Best of our wild blogs: 6 Oct 14

dog-faced watersnake & halfbeak @ SBWR - Sep2014
from sgbeachbum

Straits of Singapore Pelagic Survey 5th Oct 2014
from Singapore Bird Group

Malayan Water Monitor (Varanus salvator) @ Pasir Ris
from Monday Morgue

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PA launches Water-Venture Committee in Pasir Ris

Channel NewsAsia 4 Oct 14;

SINGAPORE: Pasir Ris residents keen to pursue water sports and want to get involved in creating an environmentally-conscious community can do so by joining a new movement. A Water-Venture Committee was launched by the People's Association in the constituency on Saturday (Oct 4).

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean kicked off Project Blue WaVe on Saturday. Project Blue WaVe is the first of a three-part signature event organised by the Water-Venture Committee. During the event, 300 residents picked up litter from the Sungei Api-Api river while others cleaned up the banks on foot.

The newly-formed committee comprises of grassroots leaders and volunteer trainers. They will support the residents' involvement in keeping the environment clean and healthy.

A total of eight Water-Venture committees will eventually be launched in other constituencies.

Mr Teo said such projects are a good way of bringing the community together to create awareness about the environment. "Sungei Api-Api is a natural river with mangrove sites so it's not easy to clean it from the shore side. Every couple of years, we go in from the seaside with kayaks and help to clean up. And I think it achieves two things - first, we help to clean up the river. Second, it teaches everyone a little bit more about the environment," added Mr Teo.

- CNA/ac

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Global biodiversity targets won't be met by 2020, scientists say

World leaders failing in their pledge to stop wildlife decline, save habitats and create marine reserves
Adam Vaughan The Guardian 3 Oct 14;

World leaders are failing in their pledge to cut the rate at which wildlife lose their homes, according to the the first ever progress report on targets to slow biodiversity loss by the end of the decade. Conservationist called the lack of action a “troubling sign” and a “reality check”.

Governments agreed on a set of targets in 2010 to stem the destruction of species’ habitats, increase the number of nature reserves and stop overfishing, but an international team of more than 30 scientists say in a report that, almost halfway towards the 2020 deadline, the Aichi targets are unlikely to be met.

Writing in the journal Science, in the same week that a major report by WWF suggested the world had lost half its animals over the past four decades, the scientists say that the state of biodiversity and the pressures on it are getting worse, not better.

A pledge to halve the loss of natural habitats by 2020 will be missed, as will an attempt to reduce fishing to sustainable levels, and a target of having 10% of the world’s seas made into protected areas.

Dr Richard Gregory, one of the paper’s authors and head of species monitoring and research at the RSPB, said: “World leaders are currently grappling with many crises affecting our future. But this study shows there is a collective failure to address the loss of biodiversity, which is arguably one of the greatest crises facing humanity.

“The natural environment provides us with food, clean water and other natural resources we need for survival, and much more besides to feed our souls and inspire us.”

He called the lack of progress a “a troubling sign for us all.”

If the 2020 targets are missed, it will not be the first time targets to halt the decline in the richness and abundance of wildlife and the natural world have been overshot. An assessment of goals set in 2002 to cut the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 showed governments had failed to deliver on the commitments they made.

Mike Hoffmann, a senior scientist on species survival commission at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, told the Guardian that “this is a reality check halfway to 2020.”

“We’re in serious danger of being in the same position as we were back in 2010 of not having made the progress we need to make to lead to a better society and a better world.

“It’s not to say we’re not having successes. We don’t do enough to champion the conservation successes, without which we’d be in a much worse situation.”

But, he said: “The bottom line is we’re not doing enough and we’re going to have to do much much more to change things in the next five things.”

The new analysis of progress on the 2020 targets did say that society’s awareness of the problem had improved and efforts to raise funds to tackle the problem were accelerating but not significantly enough. The team looked at 55 indicators to measure the health of biodiversity worldwide, to measure progress on 16 of the 20 Aichi targets agreed in 2010.

“The benefits of maintaining biodiversity are well known,” the report concludes, “... efforts need to be redoubled to positively affect trajectories of change and enable global biodiversity goals to be met by the end of the current decade.”

Officials from nearly a nearly 200 countries are to meet in Pyeongchang, South Korea, over the next fortnight, to discuss how to tackle the problem.

World falling behind 2020 plan for nature protection: UN
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 7 Oct 14;

Many rare species face a mounting risk of extinction, forests are being cleared by farmers at an alarming rate, and pollution and over-fishing are continuing despite the U.N. push agreed in 2010 to reverse harmful trends for nature.

"There has been an increase in effort (by governments) ... but this will not be enough to reach the targets," Braulio de Souza Dias, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told Reuters, citing a progress report.

Overall, the Global Biodiversity Outlook issued at the start of a biodiversity meeting in South Korea on Monday showed that only five of 53 goals set for preserving nature were on target or ahead of schedule. The other 48 were lagging.

Governments were on track, for instance, towards a goal of setting set aside 17 percent of the world's land area by 2020 in protected areas for wildlife, such as parks or reserves.

But they were lagging targets such as halving the rate of loss of natural habitats, or preventing extinctions of known threatened species.

"Despite individual success stories, the average risk of extinction for birds, mammals and amphibians is still increasing," the report said, adding that biodiversity meant more than high profile campaigns to save orangutans, polar bears or rare frogs.

Urging governments to redouble efforts, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that success in preserving life on the planet would help goals of "eliminating poverty, improving human health and providing energy, food and clean water for all".

Other U.N. reports have estimated, for instance, that free insect pollination -- largely by bees -- is worth about $190 billion a year worldwide by securing food production.

Monday's report estimated that the world would need to spend between $150 billion and $440 billion a year to achieve the 2020 goals to ensure the biodiversity of animal and plant life.

Dias said in a telephone interview from South Korea that current spending was probably around $50 billion a year, much of it focused on setting up and policing protected wildlife areas.

And businesses should also do more, he said: "Many big companies still refuse to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their supply chain."

The report urged far more focus on farming, for instance by limiting over-use of fertilisers that can pollute rivers, or by reducing incentives for felling tropical forests from Indonesia to the Congo basin.

It also urged governments to take firmer action on climate change in order to limit stresses on nature such as damage to coral reefs that are vulnerable to rising ocean temperatures.

(Writing by Alister Doyle; Editing by Dominic Evans)

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Best of our wild blogs: 5 Oct 14

Fun workshop with volunteer guides at the Sisters Islands Marine Park! from wild shores of singapore

Life History of the Common Redeye
from Butterflies of Singapore

Night Walk At MacRitchie Reservoir (03 Oct 2014)
from Beetles@SG BLOG

Changeable Lizard - Male displays
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Recycling gets easier with a bin at every HDB block

Feng Zengkun The Straits Times AsiaOne 4 Oct 14;

SINGAPORE - The list of excuses for not recycling that plastic bottle or stack of paper just got shorter - every HDB block in Singapore now has a recycling bin, completing an initiative begun three years ago.

Since 2011, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has required public waste collectors to provide one bin per block, under its new waste collection contracts, compared with one per five blocks previously.

Last month, Veolia Environmental Services started its new contract for the Tanglin-Bukit Merah area - the last remaining sector without comprehensive coverage. A spokesman confirmed that recycling bins had been installed at all the housing blocks.

Environmentalists said the expanded coverage will encourage more people to recycle - provided residents know where the bins are located.

Mr Eugene Tay, founder and director of Green Future Solutions, a non-governmental organisation that promotes environmental awareness, said some bins are in places convenient for the waste collectors but not for residents, as is the case at his block in Bedok.

"The public waste collectors should look at where most people go and the walkways they use, or perhaps place the bins somewhere near the lifts," said Mr Tay, who received an EcoFriend award from the NEA this week for his outstanding environmental contributions.

Ms Bhavani Prakash, founder of environmental website Eco Walk the Talk, suggested putting up fliers at common notice boards to explain how to sort waste items and what to put in the recycling bins.

"They should be in an easy- to-understand pictorial form," she said. "It's also important to explain why we should recycle, and what happens to the waste sent for recycling, to nudge people."

Ms Doris Koh, a 63-year-old housewife whose Queenstown block of flats recently got a bin, said it had made recycling more convenient.

"My daughter, who lives nearby, also has one on her doorstep now. Before, we had to walk quite a distance."

More than 80 per cent of Singapore's resident population live in Housing Board flats.

The NEA said waste collectors have to provide a 120-litre recycling bin at each landed property as well.

The latest milestone comes as the authorities seek ways to boost the country's overall recycling rate - from 61 per cent last year to 70 per cent by 2030.

Nearly all construction debris here is recycled, but rates for more common materials such as paper and plastics lag far behind.

Last year, slightly more than half of all paper and cardboard waste - but only 11 per cent of plastic waste - was recycled.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/recycling-gets-easier-bin-every-hdb-block#sthash.b1oCdO0Q.dpuf

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Move to ensure nuclear security for Singapore

Audrey Tan The Straits Times AsiaOne 4 Oct 14;

SINGAPORE - Singapore has outlined nine research projects to build up its nuclear expertise, which could help the country protect itself in the event of radioactive fallout from accidents or terrorist attacks.

The projects are in the areas of radiochemistry, radiobiology and safety analysis, and will start in 2016 when temporary laboratories are set up.

Scientists with expertise in radiological sciences - the use of radiation in medical treatment and nuclear radiation studies - will lead the research under the auspices of a National Research Foundation (NRF) unit, The Straits Times has learnt.

They are part of a $63 million, five-year research and education programme launched by the NRF in April this year. A government study in 2012 found current nuclear energy technologies not suitable for Singapore as yet but said it should take part in global and regional talks on nuclear safety.

The research programme will help Singapore take part in these talks, better protect its people, and prepare for the nuclear option "in the distant future", said Dr Yeoh Lean Weng, NRF director for the Energy and Environment Research Directorate.

Projects in radiochemistry, for instance, will collect data on background radiation, enabling the country to monitor radioactive levels and detect unusual levels. In radiobiology, the health effects of low doses of radiation will be studied. Said Dr Yeoh: "People are concerned when they hear about radiation. But our body is quite adaptive."

Safety analyses using modelling and simulations are another priority. These include research on the impact of nuclear accidents, and how radioactive particles can travel.

Mr Joe Eades, council member and chairman of the Institution of Engineers Singapore's process safety sub-committee, said the projects will help Singapore develop protocols to handle incidents such as terrorist strikes or accidents in the transport of nuclear material through Singapore waters.

Professor Andrew Palmer, of the civil and environmental engineering department at the National University of Singapore (NUS), called for ways to improve public perception of nuclear energy. "This could clear up misconceptions, such as associating nuclear power stations with nuclear bombs."

The $63 million effort, which includes a fund to train people in nuclear sciences, has received 10 applications for postgraduate scholarships. Said Dr Yeoh: "This is a specialised area, and we need to ensure a critical mass of scientists to build expertise."

In line with Singapore's advancing capabilities in nuclear research, NUS will introduce a new minor in medical physics in January. The NRF said it is in talks with the Nanyang Technological University to set up a similar minor or summer programme.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/move-ensure-nuclear-security#sthash.RKzmVXZ9.dpuf

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Sumatra, Kalimantan fires rage on

Expected dry weather set to worsen situation
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times 4 Oct 14;

FIRES in South Sumatra, South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan provinces show no signs of abating, despite stepped-up efforts to contain them.

The situation is made worse by tropical cyclone Phanfone hovering over the Philippine sea, and sucking in moisture over parts of Indonesia, an official said.

This means weather in the lower parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan will likely continue to get drier in the coming days, worsening fires and haze.

"We forecast slightly higher pressure on Saturday there, or cyclone Phanfone growing bigger," Mr Lutfi Fitriano, a weather forecaster at the national meteorological, climatological and geophysical bureau in Jakarta, told The Straits Times.

The forest and plantation fires in South Sumatra, South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan have raged in recent days, affecting flight and shutting schools there.

The northern part of Kalimantan, Central Sumatra - which includes Riau province - and North Sumatra may, however, see some light rain in the coming days.

"Riau is wet enough, therefore it is safe from fire as they have ample rain," Mr Lutfi added. Riau is the second-closest province to Singapore, after Riau Islands province. Dumai city in Riau province was the epicentre of last June's haze when Singapore and Malaysia saw record-high PSI.

The total number of hot spots detected in Kalimantan was 389, and 31 in Sumatra yesterday, Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) said in an update on its website. But the low count in Sumatra was due to partial satellite coverage.

Central Kalimantan governor Teras Narang said the haze thickened yesterday. He will hold a coordination meeting today with all regency heads in his province to discuss ways to step up efforts to fight the raging fires.

"The haze has gotten very, very severe. Schools are closed, the number of residents with respiratory illness jumped, and flights have been affected," Mr Teras told reporters yesterday.

Water bombing operations in Central Kalimantan were partially impeded yesterday as the haze was too thick for the helicopter to operate, the provincial head of disaster mitigation agency, Mr Muchtar, told Kompas.com, the news portal owned by Indonesia's largest newspaper.

"We can barely see our neighbour's house 10 metres away," Mr Muhammad Muza, a Banjarbaru resident in South Kalimantan, told local news portal Harianterbit.com.

The number of people suffering from respiratory illness in the South Sumatran capital of Palembang almost doubled to 4,839 last month, from 2,852 the previous month. Visibility level in parts of the province fell below 500m.

Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency chief Syamsul Maarif has deployed 2,200 military officers and 1,050 policemen to take part in the ground firefighting efforts.

"Law enforcement must continue to be stepped up," Mr Syamsul said.

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No shark finning activity in Malaysia

The Star 5 Oct 14;

KUALA LUMPUR: Shark finning or the harvesting of shark fins and releasing the fish back to sea has not been carried out in the country, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob assured.

He said sharks were not the primary target of local fishermen who focused mainly on the commercial species.

“Shark catches in Malaysia are low as in 2013, only 7,833 tonnes of sharks were landed and this contributed to just 0.5% of the total marine fish catch in the country.

“The entire shark could be fully utilised both as food or processed into other uses,” he said when launching a “Say No to Shark Fin” campaign here.

Also present were ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman and Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Ismail Abu Hassan.

Ismail Sabri said to date, 27 countries and the European Union had banned shark finning, as well as trading in such products.

He said apart from raising awareness on the management and conservation of sharks, the ban was also seen to be able to reduce demand for shark fin soup by 30%.

Ismail Sabri, however, explained that trading of shark fins was still carried out and in 2012, a total of 1,894 tonnes of shark fins valued at RM19.5mil were imported.

The minister said it was time to reduce the demand for shark fin soup, apart from taking proactive measures for shark conservation by the Government.

According to Ismail Sabri, the campaign was conducted in line with the Cabinet decision on May 21 to ban the serving of shark fin soup at all official events.

He also called on all parties, including the private sector, restaurant operators and hotels, to support the campaign by not including the dish in their menus.

At the ceremony, Ismail Sabri also launched a National Shark Conservation and Management action plan book to ensure sharks do not become extinct. — Bernama

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Malaysia: Intensity of Friday’s downpour in Penang a once-in-40-year occurrence, says state exco

royce tan The Star 5 Oct 14;

GEORGE TOWN: The high rainfall of 137mm, recorded during Friday’s storm, is a once-in-40-year occurrence, said State Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow.

“The downpour last night was estimated to be a 40-year average recurrence interval (ARI) which means that it will occur once every 40 years or at a 2.5% chance of occurrence in any given year,” he told a press conference at the Town Hall here, Saturday.

A rainfall between 30mm to 60mm is considered heavy and figures above 60mm are classified as very heavy.

“The capacity of the drains in Penang is between two-year and 10-year ARI and that was certainly not enough to withstand the heavy downpour.

“Our drainage system is not designed to cope with such rainfall intensity.

“It’s quite impossible to build a drain taking into account a high level of ARI in Penang. If we do, then the drains will be as wide as the roads here,” he said.

Clean up in Penang begins following Friday's heavy downpour
winnie yeoh AND royce cheah The Star 5 Oct 14;

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) workers started early on Saturday, cleaning up areas hit hard by the previous night's heavy rain and resulting flash floods.

State Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the rainfall accumulated from Friday’s storm was one of the highest in the past 20 years, a record of 110mm for the whole day.

“The average recurrence interval was that of a 20-year storm, which is considered of a heavy proportion,” he said when contacted.

State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said that volunteers had distributed food to over 2,000 residents from the Jalan P. Ramlee and Sungai Pinang areas early Saturday morning.

“Some residents from Jalan P. Ramlee had to evacuate from their houses temporarily last night.

“The water was rising fast. But they were back early this morning,” he said.

He added that the flash floods only affected the island and that on the mainland, the situation was manageable.

Over at Taman Gottlieb near Kebun Bunga, several residents were evacuated on Friday following a landslide.

Fire and Rescue Department personnel and policemen are still on standby at the scene for any untoward incidents.

The rain started on Friday evening with Jalan Masjid Negri, Jalan Mount Erskine, Jalan Transfer, Jalan Gurdwara, Jalan Scotland, Jalan Air Itam, Jalan Datuk Keramat, Jalan Anson, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Terengganu, Jalan Makloom, Jalan Hospital and Jalan Macallum among the affected areas.

The state government’s flood mitigation committee is expect to hold a press conference.

Authorities on standby in Penang for more flash floods
christopher tan The Star 5 oct 14;

GEORGE TOWN: It's has been raining in many parts of Penang since Saturday night and the authorities are on standby to respond to any flood emergency.

The wet spell is expected to last for the next three days.

The Malaysia Meteorological Department only expected fair weather on Thursday.

Last Friday saw several areas in Penang hit by flash floods.

Motorists were caught in traffic snarls for two to three hours.
Among the places that were flooded were Jalan Masjid Negri, Jalan Mount Erskine, Jalan Transfer, Jalan Gurdwara, Jalan Scotland, Jalan Air Itam, Jalan Datuk Keramat, Jalan Anson, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Terengganu, Jalan Makloom, Jalan Hospital and Jalan Macallum, and the Pulau Tikus, Taman Hye Keat, Taman Lumba Kuda and Batu Uban areas.

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Queensland plan to dump dredge spoil onshore 'will not harm wetlands'

Deputy premier Jeff Seeney says despite conservation group’s concerns, nationally significant wetland will be preserved
Australian Associated Press theguardian.com 4 Oct 14;

A controversial plan to dump dredge spoil onshore will not damage nationally significant wetland, Queensland’s deputy premier, Jeff Seeney, says.

Three million cubic metres of dredged material linked to the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal near Bowen in north Queensland was destined to be dumped in waters off the Great Barrier Reef.

But a backlash against the plan, which had gained federal approval, prompted the state government to endorse onshore dumping instead.

Seeney says the strategy has been submitted for federal government approval.

“We are confident that, if approved by the commonwealth, we can have state-owned land ready to receive dredge material for when licensed dredging activity begins next March,” he said in a statement.

But the North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation project could be delayed by green groups, which have launched federal court proceedings challenging the environmental approval validity.

The Mackay Conservation Group secured more time in late September to put its case to the court, initially due at the end of October, saying there was uncertainty around the onshore dumping plan.

The group remains opposed to dredging, saying onshore dumping will damage a nationally significant wetland that is home to several threatened species.

Documents submitted to the commonwealth on Friday state that if approvals are not granted “in a timely manner”, the spoil could be dumped at sea.

“Project proponents that need to dredge at Abbot Point will have no option but to dispose [of] material in the [Great Barrier Reef] marine park in accordance with existing approvals,” the document said.

Seeney said the wetlands would be preserved under the onshore dumping strategy.

“We are inviting the local community and environmentalists to work with us to restore freshwater flows to degraded areas of the wetland, expand its area and consider access points for the general public to boost tourism activity in the area,” he said.

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Best of our wild blogs: 4 Oct 14

Sharing about our shores with Pacific Radiance
from wild shores of singapore

Asian Glossy Starlings: Pre-roost gatherings
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Malaysia: Flood chaos in Penang after downpour

priscilla dielenberg AND chong kah yuan The Star 4 Oct 14;

GEORGE TOWN: Traffic came to a standstill when flash floods hit various parts of Penang following hours of continuous rain.

Water level rose to knee-high in certain roads after the downpour which started on Friday evening.

Road Transport Department (JPJ) director-general Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad, who was late for a function, said that he landed at the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas at 7.20pm on Friday, but took more than two hours to arrive at the venue in Burmah Road.

Motorists were caught in traffic snarls for two to three hours.

Among the places that were flooded were Jalan Masjid Negri, Jalan Mount Erskine, Jalan Transfer, Jalan Gurdwara, Jalan Scotland, Jalan Air Itam, Jalan Datuk Keramat, Jalan Anson, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Terengganu, Jalan Makloom, Jalan Hospital and Jalan Macallum, and the Pulau Tikus, Taman Hye Keat, Taman Lumba Kuda and Batu Uban areas.

State Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said cumulative rainfall at three stations in Bukit Bendera, Batu Lanchang and Sungai Pinang was between 51.5mm and 72.5mm.

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