GREEN SINGAPORE: Our A to Z Guide
Did you know that Singapore currently has 261 specific trees listed on a Heritage Tree Register? The list includes 11 angsana trees, including a 60- year- old one along Serangoon Road that is among the island’s largest roadside trees (7.7m girth).
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is the largest piece of primary forest left in Singapore, and home to more than 840 flowering plants and over 500 animal species. The park also boasts Singapore’s highest peak and several winding forest trails.
One of the oldest coastal parks in Singapore, Changi Beach Park offers over three kilometres of coastal boardwalks passing long stretches of beach. For Singapore’s best slice of nature in a manmade environment, the two massive domes at Gardens by the Bay are not to be missed. The Flower Dome is the largest glass greenhouse in the world, while Cloud Forest features the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.
Singapore’s largest and most popular park, East Coast Park offers a long stretch of sea, sand and swaying palms for recreation and leisure, including popular Marine Cove, which reopened in July 2016 after a four-year hiatus.
Established in 1859 as an arms store, barracks and hospital, Fort Canning is sprinkled with memorials of Singapore’s history, including Sir Stamford Raffles’ personal bungalow.
Spanning 101 hectares, Gardens by the Bay comprises three waterfront gardens: the two aforementioned domes, and the renowned Supertrees. Also, the Children’s Garden (free entry) is a treat, with water-play areas and climbing equipment.
Hort Park is a recreational and educational park that includes a variety of show-gardens to inspire people who love gardening. The nursery sells plants and garden accessories.
Did you know that Singapore consists of 63 islands, many of them available to explore? The most recently opened (2015) is Coney Island, an ecologically sustainable park that focuses on conservation. recycling and retaining the existing natural elements. Visit the Japanese and Chinese Gardens for an interesting mix of planting, landscaping and oriental architecture. Attractions include a building based on Beijing’s Summer Palace and an extensive bonsai garden.
Kent Ridge Park links with Mount Faber and Telok Blangah Hill to form the Southern Ridges, a series of a hill trails in the south with great urban views. Highlights include the undulating Henderson Waves Bridge and the elevated 1.3 kilometres of Forest Walk.
Attractions at Labrador Park include World War II bunkers, tunnels and a fort. The park also boasts panoramic sea views.
Meander along the lakeside boardwalks of Macritchie Reservoir, or hike through the forest on a cross-country trail. Routes vary from one to five hours. A highlight is the HSBC Treetop Walk – a 250-metre aerial suspension bridge where the city becomes a distance memory.
The National Parks Board (Nparks) looks after Singapore’s green spaces, managing over 300 parks and four nature reserves. Check out the comprehensive website (nparks.gov.sg) with info on all of these, and on the excellent Park Connector Network that links major parks, nature areas and residential estates.
Open for business! April 2017 saw the ribbon cut at Windsor Nature Park, one of several new green zones that have been planned around the various reservoirs that occupy the centre of the island; others include Springleaf and Chestnut Nature Parks. On Singapore’s northeast coast, 71-hectare Pasir Ris Park (close to Changi Airport) is popular for pond-fishing and bike rental and has a six-hectare mangrove forest with boardwalks.
Quick quiz: where do you go to see a crocodile in the wild in Singapore? At Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (sbwr.org.sg), you can walk on mangrove forest boardwalks, watching the birdlife and, if you’r e lucky (some might say unlucky!), spot a croc in the mud.
Due to open in 2020, Rifle Range Nature Park will cover 67 hectares at the southern end of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Among the plans for the park are hiking trails with various degrees of difficulty and a sky garden with an elevated walkway.
The Singapore Botanic Gardens (sbg.org.sg) is an impressive oasis of greenery, with terrain varying from rolling lawns to jungle, and plant life from orchids to cacti. In 2015, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the first and only tropical botanic garden on the list.
Thomson Nature Park is another new green space for Singapore, set to open by 2019. Located between Old Upper Thomson Road and Upper Thomson Road, the park’s trails will take in heritage highlights including a former Hainan village.
Pulau Ubin – also simply known as Ubin – is like a trip back in time. Get a taste of what Singapore was like in the 1960s by exploring the island’s trails, shady rubber plantations, isolated beaches and thriving mangroves. Great for a bike ride, too!
Looking for views and vistas of the city, the harbour and the southern islands? Head to Mount Faber. You can also take a cable car to Sentosa from here.
Recently renovated, West Coast Park has been entirely built on reclaimed land. Attractions include a bird sanctuary with boardwalks, sea views and an adventure playground. X marks the spot: A fun way to enjoy nature – in Singapore or abroad – is with Geocaching (geocaching.com). Think of it as a global treasure hunt, in which you use your smart phone and navigational techniques to find hidden objects in the great outdoors.
Yishun Pond Park is just one of many examples of a small “heartlands” green zone in Singapore with fabulous facilities for making the most of nature. The pond is home to marshland plants and several bird species, which you can view from a spiral tower.
News from the Zoo: the Mandai location of the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and River Safari is the site of a new nature hub currently under construction. The hub will include a 9m-high elevated wildlife crossing to allow the likes of the Sunda pangolin and lesser mouse deer to move between forested areas.