BEFORE butterflies can move into Orchard Road and transform it
into an urban butterfly trail, their homes will have to be built -
or rather planted.
The first phase of the Butterfly Trail at Orchard project
yesterday had Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large with the
Foreign Affairs Ministry and patron of the Nature Society of
Singapore (NSS), and other guests sowing the seeds of host and
nectar plants at a site along Nassim Road. The plants will provide
food and shelter to caterpillars and butterflies.
More than 900 shrubs and trees will be planted on the 170 sq m
plot.
The project, spearheaded by NSS, will cover a 4km stretch of the
shopping belt from the Botanic Gardens to Fort Canning. NSS experts
hope to draw about 50 butterfly species to the area once the trail
is completed by the end of next year. NSS estimates the project
will cost $400,000.
The plants may also help in times of heavy rain, said former NSS
president Geh Min. 'Trees and plants... slow down the rain and help
the soil absorb it, so it is released more slowly and in lesser
quantity to the drainage system,' she said.
