More than 30 hectares of Lantau Island enclaves could become parts of country park under Hong Kong government moves
- Enclaves are pockets of land inside or on the fringes of country parks but not protected by the same laws that restrict development in the park
- Authority ‘has already commenced assessment’ of folding them into parks
More than 30 hectares of country park enclaves on Hong Kong’s biggest island could soon be incorporated into the protected zones which surround them, officials have said.
But, despite the move, environmentalists warned that much of Lantau Island remained a hotbed of illegal development, saying the government needed to review its strategy for conserving ecologically sensitive sites.
Tei Tong Tsai, Man Cheung Po, Yi Tung Shan and Tsin Yue Wan were among 19 pockets of rural land on the fringes of or within country parks that have not yet been folded into the parks or covered by any land use restrictions.
A spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department confirmed the moves to change their status. He said: “The Country Park Authority has already commenced assessment of the enclaves … according to the established principles and criteria.”
Once that is completed, the advisers on the statutory Country and Marine Parks Board will vet their suitability to be incorporated. The process of folding them into the parks could take three or four years.