Highly Threatened Sites of High Ecological Value
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Country Park Enclaves - highly threatened sites of high ecological value By Dr Michael Lau Senior Programme Head, Local Biodiversity and Regional Wetlands, WWF-HK Member of BSAP Steering Committee; Terrestrial Biodiversity Working Group; Awareness, Mainstreaming and Sustainability Working Group; and Co- Leader of Status and Trend and Red List Focus Group Member of IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group Steering Committee and Red List Authority; Amphibian Specialist Group and Red List Authority Hong Kong biodiversity is of global significance • Hong Kong lies in the Indo-Burma Hotspot, one of 25 Biodiversity Hotspots in the world (Nature, 2000) • Hong Kong is also a Key Biodiversity Area within the Hotspot, meaning it is of high conservation priority (Journal of Threatened Taxa, 2012) Myers et al (2000) Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation Priorities. Nature 853-858. Country Park system is crucial to sustaining this rich biodiversity • Country Parks cover some 40% of the land area • Have much of our secondary forests, shrubland, grasslands and associated hill streams Tai To Yan in Lam Tsuen Country Park Country Parks have many gaps • Mostly hilly areas for water-shed protection • Villages and associated farmland are excluded • Research by HKU (2004) shows there are obvious gaps, particularly freshwater wetlands, abandoned agriculture and feng shui woods in lowland Wetlands and feng shui forest in Kuk Po Most lowland habitats have disappeared in Hong Kong Lam Tsuen Valley Yuen Long and Kam Tin Valley Many Enclaves have valuable marshes and lowland streams Freshwater marsh Low gradient stream Important lowland habitats are rare in Hong Kong AFCD data based on 2008 study Enclaves complement conservation and landscape value of Country Park • Many wildlife depend on habitats both within Country Parks and enclaves • They are ecologically linked Tai Long Sai Wan Crab-eating Mongoose Herpestes urva Freshwater Marsh has unique wildlife community • Supports many threatened species under-represented in Country Park system Hong Kong Paradise Fish Macropodus hongkongensis Bog Orchid Liparis ferruginea, Restricted to Hong Kong and coastal South China Locally Endangered Low Gradient Streams • Several uncommon dragonflies breed in low gradient streams with a sandy substrate • Also important for amphibians Spangled Shadow-emerald Macromidia ellenae Hong Kong Newt Paramesotriton hongkongensis Only found in HK and Guangdong, uncommon Restricted to Hong Kong and coastal Guangdong Enclaves have natural streams flowing into the sea • Uninterrupted flow to the sea important for diadromous species such as Neon Gobies and other wildlife @ O. Chiang Neon Goby Stiphodon atropurpureus, Brown Fish Owl Ketupa flavipes, scarce Locally Endangered resident that favors undisturbed river mouth Enclaves are being Destroyed and Threatened • According to the investigation by WWF-HK, up to date 12 out of 77 enclaves suffered from large-scale destruction • 10 of these can be linked to private companies • After the Tai Long Sai Wan incident, HK Government promised to protect enclaves either through incorporation into CP or through land use control by statutory plans Report available at: http://awsassets.wwfhk.panda.org/downloads/cp_enclaves_report_2014.pdf List of Seriously Damaged Enclaves Time of Enclave Ecologically important habitat destruction Sham Chung 1997-1999 Mangrove, freshwater marsh She Tau & Tam Wat 2006 Abandoned agriculture fields, secondary forest, streams Mature secondary forest, mangrove, seagrass bed, So Lo Pun 2008 freshwater marsh, EIS Kai Kuk Shue Ha 2009 Abandoned fishpond, freshwater marsh, EIS Pak Lap 2009 Freshwater marsh, secondary forest Secondary forest, shrubland, mangrove, seagrass bed, To Kwa Peng 2009 streams Shui Mong Tin 2009 Secondary forest Tai Long Sai Wan 2010 Secondary forest, streams, abandoned agriculture fields Secondary forest, abandoned agriculture fields, freshwater Wong Chuk Yeung 2012 marsh, streams Pak Sha O 2012 Freshwater marsh, secondary forest, EIS Secondary forest, mangrove, streams, freshwater marsh, Yi O 2012-2013 abandoned agriculture fields Mature secondary forest, abandoned agriculture fields, Lo Shue Tin 2013 freshwater marsh, streams Destruction Continues • 4 enclaves have been damaged since the 2010 Policy Address stressing to protect enclaves • Two covered by OZP (Wong Chuk Yeung and Lo Shue Tin) • One covered by DPA shortly after damaging occurred but failed to stop it (Yi O). • Huge profit from private development provides the incentive Lo Shue Tin – land cleared in 2013 Lo Shue Tin – the most recent case of destruction • Kantex Development Limited bought 29 private lots for from 2010 to 2013 for $ 104 million • 2.3 ha land cleared in 2013, including mature secondary forest and freshwater marsh • Ecological survey found many species of conservation concern • Only Lands Dept took actions to block the illegal track through Govt Land in “CA” • No enforcement action by Plan D because “AGR” zone has no restriction on vegetation clearance, even forests can be cleared Land clearance at Lo Shue Tin Kantex Village community Dec 2012 Sept 2013 Dec 2013 Solutions for a living planet A big challenge to use OZP to protect private land in Enclaves • “Business as usual” OZP inadequate to protect enclaves of high ecological value from eco-vandalism • Need strict zonings, i.e. “CA” on ecologically important habitats to remove development hope, i.e. the drive for eco-vandalism • Follow the Tai Long Wan OZP precedent • Enclaves with high conservation value should be incorporated into Country Parks in the longer term Problem with large “V” zone in Enclaves draft OZPs • Zoning recently-degraded land as “V” rewards eco-vandalism • Will also encourage more destructions in other enclaves International responsibility to protect important enclaves • The Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) was extended to Hong Kong in 2011 • Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan is now being formulated. • Aichi Target No. 11 is particularly relevant to the protection of enclaves “…areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas…” Thank you .