Reflection: BQ Live – Wildlife Education

What drew you to this event?

I was interested to listen to the point of view of a Senior Manager working at NParks’ Wildlife. With her first hand experience carrying out projects i wanted to learn more about her stories working with the public and the organisations.

What are 3 things you learned from this event?

1. I learn that instead of the word “Issue” which portrays a negative impression, NParks prefer to use the word “Interactions” to refer to an incident between human and wildlife to provide a more neutral outlook.
2. I learnt how NParks response to the feedback given by the public by following a 4 steps approach. First, a Public Feedback is reported through the app about a human-wildlife incident. Second, NParks would deploy their staffs to scout the area. – Third, based on the situation observed by the staff on-sight, an advisory or enforcement would be given out. Lastly, if the issue still persist despite advisory or enforcement, NParks will have to joint hands with the community to push forward an integrated approach.
3. I became more aware of how difficult it is for staffs at NParks to resolve an issue involving the public and wildlife. It is challenging to get the public to understand where they are coming from and to get through to the public. Furthermore, each incident is unique. The staff can never use a one way approach to tackle every issues, hence, it requires a lot of sensitivity and understanding from the staff when handling the cases.

Having heard from the speaker, what is 1 new insight or question you have about wildlife outreach?

Most of my friends and classmates are unaware that human-wildlife coexistence is an existing problem when I ask them about their opinions on it. Hence, I would like to ask if NPraks and ARCES will consider holding more campaigns or events etc. in secondary and tertiary schools in the near future?

What is one strategy you can suggest, to promote human-wildlife coexistence in Singapore? OR How can you, personally, encourage responsible interaction with urban wildlife in Singapore?

I feel that NParks and ACRES can work with the Government and aim to ingrain wildlife awareness in the public since young. It can be incorporated into the education systems to teach about human-wildlife coexistence. By targeting the young, there is a higher possibility that as they grow older, human-wildlife coexistence will be second nature to them. Another strategy is that the building of more Biophilic building could be encouraged. By incorporating nature in living spaces, this will allow for a seamless transition to encourage more human-wildlife interactions. Furthermore, I feel that more campaign can be held to promote human-wildlife coexistence. By advertising more about wildlife on social media platforms, even in the cinema before a movie starts can greatly help in increasing the awareness of the public.