Saturday, June 20, 2009

The glory and the sad end of a giant tree

The glory and the sad end of a giant tree
STOMPer Arborist is upset that this magnificent tree at Kranji Reservoir Park beach has been uprooted.

In his email to STOMP today (June 20), the STOMPer wrote:
"These pictures were taken at the Kranji Reservoir Park beach which faces the Strait of Johor.

"You can see a tall, healthy, giant tree with its stilt roots magnificently displayed. However, its days are numbered.

"The pounding of the waves against the base of the tree has taken its toll and most of the roots are now exposed. It lies precariously on the edge of the water.

"The strength and holding power of the roots are no match for the pounding of the waves which continue relentlessly day and night.

"Now the giant has fallen and we see the end of its glory and majesty.

"Only the skeleton of the giant remains to this day.

"On its roots and trunk are thousands of tiny barnacles which have chosen to make this corpse of the dead hero their permanent homes."

The glory and the sad end of a giant tree
The glory and the sad end of a giant tree
The glory and the sad end of a giant tree

Related posts: Serious soil erosion at Pasir Ris Park (14th June 2009)
More trees will be destroyed by waves hitting shoreline (5th June 2009)
Waves seriously eroding our northern shoreline at Kranji Reservoir (31st May 2009)

A little melodramatic, isn't it?

The nearby Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve has been experiencing quite a bit of erosion, which is some cause for concern. There is also an excellent paper in the journal Applied Geography, which provides some historical background on how the coast in this part of Singapore has been affected by erosion.