People in Singapore should be encouraged or even given an incentive to remove invasive species from the environment to protect native biodiversity.

In Australia, citizens play an active role in removing cane toads and feral cats from the environment. In the Bahamas, invasive lionfish are actively hunted by divers to reduce their numbers.

One of the more recent invasive species that arrived in Singapore was the Caribbean anole, which has spread from Gardens by the Bay to Pasir Ris.

Are nature lovers allowed to remove them to reduce their breeding opportunities?

Animal activists often use salmonella as a red herring against the reptiles, yet are surprisingly silent when we allow invasive species of reptiles to spread beyond control.

Are invasive species to be accorded protection in the Wildlife Act, whereby removal of non-native species by well-intentioned individuals come under intense scrutiny and possible prosecution for poaching or animal cruelty?

Or do such acts deserve to be encouraged and perhaps promoted to safeguard native biodiversity?

Compassionate conservation has been picking up in Singapore but compassion and empathy have inherent biases and should not be allowed to influence conservation decisions.

As natural habitats become more fragmented, it is critical to mitigate the pressures put on native wildlife by reducing resource competition from invasive species.

Ong Junkai