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SINGAPORE – Nature groups have voiced their objections to zoning a site they call Dover Forest for residential use, citing the need to create more green spaces for recreation and conserve the vast species of animals and plants there.
The area, which covers 33ha on the Ulu Pandan farm, is home to at least 158 species of animals, including those that are critically endangered, and 120 species of plants.
The estate is bounded by the Ulu Pandan Canal to the north, Ghim Moh Link to the east, Commonwealth Avenue West to the south, and Clementi Road to the west.
On Friday (January 15), Nature Society Singapore (NSS) posted on its Facebook page a 13-page proposal to the Housing Board (HDB).
In the proposal, NSS argued that the Dover Forest be designated as a “public-natural park” instead.
He said parts of the space could be reserved for a recreation park and community garden, while areas rich in wildlife should remain intact.
“Of first consideration is the absence of a public park in this area of Dover / Ulu Pandan now,” he said in his proposal.
He noted that the demand for greenery among the public has grown, noting the weekend crowds at the Central Catchment Nature Reserve’s TreeTop Walk.
The proposal came as the HDB requested comments from December 20 through Saturday on its environmental baseline study at the Ulu Pandan farm.
In the study published on its website last year, the HDB said that the Ulu Pandan site, which also includes a mowed lawn comprising a pedestrian path to the Dover MRT station, has been largely zoned as residential in the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Master. Plan 2014.
Some of the concerns raised by NSS included the loss of biodiversity and the connectivity of wildlife with other nearby green spaces, such as the Clementi forest.
Six species are listed as critically endangered or endangered in the HDB study. They are the moody hawk eagle, the hanging blue-crowned parrot, the purple cuckoo, the salanga, the eastern magpie robin and the Asian softshell turtle.
However, NSS said its internal records show that there may be more endangered species in Dover Forest than are mentioned by the HDB.
“All of these records … demand serious attention to conservation,” NSS said.
Other nature groups have also spoken out against zoning, including Singapore’s Young Voices for Biodiversity and Lepak in SG.
On its WordPress site, Singapore Youth Voices for Biodiversity said that the Dover Forest could mitigate the urban heat island effect, when an urban area becomes much warmer than the rural areas that surround it, and cool the surrounding residential spaces. .
A Change.org petition created by Dover resident Sydney Cheong to save the Dover forest has garnered more than 12,800 signatures as of 6pm Saturday.
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