Winged wonders of the forest on the wane

Seeds of dipterocarp trees not germinating, likely due to fragmented forests: NUS study
Carolyn Khew Straits Times 7 Apr 17;

Those old enough will remember the fruit of the kapur tree spinning as it falls gently to the ground.

The tree is from the dipterocarp family and four of its members are in danger of disappearing here. The Shorea macroptera and Dipterocarpus kunstleri are listed as internationally critically endangered, while Shorea pauciflora and Dipterocarpus sublamellatus are internationally endangered.

In the first conducted study of dipterocarp fruit production in Singapore, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) found that one-third of the seeds produced by four species of dipterocarp trees in Singapore's nature reserves did not germinate.

Wings on the fruit of the dipterocarp, or "two-winged fruit" in Greek, cause it to spin. This helps it to stay in the air longer so it can be carried farther away from its parent.

With a great diversity of leaf forms and some 600 species in the region, dipterocarps can grow up to 80m tall. But many of these forests have diminished over the years.

Dipterocarps, once abundant in Singapore, have also disappeared because of deforestation. Less than 2 per cent of Singapore's original forests remain today.

This has led to fragmented forests and the NUS research suggests that it could be because of this that many of the dipterocarp seeds are not actually viable.

The research was featured together with other dipterocarp studies last month in a special issue in science journal Plant Ecology And Diversity.

"They showed no signs of damage - not eaten by rodents or insects. But they were found not to germinate at all despite repeated visits over three to five months," said Dr Chong Kwek Yan, a senior tutor at NUS' Department of Biological Sciences.

"They may not have been able to initiate germination because of inbreeding."

Conducted from July to August in 2014 following a dry spell a few months before, the study aimed to find out what would happen to seeds following a mass masting event, or mass fruiting.

Researchers set up seed traps, collecting more than 3,000 seeds around the MacRitchie forest and observed if they grew and what kind of predators ate them.

In pre-1800 Singapore, the main primary forest cover, aside from mangrove and freshwater swamp forests, was the lowland dipterocarp forest, said Dr Lena Chan, group director of the National Biodiversity Centre at the National Parks Board (NParks).

However, the primary lowland dipterocarp forest diminished over the years due to timber extraction and clearing of forest for gambier and pepper plantations.

"As dipterocarp trees have a slow natural reproduction and regeneration rate, they require a long period of time before they can become established in any adjacent secondary forest," said Dr Chan.

"Almost all remaining naturally grown dipterocarp trees are restricted to patches of primary forests in the nature reserves."

According to research centre Biodiversity International's website, systematic logging of the largest and most fruitful trees reduces the rate of seed production and increases the risk of inbreeding and diversity loss.

According to NParks, dipterocarps, also known as forest giants, are iconic trees that constitute the backbone of Indo-Malayan rainforests. A long-term plan is needed to conserve Singapore's natural heritage, said Dr Chong. This would involve nurturing seedlings in nurseries, for instance, before replanting them in the forest.

He added: "These forest giants remind me of our place, geographically, in the natural world. If they go extinct in Singapore, then we would have lost an important link with the rest of South-east Asia."


NParks' move to help native dipterocarp trees bloom again
Carolyn Khew Straits Times 7 Apr 17;

The National Parks Board (NParks) has made dipterocarp trees one of its priorities in its species recovery programme, said Dr Lena Chan, group director of NParks' National Biodiversity Centre.

Today, there are more than 24,000 dipterocarp trees across over 170 species (out of 386 species native to the region) planted along Singapore's streetscapes, parks, the Singapore Botanic Gardens and nature reserves.

Of these, nearly 7,000 can be found in the primary forests of Bukit Timah and Central Catchment Nature Reserves, said Dr Chan.

Seeds of various species are collected and propagated in NParks' Native Plant Centre in the Pasir Panjang Nursery.

More than 500 dipterocarp seedlings across 20 species have been propagated at the nursery. Some of these are critically endangered locally, such as Hopea sangal, said Dr Chan.

As part of conservation and education efforts, NParks also established Singapore's first Dipterocarp Arboretum in Yishun Park in 2008, which showcases more than 800 trees across some 70 species.

"Over the years, various species of dipterocarp trees have been introduced to our streetscapes and parks, such as the Southern Ridges' Sembcorp Forest of Giants, Fort Canning Park, Punggol Waterway Park and Woodlands Waterfront Park," said Dr Chan.

"Dipterocarp saplings such as Dipterocarpus caudatus and Dipterocarpus sublamellatus have also been collected from the forest, grown and planted back in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve as part of reforestation efforts."

Next year, visitors can look forward to the Gallop Arboretum in the Learning Forest at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It will feature some 2,000 dipterocarp trees comprising about 200 species.

Carolyn Khew

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Enhanced support for farmers welcomed, but concerns linger

Wendy Wong Channel NewsAsia 9 Apr 17;

SINGAPORE: Fish farmer Eric Ng spent more than S$1 million to build an automatic water filtration and recycling system for his marine fish farm two years ago.

Since then, Apollo Aquaworld Group has seen an annual yield of 24 tonnes of fish per pond - six times more than a traditional farm.

It is one of the 200 farms in Singapore which will benefit from the newly enhanced Agriculture Productivity Fund (APF) meant to raise farming productivity.

Previously, the S$63 million APF co-funded investments in technology on a reimbursement basis. But the fund was restructured with effect from Apr 1 so that up to 30 per cent of the approved funding quantum can be disbursed up front to farmers.

"Previously we had to use our own money or cash flow first to pay off everything we built," said Mr Ng. "Then we could get the reimbursement back from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA)."

"But now with the 30 per cent up front, I think it can help a lot of farmers on their cash flow ... I think that will be a great help to the industry."

Under the fund's productivity enhancement grant, the farm received a S$700,000 reimbursement - a move which helped the farm offset the hefty costs associated with shifting to more productive methods of farming.

According to AVA, more than S$6 million has been awarded to 46 farms under the APF.

The enhanced fund was part of a slew of measures unveiled in Parliament last month to help guide the local farming industry raise its productivity and overcome industry challenges.

This included the formation of an industry consultation panel to discuss strategies to enhance resource efficiency and productivity of food farms and the assignment of account managers to the farms, to provide business advice and liaise between agencies on farming-related matters.

CONCERNS OVER LIM CHU KANG MOVE-OUT

While farmers Channel NewsAsia spoke to said they welcomed the enhancements, some of them said they had no plans yet to utilise the enhanced fund due to uncertainty surrounding the Lim Chu Kang farming area.

The Government announced last year that 62 farms in the area would have to move out by end-2019 to make way for the Defence Ministry's new training grounds.

Details of the location and new plot sizes have yet to be announced.

"At this stage, we are really heartened that the Government is looking into the agricultural industry and really want to transform it and propel us to another level," said Jurong Frog Farm director Chelsea Wan.

"But really on the ground, what the farms still need to know is still whether are we here to stay; will we be relevant three years from now and by at the end of 2019, where are we going," she said.

"So to take on the grant, to improve certain aspects of the business, we’re all in conundrum whether we should do that, because of the short lease term we have now," said Ms Wan.

Mr Ng agreed: "I think the main problem now is that we’re not able to utilise these funds currently to build an entire facility on this old plot because we’re moving out in 2019."

In response, an AVA spokesperson said that the Government was in the midst of "extensive land preparation works" for the upcoming sale of agriculture land, which is expected to be announced later this year.

"We will inform all interested parties once the land is ready for tender," she added.

Meanwhile, Ms Wan said she looked forward to when she can utilise the enhanced fund to help offset the costs of building a water treatment recycling system for her farm.

"The Government can take their own time to devise these transformation plans, but for farmers on the ground time is not on our side," she said.

"So the sooner we have got affirmation and more clarity on the industry I think the more and better the farmers will do."

Currently, around 1 per cent of Singapore's land is taken up by farmland, with food farms located in areas such as Lim Chu Kang, Sungei Tengah and Murai, according to AVA.

- CNA/mz

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Malaysia: Hardy Tioman reefs showing resilience

MENG YEW CHOONG The Star 10 Apr 17;

TIOMAN: Coral reefs at the Tioman island archipelago are showing incredible resilience in the face of warming seas and other threats, a survey by scuba divers found.

Tioman still displayed a total average of 58% live coral cover, with 50% of them hard corals and the rest, soft corals.

This was revealed in this month’s report from Biosphere Expeditions called “Paradise in Peril: Studying & Protecting Reefs within the Tioman Archipelago Marine Protected Area”.

The report, written by Alvin Chelliah of Reef Check Malaysia and Matthias Hammer, editor at Bio­sphere, was based on a survey by scuba divers in August last year.

Also called reef-building corals, hard corals produce a rock-like skele­ton made of the same material as chalk (calcium carbonate), while soft corals produce smaller amounts of calcium carbonate (hence, not as “hard”).

“This is higher than the national average of 46% recorded in 2015 and an improvement on the 52% recorded during the last Biosphere Expeditions survey in 2013.

“Furthermore, coral reefs around Tioman also appeared to be resi­lient to the 2015-16 global bleaching event, with only 4% of the population showing signs of bleaching”, the report said.

The surveys were part of a continuous study that began in 2012.

“Corals which did bleach also showed positive signs of recovery as only 13% of the surface area of colonies were still bleached by August last year and less than 1% of recently killed coral was recorded,” said the authors.

Coral bleaching refers to the loss of symbiotic algae which contri­butes nearly 90% of energy to sustain the coral. These algae live on the coral. The loss of such algae may be triggered by warming seas, among other factors.

Corals that no longer enjoy the support of symbiotic algae will slowly starve, lose their colour pigmentation and die.

While coral bleaching at Tioman does not look too severe, the bad news is that other forms of marine life typically collected for food and the aquarium trade “continue to be either absent, or were recorded in very low numbers throughout all survey sites”, said the report, which also recorded signs of substantial untreated wastewater discharged from land.

“Along with high nutrient content in the water, illegal harvesting of marine life along with increased development on land continue to be the main threats to reefs around Tioman,” said Alvin and Hammer, adding that the “no fishing” ruling there needs to be strictly enforced.

The Tioman archipelago was gazetted as a marine park in 1994. It comes under the Pahang Marine Parks Department.

The report called for better coastal development planning, re­­duc­tion of tourism impacts, as well as better waste and wastewater management systems to ensure the sustainability of the Tioman reefs, which sits within the Coral Triangle – a reef network spanning Indone­sia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

This triangle supports the world’s highest diversity of coral species, with over 600 types of reef-building corals, more than 3,000 species of fish, and 75% of all known coral species.

More information is available at reefcheck.org.my and biosphere-expeditions.org.

Organised jointly by Reef Check Malaysia and Biosphere Expedi­tions, the week-long survey in August last year was aimed at collecting data so that the authorities can make informed decisions on the management of the marine park located 40km off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

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Malaysia: Padi farmers still fearing the worst after bad season

ALLISON LAI The Star 10 Apr 17;

SABAK BERNAM: Four months after padi fields in Sabak Bernam were ravaged by a bacterial disease, farmers here remain unsure about the resilience of the seedlings for the new planting season.

The spectre of the bacterial leaf blight (BLB) disease, which destroyed more than half of the crops during the last padi season in Sekinchan and Sungai Besar, is still hanging over their heads.

Farmer Baharum Muhammad, 55, said he was unsure about the type of padi to grow after losing tens of thousands of ringgit planting the MR284 and CL2 seedlings in the last two seasons.

“It was disastrous both times. The disease attacked the seedlings of the varieties that I planted in most of my 10 lots of field (each lot is about 1.2ha).

“My padi yield went down by 50% even after I managed to stop the infection from spreading to other lots by using pesticide,” he said in an interview.

For now, he admitted to having no faith in the seedlings.

“I need time to make a good decision this time. I can go bankrupt if the same situation happens again,” he said.

Baharum, however, noted that many far­mers have started preparing for the current padi planting season, so he might consider MR297 – a relatively new variety by Mardi that his friends had tried and found it to be resistant against diseases.

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali visited the place on Friday and handed out RM8.5mil in aid to 8,935 farmers who suffered losses due to the disease last season.

It was reported in December last year that some 4,440ha of padi fields in Sabak Bernam were infected with BLB, which dried up the leaves and killed the plants.

The BLB infection, which recurred after the last one that happened during the second harvest season in 2013, was said to be the worst in 30 years in Sekinchan.

The crops were slashed by almost 50% to 70% following the infection, with more than 90% of the 1,296ha of padi fields affected.

Losses were estimated to be more than RM5mil as most of the affected farmers had planted the MR284 seedlings then.

They also cultivated other strains such as MR220, MR219 and MR263. But all of them, including MR284, were not resilient varieties especially against BLB.

Zulkifli Mohd Ramli, 45, who has been farming for 14 years on 10 leased lots in Parit 3, said that even seedlings that were certified by the Agricultural Department could still face similar problems.

“The authorities must ensure that their research and development of new seedlings are comprehensive with actual trials because large scale padi planting is exposed to many exterior threats that could affect the yield.

“More should be done to ensure the seedlings are not prone to diseases before they are made available to farmers,” he said.

Zulkifli, whose yield reduced by 60% and suffered losses of over RM40,000 in the last season, said that seedling suppliers were also responsible in checking the product’s shelf life and storage conditions.

“Old or expired seedlings are prone to have problems, while proper storage of seedlings ensures they are not spoiled easily,” he added.

Romli Parmin, 59, from Parit 1 Timur, shared the same view, saying that more checks and tests were needed because far­mers could not face losses anymore.

“I planted MR284 on half of my lots back then. It was terrible. I only managed to save 50% of the plants with an organic pesticide.

“Luckily I also have other varieties planted, such as MR220 and MR297,” he said, adding that he was going for MR297 in the current season.

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Rare one-horned rhino killed by poachers in Nepal

Channel NewsAsia 9 Apr 17;

KATHMANDU: Poachers have shot dead a one-horned rhinoceros at a national wildlife park in Nepal, officials said Sunday (Apr 9), spotlighting the threat faced by the rare animals.

Officials on Saturday found the male rhino with its horn gouged out in Chitwan National Park, the country's biggest rhino conservation area.

"We performed a post-mortem and found that it had been hit by a bullet on its head," the park's spokesman Nurendra Aryal told AFP.

Aryal said a team had been set up to investigate the incident and security had been tightened at the district borders.

In September last year a rhino died weeks after poachers shot it in the same park, the first of the rare animals to be killed in the country in over two years.

Thousands of one-horned rhinos once roamed the plains of Nepal, but their numbers have plunged over the past century due to poaching and human encroachment on their habitat.

The population decline was particularly dramatic during Nepal's 1996-2006 civil war, when soldiers on anti-poaching duties were redeployed to fight the Maoist guerrilla insurgency.

But the country has since made rapid progress in combating the poachers who kill the animals for their prized horns, drawing praise from conservation groups and activists.

The horns fetch huge prices in some Asian countries where they are used for medicines and jewellery.

Nepal is home to about 645 rhinos, out of which about 600 live in Chitwan National Park.

The park is in the process of relocating five rhinos to another conservation area in far-west Nepal to boost their population.

Shant Raj Jnawali, a rhino expert at WWF, said the latest death highlighted the vulnerability of the animals despite anti-poaching efforts from the community, park wardens and army.

"We hope that the investigation will help us devise new strategies to strengthen protection for these animals," Jnawali said.

Rhino poaching carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail and a 100,000-rupee (US$1,000) fine.

- AFP/mz

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Great Barrier Reef at 'terminal stage': scientists despair at latest coral bleaching data

‘Last year was bad enough, this is a disaster,’ says one expert as Australia Research Council finds fresh damage across 8,000km
Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed The Guardian 10 Apr 17;

Back-to-back severe bleaching events have affected two-thirds of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, new aerial surveys have found.

The findings have caused alarm among scientists, who say the proximity of the 2016 and 2017 bleaching events is unprecedented for the reef, and will give damaged coral little chance to recover.

Scientists with the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies last week completed aerial surveys of the world’s largest living structure, scoring bleaching at 800 individual coral reefs across 8,000km.

The results show the two consecutive mass bleaching events have affected a 1,500km stretch, leaving only the reef’s southern third unscathed.

Where last year’s bleaching was concentrated in the reef’s northern third, the 2017 event spread further south, and was most intense in the middle section of the Great Barrier Reef. This year’s mass bleaching, second in severity only to 2016, has occurred even in the absence of an El Niño event.

Mass bleaching – a phenomenon caused by global warming-induced rises to sea surface temperatures – has occurred on the reef four times in recorded history.

Prof Terry Hughes, who led the surveys, said the length of time coral needed to recover – about 10 years for fast-growing types – raised serious concerns about the increasing frequency of mass bleaching events.

“The significance of bleaching this year is that it’s back to back, so there’s been zero time for recovery,” Hughes told the Guardian. “It’s too early yet to tell what the full death toll will be from this year’s bleaching, but clearly it will extend 500km south of last year’s bleaching.”

Last year, in the worst-affected areas to the reef’s north, roughly two-thirds of shallow-water corals were lost.

Hughes has warned Australia now faces a closing window to save the reef by taking decisive action on climate change.

The 2017 bleaching is likely to be compounded by other stresses on the reef, including the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish and poor water quality. The category-four tropical cyclone Debbie came too late and too far south for its cooling effect to alleviate bleaching.

But Hughes said its slow movement across the reef was likely to have caused destruction to coral along a path up to 100km wide. “It added to the woes of the bleaching. It came too late to stop the bleaching, and it came to the wrong place,” he said.

The University of Technology Sydney’s lead reef researcher, marine biologist David Suggett, said that to properly recover, affected reefs needed to be connected to those left untouched by bleaching.

He said Hughes’ survey results showed such connectivity was in jeopardy. “It’s that connection ultimately that will drive the rate and extent of recovery,” Suggett said. “So if bleaching events are moving around the [Great Barrier Reef] system on an annual basis, it does really undermine any potential resilience through connectivity between neighbouring reefs.”

Some reef scientists are now becoming despondent. Water quality expert, Jon Brodie, told the Guardian the reef was now in a “terminal stage”. Brodie has devoted much of his life to improving water quality on the reef, one of a suite of measures used to stop bleaching.

He said measures to improve water quality, which were a central tenet of the Australian government’s rescue effort, were failing.

“We’ve given up. It’s been my life managing water quality, we’ve failed,” Brodie said. “Even though we’ve spent a lot of money, we’ve had no success.”

Brodie used strong language to describe the threats to the reef in 2017. He said the compounding effect of back-to-back bleaching, Cyclone Debbie, and run-off from nearby catchments should not be understated.

“Last year was bad enough, this year is a disaster year,” Brodie said. “The federal government is doing nothing really, and the current programs, the water quality management is having very limited success. It’s unsuccessful.”

Others remain optimistic, out of necessity. Jon Day was a director of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for 16 years until retiring in 2014.

Day, whose expertise lies in protected area planning and management, said the federal government’s approach to protecting the reef was sorely lacking. He said it was taking too relaxed an approach to fishing, run-off and pollution from farming, and the dumping of maintenance dredge spoil.

The government was far short of the $8.2bn investment needed to meet water quality targets, he said, and Australia was on track to fail its short-term 2018 water quality targets, let alone achieve more ambitious long-term goals.

“You’ve got to be optimistic, I think we have to be,” Day said. “But every moment we waste, and every dollar we waste, isn’t helping the issue. We’ve been denying it for so long, and now we’re starting to accept it. But we’re spending insufficient amounts addressing the problem.”

The Queensland tourism industry raised questions about the reliability of the survey, saying scientists had previously made exaggerated claims about mortality rates and bleaching.

“There is no doubt that we have had a significant bleaching event off Cairns this time around,” said Col McKenzie, of the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators.

“The far north probably did a little bit better, Port Douglas to Townsille has seen some significant bleaching,” he said. “Fortunately we haven’t seen much mortality at this time, and fortunately the temperatures have fallen.”

McKenzie said more money needed to be invested in water quality measures, and criticised what he saw as a piecemeal and uncoordinated approach to water quality projects up and down the coast.


Great Barrier Reef: Two-thirds damaged in 'unprecedented' bleaching
BBC News 10 Apr 17;

Unprecedented coral bleaching in consecutive years has damaged two-thirds of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, aerial surveys have shown.
The bleaching - or loss of algae - affects a 1,500km (932 miles) area of the reef, according to scientists.

The latest damage is concentrated in the middle section, whereas last year's bleaching hit mainly the north.

Experts fear the proximity of the two events will give damaged coral little chance to recover.

Prof Terry Hughes, from James Cook University, said governments must urgently address climate change.

"Since 1998, we have seen four of these events and the gap between them has varied substantially, but this is the shortest gap we have seen," Prof Hughes told the BBC.

"The sooner we take action on global greenhouse gas emissions and transition away from fossil fuels to renewables, the better."

Almost 800 coral reefs over an 8,000km area were assessed in the surveys by the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

The findings showed only the southern section was relatively unscathed.

Researcher Dr James Kerry said the damage was unprecedented.

"The central third this year, I would say, was as severe in terms of bleaching as what we saw as the northern third last year," he told the BBC.
"For those reefs that were hit two years in a row, it's effectively a double whammy. They have had no chance to recover from last year's events."

What causes coral bleaching?

Coral bleaching is caused by rising water temperatures resulting from two natural warm currents.

It is exacerbated by man-made climate change, as the oceans are absorbing about 93% of the increase in the Earth's heat.

Bleaching happens when corals under stress drive out the algae known as zooxanthellae that give them colour.

If normal conditions return, the corals can recover, but it can take decades, and if the stress continues the corals can die.

The latest damage happened without the assistance of El Niño, a weather pattern previously associated with bleaching events.

The reef - a vast collection of thousands of smaller coral reefs stretching from the northern tip of Queensland to the state's southern city of Bundaberg - was given World Heritage status in 1981.

The UN says it is the "most biodiverse" of all the World Heritage sites, and of "enormous scientific and intrinsic importance".

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Best of our wild blogs: 9 Apr 17

Night Walk at Pasir Ris Town Park (07 Apr 2017)
Beetles@SG BLOG

IPSG Talk @ Deyi Secondary School
Butterflies of Singapore

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Singapore's parks and what you can do in them

Lea Wee, The Straits Times AsiaOne 9 Apr 17;

You do not have to travel far to be near nature. There are green gems nestled right in your neighbourhood.

The National Parks Board (NParks) manages 350 parks across Singapore and many of them are located near residential estates to provide easy access to green spaces, says Ms Kartini Omar, the board's group director of parks development.

She says: "They provide people with green recreational spaces and enhance the quality of our living environment and are integral to our vision to transform Singapore into a city in a garden."

The Straits Times visits six parks located near residences and finds out what you can do in them.

Zhenghua Nature

Opened in 2002, this nature park in Bukit Panjang skirts around the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and serves as its green buffer.

In November 2015, a 3.8ha extension featuring a wide variety of plants expanded the park to 17.3ha.

New facilities added include a pavilion, a multi-purpose lawn, a children's playground, an exercise station, public toilets, shelters, as well as jogging and cycling tracks.

Retiree Grace Wong, 64, who lives in an HDB block nearby, has been going to the park about three times a week since the extension opened. She brisk walks and uses the exercise station.

"I wasn't motivated to exercise before," she says. "But such a beautiful park with exercise facilities so near my place gives me the incentive to do so."

Because of its link to the nature reserve and its diversity of plant life, the park attracts rich wildlife.

Thirty-seven bird species have been spotted there, including the olive-backed sunbird, flameback woodpecker, pink-necked green pigeon, greater racket-tailed drongo and long-tailed parakeet.

Long-tailed macaques, squirrels and monitor lizards are other common sights.

It is also a popular spot for families. Housewife Jade Ng, 44, often goes there with her three teenage children and husband.

They live in an HDB block across the road.

Her husband jogs, her children sometimes fly a kite, while she brisk walks or does yoga.

She says: "There's something for both the young and old here."

Where: Segar Road entrance (nearest LRT station is Segar or Fajar), Bangkit Road entrance (nearest LRT station is Bangkit), Chestnut Avenue entrance (bus numbers 700, 700A and 966)
Lighting hours: 7pm to 7am
Park Yishun Park

Shortly after the launch of Pokemon Go in Singapore, this 13.9ha park made the news as a Pokemon hotspot and hundreds of people gathered there nightly to play the augmented reality game.

The Pokemon fervour has since receded, but the park remains a favourite spot for residents nearby to exercise and relax.

It has two children's playgrounds, one which has a sand pit - an uncommon feature in new Singapore playgrounds.

It also features fitness corners, an amphitheatre and a multi-purpose court.

Built in the mid-1990s over an old rubber estate, the park is home to an array of tropical fruit trees such as durian, rambutan, jackfruit, star fruit, coconut and bread fruit.

There is also the Dipterocarp Arboretum, or a living gallery of dipterocarps, which are a family of giant trees unique to tropical lowland rainforests.

For Yishun residents such as housewife Foo Meng Yock, who is in her 40s, and her son Isaac, seven, the park is a transportation shortcut and a hang-out.

Besides cycling through Yishun Park with her son to take him to school every day, she also takes him there to rollerblade and play badminton.

Occasionally, she also takes her son swimming at the Safra clubhouse, which is located on the park's grounds.

She says: "I am glad that we can do so many different activities so close to home."

Where: A 15-minute walk from Yishun MRT station
Park lighting hours: 7pm to 7am
Tampines Eco Green

Opened in 2011, this ecopark is designed to look like a savannah, with various natural habitats such as marshlands, secondary forests and freshwater ponds.

At 36ha, it is also home to more than 75 species of birds, 20 species of dragonflies, 35 species of butterflies and 32 species of spiders.

It has many eco-friendly features including benches and signage made from recycled tree trunks.

Three bird hides, created with recycled twigs and branches, are used to shield birdwatchers so they do not disturb the birds.

Instead of a concrete footpath, the walking trails are covered with creeping grass. The park also features the first flush-free ecotoilet in public parks here. This converts human waste into compost using bacteria and wood shavings.

After checking out three to four parks in the east last year, Upper Changi resident Yong Caiwen, 34, a mother of two, chose Tampines Eco Green as the site for a child-led nature play group that she was facilitating, called Nature Play East Singapore.

"The park has hardly any signs of urbanisation and you find yourself engulfed by nature. It is also shady and there are bodies of water where children can observe pondlife."

She also appreciates that the park does not allow cyclists or pets because "this brings a very different feel to the environment".

She adds: "It's also accessible by public transport."

Where: Alight at Tampines MRT station and walk 20 minutes to the park via Sun Plaza Park
Lighting hours: No lighting after dark
Sembawang Park

Tucked away in the northern corner of Singapore facing the Johor Straits, this park features one of the few remaining natural beaches in Singapore.

The park, which is laid out on undulating terrain, also offers visitors a glimpse of Singapore's colonial past.

The Sembawang Naval Base was developed there by the British in the 1920s to 1930s.

Some remnants from that era remain.

For example, the walkways in the park are restored old pathways used during the British occupation.

The Sembawang jetty was built by the British and later completed by the Japanese.

It is now a favourite spot for anglers to hang out.

Overlooking the jetty is Beaulieu House, built around 1910 as a private seaside retreat and later occupied by the British during the naval base years.

It now houses a restaurant, which serves Chinese seafood, Western cuisine and local delights.

In 2011, the 15ha park underwent an upgrading.

New amenities include a promenade, a fitness area and barbecue pits.

The old playground was replaced by a new one built in the form of a battleship, to tie in with the park's past as a naval base.

Sembawang resident and heritage blogger Jerome Lim, 52, says the park has been a special place for him since his childhood days.

"The jetty in the old days was quite different, without railings. I spent many nights there as a child fishing for crabs - something I continued to do into my late teens."

The jetty remains his favourite spot and he still visits the park about once a week "for the calm that the park and the sea provides".

He says: "It is also a great place to catch the sunrise."

Where: At the end of Sembawang Road. It can be reached by bus number 882. The nearest MRT station is Sembawang
Park lighting hours: 7pm to 7am
Jurong Central Park

Jurong Central Park brings a new twist to the board game experience.

At its snakes and ladders playground, the pavement on the ground is marked with numbers and players move through the playground based on the number they "roll".

When players land on a ladder, they have to climb across an obstacle to a higher number. When they land on a "snake", they have to go down a slide to a lower number. The first player to reach the number 100 wins.

Meanwhile, the Ludo Garden features a life-sized Ludo board game and players act as the "pieces" that move around on the board.

Instructions on how to play both games can be found at the park.

Opened in 2007, Jurong Central Park was the first park here to have life-sized board game features.

Nature lovers can also explore and discover the various types of aquatic plants, wildlife species and dragonflies that thrive in the ponds.

The park is also popular among serious runners such as Mr Lim Yanglyn. The salesman in his 30s trains there twice a week with members of the Jurong Safra Running Club, which is located next to the park.

He says: "I like that there is enough space here to accommodate both serious runners and those who run for leisure."

Where: Jurong Central Park is situated across Boon Lay MRT station.
Park lighting hours: 7pm to 7am
Pasir Ris Town Park

A 3ha seawater fishing pond can be found at this park, which is full of mature shady trees.

There are also smaller ponds for catching crabs and prawns. By the ponds are two bistro-bars and a halal seafood restaurant, Warong Kim's Seafood, that are popular at night.

The ponds and the restaurants were opened by D'Best Fishing in August 2014.

Seamstress Romnah Omar, 53, has been living in the HDB block across the road with her family since 1992 and can see part of the park from her flat.

She says: "The park used to be more quiet in the past but has become more commercialised."

In the past, she used to go there with her children, now aged 23 and 27. Nowadays, she goes alone or with her friends to exercise.

She also enjoys having dinner with her friends at Warong Kim's Seafood after work.

"The food is good and reasonably priced. It's a nice alternative to the malls. It's more quiet and peaceful. You can see people fishing or prawning and children running on the grass."

Where: Opposite Pasir Ris MRT station
Lighting hours: 7pm to 7am

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Malaysia: Bee colony decline a concern, study needed -- Sabah Deputy CM

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Yahya Hussin has urged the Agriculture Department and relevant agencies to study the actual cause for the collapse of the bee colony, particularly the Apis Cerana species, which has caused a decline in the production of honey in the state.
Bernama New Straits Times 8 Apr 17;

KUDAT: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Yahya Hussin has urged the Agriculture Department and relevant agencies to study the actual cause for the collapse of the bee colony, particularly the Apis Cerana species, which has caused a decline in the production of honey in the state.

He said, there were many assumptions to the phenomenon, some said it was linked to climate change and the rapid clearing of land to make way for commercial farming.

"Throughout the 10th Malaysia Plan, the production of local honey has drastically dropped which is caused by bees leaving their hives or disappearing for no apparent reason. This instance is similar to the 'Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)' occurring in most western countries.

"Thus, I greatly hope that the Agriculture Department and relevant agencies would study on the issue to ensure the sustainability of the bee farming industry, while increasing the production of pure honey in the state," he said.

Yahya, who is also Sabah Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, said this in his speech text that was read by state Agriculture and Food Industry Assistant Minister Datuk Haji Musbah Jamli at the launching ceremony of the Borneo Honeybee Centre (BHBC), in Sikuati, near here today.

In the effort to further enhance the honey industry in the state, Yahya also urged relevant departments to enforce present laws to monitor unplanned agricultural activities that affect the environment, ensuring that the habitat for bee farming is protected.

"As forests are the natural habitat of bees, thus, we also need to increase public awareness on the importance of conserving the environment, especially in preserving tropical forests. If not, plants and forest trees will be destroyed, resulting in the bee's food source to decline and affecting the production of honey," he said.

Yahya said, although there were signs of the return of Apis Cerana bees, Koperasi Pembangunan Desa (KPD) should spearhead a new industry related to honey bees.

"Lately, the kelulut or trigona honey (stingless bee honey) has showed encouraging potential in the honey production industry, and many rural residents have also shown interest to take up bee farming.

"Thus, focus should be given on the development of the kelulut honey industry as it is easier to manage and the price is higher compared to other types of honey," he said. - BERNAMA

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Indonesia, China explore cooperation to construct four reservoirs

Antara 7 Apr 17;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and China are exploring the possibility of establishing cooperation to build four reservoirs worth Rp4.5 trillion, or about US$337.6 million.

"The Pelosika Reservoir in Southeast Sulawesi Province, Rokan Kiri (Lompatan Harimau) Reservoir in Riau Province, Jenelata Reservoir in South Sulawesi Province, and Riam Kiwa Reservoir in South Kalimantan Province have been selected," Indonesias Minister of Public Works and Housing Basuki Hadimuljono stated after receiving Chinas Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei, who was accompanied by Ambassador of China to Indonesia Xie Feng here, Thursday (Apr 6).

The Pelosika Reservoir is expected to provide water for irrigating 16,358 hectares area of land as well as up to 0.2 cubic meters per second of water. The reservoir in Southeast Sulawesi also has the potential to generate 21 megawatts (MW) of power.

Meanwhile, the Rokan Kiri Reservoir would be beneficial for irrigating an area of about four thousand hectares, providing water, controlling floods, and generating 74.4 MW of power.

The Jenelata Reservoir in South Sulawesi has a capacity of 223 million cubic meters and could provide electricity to Gowa and Makassar. The reservoir is expected to irrigate an area of 24,400 hectares of rice fields and reduce flooding in Gowa District.

The Riam Kiwa Reservoir, with a capacity of 127 million cubic meters, is expected to irrigate up to five thousand hectares of land, supply 0.1 cubic meters per second of water, and function as a power plant, with a capacity of 2.7 MW.

Meanwhile, Minister Lei said the relationship between Indonesia and China is running smoothly, and he will consider the offer to establish cooperation.

"These projects are good and will contribute significantly to water management in Indonesia. Of course, we will consider it seriously," Lei affirmed.

Director General of Water Resources at the Ministry Imam Santoso said the four reservoirs were selected to receive funding from China, as they have huge power generation potential.

"China wants to participate in the construction of the multipurpose reservoirs, with high capacity, in the outer Java islands. In addition, they want to study the geology and gain other knowledge outside Java," Santoso added.(*)

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Seagrasses in Australian world heritage site has not recovered years after heat wave

Mote Marine Laboratory Science Daily 5 Apr 17;

Massive seagrass beds in Western Australia's Shark Bay -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site -- haven't recovered much from the devastating heat wave of 2011, according to a new study demonstrating how certain vital ecosystems may change drastically in a warming climate.

The peer-reviewed study, published recently in Marine Ecology Progress Series, was led by Dr. Rob Nowicki, a Mote Marine Laboratory Postdoctoral Research Fellow who conducted the fieldwork while earning his doctorate from Florida International University (FIU). Dr. Michael Heithaus, Dean of FIU's College of Arts & Sciences, and colleagues from multiple institutions have studied Shark Bay's ecosystem for more than 20 years. The current study included partners from FIU, Deakin University in Australia and Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Shark Bay earned its World Heritage status, in part, because of its 1,853 square miles (4,800 square kilometers) of seagrass beds, which UNESCO's website calls the "richest in the world." This vast, subtropical ecosystem hosts thousands of large sharks, other fish, sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins and a critical population of dugongs, plant-eating mammals related to manatees.

"We were studying a relatively pristine ecosystem, but in summer 2011 we had the hottest water temperatures on record at the time, and we saw 70-90 percent losses of seagrasses at our study sites; no one expected it to be that bad," Nowicki said. "After our colleagues documented the losses, we wanted to know how much the ecosystem might recover over a few years. If you take a punch and get up quickly, you're ready for the next punch. But our study has suggested this system took a punch, and in the short term, it has not gotten back up."

The researchers surveyed 63 sites in Shark Bay four times between 2012 and 2014 to assess seagrass recovery and changes. Before the heat wave, many sites were dominated by the temperate seagrass known as "wireweed" (Amphibolis antarctica), whose dense and tall thickets provide ample food and shelter for numerous species. The heat wave drastically thinned many wireweed beds, and in many places their rhizomes (underground stems) blackened and died, leaving bare sand.

The new study showed that surviving A. antarctica beds appeared stable but didn't reclaim much turf. Instead, the tropical seagrass Halodule uninervis, a close relative of the shoalgrass native to Florida, began filling the gaps. H. uninvervis was spotted at 2 percent of sites in 2012, but had expanded to almost 30 percent of them by 2014.

"The seagrass hit hard was the most common species -- and was dense like a mini forest," said Heithaus, doctoral advisor to Nowicki and co-author of the study. "Losing that cover is really huge; it's like going from a bushland in Africa to a well-mowed lawn.

Losing that much structure has consequences. "After the die-off, we also saw water clarity go down a ton," Nowicki said. Fewer seagrasses were available to trap sediments, and decaying seagrass may have nourished a bloom of microscopic algae observed in 2014. Study authors say these consequences aren't surprising, given the valuable ecosystem services healthy seagrass beds provide.

Seagrass beds stabilize sediments, preventing erosion and clarifying water. More seagrass biomass can store more carbon dioxide, decreasing its availability to harm ecosystems through climate change and ocean acidification. Dense seagrass beds are also critical for economically important fisheries. Seagrass meadows are valued at $1.9 trillion worldwide just for their role in cycling nutrients, according to a 2009 study by others in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. However, major seagrass ecosystems around the world have declined by about 7 percent per year since 1990, reminiscent of declines in coral reefs and other critical ecosystems.

In Shark Bay, beds of slow-growing A. antarctica seagrass may struggle to recover further, the study suggests. Shark Bay, located where temperate and tropical ecosystems overlap, is among the warmest areas that A. antarctica can occupy, and extreme warm temperatures are predicted to become more common with climate change.

Because of its temperate-tropical overlap, Shark Bay has a diverse group of about 12 seagrass species -- roughly twice as many as the entire state of Florida. Its diversity survives, along with other key features that helped earn the site's World Heritage status.

It's critical to continue investigating how the recent loss of some seagrass, a basis of the marine food web, will affect plant-eating animals and their predators in Shark Bay.

Some take-home messages are clear: It's critical to monitor ecosystems well after a disturbance; they're not guaranteed to bounce back. "It shows the importance of these long-term, comprehensive, ecosystem-level studies," said Heithaus, referring to team efforts to study Shark Bay. "If we hadn't been doing this since 1997 we wouldn't have had the baseline data to know that the declines were a big deal."

Also, if relatively pristine seagrass beds of Shark Bay are vulnerable to extreme weather, then it's unclear how seagrass beds damaged by human activity will fare in the coming decades.

Nowicki says that minimizing local stressors, such as nutrient pollution from fertilizer runoff into bays and estuaries, may give seagrasses better odds amid climate change and other global stressors.

Said Nowicki: "If Shark Bay had poorer water quality, we might have lost a lot more."

Journal Reference:

RJ Nowicki, JA Thomson, DA Burkholder, JW Fourqurean, MR Heithaus. Predicting seagrass recovery times and their implications following an extreme climate event. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2017; 567: 79 DOI: 10.3354/meps12029

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Food recycling machines to be installed at 10 schools for 2-year pilot

Liyana Othman Channel NewsAsia 8 Apr 17;

SINGAPORE: Starting next week, students at Chongzheng Primary School will be turning food into fertiliser.

It is the first of 10 primary and secondary schools to have a food waste digester installed, as part of a two-year pilot by the National Environment Agency (NEA) to get the education sector to cut down on food waste.

The project, Love Your Food @ Schools, aims to cultivate the message of reducing food waste from young. Students, staff and canteen operators will have to sort their leftovers into dedicated bins.

The school generates about 17 kilogrammes of food waste every day and all this will be dumped into the digester, which will churn out 2 kilogrammes of compost in just 10 hours. This will be handed out to community groups, for instance, to use in their gardens.

Principal of Chongzheng Primary School, Audrey Wong, said: "We will have a learning journey for all our students to come down to see how food waste can be converted into a resource, and that will encourage them to reduce their food waste."

At the launch on Friday (Apr 7), about 500 students from 30 schools went on an interactive trail to learn more about food waste.

“To achieve a clean and green future, it’s important for everyone, including our youth, to come together to make environmentally friendly behaviour our way of life and champion environmental stewardship," said chief executive officer of NEA Ronnie Tay. "We hope to inspire our youth to make a conscious effort to reduce and recycle their waste.”

The other participating schools are Admiralty Primary School, Anchor Green Primary School, Broadrick Secondary School, Dunman High School, Greendale Primary School, Greenwood Primary School, Hillgrove Secondary School, Nan Hua High and Punggol Primary School.

The schools will be equipped with the food recycling machines by the end of May.

- CNA/xk

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