Green Corridor Watch

Prior to the closure of the KTM Railway the Nature Society (Singapore) proposed to the Singapore Government that the Railway Land be retained as a green corridor for both wildlife flora and fauna as well as for public enjoyment. This proposal was accepted by the government and immediately after the last train ran the lands were transferred to the stewardship of the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in July 2011. Works to remove the tracks etc were carried out and the lands opened to the public. It was recognised that the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) lacked the structure and resources to police the corridor and the Nature Society (Singapore) once again spurred an initiative to provide a volunteer service (Green) Rail Corridor Watch Group. 

The group regularly patrols the whole corridor from the Woodlands Checkpoint through to Tanjong Pagar. Regular reports are compiled by the coordinator (NSS member) and filed with SLA. These reports contain details such as overgrowth, fallen trees, illicit encroachment and ground/path status together with photos, location and GPS Coordinates were practical. This allows the SLA to action recovery contractors as necessary. The record so far is less than 3 hours were a fallen tree blocking the path has been removed after an initial call. 

The Green Corridor Watch Group enjoys a cordial relationship with the SLA officers and also attend occasional meetings and mutual walkabouts. This is a typical exercise were the Authorities work with organisations such as NSS which largely go unpublicised and unnoticed. Any regular Corridor users are welcome to contribute reports to NSS containing sufficient information to locate the position. Urgent issues will be reported immediately were others will be compiled into our next report.

One of our volunteers filming for the SLA Corporate video.