Chek Jawa

Tanjong Chek Jawa (or Tanjung Chek Jawa or simply Chek Jawa) is a cape and the name of its 100-hectare wetlands located on the south-eastern tip of Pulau Ubin, an island off the north-eastern coast of the main island of Singapore. Chek Jawa is among the last few places left in Singapore with a natural rocky shore.

The wetlands are unique as several ecosystems can be observed in one area – sandy beach, rocky beach, seagrass lagoon, coral rubble, mangroves and coastal forest. The site forms part of the Ubin–Khatib Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports significant numbers of visiting and resident birds, some of which are threatened.

In December 2001, the government called off reclamation plans of the Chek Jawa area after a biodiversity survey conducted by conservationist volunteers. State use of the land will be deferred for the next 10 years. However, Chek Jawa may still be re-used by the government in and after 2012.

Previously a virtual unknown, Chek Jawa came into national prominence and focus only since the early 2000s when the area's rich biodiversity was discovered almost by chance during a nature outing at low tide. News on the impending land reclamation works planned by the government on the area sparked a rare show of public-led and coordinated effort to reverse the reclamation plans. A group of volunteers, headed by botanist Joseph Lai (who first discovered Chek Jawa's rich ecosystems in December 2000), conducted a biodiversity survey months before the area was to be reclaimed in 2001. This survey was captured on the documentary Remember Chek Jawa by Eric Lin Youwei. The volunteers then submitted a report and petitioned to the government for the preservation of the natural habitat.

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