Myanmar's junta has given the World Food Program permission to use helicopters to send aid to cyclone survivors, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as flags flew at half-staff across the country to mourn the dead. The first day of a three-day mourning period passed in torrential rain and diplomatic prodding of the reclusive generals to allow more international aid after Cyclone Nargis hit in early May, leaving 134,000 people dead or missing. The junta in the former Burma has allowed relief flights to deliver supplies to Yangon, the largest city, but had balked at aerial access to the south-western Irrawaddy Delta, where an estimated 2.4 million people were left destitute. "We have received government permission to operate nine WFP helicopters which will allow us to reach areas that have so far been largely inaccessible," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told reporters before departing for a visit to Myanmar. Amid warnings that many more people could die in the Southeast Asian country, Ban said he welcomed the government's "recent flexibility" but added that aid workers had so far been able to reach only around 25 percent of those in need. Ban said a donors' pledging conference in Yangon on Sunday would be crucial for longer term rebuilding. The official toll is 77,738 people killed and 55,917 missing, one of the worst cyclones to hit Asia in decades. Myanmar's government has estimated the damage at $10 billion. Ban, due to arrive in Thailand on Wednesday and go to Myanmar on Thursday, said he hoped junta supremo Than Shwe would be among senior government officials he meets. WAKE-UP CALL The declaration of a mourning period, after the first post-cyclone visit to the delta by 75-year-old Than Shwe on Monday, was taken as a possible sign the leadership had awoken up to the scale of the catastrophe. "The old man must have been shocked to see the real situation with his own eyes," one retired government official said in Yangon, where the start of the monsoon season has caused more flooding and misery for storm survivors. Than Shwe, who has run Myanmar since 2005 from Naypyidaw, a new capital 250 miles (390 km) north of Yangon, was shown on state TV touring hard-hit towns on Monday and again on Tuesday, offering words of encouragement and giving orders. UN humanitarian chief John Holmes, visiting Myanmar, said military-run camps in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta "seemed well organized" but that most survivors had no shelter. "There are still a lot of supplies needed to get in in the future in terms of food, but not just for now but for some months to come," Holmes told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Thein Sein. Scot Marciel, the US envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, said the junta's response to the disaster has been "appalling" with hundreds of thousands of lives at risk. "The door must be opened far wider -- and rapidly -- to prevent a second catastrophe," he told a congressional hearing in Washington, adding that responsibility "will fall squarely on the shoulders" of Than Shwe and Myanmar's other leaders. In Tokyo, Myanmar's ambassador told the foreign ministry that Japanese relief workers would be allowed in, a ministry official said. SUSPICIONS Until the last few days, the junta's attention appeared to have been on a May 10 referendum on a constitution drafted by the army intended to precede multiparty elections in 2010. The vote was postponed to May 24 in areas worst-hit by the storm. The military, which has ruled the country in various incarnations for 46 years, historically has been suspicious of foreign interference. That distrust has deepened since the wave of international outrage and tighter sanctions following last year's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. The New Light of Myanmar, the junta's main mouthpiece, quoted Than Shwe as saying the government "took prompt action to carry out the relief and rehabilitation work." Some donors returning from the outskirts of Yangon said the authorities were giving out leaflets telling people not to hand donations to victims but to do it under official management. The leaflets said the handouts might make victims "lazy and more dependent on others," said people who got them. "One young man felt very sad to see what was written in the leaflet," one woman said. "He murmured 'What are we supposed to do if we don't depend on donations in this situation?'" There is little detail of how ASEAN will carry out what it called an aid "mechanism" but Western governments and relief groups know it is the only option acceptable to the generals. "It's a face-saving way to get them to admit outside help, but we'll have to wait and see if it works or if it's a fudge," one humanitarian official told Reuters. The United States and France have naval vessels waiting in waters near Myanmar ready to deliver supplies but have yet to get permission for the ships from the generals. (Additional reporting by Ed Cropley in Bangkok, Claudia Parsons at the United Nations and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Writing by Grant McCool and John O'Callaghan; Editing by David Wiessler) Story by Aung Hla Tun REUTERS NEWS SERVICE Biofuels A Risk For Wildlife In New Habitats-Study -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail this story to a friend | Printer friendly version NORWAY: May 21, 2008 OSLO - Fast-growing foreign crops used as biofuels can disrupt new habitats by ousting local plants and animals, an international report said on Tuesday. The study, by the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP), urged governments to do more to assess 32 aggressive species such as giant reeds from West Asia or European poplar trees that can escape beyond biofuel farms and plantations. "We want to make sure that the risks are properly understood," Stas Burgiel, policy director of GISP, told Reuters. The report was issued to coincide with a May 19-30 UN conference on protecting biodiversity in Bonn. Invasive species can overtake new habitats, causing billions of dollars of damage, if they lack competitors or pests that keep them in check at home. The study by GISP, which groups scientists around the world, adds to worries about side-effects of biofuels including that they push up food prices or add pressure on farmers to clear forests and other land to produce energy. Many countries favour biofuels as alternatives to oil, costing more than $125 a barrel, and to curb climate change blamed on greenhouse gases emitted by burning fossil fuels. The report said countries should be wary of the West Asian giant reed arundo donax, for instance, which is being introduced as a biofuel to the United States. "Naturally flammable, it increases the likelihood of wildfires -- a threat to both humans and native species in places such as California," it said. The American mesquite tree, under consideration for biofuel production, is known as the "Devil's Tree" in Ethiopia because it has taken over larger than expected areas since it was introduced in the 1970s as a drought-resistant species. Its 10 cm (3 inch) thorns injure both people and livestock. And the African oil palm, recommended for biodiesel, "has already become invasive in parts of Brazil, turning areas of threatened forest from a rich mix of trees and plant life into a homogenous layer of palm leaves," it said. The report listed nine crops of low risk as biofuels because they were not known to be aggressive invaders -- including sunflowers, soya, sugar cane, cotton and wheat. "You don't often see wheat growing outside a wheat field. It has become so domesticated that its has to be planted," said Jeffrey Howard of the International Union for Conservation of Nature which backs GISP. "But the giant reed is going to cause a problem almost anywhere you take it," he told Reuters. Plants used as biofuels are part of a wider problem of invasive species ranging from rats to jellyfish. A GISP statement said experts estimate damage from invasive species at up to five percent of the global economy. "The US alone spends $120 billion annually on the control and impacts of more than 800 invasive species infestations," It said. The report recommended that governments should assess risks before introducing new species. Australia and New Zealand, or instance, vet new crops under tight rules on biosecurity. -- For Reuters latest environment blogs click on: http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/ (Editing by Richard Meares) Story by Alister Doyle REUTERS NEWS SERVICE