How many snails can a lonely old guy eat as compared to the large number of rare snails and marine eco-system totally destoryed by local reclamation.

You don't blame a smoking old man for the greenhouse effect do you? Or blame an old lady cooking her dinner with coal for the hole in the ozone? If you do, you might as well ban charcoal BBQ all together.

Find the root cause and solve the real issue.

I do agree that one snail-eater eating one snail will not destroy the shore. Even if the snail he eats is the last rare snail on that shore.

The real issue is excess, which is the root cause of much of our environmental situation.

While one person alone may cause only limited damage, many doing so can have a significant and longlasting impact.

Just as one farmer clearing a small patch of forest may not bring air traffic to a halt or affect business earnings kilometres away, many doing so at the same time can have a large and long effect.

At heart, I believe the people who collect do appreciate our shores. If perhaps it is expressed in a rather selfish manner.

I am sure they too will be sad if our shores are devastated due to over-collection or other natural and man-made disasters. The tricky part is encouraging a more positive appreciation of our shores.

I believe even reclamation of good shores is largely a result of the lack of awareness. Reclamation on Chek Jawa was deferred when there was awareness of its richness. It was a bit too late for the shores affected by the Sentosa IR reclamation, but still, awareness resulted in some effort to save some of the shore.

There is much to do to raise awareness and bring about greater appreciation of our shores.

And in raising awareness one person CAN make a difference. Just as many individuals doing their own thing can cause multiplied harm, I believe many individuals doing the right thing can together bring about a better situation.

Here's how one person can tackle the root cause and contribute to a solution of the real issue of low awareness

(a) Stop being a part of the problem.
(b) Start being a part of the solution.

To do this, learn about the problem, learn about the solutions.

In raising awareness for our shores, here's some simple things any one can do.

Visit our shores. Go with a guide. Guided walks are available on Chek Jawa, Pulau Semakau and Kusu Island. The Naked Hermit Crabs conduct walks on other shores as well.

Share about what you've seen. Bring your friends to see our shores for themselves.

Speak up for our shores.

Act for our shores; join any of the many volunteer groups that are working for our shores.

More links on how to do these on the wildsingapore website.
http://www.wildsingapore.com/

Hi Ria

Judging for the leack of comments & responds to this article, you should have realised that Singaporeans don't care because their Mentors (the Govt.) don't. What ever awareness generated will be among those who are probably already aware. i.e. you can't solve the problem.

If the leaders of this island bother enough, reclamation plans for Chek Jawa would not be postphone, but rather, Chek Jawa should be declared a Marine reserve.

If you are really concern, you should be writing about the the authorities who could seriously do some good and not sensationalise about a snail collector.

BTW, don't talk about Sentosa IR tiny little reclamation, you should be thinking of Marina Bay, Marine Parade, Sentosa Cove, Changi airport extension and the southern islands, those eco-system destoryed were massive.

We used to spot dolphin in our water, there were no longer sightings for the past years.

Please also consider the hundreds of miles of Indonesian shores destoryed by this island's demand for sands. A lonely old man eating snail?? If you cared enough, buy him dinner and request him to release the snail.

I don't see this as a an either or issue. Can't we do both - work on educating the government and on individual members of the public at the same time? Government and big businesses are the big culprits but they are also the tough nuts to crack. Individuals have a relatively smaller footprint, but are easier to win over one by one. And the best part is that winning over the individuals is actually an effective way (certainly more effective than writing letters, in my opinion) of eventually getting governments and big businesses to change their mindsets through the expressions of voter and consumer preferences.

Good to know Ria & co approached the man; knowing them they did it politely.

He's just one (and a small one) of many causes of impact. All things, big and small, need our attention, so its good that those who can should try to do their bit. We have few surviving shores, all are impacted and extremely vulnerable. Unfortunately, they are also too small to cope with recreational harvests anymore.

I won't give up writing to the authorities, though. It's worked on occasion :-)

Gosh - i think catching this guy red-handed is only the tip of the iceberg... how many more people go around digging up our shores for stuff to eat or pretty shells to collect? Most of our shores are being indiscriminately reclaimed, and the surviving ones do not have much practical protection. The only saving grace is that most people dont know about our wildlfe so they wont go round harvesting them. Those that do are happily collecting em. what to do?
Our shores arent green what, so they arent really green areas to the public i suppose.

don't be dumb. a couple of snails eaten won't destroy the ecosystem. maybe you should get out more. yet another armchair theorist

To set the record straight, I know that azurehalcyon is NOT an armchair theorist.

He is in fact the one who first introduced many of us to the rich Changi shores. This was at the time when I was still obsessed with Chek Jawa only. From what he shared, I realised we should also look at all our other shores.

azurehalcyon was also on the Sentosa shore that was reclaimed for the IR. Not only documenting it but also speaking up for it.

azurehalcyon DOES 'get out' a lot, possibly more than most people.

hey ho hunter. maybe you could come join us on one of our trips to see what we mean. A couple of eaten snails wont destroy one ecosystem, but thats just a start and it sure could dent it plenty. especially when its such a big snail, and those that big are hard to come by, and rare. People go down in the morning digging up entire tracts of mudflats just for a couple of bristleworms for fishing, for example. Just one or two. Armchair or not I've been roaming that shore for 6 years at least and have seen its decline. Would you yourself know if just taking one or two snails could destroy an ecosystem?

Would you by chance know of the poacher who took the snail, hunter?

Ooo, I'm late to catch up on these comments, but baler snails aren' as rare as you think they are. I've seen about ten live ones in just 2007 and on changi alone, and one of them was a whopping 200mm.

I think we need to strike a balance between eat and release. We eat fish cos they are readily available. No one makes a big whoo hah about eating fish cos the public thinks there are many more out in the ocean. Similarly, by classifying the baler snail as rare, we condemn the snail eater. Good knowledge is important, and having seen both live and crabbed baler snails in good number for a number of years now, I think we should close an eye to the snail eater, and admit that even our best books make mistakes by calling many common creatures 'rare'.

Anonymous Cowards: Thanks for your comments and thoughts. I would personally like to see if you have photographic evidence of having spotted baler snails. Because as far as I know, many of us who do explore the shores very often find that encountering them on our shores is an extremely rare experience.

I'm wondering if you might have confused the baler snail with its slightly more common and smaller relative, the noble volute?

Noble volute (Cymbiola nobilis):
http://flickr.com/photos/wildsingapore/2398777783/

Baler snail (Melo melo):
http://flickr.com/photos/wildsingapore/497810800/