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Mangrove park to be opened in Pulau Ubin in 2026 with around 8,000 trees
Gena Soh, Straits Times, 30 Oct 2022
Plans to naturally establish 8,000 mangrove trees in abandoned aquaculture ponds in Pulau Ubin were announced on Saturday, as part of a partnership between the National Parks Board (NParks) and OCBC Bank to increase Singapore’s capacity for carbon storage.
These trees will be located in the ponds of Sungei Durian – with a total area of 4ha – along the southern coast of the island, and the site will eventually be known as OCBC Mangrove Park.
Work is expected to be completed by 2026, and recreational opportunities at the site are expected to be available to the public.
OCBC will also grow an additional 1,000 saplings along the coastline as the park is being developed.
The total of 9,000 mangrove trees are expected to collectively capture and store up to 30 million kg of carbon dioxide in their lifetimes.
At the launch of the project on Saturday, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said the park will complement other nature-based solutions implemented by NParks to tackle climate change.
Examples include a coastal protection and mangrove restoration project on Pulau Tekong and the creation of a coastal belt in Kranji Coastal Nature Park.
Mr Lee said: “These solutions are important in mitigating climate change, and offer additional habitats for our biodiversity.”
Associate Professor Daniel Friess from the National University of Singapore said the mangroves at the OCBC Mangrove Park will take root via the Ecological Mangrove Restoration (EMR) method.
This involves filling the pond with sediment to increase its elevation base to allow mangrove propagules to settle in the soil, and creating “streams” to facilitate these seedlings flowing further inland.
This is important because the ponds now are completely flooded regardless of tide level, he said.
Prof Friess, who is a member of the Restore Ubin Mangroves Initiative, a group that advocates the restoration of mangrove sites on the island, added: “Everyone assumes that mangroves love the sea, that they need it, but it is actually a really stressful place… They’ve evolved over tens of millions of years just to tolerate the flooding.”
“What we are trying to do (with EMR) is create an environment where mangroves are above water just enough, right within their conditions where salt water is just within their tolerance,” he said.
Mr Lim Liang Jim, group director of conservation at NParks, said that apart from functioning as carbon sinks and coastal shields, the restored mangrove fields contribute to the protection of wildlife that reside within these habitats.
“Having a high biodiversity provides a full suite of elements that provide resilience against the impacts of climate change,” he said.
NParks partners OCBC Bank in Singapore's first large-scale Ecological Mangrove Restoration project at Pulau Ubin
NParks Media Release 02 Nov 2022
With a contribution of $3 million, the OCBC Mangrove Park underscores OCBC's commitment to carbon storage efforts to mitigate climate change
The National Parks Board (NParks) and OCBC Bank unveiled plans for the OCBC Mangrove Park today. Located at Sungei Durian on Pulau Ubin, it will be Singapore's first large-scale project to adopt the Ecological Mangrove Restoration (EMR) method to help enhance the long-term resilience of mangrove habitats and increase Singapore's capacity for carbon storage, which helps to fight climate change by reducing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
OCBC Bank's S$3 million donation is the latest in its continuing moves to expand carbon storage efforts to help fight climate change. The project also contributes to NParks' OneMillionTrees movement, Singapore's national goal of planting one million more trees by 2030.
Work is estimated to be completed by 2026 with around 8,000 mangrove plants that will naturally take root at the site. Concurrently, OCBC Bank will work with staff volunteers and the community, including the Friends of Ubin Network (FUN), to plant an additional 1,000 mangrove saplings across Pulau Ubin over the next six years, along the Pulau Ubin coastline.
Collectively, the OCBC Mangrove Park’s 9,000 mangrove trees could potentially sequester up to 30 million1 kilograms of carbon dioxide in their lifetimes. Together with the surrounding mudflats and soils, the amount of carbon stored in a mangrove ecosystem could be three to four times more than in a terrestrial ecosystem2 .
The OCBC Mangrove Park project was launched by Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development, Ms Helen Wong, Group CEO of OCBC Bank, Professor Leo Tan, Chairman of Garden City Fund, and Mr Kenneth Er, CEO of NParks.
Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development, said: “The new OCBC Mangrove Park will help restore and safeguard more of our mangrove patches in Singapore. It complements other nature-based solutions implemented by NParks, such as: a coastal protection and mangrove restoration project at Pulau Tekong; the creation of a coastal belt at Kranji Coastal Nature Park; and ongoing restoration works to the northern coastline of Pulau Ubin to combat coastal erosion. These solutions are important in mitigating climate change and offer additional habitats for our native biodiversity. We thank OCBC for the continued partnership in our efforts to transform Singapore into a City in Nature.”
Ms Helen Wong, Group CEO of OCBC Bank, said, “Dealing with carbon emissions is key in fighting climate change. That’s why OCBC has been supporting reforestation and restoration projects in the region, which help store carbon.
We are glad to expand our carbon storage efforts, which had begun with a habitat enhancement project, followed by the OCBC Arboretum which houses 2,000 trees that can absorb 80 million kilograms of carbon dioxide in their lifetimes. Today, we announce our mangrove restoration plans at the OCBC Mangrove Park, here in Pulau Ubin, as well as another mangrove project to plant 9,000 trees at Tebuk Mendeleng, Malaysia.
These are our two latest initiatives to fight climate change. The 18,000 trees that we will help grow through these 2 projects can help absorb more than 30 million kilograms of carbon dioxide. This makes for a fitting 90th anniversary gift from us to Singapore and Malaysia, as we work with the community to tackle climate change.”
Combining all its forestation efforts in the region since 2017, OCBC Bank is helping to absorb 111 million kg of carbon dioxide.
Led by NParks, the OCBC Mangrove Park uses the EMR method, a landmark science-based approach that facilitates the natural establishment of mangrove plants. It aims to produce a self-sustaining ecosystem where minimal human intervention will be needed to allow the mangroves to propagate, complemented by community outreach efforts.
The EMR method was first recommended for use at Sungei Durian ponds by the Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) initiative, a ground-up initiative that serves to restore mangrove forests through science-informed methodologies.
In addition to the restoration of mangroves, OCBC Bank will also be funding NParks-led research on mangroves and carbon storage which will in turn enhance efforts to mitigate climate change.
“We thank our long-term partner, NParks, for their openness in sharing their insights and passion for making a difference in the sustainability arena,” Ms Wong added.
Ecological Mangrove Restoration Method
The mangrove restoration site at Sungei Durian ponds spans around four hectares and is located at Sungei Durian ponds along the southern coast of Pulau Ubin. The area used to be filled with natural mangroves, but these were mostly cleared and converted into aquaculture ponds in the 1990s to facilitate farming activities. The ponds were eventually abandoned in 2001.
Mangrove restoration will be carried out using the EMR method which aims to produce a self-sustaining ecosystem where minimal human intervention will be needed to allow the mangroves to propagate.
Upcoming works include earth-filling the ponds to increase the elevation levels of the base of the ponds for propagules3 to establish more easily, adding drain culverts to increase water and sediment flow to the ponds, and erecting gabion blocks to retain sediment within the ponds. These efforts will improve hydrology or water flow and enable mangrove propagules to establish more effectively in the ponds. The OCBC Mangrove Park will contribute to strengthening climate resilience and supporting biodiversity conservation.
Accessibility to the site will also be improved, and community engagement and outreach programmes will be introduced following the opening of OCBC Mangrove Park in 2026, providing additional recreational opportunities for Singaporeans.
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1 This is equivalent to storing eight million kilograms of carbon.
2 A terrestrial ecosystem refers to an ecosystem that is land-based. This differs from a mangrove ecosystem which occurs at the interface between land and sea, and is a coastal wetland.
3 Mangrove propagules are seedlings that develop from the parent mangrove tree and have germinated while still attached to the parent tree. Mangrove propagules float and are dispersed by water.
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