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UNESCO Travel: Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore

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In this post we share photos from Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage site.


About Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore

  • Established in 1859 by Sir Stamford Raffles
  • In the mid-1800s ownership was transferred to the British colonial government and a series of Kew-trained botanists
  • Now the gardens are managed by National Parks Board, a statutory board of the Singapore government.
  • The gardens were used to foster agricultural development in Singapore and the region through collecting, growing, experimenting and distributing potentially useful plants
    • A major outcome was the introduction, experimentation and promotion of Para Rubber,
    • This crop brought prosperity to the South East Asian region in the early 20th century
  • 82-hectare gardens
  • 44 heritage trees within the property, and a number of protected buildings/structures such as houses 1 to 5 of the former Raffles College, Raffles Hall, E.J.H. Corner House, Burkill Hall, Holttum Hall, Ridley Hall, House 6, Garage, Bandstand and Swan Lake Gazebo.
  • Singapore’s first UNESCO Heritage Site.

Getting there

  • Arrive via taxi from downtown Singapore, a 30 minute drive
  • Map of Singapore Botanic Gardens

    UNESCO Heritage: Singapore Botanic Gardens

    In 2015, the Singapore Botanic Gardens were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

    “The Singapore Botanic Gardens is situated at the heart of the city of Singapore and demonstrates the evolution of a British tropical colonial botanic garden from a ‘Pleasure Garden’ in the English Landscape Style, to a colonial Economic Garden with facilities for horticultural and botanical research, to a modern and world-class botanic garden, scientific institution and place of conservation, recreation and education.

    The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a well-defined cultural landscape which includes a rich variety of historic landscape features, plantings and buildings that clearly demonstrate the evolution of the Botanic Gardens since its establishment in 1859. Through its well-preserved landscape design and continuity of purpose, the Singapore Botanic Gardens is an outstanding example of a British tropical botanic garden which has also played a key role in advances in scientific knowledge, particularly in the fields of tropical botany and horticulture, including the development of plantation rubber.”

    Citations: UNESCO World Heritage Center, 2023.
    If you haven’t already, check out why you should incorporate UNESCO World Heritage sites into your travel plans.

    Entrance

    Marsh Gardens

    Swan Lake

    UNESCO World Heritage Buffer Zone

    Visitor Center

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