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| Grow Our Nature Heritage |
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 Embracing the conservation of wildlife and flora, as well as responsible environmental practices for sustainable development and protection of our natural resources and island heritage, Sentosa has embarked on several CSR programmes in partnership with the community and corporations.
Our CSR efforts extend to conserving and enhancing the environment as well as the education of the young in helping to preserve and take stewardship of our rich island history and natural resources.
Sentosa’s nature reserves of about 45 hectares comprise essentially secondary coastal forests, some of which are rather sparse and poor in quality, resulting from historical clearing of the forest in the early 1900’s. Deforestation reduced the original large forest into small, isolated fragments that are incapable of supporting a viable population of plant and animal species of the primary forest. The vanishing species affected the complex web of species inter-relations needed for natural forest regeneration.
Moreover, as Sentosa island is somewhat isolated from the surrounding major vegetative regions of Malaysia and Indonesia and even mainland Singapore, the natural dispersal of seeds from these regions are not possible. As such, the forest was replaced by secondary and tertiary species, and lacked the original eco-system structure and functions. It is generally limited in biodiversity of the primary tropical rainforest species that can be found in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and in other Southeast Asian countries.
As custodian of Sentosa, our long term strategy on nature conservation is two-fold:
- to develop a love for nature in our youth and to cultivate their interests for our future generations as opinion-formers and leaders, and consumers who will shape the future of Singapore and become conservationists for life; and,
- to enrich and enhance the biodiversity of the forest species with the aim of transforming the nature reserves close to its “primary” rainforest eco-system in a sustainable manner by planting tree saplings of carefully-selected indigenous species today.
This development is intended to benefit our children’s children and their future generations as the transformation process involve nurturing these saplings and allowing them to grow and regenerate themselves over time. The forest restoration program will involve institutions of higher learning in researching the species, its cultivation, growth and survival and the development of the eco-system. Community involvement also takes the form of active participation by secondary schools in active learning through workshops, tree-planting and maintenance/monitoring activities of the restoration process. This initiative will begin in October 2007 and is expected to be carried through a period of the next 2 to 3 years as we focus on enhancing the quality of flora and fauna within the Mount Imbiah and Mount Serapong nature reserves. |
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Nurturing the Young |
 On 19 November 2007, 150 students from 9 Secondary Schools planted 180 trees from 7 species in an effort to restore the secondary rainforest on Sentosa, and begin their journey as stewards of the environment.
With a living classroom spanning 12 to 15 hectares, these students planted rare, indigenous plant species to cultivate a multi-layered forest that will support a new forest eco-system to sustain plants and animal life overtime. This one-year programme with the schools will culminate in a Forest Restoration Report that covers the restoration and maintenance work on the plots, key lessons learnt and how they will support the programme in the future.
Several classroom workshops and fieldwork with the programme’s consultants were organised to help the students to:
- Learn about the methodology in the restoration of a forest. The ecology of a forest and how a tree grows in relation to its environment.
- Experience nature and the great outdoors
- Nurture attitudes and values through participation.
- Gain a sense of ownership and stewardship of the environment.
Some of the participating schools share with us their experiences. |
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| Kranji Secondary School |
 "Students have been involved in planting and maintaining their plots, which they visit about once a month. They experience first hand how much physical work was needed to dig a hole and then to plant the trees. They never had this experience before and this has given them a chance to be in touch with nature. They are constantly learning, touching and seeing how these tropical rainforest plants grow and flourish," says Mdm Normala Alias.
"Students have become more aware of the need to conserve our tropical rainforest species and gained a better understanding of the conditions and environment that these species grow best in. It has also enabled them to gel together as a team to complete the tasks. This programme has enabled them to learn beyond the classroom about plants and their conservation first hand."
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| Marsiling Secondary School |
 Ms Neo Zhu-Lin from Marsiling Secondary shares, "The interest grew each time we visit our plot at Mount Imbiah. The sense of ownership is strong and the students display a lot of care and concern for their trees. As they observe the many little creatures that roam around the plots, it arouses their interest on how these little creatures will affect their trees, and are constantly asking questions."
 "This program has provided a platform for the students to be in touch with nature and develop a consciousness for the environment. They have also learnt to put their ideas together in preparing their report. Now, they can identify the common weeds around the forest as well as the different species of trees by the shape of the leaves and appearance of the trees."
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| Victoria School |
 "Initially, it was challenging for the students as they lacked the experience in tree planting. However, with guidance from Sentosa and teachers, the students now keenly monitor the growth of the trees and visit the grounds regularly to clear the undergrowth and weeds, and have even placed rocks around the plants to prevent soil erosion," Victoria School teachers Ms Leow Yoon Li and Mr Jeffrey Chia tell us.
 "This programme has broadened their knowledge on the different methods of tree planting and has given them a better understanding of the importance of plant conservation and restoration. With perseverance, esprit de corps and determination, the students have effectively maintained the growth of 21 healthy trees. This project has not only taught them to appreciate nature but also enhanced their team spirit."
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| Involving Corporates |
 The Grow Our Nature Heritage programme has also been supported by a few companies which have adopted tree planting as one of the activities for their own CSR efforts. They include companies like HerbaLife, PriceWaterHouse Coopers, and Ricoh.
The team from PriceWaterHouse Coopers planted
100 saplings on 13 August 2008 |
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| Future Programmes |
More CSR initiatives will be rolled out in the future as we continue to deliver our promise of embracing the conservation of wildlife and flora and our island’s heritage and history. |
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