A Rest Day for Wildlife?

Dear Readers,

 

Today we will deviate a little from wildlife photography ethics and talk about “A rest day for wildlife”. Just like wildlife photography, interest in nature has grown significantly in recent times. At Bukit Timah Nature Reserves, annual number of visits have increase by more than 400 percent between 1990 – 2005. These numbers are only recorded at the main gate of the reserve (there are 6 other entrances), so actual visitor numbers will probably be much higher. Having an increase in the visitorship places more stress on our nature reserves as impacts caused by unethical behaviour can be magnified due to the presence of more people.

Image Source

Certain parks in Singapore have only recently seen an increase in the number of visitors. Back when I first started out photography in 2012, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve was mostly empty, apart from the few hardcore photographers. At that time, the number of NParks staff even outnumber the number of visitors. Recently, there is huge increase in the number of visitors at the reserve. This might be due to the Covid19 restrictions. As commercial flights have halted, going overseas for a holiday is not possible. So, more people are going out into the parks instead. One of the photographers I approached said that his job involved him to travel overseas but was unable to due to the restrictions, so he had more time to visit the parks in Singapore.

Taken on 6th September 2020

Sungei Buloh on a weekend

With the increase of visitors, come a number of problems. Some of which, like informal trails that we’ve discussed about in a previous blog. Others include an increase in litter, noise and also the fact the there is little social distancing between everyone. Just a few weeks ago, a rare parrot attracted a large crowd of photographers. Curious as to how loud the crowd was, I used an app to check the sound level (I don’t have a decibel meter with me). It peaked at 74 decibels and the noise was actually louder before I started recording. This is equivalent to a vacuum cleaner, so for those who can’t stand that noise, can you image how loud it must be for those poor parrots.

Taken on 4th October 2020

Photographers waiting for the Blue-rumped Parrot

Right: Taken at Sungei Buloh on 6th September 2020

More visitors = more trash?

With the increasing number of visitors, I wonder if its possible to designate a resting period for the nature parks? Take the Maya Bay in Thailand for example. The beach on the island of Phi Phi Leh was closed in 2018 as officials said that the sudden increase in the number of visitors had damaged the environment (corals). In Singapore, the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve was closed in 2014 for 2 years to repair the degrade trails caused by the increase in human traffic. Instead of waiting for the impact to worsen, maybe it is time to plan for a periodic closure of our nature parks. This will alleviate the pressure caused by the increasing traffic and allow the environment to recover. What do y’all think?

5 thoughts on “A Rest Day for Wildlife?

  1. Hi Benjamin! As someone who’s interned at Sungei Buloh before, it’s really saddening to see more litter around the parks as more visitors flock to local parks during the pandemic. As I was packing up and heading home from the Visitor Centre office one day, an inconsiderate visitor spilt a packet of chips on the floor and I had to clear the mess up, which was extremely frustrating. From this experience, I definitely agree with you that parks/nature reserves should have periodic closures to allow for recovery. While periodic closures are a good idea, I feel that part of the responsibility to keep parks/reserves clean would also fall on visitors and it’s important to ensure that they have the right mindset when visiting parks. Beyond periodic closures, how else do you think we can encourage visitors to leave no trace when they visit green spaces in Singapore?

    1. Hi Sarah-Ann!

      Thanks for reading my blog and sharing your own experience. Its so sad to see how Sungei Buloh has changed over the years (there goes my getaway place for the weekend). In my opinion, I think it is difficult to encourage visitors to leave no trace when visiting green spaces in Singapore. Especially for visitors who have no interest to learn or appreciate how fragile some of our ecosystems are. Maybe one way we could do it, is by educating children and inculcating them with a respect for nature.

      – Ben 🙂

  2. Benjamin,

    This post is quite good, if a bit off-theme. The photos of SBNR on a weekend really shocked me. I’ve never seen more than a few ppl there. I wouldn’t enjoy that, I don’t think.

    jc

    1. Hi Dr. Coleman!!

      Thank you for visiting my blog. Yes, its a bit off-theme for this blog, but I do feel that it is an important issue to talk about. Plus, photographers also contribute to the visitorship too.

      I agree!! Its just sad to see that Sungei Buloh is so crowded. Do you think a periodic closure of our nature reserve is possible in Singapore?

      – Ben 🙂

  3. Hmm, I srsly don’t know.

    I mean, like you said, they closed BTNR for 2 yrs, but I don’t know how the community reacted to that. I think it might not have been that hard to justify it given the clear need for restoration work. But would we accept a park being periodically closed to give Nature a break ? And the govt is very concerned with optics.

    I’ll add something. It can be argued that we could approach Nature & bioD in SG from a more pragmatic viewpoint. Meaning, we’re a tiny place with very little in the way of biocapacity and endemic species. Some might say the real value of our nature spaces lie in their ability to bring ppl closer to Nature (thereby alleviating NDD) rather than to conserve species. If that’s your mindset, then you might be very resistant to periodic closures because you might view these spaces as primarily intended for human use.

    I’m not saying the above is the “truth”, but it’s some people’s truth and it’s not an invalid viewpoint.

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