The Hidden Forest (秘境森林) In Gardens By The Bay's Cloud Forest

RARE FLORA AND FAUNA COME TO LIFE AT NEW ATTRACTION IN GARDENS BY THE BAY’S CLOUD FOREST

The immersive digital art experience in collaboration with Japan’s NAKED, INC lends added breadth and colour to the conservation message of the cooled conservatory

The Hidden Forest Gardens by the Bay

A Tree of Laziness, an orchid resembling a monkey’s face, and a flirtatious flower that appeals to hummingbirds daily but beckons to bats by night. A bear that looks like it is wearing spectacles, and a beautiful bird so revered that “resplendent” is part of its name.

These may sound like characters from a work of fiction, but they are real elements of cloud forests – and brought to life in The Hidden Forest (秘境森林) at Gardens by the Bay’s Cloud Forest. The latest revamp to the cooled conservatory, The Hidden Forest is an immersive digital art experience that aims to educate as much as entertain.

The Hidden Forest is a collaboration with Japanese creative company NAKED, INC. Playing out on the third and fourth levels of Cloud Forest, the experience portrays the interconnectedness of plant and animal life in the unique and layered ecosystems of cloud forests. Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing launched The Hidden Forest today.

The idea of The Hidden Forest was mooted on a plant sourcing trip by Gardens by the Bay’s horticulturists together with some members of the Singapore media to Latin America in 2023. During a visit to Wilson Botanical Gardens in Costa Rica – a country renowned for its cloud forests – a discussion between horticulturists of both countries centered on ways the biodiversity of cloud forests could be made known to more people.

Gardens by the Bay Assistant Director of Conservatory Operations Clarice Xue, one of the horticulturists on that trip, said, “Cloud forests are not easily accessible places and remain remote to most people. Gardens by the Bay’s Cloud Forest was created to bring the flora of cloud forests closer to more people, to raise awareness of the fascinating plant life there which are incredibly vulnerable to climate change, and The Hidden Forest is our latest attempt to do this via a digital platform. Through an immersive and interactive installation, we can now present a more complete showcase of the rich biodiversity and critically endangered plants that we cannot otherwise bring in.”

The Hidden Forest GBTB Cloud Forest

The fragile, fascinating ecosystems of cloud forests Cloud forests, scattered across Central and South America, southern Mexico and parts of the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, eastern Africa, and New Guinea, are found between 500m and 3,500m above sea level, and form only 1 per cent of forests in the world.

Characterised by limited sunlight and high humidity, cloud forests are home to rich biodiversity that cannot be found anywhere else, and the plants and animals live together in symbiosis, from feeding the other to helping to ensure each other’s survival. The fragile ecosystems in cloud forests are under threat of climate change and the impact of human activities.

When visitors enter The Hidden Forest, movement across the darkened space stimulates the growth of myriad plant life found in cloud forests, from the Cecropia tree, nicknamed the Tree of Laziness because it is a food source for sloths, to flowers from the Passiflora genus, whose bright colours attract hummingbirds in the daytime, and whose scent appeals to bats at night. Other plants that visitors will see grow in front of their eyes are the distinctive Monkey-faced Orchid (Dracula simia), which aside from its unusual appearance, also bears the moniker of the vampire because of its elongated fang-like sepals and citrusy orange scent, and the Red Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia sanguinea), which has become extinct in the wild.

The Hidden Forest Cloud Forest GBTB

As visitors move down to the next level, they encounter more of the animals of cloud forests up close. Touch the walls, and a sloth making its slow way along a branch of a Tree of Laziness appears. The sloth also helps to pollinate the tree through defecation of the seeds when it descends to the ground once a week. Spot an Andean Bear, which is also called the spectacled bear because of the cream-coloured fur circles around its eyes, an omnivorous bear reliant on bromeliads for food and the “cup” formed by their rosette-shaped leaves for water. A vibrantly-coloured Resplendent Quetzal may fly past – a rare opportunity to spot a threatened bird species that is considered one of the world’s most beautiful.

The launch of new 5G digital learning trails

Minister Chan, along with 18 students from Nan Chiau Primary School, tried Gardens by the Bay’s new 5G digital learning trails, produced in partnership with M1 and with the support from the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). Like The Hidden Forest, the digital learning trails are an effort to make the natural world come alive for more people, and in particular, bring students closer to nature and sustainability concepts.

The Hidden Forest Cloud Forest

With the 5G digital learning trails, Gardens by the Bay’s indoor educational programmes for primary and secondary school students are now fully digital. Primary and secondary schools can sign up for a facilitated programme which includes the specially curated 5G digital learning trail. Students will each be provided with an iPad to participate in various digital activities that cover Cloud Forest and Flower Dome.

The limits of Gardens by the Bay’s educational programmes can be stretched by augmenting the user experience with rich media in a virtual interactive environment. With 5G, these activities can use rich media like augmented reality and high-resolution videos to better engage students, which will help them appreciate concepts more readily. Tapping on a 5G network also allows for group games and activities to be conducted seamlessly.

Students will learn concepts such as plant pollination, plant adaptions and the many uses of plants. For example, augmented reality will help them visualise how pitcher plants – common in cloud forests – attract flying and crawling insects to fall into their “cups”. Through the app, students can get up close to various parts of the pitcher plant, such as looking into its “cup” to see the acidic enzyme solution that will eventually digest the fallen insects, to enhance their understanding.

The Hidden Forest

📅 From 29 June 2024
⏰ 9am – 9pm
📍 Cloud Forest
🏷 Admission charge to Cloud Forest applies

You can get tickets online via Klook.

Come across an enrichment class and are keen to determine your child’s response before committing to a full term? We have trial classes offered at discounted rates HERE!