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Environment and civil society in SingaporeGEM 2906/ SSU2005

Dr Joelle Lai & A/P Reuben Wong2013-14 Semester 1 College of alice & peter tan

Civil Society 

Concepts and topics

What is ‘Civil Society’

Components of civil society

Roles of environmental NGOs

The changing environment of Singapore

Environmental CSOs

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What is ‘Civil Society’

• Sphere of social life that is public but excludesgovernment activities (Meidinger, 2001)

• “...social interaction between the household and the state

characterised by community cooperation, structures of

voluntary association, and networks of public

communication” (Bratton, 1994)

• Classify persons, institutions, and organisations that havethe goal of advancing or expressing a common purpose

through ideas, actions, and demands on governments.

• “diverse units of social identity and interest... independent ofthe state..., not only can restrain the arbitrary actions ofrulers, but can also contribute to forming better citizens whoare more aware of the preferences of others, more self-confident in their actions, and more civic-minded in theirwillingness to sacrifice for the common good.”

• “At its best, civil society provides an intermediate layer ofgovernance between the individual and the state that iscapable of resolving conflicts and controlling the behaviourof members without public coercion... A viable civil societycan mitigate conflicts...” (Schmitter and Karl 1991)

•  “A society's coming of age where it develops the ability forcontemplation, and critical and independentthought” (Chong, 2005)

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Examples of Civil Society organisations (CSOs)

• academia

• activist groups• charities

• citizens' militia

• civic groups

• clubs (sports, social,etc.)

• communityfoundations

• community

organisations• consumers/consumer

organisations

• cooperatives

• churches

• cultural groups

• environmentalgroups

• foundations

• intermediaryorganisations for thevoluntary and non-profit sector

• men's groups

• mosques, temples

• non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs)

• non-profitorganisations (NPOs)

• policy institutions

• professionalassociations

• political parties

• private voluntaryorganisations (PVOs)

• religiousorganisations

• social enterprises

• support groups

• trade unions• voluntary

associations

• women's groups

Diverse membership• Ranging from individuals to religious and academic

institutions to issue-focused groups such as not-for-profit or non-governmental organisations.

• In the realm of environmental governance, NGOsare the most prominent actors

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Groups of individuals organised for the myriad ofreasons that engage human imagination andaspiration to advocate a particular cause, suchas human rights, or to carry out programs on theground, such as disaster relief. It can havememberships ranging from local to global.

(Charnovitz, 1997: 186)

Roles of NGOs inglobal environmental governance

1. Collecting, disseminating, and analysinginformation.

2. Providing input to agenda-setting and policydevelopment processes.

3. Performing operational functions.

4. Assessing environmental conditions and monitoringcompliance with environmental agreements.

5. Advocating environmental justice.

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Some examples of NGOs andpublications

• SIWI (StockholmInternational Water

Institute)

• WWF (World Wildlife

Fund for Nature)

• IUCN (InternationalUnion for the

conservation of Nature

• Where government bodies andintergovernmental organisations often

lack analytical capacity or arehampered by bureaucratic constraints

and other obligations, NGOs (and

CSOs) can focus on a dynamic research

agenda and move very quickly to new

issues.

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• Joint programme of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

• Works in close co-operation with the Secretariat of the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(CITES).

• To ensure international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants

does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild, and it

accords varying degrees of protection to more than 34,000 species of

animals and plants

• http://www.cites.org/eng/app/2013/E-Appendices-2013-06-12.pdf 

• http://wildlifetradetracker.org/?db=lemis

Singapore’s changing environment:What’s gone and what’s left?

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 Yee et al., 2010. The present extent of mangrove forests in Singapore. Nature in Singapore 3: 139-145

Singapore, c. 1819

Population: 150

N

0 5km

Lower Seletar Reservoir 

TengehReservoir 

SarimbunReservoir 

Murai Reservoir 

PoyanReservoir 

Bedok Reservoir 

MacRitchieReservoir 

Upper PeirceReservoir 

Upper Seletar Reservoir 

PandanReservoir 

Kranji Reservoir 

Lower PeirceReservoir 

 JurongLake

Pulau TekongReservoir 

S  i  n g a po r e R  i v e  r 

   S  u  n  g  e   i   P  a  n  g

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u    n    g   e    i     B    

e   d    o    k   

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a       n      

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e      i                                       

S      e      m     b   a  w  a  n  g

LazarusIsland

StJohn’s Island

Kusu Island

Pulau Sebarok

Sisters’ Islands

Pulau Seringat

Pulau Bukom

PulauSemakau

Pulau Hantu

PulauBusing

Pulau Sudong

Pulau Pawai

Pulau Senang

JurongIsland

Pulau Ubin

PulauPunggol

Barat PulauPunggolTimor

ConeyIsland

Pulau Ketam

Pulau Tekong

Pulau Biola

Pulau Satumu(RafflesLighthouse)

Pulau Jong

Pulau Seletar

Pulau Salu

Pulau Keppel Pulau Brani

Pulau Tekukor

Sentosa

BukitBatokNaturePark BukitTimah

NatureReserve

WestCoastPark

KentRidgePark

SingaporeBotanic Gardens

JurongBirdPark

NeeSoonSwampForest

SembawangPark

Pasir RisNaturePark

ChangiBeach

EastCoastPark

FortCanningPark

SungeiBulohWetlandRese rve

CentralCatchment

NatureReserve

SingaporeZoologicalGardens

MarinaEast

MarinaBarrageTelok Blangah HillPark

MtFaber Park

Lim Chu Kang

Woodlands

MtImbiah

MtSerapong•

Labrador NatureR eserve

LorongHalusChoaChu Kang

Punggol

Tanah Merah

Changi

LoyangCreek

KhatibBongsu

Chek Jawa

Sultan Shoal

Strait of Singapore

    S    t   r

  a    i    t

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Serangoon Harbour 

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MALAYSIA MALAYSIA 

MALAYSIA 

St  r  a  i t  o f   J  o  h o   r   

LEGEND

Lakeor reservoir

River

Primaryforest

Secondaryforest

Scrubland

Swampforest

Rockyshore (Labrador)

Sandyshore

Mangroveforest

CoastalEcosystem

10km0

Johor 

SINGAPORE

Pulau TekongPulauUbin

PedraBranca

Horsburgh Lighthouse

Nature Map Of Singapore

Ng, Corlett & Tan, 2011. Singapore Biodiversity: An encylopedia of the natural environment andsustainable development.

Singapore, c. 2011Population 5.31 million (+150 K from 2011)

Land Area: 710km2

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• Extensive Habitat loss

• > 95% of original forest cover (540 km2 in

193 years

• Less than 10% of remaining 24 km2 (2.8 km2)forest is primary rainforest

• Extensive alteration of coastline

• Loss of mangrove forests

• Loss of coral reefs (>100 km2 before landreclamation, 54 km2 after)

Brook et al. 2003. Catastrophic extinctions follow deforestation inSingapore. Nature 424: 420-423

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Picture of last tiger shot (and documented) inSingapore (1930s)

Living dead of Singapore

Andie An ,

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Living dead of Singapore

Andie Ang,

Dryocopus javensis (Horsfield, 1821)White bellied woodpecker (

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 Johora singaporensis - IUCN 100 mostcritically endangered species on earth

http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/html/RL-2009-001/section8f11.html

More depressing statistics

• 77% of our surviving biodiversity is

considered threatened (IUCN)

• Protected areas ~ 0.25% of total land area,harbour ~ 50% of remaining taxa

• 25% of remaining fish and decapod

crustacean (crabs, prawns) fauna are

found in only one 5 ha patch in a single

reserve

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What’s left?

Terrestrial Environment14,000 species of native vascular

plants

75 species of ferns and fern allies58 species of mammals376 bird species

282 butterfly species102 reptile species

27 amphibian species25 bat species

Marine Environment

~200 hard coral species111 reef fish species11 sea grass species

Fungi, algae, crustaceans, molluscs, insects

NParks, NSS, NUS et al.

• 10 species in Singaporemangroves (Evenhuis &Grootaert, 2002)

• One year’s activesampling (weekly traps)

• Sungei Buloh 61 species

• Pulau Ubin Chek Jawa 59species

} 92 species

Whole of Singapore?

Long legged flies(Dolichopodidae) in Singapore

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• Singapore harbours more than 50 anemonespecies, more than the entire Pacific coastof North America.

• Mudflats and mangroves

around Sungei Buloh,

Kranji and Mandai are

feeding grounds for

migratory birds fromSiberia, Russia and

China every winter in

the Northern

Hemisphere.

We are a part of the East Australasian Flyway

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/migratory/publications/

images/landings-map.jpg

http://wildshores.blogspot.sg/2009/09/migratory-birds-supremely-designed-for.html#.UJECLLQWjac

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• Development

• Invasive species

• Human encroachment (poaching,disturbance)

• Road kills

Threats to Biodiversity in Singapore

Photo credit: Marcus Chua

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Singapore got wildlife meh?

http://youtu.be/7lQ0_fJ_Mv0

http://vimeo.com/72589917

Some Singapore environmental CSOsand NUS student groups

RMBR Toddycats

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For next session (in groups of 4)

• Oral presentation• Investigate one local environmental

CSO/student group.

• Explain the organisation, its background,

aims and objectives, recent campaigns,activities, outreach methods and efficacy

in engaging the government/universitymanagement and members of public/student population.

Reminder

• Combined session this comingThursday.

• SRC, LT 50, 6-8 PM.