From apathy to multi-stakeholder action for our biodiversity

IN recent years, the consumption of shark fin in Singapore has declined. A World Wide Fund for Nature (Singapore) study last year found that 82 per cent of Singaporean respondents had not consumed shark fin for at least a year.

This would have been unimaginable even as recently as a decade ago. After all, this was a must-have delicacy at wedding and corporate banquets. But more and more bridal couples, companies, and diners are making the conscious choice of not having shark fin soup on their banquet menus.

The reduction in the consumption of shark fin in Singapore is the effect of a conscious change in dietary choice as a result of successful "say no to shark fin" campaigns. Their relative success demonstrates what the power of individual action combined with activist zeal and public educat…