Volunteers and friends from Cicada Tree Eco-Place continue to plant trees for nature!
Teresa Teo Guttensohn representing Cicada Tree Eco-Place planted 3 trees at Jurong Lake Gardens last Saturday on 26 September 2020.
Some of the trees planted included native and endangered species: Sterculia rubiginosa, Sterculia cordata, Sterculia parviflora, Calophyllum soulattri, Pometia pinnata.
Jurong Lake Gardens
MacRitchie Reservoir
Volunteers planted 15 trees, including the critically endangered Gaharu Tree at MacRitchie Reservoir.
Neeta and very sweet kids Jaime and Andrew with Teresa at a tree planting event at MacRitchie. Together with Janice from SUSS, 15 trees were planted.
The total count of trees planted thus far in support of Nparks’ One Million Trees Movement is 110+3+15=128 trees.
Participants and volunteers at Island Tales and Forest Fables @ Pesta Ubin 2020, a first of its kind storytelling and culture event organised by Cicada Tree Eco-Place and supported by NParks, on Saturday, 12 September 2020.
A million thanks to all our wonderful family participants, storytellers, tree planting volunteers from ActiveSG Pasir Ris Sport Centre, volunteer crew from Cicada Tree Eco-Place and NParks team who planted 110 trees as part of Pesta Ubin 2020 and One Million Trees movement.
Tree Planting
Jalan Jelutong tree planting site.
Jln Jelutong was a piece of quarry wasteland reclaimed from the sea during granite quarry operations in the past.
The tree planting initiative is part of One Million Trees movement which aims to restore nature back into our City through the planting of more than a million trees across Singapore over the next decade.
Click to view photos:
Guttensohn Family & Friends
Lee Hui Lee & Family: Children Noah, Pasquale and Johannes
Chong Hai Yen & River Chong
87-year-old Mdm Lau, our oldest participant
Tia & Jabe
Dr Denise Dillon
Balakrishnan Matchap & Lisha Raghani
Over 16,000 trees from over 70 native species will eventually be planted at Balai Quarry South, Sungei Teris and Jalan Jelutong on Pulau Ubin.
Despite the sun and torrential rain, our volunteers persisted and successfully planted 110 trees!
Interactive Storytelling
As part of Pesta Ubin 2020, our interactive, socially-distanced storytellers also shared about the history and legend of Pulau Ubin.
Ubin is known as “Granite Island” in Malay. Today, it is one of Singapore’s last traditional kampongs with less than 50 residents.
Ubin is also home to Chek Jawa, an unprotected wetland ecosystem that was saved from land reclamation in the early 2000s.
As the story goes, the island was formed when three animals from Singapore – a frog, a pig and an elephant – challenged each other to a race to reach the shores of Johor.
The animals that failed would turn to stone.
All three failed to swim across. Therefore, the elephant and pig turned into Pulau Ubin whilst the frog became Pulau Sekudu or Frog Island.
Tia sharing about the story of the frog
Bala in the bamboo grove
Jelaine tells a story about the crabs
Teresa briefing participants before tree planting
Thanks to our fun storytellers: Tia Guttensohn, Balakrishnan Matchap, Jelaine Ng and Teresa Guttensohn.
Thanks to all our family participants and tree planting volunteers from ActiveSG, Pasir Ris Sport Centre – Urban Farming Interest Group as well as our volunteer event crew from Cicada Tree Eco-Place:
Teresa Guttensohn, Tia Guttensohn, Sean Guttensohn, Jabriel, Amanda Ang, Balakrishnan Matchap, Lisha Raghani, Jelaine Ng Sha-Men, Angela Pinto, Lim Li Fang, Kripa Dubey, Dr George Jacobs, Dr Denise Dillon, Joleen Chan, Jeffrey Roslan, Fatin Syahirah, Farhan, Richard Tan, Rosemary Chan, Susan Kueh.
More photos of our volunteers hard at work:
Rosemary Chan
Vegan cupcakes sponsored by Seetha
Sean ushering our participants
Amanda
Kripa & Li Fang
Kripa & Nic
Dr George Jacobs assists with tree planting
Richard Tan, Noel Thomas, Teresa Guttensohn
With staff from Nparks
Our youngest participants
Photos: Nicholas Yeo, Teresa Teo GuttensohnGrey Heron (Ardea cinerea) at the nearby Pekan Quarry, where NParks piloted a floating wetlands system in 2015. 10 heron-nesting structures have been deployed there.
Ubin: A Refuge for Wildlife
In other news, a comprehensive biodiversity survey of Pulau Ubin since 2018 has found over 20 new species of fauna, said Mr Desmond Lee, minister for National Development on the occasion of Ubin Day.
This includes the new spider species Piranthus sp. – characterised by bright reddish-orange pairs of front legs in the females.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat was taken on a tour of the island and planted a tree there on Ubin Day:
(First-come-first-served. Please include your name/s and mobile number)
Please note:
-Only 5 participants are permitted to join this walk. Therefore, we are only offering this walk to 5 single persons and not to families.
(we will organize walks for families when Covid rules are more relaxed).
-Bumboat ride to Ubin is now at $4 per pax per ride. Participants to pay fare directly to the boat driver when onboard.
Walk brief: A daytime nature-guided walk to enjoy the rural ambience of Ubin and looking at plants and wildlife that are encountered along the waysides.
This walk will mostly be on level dirt paths.
2. Ubin Night Critter Guided Walk
Date: Saturday 12 September 2020
Duration: 7.00pm to 8.30pm
Cost: None. Participants to drop a donation of any amount into an official ACRES tin that the CTEP guide will bring.
(First-come-first-served. Please include your name/s and mobile number)
Please note:
-Only 5 participants are permitted to join this walk. Therefore, we are only offering this walk to 5 single persons and not to families.
-Bumboat ride to Ubin is now at $4 per pax per ride. But a bumboat has to be specially chartered for the ride back to Singapore after this night walk.
The fare cost is estimated to be between $12 to $16 per participant. Participants to pay fare directly to the boat driver when onboard.
Walk brief: A night-time guided walk to enjoy the darker night ambience that can be experienced on Ubin and looking out for nocturnal wildlife and night-flowering plants.
This walk will mostly be on the main road. We will also go onto a level dirt path to explore the pond edge beside the main road.
Storytelling – Take a short discovery morning stroll on a rustic isle. Stop at our four story telling stations to discover the mythical beginnings of Pulau Ubin, Pulau Ketam and Pulau Sekudu through wildlife stories inspired by local legends.
Tree Planting – Shape Ubin’s future by planting trees to create a forest for wildlife!
Note: This is not a guided nature walk, it is a first-of-a-kind interactive storytelling and tree-planting activity.
Details: Date: Sat 12 Sep 2020 Venue: Pulau Ubin Start Time: 9.30am to 10.50am Duration: Approximately 1.5hrs to 2hrs (30mins for tree-planting) Suitable for: Families with children 6yrs to 11yrs. Minimum age is 6yrs, no toddlers and babies are allowed. Open to: Registered Groups only, no walk-ins will be permitted.
Charges: $50 per Group of 5 persons or less. Fees paid are strictly non-refundable. Payment details will be provided upon receipt of email.
Group size: Max. of 5 persons per registered Group. Each Group must have minimum one adult. Groups that turn up with more than 5 persons will not be permitted to participate and fees paid will not be refundable.
Registration:
Please email us with the following details to register. Please note that slots will be assigned on a first come first served basis.
Time slot you would like (see below)
Name of principal participant
Number of participants in group
Number of adults
Number of children (with age of children)
Contact email
Contact phone number – for any last minute changes
Emergency contact name with phone number
We will only use the contact details for this event and the information will not be stored past the event nor shared with anyone else.
Number of Groups: Limited to 8 separate groups at staggered arrival timings only. Strictly no intermixing between groups at any time.
Booking Timings: [FULLY SUBSCRIBED] Group 1 – Start Time 09.30am Group 2 – Start Time 09.40am Group 3 – Start Time 09.50am Group 4 – Start time 10.00am Group 5 – Start time 10.10am Group 6 – Start time 10.20am Group 7 – Start time 10.30am Group 8 – Start time 10.40am
Participants must arrive 5 mins before or sharp on time at Cicada Tree Eco-Place Registration Desk at the Pulau Ubin (Assembly Area) as per registered time slot to avoid delaying other Groups and impacting the event schedule. Groups that arrive late will have their slot cancelled and fees paid will not be refundable.
IMPORTANT NOTE Terms & Conditions, SafeEntry and Safe Distancing Measures apply:
· This is an outdoor rain or shine event. · Subject to weather conditions and safety considerations, the event may be delayed or cancelled. · Due to Covid-19, SafeEntry and Safe Distancing Measures apply. · Participants must check-in and complete SafeEntry at the Cicada Tree Eco-Place Registration Desk upon arrival. · Participants who are feeling unwell or have flu-like symptoms must not participate. · Participants who have travelled outside Singapore in previous 14 days (from 1 Sep 2020), or have been placed on Stay Home Order, must not participate. · Participants must arrive sharp on time as per registered time slot to avoid delaying other Groups and impacting the event schedule. Groups that arrive late will have their slot cancelled and fees paid will not be refundable. · Participants (adults and children) must wear face masks during the walk and thoughout the event. · Participants must observe safe distancing of 3m between the storytellers and other Groups. · Participants must not intermix with other groups and must not congregate with other groups at any time during the event. · Upon completing the tree-planting or when time slot is up, Participants must depart from the tree-planting site as directed by the crew and staff, and must not linger within the site.
