A coalition of green groups called on the government yesterday to conserve coastal and river ecologies, rich in biodiversity, which are threatened by proposed reclamation and development in Tung Chung.
The conservationists are targeting a proposal that would involve reclaiming part of Tung Chung Bay, which is immediately south of Chek Lap Kok airport, and part of the Tung Chung River and riparian zone.
Development Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has said this part of Lantau Island could be home to 100,000 more people after such an extension of the land.
The public engagement period, for the project's planning and engineering study, started last week.
'When it comes to environmental protection, habitat integrity is very important,' said Cheng Luk-ki of Green Power, one of the seven groups that co-signed an alternative development plan for the area.
The other groups include WWF and The Conservancy Association.