Why We Should Have The Green Corridor

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. – Oscar Wilde

Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) has submitted a proposal, The Green Corridor: A Proposal to Keep the Railway Lands as a Continous Green Corridor, to the Singapore government on 21 October 2010. NSS proposes to retain the current KTM Railway Land as a Green Corridor after the train operations cease.

Background on the Railway Lands

On 24 May 2010, Singapore and Malaysia leaders agreed on the issue of the Malayan Railway Land in Singapore. Malaysia will move the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB station) to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint by 1 July 2011, and will co-locate its railway Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facility there. Both leaders also agreed that the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station Passenger Terminal building would be conserved given its historical significance, and that the old Bukit Timah Railway Station building at Blackmore Drive can also be conserved.

Both countries will also set up a company, M-S Pte Ltd, by 31 December 2010, with Malaysia having a 60% share under Khazanah Nasional Berhard and Singapore having a 40% share under Temasek Holdings. The company will handle the joint development of the three parcels of KTM land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji and Woodlands, and another three pieces of land in Bukit Timah.

On 20 September 2010, Malaysia agreed to accept the land swap offer by Singapore for four land parcels in Marina South and two pieces in Orphir-Rochor in exchange for the land parcels of KTM land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, Woodlands and Bukit Timah. This means that all the railway land would be available to the Singapore government for development after 1 July 2011. There is no announcement yet on how the government would develop the land. Read more

Love Letters To Earth

Love Letters To Earth is a new 6-part TV series featured on OKTO, and tells the stories of how environmentalists and nature lovers helped to protect and conserve the remaining nature reserves and wildlife in Singapore. Love Letters To Earth is shown on OKTO every Sunday at 9:30pm, with repeat telecast on Wednesday at 11:30pm.

The first episode shown last Sunday featured how four bird lovers managed to conserve Sungei Buloh. The four heroes from the then Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch) included:

• Richard Hale who discovered the site in 1986 (former CEO of HSBC in Singapore)
• Dr Ho Hua Chew (Chairman of the Nature Society Singapore Conservation Committee)
• Subaraj Rajathurai (wildlife expert and guide)
• Dr Rexon Ngim (plastic surgeon)

They found Sungei Buloh to be a place where many migratory birds visited and decided that the place is worth conserving. So they wrote a proposal to the government titled ‘A Proposal for a Nature Conservation Area at Sungei Buloh’, and sent it to all the ministers, including the late President Wee Kim Wee.

President Wee made a personal visit to Sungei Buloh to take a look for himself and perhaps helped to convince the government to designate Sungei Buloh as a nature park in 1989. In 2001, Sungei Buloh was gazetted as a nature reserve and renamed as Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Remember to catch Love Letters To Earth for more stories of these amazing and dedicated  nature lovers and environmentalists who contributed to nature conservation in Singapore. The second episode this Sunday is about Pulau Semakau.

Source credit for Love Letters To Earth image: OKTO (image from their Facebook page)

Celebrating Singapore’s BioDiversity!

The United Nations declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) and celebrations throughout the year are led by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). There will be various initiatives to promote the protection of biodiversity and to encourage organizations, companies and individuals to take action.

In support of the International Year of Biodiversity, a new website Celebrating Singapore’s BioDiversity! has been set up to showcase biodiversity in Singapore. From the website, here’s what you can do:

• Leave a comment in the guestbook. Share your thoughts and hopes for our biodiversity.
• Subscribe to the blog to get the latest updates in your reader or via email.
• Be a fan of the Facebook page so you can also receive updates via Facebook.
• Put the IYB2010 Singapore banner on your blog or website. To spread the word about our biodiversity to your readers.
• Add your wildlife photos to the Singapore Celebrates IYB flickr group site and Facebook page.
• Post a link to your biodiversity blog entry on the Facebook page.
• Tell your friends about International Year of Biodiversity!

Check out the Celebrating Singapore’s BioDiversity! for news and activities, and learn all about the biodiversity in Singapore.

JGIS Announces Research/Conservation Grants in Primatology

This is a press release from the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore).

As part of its Primate Research Initiative, from 2010 the Singapore office of the Jane Goodall Institute will offer grants for projects related to the study and the conservation of primates in their natural habitat in Southeast Asia.

Singapore, January 8th 2010 – From 2010, on a yearly basis the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore) will be offering grants of S$500-S$5000 to fund projects aimed at researching and conserving primates and their habitat in Southeast Asia. Applications for the 2010 grants are already open and the final application deadline is 15 February 2010.

The Primate Research Grant is part of the Primate Research Initiative launched in June 2009 by the founder of the organisation itself, Dr. Jane Goodall, during her last visit to Singapore. It aims to encourage the non-invasive study of primates in their natural habitat in Southeast Asia, with the hope that it may contribute findings as groundbreaking as Dr. Goodall’s own original work. Read more

Join Hands for a Real Greener Deal

This article is contributed by Trina Tan.

The word “green” probably has many meanings in different nations with different culture and religions. Green could mean envy, money, nature, health and life. Green is also the official religious colour in Islam. Recently, there seem to be a unifying meaning for green. The word green is now seen to convey the message of saving the environment.

In Singapore, the word “green” would imply energy saving light bulbs, biodegradable products, solar powered houses, green buildings and of course, not forgetting the 3Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle. But why is the word “green” not directly linked to protecting and conserving biodiversity? Is it because we humans are selfish?

We forget that we take actions to reduce our energy consumption not just to save our precious fossil fuels and reduce gas prices, or to reduce global warming and the resultant erratic weather patterns. We take actions ultimately to save the environment and its highly inter-linked and complex ecosystems and biodiversity.

Singaporeans has learnt about how to recycle, or take the public transport instead of driving but many are unequipped with the knowledge on the importance of ecosystems and biodiversity conservation. Once we understand these concepts, we will realize how our daily actions have such big impacts on the millions of species on Earth whom we share with.

Plants, animals and the natural world are fascinating, and we have spent centuries learning about them and from them. Many of our problems are solved by solutions from nature – using bacteria as medicine and discovering gravity from apples falling. While we try to change and adjust our bad human habits that lead to the destruction of Earth and the extinction of species, we ought to also put in more “greener” efforts to help the environment directly.

As a small nation with little natural resources, let us not forget that even the flora and fauna in Singapore are also defined as resources. These plants and animals are part of the ecosystem, which humans depend on. Singapore has already given up a large portion of its original tropical rainforest to build Singaporeans a better home, causing the extinction of many species that once used to live alongside with us. Now that you feel a tinge of guilt, you ought to do a part in protecting whatever nature spots we have left in the form of fragmented forestland, mangroves and swamps.

This remaining precious land is home to many species, some of which are unique only to Singapore. Going green is on one hand, like what we have been told, saving water, switching to fans instead of air conditioners, reducing the use of paper and plastic bags, and changing our light bulbs to energy saving ones, etc. On the other hand, it is also to do our part to protect and conserve the biodiversity that we have as a nation, because these plants and animals are born and bred here. They too, are “Singaporeans”.

There are many ways to care for our flora and fauna directly, like actively participating in mangrove and beach clean ups which are organized by environmental groups such as Toddycats, Nature Society, and the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore. Not littering in parks and rivers will also help. As the future lies in the hands of the children today, education and sparking interest among the young in areas of biology and biodiversity will shape Singapore towards a future of being a nature loving society.

Last but definitely not the least, one can also provide resources and support to the organizations that help to preserve and conserve our environment. Singapore is very lucky to have agencies like the National Environment Agency and the National Parks Board that do their part in protecting the environment and conserving nature in Singapore.

Even with the current nature enthusiasts, there are still many more “positions” that are open to help protect Singapore and the Earth. These positions have almost no criteria except to be passionate in preserving Nature’s creation. I hope you would send your resume in for this position soon.

« Previous Page — Next Page »