analysis and mapping firm Maplecroft last week.

Indonesia ranked second after Nigeria in terms of deforestation rate among the 180 countries surveyed.

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Indonesia: Torrential Rains and Flooding Kill Two in Riau

Jakarta Globe 27 Nov 11;

Pekanbaru, Riau. Torrential rains since Friday triggered widespread flooding and landslides in Kampar district in Riau, killing two people and rendering thousands homeless over the weekend.

Officials said the heavy rains caused the Kampar River to overflow and flood entire villages in the district.

Zurizal, the head of the Kampar Kiri Hulu subdistrict, said the flash flood claimed two lives in Gajah Batelut village when rising waters in the Sebayang River, an offshoot of the Kampar, swept away two members of the same family.

“Residents found the body of one of the victims at around 9 a.m. on Sunday,” Zurizal said, identifying the victim as Budi, 23.

The other person swept away was his 6-year-old niece, Naiada. Rescuers recovered her body later the same day.

The flash flood also destroyed hundreds of homes in 11 villages in the area, one of the worst-affected being Subayang Jaya village, where the spike in water level caused a reservoir to burst.

This also resulted in 4,000 meters worth of pipes, used for a clean water network, to burst. Elsewhere, the flooding destroyed at least five hectares of rubber plantations.

Some residents fleeing their inundated homes sought refuge on higher ground, but most returned after the water began subsiding on Saturday, prompting concerns about more fatalities should another flash flood occur.

Hamdi Hamid, a lecturer in social and environmental affairs at Riau University, urged the district administration to relocate villagers from the worst-hit areas for the time being.

“This is very important in light of the high potential for more flooding and landslides, which could lead to more loss of life,” he said.

“The residents shouldn’t be allowed to go back to their flooded homes just yet because a flash flood could spring up at any moment. The biggest risk is if it occurs late at night or just before dawn, when people are least prepared for it.”

Hamdi also called on the authorities to use the clean-up period as an opportunity to remap local zoning boundaries, pointing out there was no better time to identify which areas were at high risk from flooding and thus should be off-limits for human settlement.

“Re-zoning the area will be an important step in the district administration’s long-term disaster management policy,” he said.

The administration has come under fire for its late response to the disaster. Zurizal said that as of Saturday, the only aid supplies reaching the area were those supplied by political parties and companies.

“We’ve had bottled water and instant noodles brought in by the PPP [United Development Party] and the PKS [Prosperous Justice Party], as well as other items from RAPP [Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper],” he said.

Relief supplies from the administration began trickling in on Sunday.

Antara

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Australia: Isolated reefs ‘recover faster’

ScienceNetwork Science Alert 28 Nov 11;

A recent study published in CSIRO’s Marine & Freshwater Research reveals isolated reefs may have a better ability to regenerate compared to those closer to human activity.

The study focussed on WA’s Ashmore Reef, located on the north-west shelf, which is home to 275 species, making it one of the most diverse coral systems in the region.

Like many reefs in the Indian Ocean, it experienced severe bleaching in 1998 and 2003, resulting in extensive damage to its coral cover.

Researchers approached the study expecting to find little change between field results from 2006 and 2009, hypothesising that isolated coral systems would recover more slowly due to limited opportunities for larval replenishment from nearby reefs.

Counter to expectations, however, recovery at Ashmore Reef has been robust. From 2005 to 2009, the per cent cover of live hard coral tripled, while soft corals doubled, showing consistent replenishment at all six sites surveyed. These included exposed, sheltered and lagoonal habitats.

Explaining the original hypothesis, study co-author Dr Daniela Ceccarelli says, “When coral populations on a reef become severely depleted, that reef is unlikely to provide enough larvae for successful recovery.”

“The reef will rely on larval supply from elsewhere. [But] the findings of our study imply that a well-protected reef has a good chance of recovering from disturbances.”

The reason for this growth is tied to a combination of factors, including the reef’s structure, biodiversity and a reduction in stress from human activities.

“The resilience of Ashmore’s coral community is enhanced by isolation because it is far away from human pressures such as fishing, pollution and run-off from land,” says Dr Ceccarelli.

Ashmore was able to recover by self-recruitment and regrowth of fragments or colonies that suffered only partial mortality.

These included fast-growing pioneer coral such as Acropora and Montipora and surviving robust species such as Porites, which took longer to come back.

More generally, Dr Ceccarelli notes the complexity of a reef’s structure helps in recovery, as in theory, the more nooks and crannies it offers for different species to live in, the more biodiversity it can host and contribute to a reef’s recovery.

As to the application of her findings, Dr Ceccarelli offers a simple conclusion.

“If we want reefs to stay coral-dominated in the face of global climate change, we need to reduce the other things that have detrimental effects on reefs, especially extractive activities like fishing and activities that cause water quality to deteriorate.”

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Climate set to worsen food crises: Oxfam

AFP Yahoo News 28 Nov 11;

Storms and drought that have unleashed dangerous surges in food prices could be a "grim foretaste" of what lies ahead when climate change bites more deeply, Oxfam said on Monday.

In a report issued at the start of the UN climate talks here, the British charity pointed to spikes in wheat, corn and sorghum, triggered by extreme weather, that had driven tens of millions into poverty over the past 18 months.

"This will only get worse as climate change gathers pace and agriculture feels the heat," said Oxfam's Kelly Dent.

"When a weather event drives local or regional price spikes, poor people often face a double shock.

"They have to cope with higher food prices at a time when extreme weather may have also killed their livestock, destroyed their home or farm."

In 2010, a heatwave in Russia and Ukraine sparked a rise of 60 to 80 percent in global wheat prices in three months, reaching 85 percent in April 2011, Oxfam said.

In July 2011, the price of sorghum was 393 percent higher in Somalia, while corn (maize) in Ethiopia and Kenya was up to 191 and 161 percent higher respectively compared to the five-year average, reflecting the impact of drought in the Horn of Africa.

Rainstorms and typhoons in Southeast Asia, meanwhile, have driven up the price of rice in Thailand and Vietnam. In September and October, the cost of this staple was 25-30 percent higher there than a year earlier.

In February, the World Bank estimated that 44 million people in developing economies had fallen into extreme poverty as a result of spiralling food prices.

In the November issue of its "Food Price Watch" report, the Bank said that a global index of food prices peaked in February but had dipped by five percent since then.

Even so, the index was still 19 percent higher than in September 2010, although the figure varied greatly according to the country and the commodity, it said.

Oxfam said price hikes were a source of despair for the needy.

"For the poorest who spend up to 75 percent of their income on food, price rises on this scale can have consequences as families are forced into impossible trade-offs in a desperate bid to feed themselves," it said.

It pointed to a just-published investigation by the UN's panel of climate scientists, which said man-made global warming had already boosted heatwaves and flood-provoking rainfall and was likely to contribute to future disasters.

"More frequent and extreme weather events will compound things further, creating shortages, destabilising markets and precipitating price spikes, which will be felt on top of the structural price rises predicted by the models," Oxfam said.

It appealed to the conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to slash greenhouse gases and activate a planned fund to help poor countries.

One goal of the Durban talks is breathe life into a "Green Climate Fund" that, by 2020, would channel as much as 100 billion dollars a year to countries that are in the brunt of climate change. But approval has been held up by squabbles over the fund's design.

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Climate summit faces big emitters' stalling tactics

Richard Black BBC News 27 Nov 11;

Some of the developing world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters are bidding to delay talks on a new climate agreement.

To the anger of small islands and other vulnerable countries, India and Brazil are joining rich nations such as the US and Japan in wanting to start talks on a legal deal no earlier than 2015.

The EU and climate-vulnerable blocs want to start as soon as possible, and have the deal finalised by 2015.

The UN climate summit opens on Monday in Durban, South Africa.

Some observers say small island states, which traditionally aim their criticism at the industrialised world's big emitters, may begin "naming and shaming" developing countries that are also delaying progress.

"They're on the edge of a mess," one experienced delegate told BBC News, "and they may not be able to resolve this mess".

Developing countries will certainly target rich governments such as Japan, Canada and Russia over their refusal to commit to new emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol, whose current targets expire at the end of next year.

They see this as a breach of previous commitments and of trust.

But some of the most vulnerable nations say the impasse should not delay talks on a new deal, arguing that to do so would be, in one delegate's wording, "the politics of mutually-assured destruction".

However, on one of the summit's other main topics - financial aid for poor countries - there is a strong chance of progress at the fortnight-long summit.

Seismic shift

The politics of the UN climate process are undergoing something of a fundamental transformation.

Increasingly, countries are dividing into one group that wants a new global treaty as soon as possible - the EU plus lots of developing countries - and another that prefers a delay and perhaps something less rigorous than a full treaty.

The divide was evident earlier this month at the Major Economies Forum (MEF) meeting in Arlington, US - the body that includes 17 of the world's highest-polluting nations.

There, the UK and others argued that the Durban summit should agree to begin work on a new global agreement immediately, to have it in place by 2015, and operating by 2020 at the very latest.

The US, Russia and Japan were already arguing for a longer timeframe.

But BBC News has learned that at the MEF meeting, Brazil and India took the same position.

Brazil wants the period 2012-15 to be a "reflection phase", while India suggested it should be a "technical/scientific period".

China, now the world's biggest emitter, is said by sources to be more flexible, though its top priority for Durban is the Kyoto Protocol.

"The planet has no other sustainable alternative other than to ensure the continuity of the Kyoto Protocol, through a second commitment period starting in 2013," said Jorge Arguello, leader of the Argentinian delegation, which this year chairs the powerful G77/China bloc of 131 nations.

"The adoption of a second commitment period for the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions under the Kyoto Protocol is not only a political imperative and a historical responsibility, but a legal obligation that must be faced as such."

Although the EU does not oppose a second commitment period, other developed nations do.

And as the US left the protocol years ago, nations still signed on account only for about 15% of global emissions - which is why there is so much emphasis on a new instrument, with some legal force, covering all countries.

Cooling wish

The US, Russia, Japan and Canada have all argued for delaying negotiations on this for various domestic political reasons.

But the news that big developing countries are also lobbying for a delay is likely to lead to fireworks in Durban.

Many of the countries most at risk from climate impacts want to cut emissions fast enough to hold the global average temperature rise from pre-industrial times under 1.5C.

Scientific assessments say that for this to happen, global emissions should peak and begin to fall before 2020, adding urgency to these nations' quest for a new and effective global agreement.

President Nasheed of the Maldives is virtually the only leader who has spoken openly of the need for major developing countries to begin cutting emissions soon.

Equating the need to develop with the right to emit greenhouse gases is, he has said, "rather silly".

But sources in Durban indicate that delegates from other small developing countries may join him before the fortnight elapses, and demand more of the big developing nations.

China, Brazil and India are also being blamed for blocking moves to phase out the climate-warming industrial HFC gases, which small island states tabled at the Montreal Protocol meeting in Bali last week.

"The global response to climate change simply does not have time for advancing self-serving national interests," said Mark Roberts, international policy advisor for the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

Funding gap

Sources say, however, that there is real prospect of agreement in Durban on rules and mechanisms for a Green Climate Fund.

This would raise and disburse sums, rising to $100bn per year by 2020, to developing nations.

There is no agreement on where the money should come from.

Developing countries say the public coffers of industrialised nations should be the main source, whereas western governments say the bulk must come from private sector sources.

That is unlikely to be resolved until the end of next year.

But finalising the fund's rules in Durban would be a concrete step forward.

Tim Gore, Oxfam's chief policy adviser, said UK Climate Minister Chris Huhne must push for "getting the money flowing through the Green Climate Fund that poor people need to fight climate change now.

"A deal to raise resources from international transport could be on the table, and Huhne must convince other ministers to strike it," he said.

However, there is widespread scepticism about the much smaller funds - $10bn per year - that developed nations are already supposed to be contributing under the Fast Start Finance agreement made in 2009.

Developing countries say only a small fraction of what has been pledged is genuinely "new and additional", as it is meant to be; and that little has actually materialised.

The summit may also see a row over the EU's imminent integration of aviation into the Emission Trading Schemen, which India and some other developing nations oppose.

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Best of our wild blogs: 27 Nov 11

The Hantu Blogger speaks!
from Compressed air junkie

Pulau Semakau (26 Nov 2011)
from teamseagrass

Pulau Semakau – holds more than our incinerated trash!
from Nature rambles and encounters with nature and wild shores of singapore

The need to document plants associated with birds
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Nothing concrete in earlier plans for Bukit Brown

Straits Times 27 Nov 11;

Last Sunday's article, 'Bukit Brown road project 'can't wait'', reported that 'strangely, the URA said, no one raised a ruckus when plans highlighting the area's intended future use were displayed for feedback' in 1991 and 2001, when the Concept Plans were released.

This argument is being used to refute current public opinion against the transport and housing developments in Bukit Brown cemetery.

In 1991 and 2001, there were no concrete announcements on the intrusion of physical infrastructure like the road. If there had been a public outcry then, the Government would have replied, understandably, that such an outcry was premature as nothing concrete had yet been planned.

More importantly, we were a different country two decades ago. Thanks to nation-building efforts by the Government, Singaporeans today are more conscious of their national identity and are thus sensitive to any loss of heritage.

With a bigger population now, Singaporeans are hungry for more open spaces and recreational areas, of which Bukit Brown is one.

We also now have new know-ledge of just how rich a historical and ecological resource Bukit Brown is.

Arguments for the conservation of the area were put forth by the Nature Society (Singapore) in its Feedback for the Inter-Ministerial Committee Project on Sustainable Singapore: Lively and Liveable City in 2009, and by the Singapore Heritage Society in the book, Spaces Of The Dead: A Case For The Living, published in May this year.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority Concept Plan is intended for long-term planning and its zones are broad and flexible.

For example, Pulau Ubin was also zoned for residential use in 1991 but it was later re-zoned as 'open space and reserve land' in the 2001 Concept Plan.

To imply that present-day concerns are invalidated by not having been raised 10 or 20 years ago is a flawed premise that leads to sub-optimal decision-making based on outdated information and analysis.

It also denies the possibility for any generation to determine its own immediate future and those of its children.

Chua Ai Lin

Terence Chong

Executive Committee Members

Singapore Heritage Society

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No walk in the park for heritage status

NParks team surveyed Bukit Timah Nature Reserve for 3 months to help it win accolade
Kezia Toh Straits Times 27 Nov 11;

Years spent in marathon training came in handy, fitness-wise, for Mr James Gan when he had to navigate the hilly terrain of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

He spent three months - at least thrice a week - carefully surveying the reserve, home to Singapore's highest hill.

That experience proved to be more than just a walk in the park for Mr Gan, 41, the National Parks Board's (NParks) assistant director of its Central Nature Reserve division, but it was fulfilling.

He was in the five-member team that helped cement the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve's status as an Asean Heritage Park, announced last month.

As a result, Singapore is now home to two Asean Heritage Parks, the other being the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, which earned the accolade in 2003.

Mr Gan was also part of the 2003 survey team.

But clinching this recognition for the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve was more challenging, at least physically.

Mr Gan explained: 'All of us have become fitter on this job. Bukit Timah has higher terrain and the hill itself is the highest in Singapore - at 163m - so it is more challenging when going up and down while surveying the entire place.'

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve spans 163ha.

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, known for its extensive mangroves, is a smaller 130ha.

Being able to deal with the hilly terrain helps Mr Gan focus on his surroundings.

'It takes an eye for detail to spot wildlife, such as a pangolin on the forest floor keeping very still and quiet,' he said.

'If I were not fit, I'd be huffing and puffing, and will not notice such things.'

The team also adapted well to navigating the forest at night, and observing and monitoring the nocturnal animals.

Their tasks included setting up mist nets to catch about 20 birds daily, and harp traps to catch about 30 bats in the night.

'Animals don't just keep to a nine-to-five schedule, but come out in the evening, which is the best time to be there,' explained Mr Gan.

The team's night forest jaunts usually took place between 7pm and 11pm.

The captured animals would be ringed, after noting details like sex, wing length and whether they were breeding. They would then be released and caught again later to observe any changes over time.

Clearly, traipsing around a pitch-black forest, albeit with a powerful torchlight, takes some skill.

For example, the team practised 'light discipline' - not waving the torch too much, to avoid scaring away wildlife.

And as the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve hosts about 40 per cent of the nation's native flora and fauna, the sheer volume of flora and fauna to observe and record became overwhelming at times.

Mr Gan said: 'While we knew what we had, we also knew there was so much more we did not know.'

The team had to keep their eyes peeled for native species such as the plantain squirrel and the Asian fairy bluebird - a first-time sighting for the team, as the bright blue-crested bird normally dwells in the upper levels of the canopy.

Help from the National Biodiversity Centre and Central Nature Reserve division, both under NParks, also came in handy.

The collated data, said NParks, may be used in future publications and educational material for schools and the public.

To win listing as an Asean Heritage Park, criteria such as ecological completeness and high conservation importance had to be met.

There are now 30 heritage parks across Asean, including the Lorentz National Park in Indonesia and the Taman Negara National Park in Malaysia.

A country with such a heritage site accepts the responsibility to ensure that the best possible level of protection is accorded to the site.

But successfully clinching the accolade is just icing on the cake, Mr Gan said.

'We don't work for it per se, but it is about raising awareness of biodiversity and nature reserves, and highlighting them to our fellow citizens to go discover all these by themselves,' he explained.

Of course, such an honour means immediate publicity for the reserve, which helps draw more people to visit it.

'So getting the accolade is just one aspect that will help us achieve that,' Mr Gan said.



WHAT'S AT BUKIT TIMAH NATURE RESERVE

Seraya

This flagship species is a valuable timber tree, stretching high overhead with its leaves and branches forming a canopy for shade.

Its bark forms boat-shape cracks on the tree trunk, with a greyish tinge to the leaves in the tree canopy.

Kerinting

This is a nationally endangered palm, with only scattered tiny populations in the Bukit Timah and Central Catchment nature reserves.

Its small size and neatly arranged leaflets make it an attractive plant, with potential as an indoor palm.

Plantain squirrel

This native species has a dark brown back, a pale brown belly and a very fluffy dark brown tail.

It lives in gardens and forests, and eats fruit, seeds, flowers and plant shoots, with the occasional centipede and spider too.

Striped Tit Babbler

This species has a distinctive yellowish brow and a tawny reddish crown. Its throat is yellowish with brown streaks. This bird forages in small flocks, breeds in the pre-monsoon season from February to July, and builds a loose ball-shaped nest made from grass and leaves.

Asian Fairy Bluebird

This brilliant blue-crested bird has a clear bell-like call. It has velvety black wings and inhabits only rainforests, and is commonly found only on the canopy's upper levels.

It feeds on the fruit of forest trees, and insects such as termites.

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

This native black bird is found deep in forested areas. In 2002, it was on the shortlist of a poll carried out by the Nature Society of Singapore's bird group to crown Singapore's national bird.

It then lost out to the crimson sunbird - a handsome bird with a high-pitched trill which flits from flower to flower.

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Work on Downtown Line stage 3 kicks off on Monday

Hetty Musfirah Channel NewsAsia 26 Nov 11;

"One of the challenges of building the Botanic Gardens station is the need to take care of the environmental impact."

SINGAPORE: Construction of the Downtown Line (DTL) will go full swing when work on the third phase kicks off on Monday.

The 42-kilometre Downtown Line is being constructed in three phases - DTL 1, DTL 2 and DTL 3.

The first two stages are progressing well.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) told Channel NewsAsia that DTL 1 is now 85 percent complete while DTL 2 is 40 percent done.

The DTL, Singapore's fifth MRT line, will boost connectivity from the northwest to the central-eastern areas.

Work on 12 stations on DTL 2, which runs along the Bukit Timah corridor towards the city, is on track for completion in 2015.

It will provide commuters living in Bukit Panjang and Bukit Timah better access to the rest of the island.

Excavation work has begun at Cashew, Beauty World, Botanic Gardens, Stevens, Newton and Little India stations.

At the Botanic Gardens station, three of the seven levels have been excavated.

LTA's senior project manager for Botanic Gardens station, Lim Bock Ho, said: "Below the fourth level, that's when we will encounter rock and that's when we have to do blasting."

He said one of the challenges of building the Botanic Gardens station is the need to take care of the environmental impact.

Behind the station is an eco-lake, so "we don't want to spoil the biodiversity of this area. Our aim is to not to have contaminated the water going into the eco-lake, otherwise the flora and fauna will be dead," said Mr Lim.

"The other challenge is because we are located beside the existing Circle Line station, our job is to make sure that we don't disrupt the operation of the existing station," added Mr Lim.

A 100-metre linkway will provide commuters easy access between the Botanic Gardens Downtown Line station and the Circle Line station.

Work on DTL 1, which runs through some busy corridors like Bugis and Chinatown, is almost complete.

The basic structure of all six stations is up while electrical and mechanical works are underway.

DTL 1, which is due for completion in 2013, is a loop connected to DTL 3, which runs to eastern towns like Bedok and Tampines.

So travelling from Chinatown to Bedok Reservoir will take 35 minutes instead of 50 minutes currently.

All 34 DTL stations will be fully operational in 2017. They will serve about half-a-million commuters daily.

- CNA/ir

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Indonesia: Two rafflesia flowers in bloom in Bengkulu

Antara 26 Nov 11;

Some parts of the forest area have been converted into coffee plantation.

Bengkulu, Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Two Rafflesia arnoldi flowers are in bloom at the Taba Penanjung natural sanctuary in Central Bengkulu District, Bengkulu Province.

The two flowers, located only 15 meters from each other, bloomed at the same time , Anggi, a local resident, said here.

"We found three flowers within a radius of 20 meters, but one has withered, and two are now in full bloom," he said.

The giant flowers were found in an area located around 100 meters from a road connecting Bengkulu city and Kepahiang district.

Last week, a Rafflesia flower was in bloom in the Bukit Daun protected forest, Kepahiang District.

Coordinator of Tebat Monok Rare Flower Lovers Holidin said 13 Rafflesia arnoldii flowers had been found this year.

Six flower buds are currently waiting to bloom.

"We predict one flower bud will bloom this week," he said.

Holidin said the Bukit Daun protected forest and the Taba Penanjung I and Taba Penanjung II natural sanctuaries were the habitats of Rafflesia arnoldii.

However, some parts of the forest area have been converted into coffee plantation.

He urged the government to protect the forest area in order to preserve the habitat of Rafflesia arnoldii.

Rafflesia is the largest, heaviest, rarest and one of the most smelly flowers in the world. In full bloom , its crown can reach a diameter of 1 meter and weigh about 10 kgs.

Interestingly, Rafflesia is a parasitic plant without any leaves, stems and roots.
(Uu.F001/HAJM)

Editor: Priyambodo RH

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Caviar back on the menu – in an ethical way

Sales are rising thanks to the discovery of a kinder – and sustainable – method of harvesting the fish roe
Genevieve Roberts The Independent 27 Nov 11;

Once the preserve of Russian tsars and British royalty, caviar was described by the great Renaissance writer François Rabelais as the finest titbit in the world. But recently it has been disappearing from dinner menus, amid concerns that traditional methods of harvesting the roe involve killing the majestic sturgeon that produce it.

Now, however, ethical caviar, produced without harm to the fish, has made the luxury permissible once more. Mottra Caviar, based near Riga in Latvia, has 50,000 sturgeon on its farm. Its director, Sergei Reviakin, said he has seen a 40 per cent increase in sales this year.

"After sturgeon became endangered, many chefs stopped using caviar," he said. "We are now teaching people about it."

He said the UK is one of his firm's biggest markets, along with Sweden, France, Poland, the Netherlands and Germany.

Unlike traditional caviar production, which kills the fish, the sturgeon are "milked" by human massage along their body to produce eggs. The fish are moved from warm to cold water for the three months before being milked, so the sturgeon feel by instinct that it is time to hatch, as the move to colder water mimics nature. In the 1980s, more than 1,000 tons of caviar were processed worldwide each year. Now, that figure is estimated to be about 120 tons for farmed caviar, Mr Reviakin said.

Selfridges has seen a double-digit growth increase in sales this year, while Ocado has extended deliveries from Christmas to include Valentine's Day to cope with increased demand. La Fromagerie on Marylebone High Street in central London and Harvey Nichols now offer the delicacy. L'Anima restaurant offers Mottra caviar with roe fish butter, while chef Mark Hix serves it with hot buttered toast and duck eggs. The Wright Brothers introduced ethical caviar at the Raw Bar in London early this month, and Gidleigh Park in Dorset has featured it on its menu.

Hix, who also serves the delicacy at his champagne and caviar bar in Selfridges, said: "The luxurious pastime of eating caviar has almost disappeared, partly because of the threat of extinction to the sturgeon but also because in hard times it's not exactly the most cost-effective thing to eat. We use Mottra, the only truly sustainable caviar in the world – it being sustainable means we can eat as much as our wallets can afford, without a guilty conscience."

A spokesman for Ocado said shoppers' caviar appetite is increasing. "We have ordered more this Christmas than ever before. Shoppers are more aware than ever about the provenance and sustainability of what they're eating."

Delicacy ethics: Guilty, and not-so-guilty, pleasures

Foie gras
An ethical version avoids the process known as la gavage, whereby geese are force-fed with a metal tube. The Spanish company Pateria de Sousa produces the ethical version called Ganso Iberico.

Veal
Ethical leaps have been made in the UK, with better diet, space and bedding for calves replacing the tiny veal crates.

Shark-fin soup
The fin is used to provide texture, rather than taste. But as producers have failed to find an ethical compromise, it is falling off menus.

Bluefin tuna
The Marine Conservation Society recommends we avoid eating bluefin tuna and choose line-caught yellowfin, skipjack or albacore tuna


Chickens, pigs, cattle
The RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme has grown rapidly in recent years, but still has only 4 per cent of the market.

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Nov 11

Post-exam activities for undergraduate students
from Otterman speaks

Breezy day for tracking through to Lost Coast
from Psychedelic Nature and wild shores of singapore

Slug-filled Weekend
from Pulau Hantu

'Weather can't decide to be sunny or rainy' day on Cyrene
from Psychedelic Nature

An introduction to raptors of Southeast Asia
from Habitatnews

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo – calls
from Bird Ecology Study Group

1,000 engaged with biodiversity in Singapore @ Yishun Pond Rejuvenated
from Toddycats!

Lynn Margulis - an appreciation
from The Biology Refugia

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