A PASSAGE TO INDIA: 186. CENTER FOR ETHNOBOTANY

NParks (National Parks) has been working on expanding the Singapore Botanic Gardens ever since it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015. It's work is now concentrated on the right hand end of the Gardens where the Eco Lake is...the new Ethnobotany Garden and the Center for Ethnobotany recently opened to the public. This end of the huge Botanic Gardens is accessible via the Botanic Gardens MRT station...

SCIENCE & BOTANY

Professional Study Visit/Exchange Programme

The Singapore Botanic Gardens is offering opportunities to come and carry out short-term study visits with our staff to explore our research, horticulture work, botanic gardens management, educational outreach and visitor management. Application is limited per year.

The Gardens was not left to be a showpiece after its new status was celebrated. It continues to evolve and will become a place for study and research...apart from being a showpiece.

The land available for its development is a huge parcel where the former University of Singapore operated for many years. With the University's move to Kent Ridge campus decades back, certain parcels and several large buildings reverted to NParks. The buildings are those art deco/colonial types which I adore, NParks is working on them to turn those into something or other, the first of which is this Center for Ethnobotany...

The outside from a distance...

The permanent exhibits

The Center for Ethnobotany has 2 well known neighbours - the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law below...

...and the LKY School of Public Policy.

...another hanging installation I like lots - bronze winged seeds that are propelled by the wind in real life, spins around like a parachute, landing far from its parent...

In the lovely warm weather, he does a yoga stretch and held that pose for quite awhile

Ceilings and floors are dressed up to look the part. I especially like the bamboo strip ceiling of the pergola...

NParks must have read or heard my gripes against their parks been too sanitised/sterile with little or no insect or worm life. In this park, I couldn't believe I saw real bees around these buds - I had a chance to watch them up close and marvel at their stripey torsos - which are rather attractive! it's been a long while since I saw these cuties in SG. ....and there's more! leaves with holes, bumps (virus attack)! some curled up into a nest of some creepy crawlies - this park is alive with Life!

This hanging installation has a bunch of rolled-up leaves tied to it - looks suspiciously like a weed one can smoke! If so, they may find those weeds missing in due course...!

...and Gandhi said this many decades ago - since than, the humans have wiped out huge tracts of forests land - trees act as airconditioning and filters to keep the atmosphere cleansed so the humans may take in clean air that help keep their bodies unpolluted...Singapore has a Tree Planting Day every year in November, started more than 50 years ago and is ongoing...