Speech by MOS Desmond Lee at the Launch of NParks Garden Bird Count and Citizen Science Programme

Apr 16, 2015

1. Good morning. I am happy to be at here at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park to launch NParks’ Garden Bird Count and Citizen Science Programme. The Garden Bird Count is a new biannual citizen-science initiative to involve the community – dedicated people like you – in monitoring biodiversity in our parks, gardens and nature reserves. 

New Citizen Science Programmes

2. By and large, when bird watchers see something new or interesting, they tend to share the information within the bird watching community. You see this buzz on certain Facebook pages and it will be followed very quickly by large groups of avid bird watches and photographers. However, this means that bird researchers sometimes do not receive the helpful data that could potentially aid their research. Citizens like you and me who are not researchers, but with an interest in plants and animals, can contribute data which could be useful for these researchers. We call this “citizen science” – science that is supported by the good work of citizens like you and I.

3. Today and in the next few days, NParks’ researchers will be receiving valuable data that you and I have submitted along with some 400 other participants from the Garden Bird Count. Because there are so many of us, we are able to provide researchers with a large volume of data that they would not have been able to collect on their own. This data will help in the overall understanding of our local bird population, their habitat, distribution and other useful trends, and will eventually translate into a very valuable resource for future habitat enhancement initiatives in our parks, in our gardens, in our reserves. 

4. All over the world, there is a growing recognition of positive impact of citizen science. We have already been doing some of it, such as NParks’ Heron Watch, where citizens spot and count herons across the island, and Nature Way monitoring, where schools, community groups and corporate organisations, help us assess the biodiversity of nearby Nature Ways. I am convinced that the way forward is to do even more. Hence, I am happy to announce that in addition to the Garden Bird Count, NParks is also launching a suite of new Citizen Science Programmes this year. One of these is the Butterfly Count- in fact, we just walked out of a newly setup Butterfly Garden in the park - which will lean on the strength of citizens’ numbers to count butterflies and identify the type and number of species. Another is the Park Bioblitz, where the community can join a team of experts to document species in a park. This promises to be particularly interesting, as it provides a rare opportunity for us to learn directly from the experts. We welcome anyone who is interested to participate. We will be sharing more details with you in due course. 

5. These citizen science programmes are important bridges to reach out to our community and engage more people in NParks’ efforts to manage, conserve and strengthen biodiversity in Singapore. What you are doing today – the recording and sharing of data – adds to the many initiatives that are ongoing to help protect, enhance and treasure our biodiversity. Community stewardship and participation in such programmes are crucial for Singapore to sustain our vision of a City in a Garden. We need everyone to be involved, not just the experts and the arborists. 

New SGBioAtlas

6. To make it easier for participants to submit and share your data, NParks has developed a new app known as the SGBioAtlas. This app will provide a convenient platform for you to report sightings of birds and other animals. This allows you to contribute towards an existing online database that documents biodiversity occurrences and distribution in Singapore. In turn, this data will help NParks to improve our conservation management strategies to enhance biodiversity in Singapore. 

7. Armed with the app, anyone – including you and me - can now contribute proactively as biodiversity’s eyes and ears by reporting an encounter with wildlife. You do not have to be an expert to contribute, or even be able to identify what you have seen. Simply report the location of the sighting and post a picture of it to help NParks staff with their data collection. I am confident that our biodiversity and nature lovers alike will benefit immensely from this app. 

8. In fact, I understand that many of you have already downloaded the app and uploaded your results, which we are about to see compiled on screen shortly after this. For those who have not done so, please log onto the App store and download this right away so that you can start playing your part in being good stewards of our biodiversity. It is exciting to be able to do so quickly and see what we as a group have spotted this morning. 

9. With that, I wish everyone an enjoyable morning and I hope to see you again at a future citizen science programme.