Bedok Reservoir Park: DPSIR (ContCont)

Continuing from the previous post, the last pressure on the park is the possibility of overfishing which in turn degrades the natural biodiversity of the park. Overfishing doesn’t seem to be an issue in the park as the authorities recently expanded the fishing spots further[1]. Whilst this could lead to overfishing, I don’t think the recreational angler crowd is big enough to reduce biodiversity significantly. I think there were at most 4 fishermen at most during my visit there. And they didn’t carry iceboxes with them which implies they are recreational fishermen since the lack of the icebox prevents them from bringing the fish home for consumption.

Other points of note

Bedok Reservoir Park has also been hitting headlines in the last few years for other reasons besides the normal activities. The most disturbing of which is a sudden spike in dead human bodies found in the reservoir during 2011 and 2012[2]. The apparent cause of most of these deaths was suicide with one of the most shocking being a double death of a mother and son[3]. Naturally the public was concerned about the water quality of the reservoir which the authorities alleviated by issuing a statement regarding the treatment of reservoir water[4].

The trend of suicides also warranted attention enough that the park authorities actually invited various religious leaders of major faiths in Singapore to bless the reservoir in an attempt to ease public apprehension. Ironically yet another body was found in the reservoir during the ceremony[5] which has in turn created a moribund reputation to Bedok Reservoir Park.

I thought that this sequence of events was quite relevant because it adds another dimension to the socio-ecological system. The suicides forced the authorities to add suicide management to their duties because suicides naturally have an adverse effect on the reputation of the park. This only goes to show that governing a complex socio-ecological system is an evolving process. The authorities must be able to respond to changes in the system due to changes in society as well as changes in the environment.

On a more positive note, I wanted to talk more about the biodiversity of the park and its unique situation. A presentation[6] by the Public Utilities Board (PUB) listed the number of aquatic/terrestrial species in the park at 105 based on passive sampling methods of capture. The interesting part of this presentation was that it actually broke down the ratio of species between native and non-native to the park. It reported that 44.8% of species are actually non-native which to me was rather shocking because we would normally expect the native species to outnumber the “aliens”. The introduction of these species could possibly throw the ecosystem out of balance and has even more adverse consequences such as physical injury to water sports enthusiasts from the introduction of aggressive species[7].

This increased proportion of non-native species could possibly stem from a Singaporean habit of releasing pets into the wild for good karma once owners are unable to keep them anymore. A common animal released is the Red-Eared Sliders that Singaporean children tended to keep as pets in the 90s. It’s so significant that the NEA has specifically targeted Red-Eared Sliders in its “Invasive Alien Species” info-page[8]. Which only goes to show how more complex such ecosystems can become when humans interact with the natural environment.

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[1] https://www.pub.gov.sg/getinvolved/activities/fishing

[2] https://sg.news.yahoo.com/sixth-body-found-in-bedok-reservoir.html

[3] http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110923-300972.html

[4] http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20111122-311842.html

[5] http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20111105-308892.html

[6] https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/nbsap/nbsapcbw-seasi-01/other/nbsapcbw-seasi-01-sg-water-en.pdf

[7] http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/kayaker-suffers-gaping-cuts-from-fish-bite-in-bedok-reservoir-pub-advises-caution

[8] https://www.nparks.gov.sg/biodiversity/wildlife-in-singapore/invasive-alien-species