tsheunglai

Dear all

Mudflats and mangroves are natural products of nature on a tropical/subtropical river mouth.
They expands with the esturary as time passes. Just imagine the state of the Deep Bay area before man started claiming the land and water for his own use. It's a haven for land birds as well as for waterbirds.

Now the river mouth stops to fan out. In its stead comes urbanization. One outcome in recent years
is the rising of the level of mudflats. More of them become exposed most of the day and night, becoming
favourable soil for mangroves. All birdwatchers of more than ten years of experience will remember
best high tides in the old days were between 1.7 and 1.9 meters (figures probably not exact).
Now they are 2.2 and 2.4 metres!

So the main cause of the loss of mudflats is man-made. The suitable or sensible solution must again
be in the hand of man. Make the central part of the river deeper, and mudflats will be lower by
sliding down towards the centre. It is costly, but to protect the Ramsar site, it is a must.

Cutting the mangroves down is just like applying restraints to a growing child. The child still grows,
but it grows now into a strange being. This is what we call maltreatment of mother nature.

S L Tai

tsheunglai

Dear all

The map does indicate significant and threatening changes:

Firstly, the mudflats are rising at an alarming rate and innner areas are drying up, like all
natural river esturaries in its wild days. But in Deep Bay the mud seems to stay more and not
flowing out with the water quickening the rising level of the former.

The reclamation on the opposite side of MPNR which I mean Shenzhen looks set to urbanize within its
own Ramsar site. Overall possible effect seems to be slowing down the water outflow rate further and
the mud the water carries as well(or the Shenzhen river is also drying up itself).

Unless the governments on both sides see the geographical development as a serious threat to regional
environment no less than air and water pollution we are suffering now, the future looks stark unless
we start setting off the alarm loud and clear on everybody's ears.

S L Tai