Involving Members of Public in Reporting Decaying or Unhealthy Trees

Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry can (i) issue a set of pointers to help the public look out for trees that may be decaying or unhealthy and (ii) provide a hotline number for people to report such instances so that the community can be an additional check to the already tight regime of inspection done by NParks.

Mr Lawrence Wong: Assessing the health and structural integrity of trees is best carried out by trained personnel with the requisite experience and expertise. For instance, natural features on certain types of trees could be mistaken by the public as signs of tree decay or disease, when these trees are, in fact, healthy.

Members of the public who have feedback on public trees can contact the National Parks Board at 1800-471-7300, or through the OneService app of the Municipal Services Office.