Removal of ecological buffer zone means mud will be swept through the exposed land into the sea, contaminating coral, environmentalists warn
ERNEST KAOernest.kao@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 12 November, 2015, 12:01am
UPDATED : Thursday, 12 November, 2015, 9:33am
Hoi Ha resident Nicola Newbery says the enclave will enjoy protection if it becomes part of the surrounding Sai Kung Country Park.Photos: K. Y. Cheng
Environmentalists fear one of Hong Kong's most ecologically diverse marine parks could be under threat after a fresh swathe of land on the edge of a nearby country park was cleared of vegetation for possible development.
Four months after contractors began cutting down trees in the Hoi Ha coastal protection area next to Sai Kung West Country Park, renewed clearing work in recent days has stripped bare a once lush area.
Environmentalists say they are "very worried" that the removal of trees and shrubs will allow rain to sweep mud and sediment straight into the sea, contaminating the pristine coral.
The work reignites the controversy surrounding so-called country park enclaves - parcels of land in or near country parks but not part of them.
It also comes a day after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said a suggestion by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa's think tank that space in country parks could be used to help ease the city's chronic housing shortage was worth considering.
Planning officials say there is nothing illegal about the work.
The clearance follows a similar case last month in which vegetation covering an area the size of two football pitches was cleared near a wetland at another enclave, Wong Chuk Yeung.
At Hoi Ha, the clearing took place on private land zoned for village-type development and green belt, but it includes government lots. The major landholder is Eastern Island Land Development Company. One of the larger plots cleared was bought for HK$13 million in 2012.
Mangled branches and the browning leaves of felled trees were lying next to freshly hacked stumps. Plastic string and markers denoting the boundaries of private land were strewn alongside cigarette packets, foam lunchboxes and plastic bottles.
Some logs and branches appeared to have been dumped in mangroves further north in an area zoned for coastal protection and just a stone's throw from the marine park, home to more than 60 species of coral life.
The WWF's head of local biodiversity and regional wetlands programme, Dr Michael Lau Wai-neng, said the vegetation that had been removed compromised an ecological buffer zone and meant rain from the hills would sweep mud and sediment straight into the sea. "The initial impact may be limited on the marine park but it will accumulate as more clearing occurs," said Lau. "We are very worried."
Hoi Ha resident Nicola Newbery, pointing to a wide open plot devoid of trees and an awkwardly exposed nature trail previously home to rare butterflies, said: "This area was impenetrable with thick vegetation just last week."
She asked who in the village was signing permits for contractors to enter the enclave.
“It proves again that zoning policies are toothless and that we are in need of laws that actually promote environmental protection,” she said.
Newbery and her concern group, Friends of Hoi Ha, believe the enclave should be folded into the surrounding park for better protection. In 2010 the government made a pledge to protect rural enclaves that were not covered by planning rules. About half were slated to be incorporated into surrounding parks and the rest were to be slapped with statutory planning controls.
A Planning Department spokesman said: "There is insufficient evidence to prove that there is any unauthorised development as defined under the Town Planning Ordinance at the subject site."
University of Hong Kong ecologist Dr Billy Hau Chi-hang, a member of the Country and Marine Parks Board, said there was little the government could do as the land was private, describing the struggle over land use in enclaves as a "long-term battle".
Li Yiu-ban, who chairs Sai Kung North Rural Committee, said there was no issue with the clearance because the land was already zoned for village-type development. Hoi Ha's village representative did not respond to a request for comment.
According to land records, nearly all the land in the area is owned by a handful of private developers. Eastern Island, headed by Tang Hung-kwong, could not be reached for comment.
The Lands Department said the removal of vegetation did not breach land lease conditions as none of them had tree preservation clauses written into them.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said staff who had visited were concerned about tree felling.
“In addition to the erection of a warning sign against unauthorised tree felling on government land, we will keep the site under monitoring,” an AFCD spokesman said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1877990/fears-pristine-hong-kong-marine-park-after-nearby
