NATURAL REGENERATION OF VEGETATION AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR GREENING SAND-FILLED RECLAIMED LAND IN SINGAPORE

Land reclamation projects have been implemented in Singapore to increa se the republic's land area. Not all reclaimed lands have been used to date, and some of those that remain idle have been allowed to regener ate. This paper examines one such sand-filled reclaimed area and studi es the pattern of, and factors favouring, the natural regeneration of Casuarina equisetifolia whose seeds come mainly from a row of establis hed mother trees planted by the roadside nearby. Based on the extent o f coverage of this species over the reclaimed land and the mean trunk- wood volume build-up after 14 years, natural regeneration of this kind appears to be an effective alternative to the greening of sand-filled reclaimed land, or any derelict land of this nature, at very low cost . (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.