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Somewhere Up A Tree
Straits Times 29 Aug 16;
The year is not yet over but wild boar sightings reported in Punggol have already doubled. Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) figures show that from January to July, there were 24 sightings in Punggol, compared with 12 for the whole of last year. Sightings at Lorong Halus in Pasir Ris have also trebled to 12. Here is a closer look at the animal.
SIAU MING EN Today Online 1 Sep 16;
SINGAPORE — A pregnant woman living in the Aljunied Crescent-Sims Drive area has been infected with Zika, the first such case here, as the outbreak surges into new areas — namely Bedok North Avenue 3, Joo Seng and Punggol Way.
As of noon on Wednesday (Aug 31), there were 24 new locally transmitted cases of Zika, while the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) “look-back” tracing — cases that were previously reported to have shown symptoms but were not tested for Zika — has turned up nine more cases.
In all, there are 115 locally transmitted cases to date.
Of the 24 new cases, 22 are from the Aljunied Crescent-Sims Drive and Kallang Way-Paya Lebar areas. One patient lives on Joo Seng Road, and one lives on Punggol Way, and neither have known links to the initial affected areas.
In the Bedok North Avenue 3 area are three cases, which were among cases that were confirmed on Tuesday, but their links to the Aljunied Crescent-Sims Drive cluster could not be ascertained then, said the MOH, which revealed these details during a press conference late Wednesday night.
One of them works in the Aljunied Crescent-Sims Drive area, while the other two have no known connection to the area. The ministry said they had symptoms within four days of each other, and therefore did not infect one another.
The pregnant woman, who was referred for testing by her general practitioner, lives with someone who also tested positive for Zika, although the ministry declined to elaborate on their relationship.
She has been sent for a review to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and her baby’s development will be monitored by her doctor, said the ministry, adding she was “generally well”.
Zika infections during pregnancy have been linked to microcephaly, where a baby is born with an abnormally small brain and skull. Amniotic fluid testing can done to screen for Zika, but the MOH has previously noted that a positive test does not mean a baby will be born with defects.
A recent New England Journal of Medicine study found that the chances of an infected pregnant woman giving birth to a child with microcephaly was between 1 and 13 per cent.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) will be extending its intensified operations to stamp out mosquito breeding at Bedok North Avenue 3, which has over 6,000 premises. Apart from Housing Board flats, also in the area are Fengshan Primary School, Bethesda (Bedok Tampines) Church, and Fengshan Community Centre.
The agency has also activated partner agencies of the Inter-Agency Dengue Task Force — which comprises 27 government agencies and private organisations — to help with localised search-and-destroy efforts within the Zika clusters. For example, the town councils have stepped up on cleaning of potential breeding habitats, the Land Transport Authority has stepped up control operations in all work sites and flushed the drains in the Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway.
The existing Aljunied Crescent-Sims Drive cluster now covers 7,000 premises, and the NEA has inspected 5,500 of them, the authorities said. Forty-five breeding habits were destroyed. The NEA has also served notices on more than 500 inaccessible premises, and will enter them forcibly if the owners do not respond.
The news that Zika cases had reached their neighbourhood left residents living around Bedok North Avenue 3 worried. “Zika virus can be spread very fast,” said Mdm Selina Chong, a 37-year-old account executive, who said she would buy mosquito repellent as a precautionary measure.
Mr Muhd Amirul, 21, added: “The best is to just stay indoors.”
When TODAY went to Punggol on Wednesday, a group of NEA officers were seen, along with pest control companies like Rentokil Initial Singapore, Empire Cleaning and Pest Control. According to Madam Halimah Abdul, a mobile library assistant at Block 114 at Edgefield Plains, she saw thermal fogging being carried out around 9.30 am.
Meanwhile, Indonesia joined the list of countries that have issued alerts against travel to Singapore, which include Australia and South Korea. Its Health Ministry has also assigned 193 officials to stand guard at eight Riau Islands sea ports that serve routes to Singapore, including those on Batam, Bintan and Karimun, reported the Jakarta Post.
All passengers entering through the eight ports who have come from Singapore must also pass through a thermal scan to check their body temperature. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AMANDA LEE AND ILIYAS JUANDA
Zika outbreak: 33 more confirmed cases, new potential cluster at Bedok North Ave 3
Today Online 31 Aug 16;
SINGAPORE — A total of 33 more locally transmitted Zika cases were confirmed on Wednesday (Aug 31), bringing the total number of cases to 115. The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced the latest figures as it also identified a potential cluster of Zika virus infection at the Bedok North Avenue 3 area.
Of the 33 cases, 24 are new cases. Among them, 22 are from the Aljunied Crescent/ Sims Drive/ Kallang Way/ Paya Lebar cluster, said the MOH. Two cases had no known links to the affected area: One case lives at Joo Seng Road, and the other at Punggol Way.
The remaining nine cases were detected as a result of the MOH’s look-back testing of previous cases. Look back cases are those that were not referred by General Practitioners but were previously reported to have shown symptoms and were not tested for Zika.
The potential cluster at Bedok North Avenue 3 area involves three previously reported Zika cases. One of the cases works at the Aljunied Crescent/ Sims Drive area while the other two cases had no known links.
Vector control still mainstay in reducing spread of Zika: Dr Lam Pin Min
Channel NewsAsia 1 Sep 16;
SINGAPORE: Members of the community should play their part in keeping homes and premises clean to prevent mosquito breeding, as vector control "remains the mainstay" in reducing the spread of the Zika virus, said Minister of State for Health Lam Pin Min late Wednesday (Aug 31).
Commenting on the announcement that for the first time, a pregnant woman is among the latest Zika cases reported in Singapore, Dr Lam noted on Facebook that a positive Zika test does not give definite information on whether the foetus is infected or not.
The Ministry of Health has said there is evidence that Zika can cause microcephaly, a condition where a baby is born with a much smaller head than usual.
However Dr Lam said not every infected foetus will show neurological abnormalities.
"The risk of fetal abnormality will depend on which stage of the pregnancy the mother is in, with the highest risk likely in the first trimester," he wrote. "It is therefore imperative for the infected mother to be followed up regularly by the obstetrician, with serial ultrasound scans to monitor the growth and wellbeing of the foetus."
He added that pregnant women must take strict precautions to prevent mosquito bites and seek medical attention early if they have symptoms suggestive of Zika infection. The Ministry of Health has said testing for Zika is free at public healthcare institutions for pregnant women who shows symptoms of Zika such as fever, joint pain and rashes.
- CNA/ly
Q&A: Zika and dengue a potential double whammy?
TOH EE MING Today Online 1 Sep 16;
SINGAPORE — With the traditional dengue peak season looming ahead, Singapore could see a potential double whammy hit its shores. The onset of locally-transmitted Zika cases comes as the National Environment Agency (NEA) noted in its latest weekly dengue advisory that there has been a “steady increase” in the Aedes mosquito population since April. Earlier in February, it was reported that the number of dengue cases this year may exceed 30,000 — higher than the 2013 record when 22,170 cases were reported. This is due to factors like warmer temperatures, increased mosquito population and changes in the circulating virus.
TODAY spoke to several infectious disease experts to find out the implications for Singapore in having to grapple with two mosquito-borne viruses simultaneously.
Q: Is it possible for the same mosquito to carry both dengue and Zika viruses? What about someone being infected with both viruses at the same time?
Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, programme leader of the antimicrobial resistance programme at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health: The major urban mosquito in Singapore, Aedes aegypti, is able to transmit both Zika and dengue viruses. However, I am not aware of any research that has attempted to infect a single mosquito with both viruses concurrently. In theory, it should be possible. There is a report documenting concurrent infection with dengue and Zika in two patients from New Caledonia. Both survived and the concurrent infection did not appear to result in a worse illness. There is also a report this year of a rare triple infection with dengue, Zika and chikungunya in a pregnant woman from Colombia. She also apparently did well, as did the unborn baby.
Prof Ooi Eng Eong, deputy director of Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme, Duke-NUS Medical School: The chance of getting two viruses are extremely small, so it’s more of a hypothetical question… Once the mosquito is infected, it also reacts to the infection, and that would inhibit a second infection… So even if mosquito infected with dengue and bites someone with Zika, the chance of it acquiring the Zika virus is very small. And immediately after a person recovers from a viral infection, for a limited period we are quite resistant to infections from other viruses because (the) immune system is already up and that’s what’s going to kill the viruses. So when new virus come in, it doesn’t survive. So to get two infections at the same time — it’s very uncommon. So each has their own concerns, I don’t think (you) can add the two together to become an even bigger problem.
Prof Ary Hoffmann, Entomologist at the Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Australia: This might be possible but it is expected to be extremely rare. A female would need to feed on a person with both viruses. Or take blood meals from one person with Zika and another with dengue (and then transmit this to a third person). But very, very few female mosquitoes would live long enough to do this
Dr Low Chian Yong, infectious disease expert in private practice: If you ask if it’s possible to happen concurrently, the answer is yes. But whether we have seen it, the answer is no. We’ve had chikungunya and dengue for quite a while, but I have not seen a co-current infection in a patient at the same time…. We’ve not have enough experience with patients with co-current illnesses to know the complications. But for adults, it does not cause bleeding like dengue, or severe myalgia like chikungunya, it does not cause encephalitis… For (most) adults it’s largely benign. We don’t have enough experience with patients to know the complications (that) might arise.
Q: Would there be a scenario where a person who has already contracted dengue might suffer from an even worse case of Zika?
Assoc Prof Hsu: This has been difficult to prove or disprove in a real world setting. However, in a study published this year by investigators from Imperial College London, it was shown that under laboratory conditions, the dengue antibodies in blood collected from patients that had recovered from dengue cross-reacted to the Zika virus (both are related viruses belonging to the flavivirus family), but were unable to neutralise it. Instead, they resulted in the enhancement of Zika infection in cell lines. These results seem to suggest that prior infection with dengue may result in greater vulnerability to Zika infection.
Dr Lam Mun San, Infectious Disease Physician, Mount Elizabeth Hospital: Possible as well. No one knows what happens in concomitant simultaneous infection but there are concerns that circulating antibodies to dengue can potentiate Zika infections.
Q: What are some of the issues that you foresee cropping up if dengue and Zika both hit?
Assoc Prof Hsu: The two diseases mimic each other (although dengue generally results in a more severe illness) to a considerable extent and therefore one may be mistaken for another. But the primary issue is that of a strain on the hospitals and healthcare system if the number of cases of both diseases escalates rapidly. Thankfully, this does not appear to be the case – the number of weekly dengue cases, while high, is actually similar or lower compared to last year’s figures. The hospitals have also been able to discharge Zika-infected patients relatively quickly, as the duration of viremia (when the patients are able to transmit the virus to mosquitoes, and hence potentially to other persons) is short.
Dr Leong Hoe Nam, infectious disease specialist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital: Dengue and Zika come from the same family of viruses, and the test kit might have false positive results, as they have similarities, which means a person may have Zika, but is wrongly diagnosed as having dengue. Is there any danger with this? No, because the management is still the same, (just need) adequate rest and water, as the risk of death in Zika is extremely low.
Dr Low: However, in cases of sexual transmission, there could be a prolonged transmission period. In the literature, if you have a male patient infected with Zika, his semen has been reported to secrete Zika virus for up to 93 days. For women, the recommendation for them to stay abstinent is about eight weeks, so potentially sexual transmission might be a concern but we have to learn more about it.
Q: Why is there a situation of local transmissions going on in Singapore when elsewhere in the region it doesn’t seem as pervasive? What could be the reasons behind this occurrence?
Prof Hoffmann: Peak dengue season is associated with greater mosquito breeding activity, and the same species that transmit dengue also transmit Zika, leading to an increased risk if Zika is circulating in the human population. Might just be bad luck of course (e.g. chance arrival of a person carrying Zika into Singapore). And while Singapore has Aedes mosquitoes that can transmit the virus, mosquito populations in Singapore are likely to be lower than in many other areas in the region, so again this is unlikely to be a factor.
Dr Lam: We are in the midst of a dengue outbreak and we have the vector mosquitoes that can transmit Zika. There is also active surveillance and active testing which may account for the ‘high’ pickup rate.
Dr Leong: I think Singapore got hit because it’s a major port of call for many airline companies, and we have a ready pool of Aedes mosquitoes ready to transmit… I believe that Zika would probably exist in other neighbouring countries now. The reason is because they may not have detected it yet.
Dr Vernon Lee, Adjunct Assoc Prof at Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health: Our contact case tracing is robust, so we looked back and tried to actively look for cases. We have an efficient and rapid laboratory testing, with accurate results, which takes about four hours. Advisories are also sent to healthcare professionals in a timely manner, so doctors are then able to assist in this surveillance and detection of cases. If you add all these together, we are very much able to detect cases and report them.
Mr Laurent Renia, executive director of Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN): (Singapore cases) are not a lot if you compare it to Brazil … The key is the vector. All you need is one person that’s infected, and that’s enough. One is enough to start a mini-outbreak. There is nothing particular to Singapore in this matter, in fact there’s an even lower (Aedes mosquito) population compared to other places. As long as we have mosquitoes in Singapore, we will be prone to any mosquito-borne infection.
Ms Lisa Ng, Principal investigator at SIgN: At this point, it’s too early to comment. We really need more effort to understand it further, to do further research on serological tests (which look for antibodies in the blood).
KELLY NG Today Online 1 Sep 16;
SINGAPORE — Since news broke of the cluster of locally-transmitted Zika cases in the Aljunied-Sims Drive area on Monday (Aug 29), businesses in the area have taken a hit as potential customers, including those from nearby precincts, stay away from crowded spots.
Still, life has largely gone on as usual for the residents, who have found their neighbourhood come under the national spotlight. They are calm about the situation, although some are paying closer attention to ridding their living environment of potential mosquito breeding sites.
Ms Lian Sok Tin, who sells prawn noodles at the Sims Vista Market & Food Centre with her husband, said they have seen sales drop by about a third since Monday, when the Ministry of Health announced there were 41 confirmed locally-transmitted Zika cases there.
“Once it was out in the news, this market has been very quiet ... We have been earning about S$100 less each day this week,” said the 66-year-old, whose noodles are priced at S$3 to S$4 a bowl.
The couple will take the day off on Thursday, in view of the lacklustre sales. “No point coming in, we will just take the chance to rest,” said her husband.
A 62-year-old fruit stallholder at the market who only wanted to be known as Mr Tan said he intends to order less stock as sales are expected to dwindle further after the seventh lunar month festivities.
“Fruits are perishable, we will definitely decrease our orders since we are not able to sell them,” he said.
Over at Geylang East Centre Market & Food Corner, vendors told TODAY footfall has dropped by about a quarter in the last three days, with more patrons opting to pack their meals rather than dine in.
Mrs Chen, who sells dried foodstuff at the market, said the Zika outbreak was a last straw to the already dire sales at the market.
“Business here has already been going down over the years, for us, it has never been worse than it was in the last 30 years,” she said. Mrs Chen, who starts work before daybreak, says she typically wraps up at 11.30am but now has to stay open at least an hour longer to push for more sales.
Others in the services sector, like Jian Kang Hao foot reflexology centre at Block 113 Aljunied Avenue 2, said they still see regulars and business has remained stable.
Ms Weeko Lee, a property agent who lives in nearby Joo Chiat, said she is avoiding the area, especially when he is out with her children. She has a daughter aged 13 and son, 11, who was just discharged from being warded with dengue fever.
Construction worker Zhao Ah Ping, 45, who stays at a rented apartment in Geylang, also said he “will definitely try to avoid the area” after reading about the Zika outbreak in Singapore. “Of course I am worried of being infected,” he added.
Most local residents interviewed by TODAY said they are not alarmed about the situation.
For instance, Madam Anisha, who operates Ramadhan Minimart at Block 53 Sims Drive and lives at the same block, said her family has stocked up on mosquito repellant and insecticides, but life goes on.
“We read that the symptoms are quite mild, except for those who are pregnant, so we take care but also cannot panic unnecessarily,” she said.
Since confirmed cases were reported in new areas around Paya Lebar Way/Kallang Way on Tuesday, officers from the National Environment Agency were also seen making their rounds in the region and fumigating some places. These include Block 120 Paya Lebar Way, where one of the newly confirmed cases lives, and MacPherson Primary School.
On Wednesday afternoon, announcements were made through the school’s PA system advising students to make their way home before fogging of “the entire school compound” commenced.
Meanwhile, residents in the affected areas — including family members of patients diagnosed Zika positive — are also stepping up precautions to keep their households mosquito-free.
Mr Mohamed Yusoff, whose third daughter (out of four) was diagnosed with the infection on Monday, said his family is stepping up its daily cleaning routine by washing utensils more thoroughly, dousing themselves with mosquito repellant, and looking out for stagnant water in the common areas.
“We will also advise the neighbours to clean up when we see them,” said the 51-year-old who works at Certis Cisco.
Zika in Singapore a threat to Riau Islands tourism
Fadli The Jakarta Post 31 Aug 16;
Travel warnings issued by several countries for Singapore over the spread of the Zika virus could have a negative impact on tourism in Riau Islands as most foreign tourists enter the province through the city-state, officials said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the United States joined South Korea, Australia and Taiwan by issuing travel warnings for citizens visiting Singapore following the discovery of Zika infections, local media reported.
Most tourists visit Riau Island's famous destinations of Batam, Bintan and Karimun through Singapore, the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies’ Batam office head, Andika, said on Wednesday.
The impact of the travel warnings would be seen in the next 15 days, he said, adding that despite the warnings, people who had booked trips would be unlikely to cancel. However, those who were only thinking of going to Singapore might change their minds.
"We hope Singapore can soon handle Zika virus issues. The longer the problem, it will put us in a more difficult situation," Andika told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Riau Islands Tourism Agency head Guntur Sakti said around 99 percent of Riau Islands’ annual 2 million foreign visitors entered via Singapore. Tourists from South Korea and Taiwan are among the top foreign visitors to the province after those from Singapore, Malaysia and India.
With the spread of Zika in Singapore, Guntur feared the province's target of 2.6 million foreign tourists this year might not be reached. Aside from the virus, the crackdown on a terrorist cell in Batam in July could also contribute to lower visitors numbers, Guntur added. (rin)
Paramedics on alert at Batam ports over Zika
Fadli The Jakarta Post 31 Aug 16;
The Health Ministry has ordered 193 paramedics to be on alert at eight seaports in Batam, Bintan and Karimun in Riau Islands in anticipation of the Zika virus entering the country through visitors from Singapore.
Passengers traveling from Singapore are being subjected to thermal scans to measure their body temperatures. They are also being given forms for them to fill out explaining their physical condition.
The measures have been taken following the reports that 56 people had contracted the Zika virus in Singapore.
Riau Islands Health Agency head Tjejep Yudiana told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that since the discovery of the Zika infections in Singapore his team had coordinated with the seaport health offices in Batam, Bintan and Karimun.
Of the 193 paramedics on duty, he said, 95 were assigned to five international seaports in Batam, 57 were assigned to two seaports in Bintan and the remaining 41 were assigned to a port in Karimun.
“As a region bordering with Singapore we are prepared to anticipate the entrance of the Zika virus into Riau Islands through passengers coming from that country,” Tjejep said.
He said his office had also designated three hospitals in the region as reference hospitals for Zika cases should the virus be detected in passengers. The three hospitals are Embung Fatimah Batam hospital, the provincial administration-owned hospital in Tanjungpinang and the RSUD Karimun hospital.
“Since Monday the thermal scanners at all international seaports have been reactivated. This is an anticipatory measure,” Tjejep said.
Separately, head of the Batam city seaport health office, Anas Makruf, said two of their thermal scanning devices were damaged so manual scanning was being conducted.
The manual scanning, he said, involved scanning passengers’ faces to measure their body temperatures.
Anas also said all passengers arriving in Batam were required to fill out forms on their medical histories to monitor the health condition of the respective passengers through recording high temperatures, sore eyes, rashes or headaches.
“If, based on the record cards, they have two out of the four indicators, then we will examine them further,” Anas said.
Anas said the source of the Zika virus found in Singapore was not yet known, but it may have spread after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil.
“It’s the authority of Singapore to investigate, but certainly Zika virus was first found in Brazil,” Anas said.
He added that the health office at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport had also conducted intensive health examinations of Indonesia’s Olympics team upon their arrival.
“The team so far has been declared clear based on the examinations by the health office at Soekarno-Hatta airport,” Anas said.
Six Johor entry points ramp up Zika screening
Today Online 31 Aug 16;
SINGAPORE — Six entry points into Johor are stepping up health screening after the detection of the Zika virus here.
The Johor Health and Environment committee has deployed extra teams from the state’s health and immigration departments to work around the clock at the six locations conducting checks, according to The Star on Wednesday (Aug 31).
The six entry points affected by the enhanced checks are Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex, Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ, Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Johor Port, Stulang Laut Ferry Terminal and Puteri Harbour Ferry Terminal.
Johor Health and Environment committee chairman Ayub Rahmat said on Tuesday that “visitors entering or exiting via any of the six entry points will have to pass a screening device to check their body temperature”.
Those registering a body temperature of above 37°C will have to undergo a health examination, he added.
Mr Ayub also advised motorists to spray the inside of their vehicles with insecticide as an extra preventative measure.
He said an estimated 50,000 vehicles enter and exit through the Sultan Iskandar CIQ Complex each day.
“While we do not want people to take the Zika issue lightly, we also do not want to cause panic,” he said
Channel NewsAsia 31 Aug 16;
SINGAPORE: Air quality in Singapore hovered in the Good to Moderate range on Wednesday (Aug 31), following thunderstorms over several areas in the afternoon.
Four hotspots were detected on Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday, and no haze was observed as there have been showers on parts of Sumatra during the day, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said.
NEA said in an advisory that for the next 24 hours, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) is forecast to be in the Moderate range, while the 1-hr PM2.5 concentration is expected to remain in Band I (Normal). Thundery showers are expected in the morning and winds are forecast to blow from the south.
However, prevailing winds are expected to gradually shift to blow from the southwest or west in the next few days. “Slightly hazy conditions can be expected over the weekend if fires emerge in Sumatra and the situation deteriorates over the next few days,” NEA said.
Indonesian authorities had warned on Tuesday that haze from forest fires in Riau could head towards Singapore and Malaysia in the next five days due to a change in wind direction, but on Wednesday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said all hotspots in Riau have been extinguished by firefighters.
- CNA/xk
The Star 1 Sep 16;
TANGKAK: Johor has allocated at least RM50mil for a water transfer project from Sungai Lengor to fix the water problems in Mersing.
Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said work would be carried out immediately to help rectify the situation that had been affecting more than 11,000 account holders in the district in the past few months.
“The project will see more than 30km of pipeline being installed from Sungai Lengor to the Tenglu water treatment plant.
“This is a short-term solution by the state government to address water woes in Mersing due to the inability of Congok dam to supply water,” he told reporters after attending the state-level Merdeka Day celebrations here yesterday.
He noted that the Federal Government had several long term strategies to resolve water problems in Johor.
“There has be cooperation between Johor and the Federal Government to rectify the matter as huge allocations are needed when it comes to water management,” he said.
The past three years had seen low rainfall due to the El Nino effect, causing the water level at Congok dam to decrease at a worrying rate.
The Government, through the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry, is conducting a feasibility study on the proposed dam along Sungai Mersing.
The Congok dam itself does not have a big storage capability as it could only store no more than a million cubic metres. Plans are being carried out to deepen it to double its storage capacity.
SAJ planing RM900mil Capex for 4th operating period
BERNAMA New Straits Times 31 Aug 16;
JOHOR BARU: Exclusive water provider in Johor, SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd, is planning to obtain an allocation of RM900 million in capital expenditure (Capex) from Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) for its fourth operating period (OP4) which would commence in January 2018.
Chief Executive Officer Abdul Wahab Abdul Hamid said the amount was about the same as the capex allocation approved for the current operating period (OP3) which started January 1, 2015 until December 2017.
Under the rule set by the National Water Service Commission (SPAN), all water operators have to submit their business plan a year in advance of its next operating period.
SAJ is the midst of preparing the plan now, he said.
The asset project would be implemented by PAAB, under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, and would be handed over to the water operator, on lease, when it is completed, he said.
"We will continue to look into the needs and improve the infrastructure when needed to ensure the water supply meets the demand of the population.
"Basically, the capex allocation will be spent for new treatment plants, new pipeline, replacement of old pipeline and meters," he told reporters on a media familiarisation trip to SAJ organised by Ranhill Holdings Bhd, on Tuesday.
Ranhill owns 80 per cent of SAJ Holdings.
He said the new treatment plants would usually use the biggest chunk of the capex while the pipeline expenditure would cost around RM60 million a year.
Abdul Wahab said as for OP3, which would end in 2017, SAJ had already implemented projects worth about RM200 million while the balance would be carried into the next operating period.
"To put new assets in place usually would take time as it has to go through various designing stage, as well as, challenges like land acquisition.
"However, this would not cause water supply disruption as SAJ still has spare capacity in average of 15 per cent, " he said.
In Johor, he said SAJ produced an average of 1,730 million litres per day of water (MLD) from its 44 water treatment plants throughout the state.
The plants have a current capacity of about 1,900 MLD.
Abdul Wahab said the development plan for water capacity in the state would be in line with the population growth which is about three per cent per annum.
The water, sourced from catchment areas, rivers and dams are processed and treated before it is distributed to 638 reservoirs.
It is then channeled to 1.10 million customers in Johor through pipelines spaning 22,000 kilometres in length.
SAJ was previously allocated RM580 million in the first operating period which started from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2012, another RM290 million in the second period (from July 1, 2012 to Dec 31, 2014) and RM900 million in the third period (Jan 1, 2015 to Dec 31, 2017). --BERNAMA
SAJ plans RM900mil capex
The Star 1 Sep 16;
JOHOR BARU: Exclusive water provider in Johor, SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd, is planning to obtain an allocation of RM900mil in capital expenditure (capex) from Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) for its fourth operating period (OP4) which would commence in January 2018.
Chief executive officer Abdul Wahab Abdul Hamid said the amount was about the same as the capex allocation approved for the current operating period (OP3) which started Jan 1, 2015 until December 2017.
Under the rule set by the National Water Service Commission (Span), all water operators have to submit their business plan a year in advance of its next operating period. SAJ is the midst of preparing the plan now, he said.
The asset project would be implemented by PAAB, under the purview of the Finance Ministry, and would be handed over to the water operator, on lease, when it is completed, he said.
“We will continue to look into the needs and improve the infrastructure when needed to ensure the water supply meets the demand of the population.
“Basically, the capex allocation will be spent for new treatment plants, new pipeline, replacement of old pipeline and meters,” Abdul Wahab told reporters on a media familiarisation trip to SAJ organised by Ranhill Holdings Bhd, on Tuesday.
Ranhill owns 80% of SAJ Holdings.
He said the new treatment plants would usually use the biggest chunk of the capex while the pipeline expenditure would cost around RM60mil a year.
Abdul Wahab said as for OP3, which would end in 2017, SAJ had already implemented projects worth about RM200mil while the balance would be carried into the next operating period.
“To put new assets in place usually would take time as it has to go through various designing stage, as well as, challenges like land acquisition.
“However, this would not cause water supply distruption as SAJ still has spare capacity in average of 15%, “ he said.
In Johor, he said SAJ produced an average of 1,730 million litres per day of water (MLD) from its 44 water treatment plants throughout the state.
The plants have a current capacity of about 1,900 MLD.
Abdul Wahab said the development plan for water capacity in the state would be in line with the population growth which is about three per cent per annum.
The water, sourced from catchment areas, rivers and dams are processed and treated before it is distributed to 638 reservoirs.
It is then channeled to 1.10 million customers in Johor through pipelines spaning 22,000km in length.
On the Mersing water supply issue, he said the problem was due to lack of water for processing following the drought season that lasted for three consecutive years which impacted the water level of nearby dams.
SAJ was previously allocated RM580mil in the first operating period which started from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2012, another RM290mil in the second period (from July 1, 2012 to Dec 31, 2014) and RM900mil in the third period (Jan 1, 2015 to Dec 31, 2017). – Bernama
BERNAMA New Straits Times 31 Aug 16;
KUALA LUMPUR: The air quality nationwide has improved with only eight places recording a moderate Air Pollutant Index (API) reading today compared to 16 places yesterday.
According to the Department of Environment website, as of 12 noon today, eight places recorded a moderate API reading with Pasir Gudang, Johor (58), Bakar Arang, Sungai Petani, Kedah and Kampung Air Putih, Taiping, Perak each recorded an API reading of 55.
Nilai, Negeri Sembilan and Seberang Jaya 2, Penang each recorded an API reading of 54 while Samarahan, Sarawak (52), Port Klang and Larkin Lama, Johor each 51.
This was in contrast with yesterday when 16 places recording a moderate API reading as of 11 pm with the highest API reading of 72 in Nilai.
An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy and 300 and above, hazardous.
Members of the public can refer to the portal apims.doe.gov.my to obtain the current API reading. --Bernama
Antara 31 Aug 16;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - As many as 29 hotspots were detected across Sumatra Island in the morning of Wednesday.
"Three hotspots were found in Bengkulu, one in Jambi, 21 in South Sumatra, four in Bangka Belitung, and nil in Riau," spokesman of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency Hary T Djatmiko said in in a statement, here on Wednesday.
Although Riau Province has no hotspot, the visibility in Pekanbaru is seven kilometers, in Rengat four kilometers, and in Dumai seven kilometers.
Pelalawan is foggy and the visibility is five kilometers.
Forest fires have hit several Indonesian provinces lately.
Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar claimed that the number of forest fire cases had dropped drastically by 75 percent until August this year, compared to last year.
The National Police have handled 498 cases of forest fire across Indonesia until August 2016, including to 85 cases in Riau, compared to last years 275 cases.
A total of 88 thousand hectares of forest, peatland, and land areas across Indonesia were gutted by fires, a drop from 190 thousand hectares in the same period last year.
In Riau, wildfires razed some 3,000 ha area.
All hotspots in Riau successfully extinguished: Agency
Chandni Vatvani, Channel NewsAsia 31 Aug 16;
JAKARTA: All hotspots in the fire-prone province of Riau had successfully been extinguished by firefighters, restoring air quality to a “good level", said Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Wednesday (Aug 31).
In a press statement, agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said satellite monitoring showed 156 hotspots spread across 21 provinces throughout Indonesia, none of which originated from Sumatra’s Riau province.
“Satellite observations and aerial patrols showed no burning. Thin smoke is rising from previously burned locations,” the statement said.
It added that “air quality measurements in Sumatra showed favourable results. The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in Pekanbaru, Kampar, Pelalawan, Siak, Dumai, Rokan Hilir, Bengkalis, Riau, Palembang, Aceh and Jambi were all below a reading of 50. That is good and healthy air.”
In contrast, 14 hotspots were monitored in West Java while in West Kalimantan, the hotspots increased to 48 from 43 previously, mostly because of land-clearing activities. Despite this, air quality remained in a good condition generally, he said.
In the statement, Dr Sutopo said that an integrated task force has continued their efforts in tackling the land and forest fires to douse the flames. The efforts by the government have yielded “encouraging results", and the number of hotspots has “significantly reduced".
Firefighters on the ground are spraying water over burnt peatland, while patrols have been intensified in residential areas, open ground, forests and plantations. In addition to these measures, five helicopters and two planes are conducting air patrols, water bombing and cloud-seeding activities.
According to the statement, as many as 576 suspects have been arrested for using fire in land-clearing activities. “The challenge on the field is that people still burn their farms to open up the land,” Dr Sutopo said in the statement. He added that fires were located away from sources of water, which was a limitation to the efforts.
- CNA/nc
Pulp firm Bumi Mekar Hijau found guilty of starting illegal fires
Francis Chan and Arlina Arshad, The Straits Times Jakarta Post 31 Aug 16;
The Palembang High Court in South Sumatra has overturned a lower court's decision to clear pulpwood firm Bumi Mekar Hijau (BMH) of illegally setting fires on its concession land in 2014.
According to a copy of the Aug. 12 ruling that was seen by The Straits Times, the firm was found to have "committed an unlawful act".
The High Court also ordered BMH, which supplies products to Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group, to pay Rp 78.5 billion (US$5 million) in damages.
The award is a small fraction of the Rp 7.8 trillion in damages sought by the Environment and Forestry Ministry when it first filed the civil suit against BMH last year.
Still, green groups such as the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) hailed the latest verdict as a "small win" for Indonesia's conservation efforts.
Walhi's South Sumatra chapter director Hadi Jatmiko said: "On the one hand, the court is on the side of the environment by saying BMH is guilty of having illegally burnt 20,000 ha of its own concession in 2014. But it is disappointing that the compensation is less than 1 percent of the total sum demanded."
Jasmin Ragil Utomo, who is from the Environment and Forestry Ministry, Tuesday acknowledged the court's decision.
"The most important thing is that the court has declared that the company has committed a violation," said Jasmin, who is the ministry's director for environmental dispute settlement.
BMH's lawyers declined to comment on the case, saying they have not received an official copy of the latest verdict.
This is not the first time BMH is in the news over allegations related to forest fires. Indonesia's Peatland Restoration Agency earlier this year said the firm has been ordered to restore 95,000 ha of damaged peatland in its concessions.
Satellite data from Global Forest Watch detected at least 22 fire alerts in their pulpwood concessions between Aug. 21 and Aug. 28.
Indonesia - through its Environment and Forestry Ministry - has been taking errant firms to task over illegal forest fires that have been the cause of transboundary haze pollution.
Haze from fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra returned in recent weeks, prompting fears of a repeat of last year's crisis, which sent air pollution levels to a record high and affected millions of people in the region.
Tuesday, heavy rainfall across Indonesia provided much-needed relief for people in Sumatra's Riau Islands province.
Several areas in Riau were hit by severe air pollution in recent days, prompting some schools to suspend classes since Monday.
Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Tuesday said a combination of rain and fire-fighting efforts, including cloud-seeding operations, helped improve air quality.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, who heads BNPB's data and information division, said the air pollution standard index for most regions in Sumatra was generally under 50, or in the "good" range.
In Riau's Rokan Hilir regency - one of the worst-hit areas in recent days and where fire-fighting efforts were focused Tuesday - the air quality was "moderate".
"Fire-fighting operations in the six provinces of Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan will continue," said Sutopo.
A total of five BNPB helicopters as well as three fixed-wing aircraft have been deployed to douse fires in Riau, he added.
Indonesia claims it has extinguished all Riau hotspots
Today Online 1 Sep 16;
JAKARTA — All hotspots in the fire-prone province of Riau have been extinguished by firefighters and air quality has been restored to a “good level”, claimed Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Wednesday (Aug 31).
In a press statement, agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said satellite monitoring showed 156 hotspots are now spread across 21 provinces throughout Indonesia but none can be seen in Sumatra’s Riau province.
“Satellite observations and aerial patrols showed no burning. Thin smoke is rising from previously burned locations,” the statement said.
“Air quality measurements in Sumatra showed favourable results. The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in Pekanbaru, Kampar, Pelalawan, Siak, Dumai, Rokan Hilir, Bengkalis, Riau, Palembang, Aceh and Jambi were all below a reading of 50. That is good and healthy air.”
In contrast, 14 hotspots were seen in West Java while in West Kalimantan, the hotspots increased to 48 from 43 previously, mostly because of land-clearing activities. Despite this, air quality remained in a good condition generally, Dr Nugroho said.
In the statement, Dr Nugroho said that an integrated task force has continued to tackle land and forest fires to douse the flames. The efforts by the government have yielded “encouraging results”, and the number of hotspots has “significantly reduced”.
Firefighters on the ground are said to be spraying water over burnt peatland, while patrols have been intensified in residential areas, open ground, forests and plantations. In addition to these measures, five helicopters and two planes are conducting air patrols, water bombing and cloud-seeding activities.
According to the statement, as many as 576 suspects have been arrested for using fire in land-clearing activities. “The challenge on the field is that people still burn their farms to open up the land,” Dr Nugroho said in the statement. He added that fires were located away from sources of water, which has hindered fire fighting efforts.
Mr Andersen Panjaitan, a forecaster from Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency told TODAY earlier in the week that latest satellite imagery shows the situation in Sumatra has improved in recent days due to more rainfall.
Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Thailand suffered the worst haze outbreak in years from September to November last year. The crisis affected tens of millions of people, forcing the closure of schools and causing thousands to fall sick across the region.
Singapore’s air quality hit the “unhealthy” range on the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) last Friday, as smoke was blown in from central Sumatra by prevailing westerly winds.
An advisory issued by the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Wednesday evening said that four hotspots were detected in Sumatra. Overall, the PSI for the next 24 hours is forecast to be in the moderate range, said the advisory.
“In the next few days, the prevailing winds are expected to gradually shift to blow from the southwest or west,” said the NEA.
“Slightly hazy conditions can be expected over the weekend if fires emerge in Sumatra and the situation deteriorates over the next few days,” the advisory said, adding that the NEA is monitoring the situation closely and will provide updates when necessary.
Singapore’s Parliament passed a Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in 2014, aimed at deterring and prosecuting entities that are responsible for transboundary haze pollution in the city state, whether Singaporean or foreign.
Earlier this week, Indonesia’s police chief General Tito Karnavian described a Singapore law passed to address the burning of peatlands and forests that could potentially prosecute Indonesian citizens as a “serious problem for the people of Riau and also the reputation of the Indonesians”. The general however, did not specify what law he was referring to. AGENCIES
Ratri M. Siniwi Jakarta Globe 31 Aug 16;
Jakarta. Sumatra’s watersheds — ridges of land that separate waters flowing to different rivers and keep those waters pristine — have lost the largest amount of forest cover in the world over the course of 15 years, drastically reducing the quality of its water supply, World Research Institute's Global Forest Watch Water revealed on Tuesday (30/08).
More than 22 percent of Sumatra's forest cover, or 8 million hectares — an area almost as large as the entire province of North Sumatra — was destroyed from 2000 to 2014.
"Research shows that agricultural expansion, logging and infrastructure extension as a result of expanding global markets for pulp, timber and oil palm are among the major causes of this massive loss in forest cover," Yiyuan Qin, a research analyst for the WRI’s Natural Infrastructure for Water project, wrote.
According to Qin, the massive loss of forest cover has made the land more vulnerable to both flooding and drought, and contaminated its water supply, as the land lost its natural ability to regulate the water flow and filter it.
Sumatra has suffered from more floods, landslides, forest and peat fires and water pollution thanks to uncontrollable forest clearing activities.
What happens in Sumatra reflects what has been happening around the globe. Forest degradation has threatened water security everywhere as natural infrastructures — such as upstream forests and wetlands — are stripped and the soil can no longer filter water naturally.
"The world’s watersheds lost 6 percent of their tree cover on average from 2000-2014, putting citizens at risk of losing their water supplies,” Qin said, adding that watersheds face the most danger from forest cover loss, fires and erosion.
Establishing conservation zones, engaging in agroforestry and other sustainable forestry practices are some approaches Qin and her team suggested to mitigate watershed damage.
In the watershed of Krishna, India, only 3 percent of its trees remain, leaving the area more prone to frequent droughts and floods, with high levels of water pollution — thanks to urbanization and cropland expansion.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, erosion caused by expansive agriculture is the main threat for the Southern Leyte watershed, making the area more susceptible to landslides.
In Angola, not only are fires there killing off trees, they have also contaminated the water supply and interrupted its flow to many communities.
To improve water security at risk from forest cover loss, fires and unsustainable land use, WRI launched the Global Forest Watch Water to educate the public about the importance of protecting water supplies.
The platform also provides data sets, statistics and risk scores of 230 watersheds around the world.
Dong Hua, Tao Jun Xinhua 31 Aug 16;
HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Many farmers in Ca Mau, Vietnam's southernmost province which may see 30 percent of its land submerged by sea water in the future, have intentionally broken four seawater encroachment-preventing dykes, killing rice paddy fields.
In Ca Mau and some other rice-producing hubs in the Mekong delta provinces, many rice paddies have now been inundated with saltwater.
"We know that it is illegal to intentionally break the dykes, but we just want to breed prawns to escape poverty. We are as poor as a church mice if we only grow rice," Nguyen Thi Bi, 60, told Xinhua as she was standing on the edge of a rice field-turned-to-aquaculture pond in An Xuyen commune in Ca Mau city.
With over one hectare of rice paddies, Bi's family used to earn several hundred U.S. dollars from harvesting two crops a year. "But, when natural disasters strike, like this year's prolonged drought and saltwater encroachment, we are empty-handed," she said, while feeding prawns and crabs.
Now, Bi's family has 0.3 hectares of aquaculture ponds made from agricultural land, which brings them several thousands of U.S. dollars from four or five prawn and crab-raising crops a year.
In Khanh Hoi commune in the U Minh district of Ca Mau province, wearing an old green, broad-brimmed hat, Phan Ngoc Lan was removing weeds, collecting rubbish and cleansing an inlet sluice hidden in a long road-cum-dyke, which prevents seawater encroachment and keeps freshwater for rice cultivation.
"When building this road-cum-dyke, farmers like us placed this inlet sluice and pipes inside to bring saltwater to fields to breed prawns," the middle-aged man with weather-beaten skin said, smiling.
Bien Bach commune in the Thoi Binh district of Ca Mau province, meanwhile, has an area of 4,200 hectares, most of which are designed to only grow rice, but now, up to 3,500 hectares are being used by local farmers to both grow rice and raise prawns.
"We know that many farmers are breaking rules, but we have to ignore them, because the design is not suitable to climate change; rice output and prices are low, and many residents are poor," a communal official told Xinhua.
According to the Ca Mau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province's farmers have intentionally converted nearly 2,700 hectares of rice-growing area into aquaculture ponds in the last three years. Now, every year, they grow one rice crop and then breed one prawn crop.
Similar situations are occurring in other Mekong Delta provinces. The combined rice-growing and prawn-raising areas in Kien Giang province's coastal districts annually increased output by an average of over 7 percent in the 2010-2015 period. Bac Lieu province currently has nearly 30,000 hectares of combined rice-growing and prawn-raising areas that are rapidly expanding in the four districts of Hong Dan, Phuoc Long, Gia Rai and Vinh Loi, said the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
A local agriculture expert, Prof. Vo Tong Xuan, rector of South Can Tho University, said that Mekong delta provinces should not set aside areas that are too big for rice growing. According to him, allowing people to both grow rice and breed prawns, crabs and other kinds of seafood will ensure national food security and help farmers get rich.
"I visited many foreign countries, and people there said they don't have to grow rice, just import Vietnamese rice at low prices. They grow fruit trees or do other things to get rich," the professor noted.
Vietnam produced 45.2 million tons of rice from 7.8 million hectares of fields in 2015. Meanwhile, it exported 6.8 million tons of rice worth 2.9 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.7 percent in volume, but down 1.1 percent in value due to lower prices, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.
Now, Vietnam in general and the Mekong Delta, the country's biggest rice hub, are suffering from climate change. Vietnam is regarded as one of the countries most affected by climate change. Its Mekong Delta is one of the world's three most vulnerable deltas to rising sea levels, together with the Nile Delta in Egypt and the Ganges Delta in Bangladesh.
If the sea level rises by 1 meter, about 40 percent of the Mekong Delta area, 11 percent of the Red River Delta and 3 percent of coastal provinces will be inundated, and more than 20 percent of Ho Chi Minh City will be flooded. This will affect some 10 to 12 percent of Vietnam's population directly, according to Vietnam's National Strategy on Climate Change.
Without effective synchronous solutions, some 30 percent of Ca Mau province's land area will be submerged by sea water in the future, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said Monday.
To minimize climate change's effects, the province is focusing on raising public awareness about the issue, planting more coastal protection forests, assisting farmers in growing crops and breeding animals which easily adapt to climate change, and relocating residents in areas prone to floods and landslides. Each year, Ca Mau loses some 900 hectares of land, including over 120 hectares of coastal land, in landslides.
"Our houses don't fall into the sea or rivers due to landslides like our compatriots' elsewhere. Now, the sea water level is high, but not high enough to make us swim to survive. But, to run away from poverty, we have to swim upstream, meaning breaking rules to overcome our difficulties," Phan Ngoc Lan said while sighing.
RAZEL V. CUIZON Sun Star 30 Aug 16;
THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has advised the public to refrain from eating shellfish due to the red tide phenomenon in nearby provinces.
Although there is no red tide alert in the region, Alma Saavedra, information officer of BFAR-Central Visayas, said they’ve learned that some of the shellfish being sold in several markets in Cebu came from areas in Samar.
Some places in Samar are part of the areas tagged as red tide positive.
“There are instances that we were able to get samples of shellfish from different markets which tested positive for red tide contamination, especially tahong or mussels. This is the reason why we asked the public to be cautious and if possible, avoid eating shells,” Saavedra said.
Shellfish that tested positive were confiscated, Saavedra said.
Unregulated
Despite warnings, Saavedra said there are still shellfish from these red tide areas that are being sold in Cebu because of unregulated entry points.
“Duna man guy mga entry points nga di nato mabantayan. Naay mga mangabot nga wa tay hold, manud lang unya usahay ginagmay ra, di dayon mamatikdan (We cannot monitor all entry points),” she said.
Common
Red tide is an algal bloom that makes seafood toxic, which is a common and a naturally recurring phenomenon in coastal waters of Leyte and Samar provinces.
As of last Friday, the red tide phenomenon continued to affect nearby provinces in Central Visayas and has expanded from Samar seas to Leyte bays while contamination continues in seven other bays in Eastern Visayas region.
Saavedra assured, though, that sea products from Central Visayas are tested safe from red tide contamination.
The public is advised to be extra watchful because contaminated shellfish can’t be recognized by its appearance alone and should be tested in their laboratory for confirmation, Saavedra said.
Since red tide alert was released in Samar and Leyte, Saavedra said BFAR-Central Visayas has continued monitoring public markets in Cebu to make sure all sea products are safe for human consumption.
Ambitious Great Elephant Census finds nearly one-third of continent’s largest elephants were wiped out between 2007-14, largely due to poaching for ivory
Jessica Aldred The Guardian 31 Aug 16;
Poaching has driven a huge decline in Africa’s savannah elephants with almost a third (30%) wiped out between 2007 and 2014, the first ever continent-wide survey of the species has found.
Around 144,000 animals were lost over a seven-year period in 15 African countries, declining at a rate of 8% a year. The population across those countries today stands at 352,271 elephants.
The biggest drops in numbers were recorded in Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania, with surprisingly low numbers found in north-eastern DRC, northern Cameroon and south-west Zambia.
However South Africa, Uganda, parts of Malawi and Kenya, and the W-Arli-Pendjari - a conservation complex of protected areas spanning Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso that contains west Africa’s only large elephant population - were found to have stable or slightly increasing elephant populations.
New populations were found in Ethiopia and Kenya, and rediscovered in an area of Botswana where they had been thought to be locally extinct.
The ambitious three-year Great Elephant Census (GEC), funded by Microsoft billionaire philanthropist Paul Allen, used a fleet of small planes to find and count savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana africana).
“This was an extraordinary collaboration across borders, cultures and jurisdictions. We completed a successful survey of massive scale, and what we learned is deeply disturbing,” said Allen. “Armed with this knowledge of dramatically declining elephant populations, we share a collective responsibility to take action and we must all work to ensure the preservation of this iconic species.”
The census estimated there to be a total of 352,271 savannah elephants in Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, W-Arli-Pendjari (Niger, Burkina Faso and Benin), Zambia and Zimbabwe. South Sudan and Central African Republic will be surveyed by the end of 2016.
Africa’s elephants are in crisis, with around 20,000 killed in 2014 alone for their tusks, at a rate faster than they are being born. There were estimated to be more than 1 million during the early 20th century, but the population plummeted to an estimated 300,000–600,000 as many thousands were killed for their ivory between 1970 and 1990.
Populations recovered in some countries following a Cites trade ban in 1989, but since the early 2000s, the rise of the middle classes in the far east has fuelled a new demand for ivory products. The black market wholesale price for ivory soared in China from $120/kg in 2002 to $2,100/kg in 2014.
Habitat loss and fragmentation, human-elephant conflict, armed conflict and mining have also affected numbers.
Establishing a clear picture of the numbers and distribution of the great majority of Africa’s savannah elephants will provide a baseline that is critical to conservation efforts, said Mike Chase, GEC principal investigator and founder of Botswana-based charity Elephants Without Borders.
“Until we flew the aerial survey, no one had an solid evidence on the status of elephants, so how can you begin to conserve them when you don’t know how many there are or where they occur? We are armed with information now - we have solid reliable estimates as a baseline and benchmark to shock people out of apathy.
“The GEC now holds us accountable. Never before in the history of elephant conservation have we had such solid, precise data on their status, and the only measure of success now is increasing their numbers.”
Chase said the acceleration in decline due to poaching began after 2010 and showed “no signs of it letting up”. The biggest action that would tackle the crisis would be to end demand for ivory and close down the market, he said.
“People talk about poaching, but in the long-term it’s also about securing space for habitat. Elephants are under siege. In 15 of the GEC countries, the human population is going to double by 2050. Elephants will be compressed to eke out a living in small islands of protected areas. We need to give them the space and freedom of Africa.”
The unprecedented survey, carried out by Allen’s company Vulcan with £7m of funding, is the first continent-wide aerial survey of African elephants using standardised data collection and technical validation methods, involved more than 90 scientists, six NGOs and many volunteers and conservationists on the ground.
“This project required a Herculean effort on the part of many partners since its launch in December 2013, with 81 airplanes and 286 crew members flying roughly 463,000 kilometres to complete the survey,” said Vulcan wildlife conservation director James Deutsch.
Until now, surveys had been fragmented or isolated, and undertaken on a regional or country-by-country basis.
The census findings were unveiled on Wednesday at the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in Hawaii. More than 80% of the GEC data will be incorporated into the IUCN’s African Elephant Status report due in two weeks, which will be used to shape major policy decisions about the future of elephants.
It also comes less than a month before the 17th Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, which will debate three proposals on the international trade in ivory.
Heather Sohl, chief adviser on Wildlife at WWF-UK, said the report confirmed fears that elephant numbers were continuing to decline rapidly in many parts of Africa.
“The illegal ivory trade is an international problem and it urgently needs global implementation of the right solutions. This report is very timely as the ivory trade will be a hot topic of discussion at Cites next month and we need the international community to have a constructive debate on addressing issues that will help tackle poaching and illegal ivory trade, including stronger laws, measures to counter corruption, and more vigilance at key ports from which ivory continues to be smuggled out of Africa.
“Critically, we also need global efforts towards significantly reducing the demand that drives the illegal ivory trade. We call on the international community to use Cites to reach agreement on these issues so we can make progress before it is too late.”
Separately, a new report from the NGO Traffic, which monitors the illegal wildlife trade, found that although the antiques ivory market in the UK appears to have declined significantly, there are still thousands of ivory items on sale in London’s markets.
Study sounds alarm for Africa's slow-breeding forest elephants
AFP Yahoo News 31 Aug 16;
Paris (AFP) - Even without poachers, Central Africa's forest elephants would need almost a century to get their numbers back up to 2002 levels, said a study Wednesday that pried into the elusive creatures' slow-breeding ways.
The population had been decimated by illegal hunting, with an estimated 65 percent decline between 2002 and 2013, said researchers.
Roaming the tropical forests of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo, the tusker sub-species is thought to have numbered about one to two million at its peak, study co-author George Wittemyer of Colorado State University told AFP.
In 1993, the rough estimate was 500,000, and in 2013 some 100,000.
"The forest populations are reproducing now, though at a very slow rate," Wittemyer said by email.
"The problem is that poaching is removing individuals at a rate that either drives the population to decline or negates any increases due to births."
Forest elephants are smaller than savannah elephants -- the other, much better studied, African sub-species.
Their ears are more oval-shaped, while their tusks are straighter and point downward, according to environmental group WWF.
Targeted by poachers for their meat and ivory-bearing tusks, the forest elephant is categorised as "vulnerable", which means "facing a high risk of extinction in the wild," the WWF website says.
Wittemyer and a team analysed data obtained from decades-long, on-sight monitoring of the births and deaths of elephants at Dzanga Bai, a park in Central African Republic.
- 90 years to recover -
In what is claimed to be the first-ever study of forest elephant demography, they concluded the creature was a much slower breeder than its open-air cousin.
Female forest elephants only start reproducing after the age of 20, and give birth once every five to six years, the team observed.
Their cousins from the savannah, by comparison, typically start breeding at 12 and produce a calf every three to four years.
"Their reported low birth rates mean that it will take forest elephants at least 90 years to recover" from poaching losses, the researchers said in a statement.
The data suggested that what are considered sustainable levels of trade in forest elephant ivory, were calculated on the basis of overestimated population growth rates, they added.
This should be kept in mind when ivory trade limits are next debated, said the team -- crucially at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species which opens in Johannesburg on September 24.
Forest elephants are crucial for their environment, and many tree species rely on the giants to disperse their seeds. The trees, in turn, absorb climate-altering greenhouse gases.
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