The Keppel Discovery Wetlands

The Keppel Discovery Wetlands will be made up of a variety of thematic freshwater forest wetland habitats connected by trails and boardwalks. It will offer visitors an exciting and immersive outdoor learning experience. When it opens, it will be the most accessible freshwater forest wetland ecosystem in Singapore, in the heart of the city.

A highlight for visitors at the Keppel Discovery Wetlands will be the Orchid Islands, where they will be able to see and experience a large variety of native orchids in bloom, at the same time. The Orchid Islands have been designed in such a way that it replicates how these orchids will be growing in their natural setting in the wild. Many of these orchid species are critically endangered or presumed nationally extinct, but because of the work of NParks’ native orchid conservation programme, they can now be seen thriving in great numbers in parks and gardens around Singapore.

The Pulai Marsh is a recreation of the freshwater forest wetland historically found in the vicinity of the Singapore Botanic Gardens area. Evidence for the freshwater swamp forest can be found in the remnant populations of wetland plants still growing in the area and maps dating as far back as the 1860s. With its restoration, the Pulai Marsh will enable native species in the area to flourish, and provide a refuge in the city for wetland wildlife to thrive.

At the Botanists’ Boardwalk, visitors will be able to learn about the historic discoveries made by the Gardens’ earliest botanists, who contributed to the knowledge of the region’s flora by making frequent expeditions to study the plants growing in various localities and habitats throughout Southeast Asia. The boardwalk will feature the various unique plants they collected and have been named in honour of them, such as Ridley’s Staghorn Fern (Platycerium ridleyi), Cantley’s Memecylon (Memecylon cantleyi) and Freycinetia corneri. 

A boost for regional research work on restorative ecology

With the restoration of the wetlands and the conservation of the native flora and fauna, the Learning Forest will be an important reference for the ongoing research work of restoration ecology around the region. Furthermore, the Learning Forest will help in the regeneration of the existing Rain Forest in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, forming a buffer against the urban development surrounding Singapore’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Keppel Discovery Wetlands will be open to the public in early 2017.

Plans for the new Flora of Singapore Project

In conjunction with the unveiling of plans for the Keppel Discovery Wetlands, NParks also announced the launch of the ‘Flora of Singapore’ project. Spearheaded by the Singapore Botanic Gardens under NParks, the project aims to catalogue and describe all the plant species; from mosses to flowering plants, that can be found in Singapore. This is similar to the work done by the botanical pioneers of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, such as Henry Ridley, EJH Corner and Nathaniel Cantley. The new ‘Flora of Singapore’ will build on their pioneering works, and include new discoveries and changes in ideas about plant classification in response to new research.

The ‘Flora of Singapore’ will be published in 14 volumes and, for the first time, all available information will be accessible in a comprehensive collection, along with keys to identify plant species, illustrations, and data on their distributions and conservation needs.

With the ‘Flora of Singapore’, there will be a better understanding of what remains and where it is found. It will also set the benchmark from which updates can be made, such as new discoveries and name changes. With this knowledge, well-informed conservation policy can continue to be formulated and future reintroductions of endangered and locally extinct species can be planned.