Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying will lead a group of influential figures in setting up a foundation with the aim of holding on to and managing Hong Kong's natural assets for long-term conservation.
Widely tipped to be a frontrunner in the next chief executive election, Leung will jointly chair the new Hong Kong Countryside Foundation - to be officially launched today - with former chief secretary Sir David Akers-Jones.
The foundation plans to be the first to be set up solely to resolve conflicts between property owners and the public interest in protecting private sites with high ecological or heritage value. Solutions may include buying a piece of land or compensating a property owner.
A foundation member said last night it would have to raise funds and there was no specific target at the moment. 'Apart from accepting donations, the foundation can also accept gifts of land and property, and even time and expertise of any volunteers who want to help,' a member said.
According to the memorandum of the foundation, the body will 'secure for the long term public benefit, conservation and restoration of countryside, habitats, natural landscape and biological diversity of Hong Kong including their associated natural and cultural heritage by holding and managing such natural assets.'
Apart from Jones and Leung, the 11-member board responsible for the foundation's management, including its funds and property will include former Hong Kong Observatory director Lam Chiu-ying, former director of lands Patrick Lau Lai-chiu, former government official Roger Nissim, Hans Michael Jebsen, a trustee of WWF Hong Kong, senior counsel Ruy Barretto, Law Society president Albert Wong Kwai-huen, Yau Wing-kwong, an adviser to Heung Yee Kuk, and Ng Cho-nam, an environmentalist and professor.