TODAY Online Only - Don't just fell a tree, transplant it elsewhere
11:00 AM June 3, 2009
Letter from Mariann Maes
I refer to "Trees had to go" (June 2).
I’m very heartened that many more Singaporeans are now speaking up about protecting Singapore’s greenery, as Mr Spencer Hee had done recently.
Kudos also to the National Parks Board for making stringent reviews on the felling of trees in some situations.
However, what I feel lacking is the onus on the relevant agencies in charge of the land parcels that they occupy. For instance, there was a report of trees being removed at the Sembawang Food Centre, only to be replaced by younger ones after a member of the public questioned the need for the removal.
Mature trees like those felled at the food centre provide more shade and absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - omething which young saplings can do only many years later. I wonder how the authorities could have allowed such a lapse to occur. The perpetrators should not be so easily let off just because they have replanted the trees. We have become a country constantly facing harsh physical development which will eventually result in many mature trees being removed from our landscape. What I would like NParks to consider gazetting is this: For every tree removed by private contractors or by the occupying authorities of the land parcels, it must be transplanted at a suitable location approved by NParks.
