Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

1. SungeiBuloh Wetland Reserve Arielle Koh and Amanda Koh P5 Excellent

2. History of SBWR • 1986: Avid birdwatchers from the then Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch) stumbled upon SB. They wrote a proposal to the government for its conservation. • 1989: The wetland site was designated as a nature park • 1993: The then Prime Minister GohChok Tong officially opened the nature park. • 1994: SBWR welcomed its 10,000 visitor

3. Bracket Fungus

4. Bracket Fungus • Scientific name: There are hundreds of scientific names for each species of bracket fungi, but bracket fungi are from the phylum basidiomycota in the class basidiomycetes • Habitat: Mainly on trees, logs (living or dead) and coarse woody debris • Special qualities: They are hardy, resilient and can live for a long time • Uses: Some grown for human consumption and some for medicinal use

5. Plants in SungeiBuloh

6. African Tulip Tree History of SBWR source

7. African Tulip Tree • Scientific name: Spathodeacampanulata • Habitat: Wastelands • Special qualities: The ripe pods split open into a woody, boat-shaped form. Children use them in boat races, by placing the opened pods in a fast flowing drain • Uses: The bark, flowers and leaves are used in traditional medicine in Western Africa

8. ApiApiBulu History of SBWR

9. ApiApiBulu • Scientific name: Avicenniarumphiana • Habitat: Grows on upper half of foreshow preferring sand or firm mud in South East Asia to New Guinea • Special qualities: The fur on the leaves conserve water by trapping a layer of insulating air and thus reducing water lass through evaporation • Uses: The wood is suitable as firewood for smoking fish, can be used as a rudder of a boat or ship and as a rice mortar, the ashcan be made into soap and the fruits can be eaten roasted, boiled or sundried

10. Bird’s Nest Fern source

11. Bird’s Nest Fern • Scientific name: Aspleniumnidus • Habitat: Grows on trees and rocks, even on the ground after falling from trees • Special qualities: The leaves can grow up to 1.4 metres long and are shaped to collect rainwater and nutrient-rich debris • Uses: Eaten by tribes in Malaysia and some are used as house plants

12. Blind Your Eye History of SBWR source

13. Blind Your Eyes • Scientific name: Exoecariaagallocha • Habitat: Further inland, usually at the high water mark • Special qualities: The sap can cause temporary blindness (thus the name) if it enters the eyes or skin irritation and blisters • Uses: The sap is used by natives in New Guinea as arrow poison. It may have anti-HIV, anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties

14. Crinum Lily History of SBWR source

15. Crinum Lily • Scientific name: Crinum asiatium • Habitat: Sandy seashores • Special qualities: The flower is nice-smelling but the plant is poisonous • Uses: Used to treat aches, sores and chaps. Crushed leaves are used to treat piles, mixed with honey and applied to wounds and abscesses.

16. Jamaican Cherry Tree source

17. Jamaican Cherry Tree • Scientific name: Muntingiacalabura • Habitat: Anywhere with sun and water but without salt • Special qualities: It has sweet and sticky fruits. Birds, bats and even children in some areas help to disperse the seeds • Uses: Fruits are made into jam and tarts, flowers are used to treat spasms, headaches and colds and its timber is used to make small carpentry

18. Nipah Palm History of SBWR source

19. Nipah Palm • Scientific name: Nypafruticans • Habitat: Brackish mangrove forest strips situated further inland where there are calm conditions and high freshwater input • Special qualities: It is the mangrove plant with the oldest known fossil, with pollen dated 70 million years old • Uses: Tapped to collect a sweet sap, the young shoots can be eaten, the petals of the flower can be brewed and immature fruits are a common ingredient in desserts. Dried fronds can be used to make mats, baskets and other household items.

20. Sea Hibiscus

21. Sea Hibiscus • Scientific name: Hibiscus tiliaceus • Habitat: Along the seashore and back mangroves • Special qualities: The yellow flowers open in the morning and turn darker over the day. It turns brownish before falling on the same day or the following day • Uses: Leaves are used to cool fevers, sooth coughs and remove phlegm, fresh bark soaked in water is used to treat dysentery and many other uses

22. Sea Holly History of SBWR source

23. Sea Holly • Scientific name: Acanthus ebracteatus • Habitat: Grows in the undergrowth of mangroves in South-East Asia • Special qualities: Leaves growing in the deep shade can be totally spineless • Uses: There are many, but these are two: Mangrove dwellers believe that chewing the leaves can cure snake bites and is also used to treat kidney stones

24. Water Lily History of SBWR

25. Water Lily • Scientific name: Nymphaea sp. • Habitat: Surface of water • Special qualities: Although the flowers are beautiful and fragrant, they only last a few days • Uses: The American Indians made flour out of dried roots by pounding them, which was then baked into pancakes. The young leaves and flower buds were eaten as vegtables, and seeds were eaten fried

26. Animals in SungeiBuloh

27. Archer Fish source

28. Archer Fish • Scientific name: Toxotesjaculatrix • Habitat: Commonly seen in mangrove swamps • Diet: Feed mainly on crustaceans, insects, red-clawed clab (sesarmabidens) and ants from the formicidae family • Special qualities: They are known for their ability to shoot down insects and small creatures resting on foliage or mangrove roots (see picture!)

29. Atlas Moth source

30. Atlas Moth • Scientific name: Attucas atlas • Habitat: Primarily found in tropical forests and surrounding lowlands in the vicinity of their host plants • Diet: Adults do not feed • Special qualities: They do not have functioning mouth parts as an adult so they do not feed. Instead, they live off fat reserves built up when it was a caterpillar, when it ate a variety of foodplants.

31. Black-Crowned Night Heron History of SBWR source source

32. Black-Crowned Night Heron • Scientific name: Nycticoraxnycticorax • Habitat: They nest in mangroves • Diet: Fish, aquatic and land invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, plants, carrion and food from garbage dumps • Special qualities: They steal eggs and young from other herons, which attack them on sight because of this

33. Giant Mudskipper History of SBWR source

34. Giant Mudskipper • Scientific name: Periophthalmodonschlosseri • Habitat: Along the intertidal zone at the margin between land and sea • Diet: Carnivorous; aggressively hunting arthropods (like insects), crustaceans, and even smaller mudskippers • Special qualities: They rotate their eyes to swill the water in the gill chambers around and keep the gills fluffed up and oxygenated

35. Golden Orb Web Spider History of SBWR source

36. Golden Orb Web Spider • Scientific name: Nephilamaculata • Habitat: Usually above ground, they spin their webs between plants and other objects • Diet: Large flying insects • Special qualities: Its silk is used by tribes to catch fish, which will get entangled in the ball of silk wound around a stick. It makes the largest and strongest web even though it is not the largest spider

37. Malayan Water Monitor History of SBWR source

38. Malayan Water Monitor • Scientific name: Varanussalvator • Habitat: Burrows built in river banks, both fresh and salt water • Diet: They are carnivorous and eat a wide range of animals, such as fish, frogs, rodents, birds, crabs, snakes, turtles, young crocodiles and crocodile eggs, and carrion. • Special qualities: Highly mobile, they can swim far out to sea, remain underwater for up to half an hour and run faster than most humans (because of their leg muscles)

39. Mud Lobster History of SBWR source

40. Mud Lobster • Scientific name: Thalassinaanomala • Habitat: Never most out of its burrow (volcano shaped mounds found in the back mangroves) • Diet: Believed to eat tiny organic titbits in mud • Special qualities: Their burrows are U-shaped and can be as deep as 2 metres below the waterline

41. Plantain Squirrel History of SBWR source

42. Plantain Squirrel • Scientific name: Callosciurusnotatus(In fact, “callosciurus” means “beautiful squirrels”) • Habitat: Rest in hollow trees; gardens, forest habitats and mangroves; rarely comes to the ground • Diet: Fruit pulp and seeds, flowers or leafy shoots, arthropods (invertebrate animals) • Special qualities: They are agile animals and can jump a few metres between trees.

43. Smooth Otter History of SBWR source

44. Smooth Otter • Scientific name: Lutrogaleperspicillata • Habitat: Occur throughout much of southern Asia; found where water is plentiful • Diet: Eat whatever is plentiful and easy to catch, prey includes crustaceans, frogs, water rats, large birds, turtles, and fish. • Special qualities:Largest otters in Southeast Asia, and they have shorter and smoother coats

45. Weaver Ants History of SBWR source

46. Weaver Ants • Scientific name: Oecophyllasmaragdina • Habitat: Leaves of plants • Diet: Nectar • Special qualities:They have complex ants’ nests; they use living leaves to build nests

47. The End