Nature Blog Network

What is it about that tiny island in the Southeast Asia?  That a small island, only 274 square miles, could be a nature blogging juggernaut seems odd.  But there are a few clues here and there.  23% of the nation consists of forests and nature preserves.  The wetlands surround the main island and the 60 odd other islands are famous for their marine diversity.  So the nature is there, even if intuitively it doesn’t seem possible for a city famous for both its size and density.  And, importantly, there’s a nascent environmental movement that seeks to use new media to get information out to like-minded people with an interest to conserve those unique places.

The NBN hosts many quality blogs from Singapore on a host of different subjects.  It’s only natural to bring them to the attention of those of us who won’t likely be making the trip to Southeast Asia anytime soon.  We know though, that support for conservation initiatives anywhere is support for conservation initiatives everywhere.  And if we do find ourselves in the vicinity of the Malay peninsula, what we’ll find might certainly be  a little familiar.

Singapore Botanical Garden, photo from wikipedia

Because there are so many Singaporean blogs I’m split them roughly in half.  We’ll hit the first group this week and finish up one week from now so’s not to overwhelm anyone.

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- Urban Forest is probably as good a descriptor of the island nation as any I’ve seen. This wide-ranging blog is supplemented by some really nice photos, including those taken underwater.

- At the Lazy Lizard’s Tales, you can expect a primer on Singapore’s excellent biodiversity, as well as musings on ecology and the city’s efforts to protect the natural places.

- A blog to encourage protection of Singapore’s natural heritage, God’s wonderful creation also has interesting commentary and great photos or marine ecosystems and beyond.  So does everyone in Singapore have an underwater camera or something?

- Midnight Monkey Monitor seeks to chronicle thoughts and reflections on subjects and news related to local environmental issues as well as issues of cultural and natural heritage.

- Beautiful photos and really in-depth commentary on Singapore’s marine ecosystems and the threats therein can be found at Wild shores of Singapore, part of the Wild Singapore initiative.  This is a warehouse of environmental news from blogs and traditional media sources.

- One of the most popular and informative nature blogs in Singapore is the Annotated Budak.  It’s been around since 2004, which practically makes it ancient in the blogosphere.  It’s an absolutely essential resource for anyone interested in the island.

- And last but not least (for this installment), the Bird Ecology Study Group Blog is the mouthpiece of the organization of the same name that seeks to document the interdependency of birds an the rest of Singapore’s unique ecosystems.  It sort of ties all this stuff together nicely.

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So enjoy these now, knowing full well more will be coming down the pike next week.  And don’t worry if you’re a Singaporean NBN member and weren’t mentioned.  Now if I forget you next week, you have a right to be ticked.