The whole of Singapore was abuzz with activity during Biodiversity Week (20 – 28 May), which was held in conjunction with the International Day of Biological Diversity on 22 May. During the week, events and programmes centred on Singapore’s natural heritage and conservation were conducted in our parks, gardens, nature areas, and schools. More than 35,000 participants took part in these activities, which included citizen science, habitat enhancement and nature education programmes.

One of the highlights of the week-long celebration was the Nationwide BioBlitz, which took place from 20 to 26 May at more than 80 sites throughout Singapore. Following the successes of NParks’ past BioBlitzes which were held in Pasir Ris Park, Pulau Ubin and more recently, Kent Ridge Park, almost 3,000 citizen scientists worked alongside naturalists and researchers to document plants and animals that could be found in parks, community gardens, nature areas and schools across the island.

Volunteers tagging along with our butterfly expert during the BioBlitz at Pasir Ris Park

Students across all levels also carried out habitat enhancement in their schools through Green Wave, an international movement where students plant locally important trees in their schools. Pre-schoolers were brought on a journey with Hershie the Hermit Crab as he searched for a new shell, and learned about our intertidal wildlife through a video and interactive sticker book.

Pre-schoolers at My First Skool (Ang Mo Kio) having a fun time doing a colouring activity in the interactive sticker book

Biodiversity Week culminated in the sixth edition of the Festival of Biodiversity, which took place at NEX shopping mall on 27 and 28 May. Organised by NParks and the Biodiversity Roundtable, the Festival is a community-led nature outreach event that aims to educate and enthuse the public about conserving Singapore’s biodiversity through games, crafts, exhibitions and specimen show-and-tell. We also had the first-ever Festival of Biodiversity Speakers’ Series, which saw 12 passionate members of the conservation community sharing about their experiences working to conserve some of Singapore’s most precious biodiversity.

Young ones learning more about our local biodiversity through arts and crafts

Local nature groups sharing about the work that they do to conserve the precious biodiversity in Singapore

Specimens on display at the interactive booths

Missed out on Biodiversity Week? Don’t fret! There are many other opportunities for you to encounter and explore the vast biodiversity that we have in Singapore. The brand new Dragonfly Watch will commence in July 2017. Interested participants will learn how to identify 23 common dragonflies and damselflies in Singapore before heading out to our parks to survey them. The data collected from these surveys will contribute towards park management and conservation measures.

For more information on the Dragonfly Watch and other Community in Nature activities that you can get involved in, check out our website www.nparks.gov.sg/biodiversity/community-in-nature-initiative or drop us an email at cin@nparks.gov.sg.

Text by Joanna Yeo