Hong Kong, 3 June 2014
Mr. Tang King-shing, GBS, PDSM
Chairman and Members of the Country and Marine Parks Board (Board)
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD)
Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices
5/f, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon
[email protected]
Mr. Alan Wong Chi-kwong
Country and Marine Parks Authority (Authority)
Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department
Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices,
5/f, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon
[email protected]
c/o: Mr. Tsang Chiu-wa, Patrick ([email protected])
Assessment on the Suitability of Designating and Excluding Country Park Enclaves
Dear Mr. Tang and Members,
We request the Board to consider the captioned assessment policy and program and to advise the
Authority that:
a. The Board cannot accept assessments which fail to apply the Enclave Policy;
b. The Authority should assess the cumulative impacts of excluding Enclaves from the CPO,
on the surrounding Country and Marine Parks;
c. The Authority should not take the existence of private land as a determining factor for
exclusion of an Enclave from control and management under the Country Park Ordinance
(CPO); and that
d. The Authority and the Board should not abrogate their responsibility to protect Country
Parks by excluding Enclaves inside Country Park areas claiming management difficulties.
2. When Country Parks were established in the 1970’s some 500ha abandoned private land was
incorporated into the Country Parks. Some 2,000ha of private farm land and “small nucleated
villages mostly of traditional character” inside country park areas were excluded as “enclaves”
from the CPO. Over time, most of these villages and farm land were abandoned too.
3. Since 1991, Government has acknowledged the need to protect the Country Park Enclaves
against incompatible uses which may adversely affect the overall beauty and integrity of our
Country Parks and special areas. (Ombudsman, 2011) In 2010, Government set out the Enclave
Policy to safeguard against any development that would undermine public enjoyment of the
natural environment and to provide adequate protection from a nature conservation angle by
including the 54 enclaves into Country Parks under the CPO, or to determine their proper uses
through statutory planning under the Town Planning Ordinance (TPO).
4. Deficiencies in control, management and restoration under the TPO were identified by the
Board when it adopted the Enclave Policy, in May 2011. Conservation objectives can’t be fully
achieved under the TPO because of the lack of powers to curb eco-vandalism and the absence of
resources for habitat and amenity improvement. Enclaves outside the ambit of the Authority
would not benefit from AFCD’s patrols and law enforcement, refuse collection and vegetation
management. (Working Paper WP/CMPB/6/2011, Brief to the Legislative Council (Country Parks
(Designation) (Consolidation) (Amendment) Order 2013). Control over development is further
diminished under the TPO as V-zones are designated where small houses can be built directly
under the prevailing Small House Policy without oversight from the Town Planning Board or the
Country and Marine Parks Board and Authority. (Designing Hong Kong, letter 30 May 2014).
5. With the 2011 Enclave Policy, the Authority and the Board acknowledged that development in
enclaves could degrade the integrity, the aesthetic and landscape quality of the Country Parks
as a whole. Board also agreed on the principles and criteria (conservation value, landscape and
aesthetic value, recreation potential, land status and land use) proposed by the Authority for
assessing whether an enclave is suitable for designation as a Country Park under the CPO.
(WP/CMPB/6/2011)
6. When deciding on exclusion of an Enclave from control and management under the CPO,
assessment of these criteria should consider the cumulative impacts on the Enclaves themselves
and the surrounding Country and Marine Parks, such as for example:
a. Overall development and increase in population within the Country Park areas;
b. Destruction and degradation of Hong Kong’s few remaining low-land, wetland and intertidal habitats;
c. The encroachment on (compatible) agricultural land by incompatible uses;
d. Loss of buildings and sites of historic or cultural significance in Country Park areas (mostly
in enclaves);
e. Water pollution (prevailing guidelines mitigate but do not eliminate sewage/drainage
pollution);
f. Sediment run-off affecting marine habitats;
g. Demand for roads and transport facilities associated with construction and increase in
population;
h. Increase in vehicular traffic contrary to the character of the Country Parks;
i. Light pollution impacts on habitats;
j. Tree felling and loss of vegetation in enclaves and surrounding Country Parks;
k. Erosion of hill-sides due to loss of vegetation, site formation and road (path) construction;
l. Increased poaching associated with increased human activities and local restaurants;
m. Increased fire risk;
n. Littering and waste from local construction and municipal waste disposal; and
o. Blight of chaotic small house developments and random infrastructure incompatible with
Country Park standards.
7. Finally, land status considerations such as “development potential” and “management
difficulties” are an indication of resources required to process development and land use
proposals, and to make sure village development is in harmony with the natural environment.
They are outside the Enclave Policy and not real. They are irrelevant in assessing the
suitability of Enclaves as part of Country Parks: Enclaves cannot be moved and the alternative control and management under the TPO - is acknowledged to be less effective.
8. In support of the Enclave Policy, the Board agreed in 2011 (WP/CMPB/6/2011) that the mere
existence of private land would no longer automatically be taken as a determining factor for
exclusion from the boundary of a Country Park. With this the Authority took responsibility for
handling the land management problems, objections by land owners and compensation
demands identified in 1989 (WP/PMC/1/89, para 3.6). In 2012, the Board agreed that the
Authority would consider uses or development of land in a Country Park proposed by villagers or
land owners, and to seek advice from the Board, before deciding whether an application is
acceptable or not taking account of the purposes of the CPO. (WP/CMPB/8/2012) (Annex 1)
9. The Board can’t allow the Authority to abrogate its responsibilities by excluding Enclaves
because of potential management difficulties of private land. The Board acts as a consultative
body and advises the Authority on its policy and programmes, including the designation and
exclusion of Enclaves surrounded by Country Parks. The 54 Country Park Enclaves are physically
deep ‘inside’ Country Parks. The Authority is entrusted by law to take measures necessary to
preserve buildings and sites of cultural significance and to protect the vegetation and wild life
inside Country Parks and special areas, and to manage and develop the Country Parks for their
recreational use.
10. The Enclave Policy is to protect the Country Parks from incompatible development and uses in
Enclaves. Even if Enclaves were merely barren rocks with nil ecological, landscape or recreational
value themselves, the fact that Enclaves are physically located in the middle of Country Parks
already requires the use and development of that area to be actively managed and controlled
under the CPO in order to effectively protect the surrounding Country and Marine Parks in
accordance with the purposes of the CPO (Annex 1). This requirement is supported by the
Convention on Biological Diversity. Hong Kong as a signatory has committed to “promote
environmentally sound and sustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas with a view
to furthering protection of these areas.”
We urge the Board to consider the matters set out above as soon as possible – at its first upcoming
meeting or otherwise advise when - and to respond to our requests forthwith.
Yours sincerely,
Chan Ka-lam,
For and on behalf of Save Our Country Park Alliance
Annex 1
Extract from the Working Paper WP/CMPB/8/2012: Note on Use or Development of Land Within A Country Park
Enclave after Inclusion into a Country Park
Save Our Country Park Alliance
Ark Eden, Association for Geoconservation, Hong Kong, Designing Hong Kong, Friends of Hoi Ha, Friends of Sai
Kung, Friends of Tai Long Wan, Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong), Green Community, Green Lantau Association,
Green Power, Green Sense, Greeners Action, Greenpeace, HKWildlife.net, Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, Hong
Kong Cycling Alliance, Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, Hong Kong Outdoors, Lantau Buffalo Association,
Living Islands Movement, Living Seas Hong Kong, Sai Kung Tai Long Wan Concern Group, Society of Hong Kong
Nature Explorers, The Conservancy Association, World Green Organisation, WWF Hong Kong.
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