More mangroves of Pulau Semakau

I had a quick look at the mangroves from the seawall while the Butterfly Team were busy with their work (and also, I was too lame to hang around in the mosquito infested forest).You certainly can get a close look at the mangroves from the wall.There were little streams and pools among the almost solid wall of mangroves. Jacqueline saw mudskippers and shore birds too.
With a patch of Spoon seagrasses (Halophila ovalis)! Alas, no Beccari's seagrass (Halophila beccarii) which are seen near mangroves in our Northern shores. There was a strange pile of lots of broken shells of Rodong or Telescopium snails (Telescopium telescopium) on the sea wall. I'm not sure why they're there.Among the most beautiful of mangroves is Tumu (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza) with the bright red flower bracts.The flower itself has brown petals and the propagule is short, fat and sausage-shaped.Api-api puteh (Avicennia alba) is another commonly seen mangrove tree with long narrow green leaves that have a whitish underside, hence their malay and scientific names: 'puteh' and 'alba' mean 'white'.The seedlings are tear-drop shaped and somewhat velvety.And there was a rather strange Avicennia tree too. It had more squat seedlings. With a rather squarish stem.Here's the flowers. Could this be Avicennia marina?

Bakau minyak (Rhizophora apiculata) is among the most commonly seen mangrove on Pulau Semakau.
This mangrove tree has red stipules (new leaves that are still rolled up and emerge at the growing tips of a branch). The flowers have thick bracts and are stuck on short stalks, close to the branch.
This particular tree, however, had reddish propagules.Here's a closer look at some.And a closer look at an all-red one.

Could this mean that the tree has been exposed to pollution? Like the one we saw on our earlier trip and discussed on the colourful clouds blog? Oh dear.

Butterflies and bees of Pulau Semakau

The Semakau Book Team were out at Pulau Semakau again this morning. I was out with a very energetic and professional team from the Butterfly Circle led by Khew.Here's the hardworking Team getting those 'butt' shots with Raffles Lighthouse and Pulau Biola in the horizon.
It was a sunny day with glorious blue skies, but a ferocious wind as well. So it's truly amazing that the Butterfly Team could take so many nice photos of these fluttery animals.The Team spent a lot of time in the mosquito infested forested areas. I am in awe of their ability to put up with these annoying insects. I just fled through the trail as I usually do.There were butts too in the grasslands nearby, a sea of grasses waving in the constant winds.

Butterflies of course love flowers. And there were plenty of wildflowers in the grasslands.
And even on the concrete sea walls.As well as in the mangroves.

The Butterfly Team spotted 18 different kinds of butterflies and took lots of nice photos which I saw on their cameras. I was too lame to take any photos of these marvellous flying creatures. Sigh.

The Butterfly Circle run the fantastic Butterflies of Singapore blog with regular posts of fabulous photos and facts about our beautiful butterflies.

It was also a delight to be joined by John Lee who runs the amazing vespa-bicolor website on wasps and bees of Hong Kong and Singapore. He was just as busy as his subjects, and running about to get a closer look at them. John can even catch some with his bare hands. He says he does this only with the males, which don't sting. But then, you do have to know your wasps to know which ones are males! So we all shouldn't try this.We were shown a humungous hornet's nest near the entrance to the shore. It must have been about a metre in diameter! John points out that it probably fell off the tree. He also points out how the creepers in the undergrowth would alert the insects if we stepped too close. We indeed kept a respectful distance from this enormous metropolis of stingers.John shows a photo of what happened to his hand when he was stung by a not so virulent wasp. Ouch. Worse things can happen with a sting from a really nasty wasp, he says. Well, we should indeed be respectful of these beautiful, elegant and intelligent insects.
It was really fun and educational for me to be out with the Butterfly Team. Thanks for a great outing and the fantastic weather! This was a group photo shared by the Team, and taken on the very windy Southernmost point of Singapore. Jacqueline had to hang on to her hat.

Here's the official Butterfly Circle account of the Semakau Butterfly survey with the list of 18 butterfly species spotted and lots of photos! Fantastic!

Meanwhile, Marcus was out with the Bird Group, who were also energetically checking out the island for birds. On this hot sunny day, the raptors and herons were obviously out and about, as well as lots of other birds. Dr Ho Hua Chew had a long list when I met him on the shore.

The blue sky and sunny weather was a nice change from the wet wet trips we have had recently. But I realised I do not do well under the full sun and was totally exhausted at the end of the trip. Shore explorers are vampirish creatures and do better near sunset or sunrise.

Sunny day in the South

A glorious blue-sky day out in the Southern Islands and even the saddest situations look nice.
The smoke stacks of Jurong Island with a large container barge on its way to our container terminals.Reclamation off Pasir Panjang to extend our container terminals.With enormous pilings and giant mountains of sand.Workers on the Pasir Panjang extension clinging precariously to the sides of the newly constructed portions of the wharves.Pulau Bukom with the submerged Cyrene Reefs which lie in the middle of a triangle of Jurong Island, Pasir Panjang port and Pulau Bukom. All that can be seen of Cyrene is the big orange beacon and the top of the stack of concrete piles left on the Reef (the little black patch on the right).This is what Cyrene Reef looks like at super low tide with the orange beacon and the big stack of concrete pillars, taken on an earlier trip to Cyrene Reef.
Our destination was Pulau Semakau. The tide was high but the blue skies made for a glorious view, even with Pulau Bukom in the background.More of Pulau Bukom next to Pulau Semakau's wild mangroves.
There was a small boat possibly with fishermen off Pulau Semakau's reefs. The broad darker blue stripe are the seagrass meadows on Pulau Semakau, while the deeper blue marks deeper waters where the reefs lie.The large oil rig off Pulau Semakau doesn't look so ominous under a blue sunny sky.From the southern most tip of Pulau Semakau, a closer look at the gianormous oil rig.A view of Pulau Bukom across from the huge lagoon on the Semakau Landfill.Parked off Pulau Semakau and near Pulau Biola off Raffles Lighthouse is a huge ship.Discharging something into the sea.Although budak highlighted what could be the Southernmost loo in Singapore, this loo is even more Southerly. If the loo had a window it would make for a most spectacular view.

Design consultant for the Marina Coastal Expressway appointed

13.1 ha of land reclamation is planned for the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE).

Artists Impression of Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) on the LTA website

According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) website dated 5 Dec 08:

The MCE's total route length includes a 3.6km long road tunnel, two ventilation buildings and 13.1 hectares of land reclamation. It will run through segments of reclaimed land as well as a 420m section that runs below the seabed of Marina Bay.

A total of 13.1 ha of land reclamation will be carried out at Marina East (4 ha) and at Marina Wharf (9.1 ha) to facilitate the building of the MCE. Parts of the MCE will run along reclaimed land.

The MCE is expected to be completed by end 2013.

From the LTA's Alignment Map for the MCE (PDF) the area affected by reclamation is as indicated in this close up in the diagram.

The 4 ha reclamation at Marina East.The 9.1 ha reclamation at Marina Wharf.

Mott MacDonald appointed on Singapore expressway project
Jessica Rowson, New Civil Engineering 18 Dec 08;

Mott MacDonald has been appointed as design consultant for three of the six design and build contracts on the new Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) in Singapore.

The MCE provides a strategic east- west link between the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), the East Coast Parkway (ECP) and the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), with direct connections to the Marina South and Straits View areas.

The dual five lane expressway has a total length of 5km of which 3.6km will be underground. A total of 13.1 ha of land reclamation will be carried out to build the MCE. The new road will play a strategic role in the long-term growth of Singapore, linking new developments in the Marina bay area to the rest of the island.

Mott MacDonalds country representative for Singapore You Fook-Hin said "Construction could prove to be a challenge as part of the tunnel runs under the seabed 150m from the Marina barrage which needs to be opened at times to allow water to flow out."

Mott MacDonald's project team will provide engineering services for 3km of roads including over 2km of twin-cell box tunnel, two ventilation buildings and slip roads.

Links to more

ECP to be realigned for new Marina Coast Expressway
Channel NewsAsia 27 Jul 07

Survey finds Hong Kong coral healthy

With 72% coral coverage in two sites and 23 of the 25 sites with more than 50% coverage, a recent survey considered the corals of Hong Kong healthy.
Coral bleaching and some coral damage was observed at some sites but the impact was minor and localised.

Hong Kong coral healthy: survey
Hong Kong's Information Services Department news.gov.hk 20 Dec 08

Corals in Hong Kong are healthy and stable, with 23 out of 34 sites surveyed recording high coral coverage, according to the results of the Hong Kong Reef Check 2008.

Gruff Head and Coral Beach at Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park and A Ma Wan at Tung Ping Chau Marine Park recorded the highest coral coverage, at about 72%.

The three-month survey, conducted from June, covered the coral sites in eastern Hong Kong waters from Tung Ping Chau in the north to the Ninepin Group in the south, including three Marine Parks - Hoi Ha Wan, Yan Chau Tong and Tung Ping Chau.

The survey revealed a variation in coral coverage ranging from 20% to 72%. Twenty-three sites recorded high coral coverage, at above 50%.

Corals at 25 sites were assessed using a specially designed health monitoring chart. The average health index was 4.27, similar to last year's 4.16 figure, showing corals are in healthy and stable condition.

Coral bleaching and some coral damage was observed at some sites but the impact was minor and localised. The Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department will closely monitor the situation and enhance publicity and education on coral conservation.

More links

Hong Kong Corals on the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong with more about Hong Kong Reefcheck and the 2008 results with full 2006 results.

Indigenous insights help save coral reefs

In the Pacific, the scientific community is working more closely with Indigenous stakeholders whose input, it's now recognised, is crucial if coral reefs are to survive the expected ravages of climate change.

Coral reef science on the Great Barrier Reef only started at the beginning of the 20th century. Indigenous people have been around for an awful lot longer than scientists, and they have a much longer history and a much deeper and different understanding of how the reef works.

Traditional system has already been there. It has been proven effective. Science is a very young method, the two together are working side by side. Science does what it needs to do, and tradition does what it needs to do, but both has to be accepted by them… been accepted by communities in the region.

Indigenous insights help save coral reefs
Corinne Podger, ABC News 20 Dec 08;

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Hello, I'm Elizabeth Jackson. As part of the ABC's summer season, we now present a current affairs special.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's first official act on taking office just over a year ago, was to ratify the Kyoto protocol on climate change.

That was swiftly followed with an historic apology to Aborigines for past injustices.

The Australian leader's actions were warmly welcomed in Queensland where Indigenous knowledge is helping scientists at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority manage the world's biggest coral reef system.

And further afield in the Pacific, the scientific community's working more closely with Indigenous stakeholders whose input, it's now recognised, is crucial if coral reefs are to survive the expected ravages of climate change.

Radio Australia's Corinne Podger has prepared this special report.

CORINNE PODGER: Ever since Captain Cook's fellow voyager Joseph Banks introduced the west to eucalypts, acacias and the eponymous Banksia, our startling landscape and wildlife have fascinated scientists and captivated conservationists.

But two centuries of observation and data collection are a tiny fraction of the millennia Indigenous communities have spent studying this country. They've watched it long enough in fact, for its greatest reef to be built, millimetre by painstaking millimetre, into a glittering band 2600 kilometres long.

Now, Indigenous custodians are working side by side with scientists to manage this vast natural resource. David Wachenfeld heads the science, technology and information group at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority:

DAVID WACHENFELD: Obviously, the Great Barrier Reef has some of the world's greatest coral reef scientists and we have an amazing amount of scientific information about the reef and that's a really good thing.

But coral reef science on the Great Barrier Reef only started at the beginning of the 20th century and even then, it was absolutely in its infancy, it only really got going in the 1960s or possibly 1970s, so we really don't have a very long period of scientific understanding of the reef.

Indigenous people have been around for an awful lot longer than scientists, and they have a much longer history and a much deeper and different understanding of how the reef works.

CORINNE PODGER: This deeper, different understanding commands far more respect today than it did just a few decades ago. It's only 40 years since Indigenous people were given the right to vote, just over 30 since the end of the Stolen Generations.

Now there's a flurry of effort being made to repair relations and seek out the very knowledge once targeted for eradication. Today, with improved understanding and appreciation of traditional art, there's now an awareness of the intricate patterns, circles, dots and swirls many traditional artists use, and the songs and stories that accompany their work.

Like tracing paper overlaying European maps with their straight line borders and English placenames, these are more intimate maps of country, of human relationships with landscape - with its changing seasons, food and water sources, meeting places and spiritual sites.

That knowledge, wound into ancient stories and images, is now informing how the Great Barrier Reef is managed.

David Wachenfeld again.

DAVID WACHENFELD: One of the most important groups for us to work with are Indigenous people and in particular, traditional owners of the sea country of the Great Barrier Reef, so we have about 70 different traditional owner groups along the coast of the Great Barrier Reef, and those people have a spiritual and cultural association with the reef that goes back tens of thousands of years, and that's a really important point because more than 10,000 years ago, the Great Barrier Reef was actually above the water.

Sea level was about 150 metres lower than it is now, and what we currently look at as a series of coral reefs, and call it the Great Barrier Reef, was actually a series of limestone hills, with koalas, echidnas, wallabies, and Aboriginal people living in those areas, so their association with the reef goes back so far, that they certainly have associations with it as a marine environment, but even as a land environment as well.

CORINNE PODGER: This is an oral society - historically - how does information feed back to you, that's useful, scientifically, from those communities?

DAVID WACHENFELD: Well, you're absolutely right, traditional owner societies don't have written histories in Australia, they do have very strong oral traditions, and basically that means for us to partner with them, we have to talk to them, so we have a series of regional offices, from the northern end to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, we put a lot of effort into talking with traditional owners and Indigenous people, and just very much working in partnership with them.

CORINNE PODGER: Partnerships like these, to care for coral reefs, are emerging all over the world, between government agencies and scientists, and local communities who've lived nearby for long enough to know a reef's history and have a relationship with it. And there's a growing awareness among scientists that these partnerships have to work well for everyone if they're to succeed at all.

Here in Australia, there's a powerful economic incentive to make it work; Great Barrier Reef tourism and fishing together bring more than $5-billion a year to the Australian economy. But further afield, in the Pacific and parts of Asia, coral reefs are beyond price.

More than 400-million people in our region depend on them for jobs and food and some countries, like the Maldives south of India, are coral reefs.

And reefs, of course, are alive; coral is actually a shared DIY kit-home made by tiny animals, known as polyps, and little algae plants. The reefs they build are home to thousands of fish, marine animals, and plants. These systems are highly sensitive to variations in water temperature, and to changes in levels of ocean acidity.

As sea-water warms up, it can absorb more carbon dioxide, becoming more acidic, and this can attack reef systems, leaving them bleached and crumbling. This extreme reaction has led to coral reefs being called a "canary in the mine" for climate change.

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is the director of the Centre for Marine Studies at the University of Queensland:

OVE HOEGH-GULDBERG: The rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has two consequences for coral reefs. The first is, through its effect on the global temperature, causing essentially thermal stress, and this manifests itself as mass bleaching events.

The second problem is that CO2 going into the atmosphere also goes into the ocean in increasing amounts, and that's causing an acidification of the oceans above coral reefs, and the effect of that is that it drops the concentration of something called carbonate. Now, that happens to be the crucial molecular building block for the limestone skeletons that corals put down.

CORINNE PODGER: The past two or three decades of warm weather have devastated reefs all over the world. Earlier this year, a landmark global survey found virtually every reef on the planet was dying off - from Indonesia to Kenya, Hawaii to Australia - the victims of warmer temperatures, acidic waters, pollution, and invasive species like the crown-of-thorns starfish.

The most vulnerable reefs are in the so-called "Coral Triangle", which covers waters off Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor. Dr Greta Aeby, of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology in Honolulu, was among the study's lead authors.

GRETA AEBY: Using information about population sizes, geographic range and also the susceptibility of these different coral species to bleaching, disease, or predation by crown-of-thorns, we wanted to determine how many species were at risk of being lost, and from our study we found that approximately one third of our coral species are at risk. This makes corals the most threatened group of animals on this earth, second only to the frogs and related amphibians for risk of extinction.

CORINNE PODGER: The global survey was released at the International Coral Reef Symposium held in Florida in July. And it has profound implications for millions of people who derive their food and income from reef systems. That's made building successful partnerships between these communities and scientists, all the more important. It's more than getting locals onside with conservation initiatives. Many coral reefs cover vast stretches of ocean too big for government agencies and scientists to monitor, let alone manage.

A novel solution to that problem's been developed by the International Coral Reef Centre in Palau, which is tasked with tracking coral and fish species across Micronesia - an area spanning more than 30,000 square kilometres.

To get the job done, scientists at the centre are training NGOs, local government officials and fishing communities in Micronesia to identify species, take samples and run experiments, and to feed their data back to the global scientific community.

It's being done with help from NOAA - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States and its working so well, co-ordinator Sebastian Marino says there are plans to use the same idea elsewhere in the Pacific.

SEBASTIAN MARINO: We actually involve local communities and local organisations, who are doing community and conservation and reef management work. But local government and communities are heavily involved and they're very much participating and helpful in the whole process.

CORINNE PODGER: The other element to this work which is quite interesting is the aim of dovetailing this in with traditional management practices, to merge that with the hard science, how is that achieved?

SEBASTIAN MARINO: Traditional system has already been there. It has been proven effective. Science is a very young method, the two together are working side by side. Science does what it needs to do, and tradition does what it needs to do, but both has to be accepted by them… been accepted by communities in the region.

CORINNE PODGER: And you're looking to offer this as a model to other Pacific island states. How might it work in other parts of the Pacific, do you think?

SEBASTIAN MARINO: If you take it from the bottom up, incorporating local communities, and let them be part of the whole process, I think that's the key to the whole… and I think that will work everywhere, anywhere.

CORINNE PODGER: While local and Indigenous communities need training in the science involved, they can also struggle to have a sense of ownership over a reef management program when they partner up with conservation and government agencies.

Western-style reef management often has a balance-sheet approach, which has historically involved putting a dollar value on natural resources, and seeking to balance that against the cost of conservation. This cover-all-the-bases approach can leave people who live on or near reefs feeling excluded, unable to contribute, even though they have the most personal interest in a reef's survival, with their livelihoods and cultures at stake.

One man trying to bridge the gap is Isoa Korovulavula, from the Institute of Applied Science at the University of the South Pacific in Suva. He runs workshops in Fiji which blend conservation economics with a Fijian concept known as "vanua" - a complicated notion in which community values are intertwined with human relationships with land and sea:

ISOA KOROVULAVULA: For the, Fiji’s situation where most of the perceptions are influenced not by individuals but by communal setting but this participation in coming up with value is very important, so that not only that they see it's something foreign, but actually it's part and parcel of what they have identified as - you can put it - as a dollar value, together.

Particularly in a resource such as marine, where the ownership is not by individual, but it's by a tribe.

One of the things that the vanua system can actually add to the current method, is basically making the community see that management of their resources is not something that is just external. It's something actually is very much internal, and was part of their system.

CORINNE PODGER: The outcome of Dr Korovulavula's workshops are community action plans, in which everyone has had a say, and over which a clan or village then has a sense of ownership - but, crucially, which also includes an economic costing out - so both the communities who live and rely on a particular reef, and the agencies responsible for funding its management, know what it will cost to keep it sustainable.

Partnership ideas that work in one country can, with a little tweaking, often be applied elsewhere. In the Pacific, the Locally Managed Marine Area Network is speeding up this process, by filming successful reef management projects, and then making DVDs which can be shown in other countries with similar problems.

Toni Parras is the US-based spokeswoman for LMMA.

TONI PARRAS: We've already produced one video last year and what we did was, we interviewed community members from several different countries that work with the Network and these were community practitioners, community leaders, just to get their story, in their own voice, about the community-based work that they're doing at their marine sites.

And they tell us what lessons they've learned, what are the factors that are contributing to the success of their management - or the challenges that they're facing, because not everything is successful, obviously.

But that way they can share the lessons they've learned at their sites, and the target audience for these videos are other community practitioners who may be under similar circumstances - like, ‘well, we're just fishers, what could we possibly do to better our, you know, situation, how can we manage our marine resources’?

And then they hear these stories from other people who are just fishers, and they were able to go through a community planning process, they were able to draw up a management plan - obviously with some outside assistance - that's what the LMMA network provides is assistance and technical assistance with project planning.

But the people who are carrying it out and the input is coming from within the community, so their experience really motivates and inspires other communities in different countries altogether, saying ‘well wow, if they can do it, we can do it’.

CORINNE PODGER: As well as sharing best practice in reef management, the videos are a way of archiving traditional knowledge that's in danger of being lost. Toni Parras says the LMMA network is looking to the future - packaging up the best of the old ideas, in a series of new videos aimed at Pacific youth.

TONI PARRAS: Traditionally, there have been connections and practices with the sea, very strong connection with the sea in the Pacific and they're losing that connection.

So they said they're in need of videos or something to show these lessons learned and to show traditional practices, because - that's another thing we're gathering - we ask the community leaders about you know, the current management plans and what they're doing, but we also ask them to relate some traditional management techniques that maybe they've been reviving or maybe it's coming back into play, and maybe they're getting a cultural-traditional connection back.

I think the videos can help because they've been requested over and over and over again throughout the years, please we need videos, the youth especially are more into this technology, so if they can see videos from on the ground and showing traditional practices, maybe it will revive some of them or at least get them connected again.

CORINNE PODGER: To mark this year's International Year for Coral Reefs, the Locally Managed Marine Area Network has organised a series of community exchanges. That's enabled people from small villages in the Pacific to share both the latest scientific techniques and traditional management in a hands-on environment.

The exchanges have been organised by the Secretariat for the Pacific Region Environment Program, or SPREP, which is based in Samoa, its spokesperson is Caroline Vieux.

CAROLINE VIEUX: For example, a few months ago the tribes of New Caledonia, of the northern province, went to the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area Network, and they had a tour for like 10 days, and it's been great for them, and now they go back to New Caledonia and they're like ‘yep, you know, we know what to do and we know we can do it’.

CORINNE PODGER: Back home in Australia, one project that's got both Indigenous communities and scientists at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority excited is a joint project to track dugongs and turtles living on the reef.

Scientists have been tracking these animals for several decades now the authority's scientific spokesman David Wachenfeld says drawing on Indigenous knowledge has given scientists a much better idea of how long turtles and dugongs have lived in particular areas on the reef, and how to look after them for future generations.

That shared knowledge is now being formalised by the Marine Park Authority into a series of agreements, ensuring scientists and Indigenous communities will be equal partners in protecting the world's biggest coral reef. David Wachenfeld.

DAVID WACHENFELD: In particular, when we're talking to Indigenous people about some of their most important cultural and spiritual icons and the two that most spring to mind are dugong and turtle. They have a depth of knowledge and a history that far surpasses anything we have scientifically.

And of course, although we're interested in protecting those sorts of animals for biodiversity reasons, Indigenous people are also very interested in protecting them because of their great cultural and spiritual significance. And that's one of the reasons why we work so closely and successfully together to protect them.

And in particular at the moment, we're developing some agreements with traditional owners, and these agreements are called Traditional Use of Marine Resources agreements, and they are about government and traditional owner communities partnering together to protect these incredibly precious resources.

CORINNE PODGER: How’s that then feeding back to Indigenous communities, is there a growing awareness from working with scientists of information that is then useful to Indigenous communities and perhaps empowers them as a, as a community that is providing a resource?

DAVID WACHENFELD: I think there's very much a two-way communication between - on the one hand - the government management community and the scientific community, and the traditional owner community.

So for instance we have monitoring of dugong populations with a very scientific method that goes back to the 1980s, but when we couple that with a traditional understanding of dugong and their movement patterns; where they are, how many there were, we get a much richer picture of the history of dugong populations.

And an understanding that since European settlement of the Great Barrier Reef coast, those dugong populations have been under enormous threat, and we only have a very small fraction left of the dugong that were once there. That's an issue for us, as managers of the Marine Park, but it's very much an issue for the traditional owners, and collectively we want to do something about that.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: David Wachenfeld of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority ending that report from Radio Australia's Corinne Podger. And you've been listening to a current affairs special.

Massive coral bleaching expected between now and February

A widespread and severe coral bleaching episode is predicted to cause immense damage to some of the world’s most important marine environments over the next few months.

"This is the kind of event we can expect on a regular basis if average global temperatures rise above 2 degrees".

The bleaching, predicted to occur between now and February, could have a devastating impact on coral reef ecosystems, killing coral and destroying food chains in the Coral Triangle. The Coral Triangle, stretching from the Philippines to Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, is home to 75 per cent of all known coral species. More than 120 million people rely on its marine resources.

Australia’s Coral Sea, which will also be affected by coral bleaching and climate change, is a pristine marine wilderness covering almost 1,000,000 square kilometres and is extraordinarily rich in marine life, including sharks and turtles, with a series of spectacular reefs rising thousands of metres from the sea floor.

Hot southern summer threatens coral with massive bleaching event
WWF Website 19 Dec 08;

Sydney, Australia - A widespread and severe coral bleaching episode is predicted to cause immense damage to some of the world’s most important marine environments over the next few months.

A report from the US Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts severe bleaching for parts of the Coral Sea, which lies adjacent to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the Coral Triangle, a 5.4 million square kilometre expanse of ocean in the Indo-Pacific which is considered the centre of the world’s marine life.

“This forecast bleaching episode will be caused by increased water temperatures and is the kind of event we can expect on a regular basis if average global temperatures rise above 2 degrees,” said Richard Leck, Climate Change Strategy Leader for WWF’s Coral Triangle Program.

The bleaching, predicted to occur between now and February, could have a devastating impact on coral reef ecosystems, killing coral and destroying food chains. There would be severe impacts for communities in Australia and the region, who depend on the oceans for their livelihoods.

The Coral Triangle, stretching from the Philippines to Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, is home to 75 per cent of all known coral species. More than 120 million people rely on its marine resources.

“Regular bleaching episodes in this part of the world will have a massive impact on the region’s ability to sustain local communities,” said Leck. “In the Pacific many of the Small Island Developing States, such as the Solomon Islands, rely largely on the coast and coastal environments such as coral reefs for food supply. This is a region where alternative sources of income and food are limited.

“Time is crucial and Australia needs to step up to the plate. Following the government’s lack of resolve to seriously reduce future domestic carbon emissions, Australia has a huge role to play in assisting Coral Triangle countries and people to adapt to the changes in their climate.“

The Australian government this week announced a 2020 target for reducing its greenhouse gas pollution by 5 per cent, which WWF criticised as completely inadequate. Reductions of at least 25 per cent by 2020 are needed to set the world on a pathway to meaningful cuts in greenhouse pollution.

Australia’s Coral Sea, which will also be affected by coral bleaching and climate change, is a pristine marine wilderness covering almost 1,000,000 square kilometres and is extraordinarily rich in marine life, including sharks and turtles, with a series of spectacular reefs rising thousands of metres from the sea floor.

WWF is urging the Australian government to declare the Coral Sea a marine protected area, as well as working to establish a network of marine protected areas that will assist ocean environments to adapt to the changes caused by rising temperatures, and to absorb the impacts from human activity.

Delay in construction of major industrial plant on Jurong Island

German chemicals group Lanxess has pushed back the construction of a butyl rubber facility to the third quarter of next year, from the originally planned January. This is the first major industrial investment to be delayed in Singapore since the global financial crisis began

“We have decided to put off some investment projects given the decline in demand for chemical products we are seeing throughout the world.”

This high-tech plant was expected to create some 200 engineering and other high-value jobs. In addition, the Economic Development Board said at that time that the plant helps “to move our chemicals industry towards higher value-added downstream activities — beyond commodities into specialties’’.

Chemical plant delayed
Lanxess sees drop in demand for products, has to conserve cash
Esther Fung, Today Online 20 Dec 08;

IN WHAT is the first major industrial investment to be delayed in Singapore since the global financial crisis began, German chemicals group Lanxess has pushed back the construction of its Jurong Island plant to the third quarter of next year, from the originally planned January.

Lanxess said it had to conserve cash and revise its plans to cope with the economic downturn.

In February, the company said construction of the €400-million ($835-million) butyl rubber facility was expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

Lanxess now expects operations on the 20,000-sqm site to start in 2012.

The announcement yesterday will not affect the current 88 Lanxess employees in Singapore and Vietnam. Its operations in Singapore include a microbiology laboratory and its regional marketing headquarters.

“We have decided to put off some investment projects given the decline in demand for chemical products we are seeing throughout the world,” said Mr Axel Heitmann, chairman of the Board of Management of Lanxess, in a statement on Friday.

“This will ensure the necessary financial flexibility for the difficult fiscal year 2009.”

Lanxess chose to locate its third butyl rubber facility in Singapore to tap the growing demand in Asia for synthetic rubber used to make vehicle tires, said Mr Heitmann in February.

This high-tech plant was expected to create some 200 engineering and other high-value jobs. In addition, the Economic Development Board said at that time that the plant helps “to move our chemicals industry towards higher value-added downstream activities — beyond commodities into specialties’’.

Lanxess’ plans for capacity expansions in Germany and Belgium and a planned move of its headquarters in Germany will also be postponed.

Although sales in Asia-Pacific rose 31.4 per cent in the third quarter, Lanxess said in its statement it is seeing a worldwide decline in demand in the fourth quarter.

The firm also expects demand to be very weak in the first quarter of next year and is preparing for a difficult year ahead.

“If demand stays at its current low level, we will implement further measures globally,” addedMr Heitmann.

He did not elaborate on what these measures would be.

Jurong Island to expand

"Continuing reclamation on Jurong Island will result in a land mass of about 3,200 hectares."

from Jurong Island: Developing and Integrated World Class Petroleum and Petrochemical Hub on the Chemical and Process Engineering Centre, the National University of Singapore.

To cope with an expanding island, work on a second fire station was started on the Island. It will be equipped with Hazmat or Hazardous Material response capabilities. With two operational fire stations, the Singapore Civil Defence Force is confident it can respond to an emergency at any location on the island within eight minutes.

Profile of Jurong Island on Google Earth, downloaded today.

Aerial view of Jurong Island in 1996.
Jurong Island lies just opposite Cyrene Reefs, rich with seagrasses and marine life. Photo taken this year, 2008.

Second fire station on Jurong Island to be ready by end 2009
Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia 18 Dec 08;

SINGAPORE: Jurong Island will be getting a second fire station by the end of 2009. When completed, the new Banyan Fire Station will effectively double the personnel and vehicle count deployed on the island to deal with industrial emergencies.

At the ground breaking ceremony on Thursday, Law and Second Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said the new Banyan Fire Station is another vital addition to Singapore's overall safety and security plan.

When operational, it will be equipped with Hazmat or Hazardous Material response capabilities.

It will complement Jurong Island Fire Station, which was built in 1999.

The island is a key installation that is home to numerous petroleum refinery, chemical and other industrial complexes.

Mr Shanmugam said: "Jurong Island has achieved significant developments over the years and is now recognised as one of the world's largest integrated chemical complexes which brings with it the challenges of managing such a complex operating environment."

He stressed that with the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, there is a compelling need to be vigilant and prepared to handle any situation.

The new fire station will span 5,000 square metres, housing 15 SCDF operational vehicles and about 100 personnel.

The new Banyan Fire Station is strategically located at the centre of the Jurong Island extension. With continuing reclamation, the Jurong Island land mass will be about 3,200 hectares.

With two operational fire stations, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is confident it can respond to an emergency at any location on the island within eight minutes. - CNA/vm

Second fire station to be built on Jurong Island
Straits Times 19 Dec 08;

A SECOND fire station will be built on Jurong Island to handle the increase in activity on the island after its expansion.

In a press statement yesterday, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that with the current expansion of Jurong Island, it is crucial to expand its operational capabilities to ensure optimal response and coverage.

Scheduled for completion in December next year, Banyan Fire Station will house about 100 SCDF personnel and a fleet of up to 15 operational vehicles.

The new station, together with the existing Jurong Island Fire Station, will be able to respond within eight minutes to any emergency on the island.

On top of being a regular fire station, it will also be able to respond to emergencies involving hazardous materials. This will be critical, given that the station's area of operation is one of the largest petrochemical hubs in the world.

Speaking at the Banyan Fire Station's groundbreaking ceremony yesterday, Law and Second Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam pointed out the need to stay focused on developing and sustaining the level of community vigilance and preparedness.

'The recent terror attacks in India underscore the compelling need for all to be constantly vigilant as these incidents can happen anytime, anywhere.'

ESTHER TAN