Singapore Launches Sungei Buloh Masterplan Public Exhibition

22 June 2010 , By The GovMonitor(http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/asia/singapore-launches-sungei-buloh-masterplan-public-exhibition-33944.html)

Speech by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development & Education at the launch of Sungei Buloh Masterplan Public Exhibiton on 19 June 2010 at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Honourable Pehin Dato Haji Yahya, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Brunei Darussalam

Mr Ng Lang, Chief Executive Officer National Parks Board

Professor Leo Tan, Chairman Garden City Fund

Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen, A very good morning to all of you:

This year is the United Nations’ International Year of Biodiversity. As part of the celebrations in Singapore, today’s launch of the Sungei Buloh Masterplan Public Exhibition is one of several activities by the National Parks Board to create greater awareness and understanding of the importance of biodiversity.

Some of us may recall that Sungei Buloh used to be better known for its prawn and fish farms than its current abundant wildlife. We gazetted it as a nature reserve in January 2002, and in the same year, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve was recognised by Wetlands International as a site of international importance for migratory birds along the East Asian – Australasian Flyway.

It also became Singapore’s first ASEAN Heritage Park in 2003, and is now home to more than 220 species of birds.

Sungei Buloh Masterplan

We are now writing the new pages of history for Sungei Buloh with the new Sungei Buloh Masterplan. This Masterplan is developed with the twin objectives of strengthening biodiversity conservation, and enhancing Sungei Buloh’s status as a premier outdoor education, learning and research centre. We plan to conserve the core of Sungei Buloh for its biodiversity values, and develop new facilities at the fringes which will be named Sungei Buloh Wetland Park, for nature-based recreation and education activities.

Nurturing the Young

NParks and the Ministry of Education (MOE) recognise the richness in learning opportunity that nature provides. Both agencies are exploring ways for our students to step out of their classrooms and learn from the environment that we live in. This year, we embarked on a pilot project to raise students’ awareness of Singapore’s rich flora and fauna under MOE’s Programme for Active Learning, or PAL in short. Over 680 students from Corporation Primary School and Park View Primary School have since benefited from this programme.

In support of outdoor learning, NParks has made our parks and nature reserves conducive for outdoor learning. Besides Sungei Buloh which is a popular destination for schools to conduct lessons on wetland and mangrove ecology, the Wallace Education Centre at the Dairy Farm Nature Park is a good platform for students to conduct interactive experiments to learn more about nature. Younger children can learn about the importance of plants and conservation through play and exploration at the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. The Gardens by the Bay, due to be opened next year, will also promote greater awareness of nature in cooler climates.

Collaboration with Ramsar sites in Johor

Besides its educational role, the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is also a nature attraction for tourists. Singapore is conducting a joint study with Johor to develop a cross-border tourist attraction involving Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and three Ramsar sites of Sungai Pulai, Pulau Kukup and Tanjong Piai at Iskandar Malaysia.

This joint study aims to provide a seamless travel experience for eco-tourists, and to enjoy the unique characteristics of each site. It also has the potential to move beyond eco-tourism to include collaboration on environmental and biodiversity conservation. We look forward to bringing this project to fruition with our Malaysian counterparts.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by thanking all of you – from the public, private and people sectors – for helping to develop the Sungei Buloh Masterplan. I would also like to extend our appreciation to the Singapore Tote Board for its generous donation of $50 million to fund the development plans under the Masterplan. I look forward to more collaboration with the private sector and the community in order to sustain our efforts in nature conservation over the longer term.

On this note, I take great pleasure in launching the Sungei Buloh Masterplan Public Exhibition. Thank you.