New Canopy Bridge Opens at Singapore Botanic Gardens

The National Parks Board (NParks) unveiled the new HPL Canopy Link at the Singapore Botanic Gardens yesterday, a 200-metre-long and 2.4-metre-wide bridge that connects the Learning Forest to the Gallop Extension.

Its launch sees the completion of the Tyersall-Gallop Core of the Gardens, according to a press release by NParks on the same day.

The 18-hectare Tyersall-Gallop Core houses the Ginger Garden, the National Orchid Garden, and the Learning Forest that merges with the Gardens' six-hectare Rain Forest.

The opening of the HPL Canopy Link was presided by the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law Mr. K Shanmugam. It is a project through NParks' the Garden City Fund as supported by Hotel Properties Limited.

The bridge now fully connects the Gardens and makes it accessible to all visitors, including those who have mobility disabilities.

It is elevated by seven metres and allows visitors a scenic view of the Learning Forest's bambusetum and its over 30 species of tropical bamboo. It then directs visitors to a "recreated lowland deciduous forest habitat," which is a common sight in Southeast Asia. Tree species that can be sighted from the bridge include the Dipterocapus alatus (Yang Na), Lagerstroemia floribunda (Malayan Crape Myrtyle), Sindora siamensis, and Corypha lecomtei (Lan Palm).