Restoring life, not looks, to scarred river is top priority, says expert

But he doubts the waterway on Lantau can be fully repaired

Restoring animal life to the Tung Chung river, devastated recently by a catastrophic illegal excavation, is more important than restoring its natural beauty, an environmental expert says.

Alan Leung Sze-lun, senior conservation officer of the World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong and a freshwater stream expert, said he was not confident that the river in Lantau could be returned to its original state.

Dr Leung said an access road was formed along the river bank when soil and pebbles were dumped on site, making it vulnerable to mud slides and surface run-off when it rains.

He said the restoration work would be an unprecedented task.

'Everything must be done to ensure that the river is restored to its natural state. If this can't be done or time runs out as the rainy season approaches, it might be necessary to adopt some other engineering method to restore it,' he said.

'Biodiversity is far more important than the river's natural look. A river's life is reflected by how much life it can support, not whether it resembles a natural stream or not.'