durian trees in our nature parks/reserves

when the people moved out, they left their fruit trees behind. in a few of our nature parks and nature reserves, you can find durian trees. these include bukit batok nature park, choa chu kang park, yishun park, bukit timah nature reserve, especially around the rifle range area, and pulau ubin.

this time of the year being the durian season, if you walk in these parks or reserves, you may get a whiff of the fragrance of the flowers or the fruit. it takes about three months for the pollinated flowers to became a mature fruit. unfortunately, many of the fruit do not get the chance to reach maturity.

these tree climbing 'poachers' with sharp teeth will gnaw at the thick husk of the durian fruit till there is a hole in it. eventually, this fruit, which has been attacked by the squirrels, will fall to the ground before it has ripened. i came across many durians in such a state at rifle range road and at bukit batok nature park.

are we allowed to pick the fruit that has fallen? i asked a park ranger who was patrolling the area. his response was non-commital. "you are not allowed to wait in the vicinity for the fruit to drop." he explained that such people, while waiting, would start a fire by burning some dried leaves and branches to chase away the mosquitoes.

i did witness such an incident. three or four middle-age men were camped under a durian tree laden with fruit and they had a fire going. they were not just trying to keep the mosquitoes away but they had the fire to boil a kettle of water for their coffee.