Dancing Star Foundation - Biodiversity Conservation

Along with the 32 square kilometer Tijuca National Park (Floresta de Tijuca) above Rio de Janeiro, Bukit Timah’s 183 hectares of primary tropical rainforest in the heart of Singapore, protected since the 1880s, represent one of the truly unique urban ecosystems on the planet. This Nature Reserve is consistent with a country and a city whose verdant celebrity has evolved with deliberate finesse. With three nature reserves covering roughly 2000 hectares in total, and an additional 4000 hectares spread out over 242 parks, the country of 4.5 million people hosts a density topping 18,652 people per square mile, a $130 billion GNP and a nearly $25,000 per capita income. Yet, it remains one of the great green capitals in the world.

Bukit Timah harbors more tree species than all of North America, and a previously recorded 840 flowering plants, 100 species of ferns, more than 100 bird species, over 240 vertebrates and a plethora of invertebrates. Eleven kilometers from the heart of the city, Bukit Timah, as documented in DSF’s Sanctuary book project, has few equivalents anywhere in the world.