Project Wolbachia still in study phase, will not be deployed in dengue clusters: NEA

Ang Hwee Min Channel NewsAsia 24 Jul 19;

SINGAPORE: Project Wolbachia is still in the research study phase and therefore has not been deployed in dengue clusters, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Wednesday (Jul 24).

In a joint statement with the Ministry of Health (MOH), NEA said Project Wolbachia, which took home a distinguished award at the Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards on Tuesday, has shown great results.

The project involves infecting male Aedes mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria, so that when they mate with females, the latter’s eggs do not hatch. Wolbachia-infected males also do not bite.

Now in its third phase, the study areas for the project has expanded by about 3.7 times since it first began in 2016, with a 90 per cent suppression of the Aedes mosquito population in the Nee Soon and Tampines study sites.

“Such a focused approach is needed to derive good comparative results, and a consistent and comprehensive data set over time, to ensure the robustness of the study before scaling-up to more areas beyond Yishun and Tampines,” said NEA.

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Malaysia, Johor: Putrajaya probing early warning system that did not activate during Johor pollution

Channel NewsAsia 24 Jul 19;

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government is reviewing an RM846 million (US$205 million) environment quality early warning system that failed to activate during a series of pollution incidents in Johor this year, environment minister Yeo Bee Yin said on Wednesday (Jul 24).

According to a Malay Mail report, the Environmental Quality Monitoring Programme (EQMP) did not alert authorities to the illegal dumping of toxic waste at Sungai Kim Kim in March as well as the more recent environmental incidents.

“The Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) has since been reviewing the performance and efficiency of the system, the legal aspects, and renegotiating the terms of the agreement, with the possibility of early termination,” Ms Yeo was quoted as saying in the report.

“The hefty cost charged by the concessionaire makes up almost 30 per cent of Department of Environment’s (DoE) annual budget, depriving the department from critical expenditures on transportation, tools and most of all human development for enforcement activities,” she noted.

The nationwide EQMP is a public-private partnership project between the federal government and Pakar Scieno TW Sdn Bhd.

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Malaysia: Govt agencies to discuss integrated efforts to fight river pollution in Johor

Bernama New Straits Times 24 Jul 19;

JOHOR BARU: Continued integrated efforts by government agencies to deal with river pollution are among the issues that will be discussed at the meeting of the State Permanent Committee on Environment on Sunday.

Johor Environment Department (DoE) director Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaafar said the department took a serious view of river pollution.

“What is important is integrated action by the various agencies to overcome river pollution,” he said when he was asked to comment on the worsening levels of pollution in at least 16 rivers in the districts of Johor Baru and Pasir Gudang.

The meeting will be chaired by state Local Government, Urban Well Being and Environment Committee chairman Tan Chen Choon.

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Malaysia: Perhilitan translocates two-tonne wild jumbo to Terengganu national park

The Star 24 Jul 19;

KOTA BARU (Bernama): A two-tonne male wild elephant captured in Batu Melintang, Jeli, on Sunday (July 21) was successfully relocated by the Wildlife and National Park Department (Perhilitan) to the Terengganu National Park.

Kelantan Perhilitan director Ady Ermanty Haniff Mohamed Hanif said that two decoy elephants, namely, Abot and Rambai, from the National Elephant Conservation Centre (NECC) in Kuala Gandah, Lanchang, in Pahang were used in the operation.

He said that the relocation exercise started at 8.30am Wednesday (July 24) and was completed at 1.15pm.

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Indonesia fights spreading fires in Central Kalimantan as dry season is set to peak

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Straits Times 24 Jul 19;

JAKARTA - Indonesia is stepping up efforts to fight spreading forest fires in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island that have moved closer to residential areas and public roads.

The dry season is expected to peak soon in the province, prompting the authorities to increase firefighting efforts.

Two helicopters on Tuesday (July 23) were deployed to Palangkaraya, the provincial capital, for water-bombing runs to remote areas.

"We have started water-bombing in Central Kalimantan. The ground and air teams are ready in five provinces," Mr Dody Ruswandi, the secretary-general of Indonesian disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), told The Straits Times.

Fires have also occurred in Sumatra and Java.

"The situation in Sumatra is under control," Mr Dody said.

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Best of our wild blogs: 24 Jul 19

Singapore Bird Report – June 2019
Singapore Bird Group

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Singapore seizes record haul of ivory alongside pangolin scales in S$66m shipment

Channel NewsAsia 23 Jul 19;

SINGAPORE: Singapore authorities on Sunday (Jul 21) seized S$66.2 million worth of elephant ivory and pangolin scales after they intercepted a transshipment bound for Vietnam.

Officials found 11.9 tonnes of pangolin scales and 8.8 tonnes of elephant ivory in a container from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said the National Parks Board, Singapore Customs and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in a joint release on Tuesday.

The container was part of a shipment of three being transhipped through Singapore to Vietnam, and had been declared as timber.

However "upon inspection, sacks containing pangolin scales and elephant ivory were found in one of the containers", said the news release.

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HDB to explore building cooler homes, 3D printing for future flats

Cindy Co and Ang Hwee Min Channel NewsAsia 23 Jul 19;

SINGAPORE: Cooler Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats could soon be a reality for Singaporeans.

At the Urban Sustainability R&D Congress 2019 on Tuesday (Jul 23), HDB signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Evonik (SEA) to incorporate the firm's new silicon-based material into the roofing of HDB flats, offering better protection against Singapore’s heat.

Called Calostat, the insulation could reduce the ambient temperature in HDB flats by up to 2 degrees Celsius.

Initial trials are expected to start in the first quarter of 2020, and Calostat could also potentially be used for other parts of the building if they are successful, said HDB in a press release.

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Malaysia: Sandakan Marine cops seize 7k turtle eggs worth RM13k

stephanie lee The Star 23 Jul 19;

KOTA KINABALU: Marine police in Sandakan seized some 7,000 turtle eggs from a pump boat near the Sungai Batu 2 river on early Monday (July 22).

Sabah Marine police commander Asst Comm Mohamad Pajeri Ali said the eggs, worth about RM12,600, were seized at about 2.30am.

“We believe these eggs were smuggled in from the Philippines and are meant to be sold to the local market in Sandakan and its surrounding areas,” he said in a statement.

ACP Pajeri said prior to the seizure, marine police were conducting patrols in the area and they saw a suspicious looking green and blue pump boat with two men on board.

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Malaysia: Influencers fuelling illegal wildlife trade with exotic pet photos

mei mei chu The Star 22 Jul 19;

PETALING JAYA: First, it was photos of food. Now, the Instagram fame game has grown to celebrities and social media influencers sharing pictures of their exotic pets, many of which are protected wildlife. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) and conservationists say this growing trend is fuelling the demand in the illegal wildlife trade.

The Star found that since 2015, celebrities and social media influencers, some with over three million followers, have been publicly showing images of endangered wildlife kept as households pets.

Among the popular wildlife are dusky leaf monkeys (lotong) and leopard cats (kucing batu). The Star also found a sun bear and an Asian palm civet.

These wildlife, mostly juveniles that can be easily bought online, are often photographed wearing diapers, collars and clothes.

In the posts, the owners call them their “babies”, drawing excited res­ponses from followers asking where to buy them.

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Malaysia: After whales and tigers, sun bears make their presence felt in Terengganu

Bernama New Straits Times 23 Jul 19;

KUALA TERENGGANU: There seems to be no end to the streak of wildlife sightings in Terengganu in the past week.

Just days after killer whales and tigers made sudden appearances in the state’s waters and in a village, three sun bears were seen roaming at a Felda settlement here.

The bears were spotted in Felda Belara over the past two weeks, forcing residents to seek help from the Terengganu Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan).

The department laid traps resulting in one of them being captured at 9.30pm last night.

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Malaysia: Ulu Muda logging suspension costing Kedah economy RM435m

Audrey Dermawan New Straits Times 22 Jul 19;

ALOR STAR: The economic cost of suspending logging activities in the Ulu Muda Forest Reserve (UMFR) currently stands at RM435.52 million, says the Kedah Loggers’ Association (PPNK).

PPNK chairman Wan Muhammad Amin Mokhtar said this loss of revenue to Kedah's economy, being shouldered by loggers, resulted from the suspension of the Selective Management System logging on 20,000ha of the UMFR, out of the 106,418ha forest reserve.

The remaining hectarage is not a production forest and, thus, is fully protected.

He said this loss had not only impacted the logging industry but also other industries and the general population of the state.

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