What was once a lush area of Tai Po is now parched earth, raising concerns for the rich wetland ecology that supports rare species
ERNEST KAOernest.kao@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 13 December, 2015, 11:02pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 13 December, 2015, 11:02pm
About 1.6 hectares of vegetation has been flattened over the past two months in Sha Lo Tung, Tai Po.Photo: Bruce Yan
Villagers in a rural Tai Po enclave have cleared large patches of greenery in an area home to rare dragonflies and aquatic fauna for a temporary "organic farm" they say will be open to the public.
It is the latest in a string of clearances in country park enclaves by private developers staking claims to be farming organically, the most alarming in Wong Chuk Yeung, Sai Kung, in October, where nearly two football fields of green belt vegetation were laid bare by a landowner.
About 1.6 hectares of vegetation around the near-abandoned Cheung Uk village in Sha Lo Tung, nestled in the hills of Pat Sin Leng Country Park, have been flattened over the past two months, transforming once lush green abandoned paddy fields into barren swathes of parched earth. Some excavation work was found to be unauthorised.
Piles of dug-up earth and the charred embers of tree branches now pockmark the terrain. Billboards sprawled with the words "Tai Po Sha Lo Tung Cheung Uk Village Organic Farm" have been erected in the fields. National flags hang from them.
The earthworks were carried out on private land zoned as green belt and conservation, but the enclave's outline zoning plan says any agricultural use of land is always permitted. Environmentalists fear this could spell an end to the rich wetland ecology.
WWF-Hong Kong's Dr Michael Lau Wai-neng said massive land clearance could affect the environment, including a nearby stream that has been designated as a site of special scientific interest. Polluted sludge was also at risk of flowing downstream into the Hok Tau Reservoir.
The stream courses, freshwater marshes and woodlands form an important habitat for 72 species of dragonfly, endemic freshwater fish, pangolins and birds of prey. Any development within 30 metres of the water courses must be strictly controlled. The Water Supplies Department prohibits pollution of water or waterworks deposits.
READ MORE: Hong Kong’s five biggest drinking water reservoirs found to contain harmful chemicals
"Heavy rain will flush the sludge piled high along the river bank into the stream and this will affect its sensitive ecology," Lau said, adding it once again demonstrated that town planning regulations failed to protect enclaves from such degradation, particularly over private land.
Lau is suspicious about the farming plan. "In 2007, abandoned farmland here was set on fire for the same reason, but we never saw any farming activity."
But villagers argue what they are doing is for public benefit.
One indigenous villager, surnamed Cheung, said: "Anyone can come and farm. Grow whatever you want - potatoes, tomatoes, long beans - all you have to do is come and register. We won't charge a single dollar. We're greening the place."
Cheung said he would begin sowing field mustards this week and expected a "field of gold" by the Lunar New Year. But the arrangement will not be permanent. A developer owns nearly all the private land in the enclave.
"They bought all our ancestral homes and farm land and promised to build us new houses. When the company wants to take it back, they will take it back."
The developer, the Sha Lo Tung Development Company, could not be immediately reached for comment. It owns 90 per cent of the private land. Cheung said villagers were getting impatient. "All we want is just a [small] house to live in."
Roy Ng Hei-man of the Conservancy Association said as long as new houses were expected to be built in the enclave the threat to the environment would remain. According to the Lands Department, there are 14 pending applications for three-storey village houses in Cheung Uk. Only seven are within its village development boundaries.
The Planning Department said there was insufficient evidence of unauthorised development under planning rules but a man-made drainage channel was found near the village, which amounted to illegal excavation of land. The authority is considering possible reinstatement action.
The Lands Department said none of the works breached lease conditions; it had received seven complaints of land destruction in Sha Lo Tung since 2006.
A Water Supplies Department spokesman said recent samples showed no signs of pollution yet.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1890877/fears-wildlife-hong-kong-villagers-strip-land
