Vol
7 No 1
Apr 2000
St. Andrew's
Cross Spider
Yellow-bellied Prinia
Life in the Mangroves:
snippets on
plants & animals
Divine Diversity
Shorebird Population Monitoring
(1992-1998)
Inundation
in the Park
Service with a Smile: the Park's frontline staff
Field Ornithology training in Sarawak
Millenium mementos
Butterfly Trail Adoption
|
|
| Divine
Diversity |
linda
goh
senior education officer
|
 It
is amazing to note that scientists seem to have a better idea of how many
stars there are in the sky than the number of species on Earth. To date,
they have identified about 1.75 million plants and animals. However, some
scientists have claimed the actual species number to be 10 million while
others estimate it to be 100 million!
Indeed,
these are mind-boggling figures. So vast and varied are the lifeforms
on earth that it would take many lifetimes, if ever, to make a head
count of them.
But as Edward O. Wilson, a Harvard biologist, once said, "We don't
know how many there are, or what kind of things—new medicine
or chemicals—they have to offer. It's like a library of unread
books and we haven't even finished the first chapter. And the great
tragedy is that we're losing the species around us before we can even
turn the next page. Too many are dying that don't need to die." |
Taking
stock of life
|
Insects
and myriapods
Plants
Fungi and lichens
Protozoans and algae
Chelicerates
Molluscs
Crustaceans
Nematode Worms
Fish
Flatworms
Annelid Worms
Reptiles and amphibians
Birds
Cnidarians
Sponges
Mammals
|
963
000
270 000
100 000
80 000
75 000
70 000
40 000
25 000
22 000
20 000
12 000
10 500
10 000
10 000
10 000
4 500 |
Source: National
Geographic Magazine, Feb 1999 |
 The
truth is we inherited a vast but delicate natural heritage. Being linked
together in this intricate web of life, which is very fragile in nature,
warrants our respect and attention. We need to invest time in our heritage
in order to preserve what we have.
But to do that, we need to know and understand what is around us first.
I
bid you to take time to explore the Sungei Buloh Nature Park and discover
for yourself the wealth that surrounds you. So rich and fertile is
the earth we inherit!
And it is only through knowing what we have that we learn to appreciate
what we have been given. And only then do we know how to protect what's
naturally ours and our children's.
The inhabitants of the Park await you. |
|
 All
things are connected
like blood which unites one family.
Whatever befalls the Earth
befalls the sons of the Earth.
Man did not weave the web of life.
 He
is merely a strand on it.
Whatever he does to the web,
he does to himself.
Chief
Seattle
of the Suquamish
and the Duwamish, 1855 |
|
WETlands