Sss1207 Natural Heritage Of Singapore Essay

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Singapore, a heartland for commerce and trade, has stood as an exemplary among Southeast Asian nations in terms of economic growth. However, with power comes responsibility, and Singapore must balance its economic growth by nature conservation. The ecosystem in Singapore is very diverse, ranging from natural to artificial habitats, land to marine communities. It is up to the government to conserve this natural heritage for future generations to enjoy and utilise it either for recreational, scientific, economic, or any other reasons. In recent years, nevertheless, Singapore has managed its nature considerably well and may be a great example in this area. The first highlight is the underwater coral reef habitats: despite its small area, corals in Singapore water are as diverse as those of other neighbouring countries with larger coral expanse (Tan, Chou, Yeo, & Ng, 2007, p. 122). However, land reclamation, although tremendously benefited the economy, has redefined the coastal lines and intruded the benthic communities by crushing them physically and increasing water turbidity (“Coral Reefs of Singapore”, n.d.). Nearly 20% of Singapore land is from reclamation (Koh, 2005; Tan et al., 2007, p. 55), causing approximately 60% loss of coral reef habitats (Hilton & Manning, 1995). To ameliorate this, the government has made significant efforts to ensure the persistence of coral reef habitats. One such notable move was the $300,000 joint project of a national coral nursery by NParks, NUS, and Keppel Corporation (Wong, 2007) that has been reported successful in decelerating coral reef loss (Hiroshi, 2008). Another accomplishment was Pulau Semakau: despite its landfill purposes, careful environmentallyfriendly planning enables proliferation of marine and coastal life such as corals and mangroves (“Pulau Semakau on wildsingapore”, n.d.). A media also reports founding of Project Semakau, which further accentuated government role in the island. The project aims to turn Pulau Semakau to “nature education and conservation site” (“Project Semakau - Launch 1

of Project Semakau”, 2008). For such a small country, this level of meticulousness is amazing. The endeavour to preserve underwater habitats bore its fruit: only one species out of more than 250 coral species were found locally extinct in Singapore waters (Kesava, 2008). This amount of diversity counts to about a third of world total, even richer than that of The Great Barrier Reef of Australia in terms of species per unit area (Davidson, Ng, & Ho, 2008)! This suggests that although the size and number of coral colonies are getting smaller, they can withstand the impacts of economic development, highlighting the success of government balancing economic growth with ecological issues. The land reclamation, however, has another detrimental effect: it redefines coastlines, destroying coastal communities within. The new coastlines are fortified with rigid structure to prevent erosion, rendering them inhabitable to most coastal species. Singapore tends not to support the coastal habitats; after all, reclamation is impossible without breaking beaches. Trying to balance the situation, the government maintains at least short coastal stretches in Labrador Nature Reserve and Chek Jawa at Pulau Ubin. The latter location is still subject to further reclamation scheme in the future as depicted by a mainstream media (Waters, 2007), signifying how desperate the government is in looking for reclamation sites. Work must be done to enlighten the government about the importance of pristine coastal habitats. Our second focus is the government supervision of land vegetations through NParks and related entities. At least 4 nature reserves (at Central Catchment, Bukit Timah, Sungai Buloh, and Labrador), 2 national parks (Singapore Botanic Gardens and Fort Canning Park), and 14 reservoirs (Tan et al., 2007, pp. 135, 157) are present in Singapore. It thus shows the government commitment on nature preservation; in such a small island with bustling economy there can be that many areas of reserves. However, we cannot simply dismiss the fact that Singapore was once covered with forest, and only around 5% of it still exists in the form of mentioned reserves (Brook, Sodhi, & Ng, 2003). How could Singapore 2

be a model for nature conservation if she already lost about 95% of her forest? Intriguingly, there is an answer to this argument: almost all of the deforestation occurred within British government era. Singapore government was not liable for the deforestation! Rather, the current government attempts its best to conserve the 5% that is left, introducing pro-nature regulations and providing financial support as necessitated by existing parks and nature reserves. In essence, the government is giving back to nature what it has gained by utilising the space cleared by deforestation. The third feature is increasing public and academic awareness of natural assets. As more Singaporeans become more educated (education is also part of government responsibility), they become more attentive to ecological in addition to economic issues. This is especially important as these people determines public policies or will someday become environmentally conscious future leaders. A recent media report about Earth Hour supported this trend as people exchanged productive hours with spread of environmental awareness (Ouyang, 2009). In academic settings, Singapore has recently updated its biodiversity bible The Singapore Red Data Book (Ria, 2008; “Singapore Red Data Book Second Edition Out!”, n.d.). A joint project of Nature Society (Singapore), NUS, and NParks, the book catalogued biodiversity across the nation according to threat level; such national reference is rare among countries, making Singapore the exemplary in academia. It is also immensely useful in deciding future environmental regulations; policy makers can refer to the book for further impacts of policy against biodiversity. We have seen that Singapore manages most of its natural heritage well, with the exception of coastal communities. The elevation of public consciousness about ecological issues has also been exposed. Considering all these issues, Singapore may still become a great example in managing her natural assets, although not perfect in every area. Any nations with similar ecosystems should consider to model Singapore in pro-environment policies and raising public environmental consciousness. [976 words]

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References Brook, B. W., Sodhi, N. S., & Ng, P. K. L. (2003). Catastrophic extinctions follow deforestation in Singapore. Nature, 424(6947), 420-426. doi: 10.1038/nature01795. Coral Reefs of Singapore. (n.d.). Coral Reefs of Singapore. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://coralreef.nus.edu.sg/. Davidson, G. W. H., Ng, P. K. L., & Ho, H. C. (Eds.). (2008). The Singapore Red Data Book (2nd ed.). The Nature Society (Singapore). Hilton, M. J., & Manning, S. S. (1995). Conversion of coastal habitats in Singapore: indications of unsustainable development. Environmental conservation, 22(4), 307-322. Hiroshi. (2008, April 15). Singapore’s first coral nursery blooms a year after it was started. Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ singaporelocalnews/view/341601/1/.html. Kesava, S. (2008, August 16). Hope for coral reefs in Singapore. The Straits Times Interactive. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://www.straitstimes.com/print/Singapore/Story/ STIStory_268600.html. Koh, G. Q. (2005, April 12). FEATURE - Singapore Finds it Hard to Expand Without Sand. Wild Singapore. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http: //www.wildsingapore.com/news/20050304/050412-1.htm. Ouyang, T. (2009, March 28). Singapore observes Earth Hour, many buildings switch off lights for an hour. Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ singaporelocalnews/view/418459/1/.html. Project Semakau - Launch of Project Semakau. (2008, November 14). Project Semakau. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from http://semakau.resonance.com.sg/index.php?option=com_ semakau_events&task=details&id=6. 4

Pulau Semakau on wildsingapore. (n.d.). Wild Singapore. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/ semakau.htm. Ria. (2008, November 29). At the launch of the Singapore Red Data Book. wild shores of singapore. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2008/11/ at-launch-of-singapore-red-data-book.html. Singapore Red Data Book Second Edition Out! (n.d.). Nature Society (Singapore). Retrieved April 7, 2009, from http://www.nss.org.sg/. Tan, H. T. W., Chou, L. M., Yeo, D. C. J., & Ng, P. K. L. (2007). The Natural Heritage of Singapore (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. Waters, R. (2007, March 3). Lost Horizon. The Australian. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/ 0,20867,21309455-5002031,00.html. Wong, M. W. (2007, July 30). S’pore unveils first coral nursery to conserve underwater habitat. Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved March 22, 2009, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ stories/singaporelocalnews/view/291204/1/.html.

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