A controversial development of a private lodge behind the pristine Sai Wan beach could affect the city's application to include the Hong Kong National Geopark in a Unesco-recognised global network.
A delegation of Unesco experts responsible for reviewing Hong Kong's application will be told about the incident, according to Dr Margarete Patzak, co-ordinator of Unesco's Geoparks Secretariat. She said they would 'definitely inform the experts' when they reviewed Hong Kong's application in April.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department took more than a year to prepare for the bid. But their efforts could be deflected by plans by businessman Simon Lo Lin-shing to build a private lodge on a site physically within the geopark but not legally part of it.
Lo, chairman of Mongolia Energy, acquired the site last year. He planned to build a private lodge there but the government has imposed a temporary zoning order, banning all land uses on that site except agriculture. The Town Planning Board upheld the order and the Planning Department served an enforcement notice last Monday, ordering Lo to stop all work. It said it had 'found signs of dredging near a pond'. Patzak said they would let the experts know about the plans, but it was not unusual to have private development in a geopark.
'The whole idea of a geopark is not [to make it] a protected area. It is to serve sustainable development of the park and boost geo-tourism,' she said.
Patzak said she could not to comment on Lo's development plan or whether it would affect Hong Kong's chances of joining the global network. 'The experts will make their own assessments on the spot. The Hong Kong Geopark is not a big area. It all depends on if the private activities would affect the possible functioning of the park. We will check that,' she said.
