Chairman's Message

In April 2019, Singaporeans flocked to the newly-opened Lakeside Garden, part of Jurong Lake Gardens, to experience its many sights including natural flood-plains. It was arguably the largest turnout over a two-week period that we had ever seen on the opening of any new park or facility. Earlier this year we opened Sembawang Hot Spring Park and this was also very enthusiastically received by our people.

Singaporeans have shown a love for Nature and the outdoors which has grown only stronger and deeper with time. The drastic dislocations and impact from the COVID-19 pandemic therefore was significantly felt by all.

Since the start of 2020, Singapore and the world have been confronted with an existential pandemic threat. No one knows for sure when it will be over. In the months since, Singaporeans have all seen and experienced how the COVID-19 pandemic radically impacts the way we work, live and play.

As safety measures like social distancing meant that familiar and staple NParks outdoor activities and programmes involving physical engagement were suspended, our officers had to adapt or discover new ways to stay connected with our citizens. Our online platforms were quickly refreshed and enhanced so that we could actively engage the public during this period and mitigate as best we could what was lost in terms of physical outings and visits to our parks. Our officers created multiple DIY videos, conducted courses online and hosted webinars and even electronic pet adoption drives.

It has been a year since the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) cluster was set up in NParks. As the main touchpoint for animal and veterinary-related issues, AVS stepped up engagement with the public and stakeholders to review and strengthen standards in the pet sector. During this difficult period of the pandemic, AVS has been working with many of these stakeholders to explore how it can support practicable initiatives to safeguard animal health and welfare.

And even as our different NParks officers stepped up their efforts to do all this, many of them had to also double-up to support the national response to manage the pandemic. Many were involved in supporting agencies in overseeing the management of holding centres. Even more stepped forward daily to be safety ambassadors on the ground, reminding people to wear their masks and to practise safe distancing. It was a task which required patience, tact and resilience because situations on the ground could sometimes be tense and testy as the psychological stress over the pandemic brewed.

While we, as a nation, focus collectively to combat COVID-19, NParks continues to also keep its eye on our vision to become a City in Nature. NParks plays a vital role in ensuring that Singapore's liveability and sustainability as a City in Nature is about enhancing nature in the urban environment and applying nature-based solutions to achieve climate, ecological and social resilience for Singapore and Singaporeans. The benefit is not just cleaner water, fresher air and cooler temperatures but also, with time, a culture of empathy and care for all who are part of this shared living environment.

Although the pandemic may constrain the pace of what we can do for now, our commitment to stay on course and realise the vision remains unwavered. In March 2020, the One Million Trees movement was launched. Corporate bodies, groups and individuals have since responded generously to sponsor this programme, which targets to plant one million trees across Singapore over the next 10 years. NParks also launched the Gardening with Edibles programme where families could start their own food growing gardens and also introduce greenery into their homes. The response to this programme has been overwhelming and we had to increase the number of seed packets for distribution from 150,000 to over 400,000.

Singapore today has more than 350 hectares of nature parks which act as complementary habitats and buffers to our nature reserves (this was boosted with the opening of the 50-ha Thomson Nature Park in October 2019). We have planted 134,000 trees in the reporting year and we intend to grow the Nature Park network by another 200 hectares. We also plan to strengthen connectivity between green spaces with 180 km of Nature Ways and the goal is to make "every road a Nature Way". If we stay focused and subsequently push ourselves to catch up on whatever lost time the pandemic may have imposed, we will get back on schedule and hope to have most, if not all, of these done by 2030.

While it has certainly been a challenging year, Singaporeans have clearly taken it in their stride. Our efforts in NParks would not have been fruitful if not for the continuing and encouraging support of Singaporeans – members of public, members of the corporate and public sectors. To all of them, we in the NParks family – staff and volunteers – give our most grateful thanks.

Mr Benny Lim
Chairman, National Parks Board