Reclamation at Tuas has nothing to do with maritime boundary dispute, says Khaw

FARIS MOKHTAR Today Online 6 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE — Calling on Malaysia to stop the intrusion of vessels into Singapore’s territorial waters before things get out of hand, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan dismissed Malaysia’s argument that Singapore cannot claim the disputed waters on the basis of its reclamation works in Tuas in recent years.

Reclamation, which started in 1996, should not come into the picture at all, Mr Khaw said on Thursday (Dec 6) at a press conference. For the last 20 years, the Johor Baru port limits had not changed until recently on Oct 25, when Malaysia decided to unilaterally expand the boundaries into Singapore’s territory.

Three Malaysian government vessels were in Singapore’s waters at the time of the press conference, and when asked by reporters what the Government will do if they do not leave, Mr Khaw said that security agencies are there to sound off warnings while exercising restraint.

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Malaysia: Wildlife authorities rapped over jumbo deaths

The Star 8 Dec 18;

FIVE wild elephants were electrocuted between June and November as a result of low-hanging transmission cables in Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nesan reported.

Two died in September after coming into contact with power lines, a court heard recently from forestry department officials.

The latest death occurred in the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district, a haven for more than 60 endangered wildlife such as cheetahs and deers, as well as rare and protected trees.

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Best of our wild blogs: 7 Dec 18

Loss of Ceriagrion chaoi in Bishan Park - Fragile Urban Ecology
Everyday Nature

Successful fledgling of pair of White-bellied Sea-eagles
Singapore Bird Group

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Malaysia: Pangolin scales worth RM36.62mil incinerated

Mohd Helmi Irwadi Mohd Nor New Straits Times 6 Dec 18;

PORT DICKSON: A total of 2.8 tonne of pangolin scales worth RM36.62 million were incinerated by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) at the Pusat Kualiti Alam here.

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said all the scales were confiscated in operations conducted by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) since last year.

He said 407kg of scales were seized at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in May, 2017 while 2.1 tonne were seized at the West Port, Port Klang in Selangor, in September.

“In addition to that, a total of 291kg of scales were also confiscated through other operations in July last year.

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Shocking report details massive illegal turtle trade network

A series of recent sting operations has led to dozens of arrests, thousands of reptiles seized
DINA FINE MARON National Geographic 6 Dec 18;

IN A POSH hotel room in Kuala Lumpur, a 35-year-old man wearing a dark button-down shirt smiled. He had two suitcases crammed with 55 live turtles, and he was hoping to make a sale.

He watched as his customer, a man wearing shorts and sneakers, carefully examined the reptiles crawling across the hotel rug.

Bakrudin Ali Ahamed Habeeb, had posted on Facebook some seven months earlier that he had reptiles to sell, triggering a flurry of text messages and price negotiations. Now, Habeeb just needed to prove that his animals were in good health so he could pass them off into the exotic pet trade.

It was May 2017, and he was anticipating a big payday.

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Sea levels may rise more rapidly due to Greenland ice melt

Run-off from vast ice sheet is increasing due to manmade global warming, says study
Jonathan Watts The Guardian 5 Dec 18;

Rising sea levels could become overwhelming sooner than previously believed, according to the authors of the most comprehensive study yet of the accelerating ice melt in Greenland.

Run-off from this vast northern ice sheet – currently the biggest single source of meltwater adding to the volume of the world’s oceans – is 50% higher than pre-industrial levels and increasing exponentially as a result of manmade global warming, says the paper, published in Nature on Wednesday.

Almost all of the increase has occurred in the past two decades – a jolt upwards after several centuries of relative stability. This suggests the ice sheet becomes more sensitive as temperatures go up.

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Best of our wild blogs: 6 Dec 18

Volunteer manager wanted for Pulau Hantu dives
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

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Malaysia: Pulau Kukup may lose its protected status

mohd farhaan shah and venesa devi The Star 5 Dec 18;

JOHOR BARU: Pulau Kukup, one of the few remaining pristine wetlands in South-East Asia, may stop being a fully protected national park as the state government is said to be de-gazetting a law that gives it the status.

Concerns were sparked by a gazette dated Oct 25 that has gone viral on social media notifying that the state authorities will cancel the whole area as a national park under subsection 3(3) of the National Park Environment Enactment (Johor) 1989.

According to sources, the decision was made by the state government in October to de-gazette Pulau Kukup National Park.

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Save millions of lives by tackling climate change, says WHO

Global warming and fossil fuel pollution already killing many, UN climate summit told
Damian Carrington The Guardian 5 Dec 18;

Tackling climate change would save at least a million lives a year, the World Health Organization has told the UN climate summit in Poland, making it a moral imperative.

Cutting fossil fuel burning not only slows global warming but slashes air pollution, which causes millions of early deaths a year, the WHO says. In a report requested by UN climate summit leaders, the WHO says the economic benefits of improved health are more than double the costs of cutting emissions, and even higher in India and China, which are plagued by toxic air.

“The global public health community is getting very impatient,” said María Neira, WHO director of public and environmental health. “If you don’t think you need to take action for the sake of climate change, make sure when you think about the planet you incorporate a couple of lungs, a brain and a heart. It is not just about saving the planet in the future, it is about protecting the health of the people right now.”

The damage caused by coal, oil and gas pollution is “outrageous”, she said. “There are words not included in the documents at [the climate summit]: asthma, lung cancer, stroke, heart disease – they need to be incorporated in all the decision-making processes.”

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Cars and coal help drive 'strong' CO2 rise in 2018

Matt McGrath BBC 6 Dec 18;

A booming global market for cars has helped drive CO2 emissions to an all-time high in 2018, say researchers.

The main factor in the near 3% rise has been coal use in China, driven by government efforts to boost a flagging economy.

But emissions from cars, truck and planes using fossil fuels continue to rise in all parts of the world

Renewables have also grown this year, but are not keeping pace with the CO2 rise.

The research, carried out by the Global Carbon Project (GCP), says that this year's "strong" rise is projected to be 2.7%.

That's much bigger than 2017's 1.6%. This will worry scientists as they had seen CO2 emissions relatively flat for the three years before.

So what's caused the rise?

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Singapore protests as Malaysia expands port limits, vessels intrude territorial waters off Tuas

FARIS MOKHTAR Today Online 4 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Government is strongly protesting Malaysia’s purported move to expand its port boundaries, which violates sovereignty and international laws, and it will not hesitate to “take firm action against intrusions and unauthorised activities”.

This is after ships and vessels from Malaysia have been repeatedly intruding into Singapore’s territorial waters off Tuas over the past two weeks, including vessels from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and Marine Department Malaysia.

These details were disclosed on Tuesday (Dec 4) by Singapore's Ministry of Transport (MOT), hours after Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that his country will “immediately” issue a protest note over Singapore's plan to use the southern Johor Baru airspace for flight operations at Seletar Airport.

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Best of our wild blogs: 4 Dec 18

FREE Talks and Tour on Ocean Plastic Pollution (7 Dec 2018, Friday at 7pm)
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

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