New Tours on Singapore's Heritage Roads and Heritage Trees to Celebrate Clean and Green Singapore 2013

29 Oct 2012 - In conjunction with the Clean and Green Singapore (CGS) 2013 campaign, the National Parks Board (NParks) will organise free tours on 10 and 11 November 2012 for the public to appreciate Singapore's Heritage Roads and Heritage Trees.  Today, NParks also launched a new online trail-guide on Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.

This is in line with the campaign theme of Every Action Counts.  Mr Ng Cheow Kheng, Director (Horticulture and Community Gardening) at NParks elaborated, "Singapore's lush greenery is the result of decades of determination and hard work.  Through such tours, we want to emphasise the importance of taking action to conserve our natural heritage.  Today, we also launched a new online trail-guide on Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.  The public can download the guide and read about the diverse range of flora and fauna in the park.  By experiencing and appreciating the greenery around us, Singaporeans will be encouraged to take ownership of the environment and nurture the results of our pioneers' efforts that turned Singapore into a City in a Garden."

Public tour of Heritage Roads and Heritage Trees

NParks initiated the Heritage Roads and Heritage Tree Schemes in 2001.  Both schemes aim to conserve majestic and mature trees of botanical, historical or cultural value.  There are currently 200 Heritage Trees located all over Singapore, and five Heritage Roads: Arcadia Road, Lim Chu Kang Road, Mandai Road, Mount Pleasant Road and South Buona Vista Road.  For more details of both schemes, please refer to Annex A.    

NParks started organising tours for the public to visit Heritage Trees and Heritage Roads in 2011.  A total of six tours have been conducted, and public response has been encouraging.  The new tours on 10 and 11 November 2012 will bring participants to Mandai Road and three Heritage Trees at West Camp Road, Old Bird Cage Walk and Surin Avenue Neighbourhood Park.  More tours are being planned for 2013. 

As spaces are limited, members of the public need to sign up for the tours at nparks_urban_gardening@nparks.gov.sg.  For more details of the tours, please refer to Annex B.

New DIY trail-guides

First available in 2010, NParks has published 44 Do-It-Yourself (DIY) trail-guides on parks, gardens, nature areas and park connectors.  Today, NParks launched a new walking guide on Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.

Complete with detailed maps and vivid photographs, the new guide highlights historical landmarks and interesting flora and fauna along walking trails in the Pond Gardens at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.  The other seven guides published earlier in the year include:

1. Labrador Nature & Coastal Walk
2. North Eastern Riverine Loop
3. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
4. Admiralty Park
5. Wallace Trail at Dairy Farm Nature Park
6. Heritage Roads
7. Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Popular with the public, the trail-guides have been downloaded more than 50,000 times this year.  All DIY trail-guides can be downloaded for free at www.nparks.gov.sg/eguides.  For more information, please refer to Annex C.

More opportunities to plant a tree in November

With greater awareness and appreciation of our natural environment, the public can take action to improve the environment by participating in the Plant-A-Tree (PAT) programme.  Supported by the Garden City Fund, NParks' charity arm, the PAT programme provides an avenue for participants to plant trees in designated parks and nature reserves.  Since the launch of PAT in 2007, more than 12,000 trees have been pledged and planted to-date. 

The public can sign up at www.gardencityfund.org to plant a tree at the following dates and locations:

17 Nov 2012  -           Choa Chu Kang Park

24 Nov 2012  -           Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East
                                     One-north Park