Tengah school construction expected to negatively impact biodiversity

SINGAPORE – The creation of a new campus for international school United World College of South-east Asia (UWCSEA) in Tengah is expected to negatively impact biodiversity, disturbing the habitat of a critically endangered songbird and the globally endangered long-tailed macaque.

This was disclosed on the school’s website on April 9 in an environmental impact assessment, which also uncovered a species of grass on the site previously thought to be nationally extinct.

With site preparation works slated to begin in August, the 211-page report outlined the ecological consequences of the new campus and proposed measures to reduce the impact to acceptable levels.

This marks the fifth environmental study released online for works in the Tengah forest, which is progressively cleared for Singapore’s first “forest town”.

The development will take up 9.48ha of land – the size of roughly 13 football fields – consisting primarily of young forest, scrubland, and various water bodies, according to the report prepared by engineering consultant Aurecon.

In a statement on its website, UWCSEA said the study began in September 2024 and concluded in February to ensure that the full cycle of all species was observed.

A total of 137 animal species were recorded during field surveys, of which six were deemed significant for conservation.

This included the straw-headed bulbul – a songbird on the brink of global extinction due to poaching and habitat loss – as well as the harlequin butterfly that is critically endangered here.

Also detected in the area was Singapore’s last wild cat species – the leopard cat.

The greatest harm for wildlife in Tengah will result from the loss of natural water bodies during site clearance, including natural freshwater streams, as well as the impact construction will have on aquatic fauna.

The report said these impacts could be lowered to a moderate level with mitigation measures, which include salvaging freshwater fauna, especially the nationally endangered crescent betta (Betta imbellis), and moving the fish elsewhere.

Dr Tan Heok Hui, an ichthyologist at the NUS Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, noted that the disappearance of agricultural land has made it increasingly difficult to find the open-country aquatic systems necessary for such fish.

Dr Tan, who was not involved in the environmental study, said that while translocation is effective in theory, it will need to be thoroughly implemented.

“Such efforts are human-run and human-driven, so if they are not maintained, they will crumble,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Movin Nyanasengeran, president of the Bird Society of Singapore, cautioned that the displacement of the straw-headed bulbul could be a bigger issue than anticipated.

While the songbird is capable of flying in search of other territories, it is unclear whether there is sufficient empty habitat for the birds to move into, he said.

Notwithstanding the 5km-long Tengah forest corridor, most of Tengah forest will eventually be turned into some 42,000 new homes, industrial areas and other amenities.

Dr Movin added: “That’s a major gap of environmental impact assessments here because there does not appear to be a study of (the maximum population size of a species that an environment can support) for the surrounding area for species of importance.”

Conserving a slice of native-dominated forest inside the campus – measuring about one-fifth of a football field – was also among measures proposed by the assessment report.

This patch could be linked to the Tengah forest corridor, allowing wildlife to travel there safely, and sparing more than 20 trees considered important for conservation.

Of the 247 species of flora recorded for the report, 27 species were deemed of conservation significance, including the Ischaemum rugosum grass previously thought to be nationally extinct.

The grass could have re-emerged for a number of reasons, said forest ecologist Shawn Lum, adding that the re-discovery is interesting because the origins of the grass and why it had lurked undetected for so long is unclear.

“One might reason that if Singapore was mostly rainforest, freshwater swamp and mangroves, then habitat suitable for fast-growing, opportunistic grasses might have been limited,” added the senior lecturer at NTU’s Asian School of the Environment.

He also highlighted a lone specimen of the Gymnacranthera farquhariana in the site as another intriguing find.

The tree that can grow up to 30m is typically found in pristine rainforests.

The findings of the specimen, and other plants characteristic of older forests, suggest dispersal from animal movement between nature reserves and Tengah, said Dr Lum.

Ecologists had previously disputed HDB’s finding that Tengah vegetation was mostly of low conservation significance, highlighting the vegetation as a key node that allows wildlife to travel between the Western Catchment and the Central Catchment nature reserves.

Dr Lum said the report’s findings suggest there are areas in the forest suitable for the re-establishment of species-rich forest and that there could be more rare plants in other parts of Tengah that are yet to be cleared.

On its website, UWCSEA, which is currently located in Dover and Tampines, said flora species significant for conservation will be salvaged and transplanted upon consultation with the National Parks Board.

Dr Lum praised the report’s progressive recommendations, which also include the use of decals to prevent birds from hitting buildings.

Dr Lum said he has rarely seen institutions proactively implement measures to understand a site and design a development in a manner as sensitive and as future-forward as UWCSEA.

“I hope that this approach and ethos is not only perpetuated at UWC South-east Asia and in the UWC family of schools, but that it influences other institutions and organisations to aim higher and to take equally ambitious and praiseworthy responsibility for our green spaces.”

Mr Muhammad Nasry Abdul Nasir, executive director of advocacy group Singapore Youth Voices for Biodiversity, however, pushed for more nature to be preserved in the campus and a wider corridor for wildlife.

“Given that Tengah is supposed to be a forest town, UWCSEA can be a forest school that weaves in the area’s water bodies, which will provide wildlife with more options,” suggested Mr Nasry, who plans to submit his feedback to the school.

The public can submit feedback to the school about the environmental impact assessment report at this website until May 8.

UWCSEA said it will consider all relevant public feedback before seeking final approval from the Government.