SG50: New trees, East Coast Parkway light-up to celebrate Singapore’s greenery

More planting, landscaping along expressways and in CBD among NParks’ plans
By Neo Chai Chin, TODAY, 10 Nov 2014

The Republic’s green spaces will be part of its 50th birthday celebrations next year, with roadside greenery to be spruced up, more trees to be planted and public events to be hosted at parks.

From the third quarter of next year, the iconic rain trees along a 3.4km stretch of East Coast Parkway (ECP) that greet travellers from Changi Airport will be specially lit up to showcase their beauty at night.

Additional planting and landscaping will also be done along the ECP and four other expressways, as well as major roads in the civic and Central Business District, said Minister of State (National Development) Desmond Lee yesterday as he announced the National Parks Board’s (NParks) SG50 plans.

Free concerts will be held at six parks and gardens here — starting with Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park next March — with local talents performing jazz, classical and contemporary music as well as xinyao. The other parks hosting concerts include Admiralty Park in May and the Singapore Botanic Gardens in August.

And 50 Community In Bloom groups will come together to create five garden displays at the HortPark from March. A mass tree-planting exercise will take place next September and October, with 5,000 more trees to be planted at the park connectors, parks and nature ways.

Mr Lee was speaking at the launch of the Jurong Spring Nature Way, a 5.3km route from Jurong Lake Park to the Western Catchment area that aims to attract more birds and butterflies through specific trees and shrubs planted. The endangered native Yellow Cow Wood tree, for instance, is a host plant for several butterfly species such as the Archduke and Short Banded Sailor, while the Small-leafed Oil-fruit tree bears fruit eaten by birds such as the Yellow-vented Bulbul and Pink-necked Pigeon. The nature way, which winds through largely residential areas, is one of eight here with a combined length of 43.3km.

NParks deputy chief executive Leong Chee Chiew said the nature ways would allow everyday encounters with birds and butterflies, such as on walks home from the MRT station.

Jurong resident Thilagar Ragavan, 13, welcomed the possibility of seeing more wildlife but hoped existing species of beetles and other insects would not be affected. His friend, Gangababu Giry Thara Prasath, 15, said the sightings could spur an interest among the youth to know more about various animal species.

Asked how roadside greenery would be enhanced for SG50, Dr Leong said more varieties of trees would be planted — similar to what has been done along newer roads — to create a more natural look. And where roads have been widened, NParks tries to replant big specimens to get back the mature greenery as quickly as possible. “When you remove mature trees, there’s going to be a gap between the removal of the tree and eventual growth of a new plant,” he explained.

The special lighting of the stretch of the ECP would showcase the sculptural beauty of the rain trees, said Dr Leong, who is also Commissioner of Parks and Recreation. “We’ll be quite careful about how bright (the lights) should be and where (they) should point and so on … we will try our best to make it pretty without being overwhelming,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Grace Fu said she hoped to see more corporations step forward to participate in the SG50 celebrations. Speaking at the Great Eastern Women’s Run organised by the insurer yesterday, Ms Fu commended the firm’s move to offer free insurance for Jubilee-year babies next year.

“I’m happy to see that many corporates are stepping up. SG50 shouldn’t be the Government’s way of celebrating the Jubilee year. It should be everyone in Singapore, all corporates stepping in and doing their part. We hope more companies will also join in,” she said.

Post by NParks - Let's Make Singapore Our Garden.