Biodiversity Crew @ International Coastal Cleanup Singapore 2011 – registration for Pandan mangrove

International Coastal Cleanup Singapore @ Pandan Mangroves
Saturday, 17th September 2011: 7.00am – 11.00am
Register at: http://tinyurl.com/iccs-pandan2011 

Pandan mangrove is a remnant strip mangrove in the south-west of Singapore.  Trash builds up in this patch of state land because it is not part of a park so is not cleaned regularly.

Thus Raffles Museum Toddycats, NUS Biodiversity Crew and Wildlife Reserve Singapore are conducting a cleanup here for the fourth year as part of the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore.  This year we are joined by volunteers from EARTHlink NTU and FMC Technologies.

Toddycats and the Biod Crew are allocated sector B this year; see the map below:

Click for details

This cleanup is not for the faint-hearted but Raffles Museum Toddycats & the NUS Biodiversity Crew are definitely up for the task – the deeper parts of the inlet are tough and full of soft mud, with mosquitoes and some snakes!

The area has no shelters or toilets and we will work rain or shine. In order to restrict numbers to reduce impact, there are only 30 places for us.

Itinerary:

• 0710 – bus pick up at NUS Science Drive 1
• 0720 – bus pick-up from the bus-stop opposite Dover MRT in the direction of Clementi (map)
• 0800 – reach Pandan mangroves bus stop; distribute into sub-groups, apply insect repellent, collect gloves, data cards and trash bags.
• 0810 – Safety Briefing, identification of the Trash Weighing Point (TWP), wet weather plan (carry on unless lightning threat)
• 0820 – Cleanup begins.
• 0845 – Loading teams start moving trash to the TWP
• 1000 – clean-up ends, data collation beings, weighing completed while participants evaluate the situation at Pandan.
• 1015 – participants clean themselves up – note no washing point, so bring a bottle of tap water and a change of footwear.
• 1045 – Pack dirty gloves to bring back wash, dry and return.
• 1100 – Bus returns to Clementi and then NUS.

What we will provide:

1. Transport to site.
2. Gloves.
3. Trash bags.
4. Weighing scales.

What you should bring:

1. Booties or covered shoes with hard soles.
2. Water bottle (at least one litre of water).
3. A snack to munch on after the cleanup, especially if you didn’t have time for breakfast!
4. Hat.
5. Insect repellent
6. Raincoat/ponco (we’ll carry on working in the rain)
7. Towel in a bag – to wipe off any sand and mud off you.
8. A light pair of long pants will help protect your legs from insect bites if you tend to get bitten, as well as from the debris. If you are vulnerable to bites, wear long sleeves as well!
9. A suggestion – dry fit clothes are suitable. If you prefer cotton, a change of t-shirt will come in handy after a sweaty workout.

Transport:
Registered participants can meet us at either

1. the NUS bus stop outside Science Drive 1 (7.10am; meet Ou Yang Xiuling) or
2. Dover MRT Station bus stop on side of Singapore Polytechnic (heading west) (7.20am; meet Meryl Teng).

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Siva the Eco-warrior

On National Day on 9 Aug, Singapore’s very own eco-warrior, Siva, was featured on Today for his tireless work in the mangroves, its conservation and clean up.

Siva is a lecturer, coordinator of the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) and the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research Toddycats!, creator of this blog and supervisor of a posse of research students [yours truly included].

For the report, journalist Tan Weizhen caught up with Siva during a coastal clean up of Pandan mangroves and noted that a clean up in Lim Chu Kang mangroves was carried out [on 6 Aug] to celebrate national day. That day, volunteers removed more than 1,187 kg of trash that could choke, pollute or harm the coastal ecosystems. [link]

Click on the picture below to read the full article.

Horseshoe crabs and other organisms often get trapped in abandoned gill nets. Therefore, other than having a thing about maps and first aid kits, Siva packs a pair of scissors when he heads out to the mangroves to free any unfortunate creatures he comes accross that get trapped in abandoned gill nets.

Here is a video of him in action together with alumni, Theresa Su, and Toddycat, Teo Kah Ming.

Biodiversity Crew @ International Coastal Cleanup Singapore – registration for Pandan mangrove

ICCS Pandan mangroves cleanup

Pandan mangroves is a remnant strip mangrove in the south-west of Singapore. As it is not looked after, there is a trash build up that is detrimental to the site. The Raffles Museum Toddycats, Biodiversity Crew @ NUS and Wildlife Reserve Singapore are conducting a cleanup for the third year under the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore. This year we will be joined by volunteers from Oil Spill Response and Black & Veatch (SEA) Pte Ltd.

The deeper parts of the inlet is a tough and dirty site to tackle, with no shelters or toilets but soft mud, lots of mosquitoes in tide pools and some snakes instead! We will work rain or shine and are restricting numbers to reduce impact, so there aqre only 20 places for us.

This cleanup is not for the faint-hearted but the Biodiversity Crew are definitely up for the task and are invited to sign up at here:

Saturday, 11th September 2010: 7.20am – 11.30am
International Coastal Cleanup Singapore:
Pandan Mangroves

Register at: http://tinyurl.com/iccspandan2010

Photo by Kelly Ong

Itinerary:

• 0710 – bus pick up at NUS Science Drive 1
• 0720 – bus pick-up from the bus-stop opposite Dover MRT in the direction of Clementi (map)
• 0800 – reach Pandan mangroves bus stop; distribute into sub-groups, apply insect repellent, collect gloves, data cards and trash bags.
• 0810 – Safety Briefing, identification of the Trash Weighing Point (TWP), wet weather plan (carry on unless lightning threat)
• 0820 – Cleanup begins.
• 0845 – Loading teams start moving trash to the TWP
• 1000 – clean-up ends, data collation beings, weighing completed while participants evaluate the situation at Pandan.
• 1015 – participants clean themselves up – note no washing point, so bring a bottle of tap water and a change of footwear.
• 1045 – Pack dirty gloves to bring back wash, dry and return.
• 1100 – Bus returns to Clementi and then NUS.

What we will provide:

1. Transport to site.
2. Gloves.
3. Trash bags.
4. Weighing scales.

What you should bring:

1. Booties or covered shoes with hard soles.
2. Water bottle (at least one litre of water).
3. A snack to munch on after the cleanup, especially if you didn’t have time for breakfast!
4. Hat.
5. Insect repellent
6. Raincoat/ponco (we’ll carry on working in the rain)
7. Towel in a bag – to wipe off any sand and mud off you.
8. A light pair of long pants will help protect your legs from insect bites if you tend to get bitten, as well as from the debris. If you are vulnerable to bites, wear long sleeves as well!
9. A suggestion – dry fit clothes are suitable. If you prefer cotton, a change of t-shirt will come in handy after a sweaty workout.

Transport:
Registered participants can meet us at either

1. the NUS bus stop outside Science Drive 1 (7.10am; meet Xiuling) or
2. Dover MRT Station bus stop on side of Singapore Polytechnic (heading west) (7.20am; meet Kelly Ong).

7.10am Pick Up Point – Meet Ouyang Xiuling

7.20am Pick up Point – Meet Kelly Ong.

Cleanup location concentration

Celebrate National Day with a Lim Chu Kang mangrove cleanup on 7th August!

It’s time for the annual National Day cleanup at the orphan-ed but precious mangrove ecosystem at Lim Chu Kang. We record no data except for weight at this event and it is hard work.

We’ll provide transport (from NUS) and trash bags. Please sign up here: http://tinyurl.com/lck-07aug2010reg. For more details, see: the Raffles Museum Toddycats blog.

Staff, students and alumni at the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore @ Pandan mangrove

Over three Saturdays in September, some 40 organisations hit the beaches and mangroves around Singapore as part of the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore in an effort to count, categorise and collect marine trash.

This data which is reported to the international coordinator, Ocean Conservancy, to create awareness, effect policy change and provide material for public education. Around the world, 70-100 countries take part annually

The Singapore programme is in its 18th year and I have been national coordinator since 2000 as a result of seeing so much trash in the mangroves! After more than ten years of mangrove cleanups, I finally turned my attention to Sungei Pandan mangrove in 2008. This tiny remnant strip nearby campus has accumulated a heavy load of trash over the years.

Partnering department alumni, staff and students who anchor this cleanup is Wildlife Reserves Singapore (Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park), our co-founding ICC partners at this site – and they count some of our alumni amongst their staff!

Here are some photos from the cleanup featuring some familiar faces – the rest are at the Habitatnews Flickr album and WRS photos are on Fotki. Data results are on the ICCS webpage.

Lots more out there so join us at Lim Chua Kang (Jul/Aug) and Pandan (Sep) next year. Just join the mailing list on the ICCS webpage and I’ll alert you next year.

Pandan mangrove

Getting ready at 7.45am at the Jalan Buroh bus-stop

Getting ready – two of the ‘Indpendents’ and Adrian Loo (alumni)

Weiting (hons) taking a break from her thesis in the mangrove core!

Robert (postgrad) too worked in the depth of the mangrove

Yea Tian (hons) kept up with the mangrove core team to record data

Trina (hons) was determined to be mosquito-proof

Joelle (staff) and Yandi (alumni) removing a mattress

Biswajit (alumni/WRS) wading in

Anne and Trina (hons) and Yandi (alumni) rescuing a volunteer

Anne Devan (hons) in action!

Yea Tian (hons) and Xuiling (2nd year) weighing and recording trash
with the hard working ‘Independents’

DBS Crew with Independents

Sivasothi (staff) with Biswajit and Desmond (alumni/WRS)
and WRS coordinator Charlotte.

Glove cleaning – recycling the welder’s gloves for next year
Alison Wee (postgrad and ICCS Penang liason), N. Sivasothi (ICCS Coordinator)
and Teo Yea Tian (hons) facing camera

ICCS Pandan mangroves cleanup: Registration for BioD Crew

Pandan mangroves is a remnant strip mangrove in the south-west of Singapore. As it is not looked after, there is a trash build up that is deterimental to the site. The Raffles Museum Toddycats and the BioD Crew (NUS) and Wildlife Reserve Singapore are conducting a cleanup for the second year under the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore. This year we will be joined by some trainees from the Singapore Police Force.

The deeper parts of the inlet is a tough and dirty site to tackle, with no shelters or toilets but soft mud, lots of mosquitoes in tide pools and some snakes instead! We will work rain or shine and are restricting numbers to reduce impact.

This cleanup is not for the faint-hearted but the Biodiversity Crew and Raffles Museum Toddycats who are up for it are invited to sign up at here:

Saturday, 12th September 2009: 7.20am – 11.00am
International Coastal Cleanup Singapore:
Pandan Mangroves
Register at: http://tinyurl.com/iccspandan2009

Photo by Kelly Ong

Itinerary:

• 0710 – bus pick up at NUS
• 0720 – bus pick-up from Dover MRT (one stop west after Buona Vista)
• 0800 – reach Pandan mangroves bus stop; distribute into sub-groups, apply insect repellent, collect gloves, data cards and trash bags.
• 0810 – Safety Briefing, identification of the Trash Weighing Point (TWP), wet weather plan (carry on unless lightning threat)
• 0820 – Cleanup begins.
• 0845 – Loading teams start moving trash to the TWP
• 1000 – clean-up ends, data collation beings, weighing completed while participants evaluate the situation at Pandan.
• 1015 – participants clean themselves up – note no washing point, so bring a bottle of tap water and a change of footwear.
• 1045 – Pack dirty gloves to bring back wash, dry and return.
• 1100 – Bus returns to Clementi and then NUS.

What we will provide:

1. Transport to site.
2. Gloves.
3. Trash bags.
4. Weighing scales.

What you should bring:

1. Booties or covered shoes with hard soles.
2. Water bottle (at least one litre of water).
3. A snack to munch on after the cleanup, especially if you didn’t have time for breakfast!
4. Hat.
5. Insect repellent
6. Raincoat/ponco (we’ll carry on working in the rain)
7. Towel in a bag – to wipe off any sand and mud off you.
8. A light pair of long pants will help protect your legs from insect bites if you tend to get bitten, as well as from the debris.
9. A suggestion – dry fit clothes are suitable. If you prefer cotton, a change of t-shirt will come in handy after a sweaty workout.

Transport:
Registered participants can meet us at either

1. the NUS bus stop outside Science Drive 1 (7.10am; meet Otterman) or
2. Dover MRT Station bus stop on side of Singapore Polytechnic (heading west) (7.20am; meet Kelly Ong).

7.10am Pick Up Point – Meet N. Sivasothi a.k.a. Otterman

7.20am Pick up Point – Meet Kelly Ong.

Cleanup location concentration