While nature groups largely welcomed the clarifications by the authorities over the erroneous clearance of a patch of forest in Kranji, they said that the importance of the site — mostly scrubland — to Singapore’s biodiversity should not be discounted. Scrublands are open habitats with scattered trees or clumps of trees amid grassy areas. Nature enthusiast Brice Li, who brought public attention to the issue earlier this month with his before-and-after aerial comparison of the forest parcel in Kranji, said the authorities failed to deal with the issue of biodiversity. “They only talked about the cleared area,” he said, adding that the surrounding forests already have an established ecosystem. Conservationist Ho Hua Chew said forest species from the nature reserves to the east of the Kranji woodlands and even Bukit Mandai move in and out of the site to forage for food. “The whole stretch we marked out as Kranji woodlands should not be developed at all,” said the VP of NSS.... Continue Reading