Best of our wild blogs: 20 Jul 12

What a Good Outing to USR !
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Common Tailorbird Gathering Nesting Material
from G33k5p34k's Blog

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker feeding on Myrmecodia fruits
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Indonesia: Activists Urge a Boycott of Circus Shows That Use Dolphins

Nandra Galang Anissa Jakarta Globe 20 Jul 12;

After urging Garuda Indonesia to rethink its transport of dolphins for traveling circuses, activists from the Jakarta Animal Aid Network are calling on other companies to end their support for circuses.

“We strongly urge companies such as Hero [supermarkets] to no longer provide their parking lot for the traveling shows,” Coki, the guitarist with the band Netral, said in a petition released on Thursday on behalf of the JAAN.

The petition had received more than 470 signatures as of Thursday evening.

Coki said he was moved to join the movement after witnessing the condition of the dolphins.

“They were in containers that exactly fit the width of their body, and rubbed with Vaseline to keep them moist,” he said.

Pramudya Hazani from JAAN said that the circus performances put the animals’ health at risk. After enduring stress from the long hours in cramped containers and then being placed into heavily-chlorinated pools, the dolphins have to put on at least five shows a night.

“Sometimes they run until 9 or 11 o’clock in the evening,” Pramudya said.

“These dolphins are treated as a cash machine to cover this circus’s costs.”

Other companies urged to pull their support for the circuses are supermarket chains LotteMart and Carrefour, as well as bottled tea producer Sosro.

Carrefour has already responded.

“From now on, we will not lease the parking lots of our stores to these circuses,” said Joko Arif, Carrefour’s sustainable-development manager.

Coki welcomed the statement, saying “We really hope other corporations will follow Carrefour’s steps.”

Garuda, which until recently transported dolphins, was threatened with a boycott and said it would review its policy on transporting live animals.

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Malaysia: WWF to help Kedah govt gazette state park

Elan Perumal The Star 21 Jul 12;

PETALING JAYA: WWF Malaysia is working closely with the Kedah Government to gazette parts of the Pedu forest reserve as a state park.

An official said no logging activities would be allowed in the area once it was gazetted as a state park.

The state government, she said, had expressed interest to gazette parts of the Pedu forest reserve and the Ulu Muda forest reserve as state parks.

“We are working with the state government to protect the Greater Ulu Muda forest,” she said.

The official said once an area was gazetted as a state park, the forest within it would be managed mainly for the purpose of biodiversity conservation and recreational activities.

“No logging would be allowed in a state park,” she added.

The Star had on Tuesday reported on logging activities being carried out at the Pedu forest reserve and Gunung Inas in Kedah, supposedly to clear the land for the state’s Ladang Rakyat rubber plantation scheme.

The official explained that an area gazetted as a permanent forest reserve (PFR) could either be categorised as a production forest or a protected forest.

“A production forest may be selectively logged according to sustainable forest management guidelines while protected forests cannot be logged.

“If the state decides to do so, the PFR status must be degazetted or reclassified,” she added.

She said degazetted PFRs would normally be clear-felled and converted to other land use such as agriculture.

“Unfortunately, the National Forestry Policy and the National Forestry Act 1984 do not prohibit the clearing of natural forests within PRFs for the establishment of plantation,” she said.

She said the classification of a forest or an area as a high conservation value forest (HCVF) also did not protect it against logging.

“The classification is only meant to encourage better forest management to promote the conservation of important, unique or endangered flora, fauna and ecosystem which the area hosts.

“However, only 2ha of the 15,299ha Pedu forest reserve has been identified as HCVF,” she said.

Kedah given deadline to correct weaknesses in Ladang Rakyat project
Embun Majid The Star 21 Jul 12;

ALOR SETAR: The Kedah state government has been given three months to correct weaknesses in the Ladang Rakyat project which involved the felling of timber at Gunung Inas forest reserve.

Kedah Mentri Besar Incorporated (PMBKed) chief executive officer Datuk Shahbudin Shafie said the agency has received a letter from the Forestry Department stating that the logging activities had been halted.

“We were told to correct any weaknesses in the Ladang Rakyat project. We have met with the Department of Environment and have prepared a report on the project,” he said when contacted yesterday.

PMBKed is an agency with the Mentri Besar’s office and has been tasked to carry out the project.

Yesterday, The Star reported that logging activities for Kedah’s Ladang Rakyat rubber plantation scheme at the Gunung Inas forest reserve near Baling has stopped and that no more felling of trees would be allowed until a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) was submitted.

Shahbudin said he had taken officers from the Kedah DOE to visit the project.

“During the visit we showed them the area where we planted the rubber trees and rivers allegedly polluted by the project,” he said.

Shahbudin stressed that the project did not pollute rivers in the area as claimed.

He said the Ladang Rakyat project was carried out on 400ha land, below the requirement for an EIA report which is compulsory for projects of more than 500ha.

“PMBKed only handles the Ladang Rakyat project and not the logging activity. So we prepared the EIA based on the project,” he said.

Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak when contacted declined to elaborate on the issue.

He reiterated that logging projects in Gunung Inas was being carried out according to rules and regulations.

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Indonesia: Sulawesi Biodiversity Haven Yields Up New Species

Hayat Indriyatno Jakarta Globe 20 Jul 12;

Meet Margaretamys christinae. Like her three sisters, she lives in the wilds of Sulawesi, but is distinguishable by her home high in the Mekongga mountains, her smaller build and her white-tipped tail.

While she may be a rat, she is not just any rodent. She is one of the newest species to be discovered in Indonesia, and the latest in the biodiversity haven of the Mekongga region in Southeast Sulawesi.

The discovery of M. christinae, the fourth species in the genus Margaretamys, all of which are endemic to Sulawesi, has “important zoogeographical and conservation implications,” says Dr. Alessio Mortelliti, the Sapienza University of Rome researcher who found her during an expedition from December 2010 to March 2011.

“Mine was one of the few mammalogical expeditions in the Mekongga mountains since 1932,” he told the Jakarta Globe in an e-mail.

The expedition, funded by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, was mounted to gather data on species first described 80 years ago by German explorer Gerd Heinrich. Although not all the species being sought were sighted, Mortelliti did manage to find the new rat species at an altitude of 1,537 meters.

He says there are several differences between M. christinae and the three previously known Margaretamys species — M. beccarii, M. elegans and M. parvus.

“The final segment of the tail is white, it differs [in terms of] several craniometrical and dental characteristics, [and has a] small body size,” he says.

And as for the name? “The species is dedicated to Christina, my girlfriend, who shared with me the experience of the Sulawesi expedition,” Mortelliti says.

His paper on the discovery will be published in the upcoming volume of the peer-reviewed journal “Tropical Zoology.”

Mortelliti notes that the discovery of a new mammal species is very uncommon.

“Scientists estimate that something like eight to 10 million species are yet to be discovered,” he says. “Even if the discovery of invertebrates is a relatively frequent event … the discovery of a new mammal species is quite a rare event.”

Still, he believes the Mekongga mountains could hold even more surprises.

“I strongly believe that it is very likely that several other undiscovered species may be present in the area, including other Margaretamys species,” he says.

“These are all forest species, so are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. The Mekongga mountain range is threatened by logging and by expansion of cocoa plantations. The establishment of a protected area will surely help to conserve these rare endemic species,” he adds.

During his expedition, Mortelliti was also able to confirm the existence of Prosciurillus abstrusus, aptly known as the secretive dwarf squirrel and one of the many species endemic to the Mekongga region.

He also found a specimen of Maxomys dollmani, or Dollman’s spiny rat, one of the four rodent species that the expedition had initially set out to study.

“The other three species may either have been undetected or could be extinct. Further research is mandatory,” he says.

M. christinae is the latest new species to be discovered in the Mekongga area. In March, US and Indonesian scientists published a paper describing a massive new wasp species named Megalara garuda.

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Best of our wild blogs: 20 Jul 12

How are Sentosa's seagrasses doing?
from wild shores of singapore

Learning about Australia's marine biodiversity at the first Wallace Lecture from wild shores of singapore

Brown-throated Sunbird feeding in the evening
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Public engagement to save Pasir Ris green belt

From Jeremy Ang Today Online 20 Jul 12;

I refer to the reports "Save our green lung, say Pasir Ris residents" (July 9) and "How to give residents a bigger say" (July 14).

As highlighted in the latter, I, too, believe that Singaporeans would like to be engaged in the planning developments that affect their estate.

With the recent plans to raze a lush woodland in Pasir Ris - a sanctuary for many scarce bird species - it is timely if the relevant authorities were to gain the confidence of nature lovers and residents by involving them in the plans and seeking their buy-in.

Regardless of the outcome, it would be a robust, thought-out process that takes the people's voice into consideration.

On this note, I applaud Pasir Ris Town Council for its dialogue session on preserving our green, to be held Aug 5, in line with the recent Saving Gaia campaign for generating green awareness.

How to give residents a bigger say
Forget NIMBYism, time for a consultation SOP when development plans affect estates
Tan Weizhen Today Online 14 Jul 12;

SINGAPORE - As Singaporeans increasingly demand to be heard on planning developments that affect their neighbourhoods and estates, it may be time to formalise channels - like setting up local planning councils or holding public hearings - that will give residents more say in such municipal-level affairs.

Members of Parliament (MPs), political analysts and sociologists told TODAY that they see an urgent need to regularise the rules of engagement, following a slew of petitions by groups in the past year against (or for) various developments in their estates.

Those that have made headlines include groups rallying over proposed eldercare centres; apartment residents unhappy with MRT construction works; households upset with a condominium developer's positioning of the refuse bin centre; and a Pasir Ris group seeking to save a forest belt.

HEARINGS AND TOWN HALLS

In the United States, for instance, there are local councils that engage in consultation with the authorities on new developments that could impact the town or neighbourhood.

Joo Chiat MP Charles Chong is all for moving towards a system of public hearings, where the authorities seek the views of residents and other stakeholders on major municipal issues or key legislation. Experts and interest groups may also be brought in.

"Over there (in the US), they have all sorts of consultations, even if it is to build a church or mosque in the area.

"In Singapore, the Government should consult on issues as long as it is not about national survival. For instance, the building of facilities that will affect the district," said Mr Chong.

Explaining why this is important as citizens get louder, he said: "Not everyone will get their way but at least the process is there and it is transparent. For now, it appears like it is everyone against the Government, who appear to be forcing changes upon the people.

"But with a system like in the US, everyone has their say and it is less emotive, with more facts and figures to support various points of view."

Such dialogue, as a start, could take the form of regular town-hall meetings, suggested Mr Chong, whose own Joo Chiat residents have been a textbook case of activism. (Efforts of the Save Joo Chiat Work Group in 2004 to combat sleaze in their district and promote its Peranakan heritage led to a freeze in new licences for pubs and KTV lounges in the area. Today, the area is known for trendy eateries and furniture shops.)

NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL

Others feel that Singapore is not ready for local planning councils. Several, like Sembawang GRC MP Ellen Lee and grassroots leader David Sim, 47, are more for expanding the role of Residents' Committees - which promote neighbourliness, racial harmony and community bonding - to include a consultative role on estate developments.

They pointed out that RC members typically have experience and knowledge of the ground, and they know other residents well and seek out their views. Town councils, on the other hand, deal mainly with implementation and are not suited for a consultative role, the MPs felt.

"We can't have a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to public consultation. But a formal process should be started if more negative reactions for a particular project are anticipated," said Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Indranee Rajah, who has been liaising with a group of Emerald Hill residents who have petitioned against an upcoming condominium development's construction of a rubbish-collection access gate on Saunders Road.

Nominated MP and Assistant Professor of Law Eugene Tan thinks the manner of consultation with residents should evolve; guidelines can be tweaked with each new situation that arises, until a set of protocols coalesces over time.

But the need for engagement is urgent, he feels. "Sometimes gathering feedback on the ground will enable the Government to make even better policies," he said. "An agency may know what is needed at the national level but, in terms of implementing it, that is where intimate local knowledge becomes important."

IS AN ISSUE BIG ENOUGH?

That does not mean that every minor decision or change in estate affairs should be put up for discussion.

Ms Lee, who dealt with a petition from residents against the building of an eldercare centre on Woodlands St 83, thinks formal consultation should be set in motion only for larger developments that affect many.

"Projects could be derailed and the whole process becomes tedious and prolonged if residents are to be consulted for everything," said Ms Lee, echoing a common view.

Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Hri Kumar said MPs should decide what is major enough. He is carrying out a couple of simple consultation exercises: Sending out letters before building a park in the Shunfu area and gathering feedback before allowing a REACH family service centre to set up an office at a void deck.

WOULD RESIDENTS CARE?

Emerald Hill resident and petition-leader Tan Tiang Yeow says that whether he would be willing to sit on a neighbourhood council would depend on how effective it is.

"We can give feedback 24 hours a day but what does it register as - a complaint, or something taken into account that will effect a rethink?"

Mr Tan, 46, said that there is sometimes a "disconnect" between how residents and the authorities see an issue.

To address this, he suggested that every neighbourhood could have a website detailing plans for any future development, repair work or upgrading and an explanation of how land-use decisions are made, as well as channels to foster discussion.

Regulations could also be put in place to make it necessary for developers or the authorities to inform residents before a decision is made, as well as a time-frame for it to be done in.

Clementi resident Lester Yeong said he would be happy to sit on a residents' council and represent his community's views on town planning and development.

The lab manager, 35, who backed the case of a group of Clementi Ave 4 residents who were farming illegally on State land, said: "It's my community and my responsibility for the well-being of the area I live in."

Asst Prof Tan believes that this is the crux of the issue facing Singapore - that resident activism should not be equated with NIMBYism (not in my backyard).

"You short-circuit the whole dialogue process if the Government is convinced it is just a NIMBY issue. They are not going to be interested in feedback," he said.

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Detention tank, diversion canal to enhance flood prevention

Olivia Siong Channel NewsAsia 19 Jul 12;

SINGAPORE: National water agency PUB has announced measures which it said will help prevent major flooding in Orchard Road from occurring again.

It plans to build a diversion canal and detention tank at the Stamford Canal Catchment to better deal with intense storms.

Prolonged heavy rains led to major flooding at Orchard Road in the last two years.

This was due to the Stamford Canal exceeding its capacity.

PUB is implementing two new measures after a nine-month study.

Firstly, PUB plans to build a new diversionary canal to ease the load on the existing Stamford Canal.

Storm water at the upper catchment, which serves areas like Napier Road and Holland Road, will flow to the Singapore River instead of the Stamford Canal.

So the new two-kilometre long canal will run beneath the surface starting from Grange Road, along Hoot Kiam Road, River Valley Road and off Kim Seng Road to the Singapore River.

The diversion canal along Bukit Timah Road is one of two existing diversion canals in Singapore. It was built in 1991 and diverts storm water to the Kallang River.

The new diversion canal will be about one third the size of the one along Bukit Timah Road.

A new underground water detention tank will also be built at Tyersall Avenue near Holland Road, opposite the Ginger Garden.

The tank will be built below a proposed nursery and coach park, which will be built by National Parks Board.

The tank will collect excess rainwater from drains along Holland Road during a heavy downpour.

The water will then be pumped back to the drains and discharged after a rain storm into the Marina Reservoir through the new diversion canal.

It will be able to hold about 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water - that's about 38,000 cubic metres of water.

The tank will also be about four-storey high. It will be the second water detention tank in Singapore. The first was built and completed in 2002 at Opera Estate.

The new water tank will be two-and-a-half times the size of the existing one.

PUB said while the new measures might not completely eradicate flash floods, they will help alleviate the situation.

Director of Catchment and Waterways for PUB, Mr Tan Nguan Sen, said: "Whatever structural design you build, engineering design you have, if you have a storm that's 'higher' than your design, you'll still have some residual flood risk. But definitely it'll be much less extensive and much less severe."

Mr Tan added motorists might be inconvenienced during the construction of the diversion canal and detention tank.

"It'll be something like what you see in typical road construction or drainage construction. The traffic may have to be diverted temporarily and then reinstated later.

"We will have to work together with the other agencies to make sure there's minimum traffic disruption and to ensure the traffic will continue to flow as per normal," Mr Tan explained.

Detailed design for the construction tenders for both measures will be carried out in the second half of this year.

Work on the diversion canal is expected to be done by the end of 2017.

And the detention tank is set for completion by the end of 2015.

-CNA/ac/ck

New canal to help ease Orchard floods
Detention tank also part of several measures to handle rainwater surge
Floodwaters in the carpark behind Orchard Building in the Orchard Road shopping belt on Dec 23, 2011. Singapore will build both a detention tank and a diversion canal to reduce flooding in the Orchard Road area. -- PHOTO: STOMP
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 20 Jul 12;

IN ONE of its most extensive efforts to fight floods, national water agency PUB will build a canal and a water detention tank to ensure Singapore's key shopping district and surrounding areas do not go under water again.

The 2km-long diversion canal will start at the same point as the Stamford Canal serving the Orchard Road area, but will steer rainwater towards the Singapore River. It will be ready in 2017.

The water detention tank, to be completed by 2015, will be built under a new carpark for coach buses near the Botanic Gardens. It will hold 38,000 cubic m - the volume of about 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools - and store rainwater from drains in the area temporarily during storms. The water in it will be pumped out to the drainage network after storms.

The two projects will reduce the Stamford Canal's catchment area by more than a third, easing the load on this canal, which runs from Grange Road through Orchard Road to the Marina Barrage.

This announcement comes after a series of high-profile floods along Orchard Road in the past two years, which caused millions of dollars in damage.

An expert panel appointed by the Government last June to look at ways to reduce flooding had concluded that the Stamford Canal was no longer big enough to handle the recent more intense rain.

News of the two projects yesterday came at the close of a nine-month study into long-term solutions to the floods. It looked at past floods and used a computer model to simulate even worse storms, such as one which lasts four hours and could dump 100mm of rain in an hour.

PUB chief executive Chew Men Leong said: 'The agency has put in place a multi-pronged plan to strengthen flood resilience across Singapore to cater to increasing weather uncertainty and urbanisation.'

Besides the two projects, the plan includes a more advanced forecasting system to be tested next year, and using building features to capture rainwater.

A weir, or barrier, will be built across the Stamford Canal to force upstream water to flow into the new diversion canal.

Professor Chan Eng Soon, who led the flood expert panel, said that with the diversion canal capturing water from about 40 per cent of the Stamford Canal catchment, it will be able to handle more intense storms.

'I think it would be able to handle the storms of 2010 and last year, except for some minor areas due to the local factors,' he said.

PUB will call for detailed design tenders for both projects by year-end; construction is likely to start next year. It declined to comment on the cost of the projects.

It said it will work with others such as the Land Transport Authority to minimise disruption during the works.

The new canal will run under only roads, not buildings. PUB said it will maintain the number of traffic lanes on affected roads.

The agency used computer models to check that the diversion canal will not transfer flood risk to other places.

Property consultant Colin Tan said property prices in flood-hit areas could recover because of these projects, although the construction work may drive down rentals in the meantime.

PUB previously built two diversion canals to ease the load on the Bukit Timah Canal. The first was completed in 1972; the second, twice as long and three times as large as the new canal, cost $240 million when it opened in 1990.

More measures to keep flooding at bay
PUB to build storage tank and under-road diversion canal to ease load on Stamford Canal
Woo Sian Boon Today Online 20 Jul 12;

SINGAPORE - Following a nine-month study on long-term anti-flood measures, national water agency PUB yesterday announced plans to build an underground detention tank and a 2-km diversion canal, which will ease the load on the Stamford Canal.

Detailed design for the construction tenders of both projects will be conducted this year.

The four-storey high detention tank is set for completion by the end of 2015. It will be built beneath a proposed nursery and coach park at Tyersall Avenue next to the Botanic Gardens. With an estimated capacity of 38,000 cubic metres - or 15 times that of an Olympic-sized pool - it will store excess stormwater from the existing drains along Holland Road. The excess stormwater will be pumped back into the drains for discharge into the Marina Reservoir via the proposed diversion canal after the rain subsides.

Work on the diversion canal is expected to be done by the end of 2017. It will divert rainwater from 38 per cent of the Stamford Canal catchment to the Singapore River.

About 3m to 4m deep, the new canal will run beneath the surface, starting from Grange Road, along Hoot Kiam Road, River Valley Road and off Kim Seng Road to the Singapore River.

As the projects will be up for tender, PUB said it is premature to estimate the cost. Nevertheless, it said the issues of cost and feasibility of solutions had been taken into consideration.

In January, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said in Parliament that building a diversion canal would cost between S$300 million and S$400 million, as he spoke about the possible options to alleviate future floods in the area.

PUB said it will work with the relevant agencies and stakeholder groups, such as the Land Transport Authority (LTA), to minimise disruptions during the construction.

At a media briefing yesterday, PUB Director of Catchment and Waterways Tan Nguan Sen said: "There will be operations where part of the road will be diverted, but the diversion will ensure that the number of lanes on the road will be maintained."

Speaking to TODAY, Professor Chan Eng Soon, who chaired an expert panel on drainage design and flood protection measures, said the duration of the construction of the diversion canal was understandable. He said: "You're looking at the diversion of a significant amount of rainfall runoff, so it'll be quite a sizeable canal to build.

"Naturally, the construction will need to take time."

PUB has previously rolled out several drainage improvement projects in the area to alleviate flash floods including the removal of sections of the NEWater pipeline in the canal and the smoothening of the canal wall with polymer lining.

Owners of buildings along Orchard Road, such as Lucky Plaza, Tanglin Mall and Wisma Atria, have also put in place measures to improve flood protection. For example, Wisma Atria has raised its platform to prevent floodwater from entering its basement.

Orchard Road Business Association executive director Steven Goh said that last week, PUB had informed his association of its plans.

Welcoming PUB's latest initiatives, Mr Goh acknowledged PUB's efforts in addressing the issue as well as engaging the stakeholders. "Right now, even without the canal, they are already trying to improve the flow of the water by installing the polymer lining in different pockets of Orchard Road," he noted.

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A little green dot? It's on the cards

Polytechnic student serves up a new card game to educate S'poreans about local flora
Alvin Chong Today Online 20 Jul 12;

SINGAPORE - If you cannot tell one tree from another, a new "environmental bonding" card game, GREENERDot, could help kickstart your education on Singapore's diverse flora.

GREENERDot is "a game to educate all Singaporeans about environmental issues in Singapore", according to its designer, Nanyang Polytechnic student Pang Yu Han.

The 18-year-old came up with the game after signing up for the Bayer Young Environmental Programme 2012, a programme for tertiary students that aims to help ease environmental issues in Singapore.

"I thought this would be a good chance for me to really help the earth," she said. "I wanted a game - I think games help people learn better."

The name GREENERDot is a play on words, explained Yu Han: "By being a green nerd, you can make our little red dot, Singapore, a greener dot."

The game features a deck of 50 cards and gameplay involves collecting sets of "Green Spaces" and growing plants on them. The Green Spaces feature popular parks in Singapore, such as the recently launched Gardens By The Bay, and each contains a description of the park's history.

Trees are grown using "Sapling", "Compost" and "Adult Tree" cards, each with a description for players to learn more about growing a plant. Some of Singapore's common trees are also featured with descriptions.

The game also has "Impact Cards" that can affect the growing process, with positives such as "Reforestation" and negatives such as "Pollution". Players can defeat the negatives by playing a "Change Agent" card.

"The real Change Agents are humans. If we do our part, we can get rid of negative impacts on the environment and save the earth," she said.

Yu Han designed all the cards herself, which took a whole week with barely any sleep. Before she designed the game, Yu Han was "not very concerned about the environment". But since starting on the game, she has become an active member of the Nanyang Polytechnic Geo Council, a CCA that helps equip students with environmental knowledge.

While she said that the current environmental situation in Singapore is "quite healthy", she feels that awareness has to be raised to prevent things from deteriorating. For Yu Han, GREENERDot is just the first step towards a green future. "My long-term aim is to do something different from others and to help the world," she said.

GREENERDot is in its initial launch and those interested in getting a pack can email GEO_Council_NYP@yahoo.com.sg. Limited sets are available. Go to facebook.com/GreenerDot for more.

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Malaysia: Underpass for wild animals

New Straits Times 20 Jul 12;

IPOH: A viaduct to allow safe passage for wildlife across the East-West Highway will be built on a site near Pulau Banding.

State Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said construction of the 1km underpass would begin next year.

"We choose the site as studies conducted by the department found that most wildlife passes that area.

"The government has, in principle, agreed on the site," he told the New Straits Times here yesterday.

It was reported that the cabinet had approved RM60 million to build the viaduct over the highway, which connects Grik in Perak and Jeli in Kelantan

Besides the Pulau Banding site, the cabinet had also approved similar projects in Terengganu and Pahang, costing RM110 million.

The viaduct, vital in linking fragmented tiger populations and reducing conflict with humans, was to save wildlife from being killed or injured when crossing the highway.

It will also allow safe passage between conservation corridors such as the Greater Taman Negara and Belum-Temengor Priority Tiger Landscape.

Kadir said if given a choice, the department would love to have several viaducts along the 100km highway.

"But based on the allocation given to us, we need to prioritise."

Extra manpower would be deployed at the viaduct area once construction was completed, he said, adding that this was to deter poachers.

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Malaysia, Terengganu: Coastal erosion kept in check

New Straits Times 19 Jul 12;

THE forces of nature cannot be fathomed. Every year, the monsoon season never fails to unleash torrential rain, thunderstorms and metre-high waves which hit Terengganu and the other east coast states.

With the state’s shoreline stretching 240km, the monsoon causes low-lying areas to be flooded.

Another real and present danger is coastal erosion brought about by the constant pounding of huge waves which cause large portions of sand and earth to be swallowed by the sea.

Big casuarina trees that can withstand strong coastal winds are toppled by the waves, which also destroy roads and buildings near the shore.

Realising the huge impact of coastal erosion on the livelihood of the local population, who are mostly fishermen, the state government has implemented erosion control measures through the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID).

One of the affected areas is Kampung Tok Jembal in Gong Badak, where gazebos have been swallowed by the sea, trees uprooted and a road destroyed during unusually high tides last year.

The DID has acted fast to stem the destruction by extending a seawall built two years ago to protect fishing boats.

Contractors not only had to extend the granite wall but also repair sections destroyed by the waves.

The task was far from a breeze as the tide and waves, sometimes as high as three metres, “gobbled” chunks of the granite wall even as the workers, aided by heavy machinery, were driving them into the ground.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said visited the site as excavators and earthmovers worked day and night, racing against the tide to complete the seawall.

“On the whole, the erosion control project in Tok Jembal will cost about RM81 million,” he said.

Despite the bad weather, the seawall has been completed on time and now visitors are back again at the Tok Jembal beach, a popular picnic spot among locals.

Fisherman Sulaiman Muda, 50, thanked the state government for building the seawall. Before it was put up, seawater used to reach the doorsteps of fishermen’s houses located about 70m inland.

“The waves are more powerful than any wall man can build. But at least now we are shielded by the wall and have ample time to move our boats further inland during high tide,” he said.

Building seawalls is not cheap and the state government has allocated millions of ringgit to construct them along various affected beaches in the state.

State DID director Mat Hussin Ghani put the cost for every metre of seawall at RM5,000.

“The wall has to be very strong to withstand the waves’ ferocious power.” Another area badly affected by erosion is the Teluk Lipat beach in Dungun and the state government wasted no time in allocating RM1.8 million to repair the damage.

A 1km road running parallel to the beach was destroyed after it was inundated by seawater and lashed by strong waves.

Infrastructure Development and Public Amenities Committee chairman Datuk Zaabar Mohd Adib said RM1.5 million has been allocated to construct three breakwaters in the area.

The DID, meanwhile, has been directed to complete the design of the breakwater as soon as possible.

“Once the design has been finalised, work can immediately start.” Zaabar said sand dredged from the Sungai Dungun estuary could be used in the construction of the breakwater.

T he depa r t ment ha s a l so embarked on several flood mitigation projects statewide, such as the RM5.6 million pumping system to prevent flash floods in Pusu Tiga, Gong Badak, and the RM6.7 million work to deepen and widen Sungai Pertang in Hulu Terengganu.

Apart from dedicated flood mitigation projects, the Hulu Terengganu hydroelectric project will also play a role by way of river water flow control.

This will be effected by a dam, now under construction upriver of Tasik Kenyir, which will reduce the threat of floods caused by the river overflowing its banks during the monsoon season.

Natural disasters like floods cannot be totally prevented but measures taken by the state government have mitigated the threat and damage.

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Malaysia, Sarawak: Planted forest target unmet

New Straits Times 20 Jul 12;

KUCHING: The slow pace of achieving the target of having one million hectares of forests replanted by 2020 may force Sarawak to open the door to the development of Licensed Planted Forests (LPF) to foreign participation.

Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Sudarsono Osman said only about 30 per cent of the target had been met.

He was speaking at a Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation's industry forum yesterday.

He said priority for the job would always be given to locals, but as the locals showed lukewarm interest, the government would be forced to consider other options.

Sudarsono urged the licensees to fulfil their obligation to plant the forest plantations.

"With the current low level of achievement of planted forest and declining supply of raw materials from the natural forest, the forest plantation sector should be given top priority for the survival of the timber industry."

He said it was the policy of the Sarawak government to encourage the establishment of tree plantations to sustain timber resources and relieve the pressure of natural forest.

Sudarsono said if the target of 1 million hectare of LPF was achieved, the supply of raw material from them would be 15 million cubit metres - more than enough to meet the current installed capacity of the primary industry of 12 million cubit metres annually.

Last year, Sarawak produced 9.6 million cubic metres of logs from natural forests, which Sudarsono pointed out was insufficient to meet the requirements of the domestic industry.

Out of that total production, 3.1 million cubic metres were exported while the rest was for domestic use.

Hii Tow Peck, the senior assistant director of the Forest Plantation and Reforestation Division of the Forest Department, in his paper presented at the forum, said the planted forests were needed to sustain timber supply, complement the production of timber from natural forests and rehabilitate degraded and shifting cultivation areas.

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Bodies of 14 rare Sumatran tigers seized in Indonesia

AFP Yahoo News 18 Jul 12;

Indonesian police seized 14 preserved bodies of critically-endangered Sumatran tigers in a raid on a house near Jakarta, a spokesman said Thursday.

A man identified as F.R. was arrested Tuesday in a suburban area of Depok suspected of his involvement in the illegal wildlife trade, national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told AFP.

"We confiscated whole preserved bodies of 14 tigers, a lion, three leopards, a clouded leopard, three bears and a tapir and a tiger head," he said, adding that investigations were ongoing.

"We believe he is connected to a network of rare animal traders. But we have not established yet if the animals are for the domestic or international market," he said.

The suspect could face up to five years' jail and fines of 100 million rupiah ($11,000) for violating natural resources conservation laws.

Poachers often sell tiger body parts to the lucrative traditional Chinese medicine market.

There are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. Several die each year as a result of traps, poaching or other human actions.

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