SINGAPORE – Singapore’s rich marine biodiversity may lie out of sight for many, but a second marine park that is being planned for the nation’s southern islands could offer people here a glimpse of the thriving ecosystems underwater.

National Development Minister Desmond Lee announced on May 9 plans to designate the southern part of Lazarus Island and the reef off Kusu Island as the Republic’s second marine park. From knobbly sea stars and fluted giant clams hiding in rocky shores to intact coral reefs, the area is home to exceptionally rich marine life.

Speaking to the media on Lazarus Island, Mr Lee said: “When we finally designate the second marine park, it will enable us to strengthen marine and terrestrial conservation, provide tremendous opportunities for education and research, and provide spaces for nature-based recreation to be done sensitively.”

The country’s first marine park – the 40ha Sisters’ Islands Marine Park – was announced in 2014, and 2024 marks its 10th anniversary.

With a second marine park, island hoppers will have more opportunities to learn about marine biodiversity in the southern waters while enjoying recreational activities.

By 2025, the boundaries of the proposed marine park are expected to be finalised, after the National Parks Board (NParks) finishes discussions with government agencies and community partners.

The discussions will also cover the types of features and amenities, such as walking trails, that visitors can expect from the second marine park.

The authorities will also be working with heritage experts, as the history of Lazarus Island is tied with the orang laut (sea nomads) and colonial Singapore, which stored ammunition on the island, added Mr Lee.

Singapore’s first marine park comprises Big Sister’s Island, Small Sister’s Island, and the western reefs off both St John’s Island and Pulau Tekukor.

In the second half of 2024, Big Sister’s Island – which has been closed to the public for enhancement works since 2021 – will reopen with new features such as a forest trail and a lagoon tidal pool that visitors can snorkel in.

Lazarus and Kusu islands are a 30-minute boat ride from Marina South Pier.

Teeming with corals, fish and lobsters

About 60 per cent of Singapore’s reef area has been lost to land reclamation and development, leaving healthy and intact reefs to be mostly found in the Southern Islands.

The Republic’s waters are home to around 250 species of hard corals of various colours and shapes – about one-third of the world’s more than 800 species of hard corals.

To date, 97 and 141 coral species have been sighted at the reefs off Lazarus Island and Kusu Island, respectively, including rare ones. The southern part of Lazarus Island has one of the country’s remaining rocky shore habitats and one of the largest mature secondary coastal forests. The island also has a large intertidal lagoon, with creatures such as knobbly sea stars.

With urban development, much of Singapore’s natural rocky shores have been replaced with coastal defence structures such as seawalls. Labrador Nature Reserve has one of the last remaining natural rocky shores on the mainland.

Kusu Reef, which is off the northern shore of Kusu Island, is home to a host of marine life, including cuttlefish, stingrays and lobsters.

The reef that runs alongside the entire Sisters’ Islands Marine Park is known as Singapore’s “mother reef” that seeds coral larvae to other marine habitats. The reefs at Lazarus, on the other hand, receive the baby corals from Sisters’ Islands, allowing them to take root and grow.

The high ecological significance of Lazarus and Kusu islands was confirmed after NParks completed the ecological profiling exercise for Singapore’s coastal and marine environment in 2022. The exercise helped to identify the country’s biodiversity hot spots, and how flora and fauna disperses through land and sea.

As the reef areas off Kusu Island are extensive and well-consolidated, they are an ideal location for coral transplantation and restoration efforts, which can help to expand Singapore’s overall coral cover, said NParks.

Over the next 10 years from 2024, 100,000 corals will be progressively planted and grown in Singapore’s waters to beef up marine life and protect coastlines from waves and storms.

Emeritus Professor Chou Loke Ming of the National University of Singapore’s Department of Biological Sciences told The Straits Times that it had been “a dream come true” when the first marine park was established in 2014.

“I never expected 10 years after that, we can have a second. It shows commitment to preserve and protect our natural heritage,” said Prof Chou.

Having recommended Kusu Island as a protected area in 2012 as an ideal source of coral larvae, Prof Chou said that all the work he and other conservationists have done has come to fruition with the proposed marine park.

While it is uncertain how the proposed second marine park will be safeguarded, Sisters’ Islands Marine Park has laws against fishing, collecting corals and mooring boats within the site, under the Parks and Trees Act.

Dr Jani Tanzil, senior research fellow and facility director at the St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory, said that with more long-term protection provided by the marine park, researchers are also able to conduct longer-term research without having to worry their research sites on the islands are going to be redeveloped into a resort, for example.

She added that factors affecting corals such as climate change do not happen overnight, but happen over decades or longer, so more time is needed to observe how corals respond to these factors.

Balancing marine conservation and human activity

Kusu Island is a destination for devotees who make a yearly pilgrimage to the island’s Da Bo Gong (Tua Pek Kong) Temple. The proposed marine park is unlikely to interfere with the pilgrimage season as the reef area planned to be gazetted is offshore.

In 2024, short-term staycations in eco-friendly “tiny houses” were introduced on Lazarus Island.

In response, nature groups raised concerns that allowing visitors to stay may have detrimental impacts on the fragile ecosystem. For example, heavy litter such as glass bottles left by visitors may damage corals.

To balance human activity and marine conservation, Prof Chou believes that exposing people to nature is key. “Because of the limitations of space, we can’t afford to have completely protected areas out of bounds to everyone. We need to allow people to enjoy being in a natural setting.”

Through being exposed to the natural environment and seeing corals, people can learn to appreciate and protect the environment, he said.