The Sunda continental shelf (southern Thailand and Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo) is home to a unique type of rainforest – the lowland dipterocarp forest.
These forests are characterised by the dominance of trees from the dipterocarp family and high floristic diversity from different plant families all nestled within diverse vegetation strata. Singapore was once covered by lush tropical vegetation, most of which, were lowland dipterocarp forests.
While Singapore may have lost much of our primeval vegetation during colonial times, our biodiversity continues to thrive, and new discoveries and rediscoveries are still being made today.
However, some species are considered Critically Endangered locally as they are survived by a few isolated populations. As part of Singapore’s Nature Conservation Master Plan, the National Parks Board (NParks) has put in place a Species Recovery Programme to help ensure the long-term survival of our rare and endangered native species in our City in Nature.
Four of these species featured in this stamp issue are Mucuna biplicate, Kadsura scandens, Piper porphyrophyllum and Artocarpus kemando.
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