More than 52ha of forested land and streams near Nanyang Technological University are expected to be cleared for the expansion of an industrial district in Jurong. JTC Corporation said that the clearance is for the construction of CleanTech Park and Bahar precincts under the 620ha Jurong Innovation District, the five-precinct advanced manufacturing hub that has been gradually constructed since 2019.
The CleanTech Park in Jalan Bahar, adjacent to the PIE intersection, is an important project site, with the 116ha site for the CleanTech Park project that will be Singapore’s first eco-business park. The forest, bigger than Thomson Nature Park, consists of mature forest patches as well as vegetation that has recolonised deserted kampungs and plantations and forest streams, an uncommon habitat here that is difficult to copy.
An estimated 56 species of flora and fauna of importance for conservation will also be impacted. The likes of the heavily trafficked Sunda pangolin and the harlequin butterfly, a reddish-brown insect with silver spots on the brink of extinction in Singapore, are also expected to be impacted.
The area was put up by The Straits Times on an environmental impact assessment JTC commissioned, which was released for public consultation. The report, prepared by consultancy Aecom Singapore, recommended that about 14.5ha of the natural areas are preserved as parks and other measures to mitigate the environmental impact of the project, which bisects a critical ecological corridor in this area.
The land’s forest patches and streams will also lose trees and water if other concurrent projects – such as HDB’s Tengah town and the nearest MRT station – are added to the loss, the report said, causing great damage to flora and fauna relying on these areas for survival. Investors and business owners who wish to benefit from this next phase of Jurong Innovation District can explore the new B2 Industrial coming up at Tuas Link Close.
The construction area cuts across one of the country’s four central ecological corridors — a chain of wooded areas that helps animals to travel between the Western Catchment forest site and the Tengah forest. The loss of this corridor would result in a “bottleneck” for wildlife moving between these two biodiversity hot spots, the report said. This will be particularly bad for forest-dependent species such as the harlequin butterfly, Sunda pangolin and leopard cat that depend on the interconnected habitats to move around.
A Sunda Pangolin in Windsor Nature Park
The 596-page report, which included statistics from February to November 2023, noted that forest habitat makes up under 30 per cent of Singapore’s land area. Other suggestions by the report to limit that development’s negative environmental impact include allowing for translocation of flora (if possible), as well as construction of passageways for wildlife.
Nevertheless, the loss of more than 40 per cent of habitats and food sources will prove heavy on wildlife, even with the aforementioned mitigative measures implemented. JTC said it will investigate how to preserve the natural areas to complement existing green spaces in Jurong Innovation District, including The Potter’s Garden — the recently restored 5ha park that had once been Jurong Eco-Garden.
The developer stated it would take some recommendations into account in the report. These steps involve phased clearance, assessing the feasibility of creating native vegetation in order to reinforce existing forest spaces. Conservationists and scientists cheered the proposed mitigation plan, but urged that the proposed measures be adjusted, as well as stronger action to cushion the blow on wildlife.
Khew Sin Khoon, who specializes in butterflies, said that if JTC has agreed to defer development of the harlequin butterflies breeding ground for as long as possible, it should not be converted into a man-made public park in the area. The CleanTech Park in Jurong Innovation District, an artist’s take. As the architect, who worked with JTC as well as other nature groups, said in a telephone interview, ‘This is typically the inverse of what we want to do for sensitive conservation projects, where key sites need to be safeguarded and under observation.”
He pointed to Dover Forest’s western half where, after consultation with nature groups, HDB had set aside half of the site for flats as a conservation park with no accessibility for the public. On the bright side, the harlequin butterflies have managed to survive their relocation into Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and regularly come up for reconnaissance at the former Jurong Eco-Garden, near the new development that was proposed.
Said Mr Khew: “Whilst not all at the same point are seen at the same time, at least there is hope that they have moved laterally across the CleanTech buildings and found a new breeding habitat.” Dr Charlene Yeong and Ms Sharon Chan, Singapore Pangolin Working Group representatives, reported that while the report is thorough, multiple elements needed to be revisited to help the critically endangered mammal thrive.
For example, following displacement, the report did not sufficiently discuss what happens to pangolins on site. The representatives called for habitat enhancement or expansion in surrounding zones, which will also reduce the likelihood of a pangolin being killed on the road.
They warned that the large-scale hoarding scheme could also form barriers for pangolins – known to be present elsewhere near Nanyang Avenue – that could end up on the road. Dr Yeong and Ms Chan urged JTC to attempt to find methods to offer safe passage to the animals, including closing roads at night. They also asked the project to protect the ecological corridor, proposing that existing waterways can be reconfigured to function as animal corridors to reduce roadkill. Mr Sankar Ananthanarayanan, a co-editor of the conservation initiative Singapore Terrestrial Conservation Plan, celebrated JTC’s plan to investigate the areas for retention and to rehabilitate existing vegetation.
But the NUS doctoral candidate researching local reptile extinctions warned of the long-term risks presented by moving wildlife to neighboring green areas. Even if the flora and fauna that inhabit these spaces is translocated into protected areas, it restricts populations to a smaller area, potentially placing additional pressure on the ecosystems they are a part of.
