Transforming Singapore into a City in Nature

Our students enjoy the experience of being part of NUS’ vibrant campus community. From academic pursuits to co-curricular activities (CCAs), competitions and community work, there are many learning opportunities within and beyond the classroom.

Making the most of his student journey, See Toh Ee Kin, Year 2, Environmental Studies (BES), who also reads a Minor in Southeast Asian Studies, decided to explore opportunities beyond campus happenings to broaden his horizons.

See Toh Ee Kin (second from right) and his friends get acquainted with the tree planting process

Ee Kin and a few of his BES friends, who have shared interests in biodiversity conservation, decided to sign up for the Youth Stewards for Nature (YSN), a six-month programme supported by the National Parks Board (NParks) and the Ministry of National Development.

Through YSN, they were involved in NParks’ OneMillionTrees movement, where they planned and organised tree planting events in Boon Lay. The movement is a nationwide effort to plant more than a million trees across Singapore over the next 10 years.

Ee Kin said, “We had the opportunity to interact with the Minister for National Development on multiple occasions, where he emphasised that a key goal of the movement is to encourage better public understanding and appreciation of nature, as well as to increase biophilia and fight climate change.”

He also got a firsthand glimpse of how NParks engages the community to understand residents’ concerns, so as to ensure that trees planted do not inconvenience or cause a safety hazard to the public.