Natural Solutions

Selling carbon credits for the region’s threatened forests might be a huge weapon in the fight against climate change, while also bringing in billions of dollars to countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. That’s the opinion of local academic Professor Koh Lian Pin who I interviewed a few weeks ago for this piece in Robb Report .

The leading conservation scientist returned to Singapore last year to start the National University of Singapore’s Centre For Nature Based Climate Solutions (CNCS). As the name suggests the aim of this centre is to explore the potential of natural solutions like reforestation, rewilding and mangrove restoration to help in tackling the issue of climate change.

Courtesy of Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions.

“Among the universe of climate change solutions, nature-based options have received the least attention, they get the least notice and the least funding,” explained the 44-year-old academic. “Yet I believe that there is a huge potential that these can be most effective option.”

The first thing that Koh, who had stints in academia in Switzerland and Australia, as well as a spell at Conservation International, and his team wanted to try and work out was not just how nature-based solutions could help remove carbon from our atmosphere but perhaps most importantly by how MUCH they can help.

In a bid to prove that statement the CNCS team have conducted a global analysis of the amount of carbon that could be removed from atmosphere through natural solutions. In their (as yet unpublished) report they estimated that it could amount for up to 24 Gigatons of C02 annually. To put that into perspective global emissions currently stand at an estimated 40Gt of CO2 per year.

Taking that principle further they went onto estimate that we could save over 2 Gt of carbon emissions just by NOT destroying the world’s currently threatened areas of tropical rainforest and mangroves. Of course, the flipside is if we do end up destroying them then that’s another 2 Gt added to our tally – though I am trying to stay positive!

What I found really interesting was the way that Professor Koh and the other researchers have actually attempted to put a monetary value on this potential for carbon savings. With a lot of countries keen to hit their climate change commitments, carbon offsetting, the option to compensate for your emissions by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving elsewhere has the potential to be big business.

“The biggest and most potent touch point is to make people, companies, governments realise the potent economic potential of carbon offsetting,” explained the pragmatic professor. As he put it, you’re much less likely to clear a forest if someone is paying you not to chop it down in the first place.

Indeed, CNCS’ initial research estimates that the potential returns from forest carbon protection in the Asia Pacific region could be worth up to US$24.6 billion, with Indonesian and Malaysian forests accounting for over half of that value. You can watch a good lecture the Professor conducted for the ArtScience Museum here and he also spoke on the subject in this CNA Podcast.

In our conversation Koh confirmed that it’s an area that the Singapore government is seriously interested in investigating. While they don’t have forests of their own, Singapore potentially see itself acting as a broker to manage carbon offsetting projects in Indonesia and Malaysia on behalf of third-party governments and companies. The key to this approach from Koh’s perspective is to improve the creditability of carbon offsetting and nature-based solutions through accurate and transparent data.

Protecting mangrove could reduce carbon emissions

The opportunities are there,” he concluded before having to dash off to parliament where he now sits as a nominated MP with a focus on the environment. “Sure, there are problems but they are problems that can be overcome.”

Our conversation certainly gave me cause for optimism. I’ve long felt that while everyone understands the need to tackle climate change there’s only so much that can be done on an individual level. The reality is we need governments and, I would argue even more importantly, we need big businesses to take the lead on implementing large scale solutions to bring down carbon emissions and better protect the environment.

Giving them a solution that both helps support and protect the natural ecosystems we have left while also offering a strong economic incentive seems a win-win solution.

Tangling with Batman

Last week saw me undertaken another volunteer project with National Parks and I have to say it was probably the most satisfying experience to date. After my jungle patrol last time out, this month saw me sign up to a session to help combat an invasive plant species in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

The plant in question is the Zanzibar Yam (Dioscorea sansibarensis) also known as the Batman Plant due to the fact that the leaves bare a particular resemblance to the Batman logo. As the name suggests this species of climbing plant originally comes from the Tanzanian spice island and other parts of East Africa but was introduced to Singapore at some stage, either by accident or as an ornamental plant for private gardens, and unfortunately has now taken firm root in much of the island.

The thing is they adore wet and hot conditions so absolutely thrive in Singapore, which is pretty much constantly hot and wet. Being climbing plants they head up toward the canopy by growing up and around the other vegetation, ending up taking over the canopy and shading out all the other trees and plants.

Of course, the issue of invasive species is not just focused on Singapore but is a global problem. From Cane toads in Australia’s Northern Territories, to grey squirrels in the UK and water hyacinth in East Africa’s Lake Victoria, they take many shapes and forms but usually have a pretty dramatic effect on the local ecosystem where they are introduced. I guess it’s just further proof that ecosystems really are pretty fragile and finely balanced affairs and the slightest addition or subtraction can really throw the whole thing way out of whack.

So with this point firmly in mind and armed with Cangkuls (hoes), secateurs, a large mattock and a chiam (like a long handled thin spade) our three separate groups of volunteers headed into the forest to get even with this unwelcome interloper. The patch of jungle selected was actually outside of the main reserve and situated inside a closed-off area that’s set to become Rifle Range Nature Park.

While there are mountain bike trails that run through this area, it’s still not yet open to the general public (it was due to be ready this year but it’s probably now delayed again until 2022) so it was a great chance to wander through a new (to me) stretch of forest.

After a brief five-minute walk via a few padlocked gates, across a small stream and along some leaf-strewn paths (no leaf blowers tidying up here thank goodness) we stopped at our designated spot and got a brief from our two National Park guides.

The key thing they told us was that while the distinctive leaves make Batman plants easy to spot the difficult part is that they actually grow from tubers so put down pretty firm roots. As such it was essential that we made sure we got the whole tuber (basically they looked like misshapen albino potatoes) out or else they’ll just grow back twice as strong.

There followed a very calming hour or so spent moving slowly through our patch of forest trying to dig up and bag up any Batman plants we could spot while chatting to the other volunteers. Now I was something of a weeding expert way back in the day, when I had spells as a gardener working for Brighton Council and then as a landscape gardener’s assistant but I have to admit that I’d forgotten what a wonderfully mind clearing and relaxing activity this simple pleasure can be.

It was tremendously satisfying to see the instant impact that we had – the jungle looked distinctly clearer, and if it’s not a strange comment more able to breathe, once we’d removed the offending weeds. The area had been pre-checked for any nasty surprises lurking in the undergrowth, so we didn’t come across any snakes as we worked but we were serenaded by the mewling call of a Hill Mynah and the chattering of a blue collared kingfisher which I later spotted was nesting nearby.

As an extra bonus we also had a large colugo gliding into land on the tree we were all waiting under before we started the session. They really are the oddest-looking creatures (check out the video below of it scaling a tree ) but apparently this one is a common site in and around the Reserve’s main visitor centre.

For someone whose pretty much restricted to working in front of their laptop the session was a great chance to get out and do some manual work and as I said felt pretty satisfying. New commitments might make it trickier but if I get the chance I will definitely look to sign up again. They have monthly sessions in Bukit Timah Reserve and a few of the other nature parks as well so there are plenty of options.

Talking of volunteering I also just signed up to take part in the citizen patrols organised by the Raffles Banded Langur Working Group though the first available slot isn’t until April so it will be a while before I report back on that!

Marking World Wildlife Day

So yesterday was March 3 was World Wildlife Day – yes this was meant to be posted by then – and as a result there was lots of buzz about conservation efforts online. To mark the day WWF removed the iconic panda from their logo to demonstrate what our world would be like without animals. They were joined by hundreds of other global brands, sports teams and charities from around the world, including my team Aston Villa, who removed the lion from the logo to mark the day and to highlight the fact that in less than half a century, human activity has resulted in wildlife populations plummeting by an average of 68%.

Photo of Bengal Tiger by Sias van Schalkwyk from FreeImages

Elsewhere, there was a more positive piece by Eco-Business that rounded up five successful conservation projects in Asia from the recovery of orangutang populations in Bukit Piton Forest Reserve in Sabah, Malaysia to the growing number of tigers in Bhutan. The message is clear species can recover if given a little help and protection. (Full disclosure I’ve done some writing for them on satellite mapping and sustainable farming which you can read here and here.)

Good news, news

Black-browed Babbler. Copyright M Suranto

Talking of species recovery there is the remarkable story of a species of bird making a surprising reappearance in an Indonesian forest over 150 years since the last sighting. The Black-Browed Babbler was last spotted back in 1850 and was assumed extinct until a couple of locals spotted a strange bird and managed to catch and photograph. After releasing it they sent the photos over to local birdwatching groups who with the help of regional experts including Birdlife’s Ding Li Yong who I interviewed for last week’s post. If nothing else it just shows how little is really known about what really is hidden away in Indonesia’s tropical forests.

And finally, here’s a lovely video of a baby elephant being rescued from a water trough by keepers from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. The mum’s behaviour in term of trying to stand down a lorry to protect her baby is amazing. If you’ve not come across the work of this organisation, then I strongly recommend visiting their site. They do brilliant work rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned baby elephants in Kenya as long as a host of other amazing conservation and anti-poaching projects. I’ve been lucky to visit their orphanage on the outskirts of Nairobi a few times and it was a really very special place.

And that is probably it from me for this week. I promised to keep it short and failed completely. As I said above things might get even more erratic now as I start a new contract that will take up most of my time. More on that via other channels but I promise to keep trying to write these irregular posts as it’s a lot of fun!