ＧＲＥＧ日記 ｉｎ ニッポン

A Nice Move

Sorry I haven't written for a few days. I wish I had a good excuse, but I don't.
I'll be more diligent again.
Anyway, here's a nice article about helping the environment.


San Francisco passes plastic-bag ban



SAN FRANCISCO - City leaders approved a ban on plastic grocery bags after weeks of lobbying on both
sides from environmentalists and a supermarket trade group. San Francisco would be the first U.S. city to
adopt such a rule if Mayor Gavin Newsom signs the ban as expected.
The law, approved 10-1, requires large markets and drug stores to offer customers bags made of paper that can be recycled, plastic that breaks down easily enough to be made into compost, or reusable cloth.
San Francisco supervisors and supporters said that by banning the petroleum-based sacks, blamed for
littering streets and choking marine life, the measure would go a long way toward helping the city earn its
green stripes.
"Hopefully, other cities and states will follow suit," said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who crafted the ban after trying to get a 15-cent per bag tax passed in 2005.
The 50 grocery stores that would be most affected by the law argued that the ban was not reasonable
because plastic bags made of corn byproducts are a relatively new, expensive and untested product. Some
said they might offer only paper bags at checkout.
"I think what grocers will do now that this has passed is, they will review all their options and decide what
they think works best for them economically," said David Heylen, a spokesman for the California Grocers
Association.
Newsom supported the measure. The switch is scheduled to take effect in six months for grocery stores and in one year for pharmacies.
Craig Noble, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said it would be disappointing if
grocers rejected the biodegradable plastic bag option, since more trees would have to be cut down if paper
bag use increases.
The new breed of bags "offers consumers a way out of a false choice, a way out of the paper or plastic
dilemma," Noble said.

A New Finding

Once again, we learn the importance of taking care of our environment and the world around us.
Make wise decisions and leave the world a better place when you leave it.


New leopard species found in Borneo

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The clouded leopard of Borneo — discovered to be an entirely new species —
is the latest in a growing list of animals and plants unique to the Southeast Asian country's rainforest and
underscores the need to preserve the area, conservationists said Thursday.

Genetic tests by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute revealed that the clouded leopard of
Borneo and Sumatra islands is a unique cat species and not the same one found in mainland Southeast Asia as long believed, said a statement by WWF, the global conservation organization.

"Who said a leopard can never change its spots? For over a hundred years we have been looking at this
animal and never realized it was unique," said Stuart Chapman, WWF International Coordinator of the Heart of Borneo program, which is dedicated to preserving the flora and fauna in the deep jungles on Borneo.

The secretive clouded leopards are the biggest predators on Borneo, growing sometimes to the size of a
small panther. They have the longest canine teeth relative to body size of any cat.

"The fact that Borneo's top predator is now considered a separate species further emphasizes the
importance of conserving the Heart of Borneo," Chapman said.

The news about the clouded leopard comes just a few weeks after a WWF report showed that scientists had identified at least 52 new species of animals and plants over the past year on Borneo, the world's third largest island that is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

The Heart of Borneo, a mountainous region about five times the size of Switzerland covered with equatorial
rainforest in the center of the island, is the last great forest home of the Bornean clouded leopard.

Researchers believe that the Borneo population of the clouded leopard likely diverged from the mainland
population some 1.4 million years ago.

Over the millennia, at least 40 differences emerged between the two species, making them as distinct as
other large cat species such as lions, tigers and jaguars.

The results of the genetic study are supported by separate research on geographical variation in the clouded leopard, based mainly on fur patterns and coloration of skins held in museums and collections.

The Borneo clouded leopard is darker than the mainland species and has many distinct spots within its small cloud markings. It also has a grayer fur, and a double dorsal stripe.

Clouded leopards from the mainland have fewer and fainter markings within large clouds on their skin. They
are also lighter in color.

"It's incredible that no one has ever noticed these differences." said Andrew Kitchener from the Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums, Scotland.

A total of 5,000 to 11,000 Bornean clouded leopards are estimated to live in the jungles of Borneo. The total number in Sumatra could be in the range of 3,000 to 7,000 individuals. The cats' biggest threat is destruction of their habitat

Nice Guys Finish Last

How is this for a Thank You??!!

Whale kills would-be rescuer in Japan

A Japanese fisherman drowned on Tuesday after a whale he was trying to rescue capsized his small fishing boat, a coastguard official said.

Three fishermen tried to rescue the sperm whale, about 10-meter (yard) long, after it strayed into a bay
off the southwestern island of Shikoku, about 800 km (500 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

But the panicked creature turned on them and struck the vessel, the coastguard official said.

A 58-year-old fisherman drowned while two other fishermen were rescued, he added.

Something to Think About

Here is a story that I found on one of my favourite topics - tigers.
As everyone knows, tigers are extremely endangered and are rapidly approaching extinction.
Without a miracle of some sort, wild tigers will almost certainly become extinct during our lifetime.
The greatest threats to tiger survival are loss of habitat, loss of food supply, and of course, hunting.
While most of us can't do much about the first two problems, we do have some control over the third. Don't
buy anything that includes tiger parts, including Chinese medicine.
A small effort by each person can make a difference.


Cameras key to saving endangered tigers

Capturing a tiger on camera has always been Ed Pollard's goal, but now it's a necessity. His Wildlife
Conservation Society has staked its prestige on a pledge to boost tiger numbers by half across six Asian
sites over the next 10 years.

The Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area in northeastern Cambodia is one of the locations. So collecting
accurate data on tiger numbers and food sources is crucial. The $10 million initiative, called Tigers Forever, was officially launched in January.

As few as 5,000 tigers survive in the wild in Asia, down from some 100,000 a century ago. WCS's other
targets for tiger conservation are in India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

For the Tigers Forever project, the New York-based group has 15 pairs of cameras covering paths and trails across nearly 80 square miles of the Cambodian forest's core. They are moved every few weeks, set in pairs because the stripes on a tiger are not symmetrical, and the animal must be photographed on both sides
before identification is definite.

When the first films were collected last month, there was almost schoolboy-style excitement. The
researcher who retrieved them reported a fresh tiger track on a trail leading straight to one of the cameras. But something must have lured the beast off the path before it broke the beam that would have triggered the cameras.

The conservation group has been operating here since 2002, the year it got its first and so far only tiger
photo. But paw prints are found quite often, especially in the softer ground during the rainy season, and there have been regular sightings. Native tracker Den Amboyn says he came face to face with a tiger on a logging road last year. "I was scared but I managed to get away," he says.

Of all the sites in Asia, the Cambodian one has the fewest tigers, probably no more than 10. But country
director Joe Walston is confident of hitting the target, in part because the zone has plenty of prey. "As tiger habitat it's close to optimal," he says.

Increased protection is part of the plan. Some of the Tigers Forever money will go toward building three more ranger stations at key points in the jungle over the next three years.

With every identified tiger now at a premium, Pollard is tantalized by a story told by the forest-dwelling
Phnong people, who say they know of a tiger that lives in a cave but whose whereabouts can't be revealed
because the wood is sacred.

Pollard has spent many hours poring over maps, trying to find it.
"I think I know where it is now," he says, "or at least I think I'm getting close."

A Step in the Right Direction

Here is an article that I found about a Malaysian effort to help conserve forests. It's always nice to find such things. Good work!

Malaysians in buying bid to save forests

Malaysian environmental and residents' groups are joining forces to buy swathes of forest in a desperate bid to save them from developers, a report said Tuesday.
Four groups, including WWF Malaysia and a residents' group from Petaling Jaya, a satellite town near Kuala
Lumpur, will set up a national conservation trust fund to collect money to buy land.
More than 60 other non-governmental organisations and residents' associations have also pledged their
support for the proposal, said the New Straits Times.
"We want to appeal to the public to give any amount to protect the environment," Victor Oorjitham, a
Petaling Jaya resident and the chairman of a committee for the fund was quoted as saying.
"When it comes to green open spaces, it is only logical that people subscribe to such a proposal," he said.
Another activist from Petaling Jaya, Edward Lee, said the groups had to take action after years of protests
against environmentally damaging construction had failed to achieve anything.
"By setting up the fund we are putting our money where our mouth is. We can't see it any other way,"
said Lee, who has met with Malaysians in three states to garner support.
"We are not fighting with anyone. This fund will be a collaborative effort," he told the newspaper.
The groups have said the trust fund will have its own board of trustees to ensure proper management and
will also appoint auditors, according to the newspaper.
Land purchased will be converted into areas of national heritage, it said.
Malaysian residents' and conservation groups, particularly in and around capital Kuala Lumpur, frequently
engage in battles with developers and local councils to save areas from being developed.
Groups have also appealed to the government to protect these areas as park reserves, criticising what they say is unnecessary development.