It looks like home. Not just for people, but for the weird and wonderful creatures that live here too.
Introduced by the National Parks Board (NParks) in 2020, the City in Nature vision aimed to provide Singaporeans with a green oasis, while keeping the needs of the country’s forest denizens in mind.
Initiatives include expanding the nature park network, naturalising gardens and parks, restoring greenery in urban areas and connecting green spaces. All these could help make Singapore a more conducive home for creatures like the critically endangered straw-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus zeylanicus) and Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica).
“The key distinction of being a City in Nature is in how Singapore understands nature’s role in national survival and climate resilience,” said Dr Lahiru Wijedasa, an ecologist at environmental consultancy and agroforestry firm ConservationLinks.
The design of some nature ways is part of the rewilding strategy, aimed at allowing nature to grow more naturally with minimal intervention.
Nature ways are routes planted with specific trees and shrubs to replicate natural forests which have different layers. Each layer comprises vegetation that grows to different heights to support wildlife that have different feeding and breeding preferences.
NParks aims to complete 300km of nature ways by 2030. Currently, 240km of nature ways have been implemented.
Let us break down the layers.
This is Lornie Nature Corridor, which comprises a nature way, and a park connector, and acts as a buffer to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
Spanning 1.76km, more than 100 species of trees and shrubs have been planted. In time, NParks said, it will grow into a forested corridor.
The canopy layer consists of flowering roadside trees. They provide shelter and food for insect-eating as well as nectar-loving birds and butterflies.
The emergent layer is the tallest layer, featuring rainforest trees like the keruing pipit (Dipterocarpus fagineus). These trees attract insects which birds eat, and are nesting sites for them.
Smaller fruit-bearing trees are featured in the understorey layer, serving as a food source for fruit-loving birds. Some of these trees act as host plants for butterflies.
Finally, flowering shrubs make up the shrub layer. Some serve as the host plants for butterflies, while others supply nectar. This layer provides habitats for insects and spiders that are part of the diet of birds.
Nature ways serve another purpose: becoming corridors for wildlife.
Nature ways can help wildlife move around to find food and mates, said resident butterfly expert Khew Sin Khoon. “(They) are not merely green corridors. They are critical ecological ‘highways’ that enable urban biodiversity to (spread) between major nature nodes across the island,” he added.
There are currently 54 nature ways in Singapore.
Mr Khew said he has noticed some butterfly species – such as the rustic (Cupha erymanthis lotis) – that are usually found in forests can now be seen in park connectors and even urban parks.
This could be due to the planting of its caterpillar host plant, rukam masam (Flacourtia inermis) and cultivating it at roadside greenery, park connectors and urban gardens, said Mr Khew.
NParks has also planted native shrub species like the common sendudok (Melastoma malabathricum) which attract birds like the scarlet-backed flowerpecker, (Dicaeum cruentatum) and insects such as the striped nomia bee (Nomia strigata) and the long brand bush brown butterfly (Mycalesis visala).
Such connectivity will not only improve the gene flow between populations but also increase the butterfly’s resilience to environmental changes, he added.
A separate study by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in February also shows that road verges with a higher diversity of flowering plants attract more butterflies and species by providing year-round nectar, as different plants bloom at different times.
The researchers include Dr Tharaka Priyadarshana and Associate Professor Eleanor Slade from the Tropical Ecology and Entomology Lab at the Asian School of the Environment in NTU.
While the road verges studied are not formally part of Singapore’s nature ways, the researchers said they serve a similar ecological function on a smaller scale by providing resources such as nectar and shelter.
They also serve as important connectors that help butterflies move across urban landscapes of unconnected greenery, complementing the broader connectivity provided by nature ways, said the researchers.
There’s also another goal to becoming a City in Nature: planting a million more trees across the island by 2030.
As part of the City in Nature push, Singapore in 2020 launched the OneMillionTrees movement. The aim is to plant a million more trees across the island by 2030.
As at June, 800,868 trees have been planted across Singapore.
Trees not only act like natural air filters providing clean air, they also provide cool and shaded environments, helping to reduce the urban heat island effect – where urban structures trap heat in the day and release it at night.
They also provide habitats for wildlife like the critically endangered straw-headed bulbul, a songbird, and the Sunda pangolin, and store carbon to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Since 2020, more trees have been planted in places such as schools and residential and industrial estates.
More than 34,000 trees have been planted on the man-made Jurong Island since 2020.
More than 80 species of trees such as the common sterculia (Sterculia parviflora) and the shore laurel (Neolitsea cassia) were chosen to line the island – which is one of the hotter areas in Singapore – based on their ability to tolerate drought, their aesthetics and how much shade they provide.
But the planting of trees has gone beyond the greening of infrastructure to include reforestation efforts for wildlife, and planting endangered trees such as the kayu pontianak (Parishia insignis).
Beyond how trees are planted, Singapore’s greening journey reflects the nation’s transformation over the years.
“It reflects how we think as a society, how we see ourselves, and what we believe we need in order to survive and thrive,” said Dr Lahiru.
When the Garden City vision was unveiled in 1967, Singapore was still a fledgling nation that had to show the world it could thrive.
“This was done with manicured roadside trees and planted gardens – no real focus on species, more of just planting what grows to give us what we need: a clean, organised city,” he said.
Then in 2011, the City in a Garden vision took root.
Singapore wanted to be a metropolis nestled within a lush garden. A park connector network and skyrise greenery were among the measures introduced to achieve this vision.
In a way, this whole journey mirrors the growth of a nation – from trying to survive, to trying to impress, to now trying to sustain.
The green embrace became more immersive in 2020, when NParks announced plans to turn the country into a City in Nature.
Dr Shawn Lum, a senior lecturer at NTU’s Asian School of the Environment, said that being a City in Nature is about how Singapore takes a holistic approach towards the environment and celebrates life in all forms, beyond birdwatching or admiring pretty plants.
More nature parks and naturalised gardens were introduced, a move away from manicured greenery.
Rewilding efforts that allowed nature to grow more spontaneously were also prioritised, with more native species. Designed to replicate the natural structure of forests, nature ways serve as green corridors to help wildlife move between green spaces.
Transitioning from Garden City to City in a Garden to City in Nature, Dr Lahiru said that the City in Nature could be the “most honest” version of what Singapore has been trying to do – to create a home for both humans and nature.
“It brings in ideas of resilience, biodiversity, and responsibility. It’s no longer about making things green – it’s about making sure nature survives, so we do too,” he said.