Advertisement
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has defended the conditional endorsement of an impact assessment report on the San Tin project by the Advisory Council on the Environment. Photo: SCMP/Yik Yeung-man

Hong Kong’s mega infrastructure development plans have made conservation more challenging, but the need to strike the right balance between the two remains.

Advertisement

A case in point is the technopole project in the New Territories. The government must ensure that proposed mitigation measures do provide sufficient protection for the affected environment and wildlife.

Green groups were understandably concerned when Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu seemingly put development above conservation. This came after Lee defended the conditional endorsement of an impact assessment report on the San Tin project by the Advisory Council on the Environment.

“If the fish ponds are abandoned or even have no fish in them, this can’t be a good and proactive environmental protection policy,” he said.

We hope the government is not dismissing the ecological value of such areas even if they are no longer used for fish farming. As green groups argued, the public may not realise that half of the ponds in the conservation area are still active and contribute to a third of the local freshwater fish supply.

Advertisement

The abandoned ones also offer important habitat for wildlife, such as Eurasian otters and migratory birds, as illustrated in a recent social media post by a wildlife photographer featuring scores of birds foraging in the area.

Advertisement