SINGAPORE : Singaporeans can look forward to having more trees around the island in a few years' time.

The National Parks Board and the Singapore Land Authority have turned four state land sites, almost the size of 50 football fields, into tree banks.

The four sites are being used to nurture young trees to meet future demands for landscaping in Singapore.

Three sites are located at Sungei Tengah and one in the West Coast area. The Sungei Tengah (Lorong Pasu) sites measure a total of 24 hectares and the West Coast site provides seven hectares of tree-bank space.

One such site at Sungei Tengah will nurture the young trees before they are transplanted in a nursery in Pasir Panjang.

To maximise land use, the trees are planted using a root control bag. The bags will also help contain the root structure of the saplings which will make it easier to transplant the trees.

A total of some 11,000 trees have been planted so far on the four land sites. It comprises 72 different species of trees, with 75% being species found in the region, including the popular 'Jelutong' and 'Katong Laut' trees.

Simon Longman, Director, National Parks Board, said: "We have this big demand for semi-mature trees for maximum impact in our projects. We have a lot of parks projects and street scape projects, which are projects along the roads... Gardens by the Bay is one example of a project which is coming up." - CNA/ms