Speech by SMS Desmond Lee at the Opening Ceremony of the 6th Asian Bird Fair
Oct 31, 2015
A very good morning. Yesterday, I had the privilege to join some of you informally for your welcome dinner, albeit a short half an hour, I had the chance to meet people with a passion for birding from around the Asian region. On this bright and sunny morning, I would like to extend the greetings and the welcome to friends who have flown in, I presume on airplanes and not on wings, to sunny Singapore for this important occasion.
It is special for a couple of reasons. The first is, this is the first time I believe, that Singapore has had the privilege to host the Asian Bird Fair, and very nicely, it coincides with our Golden Jubilee – the 50th Anniversary. It is also very special because we are holding it here in the Botanic Gardens, which is newly minted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, celebrated not just for its history and its participation in education and scientific research, but also making a contribution to the protection and conservation of our biodiversity here in Singapore. Because parks, including the Botanics which has a very old patch of forest, can house a lot of our biodiversity if we care to look.
It is also equally special this year, because it is, I understand, the 60th Anniversary of the Nature Society of Singapore – 60th birthday, not yet pioneer generation but a grand old dame, which traces its history all the way back to its predecessor, the Malayan Nature Society. It is special for many reasons, and so I am very glad to be able to join all of you here.
This Asian Bird Fair will bring together people from around the region with a common passion for biodiversity, and Singapore straddling on the East Asian Australasian International Flyway, small though we may be, plays a vital part. Therefore, while we may be an urban city, we must strengthen our role as a City in the Garden – for the wildlife, to play our part in international wildlife conservation, but also very importantly, to create that sense, that lush, verdant home for Singaporeans to live and to enjoy.
We must continue this work of conservation. NParks in partnership with many agencies, as well as friends like the NSS and other nature groups that we have worked closely with. We have taken on board feedback, we have had our discussions, sometimes our differences, but we have always managed to discuss and reach as best a solution as we can, in a context that is as tight as urban Singapore with our limited land space. But nevertheless, being biophilic has its benefits for our people, but more importantly, makes it possible to live in a city that is not all steel, glass and concrete. That is important for well-being, and it is important in our recognition that our home is also home not just for the people, but also for the flora and fauna, endemic as well as coming from around the region.
We have protected our nature reserves for many years. We have started over the last few years to create buffer parks – Springleaf, Hindhede. These parks buffer the reserves because protecting the reserves on their own is not sufficient. On the fringes they suffer from dehydration, from the impacts of traffic, from people. Having these buffer parks not only provide an environmental buffer, but very importantly also provides spaces for compatible activities for people. You allow some diversion, not everybody goes to the reserves. They can enjoy the buffer parks and also enjoy the wildlife.
Partnership with the community is important. While it is important to have strong NGOs who cherish nature and work with NParks, it is not sufficient. We need to continually work together to outreach to the community. We have many community programmes that reach out to people who might not otherwise be very comfortable in an open setting, in nature, in forest. I have had the privilege to join NSS and other nature groups, and brought a lot of people along with us for that. The Heron Watch is one of the examples, I brought my community to the Jurong Lake Gardens – the Japanese and Chinese Gardens, and many of my residents who love a walk in the park were very surprised that even in the park they could find different kinds of herons, egrets, bitterns, and other birds and other flora and fauna that make their park more special every morning when they visit.
We also have a Garden Bird Count which we launched some time ago, and if you have not already downloaded the app please do so because we expect all of you to help us in that important enterprise. You will be surprised that some our most busy parks are quite resilient from a biophilic point of view, and have large biodiversity. For example, East Coast Park, where people barbeque and have their activities weekly, has got quite a wide diversity, and so too many town parks around the area. We must continue to build on this, partner each other in making this small but special city, special for our people but also knowing that we play a part in the international effort of conservation.
With that, I congratulate the NSS and all our friends for this successful fair which I look forward to, and I wish you all a very pleasant stay here in Singapore.
I also thought that it would also be important to say this, as I am not sure if I would have another occasion to, and since we have such a wide community here. This is something interesting that we have been discussing and doing with NParks. As you know we are part of the East Asian Australasian Flyway, and NParks has tagged about 100 Redshanks. These are very, very light geo-locators – they are inexpensive but they are trustworthy, to track the flight paths of these 100 Redshanks. We have managed to track and trap some of them during their migratory season, and downloaded the data, their flight patterns.
So one of these Redshanks had flown as far away as Northwestern China and back, and how long did that continental journey take? Four days! And another one, the data that we have managed to get, showed that the bird had jet-setted around the region, and then has come back to Sungei Buloh during this season. This is interesting data. NParks has brought these geo-locators, I saw it earlier and you can come and take a look if you are interested. I am not sure if this is done in all your jurisdictions, it is something worth trying because technology now allows it. It is not the expensive one that allows you to use satellite tracking, we do not need that. With this you can capture the bird again and download it, without any harm to the animal. You are able to get lots of very valuable empirical data to assist us in our conservation efforts, so I thought that I would share this with you too. Thank you very much.