The 3.9-hectare Bendera Bay is nestled within St John’s Island, and comprises a lagoon with a variety of mangrove, coral, seagrass, sandy shore and rocky shore habitats. This variety of habitats thus provides unique opportunities for outreach and research. “Bendera Bay” was named as such by the Friends of the Marine Park (FMP), as the indigenous Malay name for St John’s Island is Pulau Sekijang Bendera.
Since securing Bendera Bay for outreach and education activities in late 2019, the Friends of the Marine Park (FMP) community, which includes kayakers, anglers, divers, boaters, and researchers, has been discussing ways to activate the area through education, outreach and research activities.
With the support of NParks, the FMP community will spearhead efforts to balance the different uses of the area, and scheduling the programmes that will take place there, to be planned around four domains – Research, Recreation, Heritage, and Education.
Currently, the area is not open for public access as it is closed for conservation and research. The FMP aims to carry out activities for the public from early 2021, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.
NParks have a new Therapeutic Garden at Punggol Waterway Park! Bask in the tranquillity of the garden while enjoying a scenic view of the waterway. You can also interact with therapeutic elements that can help improve one’s mental wellbeing, such as the fragrant and brightly-coloured native plants and flowers.
This is the sixth therapeutic garden in Singapore, and the first in the north east! By 2030, this sunny island will have 30 therapeutic gardens that will offer health and wellness benefits through greenery.
Together with therapeutic horticulture programmes involving plants and nature, visitors can experience a range of health benefits such as the relief of mental fatigue, reduced stress and an overall improvement to emotional well-being.
A new central green corridor connecting East Coast Park to Changi Beach Park is coming your way.
Earlier this year, NParks shared their plans to transform Singapore into a City in Nature, where they will redouble their efforts to integrate nature into our urban environment and intensify nature in the city.
Deputy Prime Minister, Heng Swee Keat announced plans to transform the eastern part of Singapore. A central green corridor will be created connecting East Coast Park to Changi Beach Park that will run along New Upper Changi Road and Loyang Way. It will be complemented by a network of community corridors to link the central green corridor to other parks and gardens.
The community corridors will have nature-based amenities like community gardens, therapeutic gardens, nature playgardens and inclusive playgrounds to cater to residents from all walks of life.
National Water Agency PUB and Sembcorp Floating Solar Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp), are pleased to announce the commencement of construction of the 60 megawatt-peak (MWp) floating solar photovoltaic (PV) system on Tengeh Reservoir. This marks a significant milestone in building one of the world’s largest inland floating solar PV systems, which not only helps to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and thus carbon emissions, but also builds national climate resilience for a more sustainable future.
Solar energy is Singapore’s most viable renewable energy source, but large-scale deployment of solar panels is challenging due to its dense urban landscape and limited land. Beyond rooftops and vertical spaces, PUB’s large expanse of water bodies and reservoirs can now serve the dual purpose of water catchment and electricity generation. This follows positive trial outcomes and extensive environmental studies which show that floating solar panels have minimal impact on the reservoir’s water quality and biodiversity.
This large-scale Floating Solar PV System at Tengeh – the first of its kind in the region – will enable Singapore to be one of the few countries in the world to integrate green technology with water treatment. When the project begins full commercial operations next year, the amount of clean energy generated will be sufficient to power PUB’s local water treatment plants, offsetting 7% of PUB’s annual energy needs.
Bringing farming closer to us; The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has launched nine sites at the rooftops of Housing & Development Board (HDB) multi-storey carparks (MSCP) for rental by public tender. The sites shall be used to farm vegetables and other food crops, as well as for other related purposes, such as the packing/storage of produce. Some of you may soon get to enjoy lush views of locally-grown veggies from your HDB flats!
Availing more spaces in land-constrained Singapore for commercial farming, including alternative spaces like HDB MSCP rooftops, is one of the strategies SFA hasbeen undertaking to achieve Singapore’s “30 by 30” goal, which is to produce 30% of our nutritional needs locally by 2030. The move is also in line with HDB’s Green Towns Programme to intensify greening in HDB estates.
“We are heartened by the growing interest from both the industry and the public towards urban farming in community spaces, following the launch of our pilot MSCP rooftop farm, Citiponics, in Ang Mo Kio last year,” said Mr Melvin Chow, Senior Directorof SFA’s Food Supply Resilience Division. “Residents in the area have been able toenjoy fresh produce from the farm at nearby supermarkets, and can witness first-hand the hard work involved in bringing our food from farm-to-fork. We hope that consumers will continue to show their appreciation for our local farms by buying their produce.”
Situated close to the hill forest at Telok Blangah Hill Park, the Therapeutic Garden embraces the tranquillity of its natural setting. The lush greenery all around the garden creates a restorative environment to engage the senses and to uplift both mental and emotional well-being while serving as complementary habitat for native biodiversity.
The new therapeutic garden features several new elements that leverage Telok Blangah Hill Park’s natural forest setting. Some of these elements include fruit tree espaliers, planting of lesser-known forest species with therapeutic effects and a 40m long viewing deck which offers an unobstructed, mid-canopy view of the forest. This therapeutic garden is one of the 30 therapeutic gardens which NParks will establish across Singapore by 2030, as they work towards transforming Singapore into a City in Nature, bringing forth benefits to health and well-being through greenery. Its development and programmes are supported by a contribution of around $500,000 in total from Tote Board and Mr Peter Lim through the Garden City Fund.
Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) made an announcement that it has, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Sembcorp Solar Singapore, been named as the preferred bidder to build a 60 megawatt-peak (MWp) floating solar photovoltaic (PV) system on Tengeh Reservoir. When completed in 2021, it will be one of the world’s largest single floating solar PV systems.
When completed in 2021, the solar farm could generate enough energy to power around 16,000 four-room HDB flats, and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by around 32 kilotonnes per year, or the equivalent of removing 7,000 cars off Singapore's roads.
With this project, Sembcorp will be one of the largest renewable energy players in Singapore with approximately 240MWp of solar capacity in the country. Moving ahead with the development of a floating solar farm underscores Sembcorp’s commitment to support Singapore’s move towards achieving its new solar target of at least 2 gigawatt-peak (GWp) by 2030.
Sembcorp Solar Singapore will proceed to execute the requisite project agreements, and work towards satisfaction of the conditions precedents set out in PUB’s request for proposal.
A 5.6m high waterfall takes centre stage in the newly-rejuvenated Yunnan Garden at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore that now seamlessly integrates with the Chinese Heritage Centre and an expanded Nanyang Lake. Comprising themed mini gardens and nature trails, the new space is now even more inviting for students, staff and nearby Jurong residents to visit and explore the various scenic spots it has to offer.
Built in the 1950s, the Yunnan Garden was a key attraction of the Nanyang University campus, the land on which NTU Singapore is now situated. With the just-completed revitalisation effort, the Yunnan Garden is seamlessly integrated with the Chinese Heritage Centre and an expanded Nanyang Lake. More than 1,000 new trees comprising over 80 species have been planted in the Garden, enriching its biodiversity. Other enrichments include a new 5.6-metre-tall waterfall, themed mini gardens, a boardwalk, a new stormwater management system, and Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the Garden.
The result is a 9-hectare heritage precinct – bigger than 12 soccer fields – that preserves the Garden’s legacy while enriching it as an educational and recreation hub, making it a go-to place not just for the NTU community, but also for the residents who live in the wider Jurong neighbourhood.
NTU Students’ Union President Bryan Michael Chiew Sen, a second-year Public Policy and Global Affairs student from the School of Social Sciences, said: “The new amenities in the Yunnan Garden are a refreshing addition to what we traditionally know as a heritage area with historical significance. With the rejuvenation, the Garden is now an invigorating break away from the classroom, and an attractive spot for students to have social gatherings. The spruced up greenery makes the Garden good for deep conversations and long strolls, which I’m certain will be beneficial for students’ mental well-being.”
Learning about plants and the environment is also part and parcel of a walk in the Yunnan Garden, which is designed around sustainability principles. The plant varietals in the mini gardens have been carefully chosen for their educational values, be it for their use as renewable energy sources or as sustainable alternatives to plastics, or their ability to remove pollutants from the air, soil and water.
The water features in the Garden are designed to create a stormwater management system that purifies rainwater before releasing it into larger ponds and reservoirs through drains and canals.
Integrating these lessons into the Yunnan Garden experience is part of NTU’s commitment to raising awareness about environmental sustainability.
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