Some hopeful news for coral reefs: evidence of adaptation to thermal stress provided by James Guest et al in PLoS ONE today! from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS
Sexy stars but sad seagrasses on Cyrene
from wild shores of singapore and teamseagrass
The Predator Strikes Back!
from Butterflies of Singapore
Lornie Trail On A Friday Morning
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature
Noordin Beach
from Ubin.sgkopi
Save Bukit Brown
from EcoWalkthetalk
The Star 11 Mar 12;
KOTA KINABALU: A 50m-forest corridor strip known as the Melapi Elephant Corridor in Sukau is making a difference in the survival of the Bornean pygmy elephants.
The corridor project to connect fragmented forests in Sabah is helping in the survival of the elephants, said Borneo Conservation Trust and Research head and project leader Raymond Alfred.
“Even a strip of land 50m wide makes a difference in allowing the migration of the Bornean elephant herds in Lower Kinabatangan,” he said.
Alfred said the Melapi corridor was established in August through a joint collaboration between the Sabah Wildlife Department and Borneo Conservation Trust together with their partners Syarikat Yu Kwang Development Sdn Bhd and Proboscis Lodge Bukit Melapi.
“We are very happy to know that the elephants are now able to pass through the land using this corridor to migrate from one key habitat to another, when previously it was a very narrow bottleneck,” he said.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said the collaborative effort was a great example where the private sector worked with the Government and non-governmental organisations.
“We welcome the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with companies and organisations, which are keen to play an active role in supporting and contributing to Sabah’s wildlife conservation initiatives,” he added.
He said with the corridor, potential human-and-elephant conflict in the villages and plantation was also reduced.
Earlier this week, students from Nihon University Japan, coordinated by Borneo Conservation Trust Japan, planted more than 100 trees within the corridor to facilitate the movement of the orang utan within the fragmented habitat in the future.
Farik Zolkepli The Star 11 Mar 12;
KUALA TERENGGANU: WWF Malaysia has urged the Govern-ment to take steps to reduce the overcapacity in the existing trawling fleets or ban trawling altogether in an effort to minimise the negative impact of the activity on marine life.
Its executive director and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma said bottom-trawling was a destructive fishing practice, mainly responsible for overfishing.
“Bottom-trawling must be conducted in an ecologically sustainable manner within effective ecosystem-based management systems.
“In addition, measures to protect vulnerable and representative habitats and species as well as efforts to limit the area and frequency of trawling must be put into place,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He said the practice of bottom-trawling should not be permitted unless responsible states and the relevant fisheries departments had established effective systems that could accomplish certain steps.
“Among the steps that should be taken are carrying out Strategic Environmental Assessments of the likely impact of bottom-trawling on marine environment,” he added.
Dr Dionysius said an adequate step to prepare and implement ecosystem-based fisheries management strategies, laws and regulations must also be made.
“Such laws and regulations must collect adequate baseline information on the marine environment where bottom-trawling occurs, including locations of sensitive seabed habitats.
“The regulations must also establish a comprehensive network of well-managed protected areas to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems along with ecologically or biologically significant areas,” he said.
He added that WWF Malaysia was working with the Government and fishing industries to establish ecosystem-based management of fisheries.
“This effort is mandated by the Coral Triangle Initiative's Regional and national plans of action.
“We are also advocating the implementation of fisheries management and restoration plans as well as greater use of fishing-prohibited areas to allow ecosystems to recover,” he said.
A total of 28,705 fishermen on trawling vessels are located in the country, of which 18,218 are in peninsular Malaysia.
Leo Arrokiasammy The Star 11 Mar 12;
MALACCA: While Tanjung Tuan continues playing host to thousands of migratory raptors and other birds, the Malacca government is seeking to promote Kampung Pengkalan in Machap here as a similar tourist destination.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam urged the state Tourism Department and other state government departments to work towards promoting Machap for this purpose.
“I am sure birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts are willing to make the trip just to catch a glimpse of these birds in both areas,” he said yesterday after launching the Raptor Watch (RW) event organised by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS).
The new site, he said, could be an impetus for the state tourism industry, adding that he wanted Machap to be placed in the calendar as another site for the RW.
Yesterday's event saw thousands of nature lovers gathering to get a glimpse of the raptors, which are birds of prey such as hawks, eagles, falcons, vultures and owls.
MNS organised the RW 2012 for the 13th consecutive year. Such events benefit both Port Dickson and Malacca in terms of tourism.
Also present yesterday was RW ambassador and actress Maya Karin.
MNS president Dr Maketab Mohammed said that since the 1960s and1970s, the number of raptors sighted was reported to exceed 300,000.
This year's event was also witnessed by the members of the society's Asian partners the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand, Nature Society of Singapore, Chinese Wild Bird Federation of Taiwan, Kenting National Park Taiwan and WildBird Life Club of Philippines.
Dr Maketab said RW's main objective was to conserve birds and their habitat and to educate the public on the spectacular migratory phenomenon.
“We want these birds to keep returning to peninsular Malaysia, which is the stopover for thousands of raptor species on their journey back home to Siberia, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan and Indochina as winter draws to an end,” he added.
Malacca woos bird lovers
Hani Maketab New Straits Times 14 Mar 12;
BIRD lovers in Malacca now have a new place to visit their feathered friends after the state government declared eight hectares of open land in Kampung Pengkalan near here as the Pengkalan Bird Sanctuary.
The area has been home to more than 2,000 birds of various species since early 2010.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the area would be developed as a new eco-tourism product in the state.
He said that according to initial studies, as many as six species of birds were spotted, such as the black-crowned night heron, pink-necked green pigeon, baya weaver, lesser coucal, purple heron and yellow-vented bulbul.
"These birds have been in the area since January 2010, but only in small numbers.
"We did not expect the birds to stick around but it appears that they like it here and have decided to settle down," he said after a visit to the area yesterday.
Ali was accompanied by Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Malacca/Negri Sembilan chairman Lim Ming Hui.
Ali said he had directed the Tourism Promotion Division to begin efforts to promote the bird sanctuary to the public.
He said the area would also be included in the Malacca Tourism Calendar starting next year to spread awareness about the bird sanctuary.
"The state government will also organise a photography and video competition to further promote it. I hope that BPP, MNS, the Alor Gajah Municipal Council and the Wildlife and National Parks Department will work together to organise a week-long contest starting today (yesterday).
"The first prize winner will receive RM1,500, the second, RM1,000 and the third, RM500."
Lim said state MNS volunteers would monitor bird activities in the area to learn more about them and gather data.
"So far, I can confirm the migratory birds that breed here are local species found around the country.
"Typically, these birds will fly around Peninsular Malaysia all year round."
Harumi Ozawa (AFP) Google News 10 Mar 12;
TOKYO — Japan's Antarctic whaling fleet has killed less than a third of the animals it planned to because of sabotage by activists, Tokyo said Friday as it announced the end of the season's hunt.
Japan's Fisheries Agency said the fleet was on its way home from the Antarctic "on schedule", but admitted that at 267 the catch was way down on expectations.
Whalers killed 266 minke whales and one fin whale, the agency said, well below the approximately 900 they had been aiming for when they left Japan in December.
"The catch was smaller than planned due to factors including weather conditions and sabotage acts by activists," an agency official said. "There were definitely sabotage campaigns behind the figure."
Militant environmentalist group Sea Shepherd had pursued the Japanese fleet for much of the season.
The group hurled stink bombs at the boats and used ropes to try to tangle their propellers in a series of exchanges which saw the whalers retaliate with water cannon.
In the 2010-2011 season, Japan ended the hunt early after killing only 172 whales because of harassment by environmentalists.
Commercial whaling is banned under an international treaty but Japan has since 1987 used a loophole to carry out "lethal research" on the creatures in the name of science.
Japan claims the annual hunt is necessary to substantiate its view that there is a robust whale population in the world. But it makes no secret of the fact that whale meat from the research ends up on dinner tables and in restaurants.
Anti-whaling nations and environmentalist groups routinely label the activity a cover for commercial whaling.
The Australian government welcomed Japan's decision to recall its fleet from the Southern Ocean, saying it condemned all commercial whaling, "including Japan's so called 'scientific' whaling programme".
"Japan's whaling activities are contrary to international law," Canberra said.
"That is why Australia commenced and will continue legal action in the International Court of Justice. Our efforts are aimed at ending Southern Ocean whaling for good."
Sea Shepherd claimed the drastic cut in the harpooners' haul was a victory for them.
"It's been a very successful campaign for us," captain Paul Watson told AFP on Friday. "We chased them for three months, 17,000 miles (27,000 kilometres). They really didn't have much time to catch whales in all that time."
The group vowed to chase the Japanese fleet if it returns to southern waters next season.
"The Japanese were definitely much more aggressive," Watson said from Melbourne, where his ship is now docked. "We had 12 confrontations with the Steve Irwin but no-one was injured on either side.
"They used water cannons, and they threw concussion grenades at us, and bamboo spears and grappling hooks and we hit them back with stink bombs and smoke bombs."
New Record of Mangrove Crab From Singapore
from Mangrove Action Squad
School's out with kids at Chek Jawa!
from wild shores of singapore
Neck-Twisting Spotted Dove
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Chan Kah Tim Today Online 10 Mar 12;
I am saddened that much of the discussion over Bukit Brown and other key spaces pit the urgency of development against preserving heritage and nature. This is a false choice.
Keeping these sites the way they are is about who we are and want to be as Singaporeans, about what we value and how we connect to our nation.
Fostering such shared values and identity is precisely why organisations, from the Education Ministry to the Defence Ministry, invest in National Education, national resilience and psychological defence. It is important not to trivialise such matters.
Pragmatism in Singapore has never been just about the exigencies of concrete and asphalt. It includes a sense of vision and belief, a certain idealism. At its core is the hope that we Singaporeans can and should always demand more of ourselves.
If not, we might have given up after being kicked out of Malaysia, or when the British withdrew east of the Suez or when beset by other difficulties. Instead, we chose to rise to the occasion.
The ideal of bettering ourselves is one that we also share with the pioneers who helped make Singapore. It incorporates Singaporeans from all backgrounds. There can be no strong leadership without the unwavering partnership of ordinary Singaporeans.
As we face new challenges, including how to redefine Singapore and its people, we should again seek more than mere expedience and see beyond buildings and roads.
It means thinking about how we relate to one another as well as the people and land that shaped who we are today. Locating such commonality among Singaporeans is crucial, given our short history and small size.
Maintaining belonging across space and time can be difficult, particularly so given social, economic and other pressures.
Here, I agree with Nominated Member of Parliament Faizah Jamal that shared physical spaces like Bukit Brown, Geylang Serai and Chek Jawa continue to be physical manifestations of our rootedness to our nation, our soil, our history and one another.
They supplement and bolster efforts to strengthen the sense of being Singaporean in a fast changing world, leaving aside urbanisation, flooding and even supposed eeriness.
I ask those overseeing development to consider the broader issues at stake for Singapore and to do better to safeguard these needs. I am confident they can.
The writer works in the education sector.
Study begun into causes of swarming at Bedok Reservoir
Lim Yan Liang Straits Times 10 Mar 12;
IT IS likely that the midge infestation that hit Bedok Reservoir twice since 2011 was due to a combination of environmental factors that wreaked havoc on the eco-system there. That is what experts as well as the authorities have said, although they were quick to add that more time was needed to study the problem.
Rainfall, temperature, wind direction and changes in water quality, such as the amount of nutrients, could all have added up to cause the midge swarming, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) and national water agency PUB.
But they could not conclusively determine as yet the cause of it, said a spokesman representing both agencies.
The issue was raised in Parliament on Tuesday by Aljunied GRC MP Low Thia Khiang, who pressed the Ministry for Environment and Water Resources repeatedly for a progress update as well as long-term solutions.
The green and blue flies made their appearances at Bedok Reservoir in large numbers in January last year and this year, causing inconveniences to residents and businesses.
Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Grace Fu said the government had commissioned a three-year study to look into the problem.
The study, which began in January this year, involves researchers from the National University of Singapore's Tropical Marine Science Institute and Department of Biological Sciences; entomologists from NEA's Environmental Health Institute as well as an overseas midge expert.
They have been tasked to identify the species involved, investigate if the infestation is related to weather or water quality changes, and suggest potential solutions. Residents may have to live with the problem for a while - PUB and NEA say the team has to collect at least two years of data in order to understand what the triggers are.
While some residents speculated that the appearance of midges might be linked to the rainy season, none could explain why they only started becoming a problem two years ago when the reservoir itself is more than 25 years old.
'I've lived here for 20 years and this wasn't a serious problem till two years ago,' said Madam Huang Chew Hong, a shop owner at Bedok Reservoir Road. NEA and PUB said unlike reservoirs like MacRitchie which are located in protected catchment areas with mature eco-systems more than a century old, Bedok Reservoir is man-made and constructed from a former sand quarry.
'Being an urbanised reservoir, the eco-system at Bedok Reservoir may not be adequately balanced or established, and there may not be sufficient predators to feed on and control the midge populations,' said the spokesman.
The midge infestations did result in a jump in spider and swift numbers, both predators that feed on midges. PUB said it is looking into planting flora that can attract such predators to act as a long-term biological control method.
Professor Peter Cranston, the expert involved in the study, told The Straits Times in January that one possible reason for the scale of the infestation here was the onset of heavy rain, which washed nutrients from the soil into the reservoir. This in turn caused the algae in them to bloom, boosting the number of midges as their larvae feed on algae.
Another possible reason for the infestations might be warmer temperatures more conducive to algal growth, said Pestbuster Rentokil Initial technical manager Lim Min Hui.
When contacted, Mr Low said the focus should be on the water eco-system, since that is where midge breeding occurs. He also felt more could have been done sooner.
'I would have expected the study to have at least commenced in early 2011 when swarming occurred, if not earlier,' he said.
Interim measures such as scrubbing of the reservoir wall and removal of plants near the bank to reduce breeding should have been implemented, he said.
An NEA-PUB task force continues to fog reservoir grounds three times and apply larvicide five times a week.
Additional reporting by Chow Jia Ying and Chong Ning Qian
Clementi folk, who have tended to garden for years, hope for reprieve
Grace Chua Straits Times 10 Mar 12;
FOR three decades, a group of Clementi residents have tended to a garden in their neighbourhood, coaxing harvests of bittergourd, sweet potato and jackfruit from the soil, mostly for their own dinner tables.
But their 'farm' sits on state land.
On Tuesday, they were told by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to clear out by March 20 - in two weeks.
The plot in question is bounded by a portion of the former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway line, the Sungei Ulu Pandan canal, Clementi Avenue 4 and Clementi Avenue 6.
A notice from the SLA has been posted on the door of the outhouse on the farm, announcing that these 'farmers' had trespassed on state land by erecting an illegal structure and cultivating crops illegally.
The notice also pointed out that 'other items' had been placed on state land without approval, in an apparent reference to a small shrine, a tool shed and several fish ponds.
Asked why it was taking action now, the SLA, in a joint statement with the Urban Redevelopment Authority, replied that a resident in the vicinity had reported that the frequent burning of leaves in the area had made the air acrid, creating discomfort especially for her children who have asthma.
The SLA said it looked into the complaint and found burnt patches of ground, the crops and unauthorised structures, so it posted the eviction notices.
'Going forward, the SLA will consider and discuss with grassroots organisations whether and what arrangements can be put in place to allow community use of the land,' said the statement.
It added, however, that the 'disamenities' caused by the farming had to be taken into account.
The SLA has the law on its side.
The State Lands Encroachment Act states that those who 'unlawfully enter into possession of any state land, either by residing or by erecting any building or hut thereon or by clearing, enclosing or cultivating any part thereof' shall be guilty of an offence. Conviction brings a fine of up to $5,000, a jail term of up to six months or both.
Madam Siow Siew Eng, 72, who is at the farm almost daily, said officers turned up and took down her details. Asked how she felt about the eviction, she patted her chest and said 'sim tiah', meaning 'heart pain' in Hokkien.
She said she is not planting anything new, and will just harvest what is there.
The group of 'urban farmers', mostly elderly, have been pottering on the farm long enough to have seen a new generation of them turn up to work the soil.
Madam Siow herself took over her patch from her godfather, now in his 80s and unable to walk.
Clementi resident Lester Yeong, a 35-year-old laboratory manager, said his father has farmed there in the two years since he retired, surrounded by his grandchildren, who go there to play.
Mr Yeong and others have asked the SLA for the gardening to be permitted until the land is needed for other uses, and for the current users to pay a nominal fee for a temporary occupancy permit.
He said he is meeting his MP, Ms Sim Ann, next week to discuss the issue.
Mr Leong Kwok Peng of the Green Corridor civic interest group looking to preserve the former KTM railway stretch, said an abandoned railway bridge linking Sunset Way to Clementi had significant heritage value, as does that section of the track, which was a branch of the Tanjong Pagar-Woodlands line that became disused more than 20 years ago.
Mr Leong called for the farmers to be allowed to continue their activity, but said the plot should be a community space, open to all, not just the farmers.
Clementi residents say the farm, there since the late 1970s, is something of a neighbourhood institution.
Housewife Jacinta Conceicao, 50, said: 'It's part of the scenery for us. We have the railway track, we have the river and we have this farm - it makes our neighbourhood unique in this way.'
Ronnie Lim Business Times 10 Mar 12;
EXXONMOBIL'S second petrochemicals complex here, costing US$5 billion to US$6 billion - the US oil giant's biggest manufacturing site worldwide - 'is nearing completion', Rex Tillerson, its chairman and CEO, said in a presentation at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
'Commissioning and start-up activities are expected to continue through 2012 and will provide a world-scale integrated platform with unparalleled feedstock flexibility,' he told investment analysts.
'The expansion will add 2.6 million tonnes per year of additional capacity and will help meet demand growth in Asia-Pacific,' Mr Tillerson said of its Singapore Parallel Train (SPT) complex, so called as it is being built parallel to ExxonMobil's first petrochemical complex here.
SPT was scheduled to be operational in the second half of last year, but this has been delayed by a year, with full project start-up now expected in the second half of this year.
ExxonMobil officials earlier said this was due to construction 'issues' arising from the project's scale and complexity.
The entire SPT complex comprises an upstream one million tonnes per annum ethylene cracker and six downstream plants, as well as its own 220-megawatt cogeneration plant to provide utilities.
An ExxonMobil spokesman here told BT yesterday: 'The (SPT) project is 98 per cent mechanically complete, and units have been progressively starting up, with product qualifications underway.'
'In January, we reached the milestone of producing our first metallocene polymer in Asia,' the spokesman added, referring to the start-up of the first downstream units at SPT. 'We anticipate that commissioning and start-up activities will continue through 2012.'
But a 98 per cent mechanical completion rate suggests that the main upstream cracker - which will supply feedstock to the downstream plants - is still not completed. Georges Grosliere, ExxonMobil Chemical's venture executive, had said last June that 'the main cracker (the heart of the SPT complex) . . . will be the last to be completed, on purpose'.
BT earlier reported that the main cracker, which is being built by US-based contractor Shaw Group, had run into some construction delays, with the latter reporting millions of dollars in cost overruns as a result.
Some good news finally emerged from Shaw last December when it said 'we continue to progress on our schedule with the project . . . and that it will be completed next year (2012), next summer'.
In his presentation, Mr Tillerson also said additional projects are also in progress here, 'including new facilities at ExxonMobil's Singapore refinery'.
He was apparently referring to a diesel hydrotreater expansion, reportedly costing US$500 million, at the 605,000 barrel-per-day refinery to produce more 'green' diesel for the growing regional market.
When it starts up in 2014, this ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) plant will produce another nine million litres of ULSD daily, boosting ExxonMobil Singapore's production to over 25 million litres per day.
ExxonMobil has invested well over US$11 billion in its Singapore refinery/petrochemicals facility to-date.
Channel NewsAsia 9 Mar 12;
SINGAPORE: Two plants commonly found in the ponds, Yellow Burhead and Water Lettuce, will be featured as stamps in the Pond Life definitive issue.
Singapore Post said on Friday that they serve as reminders of the need to preserve the natural habitat so that wonderful creatures can continue to be part of Singapore's rich natural wildlife.
The set of two stamps is worth 58 cents.
Yellow Burhead can grow up to about one metre above water.
Its flowers are yellow and cup-shaped, and its seeds are dispersed by water, water birds and animals.
It is also an edible herb.
The young leaves and stems are traditionally eaten as a vegetable in most parts of Southeast Asia and India.
Water Lettuce floats on the water surface with only its long roots submerged in the water.
Its light green leaves are arranged like a lettuce and can grow up to about 14 centimetres.
It has small white flowers that are rarely seen.
- CNA/ck
Raffles Museum team finds new crab species on Christmas Island
Grace Chua Straits Times 10 Mar 12;
A TEAM of Singapore scientists who explored the remote Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands received an unexpected gift: Not only did they find a number of new species of crabs, but they are also beginning to understand better how different species arise in isolated habitats.
This crab may be completely new to science. -- PHOTO: RAFFLES MUSEUM OF BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH, NUS
Researchers from the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research took a two-week trip last month to the islands off Sumatra and discovered species new to science.
The icing on the cake: Last week, they published records of three new crab species that were discovered on their first research trip in 2010, in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
One of them, a sky-blue crab found on Christmas Island, was thought to be a colourful variant of another species, but they proved that it is genetically different.
Genetics also suggests that the crabs began to evolve into a separate species only two to three million years ago - an eternity to humans, but the blink of an eye on geologic time scales.
'We used to think that evolution takes millions of years, but now think that it can take place much faster,' explained Professor Peter Ng, who heads the Raffles Museum.
Christmas Island, a 132 sq km speck in the Indian Ocean south of Sumatra, was chosen for its long history with Singapore, which administered it in colonial times. (In 1957, it was transferred to Australia.)
Because the original Raffles Museum had studied the island in pre-war times, its collection holds a library of specimens that researchers can compare their new finds to.
'Even though Christmas Island is Australian, its rainforests and reefs are South-east Asian, and our focus is South-east Asian biology,' Prof Ng said.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands to the south-west, also an Australian territory, feature a similar environment.
They consist of two atolls. These are islands with an enclosed lagoon, formed when coral reefs grow around a volcanic island which then subsides, leaving just the reef like a fringe around a balding man's pate.
The northern atoll, North Keeling, is battered by waves so strong that boats do not land there.
Instead, the research team had to swim about 20m to shore, said Dr Tan Heok Hui, a fish taxonomist with the museum.
But they were rewarded with new finds, such as a purple land crab and a marine crab from 40m depths.
The research has implications for Australia's national parks management.
If a species is found only on a particular island, for instance, the rules that govern it, such as limiting access or harvesting, are stricter than if it is widespread.
This year's trip was supposed to be the last of three, but Dr Tan said the team is trying to get funding to go back later this year. 'We're trying to strike while the iron is hot.'
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