Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

The Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (Chinese: 双溪布洛湿地保护区) is a nature reserve located in the Northwest area of Singapore. It is the first wetlands reserve to be gazetted in Singapore in the year 2002, and its global importance as a stop-over point for migratory birds was also recognised by the Wetlands International's inclusion of the reserve into the East Asian Australasian Shorebird Site Network. It has an area of 1.30 square kilometres.

History

Previously unheard of as a nature area, the site gained prominence only in 1986 when a call was made to conserve the area by members of the Singapore Branch of the Malayan Nature Society. Particularly significant, was its unusually high variety of bird species, which included migratory birds from as far as Siberia on their way to Australia to escape the winter months. Their suggestion was taken up by the government, and a site with an area of 0.87 km² was given nature park status in 1989, and officially opened on 6 December 1993 by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong after careful development of the park in order to improve accessibility for visitors.

Over the years, Sungei Buloh charmed people from all strata of society to support its cause. It welcomed its 100,000th visitor in 1994. In 1997, the Park found its corporate sponsor in HSBC, which set up the Sungei Buloh Education Fund in support of its nature outreach programmes. In 1999, Woodlands Secondary School became the first school to adopt the park. It was followed by Commonwealth Secondary School in 2001 and Hillgrove Secondary School in 2002.

The future of the area was still in doubt, however, because there are no laws preventing the destruction of nature parks. With pressure from nature groups and societies in Singapore, the government formally announced on 10 November 2001 that the park will be accorded nature reserve status, a step which protects the area from any unauthorised destruction or alteration. The second phase of the park was opened, and the entire site of 1.30 km² officially gazetted on 1 January 2002 as the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Getting There

The place is located at Neo Tiew Cresent,15 minutes away from Kranji MRT Station.Busses there incude service 925C and the Kranji Express which leaves every hour from 1200 to 1700 daily.925C leaves every half hour on Sundays and Public Holidays.

External links

* [http://www.sbwr.org.sg/ Official site]
*Peter Chou's PBase Gallery [http://www.pbase.com/kepha/buloh/ Sungei Buloh] .
* [http://www.larkin.net.au/sbwr_120403/index.html Gallery of photographs] by [http://www.larkin.net.au/index.html John Larkin]