Nature Society (Singapore)

The Nature Society (Singapore) (abbreviated NSS) is a non-government, non-profit organisation centered towards the preservation and appreciation of Singapore's natural heritage, as well as that of the surrounding region. Run by volunteers, the NSS depends financially on its members' contributions as well as companies, institutions and individuals.

NSS has its origin in 1940 when a handful of colonial civil servants got together to form the Malayan Nature Society (MNS). Its activities were mainly educational - organising talks by visiting scientists, conducting nature walks, etc. Headquartered in today's Malaysia, the Singapore group became known as the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch). It had its headquarters in the National University of Singapore as most office holders were from the then Departments of Botany and Zoology, now merged into the Department of Biological Sciences. As such, there were always close collaborations with academics, who had the necessary scientific background. In 1991 the society split from MNS and re-registered itself as NSS. Following the re-registration, NSS moved its base from NUS leading to a decline in the number of academic members of the society. The society has recently reinforced its links with academics.

The Patron of the Nature Society is Prof. Tommy Koh. The current President is Dr. Shawn Lum.

Activities had always been education-related until about the 1980s when members found themselves thrust into the role of environmental activists. The Serangoon estuary, home to tens of thousands of migratory birds, had just been reclaimed for development. Members were yet to be sensitised to conservation and only journalist Ilsa Sharp wrote a piece in The Straits Times protesting its demise.

The society only got seriously involved in conservation soon after when its Conservation Committee led by Richard Hale successfully persuaded government to develop a piece of degraded mangrove in Sungei Buloh into a bird sanctuary. Flushed with success, the Conservation Committee began documenting various nature areas to eventually publish "A Master Plan for the Conservation of Nature in Singapore" that was enthusiastically received by government. Subsequently led by locals who had enthusiasm but no behind-the-scene contacts, the exercise to get these areas protected turned into a series of media confrontations. Eventually, every one of the newly documented areas were rejected.

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