Friday, February 15, 2008

Another turtle found dead on Terengganu beach

When I was at Rantau Abang in 2006, I saw a sick Green Turtle on the beach. No sign of injury on her. I tried pushing her back into the sea but was not successful. Are these turtles a warning to us of the coming "end of the world"?
Read the article below:

Source: thestar.com.my
Friday February 15, 2008

Another turtle found dead on Terengganu beach
KUALA TERENGGANU: Four turtles have been found dead on Terengganu's beaches in the last five weeks.
In the latest case, a lifeless female hawksbill turtle measuring 1.5m in length was found on the beach off Gong Balai in Merchang, near here, late Tuesday.

Washed up: Five-year-old Muhd Ikhwan Hakim from Merchang taking a closer look at the dead turtle found beached off Gong Balai in Terengganu.

Villager Abdul Halim Ariffin, 39, believed the reptile could have died after being caught in a fishing net.

“Judging from its injuries, I think the turtle died several days before it washed ashore,” he said when met here.

On Jan 25, a lifeless male green turtle measuring 89.5cm was found on the beach off Universiti Malaysia Terengganu here.

In two previous cases, a green turtle washed up at the Tok Jembal beach, some 2km from the university, on Jan 6 and a giant soft-shelled turtle was found dead on the beach fronting the Botanical Course Camp Resort in Merang on Jan 15.

The soft-shelled turtle measured 63cm long and 55cm wide.
Over the last two years, 20 turtles have been reported stranded in Terengganu.

Scale of SCORE project worries environmental group

With this mega project, is our present Government green?
What is the motive? Timber?
Read the article below.

Source: thestar.com.my
Friday February 15, 2008

MIRI: An environmental group is concerned that some 77,000sq kilometres of central Sarawak would be developed under the Sarawak Renewable Energy Corridor (SCORE).
Borneo Resources Institute (BRI) coordinator Raymond Abin said the land area, covering 57% of the state, had a huge variety of rare plants and animals, and was ancestral land to native folk. He said the public was not informed that such a large area would be developed before SCORE’s launching on Monday.

“Why is there no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out in the affected areas?
“From information we gathered, this region affected by the SCORE project has a vast and rare bio-diversity.

“It is quite frightening to think of its impact to the environment and to the climate if such a huge area of forests is to be cut,” Abin said.

SCORE has attracted an initial investment of RM110bil via 12 memorandum of understandings signed by local and foreign companies, including five major deals to churn out electricity via hydro-dams and coal-powered generation plants in the region covered by the development corridor.

A 320km stretch of coastal land between Tanjung Manis in Mukah Division and Similajau in Bintulu Division would function as the main platform for the setting of 10 major industries, such as aluminium smelting, steel production, shipyard building and other heavy industries.
New power plants would be set up to produce electricity using hydro, coal and gas as their main feedstocks, so that 20,000MWs of electricity would be produced to power the industries.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Man Play God Again

I read the article “Engineered Mosquitoes Could Wipe Out Dengue Fever” and felt that our world is surely heading to the end. Man is playing God again. And the worst is that they are using Bolehland as the guineapig!

The article reads:
Scientists at a British biotech company said they have evidence that their genetically modified mosquitoes, which are programmed for sudden, early death, can control the spread of dengue fever. Dengue is carried by mosquitoes and is the scourge of urban areas in the developing world, much as malaria is in rural regions.
The company, Oxitec, said it can decimate mosquito populations by breeding genetically modified male mosquitoes, then releasing them to mate with wild females. Their offspring contain lethal genes that kill them young, before they can reproduce. Company officials told Wired News that their latest test results show that the genetically modified bugs can breed just as well as wild ones. "We will be able to control dengue through controlling the mosquitoes that transmit it, especially in large urban areas," said the company's chief scientist Luke Alphey. "Thereby protecting many, many millions of people from this disease." Mosquitoes pass dengue fever to up to 100 million people each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Up to 5 million die...”

If you have been into the virgin jungle in Malaysia, I bet that you hardly find any mosquito. If there is, then that place have been visited by human.

Perhaps you would like to know why?
Because in the jungle the bats feed freely on the mosquitoes.

Then why is it that when there are human, there are mosquitoes?
Because human cook with fire which smoked away the bats, and without bats, caused the over supply of mosquitoes.

This is only a simple ecosystem. What about other fauna and flora affected by the disappearing of mosquitoes? I can think of spiders getting extinct caused by the disappearing of mosquitoes.

Here are some comments from the net:

“…removing ANY organism from a local eco-system can cause a collapse of all organisims in it. We typically think of mosquitos as no-good insects, but I'm sure they have a place in the food cycles of other creatures who are also native to the area. Wiping out or dramatically reducing the mosquito population could affect the residents' main food supplies and then you have a different problem -- starving people, rather than sick people. The effect on crop pollination in fruits and vegetables as well as other potentially hazardous effects on the ecosystem? Such tinkering with nature is dangerous indeed - what would the company (and the country of Malaysia) do if their crops/fruits no longer fruited because they weren't pollinated. Also, how would these genetic mutants be contained in Malaysia (they couldn't) - their spread could cause many more problems than they solve. Should we allow a company to use Malaysia as a laboratory for such experiments? Who knows what unseen impact this will have on our ecological balance. I would be extremely cautious - and worried - about this initiative”.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

WHO'S GREENER? Clinton or Obama? McCain or Romney?

While in US, environmental groups would vote rationally according to the candidate that supports the green revolution, we as citizens of Bolehland should now ask ourselves “Who’s Greener?”

Our own Bolehland’s election is coming. Maybe this month – February 2008. But alas, the present government is real chicken. Giving little time for election rallies. Perhaps Bolehland has already qualified for the Guiness World of Record for the shortest time between declaring of election and polling day – in matter of days!

But Bolehland has always been monopolized by the ruling BN and there is no chance to gauge the opposition on the “green”. Since we can’t gauge and compare, then we should find what were the “non-green” that the present ruling party had done to degrade and demote nature. Here are some that you should add to your list:

1. Massive logging in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.
2. Illegal loggers getting away free.
3. Logging concessions given without any consideration of the indigenous people like Penans and orang asli.
4. Highways cutting through hills in the name of development.
5. Dams built irrespective of the environment impact.
6. Turning national parks into theme parks.
7. Fiasco of tourist island like Pulau Redang

I can’t think of other issues at the moment of writing. Would you like to add to this list?

It is important to consider environmental issues as you prepare to cast your vote. Lets vote for change!

Monday, February 04, 2008

Petition To Get Attention


I was at Nian Ning's funeral. I knew her since her school days. She was one of the participants in our Nature Camp. A good person. A nature lover.


A blog http://buscrashnomore.blogspot.com/ has started a petition.

"A petition to get the attention of the relevant authorities, especially the enforcement units in making sure that only drivers with competency are allowed on the road. It is time that JPJ should seriously considered defensive driving course for all drivers on public road. It is also a reminder for all young drivers to drive carefully and bear in mind that you are also responsible for the passenger lives. I say this because I have seen young teenage drivers speeding at reckless speed, endangering not only their own lives but the lives of others.Something has to be done at the authority level to ensure only competent drivers are allowed on the road in order to ensure safety for all users on the road".


Petition or not, the authorities couldn't care about it. It will happen again and again.


Just like logging, environment issues and many other destructions which were sometime called "acts of God", what make you think the authorities will act this time?


I have no hope that they will take note of this petition. But I have to "Take Sides"! Have you sign the petition?


"TAKE SIDES. Silence helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." "Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe."

- Eli Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, 1986 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1985 winner of the Congressional Gold Medal, and author of over 40 books.

No, we don't cry for action to be taken anymore. We should vote them off! Take sides!
Farewell Nian Ning!