Labrador Nature Reserve This is a nature reserve on the southern coast of Singapore Island. It is located on Labrador Villa Road, off Pasir Panjang Road.

Labrador was originally designated a nature reserve in 1951 when the Nature Reserve Ordinance was enacted. The original 4 ha of cliffside vegetation at Labrador were set aside for conservation, to protect the habitat of the primitive fern Dipteris conjugata. Once growing wild in parts of Singapore’s coastal areas, this endangered species was confined to Labrador in the 1950s. However, by the late 1970s, the population had dwindled, and was thought, at one point, to be extinct. That may have been one reason for the downgrading of Labrador’s status to that of a nature park in the 1970s. In 2002, however, Labrador was again gazetted as a 10- ha nature reserve.

Labrador’s natural vegetation consists of a wide variety of shrubs and trees, essentially of coastal forest species. Of special interest is a large, 12- m tall tree Dracaena maingayi, estimated to be more than 80 years old. This species is the largest monocotyledonous tree in Singapore. The forest canopy consists mainly of tall sea apple trees (Eugenia grandis), and some sea almond trees (Terminalia catappa).

Examples of resident fauna are crickets, cicadas, white- crested laughing thrushes, yellow- vented bulbuls and white- bellied sea eagles.

However, Labrador’s natural history significance centres on its narrow, 300- m stretch of rocky shore, the last remaining rocky beach and coral reef on Singapore’s main island. Representative species of nearly all the major phyla of marine animals and plants of the Indo- Pacific region are found here. These include the green seaweed Caulerpa, which resembles grapes, and Singapore’s smallest crab species, Halicarcinus, which measures only 2.5 mm across the carapace. In the 1990s, four new species of crustaceans were discovered at Labrador.

Crabs that have been seen on the rocky shore of Labrador include the moon crab (Matuta lunaris), the leaf porter crab (Neodorippe callida) and the common hairy crab (Pilumnus vespertilio). The coastal horseshoe crab (Tachypleus gigas) can also be found at Labrador, though it is not a crab and is more closely related to spiders and scorpions.

Some of Labrador’s marine creatures are of special value to human life. For example, the simple sponges house bacteria with antibiotic properties, while the fish- eating cone snails can release a toxin to paralyse prey instantly. This same toxin (conotoxin) can be extracted and converted into non- addictive painkillers up to ten thousand times more potent than morphine.

In 1990, the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) announced plans to construct new port facilities in the vicinity. These would have involved land reclamation at Labrador Beach. However, scientists and lay citizens alike successfully argued for the conservation of Labrador.

Abutting the southeast edge of Labrador is the 6.8- ha Labrador Park, which was created in 1978 on land reclaimed from the sea. The park was formerly known as Tanjong Berlayar Park, apparently named for Batu Berlayar, or Lot’s Wife as the early Europeans knew it (see Longyamen). This was a mass of rocks sited at the entrance of New Harbour present- day Keppel Harbour).

See also Labrador Battery.

Photo credit: Ria Tan