Singapore's 'western island' plan could bury most of its remaining coral reefs

A government plan to merge several islands south of Singapore into a single industrial "western island" could bury about 60% of the city-state's remaining coral reefs, conservationists told Mongabay.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced the project at a National Day rally Aug. 23, saying the new island would host advanced manufacturing, energy and defense. He gave no timeline, saying reclamation would take place over the coming decades and plans were being studied carefully.

The islands involved, including Pulau Semakau, home to Singapore's offshore landfill, and Pulau Bukom, site of an oil refinery, are surrounded by an estimated 590 hectares of reef along with 22% of the country's seagrass meadows. Singapore has already lost about two-thirds of its original reefs since the 1960s to land reclamation and port expansion.

Biologist Debby Ng said the area's large, breeding-age colonies seed reefs well beyond Singapore's waters. "Reclamation over their reefs therefore does not mean moving them somewhere else — it means sacrificing them," she said. The government has not announced plans to relocate reefs and says environmental and feasibility studies must come first.

The plan has also unsettled the Indigenous Orang Laut, or "sea people," who still fish these waters. Firdaus Sani, founder of the group Orang Laut SG, said members were not consulted and want their knowledge included in any environmental impact assessment. Cik Hamsa, a 71-year-old elder evicted from Pulau Sudong in the 1970s, said murkier water could end fishing with traditional bubu traps.

This brief is based on reporting by Philip Jacobson, published Sept. 28, 2026, by Mongabay. Read the original: https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/singapores-plan-to-merge-several-islands-could-wipe-out-coral-reefs/