Singapore Botanic Gardens expands to 82 hectares

-New 8-ha Learning Forest extension to house new Gallop Arboretum, Forest Conservation Interpretive Centre and Natural History Art Gallery

-Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden doubles size to become biggest children’s garden in Asia

21 November 2015, Singapore – National Parks Board (NParks) has announced expansions of the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ Learning Forest and Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden, as well as the Botanic Gardens’ growth to 82 hectares* – the largest size it has ever been since its establishment in 1859.  The new 8-hectare extension to the Learning Forest will include three features – the Gallop Arboretum, Forest Conservation Interpretative Centre and Natural History Art Gallery. Situated along Gallop Road, the extension will bring the total area of the Learning Forest to approximately 18 hectares and provide more opportunities for visitors to understand forest ecology and showcase the Gardens’ botanical art collection. The Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden will be doubling its current size to 4 hectares. The new 2-hectare extension will include attractions geared towards children up to 14 years old, educating them on a range of eco-systems such as rainforest and marsh habitats, and even a farm. The Learning Forest and Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden extensions will be open to the public by 2018.  

*With the 8-hectare Learning Forest extension, the Singapore Botanic Gardens is now 82 hectares. The Gardens was previously 74 hectares, which already took into account the expansion of the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden. 

The Gallop Arboretum  

The 4-hectare Gallop Arboretum continues the long-standing work of the Singapore Botanic Gardens in the research and conservation of flora in the region. The Gallop Arboretum will contain some 2,000 trees comprising about 200 Dipterocarp species. Experimental plots will be created in the arboretum to study the development, reproduction and resilience of various tree species. The data collected will be applied to the conservation of these species and used in the introduction of Dipterocarps to parks and streetscapes. This will help to conserve a wider diversity of Dipterocarp species, complementing the conservation of Dipterocarps in Singapore’s forests. When enhancement works are completed, the Gallop Arboretum will have the largest and most diverse Dipterocarp collection in Singapore. Today, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, together with some 120 residents and members from community gardening groups, launched habitat enhancement efforts for the Gallop Arboretum by planting 100 forest trees within the site. For more information on the Gallop Arboretum, please refer to Annex A.

The Forest Conservation Interpretive Centre

The Forest Conservation Interpretive Centre, refurbished from the colonial house at No. 5 Gallop Road, will exhibit the Gardens’ historic and ongoing contributions to forest conservation in Singapore and the region. Through interactive displays, visitors can learn about the latest work on biodiversity conservation, and how they can participate in citizen science projects. The Centre will also have facilities for public workshops on citizen science.

The Natural History Art Gallery

The colonial house at No. 7 Gallop Road will be refurbished into the Natural History Art Gallery. The Gallery aims to showcase how botanical art has played a vital role in the scientific documentation of flora and fauna. Displays in the Gallery will be refreshed regularly from the Gardens’ collection of over 2,000 art pieces, which have been carefully archived over the past 125 years. The collection at the Natural History Art Gallery will feature botanical illustrations in various artistic styles from watercolours, ink drawings to wood block carvings.  Besides artefacts from the Gardens, artwork from other botanic gardens, international galleries, and the public will also be showcased in the Gallery.  For more information on the Forest Conservation Interpretive Centre and Natural History Art Gallery, please refer to Annex B.

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden extension

Designed for children up to 14 years old, the 2-hectare extension in Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden aims to help the young understand the ecology of plants through adventure play and experiential learning. For example, the ‘Rainforest Adventure’ attraction will allow children to get close to nature through exploring a network of canopy tree huts and rope bridges nestled in the tree tops. Key amenities in the existing 2-hectare Children’s Garden, which caters to children up to 12 years of age, will also be upgraded to support and complement the range of activities that will be found within the upcoming extension. When completed, the 4-hectare Children’s Garden will be the biggest children’s garden in Asia. The extension is partially supported by the Jacob Ballas Estate and Friends. For more information on the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden extension, please refer to Annex C.

Launch of ‘Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year’ Coffee Table Book

Today, NParks officially launched the ‘Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year’ coffee table book. Specially produced to commemorate Singapore’s Golden Jubilee, the book features the best photos from all three photography competitions organised by NParks to date: The ‘Singapore Garden Photography of the Year’ photo competition (2015), the ‘City in a Garden’ photo competition (2012), and the ‘BiodiverCity’ photo competition (2010). The book also offers photography tips for budding photographers and photo enthusiasts, as well as snippets of information on Singapore’s parks, gardens, nature reserves and the biodiversity found within.

Launched in September 2014, the Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year (SGPY) photo competition encouraged photography enthusiasts to submit photographs of what they thought best represented the four themes: “Singapore Botanic Gardens – Celebrating Our Heritage”, “Trees, Forests and Parks”, “People and Nature” and “Our BiodiverCITY”. For more information on the competition and book, please refer to Annex D. 

Annex A: Gallop Arboretum

Annex B: Gallop Road Houses

Annex C: Jacob Ballas Children's Garden New Extension

Annex D: 'Singapore Garden Photographer of the Year' Coffee Table Book