How Singapore's Botanic Gardens Became a UNESCO World Heritage Site
When people think of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, they think of the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Mount Fuji. Big, dramatic, instantly recognizable places. So when Singapore put forward its Botanic Gardens, a lot of Singaporeans raised their eyebrows. Really? Our little garden?
This is part of my retelling of “50 Years of Singapore and the United Nations” (Tommy Koh, Li Lin Chang, Joanna Koh, 2015, ISBN: 978-9814713030).
Chapter 25 is written by Jean Wee, the first director of the Preservation of Sites and Monuments at the National Heritage Board. She led the charge on getting Singapore its first UNESCO World Heritage Site. And the behind-the-scenes story is way more interesting than you’d expect.
What Makes a World Heritage Site
First, some basics. A UNESCO World Heritage Site isn’t about tourist potential or commercial value. It’s about a place that has made a significant contribution to world heritage and is valued by the community that wants to preserve it.
To qualify, a site must have what UNESCO calls “Outstanding Universal Value.” It has to meet at least one out of ten assessment criteria. Things like showing an important exchange of human values over time, or being an outstanding example of a significant stage in human history.
But meeting the criteria is just the start. UNESCO also cares deeply about how well the site is preserved, how it has evolved, whether it’s authentic, whether there’s a buffer zone protecting it, and whether there’s a solid management plan for the future. All of this has to be documented in detail.
Picking the Right Site
The journey started in 2010 when a study was commissioned to figure out which sites in Singapore could potentially meet UNESCO’s criteria. They consulted with academics, heritage advocates, and heritage experts from the Singapore Heritage Society.
The list got narrowed down to three candidates: the Botanic Gardens, the Civic District, and the combined historic cultural enclaves of Little India, Chinatown, and Kampong Glam.
The Civic District and the cultural enclaves dropped out pretty quickly. The reason? UNESCO requires a buffer zone around any World Heritage Site that limits future development. For a land-scarce country like Singapore, imposing such restrictions on areas like the Civic District or Chinatown would be a serious problem. Too much development was planned for those areas.
So the Botanic Gardens it was.
Why the Gardens Actually Qualified
Here’s the thing most Singaporeans didn’t know. The Botanic Gardens wasn’t just a nice park. It was the birthplace of the rubber revolution.
Rubber seedlings were gifted to the Singapore Botanic Gardens by Kew Gardens in London. Those seedlings became the catalyst for the entire rubber industry across Southeast Asia, which drove an economic boom across the region. Successive directors of the Gardens kept pushing rubber research and development forward, even during the Japanese Occupation.
Beyond rubber, the 156-year-old Gardens had 12 historical buildings, some in the classic “Black and White” colonial style. The Swan Lake Gazebo dates to the 1850s. Ridley Hall to 1882. The original Potting Yard where new species were grown is still there. Heritage trees, the oldest over 200 years old, stand right next to the original English Landscape design, just five minutes from the busy shopping district of Orchard Road.
And for Singaporeans, the Gardens held deep personal meaning. Jean Wee describes how people shared stories of childhood walks with family, feeding swans, school band performances at the bandstand, romantic picnics, and even arranged marriages where families used the Gardens as neutral ground for introductions. In 1959, the first outdoor multicultural concert bringing together Chinese, Malay, and Indian performers was held there.
Getting Everyone on Board
Initially, many government agencies were either skeptical or unfamiliar with the Gardens’ history. Some questioned why bother. What would international recognition actually do?
The National Heritage Board and National Parks Board had to work together to build the case. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handled international engagement, using its network of embassies to promote the idea. Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Andrew Toh, led the diplomatic push.
Jean Wee says at some point, the team started thinking of themselves as salespersons with a cause. They took advantage of UNESCO World Heritage Committee meetings to showcase the Gardens’ heritage values.
The Race Against the Clock
Singapore ratified the 1972 World Heritage Convention in September 2012. Three months later, the Botanic Gardens was placed on the Tentative List, which is a prerequisite for nomination.
Then came the real work. They had to prepare a nomination dossier proving the site’s Outstanding Universal Value, demonstrating its unique heritage, showing its authenticity and preservation, and proving that protection measures were in place for the future.
They had one shot. If Singapore wanted the inscription to be part of the country’s 50th birthday celebrations in 2015, the 700-page dossier had to reach UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris by February 28, 2014.
A massive inter-agency steering committee was formed. It included the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, National Heritage Board, National Parks Board, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Urban Redevelopment Authority, and Ministry of Education. The land planners at URA made sure the core and buffer zones were protected within Singapore’s development Master Plans. Dr. Nigel Taylor, the Gardens’ director, handled the botanical expertise.
The Heart-Stopping Moment
Jean Wee tells this story with obvious feeling. The 700-page dossier, along with annexes, blueprints, photographs, and URA Master Plans, was finally sent to the printer. Three bound, full-color copies needed to be couriered to UNESCO’s headquarters at Place de Fontenoy in Paris by the deadline.
And then the scheduled pickup from the printer didn’t happen.
The team had to make frantic calls to the courier service, explaining that this delivery was of “utmost national significance.” Meanwhile, Singapore’s Deputy Chief of Mission in Paris, Koong Pai Ching, who had warned about bad weather and possible strikes in France, made sure the copies got delivered safely.
They sighed in relief that they still had their jobs.
The Wait
With the dossier submitted, the team kept working. They created a “More Than a Garden” exhibition showcasing the Gardens’ history and heritage values, which toured the National Museum of Singapore, shopping malls, and schools across the island.
Singapore also kept building its credentials as a committed UNESCO member. They organized events on heritage preservation challenges at the World Cities Summit 2014 and co-hosted the Future of Preservation Conference with ASEAN. They even named a new orchid variety, the “Dendrobium UNESCO,” at the 38th World Heritage Committee session in Doha.
The critical step was the ICOMOS site visit. ICOMOS is the advisory body that evaluates nominations for UNESCO. Their appointed assessor visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens to check the site management plan in person. This was the one and only chance to make the case on the ground.
When the chapter was written, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee hadn’t yet voted. Jean Wee expressed hope that Singapore would have convinced enough representatives that the Gardens deserved the inscription on its own merit.
And in a note added by the book’s editors: On July 4, 2015, UNESCO approved Singapore’s request to list the Singapore Botanic Gardens as a World Heritage Site.
They did it.
About the Author
Jean Wee became the first director of the Preservation of Sites and Monuments at the National Heritage Board in February 2009. Before that, she was Assistant Director at the Singapore Art Museum. She sits on several committees in architectural heritage in Singapore, including the SEAMEO Project in Archaeology in Fine Arts.