- 6 weeks ago
- #wildlife
- #nature
- #singapore
Green spaces are vital to Singapore’s urban environment, helping create a healthier and more sustainable city for both people and wildlife. The comeback of the once-extinct Sambar deer highlights how trees and greenery support biodiversity by providing food, shelter, and safe habitats.
#Wildlife #Nature #Singapore
#Wildlife #Nature #Singapore
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Huh? I think that's a monitor, is it? You guys want to see?
00:11I think it's finding for food. Yeah, yeah, probably found something to eat.
00:14It's going into the forage. Oh, yeah.
00:30So right now we are at the Bukit Timah railway station of the Rail Corridor.
00:34And what's interesting about this place is it's one of the preserved heritage structures of the old station.
00:41And the reason why it's preserved is really because it's one of the most important train stations of the old KTM railway line.
00:48What other purpose does this Rail Corridor serve?
00:51So being in a cosmopolitan city like Singapore, I think there is a need to have a variety of recreational options located.
01:00And I certainly think that the Rail Corridor is a unique space just because it's so rustic.
01:05And I certainly think that it is able to provide some kind of respite from daily grind of Singaporeans.
01:11So the Rail Corridor is also an important ecological connectivity between the major green spaces.
01:18And this actually allows native wildlife to move.
01:22Okay.
01:23And one of the reasons why they have to move, they're not designed to confine in a tight space, right?
01:27Yeah.
01:28So there's a tendency to move, to find new shelters, new food source, or potential meat as well.
01:35Because we have always talked about this new vision of city in nature.
01:40So I think the Rail Corridor is a great avenue for that because you could, you know, it's designed for both human and wildlife in mind.
01:47And essentially, you know, we are trying to also restore nature back to the urban environment.
01:52Yeah.
01:53Which is essentially what we're trying to do for Rail Corridor.
01:57Green spaces like the Rail Corridor support movement of people and wildlife.
02:02But greenery can serve more than one purpose.
02:05At Kutekport Hospital, nature is brought into the heart of healthcare.
02:10Simon, could you tell me more about this place?
02:13Well, first of all, this is a garden.
02:15Garden?
02:16It looks more like a farm.
02:17Edible garden.
02:18Edible garden.
02:19Right.
02:20The edible garden was actually started off as a community garden.
02:23So we try to get all the old folks like, you know, retirees, to come here and do some exercise.
02:30So we produce vegetables for the patients.
02:33Oh.
02:34Yeah.
02:35So it goes into the kitchen and then they cook it for the patients.
02:37Simon, I honestly can't believe that you're calling this a garden.
02:40It looks more like a forest right now.
02:41Yeah.
02:42Yeah, it's true.
02:43So how many species of like plants or trees are even in here?
02:47Oh, okay.
02:48In terms of vegetables, we have 51 varieties.
02:51Yeah.
02:52Including the very expensive kale.
02:54In terms of fruit trees, we have 50 types.
02:56Including durian.
02:57Durian?
02:58Yeah, yeah.
02:59You have a durian growing here?
03:00Yes.
03:01Is it going to fall anytime soon?
03:02No, no.
03:03So you mentioned that you grow kale here, right?
03:05Yeah.
03:06So are they sold to the public?
03:08Oh, yeah.
03:09It depends on what the kitchen wants.
03:11Yeah.
03:12Because, I mean, normally we give them the tree.
03:14Yeah.
03:15Kailan, sapa chai, and chai si.
03:17Yeah.
03:18The rest, we can actually sell it to the public.
03:20So you don't just have an edible garden.
03:22You have a farmer's market going on here.
03:24Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:25Okay.
03:26That's nice.
03:32Simon.
03:33Yeah.
03:34This must be the greenest hospital I have ever seen in my life.
03:37Most probably, right?
03:39Yeah.
03:40Because down here, we grow a lot of things, plants for the betterment of the patients.
03:45Because studies have shown that when patients are in greenery areas, they tend to recover faster.
03:53I mean, you already showed me a rooftop forest.
03:55Now I feel like I'm in a bigger forest.
03:56How much of the hospital is actually given to green spaces?
03:59I think roughly about 18%.
04:0118%?
04:02Yeah, 18%.
04:03This much 18%?
04:04Really?
04:05Well, as a result of this greenery thing that we have done, the animals tend to come into a hospital environment.
04:18I'm not surprised.
04:19Yeah.
04:20It's amazing.
04:21Really?
04:22Even there's even a butterfly flying right now.
04:24So was it the original intention to have wildlife come to Kutekwad?
04:29Yes.
04:30Yes.
04:31The GCEO then wanted biodiversity.
04:33Okay.
04:34That's why we have boards that are managing that.
04:43Yeah, look at the bird, bro.
04:44Yeah, what is that?
04:46That's a white-breasted water hand.
04:48A white-breasted water hand?
04:49Yeah, our resident bird.
04:50Resident bird?
04:51Right, really.
04:52You mean it stays here?
04:53Yeah, yeah.
04:54Okay.
04:55How long has it even been here?
04:56We spotted it in mid-2021.
04:58So it's roughly four years.
05:00But they found their way down here.
05:02And then they have been driving.
05:04I mean based on the sightings that we see,
05:07I think it's the 12th generation that we see.
05:0912th generation?
05:10Yeah.
05:1112th generation?
05:12We see babies, yeah.
05:13Simon, here's the thing.
05:14With green spaces like this,
05:16is it able to provide the white-breasted water hand with any resources to survive?
05:19Well, I guess so.
05:20Because otherwise they won't have so many babies.
05:22That's true.
05:23Trees and plants create a calming environment to support our well-being.
05:33But planting a tree is not that relaxing.
05:36So why does NPOTS want to plant a million trees?
05:48Well, looking a little too happy with that thing in his hand.
05:51Like, Joel!
05:52Alright, Celun!
05:55I'm very sure I'm doing this wrong.
05:58But very nice to talk to you today.
05:59Yes, same.
06:00So I've got a question for you.
06:01What is this One Million Trees program anyway?
06:03So the One Million Trees movement was actually launched by NParks in April 2020.
06:09Yeah.
06:10It's part of a national coordinated effort to basically plant one million trees across 10 years by 2030.
06:18Okay.
06:19And the intention was really to introduce nature back into our urban fabric so that basically we can connect the green spaces via enhancing the ecological corridor.
06:31And not just along the streetscape, but we are doing it in parks like you see here today.
06:37In nature reserves, nature areas, and even community spaces.
06:41Okay.
06:42Yeah.
06:43And so why are trees so important in our urban landscape anyway?
06:46So trees and plants are important because they do have a lot of benefits to us.
06:51Yeah.
06:52They can put out water vapor through a process called evapotranspiration, which can help to cool the environment down.
06:59Let's see.
07:00They also provide shade.
07:02Alright, Saloon.
07:03And I have a very important question for you.
07:07Sure.
07:08So what is it?
07:09The arm here, and you guys come plant the trees yourself.
07:13So the intent at the heart of the the OMT movement is really about the stewardship aspect.
07:19The intention is really to reach out to everyone.
07:22Yeah.
07:23And to get them on board this movement and get them to appreciate why we are doing this, the benefits of
07:28of doing this.
07:30And understand that we are contributing to a sustainable and more liveable Singapore.
07:35Yeah.
07:36I see.
07:37Okay, Saloon.
07:38In all honesty, how am I doing?
07:41Not too bad.
07:42Oh, right.
07:43Yeah.
07:44I will rate you a pretty close 8 out of 10.
07:46Close to 10.
07:47Yeah.
07:48It's my first hold.
07:49It's quite good.
07:50Yeah.
07:51So what we can do now is, I think it's deep enough.
07:53Okay.
07:54What we can do now is that we can move the root ball, blow it into the hole.
07:57Yeah, so as you can see it's coming out.
08:01It might not be straight, as you can see.
08:03Oh.
08:04So what we have to do is, we have to adjust this.
08:06You know what?
08:07I'm going to take it easy for myself.
08:08Okay, let's see how it is.
08:10Better?
08:12It looks like it.
08:13It's good too.
08:14Is it good for you?
08:16Is it good for you?
08:18Let's get this efficient.
08:19But around this area where we call the root collar, we still need to have some kind of oxygen transfer now.
08:24Yeah.
08:25Okay.
08:26So no osmosis?
08:27No.
08:28It's not saltwater.
08:29No osmosis.
08:30Do you know about the root cell, elongated structure, to increase surface area to volume ratio?
08:35Okay, Terlou, I just have a very quick question for you.
08:39Everyone has a very beautiful hole, and it looks like I just destroyed part of the earth in the park.
08:44So...
08:46Was this wrong or was this right?
08:49It can be done better for sure, which is why it's 8 upon 10.
08:52I'm sorry.
08:53I'm sorry, guys.
08:54Okay, so now that it's done, you can water the tree, I'll give you the honors.
09:04Oh, okay.
09:05Since it's your first tree.
09:06Yeah, you can just do around the crater.
09:09Around the crater.
09:10Float it.
09:11Then you can see that the water will be slowly draining down to the root wall.
09:15Oh, okay.
09:16You can just flood it.
09:21Like the whole can?
09:22Yeah, finish the whole can.
09:23Oh.
09:24So what this, what this does is that the mulch will also help to keep the moisture in.
09:29Oh, okay.
09:30Surrounding the root wall.
09:31And then once it decomposes, you also feed nutrients to the roots.
09:34Oh.
09:35Yeah.
09:36So I get to find my tree when I come back here.
09:3920 years later.
09:41Waller tomorrow season 4.
09:43So just think about it.
09:44In 20 years time, I can sit down on this rock, under my shade, talking to my tree.
09:56So that definitely wasn't easy.
09:57But it does feel good to know that I played my part to re-green Singapore.
10:01And maybe you should try too.
10:18Alright, so we're on our way to find a very rare and elusive wildlife that's found in Singapore.
10:24Only a select few in this country has crossed paths with it at night.
10:28But I will contact to last that we can see it in the day.
10:31So I really hope we get to see it.
10:33All right, Jay.
10:34So while we're waiting for the deer to appear, how long have you been searching for these deer in the first place?
10:54We started during COVID.
10:56Yeah.
10:57During a walk, a transplant of somebody.
11:00And that started everything.
11:02Because I'm so curious that we have such a big mammal in the forest.
11:07But yet, no one knew that existed.
11:09So I decided to go in search of them and track them.
11:13But along that line, I find that there are more to just trying to know them.
11:20Early this year, we have both discovered that most of the deer are now out nearer,
11:26staying nearer to the fringe instead of in the inner forest.
11:29Yeah.
11:30One of the very important factor is that we have a lot of green grasses near the fringe.
11:37Yeah, yeah.
11:38Deer usually tend to look for new grass, look for food.
11:41Yeah.
11:42One of the reasons.
11:43So when that happened, they tend to cross roads.
11:46That is where most of the road accident happened.
11:50So this is something we're trying to look at.
11:52And how we can try to bring them back into the inner forest.
11:58Yeah.
11:59To avoid them staying, straying too far out to the fringe.
12:02I think it's the deer, I think it's the deer.
12:05Can you see?
12:06Is it deer?
12:07Is it deer?
12:08Is that brown thing sticking from the grass, right?
12:09Yeah, is it deer.
12:20Oh, I caught it!
12:21I caught it!
12:22I caught it!
12:23Huh!
12:24Oh!
12:25I caught it!
12:26Oh, I caught it!
12:27Oh, I caught it!
12:28Oh, my gosh!
12:41When Jay told us that we could see the somebody else in the day,
12:46I was extremely skeptical
12:49and I've never ever heard of anyone coming into contact with them in the day.
12:54So to see just the...
12:56I'm just looking at the body of the somebody now and...
12:59it's really, really amazing.
13:03Are trees and greenery important to the somebody to survive?
13:06Yes, of course, they are important.
13:09It gives protection to most species of wildlife.
13:13Also because the temperature is pretty low within the forest.
13:16Yeah, because it's more shady.
13:18And that's what the animals always prefer.
13:22Singaporeans do love wildlife a lot.
13:25And more importantly, they treasure what we have.
13:28Because it's so unique in concrete forests that we have such beautiful, unique wildlife
13:34like somebody or like animals like that.
13:48It's so unique in people who are diving out.
13:52I've got to go with them and drink the best!
13:54I've got to go with them!
13:55I've got to go with them for a worship.
13:57I've got to go with them for a moment, too.
13:58It's so unique to their own place.
13:59That's very interesting.
14:01I've got to go with them as well.
14:02We've got this doing a little bit.
14:04We've got to go with them for a little bit.
14:05You
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