New HDB Site in Sembawang Scaled Back to Preserve Freshwater Swamp Forest

HDB is setting aside roughly 6 hectares of the area’s forest, grassland and scrubland, equivalent to about eight football fields, owing to its ecological value. Plans for the Sembawang neighbourhood were outlined in one of two environmental impact assessments (EIAs) published by the agency last week.

The second EIA report detailed the ecological effects of clearing parts of Tengah forest for the future Tengah Town Centre.

According to the Sembawang report, the rest of the land on the roughly 2-hectare site is slated to be cleared for housing from 2028, as zoned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan since 2003. The report, prepared by engineering consultant AECOM, which had been commissioned to conduct the study in 2025, also recommended reducing the development footprint.

The site was once home to a natural mangrove swamp, but the area had been developed for Sembawang Naval Base and other facilities. Nature began to return after the 1970s with the closure of the naval base. Over the decades, plants characteristic of freshwater swamp forests previously recorded along Seletar Reservoir regenerated.

The report highlighted that retaining vegetation will provide safe passage for wildlife detected on the site. This includes the globally critically endangered Sunda pangolin and the straw-headed bulbul, a songbird for which Singapore acts as a global stronghold. In total, 148 animal species and 198 plant species were documented in the site, based on the study.

The green corridor acts as a stepping stone for birds moving between northern green spaces, such as the upcoming Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat Nature Park, and the south.

To mitigate the environmental impact, the report proposed measures such as transplanting flora significant for conservation, restricting night works after 6pm to minimise noise disturbance to nocturnal animals, and applying stickers on glass surfaces to reduce bird collisions with high-rise buildings.

Nature Society Singapore’s assistant director for conservation Albert Liu welcomed HDB’s scaling back of the development boundary for biodiversity. He urged HDB to ensure sufficient buffers, such as parks, are placed between the housing blocks and the forested areas to minimise the risk of birds colliding with man-made structures.

SYVB’s head of programmes Isaac Ong welcomed AECOM’s modelling of the connections between the site and surrounding ecosystems in the area, noting that it has not been a common practice. He called for nature groups to be involved in more environmental management and monitoring plans (EMMPs).

Separately, the EIA for the Tengah Town Centre examined a site of about 16.7 hectares, which is almost entirely covered by vegetation. The report, conducted by consultancy EnviroSolutions and Consulting, recommended minimising the clearance footprint and managing fauna access to reduce biodiversity loss.

HDB said it will strive to avoid developing about 0.8 hectares of the area that supports a larger corridor for wildlife across Tengah’s green spaces as identified in a 2021 study. This amounts to about 4.8 per cent of the site.

SYVB’s Ong called for HDB to adopt the consultancy’s recommendation of salvaging cuttings from large, threatened fig trees that will be cleared, and replanting them in forested areas adjacent to the development.

The public can provide feedback for both the Sembawang and Tengah EIA reports until 6pm on 16 July at str.sg/kxRH.