|
I REFER to the article, '8 nature areas left out of
green plan draft' (ST, Oct 19), as well as Mr Lee Chiu San's letter,
'Allow proliferation of wildlife in parks' (ST, Oct 19).
I applaud the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for having the
foresight and interest to preserve whatever is left of Singapore's green
landscape.
While most of URA's proposals, as posted on its website, are
commendable, I would like to add to the comments made by Mr Lee.
I hope URA will include the many unexplored patches of nature left on
our island in its master plan. If these areas are preserved with their
natural charms intact, many Singaporeans like myself would look forward
to spending weekends exploring such nature areas at home, instead of
having to go to Malaysia or elsewhere.
I am afraid the few existing nature reserves, like Sungei Buloh, are not
enough to satisfy the growing need for nature among Singaporeans. From
my experience, I find that parks created by URA, although beautiful with
trees and roads for the convenience of users, are often devoid of birds,
insects and animal life.
Children in the parks cannot view birds, animals and insects in their
natural habitats and learn about them. This is because these parks are
too manicured.
Facilities, such as boardwalks, rain shelters, campsites or access roads
should be built at a distance from nature park areas.
If these are built too close to, for example, the waters or mangroves or
the fields, my fear is that the trees and space which act as a buffer
will be destroyed. Worse still, human traffic may lead to pollution and
other problems.
In creating new parks, the existing trees and other vegetation should be
preserved as much as possible.
In my neighbourhood, I noticed that the old majestic trees and bushes
lining the Bukit Timah Expressway near Bukit Panjang and Fajar were
removed when the Zhenghua Park connector was built - resulting in
excessive noise in flats near the highway, not to mention fewer birds
spotted in the area.
Let's make our parks as natural as possible by retaining their
characteristics and animal life.
We should not compromise these in attempts to increase public access.
We need also to educate the public that the best parks are those where
nature and human beings can coexist without destroying the animals'
habitats.
I visited the Yosemite National Park in the United States recently and
noted that many people come to this nature reserve because of the big
trees, rocks and interesting biodiversity.
Hotels built there are environmentally friendly and respect for Mother
Nature is of utmost importance in the management of the park.
Efforts are made for people to enjoy the park and to trek along the
trails without causing disturbance to plants and animal life along the
way.
I hope, one day, Singaporeans could also talk with pride about the
natural beauty and uniqueness that our natural heritage of parks and
waters offer, and respect Mother Nature like how the Americans do with
the reserves they have.
WINNIE CHAN
|
