So after months of nothing, two posts in quick(ish) succession.
This one is pretty packed as there seems to have been quite a lot to catch my interest of late. Or maybe I just have more time to read now that the European Championships are over. I would also like to think it's a reflection of an increasing focus by the media (and in turn the public) on issues around sustainability and conservation. Stil that, like my enduring dreams of England winning a trophy, might just be misguided optimism.
Either way this entry contains everything from efforts to rewild the oceans and a special week dedicated to big cats to some intriguing sounds from the Congolese jungle. There’s also a round up of nature-based news from Singapore to finish off so hope you enjoy.
Rewilding the seas
"Hawksbill turtle, Red Sea, Egypt" by Derek Keats is licensed under CC BY 2.0
There has been a lot written about successful rewilding efforts around the world, from giant otters in Argentina, wolves in Yellowstone Park and beavers in London. Yet until recently I have never really heard much about efforts to rewild marine species in the oceans.
As this great Guardian report highlights, one reason is because there are a number of unique obstacles - covering everything from pollution to the difficulties around captive breeding - that make it much more challenging.
Despite those challenges, the story does give examples where such rewilding has been attempted, from the successful reintroduction of Giant Clams in Fiji to ongoing attempts to release captive bred Zebra Shark eggs into Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Raja Ampat in Indonesia - incidentally very high on my wish list when travel becomes possible again.
Zebra Shark by Sigmund from Norway is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Indeed such MPAs, which limit or restrict destructive and extractive activities within their watery borders are deemed to be a key factor in ensuring any long term rewilding success. Creating more of them is a large driver behind the 30x30 plan - a global project aimed at protecting and conserving 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Yet as the Guardian piece points out, the biggest ongoing challenge to rewilding projects is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. In fact, a 2018 UN Report estimated that 90% of fish stocks are fully exploited or depleted. The problem is trying to monitor and prevent such illegal activities when you are talking about such vast and remote areas. To give some context, 30% of the world’s oceans is an area 11 times the size of the United States.
The solution according to a recent story by Eco-Business might be the use of cutting-edge technology. They explore a number of options being trialled, from low cost monitoring tools used to track small-scale fishermen in the Philippines to utilising satellite imagery to monitor coral bleaching globally. I was particularly intrigued by the detection system being used to track dynamite fishing in real time in the coastal waters of Sabah, Malaysia.
"Raja Ampat" by dennisikeller is licensed under CC BY 2.0
A lot of the people quoted in the story, do make the point that the technology alone is not enough. It needs to be supported by government actions and backed financially to ensure that these pilot projects can be scaled up and those carrying out IUU fishing are brought to justice.
Addressing our ocean issues are clearly just as important as tackling terrestrial conservation challenges. After all, the oceans are home to 80% of life on the planet and sustain around 3 billion people globally. What’s more it’s estimated that the world’s oceans have absorbed 30% of human-induced carbon dioxide emissions and over 90% of the heat from global warming. Healthy and diverse oceans are crucial in our fight against climate change.
Jungle Sounds
Forest elephants in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Congo by Thomas Breuer is licensed under CC BY 2.5
Elephants grumbling, chimpanzees hooting and gorillas beating their chests. These are just some of the amazing rainforest sounds you can now listen to for free thanks to the release of thousands of hours of audio recordings taken in the Republic of Congo’s Nouabale-Ndoki Park.
But they don’t just offer a means of transporting you sonically to a wild part of West Africa. As a recent National Geographic story explains, these field recordings can actually play a crucial role in ongoing research and conservation efforts around the world.
The recordings, which date back to 2017, are part of Cornell University’s Elephant Listening Project, which was created to track communication among forest elephants and, just as importantly, listen out for the presence of poachers and illegal loggers in this remote park. By listening out for the sounds of gunshots or chainsaws, they have been able to adjust the routes and scale of anti-poaching patrols with positive results.
In the feature, behavioural ecologist and project director, Peter Wrege explains that these recordings can also be a ‘goldmine’ for other researchers who can use the free audio database to listen for evidence of other species from birds to frogs to apes.
Poignantly, he also makes the point that they also offer a historical record of the health of a jungle system that is under increasing threat.
It seems that the audio recordings, when combined with contemporary technology that can trawl through hours and hours of recordings to listen for key sounds and signals, are beginning to play more and more of a role in conservation efforts globally. As the story points out that’s why it's so important that this data is out there and shared so that its true value can be unlocked.
I confess I found this story extra intriguing as I’ve also been compiling my own audio from natural spots over the last three years. The clips range from a beach in Koh Samui, dawn in Litchfield National Park in Darwin to A LOT of bird song and forest sounds in Singapore. I started doing it with the vague idea of creating an ambient masterpiece which has never quite happened, so it’s good to know they might have some value after all!
Tiger Talk
So I am a self-confessed cat lover, and while snow leopards are my all time favourite, its a close run thing between them and tigers. So I am definitely looking forward to the upcoming Singapore Tiger Week 2021, which starts on July 30th. Organised by the Singapore Wildcat Action Group (SWAG), the online event will feature virtual talks by leading tiger experts and conservationists. Based around the theme ‘Time is running out’ it promises to be a great way to find out more about the world’s biggest big cats and the threats they are currently facing.
As well as promoting tiger conservation, STW aims to raise funds, especially for the critically endangered Malayan Tiger, via the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MYCAT) Community Ranger project.
I got a great insight into the work of MYCAT when I met Vilma D’Rozario and Carmen Pang, the founders of SWAG, way back in February. Headed up by Dr Kae Kawanishi (who will be speaking at Tiger Week), MYCAT is an alliance of conservation groups and government agencies focused on protecting the last remaining tigers living in and around the Sungai Yu (Yu River) Ecological Corridor in Malaysia. This vital corridor connects the two remaining tiger ranges on the peninsula, the Main Range and Greater Taman Negara, which together form the fifth largest tiger conservation zone in the world. .
"Malayan Tiger" by goingslo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
In ‘normal times’, members of SWAG were regular attendees of Cat Walks, an opportunity to travel to Malaysia and head out on patrol with the local Batek community to check for evidence of tigers and act as a deterrent to poachers.
It sounds like an amazing project, one I definitely plan to investigate properly when borders are open. In the meantime, SWAG remains focused on fundraising and educating the public on the threat faced by the critically endangered Malayan Tiger, with only around 200 remaining in the wild.
As well as tigers, SWAG also do some great work raising awareness around other wild cats in Asia, including Singapore’s own small population of Leopard Cats. They also host regular lectures on other wild cats and their next one on Clouded Leopards, looks well worth attending. To get you excited for that check out this video of this truly beautiful wild cat that also calls Malaysia’s forests home:
Singapore Shorts
So as I said at the start there’s been quite a bit of natural-related news coming out of Singapore in the last week or two. First up, this July marked the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Rail Corridor, the former rail line that runs through the heart of Singapore. I’ve talked about the corridor a few times as it’s been undergoing a lot of developments over the last year or two. While, I can’t say I’ve always approved of all the changes - a bit too much manicuring for my liking - it is a great green asset that connects up a lot of important green spaces in the city. What’s more, it's also heralded as a successful example of the government working alongside local public interest groups like the Nature Society of Singapore (NSS) and We Support the Green Corridor. If you’re keen to find out more then the NSS currently have a special bundle offer on three corridor-related publications.
Elsewhere, there was the return of a previously extinct bird species in Singapore with confirmed sightings of the rare green broadbill on the offshore island of Pulau Ubin. The former site of a number of granite quarries, Ubin is now managed by the National Parks, and is the focus for a number of active reforestation and conservation programmes. The island was where Oriental Pied Hornbills first returned to Singapore (there are now over 100 in the country) back in the 1980s, while the buff-rumped woodpecker, black-and-red broadbill and barred eagle owl are all birds previously declared extinct in Singapore that have been spotted on the island recently. As I’ve written about before it also boasts a healthy population of globally endangered straw headed bulbuls as well as the rare lesser false vampire bat. Evidence that reforestation efforts can make a big difference.
And in another story of returns, there was news of a sighting of a Raffles Banded Langur in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR). Numbering just over 60 individuals in Singapore, these charismatic primates have been restricted to the Central Catchment Reserve for the past 30 years - in large part thanks to the completion of the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE). It’s not quite clear how the lone langur got to the reserve though the original National Parks report speculates that it might have used the Eco-Link Bridge - the first of its kind in SE Asia - constructed to help connect the two green spaces back in 2013. However, it got there it demonstrates the possibility that the local population are expanding their territory.
Finally, I just wanted to end by highlighting another great feature by Eco-Business. The piece offers a truly deep dive into Singapore’s changing relationship with its natural spaces over time and what their fate might be in the future. It’s well worth a read and features perspectives from many of the country’s most relevant conservationists and scientists. It also offers a fascinating insight into the rise of citizen activism on the island over the last 30+ years. I will leave you with one positive stat featured in the story, namely that 3 in 5 Singaporeans now believe that protecting the environment should be prioritised over economic growth. Surely that’s progress.