Growing interest in protecting Singapore's biodiversity leads to more funds for research
Victoria Vaughan, Straits Times 17 May 10;
The oriental pied hornbill, at an 'intelligent nest' with cameras, sensors and scales, has benefited from increased funding. -- PHOTO: MARC CREMADES
CONSERVATION has long been the poor relation when it comes to science funding in Singapore, but things seem to be changing.
The spotlight is on the world's flora and fauna as this is the United Nations' Year of Biodiversity - the rich but declining web of life, which we are a part of and could not exist without.
Research into what species we have and how to conserve them has become of vital importance as globally half of all species may be disappearing in a mass extinction equalled only by the wiping out of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, according to some estimates.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature puts the species extinction rate at between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than it would naturally be, because of human activity.
But historically, it has been hard for conservation-themed science to get its slice of the funding pie in Singapore.
The three main sources of funding for science research are the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and the National Research Foundation. None of them has a conservation focus.
MOE has two research funding schemes - for universities, and for the polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
The university fund gives out up to $30 million a year for research projects.
The $10 million fund for polytechnics/ITE supports projects that 'add value to industry by supporting local companies to develop innovative products and systems'.
A*Star has $5.4 billion to fund research in the biomedical, physical and engineering sciences over five years ending this year, while the National Research Foundation has $5 billion for science and technology research programmes for the same period.
Against these sums, funding for local conservation efforts is paltry.
The Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) launched its conservation fund last July to plug the gap for funding research of locally threatened species such as pangolins, tree frogs, flying lemurs, flying squirrels and giant squirrels. It was the first private company here to pour money into this area.
It aims to raise $1 million a year from tickets to the attractions under its wing - the zoo, Night Safari and bird park - along with events and donation boxes. It is now considering four proposed projects.
At the same time, the Ah Meng Memorial Conservation Fund at the National University of Singapore (NUS) receives $500,000 over five years from the WRS' Conservation Fund and looks at funding research into local biodiversity and related work overseas.
The first study from the NUS fund was on the leaf-eating monkey. It found that the population was triple what was previously recorded and that the species appears to be the same as that found in Johor, meaning there could be breeding opportunities to increase the local population.
NUS' director of special projects Leo Tan, who is also a trustee of the WRS Conservation Fund, said times had changed for the better for conservation.
'When I started, we hadn't got any form of support and this was even before biotechnology came in to compete,' said Professor Tan.
'The approach to the environment and biodiversity is changing tremendously. Awareness and support has increased almost 100-fold.'
And crab expert Peter Ng said: 'In the old days, we had meagre funding. But now, with NParks and the zoo in the last couple of years, there has been a transformation in the landscape.
'If we had said in the past that the nature of Singapore had a high scientific value, people would have laughed. But we need such basic information to know how to manage things.'
In the last few years, the National Parks Board (NParks) has increased its conservation role, with more funding interest from firms.
Its spokesman said: 'We've started some projects to improve the conservation of specific species such as the oriental pied hornbill and taxonomic groups such as butterflies and dragonflies.'
Since a study on the oriental pied hornbill in 2004 led to a project to increase the local population, more than 50 bird projects have been set up.
NParks said the increase in conservation projects mirrors a growing interest from the business community.
And its director Nigel Goh said Singapore's surprising level of biodiversity was worth protecting and that the UN focus has spurred NParks in this role.
There are more tree species in Bukit Timah alone than in North America, and 31 of the 51 Asian mangrove species are found here, as well as 12 out of 23 Indo-Pacific species of sea grass.
Even groups with much less in their coffers are getting in on the act.
The Bird Group of the Nature Society Singapore will soon hand out its first grants for studies on conservation and ecology of local birds, worth $2,000 each. It hopes that this will become an annual event and will fill in some of the blanks in the Red Data Book, which is a reference guide on locally threatened species.
'Interest in conservation has been getting stronger and stronger with more young students who are green and keen to work on these kind of projects,' said the group's chairman Alan Ow Yong.
Key role for private sector in conservation
Straits Times 17 May 10;
WITH government funding pumped into biotechnology research, the private sector will play a key role in supporting conservation research through their budgets for corporate social responsibility (CSR).
World Wide Fund for Nature's corporate responsibility director Carine Seror works at getting financial support from companies and helping their green efforts.
'I think the concept of sustainability was rarely mentioned anywhere a few years ago. In a very short period of time, there has been a lot of discussion around it,' said Ms Seror. 'Although companies are part of the problem, they are also part of the solution, which is why we set up in Singapore four years ago, as many South-east Asian businesses have their headquarters here.'
Ms Marie Morice, director of CSR Asia, said companies are still more focused on reducing carbon footprint and community investment. 'CSR in terms of biodiversity is quite nascent in Asia, but it is something companies are thinking about more, and it is something they are trying to incorporate into their community programmes,' she said.
Miss Anne Devan-Song, a 22-year-old biology student at the National University of Singapore, has just completed a study on pythons. She said there is a growing number of students interested in conservation, and she plans on carrying out conservation work in the region after she graduates in July.
'Up to now, it has been Western academics coming and studying our biodiversity, which is good, but we need to have some people from the region working on this,' she said.
As a sign of Singapore's importance in the region and its environmental efforts, several conservation groups have set up home here.
Last year, both Conservation International and Carbon Conservation set up their headquarters here, and Greenpeace is now doing likewise.
VICTORIA VAUGHAN
