SINGAPORE: The public will now have a chance to view some of the recent plant and animal discoveries in Singapore through an exhibition at HortPark Gallery starting today.
The National Parks Board (NParks) and the National University of Singapore's Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) have put together an exhibition that features "A decade of biodiversity conservation and discoveries in Singapore."
About 500 species of
plants and animals are said to be new to Singapore, of which, more than
100 species are also new to science, NParks said in a joint news
release with the NUS.
Some of these discoveries will be featured in the free exhibition which will run from April 21 to May 2 from 7am to 10pm.
"Singapore
has showed that a city need not be an enemy of nature and biodiversity.
It demonstrates that achieving economic prosperity need not be at the
expense of care for the environment," said Professor Tommy Koh,
Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
NParks CEO, Mr
Poon Hong Yuen said that through the exhibition, the organizers hope the
public will become more aware and have better appreciation of the rich
flora and fauna in Singapore.
After its run at HortPark Gallery,
the exhibition will move to the libraries, City Square Mall and Wisma
Atria throughout the year.
The exhibition is part of the
activities lined up by NPArks to commemorate the United Nations'
International Year of Forests this year.
Among these are the
launch of a book featuring dragonflies discovered in Singapore and a
one-stop integrated portal on plants and animals.
NParks said
the public can access information on over 2,500 plant and 1,000 animal
species here via the portal http://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg.
Nparks
said it is also organising a special contest where the public can share
their photographs and experiences of their visits at the parks and
nature reserves, or about their favourite tree, plant or forest animal.
Five winners will be selected every month until the end of the year.
- CNA/cc