NParks' green commitment

Straits Times 28 May 10;

I REFER to Mr Chong Kwek Yan's Forum Online letter on Monday, "Face up to the green fact".

While we agree with Mr Chong that it would be more fruitful to focus on what can be done moving forward, we would like to make the following clarifications.

Analysis shows that 47 per cent of Singapore is under vegetation cover. Dense vegetation cover makes up 14 per cent of Singapore's land area, and this includes forest cover which makes up 9.2 per cent of the land area.

A city is, by definition, a built-up area with high population density. It is not realistic for cities to have a high proportion of forested area. Singapore's coverage of forest and dense vegetation is considered good compared with other cities.

Furthermore, biodiversity is not confined to forests. Grasslands, parks, mangroves, mudflats and so on have distinct assemblages of native plants and animals. A city with a wide range of ecosystems will have a high diversity in plants, animals and micro-organisms.

On Mr Chong's point that half of Singapore's bird species are non-residents, ornithologists include both resident and migratory bird species in their bird lists because migratory birds use the habitats they migrate through to refuel.

Much of Singapore's original forest cover and native species were lost before independence in 1965. Since then, we have made concerted efforts to protect what is remaining and enhance the habitats and biodiversity.

We note that, in a recent paper, Mr Chong praised Singapore's efforts to build an ecological corridor between Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Nature Reserve, saying "it is instructive that a nation as small, land-scarce, resource-poor and highly urbanised as Singapore is leading this promising initiative". We would like to inform Mr Chong that in this regard, the development of the City Biodiversity Index as a tool to measure the progress of biodiversity conservation in cities further underscores our commitment.

Wong Tuan Wah
Director, Conservation
National Parks Board (NParks)

Related links

• Why researchers included Singapore in green study Straits Times Forum 21 May 10;
• Green study disregards Singapore's circumstances Straits Times Forum 19 May 10;
• Is Singapore the worst environmental offender? Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 14 May 10;
• Singapore No. 1 in global ranking of environmental degradation New study ranks countries on environment impact University of Adelaide, EurekAlert 4 May 10;Singapore No. 1 global eco-destroyer? on wild shores of singapore.