At the time of Raffles' arrival, the island of Singapore harboured some 75 square kilometres of mangrove forest and approximately 60 square kilometre of freshwater swamp forest. Today, we retain six square kilometres of protected mangrove forest spread over 15 sites and only 1 square kilometre of Freshwater swamp forest limited essentially to a single location. This one square kilometre of remaining swamp forest potentially harbours 200 species of plants that are exclusive to this habitat. The presentation will include a pictorial overview of a selection of these special plants that show off their adaptation for survival in swampy and inundated conditions. The talk will also discuss some conservation strategies that are being put in place to promote the survival of these species into the future.
About the speaker: Tony O' Dempsey has been working in the Geographic Information System (GIS) Industry in Singapore for the past 18 years and has taken a keen interest in the both cultural and natural history of the region. He is particularly interested in the flora and conservation of Freshwater Swamp Forest habitat. Tony is the author of www.florasingapura.com and is currently the chairman of the Vertebrate Study Group of the Nature Society (Singapore).
This talk is part of the Festival of Biodiversity!
The passionate nature community comes together to share the
mind-boggling biodiversity from our forests to seashores, even our
backyards and parks!
This talk is part of the Festival of Biodiversity!
The passionate nature community comes together to share the
mind-boggling biodiversity from our forests to seashores, even our
backyards and parks!
Time: 1pm
Venue: Function Hall, Singapore Botanic Gardens location map
Website and contact: http://festivalofbiodiversitysingapore.wordpress.com/programme/concurrent-events/talks/
