Gardens by the Bay

Singapore

Singapore ‘s latest addition to its public infrastructure success list is the Gardens by the Bay.

Located within the Marina Bay Sands precinct, the attractions within The Gardens include Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, Supertree Grove, Heritage Gardens, The World of Plants, Dragonfly Lake, Kingfisher Lake and Bay East Garden.

There are nine cafes and restaurants for visitors to choose from.

 The Cloud Forest is housed in a dome-like structure that is fully air-conditioned.

A 35-metre tall “mountain” is overgrown with lush vegetation and at the top of this structure is where the world’s tallest indoor waterfall begins its steep ascend down to the bottom.

 Cloud forest water cycle
Before water becomes part of a waterfall, it must reach the cloud forest floor as:

1. Throughfall – rain falling through gaps in the canopy
2. Stemfall – water flowing down the outside of branches and tree trunks
3. Crown drip – most rain hits the canopy and drips from leaves
4. Fog drip – mist turns to water droplets as it comes in contact with vegetation, this can drip from leaves and mosses. 

 The water is either used by the plants and animals for survival, evaporated back into the atmosphere or be stored in the soil and pools, feeding humble streams or mighty waterfalls.

 Some of this water is stored in the soil reservoir and slowly makes its way down the mountain in trickles, gushes or even as part of a mighty waterfall, supplying water to people, plants and animals who live below.

 The moss and lichen covered branches of the cloud forest capture the water from the fog that is blown from the ocean. This process adds hundreds of millimeters of water to the ecosystem every year.

The secret world tells a story of an ancient and long lost world – the plants here belong to families that were abundant in the distant past, yet today, they have become increasingly rare.

At the top of the world, you are at an altitude of about 2,000m above sea level. Below you, the forest floor is at approximately 1,000m above the sea.