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NParks urges Niantic to remove off-trail Pokéstops from nature reserves

By Liu Hongzuo - on 5 Oct 2016, 1:39pm

NParks urges Niantic to remove off-trail Pokéstops from nature reserves

Originally by Audrey Tan

Please leave the sensitive areas in Singapore's nature reserves alone, the authorities here have urged the developers of the popular Pokémon Go mobile game.

The National Parks Board (NParks) has asked that Pokéstops - the game's virtual pit stops found in real-world locations - be removed from off-limit areas of three nature reserves.

"This is to avoid situations of Pokémon Go players walking off trails while playing the game, inadvertently trampling the vegetation, disturbing wildlife and causing damage to the environment, and endangering themselves," said Mr Wong Tuan Wah, NParks' group director for conservation.

The affected Pokéstops are found within the sensitive forest and wetland habitats of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Central Catchment Nature Reserve and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. They are located in off-limit areas where people should not be entering in the first place. Under the Parks and Trees Act, it is an offence to enter any part of a nature reserve except through designated trails.

NParks had appealed to game developer Niantic to have the Pokéstops removed in August, when the game was launched here. But a quick check by The Straits Times yesterday showed they were still there.

Mr. Wong said NParks is aware that more people are visiting Singapore's nature reserves where Pokéstops are located. Players of the game visit such stops, usually located at places of interest or landmarks, to obtain items such as Poke Balls, which can be used to catch virtual monsters called Pokémon.

A Niantic spokesman said: "We cannot confirm the status of removal requests for specific Pokéstop and gym locations in Pokémon Go, but are moving quickly to review and address all such requests."

There are four nature reserves in Singapore, but wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai noted that the sensitive areas of Labrador Nature Reserve are already inaccessible.

He said NParks made an "excellent decision", adding that people have been spotted venturing off- trail to catch Pokémon. "It is important to balance recreation with biodiversity in the nature reserves. Even before Pokémon Go, people used to wander off-trail into these sensitive areas," he said. "Many rare animals roost and breed in these special core areas, and disturbance may disrupt their natural behavior and even drive them onto the roads, where they end up as road-kill."

Pokémon Go players said it was a good idea to remove the Pokéstops from nature reserves.

Customer service officer Ryan Logarta, 39, said: "They shouldn't be in protected areas. Pokémon can be caught in public areas anyway."

Mr. T.S. Teo, 54, who is between jobs, said the move could help protect individuals too. "There are no designated trails in there, and people could get lost," he said.

NParks is not the first to ask to have Pokéstops removed. The former concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, now a museum, had asked to be withdrawn from the game, as has the village of Kijkduin in the Netherlands, whose protected beaches have become flooded with Pokémon Go players.

Source: The Straits Times

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