A total of 31 hectares of forest near Bedok Camp will be cleared by 2029, making way for 10,000 new homes, said the Housing and Development Board in a report on Tuesday (Nov 1).
HDB noted that the areas affected by the project have “minor to moderate” conservation value, although the construction will cause irreversible impacts and loss of habitats.
The environmental study for the Bayshore development project cites that the location is primarily on reclaimed land with an “exotic-dominated secondary forest” bounded by other construction developments.
There is low species richness, a low proportion of species with conservation significance and dominance of non-native flora in the areas due for clearance, the report added.
Only 16 of the 196 flora species in the area are of conservation significance, while only six of the 147 species of fauna are of conservation significance.
However, it was reported that the land between Upper East Coast Road, Bayshore Road, Bedok Camp and the East Coast Parkway is among the last “substantial forest fragments” in eastern Singapore.
Thus the project will cause “irreversible” impacts due to the loss of flora and fauna habitats, the Straits Times noted.
Key mitigation measures and best management practices proposed in the study include NParks transplanting, harvesting saplings or taking stem cutting of conservation-significant flora species where needed.
The trees and shrubs will then be replanted to “replicate a forest environment.”
Responding to the news, members from the online community expressed concern about the wildlife affected by the project.
“Plant many trees at the roadside but cut forest habitats. Animals go where?” asked Facebook user Roy Chang.
“Nowadays, I am so afraid of news about property projects that take away our very limited forest and vegetation of this tiny island!” added another netizen.
One Jacky Foo wondered if other areas could be redeveloped instead. “So much about conservation. Close some of the golf courses. We don’t need so many golf courses,” he noted./TISG
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