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| Sungei Buloh
Wetland Reserve, located in a district fondly referred to as Kranji
by many, sits pretty along the scenic waterway of Western Johor Straits.
Though much change had been effected by our nation’s underlying need
for water, the damming of several river systems, namely, Kranji, Sarimbun,
Poyan and Tengah, did not seem to eliminate the ‘naturalness’ one
still feels and sees especially from the vantage point of a boat ride
along this strait. |
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In
a word, it is a visual feast; one which is fundamentally enhanced
by the remaining coastal vegetations that had survived such change
and the diversity of coastal birds that grace the sky above.
At the heart of this naturalness, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve sits
like a crown jewel. ‘Gem’ was how Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew described
Sungei Buloh in his congratulatory note written in the Visitor Book
during a recent visit. He is not alone in this sentiment. Of the 5000
Singaporeans ‘from all walks of life’ solicited for feedbacks to URA’s
Concept Plan 2001, ‘they all felt there was a need to protect nature
areas and Sungei Buloh was mentioned at the time’ - Mr. Wong Tuan
Wah, Director of Park Management, National Parks Board (ST, Nov 12,
2001). |
| Indeed,
this gem is highly valued and a great price has been paid for it.
‘The land was actually zoned for an agro-technology park. It would
have been a profitable economic venture. Instead, we decided to turn
it over to the birds’, said Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong when he opened
Sungei Buloh as Singapore’s first wetland nature park in 1993. ‘Considering
that we have a very high population density of about 4,400 persons
per sq km, this is a big commitment to nature conservation’, he said
(ST, Dec 7, 1993). |
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Come December
2003, another 10 years of ‘opportunity cost’ or investment would have
been added to this value.
However, one should not forget the crown for the jewel. The gem, that
Sungei Buloh is, has in the millennia been set securely in the ‘silver
and gold’ of adjacent ecosystems (see map).
All are linked as close ecological partners, and any detrimental changes
to one may affect the others irreversibly. Recent exclusion of Sungei
Mandai from URA’s draft plan poses questions about this vulnerability.
If ecological links are ‘broken’, our crown jewel and all our investment
may be lost at sea forever. |
| Prof.
Murphy D. H., a well-loved lecturer whose decades of tutelage
at the National University of Singapore had moulded several generations
of biologists, had this ecological link firmly in mind when he wrote
his paper ‘Birds, Mangroves and Man: Prospects and Promise of the
New Sungei Buloh Bird Reserve’ published in 1990. (Essays in Zoology,
Papers Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Department of Zoology,
National University of Singapore). |
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Simply put,
the bird life at Sungei Buloh will be adversely affected should ever
Mandai mudflats be reclaimed. His study revealed that ‘Mandai does
not provide the conditions required for roosting waders but the mudflats
next to the Mandai mangroves are a major feeding area for the birds
that roost at Sungei Buloh.’
Clearly, the management of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve cannot be
confined within its boundary. At stake are not only the birds, but
the collective investment put in through years of commitment and hard
work by the National Parks Board, volunteers, NGOs and business partners
alike. Also at stake are the opportunity cost invested in Sungei Buloh
ever since and our reputation as a serious conservation strategist.
Sungei Buloh’s destiny is ecologically tied to Mandai mudflats. Undoing
it could jeopardize everything we hold dear.
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See related papers
on concerns regarding Western Johore Straits -
Impending Loss of Mangrove and Seagrass Flat at Sungei
Pulai |
'Fossil' Ferns Found | Alyxia
of Sarimbun | Otters of Sungei Buloh | Kranji
Canal | |