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The
Life Firing Area
Habitats:
The last untouched southern shores are found among the islands and
submerged reefs that lie within the Life Firing Area. Habitats found
here include coastal forest, mangroves, rocky shores, seagrass meadows,
rubbly areas and good reefs.
Access to the Area is highly restricted as it is regularly used for
life firing exercises, see this
notice for Sep 2012 in the media. The Life Firing Area includes
three large islands of Pulau Sudong, Pulau Pawai, Pulau Senang, as
well as three smaller islands and submerged reefs of Pulau Biola,
Pulau Berkas, Terumbu Berkas Besar, Terumbu Berkas Kecil, Pulau Salu,
Terumbu Salu.
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Pulau Sudong
1° 12.496'N 103° 43.194'E
247ha, 3km, 1km
Pulau Pawai
1° 11.159'N 103° 43.405'E
227ha, 1.8km x 1.5km
Pulau Senang
1° 10.266'N 103° 44.169'E
180ha, 1.7 x 1.5km
Pulau Salu
1° 13.008'N 103° 42.415'E
600m x 300m
Terumbu Salu
1° 12.823'N 103° 42.510'E
800m x 200m
Pulau Berkas
1° 11.380'N 103° 44.217'E
26ha, 600m x 500m
Terumbu Berkas Besar
1° 11.828'N 103° 43.995'E
28ha, 1.2km
x 400m
Pulau Biola
1° 9.882'N 103° 44.526'E
10ha, 400m x 200m
(from
Google
Earth and Earth
Point) |
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Conservation
status: Listed for use as 'Open Space' in the URA
Master Plan 2008, i.e., "Area to be used or intended to
be used as open space". Status not indicated in Parks
and Waterbodies Plan and submerged reefs in the LFA are not
depicted on both Plans.
Mentioned in the Singapore
Green Plan 2012 under "Marine Nature Areas":
"Singapore’s
surrounding waters bustle with large ships and small all hours
of the day, but thanks to effective pollution control, they also
teem with a rich variety of marine life.
Among our marine treasures are the pockets of coral reefs which
flourish to the south of Singapore, in particular around the St
John’s Island Group, Pulau Hantu, Pulau Semakau and the Pulau
Sudong Island Group. At these marine nature areas, numerous biological
communities - corals, sea-grasses, fishes, mangroves, marine mammals,
plankton and others - live in an abundance of aquatic harmony.
They are a never-ending source of wonderment to divers from Singapore
and elsewhere.
The government will keep these areas in their natural state for
as long as possible."
History:
On Pulau Senang, there was an attempt to set up a penal reform
experiment in 1960. The effort was abandoned after the prisoners
rioted and killed prison officers. This is the island where live
firing and explosions take place, the scarred centre of the island
clearly showing up on Google Earth. Pulau Sudong is said to have
been cloaked in mangroves, it has since been reclaimed with seawalls
nearly all around its circumference and an airstrip built on it.
Pulau Pawai is the least developed of the three large islands with
still untouched natural cliffs and flats. The three smaller islands
of Pulau Biola, Pulau Berkas and Pulau Salu, and other submerged
reefs remain undeveloped.
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About
the names: Pulau=Island; Senang=Contentment,
Relaxed. Comfort; Pawai=Royal procession; Sudong=Unknown,
possibly a corruption of Tudong=Head veil; Biola=Violin;
Berkas=To arrest or bundle up; Salu=Unknown,
possibly a corruption of Saluk=Twined head scarf
or Saluran=Gutter or channel; |
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