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Best of our wild blogs: 17 Sep 18
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Wildlife-rich Rifle Range Nature Park could feature bridge crossing when completed in 2020
LOW YOUJIN Today Online 14 Sep 18;
SINGAPORE – Hikers and nature lovers can look forward to a network of natural hiking trails after the 67-hectare Rifle Range Nature Park is enhanced.
A bridge crossing could be built for the public to appreciate its stream, and steps may be installed as part of the hiking trail to minimise disturbance to wildlife and vegetation, and prevent compaction and soil erosion, said National Parks Board's (NParks) group director of conservation Adrian Loo.
The nature park, on the southern end of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, will have more amenities for the public such as a visitor pavilion, toilet, shelter and carpark. These will be developed sensitively to blend in with the surrounding greenery, said Dr Loo.
Last year when NParks announced plans to enhance Rifle Range Nature Park, it said the park will feature an elevated walkway from Beauty World to the former Sin Seng Quarry, which was once one of the deepest quarries in Singapore.
It was 55m at its deepest point but has since been backfilled and will be transformed into a freshwater habitat with a lookout point for visitors to appreciate marsh birds, NParks said.
The hiking trails will allow visitors to learn more about the history of quarrying in Singapore and the heritage highlights within the site. These include the remnants of a kampong that used to be located at the fringe of the quarry along Rifle Range Road, such as steps leading to old houses and old fruit trees and shrubs associated with kampong plantings in the 1960s, said NParks.
The park will also feature aerial rope bridges to allow animals to move safely between Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the park, as well as nest boxes for animals such as flying squirrels that hole in nests. Enhancement works are expected to be completed in 2020.
THE ANIMALS WITHIN
Biodiversity studies conducted within the park found that there is rich wildlife in the area that includes:
Malayan Colugo, a mammal with an extensive skin membrane that facilitates gliding between trees
Horsfield's Flying Squirrel, an endangered animal with nocturnal habits that feeds on fruits and insects
Sunda Pangolin, a critically endangered animal that feeds on ants and termites
Common Palm Civet, also called a Toddycat or "musang"
Malayan Coral Snake, a beautiful but venomous snake
Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher, a migratory bird that can be sighted in Singapore from end-September to early November each year and whose global population is on the decline
Malayan Crow, a butterfly that is very rare in Singapore
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Malaysia: Perak goes ahead with plastic-free days
allison lai The Star 16 Sep 18;
IPOH: Perak will press ahead with plastic-free days which failed previously due to a lack of public awareness and support.
“Initiatives like this have to be taught from young. We want not just plastic-free but also a car-free day,” said state environment committee chairman Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Bari.
The silver state, he said, was committed to environmentally-friendly policies.
In 2016, the then Barisan Nasional state government announced the first phase of a statewide ban on plastic bags and polystyrene containers, but it failed.
“They are the ones who have the say and means to initiate and put into action all policies and initiatives.
“It is important to have some kind of coordination and synchronisation within the state government so that we are able to push the initiative effectively,” he said after opening the World Clean Up Day where 500 students and staff from Quest International University Perak cleaned up the riverbank along Kinta River.
He also noted that Malaysia needed a special national council to work on matters related to environmental protection.
Representatives from the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry and environment excos from all states could sit in the council, he said.
“We don’t have such a body coordinating the policies and issue initiatives related to the environment, which is very important. We hope there will be more national coordination on this. Unlike Penang and Selangor, such initiatives are new to some states, like for us in Perak.
“We don’t have the experience and expertise. That is why this issue ought to be shared. I hope for a roundtable discussion with the minister and all state environment excos soon.
“This way we can increase awareness among the people to care for the environment because without the people’s cooperation, efforts by any environment agencies will not work,” he said.
Dr Abdul Aziz, who is a constitutional law expert, noted that there was no clause or provision on environment protection in the Federal Constitution.
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Indonesia: Three elephants in Jambi relocated to prevent inbreeding
Jon Afrizal The Jakarta Post 15 Sep 18;
The Jambi Natural Resources Conservation Agency is set to relocate three young elephants – two males and one female – to prevent inbreeding.
“The elephants have entered the reproduction period and are ready to mate. We’re trying to prevent elephants that share the same bloodline from mating because that's not good for their offspring,” agency head Rahmad Saleh told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The elephants will be relocated from their current habitat in Bukit Tigapuluh National Park (TNBT) in Tebo regency to PT Restorasi Ekosistem (REKI) in Sarolangun regency, both in Jambi.
Rahmad said the relocation aimed to create new herds and preserve the species.
The agency recorded that there are currently eight herds consisting of 143 elephants in the national park’s corridor, two herds consisting of only seven elephants in Sarolangun regency and one herd of 38 elephants in Kerinci regency.
Furthermore, Rahmad said the relocation was expected to help prevent the poaching of elephant tusks, a practice that was common in the area. “Elephant poaching is a major threat to the species in the TNBT corridor,” he said.
The destruction of the elephants' habitat as a result of the conversion of their land from forests to company or individual-owned palm plantations has caused local residents to view the animals as "pests".
Rahmad said there were 188 cases of conflict between humans and elephants in the first half of the year in Jambi. Thus, the relocation is aimed to preserve the species.
The relocation will be assisted by NGO Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and take approximately 10 days.
Four trained elephants from the Minas Elephant Training Center in Riau will guide the three elephants in order to keep them calm during the relocation process. (sau)
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Taiwan: Unusual coral bleaching reported off Yehliu coast
Bleaching in Taiwan has mainly been reported in the south, but ocean temperatures off New Taipei City rose to 33°C, a 15-year record, an expert said
Lin Chia-nan Taipei Times 17 Sep 18;
Many clusters of coral off the northern coast have bleached due to higher seawater temperatures this year, an unprecedented occurrence in the area, Academia Sinica researcher Allen Chen (陳昭倫) said yesterday.
The large-scale coral bleaching documented off the coast of Yehliu (野柳) in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) is unusual, given that the area is generally considered a “shelter” for coral, with a relatively low seawater temperature of 27°C to 28°C in summer, he said.
A researcher at the institution’s Biodiversity Research Center, Chen and his laboratory members have monitored coral in the area since 2000.
Coral bleaching is caused by rising water temperatures and can be fatal for coral, Chen said.
Coral bleaching incidents in Taiwan have previously occurred at lower latitudes, such as off Kenting (墾丁) in Pingtung County, Green Island (綠島), Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), where the seawater is warmer, he said.
The average seawater temperature at 3m depth off Yehliu was 27.38°C from May to August in 2005, but in the same period this year, it was 28.36°C, Chen said.
The temperature last month even rose to 33°C, a 15-year record, he said.
“Even a 0.5°C temperature increase can make coral sick,” Chen said, adding that reefs at higher latitudes are more sensitive to warming.
Researchers found that 11 types of stony coral and soft coral in the area had bleached, with lace coral and hood coral most seriously affected, he said.
The bleaching might reverse as the weather becomes cooler and his team would keep monitoring the corals to see whether they show any signs of recovery, Chen said, adding that the team would publish its findings.
In related news, the coral off Pingtung has been reported to be more muddy than usual, with senior diving instructor Tsai Yung-chun (蔡永春) saying that he has never seen so much sediment in the area.
The Kenting National Park Management Office on Friday said that the mud was washed offshore by heavy rain last month, but would be swept away by sea currents.
The office said it would conduct an underwater inspection after the weather stabilizes and would continue to monitor land conservation efforts in neighboring areas.
Additional reporting by Tsai Tsung-hsien
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Singapore's Mandai eco-resort: Paving paradise to put up an eco-resort
BBC 15 Sep 18;
Singaporeans are getting a new wildlife paradise to bring them closer to nature, but as the BBC's Yvette Tan writes, the development is carving into the jungle and pushing rare animals into the path of danger.
It might be tiny, densely populated and commonly referred to as a concrete jungle, but Singapore has more wild space than most people realise.
Its 63 islands are home to hundreds of types of flora and fauna, including some of the most endangered species on the planet.
But these green spaces are shrinking fast amid rapid development.
One of the few places left relatively wild is the Mandai district in the north, where work is under way to create a sprawling eco-tourism hub, in which people can pay to experience nature close up.
The district is already home to the Singapore Zoo - considered one of the best in the world - a Night Safari and a River Safari.
By 2023, it'll be joined by a relocated bird park, a rainforest-themed park and an eco-resort. At 126 hectares (311 acres) it will be the biggest eco-tourism spot in Singapore and a place to "celebrate and protect our biodiversity while being immersed in nature in a fun and inspiring way", say the developers.
But in order to make way, two secondary forests are currently being cleared, threatening vital refuges for wildlife.
"There are mouse deer, pangolins, sambar deer, all of those animals live in the forests that are [being cleared]," Subaraj Rajathurai, who runs a wildlife consultancy, told the BBC.
As Mr Subaraj shows me around the Mandai development, it's hard to imagine this land was once lush forest. Towering cranes and other construction equipment now stretch across the bare hills.
"It's about a loss of habitat, loss of foraging area - a loss of food. So where do they go?"
The roads, it would seem, is where some of the animals are going.
Five animals - including a leopard cat, a huge sambar deer, a wild boar and a critically endangered sunda pangolin - have become roadkill since development began last January. All the accidents took place in the area around Mandai - with two occurring on a busy expressway.
According to Mr Subaraj, this is partly due to a lack of mitigation work by the developers, like insufficient fencing to stop animals running onto roads.
The land set aside for the new parks had been earmarked for development more than a decade ago. It once housed old villages and an orchid farm but after years of disuse, forests have reclaimed the area.
Mandai Park Development (MPD), the body behind the work, says developing the area into an eco-hub is a much more "environmentally sensitive" choice than if an urban development were to take over the area.
MPD is a branch of Mandai Park Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore's state investor - Temasek Holdings.
It says not all roadkill incidents can be attributed to the development.
"Traffic incidents involving wild animals occur island-wide and are unfortunately, not a new phenomenon," said Senior VP Philip Yim.
Mr Subaraj is not convinced.
"Take the case of sambar deer," he says. They live all around the area known as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve "yet the only recent roadkills have occurred in the North", he says, where Mandai is.
"Doesn't that point to the development being the cause?"
MPD said it takes great care to ensure the safety of wildlife before it begins work in an area, including preserving trees of particular interest and moving wildlife.
It has put in places various safety measures such as speed humps, a rope bridge and wildlife crossing signs on Mandai Lake Road.
"There will inevitably be disruption... during the development phase, and this is actively being mitigated," said Mr Yim.
He said MPD recognised that it had "a responsibility to try to reduce the likelihood of such incidents within the boundary of our project. We are closely monitoring incidents within and around the area".
Mandai Lake Road, which cuts right in the middle of the upcoming Bird and Rainforest park, is the only road in, and out, of the eco-hub development.
There are also plans for a green bridge to be built specially for animals which will span the length of Mandai Lake Road and provide a safe passage for animals. That will be ready by 2019.
What does the future of the area look like?
The plan to build an eco-resort in the development that could hold up to 400 rooms, is another concern.
MPD has said the resort, to be run by resort operator Banyan Tree, will be built "sensitively... to reduce impact to the environment".
But Mr Subaraj argues that this may not be enough.
"If you look in other countries, for example [at an eco-resort in] the Danum Valley in Malaysia, they've got around 30 rooms," said Mr Subaraj.
"We've got up to 400 rooms. When you develop a resort that big, no matter how much mitigation you put in place, there will be an impact."
The surrounding eco-system in the Mandai area, he says, will "never be the same again".
"There are so little primary forests in Singapore that the animals have adapted to living in the secondary forests and relied on them to survive," he said.
"If you look at our forests, there's so little of it left. If you keep chipping away at it, one day there will be nothing left."
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Indonesia: 157 hotspots detected across Sumatra island on Saturday
Antara 15 Sep 18;
Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News)- A total of 157 hotspots, indicating forest and plantation fires, were detected across Sumatra Island on Saturday, according to the Blang Bintang meteorology, climatology and geophysics office.
The hotspots were found in the provinces of South Sumatra, Lampung, Bangka Belitung, Riau, Jambi, and West Sumatra, Zakaria Ahmad of the local meteorology office, said here, on Saturday.
Of the total, 60 hotspots were believed to come from fires with trust level of over 81 percent.
The number of hotspots detected across Sumatra was an increase from 154 hotspots on the previous day (Friday, Sept 14).
Based on monitoring by Terra and Aqua satellites, 77 hotspots were found in South Sumatra, 33 each in Lampung and Bengkulu, 14 in Bangka Belitung, nine in Riau, four in West Sumatra, three in Jambi, and one on Riau Island.
In Riau, four hotspots were found in Indragiri Hulu District, two in Rokan Hilir, and one each in Bengkalis, Pelalawan, and Meranti Island.
Brigadier General Sonny Aprianto, commander of the Riau forest fire task force, had earlier ordered for firm action against arsonists.
He also gave shoot-at-sight orders to his officers against perpetrators of forest and plantation fires.
The commander believed that 99 percent of the forest and plantation fires in Sumatra were induced by human activities.
By imposing legal enforcement and firm control, the Indonesian government has managed to reduce forest fires by 96.5 percent across the country during the 2015-2017 period.
Based on data obtained from NOAA`s satellites, 21,929 hotspots were found across Indonesia in 2015, and the figure dropped to 3,915 in 2016, and again 2,257 in 2017, according to Raffles B. Panjaitan, director of forest and plantation fire control of the environmental affairs and forestry ministry.
The wild fires had razed a total of 2,611,411 hectares in 2015, and the figure decreased to 438,360 hectares in 2016, and again to 165,464 hectares in 2017.
Reporting by Muhammad Said
Editing by Bustanuddin
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Authorities struggle to fight fires on Mt. Sindoro-Sumbing, hiking trails remain closed
Suherdjoko Suherdjoko The Jakarta Post 15 Sep 18;
The authorities are scrambling to tackle land and forest fires that have ravaged Mount Sindoro and Mount Sumbing in Central Java, but challenging terrain and strong winds are hampering the efforts to extinguish the fires.
A joint team comprising personnel from the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the Indonesian Military and the police, as well as volunteers, have intensified mitigation efforts since the fire started. But as of Friday, the fires persisted.
“Even helicopters face difficulties in extinguishing the fires by water bombing, as they can barely maneuver through such challenging terrain,” BPBD Temanggung acting head Gito Wangaldi said on Friday.
The fires on Mt. Sindoro, which started on Friday last week, have burned through 245 hectares of land and vegetation in the area, while 239 ha has been burned through by the fires on Mt. Sumbing, which started to spread on Monday, BPBD data shows.
“Strong winds may cause the fire to spread quickly, which can put volunteers who don’t know the area at risk,” said BPBD Wonosobo acting head Prayitno.
In the meantime, the authorities have contained the fires on Mt. Sindoro so that the blaze would not spread to the south, where the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center has installed a seismograph, 100 meters from the location of the fires, Central Java Search and Rescue field coordinator Sutikno said.
All hiking trails leading up to the summits of the mountains have been closed and there were no hikers trapped in the areas, Prayitno added. (afr/swd)
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Indonesia: Prolonged drought triggers forest fires in Kalimantan and Java
Fardah Antara 15 Sep 18;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government has been working all out to prevent forest fires over the last couple of years and been successful in drastically reducing hotspots and fires, particularly in Sumatra.
Lately, however, the country has been experiencing severe dry season that has induced forest fires on the islands of Java, Kalimantan, and Sumatra.
The ongoing prolonged drought has caused water shortage in several regions, such as in the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Java, and triggered fires in forest areas, particularly in West Kalimantan and Central Java.
In West Kalimantan, schools were recently closed, as forest fires produced smoke that could affect the health of students.
The national disaster mitigation office has deployed four helicopters to help extinguish the fires.
In Central Kalimantan, the East Kotawaringin district police recently named four suspects in land and forest fires in several areas in the district.
Chief of the East Kotawaringin District Police Adjunct Chief Commissioner Mohammad Rommel remarked on September 11, 2018, that the police had investigated the cases of land fires in Ujung Pandaran, Samuda, Baamang, and Mentawa Baru Ketapang.
The police are also investigating the case of large land fires in Mentaya Hilir Selatan District, he noted.
In South Kalimantan, the local inhabitants are optimistic of rain falling again to disperse the haze of the smoke that had begun to blanket some areas in the province.
The people in Banjarmasin and Banjarbaru as well as the surrounding areas recently breathed a sigh of relief after rainfall, lasting for two hours, cleared the air of haze.
Forest and bush fires hit 13 districts since January 2018, ravaging one thousand hectares of tropical forests and plantation areas.
On Java Island, wildfires were reported on at least three mountainous areas: Mount Lawu, Mount Sindoro, and Mount Argpuro.
At least 30-hectare forest areas were razed by fires on Mount Lawu, which is located on the border of Central and East Java provinces.
Joint efforts have been made over the past few days to extinguish the forest fire, but the prolonged drought and strong winds had hindered the fire fighters` endeavors, Djohan Surjoputro, Mount Lawu`s administrative authority, stated recently.
Several hundreds of people, including local volunteers and personnel of state-owned forestry company Perhutani, military, police, and environment agency, participated in the joint efforts.
Owing to its scenic view, beautiful Edelweiss flowers, and crater, Mt Lawu has become one of the mountains in the Indonesian island of Java, which is frequently scaled by mountaineers.
Unfortunately, some 100 mountaineers remained trapped on the peak of Mount Lawu in Magetan District, East Java Province, amid threats from the fires engulfing part of the mountain.
A rescue team had been deployed to evacuate the trapped climbers, Head of the Magetan Disaster Mitigation Agency`s Emergency and Logistics Unit Fery Yoga Saputra had stated on September 11, 2018.
The local authorities notified that Mount Lawu`s climbing trails had temporarily been closed.
A forest fire also engulfed certain parts of Mount Sindoro in Temanggung District, Central Java Province, though, according to a spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, it could have been extinguished.
The forest fire destroyed some 156 hectares of land, and the local authorities had still closed the mountain`s climbing trails, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho remarked.
Mount Argopuro, located in Krucil, Probolinggo, East Java Province, was also razed by a fire.
Four hotspots were detected on Sept. 12, Setyo Utomo, head of the Jember natural resources conservation office, noted.
The conservation office has dispatched four officers to check the hotspots. However, it will take them at least two days to reach the location of the hotspots, he added.
The East Java natural resources conservation office has indefinitely closed the climbing track of Mount Argopuro since August 10, 2018, due to prolonged drought that could trigger wildfires.
Mount Argopuro is located within the Hyang Highland Sanctuary, which covers parts of the districts of Probolinggo, Situbondo, Bondowoso, and Jember.
The mountain holds the record of having the longest route on Java Island and one of the longest in Indonesia.
In Sumatra, a total of 154 hotspots indicating forest and plantation fires were detected across the island on September 13, 2018.
The number increased from 150 hotspots on the previous day, according to the Pekanbaru meteorology office.
Based on monitoring by Terra and Aqua satellites, 77 hotspots were found in South Sumatra, 33 each in Lampung and Bengkulu, 14 in Bangka Belitung, nine in Riau, four in West Sumatra, three in Jambi, and one on Riau Island.
Riau remained prone to forest and plantation fires due to the prevailing drought, Ardhitama, an analyst of the Riau meteorology, climatology and geophysics office, remarked.
Brigadier General Sonny Aprianto, commander of the Riau forest fire task force, had earlier ordered to take firm action against arsonists.
He also gave shoot-at-sight orders to his officers for perpetrators of forest and plantation fires.
The commander believed that 99 percent of the forest and plantation fires in Sumatra were induced by human activities.
Through legal enforcement and firm control, the Indonesian government has managed to reduce forest fires by 96.5 percent across the country during the 2015-2017 period.
Based on data obtained from NOAA`s satellites, 21,929 hotspots were found across Indonesia in 2015, and the figure dropped to 3,915 in 2016, and again 2,257 in 2017, according to Raffles B. Panjaitan, director of forest and plantation fire control of the environmental affairs and forestry ministry.
The wild fires had razed a total of 2,611,411 hectares in 2015, and the figure decreased to 438,360 hectares in 2016, and again to 165,464 hectares in 2017.
During the 1997-1998 period, Indonesia had experienced a prolonged drought induced by the strongest ever recorded El Nino, which triggered widespread fires.
The greatest loss caused by forest and land fires in Indonesia occurred in 1997, when fires wiped out millions of hectares of forest and plantation areas and caused losses worth US$2.45 billion.
Editing by Otniel
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
30 villages in Ngawi face water crisis due to prolonged drought
Louis Rika S Antara 16 Sep 18;
Ngawi, E Java (ANTARA News) - Thirty villages located in eight sub-districts in Ngawi District, East Java Province, face water shortage due to the current prolonged drought.
There was water crisis in the 30 villages, while 10 other villages in Ngawi faced water shortage, Eko Heru Tjahjono, acting head of the Ngawi disaster mitigation office, said here on Saturday.
Karanganyar is the worst affected by drought, with eight villages facing water crisis. Seven other sub-districts hit by water crisis are Bringin (in seven villages), Pitu (five villages), Krangjati (three villages), Ngawi (two villages), Kedunggalar (two villages), and Padas (one village).
The local disaster mitigation office has supplied clean water to the affected villages, including Cantel and Dumplengan villages in Pitu sub-districts.
Located on the equator line and between Asia and Australia, Indonesia has only two seasons, namely rain and dry. The dry season is usually between March and September, while the rainy season is between September and March.
September is usually the transitional period where rains begin to fall across the country. But, up to Sept 10 this year, many regions remain very dry as there have been no rains for months.
Several regions in Indonesia are currently being hit by prolonged drought, causing water shortages, particularly in West Java, East Java, and East Nusa Tenggara, as well as forest fires in Kalimantan, Java and Sumatra Islands.
The drought hit 4,053 villages in 888 sub-districts located in 111 districts and cities in 11 provinces.
Some 4.87 million people in the country have been affected by this year`s drought, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
"The dry season is forecast to last until September 2018 and will reach its peak during the August-September period. Those islands are hit by the drought almost every year," BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted on Sept 7, 2018.
Reporting by Louis Rika S
Editing by Fardah
Editor: Bustanuddin
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Indonesian waters in plastic waste emergency
Otniel Tamindael Antara 16 Sep 18;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian waters are currently in a state of plastic waste emergency that can affect the health of marine animals and humans, in addition to having a negative impact on the local economy.
Plastic waste in Indonesian waters also has the potential of attracting and concentrating sea water pollutants around, which is more dangerous.
Hence, fast action is needed to clean up the coastal areas and marine environment in Indonesia in order to avoid harmful pollutants.
Indonesia is among 150 countries worldwide to clean up its coastal environment from the westernmost point to the easternmost point of the country, from Sabang to Merauke, to support the World Cleanup Day on Sept 15, 2018, as a global social action program aimed at combating the global solid waste problem, including the problem of marine debris.
Thousands of people in at least 91 locations across the country, from Sabang to Merauke, participated in the World Cleanup Day, called simultaneous "Sea Facing" activities on Saturday.
In West Aceh District, Aceh Province, some 300 people participated in the World Cleanup Day activities by cleaning the yards of mosques and the Suak Ribee beach.
The activities were part of an international social action program that aims to reduce the waste population globally because it is carried out not only in Indonesia but also in other parts of the world simultaneously on Sept 15, 2018.
Indonesia involved 13 million participants, starting from Sabang at the western end of the country to Marauke, with each region making a breakthrough by cleaning up garbage, especially coastal waste coming from the sea.
In West Aceh District, participants cleaned plastic waste scattered on land to garbage in the ditch, in the courtyards of the mosques, and all the way to the shore of Suak Ribee beach.
In the meantime, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (KKP) also cooperated with the Ocean Conservancy Institution from the United States and Bali`s regional government to hold the coastal cleanup activity in the Indonesia`s island resort of Bali on Saturday.
"The KKP welcomes the cooperation with the Ocean Conservancy Institution to invite various stakeholders to participate in an activity that has a real and direct impact on our coastal and marine environment through the Love of the Ocean Movement," KKP Director of Marine Space Management Brahmantya Satyamurti Poerwadi remarked on Saturday.
The KKP, Bali regional government, Ocean Conservancy Institution, Non-Governmental Organizations, and a total of 1,287 volunteers gathered at the Padang Galak Beach in Bali on Saturday to collect as much as 841.53 kilograms of garbage.
The collected waste will then be recorded in the Ocean Conservancy Sea Waste Index, the largest marine waste database in the world.
The activities, initiated by the KKP along with various civil society organizations and the local government, involved approximately 50 thousand participants who managed to collect some 360 tons of marine and coastal waste.
In addition to clearing waste from the coastal areas, they conducted mangrove planting, coral transplantation, and salt harvesting, as well as provided diving goggles to children and released fish and turtle seeds into the sea.
Poerwadi remarked that the handling of marine waste will continue through various activities that can reach more people.
"Collaboration with organizations, such as Ocean Conservancy, is helpful in the Indonesian government`s efforts to manage sustainable marine resources, especially in overcoming the problem of plastic waste at sea," he added.
In Bengkulu, as many as three thousand residents of the city were also involved in the worldwide clean-up action that took place simultaneously in 150 countries around the world on Saturday morning.
Bengkulu participated in this global movement for clean-up actions centered on Pantai Panjang, the World Clean Day (WCD) Chairperson of Bengkulu, Ilza Surya Pratama, remarked in Bengkulu on Saturday.
Pratama remarked that the participants consisted of cross-sectors from the state civil apparatus, the TNI, the National Police, the cross-community, and students.
The point of activity was centered on the Pantai Panjang tourism area, which is one of the tourism icons of Bengkulu Province.
In addition to the Pantai Panjang area, the clean-up action also spread to Zakat Beach and coastal communities.
Efforts to reduce global plastic waste are a serious concern of the Indonesian government, along with delegations from various countries at the Basel Convention Working Group meeting in Geneva from Sept 3 to 6, 2018.
On the occasion, Indonesia, along with Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay invited Heads of the Permanent Missions to the UN Office at Geneva and heads of delegation at the meeting of the Basel Convention`s Open-ended Working Group to participate in the High-Level Event on Marine Plastic Waste and Micro-plastics.
In a written statement from Indonesian Permanent Representative Office for the UN in Geneva, Indonesia called for a reduction in global plastic waste.
Marine plastic waste is an environmental problem occurring on a global scale today.
Found in every part of the ocean, plastic wast can be transported over great distances, and its durability means it will remain in the ocean for a long time.
Global plastic production has increased steadily and has reached 320 million tons a year. Of the estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic waste produced since the 1950s, only 9 percent has been recycled and another 12 percent incinerated.
The greatest burden of plastic waste entering the sea is likely to arise where waste collection systems are ineffective or even non-existent.
Developing countries, in particular, may face challenges in managing the rapidly growing volume of plastic waste, and may face challenges if they have not developed sufficient capacity to dispose of plastic waste and rely on the continued availability of recycling capacity in other states.
Therefore, pollution by marine plastic litter and micro-plastics needs to be tackled at source.
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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The truth behind 'sustainably fished' and 'organic' labels
Organic veggies, certified sustainable seafood and farm-to-table dining are all the green rage in Singapore – but are they as earth-friendly as they are cracked up to be? The new series Coming Clean About Green investigates.
Derrick A Paulo and Say Xiangyu Channel NewsAsia 15 Sep 18;
SINGAPORE & THAILAND: It is in demand every Chinese New Year and is believed to bring good luck. But the red grouper is also overexploited or from unsustainable sources, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
It is among the three in four popular seafood species consumed here that WWF Singapore considers overfished or not well-managed, a list that includes swordtip squid and stingray.
In a country where people love to eat seafood – on average, 21kg per person in a year, compared to the global average of 20kg – one solution to the depletion of fish stocks is to eat responsibly.
To this end, a growing number of businesses, like Marina Bay Sands, are starting to use more certified sustainable products in their kitchens. But are such measures really benefiting the environment?
In January, nearly 70 organisations and individuals criticised the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the dominant seafood sustainability certifier, for failing to uphold standards to reduce overfishing.
In a joint letter, they said “an increasing number of controversial fisheries” had been certified despite destroying the environment and having unsustainable practices.
At a time when efforts like eco-dining – eating food harvested in a responsible way – ditching plastic straws and switching to electric cars are growing trends, a new Channel NewsAsia series is questioning things that green advocates might take for granted.
Coming Clean About Green looks at how impactful some of these green solutions, from cycling to clean coal, really are. And in the case of eating sustainably, it will take much more than that to make a world of difference. (Watch the episode here.)
FISHING FOR SOME ANSWERS
When it comes to sustainable seafood labels, there are few options. The Aquaculture Stewardship Council is one, and the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practice is another.
As for the MSC, its Asia-Pacific director Patrick Caleo disputed that his organisation is not doing enough. “If it’s MSC-certified, it’s sustainable,” he said.
Conservation groups would rather the bar be raised much higher, and the industry would rather see it lower.
“MSC’s bar is set at a very high level: 50 per cent of fisheries that initially go for a pre-assessment don’t go on to achieve MSC certification. We’ve got to be careful that we don’t set the bar too high," he added.
There are annual surveillance audits of fisheries, he said, and “every point in the supply chain has taken ownership” of products with the MSC label. “The wholesale processes, right back to the fishery, have a chain of custody in place.”
Still, seafood is a fast-moving industry. Things can go wrong, and one of the risks is mislabelling. In 2016, advocacy group Oceana reported that one in five seafood samples it tested worldwide was mislabelled.
In Singapore, this would constitute food fraud under the Wholesome Meat and Fish Act, punishable by a fine of up to S$50,000 and/or a maximum jail term of two years for a first conviction, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority.
But it still happens. When the CNA team sent eight samples of certified sustainable fish to a laboratory, the results showed that one product did not match its packaging label, which had stated Pacific cod.
The product labelled Pacific cod (above) was found to be Alaskan pollock, which is not on WWF's Singapore Seafood Guide's green list, although it is a fish of the cod family and its wild stock s certified sustainable by the MSC.
When the supplier and the MSC were alerted to this finding, they said they would investigate the matter.
BUYING ORGANICS
Sustainable fish is not the only food that might not be what it seems. People may take a leap of faith when it comes to organic farm products too.
At eco-grocery chain Little Farms, its most popular products are organic. Head of operations Fred Moujalli noted, however, that “being organic doesn’t necessarily mean it’s pesticide-free”.
There are, for example, natural pesticides. But that is the shady side of the organic food industry because producers “may not be honest”, according to Thai-Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-Pan) adviser Kingkorn Narintarakul Na Ayutdhaya.
“We can’t guarantee that they’d use only light pesticides. They might use dangerous ones,” said the activist.
Forty per cent of the world’s organic producers are in Asia. And in Thailand, the amount of organic farmland nearly doubled between 2009 and 2016, backed by government support and growing demand.
Thai-Pan’s tests in 2016, however, found that two in 10 samples of fruits and vegetables certified as organic by the Thai government contained chemical residues.
“We’d like to advise consumers not to believe or trust it (certification) 100 per cent,” said Ms Kingkorn.
One vegetable farm that uses organic fertilisers, and more workers than in conventional farms to get rid of pests and weeds, is Monkey Organic Farm in Chiang Mai. And owner Nives Pirarak bemoans the “fake” organic products of some farmers.
“As you know, organic products are more expensive than general ones. They’d mix them up and label them all as organic,” he said. His farm took two years to be certified as organic, and he feels “cheated” by such mislabelling.
I’ve tried very hard, made a lot of effort and spent a lot of time and money.
So how does a grocer like Little Farms back its claim that its sells produce which is good for the environment?
“It’s trust and relationship … If you trust your supplier, and we know where it comes from, that’s enough for me to serve to my customers,” said Mr Moujalli, 43.
“If I can ring up the supplier and say, ‘you’re stating a 100 per cent organic ingredients – can you please send over your certs, and that’ll be fine’, the minute they start to hesitate, we know there’s something going on.”
FARM-TO-TABLE EATING
It is not just the organic movement that is gaining traction in Singapore. So too are farm-to-table restaurants, which are classified as those using fresh locally grown food.
One of them is Open Farm Community, in Dempsey. And head chef Oliver Truesdale-Jutras affirmed that the restaurant “tries to source locally as much as we can”. “We’re trying to shave food miles off our food,” he said.
“If you’re using organic produce in Singapore from the Netherlands, the miles you’re adding on, in terms of … how much energy gets used, pretty much equate to a standard product from nearby or even a very badly farmed product from nearby.
“We’re saving a lot of fuel for the world, I guess.”
The question of where your ingredients are from is a reminder of the environmental cost of transporting produce. But how much difference would a reduction in food miles make?
According to the study “Food-miles and the relative climate impacts of food choices in the United States”, transport represents only 11 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with food, based on an average supply chain of 6,760 kilometres.
The production phase contributed 83 per cent of the average household's carbon footprint for food consumption, with red meat being around 150 per cent more carbon-intensive than chicken or fish.
Hence the study’s authors, from Carnegie Mellon University, suggested that dietary shifts could be a more effective means of lowering one’s food-related climate footprint than “buying local”.
In Singapore, to help consumers when it comes to eating fish, WWF has a sustainable seafood guide, notwithstanding the arguments about certification. There is, however, another question here – about feasibility.
For example, cod from Japan and Hokkaido scallops are sustainable but expensive, as with a good number of the other recommended foods, like rock lobster and sea cucumber.
Food vendors may also have no idea whether their fish are sustainable and where it comes from, or even what is in a product such as fish balls.
Ultimately, consumers can still play a part in eco-dining, but it also takes healthy scepticism and a lot more work to make a real environmental impact.
The series Coming Clean About Green looks at the complex realities of green solutions being pursued across Asia. Watch this episode here.
Source: CNA/dp
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Appetite for shark fin soup serious risk to threatened sharks
The University of Hong Kong Science Daily 13 Sep 18;
Fishing pressure on threatened shark populations has increased dramatically in recent years and it is urgent that consumers reject shark fin products altogether -- a study in Marine Policy by researchers from the Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS), School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong (HKU), the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and WildAid Hong Kong reveals.
"Data suggest that global shark catches now exceed one million tonnes per year, more than double what they were six decades ago. This overexploitation now threatens almost 60% of shark species, the highest proportion among all vertebrate groups." said HKU School of Biological Sciences Professor Yvonne Sadovy, lead author of the study.
"Hong Kong is the port of entry for about half of all officially traded dried shark fins globally, importing around 6,000 tonnes per year in recent years." Professor Sadovy explained. A 2017 study showed that 33% of shark fins found on sale in Hong Kong's dried seafood stores were from species listed as Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
It is estimated that only 12% of shark fisheries are considered potentially sustainable, indicating that 25,000 tonnes of dried fins each year originate from other unsustainable, often illegal, fisheries. Distinguishing the species from which fins are sourced can be extremely difficult, as the mixing of catches is a common practice that hampers traceability efforts, and many fins look similar.
"Shark finning and the mixing of catches tend to take place in the open seas or in remote ports, where there is little to no oversight. Moreover, authorities show little interest in controlling illegal wildlife trade, including that in shark fins. Even if they do, their enforcement capabilities are very limited because they cannot inspect and run DNA tests on every single fin that arrives at their customs to determine the area where the shark was caught, or even determine the species," said co-author Professor Daniel Pauly, Principal Investigator with the Sea Around Us at UBC.
A large proportion of fins comes from sharks caught as bycatch: for example, sharks comprise over 25% of the total catch in longline tuna and billfish fisheries in multiple countries. While there are ways to mitigate biologically unsustainable or environmentally harmful shark bycatch, ranging from temporal and spatial measures to gear modifications, there is very little evidence of fisheries management authorities or industry insisting on rapid adoption of such methods. Indeed, bycatch mitigation measures may well be resisted if bycatch consists of sharks for which fins can be sold.
"The global shark fin industry is rife with criminal activity and cannot be trusted to police itself effectively. Ensuring truly sustainable shark fisheries and shark fin trade remain a far-off pipe dream. Simply put, around a quarter of all shark species are hurtling towards extinction. As our paper clearly shows, the only real way to protect sharks is to adopt the precautionary principle and halt the consumption and trade in all shark fin. Furthermore, Hong Kong's restaurant sector -- including companies like Maxim's Catering Limited and Paramount Catering Group Limited, should refrain from selling and serving shark fin immediately which is directly contributing to the endangerment of shark species." said Mr. Alex Hofford, Wildlife Campaigner at WildAid Hong Kong.
Both legal and illegal fisheries are driving the overfishing of sharks which is driven overwhelmingly by the international trade to obtain their fins. Pressure is particularly high in Indonesia where annual catches exceed 100,000 tonnes of shark a year. India, Spain and Taiwan also play an important role in the catching of sharks and the subsequent sale of their fins in international markets, particularly in Hong Kong, from where many are re-exported, particularly mainland China.
In the view of the researchers, waiting for multilateral organizations to develop and enforce rules regarding shark fishing and regulate the fin trade is not an option both because available enforcement and compliance systems are far too poorly applied for wildlife trade in most countries trading fins, including mainland China, and because it would likely take too long and that is a luxury not currently afforded to many shark species. While there is much scope for enforcement of existing laws controlling catching and international trade to improve, this will take time and is unlikely to improve in the near future.
"The exclusivity linked to a natural product combined with its limited supply in the wild increases its price and makes it an attractive trading good for business networks, including extensive illegal trade. This trade is simply proving too difficult for authorities to control." Professor Sadovy added.
"Consumers have to act fast and decide what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to vulnerable, uncontrolled species. Traditions change all the time according to new knowledge and shifting values. So while the appetite for shark fin soup is growing in places like Thailand and Macau it is slowly declining in Hong Kong and mainland China, where young people are starting to see it as a cultural practice that is worth abandoning." Professor Pauly said.
Global shark catch levels have more than doubled since 1960 and populations of some shark species such as hammerhead and oceanic whitetip have declined by over 90 per cent in recent years largely because of wealthy Chinese consumers' appetite for shark fin soup, the paper states. The authors call on consumers to reject the luxury dish and for authorities to employ the precautionary principle by protecting sharks more effectively. The shark fin trade is used as an example of the challenges of controlling growing international trade in for high value markets that increasingly threaten wildlife.
"Extinction must not make the decision for us." commented Professor Sadovy "We must either control ourselves to ensure sustainable exploitation and trade, or stop trade in luxury species or products that seriously threaten their future on our planet."
Journal Reference:
Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson, Astrid Alexandra Andersson, Alex Hofford, Calton S.W. Law, Loby C.Y. Hau, Daniel Pauly. Out of control means off the menu: The case for ceasing consumption of luxury products from highly vulnerable species when international trade cannot be adequately controlled; shark fin as a case study. Marine Policy, 2018; DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2018.08.012
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