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| At home with nature |
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| How
about visiting the TreeTop Walk
in MacRitchie this weekend? (Photo
courtesy of NParks ) |
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After a hectic week at work, one of the best ways
to rejuvenate the body, mind and spirit is to spend
a day with nature.
You could try bird watching at Sungei Buloh Wetland
Reserve, hiking at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, cycling
on Pulau Ubin, fishing at Labrador Park, kite-flying
at Marina Promenade or simply indulge in a good
book at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
With more than 300 parks and nature areas to choose
from, you
do not have to venture far to find respite from
the stressful demands of urban living.
Singapore has long been recognised as a tropical
Garden City. The agency responsible for developing
and enhancing Singapore’s Garden City is the
National Parks Board (NParks), a statutory board
of the Ministry of National Development.
The Board manages more than 1,700 hectares of parks,
playgrounds, park connectors and open spaces, and
more than 3,300 hectares of nature reserves. It
also maintains more than 4,200 hectares of roadside
greenery and vacant state land.
Looking ahead, NParks envisions Singapore to be
an even more attractive green city.
“We want to develop Singapore into a City
in the Garden — a city that sits within lush
greenery, with sprawling green lungs set among buildings
and built-up amenities, and shaded from the hot
sun by the overarching canopies of abundant clusters
of trees,” said Minister for National Development
Mah Bow Tan.
He was speaking at the launch of tunnels, a cannon
and a guidebook at Labrador Park on 11 March 2005
(read more about this in the story: A
green sanctuary, a valuable heritage).
Summing up the future plans of the Board, he said:
“To realise this vision, we will continue
to develop our greenery infrastructure, add value
to our parks and nature reserves, and encourage
community and private sector partnership.”
Within the next five years, the Board will open
about 20 new parks, including a fruit tree park
at Sengkang and a horticulture park at Pasir Panjang.
By 2015, NParks will have developed a total of 1,000
hectares of new parkland. Existing parks are not
forgotten as they will be redeveloped or enhanced
with new features.
NParks also plans to improve access to parks and
nature areas. The park connector network will be
expanded to link parks from coast to coast (e.g.
Pasir Ris Park through Tampines and Siglap to East
Coast Park), as well as to connect towns and regions
to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Park users
and residents will then be able to enjoy seamless
green infrastructure and also use the park connectors
as shortcuts to other amenities.
Moving beyond providing excellent green infrastructure,
NParks is looking to create appealing recreational
experiences and lifestyles. Featuring eateries at
parks is one such initiative. (Check out an eating
guide here: Spoilt
for choice.)
In the long term, NParks hopes to engage all Singapore
residents in building a City in a Garden. The only
way to sustain our Garden City is for all to cultivate
a sense of ownership of our parks and greenery among
the people-private-public (3P) sectors.
To this end, NParks will step up its community and
corporate outreach programmes such as the Garden
City Fund, Adopt-A-Park Scheme and Park Watch Scheme.
The Board will continue promoting its parks as choice
venues for staging local and international events
such as the Concert in the Park series and WOMAD
(World of Music, Arts and Dance) festival. (Check
out exciting, upcoming events in the parks at www.nparks.gov.sg.)
With so many exciting developments happening at
the parks, you may want to visit a park soon. As
you make time to experience nature, you could find
yourself enjoying better health and quality of life
too. |
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Next: A green sanctuary,
a valuable heritage |
