So despite the promises it has been quite a while since I wrote anything here. I promise I did actually post a story a couple of weeks ago about the newly opened extension at Singapore’s Botanic Gardens, but then it ended up running in the South China Morning Post so I had to take it down again.
If you can’t get past the SCMP paywall then the shorthand version is the extension is a great addition to one of my favourite haunts in Singapore. At its centerpiece, the new section features two beautiful colonial-era houses, one of which is the oldest remaining black and white bungalow still standing in Singapore, which are now home to an art gallery and forest-focused education center.
The OCBC Arboreturm. Photo credit National Parks.
Aside from some nice trails and a forest-themed playground, the other highlight is an arboretum which is dedicated to studying how different environmental conditions impact the growth of different species of dipterocarps, one of the most important trees in the tropical rainforest ecosystem. The hope is that the research carried out at the arboretum can then be used to help in protecting and replanting tropical rainforests in the region, which is actually segways nicely into some of the main themes of the post.
An eye on the forests
Deforestation in the Chiribiquete National Park in the Colombian Amazon, identified via satellite imaging.
Source: Planet
So as I mentioned above in a lucky case of serendipity my first proper story combines both further self-promotion and a focus on deforestation. I specifically wanted to draw attention to a piece I wrote for Eco Business.com on the use of satellite imagery to monitor global deforestation (In the interest of full disclosure the original story was part of a paid for series by geospatial data company Planet).
The story focuses on news of a US$43 million agreement signed last September between Planet (and their partners Airbus and Kongsberg Satellite Services) and the Norwegian Government. The two year deal (with the option to extend for a further two years) offers free access to Planet’s high resolution and high frequency satellite imagery of the tropical regions, home to some of the world’s most important and threatened forests.
Making this data public means a whole host of stakeholders in the field of deforestation, from governments and NGOs to indigenous communities and journalists, can now access regularly updated imagery to an incredible level of detail (around 3m per pixel) across a wide region of the planet.
What this means in practice is they now have a means to properly monitor tropical forests and, through online tools such as Global Forest Watch, are able to spot and act upon potential cases of encroachment and deforestation as they happen.
Interactive World Forest Map from Global Forest Watch
The story outlines specific examples of how groups such as the NGO Amazon Conservation have begun to use this data from identifying the encroachment of grazing cattle on a national park in Colombia to working with local law enforcement authorities to clamp down on deforestation caused by illegal gold mining in Peru.
Looking further ahead, the hope is that this data can also be used to do more than just monitor rates of deforestation. Perhaps most exciting is the potential it has in terms of helping countries and organisations to analyse satellite imagery to identify and measure the amount of biomass or stored carbon in an area of forest.
I’ve talked before about the importance of seeing forests for their economic value in relation to carbon sequestration as part of nature-based climate solutions but one stumbling block is finding an efficient and transparent way of measuring that value. Satellite imagery may just be the answer and this partnership ensures it’s something that all the necessary people can now access.
The value of nature
Photo by Thomas Picard from FreeImages
Appreciating and properly understanding the true value of conserving the planet’s remaining natural habitats is the cornerstone of another new report out this month. Claimed to be the largest study of its kind, the results found that the value of the ‘ecosystem services’ provided by biodiversity sites – such as their ability to offer flood protection or carbon storage – typically outweighed the value of converting the land for human alternatives such as agriculture or logging.
Photo by Rainer Bickel from FreeImages
Carried out by research team led by the RSPB, the University of Cambridge, Birdlife International and other stakeholders the study saw them analyse over 60 biodiversity sites across six continents from Kenya to Fiji and China to the UK.
The results were pretty persuasive, with over 70% of sites studied having a greater monetary value when conserved or restored thanks to their ability to sequester carbon (that rose to 100% for forests). Even when carbon capture was removed from the equation, researchers still found that nearly half the sites were worth more in their natural state.
Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park in Nepal. Photo by Ricky Partel
As an example, they estimated that converting Nepal’s Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park from forest to farmland would result in an $11m a year deficit due to a 60% cut in carbon storage and an 88% reduction of the benefits of water quality, along with other costs.
Analysis of the different sites was carried out using TESSA (the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment), which has been developed over the last decade with the aim of putting standardised values against natural services such as clean water and flood defences.
These findings echo and reinforce the report by respected Cambridge University economist Partha Dasgupta which came out earlier this year and argued that we have to rethink how we measure the value of nature to economic success.
Commissioned by the UK treasury to help develop a 25-year environmental plan ahead of the global biodiversity summit in Kunming later this year, Dasgupta contends that “Truly sustainable economic growth and development means recognising that our long-term prosperity relies on rebalancing our demand of Nature’s goods and services with its capacity to supply them.”
Photo by jeides from FreeImages
The 600 page report outlines in detail how this should be done, but put simply it involves balancing our demands on nature to make them more sustainable; use a more inclusive model of wealth which includes nature in its accounting; and, undertake a transformation of our educational and financial institutions to ensure these changes are sustained for future generations.
Dramatic and worthy goals that are sure to impel plenty of debate but it will be interesting to see how much real notice global policy makers like Boris Johnson, who commissioned this report, actually take of these suggestions.
As we learnt this week that the eating habits of individuals in G7 countries directly causes the loss of an average of four trees a year per person, it seems pretty clear that the current economic system and the way we all behave, certainly needs to change.
Rail Line reopens
Finally, closer to home (If you live in Singapore) there was the good news for bikers and hikers that a large central stretch of the Green Rail Corridor has now reopened after a couple of years of renovation. It means you can now pretty much walk all the way from the Rail Mall in Upper Bukit Timah to Spooner Road located in the downtown Tanjong Pagar district of town.
Renovated railway bridge at King Albert Park. Photo courtesy of Simon Tyers.
It’s particularly pleasing to welcome back my favourite stretch of this trail, which passes through a charming patch of woodland between King Albert Park and the Rail Mall. The good news is the redevelopment has been pretty sensitive and while other parts of the walk have now been paved, this verdant, shady section has for the most part been left pretty natural underfoot. The section has also been heavily planted with around 1600 native trees added to the environment.
Unsurprisingly, it was pretty busy when I checked it out with my boys the weekend it opened but despite the crowds, we still saw plenty of birds including banded woodpeckers, sunbirds and an impressive racket-tailed drongo on our walk. Plus, I am happy to say they’ve left the little stream that runs alongside much of the walk and the old bridges that remind you of its previous use as the only rail line up to Malaysia.
The aim is to have enhanced and restore the complete 24km stretch of former rail line by 2022. You can check out my old story about the northern route here.
Thanks, as always, for reading I have a few things I’d love to write about soon I just need to get my head around my new full time work role first so it might be a few weeks!