Singapore’s plans to clear forest for homes lead to rare public protests

By Toh Ee Ming. Published On 28 Aug 202628 Aug 2026.

Key points

• Singapore has additionally pledged, alongside more than 130 other countries, to halt deforestation by 2030 under the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Apply.
• Victoria, 30, began a Telegram group, now nearing 800 members, where those with relevant expertise assist others navigate dense environmental assessments and draft feedback for the authorities.
• Public petitions calling for the cancellation or revision of the projects have attracted more than 60, 000 signatures.
• "Maju" means progress in Malay, the mother tongue of the city-state's largest ethnic minority, and Singapore turned 61 this month.
• The fate of the developments has become an unlikely focus of reflection in the period around Singapore's National Day.

Singapore – For at least three decades, Joanne Teoh, 68, has woken to views of a "pure green canopy" from her flat overlooking Maju Forest in Singapore's Sunset Way estate.

Teoh has watched her mother grow old and her sons grow up in its shade, alongside long-tailed macaques, ambling monitor lizards and critically endangered straw-headed bulbul.

Earlier this year, Teoh, who has been documenting the forest's flora and fauna since 2021, glimpsed Himalayan vultures for the first time, causing a stir among Singapore's birding community.

Teoh now fears that this habitat will shortly be lost forever due to the government's aims to turn much of the forest into a residential area.

"Even if you build homes on part of this forest, as my sons tell me, we don't want to live beside the graveyard of a desiccated ecosystem, " Teoh informed Al Jazeera.

As well as at least 10 hectares (25 acres) of Gillman Forest, located regarding 6km to the south, last month, Singapore's Housing and Development Board confirmed aims to clear roughly 15 of Maju Forest's 23 hectares (37 of 56 acres) to build homes at Sunset Way.

Notably, the proposals have stirred unusually vocal opposition among the public in a country where planning decisions are typically top-down and rarely contested openly.

Teoh and her neighbours are among plenty of residents spurred into action, strategising online and over coffee concerning how best to advocate for stronger environmental safeguards and greater transparency.

Notably, the fate of the developments has become an unlikely focus of reflection in the period around Singapore's National Day. It falls on August 9.

For context, the debate has led to a rare bout of soul-searching over what kind of progress Singapore, one of the world's wealthiest countries, wants to see, and a wider conversation regarding land apply and public involvement in planning.

Tensions between development and conservation have surfaced before, most notably when public pushback over the planned rezoning of Dover Forest, a 33-hectare patch in the west of the city, led the administration to retain a substantial portion of the development as a nature park.

When Prime Minister Lawrence Wong applied the National Day Rally to unveil aims to merge a number of southern islands into a larger landmass for industry, power infrastructure and defence in the coming decades – reclamation probable to depend on imported sand, long a contentious trade in Southeast Asia, a new outpouring of concern followed on August 23.

Conservation groups have triggered concern regarding the impact the reclamation will have on reefs, marine life and remaining traces of the history of the sea-dwelling Orang Laut ethnic minority.

Rachel Tan, an organiser with independent advocacy group SG Climate Rally (SGCR), remarked she has been struck by the "sustained attention and care from the public" over the aims, from residents running town halls to environmental groups leading heritage walks through the forests.

Earlier this month, more than 2, 000 individuals gathered at Speakers' Corner, the sole venue in Singapore where citizens can legally assemble and speak publicly without a permit, for a rally opposing the development projects.

Tan, whose group organised the event, remarked Singaporeans are becoming increasingly aware that the environment affects everyone's wellbeing and that there is a need to preserve green spaces for future generations.

"We are slowly maturing as a society in general, in terms of our civic capital, our political knowledge, and our courage in voicing these political opinions, " she informed Al Jazeera.

Official environmental impact assessments have discovered that Gillman Forest supports 178 animal species, and Maju Forest supports 113 – among them the critically endangered straw-headed bulbul, a bird numbering just 600 to 1, 700 worldwide, a third of them in Singapore, and the Sunda pangolin.

For context, a 2023 study in the journal Sustainability estimated Singapore is on track to clear 7, 331 hectares (18, 115 acres) of forest for new development – 1.2 times the size of all its existing parks and nature reserves combined.

Victoria, whose move to a housing estate near Gillman Forest was partly motivated by her love of nature, remarked she had never followed parliamentary debates before, but the "dismissive and tone-deaf way" office-holders handled the matter convinced her to "defend the neighbourhood I love".

"They can't fight for themselves, so I figured I should do something, " Victoria, who asked to be identified only by her first name, informed Al Jazeera, referring to the forest's birds and wildlife.

When founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew began a decades-long tradition of political leaders planting trees – a lineage invoked today in the government's slogan "City in Nature", singapore has branded itself a garden city since 1967.

In parliament earlier this month, Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan defended the government's intends, quoting figures showing that public housing launches are oversubscribed more than four times over.

"Our choices are narrower than those faced by larger countries. We thus have to create the best apply of our limited land, " noted Tan.

Despite having one of the world's lowest birth rates, Singapore's population hit a record 6.11 million individuals last year, the result of a sharp rise in foreign workers.

While unaffordable rents are a major political matter in numerous countries, Singapore has a home ownership rate of regarding 90 percent, among the world's highest, largely through subsidised public flats.

While the administration has stressed the necessity of the aims, it has moved to assuage, at least in part, residents' reservations.

Days before the Speakers' Corner rally, Tan, the development minister, confirmed that the administration would retain more green space than included in the original intends. It called on the preservation of 40 percent of the Gillman Barracks forest and 35 percent in Maju Forest.

"We will work out exactly how much more, but we will have to accept that this means we can build fewer homes on both sites for fellow Singaporeans, " Tan remarked.

Plenty of activists reject the framing that housing and nature are in opposition, arguing that the government's characterisation of inevitable trade-offs is misleading. Whether the government's concessions will be enough to substantially lessen opposition to the projects remains to be seen. Teoh, the resident of Sunset Way, lately kicked off documenting what she calls "the consequences of progress" for the forest on a dedicated Instagram account.

Teoh applied to play punk rock music in the mornings to secure her day began, but now she keeps her stereo switched off.

"I can't waste the moments with the birds, so I listen to their symphony instead, " Teoh remarked. "You only grieve when you have loved deeply, " she continued.

For now, singapore's plans to clear forest for homes lead to rare public protests remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.