NParks’ Festival of Biodiversity returns from May 27 to 28; features booths, educational talks, workshops

The Festival of Biodiversity will return for its 12th edition at Heartbeat@Bedok from May 27 to 28. 

Organised by the National Parks Board (NParks) and biodiversity initiative the Biodiversity Roundtable, the annual festival will feature a range of booths, talks and programmes aiming to celebrate community efforts to conserve nature in Singapore and deepen appreciation of it.

There will be 30 booths where visitors can learn more about Singapore’s natural heritage and local biodiversity from organisations and partners like the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, Singapore Wildcat Action Group and WWF-Singapore.

Those that would like to participate in festival talks can register for a two speaker sessions. 

Rebuilding Our Reefs: Creating Underwater Cities For Singapore’s Marine Life takes place on May 27 from 3pm to 4pm. Hosted by marine biologist Sam Shu Qin, visitors will gain knowledge about Singapore’s seas and marine life as Shu Qin shares about her role in improving underwater habitats. The talk can be attended physically at Heartbeat@Bedok or online through Zoom.

Discovering Singapore Spider Diversity, which will be hosted by Joseph Koh on May 28 from 10am to 11am, gives visitors deeper insights on anything spider-related. 

They will learn about the arachnid’s body structures, behavioural patterns, survival strategies and other interesting facts about the eight-legged creature. This talk can also be attended physically or online.

For something a little more hands-on, visitors can also partake in 14 different activities and workshops that will be set up at the festival.

These include playing Snakes and Ladders with NParks’ Wildlife Warriors while learning about local biodiversity, creating one’s very own Butterfly Chromatography with Greenwood Primary School’s eco-ambassadors and folding animal origami with WWF-Singapore. 

Each community programme will get visitors to learn and show care towards Singapore’s flora and fauna. NParks also has printable crafts with instructions available online.

The Festival of Biodiversity will be held from 10am to 8pm on May 27 and 28 at Heartbeat@Bedok, 11 Bedok North Street 1.