Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at the 5th Asia-Pacific Coral Reef Symposium

Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at the 5th Asia-Pacific Coral Reef Symposium

Jun 19, 2023

A very good morning to all, and to our friends from abroad, welcome to Singapore! I am delighted to join you for the opening ceremony of the 5th Asia-Pacific Coral Reef Symposium.

The first Symposium was held in 2006, as a gathering of 250 individuals. This year, we have over 800 participants from around 40 countries in the Asia-Pacific and beyond.

Climate change is placing our natural ecosystems under immense threat. We are seeing this very clearly in our coral reefs. All around the world, coral reefs are declining rapidly, due to rising sea temperatures, pollution, and overfishing, among many other causes.

In the Asia-Pacific, home to some of the most diverse and extraordinary coral reefs on the planet, coral bleaching has been occurring at an increasing rate. Coral reefs and their associated coastal and marine habitats, such as mangroves and seagrass beds, are important for our survival and well-being.

They support marine biodiversity and provide many other essential ecosystem services. We depend on these marine resources for our food, medicine, and livelihood.

Coral reefs also play a crucial role in our fight against climate change. They serve as nature-based coastal defences. By helping to dissipate the energy from waves, they protect our coastlines from erosion and the full brunt of storms.

At the same time, this creates calmer coastal and marine environments for mangrove forests and seagrass meadows to thrive. In turn, these ecosystems function as blue carbon sinks that help to remove carbon from our atmosphere.

If we do not act now, we risk losing this rich biodiversity and the many ecosystem services they provide, for good.

This Symposium brings scientists, educators, resource managers, and policymakers together to exchange ideas and best practices. By working closely, we can make a bigger impact in what we are doing, and also drive the development of novel, evidence-based strategies for coral reef conservation.

Singapore's Science-based Approach to Marine Conservation

Singapore is located at the confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, just outside the Coral Triangle. Of the over 800 species of hard corals found worldwide, around 250 have been documented in Singapore's waters, which are in some of the busiest waterways in the world.

We therefore adopt a science-based approach to marine conservation and management. In 2015, we launched the Marine Conservation Action Plan which sets out strategies, to protect, restore, and enhance Singapore's coastal and marine habitats.

These range from biodiversity monitoring to species recovery programmes for our endangered native marine species, such as the Neptune's Cup sponge and the Hawksbill Turtle. We also carry out habitat enhancement for key marine habitats, such as mangroves, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs.

In 2014, we designated our first marine park at the Sisters' Islands, which serves as a 40-hectare sanctuary for the area's rich marine biodiversity. We are currently enhancing the Sisters' Islands Marine Park and will reopen it to the public next year.

Our efforts to conserve Singapore's rich marine biodiversity would not have been possible without the strong support of our partners and the wider community. Over the years, the National Parks Board (NParks) has worked closely with our community partners under the Friends of Marine Park, including individual volunteers, Our Singapore Reefs group, as well as Nature Society (Singapore), to conduct guided public walks and beach patrols for sea turtles.

Thank you for your dedication to Singapore's marine conservation efforts.

NParks to Plant 100,000 Corals

We are also grateful for the support of nearly 750 donors, who have generously contributed to the Garden City Fund's Plant-A-Coral, Seed-A-Reef programme, since its launch in 2016. As a result, we have been able to plant more than 700 corals and install 16 reef enhancement units at the Sisters' Islands Marine Park.

I am also glad to share that we are significantly scaling up our efforts on this front. We will do so through a new initiative, to plant 100,000 corals in our waters, over the next ten years and beyond.

In the first few years, we will focus on growing our capacity for coral cultivation, such as by expanding existing coral nurseries and exploring new methods to promote coral growth. In time, as the corals grow and mature, they will also be able to seed other reef areas.

This will provide us a strong foundation in subsequent years, when we significantly ramp up our efforts to transplant mature cultivated corals onto degraded reefs, and plant them in other areas.

By restoring existing reefs and establishing new ones, we will substantially improve the resilience of coral populations in Singapore's waters. In turn, they will support a thriving ecosystem of marine life.

We will work on this programme with research partners such as the St John's Island National Marine Laboratory, and community partners such as the Friends of Marine Park.

We will provide more details when we launch this initiative next year. And we look forward to your strong support for this effort.

Contributions by Ocean Network Express and Singtel to Sisters' Islands Marine Park

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ocean Network Express and Singtel, whose generous contributions of $1 million each to NParks' Garden City Fund are supporting ongoing enhancement work at the Sisters' Islands Marine Park.

Ocean Network Express is contributing to the development of a new 230 metre-long coastal forest trail in the heart of Big Sister's Island. This will lead to a hilltop viewing deck, which will provide panoramic views of Singapore's offshore islands - an ideal spot for birdwatching enthusiasts. If you're lucky, you may be able to catch a glimpse of the Spotted Wood Owl, White-bellied Sea Eagle, or the critically endangered Great-billed Heron.

Through educational panels and guided tours, visitors will be able to learn about the important role that coastal forest habitats play in supporting biodiversity and even protecting the shoreline.

To build on our existing habitat enhancement efforts, NParks will also be planting coastal forest tree species along the trail, such as the critically endangered Putat Laut and Penaga Laut.

At the southwestern part of Big Sister's Island, Singtel is contributing to the enhancement of an existing lagoon into a tidal pool. This will retain seawater during low tides and provide conducive conditions for mangroves and seagrasses to establish and grow over time. The tidal pool will create a safe and sustainable environment for visitors to observe and interact with different marine habitats and the biodiversity that they support.

In addition, Singtel will be working with us to set up underwater cameras at the lagoon tidal pool. These will empower citizen science efforts, as students and volunteers will be able to access the livestreams remotely, and contribute to ongoing biodiversity monitoring programmes.

These projects, supported by Ocean Network Express and Singtel respectively, will strengthen our marine conservation efforts and enhance visitors' learning experience at Big Sister's Island. Thank you once again!

Research and Innovation for Marine Conservation

Let me now give an update on marine conservation research. The neighbouring Small Sister's Island serves as a dedicated site for this important work. NParks is working with Institutes of Higher Learning, such as the National University of Singapore (NUS), to carry out research projects on coral restoration.

Beyond the Sisters' Islands Marine Park, we are investing in R&D through our Cities of Tomorrow and Marine Climate Change Science (MCCS) programmes, to strengthen the resilience of our natural ecosystems to climate change.

The $25 million multi-stakeholder MCCS programme involves key stakeholders across Government agencies, research institutes, and the industry. It aims to develop evidence-based solutions to address the impact of climate change on Singapore's coastal and marine ecosystems, by emphasising key disciplines such as blue carbon science, eco-engineering, and marine climate impact modelling. Since launching the first grant call in December 2021, we have awarded grants to two projects.

Associate Professor Huang Danwei of the NUS Department of Biological Sciences, who is also one of the co-chairs of this Symposium, is leading our first project. This seeks to develop solutions to enhance the ecological resilience of coral reefs in tropical urban environments. These could include introducing beneficial microorganisms to promote coral adaptability, or using seagrasses to buffer corals from stressors.

The second project, led by Assistant Professor Tang Hao of the NUS Department of Geography, aims to undertake blue carbon accounting in Singapore. By measuring the carbon stored by our coastal and marine ecosystems, we can better understand their contribution to our national targets for climate change mitigation.

These projects will enhance our capacity to safeguard critical marine habitats, and to tap on nature-based solutions to adapt to climate change.

Conclusion

In closing, I would like to thank the organisers, volunteers, and sponsors of this Symposium. You have helped to establish this platform for meaningful discussion and collaboration, and supported the participation of over 80 deserving students and early career researchers from the region.

I hope this Symposium will provide us with new insights into the ecology of our coral reefs, and spur the discovery of innovative solutions for their conservation. I also look forward to the cultivation of stronger regional partnerships, as we continue to work together towards a sustainable and resilient future for our coral reef ecosystems.

With that, I wish all of you an enriching Symposium ahead. Thank you.

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