I ran trail last week because I fear I might not be able to run in them for much longer in Singapore.
MacRitchie forests, according the Nature Society Singapore houses part of the remaining 2 square kilometres of Primary Dipterocarp in Singapore. This is primeval rain forest. Starting with 410 square kilometres of primary dipterocarp forest in the 19th century, we are now left with only 2 square kilometres, 0.5% of the original.
In this two-part article I am addressing 2 issues facing our Nature Reserves. One I call de-naturing nature. The other more far-reaching and irreversible if allowed to continue is the encroachment of transport infra structure into our pristine Nature Reserves ,which to begin with, we have very little of, the proposed building of a section of the Cross Island Line (CRL) under our rain forest.
My friends from NUS, Debra, MediaCorp actress and Siva, better known as Otterman are part of a group of people who are passionate about MacRitchie. They launched Love MacRitchie hoping that by sharing how special MacRitchie Forest is to Singapore, we will find reasons to love it, and lend your voice to save it. I am lending my voice.
In the past 6 months, I have seen changes, man-made changes to my backyard. Part of the approach to the Treetop Walk from Venus Drive is now boardwalk. And I have spied that they are building more boardwalk.
I figured that the boardwalk was built so that more people would find it more convenient to come to and commune with nature. Now, instead of walking or running on trail, visitors will walk on board walks. The boardwalk is not even made out of real timber. I suppose engineered materials are cheaper and last longer. Actually they may not even last longer.
A beautiful trail. Come to nature to walk on this.
Too clean, not the real thing
I am not sure if this is the true nature experience we want our children to have. I certainly do not want it.
To me going out on trail is communing with the trees, the earth and the animals. Walking or running on clean, man-made materials certainly subtracts from the real experience. After my runs, I usually walk barefoot upon the grass or earth. This is so refreshing and therapeutic. Walking barefoot on grass or earth connects me to mother Earth.
Is it a consequence of the cleaning Singapore policy, creating this generation of OCD towards cleanliness that we need to shy away from mud? On one of my runs, I overheard a 20 something girl muttering “I hate this kinda of muddy places” to her friends as they made their way down towards the car park. Why are we de-naturing nature?
Another way we are de-naturing nature is coming to the forest looking for Pokemons. Why come to the forest to stare at your smart phone screens? These visitors with their eyes glued to their screens oblivious to their surroundings, pose a danger to themselves and the other park users.
Since 19th of October, part of the Golf Link Trail is now closed for maintenance. I hope by maintenance it does not mean that they are putting boardwalks there too.
Let us compromise then. We do not need all the trails to be city clean. Leave the inner trails as they are. Can the NParks allow some of the trails to remain as they are? Like this one below for instance. Yes we do get fallen trees but that adds to the adventure of being in nature.
Apart from taking away from the real experience of being with nature, what do boardwalks do to the ecology and the forests? The boardwalks themselves do not pose adverse effects on the flora and fauna. It is the construction of these boardwalks that causes concern. As in any construction work. There will be disturbance to the ground. Flora and fauna will be displaced. There is also the risk of contamination of soil and streams by toxic materials. Laying of the boardwalk will require certain bonding materials to be used. These might spill or leach onto the soil and streams.
a little stream so pristine
True that the work is transient and once completed poses no threat. I first noticed construction work in quarter 2 of this year. I reckoned 500m of boardwalk has been laid and there are another 600–700m of boardwalk to be laid. Just over 6 months of work and still counting. 6 months of construction is likely to have caused some amount of damage.
Giving better access so that more people can enjoy nature so that they may learn more of our natural history is a wonderful idea. However should they be learning more of true nature or the nature we have altered to make it easy and clean? Will there be a nature to go to in the near future?
Next week I discuss the threat posed by the CRL.
My friends at Love MacRitchie has a written a letter to the LTA. Support it by signing this letter.
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