SINGAPORE - A comprehensive biodiversity survey on the Southern Islands has discovered several rare and endangered species there, including the oriental magpie-robin and spotted wood owl. The Southern Islands Biodiversity survey looks at the terrestrial and marine habitats of more than 10 islands south of mainland Singapore. Preliminary findings show that while some of these islands are small and have a history of human activities on them, they are still able to support rich coastal habitats that contain rare and endangered species previously unknown to the area. These habitats range from coastal forests and mangroves to intertidal flats, subtidal reefs and shallow seafloor areas. The National Parks Board (NParks) and the Friends of Marine Park community gave this update on Sunday (Dec 13) at the halfway mark of the two-year study, which covers the islands that make up Sisters' Islands Marine Park, well known islands such as Sentosa and Pulau Semakau, as well as smaller and lesser-known islands such as Pulau Biola and Pulau Jong. The islands in Sisters’ Islands Marine Park and St John’s Island cluster, for instance, range from about 2.7ha to 75.1 ha in size – the equivalent of abou...