The Sunda slow loris has been spotted in the forest near Teacher’s Estate. (Photo: David Haring / Duke Lemur Center)
A large part of a 30ha secondary forest will be cleared to make way for private homes within the Teacher’s Estate area, reported Channel NewsAsia.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) revealed that land preparation works for the new neighbourhood will start in Q3 2016, and is expected to take about five years.
Announced in the Master Plan 2014, the URA noted that the new neighbourhood forms part of plans to “rejuvenate Ang Mo Kio Town by providing Singaporeans with more housing options and convenient access to amenities”.
But before construction work can commence, a management plan will be conceived to ensure that wildlife are safely guided to the forested area in the north, or the Central Catchment Nature Reserve in the west, said the URA.
The URA added that it worked with the National Parks Board (NParks) in 2014 and 2015 “to salvage and relocate plant species that are of varying conservation status”.
In fact, it will keep two vegetated areas located near Munshi Abdullah Walk for at least five years, while some existing vegetation will be kept for a future neighbourhood park.
In a position paper released last week, the Nature Society called for the site’s phased development, and for the preservation of one of the streams and parts of the forest.
The Nature Society noted that several globally and nationally endangered animals, such as the sunda slow loris, banded leaf monkey and sunda pangolin, have been spotted there.
Aside from two streams, the area also has around 100 specimens of rare Elephant Foot’s Fern, which is classified as vulnerable by NParks.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
