SINGAPORE – Battered by storms, Singapore’s older forests have been losing their larger trees over the past three decades, a national research programme has revealed.
Under the tropical forest ecology research programme, a first-of-its-kind survey of flying insects in forests here has also uncovered DNA belonging to roughly more than 100,000 species, of which about 10 per cent are known to science.
These findings were released on June 6 to kick off the Festival of Biodiversity 2026. The annual celebration of Singapore’s natural heritage is held by the National Parks Board (NParks) and the Biodiversity Roundtable, a network of more than 20 non-governmental organisations.
The net loss of large trees in Singapore’s green core, the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, has prompted NParks to accelerate efforts to protect its mature “mother trees”.
According to the study, which tracked the trees in the reserve between 1992 and 2022, the number of trees measuring 30cm or larger in diameter in older forests dropped from 121 per hectare to 87.
The NParks researchers attributed this decline mainly to damage from storms, which can fell trees.
“Mother trees” are mature trees that play a key role in the ecosystem, producing the majority of the fruits and seeds that feed local wildlife and propagate the next generation of forests, said NParks’ deputy director for forest ecology Chong Kwek Yan, who led the research project.
With adverse weather conditions expected to intensify owing to climate change, the loss of these trees is likely to become a challenge, he added, citing projections by Singapore’s third National Climate Change Study.
The study predicts that wind speed could increase by up to 20 per cent by the end of the century, increasing the risk of trees toppling over.
Chong said the agency will thus step up surveys to locate these “mother trees” and prioritise them for seed collection and propagation to increase the supply of their saplings for forest restoration.
“NParks’ researchers will also work closely with operational teams to translate the findings from studies into on-the-ground practices – for instance, by identifying which species and planting strategies can best support forest resilience against storm disturbance over the long term,” he added.
On a positive note, the same research found that the reserve’s younger forests have been maturing healthily.
Beneath the canopy, Singapore’s largest survey of flying insects in its forests has set the benchmark for monitoring the health of Singapore’s insect population.
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