Singapore will start on a three-year national-scale survey of marine life, the first such study in South-east Asia, local media reported on Friday.

It will make an audit of plant and animal life from next month, starting with that in the mangrove mudflats to the zone between the high- and low-tide marks, the offshore coral reefs and even the sea floor, 20 meters down, local daily The Straits Times reported.

The information collected will go into a national public database.

The knowledge found on the local marine life will come in useful in supporting policy recommendations regarding protected areas as well as how industry can be developed with minimal harm to marine life.