The Bird Society of Singapore is officially launched!

The Bird Society of Singapore (BirdSoc SG) held its official Launch Event on 27 August 2023 at the Central Public Library. Featuring opening remarks from Dr. Shawn Lum, Senior Lecturer at the NTU Asian School of the Environment, as well as a series of talks from our founding members, our event was well-attended not only by senior figures from Singapore’s leading nature groups and representatives from government agencies, but also by members of our local birding community.

The Bird Society of Singapore (BirdSoc SG) held its official Launch Event on 27 August 2023 at the Central Public Library. Featuring opening remarks from Dr. Shawn Lum, Senior Lecturer at the NTU Asian School of the Environment, as well as a series of talks from our founding members, our event was well-attended not only by senior figures from Singapore’s leading nature groups and representatives from government agencies, but also by members of our local birding community. We want to express our deepest thanks to all of you for contributing to our Singapore Birds Project journey in one way or another. If you’ve submitted a record to us, contributed photos for the Birds of Singapore (formerly Singapore Birds Project), or joined us for one of our events, you are part of the reason we can call ourselves a Society today, and we look forward to continuing our new chapter with all of you together. A total of 350 attendees celebrated this occasion with us, with 120 in person and 230 joining us online. If you missed it, the recording is available on YouTube. Opening Remarks by Dr. Shawn Lum Dr. Shawn Lum is a Senior Lecturer at the NTU Asian School of the Environment, Immediate Past President of the Nature Society (Singapore), and recipient of the President’s Award for the Environment in 2017. He shared his optimism on the formation of the Bird Society of Singapore, as well as his belief that our Society will not only be able to contribute meaningfully to conservation efforts, but also to develop civil society in Singapore more broadly. Discussing our efforts in the online space in publishing species writeups as well as the Singapore Bird Database, he hopes we will further extend this work into the physical space through advocacy. I think it’s played a very useful role already, and I think that as the Bird Society… that effectiveness can grow. Dr. Shawn Lum, Senior Lecturer, NTU Asian School of the Environment Message from Dr. Yong Ding Li Dr. Yong Ding Li is Regional Coordinator at BirdLife International and recipient of the Early Career Conservationist Award in 2023. In a recorded message, Dr. Yong discussed his hope that the Bird Society of Singapore will contribute to existing efforts from other nature groups based in Singapore and elsewhere in the region. I wish you success with your work and I very much look forward to working with you to protect and to document Singapore’s avifauna through even more collaborations going forward. Dr. Yong Ding Li, Regional Coordinator, BirdLife International Talks The Society’s President, Keita, introduced his personal experience of how he got involved in birding (who knew a Stork-billed Kingfisher could be life-changing?), discovering a thriving community, learning more about birds, and eventually joining the core team of members at the Singapore Birds Project in 2021. Turning to our future as BirdSoc SG, he detailed our goals to contribute to science, advocate for conservation efforts, and empower the local birding community. We aim to promote the interesting birds in Singapore and the surrounding region; we believe that by doing that we can empower the local bird watching scene, … [and involve more people] in conservation work in the future. Keita Sin, President, BirdSoc SG Next, we heard from Zachary, who sits on our Executive Committee as Outreach Officer and Jen Wei, who is part of the Singapore Bird Records Committee. They took us through the relevance of birds in our lives—in a traditional sense, from the perspective of our various cultural backgrounds, and in a modern sense, in our current birding community. Zachary shared the relevance of birds to the cultures of our different racial groups in Singapore, with references to historical artifacts and texts. Jen Wei addressed the explosion of interest towards birds among Singaporeans, as well as the changing natural landscapes in the nation. He also shared how BirdSoc SG fits into the local picture, through effective records-keeping, building awareness, and further multiplying the efforts of birders in Singapore to document our avifauna. Our last presentation was from Movin, our Vice-President. His talk addressed the challenges facing birds in Singapore, focusing especially on areas where BirdSoc SG can provide its expertise to contribute to conservation. He also mentioned some areas where more research is required, such as the impacts of different non-native species on local biodiversity. Key messages As the Singapore Birds Project, we have successfully contributed to the local community through our online efforts, and we strive to expand our work as the Bird Society of Singapore. By registering as a Society, we demonstrate our commitment to our mission, as we now have a formal structure and defined membership. We believe that this will expand the scope of our collaborations with both government agencies and other research and conservation groups, as well as increase the legitimacy of our work. The Bird Society of...