WHAT BUBBLED

NICKELODEON UNDERWATER PARK SPARKS OUTRAGE

The planned development of a “Nickelodeon undersea attraction and resort” in Palawan, Philippines, has alarmed locals and environmentalists. The details surrounding the proposed park remain vague, causing even more concern.

The announcement came from Nickelodeon’s parent company, Viacom, which stated that it would be working with Coral World Park Undersea Resorts Inc. (“Asia’s first underwater resort developer”) to build a 100-hectare undersea attraction, inspired by Nickelodeon characters like SpongeBob SquarePants and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Such a project would undoubtedly have a massive impact on the marine environment in what is one of the world’s most biodiverse marine ecosystems. Despite the fact that the Coral World

Park initiative touts itself as the “largest marine reserve and coral conservation programme in Asia”, their governing foundation has no known track record of marine conservation.

A petition against the development has been launched and can be found at www.bataris.org.ph/petitions/no-tonickelodeon-s-underwater-theme-parkin-palawan

SHARK FINS ARE BIG BUSINESS IN SINGAPORE

A new report by the wildlife trade monitoring group, TRAFFIC, has found that between 2012 and 2013, Singapore was the world’s second-largest trader of shark fins by value. Hong Kong takes the top spot.

The report draws on statistics from the year 2012–13, during which Singapore exported USD40 million, and imported USD51.4 million worth of shark fins. More than 66 percent of the fins were found to have come from Namibia, Uruguay and Spain. More than 72 percent of Singapore’s shark fin exports went to Hong Kong.

Hopefully in more recent years these numbers have dropped, as an increasing number of airlines flying through Singapore now refuse to carry shark fins as cargo, in light of sharks’ plummeting numbers.

BIODIVERSITY UNDER FIRE

Military development on the highlycontroversial Spratly Islands (a critical biodiversity hotspot) has heavily impacted coral reef cover, a new study has revealed; atolls with military bases have been shown to have experienced a 70-percent reduction in coral cover, according to Greg Asner, a global ecologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science.

Consisting of 14 islands and more than 100 coral reefs, the Spratlys occupy a highly strategic geopolitical position in the South China Sea, and, as such, are claimed in part by Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam, though

China claims full ownership. Critical commercial shipping passes through these waters, and huge reserves of oil are located under the seabed. The place has thus become a stage upon which governments, including the US, demonstrate their naval power.

While there is insufficient scientific information on the biodiversity of the Spratly Islands, they are known to be a significant source of coral larvae for that part of the South China Sea. It is known that huge portions of the reefs have been dredged as part of the ongoing military development.

TACKLING PLASTIC IN INDONESIA

Indonesia’s government has just pledged USD1 billion to reduce plastic waste by 70 percent over the next eight years. The announcement was made at the 2017 World Oceans Summit in

Nusa Dua, Bali.

The pledge has not come a moment too soon: A report in the journal Science in 2015 found that Indonesia is the second-largest contributor to plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, with up to 10 million plastic bags handed out every day in the country, many of which will end up in watercourses, finding their way to the sea.

Initial plans for the use of these funds have been released, and include the development of biodegradable alternatives from cassava and seaweed, and educational initiatives. There is also the possibility of a nationwide tax on plastic bags, a proposal that may have quite an impact – in 2016 a trial tax on single-use plastic bags helped to reduce marine pollution by almost 50 percent.

These plans are part of the United Nation’s Clean Seas Campaign, which involves nine other countries who are also making significant commitments to reduce plastic consumption.

PEOPLE POWER IS ESSENTIAL FOR MPAS

A new study published in the journal Nature shines a light on one of the most pressing, but often underreported, challenges facing marine protected areas (MPAs) – a lack of funding for their management.

While declarations of massive, high-profile MPAs, such as the recently created Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument off Hawaii (currently the largest marine protected area in the world at 1,508,870 square kilometres), are always a step in the right direction, without adequate budgets for critical activities, MPAs become little more than “paper parks”.

A number of activities are essential for successful conservation programmes, including monitoring, enforcement, administration, community engagement and sustainable tourism activities. If there is no money to pay people to manage these activities, then MPAs will not be effective.

The study looked at data from

433 marine protected areas around the world. They found startlingresults, including the fact that nearly 91 percent of their case studies lacked sufficient staff to carry out critical management activities.

The data was striking. The researchers analysed 62 MPAs in 24 countries and found that fish populations on MPAs with adequate budgets and staff grew almost three times more than those with insufficient personnel.

WORLD HERITAGE AT RISK

A report released by WWF has found that 114 of the world’s

229 UNESCO World Heritage Sites are under threat. Industrial activities including oil and gas exploration and extraction, mining, illegal logging, construction of large-scale infrastructure, overfishing and unsustainable water use are causing damage to these precious places, negatively impacting biodiversity, and destroying the livelihoods of local people.

This information is especially disturbing considering that World Heritage Sites are afforded some of the best protection and awarded significantly more funding than many other protected areas.

One example is the Sundarbans World Heritage Site in Bangladesh, a mangrove forest area of exceptional biodiversity that supports over 300,000 people. It is also home to some of the last wild tigers in the world. However, this site is threatened by heavy shipping traffic, pollution, overpopulation, and now by the planned construction of two coal-based power plants.