Adjournment motion on protecting Singapore’s marine spaces and Southern Islands

A call to better protect Singapore’s marine spaces by plugging gaps in existing knowledge to drive necessary action, designating more marine areas as nature reserves and going further to restore degraded areas. MP Louis Ng spoke on this in Parliament on Monday (Mar 20). He also asked that Sisters’ Islands Marine Park be given more protection by elevating it to a nature reserve. MP Nadia Ahmad Samdin added her voice to the adjournment motion. She said plans to transform the Southern Islands must be carried out sensitively, given their natural and cultural significance. This, as visitorship has more than doubled since before the COVID-19 pandemic and with developments already underway for eco-tourism and aquaculture. In response, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said that as a small city-state, Singapore has always had to balance nature conservation with developmental needs - at sea as much as on land. He elaborated on how the authorities study and monitor biodiversity in Singapore’s waters to identify key marine habitats for protection, active enhancement and to prioritise threatened species for recovery. He added that the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park is protected under the Parks and Trees Act, which prohibits the removal of biodiversity and restricts activities such as fishing, coral collection and mooring of boats.