Mapletree Investments has launched the Mapletree Edible Garden on the third floor of the Alexandra Retail Centre (ARC), a retail mall owned by Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (MPACT).
Opened in September, the rooftop edible garden has produced more than 30kg of crops to date across nine vegetable varieties, including kangkong, lettuce and lady’s fingers.
Launched by Mapletree’s group corporate social responsibility board committee, the garden is primarily maintained by volunteers and is aimed at the working community of MPACT portfolio properties Mapletree Business City, mTower and ARC.
More than 30 volunteers have received hands-on training in basic gardening skills by Singapore-based agricultural start-up Corridor Farmers. These volunteers include Mapletree staff and tenants from the working community of Alexandra Precinct, such as BW Offshore Holdings, JGC Asia Pacific and Pfizer Asia.
As at Nov 30, the volunteers contributed a total of 211 hours to the garden and harvested an assortment of vegetables.
Edmund Cheng, chairman of the board of Mapletree Investments, calls the edible garden “a practical step towards building stronger food resilience”. “In addition to transforming an existing urban space into a community-focused green corner, it gives our community access to fresh produce and supports sustainability in our daily lives. Mapletree will continue championing sustainable initiatives that enrich lives.”
The edible garden is registered under the National Parks Board’s Community in Bloom (CIB) Programme. This nationwide gardening programme cultivates a gardening culture and promotes civic ownership and community stewardship through gardening activities, says Mapletree.
The garden also participated in CIB’s recent Grow and Share initiative and shared a portion of its first harvest with surrounding communities. Among the partners was NTUC Health Active Ageing Centre (Telok Blangah), where a substantial amount of the harvest was shared with the seniors.
Photo: Mapletree Investments
