EMERGENCY measures should be introduced to protect wildlife from development as a preliminary step towards drafting a conservation policy, a leading environmental group urged yesterday.
This would ensure that areas such as the Shalotung valley, which is rich in flora and fauna but under threat of being turned into a golf course, could be protected even if the policy was not ready, Friends of the Earth said in a 48-page submission to theGovernment.
The Government lacks an overall policy on conservation, which is handled piecemeal by several departments, but is currently reviewing the issue as part of a White Paper on the environment due this summer.
Friends of the Earth said all major projects should undergo environmental assessment studies to determine if they are feasible, rather than the current practice of using them to find ways of minimising the impact.
It also suggested interim measures to protect countryside areas until the new policy and new laws were in place, which could take years depending on the timetable proposed in the White Paper review.
For instance, a provision in the Country Parks Ordinance would enable ''special areas'' of unleased Crown land to be declared and protected, such as hills, streams and woodlands, without time-consuming changes to legislation.
Town planning controls also could be extended and enforced throughout the New Territories.