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The measures had been introduced following an environmental impression research, which discovered that there are greater than 390 plant species and 380 fauna species inside the improvement site and its surrounding surroundings.
With the realm house to many species of conservation significance, environmental groups CNA spoke to raised concern about whether or not the measures could be sufficient to guard them.
“There are various habitats of high conservation significance like the native-dominated secondary forest Bukit Chermin, mangrove forest at Berlayer Creek, seagrass meadows and rocky shore,” mentioned Ms Sarah Lin, crew lead for casual environmental group LepakinSG’s Our Wildlife Spaces.
“These habitats are home to many species of conservation significance, have high ecological linkage and are very difficult to recreate,” she added.
While the areas is not going to be destroyed in keeping with present improvement plans, she mentioned they are going to be impacted throughout the building and operation part because the habitats are situated close to the event site.
AN ECOLOGICAL “STEPPING STONE”
Building a housing improvement within the space may additionally impression the motion of birds and different wildlife, mentioned Nature Society Singapore’s (NSS) president Shawn Lum.
With Keppel Club surrounded by Sentosa, Telok Blangah Hill Park, Mount Faber Park and Labrador Nature Reserve – all of that are coated in forests and are well-known havens for birds – he mentioned the site at the moment serves as a connector between every inexperienced area.
The golf course at Keppel Club can also be an vital foraging and resting floor for birds, offering a “stepping stone” to facilitate the motion and enlargement of chicken species throughout the completely different inexperienced areas, mentioned Dr Lum.
In surveys carried out in 2005 and 2008, NSS famous that the site had probably the most numerous habitats in comparison with any golf course in Singapore.
This ranged from rocky coast and mangrove to open grassland, freshwater pond to backyard, parkland and woodland, the report mentioned.
Many of the site’s flora consisted of previous development timber just like the Tembusu, the Rain Tree and the Albizia, which give resting spots for birds akin to the massive‐billed crow and the white‐bellied sea eagle.
To improve ecological connectivity, the proposed improvement plans for the realm embody inexperienced corridors for birds and doubtlessly small mammals within the surrounding habitats at Labrador Nature Reserve, Bukit Chermin and the Southern Ridges.
Around 20 per cent of the Keppel Club site – or about 10 hectares – may also be put aside as inexperienced areas akin to parks and open land.
While the goal is “quite ambitious”, Dr Lum mentioned it additionally is determined by how the inexperienced areas are used.
“If you break it up into 10 or more plots of green space and scatter them across the development, each green space is probably going to be too small to support any habitat or have any impact on wildlife,” he mentioned.
“So, perhaps instead of having more green spaces, you have fewer but wider green corridors and spaces which can support biodiversity. You can also create buffer zones between man-made green spaces and existing forest areas to minimise the impact on the ecosystem,” he added.
Echoing his sentiments, senior analysis fellow on the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Dr Woo Jun Jie mentioned the standard and type of inexperienced areas can be an vital consideration within the improvement of the realm.
“Given its location along the coast as well as the presence of natural habitats for migratory birds, it is important to conserve ecological systems and habitats. This may mean less manicured parks and more ‘natural’ and ‘wild’ green spaces,” he mentioned.
“These are considerations that the HDB has discussed, but which nonetheless require close attention,” he added.
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