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Times Forum Online 6 Oct 05 Support for reef-building project in restricted waters Letter from John Hooi Yin Cheong Consultant Fishingkaki.com The Straits Times Forum Online 3 Oct 05 Set up marine parks offshore Letter from Dr Geh Min President Nature Society (Singapore) WE REFER to the letter 'Coral reefs need help to restore themselves' by Dr Chou Loke Ming (ST, Sept 12). We agree with Dr Chou that coral reefs in Singapore need all the help they can get, given the dire straits they are in now. We also appreciate that such artificial reef modules are proposed only for sites devoid of coral. In addition, we would like to suggest a few more additions to this restoration effort. Conduct an extensive biodiversity survey of all the southern islands' reefs to ascertain their current status. The last one was some 15 years ago and it is time for another. Just as the last one was done with assistance from public volunteers, perhaps this one can be done similarly and the findings made known to the public. We strongly urge the establishment of marine parks or reserves in some of the southern islands. Just as we have terrestrial parks like Bukit Timah and Sungei Buloh, Singaporeans deserve similar ones in our waters to conserve the last remaining marine habitats. To date, there are no marine parks or reserves gazetted in Singapore. A proposal some years ago by the Singapore Underwater Federation for Pulau Hantu as a marine community park was rejected. We strongly urge that this proposal be reconsidered. Water sports, especially scuba diving and angling, continue to be popular in Singapore, but these activities require not only clean water but also intact marine habitats. A Blue Plan should be formulated as an integral part of the Singapore Green Plan to oversee marine biodiversity and habitats. The Blue Plan should include a legal and regulatory framework with an identified central or coordinating government agency. Dr Geh Min President Nature Society (Singapore) Straits Times Forum Online 6 Oct 05 Support for reef-building project in restricted waters We refer to the letter 'Set up marine parks offshore' by Dr Geh Min (ST Oct 3). We wish to restate the truth as presented by Dr Geh Min regarding the popularity of fishing as a recreational sport in Singapore. We also want to express our fullest support for the proposed Blue Plan put forward by the Nature Society (Singapore). As a hobby-based internet forum in Singapore, Fishingkaki.com is currently ranked at No. 20 as one of the most popular fishing websites in the world and the most active in Asia. This reaffirms the fact that fishing is indeed popular in Singapore. We fully support the idea of a reef-building project in restricted waters ie marine park reserves. A successful reef system is the core in which a marine breeding haven can be built on. As long as we protect such a system, healthy marine life will propagate in these areas, where water sports such as diving and fishing can be introduced in a controlled manner without disturbing the the protected reefs. We strongly urge that the Blue Plan proposal by the Nature Society be carefully considered. John Hooi Yin Cheong Consultant Fishingkaki.com links Related articles on Wild Shores of Singapore |
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