Contractor which wrongly cleared saplings in Central Catchment Nature Reserve warned; trees replanted
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A sign on July 1 indicating that reforestation is ongoing at the Lower Peirce Reservoir Park site where the unauthorised clearing took place.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
- A contractor cleared saplings without authorisation in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, leading NParks to issue a 24-month conditional warning after investigation.
- NParks replanted 60 new plants, including species to support the endangered Raffles’ banded langur, and the contractor admitted the error and bore replanting costs.
- The chair of the working group that helped plant the saplings called for better communication and protocols to prevent future incidents.
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SINGAPORE – A contractor that cleared tree saplings planted in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve under national greening programme OneMillionTrees has received a 24-month conditional warning.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the National Parks Board (NParks) said investigations found that the unauthorised clearance at Lower Peirce Reservoir Park on May 29 was due to an error by a project supervisor.
The statutory board has since replanted 60 new plants in the affected area off Old Upper Thomson Road, which measures about 40.5 sq m, or roughly half the size of a badminton court.
NParks’ group director for enforcement and investigation Jessica Kwok said the contractor engaged for the cyclical replacement of the boardwalk at the park had needed a location near the trail entrance to store materials.
“NParks had communicated to the site supervisor that the area (at the planting site) proposed by the contractor was not suitable for their storage space. Additionally, NParks had identified a suitable location for storage, on the condition that no trees or plants would be affected,” she added.
However, the project supervisor had misunderstood the instructions left by the site supervisor who was on overseas leave, and stored the materials at the site that NParks assessed to be unsuitable.
Said Kwok: “When NParks discovered the unauthorised clearance and checked with the contractor, the contractor and project supervisor admitted their error, and agreed to bear the cost of replanting and maintaining the cleared plot in Lower Peirce Reservoir.”
She added that the statutory board decided to issue the conditional warning to the contractor and the project supervisor after considering the facts and circumstances of the matter, noting that this was their first offence.
She said that if either the contractor or its project supervisor commits another offence during the 24-month period of the warning, both can be charged in court for both the original and new offences.
Kwok said NParks completed replanting of the affected area on June 9. This amounted to about a quarter of the original 165.5 sq m site.
These replanted saplings comprised species that were originally planted as part of the OneMillionTrees planting activity in 2025, as well as three new species that can feed both the critically endangered Raffles’ banded langur that dwells in the area, and forest birds.
The unauthorised clearing was publicised on June 2 by a member of the public, who posted photos on social media and informed the Raffles’ Banded Langur Working Group that had planted the saplings which were later felled, together with NParks.
Kwok said NParks has verified that all the species planted during the original OneMillionTrees planting activity in 2025 are represented in the affected area.
Launched in 2020, the OneMillionTrees movement aims to restore nature across the island by planting a million trees over 10 years.
To date, 875,564 trees have been planted across the Republic.
Andie Ang, who chairs the working group behind the original planting, called for communication channels and protocols to prevent similar mistakes.
The primatologist also suggested that clear signs could be put up to indicate sites undergoing restoration.
She said: “It is important to ensure accountability and, in this case, the contractors have admitted to errors on their part… I am more concerned about how future projects in our nature reserves and parks are managed to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again.”
Those who cut, collect or displace any tree or plant in a national park or nature reserve without approval can be fined up to $50,000, jailed for a maximum of six months, or both.
