Sir

The Singapore Genomic Project was created in June 2000 with funding of S$62 million (US$35 million) over five years1. Singapore is certainly becoming a hotspot for life sciences — basically to develop drugs, medical and food products and agro-biotechnology. But it is ignoring serious environmental conservation issues, both at home and in neighbouring countries.

When the state of Singapore was founded in 1819, it had a population of 150 people. The main island (544 km2, to which another 30 km2 was later added by land reclamation) was almost entirely covered by rainforest. Today, more than half the island is urbanized to accommodate 3 million inhabitants. Less than 100 ha of rainforest and 500 ha of mangrove forest survive, in a degraded state2. About 594 of a total of 2,277 native vascular plant flora have become extinct3.

The lack of natural resources means the city-state depends on drinking water from Malaysia and Indonesia, but it makes little financial commitment to conserve natural resources in these countries. Ecology and biodiversity conservation are not popular in Singapore's universities, as the government has been heavily promoting genetics and biomedical-related life sciences and research during recent years. We are worried that the emphasis on the Genomic Project may reduce the number of future students of ecology and conservation in Singapore.

The economy improved in 1999 with surplus of US$1.96 billion registered4. But environmental spending was restricted to deep-tunnel sewerage systems, wastewater treatment and management of nature reserves. International environmental conservation activities were limited to Singapore's participation in meetings.

Being an economic giant in the Asia–Pacific region, Singapore has the responsibility to care for its own shrinking natural environment. It must reorient its strategies and make a financial commitment both to conserve its own environment and to help conserve natural resources in the neighbouring mega-biodiversity countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam5.

The government has recently set up Wildlife Reserves Singapore, bringing together three of the world's most progressive animal parks: the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Zoological Gardens and the Night Safari. It has also established a conservation fund to support wildlife preservation projects locally and globally, owing to the desperate need to promote biodiversity conservation in the region.

It is not too late for other governmental and non-governmental agencies to join this effort to save the rapidly diminishing natural environment in South-east Asia.