A Rainforest In The City
An innovative collaboration between five unlikely partners has created a groundbreaking visitor experience at Artscience Museum that blurs the boundaries of museum, city and nature. Technology giant Google, IT company Lenovo, environmental organisation WWF, Singapore artist Brian Gothong Tan and the Artscience Museum have brought their respective strengths to the table with a common commitment to make the world a better place. The result is Into the Wild, a first-of-its-kind multimedia adventure that places the visitor in the shoes of a ranger patrolling a pristine Southeast Asian rainforest and empowers them to make a real impact.
The experience
Once you take possession of the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro smart phone (it’s locked into a bracket attached to a solid hand-piece, so it’s easy to hold), start walking around the basement of the museum and watch as the entire space transforms into a virtual rainforest. The effect is as if the museum is painted over in 360 degrees, and the scenery changes with your every step and movement. Look up and you’ll see an orangutan chewing a leaf, peer behind a bush and catch a tapir grazing. Information about each animal pops up at certain points and headphones provide a soundtrack to further enhance the experience – especially as danger approaches.
On Level 4, visitors complete their virtual journey by planting a seed, and the result is amazing. Back in reality, visitors can donate to a special WWF programme and a real seed will be planted on degraded land within a real rainforest. A six-minute film with stunning animation projected onto a 20-metre wall concludes the exhibition. It depicts the fragile habitat and the dangers faced by pangolins, mousedeer, orangutans, tigers and tapirs, and references the work of Alfred Russel Wallace, a pioneer explorer and naturalist.
The environmental impact
Elaine Tan, CEO of WWF Singapore, says, “In a time of rampant deforestation in Southeast Asia, Into the Wild sends a critical conservation call for the growth and renewal of our natural environment. Only with collective action can we effect positive change, restore rainforest biodiversity, protect tiger habitats and transform the lives of communities across West Sumatra and Riau.”
Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve is one of the last few pristine Sumatran rainforests, a breeding ground and home to just 25 tigers. Sadly, there are only two rangers, and they face threats from poachers and instigators of illegal land encroachment while patrolling the entire national park, which spans thousands of hectares. It’s hoped that this initiative will also benefit the local communities who are subsistence farmers and dependent on the rainforest, but who sometimes fall prey to destructive illegal activities.
When visitors plant a seed as part of their Into the Wild experience and pledge $38 to WWF, they contribute to a tree regeneration project in Rimbang Baling that’s managed by WWF, and they receive updates and photographs of the tree planted on their behalf. The aim is to plant over 20,000 trees.
Although not biologically related, these two females are extremely close. Heidi was abandoned at the vet at the age of nine months with a broken back leg, and it was here she met six-month-old Lizzie. They healed and recovered, and formed a sisterly bond for life. Both cats are friendly and playful, and would love to be re-homed together. Harry Potter Named after the famous Dobby had a house elf, three-year-old pre-rescue. He rough life on the streets initially, is a little shy towards strangers around but absolutely loves being humans.