Our Biodiversity, Their Homes
Global
warming, loss of biodiversity, financial crisis and inequalities are problems
faced in the modern world as a result of rapid globalization, as asserted by
Goldin (2009) in his TED lecture. He
continued by reaffirming that as rapid globalization increases its influences
and outreach, solutions have to be formulated to tackle these crises.
In
order to keep up with globalization, all government bodies have turned to urbanization
in order to clear land for various booming industries. This inevitably results
in a loss of local biodiversity. The world’s biodiversity is diminishing. 75%
of the world’s original biodiversity had been lost, as recorded in the
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (International Union for Conservation of
Nature, 2005). Singapore, as one example, started off as a highly vegetated
island. Progressively, Singapore is deeply etched in globalization as well as
development. Lands have been cleared to make room for industries and housing
purposes. Places that used to be full of exuberant flora and fauna (Chang,
2003) have been replaced by modernistic buildings. Urbanization has occurred gradually,
resulting in a transformation of a country filled with biodiversity to one full
of modernized buildings. In fact, Singapore is one of the few countries with a
100% urbanized population (Central Intelligence Agency, 2011). Based on Goldin’s
assertions and the evidence presented, it is inevitable to allege that Singapore
has lost a huge part of her biodiversity as a result of rapid urbanization,
fuelled by globalization. There are two main causes to the depreciating local
biodiversity, namely land development and land reclamation. Although measures
were taken in the past to retain the Singapore’s current level of biodiversity,
the measures taken were insufficient. Many species are still on the brink of
extinction as a result of loss of biodiversity (Barry, Navjot & Ng, 2003). In
response, there are several viable solutions such as government initiatives and
conservation activities of nature area.
Much
land development had taken place since the days of British colonization,
directly resulting in extensive deforestation. In 1991, Singapore was covered with lush forest (Lum, 1999), with more
than 40% lowland forest. Today, there is less than 2,000 hectares of primary
forest. This amounts to 3% of the total land area of Singapore (Corlett, 1992).
This dramatic plunge in amount of biodiversity is a result of land development.
Nature has to be forgone for housing development purposes. Forests were
constantly being gazette to make way for high-rise buildings and industries. As
compared to the “virgin” Singapore in the past, there has been a remarkable
spike in the number of industries and towering buildings, such as housing
estates (Housing Development Board, 2009). Jurong used to be a swamp along the
west coast of Singapore. As a result of Singapore’s industrialization program,
Jurong has been transformed into Singapore’s first industrial estate (Singapore
Economic Development Board, n.d.). Tremendous biodiversity have been lost as a
result of land development and urbanization.
Singapore being the “little red dot”, land
reclamation has been a viable method to increase the availability of usable
land thus far given the limited land spaces in Singapore. Land reclamation was
initiated in 1960 and has been rampant up till today. From a study done by
National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore began with 578.1km2 of
land and experienced a 22.9% increase in amount of land as a result of land
reclamation (NUS Faculty of Science, 2009). East Coast and Jurong Island are
reclaimed lands for residential purposes and petrochemical industries
respectively (Urban Redevelopment Authority, n.d.). However, it is happening at
the expense of our biodiversity. Land reclamation has adversely affected the
marine and coastal habitats (OSPAR Commission, 2008), with the coral reefs
being reported as the most threatened species (NUS Reef Ecology Study Team,
n.d.). Since 1986, Singapore has lost 65% of the coral reefs living in coastal
and marine habitats (NUS Faculty of Science, 2009). To keep up with
globalization, more land has to be made available for housing and industrial
purposes. Inevitably, an increase in land space could only be brought about by
land reclamation. As a result, Singapore’s biodiversity was perpetually and
permanently lost.
In recognizing the evident loss
of biodiversity, Singapore came up with mitigation factors such as the
Singapore Green Plan (SGP) in 1992 (National Park Board Singapore, 2011). A
total of 19 areas were designated as nature areas. However, no concrete actions
were taken, resulting in the loss of 17 out of the 19 nature areas (Lim, 2000).
The two remaining nature areas are Bukit Timah and Central Catchment Area.
Khatib Bongsu, which is a designated nature wetland site, is under constant
threat for development (Lim, 2000). Initiatives for nature conservation have to
be implemented in order to conserve Singapore’s biodiversity. To ensure
effectiveness of the Singapore Green Plan and further protection of the
biodiversity, constant reviews and improvements should also be made (National
Park Board Singapore, 2011). The Singapore government can better enhance the
conservation of biodiversity while developing herself by coming up with new
initiatives. One new initiative derived was the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint
(National Park Board Singapore, 2011), which serves as a guide for ecological
sustainable development strategies. The Sustainable Singapore Blueprint aims to
develop new measures and initiatives to achieve both nation development and
healthy nature environment simultaneously. New initiatives can be derived to
achieve growth without compromising Singapore’s biodiversity. The government
can also preserve Singapore’s remaining biodiversity by increasing the number
of parks and nature reserves. For example, Singapore National Park Board
projected an increase in park connectors and nature areas within the next ten
years (National Park Board Singapore, 2011). Such initiatives are crucial in
mitigating biodiversity loss.
Globalization
is a dual-edged knife. Singapore’s biodiversity is constantly put at risk as a
result of urbanization, fueled by globalization. Urbanization has encouraged
rapid land development and reclamation. In turn, it has exacerbated the rate of
diminishing biodiversity. Mitigation factors such as government initiatives and
increasing nature conservation activities have been initiated to preserve our
existing biodiversity. Whilst Singapore is coming up with conservative solution,
vast biodiversity have already been lost. Is it too late for a change and how
much development is Singapore willing to forsake for conservation?
References:
Barry
W. B., Navjot S. S., Ng. K. L. P. (2003, July 24). Catastrophic extinctions
follow deforestation in Singapore. Letters
to Nature, Nature 424, 420-426. Retrieved from http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/2004/030724-1.htm
Central
Intelligence Agency. (2011). The world factbook.
Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2212.html
Chang
A. L. (2003, July 24). Singapore has lost half its animal species: Study. The Straits Time. Retrieved from http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/2004/030724-1.htm
Corlett, R.T. (1992). The ecological
transformation of Singapore, 1819-1990. Journal of Biogeo- graphy 19: pp
411-420
Housing
Development Board. (2009). Key Statistics
since 1960: Building Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10221p.nsf/0/d4a0f107613b79944825766200236310/$file/Key%20Statistics.pdf
International
Union for Conservation of Nature. (2005). Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions.
Lim
K. S. (2000). Conserving Singapore ‘s
Biodiversity. Retrieved from http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/pub/naturewatch/text/a082a.htm
Lum, S.K.Y. (1999). State of the Natural
Environment in Singapore. Nature Society (Singapore), Singapore. Pp 24-34
Ministry
of the Environment and Water Resources. (n.d.). Grab Our Resources: Singapore Green Plan. Retrieved from http://app.mewr.gov.sg/web/Contents/Contents.aspx?ContId=1342
National
Park Board Singapore. (2011). 4th National Report to the
Convention of Biological Diversity. Retrieved from http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/sg/sg-nr-04-en.pdf
NUS
Faculty of Science: Department of Biological Sciences. (2009). The Heritage of Singapore: Land Area of the
Republic of Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.dbs.nus.edu.sg/staff/details/hugh_tan/Ch4%20Waste-%20and%20Reclaimed%20Land%20p.%2078.pdf
OSPAR
Commision. (2008). Assessment of the
environmental impact of land reclamation. Retrieved from http://qsr2010.ospar.org/media/assessments/p00368_Land_Reclamation.pdf
Reef
Ecology Study Team, NUS. (n.d.). Coral
Reefs of Singapore. Retrieved from http://coralreef.nus.edu.sg
Singapore
Economic Development Board. (n.d.). Our
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Urban
Redevelopment Authority. (n.d.). Designing
Our City: Planning for a Sustainable Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.ura.gov.sg/skyline/skyline12/skyline12-03/special/URA_Designing%20our%20City%20Supplement_July12.pdf