Being strategically located in the middle of all major trading routes and being much smaller and relatively better developed than its ASEAN counterparts, Singapore can be seen as the most vulnerable to IAS in the region. However, little attention is still being placed on the problem of IAS in Singapore. Such little emphasis can be attributed to the lack of knowledge on the local flora and fauna in hindering the identification of IAS as well as the lack of research on the ecology, severity and impacts of IAS in Singapore. This is also a common problem for other ASEAN countries where there is an extremely rich biodiversity in the region with an inadequate or a lack of knowledge of local taxonomies due to the lack of research attributed to the lack of researchers and lack of research funding from the government.
Relating back to Singapore, in the past, it has been found that only a small fraction of the IAS introduced into the country is capable of affecting the local pristine forest and forested streams. Explanations have been attributed to the incompatible forest conditions in impeding the establishment and spread of IAS. Most introduced IAS are better adapted to an open forest condition well exposed to sunlight while many of the local plant species are well-adapted to a closed forest condition allowing little light penetration. Many of the forested streams in Singapore are also acidic in nature hence hindering growth and spread of IAS which are better adapted to more neutral or alkaline streams. Lack of knowledge of local species together with the relatively mild impacts of IAS in Singapore have thus resulted in little attention paid to the problem of IAS in Singapore.
In recent years, with the increasing fragmentation of forests in Singapore significantly breaking the closed forest structure and also increasing the likelihood of exposure of local species to IAS, many of the primary and secondary forests in Singapore are now becoming increasingly vulnerable to the IAS. Coupled with its constant and rapid economic development in trade, tourism and increasing land use, Singapore may no longer be as resistant to the problem of IAS as it used to be in the past and cannot remain ambivalent to the IAS problem. Hence, it is crucial to increase research capacity on IAS to more effectively prevent, manage and control the problem of IAS.