Toting binoculars, sporting scopes and cameras with highly sophisticated lenses, avid birdwatchers - both hobbyists and ornithologists -lay in wait to spot critically endangered and rare birds in Kranji's Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR), Singapore's first Asean Heritage Park. Among the many trails and lookout points, the Kingfisher Pod (above) - the highest point on the Coastal Trail - flanked by the brackish waters of the Straits of Johor, offers a peek into the rich local biodiversity that has been consciously preserved in the face of the looming climate change threat. In addition to housing reptile species, SBWR attracts thousands of migratory birds that fly in every year from their breeding grounds in the Northern Hemisphere to the 202-hectare reserve between September and March. Varieties such as the Arctic Warbler and Pacific Golden Plover make the long flight from Siberia to Singapore, as do the Nordmann's Greenshank and Chinese Egret from Mongolia and China. SBWR has been recognised as an internationally significant site for migratory birds by Wetlands International - a global non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wetlands - marking the site's entry into the East Asian Australasian Shorebird Site Network, one of the world's greatest flyways.