SINGAPORE Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the Singapore Botanical Gardens' Jungle are Singapore's lone remnant rainforest fragments from the island's once rich forest. Both of these fragments have been the focus of intense study on the effect of fragmentation on forest patches. Both forests have been isolated for a long period—on the order of 130 years—but species composition is significantly different in the two patches. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve—50 hectares in size—retains some primary forest characteristics, while the smaller Botanical Gardens' Jungle—4 hectares—retains relatively little of its original diversity and forest structure.

Suggested reading - Books

• Singapore (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
• Lonely Planet Singapore
• Fodor's Singapore

Image from the CIA World Factbook

CIA-World Factbook Profile
FAO-Forestry Profile



Last updated: 4 Feb 2006