2008: April 29th Good News (Having a Dog Helps Children Resist Allergies, Tropical Reforestation Aided by Bats, more...)

Good Morning all,

So today I found an article that my husband will be thrilled about. It's about dogs, which are his favorite pet. A study done in Germany shows that having a dog as a pet when children are small helps children to not develop allergies. It seems that dogs are man's best friend from beginning to end. :)

I would also like to point out two other interesting articles. First is an article about a house made of straw, which is up for an Eco-House of the year award, in Great Brittain. Second, is an article about a rare cloud rat, which, prior to its rediscovery was last seen over 100 years ago in the philippines.

I hope you enjoy today's posts. I've really got to get some sleep, but I'll see you tomorrow! :)



Today's Top 5:
1. Having A Dog Can Keep Kids from Developing Allergies (City News California)
2. Playgroups and Day Care 'Can Cut Risk of Childhood Cancer' (The Scotsman)
3. Tiny Shrew a Big Hope for Dwindling Owls (Irish Independent)
4. Kamasutra Inspires Car Design! (The Times of India)
5. Dancer Swaps New York for House of Straw (IC Wales)


Honorable Mentions:
1. Idaho Lab Develops a Quicker Way to Catch a Thief (Yahoo News)
2. Tropical Reforestation Aided by Bats (Science Daily)
3. Biologists Rediscover Rare Cloud Rat in Philippines (Yahoo News)
4. Washable Diapers are Better for the Environment, Says Dutch Study (Earth Times)
5. Japan, Russia See Hope in Island Dispute (St Petersburg Times)


Today's Top 5:
1. Having A Dog Can Keep Kids from Developing Allergies
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_22153.aspx
Tuesday April 29, 2008
By Ben Hirschler, Reuters

Having a dog in the house reduces the risk that young children will develop allergies, German researchers said on Tuesday.
The finding, based on a six-year study of 9,000 children, lends weight to the theory that growing up with a pet trains the immune system to be less sensitive to potential triggers for allergies like asthma, eczema and hay fever.
Just why this should be is unclear but scientists believe youngsters may get beneficial early exposure to germs carried into the house on the animal's fur, which helps their immune systems develop.
"Our results show clearly that the presence of a dog in the home during subjects' infancy is associated with a significantly low level of sensitization to pollens and inhaled allergens," said Joachim Heinrich of the National Research Centre for Environmental Health in Munich.
The same protective effect was not seen in children who had frequent contact with dogs but did not have one at home.
Previous studies have suggested that exposure to pets may have a protective effect against allergies but many of these studies were based on retrospective questioning of subjects about their exposure.
Heinrich's study, by contrast, was designed before the data was collected. Experts consider such prospective studies make for more reliable results.
Parents answered detailed questionnaires about possible allergic symptoms in their children, from birth to the age of 6, and blood samples were also taken from a third of the group to test for antibodies to common allergens.
The group's findings were published in the European Respiratory Journal.




2. Playgroups and Day Care 'Can Cut Risk of Childhood Cancer'
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Playgroups-and-day-care-39can.4028960.jp
Date: 29 April 2008
By Jane Kirby

ATTENDING day care or playgroups can lower a child's risk of developing leukaemia by around 30 per cent, research suggested yesterday.
A review of studies found that children who interact with other youngsters early in life are at lower risk of the most common form of childhood leukaemia.
One theory is that children who are exposed to common infections, including those pickeADVERTISEMENTd up from being around other youngsters, gain protection from leukaemia.
Some experts believe that if the immune system is not challenged early in life, it may mount an "inappropriate response" to infections encountered later in childhood, leading to the development of leukaemia.
Dr Patricia Buffler, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, said that the review revealed evidence of a link between social contact and a reduced risk of the disease.
Dr Buffler said the theory was that there are two events in childhood development which can trigger childhood leukaemia, the first taking place in the womb and the second after birth.
She added: "We don't completely understand the mechanisms, but immunological data is emerging which suggests a strong association."
Dr Buffler reviewed 14 published studies involving 6,108 children with leukaemia and 13,704 without the disease.
Parents were asked if their child attended day care or playgroup and any other interaction with children that they had.
She explained: "We had 14 studies that we considered eligible.
"Twelve of them were protective, while two of them showed no effect. No study found social contact increased the risk of childhood leukaemia."
The overall risk reduction was put at around 30 per cent for all types of social interaction with other youngsters.
Combined results for studies of day-care attendance specifically before the age of one or two showed a similarly reduced risk.
Dr Buffler added: "When you take the overall evidence, it seems to be consistent.
"No studies are showing an increased risk. This is consistent with what we've seen for some other childhood conditions that seem to be modulated in this way, like asthma."
She said that studies such as hers may offer a "window of opportunity" to prevent childhood leukaemia as "it might provide foundation for a vaccine that might offer some protection".
Parents should also be encouraged not to isolate their children, she said.
When Dr Buffler's team excluded five studies where the selection of children as controls was not thought to be ideal, youngsters exposed to social contact were found to be almost 40 per cent less likely to develop leukaemia than their counterparts.
Leukaemia accounts for one third of all childhood cancers, with approximately 400 new cases occurring each year in the UK, according to the charity Cancerbackup.
The most common form is acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which accounts for about 75 per cent of cases.
ALL can affect children at any age, but is more common in children aged one to four. It is also more likely to affect boys than girls.


3. Tiny Shrew a Big Hope for Dwindling Owls
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tiny-shrew-a-big-hope-for-dwindling-owls-1361803.html
By Ed Carty
Tuesday April 29 2008

THE discovery of a tiny new mammal in Ireland may be the key to reviving dwindling populations of the elusive barn owl, environment experts said yesterday.
BirdWatch Ireland revealed students have made the first record of the greater white-toothed shrew, a mouse-like animal about the size of an adult's thumb and a favourite food of the rare bird of prey.
However, there are also concerns the fast-breeding little creatures could have a seriously damaging effect on the island's eco-system.
John Lusby, of BirdWatch Ireland, said it was a very significant discovery.
"The greater white-toothed shrew is an important prey item for barn owls in parts of Europe,'' he said.
The shrew was discovered by a research team from Queen's University Belfast and University College Cork.
They found unfamiliar remains in regurgitated food, known as pellets, of barn owls and kestrels in Tipperary and Limerick.
Seven greater white-toothed shrews were later trapped at four locations in Tipperary in March.
Ireland has suffered from a scarcity of small mammals for birds to prey on, which experts believe is partly to blame for the dwindling numbers of owls.
Prof Ian Montgomery of Queen's University said there was evidence the shrews were brought in accidentally from continental Europe.
- Ed Carty




4. Kamasutra Inspires Car Design!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kamasutra_inspires_car_design/articleshow/2992760.cms
29 Apr 2008, 0020 hrs IST,
Vasundhara Vyas,TNN

AHMEDABAD: A Kamasutra posture on wheels? Yes, it looks like Vatsyayan re-invented, with the ancient Indian treatise on love-making inspiring a student of the National Institute of Design (NID) to design a car.
The idea has given him the rare opportunity of an internship with the world's leading automobile design house, Pininfarina of Italy. If 'Kamas' is Ramesh Gound's creation of passion, it is Ahmedabad's signature landmark — the Sidi Saiyed ki Jali — that has spurred another NID student, Neerav Panchal, to design 'Ratna' which he calls the "jewel of Indian roads". A third student, Shailendra Petwal, was inspired by 'Navras' to create his design.
Panchal and Petwal too join Gound at Pininfarina. They were winners of a competition on the theme 'Luxury Car For India' held by designers associated with auto giants like Ferrari, Ford, GM, Jaguar and Fiat.
"We were asked to define Indian contemporary luxury and how it is rooted in India. When I thought of what the world associates with India, it is Kamasutra that came to my mind. After studying Kamasutra, I realised its essence and my theme emerged — two objects coming together and moving in one direction with a force of passion," said Gound.
He added, "My design is built on this essence, where the exteriors of the body curve and become part of the interiors of the car. It's a two-seater car that has seats like a bike but with a back-rest".
Panchal has always been attracted by the Sidi Saiyed ki Jali, the intricate stone carving at an Ahmedabad mosque which has been adopted as the city's symbol by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. So, when he designed his car, its influence was evident.
"My inspiration was Indian architecture, where the roof of the car resembles a dome and the back door has a print of the carvings of the jaili. I call it Ratna, which can be a jewel on the Indian roads," says Panchal.
"My design is inspired by the shape and the layers of the conch and depicts the Shant Ras from the Navrasas.
The design has loose curves and spirals. The seat next to the driver can rotate and has a 180 degree incline, to give a feel like you are in your drawing room," says Petwal.
"The designs are contemporary but rooted in Indian culture. It's a big recognition for the students, which comes right after a good show at the Fiat design competition," says Pradyumna Vyas, head of academics at NID, who initiated the automobile designing course at the institute.


5. Dancer Swaps New York for House of Straw
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/04/29/dancer-swaps-new-york-for-house-of-straw-91466-20832877/
Apr 29 2008
by Steffan Rhys, Western Mail

ITS walls are made of straw bales, it is powered by wind and sunlight, it was 12 years in the making, and it was largely built by unskilled women volunteers from all over the world.
Perched atop the mouth of the River Teifi, at a spot once used as a lookout point by the monks of the now ruined St Dogmaels Abbey, the UKs only load-bearing two-storey straw bale house was even visited by Amazonian tribes people and Aboriginal chiefs during its lengthy construction.
And, having finally been completed this year, it is now one of three buildings vying for the title of Eco-Home of the Year, to be awarded at Channel Fours Grand Designs Live show next week.
Owner Rachel Shiamh gave up an off-Broadway dancing career in New York and a Manhattan lifestyle to return to Wales and oversee the project, living in a shed in woodland for seven years before building finally started in 2003.
The result, Penwhilwr Welsh for watch tower has no mains electricity or water supplies, uses biomass heating fuelled by coppiced wood from the surrounding woodland, has a rainwater harvesting system and all waste is composted on site.
Its uniqueness led to it becoming a virtual pilgrimage site for people from across the globe who arrived in the remote corner of West Wales in their hundreds to help build it. They still make it a destination now for its courses, retreats and conferences on the ways of authentic living, natural building, yoga, healing, music and meditation.
I came back home to visit my parents and I found the land. I wasnt really looking for it but when it came up I had such a strong sense that I needed to live in nature, said Ms Shiamh, 42.
Then it changed the course of my life. It took five years to build because it was a self-build project and a way of building which encompassed education and working with the community.
It had a natural ebb and flow to it which was also reliant on my own energy levels.
I realised that if I wanted the home I envisioned I would have to project manage it myself.
After two years of communications with Pembrokeshire Planning Authority who have given me a lot of support I received planning permission to build a sustainable house.
Meanwhile I lived without mains in a shed, carrying water from a local spring, using candlelight, a gas stove and reaping the benefits of a compost loo.
My way of life completely changed as I lived here. I dropped my dance career to be in nature and allow the simple daily tasks of living here unfold.
Ms Shiamh cultivated a garden with some herbs and flowers already growing on her land, made flower essences and sun-infused oils from flowers and herbs and set up a space to silversmith and create jewellery inspired by her surroundings and meditations.
Whats interesting is that the site was once connected to the abbey, Ive always had a sense it was going to be bigger than me and it is starting to unfold that way, she said.
The homes original designs were drawn up by Lindsay Halton an architect whose new book The Secret of Home explores a homes physical aspects as deeper reflections of its owners spiritual life and path after a chance meeting resulting from his daughter being in Ms Shiamhs dance class.
Its construction during which straw bales were stitched together with bailing twine and cut into shape with saws before being painstakingly covered with clay and lime by hand and topped with a timber roof was then supervised by Amazon Nails, a company run by women which specialises in straw bale builds. The technique began more than 100 years ago, shortly after the introduction of the baling machine in America. There are still straw bale houses standing today that have stood the test of time and the elements.
You spend hours making a mix, all with hands and feet, then you spend the rest of the day spreading it on your walls with your hands, said Ms Shiamh.
Then, at the end of the day you stand back to look at it and it seems like youve done nothing at all.
It’s a grand week for home design on television
Fifteen homes from across the UK will compete for the title of Grand Designs Home of the Year 2008.
As part of its heavily promoted Grand Designs Live Week, Channel Four will screen six spin-off episodes of its flagship property programme over consecutive days, with viewers voting for what they believe is Britain’s best home in a number of categories before an overall winner is chosen.
Rachel Shiamh’s straw bale house will feature in the Eco-Build category. The television programme will run from Sunday to May 9 with a live exhibition being held over nine days, from Saturday to May 11, at London’s ExCel centre.
The event will feature more than 450 exhibitors, building workshops, including straw bale building, design tutorials and energy-efficiency hints.




Honorable Mentions:

1. Idaho Lab Develops a Quicker Way to Catch a Thief
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080429/ap_on_sc/antibody_profiling;_ylt=AteedgUmI6HFAk7i3elDC.Ks0NUE
By TODD DVORAK, Associated Press Writer
Mon Apr 28, 9:13 PM ET

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - Federal researchers say they've developed a human identification test that's faster and possibly cheaper than DNA testing. It would be a handy new weapon in the arsenal for detectives, forensic experts and the military, though no one expects it to replace DNA analysis — and its promoters say it is not intended to.
ADVERTISEMENT The new method analyzes antibodies. Each person has a unique antibody bar code that can be gleaned from blood, saliva or other bodily fluids. Antibodies are proteins used by the body to fend off viruses or perform routine physiological housekeeping.
"DNA is a physical code that describes you ... and in many ways so are your antibodies," said Dr. Vicki Thompson, a chemical engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory who's been working with other researchers to perfect the test for the past 10 years.
The scientists say an antibody profile can yield results faster and more cheaply and be performed in the field with minimal training. National lab administrators have licensed the technology exclusively to Identity Sciences LLC in Alpharetta, Ga.
The Georgia startup plans to begin rolling out test kits and training to law enforcement, the military and forensic and medical labs around the globe by fall of 2009. Ken Haas, vice president of marketing, says the test is not intended to supplant DNA testing, the recognized gold standard in human identification.
But Haas says the value of antibody profiling is as a screening tool to help make sense of a crime scene, sort out the blood trails or spatter from multiple victims or more quickly identify body parts on a battlefield or at the scene of a disaster like the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
It may also reduce the number of DNA tests required in an investigation, potentially saving time and money and easing the growing backlog, he said. Results from tests on blood serum or dried blood can be ready in two hours, a fraction of the time it takes to run similar tests for DNA matches.
However, a major drawback for now is the lack of a national antibody database. That's one of the reasons antibody testing is not likely to be used at the outset of an investigation to link suspects to crimes or establish probable cause to justify issuing an arrest warrant.
Company officials say beta testing by forensic scientists at simulated crime scenes at seven locations across the country has produced positive results and reinforced the notion that an eager market awaits. The company declined to say where the testing occurred, citing nondisclosure agreements with participants.
The company has not yet put a price tag on the field kits. But executives say their product will be significantly cheaper than DNA analysis, which can run anywhere from $500 to $3,000 per sample because it requires sophisticated equipment and lab time.
"We don't see this yet as a product to take to court," said Gene Venesky, vice president of Identity Sciences. "But we do see this as a way to get the case moving forward toward a final, legal resolution."
Still, some forensics experts say that kind of scrutiny may be unavoidable, especially if the test takes on a bigger crime-fighting role.
"There is a lot of potential here," said Lawrence Kobilinsky, a DNA expert and chairman of the Department of Forensic Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "Any time you can develop a quick and easy screen for something ... that is a good thing."
But Kobilinsky and others caution that it takes time for any new forensic test to gain acceptance where it matters most — state and federal courthouses. If the new tests begin appearing in police reports, defense attorneys can be expected to challenge their validity.
"If these tests are going to get to the courtroom, which I think is inevitable, they are not going to be admissible as evidence until they can be proven reliable, accurate" and trustworthy, Kobilinsky said. "My bet is that a crime scene unit is going to be very careful about using this if it's not going to be of any benefit in litigation."




2. Tropical Reforestation Aided by Bats
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428124235.htm
ScienceDaily (Apr. 28, 2008)

German scientists are engaging bats to kick-start natural reforestation in the tropics by installing artificial bat roosts in deforested areas. This novel method for tropical restoration is presented in a new study published online in the science journal Conservation Biology this week. Detlev Kelm from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin (IZW) and Kerstin Wiesner and Otto von Helversen from the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg report that the deployment of artificial bat roosts significantly increases seed dispersal of a wide range of tropical forest plants into their surroundings, providing a simple and cheap method to speed up natural forest regeneration.
Tropical forests are of global ecological importance. They are a key contributor to the global carbon balance and are host to a major part of the world’s biodiversity. Between 2000 and 2005, worldwide net losses of tropical forest cover averaged 0.18 % annually and regionally even exceeded 1.5 % annually in some Latin American countries. Forest is usually replaced by agriculture. Often soils become rapidly infertile and land is abandoned. Because deforested areas rarely offer much food or protection for seed dispersers such as birds or small mammals, natural forest regeneration is hampered by a lack of natural seed inputs. The alternative, replanting tropical forests, is too expensive and rarely a feasible option, and, in general, knowledge on how best to rapidly restore natural vegetation is lacking.
“We believe that bats could help in reforestation. They are able to cover large distances during their nightly foraging flights and are willing to enter deforested areas”, says Detlev Kelm from the IZW. Many bats eat fruits or nectar, and thus are key species for seed dispersal and flower pollination. Kelm and colleagues showed that the principal barrier to reforestation - the lack of seed inputs - could be overcome by the deployment of artificial day roosts for bats in deforested areas. These roosts were designed to approximate characteristics of large, hollow tree trunks, the main type of natural bat roost. “Within a few days to weeks the first bats will move in. So far we have found ten bat species using the roosts, and several of these are common and important seed dispersers”, Kelm reports. “We measured the effect of the roosts on seed dispersal and found seeds of more than 60 plant species being transported by the bats”. Of these plants, most were pioneer species, which represent the initial stages of natural forest succession.
This cost and labour efficient method can thus support and speed up natural forest regeneration. Artificial roosts are simply built boxes, which require little maintenance and can be used by bats for many years. “We hope that this cheap and easy to use method will be applied in many parts of the tropics in the near future, and that bats will be “employed” as efficient agents of reforestation”, says Kelm. They may provide an effective contribution to the amelioration of deforestation and climate change.
Detlev H. Kelm, Kerstin R. Wiesner, Otto Von Helversen. Effects of Artificial Roosts for Frugivorous Bats on Seed Dispersal in a Neotropical Forest Pasture Mosaic. Conservation Biology. Published article online: 25-Apr-2008.
Adapted from materials provided by Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V..




3. Biologists Rediscover Rare Cloud Rat in Philippines http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080427/sc_afp/philippineswildlife;_ylt=Av2.GEa7.C8rxl2kJ2Z0EYkbr7sFSun Apr 27, 7:15 PM ET

MANILA (AFP) - A rare rat species last seen over a century ago in the mountainous northern Philippines has been rediscovered by a team of American and Filipino biologists, a report said Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT Lawrence Heaney, team leader and curator at the Chicago-based Field Museum of Natural History, said the rare dwarf cloud rat was last seen by British scientists some 112 years ago.
He said the rat was dead when the team found it in a canopy of a large tree whose branches were covered by thick moss, orchids and ferns at a national park in Mount Pulag in northern Luzon, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said.
The animal was described as small "with reddish brown fur, a black mask around its large dark eyes, small round ears, a broad and blunt snout and a long tail covered with dark hair," the report said.
"It is the animal whose existence had baffled biologists for so many years," Heaney said.
The animal has been preserved and is being prepared for shipment to Chicago for further studies.
The discovery proved a theory that the rare species lived only in high canopies with mature mossy forests in areas with an elevation of between 2,200- 2,700 metres (7,200-8,850 feet) above sea level. Mount Pulag is Luzon's highest peak at 2,922 metres above sea level.
"The cloud rats are one of the most spectacular cases of adaptive radiation by mammals anywhere in the world," Heaney said.
A British researcher, John Whitehead, first saw the rat in 1896 in another mountain region in the north, but little was known about the species.
"Since then the species became a mystery," Heaney said.


4. Washable Diapers are Better for the Environment, Says Dutch Study
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/202049,washable-diapers-are-better-for-the-environment-says-dutch-study.html
Posted : Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:19:05
GMT Author : DPA
Category : Environment

Amsterdam - Washable diapers contribute to a better environment, a Dutch foundation for the protection of the environment said Tuesday. Spokesman Hans van Dijk of the non-gouvernmental organisation Milieu Centraal in Utrecht said new research demonstrated washable diapers were substantially better single-use for for the environment.
"Contrary to all previous studies that looked primarily at the damage to the environment - starting from the moment a customer buys one type of diaper or another - our study also looked at the production process, including transportation," he said.
"Although multi-useable diapers need to be washed, which also puts a strain on the environment, we found that washable diapers are up to seven times better for the environment than single-use diapers."
Children use an average 5,000 diapers until they are potty- trained, which is on average at the age of 3,2 years, Milieu Centraal says.
"Washable diapers also have an extra advantage," says Van Dijk. "Children are potty-trained at a substantially younger age."



5. Japan, Russia See Hope in Island Dispute
http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=25835
By Anna Smolchenko, Staff Writer
Issue #1369 (33), Tuesday, April 29, 2008

NOVO-OGARYOVO, Moscow Region — Japanese Prime Minister Jasuo Fukuda and President Vladimir Putin agreed on Saturday to expedite talks to resolve a decades-old territorial dispute by issuing “fresh directives” to their respective governments, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.
Fukuda is the first Japanese prime minister to visit Putin’s official residence outside Moscow, a venue seen by some as more prestigious than the Kremlin and a gesture that the Foreign Ministry said Fukuda appreciated.
Following the talks, the two governments agreed to jointly explore oil and gas in Siberia in a five-year, $96 million project.
Making his first visit to Russia since his election last fall, Fukuda sought to establish a good rapport with Putin and his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, and to secure their support for the upcoming Group of Eight summit on Hokkaido in July.
Moscow’s refusal to return a chain of islands seized during the last days of World War II has prevented the two countries from reaching a peace treaty. The islands are known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
“We are continuing our dialog on a peace treaty and creating the necessary conditions to advance in this direction,” Putin told Fukuda at the start of the talks Saturday.
Putin did not elaborate in front of reporters, but he added that “a lot of unresolved problems” remained between the two countries despite an improvement in ties in recent years.
Fukuda, who nodded frequently as Putin spoke, thanked the president for his personal role in promoting ties and said he wanted to deepen cooperation in the Pacific region.
It was unclear to what extent the dispute over the islands was discussed.
Putin’s spokesman Alexei Gromov told reporters that the territorial issue was not discussed in detail. But Japanese officials appeared to have interpreted the talks in a more positive way.
“With respect to the territorial issue, I believe we will be able to secure a positive direction,” Fukuda said after separate talks with President-elect Dmitry Medvedev at his official residence outside Moscow, Main Dorf Castle, Reuters reported.
Kazuo Kodama, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters late Saturday that Fukuda and Putin had agreed to “issue fresh directives” to their governments to expedite talks on the islands to elevate bilateral ties to a new dimension. Kodama did not elaborate, and it was unclear whether the agreement between the outgoing Russian leader and the Japanese prime minister, whose support at home is faltering, would bear any fruit.
Japan has said it wants back all four islands — Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai — but Moscow is not ready to give them up. Tokyo maintains that a peace treaty should be in place for ties to be taken to a new level.
But some Russian observers believe no peace treaty is needed because economic ties are booming anyway.
“In the great scheme of things, Russia doesn’t need the peace treaty,” said Valery Vinogradov, the point man on Japan within the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the big business lobby group. “It wouldn’t change anything in the current state of affairs,” he said.
In the most recent example of increased cooperation, the governments agreed Saturday to cooperate on oil and gas exploration in eastern Siberia in the first project of its kind, said Kodama, the Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. and Russia’s Irkutsk Oil will jointly explore oil and gas deposits 1,000 kilometers north of Irkutsk and 150 kilometers from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline, which is under construction, the Japanese company said in a statement. The two companies have set up a joint venture in which the Russians have a 51 percent stake. They will jointly invest 10 billion yen ($96 million) in the project, which will initially span five years, Kodama said.
Trade between the two countries grew about 65 percent to $20.1 billion last year, and Japanese total investment totaled $3.1 billion as of late 2007, according to Kremlin figures.
In March, state-owned nuclear energy company Atomenergoprom and Toshiba agreed to build power plants and produce atomic-reactor fuel.
Several Japanese carmakers, including Toyota, Suzuki and Nissan, have built or are building plants here. Oil deliveries from Sakhalin to Japan totaled 6.8 million tons last year, and deliveries of liquefied natural gas to Japan will start no later than 2009, the Kremlin said.
Kodama said the conclusion of the peace treaty was needed, and its absence was a reason why an agreement to develop the Far East and Siberia had not gotten very far.
The Japanese government appeared to interpret the choice of the Novo-Ogaryovo residence for the meeting as a positive sign. “It’s indeed the first time that the Japanese prime minister was invited to the official residence of a Russian president, “ Kodama said. “The prime minister appreciated such a gesture.”
Putin and Fukuda were initially scheduled to meet at the Kremlin.
Putin has held numerous meetings at Novo-Ogaryovo, and he presided over a Security Council meeting here immediately before his talks with Fukuda on Saturday.
In other issues, Russia and Japan agreed to “drastically” expand youth exchanges to 500 people a year and cooperate on climate change after the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012. Fukuda also “requested to exercise Russia’s influence over North Korea on all issues, including the issue of abduction” of Japanese citizens, Kodama said.
Fukuda’s meeting and a subsequent lunch with Putin lasted for two hours, and the talks with Medvedev went for about an hour. Before his meetings with the Russian leaders, Fukuda visited a Japanese festival at a Moscow school where the students showed off their knowledge of Japanese and sang songs for him, Kodama said.