Singapore Botanic Gardens Launches Healing Garden - the Largest Garden in Singapore Showcasing a Collection of Healing Plants

Singapore Botanic Gardens seeks feedback on potential developments based on City in a Garden Public Consultation Ideas

Singapore, 21 October 2011 - President Tony Tan Keng Yam launched the Healing Garden, a 2.5 hectare garden showcasing an extensive collection of 500 species of plants from South-East Asia with healing properties at the Singapore Botanic Gardens today.

The largest of this scale in the region, the Garden took three years to set up and is designed to be a tranquil retreat with medicinal plants traditionally used in South-East Asia as the main focus. Designed in the shape of a human body, the Healing Garden is laid out thematically relating to component parts or systems of the body, such as "Head, Neck, Ear, Nose and Throat" and "Digestive and Related Systems".

Dr Nigel Taylor, Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens said, "Visitors will be surprised by the plants they see in the Healing Garden because many plants that have traditional medicinal usage are actually common plants. We hope that through visiting the Garden, people become more aware of this fast-forgotten knowledge."

To enhance the experience for visitors in the Garden, an iPhone application is available for download to visitors who wish to find out more on the various plants found in the garden. The iPhone app, the first of its kind for a park in Singapore, will provide additional information on the healing properties and interesting features of the plants.

To celebrate the launch of the Healing Garden, Makino Botanical Garden from Japan has also put up an exhibition on botanical paintings of healing plants by renowned natural history illustrator, Untei Sekine (1804-1877) from the Edo era. This rare exhibition is available for public viewing till 11 November at the SBG Library of Botany and Horticulture. 

The event also saw the launch of the Singapore Botanic Gardens 2012 Calendar which features a selection of botanical pencil and ink drawings of many medicinal plants from the archives of the Gardens. The Singapore Botanic Gardens Calendar is a community project by ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, a staunch supporter of this project since 2002. Featuring some of the healing plants native to Singapore, the 2012 calendar is available for sale at Singapore Botanic Gardens from 21 October, and is priced at $12 for a desk calendar and $20 for a wall calendar. All proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go towards the Singapore Botanic Gardens Exhibition Fund, in support of the Garden's public exhibition programme. This programme is used to educate visitors about the appreciation of flora and fauna.

City in a Garden Public Consultation Update – Singapore Botanic Gardens

As part of the ongoing City in a Garden public consultation launched in August this year, the National Parks Board (NParks) has put up an exhibition to seek public input to guide detailing of the upcoming plans on the Singapore Botanic Gardens based on ideas earlier received. The exhibition was also launched today and will be held at the Singapore Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre until 20 November. 

Some areas where the Gardens is seeking public opinion include: activities for visitors to the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden and the Learning Forest, ways to showcase the Gardens' rich heritage and enhance visitor experience in the Gardens, especially at night.

"Singapore Botanic Gardens is a People's Garden. The Gardens has flourished due to the tireless efforts of many in the community, whether individuals or corporations who have volunteered their time and money to contribute to a finer and more attractive Botanic Gardens. Going forward, it is important for the Gardens to continue to be relevant to the people. We hope to hear more ideas from the public so that we can further grow these ideas when detailing our plans," said Mr Poon Hong Yuen, Chief Executive Officer, NParks.

Since the City in a Garden public consultation was launched two months ago, NParks has received more than 1, 000 ideas and suggestions from the public on how to green up their living environment. More than ten per cent of these ideas were centred on the Singapore Botanic Gardens. 

Some suggestions on the Singapore Botanic Gardens received include building a gallery or enhancing historical features to highlight the history and heritage of the Gardens, increasing nightlife in the gardens through lighting or night events, having more family-themed activities and a people-mover system to improve mobility within the gardens.  

The public can continue to contribute other ideas in the year-long City in a Garden public consultation exercise at http://www.nparks.gov.sg/ciag.

Upcoming Developments to the Gardens

As part of the ongoing efforts to strengthen SBG's position as a key botanical institution for research and conservation, there are also some new horticultural attractions in the pipeline, including

• The Foliage Garden - a sunken garden featuring carnivorous plants such as Nepenthes pitcher plants
• The Fragrant Garden - a showcase of the Garden' fragrant plants collection
• Learning Forest - showcasing the Gardens' unique collection of trees and plants through various thematic walks and a conservation collection of fruit and nut trees will be completed by 2013. The Singapore Press Holdings has come forward to partner the Gardens by pledging $1.2 million towards the development of outreach programmes for the SPH Walk of Giants within the Learning Forest.
• Expansion of Jacob Ballas Children's Garden to include more educational programmes and activities.

All these new developments will reinforce the Gardens' position as a world-class botanical institution and an important green icon for the City in a Garden vision.