Accounting for just 0.1% of the Earth’s surface, the mangrove ecosystem is one of the most threatened tropical habitats in the world. Today, less than 0.55 of Singapore’s land area is covered by mangroves, with the largest stretch located in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. The Reserve was gazetted as a nature reserve in 2002, granting the park legal protection. In 2003, the nature reserve was also recognized as Singapore’s first ASEAN Heritage Park.
24 participants had the opportunity to participate in a mystery trail at Sungai Buloh Wetland Reserve on 28 December 2021. The trail, known as the Mangrove Mystery Nature Trail, was organized by Earthlink NTU, a student-led environmental sustainability group.
Earthlink NTU hoped that, through the first-hand experience offered by the trail, participants would gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for one of the last mangrove reserves in Singapore. Accompanied by experienced nature guides from Earthlink’s Nature Guiding portfolio, participants had the opportunity to observe the beautiful flora and fauna at Sungei Buloh.
On this nature trail, participants saw numerous plants and animals up close including the Shore Pit Viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus), Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and various critters of the mudflats, such as mudskippers and tree-climbing crabs. The nature guides also shared new insights about the importance and value of mangroves in maintaining biodiversity, coastal protection, combating climate change and more.
As the walk coincided with the annual bird migratory season, typically occurring between September and December, participants also had the rare opportunity to glimpse migratory birds such as whimbrels, plovers, and sandpipers. Seeing birds that are not native to Singapore gave participants a deeper understanding of the importance of multilateral cooperation between nations to conserve biodiversity. This was because participants learned that the migratory birds they saw came from as far away as Alaska and New Zealand, using Singapore as a rest stop before continuing their journey to the Southern Hemisphere.
At the end of the walk, many participants reported having a renewed interest in nature and an enhanced understanding of the complexity of biodiversity conservation. Participants also learnt that tackling biodiversity issues require persistent efforts and long-term cooperation of the people, the government, and the private sector internationally.
My nature guide was very knowledgeable and engaging! I thoroughly enjoyed and learned so much during this walk. I didn’t expect myself to enjoy this walk this much! Soh Chye Chuen, Participant
About EarthLink NTU
EarthLink is the largest student-led environmental club in NTU that promotes environmental protection and sustainability among students and residents.
The club has 10 dedicated portfolios that are constantly updating its objectives in order to address the ever-changing global climate. A few noteworthy large-scale activities and initiatives are its annual Overseas Community Engagement Programme (OCEP), EcoPromise, Earth Hour, Greenfest, and the most recently Get Woke.
It also organises events that fill up niche areas such as nature-guided walks, where a dedicated portfolio leads participants to various locations around Singapore and exposes them to the diverse flora and fauna existing within the nation.
