News - Mac



	ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS January 2005 February 2005 Mac 2005 April 2005 13 March 2005: Malaysia Massive silting forces TNB to switch off power stations TANAH RATA: The 40-year-old Sultan Abu Bakar Dam has been shut down temporarily because of massive silting from uncontrolled land clearing for agriculture and development activities. ¤ Read News Malaysia Hope for threatened animals The Animal Planet series, Lyndal’s Lifeline, begins with these words uttered by its presenter, Lyndal Davies: “The world’s animals are in big trouble. Many may become extinct in the next 20 years. We’re throwing out a lifeline to help them.” ¤ Read News Malaysia Probe into fish deaths at lake KOTA KINABALU: An ecological phenomenon such as the red tide is the likely cause of the mysterious death of thousands of fish in the protected Likas Lagoon here. ¤ Read News Philippines Disturbing facts about water pollution The buzz words nowadays seem to be environmental degradation, pollution, global warming, Kyoto Protocol, etc. etc. ¤ Read News Philippines DENR, Coast Guard, yacht club ink accord to protect Manila Bay For a lot of Filipinos, the Manila Bay is an integral part of one’s childhood, and the mention of the Bay brings back memories that are always cherished. For many, it was not simply a bay. It was a park, a playground, a source of livelihood. ¤ Read News Straits of Malacca "Marine electronic highway" to enhance shipping safety in Malacca Straits The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has launched a "marine electronic highway project" to enhance the safety of shipping along the Straits of Malacca in South-East Asia. ¤ Read News ========================= General/World Australian scientists prove less trees, less rain SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian scientists have found that deforestation along the Amazon River in South America was reducing rainfall and causing climate change in the region. ¤ Read News General/World Kyoto treaty system called a form of 'colonialism' Sajida Khan, who has fought for years to close an apartheid-era dumpsite that she says has sickened many people in her predominantly brown and black community outside Durban, South Africa, was dismayed to learn recently that she faces a surprising new obstacle: the Kyoto global warming treaty. ¤ Read News Tsunami ADB to grant tsunami-hit countries $600 mn The Asian Development Bank said it will set up a trust fund of $600 million in the form of grants for Indonesia, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, countries hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster. ¤ Read News Tsunami Thai tsunami study not for public release Results of a Thai government study of December's devastating tsunami will not be made public, partly due to a lawsuit filed in the United States, probe chief Samith Dhammasaroj said on Wednesday. ¤ Read News 11 March 2005: China Eco-Concern Over Yangtze It is critical to control soil erosion and improve the ecosystem along the Yangtze River, the country's longest waterway, said an adviser to the central government yesterday. ¤ Read News Philippines RP environmental law enforcement gets US help A THREE-PERSON team from the US Department of Interior (USDOI) is in Manila to conduct a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) of Philippine environmental law enforcement practice. The TNA is the first activitiy under the three-year Partnership for Biodiversity Conservation Project. ¤ Read News Philippines DENR selective logging policy hit THE DENR has pushed for region-based logging despite the rallying cry of many sectors of society such as the church and civic organizations to spare the country's remaining natural forests from destruction, environmental group Haribon said. ¤ Read News Philippines Kyoto Protocol for climate change FEBRUARY 16, 2005, this interna tional treaty that requires cuts in greenhouse gas emissions took effect with the support of 141 countries. The 34 industrialized countries which ratified the treaty are bound by this international treaty to reduce their production of greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent before 2012 based on the 1990 levels. Each of these 34 countries has been given targets. ¤ Read News ========================= General/World A third of world's amphibian species threatened with extinction: UN NAIROBI (AFP) - Nearly one-third of the world's known amphibian species are threatened with extinction due to climate change and pollution, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report released here. ¤ Read News General/World Undersea quakes intrigue scientists VANCOUVER, British Columbia. - Scientists searched on Monday for signs of a volcanic eruption off the Pacific Northwest coast following a swarm of earthquakes that posed little risk of causing a tsunami but could teach them about how the Earth's crust forms. ¤ Read News General/World UN report warns of dangers of over-fishing world’s top marine species 7 March 2005 – With seven of the top 10 marine fish species fully exploited or overexploited, serious biological and economic drawbacks are likely if fishing capacity for these stocks is further increased, according to a new United Nations report released today. ¤ Read News General/World Is the Amazon forest dying? As the light plane banked left, the smell of smoke reached the cockpit. The landscape below was an ashen green, the sun above an orange glow behind sooty billows of grey. ¤ Read News Tsunami UN agency seeks to boost tourism to tsunami-hit nations 2 March 2005 – Seeking to avoid a new “infodemic,” a repeat of the slump in Asian tourism from the SARS health crisis two years ago, the United Nations tourism agency has called on the world’s media to take care in its coverage of destinations hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami so as not to slow the recovery of an important economic sector. ¤ Read News Tsunami Sri Lanka says donors fail to keep tsunami aid promises COLOMBO - International donors who outbid each other to pledge tsunami relief to Sri Lanka have failed to deliver and the island has received only a fraction of the promised cash, a top official said Thursday. ¤ Read News Tsunami SOMALIA: Tsunami may have exposed dumped hazardous waste NAIROBI, 3 March (IRIN) - The Indian Ocean tsunami that hit the Somali coast in December may have spread hazardous wastes dumped there earlier, exposing residents to possible health problems, the UN environment agency, UNEP, said on Thursday. ¤ Read News Tsunami Debt moratorium for tsunami-hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka OK'd PARIS-- Indonesia and Sri Lanka, devastated by the tsunami disaster in late December, have been given a moratorium until December 31 on repayment of their debt owed to Paris Club members, the Paris Club said Thursday. ¤ Read News 09 March 2005: China Program to promote environmental education starts in Beijing BEIJING, March. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- A program to promote environmental education in central and western China, funded by the General Electric Foundation, was launched at the Beijing Normal University recently. ¤ Read News China Disaster Preparedness Plans for Tsunami Affected Areas Enhancing disaster preparedness was one of the main conclusions made in a three-day tsunami forum hosted by Hong Kong Red Cross which closed Saturday. ¤ Read News Philippines Filipino wins int'l award for work with mangroves Filipino research scientist Jurgenne Honculada Primavera has won a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, the world's most prestigious award in marine conservation for her work in preserving and restoring mangroves in the country. ¤ Read News Tsunami Tsunami Survivors Need Gender-Sensitive Care - Groups BANGKOK, Mar 8 (IPS) - Against the backdrop of International Women's Day, rights activists are calling for more gender-sensitive programmes to help women and girls who survived the Indian Ocean tsunami. ¤ Read News World/General Ants - learning from the collective "Go to the ant, thou sluggard," King Solomon advised in the Book of Proverbs Chapter Six, "consider her ways and be wise". ¤ Read News 07 March 2005: China Southwest Hot Spot for Biodiversity Home to over 12,000 species of plants, the mountainous region of southwest China is believed to be one of the most botanically rich regions in the world. ¤ Read News Malaysia Pulau Ketam dumps its dirty habit Visitors to Pulau Ketam, a mangrove-covered island off Port Klang in Selangor, may occasionally catch an unpleasant sight: scores of rubbish bins being loaded onto a boat docked at the jetty. ¤ Read News Philippines Islands and landfill OTHER cities or even provinces probably wish they have many things that Puerto Princesa, Palawan's capital city, has. ¤ Read News Philippines Starfish destroying coral reefs in S. Leyte alarms gov MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, Philippines -- The provincial government has sought the help of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Coast Guard divers to stem an outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish that have been eating up the coral reefs off the historical island of Limasawa. ¤ Read News World/General Kyoto Protocol: What’s there to celebrate? Amids celebrations on Kyoto Protocol’s coming into force recently others are equally finding cause for grave concern. A coalition of non-government organizations (NGOs), environmentalists, activists, communities, scientists and economists across the world are mostly concerned about the climate crisis. The Durban Group, for instance, charged that the 1997 climate treaty not only fails to cut greenhouse gas emissions enough to avert climate devastation, but steals from the poor to give to the rich. ¤ Read News World/General US probes submarine link in dolphin case Washington - The United States government has launched an investigation into whether the mass beaching of dolphins in southern Florida this past week was caused by naval exercises involving a sonar-equipped submarine, officials said late on Saturday. ¤ Read News World/General Berth at the Burj Al-Arab The jury is still out on whether Burj Al-Arab (Arab Tower) is the world’s tallest and most spectacular hotel. What is undeniable, though, is that it is the planet’s most expensive and decadent hotel. KEE HUA CHEE drops (not checks) in. ¤ Read News World/General Coral mineral find sheds light on climate change Queensland researchers have discovered a mineral in coral that may change the way scientists look at climate change. ¤ Read News World/General Scientists Call For Implementation of Quota System for Whaling To Help Conserve Whales "In 1946, the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling authorized the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to designate sanctuaries that prohibit commercial or aboriginal subsistence whaling. A sanctuary operated in the South Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean between 1938 and 1955. Since then, the Indian Ocean Sanctuary was adopted in 1979 and the Southern Ocean Sanctuary (SOS) in 1994. These sanctuaries constitute the world's largest marine protected areas. Early IWC sanctuaries were emergency measures enacted to protect overexploited stocks while other measures were implemented. More recently, the establishment of IWC sanctuaries has been criticized as a political, rather than scientific, means to exclude commercial whaling from large areas of the ocean." So notes a recent paper in the journal Science by Leah Gerber, K. David Hyrenbach, and Mark A. Zacharias. ¤ Read News World/General Coral Decline Threatens Fish Biodiversity in Marine Reserves, Says Study "Marine reserves can protect fish from exploitation," notes a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "but do they protect fish biodiversity in degrading environments? The answer appears to be no, as indicated by our 8-year study in Papua New Guinea. A devastating decline in coral cover caused a parallel decline in fish biodiversity, both in marine reserves and in areas open to fishing." ¤ Read News World/General Do Fish Have Consciousness? Do Fish Feel Pain? "There is growing societal and scientific interest in the welfare status of fish used for commercial enterprise. As animal welfare is primarily concerned with the quality of life of a conscious, sentient organism, the question of whether fishes are even capable of consciousness must first be addressed in order to assess their welfare status." Thus begins a review paper in the journal Fish and Fisheries, by Kristopher Paul Chandroo and colleagues from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. ¤ Read News World/General Dive In To Earth Day 2005 The Coral Reef Alliance has announced plans for its seventh annual "Dive In To Earth Day" event, to be staged the week of Earth Day, April 22, 2005. In more than 90 countries and territories around the world, participants will engage in beach and underwater cleanups, educational workshops, fish surveys, lake cleanups, art contests, mooring buoy installations, aquarium exhibits, fundraising parties and other marine conservation activities organized locally by community members and businesses. Says the Coral Reef Alliance: "People are invited throughout the week to organize and participate in a wide range of activities to help protect underwater ecosystems. Dive In To Earth Day has become a great success over the past six years, generating over 20 percent of all registered Earth Day activities worldwide. Over 200,000 participants from 89 countries and territories around the world have taken part in 1,200 Dive In activities. To date, Dive In participants have removed 200,000 lbs of trash from coastal areas, educated and inspired children to care for water resources, supported coral reef areas and much, much more." ¤ Read News 03 March 2005: China Over 50 Chinese Cities Sinking The Ministry of Water Resources claims that the overuse of ground water has caused land to sink in over 50 Chinese cities, mainly located on the Yangtze River Delta and in the country's northeast. ¤ Read News China Roof Greenery to Be Expanded Guangzhou's greenery department planned to add 20,000 square meters of roof greenery this year to improve the environment and save land resources in old urban areas. ¤ Read News Malaysia Stop Cutting Trees to Rebuild Aceh - Conservationists JAKARTA, Mar 2 (IPS) - Environmentalists are opposing the plan of the government to cut down more trees in one of the largest national parks in Indonesia to help rebuild tsunami-ravaged Aceh. ¤ Read News Philippines Marcopper mining disaster revisited BOAC, Marinduque.- Thirty-six years ago, this island, 170 kilometers south of Manila, was used to be a sanctuary of fish and other marine life. Untouched by massive commercial fishing and large-scale mining, this island province between the Bondoc Peninsula and Mindoro Island was a haven for Pio Penaroyo. ¤ Read News Philippines Global warming on CNN FROM Alaska to the South Pacific, CNN Presents unravels the debate over climate change in a new hour-long documentary, "A Rising Tide: The Threat of Global Warming." The documentary is the first of four specially-commissioned CNN Presents to air in CNN's 25th anniversary. ¤ Read News Philippines Valentine lovefest, Puerto Princesa-style PUERTO Princesa, capital of Palawan, is a city with a population of 210,000. It doesn't have factories, no smog, no squatters, only one mall but many small businesses and retail stores, and no piled-up trash or litter anywhere. ¤ Read News Thailand Tsunami nations need $1.5 bln for fisheries - UN BANGKOK, March 1 (Reuters) - About $1.5 billion will be needed to rebuild shattered fisheries in seven tsunami-hit countries in Asia over the next five years, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday. ¤ Read News Tsunami After the tsunami disaster, another threat looming ahead : European fishing vessels By a 429 to 105 majority, the European Parliament has massively adopted a proposal to subsidize the transfer of hundreds of under 12 m decommissioned boats to tsunami hit areas. On 28 January, the ministers of agriculture and fisheries will decide whether to endorse or drop that plan put forth by the Commission. ¤ Read News World/General Ailing Elephant Gets Acupuncture (AP) Singapore's zoo is using an ancient Asian remedy to treat sick animals: acupuncture. ¤ Read News World/General Pythons Grow Bigger Hearts at Mealtimes Burmese pythons like a meal they can really get their fangs around, especially since the snakes are known to go half a year or more between meals. That gustatory pause is merely one of pythons' more remarkable adaptations. ¤ Read News World/General Unweaving the song of whales For nearly a decade, Cornell University researcher Christopher Clark has been eavesdropping on the ocean, hoping to decipher the enigmatic songs of whales. ¤ Read News World/General Fears fin fishing endangering sharks A marine conservation group is trying to raise awareness of the risk many shark species face due to the rapid expansion in shark fin fishing. ¤ Read News World/General World’s largest conservation gathering opens to escalating global species extinction crisis A total of 15,589 species face extinction, reveals the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. One in three amphibians and almost half of all freshwater turtles are threatened, on top of the one in eight birds and one in four mammals known to be in jeopardy. ¤ Read News World/General Environment and evolution of human disease ONLY human diseases caused directly by microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) are dealt with in this essay. These organisms are influenced by and adapt to the changing conditions of the biological and physical environments. They are subject to the natural processes like other biological creatures including human beings. ¤ Read News