The National Parks Board (NParks) and Land Transport Authority (LTA) have recently marked the start of construction for an ecological corridor at Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE).

Dubbed Eco-Link@BKE, it will be Southeast Asia’s first ecological corridor that connects two nature reserves over an expressway.

The hourglass-shaped Eco-Link will be built across the BKE to connect Singapore’s largest primary and secondary forests, the Bukit Timah and Central Catchment nature reserves.

The area is home to three quarters of our native plant species and more than 1,000 animal species.

When ready in 2013, populations of native animals such as flying squirrels, monitor lizards, palm civets, pangolins, porcupines, birds, insects and snakes, will be able to travel between the nature reserves to find other food sources, homes and mates.

NParks says it will also consider public access in the form of guided walks on the bridge and the areas around it.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Tel: 1800 4717300 or email: [email protected]

By 2013, there will be a new green link between the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Area. Conservationists had long bemoaned the separation of the two reserves by the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) since its construction in 1986. The road prevented plant and animal species from moving between the two forest tracts.

The new eco-passage will arch over the 50m-wide BKE and be sited at a suitable narrow point between the reserves. Its construction was announced at the opening of the National Parks Board’s Dairy Farm Nature Park. Local construction firm Eng Lee Engineering beat six other bidders,including Japanese contractor Sato Kogyo to win the contract. The bridge will be built for $11.8million.

The bridge, 50m wide at its narrowest point and planted with dense trees resembling a forest habitat, could help populations of animals like the critically-endangered banded leaf monkey to recover. Four to six years ago, there were thought to be fewer than 20 of the small dark-furred monkeys – a number too small to be sustainable – but now there are about 30 living around the Central Catchment Area.

The eco-link could help them migrate to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to find other food sources. A hiking trail at one edge will also enable humans to move between the reserves. Every plan to connect habitats is a good plan but how it pans out – only time will tell.

600 metres North of Rifle Range Road

Tel: 1800 4717300 or email: [email protected]