4. Ecological Impact
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Consultancy Agreement No. NEX/2301 South Island Line (East) Environmental Impact Assessment 4. Ecological Impact 4.1 Background This Chapter addresses the potential ecological impacts arising from the construction and operation of the proposed South Island Line (East) and the associated magazine site and barging points. It presented the findings of the literature review and supplementary field surveys conducted from June 2008 to November 2009. The potential impacts to the ecological sensitive receivers within the Assessment Area were assessed and suitable mitigation measures were proposed to minimise the potential adverse impact in accordance with Annexes 8 and 16 of the Technical Memorandum on the Environmental Impact Assessment Process of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance. 4.2 Assessment Area The Assessment Area for ecological impact assessment covers an area of 500m radius along the proposed alignment of the South Island Line (East), associated work sites and areas for slope stabilisation work, magazine site and barging points ( Figure 4.1 ). The methodology and the transect routes for the ecological baseline assessment are presented in Appendix 4.1 and Figures A1-10 in Appendix 4. 4.3 Environmental Legislation, Standards and Guidelines A number of international conventions, local legislations and guidelines provide the framework for the protection of species and habitats of ecological importance. Those related to this Project are: Forests and Countryside Ordinance (Cap. 96), which prohibits felling, cutting, burning or destroying of trees and growing plants in forests and plantations on Government land. The subsidiary Forestry Regulations (Cap. 96 sub. leg.) prohibit the picking, felling or possession of listed rare and protected plant species. The list of protected species in Hong Kong which comes under the Forestry Regulations was last amended on 11 June 1993 under the Forestry (Amendment) Regulation 1993 made under Section 3 of the Forests and Countryside Ordinance; Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Cap. 170), which protects designated wild animals from being hunted, whilst their nests and eggs are protected from disturbance, destruction and removal. All birds, most mammals including all cetaceans, certain reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates are listed under this Ordinance. The Second Schedule of the Ordinance that lists all the protected animals was last revised in June 1992; Country Parks Ordinance (Cap. 208), which is provided for the designation, control and management of country parks and special area, the establishment of the Country and Marine Parks Board, and for purposes connected therewith. The Ordinance aims to prohibit or restrict of the killing, hunting, trapping, molesting or disturbance of any form of wild life within a country park or special area, the taking of, destruction of or interference with vegetation within a country park or special area or the doing of anything therein which will interfere with the soil. It also prohibits or restricts any lighting of fires within a country park or special area and prevents of fire hazards. The study area of this Project falls within the Aberdeen Country Park. 248137/ENL/ENL/51/F P:\Hong Kong\INF\Projects2\248137 SIL(E) EIA\Deliverables\Final EIA Vol I\3rd\Rev F_Sec 4.doc 4-1 Consultancy Agreement No. NEX/2301 South Island Line (East) Environmental Impact Assessment Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586), which was gazetted on 10 March 2006 and effective in December 2006 to replace the Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance (Cap. 187) that gives effect to CITES. The Ordinance aims at regulating the import, introduction from the sea, export, re-export, and possession or control of certain endangered species of animals and plants and parts and derivatives of those species and to provide for incidental and connected matters. Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) (Cap. 499), which specifies designated projects under Schedule 2 of the Ordinance, unless exempted, must follow the statutory environmental impact assessment (EIA) process and require environmental permits for their construction and operation. EIAO Guidance Notes No. 6/2002, 7/2002, 10/2004 and 11/2004 . These guidance notes provide the observations on Ecological Assessment from the EIAO perspective, providing the general guidelines for conducting an ecological baseline survey for ecological assessment, introducing methodologies for terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecological baseline surveys respectively. Annex 8 and 16 of the Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM): Annex 8 recommends the criteria that can be used for evaluating ecological impacts. Annex 16 sets out the general approach and methodology for assessment of ecological impacts arising from a project or proposal, to allow a complete and objective identification, prediction and evaluation of the potential ecological impacts. Town Planning Ordinance (Cap 131) which gives designation to country parks, conservation area, green belts, sites of special scientific interest, coastal protection area and other specified uses to promote conservation, protection and education of the valuable environment ; and Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines Chapter 10 (HKPSG) provides the guidelines on landscape and conservation to achieve a balance between the needs for development and minimization of disruption of the landscape and natural resources. 4.4 Ecological Baseline Information The main objective of the baseline study is to generate an ecological profile of the proposed development and its vicinity for the following assessment: i. evaluation of the ecological importance of the wildlife and habitats found; ii. identification, prediction and evaluation of the potential impacts; and iii. formulation of appropriate mitigation measures and monitoring programme to avoid, minimize or compensate for any identified adverse ecological impacts The following sections describe the ecological baseline information based on the literature review and the updated ecological field surveys conducted between June 2008 and November 2009 within the Assessment Area. 4.4.1 Recognized Sites of Conservation Importance 4.4.1.1 Nam Fung Road Woodland SSSI Nam Fung Road fung shui wood was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1993. The site covers 8 hectare of woodland on the southern slope of Mount Nicholson and is bounded to the north by a 248137/ENL/ENL/51/F P:\Hong Kong\INF\Projects2\248137 SIL(E) EIA\Deliverables\Final EIA Vol I\3rd\Rev F_Sec 4.doc 4-2 Consultancy Agreement No. NEX/2301 South Island Line (East) Environmental Impact Assessment catchwater and to the south by Nam Fung Road. The woodland is very high in plant diversity and the tree species is dominated by Endospermum Endospermum chinense (Yip et al. 2004). 4.4.1.2 Aberdeen Country Park Aberdeen Country Park was designated in 1979 covering 423 hectares of the southern slopes of Hong Kong Island. The woods in the area are mostly originated from plantation which is dominated by Lophostemon confertus, Schima superba, Gordonia axillaris, Schefflera heptaphylla and Rhodomyrtus tomentosa . The Country Park hosts a significant population of wintering and breeding Black Kite at Magazine Gap. 4.4.2 Habitat Type and Vegetation within the Assessment Area The proposed alignment runs from Admiralty to South Horizons at Ap Lei Chau via Aberdeen Country Park, Wong Chuk Hang. There are 12 major habitats identified in the Assessment Area, namely: ▪ Woodland; ▪ Degraded Woodland; ▪ Plantation; ▪ Shrubland; ▪ Marsh; ▪ Agricultural Land; ▪ Hillside Grassland; ▪ Stream; ▪ Drainage Channel; ▪ Open Field; ▪ Wasteland; and ▪ Developed Area. The distribution of each habitat is shown in the Habitat Maps of Figures 4.2 to 4.14. The areas of each habitat type within the Assessment Area and Project Area are listed in Table 4.1 and Table 4.2 respectively. Project Area refers to the proposed land required for construction works. 248137/ENL/ENL/51/F P:\Hong Kong\INF\Projects2\248137 SIL(E) EIA\Deliverables\Final EIA Vol I\3rd\Rev F_Sec 4.doc 4-3 Consultancy Agreement No. NEX/2301 South Island Line (East) Environmental Impact Assessment Table 4.1: Habitats Present in Assessment Area Assessment Area Habitat Area (ha) % Woodland 362.53 36.7 Degraded Woodland 4.35 0.4 Plantation 70.60 7.2 Shrubland 97.07 9.8 Marsh 0.74 0.1 Agricultural Land 0.24 0.0 Hillside Grassland 23.18 2.3 Stream 3.52 0.4 Drainage Channel 2.98 0.3 Open Field 6.46 0.7 Wasteland 1.94 0.2 Developed Area 414.06 41.9 Total 987.67 100 Table 4.2: Habitats Present in Project Area Project Area Habitat Area (ha) % Woodland 5.12 13.1 Degraded Woodland 2.16 5.5 Plantation 5.22 13.4 Shrubland 2.82 7.3 Marsh 0.43 1.1 Hillside Grassland 1.55 4.0 Drainage Channel 1.64 4.2 Open Field 1.75 4.5 Wasteland 1.03 2.7 Developed Area 17.21 44.2 Total 38.93 100 Representative photographs of each type of habitats are illustrated in Plates 1-12 in Appendix 4.2 . 4.4.2.1 Woodland Woodland is one of the major habitat types within the Assessment Area. Most of the woodlands are located on hillside and the largest area is found on the mountain range near or within Aberdeen Country Park. Others are scattered throughout the Assessment Area. Nam Fung Road fung shui wood is situated on the hillside north of Nam Fung Road. The woodland currently is zoned as a SSSI. The dominant floral species is Endospermum chinense . Recorded plant 248137/ENL/ENL/51/F P:\Hong Kong\INF\Projects2\248137 SIL(E) EIA\Deliverables\Final EIA Vol I\3rd\Rev F_Sec 4.doc 4-4 Consultancy Agreement No. NEX/2301 South Island Line (East) Environmental Impact Assessment species of conservation interest included Artocarpus styracifolius, Artocarpus tonkinensis, Camellia salicifolia, Chrysophyllum lanceolatum, Cryptocarya concinna, Gleditsia fera, Uvaria calamistrata and Mallotus peltatus . Common floral species identified in the woodlands within or in close proximity to Aberdeen Country Park include Aquilaria sinensis, Schefflera heptaphylla, Reevesia thyrsoidea, Schima superba, Sterculia lanceolata, Cratoxylum cochinchinense and Mallotus paniculatus .