Hong Kong scales back proposed wetland park to about two-thirds of its original size to make way for technology hub
- Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park will be reduced from 520 to 338 hectares in the latest blueprint, Civil Engineering and Development Department says
- The loss in park space includes 90 hectares of fish ponds to be filled for the San Tin Technopole project, a development aimed at attracting tech firms to Hong Kong
A proposed wetland park in Hong Kong has shrunk to about two-thirds of its original size as some fish ponds will be filled for building a technology hub near the city’s border with mainland China.
The Civil Engineering and Development Department on Thursday said the Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park would be scaled back from its original size of 520 hectares to 338 hectares in the latest blueprint.
The loss in wetland space included 90 hectares of fish ponds for the San Tin Technopole project, a development aimed at attracting leading IT technologies to set foot in Hong Kong. Another 90 hectares of wetland would be allocated to other conservation projects.
Tony Cheung Ka-leung, a project manager at the department’s North Development Office, said half of the 90-hectare fish ponds in San Tin had already lost its ecological value as the area was left idle and could hardly provide food for birds.
“We need to utilise precious land resources in Hong Kong,” Cheung said. “We must consider abandoning the idea of ‘swapping one lot for another’ or ‘swapping one pond for another’.
“The enhancement of the ecological function at Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park will fully compensate [for] the impact [when we backfill the existing fish ponds].”
He said the future wetland park would reserve 253 hectares for setting up ecological-friendly fish ponds as feeding grounds for birds.
Cheung noted that there were other remedial measures, such as improving nearby areas in Deep Bay by removing invasive mangroves.