Sat 21 & Sun 22 June ’14: 3 Guided Walks
from a.t.Bukit Brown. Heritage. Habitat. History.
Beting Bronok still slowly dying
from wild shores of singapore
Cyrene Reef (15 June 2014)
from teamseagrass
MacRitchie Nature Reserve
from My Nature Experiences
Black Bittern’s neck fully stretched
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Carolyn Khew My Paper AsiaOne 17 Jun 14;
SINGAPORE - Many are battening down their hatches to prepare for the upcoming El Nino weather phenomenon, which is expected to lead to hotter and drier months ahead.
There will be no water fountains, or excessive watering of vegetables. Instead, from fish farms to hotels, various measures have been put in place to conserve water.
Last month, the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) predicted the possibility of a weak to moderate El Nino - the abnormal warming in the Pacific Ocean - developing over the next few months.
This could cause rainfall in Singapore to drop 10-40 per cent below average over the coming south-west monsoon season, which runs until September.
The average daily temperature is also expected to be about 1 deg C above average.
Fish farmers are not taking any chances this time.
Following the dry spell in February this year, which made about 5 per cent of his fish "sick", Malcom Ong, chief executive of The Fish Farmer, said that he would spend about $100,000 to increase his fish farm's capacity.
The money would be used to buy more pumps for aeration, solar panels and to upgrade the water-monitoring system.
"If the water is still, the fish will die (due to a lack of oxygen)," said the 51-year-old.
His fish farm produces 700 tonnes of fish a year.
"Our supply has to be consistent. We can't say, 'Sorry, we don't have fish for the next four months'."
Philip Lim, the chairman of the Singapore Marine Aquaculture Cooperative, said: "We are monitoring water conditions every day, but my advice (to farms) is not to import any more fish for now."
Landscaping firm Nature Landscapes will drench the roots of its plants to avoid "root burn" and water its plants more frequently.
To save water, vegetable farm Green Circle in Lim Chu Kang will hand-water its plants using its catchment water, instead of using sprinklers.
The co-owner of the eco-farm, Evelyn Eng-Lim, said that hand-watering would save at least 50 per cent of water consumption. She said: "It's more targeted. Using sprinklers is more efficient, but sometimes they spray off target."
Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) is also looking to conserve water.
During the dry spell in March this year, water features in the RWS and CapitaLand properties were turned off.
Winston Chow, an assistant professor at the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, said that if an El Nino occurs, it would have a "strong influence" in lowering average rainfall in South-east Asia.
"We're still in an inter-monsoon period - which explains the current rainy weather - but with the transition in season to the south-west monsoon later this month, we should expect drier (if not warmer) conditions to manifest," he said.
Ivy Singh-Lim, who owns vegetable farm Bollywood Veggies, said that her ponds would have sufficient water to last her for four months.
"Too much rain is not good. When there's no rain, my fruit trees do even better," she said.
Channel NewsAsia 16 Jun 14;
SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) has started posting daily updates on the haze situation. It says the overall air quality for the next 24 hours is expected to be in the moderate range.
An advisory posted on NEA's website says as of 6pm on Monday (June 16), the 24-hour PSI was 'moderate', at between 52 to 54. This is despite 114 hotspots being detected in Sumatra, with visible smoke plumes from hotspots in Indonesia's Riau Province.
Thundery showers are expected in parts of Singapore on Tuesday morning.
Last week, NEA had announced that it would provide daily updates on haze conditions. It said dry conditions from the onset of the Southwest Monsoon season would increase the possibility of transboundery haze.
The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) also forecast the possibility of haze affecting Singapore. It had said it expects weak to moderate El Nino conditions to develop in the next few months, which could make for hotter and drier weather.
More information is available at nea.gov.sg and haze.gov.sg.
- CNA/ly
Inquirer.net 17 Jun 14;
May I place in proper perspective the study of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“Gov’t study shows ‘Yolanda’ damage to mangroves bigger than reported,” News, 6/2/14).
1. The reported mangrove damage applies only to plantations—which confirms our earlier findings of widespread mangrove mortality only in planted “bakhaw” (Rhizophora ) areas. In contrast, natural stands of “piapi” (Avicennia marina), “pagatpat” (Sonneratia alba) and other species are recovering. The greater damage in planted mangroves reported by the ERDB compared to our study (1,700 hectares vs 100-200 hectares) may in part be due to more sampling sites covered by the former.
2. Most bakhaw (Rhizophora stylosa, R. apiculata and R. mucronata) along the seafront are the wrong species planted in the wrong sites. The scientific community has been pointing this out for over two decades now—since the 1990s. Yet bakhaw are favored over piapi and pagatpat.
3. Dozens of scientific papers and also gray literature from NGOs and other reports provide evidence of the ecological incorrectness of these practices. Even the very low seedling counts reported by the ERDB in the bakhaw zones (83-195/ha) show their nonsuitability and poor site adaptation compared to the natural stands (475/ha) in Palo, Leyte. We found even higher average densities of 6,000-18,000 seedlings/ha in the natural mangroves in Eastern Samar.
4. Therefore we ask: Did “Yolanda” cause the devastation of the 1,700-hectare bakhaw-planted areas (per ERDB report); or were the bakhaw already dying six months, or one or two years, or more before Yolanda?
5. Even in areas still to be planted, it will do no good to plant bakhaw all over again on seagrass beds. Based on our January/March 2014 survey, the natural stands along Eastern Visayas coastlines are dominated by piapi and pagatpat, as are those in Western and Central Visayas and the archipelago. Bakhaw can be found behind the piapi-pagatpat zone and in more protected sites such as tidal creeks and rivers. The nursery protocols for A. marina and S. alba are described in the “Community-based Mangrove Rehabilitation Manual” (2012).
6. Assuming, for the sake of discussion, that the 1,700-hectare plantations were devastated by Yolanda, these represent only 6 percent of the total—the more or less 28,000-hectare mangroves-occupied shorelines at various landfall sites—from Eastern Samar to Palawan (Rollon et al., May 2014 Tacloban Workshop presentation). Meaning that 94 percent of mangroves (representing natural stands, as observed in our January/March 2014 surveys) sustained zero to only partial damage, and that our original statement remains valid—that the mangroves in the Yolanda-affected provinces are recovering and need “protection” rather than planting.
This should guide the wise use of the P1 billion and other funds earmarked for mangroves by the government, NGOs and international development agencies.
—J.H. PRIMAVERA, PhD,
Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation,
cochair, IUCN Mangrove Specialist Group,
chief mangrove scientific advisor,
Zoological Society of London,
jurgennep@yahoo.com
VietNamNet Bridge 16 Jun 14;
Twenty percent of the HCM City’s area could be covered with water by the end of the 21st century, when sea levels are expected to rise by one meter. And by 2050, nearly 10 percent of the city could be underwater.
Dr. Le Huy Ba, Head of the Institute for Science, Technology and the Environment Management, noted that climate change was “abnormal” this year because the city faced three big problems, high tides, prolonged heat and more rainfall.
The maximum and minimum temperatures have fluctuated more sharply this year. In previous years, it began raining in May but this year it was later. Meanwhile, it was still very hot in June this year, while there was also a high possibility of hail.
More worryingly, Ba said, the tides increased unexpectedly this year. The high tide measured at the Phu An Station on the Saigon River in early June was 1.53-1.54 meters.
While sea water levels ein Vung Tau City rose by 0.8 cm per annum, the water level at the rivers and canals in HCM City has gone up by 1.5 cm a year, causing a 50-year record-high peak in tides.
Ho Long Phi, Director of the Water Management and Climate Change Research Center, an arm of the HCM City National University, said climate change has had an obvious impact on HCM City as the average rainfall has increased by 0.7 mm. Meanwhile, the city terrain has become lower. Some places in the city are just 0.5-1 meter higher than sea water levels.
Phi said that floods caused by climate change are unavoidable, and added that the most urgent and effective measure for now is building a system of sewers to control the floods.
However, Phi said the designed system cannot bring effects because of technical problems. He believes that with the approved technical parameters, the system can show limited effects, allowing them to fight against floods no more than one time a year.
HCM City’s Mayor Le Hoang Quan said the city had been taking many measures to handle with climate change. Many projects have been approved which aim to improve sanitation conditions, reduce carbon emissions, reduce consumption of fuel and enhance afforestation or develop greenery.
The city has spent big money to improve the environment of the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe and Tau Hu-Ben Nghe canals; build three waste treatment complexes; and buy new buses that can meet new standards on emissions.
Phi suggested that it is necessary to apply both “hard” and “soft” solutions to deal with climate change. “Hard” solutions include technical measures to control high tides and build water reservoirs to regulate water levels.
Meanwhile, “soft” solutions would include designing, programming and building urban areas with green spaces to help ease greenhouse emission effects.
Scientists have forecasted that by 2050, sea water levels could rise by 30 cm, which would put 10 percent of the city’s area under water, and the average temperature in the city would increase by 1 degree C.
Chi Mai
VERENA DOBNIK Associated Press Yahoo News 17 Jun 14;
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government is stepping up its crackdown on the illegal trafficking of wild animal products across the nation's borders, saying some may be linked to terrorists, federal officials said Monday.
"Poaching in Africa is funding terrorist groups," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told a news conference at Kennedy International Airport.
He said such illegal trade is a threat to global security because it's driven by criminal elements, including terrorists using profits from items such as rhinoceros horns and elephant tusks to finance their activities.
On display in an airport cargo warehouse operated by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection was a collection of wildlife products seized at Kennedy — from ivory disguised to look like a wooden statue and the stuffed heads of a lion and leopard to handicrafts, artworks and musical instruments hiding animal parts.
The single priciest item was a rhino horn. It fetches $30,000 per pound — or about 30 percent more than its weight in gold.
Paul Chapelle, the agent in charge of New York for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said one horn case resulted in 16 arrests, including that of a mobster from Ireland now serving 13 months behind bars.
A dead elephant is worth about $18,000 — mostly from the tusk. Also seized was a small rhino horn libation cup worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Kennedy handles the largest cargo volume of any U.S. airport, about $100 billion a year, said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport.
And the wildlife element plays an especially powerful role in national security, said Froman, the chief U.S. trade negotiator and adviser to President Barack Obama.
More than 20,000 elephants were killed last year along with about 1,000 rhinos, meeting a rising world demand resulting in declining populations across Africa, according to officials with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
This treaty was signed by more than 170 countries to protect animals that end up as contraband including live pets, hunting trophies, fashion accessories, cultural artifacts and medicinal ingredients.
U.S. trade officials believe that groups benefiting from the poaching include the militant Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and South Sudan, the Janjaweed comprised of Sudanese Arab tribes, and al-Shabab, a jihadist group based in Somalia.
In February, Obama approved a new strategy for fighting trafficking through enforcement, as well as partnerships with other countries, communities and private industry. For the first time, U.S. officials are asking trading partners to agree to conservation measures for wildlife and the environment in return for signing agreements.
Kennedy customs officials are reaching out to local businesses, plus auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's and even Carnegie Hall to alert them to illegally traded valuables that may come their way.
U.S. using trade agreement negotiations to fight poaching
Noreen O'Donnell PlanetArk 17 Jun 14;
U.S. using trade agreement negotiations to fight poaching Photo: Gary Cameron
United States Trade Representative Michael Froman testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on President Barack Obama's 2014 Trade Policy Agenda on Capitol Hill in Washington May 1, 2014.
Photo: Gary Cameron
The United States is using negotiations on trade agreements to combat illegal international wildlife trafficking, which it regards as a threat to national security, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Monday.
"Poaching is funding corruption, it's funding terrorist groups, and a lot of it is making its way around the world into Asia and into the United States," Froman said at a news conference at John F. Kennedy Airport.
To meet the threat, the United States is emphasizing the environmental component of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement that the United States is negotiating with 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
Similar efforts are also part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement with the European Union.
In May, Judith Garber, an acting assistant secretary of state told Congress that, although it was difficult to determine the extent to which terrorist organizations took part in trafficking, it was believed that the Lord's Resistance Army, the Janjaweed and al-Shabaab were at least partly involved.
There was evidence that some insurgent groups were directly involved in poaching or trafficking, trading wildlife products for weapons or safe havens, she added.
Froman spoke next to a table displaying intricate carvings made of elephant tusks and rhino horns, tiger and leopard skins and snake skins, and the skull of an orangutan.
More than 20,000 African elephants were poached in 2013, according to a report from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Some 1,000 rhinoceros were killed, according to Froman. Rhino horn sells for $30,000 a pound, authorities said.
The report said that, although the sharp upward trend in illegal elephant killing since the mid-2000s was leveling off, alarmingly high poaching continued to exceed the natural growth rates of the elephant population, resulting in a further decline across Africa.
"The high demand for wildlife products is having a devastating impact, with iconic species like elephants and rhinos facing the risk of significant decline or even extinction," Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement.
"The president's strategy to combat wildlife trafficking, including decreasing demand at home and abroad, is important to strengthen our nation's leadership on countering the global security threat posed by the criminal markets that encourage poaching and illegal trade."
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Andre Grenon)
How is Beting Bronok doing?
from wonderful creation
Coral rubble survey at Pulau Sekudu
from wonderful creation
Butterfly Species @ Jurong-Eco Garden
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature
Half-backed birds and other animals
from Bird Ecology Study Group
White-spotted Slug Snake @ Punggol
from Monday Morgue
Straits Times 16 Jun 14;
SEMENYIH (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - China's property developer Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd and Johor's economic development arm are in plans to develop over 2,000 hectares of reclaimed land in a project, which will include a man-made island, near the second link in Johor.
A study on the project, which will be developed over 30 years, was done more than a year ago.
In an interview with StarBiz, Country Garden's regional president for Malaysia project Kayson Yuen said the China-based company had studied the mega project, known as "Forest City", for more than a year before it decided to invest in it.
"We decided in the investment because the land cost was reasonable. I cannot remember the exact price but we have committed towards the project," he said.
Mr Yuen also stressed that the slowdown in China did not have any impact on their overseas ventures.
"This is because we are able to collect a bigger deposit for our projects in China and this helps with cash flow," said Mr Yuen.
In March this year, StarBiz reported that the Hong-Kong listed company was joining hands with Johor's economic development agency Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ) to build a massive man-made island near Pendas, Johor, for luxury homes.
"This will be a massive mixed development and the investment and commitment shows our confidence in the Malaysia market," he said, adding that it had hired local contractors for the reclamation works and engaged an Australian consultant who had reclamation experience at Sentosa Island, Singapore.
The man-made island that had started works, however, raised eyebrows due to environmental concerns, among others.
Country Garden intended to announce the project in March but held it back due to the incident of the missing flight MH370.
Mr Yuen conceded that the aviation mishap, which involved many passengers from mainland China, had affected sentiments of home buyers from that country but he was quick to acknowledge that the political rapport between China and Malaysia was strong and would help bring back relations to normalcy in time.
"It is only a matter of time before the confidence level of Chinese buyers recovers. We are still very confident with Malaysia's fundamentals," he said, adding that the company had studied this new market for a long time before penetrating into the country.
Malaysia is Country Garden's maiden overseas venture. But it is no stranger, having made headlines with its massive project in Danga Bay, Johor, that is estimated to have a gross development value of RM18billion (S$6.9 billion).
In August 2013, Country Garden attracted attention when it announced the sale of 6,000 out of its 9,000 units of condominiums on its development in Danga Bay. It attracted attention because a project of such a scale had not been seen in Malaysia.
It prompted allegations that the high take-up rate was due to huge discounts offered by Country Garden. There were reports that it even offered "buy-one-free-one" for its buyers from China.
Mr Yuen rubbished speculation that the company employed a "buy-one-free-one" approach to lure buyers.
"People who made those claims do not have knowledge of the property market. There is no logic in it," he said.
Apart from Johor, Country Garden also has projects in Selangor. In the Klang Valley, it plans to launch the project in Serendah with its 55:45 joint-venture partner Malaysia Land Properties Sdn Bhd (Mayland) this year.
The 67.58ha project has a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.5billion.
Its other project in Selangor is known as Diamond City in Semenyih. The RM2billion project, which was launched officially over the weekend, received overwhelming response with some 60 per cent of the offered units sold.
Country Garden Properties (M) Sdn Bhd managing director Chai Keng Wai, who also represents Mayland, said he was confident that the remaining units would be fully taken up in "a few weeks' time."
He said people had booked most of the units since the soft launch of the project last year.
Prices for its link houses, bungalows and mansions range from RM378 psf to RM430 psf while built-up sizes start from 2,300 sq ft to 8,600 sq ft.
The first phase of Diamond City sits on a 40ha tract and counts a clubhouse, a Spanish-style commercial street and an infinity pool as some of its facilities. Its selling points include its Spanish-inspired design as well as ready-built show village and amenities.
Country Garden is one of the top 10 developers in China and has more than 20 years of experience in township development.
China company in mega land reclamation project in Johor
MSN Malaysia 16 Jun 14;
The Malaysian Insider : Malaysia
Despite environmental concerns and unease said to have been expressed by Singapore, a mega land reclamation project in Johor is going ahead with the involvement of a property developer from China.
StarBiz reported today that Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd has joined hands with Johor’s economic development arm, Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ), to develop over 2,000ha of reclaimed land in the project which is said to have caused a wrinkle in the close Malaysia-Singapore ties.
The Edge Review had previously reported that the massive land project located near the second link in Johor is backed by the Johor royal household and it will extend the Johor coast around the so-called Second Link right up to the edges of the boundary separating Malaysia and Singapore.
The “Forest City” project will include a man-made island and a study on the matter was done more than a year ago, the StarBiz report said.
“We decided in the investment because the land cost was reasonable. I cannot remember the exact price but we have committed towards the project," Country Garden’s regional president for Malaysia project Kayson Yuen was quoted as saying in the StarBiz report today.
“This will be a massive mixed development and the investment and commitment shows our confidence in the Malaysia market,” Yuen said, adding that it had hired local contractors for the reclamation works and engaged an Australian consultant who had reclamation experience at Sentosa Island, Singapore.
The multi-billion dollar project is expected to span more than 30 years.
Yuen, meanwhile, told StarBiz that the property slowdown in China did not have any impact on the company's overseas ventures.
“This is because we are able to collect a bigger deposit for our projects in China and this helps with cash flow,” said Yuen.
Country Garden had intended to announce the project in March but held it back due to the sentiments following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Yuen agreed that the aviation mishap, which involved many passengers from mainland China, had affected sentiments of home buyers from China but he was confident that relations between China and Malaysia would return to normal.
“It is only a matter of time before the confidence level of Chinese buyers recovers. We are still very confident with Malaysia’s fundamentals,” he told StarBiz.
Malaysia is Country Garden’s maiden overseas venture. The company had previously made headlines with its massive project in Danga Bay, Johor, that is estimated to have a gross development value of RM18 billion.
In August 2013, Country Garden attracted attention when it announced the sale of 6,000 out of its 9,000 units of condominiums on its development in Danga Bay. It attracted attention because a project of such a scale had not been seen in Malaysia, said the StarBiz report.
It prompted allegations that the high take-up rate was due to huge discounts offered by Country Garden. There were reports that it even offered “buy-one-free-one” for its buyers from China.
Yuen, however, told StarBiz that there was no truth in the speculation that the company had employed a “buy-one-free-one” approach to lure buyers.
Apart from Johor, Country Garden also has projects in Selangor. In the Klang Valley, it plans to launch the project in Serendah with its 55:45 joint-venture partner Malaysia Land Properties Sdn Bhd (Mayland) this year.
The 67.58ha project has a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.5 billion.
Its other project in Selangor is known as Diamond City in Semenyih. The RM2 billion project, which was launched officially over the weekend, received overwhelming response with some 60% of the offered units sold.
Country Garden is one of the top 10 developers in China and has more than 20 years of experience in township development.
Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 15 Jun 14;
SINGAPORE: Fires in Sumatra and the yearly haze problem can be drastically reduced in five years or less.
Global Forest Watch, an organisation that monitors forest activity, tells Channel NewsAsia this is possible through concerted efforts on the ground -- involving palm oil companies and law enforcement.
And all stakeholders -- from financial institutions to even consumers -- can do more to get the US$21b industry in Indonesia to adopt sustainable sourcing practices.
But it would seem palm oil markets in the region are not as committed to sustainability, perhaps put off by the associated costs.
The dry season begins in June and runs until October.
About 250km from Singapore, farmers on Sumatra island are getting ready to clear land traditionally -- by burning vegetation.
That could be the spark needed to ignite and spread fires onto adjacent plantations.
The winds that occur during the Southwest Monsoon could fan the smoke and its unhealthy particulates right towards Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia, as it had done for years, as seen during Singapore's worst bout of haze in June 2013.
Increasingly, the pressure is on large palm oil and pulp companies to put an end to such practices.
Nigel Sizer, director of Global Forest Watch (Forests Programme) at World Resources Institute, said: "About half of these fires are burning on land that's in the concessions of palm oil and pulp wood companies in Riau and across Sumatra.
"We're not saying that those companies necessarily cause those fires. In fact we know that often the fires start outside their land and spread into their land.
"A lot of illegal and small palm oil companies, and others who are taking advantage of disputes over land, use fire to clear land cheaply."
Mr Sizer said that large companies have a responsibility to educate the farmers and provide them with alternatives to slash-and-burn methods.
The firms should also help to put out fires, not just on their own land, and investigate whether small farmers are supplying them with sustainably produced palm oil and other raw materials.
Some 40 per cent of Indonesia's palm oil is produced by third-party crops or owners of small farms.
Cargill, the largest importer of palm oil into the United States, said 40 per cent of its palm fruit is from small holders.
It said a majority (99 per cent) of its crops are from small holders which have adopted Cargill's own land-clearing practices.
But it also buys crops from other small holders, and it's working with many of them to adopt sustainable practices.
Still, Cargill said that unravelling the supply chain is a complicated process, as the oil is mixed at different stages of production.
Cargill said it is working to trace its supply chain, but it would seem not all parties are ready for sustainable palm oil, which may come at a higher cost.
John Hartmann, CEO of Cargill Tropical Palm, said: "Around 87 per cent of the palm oil that is produced goes to markets which are not ready to work closely with sustainability (campaigners).
"About 13 per cent are going to the European, North American, Australia and New Zealand markets. Those markets are demanding more and more insights into the source of their food and the food products and that leverages itself well to work into sustainability."
Singapore may be a small market, but experts say more can be done to promote sustainable sourcing and, in the process, play a part in addressing the haze that has plagued the country for years.
It's thought that about half of household products contain palm oil.
It's a healthier substitute for other kinds of vegetable oil.
So you may find it in margarines, cookies, chocolates and ice-cream.
Shampoos, soaps and even cosmetics contain palm oil.
Craving for a meal at your favourite fast-food joint after shopping? It's likely been prepared in edible palm oil.
Drive a diesel vehicle? The biodiesel used by cars also comes from palm oil.
Some say certifying products will help consumers make more informed choices.
There are international certifications, such as the one by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a voluntary non-profit organisation comprising palm oil stakeholders.
But experts say it's not widely used at the moment and is not likely to be found in any local supermarkets.
The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) says its food labelling (based on principles applied by the United Nations and the World Health Organisation) focuses on food safety and the traceability of foods sold in Singapore.
AVA says sustainability of source declarations is not a mandatory labelling requirement.
Meanwhile, many large palm oil companies are pledging to produce palm oil sustainably -- by not clearing forests of high conservation value, not developing on peat land, and adhering to a no-burn policy.
Experts say pledging sustainability throughout the supply chain could be given a further push by financial backers.
Banks, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and asset management funds often invest in palm oil, and these investors are often listed on the stock exchanges in Singapore and Malaysia, for example.
Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting, said: "Investors (are) starting to become more conscious that they need to have some standards in place and hold investees to those standards to protect against financial performance risks, because if palm oil companies they invest in are subjected to boycott or blacklisting or an adverse regulatory decision, that will impact the price performance of the shares, that will impact dividends and so on.
"So from a purely financial perspective, there is a case for financial investors to pay attention to these guidelines and getting these investors to do so as well."
Mr Perera says Singapore's proposed Transboundary Haze Pollution Bill will put the pressure on investors, as it's a sign that governments are ready to take tougher action to enforce laws and take companies to task.
But until it's implemented, consumers have another avenue to pressure companies, thanks to a tool launched by the Global Forest Watch this month.
Global Forest Watch's Nigel Sizer said: "Where we see a fire alert, we'll actually be able to task satellites each day to photograph those areas of land at 50cm resolutions and immediately put them online, give them to the governments, let the public see.
"We believe that a very significant reduction in the fires and haze is possible in the next five years, or even less. Our research shows that the problem is very concentrated in a small number of sub-districts -- literally we're talking about a few dozen villages. That's where most of the fires are taking place."
Mr Sizer said this information will help with fire-fighting efforts and hold those responsible for illegal burning accountable. It will put more pressure on local and federal governments in Indonesia, which is the world's largest palm oil supplier.
- CNA/ir
Amy R. Remo Philippine Daily Inquirer 16 Jun 14;
MANILA, Philippines–Exporters from Central Luzon are lamenting a new Department of Agriculture policy, which is expected to result in unemployment and reduced export revenues for seagrass farmers in the region.
Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 250, which has banned the collection, harvesting, gathering, selling and exporting of brown algae and seagrass to preserve the marine ecosystem, is expected to adversely affect the farmers and other marginalized people who are highly dependent on this raw material for their livelihood.
Malou Balano, executive director of Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) Region 3, was quoted in a statement as saying that seagrass being harvested was being used as a material for Philippine handicrafts, as earlier recommended by the Department of Trade and Industry.
“The DTI supported this project. In fact, we have developed bags, slippers, baskets and other accessories that are being exported already,” Balano disclosed.
To address the impact of ban on selling and exporting seagrass on the export sector, Balano has proposed the identification of other or alternative areas, where seagrass can be legally cultivated and harvested or monitored.
The DA earlier explained that the restrictions set under FAO No. 250 were meant to protect the marine ecosystems as the uncontrolled harvesting of seaweeds and sea grass are resulting in the loss of shelter and destruction of the food base of aquatic organisms.
Violators of this order would be subject to a fine of P100,000 to P500,000 and imprisonment of two to 10 years.
Exemptions would be issued for those who target to collect, harvest and export seagrass for scientific and educational purposes.
Dennis Orlina, president of the Asean Handicraft Promotion and Development Association, however, noted that most of the seagrass that they use are “growing wildly as terrain species, not aquatic.”
“Just recently, many are growing at the lahar areas, north of Manila in Zambales, Pampanga, giving us cheap raw materials,” Orlina added.
Tommy Wilkes PlanetArk 13 Jun 14;
Swathes of north India are sweltering under the longest heatwave on record, triggering widespread breakdowns in the supply of electricity and increasingly angry protests over the government's failure to provide people with basic services.
The power crisis and heatwave, which some activists say has caused dozens of deaths, is one of the first major challenges for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected three weeks ago partly on promises to provide reliable electricity supplies.
In Delhi, where temperatures have hit 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) for six days straight, residents marched through the streets in protests organized by opposition parties on Thursday. In the north of the city, people enraged by night-long outages clashed with police and torched a bus, media reported.
Delhi is suffering staggered cuts as power companies ration spikes in demand as people crank up air coolers to fight the heat. Modi has inherited the shortages from his predecessors, and power distribution is partially the responsibility of state governments.
Residents staged sit-in protests outside electricity substations in the state of Uttar Pradesh late on Wednesday, days after protesters had set substations on fire and taken power officials hostage after weeks of daily blackouts.
"God alone can provide any relief from the prevailing power crisis," said A.P. Misra, director of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation. Having drawn on all available supplies, Misra said power would only return once rain arrived and demand fell.
The protests and collapse in the power supply underline how ill-equipped much of India remains to sudden surges in temperature, which many worry are happening more frequently because of changes in the climate and rapid urbanization.
BODIES
For L.D. Chopra, a 76-year old asthmatic in Delhi, the power cuts almost mean the difference between life and death.
Chopra was taken to hospital on May 31 after falling unconscious when a machine he depends on for oxygen support switched off in the outages, he told Reuters.
Like Chopra's home in the east of the city, much of Delhi has been without power for 10 hours per day in the last week, after a jump in demand and damage from a thunderstorm overwhelmed the grid, causing blackouts. [ID:nL5N0OR21I]
Seventy-nine unidentified bodies were discovered in Delhi in the last four days, said the Center of Holistic Development, a group working to end homelessness. Founder Sunil Kumar Aledia attributed the high number of deaths to the extreme weather.
India has long-suffered deadly heatwaves. Periods of extreme temperatures have led to thousands of deaths since the 1990s, largely in rural areas where basic infrastructure is poor.
R.K. Jenamani, director of the meteorological office in Delhi, said his research did not point to any long-term trend of rising temperatures.
But a combination of urbanization, extensive use of concrete and more cars did appear to be changing microclimates within and near cities, exacerbating the impact of heatwaves, he said.
Temperatures were rising faster earlier in the day and staying higher for longer in congested built-up areas, he said.
The World Bank warned in a report last year that parts of India were rapidly becoming "heat-islands", and that urban planners needed to act to counteract the dangers.
"We are witnessing more serious and more extreme events," said Anumita Roychowdhury at India's Center for Science and Environment (CSE), warning about the impact on public health.
The heatwave has led to a jump in deadly ozone pollution in Delhi to levels that exceed government limits, the CSE said, with levels rising up to 315 percent in the city since June 1.
"We need to watch and assess this trend very carefully in this climate-challenged world," said Roychowdhury.
(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; additional reporting by Anindito Mukherjee in New Dekhi and Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Robert Birsel)
Ben Garside PlanetArk 16 Jun 14;
The talks, which were heading to a close on Saturday, drew some 1,900 diplomats from 182 countries to Bonn to line up what their leaders will be prepared to sign up to next year to tackle emissions that U.N.-backed scientists say will cause more severe flooding, droughts and the sea level to rise.
Negotiators and observers said signs of action from China and the United States, the world's top two emitters, had raised hopes but they warned the talks could break down unless rich nations pledged billions of dollars in aid to poorer states by the end of the year.
"We are getting to the point where all parties have a sense of trust that we can act together to combat climate change, but my biggest concern is about the cash," said Seyni Nafo, a Malian envoy representing a negotiating bloc of over 50 African states.
Developed nations agreed in 2009 to raise aid to developing nations to $100 billion a year by 2020 but the U.N.'s "Green Climate Fund" set up to channel the cash lies empty after launching last month.
Nafo said $7-8 billion dollars in pledges were needed by the year-end to start projects such as installing solar power or insurance schemes to help farmers cope with crop failures.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Nations agreed last year that the deal, due to be struck in Paris in 2015 and to enter into force from 2020, would consist of a framework of contributions from all countries to be proposed early next year.
Negotiations over the past two weeks focused on what those contributions should include, such as having major economies setting emission reduction or peaking targets. Some said these should also include binding financial aid commitments by richer nations to support the poor.
But there was little headway on which countries should make the strictest contributions - a thorny issue that could end a 20-year old distinction that meant effectively only developed nations had to take steps to curb their greenhouse gas output.
FALLING SHORT
The talks heard climate change would affect billions of people over the coming centuries due to rising sea levels but that cutting emissions now would be able to slow and limit much of that rise.
"We have started something that we simply cannot stop anymore," said Anders Levermann of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research, referring to U.S. research published last month on the West Antarctic ice shelf that signifies we have "entered a new era of irreversible climate change".
One observer at that presentation was Caleb Otto, U.N. Ambassador for Palau, a tiny island in the western Pacific Ocean identified among the countries with the most land to lose.
"For us in the Pacific we're already being submerged ... It's hard for people in the Convention to understand," he said, referring to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change under which the talks are held.
The contributions of all countries are expected to fall well short of the 40-70 percent cuts U.N. scientists say are needed by 2050 to reach a global goal to limit temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
To address the shortfall, a group of South American nations including Colombia and Peru called for a review process after the contributions come in early next year but South Africa said any assessment need only happen after the Paris deal is struck.
The formal process resumes in October with a week-long Bonn session and aims to agree on the main elements of a deal at a high-level session in Lima, Peru at the end of the year.
(Editing by David Evans)
Posts
visitors since Nov 07