SINGAPORE - When viewed from above, the lush, broccoli-like tree tops of the Kranji woodland give the impression of an ecosystem as rich as other tropical rainforest plots in Singapore.

So when photographs of cleared parts of the woodland flanking the Rail Corridor in Sungei Kadut started circulating on Valentine's Day, Singaporeans who had fallen for the nature spaces in their own backyard were taken aback, with some lamenting the loss of yet another forest plot in Singapore.