Blythe Neo, Natasha Hoong Cheng Yi, Pan Yongjing, Vishvak Manikandan Vairalingam, Zhang Jiawei
Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin
Singapore is well known as a Garden City because of our intensive urban greening efforts. Green spaces in Singapore range from manicured parks such as Singapore Botanic Gardens, to nature reserves such as Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Each of these green spaces serve different functions, often with the users in mind. Often neglected is the ecosystem functions of these green spaces, which include mitigating urban heat island effect, storing carbon, regulating hydrologic processes and improving air quality. Unfortunately, the ecosystem functions of these green spaces might not be understood and hence under-valued by the public. Using Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Botanic Garden as specific examples of natural and manicured landscapes respectively, this project seeks determine the public’s perception towards these green spaces, and their awareness of the different ecosystem functions provided by the two examples. Our findings reveal the public’s misconception on ecological functions and highlight the need to educate them on this.
Keywords: Natural Environment & Ecosystems, ecosystem services, green landscape, rainforests, Singapore Botanic Gardens