The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (

abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

: BTNR) is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

near the geographic centre of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, located on the slopes of

Bukit Timah Hill Bukit Timah Hill is the highest natural peak in Singapore. It is located in Bukit Panjang rather than its namesake district and its altitude is above sea level. Altitude The hill's altitude makes it the highest natural peak in Singapore. Th ...

, the country's highest natural peak standing at a height of approximately , and parts of the surrounding area, located actually in Bukit Panjang. The nature reserve is about from the

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

, Singapore's central business district (CBD). Together with the neighbouring Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) in close proximity, it houses over 840

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of flowering plants and over 500 species of

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

. Today, it is one of the largest patches of primary

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

left in Singapore. The forest reserve was formally declared as an ASEAN Heritage Park on 18 October 2011.

Etymology

The name ''

Bukit Timah Bukit Timah ( ), often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly from the Central Business District, bordering the Central ...

'' is borrowed from the tallest hill found in the area of the same name, which is also the tallest geographical location in all of Singapore. ''Bukit'' means hill in the

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

, while ''Timah'' means tin. It is directly translated to English as "Tin Hill". The hill served as a

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

quarry for many years, but since the mid-1900s, all quarrying operations have been abandoned and the area converted into recreational and even filming locations.

History

In 1882, Nathaniel Cantley, the Superintendent of the

Singapore Botanic Gardens The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a -year-old tropical garden located at the fringe of the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore. It is one of three gardens, and the only tropical garden, to be honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...

, was tasked with assessing the forests of the Straits Settlements. His recommendations led to the creation of several forest reserves, including Bukit Timah in 1883. While most reserves were exploited for timber, Bukit Timah was preserved. By 1937, many reserves were depleted due to development pressures, but Bukit Timah and two other areas remained protected for their flora and fauna. In 1951, the Nature Reserves Ordinance established formal protection for these areas, which were then managed by the Nature Reserves Board. Today, under the National Parks Act and managed by the National Parks Board, these nature reserves continue to safeguard Singapore's indigenous flora and fauna.

Activities

The primary activities at Bukit Timah are strolling, running and hiking. There are also smaller groups of people who rock-climb and

abseil Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls their own movement down a static or fixed rope, in cont ...

at the Dairy Farm quarry as well as

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

. There are specially-allocated mountain-bike

trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

around the area an
Bukit Timah Mountain Bike (MTB) Trail
is located within the Reserve. The 6.5 km MTB trail loop around Bukit Timah Hill and stretched between Hinhinde Park and Dairy Farm Road. The trail represents a tropical rocky terrain with extended technical climbs and difficult descents at short intervals. For MTB Map trail rating, it is largely made up of black diamond sections with intermittent blue square sections. There are also short alternative double black diamond sections. The Reserve is popular among athletes training for mountain-climbing. There are a number of hiking trails. The blue trail is rated as "easy" and is long, ending overlooking Hindhede Quarry. The red trail is also rated as "easy" and is long. The green trail is rated as "moderate to difficult" and is long. The yellow trail is rated as "difficult" and is long. The red, green and yellow trails all end at the hut at the summit of Bukit Timah hill. The park has been designated with the code 9V-0007 by the international Parks On The Air award program, and so is regularly 'activated' by

Amateur Radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

operators using portable equipment.

Wildlife

Flora

Some of the common plants there are the

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

, and

macaranga ''Macaranga'' is a large genus of Old World tropical trees of the family Euphorbiaceae and the only genus in the subtribe Macaranginae (tribe Acalypheae). Native to Africa, Australasia, Asia and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oc ...

. Two meninjau trees ('' Gnetum gnemon'') stand near the visitor center. 18 different species of

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indo ...

s live in the reserve, including the seraya ('' Shorea curtisii'') and '' Dipterocarpus caudatus''. Fan palms ('' Licuala ferruginea''), leaf litter plants (''

Agrostistachys longifolia ''Agrostistachys indica'' is a species of plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, known in Singapore as the leaf litter plant. The species is widespread across much of Southeast Asia as well as New Guinea, India, and Sri Lanka. ''Agrostistachys indi ...

'') thorny rattan and

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s are also common. Fern species include

staghorn fern ''Platycerium'' is a genus of about 18 fern species in the polypod family, Polypodiaceae. Ferns in this genus are widely known as staghorn or elkhorn ferns due to their uniquely shaped fronds. This genus is Epiphyte, epiphytic and is native to tr ...

('' Platycerium coronarium'') and bird's nest fern ('' Asplenium nidus'').

Lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s and fungus, such as bracket fungus are also found.

Fauna

Insects and arachnids

Insects found within the reserve include

millipede Millipedes (originating from the Latin , "thousand", and , "foot") are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derive ...

carpenter bee Carpenter bees are species in the genus ''Xylocopa'' of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant m ...

s, and many different types of bird, insects and spiders. Common insect species include

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

s and giant forest ants ('' Camponotus gigas''). Common spider species include the golden orb-web spider ('' Nephila pilipes'') and the St Andrew's Cross spider (''Argiope mangal'').

Arthropods

The Singapore freshwater crab ('' Johora singaporensis'') is indigenous to Bukit Timah.

Reptiles

Reptiles in the reserve include the

reticulated python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a Pythonidae, python species native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of largest snakes, longest snake, and the list of largest snakes, third heaviest snake. I ...

(''

Python reticulatus The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest snake, and the third heaviest snake. It is a non-venomous constrictor and an excellent swimmer that has be ...

''), the paradise tree snake ('' Chrysopelea paradisi'') and the common sun skink ('' Eutropis multifasciata'').

Mammals

The

crab-eating macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaque thrives near human settlem ...

(''Macaca fascicularis''), a species of monkey, is common in the reserve. The monkeys also enter the area surrounding the park and are common enough that there are concerns that interactions with people will alter their behaviour. Feeding the monkeys is prohibited, and visitors are urged to avoid staring at, baring teeth at or otherwise disturbing or threatening the monkeys. Monkeys are not the only mammals in the park. Other mammals include the Malayan pangolin (''Manis javanica''), Malayan colugo (''Galeopterus variegatus''), plantain squirrel (''Callosciurus notatus'') and slender squirrel (''Sundasciurus tenuis''). The colugos, which are generally nocturnal, can sometimes be seen clinging to trees during the day. Bukit Timah is the only place in Singapore where the red-cheeked flying squirrel (''Hylopetes spadiceus'') is found.

Raffles' banded langur The Raffles' banded langur (''Presbytis femoralis''), also known as the banded leaf monkey or banded surili, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is endemic to Singapore and southern Peninsular Malaysia. The species underwen ...

monkey (''Presbytis femoralis'') was once found in Bukit Timah but the last individual from the Bukit Timah population died in 1987. The government hopes that the Eco-Link@BKE will allow the Raffles' banded langur to repopulate Bukit Timah from Central Catchment once the vegetation matures.

Birds

The

greater racket-tailed drongo The greater racket-tailed drongo (''Dicrurus paradiseus'') is a medium-sized Asian bird which is distinctive in having elongated outer tail feathers with webbing restricted to the tips. They are placed along with other drongos in the family Dicr ...

is one of the most common birds at Bukit Timah ('' Dicrurus paradiseus''). The drongos often follow monkeys through the forest and eat insects that are exposed by the monkeys' actions. Other bird species include the Asian fairy bluebird ('' Irena puella''), the red-crowned barbet ('' Megalaima rafflesii'') and the common emerald dove ('' Chalcophaps indica''). Bukit Timah is one of only two places in Singapore where the red-crowned barbet is found, the other being the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. The reserve, along with the adjacent Central Catchment Nature Reserve, has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

as the Central Forest

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) because it supports populations of vulnerable straw-headed bulbuls and brown-chested jungle flycatchers.

Eco-Link

In 2011 the National Parks Board and the

Land Transport Authority The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Transport (Singapore), Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation The Land Transport Au ...

announced a plan to construct an ecological corridor, the Eco-Link@BKE, at the Bukit Timah Expressway to connect Bukit Timah Nature Reserve with the nearby Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Construction was completed in late 2013. The Eco-Link is an

hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, or sand clock) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) from the ...

shaped bridge passing over the expressway, permitting wildlife to pass between the two reserves. Trees and shrubs native to Singapore are planted along the bridge, which provide food for the animals. The reserves had been separated since the expressway was built. After monitoring its effectiveness for a few years, the National Parks Board intends to consider opening the bridge to the public for guided walks.

References

External links

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

(National Library Board)
National Biodiversity Centre, Singapore

{{Authority control Nature reserves in Singapore Parks in Singapore Bukit Panjang Bukit Timah Important Bird Areas of Singapore ASEAN heritage parks