Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve | Nature Reserves and the Conservation of Singapore’s Habitats

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is a 1.3 km² wetland site located in the northwest area of Singapore. It contains and protects one of Singapore’s last mangrove swamps.

(source: Hung Chieh Tsai)

(source: Choo Yut Shing)

Before it was announced as a nature reserve in the 1st January 2002, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve was originally designated a 0.8 km² nature park named Sungei Buloh on 6th December 1989. Interestingly, before it was designated a nature area, this wetland site was unheard of. It was only brought to light during 1986, when a group of birdwatchers from the Singapore branch of Malayan Nature Society found this precious piece of land and proposed its conservation to Singapore’s government.

(source: Brian Jeffery Beggerly)

As there are certain species that exist only in mangrove ecosystem, this nature reserve have unique flora and fauna that cannot be found in other parts of Singapore, having a large contribution to the biodiversity in Singapore. What is even more special about this nature reserve is that there are different species of birds during different time of the year. Apart from the birds that have made their home in the reserve, there are migratory birds that will make their temporary nest in the reserve during the migratory seasons.

(source: Brian Jeffery Beggerly)

Egrets, one of the migratory birds that can be spotted in the reserve during migratory season.
(source: Melvin Yap)

(source: Lip Kee Yap)

In the same year where it was announced as a nature reserve (2002), this piece of wetland reserve also entered the East Asian Australasian Shorebird Site Network, a network that was set up to promote an exchange of information between the sites important to the conservation of migratory birds. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve was also the first South East Asia site in the network.This signifies the wetland reserve’s importance for migratory birds at the international level. In the following year (2003), Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve was made the first ASEAN Heritage Park in Singapore, marking its importance as one of the representative ecosystem in ASEAN.