Celebrate our National Day with a mangrove cleanup @ precious Lim Chu Kang on Saturday, 10th August 2013!

Celebrate our National Day
with a mangrove cleanup
on Saturday, 10th August 2013!

Click to sign up by Wed 7th Aug 2013!

The pre-national Day Coastal Cleanup 2011 cleared more than one tonne of trash!

The Mission:
Lim Chu Kang mangrove is a beautiful and unique patch of unprotected mangrove in Singapore, facing the Western Straits of Johor. It is adjacent to a Police Coast Guard base and offshore, kelongs and fish farms unload their produce at the jetty for delivery to markets in Singapore.

Scientists have worked in this mangrove for decades and though it is but a small patch that remains, it is scientifically interesting and holds many stories about animal and plant life and heritage in Singapore. In 2008, the Sungei Buloh Master Plan revealed it would link up with the Lim Chu Kang mangroves.

The famous mud lobster mounds of Lim Chu Kang mangrove

Trash from the Johor Straits is regularly deposited on Lim Chu Kang beach and mangrove and since this is state land, and not used recreationally, the impact on marine life is battled through the efforts of various groups who take to the beach and mangrove during cleanups throughout the year.

A typical scene at Lim Chu Kang beach

The removal of trash is tackled sensitively through the actions of small groups. To contribute to this exercise, I organise a pre-National Day cleanup annually in celebration of Singapore’s birthday and invite anyone who might want to come.

In 2011 sixty-four of us removed more than a tonne of trash in just over an hour! And in 2012, with just a week’s notice 40 of us cleared 669kg of marine trash in 83 trash bags!

All you have to do is sign up here by Wednesday 7th Aug 2013 to be part of a happy bunch!

For a brief about marine life, marine trash and solutions for this problem, join us at the ICCS Briefing and Lecture a week earlier!

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Itinerary:

• 0745 – bus pick-up at Dover MRT and one bus-stop after Clementi MRT, along Commonwealth Avenue West Road
• 0830 – reach LCK, distribute into sub-groups, apply insect repellent, collect gloves and trash bags.
• 0845 – Briefing, identification of Trash Loading Point (TLP) and bus shelter, wet weather plan (carry on unless lightning threat)
• 0900 – cleanup begins.
• 1000 – Loading teams start moving trash out to TLP
• 1030 – clean-up ends, weigh trash and discussion; Q&A
• 1045 – participants clean up – note: no washing point, so bring small amount of water to wipe down.
• 1100 – Bus returns to Clementi MRT then NUS – Note: help needed to wash gloves in NUS.

Click for map of pickup points

The Clementi pick up point, one bus stop after Clementi MRT

Provided:

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

Be prepared!

• Sleep early the night before and hydrate – this will affect your performance and enjoyment of the morning,
• set your alarm to wake up on time – we can’t wait for latecomers (time and tide critical) and
• have a decent breakfast – it will be a workout, last year 42 of us cleared >800kg of trash!

What you should bring:

1. Covered shoes with hard soles – hard-soled booties are fine.
2. Water bottle (at least one litre of water).
3. Hat and/or sun block.
4. Raincoat/ponco (we’ll carry on working in rain)
5. Towel in a bag – to wipe off any sand and mud off you.
6. Suggestion – dry fit clothes are suitable for this work. If you prefer cotton, a change of t-shirt will come in handy after a sweaty workout.
7. Light pants will help protect your legs from insect bites (if you tend to get bitten!) as well as from the debris, but bermudas are fine.
8. Water-proof your belongings.
9. Some water to wipe yourself down with

Transport:

Registered participants who require transport can be picked up at these timings/locations (click for maps):

1. 0740 – Bus stop at Dover MRT along Commonwealth Ave West (Bus stop no. 19031)
2. 0745 – Bus Stop after Clementi Interchange (Bus stop no. 17181; note you must walk some 100m from Clementi MRT Station)

Note that the bus cannot wait at these locations so do come early.

Driving?
Meet us at Lim Chu Kang Road end (click for map) at 0830 where parking space is available.

The cleanup site at Lim Chu Kang mangrove

Happy National Day!

ICCS Lecture & Briefing on Sat 03 Aug 2013 @ NUS LT32 – all are welcome!

N. Sivasothi, ICC SIngapore Cordinator will conduct this annual lecture on “Marine Life in Singapore and the Impact of Man”. which introduces highlights from marine life in Singapore, the problem and impact of marine trash,
what the ICC data tells us, and lessons from the shore with applications to daily life.

This year he will also provide introduce the new (2013) International Coastal Cleanup Data Card, explain why Ocean Conservancy produced this and it has been customised for Singapore.

All are welcome, including members of the public who are not involved in ICCS participants who are interested in marine life in Singapore.

In particular, we invite Site Buddies and Team Leaders who play an important role during the coastal cleanup in assisting Organisers to run operations and motivate and assist volunteers on our shores.

In order to help them and Independent Volunteers without parent organisations prepare for their cleanup, this briefing is conducted at NUS and everyone is invited to join us!

The International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) Lecture & Briefing
Saturday 03 August 2013: 9.00am – 12.00pm.
Lecture Theatre 32 [map]
National University of Singapore
Take SBS Bus 95 from Buona Vista MRT
Park at Car Park 10 or University Hall, off Lower Kent Ridge Road

Please REGISTER at http://tinyurl.com/iccs-lecture

Who is this briefing session for?
This lecture is for individuals who assist organisers in briefing, leading and working alongside other volunteers on the cleanup day.

New Organisers who missed the ICCS Workshop should attend this briefing.

Individual participants who are not with any organisation are invited to join us as well., as it is an excellent way to get to know about the motivation and background of ICCS.

We also welcome members of the public who wish to learn more about marine life and issues are welcome to attend to.

These topics are examined:

• marine life in Singapore,
• the problem and impact of marine trash,
• what the ICC data tells us,
• how we conduct the cleanups and report data,
• lessons from the shore and applications to daily life.

Who is conducting this briefing
The briefing will be conducted by the national coordinator, N. Sivasothi a biologist at the Department of Biological Sciences and the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at the National University of Singapore since the late 80’s who has been active in education and conservation. He has been coordinating coastal cleanups since 1997.

With him will be Zone Captains from the ICCS Otters. who coordinate the cleanup at sites around Singapore.

We have more than a decade of practical experience coordinating, organising and cleanups as well as sweating it out on the shores alongside volunteers every year!

We are happy to share with you information and useful tips that will make the cleanup a smooth operation and even more meaningful than you would imagine.

To register for the briefing session,
go to tinyurl.com/iccs-lecture.

Auntie Oscar’s tips for an efficient mangrove cleanup – advice from a decade at Chek Jawa

Auntie Oscar & friends have been conducting coastal cleanups as part of the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) for over a decade now. They do an excellent job and are well regarded by the ICCS Otters!

And here she is accepting the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium Award from Minister of State of National Development BG Tan Chuan-Jin during the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium III on 24 Sep 2011 for a long and distinguished contribution with ICCS.

In 2012 Oscar penned two posts which Organisers should revisit as they begin preparations for the September cleanup.

She started out with bringing an additional pair of scissors but eventually realised she had to bring more and over the years has accumulated a good collection of tools and a good field procedure.

Click the images to read the two posts.

Toolkit for Chek Jawa Coastal Cleanups

Field Experience Tips for Chek Jawa Coastal Cleanups

The trash-lined beaches of Pulau Ubin [Teo Kah Ming reports]

The Ubin Zone Captains Team conducted two recces in May and June as part of preparations for ICC Singapore 2013!

Recce of Pulau Ubin Recce (11 May 2013)

This was the first recce Sean and I did together of Pulau Ubin. We cycled to visit Ketam Beach, Noordin Beach and Sungei Ubin.

At Ketam Beach, the tide was low (less than 1.0 m) and revealed a good thick line of trash along Ketam Beach 1, 2 and 3. There will be an ample amount of work for participants to do!

Ketam beach is an excellent site for organisations who want an easy terrain to work on but wish to have plenty to do. Lots of small-sized fragments are concentrated along the strand line. The site lacks a nearby shelter or toilet.

Trash along Ketam Beach 1

Trash that was washed up on the shore of Ketam Beach 3

Next, we climbed the slopes on our bikes towards Noordin Beach – and found it closed due to erosion of the shoreline! We’ll check again in August.

Out third site Sungei Ubin is a mere ten minutes’ walk from jetty. The site is generally easy to handle but there are rocky spots within the site.

There is lots of plastic trash here! An the scene reminded us that public education is never done! And to think of our habits as an individual.

The rockier shore of Sungei Ubin

It’s always a joy to conduct the ICCS recces and visit our shorelines. We were further rewarded while cycling, by the sight of a hornbill twice! Thanks to NParks and researchers, this once locally extinct bird in Singapore has made a comeback and is doing well in Pulau Ubin.

Chek Jawa Recce (26 Jun 2013)

After the skies were cleared of haze, Rachael Li and I recce-ed the coasts at Chek Jawa.

The tide was close to 0.0 m when we started and we headed to Chek Jawa North which requires a very low tide to enter. As usual, the site was strewn with trash.

Blue drums found along CJ North.

Tyres are common sight along the shores at CJ North.

Amongst the trash art CJ North were bulky items like tyres and drums. This site is difficult and we ail need a bunch of fit and adventurous people to tackle this site. This year, the afternoon tide would be more suitable for participants to do cleanup here as it remains low enough for at least two hours.

Further up north at CJ North 2 is a site that is full of trash

Comparatively, CJ Central sites are cleaner than CJ North. Oscar, one of our veteran Organisers, commented that the CJ Central site she used to work at has become cleaner over the years, so her group has decided to tackle a more challenging site! There still is trash though but less of challenge finally!’

CJ Central 2

CJ Central 2

CJ Central 4

Finally at CJ South, we saw that the vegetation has grown dense, covering the small trails we use to access the beach. The trash volume remains high.

Now that I have loked all the sites, I am looking forward to the ICCS Workshop and Organiser’s Recce where I will prepare Organisers for the cleanup on 21st September 2013!

Three days of small group training at the 2013 ICCS Workshop Series for Organisers!

This year the ICCS Workshop is being conducted over three days in the hope of a more interactive time in smaller groups. We want to ensure they get their questions asked and answered!

It’s going to be a rough week or training ahead of me! Thankfully I have some help each day from Zone Captains, who have recce’d the sites and very familiar with logistics operations.

These will be important sessions, as we will introduce the new Ocean Conservancy Data Card to Organisers from 42 organisations, of the 66 registered so far to take part in ICCS 2013.

• Wednesday 05 July 2013 – 29 Organisers from 16 organisations, six Zone Captains instructing
• Thursday 06 July 2013 – 13 Organisers from 13 organisations, five Zone Captains instructing
• Friday 07 July 2013 – 14 people from 8 organisations, four Zone Captains instructing