Malaysia: 'Stop rape of Camerons'

Jaspal Singh New Straits Times 28 Aug 12;

WOES: Illegal land clearing, too many projects a bane

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: THE Pahang government has been urged to stop the environmental degradation here caused by greedy parties, including farmers, over the past 12 years.

The Regional Environmental Awareness of Cameron Highlands (REACH), a community-funded organisation, claimed that illegal land clearing was on the rise.

In a 29-page report sent to Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, the organisation claimed that this had affected the riverine system and water supply.

REACH president R. Ramakrishnan said infrastructure, physical development as well as agriculture projects were being carried out in violation of the Land Conservation Act and other laws.

"One of the most important direct contributors to the depletion of primary forests in Cameron Highlands is illegal land clearing for agriculture," he said in the report titled "Illegal Land Clearing in Cameron Highlands".

On top of that, development projects have saturated the habitable area in the district, causing approvals to be given for the construction of new buildings on high-gradient slopes and forested areas.

"Today, Cameron Highlands has become saturated with apartments, hotels, shops and stalls.

"The capacity of the towns (Tanah Rata, Berinchang and Ringlet) has been exceeded."

Ramakrishnan urged Adnan to look into the issue and halt the degradation.

The report warned the state government of the environmental risks posed by the projects as half the land area of Cameron Highlands has a gradient of more than 20 degrees and more than three quarters of the highlands has an erosion rate of more than 150 tonnes per hectare per year.

"The likelihood of landslides occurring is high if land clearing continues unabated. Siltation of rivers and water shortages will also become constant features."

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Malaysia: More turtles at Cherating

Fahirul N. Ramli New Straits Times 28 Aug 12;

GLIMMER OF HOPE: Turtle landings have increased but fewer tourists are coming to sanctuary

KUANTAN: AFTER a continuous drop in turtle landings at the Cherating beach in Pahang in the past few years, there is a glimmer of hope as 163 of them have returned and 15,465 eggs have been collected in the first half of this year.

The last increase in turtle landings recorded in Cherating was in 2007 when 307 landings were documented compared with 259 in the previous year.

However, the number of landings has steadily waned since then, when only the green turtle species returned to the beach.

In 2010, it came down to 189 landings with 16,175 turtle eggs collected before the number dropped further to 177 landings with 16,037 eggs collected last year.

The steady decline has also reduced the number of eggs collected and hatched manually at the Fisheries Department's Turtle Sanctuary and Information Centre in Cherating, which was established to help conserve the creatures.

State Fisheries Department director Adnan Hussin said the department was optimistic that it could arrest the decline.

"We are excited because 3,980 of the eggs collected this year were successfully hatched and since the landing period is mostly from April to September, a bigger number can be recorded this year."

Sanctuary manager Abdul Karim Mohd Sham, 54, said he had witnessed many green turtles laying eggs but had never encountered the penyu karah or hawksbill turtles in the area in previous years.

Karim, who assumed the post six years ago, said the last he heard of hawksbill turtles coming to Cherating was almost 10 years ago.

"Turtles usually land on beaches to lay eggs between 10pm and 1am. They easily get annoyed by noises and also by camera's flashlights.

"In many cases, frightened turtles will move to other locations. They will not lay eggs once the second or third diggings are disturbed," said Karim.

To deal with problem, the sanctuary has since last year restricted the number of tourists entering the 3.5km turtle-landing beach stretch from 7.30pm to 7.30am. The beach strip is manned by six rangers.

Such a restriction unfortunately, has reduced the number of visitors from 60,912 in 2010 to 45,668 last year while as of June this year, only 26,303 people visited the sanctuary.

"To protect the turtles and safeguard their landing site, we need stricter rules for turtle-watching and steady funds. But if fewer people come, we get less revenue and that may also hamper our efforts to protect the habitat and educate the public," said Karim who is also responsible for a 14m by 6m fenced-in "spawning sands", where the turtle eggs are placed for hatching.

"The ideal temperature should be between 27oC and 34oC, and the fencing prevents predators, like birds and monitor lizards, from eating the eggs.

"Just like the fussy turtle mother, we choose the best spot for her eggs and will relocate them if necessary," he said, adding that it would take from 45 to 60 days for the eggs to hatch.

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Malaysia: Sale of turtle eggs widespread in Sandakan

The Star 28 Aug 12;

SANDAKAN: The sale of turtle eggs, banned under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, is widespread in this town.

A Bernama survey found that the eggs were sold in areas close to the Sandakan market.

The sellers go about their business discreetly, using hand signals to lure customers. They would only take out the eggs from plastic bags when buyers showed interest.

The bags are hung on the walls lining the five-foot paths of shophouses.

A seller, who wished to be identified only as Sam, said turtle eggs were sold because there was public demand.

He said the eggs were smuggled in through Pulau Taganak in the Philippines, about an hour’s travel by boat from here.

“Each egg is sold at RM1.20,” he said. “The price per egg goes up if supply is scarce.”

Anyone keeping turtle eggs in the state could be charged under Section 41(2) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, which carries a fine of up to RM50,000 or five months’ jail. — Bernama

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Blue carbon: A new hope for Indonesia

Andreas A. Hutahaean Jakarta Post 28 Aug 12;

While carbon dioxide emissions reductions are currently at the center of global climate change discussions, the critical role of coastal-marine ecosystems for carbon sequestration or as sinks has been overlooked or even neglected. The reasons are mainly due to the lag of scientific data because of the complexity of coastal-marine ecosystems.

In Indonesia, these ecosystems have not received sufficient attention considering their importance for climate change strategy, as most of the attention has gone to terrestrial ecosystems, such as the forest and agricultural sectors.

Moreover, the Indonesian program on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is running slow and its forest moratorium has not worked well, making it unlikely that the Indonesian government will meet its pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020.

Tropical coastal-marine ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass meadows are known as hot spots for biodiversity and for their valuable ecosystem services. Recently, scientists found out about the important functions of the ecosystems as carbon sequestration or sinks. This carbon, captured by coastal-marine organisms through photosynthesis, has been called blue carbon.

In this process, mangrove and seagrass binds carbon dioxide and water, and, with the assistance of sunlight, is converted into sugars and oxygen to support their growth. The remaining excess production of the plant is buried in the sediment, where it can remain stored.

Indonesia, an archipelagic country, is located along the equator at the heart of the so-called Coral Triangle. The nation’s geography causes warm climate over the country and has made the Indonesian coastal-marine environment become a suitable habitat for the growing of mangroves and seagrass.

Recently, researchers found that seagrass meadows could store up to 83,000 tons of carbon/m3/km2, mostly in the sediments beneath them. In comparison, terrestrial forests store about 30,000 tons of carbon/m3/km2, most of which is in the form of wood. This study was the first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrass and the finding was published in Nature Geoscience in May.

The study also estimates that, although seagrass meadows take up small percentage of global coastal area (about less than 0.2 percent of world’s oceans), they are responsible for more than 10 percent of all carbon buried annually in the sea.

Similar to seagrass, mangrove ecosystems have been known for their high productivity in the carbon cycle. The ecosystem can store a large amount of carbon in the deep organic sediment in which it thrives. It has the ability to store five times as much carbon as has been observed in temperate, boreal and tropical rainforests. This high amount carbon storage suggests mangroves could play an important role in climate change mitigation.

However, Indonesia’s blue-carbon ecosystems are among the world’s most threatened. About 3 to 7 percent of the ecosystems are disappearing every year, with the worst conditions found on the north coast of Java. The main reasons is mostly dredging, the degradation of water quality, deforestation and aquaculture activities.

A pilot project on Indonesian Blue Carbon in Banten Bay found at least 70 percent of the mangrove ecosystem was lost to aquaculture farms or land reclamation, while only 20 to 30 percent was used effectively by fisherman. To overcome these problems, strong attention from local communities and the government are needed.

Healthy natural coastal-marine ecosystems, such as mangrove and seagrass, provide a vast array of important co-benefits to coastal communities, particularly fishermen. These benefits include ecosystem services such as the protection of shorelines from storms, erosion or sea-level rise; the provision food from fisheries; the maintenance of water quality and landscapes for ecotourism.

In a blue carbon context these ecosystems also store and sequester a vast amount of carbon in sediments and biomass. Also from a global perspective, blue carbon mostly covers the tropical coastal-marine environment and is among the most effective carbon sinks known today.

Having the largest mangrove and seagrass ecosystems in the world makes blue carbon important for Indonesia’s climate change strategy, not only in international forums, but also to fulfill the government’s pledge to reduce carbon emissions by up to 26 percent by 2020.

The writer is principal investigator of the Indonesia Blue Carbon Project and a researcher at the Coastal and Marine Resources Research Center at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry.

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Mekong dams could rob millions of their primary protein source

WWF 27 Aug 12;

Stockholm — Hydropower dams planned for the lower mainstem of the Mekong River could decimate fish populations and with them the primary source of protein for 60 million people. The impact of the dams would extend far beyond the river, as people turn to agriculture to replace lost calories, protein and micronutrients, according to a new study by WWF and the Australian National University.

There are 11 planned dam projects on the Mekong mainstem, and another 77 dams planned in the basin by 2030. The study, “Dams on the Mekong River: Lost fish protein and the implications for land and water resources”, looked at two scenarios: replacement of lost fish protein directly attributable to the proposed 11 mainstem dams, and replacement of the net loss in fish protein due to the impact of all 88 proposed dam developments.

If all 11 planned mainstem dams were built, the fish supply would be cut by 16 per cent, with an estimated financial loss of US$476 million a year, according to the study. If all 88 projects were completed, the fish supply could fall 37.8 per cent.

Study co-author Stuart Orr, freshwater manager at WWF International, says policymakers often fail to recognize the crucial role of inland fisheries in meeting food security. “The Mekong countries are striving for economic growth, and they see hydropower as a driver of that growth. But they must first fully understand and take into account the true economic and social value of a free-flowing Mekong,” says Orr.

The lower Mekong, flowing through Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam, is renowned for its biological diversity, with more than 850 freshwater fish species. These fish are fundamental to diets and economies in the region, with 80 per cent of the 60 million inhabitants relying directly on the river for their food and livelihoods.

The report also looks at the effects on land and water as people are forced to shift to cows, pigs, poultry and other sources to meet their protein requirements. On top of 1,350km2 of land lost to dam reservoirs, the countries would need a minimum of 4,863km2 of new pasture land to replace fish protein with livestock. The high end of the estimate if all dams were built is 24,188km2 – a 63 per cent increase in land dedicated to livestock.

Water requirements would jump on average between 6 and 17 per cent. But these averages mask the considerably higher figures for Cambodia and Laos. Under scenario one, with 11 dams on the mainstem, Cambodia would need to dedicate an additional 29-64 per cent more water to agriculture and livestock; Laos’ water footprint would increase by 12-24 per cent. Under the second scenario, with all 88 dams, these numbers shift dramatically, with an increase of 42-150 per cent for Cambodia and 18-56 per cent for Laos.

“Policymakers in the region need to ask themselves where they are going to find this additional land and water,” says Orr. “The Mekong demonstrates the links between water, food and energy. If governments put the emphasis on energy, there are very real consequences for food and water – and therefore people.”

The report, published in the journal Global Environmental Change and presented during World Water Week in Stockholm, comes at a critical time in the debate over hydropower development in the region. Construction work appears to be moving ahead on the controversial Xayaburi dam in Laos, despite a decision by the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission to halt the project pending further studies. It would be the first of the planned dams to span the lower Mekong mainstem.

“We hope this study can help fill some of the knowledge gaps about the effects of the proposed dams,” says co-author Dr Jamie Pittock from the Crawford School of Public Policy in the Australia National University.

WWF urges the lower Mekong countries to defer a decision on the mainstem Mekong dams for 10 years to ensure critical data can be gathered and a decision can be reached using sound science and analysis. WWF further advises lower Mekong countries considering hydropower projects to prioritize dams on some Mekong tributaries that are easier to assess and are considered to have a much lower impact and risk.

An abstract of the study, with the option to download the full text, is available here:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.06.002

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Arctic Sea Ice Shatters Historic Record Low

Wynne Parry LiveScience.com Yahoo News 27 Aug 12;

Arctic sea ice, the white cap that covers the watery northern edge of the planet, has melted back to a record low level.

However, the ice is unlikely to stop shrinking. Arctic sea melts through the summer usually reaching its annual minimum in September.

On Sunday (Aug. 26), Arctic sea-ice extent fell to 1.58 million square miles (4.10 million square kilometers), surpassing the previous low, set on Sept. 18, 2007, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reports. Sea-ice extent refers to the area of ocean covered at least 15 percent by sea ice, according to the NSIDC.

The record low, set in 2007, stood at 1.61 square miles (4.17 square kilometers).

But this year's melt is unlikely to stop soon. The melt season still has another two or three weeks to go. [10 Things to Know about Sea Ice]

Continuous satellite records of sea-ice extent began in 1979. But in recent years, satellite data have shown a shift in the fluctuating ice cover. For example, including this year, the six lowest ice extents in the satellite record have occurred in the last six years, the NSIDC reports.

Scientists attribute the shift to a combination of natural forces, for example, a storm in early August coincided with an acceleration of melt that occurred at the same time. However, over time, the effects of winds, clouds and other natural conditions should, in theory, balance themselves out. It is the emission of greenhouse gases that alters the long-term trend by warming the planet, Walt Meier, a research scientist at NSIDC told LiveScience last year.

This year's melt rate was much faster than the normal rate for this time of year, the NSIDC reported today (Aug. 27).

Sea ice matters to the animals, such as polar bears and walruses, that depend on it for habitat, and scientists worry the loss of ice could have serious consequences for them.

Sea ice also affects weather and global climate, because it reflects most of the sun's energy back out to space. If sea ice melts, the dark water beneath it absorbs most of the energy, which in turn enters the natural system. In this way, scientists believe the melting of sea ice will aggravate global warming.

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Best of our wild blogs: 27 Aug 12

Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [20 - 26 Aug 2012]
from Green Business Times

Wild shore fun for kids during the September holidays
from wild shores of singapore

It’s September – the International Coastal Cleanup is here!
from Toddycats!

Trash talking
from The annotated budak

Year-Round Cleanup – Nestle R&D Singapore team-building coastal cleanup exercise spends three hours at ECP (16th July 2012) from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

lineated barbet @ kent ridge - Aug2012
from sgbeachbum

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker feeding and calling
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Javanese Grasshopper
from Monday Morgue

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Malaysia: Johor logging 'will not encroach' on wildlife trails

Jassmine Shadioe New Straits Times 27 Aug 12;

PRIORITY SITES: Forestry Department says no projects will be allowed on Central Forest Spine

JOHOR BARU: STEPS are being taken by the Johor Forestry Department to ensure that logging activities will not encroach on natural trails of wild animals that connect the various forest reserves.

Acting director Yahaya Mahamood said preventive measures were in place to ensure logging activities were kept out of areas designated under the Central Forest Spine (CFS) project.

The CFS identified 31 priority sites across Peninsular Malaysia where forests need to be connected either via underground culverts or by replanting tracts of land to become forests.

Connecting these tracts of forest allows for better movement of wild animals and makes it easier for the transfer of genes and plant seeds.

Yahaya said out of three companies which had applied to conduct logging activities near the Sembrong Forest Reserve in Mersing, only two were allowed to do so on their proposed sites.

"The third company was asked to move out of its proposed site, as the area had encroached on the CFS," he said when commenting on a report by an English daily about logging activities that had begun near the Sembrong Forest Reserve in northeastern Johor.

Yahaya said no companies would be allowed to conduct logging activities in the CFS corridor.

"The company agreed to move their operations from the affected areas."

Yahaya refused to name any of the three companies. He said the three companies were awarded contracts to fell and replant rubber trees in 2006 under the Forest Plantation Project.

The rubber trees under the project, he said, were of a species called timber latex clone. This species is planted for its rubberwood, not its latex.

However, a year later, issues concerning the CFS cropped up.

He said after concerns were raised, the projects were delayed until 2010.

"We cannot simply cancel the project after awarding the contract to the companies because of their investments and there were legal issues involved. Thus, areas which the companies had earmarked for logging and which affected the CFS were reviewed and the project removed.

"The corridor includes areas like the Endau-Rompin National Park, and the forest complex to the east (Labis Timur Forest Reserve and the Endau-Kluang Wildlife Reserve) and southeast (Mersing Forest Reserve, Lenggor Tengah Forest Reserve and Lenggor Timur Forest Reserve)."

The network of the CFS spans throughout the peninsula from the north to the south and involves eight states -- Pahang, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu."

Probe forest reserve plan in Mersing, Johor urged
Desiree Tresa Gasper The Star 27 Aug 12;

JOHOR BARU: The Johor Government needs to examine current policies and look at what went wrong at the Sembrong Forest Reserve in Mersing to prevent further damage.

Stating this, Malaysian Nature Society Johor chairman Vincent Chow said reports in The Star that two rubber plantation companies were logging at the reserve were serious and needed to be dealt with immediately.

“I believe there are many more such cases in the state. This shows there may be weaknesses in current policies.

“Many are in the dark about the role of the Central Forest Spine Masterplan and unaware that animals and the environment will suffer without it,” he said, adding that the plan provided for the animals to migrate via linked forest areas throughout the peninsula.

Chow said that by logging the reserve forests, loggers break the link and this would result in animals being stranded, hence affecting their migration patterns and survival.

Meanwhile, environmentalist P. Sivakumar called on the Government to stop all logging in Sem-brong and ban logging at all forest reserve areas.

“It is our responsibility to preserve the forests for the future generation,” he said.

In KUALA LUMPUR, Transparency International (TI) Malaysia secretary-general Josie M. Fernandez urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to probe what she called poor governance and weak institutions in the Forest Department.

“The Sembrong Forest Reserve has been logged because governance and accountability mechanisms, including transparency, were not implemented in awarding concessions,” she said.

“Reforms of laws and policies related to forestry and land use are necessary as logging and agriculture at state levels cannot be addressed by existing national policies,” Fernandez said

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Aug 12

30 Aug (Thu): Siti to speak on seagrasses at Green Drinks
from teamseagrass

A Long Hike Into The Forest
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Butterfly of the Month - August 2012
from Butterflies of Singapore

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PSI reading still in good range, says NEA

Channel NewsAsia 25 Aug 12;

SINGAPORE: A slight hazy condition affected Singapore on Friday evening, with prevailing winds from the south of Singapore.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the 24-hour PSI reading at 10pm was between 34 and 47, in the good range.

The PSI at 8am on Saturday was 47 (good).

NEA said Singapore is currently experiencing the Southwest Monsoon season which typically lasts from June to September/early October.

NEA said this is the traditional dry season for the southern ASEAN region.

Over the past few days, weather conditions in the region have become drier and an increase in hotspot activities has been observed in Sumatra.

NEA said scattered hotspots with smoke haze have been detected mostly over central and southern Sumatra.

NEA is monitoring the haze situation closely and will provide updates should the air quality deteriorate.

- CNA/cc

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Malaysia: EIAs required, but state government has final say

New Straits Times 26 Aug 12;

WILDLIFE as well as plant life must be taken into account under the environmental impact assessment (EIA) guidelines.

"We have to study and document how the project affects wildlife and plant life," says Dr G. Balamurugan, from the ERE consulting group, who has done numerous EIAs for development.

He says when the EIA was introduced in 1988, it was initially not very effective as the Department of Environment (DOE) was still not well established then.

"Over the years, it has improved. It has tighter guidelines and public awareness is also very high. It is definitely better now."

However, Balamurugan says the DOE can improve further especially in certain states, such as Kelantan, Terengganu and Johor, where land is being cleared for the planting of rubber timber as well as oil palm.

"They are getting approvals. These areas may be wildlife crossings. There is a need to be more alert."

He says in some cases, there is a lot of pressure from the state governments for development.

"Kelantan ignores all EIA requirements. Even the national park is being invaded. If all these state governments respect the central forest spine, then there will be no problem.

"Whenever land is developed and if there are animals living there, some will run away while others will die. If the land is an island of forest, they have nowhere to run to.

"When they go on the roads, they get run over. If they go into the villages, they get shot."

However, he says, there are many cases where the DOE has stopped a project by referring to it as "sensitive to the environment".

Balamurugan says the current DOE procedure is to refer to the National Physical Plan to see if an area is sensitive.

"All the sensitive areas have been mapped and identified.

"Under the DOE's current guidelines, all important wetlands, freshwater swamps and national parks have been mapped."

He adds that the total area involved is about 50 per cent of the land area in the country which is protected.

"Sometimes, they will allow exceptions, for example, where the Public Works Department (PWD) is building a road through the forest. This is on the basis of national importance and public good.

"These roads require wildlife crossings. Most PWD projects over the last five years have culverts and viaducts to allow animals to cross."

Balamurugan says the government is working on creating what is called the central forest spine.

This project is under the purview of the Town and Country Planning Department which is responsible for all land use in the peninsula.

The central forest spine identifies 31 priority sites across the peninsula where forests need to be connected either via underground culverts or by replanting tracts of land to become forests.

Connecting these tracts of forest allow better transfer of genes as well as plant seeds.

He says every professional is accountable when working on an EIA and has to report truthfully.

"A number of consultants have been suspended and given warnings in the past. The DOE is now more strict with them."

He says a number of methods are used to determine whether animals roam a particular area.

"The existence of animals at a particular site can be derived from secondary data, such as studies by non-governmental organisations, the Forestry Department and others on tigers and elephants."

The land may be where the animals live or it may be used as a crossing from season to season as they migrate.

Once secondary data is collected, they proceed with the field work.

This may involve trapping, in the case of small animals, or identifying footprints and droppings in the case of bigger animals like elephants and tigers.

"In the case of birds, we may go to the field to observe over a period of 18 hours, 24 hours or even one week."

The requirements for EIAs differ from project to project.

Balamurugan says while housing estates and townships below 50ha do not require an EIA, all roads, no matter what size, require an EIA.

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Year after Irene, New Yorkers ponder sea barriers

Jennifer Peltz Associated Press Yahoo News 23 Aug 12;

NEW YORK (AP) — Two years before Hurricane Irene created the prospect of a flooding nightmare in New York City, 100 scientists and engineers met to sketch out a bold defense: massive, moveable barriers to shield the city from a storm-stirred sea.

Though the storm caused billions of dollars in damage along the Eastern Seaboard, Irene proved not to be the urban catastrophe forecasters feared. But in the wake of the close call a year ago, elected officials and community groups are pressing for an evaluation of whether sea barriers make sense for New York.

The city has been gathering information, while stressing that barriers are only one of many ideas being studied.

Initially hesitant to recommend spending money studying a remote possibility, state Assemblyman Richard Gottfried now finds the barrier idea realistic enough that he and state Sen. Thomas Duane have urged the city to give it a thorough examination. Gottfried changed his mind before Irene, but feels the storm — which hit the city head-on as a tropical storm on Aug. 28, 2011 — brought the point home to others.

"I think it did make it clear to a lot of New Yorkers that we could not take our safety for granted," he said this week.

To advocates, Irene — which shuttered subways, spurred evacuation orders for 370,000 people and raised fears that a surge of seawater would cripple the U.S. financial capital — added urgency to what they see as the best hope for protecting New York against a mounting threat. But some experts believe the city is better off focusing on more moderate, immediate measures to limit potential damage from storms and rising seas.

The discussion illuminates a potential dividing line for this city and others projected to face a more flood-prone future in a changing climate: take big, difficult steps in hopes of thwarting high water, or a roster of smaller ones intended to help manage it?

New York, for its part, says it's giving equal time to both approaches.

The city administration is working toward a hard-numbers analysis of natural risks and how well various coast-protection techniques would address them, said Adam Freed, the deputy director of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. Storm-surge barriers are among the options being examined; officials have talked in recent months with some participants in a 2009 academic conference on the issue.

In the meantime, the city also has flood-proofed some places — by installing floodgates at sewage plants, for example, and raising the ground level while redeveloping a low-lying area in Queens.

"There's no one-size-fits-all solution to the risk we face, and it's not just one risk," Freed said, noting that the city also is preparing for more frequent heat waves, more extreme rainstorms and other anticipated global-warming effects. "It is going to be a suite of strategies that encompass everything."

Proponents say sea barriers would solve a big piece of the problem, and they point to examples in cities ranging from London to Providence, R.I. But some scientists and engineers feel the structures could create a false sense of security and raise environmental and social-equity questions.

"Who gets included to be behind the gate, and who doesn't get included? ... How do you make that decision in a fair way?" said Robert Swanson, an oceanographer at Long Island's Stony Brook University, where the barrier idea is a topic of cordial debate.

Two of his colleagues, oceanography professor Malcolm J. Bowman and lecturer and engineer Douglas Hill, are driving forces behind the idea and helped galvanize the 2009 conference, which featured conceptual designs from engineering firms.

One strategy entailed an estimated $9.1 billion set of barriers a mile long or shorter at three critical points around the city's waterways. The network would protect Manhattan and parts of the four outer boroughs and New Jersey, but not some vulnerable swaths of Brooklyn and Queens.

Some of them stood to gain protection in an alternative design: a single, 5-mile-long barrier between Sandy Hook, N.J., and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, estimated at $5.9 billion.

Both approaches were designed to block a 25-foot storm surge but had navigational locks or other mechanisms to let water and ship traffic flow under normal conditions. Some designs featured visible walls or berms above the waterline, but one envisioned a wall that would lie flat underwater and rise into position when needed.

Advocates note that an 1821 hurricane flooded what's now Manhattan's financial district — and that experts estimate the city could face a surge as high as 25 feet and a 3 million-person evacuation if threatened by a storm as strong as a notorious 1938 hurricane that sawed through nearby Long Island. Moreover, the city projects global warming could boost sea levels by up to 4 ½ feet by the end of the century, making flooding a growing threat.

Troubled by the projections, retired newspaper publisher and community activist Robert Trentlyon started broaching storm-surge barriers with local organizations and officials about two years ago.

Then came Irene, a 500-mile-wide hurricane that weakened to a tropical storm with 65-mph winds just before its center made landfall at Brooklyn's Coney Island.

"There's absolutely no question: From the time of Irene, for the next six months, people were more concerned," said Trentlyon, who now makes his rounds with a growing file of supportive statements.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler urged city officials in a letter this month to take a comprehensive look at storm-surge barriers, bulkheads and other flood-fighting devices.

The City Council's Environmental Protection Committee heard from barrier advocates, among others, at a hearing in December, and Chairman James Gennaro would like the barriers to be among ideas getting further review by a city climate-change task force.

The council passed a proposal Wednesday to expand the group's scope to assess how heat, storms and flooding affect various aspects of the city.

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