In May 2025, A Rocha Singapore became A Rocha's first national organization in Southeast Asia!
A pollinator-focused permaculture garden pilot project and pollinator education programme within the Kovan-Hougang heartland for the conservation of native bees and the transformation of lives through community.
A flourishing urban garden
A Rocha Singapore’s flagship project, Bloom & Buzz, is an urban permaculture and pollinator garden in partnership with The Helping Hand (THH), a halfway house that seeks to transform ex-offenders to live Christ-centred lives. The garden was launched on 20 August 2025.
We are grateful that the Bloom & Buzz project is supported by the SG Eco Fund Grant.
A Rocha Singapore is working closely with urban permaculture consultant, Nova Nelson (pictured bottom, left) of Cultivate Central who brings a wealth of experience and a heart for community engagement.
With the back garden established, we are expanding the garden at THH’s front-facing space, adjacent to the Upper Serangoon Nature Way. Our goal is to create even more native bee habitat for both floral and nesting resources at THH.
We also want to conduct outreach programmes to help people appreciate Singapore’s wild bees and be equipped to start their own Bloom & Buzz project.
Join us on Volunteer Days (last Saturday of the month) and stay tuned for our workshops in 2026!
Project goals:
- Establish an urban permaculture garden and biodiversity on the grounds of The Helping Hand
- Engage residents and volunteers in creation care through urban permaculture, edible gardening, growing plants for bee and insect pollinators, and biodiversity conservation activities.
- Support the social integration of residents through skills development and mental health benefits associated with working in nature.
- Create a conducive space for the residents to reconnect with their family
- Establish a functional urban ecosystem that supports Singapore’s fragmented urban biodiversity especially our native solitary bee species
- Become a pollinator resource hub and community learning space
- Develop toolkits and grow native pollinator plants to help others create biodiversity gardens, and explore potential services and income streams
Volunteer at our Garden!
We open up the Bloom & Buzz Garden to volunteers on the last Saturday of each month. Join us for the upcoming volunteer day and help grow this unique urban garden in the heartlands!