Celebrating Singapore’s BioDiversity!

The United Nations declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) and celebrations throughout the year are led by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). There will be various initiatives to promote the protection of biodiversity and to encourage organizations, companies and individuals to take action.

In support of the International Year of Biodiversity, a new website Celebrating Singapore’s BioDiversity! has been set up to showcase biodiversity in Singapore. From the website, here’s what you can do:

• Leave a comment in the guestbook. Share your thoughts and hopes for our biodiversity.
• Subscribe to the blog to get the latest updates in your reader or via email.
• Be a fan of the Facebook page so you can also receive updates via Facebook.
• Put the IYB2010 Singapore banner on your blog or website. To spread the word about our biodiversity to your readers.
• Add your wildlife photos to the Singapore Celebrates IYB flickr group site and Facebook page.
• Post a link to your biodiversity blog entry on the Facebook page.
• Tell your friends about International Year of Biodiversity!

Check out the Celebrating Singapore’s BioDiversity! for news and activities, and learn all about the biodiversity in Singapore.

Join Hands for a Real Greener Deal

This article is contributed by Trina Tan.

The word “green” probably has many meanings in different nations with different culture and religions. Green could mean envy, money, nature, health and life. Green is also the official religious colour in Islam. Recently, there seem to be a unifying meaning for green. The word green is now seen to convey the message of saving the environment.

In Singapore, the word “green” would imply energy saving light bulbs, biodegradable products, solar powered houses, green buildings and of course, not forgetting the 3Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle. But why is the word “green” not directly linked to protecting and conserving biodiversity? Is it because we humans are selfish?

We forget that we take actions to reduce our energy consumption not just to save our precious fossil fuels and reduce gas prices, or to reduce global warming and the resultant erratic weather patterns. We take actions ultimately to save the environment and its highly inter-linked and complex ecosystems and biodiversity.

Singaporeans has learnt about how to recycle, or take the public transport instead of driving but many are unequipped with the knowledge on the importance of ecosystems and biodiversity conservation. Once we understand these concepts, we will realize how our daily actions have such big impacts on the millions of species on Earth whom we share with.

Plants, animals and the natural world are fascinating, and we have spent centuries learning about them and from them. Many of our problems are solved by solutions from nature – using bacteria as medicine and discovering gravity from apples falling. While we try to change and adjust our bad human habits that lead to the destruction of Earth and the extinction of species, we ought to also put in more “greener” efforts to help the environment directly.

As a small nation with little natural resources, let us not forget that even the flora and fauna in Singapore are also defined as resources. These plants and animals are part of the ecosystem, which humans depend on. Singapore has already given up a large portion of its original tropical rainforest to build Singaporeans a better home, causing the extinction of many species that once used to live alongside with us. Now that you feel a tinge of guilt, you ought to do a part in protecting whatever nature spots we have left in the form of fragmented forestland, mangroves and swamps.

This remaining precious land is home to many species, some of which are unique only to Singapore. Going green is on one hand, like what we have been told, saving water, switching to fans instead of air conditioners, reducing the use of paper and plastic bags, and changing our light bulbs to energy saving ones, etc. On the other hand, it is also to do our part to protect and conserve the biodiversity that we have as a nation, because these plants and animals are born and bred here. They too, are “Singaporeans”.

There are many ways to care for our flora and fauna directly, like actively participating in mangrove and beach clean ups which are organized by environmental groups such as Toddycats, Nature Society, and the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore. Not littering in parks and rivers will also help. As the future lies in the hands of the children today, education and sparking interest among the young in areas of biology and biodiversity will shape Singapore towards a future of being a nature loving society.

Last but definitely not the least, one can also provide resources and support to the organizations that help to preserve and conserve our environment. Singapore is very lucky to have agencies like the National Environment Agency and the National Parks Board that do their part in protecting the environment and conserving nature in Singapore.

Even with the current nature enthusiasts, there are still many more “positions” that are open to help protect Singapore and the Earth. These positions have almost no criteria except to be passionate in preserving Nature’s creation. I hope you would send your resume in for this position soon.

Encyclopedia of Life

The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is finally launched and the first 30,000 pages of this online resource for the biodiversity of life is available to the public. The EOL is the brainchild of renowned biologist, E. O. Wilson, and is the beginning of a 10-year effort between scientists and the public to document, identify and understand the world’s biodiversity. Professor Wilson says:

“The launch of the Encyclopedia of Life will have a profound and creative effect in science… It aims not only to summarize all that we know of Earth’s life forms, but also to accelerate the discovery of the vast array that remain unknown. This great effort promises to lay out new directions for research in every branch of biology.”

The EOL “will create ‘one-stop shopping’ for authoritative information, offering the world at large a better understanding of the planet and all its inhabitants. It is being assembled by a growing partnership of individual scientists, international organizations, technology leaders, and prestigious research institutions. But soon anyone will be able to provide information for consideration, too.” In the later part of this year, the public will also be able to contribute text, videos and images about a species.

Check out details and learn more about biodiversity at the EOL website.

Source: Encyclopedia of Life. Image attribution: Encyclopedia of Life press release; Encyclopedia of Life – Singapore parrotfish.

Partners in China join Countdown 2010 to save biodiversity

Countdown 2010 is a great initiative by The World Conservation Union (IUCN) to protect biodiversity around the world and reduce biodiversity loss by 2010, a commitment made by governments at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. China partners are the latest to join this initiative. Read more from the news release by IUCN below:

China starts countdown to save biodiversity by 2010

20 September 2007

As the rate of biodiversity loss accelerates worldwide, civil society organizations and governments are joining forces to fight the global extinction crisis. On September 7 in Beijing, twenty Chinese and international organizations signed the Countdown 2010 declaration, committing themselves to additional efforts to reduce biodiversity loss by the year 2010. Read more