Deep Bay wetlands in Hong Kong is crucial for the migratory water birds in the East Asia-Australasia Flyway. If we destroyed this wetland, it could affect the entire migratory bird population in the flyway, endangering their survival. Last month, the San Tin Technopole suddenly expanded its development scope. It will encroach into over 250 hectares of "Wetland Conservation Area" and "Wetland Buffer Area" and will fill nearly 90 hectares of internationally important wetlands with extremely high ecological value, which will potentially threaten more than a hundred bird species of conservation concern.

In order to protect such an internationally unique Deep Bay wetland in the Greater Bay Area, the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society would like to raise five major ecological concerns over the San Tin Technopole and urge the government to address the problems and revise the plan

1. Destroying internationally important wetlands as development takes priority over conservation
The latest plan for the San Tin Technopole includes the filling of the internationally recognized "Important Bird Area". Nearly 90 hectares of wetlands with extremely high ecological value will be filled for innovation and technology use. There will be permanent wetland loss both in terms of area and ecological function, and destruction of the ecological connectivity between Mai Po and Ma Tso Lung leading to habitat fragmentation. As a result, damaging the integrity of the Deep Bay wetland ecosystem. The 520-hectare Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park proposed under the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy is now reduced to 300 hectares under the current development. With filling of wetland at such a large-scale, the San Tin Technopole would very likely exceed the environmental carrying capacity of the area.

2. Threatening globally endangered species due to the loss in their important foraging and roosting habitats
The fishpond wetlands that would be affected by San Tin Technopole have a high bird diversity, with 205 species recorded including 117 species of conservation concern. 19 of them are globally threatened and near threatened species and 33 of them are nationally protected wild animals, such as Baer's Pochard, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Black-faced Spoonbill, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint. All the above illustrates that the fishpond wetlands in San Tin have extremely high ecological value. Developing this internationally important wetland will further threaten endangered bird species.

3. Putting the second and third largest egretries in Deep Bay at risk
The development footprint of the San Tin Technopole greatly overlaps with the ardeids’ breeding grounds, threatening the Mai Po Lung egretry and the Mai Po egretry which are the second and third largest egretries in Deep Bay respectively. These two egretries have been used for breeding for more than 20 years. According to the egretry survey in 2022, nearly 200 nests of Chinese Pond Heron and Little Egret were recorded in total at these two egretries, thus they are of high ecological importance. The number of nests affected accounts for more than one-third of the total population of Chinese Pond Heron and one-fourth of the total population of Little Egret in Hong Kong. Losing them will cause a huge impact on the breeding ardeid population in Hong Kong.

4. Violating wetland conservation planning guidelines and setting a bad precedent for wetland development
San Tin Technopole plans to fill nearly 90 hectares of fishpond wetlands, involving over 250 hectares of "Wetland Conservation Area" and "Wetland Buffer Area". It obviously violates the wetland conservation planning principles of “precautionary approach” and "no-net-loss in wetland". However, the San Tin Technopole and the Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park, as the first projects to be implemented under the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy, is now adopting a development model of "Destroy First, Conserve Later", which is against the good will of the "Proactive Conservation Policy” and setting a bad precedent for future developments. If Nam Sang Wai, Fung Lok Wai and Ho Hok Wai follow the same development model, the wetland habitats in Deep Bay will no longer be maintained in the near future.

5. Undermining the sustainable development of traditional pond fish culture
The San Tin Technopole development will affect around 30 officially registered pond fish farmers. Many of them have been actively cooperating with the Nature Conservation Policy for more than ten years, through participating in habitat management. While operating traditional pond fish farming, they also provide space for waterbirds to feed in and roost, maintaining the ecological value of the Deep Bay wetland system. The development not only ignores the important contributions of pond fish farmers to our society, but also adversely affects the traditional pond fish farming industry, undermining the potential for sustainable economic, social, and environmental development.

6. Not align with the national policy of "Ecological Civilization" and the planning goals of the Guangdong Province and the Greater Bay Area

 The Deep Bay Wetland is a precious and unique coastal wetland resource in the Greater Bay Area, which should be protected to align with national policies.14th Five-Year Plan pointed our that "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. We will adhere to respecting nature, living in harmony with nature, and protecting nature. We will continue to give priority to conservation, protection, as well as natural restoration." The Territorial Spatial Planning of Guangdong Province in 2020–2035 clearly recognised the importance of regional ecological security, and even proposed to focus on the establishment of the ecological corridors for waterbirds in the Pearl River Delta region and create a suitable bay area for migratory birds. The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area also proposed to "comprehensively protect key wetlands of international and national importance in the region, and join hands to introduce measures to protect cross-boundary coastal wetlands". The current development proposal of San Tin Technopole underplay the uniqueness of the Deep Bay Wetlands in the Greater Bay Area and its importance in the International Flyway. It is not align with the national policy of Ecological Civilization, and the policy to give priority to conservation, and also the provincial and Greater Bay Area policies.