Visit to Sungei Buloh: How Singapore can better host migratory birds

Why mudflats are vital for dwindling numbers of birds that stop over seasonally.

Synopsis (headphones recommended): In this new 4-part environment podcast series for 2024 - Green Trails - The Straits Times hits the ground with experts in spaces that are critical to the interlinked crises the planet faces: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. The next episode drops in June.

For this inaugural episode, our team heads to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, the local haven for birds that travel across the world to refuel at.

Nature Society (Singapore) - one of the island's oldest non-governmental organisations - convinced the government to preserve Sungei Buloh as a wetland reserve by showing officials the diversity of birds that depend on the spot.

ST journalist Ang Qing takes a walk with representatives from the society - Veronica Foo and Tan Gim Cheong.

They talk about the lesser-known Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat, which is key to supporting the thousands of migratory shorebirds that stop over in Singapore between August and March, and why it should also receive full protection from the law.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:30 Why is Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve so special?

7:01 Have there been fewer shorebirds at the reserve?

11:15 What kind of man-made features threaten migratory birds?

18:00 Why a lesser known mudflat needs to get stronger legal protection

Read an earlier article on migratory birds: https://str.sg/JtYUU

Discover the Nature Society (Singapore) Bird Group: https://str.sg/wNzGa

Read also: Green Trails Podcast: Experience Singapore’s spaces through sound - https://str.sg/qcCm

Listen to other Green Trails episodes:

Ep 2: Visit to East Coast: How reclamation will shape up against rising sea levels - https://str.sg/mRG8

Ep 3: Visit to Windsor Nature Park: Can insects in SG's backyard be foraged https://omny.fm/shows/green-pulse-1/visit-to-windsor-nature-park-how-big-of-a-role-can

Host: Ang Qing (aqing@sph.com.sg)