The report added about 1.7 hectares of woodland would be lost, with 56,000 trees either cut down or transplanted to make way for the proposed San Tin Technopole in Yuen Long, close to Shenzen.
The government has said it would create a 338 hectare San Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park to make up for the site’s loss, but experts on Saturday said they feared it could be an empty promise.
“The report is disappointing … the whole world is moving towards greater conservation of wetlands, but the government is moving in an opposite direction,” Kristy Chow Oi-chuen, a campaign officer at the Conservancy Association, said.
“The conservation park will only be finished in 2039. This may run the risk of becoming an empty promise and fail to serve its conservation purposes.
“In the end, society may suffer from ecological damage in the district.”
Chow was speaking a day after the Civil Engineering and Development Department released its environmental impact assessment report on the tech hub’s construction with proposed mitigation measures following the authorities’ plan to fill in 90 hectares of fish ponds as part of the project.
The government said on Friday that despite 240 hectares of the proposed San Tin Technopole being in the wetland area more than 60 per cent of it was already brownfield land, filled fish ponds or developed sites.
The remaining areas cover about 90 hectares of fish ponds, but almost half of them are abandoned or no longer used for production.
Hong Kong scales back proposed wetland park to make way for a technology hub
Hong Kong scales back proposed wetland park to make way for a technology hub
The report said the technopole development would lead to a permanent loss of 89 hectares of contiguous pond habitat on the northern part of the site, and indirect disturbance to 63 hectares of ponds nearby.
It added the Conservation Park would be built as a mitigation measure to achieve “no-net-loss in ecological function and capacity of the wetlands”.
“The government will enhance the ecological function and capacity of 288 hectares of wetlands and fisheries resources of 40 hectares of fish ponds by establishing the park with active conservation management and modernised aquaculture,” the report said.
It added the park’s construction would start in the 2026-27 financial year and was scheduled for completion in 2039.
The report promised a woodland compensation plan would be drawn up and submitted before construction on the forested area started.
It added the 1.7 hectares of woodland would be removed with more than 56,000 trees, 87 per cent of the 64,490 on the site, either felled or transplanted elsewhere.
Extensive damage found in Hong Kong wetlands, environmental groups warn
Extensive damage found in Hong Kong wetlands, environmental groups warn
New tree planting will be carried out on a one-for-one basis to compensate for the loss of trees because of site development work.
The report also identified a potential impact on bird colonies, roosting sites and other wildlife.
It proposed an open zone and a buffer area around the bird colonies and roosting spots to minimise disturbance from construction work.
The report said it had identified measures to ensure compliance with environmental legislation and standards, and insisted the San Tin Technopole project would be “environmentally acceptable” after they were introduced.
But the Bird Watching Society said it had concerns about the way the report divided the assessments of the wetland into seven areas. The society said such an approach would mislead people into underestimating its ecological importance of the area in its entirety.
“The ecological impacts on the wetland should be measured together, as a whole, as they affect each other,” the society said. “We are afraid people may have a low view of the pond habitat’s ecological value.”
About half of the 627-hectare San Tin Technopole is expected to house leading innovation and technology companies. The rest will become a residential area with about 50,000 flats.
