Singapore’s marine environment continues to perform a highly significant but largely unacknowledged role in supporting the country’s economic growth. Its strategic location and natural harbour assets were immediately recognized and capitalized on by its founder, Sir Stamford Raffles, in 1819. The waters were fully utilized for shipping since the country’s early history allowing it to develop into one of the world’s busiest ports today. The trend is likely to continue unabated with the Maritime and Port Authority’s mission “to develop and promote Singapore as a premier global hub port and an international maritime centre, and to safeguard Singapore’s strategic maritime interests”.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Burke L, Selig E, Spalding M (2002) Reefs at risk in Southeast Asia. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC
Chou LM (1998) The cleaning of Singapore River and the Kallang Basin: approaches, methods, investments and benefits. Ocean and Coastal Management 38:133–145
Chou LM (2006) Marine habitats in one of the world’s busiest harbours. In: Wolanski E (ed) The environment in Asia Pacific harbours. Springer, The Netherlands, pp 377–391
Chou LM, Jaafar Z (2002) Improving the aquatic environment in semi-enclosed areas through biological applications. Proceedings of the 6th Asia-Pacific NGOs’ Environmental Conference, Foundation of Ocean, Taiwan, pp 1–12
Chou LM, Tun KPP (2005) Singapore. In: Status of coral reefs in East Asian Seas region: 2004. Ministry of the Environment, Japan, pp 53–69
Chou LM, Tun KPP (2007) Conserving reefs beside a marine landfill in Singapore. Coral Reefs 26:719
Chou LM, Tan HTW, Yeo DCJ (2006) The natural heritage of Singapore. Pearson/Prentice-Hall, Singapore
Costanza R, d’Arge R, de Groot R, Farber S, Grasso M, Hannon B, Limburg K, Naeem S, O’Neill RV, Paruelo J, Raskin RG, Sutton P (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253–260
Ding JK, Fung FMY, Chou LM (1994) Cytotoxic effects of mucus from coral Galaxea fascicularis. Journal of Marine Biotechnology 2: 7–33
Ding JL, Fung FMY, Ng GWS, Chou LM (1999) Novel bioactivities from a coral, Galaxea fascicularis: DNase-like activity and apoptotic activity against a multiple-drug-resistant leukemia cell line. Marine Biotechnology 1:328–336
Fung FMY, Tachibana S, Chou LM, Ding JL (1997) Cytotoxic and anticancer agents in mucus of Galaxea fascicularis: purification and characterisation. Journal of Marine Biotechnology 5: 50–57
Goh NGK, Chou LM (1998) Bioactivity screening of Singapore gorgonians: antimicrobial activity, toxicity to Artemia salina and efficacy against Plasmodium berghei. Zoological Science 15:805–812
Hajisamae, S, Chou LM (2003) Do shallow water habitats of an impacted coastal strait serve as nursery grounds for fish? Estuarine. Coastal and Shelf Science 56:281–290
Hilton M, Manning SS (1995) Conversion of coastal habitats in Singapore: indications of unsustainable development. Environmental Conservation 22:307–322
Jaafar Z, Hajisamae S, Chou LM, Yatiman Y (2004) Community structure of coastal fishes in relation to heavily impacted human modified habitats. Hydrobiologia 511:113–123
Koh LL, Goh NKC, Chou LM, Tan YW (2000) Chemical and physical defenses of Singapore gorgonians (Octocorallia: Gorgonacea). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 251: 03–115
Koh LL, Tan TK, Chou LM, Goh NGK (2002) Antifungal properties of Singapore gorgonians: a preliminary study. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 273:121–130
MPA (2005) Annual Report 2005. Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Singapore
MPP-EAS (1999) Total economic valuation: coastal and marine resources in the Straits of Malacca. MPP-EAS Technical Report No 24/PEMSEA Technical Report No 2, Global Environment Facility/United Nations Development Programme/International Maritime Organisation Regional Programme for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas (MPP-EAS)/Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), Quezon City, Philippines
Ng PKL, Sivasothi N (1999) A guide to the mangroves of Singapore 1. Singapore Science Centre, Singapore
Ngiam TT, Cheong L (2006) Southeast Asian Agriculture and Development Primer Series: Singapore. SEAMEO/SEARCA, Philippines
Tan AKJ (2002) APCEL Report: Singapore (ASEAN Project). Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Todd PA, Chou LM (2005) A tale of survival: Labrador Park, Singapore. Coral Reefs 24:391
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chou, L.M. (2008). Nature and Sustainability of the Marine Environment. In: Wong, TC., Yuen, B., Goldblum, C. (eds) Spatial Planning for a Sustainable Singapore. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6542-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6542-2_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-6541-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-6542-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)