Welcome Address by Minister Lawrence Wong at Community Tree Planting Event
Nov 21, 2015
I’m very happy to join all of you for this community tree-planting event.
This is our first tree planting event at the Botanic Gardens since it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site earlier this year. So today, you are not only planting trees in a Garden; you are planting trees in a World Heritage Site. It is so good to see everyone coming together to do this meaningful activity.
I am sure all of us are very proud that the Gardens received unanimous support from the UNESCO experts to be inscribed as a World Heritage Site. One of the reasons we are worthy of a World Heritage Site is because of the Gardens’ significant contributions to botanical research and conservation, which were deemed to be of outstanding universal value. The work started more than 150 years ago, when research and experimentation conducted at the Gardens led to the introduction of rubber to Southeast Asia. Since then, the Gardens has continued to play a leading role in tropical botany.
But we cannot rest on our laurels. Securing the UNESCO World Heritage inscription marks not the end but the start of a journey. Together with all of you, we will work even harder. We want the Gardens to break new grounds in horticultural research and conservation. We want it to be a place close to every Singaporean’s heart. And we want to continue growing it, not only for our future generations, but for the entire world to enjoy.
How will we do all these? We will carefully plan the development of the Gardens. When it was first established over 150 years ago, the Gardens was only 22 hectares. Today, it is three times as large, with three core zones, each focusing on the different aspects of Gardens’ botanical collections and landscapes. The Tanglin Core is the historic heart of the Gardens. The Central Core is its main activity hub, housing our National Orchid Garden. The Bukit Timah Core caters to visitors of all ages, with its specialised gardens, such as the Foilage Garden.
We are now standing in the Gardens’ newest core, the Learning Forest. It will be linked with the Garden’s existing rainforest and will form an enlarged forest habitat. I am happy to announce that the inclusion of the Learning Forest will add about 18 hectares, or 19 football fields, to the Gardens, making it almost four times its original size at 82 hectares.
Gallop Arboretum
Our aim in developing the Learning Forest is to get people to learn more about forest ecology by experiencing it, so the trees we have planted today will form part of the future Gallop Arboretum - a living laboratory of trees for education and research. We will have elevated platforms and trails which will give visitors a wonderful close-up view of the forest. You will be able to see 200 species of Dipterocarps, also known as forest giants. They are majestic trees that are unique to this region and can grow to 80m. That’s about the height of a 25 storey HDB flat!
We will also study how these trees can be introduced into our urban landscape. Planting them in urban areas will help conserve a wider genetic diversity of species, complementing the conservation of our forests. This is timely as regional forests are disappearing rapidly. Through the work of the Arboretum, our children will be able enjoy the company of these trees for a long time to come.
Forest Conservation Interpretive Centre
Next, we will also conserve the two colonial houses in this area. Both of them are over 100 years old and already have tremendous heritage value. But we are doing more than just conserving them. They will be transformed into galleries of Botanical Science and Art.
House No. 5, which we are standing in front of, will serve as the Forest Conservation Interpretive Centre. It will showcase the scientific history of the Gardens and provide insights into forest ecology and conservation. Through these, we hope that future visitors will be inspired to participate in the Gardens’ conservation work and citizen science projects.
Natural History Art Gallery
To my right is House No. 7. This will become a Natural History Art Gallery. The Gardens has one of the largest and best preserved botanical art collections in Asia. We will also bring in works from all over the world and feature pieces by our home-grown talents. It will be a visual feast for both art and nature lovers.
Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden Extension and Enhancement
Even as we continue to study, conserve and document our natural heritage, we realise that the future of our forests rests with our young. It is important to keep them excited and eager to learn more about nature. So, we will expand the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden with new attractions. Kids will be able zip through the trees like flying foxes in the Rainforest Adventure and grow their own crops in the Farm Garden. When completed, the Children’s Garden will be the largest of its kind in Asia. I would like to thank the Jacob Ballas Estate and Friends, for their contributions.
Conclusion
While it may take decades for our saplings to grow into forest giants, in a few years’ time, the Gardens will be even bigger and better than ever before.
In the meantime, we can enjoy the beautiful images of our City in a Garden as captured by our avid photographers. Later, I will be launching the Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year coffee table book. To all contributing photographers, thank you for showing us how wondrous nature can be, even on an island as small as ours. I would also like to thank our sponsors - Jardine Cycle and Carriage, Kwang Im Tong Hood Cho Temple, Lee Foundation, Woh Hup Private Limited and Kingsmen, for supporting this project.
The Gardens has come a long way since 1859. We are able to enjoy its forests today, and even expand them, because of the painstaking conservation efforts of the Gardens’ staff throughout the generations.
How can we make the Gardens better? We need to start looking even further into the future, now.
I have challenged my colleagues to continue thinking of how our Singapore Botanic Gardens can be a Garden that keeps on growing. This will only be possible with your ideas, help and support. We hope that even more people will come forward and be part of our Singapore Botanic Gardens community.
Thank you very much. I wish all of you an enjoyable day.