Kallang River: Ecosystem Services

Kallang River: Overview

Looking back, it was a good thing that we had a short break last week from conducting more visits as it allowed me to collect my thoughts. I usually looked at these complex ecosystems from a stakeholder perspective; that I focused on the needs of the stakeholders and how these needs are balanced through the governing process.

It was possible before because of the limited amount of stakeholders involved in the previous complex socio-ecological systems. In the case of Kallang River though, there is a need to approach the analysis from a services perspective because of the sheer scale of Kallang River and its stakeholders involved.

Ecosystem Services

The Millennium Assessment(MA) published in 2005 identified four main categories of services that an ecosystem provides. The four services are supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural. We went into depth in an earlier post but in essence, the four are ways that humankind benefits from ecosystems.

The more obvious service that Kallang River provides is Provisioning. The river is part of the Marina Catchment Area and thus forms an integral part of Singapore’s water supply. Fishing is allowed along the river but it is usually recreational instead of fishing as a source of food. Therefore the river’s food provisioning service isn’t a main draw.

Cultural services are perhaps the main provision of the river in modern times. It plays host to a variety of human activities ranging from recreation to education. There are numerous recreational facilities located along the river from the Water Sports Centre at the Singapore Sports Hub to the park connector tracks that run along most of the river.

The river also help improve the quality of life for residences near the river as parks are often built along the river. Families living near the river have easier access to nature as a result of these parks. The view of the river is also aesthetically pleasing and many developers seek to leverage upon this by marketing new residences that include a river view.

Celebrations and events are also often held along the river. The annual National Day fireworks are usually set off from boats on the river and boat races usually take place near the mouth of the river.

Regulatory and Supporting services are much less obvious as they are usually not immediately perceivable by us. The Millennium Assessment writes that regulatory services that rivers provide are the maintenance of water quality via natural filtration and serve as flood control.  Supporting services that rivers provide is the creation of an ecosystem that allows for predator/prey relationships.

Governance of Services

Now that we have identified these key services the river provides, the next step would be to look into how the river is governed to ensure these services remain sustainable. The main authorities managing the river are the same as those behind Bedok Reservoir Park namely, the National Environment Agency, National Parks for the facilities along the river and the Public Utilities Board for the water-related facilities.

However, there is an increased amount of non-government actors involved in the governance of the park compared to Bedok Reservoir Park. For example, the Waterways Watch Society an independent volunteer group seems to be far more active when it comes to the river as they have an office in the area.

Thus at first glance, governance in this case could be more decentralised than previous examples.

Waterways Watch Society. Retrieved from Waterways Watch Society: http://www.wws.org.sg/