Extensive land reclamation and coastal development have inevitably impacted Singapore’s coral reefs. Despite the chronic stressors, the reefs have shown signs of recovery and continue to support high marine biodiversity. This chapter traces the evolution of how the local community has been directly involved in coral reef conservation and distils the lessons arising from these efforts. Our review of the literature underlined how capacity building in the early years has supported reef conservation efforts in Singapore and the importance of partnership among government, academia and the wider community. In recent years, the emergence of interconnected multistakeholder networks has proved vital in addressing contemporary challenges. Responding to a 2024 collision between two ships, which released 400 tonnes of oil in the Singapore Strait, the networks aggregated resources and information to support the clean-up and helped to develop action plans with the government to protect and restore the impacted coastal habitats. As the community’s interests and aspirations diversify, we strongly advocate using participatory design in conservation planning and establishing ‘network of networks’ to promote inclusive and effective community-based reef conservation programmes in Singapore.