New parks as part of nature corridor through Khatib area

Lower Seletar Reservoir Park will be expanded and two new parks developed as part of a new nature corridor that links the Central Catchment Nature Reserve to Khatib Bongsu Nature Park.

The new Khatib Nature Corridor is one of four new ecological corridors announced by the National Parks Board (NParks) yesterday, as it unveiled findings from a study that mapped the ecological links between the island's green spaces.

Each corridor acts as a highway for wildlife, allowing them to find mates and food in other forest patches.

The three other corridors are in Lim Chu Kang, Kranji and Seletar. Nature corridors - comprising retained forested patches, parks, tree-and shrub-lined routes and park connectors - will be established in these areas if they are developed, and more information will be shared when ready.

Another potential corridor has been identified in the eastern region, running through the Paya Lebar Air Base area, and NParks is studying how to establish a nature corridor there in tandem with redevelopment plans for the airbase.

The ecological corridors were announced as part of the long-term plan review exhibition, which showcases development plans for the next 50 years and beyond.

NParks said its study, known formally as the ecological profiling exercise, was conducted in consultation with a 14-member scientific advisory panel.

First announced in February last year and completed earlier this year, the study identified the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and the upcoming Khatib Bongsu Nature Park as core habitats, home to more rare and native species.

To link the two, it has established Khatib Nature Corridor, which comprises forested sites at Springleaf, Tagore, Miltonia Close, along Lower Seletar Reservoir, and the existing Springleaf Nature Park.

The two new parks within the corridor will be part of upcoming developments in the Springleaf and Miltonia Close areas.

Nee Soon Nature Park - about 10ha to 15ha in size - will be part of the new developments in Springleaf and contain a rare freshwater swamp forest habitat.

Meanwhile, a 6.4ha nature park will be opened in Miltonia Close, an area that the Housing Board is working to develop. The park will be completed alongside HDB developments in the area.

The nearby Lower Seletar Reservoir Park will get a 16.5ha extension, along the reservoir's northern bank.

NParks said it will look into conducting habitat restoration along the waterfront when Orchid Country Club, which currently occupies the site, is returned to the state after 2030 - the club's lease expires on Dec 31 that year.

The extension will be completed when the land occupied by the club is redeveloped.

In addition to these, more than 20km of new trails for recreation will be added in the Lower Seletar Reservoir and Khatib areas, bringing the total length of trails there to 80km.

Botanist Shawn Lum, who was part of the study's advisory panel, said the study combined expert knowledge of local ecosystems with rigorous, data intensive, model-based planning.

"We kept what we have been traditionally good at and combined it with the latest in analytical approaches to come up with results that neither approach could have achieved alone," he said.

Meanwhile, NParks also announced that it has completed an ecological study of Singapore's marine environment, which, like the dry land study, identifies links between key coastal and marine habitats.

The study found that Singapore's marine ecosystems are generally self-sustaining, which means that local habitats are able to supply themselves and each other with marine organisms that help the habitats thrive, and are not reliant on habitats abroad.

A method called agent-based modelling was used to predict where marine organisms move to and settle down. This involves computational modelling that simulates the movement and interactions of organisms within the marine environment.

The simulations factor in source habitats and currents.

Four representative marine organisms were used in the simulations - mangrove propagules, seagrass fragments, sea star larvae and coral larvae.

Connections were corroborated using genetic studies, where the genes of organisms from different habitats were compared to confirm that they were related.

National University of Singapore marine biologist Huang Danwei, who was consulted on the study, said it is a continuous, dynamic process that must consider new data produced by future studies, and also incorporate the ongoing shifts driven by climate change and other impacts.

As sea temperatures rise, more reefs are expected to undergo coral bleaching, he said, which may change the relationships between habitats.