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Following is a question by the Hon Lee Wing-tat and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (February 7):
Question:
Regarding the conservation of wetlands within the railway area, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has monitored the conservation of wetlands along the West Rail (WR) in the past three years; if it has, of the results of the latest inspection; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) whether it has drawn up standards and guidelines on the conservation of the wetlands re-created to compensate for those lost due to the construction of WR; if it has, of the details; and
(c) whether it knows if the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation has formulated any policy on the conservation of wetlands within the railway area; if it has, of the details?
Reply:
Madam President,
To compensate for the inevitable impacts on the wetlands along the West Rail caused by the West Rail construction works, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) is required to make compensation by creating and managing several pieces of compensatory wetland under the conditions of the Environmental Permit. I would like to respond to the second part of Hon Lee Wing-tat's question, i.e. the standards and guidelines for compensatory wetlands, before explaining how we monitor the conservation of the wetlands.
(a) In considering the KCRC's plan for the creation and management of compensatory wetlands, the Government follows principles such as the diversity of the wetland habitats, close resemblance to the original habitat composition prior to the construction works, integration with peripheral environment, maintaining the natural environment, minimal human interference arising from management, in order to attract target species with high ecological value which are affected by the construction works, such as painted snipes, dragonflies and amphibians. The guidelines also set out the standards for monitoring wetlands, including monitoring the number of appearances of species as well as the monitoring time and frequency.
(b) The KCRC monitors and manages animals and plants within the wetlands and submits monitoring and management reports on a regular basis according to the conditions of the Environmental Permit for the West Rail project and the guidelines of the related Habitat Creation and Management Plan (the Plan). The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) will examine these reports and their staff will inspect these wetlands from time to time. The monitoring reports submitted by the KCRC show that over 40 species of birds, 20 species of dragonflies, 20 species of butterflies and some common amphibians, including some relatively rare species such as Black-tipped Percher and Bush Hopper, are found in the compensatory wetlands of the West Rail project. The staff of the EPD and the AFCD have not found any irregularities during their inspections. Some recent media reports claimed that the lack of management of the compensatory wetlands had resulted in dry wetlands overgrown with weeds. According to the Plan, wetlands are created as seasonal or permanent wetlands. The water levels of seasonal wetlands are lower in the dry season. Moreover, it was found during inspections that two pieces of wetland designed as permanent wetlands had dried up due to water leakage. The KCRC has already given an account of the problem and the follow-up issues in its monitoring report.
(c) Under the requirements of the environmental impact assessment report and the Environmental Permit, the KCRC has to manage the compensatory wetlands related to the project in accordance with the Plan, no matter whether it has formulated a company conservation policy or not.
Ends/Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:31
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