Nee Soon (Yishun) Swamp Forest
Location:	1°24'N, 103°48'E; in the northern part of the Nature Reserve southeast of Seletar Reservoir.
Area:	c.15 ha.
Altitude:	5m.
Biogeographical Province:	4.7.1.
Wetland type:	21.
Description of site:	An area of permanently flooded peat swamp forest, the last remnant of a more extensive area which was cleared for the formation of Seletar Reservoir. It forms part of the catchment area for the public reservoir system in the centre of the island. The swamp is fed by local rainfall and drainage from the nearby hills; there is a slight drying out during periods of no rainfall.
Climatic conditions:	Humid tropical climate with an average annual rainfall of 2,373 mm, an average relative humidity of 85%, and temperatures ranging from 23.7 to 30.7°C.
Principal vegetation:	Peat swamp forest. There is an area of secondary rainforest with small patches of primary forest to the west, and an urban area to the east.
Land tenure:	The wetland and forested areas to the west are State Land; land to the east is partly State Land and partly privately owned.
Conservation measures taken:	Protected in a Nature Reserve under the Nature Reserves Act, and administered by the Nature Reserves Board. Part of the area has been declared a Protected Area by the Military for training purposes. Public access is restricted as it is adjacent to a military live-firing range.
Conservation measures proposed:
Land use:	Water catchment and Nature Reserve with no visitor facilities. Firing range, water catchment area and urban development in surrounding areas.
Possible changes in land use:
Disturbances and threats:	Possible future excision from the Nature Reserve for a housing project.
Economic and social values:	Amenity value for recreation and environmental education.
Fauna:	There are no longer any specific swamp forest birds at the site, and most of the species still occurring are typical of secondary forest. It is, however, one of the few sites in Singapore where the Blue-eared Kingfisher Alcedo meninting is seen. There is a small group of Banded Leaf Monkeys Presbytis femoralis resident in the area. The taxonomy of colobine leaf monkeys is controversial, but the group at Nee Soon is the last of what may be a distinct subspecies, P. f. femoralis, known only from Singapore (Lucas et al., in prep).
Special floral values:	This is the only location in Singapore where peat swamp forest is found, and thus it is the only locality for a large number of plant species.
Research and facilities:	Corner (1978) has described the flora of the original swamp forest at this site (known to him as the swamp forest at Mandai Road). There is no recent listing of plants found in the forest patch that remains, but collections have been made in recent years by J. Maxwell and these materials are in the Herbarium of the Botanical Gardens, Singapore.
References:	Corner (1978); Lucas et al. (in prep).
Criteria for inclusion:	1b, 2a, 2b.
Source:	Christopher J. Hails.