Current State of Marine Biodiversity, Plans for More Marine and Wildlife Parks and Progress on Sisters’ Island Marine Park

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the current state of the marine biodiversity around Singapore; (b) whether there are plans to introduce more marine and wildlife parks; and (c) what is the progress on establishing the Sisters’ Island Marine Park.

Singapore’s coastal and marine ecosystems support rich marine biodiversity, including more than 250 species of hard corals, 35 true mangrove species and 12 species of seagrass, which play an important role in supporting other marine species. Under the Marine Conservation Action Plan, NParks conserves key coastal and marine habitats in Singapore to safeguard native marine biodiversity. It also collaborates with research partners and volunteers to implement species recovery programmes for threatened marine species such as the Neptune’s Cup sponge, the Hawksbill turtle and selected coral species.

In 2014, NParks established the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park to promote conservation, research and outreach efforts related to our native marine biodiversity. Small Sister’s Island and the reefs west of Pulau Tekukor and St John’s Island have been designated for conservation and research efforts. At Big Sister’s Island, NParks is enhancing amenities and developing new features such as a floating pontoon boardwalk and intertidal pools to allow the public to enjoy and appreciate our marine biodiversity.

NParks, in consultation with the marine community, will continue to assess the need to introduce more marine parks to safeguard Singapore’s marine biodiversity.