NATURE SOCIETY () ANNUAL REPORT 2013 (Jan – Dec)

Nature Society (Singapore) is a registered Society in Singapore under the Societies Act (Chapter 311), on 30 March 1961.

The Society is an approved charity under the Charities Act, Cap.37 since 19th February 2008 and has been accorded the status of an Institution of Public Character (IPC) for the period from 1st September 2008 to 31st August 2011 and renewed from 1st September 2013 to 31st August 2015.

The Unique Entity No. (UEN) is S61SS0142H.

The registered address of the Society is at 510 Geylang Road #02-05, The Sunflower Building, Singapore 389466. The premises are held in trust for the Charity by the following trustees by the trust instrument of 29th March 2000:

Prof. Lye Lin Heng Dr. Geh Min Prof. Ng Soon Chye

The Society has a conflict of interests policy as stated in the following resolution passed at the 54th Annual General Meeting of the Society on 24th May, 2008: “That at the first Executive Committee / Council Meeting after each Annual General Meeting all members of the incoming Executive Committee and of the Council declare and have minuted any general conflict of interest which they consider they may have, and that before any specific discussions and decisions at this or any other meetings of the Executive Committee and Council, members consider whether any conflicts of interest exist for any members and, where they are considered to exist, request that member to abstain from the vote or decision- making process.”

THE 2013-2014 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL MEMBERS

Patron and Council Members Executive Committee Patron President Prof Tommy Koh Dr Shawn Kaihekulani Yamauchi Lum

Immediate Past President Vice President Dr Geh Min Mr Leong Kwok Peng

Finance Advisory Group Members Honorary Treasurer Dr Lee Lay Tin Mr Soo Choon Kiat Mr Lim Chin Kheng Mr Lee Chiu-San Honorary Secretary Ms Margaret E Hall Co-opted Council Member Prof P N Avadhani Honorary Assistant Treasurer Tony O’Dempsey Mr David Teo Gan Cheong Weei Faizah Jamal Honorary Assistant Secretary Mr Tan Hang Chong Advisory Council Members Committee Members: Mr Iain Ewing Mr Lim Jim Khoon Mr Goh Si Guim Mr Richard Hale Mr Liu Thai Ker Dr Ho Hua Chew Mr Warren Khoo Prof Ng Soon Chye Dr Hsu Chia Chi Prof Koh Kheng Lian Mr Sim Wong Hoo Mr Kwek Leng Joo Mr Mason Tan

Birdlife International Coordinator Mr Lim Kim Keang

Environmental Law & Policy Coordinator Mr Vinayagan Dharmarajah

Committee and Special Interest Groups Chairpersons Conservation Committee Acting Chairperson: Mr Leong Kwok Peng

Education Committee Chairperson: Ms Gloria Seow

Bird Group Chairperson: Mr Wing Chong

Butterfly Interest Group Chairperson: Mr Anuj Jain

Marine Conservation Group Chairperson: Dr Hsu Chia Chi

Plant Group Chairperson: Dr. Shawn Kaihekulani Yamauchi Lum

The Nature Ramblers Chairperson: Mr Pandian Parthasarathy

Vertebrate Study Group Chairperson: Ms Ng Bee Choo

Jalan Hijau Group Chairperson: Mr Tan Hang Chong

President’s Report

by Dr. Shawn Lum

“Life is what happens to us when we’re making other plans” might be as good a way as any to describe 2013 for the Nature Society. Much of the previous year had been devoted to issues that were driven by events originating outside the Nature Society. Prominent among these was the reaction to the announced construction of a major road through Bukit Brown Cemetery, and the proposal and subsequent implementation of measures to control the wild boar population near the Lower Peirce Reservoir. While the Nature Society’s participation in discussions over these and other issues was important, they invariably divert some of our energies away from other things that help us achieve our long-term goals.

2013 was to be the year where I thought a few long-awaited initiatives might finally come to fruition. Among these, a community-based programme to monitor migratory birds, a project aimed at restoring degraded freshwater swamp forests, and the first installments of a long-term, comprehensive public outreach programme to promote nature watching as a hobby, and nature conservation as a lifestyle.

Then in January 2013, the Ministry of Transport and Land Transport Authority unveiled plans for an ambitious 50km long MRT line that would stretch from to Tuas – the Cross-Island Line (CRL). In addition, later in 2013 plans were announced for the long-anticipated HDB estate to be built at the site of the former Bidadari Cemetery. The tenor for 2013-14 had been set, and long-term plans for the Society would remain so for at least another year.

There were, of course, other exciting events, including the integration of the visionary Aseanarean project founded by Mr Francis Lee and Prof Chou Loke Ming with the NSS Marine Conservation Group, our many vertebrate and bird surveys, or the continued publication of valuable nature guides and booklets

AGM reports by our Conservation Committee and Special Interest Groups demonstrate the commitment of our members to conservation, and the staggering breadth and number of our activities in 2013. In addition to conducting activities, the Nature Society (Singapore) is called upon to participate in discussions and working groups of various kinds. Some of the groups in which we are involved in (with their organising body added in parentheses) include the Rail Corridor Partnership (URA), Heritage Tree Panel (NParks), Water Network (PUB), Sungei Buloh Working Group (NParks), Kranji Marsh planning group (URA & NParks), Nature Reserves Scientific Advisory Committee (NParks), Wildlife Reserves Conservation Fund (WRS), and the SG50 Sub-committee on Infrastructure and Environment (MND & MEWR), among others.

To have our opinions sought and to be seen as a stakeholder in heritage and environmental issues in Singapore is certainly a privilege and something to be proud of. It is also something that our members have worked toward for many years, and recognition of the Nature Society’s contributions over decades. If that was all there was to our advocacy work, my feeling would be that while such work was good, it would not be good enough, for part of our mission is to highlight the rich natural heritage of Southeast Asia and to be part of collaborative conservation efforts at local, regional and global levels. It would be unfortunate, to put it mildly, if nature in Singapore was well managed and protected whilst biodiversity languished elsewhere. The incredible natural heritage of Southeast Asia enriches all humanity, and to the extent that the Nature Society is able, I think we should seek meaningful collaborations at every opportunity, a principle clearly articulated by our Immediate Past President, Dr Geh Min.

The value in forging stronger links with fellow NGOs was made clear at the 2013 BirdLife World Congress held in Ottawa, Canada. We are, as most of you know, BirdLife International’s Singapore country partner, but we are actually more than that. We are BirdLife in Singapore. A stronger, more collaborative BirdLife Partnership will be able to do far more for conservation than each BirdLife partner NGO working in isolation, and early indications are that a number of regional collaborative projects are imminent.

Members of the NSS Bird Group, notably Lim Kim Keang, have been active in the BirdLife partnership for years, with Kim Keang having served as the Chair of the BirdLife Asia Council and also as a member of the BirdLife Global Council. The Nature Society has now come full circle, as I was appointed to the BirdLife Asia Council and to the Global Council at the BirdLife World Congress in June. It has been an exciting crash course in global nature conservation for me thus far. I hope that the appointment will have a worthwhile conservation end product (locally and regionally) in addition to the fascinating discussions with an amazing group of nature conservationists from around the world.

In order to do more for nature in Singapore and beyond, we will have to scale up our ambitions, and that will have to cut across everything we do – programmes and projects, outreach efforts, scientific output, volunteer management, collaborations, and staffing. None of this will be possible unless we put in place a systematic, long-term fundraising scheme. It looks like 2014 and 2015 will be busy years, as we attempt to put into place a long-term strategy for raising and sustaining our capacity to do good for nature conservation.

None of our achievements in 2013 would have been possible without our wonderful Secretariat, Joe Lim and Kerry Pereira. I always feel like the luckiest person around, as I have the privilege of working with an exceptional Secretariat, Exco and Council, and so many talented and dedicated member-volunteers. To all of them I give my sincerest and fullest thanks. We are blessed to have Professor Tommy Koh as our Patron; as wise, encouraging and supportive a Patron as one could hope for. NSS member Ms Faizah Jamal has been an eloquent and powerful voice for Nature in Parliament.

I cannot forget our generous donors who have done so much to help us: Mr Kwek Leng Joo and City Developments Limited, Heinrich Jessen and his Staff at Jebsen & Jessen (SEA), Leica Camera Asia Pacific, Ben Williams and the Green Corridor Run team, Capitacommercial Trust Management Limited, Citi-YMCA Youth for Causes, Singapore Pools i-Shine Earth Buddiz and so many others whom we acknowledge in our publication Nature Watch.

Regular attendees of our Annual General Meetings will notice that one of our AGM constants, Mr Charles Letts, is not with us for the AGM 2014. Mr Letts passed away in October 2013, aged 95. The last Nature Society function that he attended was the integration of the Aseanarean Expedition Series Project with the NSS Marine Conservation Group in September, just a month before he passed away. A giant of a man in physique, spirit, and generosity, Mr Charles Letts will be greatly missed.

Treasurer’s Report

Financial Year 2013 or Year Ended 31 December 2013

by Ms. Margie Hall

Hon. Secretary

The Society’s Statement of Financial Activities for FY 2013 records a surplus of $36,898, something that may come as a relief to members after some years of deficits. However, whether deficits or surpluses, the nature of NSS activities is such that a single figure is never an accurate reflection of the mix of regular and irregular incomes and expenditures occurring in any year. In particular our various projects, which nearly always span several years, can produce large swings in both directions in our apparent fortunes.

Despite having a surplus recorded under Financial Activities, the Society’s Total Funds of $1,234,324 at end 2013 were $17,000 less than the amount at the end of 2012 ($1,251,594). Both the Total Funds and the Financial Activities are divided into Restricted Funds and Unrestricted Funds. Most of the reduction in Total Funds occurred within the Restricted Funds where the refund of $54,168 of the Little Green Dot Student Research Grant outweighed the net income of $12,742 when schools made refunds to NSS for Little Green Dot research activities and the net income from sales of Marine Parks of Indonesia book of $26,511.

As regards Unrestricted Funds, the amount of $1,147,905 at end 2013 was a reduction of less than $1,000 from the amount of $1,148,744 at end 2012. Unrestricted funds are the Society’s Reserves, of which the net cash reserve is the most important component. Net cash reserves at end 2013 were $756,348, a slightly larger reduction of less than $5,000 from end 2012 when they stood at $761,220. Our Reserves policy is to have funds for three years in advance. Given this year’s expenditure of $209,120, we have managed to maintain this financial prudence objective to safeguard the Society's ability to continue as a going concern.

However, turning again to Financial Activities/Unrestricted Funds, where the much larger deficit of 2012 was reduced to a tiny deficit of $840 in 2013, it must be noted that this was achieved partly through substantially less spending on staff during 2013 ($90,320 as compared to $154,090 in 2012). Having less staff is not desirable in the longer term as there is strain on the existing Secretariat staff of two and on the Executive Committee (Exco). It also denies the Society the capacity to pursue more of the research and citizen science projects that we envisage. Exco did not rush to reappoint an Executive Officer in 2013, as we wished to allow the newly-appointed Outreach Officer to settle in, but we have now reached the point where the Secretariat should be expanding again.

Expansion needs adequate funds. Although Exco did not live up to its stated intentions to initiate major fund-raising in 2013, we were fortunate to receive donations that were actually greater than in 2012. This is not immediately obvious in the Statement of Financial Activities. The specific headings “Donations” show over $10,000 less in total than the previous year. However an effective and very welcome donation of around $34,000 from Jebsen and Jessen is included in the “Events and Activities Income” – recorded in this category since the incoming funds were tied in with providing some cost-incurring activities for Jebsen and Jessen staff.

Whilst specific fund-raising activity is desirable and overdue, it must be recognized that the Society brings in a substantial amount of donations each year despite no high octane fundraising. All our work by staff and active members alike contribute to a positive high profile for the Society that brings in unsolicited donations. Additionally the standard requests to members for donations and the running of booths at public events also play their part in adding to the total. But increasingly our ongoing projects are turning into fundraisers. Corporate donors, who have often preferred to donate to a project rather than to make general donations, now seek out projects where their staff can be involved. This was the case in 2013 with Jebsen and Jessen, whose staff worked two days at , a Conservation Committee project. It has been the case with Bloomberg in earlier years, whose staff also worked at Kranji Marsh, and also in 2013 with a number of corporates who have made effective smaller donations through their staff participating in a few hours of research and rescue of horseshoe crabs at Mandai Mudflats. In these cases it is up-and-running projects and the work of our Outreach Officers, supported by Committee, SIG and other volunteers, which become our fund- raisers. More Outreach or Scientific Officers, developing new or existing research and conservation projects, effectively will allow us to offer varied and meaningful volunteering opportunities to corporate staff and to receive the donations that come with them.

It is heartening that income from subscriptions is slightly increased from 2012, not just because of the value of a new Life membership, but also because the numbers of all types of subscriptions was slightly greater than the previous year. Hopefully this trend will continue in 2014.

A final note for those to whom the format of the Financial Statements may not seem as clear as in the past: the headings ‘contract income’ and ‘costs of goods sold and contract performance” now cover, amongst other items, the sale and production of Nature Watch magazine, which used to be recorded alongside Nature News.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES

Conservation Committee by Mr. Leong Kwok Peng, Dr. Ho Hua Chew and Mr. Tony O’Dempsey

1. Cross Island Line Early in 2014 the government announced plans to construct the Cross Island Line (CRL) connecting Changi with Jurong and passing through the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR). Concerns of Nature Society were initially aired in the Straits Times in March 2013 and following that a position paper was prepared to communicate the concerns of the Nature society to its membership and general public. An important aspect of the position paper is that we avoided emotional arguments and concentrated on objective cause and effect issues relating to the engineering investigation aspects of the project and their potential effect on the habitat affected. The position paper received good publicity in the news media. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Ministry of Transport (MOT) opened a dialog initially with NSS and later this was expanded to include other nature groups such as CTEP as well as knowledgeable individuals. The engagement was chaired by SMOS Josephine Teo and we were pleased to be able to communicate our points of view regarding the CRL in a forum that included senior officials of the LTA and MOT. The outcome of these deliberations was the commitment by the authorities to undertake a full Environmental Impact Study, the purpose of which is to assess the potential impacts of the engineering project on the natural ecology of the CCNR. To date the EIA project has been tendered and we await announcement of the successful tenderer. We look forward to further engagement as the EIA progresses and have a keen interest in the anticipated cabinet decision regarding the route of the CRL once the EIA has been completed.

2. The Green Corridor a) Green Corridor Run The 1st inaugural Green Corridor Run was held in Jan 2013. NSS is the charity partner for the run and received a total donation of $6480 from some of the participants who registered for the run. The run was a success and attracted 6000+ participants.

The 2nd Green Corridor Run will be held in May 2014. b) Rail Corridor Partnership Meeting There is only one meeting held on 25 Mar 2013 chaired by Minister Tan Chuan Jin.

c) Rail Corridor Watch Group (RCWC) This was formed in Aug 2013. The group is made up of about 10 volunteers led by Paul Wonnacott. The purposes are to:

- To monitor the status of the Green Corridor and record and report any suspicious activities or encroachment.

-To keep a watching brief on the health and growth of both flora and fauna within the corridor.

- May be call upon to resolve issues which may be critical and require immediate response.

- May assist in carrying out works as an additional resource to URA, SLA or NParks, in joint schemes that may include housekeeping and improvements to the Green Corridor and its recognised Access Points

Note: The RCWC has done a joint walk with the management staff of SLA in Jan 2014 and has submitted regular monthly reports to SLA. We like to thank Paul Wonnacott for the leadership of this RCWC. d) Green Corridor Book We are in the process of compiling a book on the Green Corridor. The book will incorporate the elements of history, nature, heritage and public engagements done so far. The working partners in this book project include Singapore Heritage Society, Dr Lai Chee Kien and Friends of the Rail Corridor. The aim of the book is to provide a comprehensive reference of the Green Corridor now called the Rail Corridor. e) The Green Corridor Facebook The Committee supports the Green Corridor Facebook. It has over 10,000 members and regular posting has been maintained.

3. Social Media NSS facebook page has over 4500 members. NSS facebook group has over 2500 members. Postings daily here include local, regional and global interests.

4. Mandai Mangrove Kayak Trip The trip on 2 December through Mandai mangrove was organised for the MOS of MND Desmond Lee and NMP Faizah Jamal. Kwok Peng and Hua Chew represent NSS. The canoes moved off from Sg Mandai Besar at the Railway Crossway and moved through the mangrove to Sg Mandai, where MOS Lee was shown the nest of the Grey-headed Fish Eagle on an Albizia tree near the Immigration Checkpoint. No bird was seen on the nest at that time.

5. Kranji Marshes Adoption a) Bloomberg Kranji Corporate Walk on 10 May. 15 Bloomberg staffs attended the walk conducted by Hua Chew b) Jebsen & Jessen Volunteer Project: Kranji Marshes project organised by Jebsen & Jessen (SEA) in collaboration with NSS was carried out in November with an introductory visit to the Marshes on 17 November, with the field work on the extension of the exisitng stream along the small pond carried out on 21 & 22 March, followed by a Moth Watch event conducted by the Butterfly Interest Group. A total of 15 volunteers from South-east Asia particpated in the project. NSS received a donation from Jebsen & Jessen. The Conservation Committee would like to thank Kerry Pereira for managing & supervising the field work at Kranji. c) A group of eight volunteers from Morgan Stanley on 19 June carried out the Kranji Pond maintenance in the afternoon. d) A group of Raffles Junior College students carried the Kranji Pond Maintenance on 21 August and 23 August, both in the afternoon. e) Professional Kranji Pond Maintenance: There were three sessions of professional pond maintenance carried out for the year --- in March, June and September using the same Yong Landscape Contractor.

6. NParks Jurong Lake Meeting This was held on 22 January (9-11am) at NParks office. Present at the meeting were Alan Owyong, Margie Hall & Leong Kwok Peng. NParks presented the Master Plan for biodiversity at Jurong Lake and feedbacks were given by NSS attendees. The main points of contention are: a) the hotel planned on the western shore of the Lake, which will narrow down and restrict drastically the green corridor of the PUB park on shoreline here, and b) the preservation of the small forest near the Science Centre.

7. Bukit Brown a) Visit with Tharman Shanmugaratnam on 3 March. Walk organised by the Singapore Heritage Society. Ho Hua Chew represented NSS and had opportunity to brief Tharman on some important facets of Bt Brown biodiversity. Various reps from the other Bt Brown stakeholders were present. b) Heritage Board Meeting on 20 March. Meeting was organised & chaired by the Director of the Heritage Board with the various reps of Bt Brown stakeholders to discuss how to plan/design the untouched cultural and ecological features of Bt Brown after the 8-lane expressway has been implemented to make it more accessible and attractive to the public. Ho Hua Chew (HHC) was present, representing NSS. The Board proposes the creation of a cultural heritage museum under the new expressway with a park contiguous to it and linking to the Lim Boon Keng grave at MacRitchie by a park connector. The park will be enhanced to attract the birdlife from the forest. HHC put forward the proposal that such a park for biodiversity would be better sited in the heart of Bt Brown rather than by the edge of it near Lornie Road and adjacent to the new expressway.

8. River Safari Recce with Wildlife Reserves On 28 March, NSS was invited to recce the new River Safari Park & Cruise Route. Tony, Margie & Hua Chew attended the recce. None of the participants have any serious objection to the park & cruise route.

9. Semakau NEA Meeting On 17 May, the NEA held a meeting with the Semakau Landfill green stakeholders in NParks’ office at Raffles Hall, chaired by Director of NEA Semakau Landfill , Mr Ong Chong Peng. Hua Chew represented NSS at the meeting. A debrief was given by Mr Ong on the Phase 2 of Semakau Landfill Project, where this will involve the filling up of the Semakau Lagoon. The filling up here will be done en-mass and not by section by section as was the case with the Phase 1 plan. The corals within the lagoon will be rescued and transplanted elsewhere in a suitable location. Hua Chew didn’t see any problem to raise any objections.

10. Bidadari a) Meeting with HDB at the HDB Hub Exhibit on 13 September. Alan Owyong, Leong Kwok Peng & Ho Hua Chew attended the briefing. The meeting at the Bidadari Exhibit involved a briefing by the HDB designing representative on the plan for the area in front of the design panels. The meeting was a big disappointment despite the fact that NSS’s proposal to shift the planned public park to coincide with the existing wooded area that harbours a rich birdlife was submitted to HDB CEO last year (7 December 2012). Despite the negligible demand on area size for the NSS’ proposal, HDB didn’t budge an inch. b) A Revised Proposal was submitted on 23 September to HDB, with a copy also sent to MND MOS Desmond Lee on 22 October, who responded by referring the proposal personally to HDB for consideration. In the revised proposal, the new road across the ex-Muslim Cemetery was accepted together with most of the housing developments, (but proposed as low-rise), outside the wooded area at the periphery. After MOS Desmond Lee’s referral, HDB has responded by replying that they will contact NSS for a further meeting. c) A GPS monitoring of the birdlife at Bidadari was carried out in October and November by the Committee in conjunction with the Bird Group with the assistance of volunteers, most of whom are NSS member. The goal of the GPS monitoring is to determine the area(s) of concentration via the sighting frequencies of the various migratory and important resident species over the whole exhumed Muslim Cemetery. Ho Hua Chew is collating the results, which will be used in the forthcoming meeting with HDB to bolster NSS conservation position on the area. Thanks to Alan Owyong, Kerry, Tan Hang Chong, Cuifen, Tan Yi Han, Grace Ang, Ho Wai Hong & Boon Pei Ya for helping out in the project some capacity or other.

11. Our Singapore Conversation on Green Spaces This was organised by NSS and Young NTUC, with assistants from Eugene Tay of Green Future Solutions and other green volunteers, and was held at NTUC Centre on 30 November. 52 people attended the session, including 7 NSS members who participated as information resource assistants. NMP Ms. Faizah Jamal was the moderator. The report is available on NSS Website.

(The report was submitted to MND Minister (Mr Khaw Boon Wan), Chair of the OSC Committee (Mr Heng Swee Kiat), URA, NParks & SEC on 27 January 2014) with a response only from URA, on 4 February 2014, which states: “we agree with the many participants that green spaces are indeed important to Singapore.

These spaces improve our quality of life and contribute towards a high- quality good living environment for our people ….we have allocated 9 % of the land for parks and Nature Reserves in the Draft Master Plan 2013 …. URA will study the OSC report on green spaces and give serious consideration to ideas which are practical and useful to the development of a liveable environment that meets the diverse needs of our people”.

12. NSS Feedback on Updated URA’s Master Plan 2013 The 24-page feedback report was submitted to URA on 19 December covering the extent of wild greenery that is extant, a critique of URA strategic plan for biodiversity conservation, NSS proposals for the way forward to safeguard and protect Singapore’s nature areas and their wildlife in terms of the bench-marks laid down by the UN Convention for Biodiversity, which Singapore rectified in 1995.

12 unprotected nature areas were recommended for nature parks and these are: Bt Brown, Bidadari, Khatib Bongsu, Mandai Mangrove, Lg Halus, Clementi , Maju Camp, Springleaf , Alexandra, Simpang, Sg Ulu Pandan & Tengah/Brickland/Bt Batok West. Thanks to the Bird Group, Butterfly Interest Group, Vertebrate Study Group for the various information on the wildlife and to Tony O’Dempsey, Margie Hall, Leong Kwok Peng, Anuj Jain for comments and assistance in drafting the feedback.

13. NSS Symposium 2011: Nature Conservation for a Sustainable Singapore. 11 papers out of 17 presented in this conference were published in the pdf format on December 2013, and edited by Dr Leong Tzi Ming & Ho Hua Chew. The book is available for downloading on NSS website. Thanks to Tzi Ming in helping out to edit as well as putting all the papers into the PDF format.

Education Committee by Ms. Gloria Seow

Fun with Nature for NSS Kids & the Public Fun with Nature (FWN) presents nature as it is – taking kids outdoors to see, feel, hear, smell and even taste Singapore’s wild offerings. It steers clear of conventional classroom sessions, workshops, art and craft, worksheets and the like. Rather, it allows nature to speak for herself through experiential learning, facilitated by guides who point out her wonders and explain her workings. Field craft comes into play, where spotting skills are enhanced by binoculars, cameras and scopes. These sessions are pegged at the kid’s level, yet the whole family is invited to come along so that learning is heightened and reinforced by parents and caregivers. Often times, the adults ask even more questions than the kids!

We had five sessions in the past year: 1. Fun with Beautiful Butterflies at on 8 June 2013 led by 10-year old Tan Teong Seng and assisted by Butterfly Interest Group’s Amy Tsang, Lena Chow and Tea Yi Kai; 2. Fun with Nature at The Rail Corridor on 25 August 2013 led by Benjamin Ho; 3. Watery Fun at Kallang River@Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park on 21 September 2013 with water testing kids sponsored by PUB; 4. Fun with Forest Wildlife at Venus Drive led by Goh Si Guim along the proposed Cross-Island Line (MRT); 5. Fun with Nature at on 18 January 2014 led by Lena Chow. The sixth session ‘Fun with Vertebrates at Upper Seletar Reservoir’ had to be cancelled due to thunderstorms, happening a couple of weeks after a prolonged dry spell. Our sincere thanks to all guides, as well as to our regular volunteers Timothy Pwee and Lena Chow.

Fun with Nature News on the NSS Website The six years of FWN outings featured in the former Fun with Nature blog (http://funwithnature.blogspot.com/) have been replicated on the NSS website under its News segment. All archived blog entries can be resurfaced when one filters by ‘Education Group’ and ‘Year’. Articles first appear in Nature News before being re- published on the website.

Discontinuation of NSS Kids’ Guide Initiative The NSS Kids’ Guide initiative was started in January 2012. At some of the regular Bird, Plant, Butterfly and Marine Conservation Groups’ trips, there is a dedicated kids’ guide present. For bird walks, the guide will even carry a scope set to a child’s height. Special thanks to these four SIGs for their support. This initiative has since been discontinued as kids are welcomed on all NSS outings unless stated otherwise.

Revamp of Fun with Nature (Schools) Fun with Nature (Schools), partially sponsored by HSBC, is at present undergoing a revamp.

There will be new content and banners for the exhibition segment, as well as new nature guides.

The HSBC funds will continue to be used to subsidise assembly talks, nature exhibitions and nature workshops at primary schools across Singapore. Marketing of this programme will be carried out by the NSS Secretariat once revamped materials are ready, targeted at August 2014.

REPORTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Bird Group Report by Mr. Wing Chong

The Bird Group had another eventful year with more than 40 activities for the members.

Trips and Walks # The monthly trips to Kranji Marsh and trips to Semakau Landfill for our members and public continued to be very popular. We added quarterly outings to the Lorong Halus Wetlands under the PUB’s ABC program. Special trips were also arranged to these sites in conjunction with the “World Water Week” in March 2013.

# Usual monthly birding trips were regularly organised. Familiar sites like Bidadari, , Diary Farm, Rifle Range, , Sungai Buloh Wetland Reserve, Springleaf Park and Woods were visited yearly.

Talks and Workshops # Jimmy Chew shared with us his experience and fantastic ‘Slides of Antartica’ on 20/July/2013.

# Alan Pearson, the bird illustrator who had illustrated birds in “A Field Guild to the Birds of Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore”, gave us a ‘Talk on Bird illustration on 26/Jul/2013

# Mr. Mathieu Musnier of Leica gave us some insight of “Optics for Birding” on 26/Jul/2013

# Tan Gim Cheong conducted the 2nd Raptor ID Workshop on 1/Nov/2013, just before the annual Raptor Watch on 3/Nov/2013

Birder’s Corner # In collaboration with SLA’s OneMap enhancement program Birder’s Corner was launched in March/2013 to enable the reporting of bird sighting with location.

Out-reach # In May/2013, Alan Owyong gave a talk on the Bird Guide apps to the members of Hollandse Club in conjunction with their Kheam Hock Road Project.

# Working with Professor Tay Kheng Soon, SPBA and NUS Alumni, a few Bird Group members conducted a Rapid Bird Survey at Pulau Ketam on 25/May/2013

# In June/2013, Mediacorp Channel 8’s ‘Frontline’ featured a short story about the Bird Watching at Lorong Halus. Alan Owyong, Lee Bee Yong, Francis Yap and Wing Chong were interviewed.

# Wildlife Reserve Singapore organized and coordinated Native Bird Day on 23/Nov/2013. Representatives of Bird Group including Dr. Ho Hua Chew, Alan Owyong, Lim Kim Keang and Wing Chong participated in the launch and symposium.

Bird Race # 2013 Bird Race, our 30th Bird Race, was held over the weekend of 20/October/2013 ~ 21/October/2013. This Bird Race set new milestones in our Bird Race. It was in this Bird Race that for the first time, we have a Photography Category in the race. And for the first time we had the participation of a Minister in the race. Mr. Desmond Lim, the Minister of State for National Development teamed up with society members and raced. And with the kind sponsor of Leica the race ended with prize giving and buffet lunch in a local hotel.

# A total of 12 teams took part in the race that flagged off at Sungai Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Bird Surveys # In addition to the 4 annual bird surveys i.e. Asian Annual Waterfowl Census, Annual Bird Census, Mid Year Bird Census and the Fall Migration Bird Census, we conducted the 6th Raptors Watch (3th Nov 2013) and the 3rd Parrot Count (23rd Feb 2013) for IUCN.

# We continued the Ecolink Survey 2nd Phase (Construction) in Jan, April, July 2013.

# Rapid surveys along the Rail Corridor and Bukit Brown were undertaken to provide updated data for the conservation proposals to keep these two nature areas intact and free from development.

Overseas Symposium, Bird Fairs and Trips # Lim Kim Seng and Lim Kim Keang took part in the 1st Borneo Bird Race.

# Willie Foo represented us in the 4th Asian Bird Fair on 26/Oct ~ 27/Oct at Taipei, Taiwan.

All these overseas engagements give us the opportunity to network, build and strengthen our relationships with regional bird groups, share our conservation programs and promote regional co-operation.

Bird Research Grants # A grant was awarded to Mr. Felix Wong for studying escapees Lineated Barbet and White-crested Laughingtrush’s distribution and their impact on local avian lives.

Acknowledgement: We would like to thank the members of the Bird Group Committee for their collective effort to organise and lead many of the trips, walks and talks. Some have spent their time travelling to regional meetings to strengthen the relationship among birding communities. Many others have also lead trips, both locally and abroad, took part in the surveys and census. Again, we would like to record the Bird Group’s thanks to all of them.

Butterfly Interest Group (BIG) by Mr. Anuj Jain

Summary The Butterfly Interest Group (BIG) spreads nature awareness of butterflies by conducting monthly walks and talks and through its several ongoing outreach, monitoring and research projects. We conducted 11 public and NSS member walks from Bukit Panjang Park in the west to Pasir Ris Park in the east. It is heartening to see more and more young people getting interested in butterflies. We hope this encouraging trend continues. It is important that while we enthuse these ‘new converts’ (so to speak) with the message of nature appreciation through butterfly watching and photography, we teach them about the active roles they can play in local conservation. Citizen science works and if people contribute their observations towards a cause, it becomes useful data.

We also continued our compilation of yearly butterfly sighitng list, conducted two exciting moth monitoring sessions, made strides with Singapore’s national butterfly campaign and Butterfly Trail @ Orchard to name a few. We continue to contribute data, energy and enthusiasm to several NSS conservation campaigns.

Yearly butterfly sighting list 2013 Since 2012, BIG has started compiling a yearly butterfly sighting list. The list is a compilation of what active BIG members have recorded during the year.It is not exhaustive but is our attempt to begin systematic recording. In 2013, BIG continued this tradition and recorded 258 species out of around 310 butterfly species extant in Singapore. In comparison, 262 species were recorded in 2012. Put 2012 and 2013 together and the list comes to about 283 species. I encourage you to check out the list and share with us any sighting we may have missed. http://www.nss.org.sg/documents/ButterflySightingList_2013_for_NSSwebsite.pdf

2013 sighting list includes resightings of 2 previously thought extinct species from Singapore - The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia lilacinus) recorded by Lemon Yi Kai from Selarang camp and Malay Yeoman (Cirrochroa emalea emalea) by Simon from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Group outings and hosting overseas researchers We had 2 main group outings in 2013. First on New Year's day at Pulau Ubin and second on 26th May at Rifle range forest.

BIG also hosted field trips to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and Nee Soon forest with butterfly researcher, Dr. Krushnamegh Kunte who was visiting National University of Singapore from NCBS Bangalore India in Feb 2013.

Public and NSS member walks/talks BIG conducted 11 public and member walks in 2013 at the following locations – Upper Seletar Reservoir forest, Bukit Panjang Park, Pasir Ris Park, Windsor and Sime forest and Butterfly Trail @ Orchard. One outreach talk at NSS office titled ‘Butterflies can be easy to learn’ was also conducted in April 2013.

Media/Nature News/Nature Watch articles BIG was featured twice in the media, had one article in Nature Watch and six articles in Nature News.

Featured newspaper articles (2): 'Setting gardens a-flutter' Straits Times 20Jul 2013 (Featured: Anuj Jain). 'More than 100 butterfly species extinct' Straits Times 20Oct 2013 (Featured: Anuj Jain).

Nature Watch articles (1): How to tell a butterfly from a moth (Simon Chan): Jul-Sep 2013 issue

Nature News articles (6): 1) New butterfly record for Singapore: Indian Nawab from Pulau Ubin (by Lena Chow): Jan-Feb 2013 issue

2) Butterflies galore at the Langkawi Nature Festival (by Amy Tsang): Mar-Apr 2013 issue

3) Butterfly royalty spotted at Bukit Panjang Park (by Simon Chan): May-Jun 2013 issue

4) Surprise sighting of the Common Birdwing (by Tanvi Dutta Gupta, age 12): Jul-Aug 2013 issue

5) NSS Kids' Fun with Butterflies at Upper Seletar (by Amy Tsang): Sep-Oct 2013 issue

6) Inaugural butterfly and dragonfly walk (by Lena Chow): Nov-Dec 2013 issue

Completed projects

Moth monitoring Although we are called Butterfly Interest Group, some of us are also interested in moths. BIG conducted 2 moth nights in July 2013 during the International Moth Week where mercury vapor lights were operated from 7pm – 7am. Thanks to Craig Williams for sorting out the permissions and playing a big role in this. First night was at Sime forest on 20th July and the second at Sungei Buloh on 27th July. Many volunteers and NParks staff attended and wholeheartedly supported these events. Over 100 morphospecies were sighted at Sime forest and 60 morphospecies from Sungei Buloh.

Anuj conducted another educational moth night at Green Circle Eco farm in Kranji on 21st Nov 2013 with Jebsen & Jessen staff. At least 27 moth species were recorded in 2.5hours.

Migration from old blog to new NSS website NSS had an intern in July - Aug 2013 who helped migrate some of the content from old BIG blog to the current NSS website This is now consolidated under NSS BIG page. http://www.nss.org.sg/nss_group.aspx?group_id=D2dvAi49zO8=

NSS History book interview NSS History book team interviewed Steven Neo, founding NSS BIG chair on 9 June 2013 in the process of publishing a coffee table book documenting the society’s 60 year history. The interview was audio recorded and transcribed by the History book team. Also present were Anuj, Gan & Simon.

Kranji marsh brochure Since mid 2013, BIG has worked with Hua Chew and Ding Li to feature butterflies and dragonflies on the Kranji Marshes foldable brochure. The brochure is completed and is due release at NSS AGM 2014.

Contributions to conservation committee BIG contributed data to active NSS conservations proposals especially on Bukit Brown and feedback to URA on its master plan in 2013.

Ongoing projects

National butterfly campaign The idea for National butterfly campaign was floated by Anuj in Q4 2012. Straits Times picked this up in Dec 2012 article. http://www.nss.org.sg/nss_group.aspx?news_id=LGikvCOWQD8=&group_id=D2dvAi49 zO8=

Based on positive response from NSS exco and council, BIG collaborated with designers at LaSalle School of Arts to come up with presentation materials for the campaign. BIG has also produced a video and a writeup for the campaign which will be uploaded on the NSS website shortly. We hope to launch the voting for Singapore's national butterfly in mid 2014.

Butterfly Trail @ Orchard (BTO) One butterfly survey was conducted at BTO in Jan 2013. No new species were recorded and the overall species count at the trail stands at 62 species. However, we made strides in terms of handing over the maintenance of Nassim butterfly garden to NParks in Q4 2013 and conducting regular maintenance & upgrading of signages. Our next task is to get some funds and complete more sections of the trail.

Dragonfly iPhone app In Mid 2013, Lena Chow and Anuj had a couple of meetings with Robin Ngiam & team from NParks about a joint dragonfly app for iPhones. The project is behind schedule due to a pending MOU. Once this gets sorted out, we will proceed with the app design and content. This will be BIG’s second contribution to NSS apps, first being NSS butterfly app.

Jalan Hijau Group by Mr. Tan Hang Chong

International Coastal Clean Up The International Coastal Clean Up Singapore (ICCS) is an annual event conducted in 70 to 100 countries. Held on 21 September 2013, 75 volunteers hauled 535kg of trash out from Mandai Mudflats. It was found that the largest component of the debris removed was made of up plastic (24%). Other unusual items removed from the mudflats included mahjong tiles, a wheel tyre, rubber tubings, groundsheets and a chopper.

Coastal Clean Up In preparation for ICCS, a coastal clean up was also organized at Mandai Mudflats on 10 Aug 2013. Over a period of 2 hours, 27 volunteers filled 20 bags of trash with a total weight of 190.5kg.

Thank You To all the staff at Umoe-Schat Harding, students of ACJC, Meridian Junior College, Nanyang Girls School, Republic Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic Environmental Rangers as well as all NSS members and non-members who helped out during the activities in one way or another including Hsu Chia Chi, Leong Kwok Peng, Allan Teo, and Kerry Pereira.

Marine Conservation Group (MCG) by Dr. Hsu Chia Chia

1. Official Integration of the Aseanarean Expedition Series (AES) with Marine Conservation Group (MCG) of Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) and Official Launch of Marine Parks of Indonesia (MPOI) book on Fri 27 September 2013.

2. Exploratory discussions on tripartite collaboration with Raffles Marina, Asian Geographic Magazine and MCG (NSS) on various projects including next AES project to Myanmar.

3. Continuing engagement with Marine Port Authority on:

(i) Pasir Panjang Development - EIA, water quality monitoring, coral monitoring and relocation results.

(ii) Tuas Terminal Project - EIA, coral monitoring and relocation, coral nurseries, volunteer activities for relocation and monitoring of transplanted corals

(iii) Oil spill mitigation measures

MCG Outreach Activities by Mr. Kerry Pereira

1) Horseshoe Crab Rescue and Research Programme

Date of HSC R & R and related outreach sessions No of Volunteers Saturday 9 Mar 2013 60 Saturday 16 Mar 2013 70 Monday 11 Mar 2013 (Credit Suisse) 22 Saturday 01 Jun 2013 40 Saturday 15 Jun 2013 74 Saturday 27 Jul 2013 61 Saturday 24 Aug 2013 61 Saturday 19 Oct 2013 80 Monday 18 Nov 2013 (Credit Suisse) 30 Sunday 15 Dec 2013 45 Total Volunteers 2013 543

Collaborating Groups Youth.SG Anglo-Chinese Junior College Ngee Ann Polytechnic Environmental Temasek Polytechnic Green Interest Group Rangers Club Republic Polytechnic Raffles Institution/Junior College Green Club Australian-New Zealand Association of Glaxo Smith Kline Vaccines Singapore (ANZA) Scout Troop Meridian Junior College Nanyang Junior College River Valley High School SMF Institute of Higher Learning Fengshan Primary School Nanyang Technological University Earthlink Tampines Secondary School Credit Suisse Bank

Our sincere thanks to the following members and regular volunteers who have helped ensure the continued success of this programme: Leong Kok Peng, Vanitha J, Soh Lay Bee, Felicia Wee, Leslie Cartwright-Taylor, Mona Toh, Ng Harn Hua, Bernadine de Britto, Amanda Hogan, Bryan Quek, Olivia Chee, Cheryl Lao, Isabelle Lee, Lester Tan, Elson Tan, Bryan Leong.

2) Kayaking

Kayaking Activity Date Kayaking to Mandai Mangroves 25 May 2013 Kayaking Sungei Khatib Bongsu 03 Aug 2013 Kayaking and Cycling at Pulau Ubin 05 Oct 2013

3) Talks

Titles Date Kayaking the Raja Ampat Islands 05 Apr 2013 Marine Conservation at Raja Ampat, Indonesia 14 Sep 2013

Nature Ramblers Group by Mr. P. Pandian and Mr. Sutari Supari

Since May 2013, the NSS Nature Ramblers has organized seven rambles for its members namely:

1. TWILIGHT RAMBLE: Jalan Kayu - Punggol Point (4 May 13) Led by P Pandian

20 members turned up for the Twilight Ramble. We rambled through the former British RAF Seletar Army camp, passed by forgotten, quaint British prewar bungalows and terrace houses. We saw many "Heritage tree" such as the huge "Broad-leaf Mahogany" at Seletar Airfield environs.

We were also treated with a beautiful sunset and a spectacular rainbow too. as we traversed along the lallang grasses and the airfield perimeter at dusk. Pandian showed us interesting old prewar street lamps, old electrical switch-box, near" Fokker" office. After reaching Seletar Dam, some participants decided to leave for home, as we continued the ramble.

We trudged along past Seletar dam and continued the ramble till Punggol Marina and proceeded to Punggol Point.

Unanimously, all of us decided to end at Punggol Point and after a mandatory group photo, we board the bus to MRT at Punggol Station back to our respective homes. Whilst in the bus, we asked Rehan to check his instrument pacer, and he said, we had rambled for about 12 kilometers. . 2. NIGHT RAMBLE: Mandai Lake Road - Dairy Farm Road (24 Aug 13) Led by P Pandian

26 members turned up for a twilight ramble. At 1750 hrs, the Ramble commenced from Mandai Lake Road led by Pandian, the ramble leader and co-leader, Sutari Supari.

Spirit was high as we walked along Mandai Lake Road. Near the entrance of Mandai Track 15, the group settled down quietly at an army training shed for safety briefing and ramble practise by Sutari. The continuous shrilling and the cacophony of the cicadas and forest orchestra envelops the surrounding forestscape.

Thence we rambled along a trail, as we were slowly engulfed by the twilight and the dark ambience. Occasionally, we stopped when Sutari & Pandian paused along the trail, to show the participants, edible plants, vegetables, fruits, herbs etc We savoured Algerian sweet dates by courtesy of Ms Soh Lay Bee, as we looked at the night sky and saw planet Jupiter and the constellation of Lyra and Cygnus like jewels in the sky. The gibbous moon was seen rising in the east. Planet Saturn and Mars were ascending in the east. . At one juncture, we walked parallel with the Kranji Expressway (KJE) and Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE), until we hit the “Gangsa” track. In single file we trudged through the almost pitch-black track. We did not bother to switch on our headlamps and torchlights and used our "naked eyes" to walk in the dark. After awhile, our eyes got used to the darkness. Moreover, the night sky was overcast and the city lights actually reflected by the clouds above us had made the nightscape clear and forest visually bright.

Rambling in the dark, we saw fascinating stacked bracket fungi, luminuous fungi, fireflies, forest ants, spider’s eyes and its shiny webs along the trail. At about 2000 hrs we reached the 3-juntion of Scorpion, Chestnut and Gangsa tracks, we took a short break and replenished our energy with tit-bits, coconut buns, chocolate, sweets, water, "100-Plus" energized drinks etc.

By about 2030 hrs, we resumed the ramble along “Chestnut” trail, The trail becomes dark, envelops by foliage making it like a dark green tunnel as we trudged through it. At 2150 hrs, we reached Chestnut Drive and stopped for a break, before we continued again and walked along the road which connects with Petir Road.

At this juncture, we saw new development and brand new completed glittering condominiums, before we took a mandatory group pictures, parted and said goodbyes. Some participants took cabs and went home whilst some, continued to walk a short distance to the Dairy Farm Adventure Centre, where the Twilight Ramble came to an end."

3. NOCTURNAL RAMBLE: Lorong Fatimah - Railway Mall (5 Oct 13) Led by P Pandian

The Night Ramble was participated by about 23 members, starting from former kampong Lorong Fatimah site, near Woodlands Customs and Immigration Checkpoint. Thenceafter, Pandian led the members to walk along the Kranji former KTM railway line as night sets in. The day transformed to night. It was thrilling for the members to ramble in the dark along the former KTM railway lines. It was challenging and requires endurance to ramble along the former railway trail at night.

After 2045 hrs, some members dropped off from the ramble and went home by heading to Upper Bukit Timah Road to catch the public transport. The determined members finally reached Railway Mall at 2130 hrs before saying goodbyes and parted company.

4. KRANJI TWILIGHT RAMBLE: Neo Tiew Road/Lim Chu Kang Rd - Kranji Reservoir (7 Dec 13) Led by Sutari Supari

Interesting Night Ramble participated by 22 members Pandian, the leader and co- leader, Sutari welcomed the members and briefed the members about ramble practise and ramble safety. Sutari and Pandian equipped with spotlight were the lead and rear persons with the group and we travelled in single file. Whilst walking along the road, we kept to the extreme left-hand side of the road. Thankfully, the traffic was light during the ramble.

Night Ramble commenced at about 1830 hrs under a threatening dark sky, At one juncture, Sutari talked about compost being used by organic Farm operators and Eco- farming of organic vegetables etc. At around 1915 hrs, members saw hoards of startled, flying Pink-necked Green-pigeon and Spotted Dove from their tree roosts along Neo Tiew Road.

Dusk set in as we rambled along Jalan Gemala 3. Nutmeg and Belinjau trees were seen along Jalan Gemala 3, including one unidentified tree with large green fruits and ripening yellow fruits along the road. The fruits resembled the mango.

We sprayed insect repellent to our exposed limbs and bodies, as we prepared ourselves, rambling in the dark along the monsoon drain to the edge of Sungei Kangkar. The ground was slippery and muddy keeping our eyes peeled to the Acacia trees above our heads, hoping to see firefly in the dark. Initially, we saw Venus and the Crescent moon through the gaps in the trees. A short while later, two firefles were spotted with its twinkling blue-green light. Later more fireflies were spotted twinkling and flickering under the foliage of the dark Acacia trees.

We had a 20-minute break at the end of Jalan Gemala 3, catching up with our dinner of coconut and corn buns and energized drinks. Dr Ho talked about conservation issues; Bukit Brown, Bidadari and the latest Green Master Plan to the members and getting good responses from them.

Resuming the ramble, we proceeded to Neo Tiew Lane 2 and passed by "D' Kranji Farm Resort' Members had earlier parked their vehicles there. We thence rambled to the end of the road in the dark, till we reached the edge of the Kranji Reservoir The group was stopped by PUB guards to identify ourselves. After we had ascertained ourselves, we were warned by the guards of "Riverine Crocodile" in the vicinity.

We thence walked to the reservoir edge skirting the reservoir banks and admired the open scenic view of the Kranji reservoir. Venus and the moon were already low in the west. By 2215 hrs, we returned to the "D' Kranji Farm Resort' (where members had parked their vehicle there earlier), we reorganised and carpooled before saying our goodbyes.

5. CENTRAL CATCHMENT NATURE RESERVE RAMBLE: MacRitchie - Peirce Reservoir (25 Jan 14) Led by Sutari Supari

Good ramble through CCNR from MacRitchie to Peirce Reservoir participated by 40 NSS members (including NMP Faizah Jamal). Led by leader (Sutari Supari) and assisted by a co-leader (Benjamin Ho). Distance covered about 13 km, ending at Old Upper Thomson Rd near Casuarina Rd. Duration of ramble 6 hrs.

Weather was cool and breezy, but most times under forest cover.

Thence after the ramble, we had a sumptuous lunch at Casuarina Rd (Indian curry and nasi berani).

6. LORONG BUANGKOK - JALAN KAYU RAMBLE (22 Mar 14) Led by Benjamin Ho

16 members participated starting from the quaint Lorong Buangkok village (last village in Singapore). Benjamin Ho the leader showed members the Leprosy Centre there. Met the village land owner a lady residing at the village since birth and she brought us to meet a malay villager who was upgrading and doing up his timber house. Sutari passed Cds to them of pictures taken during previous visit. We then rambled northward walking along the disused Lorong Buangkok road, covered by creepers, thick undergrowth, bamboos, Afican tulip and Albizia trees, rattan as countryside birds sang their morning bird chorus. We trudged over former village grounds and obscure tracks and reached the former Woodbridge Mental Hospital grounds. Sadly, we saw contractors demolishing the hospital buildings. When we enquired, we were told that HDB is going to build flats and condominiums for the public. We explored the site and enjoying the view from a vantage point, before descending steep grassy grounds and heading west along the fence of SMRT Train depot. Thence after, we followed a trail, which brought us to Punggol river Corriodor Park connector. Saw a family of Smooth Otters playing near the water's edge and Grey and Striated Herons on mangrove trees.

We rested and chatted at Sengkang Park before we resumed the ramble northward through a track alongside Sengkang West Avenue. We saw many lorries carrying soil along the track. We enquired a Bangladashi worker there and was told that HDB is going to build more flats for the public. Rambling along the track just before noon, we finally reached Lorong Samak and Jalan Kayu.

7. BUKIT TIMAH RAILWAY STATION - SUNSET WAY RAMBLE (26 Apr 14) Led by Soh Lay Bee

25 members participated in the ramble. The ramble started along well defined track, popular with day trippers, hikers, cyclists and nature photographers from Bukit Timah Railway Station, before trudging northward, trekking along the old Jurong Railway line. We rambled through former village haunts, swampy areas, steep incline and undulating muddy grounds. The forest patch here is thick, covered with luxuriant undergrowth of creepers, ferns, epiphytes, bamboos, Tree Ferns, insects and rich birdlife. At one juncture we rambled through a tunnet and traversed westward to Maju Army Camp forest teeming with birds, before emerging at Sunset Way HDB housing estate by the forest edge trail.

Lastly, judging from the attendance and participation of members, the response has been very positive, well-received and very encouraging. Members enjoyed rambling over unbeaten trails and little known grounds in Singapore. The Ramblers' Committee is also planning rambles to Peninsular Malaysia in the near future.

Plant Group by Dr. Shawn Lum and Ms. Angie Ng

2013 was a relatively quiet year for the Plant Group. Activities were focused on the theme of the MacRitchie forest and possible impacts of the Cross Island Line (CRL). Three walks for members were conducted in July and August, and Plant Group members assisted in compiling plant species lists and participated in a few surveys of primary and secondary forest plants in the area that may be impacted by the CRL. An interesting finding – although the joy may be ephemeral – was the discovery that a considerable number of primary forest plants that had established on the Bukit Brown side of Lornie Rd, just past Andrew Rd. These plants were not only seedlings of wind-dispersed trees such as kempas (Koompassia malaccensis) but comprised animal-dispersed plants as well. The riddle of “how did the primary forest cross the road?” may be rendered moot by the construction of the new road through Bukit Brown. 2014 and beyond promises to be a more active era for the Plant Group, which may be coming under “new management” – publications, more walks, weeding and other hands-on activities are in the works. Stay tuned.

Vertebrate Study Group (VSG) by Ms. Ng Bee Choo, Mr. Nick Baker, Mr. Kelvin Lim, Mr. Yeo Suay Hwee, Mr. Marcus Chua, Dr. Vilma D’Rozario, and Mr. Tony O’Dempsey

Talks

• A talk entitled “Uncommon Tales of Common Monkey” by Amanda Tan a primatologist-in-training was held on 04 Oct 2013.

Surveys

• 16 days and nights surveys at Central Catchment Forest. VSG members with assistance from members of Toddycat (NUS). 2 sessions each (Mar/May & Aug/Oct) of camera traps (trail cameras) deployment and retrieval of 36 and 67 trail cameras respectively.

• 5 Springleaf night surveys and 5 day surveys organized by Nick.

Contribution of vertebrate images

• WRS for “Snakes of Singapore” app

• NSS Facebook and Earth Hour

• SBWR displays

• Dairy Farm displays

• Images and videos for the Love our MacRitchie Forest Music Video

Feedbacks to various authorities

• Stream siltation, Venus Drive, PUB & Government Minister, 2013 (recent prosecutions)

• Macaque Feeding, Old Upper Thomson, NParks, 2013 (prosecutions undertaken)

• Wire snare removal, NParks, 2012-2013

• Illegal Dumping at Old Upper Thomson, NParks & PUB, 2013 (recent prosecutions)

CRL working group report

• Subaraj, Marcus and Kelvin wrote the Vertebrate section and Tony wrote the Flora chapter.

Noteworthy sightings and records for 2013

1) Haas' Bronzeback - 1 each from Lower Peirce boardwalk and MacRitchie Shinto Trail* in March 2013.

2) Speckle-head Whip Snake - 1 from BTNR in July 2013.

3) Jasper Cat Snake - 1 roadkill from Upper Seletar* in March 2013.

4) Blue Bronzeback - 1 from Shinto Trail* in June 2013.

5) Keel-bellied Whip Snake - new record from NTU Jurong Campus* in Nov 2013.

6) King Cobra - 1 from Choa Chu Kang in Oct 2013, 1 from SBWR in January 2013.

7) Swamp Skink - 1 from Shinto Trail stream* in March 2013, 1 from MacRitchie Bukit Kallang in Dec 2013.

8) Clouded Monitor - new record from SBG*, seen in July & Oct 2013.

9) Lowland Dwarf Gecko - new record from Bidadari* in Oct 2013.

10) Sunda Pangolin - 8 records from Petir Road, , BTNR (Singapore Quarry), Shinto Trail, BKE, PIE (Eng Neo exit), Sime Track, Upp Thomson.

Most of the noteworthy sightings were provided by contacts of VSG groups. Some of them have been published in 'Singapore Biodiversity Records' (indicated by *).

Urban Wildlife app being prepared by Ng Bee Choo, Marcus Chua, Vilma D’Rozario and Kelvin Lim with contribution of images by various members of VSG, it should be ready by July 2014.