SINGAPORE: The National Parks Board said on Thursday (Jun 4) that it is investigating the unauthorised clearance of a site in Lower Peirce Reservoir, which contained trees planted under a nationwide greening initiative.NParks said that an employee carrying out routine inspections on Tuesday morning discovered that around 40 saplings and shrubs within half of the original tree-planting site had been cleared.A contractor had done this without approval to temporarily store materials at the site, NParks group director for conservation Lim Liang Jin said in response to queries.NParks did not identify the contractor in its statement.
Mr Lim said that NParks immediately instructed the contractor to stop its work and remove the stored items.He added that NParks intends to replant the site, which is located in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.The original tree-planting was done as part of NParks’ OneMillionTrees movement, which aims to plant 1 million trees across Singapore from 2020 to 2030.“NParks had earlier communicated to the contractor’s site supervisor on a few occasions that the area was not suitable for their storage space and had advised them to use an alternative location,” said Mr Lim.“However, the contractor went against NParks’ direction and proceeded to clear the area on May 29, 2026 without informing NParks.”It is an offence to cut, collect or displace any tree or plant within any national park or nature reserve without permission from the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation.Offenders can be jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$50,000 or receive both penalties.The tree-planting site held 87 saplings planted on Jan 22, 2025, by citizen scientists from the Raffles’ Banded Langur Working Group.The Raffles' banded langur is one of only two species of monkeys native to Singapore and is critically endangered.Dr Andie Ang, primatologist and chairperson of the working group, told CNA she organised the tree-planting as part of celebrations leading up to the group’s 10th anniversary in 2026.According to her, the tree-planting site is located near the entrance of Lower Peirce Reservoir Park.
