Green Cover Target and Plans to Intensify Greenery Density in Singapore

Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for National Development (a) what has been the green cover for Singapore over the last five years; (b) what are the plans to further strengthen this greenery density; and (c) whether there is a specific green cover target for Singapore.

Greening our city has always been a priority in the planning and development of Singapore. Today, we have safeguarded more than 7,800 hectares of green spaces in the form of nature reserves, nature parks, gardens and parks, and integrated greenery throughout the city. As a result of our greening efforts, Singapore’s green cover currently stands at over 40%.

Singapore is considered one of the world’s greenest cities today. For instance, the 'Green View' Index developed by MIT’s Senseable City Lab on its Treepedia platform shows that we are ahead of most cities, including those with lower population densities, in our provision of urban tree coverage.

We will continue to build on these efforts. For example, we will safeguard another 1,000 hectares of green spaces over the next 10 to 15 years. We are also planting one million more trees across Singapore by 2030, under the OneMillionTrees movement. Since the launch of the movement in April 2020, about 400,000 trees have been planted with the community, along our streets, in our parks, nature reserves and nature parks, and even industrial estates.

We take a holistic view in greening our urban environment. Our strategies go beyond green cover, to strengthen our ecological resilience and create a liveable and endearing home for Singaporeans.

In development planning, NParks requires tree planting within the green buffers and peripheral planting areas of developments, while URA’s Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises (LUSH) Programme ensures greenery is incorporated as part of new developments. NParks also works with HDB to ensure that new public housing estates are planned with green spaces, and provides incentive funding via the Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme to encourage building owners to retrofit vertical greenery and green roofs on existing buildings.

We are also increasing the intensity and quality of our existing green spaces. For example, NParks is incorporating lush vegetation and natural landscapes in our parks and gardens, and naturalising our waterways and waterbodies, such as at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park and Jurong Lake Gardens. This provides better habitats for our biodiversity and a more immersive experience of nature for Singaporeans, while bringing practical benefits such as improving flood resilience. NParks is also incorporating more therapeutic landscapes in our parks, and working with Town Councils and grassroots organisations to set up therapeutic gardens in the heartlands. These are specially designed and programmed to meet the physical, psychological and social needs of Singaporeans.

NParks is also planting native trees and plants in multi-tiered structures along our roads, which mimic the structure of our natural forests. This creates green corridors called Nature Ways that facilitate the movement of biodiversity like birds and butterflies across our island and strengthens ecological connectivity between our green spaces.

We will continue to engage our community to co-create green spaces and press on with our greening efforts to transform Singapore into a City in Nature in the years to come.