Bright side of Bishan Park

Please watch this movie in HD (1080p) quality.

This is the newly created stream in Bishan Park, which is supposed to have plants integrated into its banks to encourage the development of natural biodiversity, according to NParks (http://mygreenspace.nparks.gov.sg/issue-13/category/main/). Well, frequent and thorough clearing of vegetation observed does not suggest this. At least for dragonflies, the stream has only attracted a few common species (e.g. Crocothemis servilia, which can tolerate disturbed habitats). Even the very common Neurothemis fluctuans are difficult to find along Bishan stream.


Nevertheless, after two months of patience and hard work, I managed to put together a movie showing the brighter side of Bishan Park. From 1:16 onwards, it appears that the stream is teeming with dragonflies. Actually, those are only two species, Crocothemis servilia and Tholymis tillarga, and the video was taken when the vegetation (mainly grass) had grown back to a certain height. A few days after this clip was taken, the team of grass cutters came and cleared all the vegetation.


I really hope to see more variety of plants growing along the stream. I also hope to see meadows on the slopes. There are simply too many lawns all over Singapore. Lawns are expensive and noisy to maintain and they are useless bio-systems. Meadows attract wildlife. Just imagine the different plants, flowers and the different insects that come to visit these flowers.