Remnants of the Hainanese village, the site of the upcoming Thomson Nature Park. (Photo: National Parks Board)
Work on the new Thomson Nature Park will commence early next year and is expected to be completed by end-2018, revealed the National Parks Board (NParks) on Saturday, 8 October.
The 50ha nature park is unique due to its history as a Hainanese village, which was famous for its Rambutan plantation.
“Trails will be developed to give visitors a chance to experience the heritage highlights within the site,” said NParks.
“These include a rare glimpse of ruins, including old houses and foundations of the village that used to be located here and some of the relict trees including majestic Ficus trees estimated to be more than 50 years old.”
First announced in 2014, the development of the Thomson Nature Park is part of a bigger plan to promote biodiversity in Singapore’s nature reserves.
Much like other nature parks, Thomson Nature Park will help reduce visitorship pressure on the nature reserves as it provides alternative venues for the public to enjoy nature-related activities.
The current site is home to various rare and locally endangered species including pangolins, porcupines, leopard cats, Samba deers and straw-headed bulbuls.
The site also serves as a key conservation area for the Raffles’ Banded Langur, a subspecies of the Banded Leaf Monkey, which can only be found in Singapore and southern Peninsular Malaysia.
“Setting aside buffer areas such as the upcoming Thomson Nature Park will increase the foraging area for the species, which has seen an increase since the 1990s,” added NParks.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
