We'll believe it when we see it Dept: Landfill Island as Eco-Tourist Site
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 1.05
Just off Singapore, the Government has built an artificial island entirely of garbage and has opened it for eco-tourism. 2000 tonnes of construction debris and ash from incineration plants are dumped daily into impermeable plastic cells. Mangrove plantations were installed as "biological indicators" to detect leaks of harmful waste into the sea. Recent surveys indicate rare sea grasses, giant barramundi cod and black tipped sharks seem to like the place, along with 55 species of birds. Says the Minister of the Environment: "this is a way for Singapore to show the world that as a nation this is a very responsible way to manage our waste and manage our environment." Right. Burn it, dump it and watch the birds it attracts. Sounds like a good plan to me. ::Singapore Environmental Agency Paging Elizabeth Royte!
Spectacle Island in the Boston Harbor is a landfill island that was scheduled to open as part of the Harbor Islands Park last year. Unfortunately, the cap on the fill is leaking and the island is not open to the public yet.
They are supposed to have some solar buildings too.
My name is Ria and I'm a volunteer trying to document and highlight the amazing life still found on Singapore shores.
I've posted photos of Pulau Semakau's rich and living shores at the wildsingapore website
Posters at http://www.wildsingapore.com/projects/survey/semakau/poster1.htm
More photos at http://www.wildsingapore.com/beachfleas/semakau/index.html
Lists of plants, fishes, birds and intertidal animals documented on some brief survey trips conducted by volunteers at
http://www.wildsingapore.com/projects/survey/semakau/results.html
You CAN see it for yourself soon.
A group of volunteers funded and manned the initial surveys, and are now hard at work preparing to train guides to bring the public so that they can see the shores for themselves.
More about the public walks http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/workshop/
More about the training
http://www.wildsingapore.com/projects/training/semakau/trgsep05.html
Singapore's shores are very much alive! Volunteer guided shore walks are also available
at Chek Jawa on Pulau Ubin (seagrass, mangroves and more)
http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/
at Kusu Island (coral reefs)
http://www.wildsingapore.com/sos/walks.htm