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The Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr. Sarah Liao, announced today (July 17, 2003) the launching of a three-month public consultation exercise on the review of the nature conservation policy.

Speaking at the press conference, Dr. Liao said that to further enhance the conservation efforts, the Government has conducted a review of the existing nature conservation policy and measures, and drawn up some improvement proposals for public consultation.

"The existing policy and measures are effective in protecting our natural heritage. It is amazing to know that the territory supports an impressive diversity of wild plants and animals despite its rapid urban development and dense population," she said.

At present, over 40 per cent of Hong Kong's total land area is protected through the designation of country parks, special areas and conservation zonings on statutory town plans. A wide variety of wild plants and animals, including over 3,100 species of vascular plants, some 50 species of mammals, 450 species of birds, 140 species of freshwater fish, 230 species of butterflies and 100 species of dragonflies, are found in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong compares favourably with other cities at a similar stage of economic development in terms of both the share of areas protected for nature conservation purpose and the level of biodiversity. The conserved natural environment is a valuable asset important to the maintenance of ecological balance and improvement of the well-being of the community," Dr. Liao added.

The public consultation exercise is to seek public views on: (a) the introduction of a scoring system for assessing, in a more objective and systematic manner, the relative ecological importance of sites with the objective of reaching a consensus within the community on the priority sites for enhanced conservation; and (b) practicable ways to better conserve ecologically important sites that are under private ownership within limited resources.

"The proposed scoring system will help us evaluate the relative ecological value of individual sites by taking account of the value of their peculiar habitat and biodiversity. It will in turn help us focus our efforts and limited resources on the most deserving areas," Dr. Liao explained.

"We have examined a number of options for better conserving ecologically important sites under private ownership. We consider that the options of management agreements with landowners and private-public partnership are more practicable and worthy of further examination for application to the priority sites to be identified."

Under the management agreement option, non-government organisations will be encouraged to enter into agreements with the landowners with government subsidies or their own funding for managing the sites concerned to meet the nature conservation objective.

Under the private-public partnership option, development at an agreed scale will be allowed at the less sensitive ecologically sensitive portion of an ecologically important site provided that there is a viable and acceptable plan and an undertaking to conserve the remaining part of the site on a long-term basis. Non in-situ land exchange with full justifications may be considered on an exceptional basis. Each proposal will be assessed on its own merits.

Dr. Liao said that other options, including land resumption, land exchange and off-site mitigation, are considered impracticable and should not be pursued due to the huge financial and land resources implications or implementation complexities and difficulties involved.

"The natural environment is an asset that belongs to every member of the community. We should respect the wildlife and avoid causing any damages or disturbance to them. Your views will help us map out a more comprehensive nature conservation policy and improvement measures that will benefit not only you but also your future generations," she said.

The consultation exercise has started today for a period of three months until 18 October 2003. The consultation document and details of the consultation exercise can be downloaded from the website of the Environment,Transport and Works Bureau - www.etwb.gov.hk. Consultation materials are also available at the district offices.

End/Thursday, July 17, 2003

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