S'pore submits 20 targets on nature conservation for UN biodiversity conference

Getting students here to be more aware of native wildlife is one of the new initiatives

- Audrey Tan,

By 2030, the National Parks Board (NParks) hopes to get students here to be more aware of Singapore's native wildlife, such as sunbirds and hornbills - the local equivalents of hummingbirds and toucans, which are well-known birds found only in the Americas. The effort to incorporate elements of native biodiversity education into school programmes - from primary school to pre-university - is one of 20 national targets that Singapore on Oct 20 submitted to the UN, ahead of the global body's biodiversity conference taking place in Cali, Colombia, from Oct 21 to Nov 1.

This, and four other targets, had not been publicly announced before. The others are:

• Host or co-organise at least 10 more regional and international biodiversity-related events by 2030.

• Keep the proportion of wildlife traded illegally through Singapore each year to below 0.5 per cent. This refers to the number of illegal wildlife trade cases trafficked into Singapore or through Singapore over the total number of permits issued for the import or export of wildlife under a separate UN convention that regulates the trade in endangered species.

• Make available to the public 1,000 records of native plant species on Flora Fauna Web, an NParks-managed database.

• Ensure development in the country will remain subject to biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning under Singapore's planning framework. Currently, development projects close to sensitive nature areas are already subject to greater scrutiny and may be required to carry out more detailed environmental studies. The submitted target solidifies this approach as one of Singapore's strategies of balancing conservation with development.