Feedback on land reclamation at Keppel-Tanjong Pagar

The marine community's feedback in the Straits Time include: Dr Jani Tanzil, facility director of the St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory, said reclamation poses a risk to nearby habitats such as the reefs around Sentosa. She noted that the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park and Kusu and Lazarus islands are located just 4km to 5km from the reclamation. “This is not a great distance (and) there is a good chance that finer sediments and other pollutants could be transported to and negatively impact these important key conservation areas,” added Dr Tanzil.

Dr Tanzil noted that the report did not consider how sediments in the water will block sunlight for corals, as a small reduction in light can greatly impact their survival and growth. “It is important to remember that in addition to the amount of sediments in the water, the more direct impact here is light reduction,” she said.

Ms Rachael Goh, co-lead of land use planning at environmental group LepakInSG, cautioned that the survival and success rate for transplantation may not be high, depending on various factors. “What is more important is allowing corals to come back after the reclamation is over. The sea wall or sloped rock revetment could make suitable new habitats for corals to return,” she added.

Ms Goh is hoping that the eventual environmental management and monitoring programme for this project will be made public.

Mr Isaac Ong, a member of the Singapore Youth Voices for Biodiversity, urged the authorities to consider the cumulative effects of future developments on the south-eastern coast, including the construction of Long Island and the coastal barriers near Sentosa. Mr Ong said: “Singapore’s reefs have also experienced stress from sedimentation from decades of past coastal development, which already limited the depth ranges at which corals can grow. This is an added pressure.” The proposed coastal barriers have the potential to alter tidal flows and the movement of coral larvae. Reduced channel speeds at times could also increase the risk of harmful algal blooms and degrade water quality over time, he added.

Submit your feedback to HDB here https://form.gov.sg/6966fc4e7c5fe159af98b799

Links to full EIA and extracts in this blog post.

EIA for land reclamation at Keppel-Tanjong Pagar

Reclamation will take place after end of 2027. "As construction activities for the Project are not confirmed at this stage, the worst-case scenarios in terms of potential impacts were identified and assessed within this study."

Shores nearby include Sentosa (Serapong and Tg Rimau), Labrador, P. Tekukor, Kusu Island, Seringat Kias and Lazarus, St. John's Island. And Marina East.

HDB wants your feedback https://form.gov.sg/6966fc4e7c5fe159af98b799

St John's Island doing well

Just minutes from the Central Business District, lies one of Singapore's last natural cliffs at St John's Island. The rocky shore and reef edge has corals. There are also seagrasses throughout, as well as rare mangrove trees on the untouched western shore, which is part of the Sisters Islands Marine Park.

Today, the corals seemed fine, seagrasses still doing well. The rest of the team find special snails, 'Nemos' and other interesting marine life. 

St John's Island with lots of white corals

Just minutes from the Central Business District, lies one of Singapore's last natural cliffs at St John's Island. The rocky shore and reef edge has corals and seagrasses. A small team visit early this morning to follow up on impact of mass coral bleaching last year. 

Today, almost all the boulder Pore corals were bone white. But leathery soft corals and other kinds of corals were mostly alright. I'm not really sure what is happening. The rest of the team saw lots of interesting marine life. I will update when they have posted their photos.

St John's and Kusu Island public jetties closed from 24 Apr 2025

The public jetties at St John's Island and Kusu Island will be closed from 24 Apr 2025 possibly for a year. 

During this period, St John’s Island and Kusu Island remain accessible to the public via alternative jetties. Visitors can access St John’s Island and Kusu Island via Seringat jetty and Kusu Island main jetty, respectively.

100k Coral Initiative plus new coral facility at St John's Island

100k Corals Initiative announced: to plant the corals in Singapore over the next 10 years and beyond. A new facility at the Marine Park Outreach and Education Centre, St. John's Island will grow corals for this effort. Corals will be cultivated by coral restoration experts and researchers from the National University of Singapore at the St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory. 

A volunteer programme will also be developed by NParks, St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory and Friends of Marine Park for citizen science monitoring of the transplanted corals. Volunteers will help with coral husbandry and underwater monitoring techniques. More details of volunteer training opportunities will be shared when ready.

You can visit the St John's Island facility by joining the guided tour of St John's Island held on the first Sunday of every month. Or do a self-guided tour with the Trail Guide - free for download from the NParks website.

Mass coral bleaching at St John's Island, almost no oil spill impact

Just minutes from the Central Business District, lies one of Singapore's last natural cliffs at St John's Island. The rocky shore and reef edge has corals and seagrasses. A small team visit early this morning to check up for oil spill impact and mass coral bleaching.

Good news: we didn't see any oil spill impact the natural shores, and very little impact in the swimming lagoon. But mass coral bleaching is ongoing here. We estimate about 10% of hard corals were outright bleaching white, with another 20% showing stress (pale). About 5% of soft corals were outright bleaching, and about 10% showing slight stress (pale or very yellow patches). The team saw snake, sharks, 'Nemo' and other fascinating marine life!

Singapore's second marine park: past, present and future

Plans for Singapore's second national Marine Park at Lazarus South-Kusu Reef were announced on 9 May 2024.

Overlooking the Central Business District,
the rich reef edge of Kusu Island can be seen at the lowest tides.

Kusu Island indeed has some of the best reefs that the public can visit. While Lazarus Island has one of our largest coastal forests on natural cliffs and rocky shores. Here's a look at the islands' past, present and future.

St John's Island still alive

A short boat ride from the Central Business District on the main island of Singapore, are the amazing living shores of St John's Island.

Here, there are living rocky shores, reefs, seagrass meadows. As well as rare mangrove trees on the untouched western shore, which is part of the Sisters Islands Marine Park.

St John's Island still lively

A short boat ride from the Central Business District on the main island of Singapore, are the amazing living shores of St John's Island. Here, there are living rocky shores, reefs, seagrass meadows. 

A collage of photos shared by the team.
Links to their albums below.

The untouched western shore is part of the Sisters Islands Marine Park.  The team saw lots of small Diadema sea urchins, and small Arabian cowries. Always good to know that a shore is hospitable to young animals.

All's well at St John's Island

We begin the first morning survey! A short boat ride from the Central Business District on the main island of Singapore, are the amazing living shores of St John's Island.

Here, there are living rocky shores, reefs, seagrass meadows. As well as rare mangrove trees on the untouched western shore, which is part of the Sisters Islands Marine Park. Things were pretty much similar to our last survey here in Apr 2021.

St. John's Island is alive!

A short boat ride from the Central Business District on the main island of Singapore, are the amazing living shores of St John's Island!

Here, there are living rocky shores, reefs, seagrass meadows. As well as rare mangrove trees on the untouched western shore, which is part of the Sisters Islands Marine Park. Things were pretty much similar to our last survey here in Oct 2020.

St. John's with little green sea stars

A short boat ride from the Central Business District on the main island of Singapore, are the amazing living shores of St John's Island!

It was a relief to see the hard and soft corals seemed alright, while seagrasses remain lush. Rare mangrove trees on the untouched western shore were also doing well. A special treat was to see many little green Knobbly sea stars!

Kusu Island pilgrimage 17 Oct to 19 Nov 2020

Due to COVID, only 500 people will be allowed per day during the annual Kusu Pilgrimage from 17 Oct to 19 Nov 2020.  Ferry services will continue to St John's Island during the period. But expect delays due to crowd control measures at Marine South Pier. Parking at the Pier is likely to be limited.

Check out Jerome Lim's awesome blog post for a glimpse into the history behind Kusu Island and the pilgrimage.

Beautiful natural shores of St. John's Island are alive!

A short boat ride from the Central Business District on the main island of Singapore, are the amazing living shores of St John's Island!

The shores seem livelier than our last survey in Mar 2019! Corals, seagrasses and marine critters are doing better! The grandmother Nyireh laut tree is still alive and the beautiful coastal forest there looks fine. We also avoided stepping on a stonefish and death by lightning.

Fish Expedition Day 6 - St John's Island

Just a few minutes from the Central Business District are the living shores of St John's Island! The intertidal team samples these shores today for the Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2016 and find many fishes!

The angling and diving team also work hard to get samples, which are processed in the lab for the fish library.

All islands cleared of asbestos and open to the public

"All asbestos waste on the islands managed by SLA has been cleared safely" says the Singapore Land Authority in media articles. They are now open to the public again.

Pulau Hantu Kecil

SLA said that the asbestos "most likely" came from roof sheets, and was discovered in April 2018 by their contractors during maintenance and upgrading works on St John's Island. Since then, the following islands have been checked for and cleared of asbestos: Pulau Hantu, Kusu Island, Seringat-Kias, the Sisters Islands and Pulau Ubin.

St John's Island shores after one year of closure

Our first survey since access to St John's Island shores was closed to the public since Apr 2018 due to the asbestos issue. It rained!

But we managed a quick survey despite murky waters and wet weather. The corals  and seagrasses don't seem very different from our last survey in Jul 2017.

Our Crazy Rich Shores: St Jonh's Island

Just 15 minutes from Singapore's main business district by water taxi, are crazy rich shores of St John's Island.

The cluster of Kusu, Lazarus and St. John's Islands has been recommended by the Singapore Blue Plan 2018 for elevated protection status.

Half of St John's Island closed after asbestos found

Half of St. John's Island was closed on 17 Apr 2018, a day after samples taken from the campsite, lagoon and holiday bungalow area tested positive for asbestos said the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).

More than half the island will be closed.
From Channel NewsAsia.

I've seen construction debris dumped on St John's and Lazarus Island, squashed into crevices in the natural cliffs. "Going forward, how will the authorities ensure future proper disposal of general trash and industrial and construction waste?" is the quote I shared with the Straits Times.


Update 1 Jan 2019



Update 25 Feb 2019