Eco Greens Community Park - Open to Public

Award-winning Eco Greens Community Park strikes a fine balance between modern living and caring for the environment.

BEFORE the arrival of Eco Greens Community Park, the area was an oil palm estate without modern infrastructure, with a population of less than 1,000.

Today, the park, which is part of Setia Eco Gardens, a nature-inspired development with an eco-living theme by SP Setia Bhd Group, is a boon to the residents as well as those living in the surrounding neighbourhoods of Gelang Patah, Ulu Choh and Pontian.

The RM40 million road-widening project, funded and built by SP Setia, has enabled better accessibility to the area and created new economic activities that have also benefited the neighbouring communities.

The park complex is open to the public. It features the Eco Shelter, Bird Island, Butterfly Trail, Eco Interactive Fountain, Eco Gallery and Green Wall.

The first of its kind in Iskandar Malaysia, the Green Wall serves as extra insulation to absorb carbon dioxide, reduce noise as well as the heat island effect. It is also a habitat for insects such as butterflies, and birds.

Other attractions in the park are the Eco Playground, maze garden, tree house, bird viewing deck and meditation garden.

SP Setia Bhd Group general manager Hoe Mee Ling said the idea was to develop a park complex that challenged the concept of a community park.

"It is a delicate balance of environmental and socio-cultural factors to benefit the community without impairing the ability of resident species to thrive.

"The park enhances the ecological system and creates wider public awareness of green living.

"For instance, Bird Island is a man-made island of trees in the middle of the lake designed to provide protection to the birds. It is also there to educate the public on the role played by migratory birds and resident species in the eco-system.

"It is hoped that this will help the public to understand the importance of protecting, restoring and enhancing biological diversity," she said

Hoe said the site's undulating terrain, natural river (Sungai Pulai) and surrounding forests was the perfect canvas for the eco-living concept.

"In-depth studies on eco theme parks and green buildings were made to maintain and enhance bio-diversity, with emphasis on the right species of plants to create butterfly trails and water plants to propagate fish species in the pond and the preservation of flora and fauna," she said.

Eco Greens recently won the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) Malaysian Chapter award in the category "Purpose-built or specialised project".

Eco Greens was also awarded the National Landscape Award 2010 and the Malaysia Landscape Architecture Award 2009.

Its green building, Eco Gallery, was awarded the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green mark Gold Award by BCA Singapore in 2010, and named Cityscape Best Office or Commercial (built category) in the Cityscape Real Estate competition in April 2008.

Source: Chuah Bee Kim