ICCS Pandan mangroves cleanup: Registration for Toddycats

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 deterimental to the site. The Raffles Museum Toddycats & 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 Toddycats and the Biodiversity Crew 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

Lim Chu Kang cleanup, 8th August 2009

Hi everyone,

the ICCS team are organising an August cleanup of our precious Lim Chu Kang mangroves. This complements the ICCS cleanups as the trash load there is quite high.

The location is at Lim Chu Kang Road end. Transport from NUS is provided.

If you want to battle marine debris on the National day weekend, sign up here: http://tinyurl.com/lck-08aug2009.

Cheerio!

Siva

Heritage Fest 2009: Pasir Panjang Heritage Walk – registration open

The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (NUS) and Reflections at Bukit Chandu (NAS) invite you on a 4-hour walk with the Raffles Museum Toddycats. They have plenty of stories to share with you about the plants, wildlife, residents and battle heroes.

Two walks will be conducted, on Saturday 25th July 2009 at 8am and 9am. The walks last about four hours and will include visits to Raffles Museum’s Public Gallery, Kent Ridge Park and Reflections at Bukit Chandu.

Registration is now open – hop over to http://heritagefest.rafflesmuseum.net/

And as usual, it’s a Google Forms registration:

Recap – activity during World Oceans Day

8th of June was World Ocean’s Day. During this period, the contributions to public education include:

5th June 2009 – The International Coastal Cleanup Singapore’s Zone and Site Captains (ICCS Otters) met to finalise sites and participation for ICCS2009. Registration by veterans has all but saturated sites but Changi and Chek Jawa can accommodate new groups. While site recces, site swapping and assisting year-round cleanups to get settled is ongoing, the next big thing on the ICCS calendar is the Organiser’s Workshop.

6th June 2009 – workshop/seminar at the Jane Goodall Institute Singapore symposium, “A Vision of Hope“: – “Nurturing the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) programme – how a small group of volunteers manage the largest and longest running environmental programme in Singapore,” by N. Sivasothi. See the News from the ICCS blog for details. Various other speakers

7th June 2009 – SPROUTS Workshop – “Blog for a cause,” by Kenneth Pinto, Ria Tan and N. Sivasothi. Introduced youth to past and current issues in the nature/environment communication, blogging basics and how WildSingapore generates and integrates community information.

8th June 2009 – Filming at Lim Chu Kang mangroves with IFA Films for a feature on the marine debris issue for The VOX, a factual and lifestyle series for Channel NewsAsia.

9th June 2009 – talk at Republic Polytechnic’s Science Camp: “Waste to Resources” – “Marine Life in Singapore and the threat of marine debris,” by N. Sivasothi. Students at the camp participated in a cleanup at Lim Chu Kang mangroves coordinated by Dr Amy Choong. RP staff and students will be participating in the ICCS at the same site in September.

Pedal Ubin 13th June – durian dominates!

Attendance figures:

With one guide down with flu, another shifting house and others going or already overseas, the registration cut-off turned out to be just nice. A 15 participant to 2 guide ratio is quite comfortable and allows the guides to enjoy the ride more. This is important since we intend to keep at this for years. I did have to turn away some non-registered individuals at Ubin itself. We simply can’t take them on ad hoc anymore now that we have fewer guides.

Airani, writes:

Grace Leng and I led a group that went on a hunt to find durians – I warned them at the very first stop that I’m too much of a durian fan! We stopped and scoured the ground at every slightest hint that there might be fruits on the ground. At one point, we bashed through lallang taller than us. Two participants managed to collect three fruit. Even the small boy in our group followed us through the lallang!

I took them through the rubber plantation (yes, now open once agan) to get to Noordin beach. The former prawn pond is under construction to become a fish farm. It’s much more open now, so can’t stay too long for the heat but luckily we had plenty of shade nearby to take cover.

We met a bunch of youths wearing NYP dark blue t-shirts who had been going round and round the farm. They were heading to Noordin so I told them to go straight. I hope they didn’t take the right path at the fork in front – they wouldn’t have gone round again! hehe…

I like that the participants were all so game!

One of other groups (Joelle, Kenneth & Alvin) took the easier approach with durians by patronising auntie’s stall at Jelutong bridge:

Photos from:

• Alvin Wong
• Kenneth Pinto

Marcus and I took a large and game group to the Sungei Ubin, Sensory Trail and the Chek Jawa boardwalk where they fell in love with fiddler crabs and had a hornbill encounter with four individuals. They also saw two otters out in the distance. The Chek Jawa counter was teeming with people, it was like a fish market!

The ride to the east proved that exercising caution and riding slowly allowed the steep slopes along Ubin’s main trails to become manageable. At the site of the old Malay village, we encountered a 90-year grandmother back from the shore after collecting bivalves and oysters. She gamely chatted with us and posed for pictures!

We id not pursue durians but marveled at the enthusiasm of the durian hunters we saw all around the island. We had no idea the other groups were just as enthusiastic! As Marcus and I debriefed the ride (we were the last group back), our group members plunked rambutans on our table as they passed us on the way out to the jetty. Nice!

Ivan Khong writes of his enthusiastic group:

The early morning shower raised the humidity by several levels – and probably the number of no shows as well [attendance was 83% - ed.].

We did a brief introduction and bike check whilst awaiting other guides and participants to appear.

Ivan chatting with the early birds before the pre-ride briefing.

First stop, Pekan quarry! Egrets coming back from all directions from breakfast to rest by the tranquil water. Nice start – and the group already visibly excited!

At the good ‘ol Jelutong bridge, stories on mangroves were told. Participant eyes were aglow when informed about the importance of mangroves, and how marine litter is a bane to marine life. Mudskippers were skipping in the background (must be happy someone is raising their plight). Half beaks aplenty at the sluice gates!

At the Marina Ubin toilet stop, the group enthused over the hornbill research tower. It must have been a very welcome toilet break because everyone went!

On the way to the German Girl Shrine, we stopped (as usual) at the mouth of the inroad, for a quick safety briefing. This pays off well once again as even the wobbly ones make it to the top without incident!

At the beach near the German girl shrine, we saw a grey heron – no talking needed! The whole group was peacefully admiring the beautiful sight of this magnificent bird looking for food. As usual, the only time we forgot the camera, everyone shows up. Gave Ketam trail a miss, as many of the bikes were felt like they were going to crumble.

While waiting for group to reassemble at the mouth of the inroad, an old friend greeted us in the bright sunlight – Episersema!!! Sitting on top of the mudlobster mound, it was happily basking away. The enthusiastic folk approaching the crab scared it back into its burrow but it reappeared for the later group, along with a few others from other mounds! We had a hearty time with group as they had so many questions! Managed to get them going again by getting them excited about Sg. Buloh Wetlands Reserve. Heh!

To prevent heat exhaustion (and to conserve energy for work the next day), a coconut break beckoned at the “why you so like that” stall. Then we journeyed north towards Mamam beach, and stopped by the coconut plantation to see the source of their cool drink! This group’s enthusiasm was bubbling still, and we planed to take them to the sensory trail after Mamam when a sprarakling flash of lightning rearranged our plans immediately with a sprint back to the village!

As we headed back to the jetty, we reflected upon our rides of past- and turn to face a brighter future ahead thanks to the little things each of us had done that day in our very own way.