Dear Friends,
OVERVIEW
“Living with Nature in Our City in Nature (NParks)”
This week, our members at WWS Kallang Office and Jurong Lakeside ‘pleasantly found some intruders’. They are ‘intruders’ only because we are living in an era characterised by ‘human-dominated landscapes’ thus reducing their habitat domain and forcing them to live with us. We know that some wildlife have ‘thrived and adapted’ to our human-dominated landscapes such as the mynahs, crows, monkeys, otters, civet cats and pythons to name a few. We have grown up in an urbanised surrounding for a long while without seeing or being familiar with a lot of these ‘intruders’ hence, our relationship with wildlife is often that of conflict. At best, we treat them as “nuisances”, at worst we want to reduce them by killing. If we kill them because they are a nuisance, it is not justifiable to say the least.
‘Living in a City in Nature’ means that nature envelops you and you can get physical and mental benefits of having nature within steps of where you work or live (NParks). We believe this is right and it is good for us. We should and must ask for an opportunity to be in contact with nature. We need to restore nature in our built-up environment so as to enhance biodiversity too. We must take steps to enhance the safety of people and wildlife and thus promote coexistence. This is necessary for all life, humans and animals alike. We need to keep the environment clean and safe for all. We must have a mindset change in every aspect of our behaviour and actions!
We need more education and enforcement to ensure that coexistence can stay and survive for all on our little island.
In summary, the following activities were done for this week:
- We conducted 5 CSR and 1 VIA programmes which were attended by 226 participants and 24 participants respectively, and together they collected a total of 246 kg of litter.
- We conducted a virtual Learning Journey for participants from F & N and TYA.
- This week a total of 131 members were involved for CSR/VIA programmes, talk, patrols, administration, housekeeping duties and training and, the total trash collected = 371 kg.
- Boat Patrol. A total of 10 Boat patrols were carried out; 5 at Marina, 3 at Punggol and 2 at Lakeside.
- Bike Patrol. A total of 5 Bike patrols were carried out; 2 at Marina, 2 at Punggol and 1 at Lakeside.
- Foot Patrol. We conducted 1 Foot Patrol at Pang Sua.
- Pedal boat Patrol. 2 Pedal Boat patrols were conducted at Marina.
- Boat Tour for Frontline workers. We conducted one boat tour for a Frontliner and her family at Marina.
ACTIVITIES AND REPORT
1. Educational Programmes
2. Volunteer Patrols & Activities
a. Marina
b. Punggol
c. Lakeside
d. Pang Sua Pond
e. Yishun Pond Patrol
