Environmental study proposes to keep over 40 per cent of forested site in Bukit Timah
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The Sunda pangolin is among wildlife expected to be affected by the clearance of vegetation at a site off Old Jurong Road.
PHOTO: NATIONAL PARKS BOARD
- A study has found diverse trees typical of pristine forests on the roughly 5.5ha site planned for development near Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
- Clearing the vegetation will disrupt a crucial wildlife corridor, affecting species like the Sunda pangolin and Malayan colugo.
- The study proposes retaining 44% of the site and the URA will assess large trees for retention or transplanting, mitigating impact.
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SINGAPORE - A recent study has revealed an unexpectedly rich diversity of trees associated with Singapore’s untouched forests inside pockets of vegetation off the bustling Upper Bukit Timah Road.
The discovery was made during an environmental impact assessment commissioned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), as the Government is planning to progressively develop housing over the next decade at the roughly 5.5ha site at the junction of Old Jurong and Upper Bukit Timah roads.
To lower the adverse impact on flora and fauna, the study published on Feb 3 proposed that a 2.4ha land parcel at the site be retained. This amounts to 44 per cent of the area.
The URA told The Straits Times on Feb 6 that the parcel, which is zoned as a reserve site in the latest version of the masterplan, “will be left as it is”, even as the authority continues to review future plans for it.
This means that the area’s use has yet to be determined.
The URA said the two plots of land at the site have been earmarked for residential use since its 2019 Master Plan, to meet strong housing demand and provide a wider variety of housing in more central locations.
The study found that developing the forested land amounting to the size of about eight football fields will sever one of two critical links that wildlife relies on to travel between Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
Fauna expected to suffer from the disruption include the critically endangered Sunda pangolin and the locally threatened Malayan colugo, which was found to use the site for feeding and resting, according to the 187-page report.
Preserving green corridors that connect Singapore’s remaining forest patches is important for the future of the city-state’s shrinking natural populations, said the study, as these corridors facilitate the exchange of genetic material between forest areas, allowing them to remain healthy.
Clearing the entire site is expected to cause significant harm to some of the area’s flora and fauna, leaving just about 24 per cent of pathways that Malayan colugos can use to travel, according to the study prepared by environmental consultancy Tembusu Asia Consulting.
The Malayan colugo is among wildlife expected to be affected by the clearance of vegetation at a site off Old Jurong Road.
PHOTO: NATIONAL PARKS BOARD
However, preserving the 2.4ha parcel will maintain more than 90 per cent of the pathways for Malayan colugos, safeguard 35 native flora species of conservation significance, as well as ensure that a third of food-producing trees remain for animals at the site.
The URA said: “Guided by the environmental impact assessment, measures will be implemented to mitigate the environmental impact of development in the area.
“This would include assessing if there are large trees of conservation significance within the two residential sites to be retained or transplanted.”
Records in the mid-20th century show that part of the site was once a degraded forest that regenerated on farmland, while another section comprised plantations, with a few buildings of unspecified purpose.
Surveys to establish the area’s biodiversity and environmental conditions for the environmental impact assessment were conducted between August and November 2024.
These revealed that nearly 30 per cent of the site had dense clusters of native forest plants, signalling their potential to develop into a more mature forest. A total of 136 such species were recorded, 62 of which were significant for conservation.
Most of such flora of conservation significance were seedlings and saplings with no mature parent plants in the site – a promising indication that the seeds had successfully dispersed from the nearby Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Among them were the locally critically endangered Gardenia subcarinata and Cryptocarya nitens trees, which are mostly found in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
Ecologist Shawn Lum, who was part of the nature groups consulted on the report, said the rich regeneration of plants characteristic of pristine forests on the small, isolated site was “botanically fascinating”.
“That the diversity of primary forest plants in a small, isolated and detached patch of secondary forest can equal or even exceed primary forest regeneration from parts of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is remarkable indeed,” he said.
Such forest species often have large seeds, and these were most likely carried by macaques and medium-sized birds from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to the site, said the Nanyang Technological University senior lecturer who studies tropical forests.
If left alone, he added, the patch could eventually mature into a dense forest of high ecological value.
Notably, the critically endangered straw-headed bulbul was also among the 113 species of animals detected at the site.
The survival of native fauna species of local and global conservation significance at the site highlights the conservation value of vegetated patches and secondary forests outside of protected nature reserves and parks, said the study, calling for the site’s rarer forest habitats to be prioritised for protection.
Dr Lum said that retaining the area proposed in the study is a reasonable trade-off.
He added: “It retains the key ecological value of the site as a conduit for wildlife movement and as a receiving area for advanced forest regeneration, while still permitting long-planned residential projects.”
Singapore Pangolin Working Group representatives Sharon Chan and Charlene Yeong noted that reducing the site to the proposed 2.4ha parcel will mean that pangolins have less food and fewer spaces to sleep, potentially increasing the frequency of them venturing across Old Jurong Road.
They added: “If URA’s forest clearance coincides with the redevelopment of Bukit Batok Nature Park, with an increase in traffic and noise, more roadkills will be expected.”
To lower the chances of such accidents, they suggested incorporating wildlife corridors on the entire development site and building a tunnel under Old Jurong Road.
They also highlighted the risk of future developments being planned for the area, given that the area is still zoned as a reserve site.
They said: “We propose that this reserved site be zoned as parkland and serve as an extension of Bukit Batok Nature Park – this would be much more ideal than any other developments here.”
