Found: 500 Species of Plants and Animals Aew to Singapore (Singapore Celebrates a Decade of Biodiversity Conservation and Discoveries)

Singapore, 21 April 2011 - From green tree snails to long-legged flies to orchids, these are just some of the new species of flora and fauna which were found for the first time or rediscovered in Singapore in the last decade.

Found in our forests, as well as intertidal and subtidal habitats, about 500 species of plants and animals are new to Singapore, with more than 100 species also new to science.  These findings underscore Singapore's commitment to biodiversity conservation in creating a unique urban ecosystem where biodiversity can thrive within our environment.

"A decade of biodiversity conservation and discoveries in Singapore" Exhibition

To showcase these amazing flora and fauna discoveries, the National Parks Board (NParks) and National University of Singapore's Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) have put together an exhibition at the HortPark Gallery. Themed 'A decade of biodiversity conservation and discoveries in Singapore', the exhibition was launched today by Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Special Advisor, Institute of Policy Studies and the Patron of the Nature Society of Singapore.

"Urbanisation is generally viewed as a threat to biodiversity. However, we cannot stop the process of urbanisation", said Professor Tommy Koh. "Singapore has showed that a city need not be an enemy of nature and biodiversity. It demonstrates that achieving economic prosperity need not be at the expense of care for the environment. It also shows that a small, densely populated city can still be clean, green and nature-loving, can play a positive role in the conservation of biodiversity and our campaign to reduce the loss of biodiversity."

Specimens of other plants and animals found in Singapore, such as the Giant Clam, Pangolin, Jade Tree Snail and a locally-endangered plant called the Red Flowered Black mangrove will also be on display at the exhibition.                                                                                     

NParks Chief Executive Officer, Mr Poon Hong Yuen said, "We are proud and excited to put this exhibition together with the Raffles Museum to showcase our natural heritage. We hope that through this exhibition, the public will be more aware and can better appreciate the rich flora and fauna that we have here."

Professor Peter Ng, Director of RMBR said, "Most people think Singapore is too small and too urbanised to have anything of biodiversity-significance. There is no point harping too much in the past and bemoan how much we have lost. Instead we have to understand and conserve what we still have and be proud of our natural heritage. And that is still a lot more to do."

The discoveries were made possible through the concerted efforts of the community who were committed in conserving our natural heritage. They include corporations, nature groups, researchers, graduate students and nature enthusiasts.

Dragonfly Book

The exhibition also features a new record of a rare damselfly which was discovered as part of a two-year dragonfly conservation project started in 2008.  This amazing discovery has led to the production of a book on Singapore’s dragonflies, which was unveiled today. This is the first of a series of books that documents Singapore's discoveries.

Flora&FaunaWeb

Also unveiled today is NParks' new one-stop integrated portal on plants and animals in Singapore - Flora&FaunaWeb. The public can now access and search for information on more than 2,500 plant and 1,000 animal species in Singapore through the portal at http://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg.

Celebrating the International Year of Forests 2011

The launch of the exhibition, dragonfly book, and the Flora&FaunaWeb are held in celebration of the United Nations' International Year of Forests this year. NParks has also lined up a series of activities throughout the year to raise public awareness of our forests and trees. NParks is also organising a special contest for members of the public to share the photographs, as well as their experiences of their visits to our parks and nature reserves, or about their favourite tree, plant or forest animal. Five meaningful submissions will stand to win prizes every month till the end of 2011.

The exhibition was made possible with the contributions of main partner, PICO Art and supporting partners, City Square Mall, National Library Board, Sony South East Asia and Wisma Atria. The exhibition is free for the public and is on display at the HortPark Gallery from 21 April to 2 May 2011, from 7.00am to 10.00pm. It will subsequently rove to the libraries, City Square Mall and Wisma Atria throughout the year.