Green-award winner hits out at polluters

Plastics they throw choke mangrove trees and stunt their growth, slowly causing them to die, he says

By SHARMILPAL KAUR

VETERAN conservationist Grant Pereira, 51, who has just received a Green Leaf award from the Environment Ministry, does not mince his words when it comes to speaking out against people who pollute Singapore's mangrove swamps.

Among those that this straight-talking environmentalist has taken to task are those who litter the swamps, with items ranging from tennis balls to plastic bags and bottles, and even syringes thrown into the sea by drug abusers.

The swamps are important, he said, as they house 32 out of the 46 mangrove species available in the world.

He said: ""It used to have 35 species 10 years ago, three have died.''

Plastics strangle mangrove trees and prevent new shoots from growing as they cannot penetrate through the plastics to take root, resulting in the death of the trees.

But he also has strong words for teachers who organise sessions for their students to clean up the swamps.

Schoolchildren, he argued, need to understand why they are taking part in clean-up exercises by the riverside or seashore, and not just be left to pick up litter. 2 ""I get schools where the teachers bring the students in, but they just tell the students to go and pick up litter.

""They spend the time themselves talking on the phone with their boyfriends or girlfriends.''

As a volunteer member of the Singapore Environment Council, he brings groups of schoolchildren to mangrove swamps, especially to the Sungei Tampines mangrove swamp, near where he lives.

Mr Pereira, a writer and businessman, joined international environment group Greenpeace in 1976 while working in Europe.

He received the Green Leaf award last week for his consistent conservation efforts in Singapore.

On those who run floating farms and kelongs, he said: ""They treat the sea like their personal dustbin. I have even seen fridges floating into the swamp, thrown by people in kelongs.''

Crows and poachers have also been responsible for the decline in native bird species, which are down by 44 per cent in the last 50 years, he said.

Despite large signs at the Sungei Tampines mangrove swamp warning people against the poaching of rock crabs, the crabs there are poached so often that they are hardly seen any more.

""I am so used to seeing poachers' footprints that I can tell who they are. The Thai poachers are barefoot, the Malaysians wear slippers, the Singaporeans wear shoes.''