The new Tampines Eco Green park is a testbed for more green features in Singapore's parks
huang huifen Straits Times 30 Apr 11
When Tampines resident Toh Nan Li saw construction taking place on a plot of forested wasteland near his flat last year, the 30-year-old feared that it was going to be yet another housing development project.
The photography enthusiast was about to bid goodbye to his favourite spot for shooting sunrises when he learnt, to his relief, that the land was being developed into an eco-park by the National Parks Board (NParks).
The new $3-million Tampines Eco Green park, which had its soft launch last weekend, is designed to look like a savannah, with marshlands, secondary rainforests and freshwater ponds.
At 36.5ha, about a quarter the size of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, the park in Tampines North, at the junction of Tampines Avenues 9 and 12, is also home to a wide variety of wildlife.
These include 70 species of birds such as the White-bellied Sea Eagle and Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, 13 species of dragonflies, 12 species of butterflies and 32 species of spiders, including the first-time discovery here of the fast-moving Sphingius vivax from the Family Corinnidae.
Never mind that one can still see and hear the MRT train on the East-West line rumbling pass. Tampines resident Tan Tiong Chin, 43, loves the tranquillity of the park.
'I love that it is very natural, unlike the Sun Plaza Park opposite that is more built-up with an amphitheatre. It is very quiet and beautiful here,' says the container equipment specialist who was brisk walking in the park when Life! visited on Thursday morning.
The park will be officially launched in September. At its soft opening, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister of State for Education and Home Affairs and adviser to grassroots organisations in Tampines, says the park is for residents to rest and relax in an authentic environment that has been lost in Singapore.
The park could pave the way for more eco-parks in the future.
Mr Benjamin Lee, assistant director of nature parks at NParks, says: 'If the public's feedback for its eco-friendly features is positive, we will incorporate these features into future parks.'
For example, benches and signage along the trails are made from tree trunks collected from NParks' pruning operations or fallen trees around the island.
Three bird hides, to shield birdwatchers so they do not disturb the birds, are created using twigs and branches instead of wooden planks such as the ones at Sungei Buloh. The materials are recycled from NParks' horticultural activities.
Instead of a concrete or dirt footpath, the 3.1km trail is surfaced with Zoysia, a species of creeping grass native to South-east Asia. The bare concrete roofs of the park's four shelters and an eco- toilet are covered with creepers and the yellow Crotolaria flowers.
Human waste used for compost
When it rains, a 2km-long stretch of vegetated swathes, which are 0.3m-deep troughs surfaced with granite and plants, will function like a natural drainage system, purifying and channelling water out to the nearby river Sungei Tampines or absorbing it into the ground to facilitate the growth of plants along the swathes.
One park feature that is guaranteed to raise eco awareness - and possibly eyebrows - is the first-ever flush-free eco- toilet in public parks in Singapore. It converts human waste into compost using bacteria and wood shavings. The compost, which takes six months to decompose, will be used as fertiliser in the park.
There is only one such toilet in the park. It was designed by American composting toilet manufacturer Clivus Multrum which supplied eco-toilets to national parks such as the Katmai National Park in Alaska.
Amenities aside, NParks also cultivated trees and plants that produce nectar and fruit to attract more birds and butterflies to the area.
But it is not just the wildlife that has got Mr Toh, the photography enthusiast, excited about his neighbourhood's new eco-park.
'The park is a rare gem of what's left of the heavily developed East side. It is a haven that you cannot find elsewhere in Singapore, especially the beautiful misty scenery after the rain,' he says.
