Biodiversity Friends Forum to launch Challenge on human-wildlife co-existence

Singapore, 11 January 2018 – The Biodiversity Friends Forum (BFF), the youth branch of the Biodiversity Roundtable, will be launching the Biodiversity Challenge on Saturday, 13 January, at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. More than 80 participants, youth aged between 16 and 30 years old, have signed up for the Challenge, which will focus on human-wildlife co-existence. The Biodiversity Roundtable includes more than 20 non-governmental organisations involved in local biodiversity issues, and the National Parks Board.

As a biophilic City in a Garden with rich biodiversity, it is important that we know how to co-exist harmoniously with wildlife. This is key to the continued protection and conservation of Singapore’s natural heritage. The Challenge aims to foster youth-led initiatives to promote nature conservation and build communities that care for native wildlife. This will be done through a seminar, capacity-building workshop, and on-the-job training sessions.

Participants in the Biodiversity Challenge will learn about the factors involved in managing human-wildlife interactions; build core skills in critical thinking, stakeholder analysis and communication; and learn to become ambassadors for the peaceful co-existence with wildlife. The five focus animals will be otters, macaques, wild boars, turtles, and civets.

The discussions that take place during the Challenge could help to shape future policies for the conservation of Singapore’s native wildlife. Through the Challenge, participants can also create awareness among their friends, family and peers about how we could live in harmony with wildlife.

The BFF Biodiversity Challenge will be launched by Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development, Mr Desmond Lee. The launch event will include the first two phases of the Challenge, where participants will attend an interactive seminar about human-wildlife interactions in Singapore. The seminar will be followed by capacity-building workshops, which will utilise problem-based learning strategies to investigate and envisage integrated management solutions for human-wildlife interaction. For enquiries about the Biodiversity Friends Forum or the Challenge, interested parties may email biodyouthsg@gmail.com.