Best of our wild blogs: 5 Jul 16

16 Jul (Sat) - Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Mass coral bleaching at Chek Jawa
wild shores of singapore

Read more!

Visitors turn wild boar feeding area into food dump

ONG YAN QUAN The New Paper 5 Jul 16;

The wild boars at Lorong Halus are still drawing the crowds. And with the crowds come a whole lot more rubbish as well.

When The New Paper (TNP) visited the forested site at about 4pm last Thursday, the area was littered with plastic bags containing food, some half-eaten.

Visitors who wanted to feed the boars, perhaps wary that the animals may turn aggressive, appear to have been throwing bags of food into the "enclosure", a patch of open land separated from the main road by a small drain and green railings.

This is despite pleas from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and animal experts to the public to not feed the boars.

A delivery driver TNP met at the site was appalled at the amount of litter there.

"Are we really in Singapore?" he asked.

The man, who would identify himself only as Ah Jie, 52, said he was taking a break from work and was curious about the boars.

Additional trash bags tied to the railings from weeks before do not seem to have helped.

Mr Andrew Chng, 52, a subcontractor and Sengkang resident who was riding his bicycle in the vicinity when we met him, said of the animals: "I fear the over-dependance that is created from feeding them."

Mr Ben Lee , 52, founder of Nature Trekkers, a nature conservation group in Singapore, said the area has become a dumping ground.

CAN BE PREVENTED

"Now the litter will create more hygiene problems in the future," he added.

Although no wild boar has been caught in the Lorong Halus area yet, the AVA has started control operations.

When caught, wild boars are euthanised as relocation options are not available in land-scarce Singapore.

Mr Lee said he was against culling the animals.

He added: "All this can be prevented if people stop feeding the boars.

"It all boils down to a human-created problem once again."

Read more!

Indonesia: Fire spots spring up in W. Kalimantan

Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 4 Jul 16;

Dozens of fire spots have been detected in several regencies across West Kalimantan, one of the areas heavily affected by thick haze from land and forest fires in previous years.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office at Supadio International Airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, stated on Monday that as of 6 a.m. local time, its MODIS satellite detected 15 fire spots in seven out of 14 regencies and municipalities across the province.

Four fire spots were detected in Bengkayang while three fire spots were found in Ketapang, the report said. Sintang and Sambas identified two fire spots each while four other regencies, comprising Kapuas Hulu, Kubu Raya, Landak and Sanggau, detected one fire spot each.

Today’s report shows fires have continued to spread in West Kalimantan as it recorded only 13 fire spots on Sunday.

West Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head TTA Nyarong said the government had raised the emergency level of haze for the province to high alert as of June 1. Last year, 74,000 hectares of peat land were set ablaze, making the haze disaster even worse.

“We are investigating to see whether the fire spots have emerged on plantation concession areas or on people’s land,” said Nyarong. He said the BPBD had not yet received a response to a letter, which questioned whether 74,000 hectares of peat land burned last year were on plantation concession areas, it had sent to the plantation directorate general.

A haze disaster emergency team has been set up at the provincial level to anticipate haze events, which may have adverse health and economic impacts. Currently, only Mempawah and Kapuas Hulu regencies have established a haze disaster emergency team. (ebf)

Number of Forest Fire Hotspots Increases Ahead of Idul Fitri Holiday
Antara 4 Jul 16;

Jakarta. The Indonesian space agency has recorded an increase in the number of forest fire hotspots ahead of the Idul Fitri holidays.

Based on observations by the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) with the Modis satellite, 288 hotspots have been detected with a moderate (30 percent-79 percent) to high (80 percent or higher) confidence level on Sunday (03/07).

Of those, 245 with a 30-percent confidence level were found on Sumatra Island, spread out across the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Bengkulu, Jambi, Lampung and South Sumatra.

Members of the Integrated Forest Fire Taskforce in Riau have made embarked on efforts to put out the fires, while the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) allocated two helicopters and two aircraft specially adapted for firefighting.

Meanwhile, forest fires in Kuala Kampar, Riau, covering areas of up to nine hectares, are being put out by officials on foot.

Officials are also still trying to put out fires in the Tesso Nelo National Park in Riau, while in West Sumatra, forest fires have been burning for two days in locations that have been difficult to identify.

Forest fires covering areas of up to 25 hectares have been put out in various locations in Tampung and Pekanbaru in Riau since Saturday.

The locations of the forest fires, combined with dry conditions and poor accessibility to water, have made it difficult to put out.

With dry weather expected between July and September, officials predict that there will be a marked increase in the number of forest fire hotspots.

BNPB head Willem Rampangilei has ordered the provincial disaster mitigation agency to increase its efforts to extinguish forest fires, as the effects are detrimental, especially in the holiday period.

He also stated that prevention activities must be increased as it is more effective than putting out fires.

Read more!

Indonesia: Boat propellers cause of injury to two whale sharks stranded off Bali

The Jakarta Post 4 Jul 16;

Propellers from a ship used by tourists may have been the cause of severe wounds on two whale sharks recently washed ashore in Bali.

The Bali Office for Marine, Coastal & Resources Management (BPSPL) said Monday it has studied the wounds found on the two sharks now stranded on the shore of Nusa Penida island, a resort area in Bali popular for water sports.

The sharks may have collided with a tourist boat, Yudi Permana of BPSPL said, citing the result of discussions with local figures, representatives from the tourism sector including diving operators in Nusa Penida, as well as the Lembongan Marine Association, the local unit of the Water Conversation Area and the Coral Triangle Center.

The two sharks suffered wounds on their upper body, chest, rear area and tails, Yudi said. (rin)

Two whale sharks stranded on Nusa Penida coast
Antara 4 Jul 16;

Nusa Penida (ANTARA News) - Two whale sharks were found stranded on the shore of Nusa Penida Island, which is administratively a part of Bali, despite being completely separate from the island of God.

"The whale sharks were stranded due to severe injuries inflicted by the propeller blades of a boat that crossed their path," Yudi Permana from the Coast and Sea Resources Management Hall stated in Denpasar on Monday.

Based on initial analysis, the wounds on the bodies of the sharks are rather large, raising the suspicion of them being possibly hit by a propeller blade.

A verification team had visited the scene and had held a meeting with local public figures, authorities, and tourism stakeholders in Nusa Penida.

The meeting involved representatives from the Lembongan Marine Association, dive operators, the Technical Executive Unit of the Nusa Penida Water Reservoir, as well as the Coral Triangle Center.

The meeting was held to uncover the chronology of the incident and to establish preventive measures to avoid similar incidents from recurring in future.

Both whale sharks suffered wounds on their head, pectoral fin, and tail.

"The wounds indicate that they were struck by the propeller blades of a boat," remarked Yudi.

Hence, Yudi believes that special legal and regulatory measures should be implemented in Nusa Penida as the areas tourism sector had grown at a rapid pace.

Moreover, divers and dive operators are required to abide by the diving ethics, including those related to interaction with sea creatures.
(Uu.KR-ARC/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 4 Jul 16

Pesta Ubin 2016 Commonest Bird Quest
Singapore Bird Group

Sunbeam Snake (Xenopeltis unicolor) @ Punggol Road
Monday Morgue

Read more!

Some 300 fire-linked hot spots detected in Indonesia

Arlina Arshad Straits Times 4 Jul 16;

Almost 300 hot spots were detected over Sumatra and Kalimantan yesterday that were due to forest and land fires, and the number is expected to increase in the coming dry months.

The figures were disclosed as news emerged of an interview given by the Singapore envoy in Jakarta, who said the Republic would continue to pursue those responsible for haze-belching forest fires in South-east Asia last year.

"We are going after, to put it starkly, the bad guys that are causing this problem," Mr Anil Kumar Nayar told the Agence France-Presse news agency last week. He said Singapore was not crossing any line in pursuing these companies and was within its rights to enforce its law.

"We are not doing something that is extraordinary. It is not targeting any country or anybody's sovereignty," he added.

His comments came amid tensions between Indonesia and Singapore over the latter's decision to take action against a director of an Indonesian firm linked to last year's regional haze, considered to be one of the worst in recent history.

The crisis affected millions across South-east Asia and caused more than half a million Indonesians to suffer from severe respiratory illnesses. Errant pulp and paper firms have been blamed for the fires.

Satellites yesterday recorded 288 hot spots - 245 hot spots over Sumatra island and 43 over Kalimantan - Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.

The figure is small compared with about 3,000 at the height of last year's crisis, but he warned that the "potential for fires will increase" in the drier months of July to September. "Dry conditions, scarcity of water and difficulty in accessing the locations will make it hard to douse the fires," he said.

Two helicopters and two air-tractor waterbombers were deployed to spray water from the air in Riau province, which had 26 hot spots. Troops, police and personnel from other agencies are controlling the blazes on the ground, he said. "Most of the hot spots are a result of intentional burning," he said. He did not say who were behind the fires but advised the community not to clear land by setting fires.

Last Friday, major palm oil companies said they have ditched a landmark "zero deforestation" pact, saying the government's recent efforts to strengthen its certification standards were sufficient.

The 2014 Indonesia Palm Oil Pledge, or Ipop, was hailed as one that would boost efforts to fight rampant deforestation, annual forest fires and choking haze.

Read more!

Singapore to pursue firms over fires, despite Indonesian ire

Channel NewsAsia 3 Jul 16;

JAKARTA: Singapore is refusing to back down in its pursuit of those responsible for haze-belching forest fires in Southeast Asia last year, despite struggling to bring the perpetrators before the courts and drawing a sharp rebuke from neighbouring Indonesia.

Forest fires are part of an annual dry-season problem in Indonesia, started illegally to quickly and cheaply clear land for cultivation -- particularly for palm oil and pulpwood.

But last year's haze outbreak was among the worst in memory, shrouding Malaysia, Singapore, and parts of Thailand in acrid smoke and forcing school closures as pollution reached hazardous levels and thousands fell sick across the region.

Singapore has served notice to six Indonesian companies it believes may have cleared land by burning but could target others as investigations continue, according to Singapore's ambassador to Indonesia Anil Kumar Nayar.

"We are going after, to put it starkly, the bad guys that are causing this problem," he told AFP in an interview last week.

However, the city-state's efforts to punish Indonesian companies under its own anti-haze law have become a flashpoint with Jakarta.

Singapore argues that international rules allow states to take action -- even if harm is being caused by activities outside its jurisdiction -- but Jakarta has questioned how Singapore could pursue Indonesian citizens for prosecution, especially in the absence of a ratified extradition treaty between the neighbours.

The latest sabre-rattling came after Singapore issued a court warrant in May to detain a director of an Indonesian company linked to the haze while he was in the city-state.

Afterwards, Indonesia's Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said that she would be reviewing her ministry's cooperation with Singapore on environmental issues.

"Singapore cannot step further into Indonesia's legal domain," Bakar told reporters in June. Her spokesman declined to comment further on the matter when contacted.

Nayar reiterated that Singapore wasn't crossing any line pursuing these companies and was within its rights to enforce its law.

"We are not doing something that is extraordinary. It is not targeting any country, or anybody's sovereignty," he said.

The law threatens local and foreign firms with fines of up to $100,000 Singaporean dollars (US$74,000) for every day Singapore endures unhealthy haze pollution.

So far just two of the companies have responded to the court order, Nayar said, without naming specific firms.

SLOW PROGRESS

Singapore has repeatedly asked Indonesia for details about companies -- such as maps showing who owns what concessions -- but says Jakarta has not provided any information.

Singapore would "continue to press", Nayar said, but added the evidence needed to prosecute these companies could be found by other means.

"We could go that way as well, but at the end of the day this is part of a legal process. We want to be working with the Indonesian government," he said.

One of Indonesia's main arguments is that a regional approach to solving the haze crisis would be more effective than individual action.

"They (Singapore) know our view on this, on how we can best address this issue of haze through the ASEAN mechanism," ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told AFP.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has an agreement to create a haze-free region by 2020, though it took 14 years to be fully ratified.

Nayar says regional progress on curbing haze has been slow.

Fellow ASEAN member Malaysia, which also suffers during the haze outbreaks, has expressed interest in adopting its own law similar to Singapore's to pursue errant companies.

Jakarta has promised tougher action in the wake of last year's haze disaster, which turned skies yellow in Indonesia's part of Borneo island and dealt the economy a $16 billion blow.

The government announced in May it would no longer grant new land for palm oil plantations, and established a new agency to restore millions of hectares of carbon-rich peatlands susceptible to fires.

- AFP

Read more!

Malaysia: Tourists messing up Mossy Forest, says NGO

FERNANDO FONG Straits Times 4 Jul 16;

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: An environmental non-governmental organisation has hit out at the Pahang Forestry Department and tour operators for ruining Cameron Highlands’s Mossy Forest, which is famed for its Lord of the Rings-like scenery.

Regional Environmental Awareness of Cameron Highlands president Ramakrishnan Ramasamy claimed that the department and tour operators had become out of touch with the natural environment, which theypurportedly protected, as the forest was going bald.

He said the department and tour operators had become irrelevant as they failed to protect Mossy Forest, located in Gunung Brinchang.

He said the forest continued to degrade as a result of tourists stepping on the moss there.

Ramasamy said moss was particularly sensitive, and damage caused by footprints could take a very long time to “heal”.

“They (state Forestry Department and tour operators) are setting a bad example when it comes to protecting Cameron Highlands’s fragile nature “Instead of guiding tourists to walk on the boardwalk, they allow tourists to trample on the sensitive moss in Mossy Forest.

“Some tourists even climb trees in the forest, when they should stay on the boardwalk,” he told the New Straits Times.

He said tour operators made things worse by opening up new trails in Mossy Forest. Ramasamy urged people to respect nature, reminding them that walking off-trail and illegally intruding into forests were unacceptable.

The state Forestry Department and tour operators have also come under fire from the environmentalist for allowing tourists to litter in Mossy Forest.

“They should ensure that tourists take the litter with them when they leave.”

A recent visit by the NST confirmed Ramasamy’s claims.

A tour guide, who declined to be named, said Mossy Forest was a rare treasure and some people might not realise its true value.

“We try to be strict with our guests, but more public awareness is needed. This will take time.

“Perhaps, the state Forestry Department can impose an entry fee on guests.

“The money can be used to maintain Mossy Forest,” said the tour guide, who is from Tanah Rata.

The department could not be reached for comment at press time.

Last year, the department closed Mossy Forest for six months in what has been viewed as an unsuccessful attempt to allow the moss there to recover.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 3 Jul 16

Butterfly of the Month - July 2016
Butterflies of Singapore

Back at Pulau Tekukor
wonderful creation

Night Walk At MacRitchie Reservoir
Beetles@SG BLOG

Read more!

Growing allure of green jobs

Audrey Tan The Straits Times 2 Jul 16;

Ms Gracie Low, 22, has a lofty dream: She wants to help save the earth. The National University of Singapore undergraduate, who enters the workforce next year, is on the lookout for jobs that will let her help companies cut waste, whether through education, technology, research or policy.

"There are so many opportunities out there," she says.

Waste management may strike some as dirty work but more young people are realising the value of such green jobs. Attitudes towards these jobs have in recent years undergone a sea change, says Mr Wilson Ang, executive director of charity Global Compact Network Singapore which promotes corporate sustainability.

Singaporeans used to think these jobs were to be found only in government agencies like the National Environment Agency or water agency PUB, or involved signing up with a conservation group and being paid a pittance. Now, though, more are becoming aware that "green jobs" in the sustainability sector can earn them a fair wage and provide them with a chance to do meaningful work that helps protect the environment.

Mr Ang says a turning point was the collapse of the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, when nations failed to agree on terms to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In the lead-up to that summit, businesses and trade unions had come together to show that a low carbon future was viable, compatible with economic progress and would create jobs, says Mr Ang, who has been involved in the climate movement since 2005. "Because of the failure, the climate movement realised that action needed to start from the ground up - with or without governmental policies in place. This helped build awareness among people, especially the young, that every industry can be greened," he adds.

Last December's Paris Agreement to fight climate change has fanned those sparks of interest into flames. Mr Ken Hickson, chairman of Sustain Ability Showcase Asia consultancy, says: "With almost 200 countries agreeing to take active steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it gave companies the affirmation they needed that going green makes business sense." He believes Singapore is in a prime position to drive investment in this area, given its track record of economic transparency and good corporate governance.

Companies like wind energy firm The Blue Circle have set up their headquarters here to invest in clean energy projects in Vietnam and Thailand. Demand in this sector is set to grow with much of Asia now coming face to face with challenges that Singapore has long grappled with, including rapid urbanisation, waste management and congestion.

"These present numerous opportunities for Singapore-based companies to export smart and sustainable urban solutions as cities in Asia race to be more smart, sustainable and liveable," says Mr Goh Chee Kiong, the Economic Development Board's (EDB) executive director of cleantech and cities, infrastructure and industrial solutions.

EDB includes in the sustainability sector renewable energy, energy efficiency, water treatment, environmental engineering and green building technology. The sector is estimated to contribute $6.2 billion to Singapore's gross domestic product and provide about 60,000 jobs.

Mr Ang expects the number of jobs to grow as more people become aware of the need to protect the environment and use resources more efficiently. The youth wing of the National Trades Union Congress is now promoting green jobs. In April, Young NTUC organised a Green Jobs Symposium to raise awareness of the viability of careers in the green sector.

What do these winds of change mean for jobs in "un-green" industries, such as oil refining?

This is a period of transition, says Mr Ang, and that means "un-green" jobs will not be phased out immediately. Workers, he says, have a chance to upgrade their skills and technological know-how so they can meet the needs of the changing economy.

Audrey Tan

Read more!

Palm oil firms ditch 'no deforestation' pact in Indonesia

Reuters 2 Jul 16;

Major palm oil producers and traders, including Wilmar and Cargill ditched a "no deforestation" private agreement in Indonesia, saying the government's recent efforts to strengthen its certification standards were sufficient.

Indonesia, the world's biggest producer and exporter of palm oil, moved in April to prohibit the use of new land to boost production.

The country, home to the world's third-largest tropical forests, has been criticized by green activists and other Southeast Asian nations on forestry policy and for failing to stop the region's annual smoke "haze" problem from forest-burning.

The government's anti-monopoly agency said in April it would investigate suspected cartel practices among the signatories to the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge, a landmark 2014 pledge by several private companies to cut deforestation.

Indonesia saw the pact as in direct competition with the government's own standards and too difficult for smallholders to comply with. Smallholders account for about 40 percent of its palm output.

"IPOP signatories have decided that recent groundbreaking policy developments in Indonesia have fulfilled the purpose of IPOP to help accelerate and promote this transformation toward sustainability and therefore its presence can be dissolved," the companies said in a statement.

Other signatories include Golden Agri-Resources, Indonesia's Asian Agri, Kadin and Astra Agro Lestari, and Singapore-based Musim Mas.

(Reporting by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Read more!

3 Orangutans rescued from Indonesian forest fires released back into wild

Reuters 1 Jul 16;

Three orangutans rescued when forest fires destroyed their Indonesian rainforest habitats were returned to the wild on Borneo island last week.

Karmele Llano Sanche, International Animal Rescue program director in Indonesia, made a three-day journey by car, boat and through the forest to release the animals in Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park.

"You know, it's amazing to see a big orangutan like that moving across the forest, this is home, home, back home," Sanche said.

Sabtu, 25, was saved in March 2015 from a village near the IAR sanctuary in Ketapang, West Kalimantan province, one of the areas most affected by the fires last year.

Butan and Marsela, both around seven and eight years old, were also rescued by IAR when their home was destroyed by fires.

Deforestation and land clearing for pulp paper and palm oil plantations has depleted the habitat of Bornean and Sumatran orangutans. Fires are often set by companies to clear the land.

Orangutans, which means "person of the forest" in Malay, are endangered animals. There are only about 60,000 left in the wild, down from around 230,000 a century ago.

(Reporting by Reuters Television, Editing by Karishma Singh)


3 orangutans returned to natural habitat in W. Kalimantan
Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 3 Jul 16;

An orangutan rehabilitation center in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, has released three orangutans into their natural habitat at the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park, which is part of the Heart of Borneo, a conservation area located on the border of West and Central Kalimantan.

Conservation group Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) program director Karmele Llano Sanchez said she could not imagine that there would still be a bright future for orangutan populations in Indonesia if their natural habitat continued to disappear at a rapid pace.

“Orangutans are threatened with forest clearing, land burning, wildlife hunting and the illegal pet trade. Only if people are more concerned about orangutans, will they be safe, although it’s a bit too late now,” said Karmele.

The YIARI release orangutans into their natural habitats in stages. On June 28, Sabtu, an adult orangutan aged around 25 years, was released into its indigenous habitat. Sabtu was rescued from a plantation belonging to local people in Ketapang regency, in March. It was thought the orangutan fled to the human settlement following the burning in its habitat. On June 29, YIARI released two orangutans, namely Butan and Marsela, it had been rehabilitating since 2011 and 2012 respectively. The orangutans were rescued when they were around 2-3 years old. They were pushed out by the massive expansion of oil palm plantations in Ketapang.

“In their habitat, baby orangutans live with their mothers from when they are born until they are around 7-8 years old. If a baby orangutan is found alone, rest assured his or her mother has died,” YIARI program manager Gail Campbell-Smith said.

After the release, a YIARI monitoring team, supported by local people from villages near the national park, will still follow the orangutans using a radio-tracking facility for one or two years. They will record the orangutans’ activities and behavior, making sure that they can survive.

The YIARI is currently rehabilitating 100 orangutans and it is feared the number will continue to increase along with rapid habitat losses caused by ongoing forest clearing for plantation expansion. (ebf)

Read more!