Best of our wild blogs: 19 Nov 12

Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [12 - 18 Nov 2012]
from Green Business Times

The Walking Leaf
from Macro Photography in Singapore

Random Gallery - Banded LineBlue
from Butterflies of Singapore

Magnificently Terumbu Semakau
from Peiyan.Photography and Fishy and Sluggy Day at St. John's Island and Stormy Trip to Hantu Lagoon

Some Critters Outside NTU
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Plant-Bird Relationship: 13. Bignoniaceae, Bombacaceae, Bromeliaceae, Caricaceae, Casuarinaceae and Combretaceae from Bird Ecology Study Group

Spotted House Gecko
from Monday Morgue

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Philippine authorities allow dolphin export to Singapore

Alice Chia Channel NewsAsia 18 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE: The Philippines authorities have approved the export of 25 Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins to Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park.

Animal welfare groups in the Philippines had tried to block export of the dolphins in a court case, which they lost last month.

A Marine Life Park spokesperson said the park is pleased to receive the permit and looks forward to welcoming the dolphins to their new residence.

The park said it has followed all international and multi-national regulations and guidelines.

For over three years, the dolphins have been under the care and supervision of a team of veterinarians and marine mammal specialists.

- CNA/xq

Philippines 'okays export of RWS dolphins'
Permit said to be granted for them to come here, despite talk of appeal
Alastair McIndoe Straits Times 19 Nov 12;

MANILA - The Philippine authorities have reportedly issued an export permit for 25 bottlenose dolphins to be sent to Singapore's Marine Life Park at Resorts World Sentosa.

Animal welfare groups in the Philippines had tried to block the move in court, but lost their civil suit last month.

The Philippine Star newspaper yesterday, quoting Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Asis Perez, said the Department of Agriculture had issued the export permit on the bureau's recommendation. It was not clear when the permit was issued.

Officials were not available for comment on when the dolphins, which were caught in the Solomon Islands and brought here between 2008 and last year, will be exported to Singapore.

On Oct 17, a court in Quezon City denied a petition by animal welfare groups to renew a "temporary environmental protection order" blocking the dolphins' export to Singapore.

While there has been talk of an appeal, nothing appears to prevent the dolphins from being sent to Singapore now that a permit has been granted.

But Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) maintained yesterday that not all legal avenues have been exhausted. Executive director Louis Ng said there would be a case at the courts today. He gave no other details but last month, Acres said it was planning to file an appeal to the courts.

The dolphins are being held in a special enclosure at Ocean Adventure, an open-water marine park at Subic Bay, where they were being acclimatised to a life in captivity while Marine Life Park was under construction.

The park is scheduled to open next month.

A spokesman for the park, responding to The Straits Times' queries, said it is looking forward to welcoming the dolphins to their new residence in Singapore.

"We have followed all international and multi-national regulations and guidelines, which is expressed by the favourable approval of our re-export," said the spokesman yesterday.

Additional reporting by Lim Yi Han in Singapore

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Green educational trails to be conducted at Lorong Halus Wetland

AsiaOne 18 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Environment Council (SEC) has launched a partnership with the North East Community Development Council (NECDC) to conduct monthly green educational trails at Lorong Halus Wetland for one year.

This first of its kind partnership seeks to raise environmental awareness among heartlanders and residents of the North East District, and foster a heightened sense of concern and ultimately action in line with environmental protection.

"Heartlanders represent a key target group in spreading the environmental message, as habits may be more deeply ingrained and require time and effort to change," said Mr Jose Raymond, Executive Director of the SEC.

SEC and NECDC will train volunteers from the district, who will in turn conduct the trails.

The trails will be conducted once a month at no charge to North East district residents. The duration of each trail is one hour and will cover topics such as water and nature conservation, as well as waste management.

To ensure quality control and audibility in an outdoor environment, the group size will be capped at 20 per trail.

To cater to different individuals, SEC is looking to ascertain the demographics of participants prior each trail to tailor the experience accordingly.

For example, based on the majority demographic of a particular trail, efforts will be made to translate key snippets into Malay, Mandarin or even in dialects, if necessary.

"The Green Trail@Lorong Halus Wetland serves two purposes. It heightens North East residents' awareness of the environment as this walk can enable them to learn more about nature in a location within our district. This is also a good bonding platform for neighbours and friends," said North East CDC's Mayor Teo Ser Luck.

Formerly a landfill site, Lorong Halus Wetland sits next to Serangoon Reservoir, Singapore's 17th reservoir.

The area was a dumping ground for Singapore's waste from 1970 to 1999, and occupied 234 hectares - more than 100 football fields - along the eastern bank of then Sungei Serangoon.

It has since been transformed to become an important source of water supply, and the wetland is now home to a myriad of biodiversity that provides opportunities for recreation, research and education.

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Be careful of wanting slower growth: Vivian Balakrishnan

Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 18 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE: Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has warned about wanting slower growth for Singapore in the hope that social inequality might be reduced.

He said if the country does not seize growth opportunities, it could mean fewer and poorer quality jobs for people.

Dr Balakrishnan was asking Singaporeans to think carefully about what they want for their future, in a dialogue with residents on Sunday.

Should Singapore hold on to the values which brought the nation to where it is today?

Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan posed this question to Bukit Panjang residents in the ongoing National Conversation.

He said the rapidly evolving global landscape means values in Singapore are also changing.

But the anchor, he suggested, is a fair and just society, so Singaporeans should have their chance to speak up.

Issues raised by residents at the session included overcrowding on public transportation, the adequacy of healthcare facilities, and stress brought about by the education system.

Some also suggested solutions to the problems.

"Subsequently, what the government is going to follow up on these issues are what I would be very concerned about," said resident Alice Lo.

"Because we don't want it to be empty talk, (with) no action or no follow up."

Dr Balakrishnan said there is good reason for Singaporeans to be anxious about the future, as the country is facing intense global competition not witnessed before.

He added that people have to be equipped through education, to take on the jobs of tomorrow.

Dr Balakrishnan said: "The fact that the changes are occurring so rapidly is very unsettling for many of us. So that's the backdrop behind the anxiety which we can feel on the ground. It's important that the conversation, however, leads to a positive conclusion and brings us forward."

Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore has to ensure its family structures and social safety nets are ready, for a future where the population is ageing and communal relations may not be as strong as before.

- CNA/xq

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Malaysia: Aerial patrols for the jungles

The Star 19 Nov 12;

PUTRAJAYA: Environmental protection efforts will be expanded to the skies following the decision to launch the Aerial Jungle Monitoring Programme early next year, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said.

The Cabinet had agreed during its meeting last week to provide RM2mil to fund the programme, which is aimed at improving enforcement of environmental laws and regulations, said Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas.

The aerial patrols would keep tabs on development projects that are carried out in the jungle.

Aerial monitoring would also be extended to other sources of pollution including open burning, release of black smoke from industrial chimneys, release of effluents into the groundwater, beach and coastal pollution and oil spills.

“The programme is needed to carry out enforcement of conditions laid out in the approval of the EIA (environmental impact assessment) for projects, especially at high altitudes.

“For projects in jungles that do not fall under activities laid out in the EIA, the need for erosion and sediment control plan (ESCP) and best management practices can be identified and stated in conditions for logging licences. It can also minimise river pollution,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Douglas added that the programme will be an integrated effort – called 1 NRE Enforcement – which would involve agencies under his ministry with the aim of utilising all available manpower and resources to check on the development projects.

“Aerial monitoring is aimed at improving effectiveness in locating sources of pollution or incidents where environmental laws are broken, especially in areas which are difficult to access overland,” he said.

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Malaysia: Sabah lauded as a beacon of hope for orang utan

The Star 19 Nov 12;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is becoming a beacon of hope in orang utan conservation in Borneo following the state government’s move to expand the areas designated as the primates’ key habitat.

Wildlife non-governmental organisation research group Hutan co-director Dr Marc Anrenaz said Sabah’s decision to gazette 128,000ha from the lowland Ulu Segama forest reserve in Lahad Datu as a protected area meant that about 60% of the state’s orang utan were now living in conservation zones.

“This is a huge improvement compared to the last decade when only 30% of the orang utan in Sabah were living in protected forests,” he said.

Dr Ancrenaz said this when revealing the findings of a research on orang utan in Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan which he was involved in and which was recently published in the scientific journal PLoS One.

He said the research found that since orang utan were often found in timber concession areas, good management of such areas was important in ensuring the continued survival of the primates.

The fact that Sabah’s Forestry Department now requires all timber concession areas to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) by the end of 2014 was good news for the conservation effort, added Dr Ancrenaz.

The situation in the rest of Borneo is however not as promising for the primates due to an expansion of agriculture activities often at the expense of orang utan habitat, the researchers found.

Dr Serge Wich, the lead author of the research report titled Under-standing the Impacts of Land-Use Policies on a Threatened Species: Is There a Future for the Bornean Orang-utan?, said lowland jungles – which were the favourite habitat of the orang utan – were often considered prime areas for timber extraction or agriculture activities such as plantations.

Orang utan population on the rise
New Straits Times 26 Nov 12;

KOTA KINABALU: The expansion of protected forests has boost the population of orang utan in Sabah.

New additions to existing totally protected areas (TPAs) since 2005, has seen their number increase from 38 per cent to 60 per cent in the past seven years.

HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Programme (HUTAN-KOCP) co-director Dr Marc Ancrenaz said the state government's move to increase protected forest areas not only benefited the wildlife but the people, too.

He said the Sabah Forestry Department had recently increased the percentage of forests under Class I Protection Forest Reserve, which in turn had increased the number of TPAs.

The protected areas are also home to the Borneo pygmy elephant, Sunda clouded leopard, Sun Bear, hornbills and other unique Borneo species.

(HUTAN-KOCP is a non-governmental Organisation based in Sukau, Kinabatangan)

It has been working with Sabah Wildlife Department to develop and implement innovative solutions to conserve the orang utans in Sabah for the past 15 years.

"The recent areas re-gazetted as Class I are lowland forests which are favoured for agriculture development.

"However, the state government has shown that they value environmental security in the long term by making them TPAs instead of going for short-term gains," said Ancrenaz, who has been involved in wildlife issues in Sabah since 1998.

However, Hutan-KOCP co-founder and primotologist Dr Isabelle Lackman said the isolation and fragmentation of TPAs remained the biggest issue when it came to the conservation of orang utans in the state.

She pointed that while the Kinabatangan had been protected by the department, the sanctuary was broken up with some TPAs being totally isolated.

"This is not healthy for the long- term survival of the orang utans in the area.

"Our studies have shown that we need to reconnect patches of forests to ensure that we have a viable orang utan population in the future."

She said this could be achieved by reconnecting forests, either by having patches of forests that the orang utans could roam, or a contiguous corridor of forests.

Lackman said all planned and future conversion of even small forest patches needed to be stopped to ensure the viability of the long-term survival of the orang utan population in the lower Kinabatangan area.

"The future of agriculture, such as oil palm, relies on an increase in yield productivity, and not on further agriculture expansion."

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Taiwanese oil firm denies scrapping Malaysia investment plan

Focus Taiwan 18 Nov 12;

Kuala Lumpur and Taipei, Nov. 18 (CNA) Taiwan's state-run oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan (CPC) denied reports Saturday that it was scrapping a planned investment project in Malaysia, saying the plan was still undergoing a feasibility assessment.

CPC Vice President Chen Ming-huei told Malaysia's Oriental Daily News that he was unaware of any Taiwanese reports that Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co., the CPC subsidiary making the investment, had dropped its plan to invest in Malaysia.

Taiwan's Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported Thursday that Kuokuang planned to build a NT$10 billion (US$343 million) methyl methacrylate plant at Taichung Port because its investment project in Malaysia had stalled. Methyl methacrylate is used to manufacture resins and plastics.

Analysts said Kuokuang hoped to build a petrochemical complex covering the full petrochemical supply chain in Malaysia, but progress has been slow because of difficulties in securing land, the report said.

Facing problems in Malaysia, Kuokuang decided to first invest in facilities producing high value-added petrochemical end-products in Taiwan, and it is expected to sign a NT$55.4 billion investment deal to put plants in Taiwan's main port areas, including the one in Taichung.

The report added that Kuokuang is planning to differentiate itself from local firms by using eco-friendly and more advanced petrochemical materials and techniques to improve the competitiveness of its products.

Chen clarified that Kuokuang is still evaluating its planned investment in Pengerang in the southern Malaysian state of Johor and has not decided to pull out of the Southeast Asian country.

He said that Kuokuang in principle would focus on research and development of high-end products in Taiwan and mass production overseas and described Kuokuang's investments in Taiwan and those in Malaysia as separate matters.

Chen said Taiwan has only a limited amount of land, and mass production of petrochemical products requires a place like Pengerang that has large tracts of land available for manufacturing.

Oil and natural gas authorities in Johor also said they have not received any word from CPC that it was withdrawing its investment plan.

Kuokuang had originally planned to build a naphtha cracking and petrochemical complex in Changhua in central Taiwan but was forced to scrap the project last year because it did not pass local environmental assessments, eventually deciding to move it overseas.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced in May this year that a Taiwanese petrochemical firm had promised to invest in a petrochemical complex in Pengerang set up by Petronas, Malaysia's state-run oil firm.

The investment plan, estimated at US$120 billion, will include an oil refinery and a naphtha cracker.

Taiwan Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang later confirmed that the Taiwanese firm Najib was referring to was Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology.

The Pengerang project has drawn opposition from local residents, however, who staged a protest in May over pollution concerns.

(By Kuay Chau-churh and Scully Hsiao)

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Thailand: Sustainable shrimp farming benefits CP

Taiwan industry decline taught species diversity
Bangkok Post 19 Nov 12;

The decline of Taiwan's shrimp industry in the 1980s not only opened up lucrative business opportunities but also taught Thailand a great lesson about operating aquaculture with the utmost concern for the environment.

A "gold rush" attitude drove Taiwanese investors to expand black tiger prawn farms until many mangrove forests had been destroyed.

Environmental problems caused by extensive shrimp aquaculture had developed before the industry was seriously affected by plummeting black tiger prawn production, which fell to only 20,000 tonnes in 1988 from 100,000 tonnes a year earlier.

The slump forced many Taiwanese producers to open new farms in Southeast Asia, with Thailand starting to prosper in the late 1980s when the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group was a key player.

Chingchai Lohawatanakul, vice-chairman of Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc, the conglomerate's flagship, said the CP Group began a study on the aquaculture of black tiger prawns in 1988 with the help of specialists and academics.

"A year later, the business took off with satisfactory production in the first year," he told participants at the Global Aquaculture Outlook 2012 (Goal 2012) conference held in Bangkok recently.

"Production in the first year was impressive, as was the profit. Our farm was big, and there was a shortage of shrimp supply in the world market at that time."

As supply from Taiwan declined, Thailand was not slow to seize the opportunity.

Through cooperation between public and private sectors, Thailand has gradually emerged as the world's top shrimp producer and exporter.

It produced 510,000 tonnes of prawns last year, with two-thirds exported to generate revenue of more than 110 billion baht.

Thailand's shrimp sector focuses now more on farming than on wild catches.

From 1987, production of farm-raised black tiger prawn in Thailand rose each year to surpass 100,000 tonnes in 1990 as demand grew from abroad.

The bright outlook continued as the country's 8th National Plan (1997-2001) set the target for black tiger prawn production at 350,000 tonnes by 2001.

It was set after aqua produce earned substantial export revenue of 43 billion baht and was listed among the top 10 export items in 1996.

Thailand remains the world's largest shrimp exporter, selling 427,580 tonnes valued at 100 billion baht in 2010 and 392,600 tonnes worth 110 billion baht last year.

In the first eight months of this year, Thailand exported 222,247 tonnes of shrimp products worth 61 billion baht.

Mr Chingchai, 72, who received a lifetime achievement award from the Global Aquaculture Alliance at the conference, helped drive the CP Group to become the world's leading producer of aquatic animals.

After the company's great success with black tiger prawn production in the first five years, the Thai sector suffered severely from an outbreak of white spot disease that plunged it into crisis.

Mr Chingchai decided intensive research and development (R&D) could be the key to combating the critical situation.

CP spent 2% of its business value on R&D of shrimp species for sustainability. That policy has continued until this year, when it spent almost US$40 million so that it would have a variety of shrimp species.

Mr Chingchai says Penaeus vannamei (Pacific white shrimp) is a good example of the company's success in developing shrimp species and its aquaculture.

Production of white shrimp had surged to 600,000 tonnes by 2010, less than 10 years since the species was introduced to the country.

Better farm management and proper care of wastewater will help the industry to expand sustainably, he said.

"The building of sustainability in aquaculture is meant to develop not only species diversity but also the systems of feeding, incubation, farming, processing and marketing," said Mr Chingchai.

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Best of our wild blogs: 18 Nov 12

Night of 'Nemos' at Pulau Hantu
from wild shores of singapore

Butterfly of the Month - November 2012
from Butterflies of Singapore

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Tougher measures being rolled out to curb littering

Leong Wai Kit Channel NewsAsia 17 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE: Tougher measures are being rolled out to curb littering in Singapore. From March 2013, fines for first-time litter offenders will go up from S$300 to S$500.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan revealed this on Saturday at a community event in Bukit Panjang.

At the event, the National Environment Agency (NEA) jointly launched a campaign with the North West Community Development Council to encourage the community to inculcate good anti-littering habits.

The campaign is called "Hold on And Bin IT, Make it A H.A.B.IT!", and it is being rolled out to support the Keep Singapore Clean Movement.

The year-long campaign will see about 750 volunteers undergoing the "Litter-Free Ambassadors" programme, where they will be trained to communicate with, and engage the community on the importance of keeping the environment clean and binning their waste properly.

Monthly themed activities will also be held in the North West District to instil a greater sense of environmental ownership.

As part of measures to curb littering, fines for first-time offenders will be increased. The penalties will go up further once amendments to the Environment and Public Health Act are debated in Parliament next year.

Dr Balakrishnan said: "It's not so much the quantum. This is a symbol of society's repudiation of a very bad habit by a very small minority. Money cannot buy cleanliness.

"This is a matter of public safety and public health, so we are treating this as a symbol of commitment to making sure Singapore remains clean and green."

He said the government is also studying the possibility of launching a whistleblowing system, where feedback and complaints by members of the public can be used to prosecute offenders.

Dr Balakrishnan added: "The other thing which we are examining - and it's still in the early stages - is that, we receive a lot of feedback, through email, through social media, as well as digital photos which are sent in to us, saying, 'I know this person, and look what this person has done'.

"We are examining the legal implications of whether or not and how we can pursue investigations whenever we receive feedback like that. And if we can identify the culprit, and if the complainant is willing to testify in court, whether we can then use this as a basis to proceed for prosecution."

Plans are also under way to make the Corrective Work Order (CWO) even more visible. This includes having recalcitrant litterbugs perform CWO in areas such as town centres instead of parks.

Derek Ho Yeong Thye, director-general of the Environmental Public Health Division at the NEA, said: "I think if we place all these CWO exercises in places which is more visible to the public, then I think they will feel more eyes looking on them as they conduct the exercises, and I think they will feel the public pressure on them, that this is not an acceptable behaviour."

-CNA/ac

Littering fines raised from March
Whistleblowing system for public also being studied; peer pressure to be used
Today Online 17 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE - Measures are being rolled out to curb littering in Singapore. From March 2013, fines for first-time litter offenders will go up from S$300 to S$500.

The Environment and Public Health Act will also be amended next year to increase the penalty regimes for recurrent offenders.

And plans are underway to make the Corrective Work Order (CWO) even more visible. This includes having recalcitrant litterbugs perform CWO in areas such as town centres instead of parks.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan revealed this on Saturday at a community event in Bukit Panjang.

He said the Government is also studying the possibility of launching a whistleblowing system, where feedback and complaints by members of the public can be used to prosecute offenders.

On his blog, Dr Balakrishnan posted about the need for increased and coordinated peer pressure, including empowering volunteers.

Noting how the National Environment Agency (NEA) already prosecutes culprits who throw litter from moving vehicles based on the vehicle licence numbers, he wrote: "We will have to explore whether this is feasible when a member of the public identifies a culprit in a public area, especially when he or she is willing to testify in court. I would be grateful for more feedback and suggestions on this matter.

"The key theme is to empower ordinary citizens to exert more peer pressure on anti-social persons in order to protect our common spaces."

The NEA "will conduct a special training course for senior members of environmental NGOs that will commence in January 2013. These volunteers will then be issued with authority cards which will enable them to identify and take enforcement action against recalcitrant persons who insist on littering. This will give them both moral and legal authority to set standards for our society," wrote the Minister.

He called for a "a sense of urgency" on this clean-up effort. "I am optimistic that we can succeed through a combination of renewed personal commitment, increased peer pressure, tighter enforcement, heavier penalties and improved cleaning routines on the ground," wrote Dr Balakrishnan.

750 NORTH WEST VOLUNTEERS

Meanwhile, at the event this morning, the NEA and North West Community Development Council (CDC) today launched "Hold on And Bin IT, Make it A H.A.B.IT!" @ North West, in support of the Keep Singapore Clean Movement.

The programme will see 750 H.A.B.IT volunteers trained to champion responsible binning to residents in the North West District. They will carry out monthly litter-picking exercises and conduct educational outreach.

There will also be monthly themed activiities, such as litter-picking exercises, litter patrols and No Cleaners Day to educate residents.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District said: "We will need to cultivate a 'zero tolerance' attitude towards littering and it is through the collective participation of every individual will we achieve our goal in keeping Singapore clean and beautiful."

An NEA study in 2009 found that about 36 per cent of the public would bin their litter only when it was convenient.

Littering will cost you $500
Fines to be raised from $300; senior members of NGOs to get power to catch litterbugs
Kezia Toh & Melody Zaccheus Straits Times 18 Nov 12;

Fines for littering are to be raised from $300 to $500 in a bid to clean up Singapore's streets.

And senior members of non-governmental organisations will be trained and authorised to issue the tougher penalties.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan announced the changes yesterday at an anti-littering event in Bukit Panjang.

He said: "This is a symbol of society's repudiation of the bad habits by a very small minority. Money cannot buy cleanliness.

"This is a matter of public safety and public health, so we are treating this as a symbol of our commitment to making sure Singapore remains clean and green."

The $500 fines, which will kick in from March, apply to first-time offenders. Penalties for repeat offenders will also be raised next year, from the current level of up to $5,000.

Mr Eugene Heng, founder and chairman of volunteer group the Waterways Watch Society, said the tougher fines provide a crucial deterrent. "It is good to increase the amount to make a dent in the litterbug's pocket, but you also need manpower to enforce and educate them not to do it again," said the 63-year-old.

MP Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC) agreed that more than one approach was needed.

"We are constantly searching for ways to solve the littering problem to improve our living environment," she said. "These include education, enforcement and community peer pressure. While $500 is a rather heavy fine, it is appropriate, considering that complaints of littering are on the rise."

Mr Heng said that the 15-year-old society, which has about 250 volunteers, is looking forward to being given greater power to catch litterbugs.

He added that training sessions, organised by the National Environment Agency, might include lessons on how to be diplomatic with litterbugs and persuade them that their behaviour is wrong.

Volunteers could also receive training on how to book offenders and extract information from them. Dr Balakrishnan said he had been receiving feedback from members of the public who pinpointed litterbugs using e-mail, social media and even digital photographs. He added that he was examining the legal implications of acting on their complaints.

In a blog post yesterday, the minister wrote that a sense of urgency was needed as Singapore embarked upon its next phase of cleaning up.

"I am optimistic that we can succeed through a combination of renewed personal commitment, increased peer pressure, tighter enforcement, heavier penalties and improved cleaning routines on the ground."

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Best of our wild blogs: 17 Nov 12

Sluggy on St. John's Island
from wild shores of singapore

REDD+ must consider biodiversity, forest livelihoods to have any chance of success from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

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More areas come under PUB's Active Beautiful and Clean Waters programme

Channel NewsAsia 16 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE: Three more vicinities are set to be transformed by next year under the PUB's Active Beautiful and Clean Waters programme.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said 20 different vicinities have already benefited from the programme which began in 2006.

The programme aims to transform canals and drains into streams and lakes, and serves as focal community points.

One of the projects that will be completed next year includes the Sungei Ulu Pandan project.

Mr Christopher De Souza, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, said: "Would it be possible for the ministry to allow the residents and Sunset Way residents that fall within my ward to actually go very close to the water to learn about biodiversity, and to have river life extend to them proximately, and not just visually."

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan replied: "The whole idea of making it attractive and beautiful is to give access. The only caveat I would put is the issue of safety. So for instance if you would recall in the Bishan canal which was converted into a river because it's specially designed to be low-lying and people have access and can even walk across the river.

"However, during times of intense storms, the water can spread out very rapidly along the sides, that's why we've got various alarm systems and markings on the grounds in order to emphasise safety. We have to get a balance between access and public safety."

- CNA/de

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