BONN, Germany: The Singapore Botanic Gardens is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after it was inscribed at the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany on Saturday (July 4).

The decision was met with cheers from a jubilant Singapore delegation, led by Culture, Community and Youth Minister, Lawrence Wong. Others in the Singapore delegation included chief executive of the National Heritage Board Rosa Daniel and CEO of the National Parks Board, Kenneth Er.

In his thank you speech, Mr Wong said he was “deeply honoured” to have the Singapore Botanic Gardens inscribed as the nation’s first World Heritage Site. He added: “This is a very humbling experience … and I thank the Chairperson and all the members of the World Heritage Committee for the unanimous and wholehearted endorsement of the recommendation.”

"A great Jubilee year gift to Singaporeans," said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his Facebook page. "The Gardens played an important part in making Singapore a Garden City. Besides supplying shrubs and trees for our parks and roadsides, the Gardens also trained horticulturalists in the school of ornamental horticulture."

Mr Lee congratulated the National Heritage Board, NParks, and Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth which had worked hard for the successful inscription.

The 156-year-old Singapore attraction joins more than 1,000 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in some 160 countries. It is the third Botanic Gardens to be listed as a World Heritage Site, after Kew Gardens in England and the Padua Gardens in Italy and Singapore's first World Heritage Site.

Singapore's bid was the fifth to be discussed on Saturday, after China, Iran, Mongolia and South Korea.

The inscription comes almost five years after a feasibility study by the authorities found that the Botanic Gardens was Singapore’s best candidate to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status.

Singapore officially submitted the Gardens' nomination dossier to UNESCO in January last year.

Last September, a technical assessor from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) visited the Gardens. In May, ICOMOS recommended the Gardens to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, saying it was an "exceptional example of a British tropical colonial botanic garden in Southeast Asia".

Still, the final decision lay with the 21-member UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Before he left for Bonn, Minister Wong said he was optimistic about the bid, and said the World Heritage status would strengthen conservation efforts at the Gardens.

The Botanic Gardens spans 74-hectares and includes the National Orchid Garden which has over 1,000 orchird species and 2,000 hybrids on display.

Nestled in the heart of Singapore, the Botanic Gardens is the only English-style garden in the tropics. It was also the site where crops were developed for commercial use in Singapore and the region.

Dr Nigel Taylor, director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, said: "The trial of various crops, including rubber, was done behind closed doors. Nowadays, we can go into these areas of the Gardens and see ancient trees that are part of the plants tested for their timber or latex or other properties, and realise that these remnants of this once great economic garden are actually a testimony to the economic survival of the region."

It was once home to a host of animals, including a sloth bear, emus and a leopard.

The Gardens is also home to Burkill Hall, a colonial house which was built almost 150 years ago. "It's an example of a very rare architectural form, possibly the last surviving example anywhere of what we call the Anglo-Malay plantation-style house," Dr Taylor said.

Next to Burkill Hall lies one of the Gardens' most popular sites - the National Orchid Garden. It was officially opened in 1995 and home to thousands of orchid species including 2,000 hybrid orchids, which are also Singapore's goodwill ambassadors.

More than 200 orchid hybrids are named after celebrities such as Jackie Chan, and foreign dignitaries such as Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher.

Beyond heritage, the Gardens is also a place that has been intricately woven into Singapore's social fabric. On weekends, friends and families enjoy a stroll at the Gardens, or watch musical performances at the Symphony Lake - a long-standing tradition that dates back to 1861.

Watch Channel NewsAsia's special the Botanic Gardens: Stories and Secrets here.