Better balance between development and conservation with revised Maju, Gillman plans: Nature groups

SINGAPORE – The revised development plans for Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks are a good compromise between providing housing and preserving greenery, and also connect wildlife better than in original proposals, say nature groups here.

But redevelopment of any kind would still have an impact on biodiversity and habitats at both sites, they added.

Residents living near Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks had mixed feelings towards the updated plans. While some felt that the changes struck a better balance between redevelopment needs and their concerns, other residents said they had hoped to be consulted on the revised plans.

These comments followed the Oct 28 announcement of revised plans for the redevelopment of both sites, which will now have more greenery but fewer new homes than in the initial plans released in July.

Movin Nyanasegaran, president of Bird Society of Singapore, said the additional greenery that has been set aside is a “good compromise”.

While he felt the changes were not a massive step up for wildlife since initial plans had made allowances for fauna at both sites, he said he was glad to see more native-dominated forests retained under the revised plans.

Such forests, which are typically dominated by native fast-growing trees, are more suited to vegetation and insect communities that form the foundation of natural ecosystems here than forests filled with non-native plants, said Nyanasegaran.

He added that he appreciated the move, especially because retaining more native-dominated forest in the Gillman Barracks site was something he had specifically suggested during engagement sessions with HDB.

Under the revised plans, retained greenery at Maju Forest will also be designated as a new nature park, while green spaces in Gillman Barracks are set to be part of the upcoming Alexandra Nature Park to widen the greenery within the Labrador Nature Park Network.

Lester Tan, a member of the Nature Society Singapore conservation committee, said dedicating parts of both sites to nature parks is a good step as such parks are “more rustic than a manicured urban park”.

This means these spaces will be built more sensitively to consider different animals and birds in the area, he added.

More broadly, the revised plans will help to improve ecological connectivity compared with the earlier proposals, said Tan.

For instance, he added, a wider green area in the southern part of Maju Forest will connect wildlife better than the tiny strip of land in the previous plans.

Agreeing with this assessment, environmentalist Ho Xiang Tian said the larger and more contiguous greenery that will be retained in Maju Forest will serve as a useful stepping stone where wildlife can “rest” while moving across the ecological corridor.

This is crucial because the space available for wildlife will shrink further as Singapore clears more forested areas, and various species could be stranded when connectivity between green areas is disrupted, added the co-founder of environmental group LepakInSG.

As nature groups noted, biodiversity and habitats are, inevitably, negatively affected by redevelopment plans.

Tan pointed out that there are other forests with more conservation value than Maju Forest, like Clementi Forest and Tagore Forest.

“I would rather (have) the revised plan than shift the stress from one point to another (like Clementi or Tagore forests),” Tan added. “Keeping 10ha of Maju Forest strikes a balance – it is better than clearing two-thirds of it.”

The Government said on Sept 8 that there are currently no plans to designate the Tagore forest as a nature reserve, in response to a question in Parliament about whether the Government would consider granting the forest such protection.

Residents living near Gillman Barracks and Clementi’s Sunset Way, where Maju Forest is located, had different views of the updated redevelopment plans.

For Telok Blangah resident Anna Yap, the revised plans for Gillman Barracks achieve a better balance between building homes and conserving nature.

The 37-year-old landscape architect, who attended two engagement sessions with representatives of public agencies, also said such sessions helped people to understand the Government’s balancing act.

“It’s important to have engagements because planning can be quite top-down. Such sessions help to build ownership from the ground up. It means the planning process is longer, but it’s always helpful to hear everyone’s perspective,” she said.

Telok Blangah resident Asif Hussain, 39, said he hopes the Government will conduct public consultations at an earlier stage for future redevelopment projects.

Joanne Teoh, who has lived in Sunset Way for over three decades, said that she had hoped that residents like herself were invited to review revised plans before they were informed of the outcome.

Some residents did not think the authorities went far enough to preserve greenery.

Nature guide Mark Lin, 34, who lives in Clementi’s Sunset Way, said he was disappointed by the revised plans, which felt to him like more of a negotiation of bits of land than a genuine effort to preserve more of the forest’s biodiversity.

Photographer Seow Mun Kong, who lives in Telok Blangah, said while keeping more greenery is a step in the right direction, he would rather the forest remain untouched.

“Once you tear it down, it’s irreplaceable,” said Seow, 40, who often runs along the forest walk leading to Gillman Barracks.

Teoh, a 67-year-old media specialist, said: “Retaining more forest is welcome, but saving 45% still means losing more than half of Maju.”