An urban wetland being built in Gardens by the Bay will be twice as large as what was originally planned. Scientists find that mangroves in that environment can capture more carbon compared to natural ecosystems useful for fighting climate change.
The Biophilic Pond will be the centerpiece of the Future Zone in Bay East Garden, to be completed in 2027. The original plan already included a mangrove and freshwater swamp along its fringes. Now builders have decided to extend the mangroves all along the pond and to other parts of the zone, such as a rain garden.
Usually, mangroves only thrive in saltwater. But a study at Kingfisher Wetlands in Gardens by the Bay found some species that did well in its artificial freshwater conditions. This includes some critically endangered mangroves.
“In the natural environment, there’s a high tide, low tide so it moves, but in a freshwater environment, it doesn’t do that. But the more important point is that the carbon content from these freshwater mangroves actually increased over the monitoring period,” said Gardens by the Bay CEO, Felix Loh.
This means man-made wetlands can potentially be used to capture carbon in cities. They may also increase biodiversity, as some locally endangered and vulnerable species were seen during the study.
“I’m pretty hopeful that we can scale it up. But it also comes to the fact that once again, in Singapore, we have a lot of decisions to make about how we use our land,” Oceanographer of DHI Water and Environment, Danielle Su, told CNA.
The wetland habitat is part of the attraction’s sustainability efforts. It also introduces a nature tour, especially for those with special needs.
By CNA
