The

Singaporean government The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which is made up of the president and the Cabinet. Although the president acts in their personal discretion in the exercise o ...

has established four nature reserves in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. They are the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Central Catchment Nature Reserve,

Labrador Nature Reserve Labrador Nature Reserve (Chinese: 拉柏多自然保护区, Malay: Kawasan Simpanan Alam Semulajadi Labrador), also known locally as Labrador Park (拉柏多公园, Taman Labrador), is located in the southern part of mainland Singapore. It is home ...

, and

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve The Sungei Buloh Wetland Reservoir (Chinese: 双溪布洛湿地保护区, Malay: ''Kawasan Simpanan Alam Semulajadi Sungei Buloh'', Tamil: சுங்காய் புலோ ஈரநில வளம்) is a nature reserve in the northwest a ...

History

One of the first notions of nature reserves in Singapore was thought up by the then-

Singapore Botanical Gardens The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a -year-old tropical garden located at the fringe of the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore. It is one of three gardens, and the only tropical garden, to be honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...

Superintendent N. C. Cantley who, in 1882, proposed that select areas of land be preserved. In as early as 1883, the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (as it is now known) was established, making it the inaugural nature reserve in Singapore. The Singapore Nature Reserves Act officially came into action in 1971. In 1984, nature reserves took up some of the country's land. This figure has been increased to , as of 2009.

Biosphere reserves

The Public Utilities Board-maintained Central Catchment Nature Reserve is Singapore's largest nature reserve. The

aids in the conservation of both bird species and mangrove plants. The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, albeit small-sized at , hosts myriad plant and animal lifeforms.

Chek Jawa Tanjong Chek Jawa (or Tanjung Chek Jawa or simply Chek Jawa) is a cape and the name of its 100-hectare wetlands located on the south-eastern tip of Pulau Ubin, an island off the north-eastern coast of the main island of Singapore. Chek Jawa is a ...

is situated in eastern Pulau Ubin.The

is located by the sea. Described as "an oasis of tranquility and natural wonders", it teems with vast animal life, as well as plant life by the cliff. The large

comprises mostly

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and a few bird species, most notably the

shorebird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

, can be spotted there. It is cited as the "first wetlands reserve to be gazetted in Singapore".

Issues

Owing to rapid urban development, the country is in need of more land for things such as housing, which is deemed more important than nature reservation. One possible issue faced by the biosphere reserves in Singapore is that they will be turned into nothingness by the government when the need arises. There was an instance when the government had wanted to reclaim part of Chek Jawa, but this was opposed by conservationists and it was ultimately not reclaimed.

Gallery

File:Central Catchment Nature Reserve locator map.png, Central Catchment Nature Reserve File:Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Banner.JPG, Signage of

File:Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Interior 1.jpg, The wetlands of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve File:Low tide at labrador.JPG,

during low tide

References

{{Reflist, 2 Protected areas of Singapore

History

Biosphere reserves

Issues

Gallery

See also

References