Letters to the Editor, January 30, 2017

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Chief executive Leung Chun-ying has sent out mixed messages about Hong Kong’s country parks. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 12:16am, 30 Jan 2017Updated: 12:42pm, 15 Oct 2020

Country parks not answer to housing issue

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s proposal to look at the possibility of building homes in country parks contradicted other parts of his policy address on January 18.

In paragraph 137, he said the government would “implement the first Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for Hong Kong”. Yet, at the same time, he advocated the possibility of destroying land with low ecological value in country parks to build flats. It may have little ecological value, but such land can act as a buffer zone between urban areas and land of high ecological value.

The latter also supports biodiversity and protects important species. If land of low ecological value is destroyed, it will adversely affect the habitats of species in country parks and sites of special scientific interest.

Our government is not addressing the problem of ecologically sensitive sites in rural areas being destroyed. For instance, we see illegal dumping of electronic waste causing heavy metals to leach into the soil. Some developers have also ruined wetland areas by dumping construction waste.

Hong Kong citizens, including migrants from the mainland, do need more flats, but they also need the country parks and the unique natural environment they provide.

Country parks also attract tourists from the mainland and overseas, and they can become even more popular with greater development of ecotourism. This can aid economic growth.