Best of our wild blogs: 4 Oct 12

Damselfly (1) – Euphaea Impar
from Dragonflies & Damselflies of Singapore

6 Oct (Sat): Mangrove talk by Dan Friess at Sungei Buloh
from wild shores of singapore

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It's Not Too Late for Coral Reefs, Experts Say

ScienceDaily 3 Oct 12;

Coral reefs -- ecosystems of incredible environmental and economic value -- are showing evidence of significant degradation, but do not have to be doomed. We can make a difference.

Once plentiful, coral reefs worldwide and locally have been ravaged by a number of stresses, including global threats like rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification, and local threats like pollution, overfishing and coastal development. An estimated 25-30 percent of the world's coral reefs are already severely degraded or lost, and another very high percentage are in danger of greater impact or worse. Some even predict reefs could be essentially wiped out within a human generation unless action is taken.

The coral reef issue is not only an environmental problem, but an economic one. The United Nations estimates globally, coral reefs generate over $172 billion per year from the services they provide including tourism, recreation and fisheries. In South Florida alone, where 84 percent of the nation's reefs are located, reef ecosystems have been shown to generate over $6 billion in annual economic contributions and more than 71,000 jobs.

In July, hundreds of scientists joined in a consensus statement written at the recently held 12th International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns Australia, stating: "Across the globe, these problems cause a loss of reef resources of enormous economic and cultural value. A concerted effort to preserve reefs for the future demands action at global levels, but also will benefit hugely from continued local protection."

Is there good news for the posterity of reefs? There can be. Research is allowing greater understanding about how reefs response to threats. Consequently, there are clear steps that must be taken to ameliorate stresses. Some of these are easy fixes that include stopping overfishing, controlling pollution and establishing marine protected areas. Others, like the rising ocean temperatures that are causing coral bleaching or the increasing acidity in our oceans, are more complex.

Research can also help us learn how to restore these valuable reefs. This includes raising corals in places where larvae and juveniles are nurtured in a relatively safe environment before being moved to a location where we can hope to restore a coral population.

Offshore coral nurseries are showing tremendous potential for restoration. A corollary, and less studied technique, is to grow corals under more controlled conditions in on-land nurseries where they are less subject to stress and variation. These specimens can then be transplanted back to degraded reefs that need a kick start. It's a fairly new idea -- and one among others that we hope will lead to increasing the tools for restoring coral reefs.

Because coral nurseries can play a significant role in restoration, we are expanding our grow-out facilities. With our new reef research facility, the Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research in Hollywood, Fla., we will triple the size of our land-based coral nursery operation. Our offshore nursery research area with thousands of corals will continue its efforts. We'll use state-of-the-art facilities to study coral stressors in a controlled environment in order to better understand the impacts of these threats and how to better take corrective actions.

There are many unanswered research questions: What size of coral best survives transplantation? When is the optimum time to conduct the transplantation? What genetic strains and mix of a single species will have greatest survivorship? How are the most appropriate species for restoration? How long does it take to restore a reef?

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the sea. And like the Amazonian rainforest that's facing extreme degradation, reefs are disappearing at an alarming rate. We are embarking on a critical mission to understand and restore reef ecosystems. It's a mission that must be accomplished.

Richard E. Dodge, Ph.D., is dean of the Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center in Hollywood, Florida, and executive director of its National Coral Reef Institute.

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Land acquired over past decade could have produced food for a billion people

Oxfam calls on World Bank to stop backing foreign investors who acquire land for biofuels that could produce food
John Vidal The Guardian 4 Oct 12;

International land investors and biofuel producers have taken over land around the world that could feed nearly 1bn people.

Analysis by Oxfam of several thousand land deals completed in the last decade shows that an area eight times the size of the UK has been left idle by speculators or is being used largely to grow biofuels for US or European vehicles.

In a report, published on Thursday, Oxfam says the global land rush is out of control and urges the World Bank to freeze its investments in large-scale land acquisitions to send a strong signal to global investors to stop "land grabs".

"More than 60% of investments in agricultural land by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010 were in developing countries with serious hunger problems. But two-thirds of those investors plan to export everything they produce on the land. Nearly 60% of the deals have been to grow crops that can be used for biofuels," says the report.

Very few, if any, of these land investments benefit local people or help to fight hunger, says Oxfam. "Instead, the land is either being left idle, as speculators wait for its value to increase … or it is predominantly used to grow crops for export, often for use as biofuels."

The bank has tripled its support for land projects to $6bn-$8bn (£3.7bn-£5bn) a year in the last decade, but no data is available on how much goes to acquisitions, or any links between its lending and conflict.

Since 2008, says Oxfam, 21 formal complaints have been brought by communities affected by World Bank investments, in which they claim that these have violated their land rights.

Oxfam's chief executive, Barbara Stocking, said: "The rush for land is out of control and some of the world's poorest people are suffering hunger, violence and greater poverty as a result. The World Bank is in a unique position to help stop land grabs becoming one of the biggest scandals of the century."

She added: "Investment should be good news for developing countries – not lead to greater poverty, hunger and hardship."

According to the International Land Coalition, 106m hectares (261m acres) of land in developing countries were acquired by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010, sometimes with disastrous results.

Nearly 30% of Liberia has been handed out in large-scale concessions in the past five years, and up to 63% of all arable land in Cambodia has been passed over to private companies.

Oxfam dismisses the claim made by the World Bank and others that lots of available land is unused and waiting for development. "It is simply a myth. Most agricultural land deals target quality farmland, particularly land that is irrigated and offers good access to markets.

"It is clear that much of this land was already being used for small-scale farming, pastoralism and other types of natural resource use."

A 2010 study by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) – the World Bank's official monitoring and evaluation body – stated that about 30% of bank projects involved involuntary resettlement. The IEG estimated that at any one time, more than 1 million people are affected by involuntary resettlement in active World Bank-financed projects.

Oxfam urged the UK government, one of the bank's largest shareholders, to use its influence to persuade it to implement the freeze. "It can also play a crucial role as president of the G8 next year by putting food and hunger at the heart of the agenda, and addressing land grabs as part of this. Critically, it can also press the EU to reverse biofuels targets – a key driver of land grabs."

Stocking said: "The UK should also show leadership in reversing flawed biofuels targets, which are a main driver for land and are diverting food into fuel."

In a statement to the Guardian, the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private lending arm, said: "IFC does not finance land acquisitions for speculative purposes. We invest in productive agricultural and forestry enterprises that can be land intensive to help provide the food and fibre the world needs. IFC has roughly a $4.85bn portfolio of agri-related investments. Of that, roughly $600m has a land component. Total land holding related to those investments total 0.7m hectares.

"Competition for scarce land resources has spurred rising investment in land. This competition can fuel conflict with existing users. Inevitably, bank group involvement in forestry and agriculture is not without risk, particularly given the fact we are operating in imperfect governance environments. But the total number of complaints received gives no explanation as to their validity."

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Best of our wild blogs: 3 Oct 12

Exotic parrots and fishes; and feather star-crab
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

TMSI @ St. John's Island 10th Anniversary Open House
from Peiyan.Photography

Slaty-Breasted Rail Behaviour
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Shell seeks to expand plant on Bukom

Energy giant growing its presence in Asia as demand shifts to the East
Alvin Foo Straits Times 3 Oct 12;

ENERGY giant Royal Dutch Shell is looking at expanding the capacity of its ethylene cracker complex on Pulau Bukom by about 20 per cent, said a member of its executive committee.

The move comes as it is growing its presence in Asia as energy demand shifts from West to East.

Shell downstream director Mark Williams told The Straits Times recently: "We're studying the possibility of expanding, taking... the cracker from 800,000 tonnes per annum to a million. So that's roughly a 20 per cent expansion."

However, he added that a final investment decision had not yet been made.

The world-class ethylene cracker, which started up in March 2010, is the centrepiece of its US$3 billion (S$3.7 billion) Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex.

Mr Williams oversees Shell's downstream business, which includes refining, supply distribution, trading and marketing.

He is a member of Shell's executive committee, which operates under chief executive Peter Voser's direction and is responsible for the company's overall business and affairs.

Mr Williams predicts that the trend of volatile energy prices will continue in the coming years, as the pace of change of supply is quite slow relative to the speed at which demand grows or contracts.

He said: "This year, we've seen oil prices go from US$80 to US$120 in a few months. We expect that trend (of volatility) to continue."

Asia is expected to drive energy demand growth globally, owing to the region's population and economic expansion, said Mr Williams.

One can "easily" expect a doubling of energy consumption in Asia in the next 30 years, he said.

He added: "We see Asia as really leading in terms of the pace of energy demand growth globally. The developing economies, many of which are in Asia, are the engines of growth of energy demand globally. We clearly expect that trend to continue."

Asia is playing an increasingly significant role for Shell.

In August, it announced plans to build its seventh lubricants- blending plant in China. The Tianjin plant will have an initial capacity of 300 million litres a year, and will supply the northern China market.

Mr Williams said its trading in Asia for fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG) is also growing.

He said: "We're trying to supply the market as aggressively as we can.

"The East is really the key to anchoring the demand that supports a lot of the prospects we have in other parts of the world."

The move to the East also means Shell has more staff headquartered in Singapore and China.

Mr Williams said: "The shifting of the business focus means we have to shift the centre of gravity of our staffing. We're working very hard to develop Asian talent in the company, and Singapore's a critical component of that.

"As we shift East, we want to participate as much as we can with local people."

Shell recently moved a number of senior positions to Asia for its fuels, lubricants and LNG businesses, said Mr Williams.

He added: "This is not a mass invasion, but bit by bit, we are growing our presence in the market."

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Keppel in talks to invest in Johor, Pengerang power plant

Deal with Petronas on gas-fired plant could provide electricity for Singapore
Anita Gabriel Straits Times 3 Oct 12;

KEPPEL Corp is in talks with Malaysian oil giant Petronas to invest in a new gas-fired power plant in Johor that could supply electricity to Singapore.

The deal would be the first investment involving a Singapore firm in Malaysia's domestically dominated power sector.

The Straits Times understands that Keppel could acquire a 30 per cent stake in the 1,200MW plant, part of a much larger petroleum and petrochemical project earmarked for Pengerang at the tip of Johor state.

"Keppel is constantly evaluating opportunities where it is able to grow its businesses," said a company spokesman yesterday.

Malaysia's power sector is dominated by state-owned utility Tenaga Nasional and domestic private sector firms. Tenaga Nasional generates nearly half of the country's power with independent power producers supplying the rest.

The new plant will primarily be used to supply the electricity needs of the mammoth RM60 billion (S$24 billion) Refinery and Petrochemicals Development (Rapid) project being built by Petronas in Pengerang but it can also supply power to Malaysia and Singapore.

The Pengerang plant could be a test case for Malaysia's energy sector where gas, which fuels 60 per cent of its power, is grudgingly subsidised by Petronas.

Petronas has demanded that gas subsidies, which amount to RM19 billion a year, be scrapped but that would push up electricity prices, something the government is not willing to commit to, particularly in an election period.

"The key question is at what price would the electricity from the Pengerang plant be sold to the national grid (in Malaysia)," said a Malaysian-based power analyst.

Selling electricity to Singapore may be relatively less of an issue as the terms would be based on prevailing market rates but there are still questions. "Commercially speaking, how do you sell electricity from one plant at different rates (to Malaysia and Singapore)?" asked the analyst.

The Rapid project is part of an ambitious RM120 billion plan to turn the sleepy fishing village of Pengerang into a global petroleum and petrochemical hub.

Work on the Petronas-led project is expected to start by the middle of next year with completion in 2016.

At first glance, the development looms as a rival to Singapore's huge petroleum and petrochemical sector but the participation of Keppel suggests otherwise.

"Singapore can view Penger-ang as a threat or an opportunity. There are bigger opportunities if it chooses to embrace it," said an observer.

The Pengerang project faces serious socioeconomic hurdles, given the dislocation of thousands of villagers who are not appeased by the compensation offered by the Malaysian government.

Mounting protests led by opposition political parties could pose a stumbling block, particularly as the general election looms and Johor is viewed as a key battleground for the ruling Barisan Nasional.

"It's always hard to please everyone. It's up to the government to have the determination to push this project through and settle these local issues to attract investments," said a market watcher.

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NTU to explore space options underground

It invites experts to come up with ideas for main campus in Jurong
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 3 Oct 12;

NANYANG Technological University has launched a research project to find out how to make use of its underground space.

Last week, it put out a call for help on an "underground space masterplan" for its sprawling Jurong campus.

It wants a team of geologists, architects and engineers to come up with ideas for a shallower, "deep basement" level, and for deeper underground space.

In its call for proposals, which closes next Tuesday, NTU said that the team would have eight months to produce a design of the underground blueprint.

This should include "2-D and 3-D planning and drawings in enough detail that the component parts in underground space can be easily understood by NTU", it said.

The design should also take into account existing buildings on campus and show "the pass ways from the surface to the underground structures".

Covering 200ha - about the size of 450 football fields - the university campus occupies about 0.2 per cent of Singapore's land.

When asked by The Straits Times about its call for proposals, the university declined to comment on the research project and its ideas for the space beneath its grounds. A spokesman would say only that "all available details are in (the) public document put out... to call for quotations from interested parties".

In 1999, a study commissioned by the Government and NTU found that at least part of the ground beneath NTU could be turned into rock caverns.

These could each hold "four levels at 3m spacing, plus an upper fifth level that can be utilised for technical installations".

They could be used for "car parking, offices, laboratories and libraries, and by combining two storey heights, they can accommodate lecture theatres and cinemas", the report said.

But Dr Ng Tiong Guan, 44, an executive director at civil and geotechnical consulting firm GeoEng Consultants, said a key challenge would be to minimise impact to existing buildings.

He said: "Digging under an existing building would undermine its foundations. You would have to transfer the load of the building to somewhere else."

Another crucial issue would be how to control the movement of groundwater so nearby buildings are not affected by the ground adjusting itself to the loss of water.

There are also fire safety concerns. In August, the Singapore Civil Defence Force sent a memo to engineering and architect associations here to set out new fire safety requirements for mega underground developments.

The measures included at least two exit shafts for each development, and protected corridors on each floor with fire-resistant walls and doors. It added: "As this kind of development is new, there may be areas we have not foreseen as possible fire safety concerns."

Besides NTU, other groups are also studying how to make better use of subterranean space.

The interest stems from Singapore's limited options for expansion, said Building and Construction Authority (BCA) chief executive John Keung in an interview with The Straits Times last month. He said: "You can build up, but there is a limit, because we have airports. You can reclaim, but there is also a limit, as you need to keep fairways and anchorages for your port."

The BCA set up the Singapore Geological Office in 2010 to carry out soil studies for future underground planning.

The Ministry of National Development is also exploring whether facilities such as reservoirs, power plants and landfills can be built underground to save land. A report is due at the end of next year.

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Malaysia: More wildlife encounters

Hidir Reduan New Straits Times 3 Oct 12;

'URBAN' ANIMALS: Wandering into human settlements due to rapid development

KUANTAN: INCIDENCES of public encounters with wild animals are becoming more regular in Pahang nowadays.

With rapid development squeezing forest buffer zones, more wildlife including monkey, tapir, elephant and crocodile are straying into human settlements.

Pahang Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) recorded 864 wild animal encounters last year compared with 695 reports in 2010.

Between January and August this year, 436 cases were recorded in the state.

State Perhilitan director Khairiah Mohd Sharif said animals entered human settlements and plantations when their natural food sources in the forest had dwindled.

In June last year, she said a 350kg tapir fell and became stuck in a drain in Taman Kempadang Perdana here. It was rescued and later released into the nearby jungle.

In June this year, a 50kg wild boar created havoc when it came into town. It was later shot dead by a Perhilitan officer.

More recently was the sighting of a sun bear in Kampung Pandan 2 here which caused panic among villagers, prompting the department to set a trap.

Malaysian Nature Society president Professor Dr Maketab Mohamed said the authorities needed to manage rapid development which would help to preserve the wildlife's natural habitat.

Wildlife biologist based in Sandakan, Wong Siew Te said deforestation and new human settlements often forced these animals to come out in search of food.

The 43-year-old sun bear expert said wild mammals like the sun bear were extremely shy and would run away from the slightest noise caused by human activities.

"In the United States and Japan, sun bears have emerged from their natural habitat to scavenge for food in human settlements."

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Indonesians eat beached whales in mass stranding

Straits Times 2 Oct 12;


Villagers look at dying pilot whale stranded on the shore of Savu island in East Nusa Tenggara province on Oct 2, 2012. Fourty-four pilot whales lay beached on the remote Savu island in a mass stranding that left at least 41 dead and several hacked to bits by locals, an official said. The whales beached themselves late on Oct 1 on the island, where there is a culture of whale hunting for consumption. -- PHOTO: AFP

SAVU, Indonesia (AFP) - Locals on a remote island in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday cut up several dead pilot whales for food after a mass stranding that killed at least 41 of the mammals, an official said.

A total of 44 pilot whales beached themselves on Monday on the island of Savu in East Nusa Tenggara province, where there is a culture of whale hunting for consumption.

"Locals have hacked into around 11 whales so far and will probably use the flesh for meat," Savu fishery office chief Dominggus Widu Hau said. "When local fishermen found them before midnight, they were all still alive. But it was already late and there were not enough people to help push them back in."

More than a dozen fishermen, navy and police officers were still struggling on Tuesday afternoon to keep the three surviving whales alive.

"We managed to push them back into the water, but they returned to the beach," Mr Hau said.

Jakarta Animal Aid Network identified the mammals, which lay stranded around 15r0m from the coastline, as pilot whales. Those beached were between two and five metres long, Mr Hau said.

Pilot whales commonly become stranded en masse since they stick together in large groups, especially if one is sick, according to marine biologists.

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World citizens worry about biodiversity loss

Catarina Chagas SciDev 2 Oct 12;

[RIO DE JANEIRO] A public consultation held simultaneously in 25 countries – 19 of them in the developing world – showed 84 per cent of participants believing that most people in the world were seriously affected by biodiversity loss.

The results of the consultation held on 15 September – organised mainly by the Danish environment ministry – are to be presented at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity being held in Hyderabad, India, this month (October).

Some 72 per cent of participants in 'World Wide Views on Biodiversity' thought that educating schoolchildren and the public on biodiversity issues was key to protecting nature and maintaining food security.

Aiming to engage ordinary citizens in policymaking for a healthy planet, 34 meetings were held in Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, India, South Africa, Uganda, the US, Vietnam, Zambia and other countries. About 100 people selected for diverse backgrounds – gender, occupation, education and residential location – participated in each country.

Some 70 per cent of participants said they knew almost nothing about biodiversity before joining the project. Almost half of participants from the developing countries thought they were affected by biodiversity loss, while only 22 per cent of developed country participants thought the same.

"Biodiversity does not mean the same for everyone. For some it is an added value to their lives, for others it competes with their wish to be able to make a living from their farm land – even if they have a genuine wish to increase biodiversity," Lars Klüver, director of the Danish board of technology, an organiser, told SciDev.Net.

In Brazil, 88 people from 19 states took part in the discussion. Senator Rodrigo Rollemberg said at the session that this country had "an increasing responsibility" on biodiversity issues and that government can act together with the public to face them.

Alberto Pellegrini, a researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro told SciDev.Net that the participation of the public in science was essential. "It is very important that research agendas are defined not only by scientists but also by society."

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Best of our wild blogs: 2 Oct 12

A Forest Worth Fighting For (I)
from Diary of a Boy wandering through Our Little Urban Eden

Celebrating 10 years of Tropical Marine Science Laboratory on St John's Island from Psychedelic Nature

References on plants of Southeast Asia
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Marine study centre aims to swim with the best

Decade-old St John's station 'needs long-term funding' to fulfil potential
Grace Chua Straits Times 2 Oct 12;

SINGAPORE'S first post-independence marine research station celebrates its 10th anniversary this year - and there are big plans for its future.

But the Tropical Marine Science Institute's (TMSI) laboratories and aquariums need long-term funding if they are to match the standards of the world's leading ocean research centres.

The station is on St John's Island, just 6.5km off the southern coast of Singapore, beyond Sentosa. An outpost with a chequered past, the island was once a quarantine area, then a drug rehabilitation centre.

The 40ha island is home to much of Singapore's marine research work. Among its major projects are the study of the movement of currents in the Singapore Strait, the breeding of giant clams, how to prevent ships' hulls from becoming encrusted with sea life and collection of data on marine mammals in local waters.

TMSI's director, Professor Peter Ng, said the station has the potential to be Singapore's answer to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute or the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, American institutes renowned for their studies of the sea and sea life.

But a long-term funding programme is needed if it is to succeed, he said.

On Sunday, the island research station opened its doors to some 200 of TMSI's research collaborators and their families, including those from government agencies like the National Parks Board.

Researchers showed off their projects and some recounted how the St John's station was set up.

In 1996, a multi-disciplinary group of scientists campaigned for a marine science initiative, which was then housed on Kent Ridge.

An island nation, they pointed out, ought to have marine research on aquaculture and food safety, and how land reclamation and shipping might affect water quality and the marine environment, among other things.

For research tanks of fish and corals, they had to truck seawater into the National University of Singapore's (NUS) main Kent Ridge campus and haul it from a main storage tank in jerrycans.

After talks with the then Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, they leased space on St John's Island and secured about $10 million to build the station, which pumps seawater from the island's southern edge into aquariums.

The institute's budget was much smaller than the more than $1 billion a year Singapore was then pouring into biomedical and life sciences research.

Professor Chou Loke Ming, the first director of the Tropical Marine Science Initiative before it became TMSI, said: "We went through the 'dark age' when resources and funding were focused on biotechnology. The situation has changed now with a balanced focus on environment, accompanied by resources and research funding."

Professor Chan Eng Soon, who succeeded Prof Chou until he left in 2008 to become the dean of NUS' engineering faculty, said that early dedication has been borne out.

"If you look at some of the grand challenges today, they include climate change, sustainability and biodiversity", in which marine research plays a key role, he said. "In that sense, we believed in it ahead of its time and we pursued it."

Today, the institute runs on $10 million to $14 million a year, much of it from competitive government consultancy tenders and research grants.

For example, a three-year collaboration with the Housing Board and planners Surbana found that cultured coral could survive and grow on man-made seawalls.

And TMSI has recently revived its aquaculture programme, developing cockles free of hepatitis A by feeding them nutrients from seabass vaccinated against the virus.

Prof Ng, the current director, now wants to do more outreach and education for secondary to tertiary students, and wants the island station to play a "more national role as well", answering more research questions of strategic national importance.

"To build a Scripps or Woods Hole, you need to look 20 years down the road," he said.

"A lot of different agencies are involved here. How do we get them to come together and put forth a national agenda?"

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