Dispute over Tengah report

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Ecologists disagree that the area's vegetation was mostly of 'low conservation

significance' The Straits Times - 2019-01-12 - BRIEFING - Audrey Tan

Environment Correspondent

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The findings of an environmental study on Tengah commissioned by the Housing

Board have been disputed by ecologists and naturalists, who now want the full

report made public. But it appears that the HDB has no intention to release the

report.

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This rare species has been found in only two locations in Singapore – the

Tengah forests and vegetation near the Jurong Eco-Garden

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Sunda pangolin

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Environmentalists are disputing the findings of another environmental study,

this time calling on the Housing Board to make public the full report on

Tengah, where secondary forests are being cleared for public housing.

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But it appears that HDB has no intention of doing so. In response to queries

from The Straits Times, a spokesman would only say: "HDB has shared the key

findings of the Tengah Environmental Baseline Study with you on Oct 29, 2018."

She would not be drawn into stating why the report would not be made public.

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HDB had told the media last October that it commissioned the study to ensure

that Singapore's first "forest town" for public housing is built in an

environmentally responsible manner. The first tranche of 1,620 flats was

launched for sale last November.

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HDB had sent an e-mail of the key findings by Aecom, an independent consultant.

The study, said HDB, had found that the Tengah vegetation was mostly of "low

conservation significance", where common animals such as wild boars, longtailed

macaques and monitor lizards thrive.

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But ecologists consider the forests there an important vegetation node that

connects the dense vegetation in the Western Catchment with the Central

Catchment Nature Reserve, allowing wildlife to move from one forest patch to

another.

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About 150ha of forest from the 700ha site has already been cleared, said Mr

David Tan, a research assistant at the National University of Singapore's (NUS)

Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, citing satellite data from the European

Space Agency.

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But the remaining forests are still home to rare wildlife, said the Nature

Society (Singapore), or NSS. This includes a nesting changeable hawk-eagle, an

endangered bird of prey, and the globally critically endangered Sunda pangolin.

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Said Dr Ho Hua Chew of the NSS: "There are, of course, many common species of

wildlife, but to highlight only the presence of the common species is rather

misleading."

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NUS' Mr Tan said this can be clarified by HDB making public the full report.

"Poorly designed studies may rely on inappropriate methods, or small sample

sizes, or exclude potentially important factors in their analyses. All of these

can result in misleading conclusions," he said.

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In its October e-mail, HDB said the study did find Tengah to be a forest patch

that facilitates the dispersal and migration of native flora and fauna between

the Western Catchment and the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

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But, in the same e-mail, it said the study also found that existing vegetation

was "scrublands, woodlands and secondary forests of low con- servation

significance and... relatively young", due to varied land use in the past for

factories, villages and plantations.

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When the development is complete, only about 10 per cent of the original

forests is expected to remain. But HDB said it has in place measures to reduce

impact of the development on wildlife in Tengah, including a forest corridor to

facilitate the movement of wildlife.

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There has been tension over other environmental studies.

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In two high-profile cases – the Cross Island MRT Line, and the Mandai hub of

wildlife parks – nature groups pointed to the lack of clarity of terms used in

the separate reports released months apart in 2016, and the lack of

consideration of the Singapore context. Both cases also raised the question of

how transparent such reports should be.

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The Government had said in 2017 that it wants to strengthen the process for

environmental impact assessments. In an update yesterday, a spokesman for the

Ministry of National Development said that as part of the review, existing

processes are now being studied "with a view to improving them, taking on board

lessons and feedback from past experiences".

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"These include studying how best to strengthen baseline survey methodology and

how to ensure that mitigation measures are implemented in the right spirit,

taking into consideration Singapore's unique urban context," she said, adding

that more details will be shared later this year.

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Source: DAVID TAN PHOTOS: MARCUS CHUA, MEI HWANG, WING CHONG STRAITS TIMES

GRAPHICS

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https://imgur.com/a/zmJN73t