Bukit Timah National Park, Singapore

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is what Singapore used to be 180 years ago. Before the early 19th century, most of the island was covered in lowland, primary forest. Between 1820 and 1870, a substantial portion of virgin forest was cleared to develop the island as an important trading post. By 1886, only 10% of the original forest cover remained. The development of MacRitchie Reservoir (then known as the Impounding Reservoir) in 1868 brought the forest devastation around the area to a halt. The forest around the reservoir was protected as a water catchment reserve. The reserve retains one of the largest tracts of primary rainforest left in Singapore. Bukit Timah is also home to Singapore's highest hill at 163.63 m. Composed mainly of granite, Bukit Timah Hill was once an active quarrying site in the mid-1900s. This 28 minutes documentary is part of the tv-series WONDERS of WILDERNESS and is available on DVD or VHS (Dutch or English version) at WWW.FAUNAFILM.NL Visit WWW.STOCKSHOT.NL for highres version or broadcast video footage. More national parks available!