Designating More Marine Spaces as Marine Parks and Protecting Marine Wildlife and Coastal Habitats

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for National Development whether the Government can consider further research and gazetting special designated zones in sea spaces to protect marine wildlife and coastal habitats balanced against development, in particular given the sightings of dugongs around Changi Beach, Pulau Tekong and Pulau Ubin.

Members have asked whether the Government is considering designating additional protected marine spaces.

In 2014, we established the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, which includes the western reefs of St John’s Island and Pulau Tekukor, to promote conservation, research, outreach and sustainable nature-based recreation in this area. In designating the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, we considered the area’s marine biodiversity, its wide range of marine habitats and its ecological functions. We also considered other factors, such as the area’s accessibility and its existing use.

NParks will continue to research the ecological status and functions of our marine areas and study how best to protect them, including considering additional marine parks. For instance, through the Marine Climate Change Science programme, we are collaborating with research institutes and industry partners to study the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems and to develop relevant solutions. We will continue to work closely with the marine community on these matters.

Thank you, Sir. I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. Could I just ask which areas we are considering to designate as marine parks? Because it really has been eight years since we had our first marine park designated at Sisters' Islands. Two, could I just ask when was the last consultation with the marine groups and what are the areas that they are suggesting that we designate as marine parks?

Firstly, let me thank the Member for his questions. Let me reply in two parts. The first part is the role of the community. The Member has asked how we are engaging them and involving them in the various activities or consultation. The second part is about the other areas that we are considering designating as marine parks.

Let me talk about the role of the community first. The community plays an important role in NParks' marine conservation efforts. For example, in order to help NParks manage the Sisters' Islands Marine Park as a place for all, we set up the Friends of Marine Park (FoMP) community in 2016. It comprises boaters, divers, dive operators, scientists, fishers, kayakers and education providers – a whole range of community partners from academia, industry and people who use the area for recreation and enjoy the space there.

The FoMP provides a platform for various stakeholders to come together to play a more active role in marine conservation efforts at the marine park through ground-up initiatives and programmes. So, it is not just about consultation on issues, but also activities that we do together with the community partners, including talks, seminars, workshops, guided nature tours as well as various citizen science activities.

In January 2020, just a couple of years ago, just before COVID-19, NParks initiated a Southern Islands Biodiversity Survey in partnership with the academic community, nature interest groups and citizen scientists. The survey will help NParks to better understand the distribution of plants and animals in the Southern Islands and guide its conservation strategies for marine habitats in Singapore. NParks expects the survey to be completed by the end of 2023.

The conversations with the marine groups and the community partners are ongoing. In fact, we just started a major exercise in January 2020 and the survey results will inform us on some of the areas that we can look at for other marine conservation efforts. So, that is the reply to the second part of your question.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir, and to the Senior Minister of State for his replies. I have two follow-up supplementary questions. I understand that designating an area as a marine park may be seen as a large step, but there is also various interim measures which have been suggested, for example, in the 2018 Blue Plan. For example, more coordinated and integrated efforts between agencies, designating certain zones as protected, as well as more formal management systems for marine environments like seabeds and foreshores. Is the Ministry considering any of these suggestions, and if so, what is the progress of that?

My second supplementary question is that given this is an emerging area where various expertise from maybe outside of Government may be helpful as well, and we see very diverse marine issues, for example, abandoned and lost fishing nets, marine pollution and so on, will the Ministry consider setting up a blue group to more formally work together on these specific issues, comprising researchers, civil society and so on?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Member for the two supplementary questions. On the first point about whether there are inter-governmental groups or existing platforms to bring some of these efforts together, even as we think about looking at the survey results, the answer is yes.

I talked about the Friends of Marine Park in my earlier reply to Mr Louis Ng's question, but I would also like to bring the Member's attention to what we are doing under the Integrated Urban Coastal Management framework which we initiated in 2009. Efforts between Government agencies are ongoing and progressing as we talk about many of these issues.

Allow me to give some context to the answer. NParks adopts a science-based approach to strengthen the conservation of our native marine biodiversity and these efforts are already guided by our Nature Conservation Masterplan which we released earlier. To complement this, we have strict laws governing the management of both land- and sea-based sources of pollution, which answers Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin's question.

Furthermore, under the Integrated Urban Coastal Management framework, we take a whole-of-Government approach to ensure that our marine environments are protected, even within one of the world's busiest port areas.

To address Mr Louis Ng and Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin's questions, and the underlying points they are making, it is actually a testament to the effective management of pollution within our waters that we see such a thriving marine biodiversity. I think some Members would have read The Straits Times article about the sighting of endangered dugongs in Singapore's waters, despite our shipping traffic. And perhaps I will just quote one of the points that was made in The Straits Times article by the authors of the study, "The most surprising aspect of our findings is that the Johor and Singapore Straits remain viable habitats for dugongs, despite being among the busiest shipping channels globally."

I think that is really a testament to our partnership, not just across Government agencies, but also the support and commitment of so many community partners and groups that work on this area. So, I would like to thank them as well and appreciate their efforts.