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SINGAPORE – Cyclists and hikers can now tackle the 1.76km Lornie Nature Corridor, the last section of the Coast to Coast trail that stretches from Jurong Lake Gardens to Coney Island Park.
The corridor that opened on Saturday morning (November 21) also serves as a parkway between MacRitchie Reservoir Park and Adam Road.
National Development Minister Desmond Lee marked the opening by planting 150 trees along the corridor with the community.
The initiative is part of the One Million Trees Movement, which has already planted more than 80,000 trees since its launch in April. Its goal is to reach the one million mark by 2030. Singapore has around seven million trees.
Lee said at the launch: “These efforts are part of our commitment to transform Singapore into a city in the wild over the next decade … These will help mitigate the effects of urbanization and climate change, and provide the people of Singapore greater access to nature and creating a more livable environment. “
The corridor will also be part of a 10 km stretch from Kheam Hock Road to Upper Thomson Road that is being rebuilt, a process that allows plants to grow naturally with selective intervention.
The National Parks Board has allocated 32 stretches of nature trails, paths and habitats in parks and green spaces to rebuild over the next three years. Vegetation will be allowed to grow naturally at these sites and undesirable plant species that are more prone to fire and storm hazards will also be pruned or removed.
The Lornie corridor was formed by reclaiming land freed by reducing Lornie Road from seven to four lanes after the Lornie Expressway was built.
But construction of the road affected part of the Bukit Brown cemetery, causing tension between development and conservation, Lee said.
“We had to grapple with trade-offs between improving our transportation networks and conserving our heritage and biodiversity,” he added.
“However, it was these very difficult issues that opened up conversations and allowed us to deepen the partnership between the government and civil society, such as nature and heritage groups.”
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