Debated in Parliament on 4 Feb 2025.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development with regard to the shepherding of fauna to other forested areas not affected by the development works of the upcoming Sembawang and Woodlands HDB projects respectively, (a) where are the exact locations that the fauna will be shepherded to; and (b) who will carry out the shepherding of wildlife and how will the shepherding be carried out.
The Housing and Development Board's (HDB's) wildlife management contractors will conduct wildlife shepherding for the Woodlands N1 and Sembawang N4 sites in accordance with the recommendations in the detailed Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan (EMMP). These works will be guided and overseen by an independent EMMP consultant engaged by HDB.
To facilitate the shepherding, the clearance of the development sites will be phased according to sub-zones in the direction of suitable forests nearby, as recommended in the EMMP. Prior to the clearance, the sub-zones will be demarcated by hoarding or temporary fencing. The EMMP consultant will carry out inspections to check for active nests, burrows and slow-moving animals before site clearance works are carried out for each sub-zone. Upon the completion of clearance for each sub-zone, hoarding or temporary fencing will be installed to prevent re-entry of wildlife into the cleared zones. This will be done progressively until wildlife has been shepherded away from all sub-zones, into nearby forests. If any trapped or slow-moving animals are encountered, HDB's wildlife management contractor will be activated to relocate them.
For Sembawang N4, wildlife will be shepherded from Sembawang Drive eastwards to the forest along Canberra Road. For Woodlands N1, wildlife will be shepherded towards a native-dominated secondary forest that will be largely retained within the site.
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