Deforestation Singapore Problems

[Gaby Zenz]

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**This is a translated subsection of the original article that only includes the content from my interview with the author. The full article (in Chinese) can be accessed here (a subscription to SPH news is required).**

Photo 1 caption: Poh Toon Xuan believes that Singapore prides itself on its innovative capabilities. Fulfilling urban land use requirements should not be built upon the destruction of the natural environment.

"I used to visit Pasir Ris Park years ago when I lived near the area. Mostly for nature walks alone or with friends to relax and enjoy the fresh air and scenery. Pasir Ris Park is an amazing ecosystem that runs from the straits, mangroves, and dense forests to urban parks and residential areas. What's even more special about Pasir Ris Park, is that the public can very easily access it and witness these wondrous happenings of the natural world. It's a pity that most of the forests here have already been lost, but we can still aim to conserve the remaining fragments so that the ecological health of this area does not deteriorate any further and can still be restored."

A month ago, the erroneous clearing of forests in Kranji sparked off a slew of heated discussions. Riding on this furor, Toon Xuan shared a photo on social media, showing that a large forested area beside the Api Api river had been completely cleared for the construction of Built-To-Order (BTO) housing. She hopes to use this to remind the masses that forests all around Singapore are facing the threat of deforestation, and this threat is not limited only to those in Kranji and Dover. In her post, she wrote: "This site in Pasir Ris is near to the shoreline and would've been a back mangrove, key to mitigating shore erosion and sea-level rise, two critical issues faced by our island."

Toon Xuan describes herself as a "concerned individual", as she believes that her words and actions have yet to measure up to environmental activists. She commends the effort of activists using the example of the fight to save Chek Jawa from land reclamation: "It took dedicated activists, that include scientists, citizen scientists, and nature lovers, to put together scientific data, pictorial evidence, and voices in a desperate attempt to convince the Ministry of National Development that Chek Jawa, the last mudflat and one of the richest ecosystems in Singapore, must not be destroyed. Thanks to them, Chek Jawa still exists today and we can visit this renowned attraction to enjoy exciting experiences with the rich biodiversity there. More importantly, marine life, including endangered species, averted their terrible fate and continue to thrive in their healthy and, now preserved, home."

Photo 2 caption: Poh Toon Xuan thinks increasing the supply of housing does not necessarily require the removal of green areas. By re-optimizing land use planning for old estates and utilizing empty spaces in built-up areas, development needs can also be achieved.

Photo 3 caption: The photo that Poh Toon Xuan shared on social media shows that a large and important plot of back mangrove forest beside the Api Api river has been cleared. She hopes to use this incident to remind the public that other forests of Singapore, in addition to Kranji forest and Dover forest, are also threatened with deforestation.

Even though Chek Jawa has yet to receive protection as a nature reserve and may face future reclamation, Toon Xuan hopes that this considerable victory can inspire Singaporeans to protect the precious and few remaining natural ecosystems in Singapore from destruction, even if plans for development seem to be set in stone. She points out that many others, including youths like herself, are well aware that although Singapore is a relatively privileged and wealthy nation, this country will not be able to avoid the effects of climate change especially when it exacerbates in the near future. "Some concerned individuals, like myself, do not speak up as they may be soft-spoken or feeling defeated by the sheer magnitude of this problem. To my peers and all others that are feeling this way, I encourage them to be bold in their stance and speak up for our future. Effort compounds effort and we can still build a kind and sustainable world."

Toon Xuan considers herself lucky to have had a childhood filled with encounters with plants and animals, and the freedom to explore and catch fishes along the drains near her home. In school, she learned more about the natural sciences and gained an understanding of how beautifully ingenious yet delicate the natural world was. She also witnessed how human actions have decimated large natural ecosystems in other countries and resulted in adverse impacts on the local human communities. "The fact that the welfare of humans depends on the health of nature is ingrained in my mind. As the United Nations chief has proclaimed, humanity is waging a suicidal and senseless war on nature, and we must stop this."

Toon Xuan agrees that a balance has to be struck between various land uses, such as residential, industrial, and forested areas. The problem is, Singapore has already lost this balance. The conserved natural habitats in Singapore, including forest and wetland reserves, make up only 4.5% of our total land area. All other forests and other natural spaces, despite their importance, are unprotected and rapidly lost to other land uses. "These are reckless and lazy decisions for land use allocation. I say 'reckless' as mature secondary forests that have undergone decades of natural regeneration, such as in Tengah and Pasir Ris, should be regarded as a precious head start. We should not only conserve them but also carry out enhancements to realize their full potential for ecosystem services to the community, instead of planting small saplings in scattered areas that are unfortunately not comparable to these forests at all."

linda._.lim: We have too many problems in our society! These things that are placed right in front of our eyes are precious and practical but are being taken for granted. Chop, chop, chop, and in the end, we're taking steps backwards, wasting our energy and resources....carrying out many needless actions! These are the things that I wanted to say but I am not sure how to express them. I'm too happy! That, finally, a kind lady has spoken up for nature.

noreen.toh: I totally agree with your points. It's easy to cut forests down, but it's hard to grow them back. At the same time, have you noticed that our weather is getting hotter? Deforestation is also one of the reasons why this is so. Should relevant ministries and leaders extend their vision further into the future?

Every several years, a series of climatic changes called an El Nio affects the Pacific Ocean regions, causing significant drought and fires. During the 2015 El Nio, Indonesia experienced an intense fire season which lasted from September through October, emitting an abundance of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere and causing massive smoke plumes to form over neighboring countries, including Singapore.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Charles Harvey and Fuu Ming Kai, a former postdoc from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, worked in collaboration with researchers from the University of California at Irvine to publish a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where they discuss radiocarbon measurements on the Indonesian fires and confirm that the smoke is originating from burning peatlands, rather than the popular belief of deforestation and waste burning.

Harvey and Kai, who have been conducting research in the region since 2014, sampled and carbon dated the carbonaceous aerosol from September of 2014 to October of 2015. The results of their study found that the carbon level of the smoke plume had an intermediate age ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 years old. This confirmed that approximately 85 percent of the smoke was come from burning peatlands.

The new findings provide a sense of urgency to take action and influence a change in policy regarding land use. Harvey and researchers are currently experimenting with the replanting of native trees on a new field area that was deforested and burned, an innovative process that has never been successfully implemented before.

Harvey and the researchers are optimistic about the future, saying that their findings could initiate a fundamental change, which would ultimately alleviate a majority of the peat burning, reduce respiratory problems due to smoke plumes, and improve plant and animal habitats.

The air and water in Singapore are generally very clean. According to a survey of expatriates living in Asia, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia were regarded as the cleanest. while India, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong are regarded as the dirties countries in Asia, while Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan were in the middle.

Major environmental issues in Singapore include industrial pollution, limited freshwater resources, and seasonal smoke and haze resulting from forest fires in Indonesia. Limited land availability presents waste disposal problems. During the great Indonesia forest fire of 1997, the birds in the bird singing neighborhoods stopped singing and birdowners kept them at home.

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution.

Singapore's rapid economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s was accompanied both by increased air and water pollution and by increasingly effective government efforts to limit environmental damage. The government established an Anti-Pollution Unit under the Prime Minister's Office in 1970, set up the Ministry of the Environment in 1972, and merged the Anti-Pollution Unit with that ministry in 1983 to ensure unified direction of environmental protection. The new unit, subsequently renamed the Pollution Control Department, had responsibility for air and water pollution, hazardous materials, and toxic wastes. Singapore first moved to limit air pollution, closely monitoring oil refineries and petrochemical complexes and limiting the sulfur content of fuel oil for power plants, factories, and diesel motor vehicles. Because motor vehicles were the main source of air pollution, the government required emissions controls on engines and reduced (but not eliminated) the lead content of gasoline. The government also acted, partly for environmental reasons, to restrict private ownership of automobiles through very high (175 percent) import duties, high annual registration fees, and high charges for the entry of private automobiles to the central business district. [Source: Library of Congress *]

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