Environmentalists feared reforestation at Disney site could be 'silent woodland'
More than 300,000 saplings native to Hong Kong are to be included in a massive replanting exercise above Disneyland after green groups complained the government was creating a 'silent forest' of imported tree species above the theme park.
Two million trees and shrubs - mostly exotic species imported from the mainland as part of a $6 million contract - are being planted across a 190-hectare site behind the Disneyland site ravaged by hill fires last year.
Green groups say that by planting cheap, fast-growing exotic trees like the eucalyptus instead of some of Hong Kong's 400 indigenous trees, a 'green desert' or 'silent forest' will be created because birds or butterflies will not live in alien woodland.
One protester, horticulturalist Paul Melsom, said he suspected the replanting had been rushed through because of the theme park's September opening and described the exercise as 'greening for Disney' - a claim officials denied.
Yesterday, at a meeting with green groups led by legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip, the Civil Engineering and Development Department agreed to increase the quota of native trees in the replanting exercise to more than 300,000, about 20 per cent of the total.
They also agreed to plant more than 10,000 native saplings donated by Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, and to review whether replanting was necessary in some areas where native trees have begun to regrow.
