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Open Letter to Fellow Citizens of Hong Kong
Dear Friends, The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society wrote formally to Secretary for Transport on 7 December 1999,objecting to the construction of the KCRC Sheung Shui - Lok Ma Chau spur line across the Long Valley flood plain. This is only the second time the Society has raised objections to the Government regarding the destruction of natural habitat in its 42 years of history. I would like to explain to you why we did it. Furthermore, I urge you to write in your own capacity to the Hong Kong Government to express your concern.
Experienced bird watchers typically score more than 50 species at Long Valley during each visit. Novices could also easily score 40 species under guidance. Those who have travelled to Europe or North America will know that such concentration of bird species in a small place like Long Valley is truly incredible. Obviously, once Long Valley is lost, birds will suffer and so would the biodiversity of Hong Kong. The Government is promoting ¡§sustainable development¡¨. Biodiversity is one of the eight guiding principles. Allowing the railway to pierce into the heart of Long Valley is indeed sad and miserable. The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society considers that alternative routes exist for the spur line and that there is no reason why it must penetrate into Long Valley. The alternative routes avoid the flood plain and we estimate that the cost of construction of the line would therefore be cheaper. Leaving Long Valley alone will be a three-way winning formula for KCRC, the public and the natural environment. We have presented this point to Secretary for Transport in our objection.
The Hong Kong Government is a responsible and listening government. The objection raised by the Society against Fairview Park in the early seventies led to the declaration of Mai Po Marshes as a protected nature reserve and its eventual designation as an internationally important wetland under the Ramsar Convention. It has also raised the public¡¦s awareness of the importance of wetland and conservation. If we work hard enough, I am sure that Long Valley will be here to stay and that our people will appreciate even more the value of the natural habitat and the joy of sharing our world with birds. Finally, I would like to invite you to read an article written by Matthew Kwan, one of our young members, after a visit to Long Valley in September this year. (You will see a couple of his bird sketches in the autumn issue of the bulletin.) If you do not read Chinese, briefly, he said:
The place opens up his vistas; the birds give him the joy of life. How could we let Long Valley disappear? How could we deprive Matthew and children like him the right of such enjoyment and force them to grow up in the confines of the urban concrete jungle? Please, pick up your pen and write!
Yours sincerely,
Addresses
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Long Valley is about the size of one to two Victoria Park and is the last remaining piece of land representative of the flood plain in the northwestern part of the New Territories. Since the 1970's, we have seen the loss of Sekkong, Kam Tin, Ping Shan, Ha Tsuen, Tin Shui Wai, Fairview Park, San Tin, Lok Ma Chau, etc. The natural habitat in the once extensive plain is now on the verge of disappearance. Birds dependent on the diversity of micro-habitats in the freshwater wetland environment of the plain are driven to a corner and there is nowhere to retreat further. Once Long Valley is gone, there is no replacement in Hong Kong. Open plains, leisurely farming practices, harmonious co-existence of Man and Bird - these will become faded images in the memory of the older generation and unimaginable things in the mind of the younger generation. Natural and cultural heritage will evaporate. Could we sit back and let it happen?
Long Valley is unique. More than 210 bird species have been recorded here since 1993, nearly half the Hong Kong list. Three of the species are vulnerable and eight are near-threatened by global standards. Of the rest, four are regionally important, three have very restricted range in Hong Kong (such as Painted Snipe), three are rapidly declining, and eight have locally significant populations at Long Valley (including several Snipe species).
Unfortunately, there are more threats than the spur line. In plans published by the Government in connection with the Planning and Development Study on North East New Territories, the Fanling Bypass (a highway) and West Rail Phase II (a railway) will enter Long Valley from the northeast and fragment the plain COMPLETELY. The Study is at the moment going through public consultation. I sincerely urge you to write to Planning Department in your personal capacity, to say why Long Valley is important and to state explicitly your objection to the penetration of roads and railways into the plain. When you write, please do ask for an acknowledgement of receipt of your letter and state your address, so that they know that objections are coming from all corners of Hong Kong. Also, please copy your letter to Secretary for Transport, Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, and the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (addresses below).
Copyright 1999, Hong Kong Bird Watching Society.
For comments and questions, please e-mail to hkbws@hkbws.org.hk.