Rare mangroves from Timor-Leste to be planted in Singapore's Bay East Garden

Rare mangrove species from Timor-Leste will be sown on Singapore soil for the first time to enrich local biodiversity and combat climate change. The public can visit these mangroves at Bay East Gardens when it reopens in 2027. Eugene Chow brings us more from Timor-Leste's capital, Dili. This mangrove study centre east of Dili is the pride of the Timorese community, yielding up to 40,000 seedlings every year. These are planted to restore coasts that have been And now some of the centre's seeds will find their way to Singapore under a tie-up between the two Specifically, we're looking for some of the species or even genera that aren't present in Singapore. One of the species we've seen here is the Pemphis acidula and it's normally a shrub that grows behind the mangroves or even on beaches or rocky headlands, for example, and in Singapore it's critically endangered. His team wants to create a mangrove-like swamp at Bay East Garden. It'd be their second such environment. The first is Kingfisher Wetlands at Gardens by the Bay, and it's already shown to help absorb more carbon from the environment than other mangroves in Singapore. Here in Timor- Leste, the community plays a huge part in mangrove conservation. Youth groups and students are brought in to help plant saplings like this along the country's coastlines. These efforts help them understand why mangroves are crucial for preserving the environment. The upcoming Bay East Garden project will similarly engage the public. We will be involving community in terms of the monitoring as well as managing of the mangrove in the wetland habitat, so that area will also be used as a learning environment for students as well as Singaporeans to come down to learn about the importance of mangroves. Ahead of the opening in 2027, the public will get the chance to help plant the rare mangroves from Timor-Leste on Singapore soil. Eugene Chow, CNA, Dili, Timor-Leste.