Forests mostly secondary

Straits Times Forum 8 Jun 13;

I refer to the article, Green Gems, by Lea Wee (SundayLife!, June 2).

In it, she made several statements concerning the forests of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, referring to them as "primary forests".

For example, she writes: "These undisturbed primary forests have been called the green lungs of Singapore…"

This gives the impression that the whole catchment reserve is now covered with undisturbed primary forest.

As one who has worked as a professional forest ecologist and who carried out a quantitative survey of the reserve in 1992, I have to say that it is not correct to state that the forests are all primary forests. The vegetation there consists mostly of secondary forest, with some small patches of primary forest scattered here and there.

Wong Yew Kwan
Former commissioner for Parks and Recreation