Easier access to Kranji wetlands

Grace Chua Straits Times 16 Sep 11;

KRANJI Marshes, the wetland home of uncommon bird species, is set to become more accessible to visitors, as plans have been made for a new park connector to, and trails through it.

But before such facilities are even built in the 40ha area, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) wants to study plant and animal life there, and the quality of the water and how it flows.

This is so that it can minimise the environmental impact of building a park connector, trail and rest point in the project undertaken jointly with the National Parks Board and in consultation with the Nature Society (Singapore).

The area is home to grey herons and dozens of other bird species, as well as ferns, grasses and aquatic life.

The URA's tender for this 'biodiversity impact assessment' on Kranji Marshes said: 'The intention is not to over-develop the place, but to retain the existing ecological balance and biodiversity existing on site today.'

The impact study is expected to be done by the middle of next year, a URA spokesman said.

She added: 'With sensitively designed trails, the marshes can be enhanced as a laid-back, charming, 'countryside' destination with high educational value.'

The tender says that when developed, visitorship will be capped at about 100,000 a year - about the same as for Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve.

Dr Ho Hua Chew of the conservation committee of the Nature Society is concerned that this number is too high for a marshland habitat.

'Visitors will stand out in this kind of landscape, which will be disturbing to the wildlife,' he said.

He added that although the 100,000 cap is about the same as for Sungei Buloh, the latter is more than twice as big, and has dense mangroves along the visitor paths to act as screens.

He noted, for example, that a marsh pond at the end of Neo Tiew Lane 2 is now a breeding site for the rare purple swamp hen and common moorhen, and visitors could easily scare them off.

The Nature Society, members of which frequent Kranji Marshes, adopted a portion of the marsh in 2008 under national water agency PUB's 'Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters' programme.

Plans are also in the works to enhance and extend the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, which may be linked with other mangroves, reservoirs and marshes in Lim Chu Kang and Kranji.