EIA now available for public viewing

Share your feedback on the EIA and ideas for the OCBC Mangrove Park - Singapore’s first large-scale Ecological Mangrove Restoration project. First initiated by Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M) Initiative!

Visitors who joined R.U.M. walks in 2016 to share about the project.

The EIA report is available for public download here. Email your feedback to Wee Hong Yuan at wee_hong_yuan@nparks.gov.sg and Teo Kah Ming at nparks_pulau_ubin@nparks.gov.sg. The public feedback period is from 21 September 2023 to 20 October 2023. 

R.U.M. in the news: OCBC Mangrove Park announced

"Associate Professor Daniel Friess from the National University of Singapore said the mangroves at the OCBC Mangrove Park will take root via the Ecological Mangrove Restoration (EMR) method. Prof Friess is a member of the Restore Ubin Mangroves Initiative, a group that advocates the restoration of mangrove sites on the island."

Throwback to the early days of R.U.M.
Ubin villagers, Prof Dan and mapping team, NParks

Mangrove park to be opened in Pulau Ubin in 2026 with around 8,000 trees
Gena Soh, Straits Times, 30 Oct 2022 

Plans to naturally establish 8,000 mangrove trees in abandoned aquaculture ponds in Pulau Ubin were announced on Saturday, as part of a partnership between the National Parks Board (NParks) and OCBC Bank to increase Singapore’s capacity for carbon storage.

These trees will be located in the ponds of Sungei Durian – with a total area of 4ha – along the southern coast of the island, and the site will eventually be known as OCBC Mangrove Park.

Work is expected to be completed by 2026, and recreational opportunities at the site are expected to be available to the public.

OCBC will also grow an additional 1,000 saplings along the coastline as the park is being developed.

R.U.M.'s Sungei Durian project in the news!

Minister Desmond Lee announced R.U.M.'s project as part of “nature-based solutions” to build the resilience of Singapore’s coastlines at Pulau Ubin, during the Festival of Biodiversity (Sep 2021). 

R.U.M.'s work was decribed as a "mangrove restoration project at Sungei Durian, located along Pulau Ubin’s southern coastline."

7 Aug (Sat): "Doing Mangrove Restoration the Right Way" by Prof Dan Friess

Join this online talk by Prof Dan Friess who will share how to do mangrove restoration the right way!

This talk is part of a series in conjunction with the launch of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Join the other talks in July-August, covering other important ecosystems that can be found in Singapore. Learn more about what is going on to restore them, and how you can make a difference. Register here.

26 Sep (Sat): Talk on "Working with nature to restore our mangroves"

How can we give Mother Nature a helping hand in restoring mangroves? Mangroves provide us with many ecological and economic benefits, and many people are now interested to restore them and increase their area.

Prof Dan leading the research team doing Ecological Mangrove Restoration
in Pulau Ubin under the Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative

Join Prof Dan Friess (Department of Geography, NUS) as he shares more about mangrove restoration. Successful mangrove restoration faces many challenges, though a new approach —Ecological Mangrove Restoration — is helping us to overcome these challenges in Singapore, Southeast Asia and beyond.

Date: 26 Sep 2020
Time: 11:20am to 12:30pm

Register online here 
This talk is part of Ubin Day and Pesta Ubin.

After Action Report: November 2019 R.U.M.Beach and Mangrove Cleanup

Volunteers with Nature Society Singapore for Restore Ubin Mangrove Initiative (RUM) were at RUM Site 1 for a beach and mangrove cleannup last Saturday afternoon (16 November). A total of 51kg of marine trash consisting of mostly plastics and styrofoam pieces were removed from the site during the one hour cleanup.

Photo by Vincent Choo

Bravo and thanks to our participants (new and returning) for your wonderful energy and effort!! Thanks to Cheryl Lao for leading the cleanup, and thanks to our regular helpers As Ma. Yan, Pip, Vincent and Shu Ying. A shoutout to Lisa Lim who is recovering from a leg injury and organized the event from behind the scenes.

This cleanup is an effort to clear marine debris accumilation from the site in preparation for mangrove restoration. At the same time, participants get to visit the site and learn about RUM and the ecological mangrove restoration method. (What is Ecological Mangrove Restoration?)

Keep following us on this blog or our facebook page for future cleanups and other activities.

16 November (Sat): R.U.M. Mangrove Cleanup

Join Lisa Lim and volunteers from R.U.M. and Nature Society Singapore (NSS), Marine Conservation Group to clean up this site in preparation for mangrove restoration!

Photo by Lisa Lim.

Date: 16 November 2019 (Saturday)
Time: 4.00pm - 7.00pm

Please register at http://www.tinyurl.com/ubinrum16nov2019.

More details will be email to volunteers upon successful registration. (Please check your spam folder.)

Due to limited transportation and site capacity, we can only take a limited no. of volunteers. Please only sign up if you are keen. Registration closes on 08 November or earlier once we met our required no. of volunteers.

After Action Report: September 2019 R.U.M. Beach and Mangrove Cleanup

Volunteers with Nature Society Singapore for Restore Ubin Mangrove Initiative (RUM) were at RUM Site 1 for a beach and mangrove cleannup last Sunday evening (15 September). A total of 113.2kg of trash and marine debris were removed from the site. This cleanup is an effort to clear marine debris accumilation from the site in preparation for mangrove restoration. At the same time, participants get to visit the site and learn about RUM and the ecological mangrove restoration method. (What is Ecological Mangrove Restoration?)

Last Sunday's cleanup is also held in conjunction with International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) which is an annual coastal cleanup event held around the world in the month of September.

15 September (Sun): R.U.M. Mangrove Cleanup (International Coastal Cleanup edition)

Join Lisa Lim and volunteers from R.U.M. and Nature Society Singapore (NSS), Marine Conservation Group to clean up this site in preparation for mangrove restoration!

This upcoming cleanup is also organised in conjunction with International Coastal Cleanup (http://coastalcleanup.nus.edu.sg/aboutcleanup.html) in September.

Come visit Ubin, learn more about Ubin mangroves and R.U.M., and make a difference for them!

Date: 15 September 2019 (Sunday)
Time:  4.00pm - 7.00pm

Only registered participants may join us as we have limited capacity for both ferry and van transport. Please register here: https://www.tinyurl.com/ubinrum15sep2019

Channel 8 newsclip about mangrove restoration as mitigation action against sea level rise.

In this news clip on Mediacorp Channel 8, Prof. Dan Friess talks about the importance of mangroves in protecting our shorelines and how they can help in mitigating the effects that come with sea level rise. Stephen Beng (Nature Society Singapore, Marine Conservation Group) briefly explains how and where mangroves can be restored. The reporter speaks Mandarin but the interview is in English.


https://www.8world.com/news/singapore/article/mangrove-protection-903336



Sea level rise is one of the things Singapore will have to deal with. This was one of the points on Climate Crisis made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long during his National Day Rally Speech.

21 Jul (Sun): R.U.M. mangrove cleanup

Join Lisa Lim and volunteers from R.U.M. and Nature Society Singapore (NSS), Marine Conservation Group to clean up this site before we start restoration.

Come visit Ubin, learn more about Ubin mangroves and R.U.M., and make a difference for them!

6 Jul (Sat): A World Without Functional Mangroves?

Join a team of experts for a mangrove-filled morning! Hosted by Dr. Zeehan Jaafar, the programme starts with a talk by Professor Joe Lee who will share the importance of mangrove forests to the well-being of people. This talk will discuss key issues in global and regional conservation of mangroves, such as threats they face and on-going potential restorative efforts.

The Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative will also have a booth at the event! Come and support us and learn more about the importance of mangroves.

Admission is FREE. Register at https://tiny.cc/mangrove_public_forum. All are welcome.

25 May (Sat): R.U.M. mangrove cleanup

Specially for Pesta Ubin, join Lisa Lim and volunteers from R.U.M. and Nature Society Singapore (NSS), Marine Conservation Group to clean up this site before we start restoration.

Come visit Ubin, learn more about Ubin mangroves and R.U.M., and make a difference for them!

Pulau Ubin mangrove restoration featured on 'Tipping Point' on Channel NewsAsia

Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative is featured in Tipping Point, a documentary about climate change by Channel NewsAsia. It will be aired on TV on 21 Apr (Sun) 9pm.

Prof Dan Friess when we arrived on Ubin.

The R.U.M. team and NParks took this opportunity to share about Pulau Ubin's mangroves and the effort to restore them. As well as the important role of mangroves in mitigating climate change.

30 Mar (Sat): R.U.M. mangrove cleanup

Join Lisa Lim and volunteers from R.U.M. and Nature Society Singapore (NSS), Marine Conservation Group to clean up this site before we start restoration.

Come visit Ubin, learn more about Ubin mangroves and R.U.M., and make a difference for them!

16 Mar (Sat): R.U.M. joins Celebrating Singapore Shores at Berlayar Creek

Save the date! R.U.M. volunteers will share about mangroves next to Labrador MRT station! Join Jared, Radhika, Shasha and friends at Berlayar Creek, for an evening of fun. Learn more about mangroves and how we are working on restoring mangroves at Pulau Ubin without planting!

Jared sharing about mangroves at Pulau Ubin.

The event is FREE, no registration required. Specially for kids and the family, there will be lots of other community groups offering games and prizes, nature walks and films. Come and join us!

Happy New Year with R.U.M.!

Join the next R.U.M. site cleanup on 19 Jan (Sat)! Registration now open at http://tinyurl.com/ubinrum19jan2019

Meanwhile, here's a look back at what the RUMblers were up to at the end of the year: a clean up, supporting a Kampong Homecoming and sharing about R.U.M. at Clean and Green Singapore.

11 Nov (Sun): Your help needed for village homecoming at Pulau Ubin

R.U.M. hopes to restore not just the mangroves, but also the community that live with and love the mangroves! So let's support Syazwan Majid who single-handedly organised this first-ever homecoming in decades for former Malay residents of Pulau Ubin who live around Jalan Durian, the location of our R.U.M. restoration site.

The event is free and open to the public. There will be traditional games, a kampong-themed photo booth and Syazwan will also do a guided heritage walk around Kampong Surau. A great opportunity to get to know the community and learn about the heritage of this special part of Ubin.

He needs volunteers! So please lend a hand if you can.

10 Nov (Sat): R.U.M. mangroves and coastal cleanup

Join Lisa Lim and volunteers from R.U.M. and Nature Society Singapore (NSS), Marine Conservation Group to clean up this site before we start restoration.

Come visit Ubin, learn more about Ubin mangroves and R.U.M., and make a difference for them!

2 Nov (Fri): Free screening of 'Ubin, Sayang' at the Singapore Eco Film Festival 2018

'Ubin, Sayang' is a gorgeous film by Rachel Quek and her team about the people of Ubin and the Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative.

'Ubin, Sayang' traces the journey of Xiao Ting as she learns from the stories of mangrove restoration and kampong living. In the context of modern Singaporean nostalgia for the kampong, the film brings together different perspectives on what the kampong spirit truly entails, and discusses its implications for us today.