Batman might be a friend of Gotham, but its plant namesake is creating trouble in the Bukit Timah forest.
More than 200 Bukit Timah residents and volunteers, from couples in their 60s to primary school children, met in an area in Rifle Range Road yesterday to fight an invasive weed - Dioscorea sansibarensis, also known as the Zanzibar yam or Batman plant.
It is threatening to suffocate the natural biodiversity of the forest.
Operation Dioscorea was organised by the Bukit Timah Citizens' Consultative Committee and the Friends of Bukit Timah Forest, a group comprising members of the nature community, recreational users, schools and nearby residents.
For two hours yesterday, volunteers worked in teams of three to five people to dig up and pull out 900kg of the Batman plant, a herbaceous vine that has large starchy underground tubers and wide bat-like leaves that can smother other plants.
The weeds are fast-growing and need to be manually removed so that other native plants are not damaged. Once it has established in an area, the forest has little chance of recovery without human intervention.
Its large tubers, which can grow as big as two footballs, make the vine difficult to uproot.
Volunteers had to dig up the roots and prise the tubers manually from the ground, so the weed would not grow back.
Volunteer Leck Lee Hong, 49, a senior IT manager, said that though the work was tough, it was fulfilling. "It felt good to work together with other residents to help the forest. There's a real sense of satisfaction gained from the work."
The mother of five, who lives nearby, said she would be willing to return to the forest if another such project is organised. She would also encourage her children to join in.
Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Sim Ann, who joined the volunteers in picking the weeds, said the work was "sweaty but therapeutic".
Ms Sim, the adviser to Bukit Timah Grassroots Organisations, said: "The forest is ours to protect and it is under threat. We can't just send in bulldozers to clear the weeds. We wanted to mobilise the community, to learn about the forest and be involved in saving it."
Participants included parent-child teams from Raffles Girls' Primary School, students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and volunteers from Keppel Corporation, Friends of Bukit Timah Forest, Blossom World, Kindred Community and Kowloon Club.
Volunteer Jo Lynn Teh, 33, an entomologist, said the project was a good chance for residents to play their part in protecting the environment.
"I believe we need to care for the biodiversity of our forest, and this is something meaningful to give my time to. The motivation is really to do my small part in helping the environment."
