Saturday Mornings: The Nature Society Singapore on Saving Paya Lebar’s Green Spaces

On MoneyFM 89.3’s Wide World Segment, Saturday Mornings Show  host Glenn van Zutphen and co-host Neil Humphreys are joined by Tony O’Dempsey, spokesman for the Nature Society Singapore (NSS), and Albert Liu, Assistant Director (Conservation), to unpack an important environmental questions facing Singapore’s future: What happens to our green spaces when Paya Lebar Air Base is redeveloped? With redevelopment slated to begin in the 2030s, NSS has submitted a proposal urging the Urban Redevelopment Authority to retain 31% of the area—389 hectares—as green spaces. This includes forest patches, parkland, ponds, marshes, and one of Singapore’s last large “wild growth” landscapes stretching from the Serangoon River Forest to Tampines Quarry. Why this area matters: It is the largest near‑contiguous wild growth habitat in the northeast. It supports over 150 bird species, including migrants and woodland‑dependent species. It contains ecological “sources and sinks” that cannot be replaced by narrow green connectors. Its biodiversity value exceeds even the footprint of Tengah Forest Town. We explore whether retaining a third of the land is realistic, how ecological connectivity can be preserved, and what the trade offs that Singapore must make.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.