Singapore: How much nature have we actually lost? - Vivaan Khabya

Singapore has cut down almost all of its natural rainforests. All that remains now is a tiny 2 square kilometer area of rainforests in the center of Singapore. In the last few decades it has cut down trees and plants that were there in Urban areas and city areas as well. A UWCSEA student named Vivaan Khabya, who is aged 13 and has lived in Singapore for the past 9 years comments:

“I remember when I was younger, there was a lot of greenery around Singapore, but now a lot of greenery has been removed and replaced with buildings and roads.”

It isn’t just the rainforests that have been nearly completely eradicated. Most of Singapore’s natural sandy shores and coastal ecosystems have been lost thanks to land reclamation and land development. Another one of the ecosystems affected, are mangroves.

The percentage of the once plentiful mangroves of Singapore, have dropped faster than oil prices. An estimated 13% of Singapore used to be full of lush, beautiful mangroves, and that number has now been reduced to less than 0.5%.

Land reclamation has also caused damaged to the coral reefs of Singapore. In just the last three decades, Singapore has lost around an astonishing 65% of their live coral cover.

Most of the coastal ecosystems left in Singapore are now not complete ecosystems anymore, because they have been split apart and are now fragmented. You now might be wondering what effect this is having on the wildlife. Well, according to ww.wildsingapore.com, a new study shows that in the last two centuries Singapore has lost half of its animals species, and that a lot more a extremely likely to go extinct too. A study done by Singaporean and Australian researchers predicts that by the end of this century, south-east asia will have lost up to 42% of animal species. That is nearly another half!

The Banded Leaf Monkey and the Cream Coloured Giant Squirrel which are native to and found only in Singapore are an extreme example of animals being endangered, because they are at a point where there is no chance for their survival. Some people suspect that the cream coloured giant squirrel has already gone extinct, since in recent times there have been no sightings, so consider yourself very lucky if you ever see them in the wild because if they aren’t gone already, one day they will be.