Sunday, July 31, 2011

Work on Bukit Timah Eco-Link begins

Two years ago, Cheng Puay blogged about the announcement of an ecological 'bridge' to be built across the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) to connect Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the Central Catchment area. Construction of the BKE 25 years ago had caused the two forested areas to be separated from each other, preventing animals from moving freely and making them run the risk of becoming roadkill.

Today the Straits Times reported that work on the Eco-Link@BKE has finally begun, at a projected cost of $17 million, to be completed around December 2013. It will certainly be an exciting experiment to see whether man-made forest corridors of this sort can be effective at allowing migration and genetic exchange between two forest fragments.

Incidentally, the previous blog post is the most often-visited post on this blog. Those who have read that article may hence be glad to have this update.

In other news, the ST today also reported on a growing poaching problem in forested areas around Singapore, including wild boar traps which have inadvertently maimed stray dogs. Nature aficionados who habitually walk through the undergrowth should watch out!

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