29 April (Sat): FREE Ubin Mangrove tour with R.U.M.!
Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative
Flight of the Whimbrels @ Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve - 16Apr2017
sgbeachbum
Night Walk At Venus Drive (21 Apr 2017)
Beetles@SG BLOG
Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 22 Apr 17;
SINGAPORE: Singapore's sixth nature park, the 75-hectare Windsor Nature Park, was officially opened on Saturday (Apr 22).
Located at Upper Thomson Road, the park is linked to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Visitors can walk along the Hanguana Trail – lined with rare native plants – and also see a marsh habitat and several freshwater streams within the park.
At the park's visitor pavilion, the public can also join workshops to learn about Singapore's natural heritage and ongoing conservation efforts.
At the opening ceremony, Senior Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee also announced that another new park, the Rifle Range Nature Park, will open by 2020.
Mr Lee said: "Our network of nature parks is part of our commitment towards conserving our natural heritage in this city in a garden, in this biophyllic Singapore. But the nature parks themselves are just one part of the conservation story. What will ensure that our rich biodiversity endures is the attitude of our Singaporeans."
The upcoming Rifle Range Nature Park will cover 67 hectares and will be located at the southern end of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Plans for the park include a sky garden for visitors to experience nature via an elevated walkway, and hiking trails with varying levels of difficulty.
FATIMAH ZAINAL The Star 23 Apr 17;
KUALA LUMPUR: Growing up in Kapit, Sarawak, Jenny Kong knew just how special her birthplace is.
A three-hour boat ride from Sibu, the small town boasts of a beautiful natural environment.
But a sad practice, she said, is prevailing in Kapit.
There is still the killing and trading of sun bears, which are a protected species, the Kapit native said.
“Their parts such as the bile and nails are all cut up and sold. Have you seen such a thing with your own eyes?” Kong, 21, asked.
“From the time I was a little girl until today, I would see sun bears being sold openly in the markets of Kapit,” she said.
The population of sun bears had dropped by 30% in the last 30 years, she added.
Kong, who is a student at the Institute of Teacher Education Tuanku Bainun Campus, was among six conservationists who spoke on environmental sustainability at the Sembang@WWF programme held at Wisma Kebudayaan Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) here yesterday.
The event was held in conjunction with Earth Day 2017, which was celebrated annually yesterday.
Hundreds of youths got together to learn about the latest climate science and actions that they could take in their communities.
“This year, we dedicate Earth Day to the youths because you are the voice of tomorrow.
“The exposure needs to begin from now, so you will be able to make informed decisions and have the right mindset and right behaviour to build a more sustainable future,” said WWF-Malaysia executive director and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma.
SGM president Michael Kok said together with WWF-Malaysia they wanted to inspire more young people to put in greater effort to promote the agenda.
“A 15-year-old today will be an adult in 2030, the target year for the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he said.
The half-day event also marked WWF-Malaysia’s partnership with SGM to launch an animation series called When We’re Friends With Nature.
Antara 23 Apr 17;
Demak, C Java (ANTARA News) - Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated that mangrove planting, aimed at preventing soil erosion, can also serve as a means to develop ecotourism.
"We highly support the development of ecotourism, particularly the planting of mangrove seeds," she said after planting mangrove seeds in Morosari coast in Demak, Central Java, on Saturday.
Besides serving as a tourist site, mangrove forests can also be used to boost production to support the economy, she stated.
Moreover, President Joko Widodo himself has stated that Java has beautiful scenery and that mangrove was a good choice to develop ecotourism, she added.
Demak Deputy District Head Joko Sutanto meanwhile noted that the Demak district government was encouraging local people, particularly those who earn their living as farmers and fishermen, to switch to develop tourism sector.
Among the popular tourist sites in Demak are Morosari coast and Syeh Abdullah Mudzakir grave, he remarked.
"The roads leading to the tourist sites will be planned in such way that visitors can reach them easily," he pointed out.
The district government will also build kiosks to sell the products of micro, small, and medium industries, he revealed. (*)
Most Mangrove Forests in Indonesia in Poor Condition
Tempo 23 Apr 17;
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Environment and Forestry minister Siti Nurbaya said that the condition of most mangroves on the coastal areas in Indonesia is not so good.
"52 percent of mangroves are in bad condition, while only 48 percent of them are in good condition," Sity explained while attending mangrove seed plantin in Bedono village, Sayung district, Demak regency, Central Java on Saturday (22/4).
She revealed that the area of mangroves in Indonesia streches up to 3,49 million heactares spread over 257 regencies/cities. However, each year, hundreds of thousands of hectares of the mangroves are in serious decline.
The damage is caused by numerous factors, among others reclamation, pollution, bad cultivation, and climate change.
"In general, the condition of coastal areas is difficult to maintain, but the government gradually keep trying to improve it," Siti added.
In order to preserve coastal areas, Siti said, there is no other way but to share roles to manage natural landscape from the coast up to the mountain peaks.
ANTARA
Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 22 Apr 17;
Earth Day, which was celebrated globally on April 22, has become a crucial way for World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia to alert various parties about the erosion currently threatening beaches in West Kalimantan.
Data released by WWF Indonesia’s West Kalimantan program shows 193 kilometers of coastal areas in the northern part of the province have suffered damage from erosion and high tides since 2012.
“Mangrove restoration efforts need to be taken to tackle the situation. Apart from protecting the coastal areas, restoring mangroves will make positive impacts on society, ecologically, socially and economically,” WWF Indonesia-Kalimantan's program manager, Albert Tjiu, said in Pontianak on Friday.
Since 2009, WWF Indonesia has worked with its nine partner groups to periodically restore northern coastal areas, 55.25 hectares of land, with mangrove trees. With wider mangrove coverage, various plants and animals can be found in the areas.
“The mangrove areas have begun to become a prime tourism destination that supports the economy of people in their surrounding areas. This is like what has been conducted by Mempawah Mangrove Conservation in Mempawah regency and the conservation group, Surya Perdana Mandiri, in Singkawang City,” said Albert.
This year, he said, mangrove planting conducted by various stakeholders was focused on green-shield areas, such as Gosong Beach in Bengkayang regency and Setapuk Besar and Kuala districts in Singkawang City.
The Environmental Care Community (Kopling) Gosong Beach is holding a three-day camp-out and mangrove planting program from April 21 to 23. About 500 participants of the program will plant about 2,
Antara 21 Apr 17;
Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - Crowds gathered to witness the 15 endemic Rafflesia arnoldii flowers blooming, by opening their six petals completely, at the Bukit Barisan conservation forest in Bengkulu Province, Gilang Ibnu, an environmentalist said here on Thursday (April 20).
"People have packed the area and the nearby Taba Teret Village to see the rare event of the flowers blooming process," Ibnu stated.
He further noted that people who wish to see the flowers blooming will have to drive for around one hour from Bengkulu city to the Taba Teret Village near the forest.
Jeni Rama, one of the visitors, remarked that the flowers usually reveal only five of their petals.
Many tourists were spotted taking "selfies" with the blooming flowers.
At a different occasion, a coordinator of the provinces rare flower campaigner (KPPL) Sofian Ramadhan pointed out that the forests sustainability remains a key to protect the flowers.
"Beside perpetrators who hunt the flowers, deforestation also threatens the plants existence," Ramadhan noted.
The flowers, which have served as the provinces icon, would continue to bloom for several days.
Rafflesia arnoldii was named after its two founders British botanists Joseph Arnold and Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. It has been dubbed as the worlds largest individual parasitic flower.
The Indonesian government has acknowledged it as a rare national flower (puspa langka), which is protected under the Presidential Decree No. 4 in 1993.
At the provinces conservation forest, at least four flowers, including Rafflesia arnoldii, R. gradutensis, R. hasselti, and R. bengkuluensis have been identified earlier by the scientists.
(Reported by Helti Marini Sipayung/Uu.KR-GNT/INE/KR-BSR/H-YH)
Andi Abdussalam Antara 23 Apr 17;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Malaysia, the world largest Crude palm oil (CPO) producers hope they will eventually be able to set the worlds reference price for the commodity in future.
"Indonesia and Malaysia are expected to increase collaboration to set the global price and marketing. The most important thing is the price of CPO," Malaysias Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) Chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad said in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Indonesia and Malaysia are the worlds number one and number two CPO producer countries with respective production of about 35 million tons and 18 million tons per annum. As they control more than 80 percent of the CPO market in the world, these countries have the potential to control its price too.
Indonesia is predicted to produce about 35 million tons of CPO in 2017, of which about 23 to 25 million tons are for exports. By 2020, Indonesias CPO production is expected to reach 40 million tons.
Indonesia exported 25 million tons of CPO last year -- mainly to India, China, Pakistan, and the Netherlands -- bringing in $17.8 billion in revenue, or about an eighth of the countrys total export proceeds.
So far, the world price of CPO has been determined by the Rotterdam market. According to the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki), the price of CPO has continued to fluctuate and touched the lowest level at US$629 per ton at the Rotterdam CPO bourse in 2015 from the previous level of $831 per ton.
However, the price was relatively stable at the end of 2016, at about $670 per ton. Gapki has predicted that the price of the commodity would be at an average of $680 to $690 per ton in 2017, according to Gapki executive director Fadhil Hasan late last year.
Hence, Indonesia and Malaysia should collaborate to place themselves as the world price trend setters of CPO. "What is more important is how Indonesia and Malaysia could decide the highest price in the global market," Samad remarked.
Samad noted that the stable price of CPO will have a positive impact on the palm oil industry, small farmers, and Felda pioneers.
Felda has the worlds largest palm oil plantations, with 811,140 hectares of palm oil trees in the Malaysian peninsula of Sabah and Sarawak. This company also manages palm oil plantations in Indonesia in cooperation with Rajawali Corp.
"The purchase of some stake in Rajawali is a strategic investment. We purchased the shares as our strategic move. However, we cannot reveal what strategies are there," he remarked.
Samad said his company has no plan yet to increase its stake.
"We will concentrate in the future to increase collaboration in deciding the CPO price in the global market," he noted.
He admitted it was not easy to expand plantations in Indonesia. Hence, it prefers to cooperate with Indonesian companies through share ownership participation.
Currently, Indonesia is estimated to have 11.6 million hectares of palm oil plantations. Of this total, some eight percent are managed by state companies, 49 percent by private CPO industries, and 43 percent belong to small farmers. The livelihood of about 16-20 million people depends on upstream and downstream palm oil businesses across Indonesia.
"This is (increasing collaboration) beneficial not only for Felda but also for both countries. This should start with cooperation. About 80 percent of the global CPO production comes from Indonesia and Malaysia," Samad pointed out.
Samad had earlier met Indonesian Minister of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Eko Putro Sandjojo, who is also the investment liaison officer between Indonesia and Malaysia.
At an "Indonesia-Malaysia Business Matching" event, Sandjojo said that Indonesia is imposing a moratorium on the expansion of palm oil plantations. Thus, it is impossible to open up new plantations.
"What Felda is doing is to purchase the shares of companies that already have palm oil plantations," the minister explained.
Spokesman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association Tofan Mahdi noted that the reference price of CPO is determined in Rotterdam and the Kuala Lumpur Commodity Exchange.
"However, Indonesia is now attempting to set a global CPO reference price. The concept about it is still being drafted. There is also a Joint Marketing Office that has plantation companies, but it has yet to set a price that can serve as a global reference price," he added.
In the meantime, amid the efforts of CPO producer countries to put their products in the world market, there is a challenge coming from the European Union, through a resolution passed early this month.
The resolution, passed during a European Parliament plenary session, aims to counter the impact of unsustainable palm oil production, such as deforestation and habitat degradation. The resolution cited Southeast Asias role in particular.
Members of the European Parliament advocated that a single certification scheme should be implemented in order to guarantee that only sustainably produced palm oil enters the EU.
In response to this, the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) established by major producers -- Indonesia and Malaysia -- will convey its stance.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution stated that the CPOPC ministers will draft a joint communique. The council will also visit the EU in May to share its perspective as palm oil producers.
"The CPOPC ministers have expressed concern over the resolution of the EU parliament, as it is counterproductive to palm oil producing countries efforts on the sustainable management of resources," Darmin noted.(*)
"Through Time And Tide: A Survey of Singapore’s Reefs" by Marcus Ng
wild shores of singapore
Blue-crowned hanging parrots
Life's Indulgences
Leopard cat publication update 2015 to 2017
Through the Eyes of the Leopard Cat
Relooking at the numbers of Singapore's water supply: 3 very interesting deductions (part 2)
Water Quality in Singapore
Relooking at the numbers of Singapore's water supply: 3 very interesting deductions (part 3 - final)
Water Quality in Singapore
Audrey Tan, The Straits Times AsiaOne 22 Apr 17;
An international marine conservation group probing the living conditions of seven dolphins once housed at Underwater World Singapore (UWS) is asking for more transparency from marine attractions here.
Sea Shepherd visited Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, China, three times last month to monitor the five Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins (or pink dolphins) that UWS said were sent there.
However, their investigators saw only four on display: females Eaung and Pann, as well as Pann's two calves, Splish and Splash.
"Further inquiries with Chimelong staff returned different responses," said Ms Jaki Teo, Singapore representative for Sea Shepherd Asia. One worker claimed the fifth dolphin, a female, was kept in an off-site research facility; but another staff said there were only four dolphins left, said Ms Teo.
UWS did not name the dolphins it sent over, but Sea Shepherd believes the fifth was Jumbo, a male.
UWS told The Straits Times its aquatic animals were all relocated to regional facilities by last October. These included the five pink dolphins, three fur seals and five otters that were sent to Chimelong. But UWS would not name the facilities the other animals, including two remaining dolphins, were moved to.
UWS also declined to respond to Sea Shepherd's report on the dolphins. Its spokesman would only say: "All the other aquatic animals also found suitable facilities to be rehoused and were safely transferred out of the UWS to various regional facilities by end October 2016."
Sea Shepherd's Ms Teo called for greater transparency from such parks. They could, for example, publish a list of acquisitions, births, deaths and sales of any animals.
"This will ensure that facilities keep to the highest animal husbandry standards and are accountable for their actions," said Ms Teo, pointing to past cases where animal deaths were swept under the rug until exposed by the media.
For example, when Gracie the dugong died in 2014, there was no announcement until last June, when The New Paper queried UWS after a reporter noticed the dugong had vanished. Similarly, when two manta rays died at Resorts World Sentosa in 2014 - the same year it started a manta ray conservation project - there were no announcements from the park until later that year, following queries from ST.
And UWS admitted that one of its dolphins, Han, was suffering from a "non-contagious form of skin cancer" only after local wildlife group Wildlife Watcher raised questions about its welfare.
It is not clear where Han and the other remaining dolphin, Speedy, were moved to. "This raises the question of whether they are still alive. This visible absence of culpability in the captive industry is a big problem," said Ms Teo.
The pink dolphin is on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which lists species threatened with extinction. Permits are required before animals on this list are traded.
But the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, which issues them here, declined to specify the number of permits it issued UWS, citing organisational confidentiality. The agency would only say that it worked with UWS to rehome all the aquatic animals to various aquaria overseas.
Sea Shepherd's call for transparency is echoed by other conservation groups, including the Nature Society (Singapore), or NSS, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). NSS marine conservation group chairman Stephen Beng said: "As more ocean theme parks are built, it pressures hunters to acquire endangered or threatened species in already overfished oceans. Transparency will show whether an organisation supports marine life research, conservation and education."
He added that the transfer of UWS' pink dolphins also fuels the debate on the moral acceptability of keeping animals in captivity, especially those with larger ranges and complex social structures such as cetaceans, which includes whales and dolphins.
Ms Aimee Leslie, global cetaceans and marine turtle manager at WWF-International, said: "There is no justification for a lack of transparency in the trade of protected marine species."
Chief executive of wildlife rescue group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society Louis Ng, who is also an MP for Nee Soon GRC, said: "India has banned the keeping of dolphins in captivity, Switzerland has banned the import of dolphins. Solomon Islands, where Resorts World Sentosa got their dolphins from, has also banned the export. Singapore should also move in this direction."
Related links
Sea Shepherd's full commentary: bit.ly/2nevLZ7
Known for its beaches, nasi lemak, and ferries to Pulau Ubin, this laid-back estate is also where a few diehard fishermen set off each night to earn their catch. On The Red Dot tags along with one.
Desmond Ng and Noreen Mohammad Channel NewsAsia 21 Apr 17;
SINGAPORE: It’s 6pm, and Mr Jamalludin Ismaon is out alone on his small fishing boat, having just left the jetty at Changi Village when most of Singapore is starting to wind down.
He has little time to enjoy the glimmering twilight reflection off the sea - soon he will be busy snagging fresh bait, usually sardines, cutting them into bits to bait his hooks, casting his long lines, and reeling in his catch of the day.
This 55-year-old will be out at sea for a good nine hours, and will only return to shore at 3am with his haul of fish such as sea bass, catfish and snappers - if he is lucky. He’ll leave his catch at the mooring area for fellow fishermen to sell in the morning, mostly to restaurants.
Mr Ismaon sets out to sea, with his wife Rose who joins him on occasion.
Then there are days that he returns to shore empty-handed.
Mr Ismaon is among a small group of fishermen in Changi Village – just ten of them – who still insist on this line of work, even though the hours may be long, the work demanding, and the pay meagre.
"This is a very tough job, it’s back-breaking. You have to spend a lot of time at sea. I don’t think many young guys can do this,” he said, adding that many have quit the full-time fishing trade in Changi Village over the years.
And yet, Mr Ismaon willingly took up this work three years ago. “I grew up just in front of the river. I used to fish when it was low tide, for small fish and crabs. We would then barbecue it. That’s how I started to love the sea,” he said.
He was born and raised in Kampong Changi - one of two kampongs in this small 7sq-km estate at the eastern tip of Singapore.
Some believe the name ‘Changi’ was derived from the Chengai tree that used to grow in the district. The area was referred to as Tanjong Changi as early as 1828.
Mr Ismaon, however, has a different take - he believes that it was named by old fishermen from Indonesia and Malaya who used to moor their boats here. “When they put a pole in the river, they tie the boat, that’s the ‘chang ni’,” he told the programme On The Red Dot.
Fishermen from Malaya and Indonesia used to moor their boats here in old days, according to Mr Ismoan.
WHERE TIGERS ONCE ROAMED
The Changi area had a different kind of visitor by sea too, in the early 1900s. Female tigers reportedly swam from Johor and stopped at Pulau Ubin before ending up in Singapore.
They would swim to Fairy Point in Changi Village and give birth in the neighbourhood, according to the National Library Board's Infopedia website.
Mr Ismaon and his family lived in a kampong house facing the sea, just next to the customs house where his father worked as a customs officer. Their family home, built in the 1960s, is still there today, albeit operating as a restaurant.
“This is the house that I was born in. The structure is still the same. From here, we can see people coming in and out, from Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Malaysia,” he said.
The house in which Mr Ismaon grew up is the last kampong house still standing in Changi Village today. It's now a restaurant.
Many of the villagers in the kampongs were relocated in the 1970s, when the area was being developed into a housing estate with its first low-rise HDB flats.
Today, new and old residents live in a mix of the HDB flats and old colonial buildings built by the British, who set up an air force base there after World War II.
STRESS IN THE CITY
As for Mr Ismaon, he moved to Tampines and Marine Parade - but he couldn’t get used to the concrete jungle.
I tried to live in the city area but I didn’t feel very peaceful. It was too crowded, there’s no sea, nothing. I didn’t like facing the walls and windows all day.
“I love Changi, it’s very peaceful. There’s nothing to trouble me here,” he said, adding that he used to return to Changi Village every weekend back when he wasn’t yet a fisherman.
Changi Village's signature tranquility and rustic charm.
He’d worked at a golf club and an oyster farm - but the call of the sea was too strong. He started fishing once again in his spare time, before he decided to jump into it full-time, just for the love of it.
These days, the Tampines resident struggles to earn even S$100 a night, which is just enough to cover his expenses such as petrol and fishing license.
“The catch was good in the past. You could earn S$300, S$400 a night with a good tide. But now, you want to earn S$100 or S$200, it’s very, very hard,” he said.
The fish are getting less. It’s not like in the past where we can catch fish anywhere. Now, sometimes we don’t catch any at all.
"But that’s what being a fisherman is all about, we cannot predict these things," he added.
The fish are getting fewer every year.
DANGERS OF THE TRADE
And long-line fishing can be dangerous too.
It involves an 800m-long rope that has more than 180 hooks tied to it, which means it’s easy to snare oneself on the hooks. Fortunately, Mr Ismaon has been careful enough not to.
His wife, Rose, sometimes accompanies him on his fishing trip, helping him operate the boat while he casts his lines.
She said: “I’ll try to make an effort to help him because I know it’s quite dangerous for him to go alone. So if I’m really free, I’ll follow him.”
"It’s quite dangerous for him to go alone. So if I’m really free, I’ll follow him," said his wife Rose.
Like Mr Ismaon, she feels a strong connection to the sea. The couple met on a fishing trip some 18 years ago.
Some of her friends, however, were initially surprised by what her husband did for a living.
They don’t know that there are still people who work as fishermen full-time. They always ask ‘How you survive?’
“But we survive because it’s quite interesting. If we don’t catch fish using longlines, we do prawning too,” she said.
If they catch excess bait, Rose said that she would pickle it or use it to make sambal belacan.
Rose turns any excess bait fish into sambal belacan.
‘I STARTED HERE, MAYBE I’LL END HERE’
No matter how tiring it gets, Mr Ismaon doesn’t intend to quit this trade.
“When I’m here every day, I feel like I’m back in the kampong. I feel like I started here, maybe I will end here,” he said.
It’s how fellow Changi kampong boy, Mr Nirbha Singh, feels too.
Born in the area, he has been operating his textile shop there since 1968 selling clothes, table cloths and carpets – even after the departure of the British airmen and their families in the 1970s hit his business hard.
Born in Changi, Mr Nirbha Singh has been operating his textile shop there since 1968.
Mr Singh still misses the peace and neighbourliness of the good old kampong days. “It was a very friendly kampong,” he said.
“We are like brothers and sisters. At night when we close our shop, we will sit with our friends at a stall for supper.
“Now everybody is busy. After 9.30pm, people are tired, they close their shop, go upstairs, have their meal and sleep. Life was totally different then.”
Watch the full episode on Changi Village here on Toggle. Catch That’s My Backyard - On The Red Dot, on Fridays, 9.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5.
Today Online 21 Apr 17;
SINGAPORE — No major hotspots have been detected in the region and the current likelihood of a return of transboundary haze "is low", the National Environment Agency (NEA) said as the skies over Singapore turned hazy for a brief spell on Friday (April 21).
The hazy conditions, particularly over southern and eastern Singapore early on Friday morning, was due to "accumulation of particulate matter under light wind conditions", NEA added. The skies cleared up after heavy and widespread rain fell over Singapore in the morning.
"Based on the latest satellite images, there were no significant hotspots or smoke haze detected in the nearby region," said NEA in a statement. "The likelihood of transboundary haze affecting Singapore is low."
Some residents woke up to the unwelcome sight of hazy skies on Friday morning, as the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings edged towards to the unhealthy range.
The overall 24-hour PSI readings for Singapore at 7am was between 62 and 93. The southern and eastern parts of Singapore registered the highest readings, at 93 and and 87 respectively.
The readings have since fallen. At 3pm, the overall 24-hour PSI readings for Singapore were between 59 to 87, which is in the moderate range.
The air quality is considered to be in the unhealthy range when the 24-hour PSI readings are above 101, according to the NEA.
Latest haze could be from local sources
Experts say domestic pollution was likely cause as Indonesia had very few hot spots
Audrey Tan Straits Times 22 Apr 17;
The haze that hung over Singapore from Thursday night till yesterday morning was probably caused by local pollution instead of forest fires in the region, experts say.
"Based on the latest satellite images, there were no significant hot spots or smoke haze detected in the nearby region," said a spokesman for the National Environment Agency (NEA). "The haziness was due to the accumulation of particulate matter under light wind conditions," he added.
The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), a measure of air quality here, reached a high of 95 in southern Singapore at 8am yesterday.
A PSI reading above 100 indicates unhealthy air quality, while a reading of between 51 and 100 is considered moderate.
The 24-hour PSI across Singapore stayed in this range for the rest of the day, although readings in southern Singapore leaned towards the higher end.
Experts told The Straits Times there were a negligible number of hot spots in Riau, Sumatra and Kalimantan - provinces in Indonesia whose fires are usually the cause of smoke haze.
"This makes Indonesia unlikely to be the source of the bad air," noted Ms Zhang Wen, executive director of volunteer group People's Movement to Stop Haze (PM.Haze), which monitors haze conditions here. "Another significant source of our poor air is exhaust from traffic."
Usually, domestic pollution can be alleviated by the wind, she said.
"But as it was not windy yesterday, the pollutants could not disperse, making it look hazy."
The hourly concentration readings for PM2.5 - tiny pollutant particles associated with haze - also started inching up from Thursday evening, although their levels across Singapore returned to normal by 9am yesterday.
Air quality scientist Erik Velasco noted that hourly concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant associated with the combustion of fossil fuels, also started going up around the same time as PM2.5 concentration levels.
Most of the haze dissipated by the afternoon, as the rain in the morning helped to improve air quality here. But even without the rain, the PM2.5 readings would have fallen as the day progressed, as hot, turbulent air movement during the day would have carried the suspended particles upwards and brought cleaner air downwards, diluting their concentration near the ground, said Associate Professor Koh Tieh Yong of the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Assistant Professor Winston Chow, from the National University of Singapore's geography department, said yesterday's rain was common for this time of the year, as Singapore goes through the inter-monsoon season.
Singapore experiences most of its thunderstorms during this period.
NEA said thundery showers can be expected over the next few days.
"The likelihood of transboundary haze affecting Singapore is low," said NEA.
MUGUNTAN VANAR The Star 21 Apr 17;
KOTA KINABALU: A landmark project aims to increase Sabah's protected forest to 30% of the state's land area by 2025. More than 60 scientists from leading international universities are spearheading it.
The Sabah Forestry Department and South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP) signed a memorandum of understanding for the project, which will draw top scientists to support the government's rainforest protection efforts.
The scientists, from leading universities in Britain, Europe, the United States, Australia and Malaysia, witnessed the signing ceremony held at the Cambridge Conservation Initiative's David Attenborough Building in England on Thursday.
Speaking at the opening of a related meeting on the science of tropical rainforest research, Sabah Forests chief conservator Datuk Sam Mannan said that forest conservation is a major priority for the state government.
"Over the past 20 years, we have worked to increase the extent of protected forests in Sabah to almost 1.9 million hectares today.
"This is equivalent to 26% of the State's land area," he said.
This surpassed the International Union of Conservation of Nature and Aichi Biodiversity Target targets, he added.
In a speech released to the media here, Mannan said the Sabah government was committed to reaching its 2025 target.
"This will involve the protection of an additional one million acres (404,685ha) of rainforest in Sabah. The location of these new areas has yet to be identified. This is the work that lies ahead of us."
The landmark project is supported by the Rainforest Trust and based on the strategic partnership of the Sabah Forestry Department, SEARRP, the Carnegie Institution for Science, community-based organisation Pacos Trust, and BC Initiative.
SEARRP director Dr Glenn Reynolds, who is leading the coordination of the project, said: "Between now and 2020, the project will generate maps of forest carbon, biodiversity and functional composition that will be integrated with archived and new field observations."
Critical habitat connections will be identified for various plant and animal species, he said, with emphasis on those that provide important ecosystem services such as pollination and dispersal.
This is to ensure the usefulness of forest protection, over time, to cope with climate change.
"Integrating the livelihood requirements of forest-dependent communities will be a vital consideration in the selection of new protected areas," he added.
"Led by our partners Pacos Trust and BC Initiative, the project will consult with local communities and stakeholders to reach consensus on an optimal scenario for rainforest protection," he added.
"This project presents a unique window of opportunity to catalyse world-leading science and protect an additional one million acres of rainforest – forest that will otherwise face mounting and very imminent threats," he said.
The event was officiated by Prince William and also attended by prominent scientists, philanthropies, NGOs and interested parties.
Sabah to expand protected rainforest coverage to 30% by 2025
KRISTY INUS New Straits Times 21 Apr 17;
KOTA KINABALU: A document has been inked for a landmark project which will increase the size of Sabah’s protected forest coverage to 30 per cent of the state’s total land area by 2025, from the current 26 per cent.
The ceremony, which took place yesterday at Cambridge, in the UK, saw the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP) for the initiative.
The Department’s Chief Conservator of Forests, Datuk Sam Mannan, said the project will involve the protection of an additional one million acres (404,685 hectares) of rainforest in Sabah using world-class science.
The exact locations of the new areas have yet to be identified.
“Over the past 20 years, we have worked to increase the extent of protected forests in Sabah by a factor of five to almost 1.9 million hectares today – equivalent to 26 per cent of the state’s land area, surpassing even the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)’s Aichi targets.
“The Sabah government is committed to increasing the extent of protected forests from the current 26 per cent to 30 per cent of land area by 2025. This is the work that lies ahead of us,” he said in a statement released here.
The strategic partnership also includes the Carnegie Institution for Science, the PACOS Trust and the BC Initiative, he added.
Project lead coordinator Dr Glen Reynolds, who is the SEARRP director, explained that integrating the livelihood requirements of forest-dependent communities will be a vital consideration in the selection of the new protected areas.
“Led by our partners PACOS Trust and BC Initiative, the project will consult with local communities and stakeholders to generate cost-benefit options and reach consensus on an optimal scenario for rainforest protection,” Reynold added.
SEARRP was established by the UK’s Royal Society in 1985 and is headquartered at the Danum Valley Field Centre in Lahad Datu, which was newly-opened then.
For over 30 years, SEARRP-linked scientists based there, and supported by research grants of over US$50 million (RM219.45 million), have been engaged in a coordinated programme of ecological science which has enriched understanding of Sabah’s forests and the need for their conservation and restoration.
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