The government's new conservation scheme for 12 sites designated ecologically important last month kicks off today with an open invitation to landowners and developers to submit proposals for developing land in these areas.
But the scheme has been accused of favouring big developers, and officials have privately admitted that they are caught between a rock and a hard place.
The plan seeks to end a stalemate that has put the sites at risk of degradation by allowing property projects - if officials are satisfied with the conservation measures a landlord undertakes - to maintain the land's ecological value.
In exceptional cases, land exchanges may also be approved.
But green groups fear the new policy might be abused by property developers, and market watchers accuse the scheme of discriminating against smaller landlords.
Midland Surveyors director Ronald Cheung Yat-fei described the policy as an 'uneasy trade-off', although he conceded it could help protect ecological treasures.
'The problem is that much of this land is in private hands and development is banned under zoning policy. The result is the sites are left idle and no conservation measures are in place,' he said. 'Leaving it as wasteland or for oxen to stray around on is not conserving the land.'