New Mandai mangrove and mudflat nature park, enhanced Bukit Batok nature corridor await from 2028
Chin Hui Shan Straits Times 23 Jan 2025
SINGAPORE – Nature lovers will have a new place to spot migratory shorebirds and get to explore enhanced trails at a refreshed nature corridor from 2028.
The Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat Nature Park – a 72.8ha nature park located about 3km to the east of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve – will feature coastal trails and bird hides that allow visitors to observe migratory birds, such as common greenshanks and Pacific golden plovers, without disturbing them.
Visitors to the Bukit Batok Nature Corridor – which consists of over 125ha of nature parks and 10km of trails connecting Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to the future Tengah Forest Corridor – will also be able to enjoy enhanced trails, a new exercise plaza and an “enhanced” stream.
Works for both the Bukit Batok Nature Corridor and Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat Nature Park are expected to start in 2026 and will be completed in phases starting from 2028.
Both projects are part of the National Parks Board’s (NParks) efforts to extend Singapore’s natural capital to help transform the Republic into a City in Nature.
“These efforts not only strengthen our ecological connectivity and extend our natural capital, they also provide Singaporeans with more nature-based recreation opportunities,” said National Development Minister Desmond Lee in a Facebook post on Jan 22.
NParks announced in October 2018 that Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat will be conserved as a nature park. Ecologically linked to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, the nature park will enhance the reserve’s ecological capacity in wetland and migratory shorebird conservation.
From 2028, two new nodes, which offer panoramic views of the mudflat, will serve as a place for visitors to learn more about Singapore’s wetland biodiversity and conservation. There will be coach drop-off points at the nature park.
Linking the new nodes are coastal trails with bird hides for bird watchers to observe feathered creatures feeding on the mudflat from a distance.
The trails also tap nature-based solutions such as slope-regrading to help restore and reinforce the coasts, as well as support the growth of mangroves.
As one of the richest wetlands in Singapore, the Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat site is home to over 380 fauna species and 190 flora species and is an important feeding ground for migratory shorebirds.
Between August and March yearly, migratory birds escaping the winter chill from the Arctic Circle and Russia stop and refuel in Singapore en route to Australia and New Zealand.
NParks’ studies show that the majority of the shorebirds that roost at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve at high tide will fly to Mandai Mangrove during low tide to forage at the mudflat, which is a rich feeding ground for them.
“This means that both sites are ecologically interdependent habitats for shorebirds and are important for shorebird conservation in Singapore,” said NParks.
The Mandai Mangrove forest is also one of the few remaining mangrove habitats in Singapore with an extensive mudflat exposed at low tide.
To minimise impact on biodiversity and other parameters such as water quality and sediment quality, NParks, which conducted an environmental impact assessment to guide the development of the site, will avoid heavy construction works during the bird migratory season.
The assessment report will be published in February and members of the public can give their views.
