Nature Society Aims to Expand Resources With Restructuring

It will go from being mainly volunteer-run to a group led by secretariat with full-time staff

- Ang Qing

One of Singapore's oldest non-government groups, the Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS), is undergoing restructuring to improve itself and boost nature conservation in the region, The Straits Times has learnt.

A key part of the restructuring will see the 1,000-member NSS evolving from being mainly a volunteer-run organisation to one that is led by a secretariat comprising full-time staff.

The society's executive director Huang Ningxin, 37, who took on the newly created post in January, said the number of staff will increase from six in 2024 to nine by August.

With the restructuring, NSS plans to develop new programmes to generate revenue in an increasingly crowded conservation space.

The society also hopes to do more for nature in the South-east Asian region, even though it will continue to focus on conservation issues here.

One programme in the pipeline, for example, involves eco-journeys designed by NSS to teach participants about nature conservation.

This will start in September with the launch of the society's first eco-trip in Bintan for Singapore's teachers, which it hopes will support the local community and train educators in charge of sustainability efforts. These trips will become a source of revenue for the society.

Founded as the Singapore branch of the Malayan Nature Society in 1954, NSS has been a voice for nature in Singapore, successfully lobbying against the destruction of key nature areas like the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.