Garden City Under the Sea

Diving into Singapore's Coral Reefs

by Jennifer Williams

Lee Kuan Yew imagined mainland Singapore as a Garden City in 1967, and today we see the legacy of his vision. But Singapore also includes 64 off-shore islands and a large marine area. A quick glance from the shoreline reveals an extended city of ocean-going vessels, container shipping ports and off-shore oil facilities — hardly an ideal marine life environment.

Ships anchored outside Singapore

City Reef - Marina at Keppel Bay

A closer look reveals that Singapore’s efforts at conservation aren't just on land but also happening out of sight and under the waves. Marina at Keppel Bay is an excellent example of a conservation project that is happening right underfoot. Or rather, under dock. Above water, the Marina is home to luxury yachts, including the White Rabbit which is touted as the world’s largest tri-hull superyacht. But below the surface lives a diverse range of hard and soft corals, sea fans, anemone, reef fish and even visiting sea turtles.

Clown fish, Marina at Keppel Bay, photo by Nathaniel Soon

The marina was purposely structured to support a coral reef. Water flows through the marina during tide changes, bringing the nutrients and plankton essential to nurture marine life. Marina at Keppel Bay has partnered with the Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory of NUS to improve marine life on the many vertical seawalls around the marina. They also teamed with International SeaKeepers Society to introduce youth to marine life and conservation. This successful blending of luxury marina and coral reef is proof that efforts to protect our natural environment can make a real difference.

Sisters’ Islands Marine Park

Established in 2014, the Sisters’ Islands comprise Singapore’s first protected marine park. Singapore’s waters are home to 250 species of hard coral (35% of hard coral species found worldwide) as well as 100 species of reef fish, 200 species of sponges and 12 seagrass species.

Coral Nursery

Along with protecting existing coral, the marine park runs a coral nursery. Coral nubbins are planted and grown in the nursery until they are large enough to be transplanted to Reef Enhancement Units (REU). As the corals grow in the REUs, fish find refuge within them and the diversity of the Marine Park’s coral reefs expands.

Sea Turtle Nursery

Sea Turtle Hatchling

The Marine Park is also home to a sea turtle hatchery that provides a safe habitat for turtle hatchlings to incubate, hatch and make it out to sea. NParks relocates turtle nests that have been laid in high human traffic areas to the turtle hatchery. If you spot a sea turtle on the mainland, call NParks helpline at 1800-471-7300.

Dive Trail

The Marine Park also features Singapore’s first dive trail. Divers follow a trail with 20 stations and signage that showcases Singapore’s underwater diversity.

Sea fan, Marina at Keppel Bay, photo by Nathaniel Soon

Relocating Sultan Shoal Coral Colonies

The story of Singapore’s Next-Generation port at Tuas could have been just another chapter of human progress at the expense of the natural environment. But instead of leaving the coral in the path of the new port, the Marine and Port Authority created a program to move it.

Divers harvested 2,300 coral colonies at Sultan Shoal and collected the marine animals living in the reef, including sea stars and endangered seahorses. The coral and marine animals were relocated to the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park. Coral that was broken during harvesting, or was lying on the reef floor, was taken to coral nurseries and relocated once it had grown. 1,354 broken corals from 38 species were relocated to Kusu and Lazarus Islands.

The Future of Singapore’s Coral Reefs

Singapore’s coral reefs and the sea life that depend on them still need our help. Murky water created by land reclamation and shipping makes a challenging environment for coral. Singapore has lost many of its coral reef colonies to development but these three projects demonstrate that with forethought and effort, coral reefs can thrive in the midst of human activity.

Want to help Singapore’s Coral Reefs?

Check out the Garden City Fund’s Plant-A-Coral initiative. www.gardencityfund.gov.sg/plantacoral

Jennifer moved to Singapore with her husband and three boys in 2019. A life-long lover of books and writing, she became Editor-in-Chief of the AWA Magazine in 2021.