Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at the Opening of Keppel Coastal Trail
Jan 25, 2025
Introduction
Good morning. I am delighted to join you at the opening of the Keppel Coastal Trail.
I remember planting trees together with some of you here today, in Labrador Nature Reserve, back in 2021. This was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Tree Planting Day.
I had shared then that we would be enhancing Labrador Nature Reserve, including restoring the coastal beach forest and implementing the new Keppel Coastal Trail.
Four years on, I am happy to see that the trail is now ready to welcome visitors – thanks to hard work of my colleagues from NParks, our consultants, our partners, as well as Keppel for making this happen.
Keppel Coastal Trail
Keppel Coastal Trail comprises: an elevated boardwalk that offers scenic views of the coastline along Labrador Nature Park; and a rustic path with swales that serve both as habitats for fauna as well as natural drainage solutions.
Enhances Recreational Experience for Visitors
With the new trail, you can enjoy views of the sea from an elevated vantage point, and a serene walking experience through Labrador Nature Park, away from the more active areas of the park.
Along the way, learn about the biodiversity within our nature park – such as the Greater Coucal and the King Crow butterfly – through interpretative signage.
During the migratory bird season, you may even spot birds such as the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia) or the Oriental Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus).
The trail also connects to the jetty at the southern end of Labrador Nature Park, where you can appreciate the shoreline and the rocky shore habitat. The rocky shore habitat is the core of this nature reserve, and the important habitat we want to protect.
Buffers Coastal Hill Forest Habitat
Keppel Coastal Trail passes through a part of the coastal forest that has undergone active restoration under NParks’ Forest Restoration Action Plan.
100 species of trees and shrubs have been planted along the trail, including native coastal species such as the Sea Mango (Cerbera manghas).
The planting within the coastal beach forest provides a significant physical and ecological buffer for the coastal hill forest within the adjacent Labrador Nature Reserve, one of the last remaining patches of such habitats on mainland Singapore.
Developed with the Community
This project has been generously supported by Keppel through the Garden City Fund, with a donation of $1 million for the Keppel Coastal Trail.
As part of Keppel’s support, you had also pledged an additional $3 million to plant 10,000 trees as part of the OneMillionTrees movement. About 8,000 of these trees have already been planted across Singapore as of 2024, with the help of around 350 Keppel volunteers.
Of these, around 3,800 trees have been planted at Labrador Nature Reserve and Labrador Nature Park to help restore the coastal forests here.
I also mentioned earlier that there are swales within Keppel Coastal Trail. The landscape design for the swales was proposed by youths in NParks’ Youth Stewards for Nature programme, under the mentorship of NParks colleagues.
I would like to thank Keppel and our Youth Stewards for nature for working closely with us, on the trail and our tree planting efforts.
Enhancing Parks in the Southwestern Region
Now I want to situate the work we’ve done within the broader Southwest region. The completion of this trail complements our efforts to transform Labrador Nature Park into a Destination Park, with its own identity and features.
Labrador Nature Park is one of 13 Southwestern parks, which will be enhanced to provide visitors with greater access to recreation amidst nature and heritage.
One of these parks is Pasir Panjang Park, which stretches from West Coast Park to Pasir Panjang. We will be adding another 2 hectares of park land to Pasir Panjang Park at the former industrial waterfront of the Pasir Panjang Power District, thereby expanding the park from 6 hectares to 8 hectares. This new park extension will complement the rejuvenation of the Power District.
It will serve as a major activity node with play features and paths for park visitors to cycle or stroll along the coast. We will develop this node sensitively and strengthen the coastline along the park extension.
When fully completed, the expanded Pasir Panjang Park will link other green spaces via the continuous Park Connector Network to Labrador Nature Park. These include West Coast Park, Pandan Reservoir, Jurong Lake Gardens and Jurong Central Park.
My colleagues at NParks will be calling the tender for the detailed design consultancy for the park extension later this year. We look forward to receiving exciting proposals for the site.
Conclusion
There is much to look forward to with the Keppel Coastal Trail and the new park extension at Pasir Panjang Power District.
These are our continuous efforts to transform Singapore into a City in Nature. An island city-state our size needs to have this kind of greenery, connectivity and places for people to go out and enjoy greenery, to unlock ourselves from the fast pace of city life; where we bring people closer to nature, while bolstering the ecological resilience of our habitats.
Now I mentioned earlier about the rocky shore habitat, the coastal forest, being one of the last remaining important patches of these habitats.
Just imagine that this is a nature reserve with such tremendous biodiversity in the southern part of Singapore, surrounded by our Central Business District and close to two of the busiest ports in the world; how we can live in harmony in such close proximity between man and nature, and yet ensure that balance allows nature to thrive in our midst.
I encourage everyone to join us in our efforts – whether by planting trees, participating in biodiversity surveys or contributing ideas. Every bit counts.
I want to thank every one of you again – Keppel, our Youth Stewards for Nature, our consultants, builders and construction teams for developing this beautiful green park. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy exploring the new Keppel Coastal Trail.