Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning. I am happy to be here to be a part of the launch of Singapore’s first Coral Nursery. It is not everyday that we have an event out at sea. I think that it is indeed befitting of this occasion, which marks a significant milestone in our efforts at marine conservation.

Conservation in Singapore

2 Singapore is a unique city in many ways. One of our strengths is that we are able to balance development with conservation.
Although we are a densely populated city with a land area of about 700sqkm, we have managed to co-exist with an unusually rich biodiversity. 9% of our land area is devoted to green space and nature reserves, which in turn is home to more than 2,300 species of plants, 300 species of birds and a large variety of animals.

3 You may be surprised to learn that NParks receives many applications for biodiversity research in our nature reserves. Some researchers prefer to do their research here because our biological material is very accessible. Our forests, mangroves and marine areas are within easy reach from the city. An example that recognises the potential of our biodiversity is an MOU that NParks recently signed with MerLion, a leading drug research company. The MOU grants MerLion access to Singapore’s diverse plants, animals and micro-organisms for their drug research.

Marine Conservation

4 Marine conservation in Singapore has always posed a much greater challenge than land conservation. We are one of the busiest ports in the world, and we are constantly in search of space. Any effort in marine conservation will therefore have to reconcile with the reality of our busy maritime activities, and our need to reclaim land to create space. However, I believe we can find pragmatic and unique solutions.

5 The good news is that our waters are still very rich in biodiversity. This can be attributed to the resilience of nature, careful planning and stringent control of sea-based pollution. For instance, we have almost 200 species of reef–forming hard corals that account for about 25% of the world’s reef-forming hard coral species. Singapore also has 11 out of 23 seagrass species found in the Indo-Pacific region. Our researchers also continue to make exciting discoveries.
In an ongoing 2-year survey by NParks and its volunteers, the team has discovered more than 20 new marine species that have not been previously recorded in Singapore. Indeed, the species richness of our coral reef habitats have been assessed by scientists to be comparable to those of countries in the region, even though those other coral reefs cover much larger areas.

6 Just a stone’s throw away, Pulau Semakau is a good example of what we can do. Through careful management, we have allowed a rich marine ecological system to thrive side-by-side with a landfill. Now, we can also boast of having a coral nursery close to the landfill. This is indeed an achievement that we can be proud of.

First Coral Nursery in Singapore

7 As I mentioned earlier, this project is indeed a significant milestone as it is the first coral nursery in Singapore.
The establishment of this nursery will boost our efforts to preserve the biodiversity of our coral gene pool. There is also potential to position Singapore as a resource and knowledge hub for biodiversity conservation, providing quality services such as comprehensive genetic samples for research.

8 The nursery will collect unattached coral fragments that would otherwise have died from being tossed by water currents. These “corals of opportunity” would then be placed at the nursery allowing them to grow to sufficient size. Once the coral fragments are large and healthy enough, they will be transplanted and attached onto coral reefs around our southern islands where they will continue to grow and enhance existing reef life. In effect, it would be like a horticultural nursery, where seedlings are nurtured for reforestation purposes. This is indeed a pragmatic solution to help re-generate our marine ecological system.

9 In conclusion, I would like to commend NParks for championing this marine conservation cause, NUS for providing scientific inputs for the project, NEA for supporting this initiative and Keppel Corporation for their financial support. In providing $250,000 for this project, Keppel has joined a growing group of corporate citizens who are stepping forward to contribute towards conservation and the environment. I hope that Keppel will find this collaboration fruitful and continue to support NParks in other conservation and greening projects. I also hope that your efforts will encourage other private sector corporations to contribute towards the sustainable development of this city that we are all proud to call home.

10 On this note, I wish you a pleasant day ahead. Thank you.

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