Sustainability Momentum Sdn Bhd

Iraq’s Council of Ministers has approved the creation of the country’s first national park, offering hope that other lost wetlands in the country can be restored. The vast Mesopotamian marshlands in the south of the country have now been re-established with the dykes constructed during Saddam Hussein’s time removed and water restored. However, to maintain the national park and keep the marshland as habitat to native species including Basra reed warbler and Iraq Babbler, there needs to be a consensus by way of an international agreement on water sharing with Iraq’s neighbouring countries such as Syria, Turkey and Iran. Furthermore, the park will need sufficient funds to keep it going.

Dipterocarpus coriaceus specimen

Dipterocarpus coriaceus, also locally known as Keruing Paya, is an endemic species to Kalimantan, Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. However, in July 2013, this species is reported to be extinct from peninsular Malaysia. Its last largest natural habitat, the Bikam Forest Reserve in Perak has been de-gazetted for oil palm plantations over a long period of time. The last remaining 400ha of forest area was de-gazetted early this year by the state government. Keruing Paya is known for its high value timber and MNS and FRIM will work together to replant this species in their original habitat.

Link: http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/keruing-paya-now-extinct-1.328029

Date & source: July 31, 2013, The New Straits Times

BMW unveiled its new electric vehicle, BMW i3 two days ago in New York City, two years after the concept was announced. The EV will be the first mass-produced auto with a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic passenger cell mounted onto an aluminum chassis. The use of carbon will reduce the car weight, thus reducing the fuel consumption as well as lowering the emission. Available in standard and Range Extender model, the BMW i3 is expected to arrive in US in the second quarter of 2014. Weighted around 2,634 pounds, it is powered by a rear-mounted 170-hp electric motor coupled with a 22-kWh lithium-ion battery. The BMW i3 can go up to 100 miles for the standard model, and up to 180 miles for the Range Extender model per charge.

Link: http://inhabitat.com/nyc/bmw-debuts-2014-i3-electric-vehicle-at-world-premiere-in-new-york-city/ and http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/bmw-officially-unveils-i3-electric-car/25266?tag=nl.e660&s_cid=e660&ttag=e660&ftag=TRE4eb29b5

Date & source: July 30, 2013, Inhabitat and July 29, 2013, Smart Planet

A team from University of St Andrews in Scotland found that in the same way humans name people, dolphins use a similar approach by assigning signature whistles as labels to ‘call’ each other. Researchers noted that when these animals hear their own call played back to them, they respond. The dolphins reacted to their own signature whistle but did not respond to others. Researchers believe this is the first time that this trait of ‘identity-signalling’ has been observed in an animal, but some suggest that certain parrot species exhibit similar behaviour. The findings have recently been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Thanks to seven Japanese Groups and Companies, a new sanctuary will be built for the threatened Bornean elephants in the Lower Kinabatangan region located on Sabah’s east coast. The Bornean Elephant Sanctuary (BES) project involves the construction of an elephant handling paddock, staff quarters and a storage building at a cost of RM1.8 million. The BES would serve as a safe haven to nurse injured elephants back to health before they are released back into the wild. It is said to be able to accommodate between 12 and 16 elephants at any given time. A second phase of the BES has already commenced and will be completed by the end of 2013.

Two American fighter jets have dropped four unarmed bombs into Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park last week, when a training exercise went wrong. The two AV-8B Harrier jets had intended to drop the bombs on a range on a nearby island but were unsuccessful despite several attempts. The planes were running low on fuel and could not land with their bomb load. So, an emergency jettison had to be done into the World Heritage-listed marine park. Although the bombs were dropped well away from sensitive habitat, the event has sparked outrage amongst Australians and environmentalists.

A recent report by the World Bank has estimated that environmental impacts are costing India 5.7 percent of its GDP, or $80 billion per year. Most of this cost is due to its air pollution (or particle pollution from burning of fossil fuels), which is around 3 percent of its GDP. The study shows that, if by 2030 India can reduce its particulate emission by 10 percent, the savings from reduced health damages would amount to $24 billion. A 30 percent particulate emission reduction would result in approximately $105 billion reduced health damages. The study is the first ever comprehensive assessment of ecosystem services from various biomes across India.

A research team from Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) have embarked on a mission to botanically explore some 20 limestone karst which stretches from Chegar Perah to Merapoh in the district of Lipis and up towards the Kelantanese border. The team have already uncovered some rare, endemic and even un-described flora species even at this early stage of the research. Amongst the amazing finds include the Zippelia begoniifolius – known previously from only three collections, the last one in the 1930s, Tridynamia megalantha – last collected in Perak in the 1880s and the Calciphilopteris alleniae - a rare endemic fern known only from five limestone hills.

Photo credit: http://www.core77.com/

A student from Sweden’s Umeå Institute of Design has designed an ERO – a robot that recycles concrete in an energy-efficient manner and separates it from rebar and other construction debris on the spot. The design has won the 2013 International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) in the Student Designs category. ERO Concrete Recycling Robot takes a building down step by step, by utilizing a water jet to crack the concrete surface, separate the waste and package the dust-free material. Materials are then packed and labelled to be re-used. The water used is also recycled back into the system.

Researchers led by Katie Arkema at Stanford University in California have built a computer model of coasts in the continental United States and have discovered the act of removing mangroves, marshes, reefs, forests, dunes and other natural defences has doubled the risk for life and property from US’s coastal floods. The present habitats have been reported to be able to protect 67 percent of the coastline and keeping the percentage of “high hazard” areas on the US coastline at 16 percent. However, due to rising sea level and the loss of habitat, the team estimated that it would double the extent of coastline highly exposed.