Best of our wild blogs: 3 Jun 12

After Sungei Buloh: The Wrong Idea of what ‘Environment’ is
from the kent ridge common by Aloysius Foo

9 Jun (Sat): FREE film screening of "OceanWorld"
from wild shores of singapore

Help battle marine trash on World Oceans Day cleanup @ PR6 (9th June, 8.30am) from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

Evening at Pasir Ris mangroves
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

120511 Bukit Batok
from Singapore Nature and 120511

Libellago lineata (Golden Gem)
from Everyday Nature

Festival of Biodiversity - Singapore 26May2012
from sgbeachbum

ButterflyCircle at the Festival of Biodiversity
from Butterflies of Singapore

Why do birds call when preening?
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Sentosa: The little island that could

Sentosa has come a long way since it was called Pulau Blakang Mati. Now in its 40th year, it has become a glitzy resort island
Kimberly Spykerman Straits Times 3 Jun 12;

Sometimes it would be crates of oranges or apples. Other times, bales of unprocessed rubber or drums of cooking oil - wares that had fallen out of the net while being transported from cargo ships to the waiting bumboats.

Those were the sort of cargo that would wash up on the shores of Pulau Blakang Mati - now Sentosa - in the 1950s and 1960s, and a teenage Masturi Lehwan would be waiting with his friends to scoop them up.

'Some of it would still be edible so we would eat it on the spot. The other stuff, we would sell to the karung guni for $1.50 or $2, which was quite a lot of money at the time... then we'd have a bit of extra to go to the cinema,' recalls Mr Masturi, now 58, with a cheeky grin that gives a glimpse of the youth he once was.

Having grown up in a kampung on the island, he has witnessed its transformation from a peaceful, idyllic sanctuary to a modern enclave of theme parks, hotels and multi-million-dollar mansions. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of Sentosa.

His kampung - a collection of wooden huts and attap houses located at what is now Resorts World Sentosa - was made up of about 100 families. It had a provision shop, a barber, a tailor, places of worship and even a taxi service operated by a man known as Uncle Lai, who ferried villagers around in a cream-coloured station wagon.

Whenever a trip to mainland Singapore was required, a motorised sampan or bumboat took them there for only 30 cents.

At the time, Mr Masturi says, they shared the island with the Gurkha infantry units. Before that, the British army used it as the base of the Royal Artillery Garrison.

In 1972, the Sentosa Development Corporation was set up to develop the island into a tourist destination and attract more visitors to Singapore.

A contest had been organised two years earlier to rename the island and reflect its transformation into a recreational resort. Five people submitted the name Sentosa, which means 'tranquillity' in Malay. Pulau Blakang Mati translates to 'island of those who die behind' - a reference to a malaria outbreak on the island in the late 1840s.

Though the islanders were resettled in the Telok Blangah area by 1975, Mr Masturi never really left. A young man by then, he was working as one of the manual labourers tasked to build the island's new golf course. He is now the golf course supervisor at Sentosa Golf Club.

His wife, Madam Asmah Aziz, 54, started work on Sentosa in 1976 as a guide on double-decker buses, keeping up a commentary for the tourists. She recalls that there were only three main attractions at the time: the Coralarium, which housed coral exhibits; Fort Siloso, a former British fortress, and the Surrender Chamber, containing wax figure tableaux of the British army's World War II surrender to the Japanese, and vice versa. There was also only one hotel - the Apollo Sentosa Resort.

Former head of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Mr Alan Choe, one of the board's pioneer members and its chairman from 1985 to 2001, said that the initial effort to turn Sentosa into a tourist destination was 'pretty basic'.

'The focus was on access to and around the island, preservation of the flora and fauna, re-adapting old military buildings to house attractions and creating interesting local attractions for visitors to enjoy,' he said.

The creation of an island paradise went as far as transplanting 200 coconut trees from Punggol onto Sentosa to 'beautify' the place as such trees were not native there, The Straits Times reported in 1975.

Under Mr Choe's watch, some of the island's most memorable icons came to life, such as the ferry terminal, the old monorail, the cable cars, the musical fountain, Underwater World, as well as the majestic Merlion tower.

Other attractions have come and gone. Now defunct: Fantasy Island, the water park modelled after Typhoon Lagoon in Florida, and theme parks Asian Cultural Village and Volcano Land.

Sentosa also hosted a rock gig by American band Bon Jovi, as well as performances by singers Rick Price and Jimmy Barnes in the 1990s. An Australian television series called Tanamera: Lion Of Singapore was filmed in 1989 in an old army barracks which is now the Capella Hotel's main lobby, and an episode of popular 1970s American detective show Hawaii Five-O was filmed on the cable car line.

These days, the island is better known for its pristine man-made beaches and laidback beach bar culture. For years now, many revellers have made the pilgrimage to its sandy beaches to party the night away at ZoukOut.

With the opening of Resorts World Sentosa in 2010, boasting a casino and Universal Studios Singapore, visitor numbers have spiked.

Last year, visitor numbers hit 19 million - a 7.3 per cent year-on-year increase over the same period in 2010. The luxe factor was also upped with the building of Sentosa Cove, a residential area expected to have 2,000 homes by 2014.

While Singaporeans are loving the bustle of the island, they do miss its quiet rustic charm.

Health administrator Jo-Ann Lee, 41, says: 'There are lots more things to do on Sentosa now, but that means it's also so packed with tourists and Singaporeans that it can be a hassle fighting for a seat in eateries.'

Still, for Mr Masturi and Madam Asmah, Sentosa holds only sweet memories.

After all, it was where they met. Mr Masturi remembers how he would catch the tour bus after finishing his shifts so that he could catch a glimpse of Madam Asmah and talk to her.

Later when they got together, he would wait for her to finish work and they would take walks by the beach and have picnics there. The couple married in 1979 and now have three daughters, aged 32, 27 and 23.

'Most of the bus guides were women and many of them were very pretty, but there was just something about her I liked... I think I made the right choice,' he says with a laugh.

Background story

'I remember in the 1970s and 1980s when they were trying to improve the nightlife scene here, a lot of pop acts and performances were held at the amphitheatre. There were some very popular Malay acts that we got to watch, like Ziana Zain, Ramli Sarip and the band Wings.' - MR MASTURI LEHWAN ( with his wife, Madam Asmah Aziz), who used to live in Sentosa and is now a golf course supervisor there. He met his wife on the island

'My earliest memories of Sentosa are of going to the beach with my family and staying at the old two-storey colonial house chalets, overlooking the bushes and trees, and it got quite scary at night because it was always so quiet. I also loved the musical fountain - it was something we always went back to, even after seeing it many, many times.' - MS SITI JAFFAR, 29, entrepreneur

Island milestones
Straits Times 3 Jun 12;


Sentosa's swimming lagoon, which is now Palawan Beach, opened in 1974. -- PHOTOS: SENTOSA LEISURE GROUP

Pre-1970: Then known as Pulau Blakang Mati, the island was heavily fortified by the British and used as a base by the Royal Artillery garrison. During the Japanese Occupation, it was turned into a prisoner-of-war camp. It was also later occupied by the Gurkha regiment.

1970: Pulau Blakang Mati is renamed Sentosa, which means tranquillity in Malay.

1972: Sentosa Development Corporation is set up to develop the island into a tourist destination and attract more visitors to Singapore.

1974: The $6-million cable car transport system that links Sentosa to Mount Faber on the mainland starts operating with 43 cars.

The island's first attraction, the Coralarium (right), opens. It closed in 1995 and is now the Sentosa Cove arrival plaza. A swimming lagoon, now Palawan Beach, opens.

1975: Red-and-green double decker buses (below) are introduced to make it easier to get around the island.

Fort Siloso, a former fortress built by the British army, opens as an attraction.

1983: The Sentosa Monorail is introduced. It ceases operations in 2005 to make way for a new light rail system after visitors complain that rides on the non-air-conditioned trains are uncomfortable, too slow and noisy.

1984: The famed musical fountain is launched. In 2002, it is replaced by the new musical water-and-pyrotechnic show Songs Of The Sea.

1987: The ferry terminal opens with its distinctive white facade and clock tower. Ferry services later cease and the terminal is demolished in 2007.

1991: Underwater World opens and remains one of the most popular attractions on the island today.

1993: The $60-million Asian Village, a theme park opens, but closes in 2006 due to poor visitor numbers.

1994: The $52-million water theme park Fantasy Island opens. It closes in 2001.

1995: Another theme park, the $20-million Volcano Land, opens but also closes in 2006 due to poor visitor numbers.

1996: The 37m-tall Merlion tower, complete with viewing decks, opens.

1999: Dolphin Lagoon opens.

2000: The first ZoukOut is held on Sentosa, and draws 11,000 people. The beach bash soon becomes an icon, attracting revellers from all over the region. For its 10th anniversary in 2010, a record-breaking 30,000 people flock to the party on Siloso beach.

2007: The new monorail system, the Sentosa Express, is introduced.

2010: Resorts World Sentosa opens, which includes a casino and theme park Universal Studios Singapore.

Background story

'Growing up in the 1980s as a teen, there weren't many ?date' places. Sentosa seemed far away enough from the parents, and taking a cable car ride was romantic. I also miss the Monorail. It was a bit rickety, but I liked its simplicity, how low it was, going through tall trees, and being able to stick your head and hand out. It felt like doing a low-energy roller coaster!' - MS JO-ANNE LEE, 41, health administrator ISLAND MILESTONES

'I really liked Fantasy Island, even though I didn't get to go very often because it was really expensive at the time. The rides were quite exciting and after Big Splash (another water theme park) closed, it was the closest thing to an exciting theme park.' - MS JENNIFER SOH, 27, civil servant

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Singapore ... for diving - no, really!

Andrew Taylor Sydney Morning Herald 3 Jun 12;

WEDGED between the Shell oil refinery and three islands used by Singapore's air force for target practice, Pulau Hantu is not quite the tropical idyll one expects in south-east Asia.

It is certainly not one of the premier destinations for scuba divers, who tend to travel to Malaysia rather than explore the tiny islands and reefs that surround Singapore.

But Pulau Hantu is a quick 20-minute motorboat ride from Keppel Bay, home to Daniel Libeskind's latest architectural wonder - a series of skyscrapers that bend towards the sun like palm trees.

There are countless reasons why divers don't plunge into Singapore's warm waters, not least of which is that you're likely to see more diving into a vat of Guinness, says expat dive instructor Gary, who gave up his day job as a logistics manager for a life in neoprene instead.

The deafening roar of fighter jets breaking the sound barrier isn't exactly welcoming either, especially the one that zeroes in on Anjolie, the tiny three-metre boat that George, an Englishman with a porn star's moustache, has anchored next to the island's lagoon.

In the distance are the fun park rides of Sentosa Island and queues of rusting freighters waiting to unload their cargo to satiate Singapore's relentless consumers.

The island's history isn't exactly welcoming - hantu is the Malay word for ghost and apparently the island is full of the spirits of Malay warriors who found themselves on the wrong end of a duel. A more prosaic reason for the name might be because the island is partly submerged at high tide.

It was also a notorious graveyard for divers during the monsoon, Gary says, adding to the list of reasons I should have stuck to Singapore's main drawcard of shopping.

But the storm clouds are replaced by brilliant sunshine as I wriggle into my diving vest and flippers, check my oxygen tanks and hawk a mouthful of spit into my mask to clean it.

Gary even reckons we may encounter the island's other famous resident, the hawksbill turtle, so-named because its pointy head looks like a bird's beak.

I'd be happy to meet anything other than an oil slick as I perform a graceless backflip off the boat, into the brackish but reasonably clear waters.

Gary gives me a quick nod and a thumbs down, which in the sign language of diving means descend, and we leave the noisy, crowded surface for the serenity of the water below.

Diving is a lazy person's pastime where the less you move the slower you breathe and the longer you can stay submerged.

Despite its proximity to Singapore's bustling port, the reef look surprisingly healthy with an abundance of mushroom coral, which has the handy ability to change sex.

Besides gender-bending coral, a stingray flaps past like a bed sheet as well as clown fish, wrasse and a school of zebra-striped horrors that follow behind me like a pack of starving dogs.

One of the many pleasures of diving is being able to wee in front of other people without risk of social ostracism (emptying the bladder also conserves body heat).

Eventually the oxygen gauge ticks towards the red danger section and we slowly ascend to the surface to be greeted by a fighter plane streaking past us, its gun sight no doubt trained on our flippers.

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Best of our wild blogs: 2 Jun 12

Clean up Pasir Ris on World Ocean Day!
from wild shores of singapore

Oriental Pied Hornbills in urban Singapore
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Catching up with the Festival of Biodiversity
from Lazy Lizard's Tales

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Malaysia: Farmers of the forests

Aneeta Sundararaj New Straits Times 2 Jun 12;

With a number of threats looming, it is vital to document the hornbills’ deversity and ecological requirements, writes Aneeta Sundararaj

THE beautiful Belum-Temengor Forest Complex in Perak is one of the last refuges in Peninsular Malaysia for large mammals such as the Asian Elephant, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Malayan Sun Bear and Malayan Tiger, says Yeap Chin Aik, 36, Head of Conservation for the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS). The forest complex also showcases the world’s largest seasonal congregations of hornbills that make daily evening pilgrimages to the roosting sites south of Temengor during certain times each year.

Describing this enigmatic bird, Yeap adds: “Hornbills are unique because they nest in tree holes. They cannot make these holes themselves and rely on ‘excavators’ like woodpeckers for this.” They are also known as “farmers of the forests” because they play a crucial role in maintaining the forests’ ecosystem. “They are what’s called ‘frugivorous’, which means that hornbills feed on fruit like figs.”

Through dispersal and germination of the seeds from the fruit, hornbills influence the survival rate of several tropical forests tree species and keep the forests as functional as possible.

MNS conservation programme manager Maye Yap, 43, adds that: “Hornbills are very special. When you first go into the forest, it’s very quiet. But when these hornbills begin to flap their wings, the sound can be very loud. During the local migration period, when they can be seen in the hundreds or thousands, the sound these hornbills make can be overwhelming and...” She pauses then adds: “It’s magnificent.”

A sad note enters the discussion when Yeap points out that these hornbills are under threat. “There are generally three kinds of threat: loss of forests, degrading of forests and, being hunted. In Peninsular Malaysia, the hornbills face loss and degrading of the forests. In East Malaysia, they face all three,” he says. The threat to the hornbills’ habitat is mainly due to timber extraction. “Logging often targets the large, old trees, which are the prime nesting trees for hornbills.”

“The problem,” says Yeap, “is that no one champions these hornbills. In Europe, you’ll probably find someone who’s championing a snail. Here, with our wealth of biodiversity and exotic wildlife like marble cats and clouded leopards, hardly any animals have someone to champion them.”

Recognising such threats, MNS’s conservation programme aims to document the hornbills’ diversity and investigate their ecological and conservation needs in the forest complex. Since 2008, MNS has invited the public to support its work in monitoring these hornbills under a specific programme called the “Hornbill Volunteer Programme”. During the programme, volunteers venture into the forests and live amongst the Orang Asli in their kampung.
There are two packages that volunteers can choose from: opt for the first package and you’ll stay for three nights and four days in forest complex. The second package is a trip into the forest that lasts four nights and five days. “A huge part of the proceeds we receive from this programme go back to the Orang Asli people and the kampung,” says Yap.

Keep in mind that for the duration of your stay in the forest, there’ll be no water and no electricity. “This means that for many volunteers, who are 80 per cent urban folk, there’s no Internet and no phone. By 7.30pm, everything is quiet. And they have to do their washing in the river.” Hardships aside, every day you’re in the forest complex, you’ll take part in the daily flight census of the hornbills (once in the morning and once in the late afternoon) and collect relevant data.

In the years since this programme started, data collected by MNS has provided much food for thought. For instance, the number of hornbills recorded fluctuates. “One year, we had thousands. The next year, barely 100. Then next year, the numbers were up again. Why is this so?” asks Yeap. “Maybe, it’s because they’re changing their flight plan. Or the trees are not fruiting.”

Although no conclusions can yet be made, Yeap adds: “Having some data is better than having nothing.”

The magnitude of the challenge in collecting data is further emphasised when Yeap explains that these forests are difficult terrain. “You can view the hornbills in flight about five minutes away from the kampung. If you want to see where they nest, you have to go further into the jungle and hike up a very steep gradient. Also, we rely on the Orang Asli when we’re there and they are losing the knowledge that their ancestors had.”

Notwithstanding the challenges and hardships inherent in this programme, the response of past volunteers has been encouraging. “For many, the experience in the forest complex has been life-changing,” says Yap. She shares some of the many comments MNS has received which range from, “... being disconnected from handphone, email and FB was actually quite therapeutic” to “the simplicity of life... and the sheer joy of beginning and ending each day with the counting of the Hornbills, observing their flight pattern and eating behaviour mid-air”.

The last word lies with one volunteer whose words underscore the fact that if the current threats to conservation efforts are not addressed, the impact on the hornbill populations in the forest complex could be devastating and irrevocable: A greater awareness of our rich natural heritage, its vulnerability to human intrusion and the need to protect it.

Ultimately to see Temengor Forest Reserve declared a state park (and logging stopped, we saw barges ferrying logged timber a few times a day) and to have really eco-friendly tourism implemented (during our stay there we discovered that boat houses for tourists were lighting up fireworks, with carbide explosion for entertainment. The Orang Asli told us that this has been going on weekly for years). If possible, there should also be exposure to schoolchildren to be involved some way in the programme. After all, they are our future.

Types of hornbills

GLOBALLY, there are 54 species of hornbills. Thirty-one are found in Asia and Malaysia supports 10 species, namely:

• Black Hornbills
• Oriental Pied Hornbills
• Bushy-crested Hornbills
• White-crowned Hornbills
• Wreathed Hornbills
• Wrinkled Hornbills
• Plain-pouched Hornbills
• Great Hornbills
• Rhinoceros Hornbills
• Helmeted Hornbills

Be a volunteer

FANCY doing something different for the school holidays in August and September? If so, do become a volunteer for a programme run by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) aimed at conservation efforts for the globally threatened hornbills. This adventure will take you into the heart of the beautiful Belum-Temengor Forest Complex in Perak.

What: MNS’ Hornbill Volunteer Programme for 2012

When: Aug 3 to Sept 28

Contact details: Maye Yap (Conservation Programme Manager)

Malaysian Nature Society, JKR 641 Jalan Kelantan
Bukit Persekutuan
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: (60)3-2287 9422
Fax: (60)3-2287 8773
Website: www.mns.my
Email: hornbill.vp@gmail.com

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India: Rare Dugong population is on decline

Times of India 2 Jun 12;

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation has suggested that a study should be taken up with the help of deep sea scuba divers to estimate the exact population of Dugong along the India coast.

The population of this rare sea cow is on a decline along the Indian coast.

The Dugong population off the coast of Lakshadweep Islands seems to be extinct as there have been no recent sightings in the region. Officials also said that Dugongs were common in Andaman & Nicobar Islands during the British era, but populations steeply declined later due to poaching and habitat destruction. Dugongs are reported in Ritchie's Archipelago, North Reef, Little Andaman, Camorta and Nicobar Islands. However, large populations are no longer seen and numbers are believed to have been falling since the 1950s.

Officials said that observations made by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and various other organizations in India have revealed that the dugong populations all over India are declining. At present, it seems that the largest population of dugongs in India is in Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay region followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands, although the population size is presumed to be very small.

The 2004 tsunami had damaged much of the dugong habitats in the Nicobar regions. Dugong population in Gulf of Kutch is also endangered.

A senior officer said that among the decline of Dugong population was mainly because of vessel strikes, habitat loss and degradation, disease, chemical pollutants, hunting, and incidental drowning in nets.

Dugongs are vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures as dependent only on sea grasses in coastal areas which now have been seriously damaged by fishing, trawling, and dredging. Dugongs have also been hunted for their meat, oil, hide, bones and teeth.

Officials said that the feeding grounds, sea grass beds are highly degraded due to change in the fishing technology. With mechanized boats replacing the non-mechanized boats for fishing in the shallow water there has been a degrading of the sea grass beds and destroying their habitats. Moreover, water pollution and siltation have also hampered this unique dugong habitat.

Officials said that the there was a need to identify other important and potential dugong habitats in the country and to bring them under the Protected Area Network for better conservation planning.

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Warming gas levels hit 'troubling milestone'

Seth Borenstein Associated Press Yahoo News 31 May 12;

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant.

Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per million of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. The number isn't quite a surprise, because it's been rising at an accelerating pace. Years ago, it passed the 350 ppm mark that many scientists say is the highest safe level for carbon dioxide. It now stands globally at 395.

So far, only the Arctic has reached that 400 level, but the rest of the world will follow soon.

"The fact that it's 400 is significant," said Jim Butler, global monitoring director at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Lab in Boulder, Colo. "It's just a reminder to everybody that we haven't fixed this and we're still in trouble."

Carbon dioxide is the chief greenhouse gas and most of it lasts about 100 years in the air, but some of it stays in the atmosphere for thousands of years. Some carbon dioxide is natural, mainly from decomposing dead plants and animals. Before the Industrial Age, levels were around 275 parts per million.

For more than 60 years, readings have been in the 300s, except in urban areas, where levels are skewed. The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal for electricity and oil for gasoline, has caused the overwhelming bulk of the man-made increase in carbon in the air, scientists say.

It's been at least 800,000 years — probably more — since Earth saw carbon dioxide levels in the 400s, Butler and other climate scientists said.

Until now.

Readings are coming in at 400 and higher all over the Arctic. They've been recorded in Alaska, Greenland, Norway, Iceland and even Mongolia. But levels change with the seasons and will drop a bit in the summer, when plants suck up carbon dioxide, NOAA scientists said.

So the yearly average for those northern stations likely will be lower and so will the global number.

Globally, the average carbon dioxide level is about 395 parts per million but will pass the 400 mark within a few years, scientists said.

The Arctic is the leading indicator in global warming, both in carbon dioxide in the air and effects, said Pieter Tans, a senior NOAA scientist.

"This is the first time the entire Arctic is that high," he said.

Tans called reaching the 400 number "depressing," and Butler said it was "a troubling milestone."

"It's an important threshold," said Carnegie Institution ecologist Chris Field, a scientist who helps lead the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "It is an indication that we're in a different world."

Ronald Prinn, an atmospheric sciences professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said 400 is more a psychological milestone than a scientific one. We think in hundreds, and "we're poking our heads above 400," he said.

Tans said the readings show how much the Earth's atmosphere and its climate are being affected by humans. Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels hit a record high of 34.8 billion tons in 2011, up 3.2 percent, the International Energy Agency announced last week.

The agency said it's becoming unlikely that the world can achieve the European goal of limiting global warming to just 2 degrees based on increasing pollution and greenhouse gas levels.

"The news today, that some stations have measured concentrations above 400 ppm in the atmosphere, is further evidence that the world's political leaders — with a few honorable exceptions — are failing catastrophically to address the climate crisis," former Vice President Al Gore, the highest-profile campaigner against global warming, said in an email. "History will not understand or forgive them."

But political dynamics in the United States mean there's no possibility of significant restrictions on man-made greenhouse gases no matter what the levels are in the air, said Jerry Taylor, a senior fellow of the libertarian Cato Institute.

"These milestones are always worth noting," said economist Myron Ebell at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute. "As carbon dioxide levels have continued to increase, global temperatures flattened out, contrary to the models" used by climate scientists and the United Nations.

He contends temperatures have not risen since 1998, which was unusually hot.

Temperature records contradict that claim. Both 2005 and 2010 were warmer than 1998, and the entire decade of 2000 to 2009 was the warmest on record, according to NOAA.

NOAA's global monitoring lab: http://esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/

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Best of our wild blogs: 1 Jun 12

FREE Pasir Ris Mangrove Boardwalk Tours on 9th & 23rd June 2012 from Mangrove Action Squad

Celebrate World Oceans Day at Pasir Ris and Tanah Merah!
from Through The Backyards

Stalk-Eyed Flies... It Gets Longer!
from Macro Photography in Singapore and Look Into My (Black) Eyes

Mon 04 Jun 2012: 10am – Nanthinee Jeevanandam on figs & fig wasps in urban Singapore from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS

How to take good scientific specimen photos
from wild shores of singapore

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Malaysia: Land officers under probe over sand theft and smuggling into Singapore

Elan Perumal and Stuart Michael The Star 1 Jun 12;

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating several Pekan district land officers in relation to alleged sand smuggling from Sungai Pahang near Tanjung Agas Oil and Gas Logistic Park into Singapore.

It is learnt that MACC officers have taken from a company shipping dockets, bank-in slips and other documents related to the movement of vessels from the river to the South China Sea.

According to an MACC source, the commission has also obtained evidence of money transactions between private parties and the land officers.

He said the investigation into the smuggling started several months ago following a tip-off from the public.

“We have scrutinised the movement of vessels in Sungai Pahang right up till the sea and opened up a file on the alleged sand theft three months ago.

“The private company was found to have falsified dockets on movement of barges and other vessels to escape the authorities,” he said.

The source also said that the documents gave the impression that the barges were dumping waste material 30 nautical miles off the coast when they were actually transporting sand to Singapore.

“We believe that the culprits have been smuggling sand worth millions of ringgit into Singapore for over a year,” the source added.

Yesterday, The Star reported that a private company, engaged by the operator of the Tanjung Agas Gas and Oil Logistic Park in Pahang, was being investigated for smuggling sand into Singapore.

The company was contracted to carry out sand reclamation and dredging work in and along Sungai Pahang to complete the infrastructural development of the park, which has a planned area of 1,710ha.

It was also reported that the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency had arrested more than 10 foreigners in a recent raid and seized a dredger, six barges and two tugboats.

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Wildlife galore

Straits Times 26 May 12;

At the National Parks Board's (NParks') first Festival of Biodiversity this weekend, visitors can appreciate Singapore's natural heritage and take part in guided walks and exhibitions. The Straits Times looks at some species that were unearthed by marine and rainforest surveys across the island.

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Indonesia: Fishermen revive coral reef in Bali

Antara 31 May 12;

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Two hectares of damaged coral reefs off the Serangan beach in Denpasar, Bali, have been rehabilitated during 2003-12 by Pesisir Karya Segara, a group formed by local fishermen.

"The rehabilitation was targeted for an area of five hectares. However, since 2003, we have managed to revive only two hectares by planting seeds of coral reefs," Pesisir Karya Segara member I Wayan Patut said here on Thursday.

He added the rehabilitation effort was being made in collaboration with the private sector, which involved the planting of 32 seedlings of branched coral reefs.

"In addition to planting the seeds of the coral, we also released 36 seahorses which will likely attract more marine fish species into this region," Patut noted.

He explained the gradual rehabilitation of coral reef over five hectares was part of a 15-year plan and was expected to finish in 2018.

However, Patut added, the process was not easy, particularly because of the difficulties involved in procuring planting equipment and seeds.

"We are grateful to the government and private institutions that are concerned about the preservation of coral reefs near Serangan beach," he said.
(T.KR-LWA/INE/KR-BSR/S012)

Editor: Priyambodo RH

COPYRIGHT © 2012

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Indonesia: Sumatran elephant dies at Riau conservation park

Antara 31 May 12;

Pekanbaru (ANTARANews) - A Sumatran male elephant was found dead at Tesso Nilo National Conservation Park in Riau province on Thursday, the park chief said.

"We think the elephant died a day ago," Head of Tesso Nilo National Conservation Park Kuppin Simbolon said here on Thursday.

The body of the elephant was found by the park`s officials and members of the Riau`s WWF on Thursday morning, he added.

Kuppin noted the tusks of the elephant were still intact and the cause of its death was not yet known.

"A team of doctors from Riau Nature Conservation Service is now heading to the location to investigate the cause of the elephant`s death," he stated.

Local sources said the elephant died at Sei Tapak, Lubuk Kembang Bunga village, Pelalawan district, Riau. The area has oil palm plantations belonging to local residents.

Including the recent finding, the number of elephants found dead in Riau in 2012 has reached four. Earlier, the three elephants that were found dead reportedly belonged to a wild elephant group of Tesso Nilo park.
(Uu.A014/INE/KR-BSR/S012)

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Three rare elephants found dead in Indonesia
AFP Yahoo News 3 Jun 12;

Three critically-endangered Sumatran elephants have been found dead in an oil palm plantation in western Indonesia and are believed to have been poisoned, an NGO said Saturday.

Villagers found the dead animals on Thursday in a government-owned oil palm plantation in the eastern part of Aceh province. They were estimated to be four and five years old, local environmental group Fakta said.

"We suspected that they died after consuming bars of soap laced with poison we found near the carcass," the group's chief Rabono Wiranata told AFP.

"It seems that the elephants have died around one week," he said.

The animals are usually either killed by villagers, who regard the beasts as pests that destroy their plantations, or by poachers for their tusks.

Early last month, two other Sumatran elephants were found dead in the west of the province.

There are fewer than 3,000 Sumatran elephants remaining in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, marking a 50 percent drop in numbers since 1985.

WWF changed the Sumatran elephant's status from "endangered" to "critically endangered" in January, largely due to severe habitat loss driven by oil palm and paper plantations.

Conflicts between humans and animals are increasing as people encroach on wildlife habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago with some of the world's largest remaining tropical forests.

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