'Beyond anything experienced': Devastation as Harvey floods Houston

Channel NewsAsia 28 Aug 17;

HOUSTON: Catastrophic flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Harvey inundated Houston on Sunday (Aug 27), forcing residents of the fourth most populous US city to flee their homes in boats or hunker down in anticipation of more days of "unprecedented" rainfall.

Harvey came ashore late on Friday as the most powerful Category 4 hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years and has killed at least three people.

The death toll is expected to rise as the storm triggers additional tidal surges and tornadoes, with parts of the region expected to see a year's worth of rainfall in the space of a week.

The city's two main airports, George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby International, suspended all commercial flights and two hospitals were forced to evacuate patients. A local television station also was knocked off the air.

The National Weather Service said more than 60cm of rain fell in Houston and nearby Galveston in a 24-hour period. Another 50cm was expected.

Harvey ripped off roofs, flipped mobile homes and left hundreds of thousands of people in the dark on the Gulf Coast, home to some of the country's most important oil refineries.

Tornado warnings were in effect in several parts of the area.

"The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before. Catastrophic flooding is now underway and expected to continue for days," the National Weather Service said on Twitter.

Rising waters from Harvey inundated roads throughout the Houston area, affecting every major freeway and hamstringing efforts to move people to safety.

"It's crazy to see the roads you're driving on every day just completely under water," Houston resident John Travis told AFP.

Another city resident, Brit Dreger, said: "It doesn't look like we're going anywhere for a while."

Overwhelmed emergency services warned residents to head for high ground or climb onto rooftops - not into attics - so they could be seen by rescue helicopters. More than 1,500 rescues had been made so far.

Houston opened community centres to shelter people forced out of their homes, but Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner appealed to residents to stay put and not call the 911 emergency line unless they faced a life-threatening situation.

Flood-stranded residents took to social media with desperate pleas to be rescued from their homes. The Twitter account of the sheriff of Harris County, which includes most of Houston, was inundated with rescue requests.

Kathaleen Hervey was among many who turned to Twitter for help, saying a resident she knew needed to be rescued.

"He is trapped and can't get through 911 or any of the emergency numbers, send a boat!!!" she tweeted to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

Others shared photos on social media of the devastation left in the storm’s wake. Here are some of the most stunning images:

Source: Reuters/AFP/cy/aa

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Using Plastic Bags Is Now Illegal — And Punishable By Jail Time — In Kenya

EYDER PERALTA NPR 28 Aug 17;

No matter where you go in Kenya — from the vast expanses of the Great Rift Valley to the white-sand beaches off the Indian Ocean — one thing is a constant: plastic bags.

They hang off trees and collect along curbs. And in Kibera, a sprawling slum in Nairobi, there are so many of them that they form hills.

But beginning today, almost all plastic bags are illegal in Kenya. Beginning today, if you're carrying your groceries in a plastic bag or put out your trash in a disposable one, you could be fined up to $38,000 or be sent to jail for up to four years.

"It is a toxin that we must get rid of," Judi Wakhungu, the country's Cabinet secretary for the environment, told reporters. "It's affecting our water. It's affecting our livestock and, even worse, we are ingesting this as human beings."

Kenya isn't the first country in the region to ban plastic bags. Rwanda banned them in 2008, and the East African Community has talked on-and-off about issuing a regional ban.

But that has been difficult and controversial, in large part because of economics. Kenya, for example, has tried to institute a ban several times in the past decade. But the country has continued not only to consume large amounts of plastic, but to produce many of the plastic products for the region. The Kenyan Association of Manufacturers, which challenged the ban in court, said nearly 3 percent of all Kenyans are directly employed by the 176 plastic manufacturers in the country. The ban, they argued, will cost cost Kenya tens of thousands of jobs.

Then there is the issue of convenience. When I visited Kibera in June to report on the proposed ban, residents overwhelmingly opposed it.

I found Julius Moleil selling charcoal in the middle of the slum's market. The plastic bags, he said, create an economic cycle all their own.

In his case, he said, no one will buy charcoal if there isn't a clean and cheap way to carry it around. He gives his customers plastic bags, but he also creates a job when he buys those used plastic bags from a man who collects and cleans them.

In a place where many people live off less than $2 a day, he said, those few cents makes a huge difference.

Kenneth Okoth, a member of Parliament who represents Kibera, opposed the ban because he said it would affect his poor constituents the most. In Kibera there is little running water, no toilets or outhouses, but the ban will affect the so-called flying toilets — plastic bags residents use to defecate and urinate in.

"It may look very fashionable in international circles," he said. "But in reality, in a place like Kibera, we still need those plastics."

Okoth said he understands and supports the need to clean up the environment. But there are better ways to do that, he said, than a blanket ban on plastics.

"It's not the plastic's fault," he said. "It's a lack of a system to collect the plastic and reuse it and make a value chain out of it beyond that first usage."

In Nairobi, supermarkets have started heeding the ban. Many have switched from plastic bags to reusable, cloth sacks, but a quick drive around Nairobi revealed that plastic bags are still in use. So far, there have been no reports of any enforcement actions.

Wakhungu, the environment minister, said the government's intent is "not to arrest Kenyans."

"I know they will comply," she added. "But the law is in place."

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Aug 17

Wild fun for kids during the September school holidays!
wild shores of singapore

Beautiful, Beastly, Bizarre: Tailless Whip Scorpions in Singapore
ENTOMOLOGICAL NETWORK OF SINGAPORE

Favourite Nectaring Plants #12
Butterflies of Singapore

Malayan Pygmy Halfbeak (Dermogenys collettei) @ Kranji Marshes
Monday Morgue

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Malaysia: Ministry agrees to ban use of Styrofoam in Sarawak

Peter Boon The Borneo Post 28 Aug 17;

SIBU: The Ministry of Local Government and Housing has agreed to start with city and municipal councils in the state to implement the ban on the use of Styrofoam, a non-biodegradable food container.

According to Assistant Minister of Local Government Datu Dr Penguang Manggil, the exercise will later be extended to smaller councils.

“We have agreed to start (implementing the ban on the use of Styrofoam food containers) with the city and municipal councils.smaller councils will implement this in stages at a later stage,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.

He said the ban was necessary to conserve the planet and minimise environmental pollution.

Asked if compliance with the ban will be made a condition for coffee shops to renew their licence, he said: “We will consider that option.”

The Marudi assemblyman was asked if the ministry would be making it compulsory for all local councils in Sarawak to prohibit the use of Styrofoam (polystyrene) containers for take-away food, following Miri City Council’s move to ban the use of plastic for packing food starting Jan 1 next year.

Miri mayor Adam Yii had said the ban would apply to food and drink providers, supermarkets and manufacturers.

The banning of Styrofoam food containers in all food outlets in Sibu took effect on Jan 1, 2014 as a pilot project by SMC, making it the first local council in Sarawak to do so.

Styrofoam food containers are not biodegradable and pose an environmental concern and have been identified as a major component in the clogging of drains.

Styrofoam food containers, when inappropriately disposed of, could also collect water and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Many studies have been conducted and reports published on the negative impact of Styrofoam, both on health as well as on the environment.

Recently, Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Datuk James Chan stated that the council was currently educating the masses on biodegradable packaging materials which were available for hawkers and food sellers.

Echoing Chan’s view, Datuk Bandar of Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai had said his council was fully committed to not using any polystyrene containers during its functions or events.

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Indonesian travelling shows where dolphins perform in the name of education

More than 90 dolphins are held in captivity in Indonesia and trained to perform tricks in shows as part of the country’s so-called conservation efforts. Their future is uncertain as the government continues experimenting with a captive breeding programme to increase dolphin population in its waters.
Pichayada Promchertchoo Channel NewsAsia 27 Aug 17;

JAKARTA: Brama and Kumbara swim side by side in their little home, a murky plastic pool full of chlorinated water. The two bottlenose dolphins seem agitated ahead of the show in which they are a headline act; it involves performing the same maneuvers they have done thousands of times.

These are two of the last remaining dolphins in the world that still perform in travelling wildlife shows - a popular yet highly controversial business in Indonesia.

For animal advocates, the practice is among the worst forms of cruelty and exploitation. Years of constant confinement, food deprivation and loud noise during the show are believed to harm both their physical and mental health, resulting in stress, aggression and premature death.

Whenever the troop relocates, dolphins are put on stretchers and confined in a tank for 10-20 hours. Most of them are transported from city to city in the back of a truck, where other show animals such as sun bears, otters and cockatoos are locked up in small cages.

“The staff will put butter or Vaseline cream on the dolphin’s skin to keep it moist because it’s dry transport,” said Femke Den Haas, a founder of the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), who has been working with wildlife for more than 20 years.

Since 2009, her organisation has been at the forefront of a campaign against such animal shows, collecting data on the use of dolphins for entertainment. It strongly condemns the travelling dolphin shows and is calling for the animals’ rehabilitation and return to the wild.

“Dolphins are highly intelligent, social and acoustic animals. They use their sonar to navigate in the ocean. But when they’re trapped in a small pool, their sound constantly bounces back at them. And they go crazy. It’s like we live in a room full of mirrors and all you see is yourself all the time. You’d go mental.

“What’s happening to dolphins in Indonesia is extremely, extremely cruel.”

But for the government, it is not. Travelling dolphin shows are considered an effective conservation tool that educates people about threatened animals through entertainment. As long as their health needs are met, the show can go on.

“Travelling dolphin shows exist to raise people’s awareness on saving them from extinction. The animals face a lot of problems in the wild. Many of them have been killed or caught by fishermen. So we have to save and rescue them.”

These are words from Mr Bambang Dahono Adji, director of Indonesia’s Biodiversity Conservation Directorate of the Environment and Forestry Ministry. His unit is responsible for issuing the conservation permits which allow the private sector to keep wild dolphins outside their natural habitat for conservation. It also recognises the legality of travelling wildlife shows.

“People’s understanding about dolphins is minimal. But if they see the performance, they’d think ‘Oh! Dolphins are like this! Oh! They cannot be killed! These animals must be protected!’. So I allow it because it’s part of the efforts to raise public awareness,” Mr Adji explained.

"PURE ENTERTAINMENT FOR PROFITS"

An hour’s drive from the capital Jakarta, a circus tent stands on a football field in Bekasi. Signs on its dusty canopy say the troop belongs to PT Wersut Seguni Indonesia (WSI), a private company that runs most of the travelling dolphin shows in the country.

Inside, Brama and Kumbara are circling their plastic pool. The enclosure is tiny, compared to their natural home in the Java Sea.

“Dolphins are not fish but marine mammals that breathe with lungs,” a male voice explains in the local language, alternating with blaring music from loudspeakers. “They live in the sea and have vertical tail fins, which make them different from fish.”

The brief introduction is considered educational by the government and helps justify the show’s existence. But for animal activists, this piece of information is nothing more than an excuse to keep the business running amid criticisms.

“Dolphins are taken from their habitat, where they can swim 100km a day, at the speed of 40kmh. And here they are, inside a small pool, having to go around in circles and work for pieces of fish that don’t even resemble their natural food,” Den Haas said.

“Everything these dolphins are doing goes against their natural behaviour. There is nothing educational. It is a show, pure entertainment for profits.”

DOLPHIN’S SMILE - "NATURE’S GREATEST DECEPTION"

In Bekasi, the show debuts with a cockatoo, followed by two otters and a baby sun bear. Ripples of laughter fill the tent as the animals perform tricks unknown in the wild. The otters wow the crowd with a basketball game. And like an acrobat, one of them expertly balances on a rolling barrel before the bear cub shows off its squats, pull-ups and riding skill.

When their performances are over, Brama and Kumbara jump into the act. The pair follow every command with eagerness, speed and perfection. Months of training have taught them to jump through hoops, hug each other, wave, sing, dance and even play football with their tail fins. Every maneuver earns them a reward - small pieces of fish, a little amount at a time.

For many people, what they are seeing is intelligence at play. But for dolphin experts, it is hunger and desperation.

“Everything that a dolphin does in captivity is for food. If you go to a travelling dolphin show and know what to look for, you’ll see food deprivation,” Richard O’Barry told Channel NewsAsia. He is known for his role in capturing and training dolphins for the popular TV series Flipper.

“If you look at the dolphin’s eye line - not the smile on its face - you’ll notice it’s looking not at the trainer but the trainer’s hands and the pocket of fish. They just want to be fed so they’re forced to do all these stupid tricks.”

O’Barry spent about ten years of his life capturing and training dolphins. But since 1970, he has been campaigning for the exact opposite. His Dolphin Project strives to release captive dolphins worldwide, following the death of one of the Flipper dolphins, Kathy.

O’Barry has been to the travelling dolphin show in Indonesia several times. While the audience laughed and applauded, thinking the animals were having fun, the former dolphin trainer saw something else.

“I could read their body language and I could see the suffering behind the dolphins’ smiles. Their smile is nature’s greatest deception. It creates an optical illusion that they’re always happy when in fact they’re suffering.”

EXPLOITATION IN DISGUISE

Indonesia is believed to be the only country in the world that still uses dolphins in travelling shows. Of the four troops, three are run by WSI and one by Pembangunan Jaya Ancol (PJA).

Both companies are licensed conservation agencies that also own big amusement parks, where captive dolphins are trained to perform tricks and swim with visitors. These include WSI’s The Sea Pantai Cahaya in Kendal, Central Java, and PJA’s Taman Impian Jaya Ancol or Ancol Dreamland in North Jakarta.

According to the Environment and Forestry Ministry, 92 dolphins are kept in captivity at tourist attractions, hotels and resorts nationwide. At least 70 of them were captured from the wild by fishermen, according to official data. The rest are believed to have been bred in captivity by seven conservation agencies, which also use dolphins for tourism.

Based on Indonesia’s law, it is illegal to “catch, injure, kill, keep, possess, care for, transport, and trade in a protected animal in live condition”. It is also illegal to transfer any protected animal from one place to another within or outside the country.

There is an exception, however. The acts mentioned above can be performed legally if the purpose is for research, science or safeguarding protected animals. The law also requires the preservation be carried out in a form of human care or breeding in captivity by designated institutions. This is where the controversy comes in.

INDONESIA’S DOLPHIN TRADE

It is unclear how the 70 captured dolphins ended up at tourist attractions, although they are considered to be conservation agencies by the government, with the authority and expertise to look after rescued dolphins.

Nonetheless, there are claims that some of the fishermen who captured the dolphins did so for financial reasons.

“In 2009, there was an announcement by Pantai Cahaya that it wanted to buy live dolphins,” a fisherman from Batang told Channel NewsAsia, referring to WSI’s conservation centre in Kendal - The Sea Pantai Cahaya.

At the time, he was one of the crew on board a fishing boat that captured at least four dolphins for the facility.

“The captain told us not to throw them away because they had a price. People at Pantai Cahaya would buy them alive. So we covered them with wet clothes.”

According to the fisherman, the animals remained on the ship for ten hours before they docked in Kendal, where WSI employees were waiting with a six-wheeled truck. The dolphins, he said, were then transferred onto the vehicles.

“All the fishermen who caught dolphins in 2009 sold them to Pantai Cahaya. They cost about US$400. A big one could fetch more than US$500. But they wouldn’t buy if it wasn’t a bottlenose dolphin.”

WSI’s operational director Dwe Seta did not respond to Channel NewsAsia’s interview request, while the company’s spokesperson declined to comment on dolphin-related issues.

DOLPHIN TOURISM

Dolphin conservation remains a grey area in Indonesia. During their rehabilitation and breeding programmes, many dolphins either have to perform tricks, swim with tourists or spend months in the circus.

This has raised questions about the underlying motive behind the captivity - whether it is conservation of a protected species or for profit.

For travelling shows such as the one in Bekasi, visitors pay US$3 for a standard ticket or US$4.5 to join the VIP row by the pool. Many of them also pay extra US$3 for an optional photograph with the dolphins. This means one circus group could earn more than US$4,000 in a month from 4-6 shows per day if it sells 10 standard tickets every round. Usually, the weekend shows see much bigger crowds.

Prices go up at big attractions such as Ancol Dreamland, where a ticket to watch animal shows costs US$12 per person.

As dolphin tourism continues to thrive, the use of the animals for entertainment has spread to hotels and resorts. Visitors to Wake Bali Dolphins pay US$110 for a 45-minute swim with the mammals in a chlorinated pool, and US$89 to watch them perform tricks. They can also join dolphin therapy” - a treatment the resort claims will help children with Down syndrome, autism and mental disorder develop self-confidence and social and academic skills.

The four dolphins were supplied by WSI’s conservation centre in Central Java. They are kept in a 10m x 20m pool right by the sea.

A WAIT FOR FREEDOM

Despite its knowledge of the animals’ conditions, the Environment and Forestry Ministry maintains every licensed dolphin conservation agency and attraction meets official standards. According to Mr Adji, evaluations are regularly carried out to ensure the facilities where the dolphins are kept are not harmful to them.

“The data is submitted by dolphin trainers and reflects the positive condition of the facilities. The atmosphere is caring and peaceful.”

Besides the shows, Mr Adji said dolphin conservation efforts also include a breeding programme, which he hopes will increase the population of captive dolphins in the country by 10 per cent within five years.

However, animal activists question the programme’s effectiveness and transparency, citing a lack of scientific evidence to prove which dolphins were indeed captive-bred. Concerns have been raised over the possibility of wildlife laundering through breeding centres, as none of the captive dolphins are microchipped.

“It’s very hard to trace where they come from or when they arrived at the conservation centres. It’s also very easy for the show owners to play around with this data and lie to the authorities,” Den Haas said.

For monitoring purposes, her organisation has provided the Environment and Forestry Ministry with microchips. “So far, they haven’t been used yet. We’ve been asking the authorities so many times but it just never happened.”

Meanwhile, the dolphin rehabilitation centre in Karimun Jawa remains empty. It was completed in 2011 at the request of the Environment and Forestry Ministry, with support from O’Barry’s Dolphin Project. The centre is the first permanent facility in the world that is designed to rehabilitate and release captive dolphins back into the oceans.

“At the very last minute, when we were supposed to confiscate the dolphins, the rug was pulled from under us. Unfortunately, somebody stopped this from happening,” O’Barry told Channel NewsAsia.

Six years on, the dolphin rehabilitation centre is still waiting for the patients. Although their arrival is yet to be decided, the founders are hopeful Indonesia will one day let the dolphins go home.

While the wait drags on, dolphin tourism continues to thrive.

In Bekasi, Brama and Kumbara almost finish their first performance of the day. On a signal, the two dolphins slide out of their little container onto the platform. They hold the heads and tail fins up high as people come to pose for photographs.

There are still five more shows to go, more people to please and more food to work for before the tent closes. But as always, both of them are wearing the happy dolphin’s smile.
Source: CNA/pp

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Indonesia: Palm oil kills orangutans in peat swamp

BINSAR BAKKARA, Associated Press Yahoo News 28 Aug 17;

TRIPA PEAT SWAMP, Indonesia (AP) — The Tripa peat forest has been called the orangutan capital of the world, but its great apes are under threat by palm oil plantations gobbling up thousands of acres of native vegetation to instead grow the trees that produce the most consumed vegetable oil on the planet.

Palm oil is used in everything from cookies and lipstick to paint, shampoo and instant noodles, and Indonesia is the world's top producer. As demand soars, plantations are expanding. In Tripa, companies drain the swamp, releasing planet-warming carbon into the atmosphere and clear the forest of its native trees, often setting illegal fires.

This robs orangutans and other endangered species of their habitats, leaving the animals marooned on small swaths of forest, boxed-in on all sides by plantations. They starve or they are killed by plantation workers when they emerge from the jungle in search of food. Mothers often die protecting their babies, which are taken and sold as illegal pets.

On Aug. 10, a rescue team from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, accompanied by the Indonesia's Nature Conservation Agency, hiked into the Tripa peatlands to look for a mother and baby orangutan that had been reported in an area being overtaken by oil palms. The plan was to sedate and relocate them, but when the team arrived, there was no sign of the duo. Instead, they encountered a 50-kilogram (110-pound) male orangutan that was about 20 years old. He too was suffering, and the team managed to tranquilize him and carry him out of the jungle in a stretcher net.

He was named "Black," and driven about eight hours to an orangutan reintroduction center in Jantho, Aceh Besar. He joined about 100 other primates that have been released in the jungle to establish a new wild population. Only an estimated 6,600 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans remain. Less than 200 are believed to be living in the Tripa swamp, but it is still one of the densest concentrations of orangutans. The great apes are only found on two islands, Indonesia's Sumatra and Borneo, which Indonesia shares with Malaysia. Both support separate species.

"Capturing wild orangutans is not something we like to do. It is difficult, highly stressful and risky for all concerned," said the rescue group's director, Ian Singleton, who has been studying Sumatran orangutans since the 1990s. "It really is a last resort, and a reflection of the dire situation many of these animals are in as a result of the ongoing destruction of their habitat."

The Tripa peat swamp is part of the 2.6 million hectare (6.4 million acre) Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra, which is the last place on earth where orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos live together in the wild. The entire area is also under threat from logging, pulp and paper plantations and mining. In 2012, huge fires that were intentionally set to clear the land for palm oil ripped through the swamp, killing wildlife and blanketing surrounding areas in a thick haze.

The Indonesian government filed a lawsuit against palm oil firm P.T. Kallista Alam in 2012 for illegally burning 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of the Tripa swamp. Three years later, it was ordered to pay $26 million in fines and reparation. A manager was sentenced to three years in prison. However, the company filed a lawsuit against the government in July and so far no fines have been paid and no prison time has been served.

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Best of our wild blogs: 27 Aug 17

Terumbu Raya is alive
wild shores of singapore

Night Walk At Punggol (25 Aug 2017)
Beetles@SG BLOG

August National Day celebrations at the Marine Park
Sisters' Islands Marine Park

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Barn owl visits Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong again, for the third time in five years

Lydia Lam Straits Times 26 Aug 17;

SINGAPORE - A barn owl has visited Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana again - the third time an owl was spotted there, with previous sightings in 2015 and 2013.

PM Lee on Saturday (Aug 26) posted a photo online of the bird nestling in the overhang along the exterior of the Istana, with the caption: "#guesswhoo's back?"

PM Lee later posted a closer photo of the owl, and said the Istana "appears to be a regular stopover for owls".

"True to their reputed wisdom, they seem to have learnt not to fly into the Istana building (and then need help from Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore and Jurong Bird Park to extricate themselves)," he wrote.

"It is rather curious why they only visit every two years!"

The owl could be the same one that he photographed in previous years. In October 2015, PM Lee posted a photo of a similar owl at his Sri Temasek office.

"The owl came to visit us again today. Maybe he is taking shelter from the haze," he wrote.

He had first posted a photo of the same owl in November 2013.

In both cases, the AVA and Jurong Bird Park were called in to catch the bird and release it, unharmed, behind Sri Temasek.

Barn owls are native to Singapore, but are elusive and so are not often sighted, Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) deputy chief executive Anbarasi Boopal told The Straits Times on Saturday.

Barn owls became widespread in Singapore since the 1980s, according to Singapore's Nature Society's Nature Watch magazine.

They roost and nest in abandoned buildings and also make their home in trees, it said.

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Malaysia: 2 tapirs die after being run over by car

TN Alagesh New Straits Times 26 Aug 17;

KUANTAN: Three days after an elephant died when it was hit by a tour bus in Perak, a pair of tapir suffered similar fate along the Gebeng bypass road near here on Friday.

The endangered Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) were attempting to cross the dual-carriageway not far from the Jabor toll plaza about 10.30pm when a car crashed into the animals.

The driver escaped unhurt but the impact of the crash resulted the front part of the vehicle to be severely dented.

Passing motorists informed the State Wildlife and National Parks department(Perhilitan) about the carcasses about 11.30pm before staff were deployed to the scene.

The tapirs, a male and a female aged between eight and 10 years, suffered severe injuries.

State Perhilitan director Ahmad Azhar Mohammed said the two tapir weighing between 250kg and 280kg were crossing the road to look for food when the incident occurred.

He said to date, a total of five deaths caused by collision with vehicles were recorded in Pahang in the first eight months of this year.

"There has been similar incidents in the past including along the nearby Kuantan Port bypass road where the animals usually occupies the jungle and go out during the night to look for food," he said, adding Perhilitan will put up more signboards for tapir crossings to remind motorist to be careful when they drive along certain roads.

Meanwhile, a Perhilitan staff described the incident as devastating as two tapir were killed simultaneously and such cases were rare.

"Land clearing activities has ruined their habitat and the increasing number of activities near Gebeng here has forced the animals to travel further to find for food. A quick solution has to be implemented or else similar tragic road deaths could become more frequent.

"In the past there were cases when the tapir dies in an accident, certain body parts including its tail, ears and tongue were removed by irresponsible individuals. In this case, the passing motorist were quick to alert Perhilitan," he said.

It is estimated that only between 1,100 and 1,500 tapirs remain in the wild in Peninsular Malaysia, and concentrated in protected areas, such as Taman Negara and wildlife reserves. They are classified as a totally protected species under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.

On Wednesday, a 10-year-old bull elephant was killed after it was hit by a tour bus along the Grik-Jeli Highway in Perak at about 5.30am. The animal collapsed and then got up and walked to the grass on the road shoulder before it died.

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Malaysia: KL food operators to abide by Sept 1 polystyrene deadline

The Star 27 Aug 17;

KUALA LUMPUR: Most of the food operators in the city say they will abide by the ruling not to use polystyrene as takeaway food containers starting Sept 1.

In fact, a random survey by Bernama found that most of them are no longer using polystyrene and have switched to biodegradable containers such as brown paper or boxes.

Kuala Lumpur City Centre Food Truck Club president Shiraj Shah Subahan said most of its 200 members had begun using paper bags and boxes since last year.

“We had long prepared ourselves for it as we know that using polystyrene is bad due to its negative impact on the environment, and in terms of how the food is presented to customers,” he told Bernama.

Shiraj, who runs a benggali bread business, felt that using paper would enhance the presentation of the food.

Nasi kerabu seller Nor Farhana Sulaiman, 32, who chose to use brown paper, said it was more environment-friendly.

“It costs more or less the same. Storing them is also simpler compared to polysterene. It is the responsibility of traders to support the green initiative,” said Nor Farhana, who has been in the business for more than five years.

Retired teacher S. Vijaya Letchemi, 52, said the enforcement of the Sept 1 deadline was in line with environmental sustainability efforts, and elevated Malaysia to be on par with developed countries.

“On my part, I make it a habit to bring my own container whenever I buy takeaway food,” she said.

Private sector worker Desmond Lim, 26, hoped suppliers would provide more choices of biodegradable takeaway containers.

“Some of the containers are not appropriate for packing liquid food, which necessitated the continued use of plastic containers,” he said.

Jurisdictions under the Federal Territories Ministry including Labuan and Putrajaya have stopped using polystyrene and switched to biodegradable food containers since June last year.

Traders and hawkers face a maximum compound of RM1,000 or imprisonment of not more than one year if they are found to violate the regulation. — Bernama

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Indonesia: N Maluku to boost maritime sector through fishing tourism

Aria Cindyara Antara 24 Aug 17;

Ternate, N Maluku, (ANTARA News) - With an eye on foreign, as well as domestic tourists, the Provincial Government of North Maluku has continued to heighten its effort to develop its tourism industry.

The Indonesian province of North Maluku is one of the countrys outer-most areas that houses more than a thousand islands and is home to the longest coastline.

The province often reminds people of its infamous island of Morotai, and its undeniably beautiful marine tourism. The island has been included in the list of 10 new seeded tourism destinations, put together by the Ministry of Tourism, known as the lost 10 new Balis.

Beyond the beauty of Morotai, however, there are numerous undiscovered treasures in the province of North Maluku that are yet to be exposed to both foreign and domestic tourists.

Governor of the North Maluku Province Abdul Ghani Kasuba said that his office was making serious efforts to raise the provinces tourism sector, one of which was by hosting events at both national and international levels.

"There are a lot of changes that are happening in the national tourism sector, and our province is just starting to emerge in this field. We do that by initiating a number of events in the province," he said.

He then revealed that his office was focusing on preparing an international event, scheduled to be held in the Widi islands of North Maluku, named Widi International Fishing Tournament (WIFT) 2017.

The event, which aims to focus on a particular aspect of tourism, is believed to be able to introduce the provinces potentials and its wealth in sea resources, at the same time placing it as one of the worlds best fishing tourism and industry destination.

There are over one million tonnes of fishery standing stock in the province per annum, while the number for maximum sustainable yield reaches 517,000 tonnes per year. These numbers indicate just how rich the Eastern Indonesia waters are in fishery resources, and they include the North Malukus seeded fish types which are skipjacks and tuna.

The local governments efforts to boost fishing tourism in the Widi islands is part of the measures taken to promote East Indonesias fishery wealth, all in line with President Joko Widodos effort to turn Indonesia into the worlds maritime axis, Head of the North Maluku Maritime and Fishery Offices Muhammad Buyung Radjiloen remarked.

"There are plenty of fish species that attract anglers, and they are all found in the waters of North Maluku, which is also part of the migratory path of the fish," he stressed.

With such rich resources, Radjiloen believes that North Maluku has the opportunity to be the pioneers in exploring the maritime tourism sector.

International level tournament

The Widi International Fishing Tournament (WIFT) 2017 is scheduled to be held from October 25 to 29 in the Widi Island of the Provinces South Halmahera sub-district, in which a Presidential Trophy will be the reward for the team that wins the tournament.

Widi Island is one of the seeded tourism destination, as set by the Provincial Government, which is why it was chosen to host the WIFT 2017. Not only is it home to an exquisite natural landscape, the waters around the island also house numerous types of fish that are often hunted by anglers.

There will be at least 300 professional anglers participating in the event, 60 percent of whom will come from Indonesia, and the remaining 40 percent will be made up of foreign nationals, including Malaysians, Singaporeans, Filipinos, Thais, Japanese, Australians, Americans and Spanish.

Bearing a bigger mission

Joe Gesta, Managing Director of Jawara Indonesia Communication, which acts as the WIFT 2017s creative consultant, explained that there were four values that the Provincial Government would be focusing on through the event, the first one being education.

"Indonesians need to be aware of our wealth in sea resources, and they need to know that we need to maintain its sustainability," he noted, adding that this value would then be introduced through a maritime seminar and workshop around the industry.

Economic transaction is the second element that is being elaborated in the mission of the event, in which there will be a series of fishery expos and investment forums.

Thirdly, he maintained, Indonesia was extremely rich in cultural values, and this would be the next component in the event. "The provinces arts and cultural wealth will be exhibited through a showcase and exhibition event during the opening and closing ceremonies, which will be held in the Babang harbour of Bacan island," he mentioned.

As the event itself brings forward a particular interest, it then became the fourth value that would be elaborated during the event, through the fishing tournament itself, as well as underwater photography competition.

Furthermore, Joe revealed that the WIFT 2017 would be opened by Indonesias President Joko Widodo and would involve several central government departments, including the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Fishery and Maritime, Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Home Affairs.

Meanwhile, Governor of North Maluku Abdul Ghani Kasuba stated that his entire staff was focusing on preparing the Widi Island, ensuring its readiness to host the international fishing tournament that would boost the provinces economic growth.

"From today onwards, we will be focusing on the Island of Widi," he stated.

(KR-ARC/KR-BSR/S012/B019)

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Indonesia: 2,000ha of educational forest developed for Rafflesia conservation

Antara 25 Aug 17;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - As many as 2,000 hectares (ha) of educational forest managed by Muhammadiyah University of Bengkulu (UMB) in Central Bengkulu district, Bengkulu province, was established as a conservation area for the rare Rafflesia flower.

"One of the focus activities in the educational forest is to conserve Rafflesia arnoldii, an endemic rare flower of the Sumatra regions forest," Sunaryadi, Director of Educational Forest of UMB, stated here, Friday.

He said the educational forest located within the protected forest of Bukit Daun had been granted a management permit from the Minister of Forestry in 2015.

The campus group worked with the Bengkulu Provincial Environment and Forestry Office to map and manage the educational forest boundaries.

"We started with mapping, boundary management and description of conditions in the forest," he remarked.

For the conservation of Rafflesia flowers, the university cooperated with the Natural Resources Conservation Center of Bengkulu and Lampung, and designed several joint activities, including mapping of Rafflesia arnoldii flower habitat in the region.

Sunaryadi stated that the educational forest located on the border of Kepahiang and Central Bengkulu districts had partly been converted into a coffee plantation area.

"We will first identify and carry out some activities for the recovery of the area, in accordance with the designation of the protected forest," he mentioned.

In the long term, he stressed, the area would be developed to provide eco-tourism services and to become a research area.

Head of the Natural Resources Conservation Center of Bengkulu and Lampung Abu Bakar noted that preserving the Rafflesia flowers in the educational forest area would support the efforts being made to conserve the rare flower Rafflesia, which has been categorized as a protected flora.

"We appreciate the efforts made by UMB to develop research on Rafflesia arnoldii, because knowledge about the reproductive ecology of this plant is still lacking," he observed.

Bakar said the educational forest area was an essential habitat for Rafflesia arnoldii.

Rafflesia arnoldii is one of the four types of Rafflesia flowers that have been identified in the Bengkulus forest.

In addition to Rafflesia arnoldii, the Bengkulus forest is also the habitat for Rafflesia bengkuluensis, Rafflesia gadutensis and Rafflesia hasselti.(*)

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