Since the National Parks Board (NParks) introduced the Greening Schools for Biodiversity programme in 2014, 63 primary and secondary schools and junior colleges have volunteered to take part.
Demand is so high for the one-year programme that the 20 registration slots available each year get snapped up within six weeks or so.
The programme provides participating schools with training, advice, funding and bags of plants to start their own green spaces.
An audit will first be conducted by each school to find out what plant and animal species it already has.
Then NParks will make suggestions on how biodiversity can be improved or, say, what plants to grow to attract more birds and butterflies.
The students and teachers will then come up with an action plan and a plant grocery list, which NParks will go through to provide feedback before planting begins.
The planting can be done by the students or contractors.
Each school is given about a year to complete the programme. NParks will be on hand to offer further advice during the programme.
Later, the schools are expected to continue conducting biodiversity audits on their own and carry on the outreach programmes.
Linda Goh, a director at NParks’ National Biodiversity Centre, said the programme was planned to bring nature closer to youth as “people who live in urban areas tend to have fewer opportunities to come into contact with natural habitats”.
She said: “Students spend a lot of time in school and we hope they can learn more about Singapore’s biodiversity in the natural classroom of their school compound.
“When they see and get to enjoy birds, butterflies and plants every day, they may become interested in biodiversity and want to venture out to look at and do more for biodiversity elsewhere on our island.”
She adds that this encourages “stewardship in nature conservation”, which is key to achieving Singapore’s City In A Garden vision.
Greenery further helps students to relax and focus better, she says.

Parents welcome the idea
Housewife Satpal Gill, 44, whose eight-year-old twin boys are studying at Hougang Primary, one of the first schools that took part in the programme, says: “They would come back and tell me stories like how the fruits in the orchard had to be covered so they wouldn’t be eaten by bats and birds.
“At the least, they know that fruits grow on trees and not in supermarkets.”
The Straits Times took a look at some of these extraordinary green spaces and found:
Every nook and cranny in Hougang Primary is filled with vegetation.
A colourful butterfly garden runs along a 100m strip from the school’s entrance to the carpark at the back, where there is also a fruit orchard with durians, rambutans and jackfruit.
Even the walls are utilised. Two bare ones are now teeming with greenery such as pitcher plants and ferns held in pockets stapled to the walls.
In its latest effort last year – under the National Parks Board’s Greening Schools for Biodiversity programme – an eroded slope lining the back of the school was turned into a row of about 60 species of native plants, including the Leea rubra, easily recognised by its clusters of crimson red flowers; and the |delicate Eulophia graminea, |an orchid with unusually small flowers.
In total, Hougang Primary has more than 600 species of plants, including an orchid hybrid named after the school (Dendrobium Hougang Primary School) and another after an ex-principal (Dendrobium Sabrina James). The cross-breeding was done by pupils.
The move to become a school within a garden, as described by Mohan Krishnamoorthy, level head of science and teacher in charge of the green club, took root not long after the school opened in 2000.
The then-principal, said Mohan, 42, wanted an eco-garden to complement the school’s science curriculum. Over the years, the garden grew.
“We realised that greenery cools the environment and makes learning more conducive,” said Mohan. “Also, we hoped that by spending years in a school surrounded by greenery, children would cultivate a love of nature and realise how plants are necessary for our survival.”
The school’s green club pupils are actively involved in planting, but the gardens are also an integral part of the science curriculum.
Primary 3 pupils, for instance, visit the fernery to learn about non- flowering plants – a topic in their syllabus.
To teach them about the life cycle of animals, Primary 4 pupils are given a caterpillar on a stem cutting, each obtained from the school’s butterfly garden. With so many green areas, it was crucial to make sure the plants were getting enough water.
The school uses a water sprinkler system with solar-powered timers set to automatically water the plants once or twice a day. To conserve water, a tank collects rainwater – enough to hydrate at least half the garden – and delivers it through the sprinkler system.
Another pond, with a man-made filtration system, is powered partially by two solar panels. A meter tracks the amount of energy used.
An overhanging pipe collects rainwater from the roof of a school block and channels it to a tank that refills both the ponds, conserving water.
One of the ponds has a water wheel to turn the kinetic energy in flowing water into hydroelectric energy, which is then used to power LED lights.
The eco-garden was created by the school’s science department in 2008 as “an outdoor classroom for our students”, says Heng Chong Yong, 41, the school’s head of department (partnerships).
It was set up back then to complement an environmental module run for its Secondary 1 and 2 students to “show them how energy and water conservation as well as biodiversity of a fish pond actually works”, he said, adding that school textbooks can do only so much.
That particular module has since been replaced by another, but the garden continues to play a huge role in clean energy and environmental technology lessons. It also helps the school to distinguish itself from others, said Heng.
But all this was not done without help. The garden cost Sing$77,000 to set up – $50,000 from the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) upgrading of facilities fund and the rest donated by the School Advisory Committee, comprising parents, alumni and other members of the public appointed by MOE.
Last year, the school dipped into its pocket to build a $15,000 pavilion for teachers to conduct classes outdoors. Last month, it started piping nutrients from fish waste from one of the ponds to pots of kangkong (water spinach) in the pavilion to fertilise the vegetables.
The garden, about the size of three basketball courts, also hosts learning journeys for primary school pupils from nearby schools – two to three visits each year – with Bukit View Secondary teachers pitching in with worksheets for them.
The eco-trails, which expand on topics such as food chains and habitats, are led by the school’s environmental club, although anyone interested can volunteer to lead as well.
In the future, the school hopes, through assembly talks and forums, to get more students to appreciate nature and the environment. Heng said: “So far, students enjoy going to the garden to relax and chit-chat, but not that many appreciate the natural beauty around them.”