Greening of industrial estates to intensify over next 10 years
Greening to intensify over next 10 years, nearly tripling current tree population
Industrial estates will soon be lush with more greenery, with the number of trees in such areas set to almost triple in the next 10 years.
National Development Minister Desmond Lee yesterday said these estates will have 260,000 trees by 2030, up from the current 90,000.
"They will be planted along the roads and will resemble the look and feel of forests, so (this will be) a planting regime that is more intensive, that greens up the place more and beautifies it. It will also provide shade and respite from the heat," he said.
Industrial estates are among the hotter areas in Singapore, and the Government announced a plan in March to plant 100,000 more trees in them. That target has now been increased by 70,000.
The greening efforts are part of the One Million Trees movement, which aims to have that number of trees planted across Singapore over the next decade with community support.
Mr Lee said the tree-planting efforts will be complemented by a network of environmental sensors that will collect data on ambient temperature, relative humidity and wind speed.
The data will support ongoing research projects and help the authorities develop better greening strategies to cool the city.
He added that the greened industrial estates will be connected to surrounding nature spaces to create a continuous green network.
For example, the Sungei Kadut Eco-District will link to the Sungei Buloh Nature Park Network and the Rail Corridor as the district progressively develops over the next 20 to 30 years.
"These efforts, together with many others, will help to mitigate the effects of climate change and provide Singaporeans with a more liveable and sustainable environment," Mr Lee said at a briefing on the sidelines of a tree-planting event on Jurong Island.
JURONG ISLAND
Participants planted 100 trees on the island at the event yesterday, which took place amid safe distancing measures.
Those taking part included residents from West Coast GRC's Boon Lay ward and representatives of 32 corporations from Jurong Island - the largest number of companies that have participated in such an activity on the island.
The authorities aim to plant 21,000 more trees on Jurong Island by 2022 to meet their target of 44,000 trees.
Singapore will have a total of 100ha of new green spaces in industrial estates such as Punggol Digital District, Sungei Kadut Eco-District and Jurong Innovation District by 2030.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
