What is the true value of our waterways? Adam, a lead volunteer at Waterways Watch Society, recounts the various types of litter he's encountered while striving to keep our waterways clean. He appeals to Singaporeans to avoid releasing non-native aquatic species.
#WaterwaysWatch #environment #Singapore
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
#WaterwaysWatch #environment #Singapore
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00They say around here they found a part of an engine.
00:02Not a full engine, like half of an engine.
00:04I don't know where that came from.
00:05So, the stuff you find over here.
00:13Hi, I'm Adam Isaac.
00:14I'm a lead volunteer here at Waterway Watch Society.
00:17Here at Waterway Watch Society,
00:19we aim to keep our coastlines as well as waterways clean.
00:24We try to preserve aquatic life
00:25as well as to educate members of public about water sustainability
00:29as well as their impacts on the environment
00:31by organising activities such as bicycle, boat, kayak, pedal boat patrols
00:36as well as working together with companies for their corporate social responsibility.
00:43We focus on education,
00:45which is the topmost part of the hierarchy of controls, which is illumination.
00:48By educating the members of the public not to litter
00:51as well as to be more aware of their actions,
00:52for example, wastage of water,
00:54excessive use of single-use plastic and stuff like that,
00:57we can prevent this trash from entering our waterways
01:00and just to keep our waters clean in general.
01:05As mentioned earlier,
01:06we do organise events such as corporate social responsibilities.
01:09The employees of the company will come down here to Kallang HQ
01:13to participate in waterway cleanup,
01:15whether it be via cycling or via kayaking or even pedal boat as well.
01:21They'll have a briefing.
01:23Basically, one of our more senior volunteers will be there
01:26explaining to them about the brief history about the Kallang Basin in general
01:30as well as about what we have observed here in the past, I don't know, 10, 20 years.
01:35The society has been around longer than that.
01:38So they have some pictures to show about how the wildlife over here
01:43is impacted by the amount of human waste,
01:46including plastic bags, some fishing lines as well.
01:49I think if I'm not wrong, there's a picture of a fish stuck inside
01:53one of the plastic bags that you use to tapau your kopi.
01:55Your kopi in the morning.
01:57So that's quite impactful.
01:58Then after they have this briefing,
02:00they will actually go out to the water or they will cycle.
02:04At the end of the day, the participants feel, how to say, rewarded
02:08because they had a direct impact on the environment by picking up the litter,
02:12intercepting it before it goes into the waterway.
02:14Some of them also do sign up to volunteer regularly here at the Waterway Watch Society.
02:18WWF has three areas that we operate in.
02:21Number one being here.
02:22This is the HQ, Kallang.
02:25Typically, when my schedule permits, I'll come here every Saturday.
02:29Our patrol starts at 10pm and we aim to finish latest by 12.30pm.
02:33I'll have lunch with the members where we do some networking,
02:35share some jokes and some observations.
02:37What we've seen today on patrol and then after that, we'll leave at about 1.30pm.
02:45So I mostly do boat patrols and we'll patrol all along the Geylang River
02:49to Kallang River and all the way up Singapore River.
02:52What we do is, we pick up litter as we see it because it's already in our waterways.
03:12The last time I did boat patrol, I went with a few members
03:17and there was actually, around this side over here, there was a long piece of fishing line.
03:23At the end of it, there was a water bottle that was cut and attached to it.
03:27So what it is, is basically bait for fish.
03:30Leaving the bait over there can cause wildlife to be entangled in the fishing line
03:35and the bottle and stuff like that.
03:37Then, in the long run, it's not good.
03:39Although, something else that's not good is,
03:42for most of the reservoirs in Singapore, there are actually a lot of introduced fish.
03:47So meaning, species like koi, carp, etc.
03:51So a lot of people do mercy releases.
03:55And let's say, for example, your theropines and stuff,
03:57once they grow too big or you are no longer interested in it,
04:00a common practice, which is wrong, is to release it into rivers, waterways and stuff like that.
04:06It's an invasive species and it can actually cause disruption to the native biodiversity
04:11because...
04:12Oh, wait!
04:13Fisherman!
04:14I'm going to take a picture for the reporting.
04:17We also engage errant fishermen.
04:20Basically, there are only two areas in the entirety of the Kallang Basin that you're allowed to fish.
04:24Sometimes, they like to fish elsewhere because that's where all the fish are.
04:27But of course, when they fish outside, it's impacting the environment.
04:31So we do give them a reminder.
04:33They say, excuse me, sir or ma'am, the fishing area is just right over there.
04:37Just look for the blue railing or that area demarcated by the yellow buoys.
04:40I think the most common fish they catch is snakehead, which is introduced also, I think.
04:45So, as I was mentioning, one of the most common plastic pieces,
04:49the single-use ones that we pick up, is the chopstick packet cover.
04:53Yes, a lot of them.
04:55Oh, we get a lot of tennis balls.
04:57I still don't know why.
05:02We are not here just to pick up litter.
05:04Our job is to educate.
05:07And when we educate people, in the end of the day,
05:10when we pick up less litter, it means we know that we are doing our job.
05:17If you can see over there, there's actually some pieces of litter trapped.
05:20And these are the ones that, when our members do the bicycle patrol,
05:24they will try and intercept before it enters the water.
05:27Because when these items enter the water, sometimes they sink all the way to the bottom
05:31and only years later, it resurfaces.
05:33There's a plastic bottle.
05:35So you see, the colour of the plastic bottle means it's been in the water for quite some time.
05:40So, throw it away.
05:44The reservoir, it's like a completely different experience.
05:47For normal park users, they will just use the park connectors on the side.
05:51Then they don't get to experience the serenity that is on the water.
05:58So at the end of the day, looking at all the litter that I've picked up,
06:01whether it be cans or plastic bottles,
06:03I feel satisfied, I feel happy,
06:06knowing that these items will not impact the environment at large.
06:09From the tiny little fish that we have here, or to even the birds and the otters.
06:14So our beneficiaries are park users, waterway users like us, like myself,
06:20all the way up to the nation.
06:21Because the Kallang Basin is part of the national taps.
06:25So if our waterways are polluted,
06:27so polluted to the point where this source cannot be used for our drinking water,
06:31it will be detrimental to it.
06:32So by helping keep our waterways clean,
06:34by doing the education and stuff, by picking up litter during our patrols,
06:38we help the nation as a whole.