Forum: Birds are part of Singapore’s ecosystem too

I refer to the Forum letter, “Do more to curb growing bird nuisance” (May 27). 

Birds have existed in Singapore long before our forefathers migrated to this island over the past two centuries. Hence, we are guests who have encroached on their original forested habitats. 

Also, human activities, such as deforestation for agriculture and urbanisation, have endangered many native bird species and caused some of them to become extinct, as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. 

Similarly, it is because of urbanisation that we are encountering more urban-adapted bird species, such as rock pigeons and house crows, in residential areas. 

Even if human residents do not litter or feed these birds, the birds will still thrive because they have adapted well to finding food in urban areas. 

For example, I witnessed several house crows feeding on the carcass of a rat along the Kallang Park Connector earlier today. The crows serve important ecological roles in the ecosystem, such as scavenging and managing waste. 

Choosing to cull the birds or punishing people who litter or feed the birds are only stop-gap solutions to a deeper problem. 

Singapore currently sets aside about 10 per cent of total land area for parks and nature conservation, causing an imbalance of having too much urban wildlife and too little forest-dependent wildlife in our housing estates and parks. 

By adopting the UN Biodiversity Conference’s recommendations on conserving 30 per cent of land and sea, we could help forest-dependent bird populations, which do not pose a nuisance, to recover. 

At the same time, we would have fewer encounters with urban-adapted birds, whose populations would be kept in check naturally with a more balanced ratio of rural-urban environments. 

This would also help to achieve the objective of protecting our biodiversity and coexisting peacefully with wildlife, which is in line with the Singapore Green Plan.

Jimmy Tan San Tek