26 July 2005:
China
Shark Fin Stays on Official Menus
The Hong Kong government has refused requests from environmentalists to follow Disneyland's example by taking shark's fin soup off the official banquet menu for visiting dignitaries.
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China
Wild panda leads chase through city
BEIJING. — A wild giant panda which wandered into a southwestern Chinese city on the weekend led would-be rescuers on a day-long chase before it was captured and returned to the wild, the China Daily reported on Monday.
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China
Prevention of Autumn Forest Fires Urged
Forestry authorities said yesterday 5,343 fires that damaged 84,000 hectares of woods were reported between April and June, and that local governments should do more to prevent and control forest fires in the autumn, when they are most likely to occur.
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Philippines
On Target : Ocean Adventure should remain open
NOW THAT President Macapagal-Arroyo has come out officially in support of a change of government from the American-style presidential system to a parliamentary-federal system, the ball is in the hands of Congress.
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Philippines
Dinagat Island: A thriving aquaculture center
BGY. LIBJO, DINAGAT ISLAND, Surigao del Norte – This tranquil, picturesque coastal village is gradually being transformed into a thriving aquaculture center, with lobster, lapu-lapu, mud crab and seaweed farms all gearing up for the money-spinning export market.
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Philippines
Civic groups join urban greening program of DENR
In line with the urban greening program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and in celebration of Arbor Day, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate International (DMI) of the Diocese of Cubao together with the Lions International joined the DENR-National Capital Region (NCR) in a tree planting activity at the University of the Philippines’ Mini Forest Park, Quezon City. Leading the activity were DENR-NCR Regional Technical Director for Forestry Melchor Magsanoc and Ecology Center Project Manager Carlos Gubat I; DMI Mater Dei Circle and Holy Spirit Circle regents Mely Gubat and Gigi Davide, respectively; and Johnny Co of the Lions International District 301-D-1.
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Philippines
Janitor fish, anyone?
Here are bits of information about the "janitor fish" to enlighten the people, particularly those around Laguna Lake and Marikina River, who have been alarmed by the proliferation of this species in the two bodies of water.
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Philippines
Laguna Lake group airs complaints
HOUSEWIVES may wonder why the fish they buy in the market, especially those from Laguna, are not what they used to be.
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Philippines
Haribon forum on Samar environment bill
The province of Samar is one of the most biodiversity-rich areas in the country, and it is also one of the richest in terms of mineral resources. Pending in Congress now is a bill establishing the Samar Island Natural park (SINP), a 330,000-hectare area to be set aside for conservation purposes. However, 54,000 hectares of this area is being eyed for exclusion from the natural park to be opened for mining purposes.
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Philippines
Minimizing impact of natural events
Natural occurrences that the world experienced last year cannot be prevented by present-day technology. In the case of typhoons, they in fact bring benefits to humankind in addition to their destructive effects. Meteorologists estimate that a substantial amount of rainfall in the Philippines is due to typhoons. Volcanic eruptions on land have had positive effects on soil fertility.
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Viet Nam
Locust trees mark dioxin-hit areas
HA NOI — Environmentalists have come up with a cheap and natural way to keep people out of dioxin-polluted areas: locust-tree fences.
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Viet Nam
Province proposes new waste management via recycling plant
BA RIA-VUNG TAU — The southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau has announced plans to bolster its environmental protection efforts following a meeting of local officials to discuss the issue.
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Fish Kill
Major probe into river fish kill
An investigation is under way into the cause of a major fish kill in the River Roe near Limavady.
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General/World
EU weighs environment against industry
BRUSSELS.—Can the European Union reduce air pollution without creating financial havoc for industry? Can it protect marine life without generating prohibitive costs?
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General/World
Wetland birds hit hard by drought
Wading birds in south-east England look set to be amongst the casualties of this year's drought, the RSPB has said.
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General/World
Albatross chicks attacked by mice
"Supersize" mice are eating seabird chicks alive on Gough Island, one of the most important seabird colonies in the world, UK conservationists report.
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General/World
Govt wants say in coastline development
The Federal Government says it wants a greater say in the control of development along Australia's coastline.
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General/World
Generators turn to coal as cost of natural gas soars
THE high cost of natural gas is forcing electricity generators to burn more coal in an attempt to keep a lid on power prices. A doubling of the price of summer gas over the past two years has encouraged generators to switch back to cheaper coal, but the cost savings come at an environmental price.
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General/World
Mammoth Discovery
A man walking his dog alongside a river near San Jose, California, recently made an unusual discovery. He spotted bones jutting from the soil near the river. Scientists now believe those bones are from a Columbia mammoth. It is said to be the most complete mammoth skeleton ever found.
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General/World
Ice Shelf Collapse Reveals New Undersea World
The collapse of a giant ice shelf in Antarctica has revealed a thriving ecosystem half a mile below the sea.
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General/World
Dino bones found in cement works
The remains of a under-water dinosaur have been unearthed at a cement works in Cambridgeshire.
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General/World
Watch Your Step: Study Shows Life in Tidal Areas at Risk
A clamber along a rocky tidepool may seem like a harmless way to while away the hours during these dog days of summer. But some marine scientists urge caution on behalf of the organisms that live there.
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General/World
To Battle Barnacles, Ships Test Fake Sharkskin
Whether you're a ship or a shark, you need a sleek surface to speed through the sea. Which is why barnacles, algae, and other marine organisms that glom onto hulls or bodies are such pests.
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Sharks
Basking sharks 'canny hunters'
Basking sharks are cannier hunters than previously thought, a report in the Journal of Animal Ecology has claimed.
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Tsunami
Tidal Gauges Could Give Tsunami Warnings
July 25, 2005— Tidal gauges in the Indian Ocean detected the deadly tsunamis last year and could have saved lives if they had been better equipped to get out the word, say researchers.
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Whales
Scientists Say More Right Whales Are Dying
More than eight in 10 right whale deaths may be going undiscovered, according to marine scientists who called for emergency action to help prevent humans from accidentally killing the rare animal.
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18 July 2005:
China
China to Implement Rules on Electronic Waste Treatment
China is expected to "put into compulsory implementation" regulations governing the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment this year, the Beijing-based Legal Evening News has reported.
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China
Dolphin Threatened by Proposed Shipping Route
The Ministry of Agriculture instructed the government of Jiangsu Province on July 11 to organize a panel of experts to study a controversial proposal to open a shipping route through a dolphin nature reserve.
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China
China to Restore Mangrove Forests
China's southernmost island province of Hainan will build a mangrove belt on its 9,600 hectares of coastal beaches in the next five to ten years, said the provincial forestry administration.
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China
Getting on top of Everest's rubbish
Man's impact on the environment has been an issue on Mount Everest ever since adventurers began making serious efforts to reach the summit.
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Japan
Japan accused of buying whaling votes
Japan has denied claims it is paying the expenses of countries in return for their support at the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
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Philippines
Whale death revives calls for Subic park's closure
ANIMAL lovers are enlisting the help of environment and health officials to save the two remaining false killer whales kept in a marine park in Subic Bay, along with dolphins and sea lions, after another juvenile whale used for the park's shows died last week.
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Sabah
Tracking injured elephants 
At least one in six elephants in Sabah’s east coast Lower Kinabatangan region, where there are many settlements and oil palm plantations, is injured.
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General/World
Seven New World Heritage Natural Sites Named by UN
The UN this week designated seven natural landmarks as new World Heritage sites—places the World Heritage Committee considers to be of outstanding value to all humanity:
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General/World
Global Warming May Unleash "Sand Seas" in Africa, Model Shows
Global warming threatens to stir up southern Africa's enormous dune fields, according to a new study.
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General/World
Save "Poster Species" First, Conservation Study Says
The mission statement of the Wildlife Conservation Society says the New York-based environmental advocacy group saves wildlife and wild lands.
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General/World
Sleep and Marine Animals
You probably wake up each morning and go to sleep each night. That may seem normal to you, but it's not normal for some animals. Scientists have recently found that some marine animals have an unusual sleep pattern.
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Tsunami
Tsunami Quake Moved Land in China
July 14, 2005— The Dec. 26 quake that originated off Sumatra ripped a gash of at least 625 miles in the Indian Ocean's floor and displaced Earth's crust as far as southern China, a study published on Thursday says.
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Tsunami
Asian quake tears 1,000km rupture
The earthquake which triggered last December's Asian tsunami caused a rupture in the ocean floor more than 1,000km long, a new study reveals.
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14 July 2005:
China
Power crunch deepens as heat wave bakes China
BEIJING.—Searing temperatures across booming China have driven up energy demand, exposed an over-reliance on coal and are taking a toll on industry, Xinhua news agency said.
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China
China celebrates birth of panda twins
Beijing - China announced on Tuesday the birth of a pair of panda twins at the Wolong Giant Panda Centre in the south-western province of Sichuan, just days after another pair of twin cubs were born there.
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China
Ancient life in China limestone
Researchers have found well-preserved fossils of organisms that lived on the ocean bed about 550 million years ago.
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China
Isolated Yangtze Lakes Reunited with Mother River
The opening of a dyke last Tuesday finally reconnected Baidang Lake in Anhui Province with the mighty Yangtze River.
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China
WWF Summer Camp to Protect Heilongjiang Green Belt
The "Heilongjiang Green Ambassador Summer Camp", sponsored by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), set out for investigation of Heilongjiang River basin Saturday in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
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Philippines
1st Philippine Environment Filmfest
More than P350,000 cash prizes await the winning film entries in the Moonrise Film Festival as announced by Ramon Jacinto-Socco, Jr., executive director of the Center for Environmental Awareness and Education (CEAE), the fest organizers.
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Philippines
C. Luzon students get briefing on environment
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga.—The DENR here recently conducted a massive Information, Education and Communication (IEC) drive in various schools and universities in Central Luzon to create a more positive public perception on the government’s efforts in protecting and rehabilitating the environment and natural resources.
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Philippines
The environment in RP's Millennium Development Goals
SOME projects and programs brought to our attention recently have to do with the United Nations-initiated Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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Philippines
Profile of an extraordinary Sillimanian
The theme of this column and another one this month is connectivity, made possible by people endowed with intellectual gifts and/or rich past experience that is worth sharing with others. Today, I would like to share with my readers the experience of a very knowledgeable Sillimanian, a Dumagueteña, who has a vision of greening and restoring the denuded parts of the Lake Balinsasayao area to what it was before, a lush tropical rainforest with all the beautiful butterflies characteristic of Negros Island. This person is lawyer Gloria Larot, a true-blooded Sillimanian and a strong advocate of the environment. I have talked with her several times on a wide range of topics, and I have been amazed about her personal and intimate knowledge of a number of local and national personalities. It is a great pleasure on my part to feature her in this column.
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Viet Nam
Mekong wetlands protected
HA NOI — Viet Nam has joined regional efforts to promote wildlife conservation and sustainable development in the Lower Mekong wetlands.
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Viet Nam
Firm told to pump out oil stuck in sunken ship
HAI PHONG — The East Sea Transport Company has been ordered to immediately pump the remaining oil from the sunken freighter My Dinh.
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General/World
Synthetic Fragrances Harmful to Marine Life, Study Says
Synthetic fragrances commonly added to perfumes, soaps, shampoos, and dozens of other personal health care products are proving harmful to the marine environment and potentially to humans as well, according to marine scientists.
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General/World
Global Warming May Alter Atlantic Currents, Study Says
In the 2004 eco-disaster film The Day After Tomorrow, Europe and North America are gripped by a deep freeze after global warming halts the circulation of a North Atlantic ocean current. The film is pure Hollywood hyperbole.
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General/World
Commercial Whaling Ban Holds—For Now
Japan's efforts to relax whaling restrictions were voted down this week at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Yet the possible return of commercial whaling across the world's oceans still worries conservationists.
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General/World
Native tales hint at past West Coast tsunamis
SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- Tales about "Thunderbird" and "Whale" by native tribes along the U.S. West Coast, along with geological clues, point to at least two massive quakes and tsunamis that have hit the area in the last 1,100 years, a researcher said on Monday.
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General/World
NY author trails her trash in book
NEW YORK. —Author Elizabeth Royte went on a yearlong pilgrimage to "Garbage Land," trekking through landfills, paddling through trash-filled waters and smelling sewage treatment plants — all just to find out what happens to the things that people throw away.
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04 July 2005:
China
Environmental Bodies Launch Power-saving Program
Nine environmental organizations have launched an energy-saving program by fixing the temperature of air conditioners at 26 degrees centigrade in public facilities nationwide, as part of the effort to combat power shortages and protect the environment.
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China
China Needs 5 Years to Stop Snail Fever from Claiming Lives
China expects to decode in five years a snail fever susceptibility gene that may help to improve diagnosis and prevent the disease, which currently plagues 843,000 Chinese, from developing into the final stage.
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Malaysia
Dumping at sea may incur mandatory jail
The MP for Pengerang Datuk Azalina Othman will propose a mandatory jail sentence for those deliberately discharging scheduled waste into Malaysian waters following constant pollution in this area from the same source.
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Philippines
Cavite folk develop own technology
Yes, rural people themselves can develop their own technology.
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Philippines
Ex-MNLF warriors sustain peace via high-value marine finfish farming
PANGALIMA SUGALA, Tawi-Tawi – Damming Hadjirul barks orders to 50 men as they pull the fishnet from one of the nine compartments of a fish cage anchored hundreds of meters away from shore.
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Philippines
Saving the rice terraces and the Ifugao tradition
Ifugao rice farmers have seen bright prospects that may reinvigorate the seemingly dwindling interest in planting palay in the majestic rice terraces due to the high cost of production. Use the System Rice Intensification (SRI) approach.
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Philippines
Recycling waste water
AS ENVIRONMENTALIST lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr. puts it, "God has provided man with everything he needs on earth. All he needs to do is look around him to find them."
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Philippines
Petron inaugurates clean air facilities
Underscoring its commitment to lead the way in environmental stewardship, the country’s largest oil refiner and market leader Petron Corporation inaugurated its $100-million Clean Air facilities at its refinery in Limay, Bataan. The facilities – a 22,000 barrel per day (bpd) Gasoil Hydrotreater (GOHT) and a 10,000 bpd Light Virgin Naphtha Isomerization (Isom) unit – puts Petron in a unique position of being the only oil company in the country capable of producing Clean Air Act (CAA)-compliant fuels to meet its domestic requirements.
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Philippines
Youth empowerment at Canta-an, Camiguin
Alona Cordero, one of my center’s active partners in coastal resource management at Canta-an, Guinsiliban on Camiguin Island has been involved in coastal resource management for almost two decades. Through her active environmental advocacy and development efforts, she has been successful in setting up a cooperative which has established a no-take marine reserve at Canta-an in cooperation with government agencies such as BFAR and DENR. But the most unique achievement of this frail-looking lady environment-advocate is the giant clam nursery in this no-take marine reserve. Today, this nursery consists of 1,800 clams belonging to six species. Only one species of Philippine giant clam is missing from her collection – the rare Hippopus porcellanus. It will only be a matter of time when she will complete her live collection of all seven species of Philippine giant clams. Already, it is suspected that her nursery is producing juveniles. She has been instrumental in initiating a culture laboratory for giant clams. This will be functional soon. Her giant clam nursery is attracting national attention. Many people coming from various parts of the country visit it, and hopefully her idea will be replicated nation-wide.
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General/World
Journal Ranks Top 25 Unanswered Science Questions
What is the universe made of? What is the biological basis of consciousness? How long can the human life span be extended?
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General/World
Forget Alligators, This Expert Wrestles Great White Sharks
Great white sharks may be the poster child of marine predators. Yet scientists know surprisingly little about Carcharodon carcharias.
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General/World
Photo in the News: Baby Whales, Moms Stay Awake for Weeks
June 29, 2005—Caring for a newborn requires a lot of sleepless nights, as any new parent knows. But scientists now have found that for some whales and dolphins, taking care of baby means going without sleep not for hours or days, but an entire month.
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General/World
Grizzly Bear-Size Catfish Caught in Thailand
Nearly nine feet long (2.7 meters) and as big as a grizzly bear, a huge catfish caught in northern Thailand may be the largest freshwater fish ever recorded.
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General/World
Ocean species at risk from global warming: scientists
Thousands of marine species are at risk from global warming because of acidification of the world's oceans, scientists said.
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General/World
Drugs from the sea may help medical experts
Sydney - International scientists have successfully cloned marine DNA in a breakthrough they say will provide promising "drugs from the sea" to treat cancer and viral diseases.
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