Living gallery of trees at Yishun Park

Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 11 Jul 08;

A NATURAL museum is growing in Yishun Park, where 860 trees found only in the shrinking rainforests of the Indo-Malayan region have been planted.

The young trees are all from the Dipterocarp family - named after their winged fruit that look like shuttlecocks.

About 70 of the world's 500 or so species were planted by staff of the National Parks Board and Banyan Tree Holdings.

The latter sponsored the $160,000 Dipterocarp Arboretum, which is Singapore's first living gallery of these hardwoods. The money will also fund educational signs and programmes like guided walks for visitors, explaining the heritage of these trees.

Now scrawny and standing at a grown man's height, they could reach 30m high in a century, and still be considered short compared to their majestic cousins in natural rainforests.

The largest known specimen is the termite-resistant Chengal. It stands 80m tall in a forest in Terengganu and is estimated to be about 1,300 years old.

It takes about 13 tree-huggers to span its girth.

This species, along with others like the Shorea, Meranti and Kapur, will line the walkways of about three hectares of the 14-hectare park.

An assistant director at Streetscape, Mr S. K. Ganesan, said: 'Their special qualities have made them highly sought after for timber and they are disappearing from our forests, which makes it important for us to study, and try to preserve them.'

Dipterocarp Arboretum at Yishun Park to enhance urban biodiversity
Chan Eu Imm, Channel NewsAsia 10 Jul 08;

SINGAPORE : Yishun Park, situated in northern Singapore, has become home to an iconic family of rainforest trees called dipterocarps.

This unique collection of forest giants, which can tower up to 80 metres, is part of the National Parks Board's (NParks) initiative to enhance biodiversity within urban areas.

The trees are unique to Southeast Asia and make up the towering backbone of Indo-Malayan rainforests.

"The dipterocarps are the trees that define the forests in our region. By establishing this arboretum, we'll be in a position to see what species of dipterocarps (can be) planted in urban areas," said S K Ganesan, Assistant Director of Streetscape, National Parks Board.

The research will help the board identify hardier species that are suitable for planting along roads.

NParks began planting the saplings throughout the park in June 2007. Completed last month, the sprawling three-hectare arboretum is now home to more than 800 trees, comprising 70 species.

Hotel & resort owner and developer Banyan Tree Holdings poured in S$160,000 (US$120,000) to make this project a reality, as part of its 10-year global Greening Communities programme.

Yishun Park was chosen as the location for the Dipterocarp Arboretum because of its specific topography and soil condition. Educational tours such as guided walks and tree hunts will begin next year. - CNA /ls

Rare trees are a labour of love at Yishun Park
John Heng, Business Times 12 Jul 08;

SINGAPORE'S first Dipterocarp Arboretum at Yishun Park is the result of a win-win situation created by an organisation that knows trees and another with the means - and loves the idea of planting trees as part of a corporate social responsibility move.

In this case, National Parks, along with Banyan Tree Holdings and S$160,000 in tow, came together to develop and nurture this labour of love for education and research.

The man at the centre of it all is Mr S K Ganesan. He speaks of plants like his children and seeds, like angels of love.

This particular family of trees is known as Dipterocarp, which means 'two-winged fruit' - a name derived from the two to five-winged fruits that this family of trees produces. When they fall away from the 'mother' as Mr Ganesan fondly calls the parent tree, they float and 'fly', carried away by the wind.

Dipterocarps, also fondly known as forest giants, are iconic trees that make up the backbone of the Indo-Malayan rainforests and is unique to this region. They are very hardy trees which can live up to 1,000 years and grow up to 80 metres tall. While they are not expected to hit the full 80-m height, due to different growth conditions, they are still expected to grow to a range of 20-40 metres tall.

So the next time you take a walk around Yishun Park, do not jeer at the young and frail looking saplings, for they are very likely to tower over you in a few short years and still be around when you are not.