Speech by SMS Tan Kiat How at the 8th Global Botanic Gardens Congress
Aug 6, 2024
Good morning, and a warm welcome to the 8th Global Botanic Gardens Congress (GBGC).
Around the world, botanic gardens play a key role in mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss. They are repositories of valuable living and historical botanical specimens.
Through research and public engagement surrounding these specimens, we continue to build awareness, appreciation, and greater understanding of our terrestrial ecosystems.
And these in turn guide conservation efforts, as well as nature-based solutions for climate change.
8th GBGC
In this spirit, the GBGC aims to bring together members of the botanic garden community, to share information and experiences, and to explore innovative approaches to address such challenges.
It has been two years since the last GBGC was held in Melbourne, Australia. This year’s GBGC in Singapore is jointly organised by the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BCGI).
This is the first time that the GBGC has been held in Southeast Asia, and we are honoured to be hosting it. We are also happy to be joined by about 900 delegates from 73 countries for this year’s Congress.
Over the next few days of the Congress, distinguished speakers and panellists will share more about the role of botanic gardens.
For example, leaders from the three World Heritage Botanic Gardens – the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, University of Padua Botanical Garden, and the Singapore Botanic Gardens – will come together for a panel discussion on the role botanic gardens play in heritage conservation.
There will also be talks by local and international speakers, on topics including plant conservation and collaborations within the botanical community for a greener future.
Biodiversity Conservation in our City in Nature
For those who are visiting Singapore for the first time, we hope that you are enjoying all the greenery we have to offer and will be planning a visit to the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Despite being a small city-state, Singapore is known to be one of the greenest cities in the world. Singapore’s journey towards becoming a green city began in the 1960s and we have evolved significantly over the past 60 years.
In the early days, the Garden City vision was introduced with the aim to transform Singapore into a City with lush greenery and a clean environment. We planted trees and flowering shrubs to make our city beautiful and liveable.
Later, we strengthened our focus on conserving our natural heritage and community participation in greening.
And today, as we transform Singapore into a City in Nature as part of our Singapore Green Plan 2030, we continue to weave nature and greenery deliberately and intensively into our urban landscape and enhance ecological resilience.
We continue to strengthen our biodiversity conservation efforts through our Species Recovery Programme, which aims to conserve native flora and fauna though species reintroduction, habitat enhancement and protection efforts.
To date, there are over 80 plant and over 40 animal species under the Species Recovery Programme. Among which, 14 are native orchid species, most of which are critically endangered orchids!
The Singapore Botanic Gardens plays a vital role in the discovery, description, and conservation of Singapore’s native plants.
It is the only tropical botanic garden on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which houses a research and conservation arm focusing on plant diversity in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Launch of the Southeast Asia Plant Phenology Network
Researchers at the Singapore Botanic Gardens have recently concluded a study on the leafing behaviour of tropical trees.
Researchers studied rainfall records and their effects on trees in the Singapore Botanic Gardens over a 90-year period, and found that leafing occurs more frequently today than in the early 1900s due to changes in rainfall patterns.
Singapore tends to have drier weather in the months of February and July and wetter weather in December period. However, the study found that the dry period in February has become more pronounced, and we now have another wet period in May.
This had resulted in more leafing, which can be triggered by either drier or wetter conditions, depending on the species.
The study helped to highlight the lesser-known impacts of climate change on plant species, which can help us better manage and protect our ecosystems. More importantly, it demonstrates the potential of botanic gardens as sentinels of environmental change, which is particularly important in the tropics where long-term research data is lacking.
On this note, I am pleased to announce the launch of the Southeast Asia Plant Phenology Network today.
This network was formed by the Singapore Botanic Gardens in partnership with BGCI and the Southeast Asia Botanic Gardens (SEABG) Network.
It aims to connect botanic gardens and arboreta in and around Southeast Asia to monitor and collect long-term phenology data of trees, to better understand the impact of climate change on other plant behaviour.
I am pleased to share that so far, ten botanic gardens have expressed their interest to form this network.
The Singapore Botanic Gardens will be holding a workshop on the phenology activities among these botanic gardens, on the 9th of August.
I encourage interested botanic gardens and arboreta to join in and find out more about the network.
Digitalisation of the Plant Specimens
Core to the research at the Gardens is the identification, description and classification of plants or plant taxonomy at the Singapore Herbarium (or SING Herbarium as it is known amongst botanists).
The Singapore Herbarium is home to 800,000 plant specimens, which serves as an important reference for the study of tropical plants in Southeast Asia by researchers all over the world.
The SING herbarium was established in 1875, and we will be celebrating its 150th anniversary next year!
As part of the digitalisation efforts of the SING herbarium, it had digitised around 10,000 type specimens in recent years, which form the basis of the description of plant species. Today, I am pleased to share that the SING Herbarium will expand its digitising efforts to cover all 800,000 of its plant specimens.
This will provide a consolidated database of the specimens, accessible by researchers and people from all over the world.
Not only will the integrated database make it easier for researchers to undertake botanical studies, but also help preserve botanical history, and facilitate global knowledge sharing and collaborations.
When completed, it will be the largest digitised collection of specimens in Southeast Asia to date.
This digitalisation effort would not have been possible without the generous donation by Aramco Asia Singapore. Thank you for your invaluable support.
I look forward to further partnerships with private organisations and individuals as we embark on this meaningful project.
Conclusion
And finally, since we are gathered here at Suntec Singapore today, I would like to take the opportunity to share another signature event that is taking place on levels four and six of Suntec.
The Singapore Garden Festival will be running until 11 August, and brings together award-winning landscape and garden designers, florists and horticulturalists from around the world.
Do drop by the Garden Festival if you have the time, to enjoy the beautiful floral displays and garden designs showcased there.
Once again, we are honoured to host this year’s Congress with the BGCI.
As we gather together to exchange knowledge and draw inspiration from one another’s experiences, I look forward to seeing how these mutual exchanges get translated into conservation efforts and future policies worldwide.
With that, I wish you all a fruitful Congress ahead. Thank you.