Last updated: April 1999
 | Conservation News
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| Black-faced Spoonbills tracked on Migration |
| Chebaling National Nature Reserve Under Threat |
| Mai Po Update |
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 Conservation News |
Mike Kilburn
Continuing Disturbance from fishermen
Fishermen from both the mainland and Hong Kong are now well entrenched in Deep Bay and the Police continue to show a disturbing lassitude in dealing with illegal entrants to the RAMSAR site. Structures remain in the mangroves and mudskipper collectors continue to work freely on the mudflats, and there have been several reports of locally caught waterbirds being sold illegally in Yuen Long - hardly surprising when members have reported several sightings of several kilometres of nets intended to catch birds strung out across the bay. Is it merely coincidence that the Dalmatian Pelicans (a Red Data Book species) left earlier than ever this year, or that Saunders' Gull numbers have dropped to a bare handful of birds earlier than usual? Data from the midwinter waterfowl count shows yet another drop in numbers of waterfowl recorded in the bay, a trend which is becoming increasingly worrying. Disturbance to the mudflats on a regular basis must be a significant factor.
On Saturday 20th March mudskipper collectors were again on the mud untroubled by Police. The next day a boat was rowed slowly from Yuen Long Creek towards the Shenzhen River across in front of the boardwalk hides by two men, in plain view of the Police watchtowers along the Fence. Nothing happened, with the exception that several thousand birds were disturbed, but this is clearly too small a matter for Marine Police to launch a boat and apprehend clear law breakers. The sad conclusion is that the SAR government is not willing to honour the Ramsar agreement, or even uphold the Wildlife Protection Ordinance (cap170) of the Basic Law.
It is suspected that the men in the boat were mainland "fishermen". And one must assume that the Police allow free passage in the other direction to the structures in the Hong Kong SAR portion of the Frontier Closed Area which have been built in the mangroves. In addition to disturbance of birds there is no knowing what these boat trips are being used for. A disturbing trend of escalating illegal activity is a result of lack of effective enforcement when the problems first emerged.
Members are urged to continue to maintain pressure to find a solution by reporting sightings of illegal fishermen and mudskipper collectors to AFD, the Commissioner of Police and the Security Bureau. If you have a mobile phone calling 999 and reporting the incident is also possible - all calls are logged by law. You can also contact the Border Police Lok Ma Chau Duty Officer at 24828200 or their Operations Room at 2679 2600.
However, should you see mudskipper collectors or fishing boats in the Inner Deep Bay area it should be noted that Border Police rarely act in concert with Marine Police and will not go out on the mud. They will send a squad down to the boardwalk hides and probably further disturb the birds, but will probably be powerless to do anything.
The imminent arrival of AFD's hovercraft will NOT lead to immediate active policing because training and procedures understanderbly must be clarified first. Even with the hovercraft in operation it will take a major change in attitude by government to actually make it an effective tool for protecting the Ramsar site. The inactivity and buck-passing over who has responsibility for removing illegal structures (apparently the responsibility of Squatter Control!) in the mangroves is a sad reminder of government apathy towards its environmental responsibilities. The tools are certainly in place to carry out this work, but nothing continues to happen.
The intention of this strongly worded article is not simply to criticise the Police and Security Bureau. It is intended to convey the growing concern of many members of the Society with the deteriorating situation in Deep Bay. Sadly, past experience (particularly the shooting incident filmed by TVB Pearl a couple of winters ago) suggests that the only way to get action is to express frustration and cause embarrassment to the relevant Government authorities. They have a clear responsibility to protect the birds and integrity of the Ramsar site, regardless of the political uncertainties about whether mainlanders are allowed free access to the Frontier Closed Area. Is the next step to raise a formal complaint to the Ramsar Commission and Birdlife International and publicise the issue more widely in the local and global press? It is hoped not: Hong Kong has had enough recent bad publicity since the Handover to last a decade. The Editor would gladly honour the right to reply from anyone in the Police or Government, or interested parties wishing to express their views on this topic.
Tin Shui Wai International Wetland Park
Construction is well under way over much of the former rough grassland areas of Tin Shui Wai Reclamation. However, 64 hectares have been set aside for the Tin Shui Wai Constructed Wetland and Conservation area. This is intended to replace habitat lost under the Tin Shui Wai Reserve Zone Development. In addition to this, it was reported in issue 169 that the Hong Kong Tourist Association is conducting a feasibility study into the construction of an International Wetland Park, with a sophisticated visitor centre with an expected capacity of 400,00 people per annum. The conservation committee of the Society has been working closely with HKTA, AFD and their consultants to ensure that the value of the site for birds and wildlife is not compromised, but can instead be maximised. It looks like being an exciting project.
Part of this scheme involves using reedbeds as a biological filter to clean storm water run-off from the Tin Shui Wai development, while other plans are in preparation to turn areas of non-native tree plantations into more biologically diverse wetlands. Hong Kong has lots of woodland, while all of its lowland wetland areas are under intense developmental pressure.
A freshwater marsh (complete with Water Buffalo!) designed specially to attract Painted Snipe has already been proposed by the consultants Binnie, Black & Veatch (engineer/environmental scientists) and Urbis (landscape architect). Further suggestions include the construction of a floating vegetation freshwater wetland which has the potential to attract birds such as Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Watercock, and Cinnamon Bittern to return as breeding species (All of these formerly bred in the Tin Shui Wai / Yuen Long Area).
In other areas of the site non-native trees will be replaced gradually with native species and small ponds will be created to attract amphibians. An additional area will be turned into active wetland cultivation of the type that is so attractive for birds at Long Valley. This will help to preserve not only the habitat, but also a dying part of Hong Kong's cultural heritage.
It is intended to control access to much of the site, possibly by permits, and it is expected that the majority of visitors will only utilise the visitor centre and a carefully managed area specially set apart for education. Two two-storey hides will be constructed, overlooking different areas of the reserve and beyond the reserve along Yuen Long Creek and out towards Inner Deep Bay.
It is very encouraging for the Society's views to be so closely listened to on such projects.
Shuen Wan Marsh threatened by illegal filling
Illegal filling by villagers is threatening Shuen Wan Marsh at the foot of the Pat Sin Leng - a formerly pristine mixture of freshwater and brackish marshland. in an area which has recorded over 200 species of birds, including several endangered species, such as Oriental White Stork. Other wildlife includes Wild Pig and Leopard Cat and a species of mangrove that is rare in Hong Kong.
The illegal dumping has been encouraged by villagers from Shuen Wan. In the last four months they have gone beyond taking land alongside the road and arranged for dumping of soil from a nearby building site, filling in the marsh, which is privately owned by developers Wheelock, and is zoned as a Conservation Area. Part of the dumping has occurred on government land and according to Mr WS Lau of the Central Enforcement and Prosecution Section of the Planning Department, one prosecution is currently in progress. Mr Lau and his team are continuing to monitor the site, but note that it is the responsibility of the landowner - Wheelock - to maintain the status of the site.
Intending to protect its site from further damage, Wheelock hired a security company to control access. However the guards were threatened and intimidated by the villagers and one was almost run down by a truck which he tried to prevent from entering the site. As a result, the security company removed its staff from the site out of fear for their safety. Other visitors to the site have been threatened by the villagers.
In an attempt to remove the soil from the marsh, the developer contacted Heng Kei which had dumped the soil and persuaded them to remove it at no charge rather than face a lawsuit for trespassing. The villagers who had encouraged the contractor to dump the soil refused to allow access to the site, barring the road with a gate and vehicles. When the developer's representatives visited the site to attempt to negotiate access, they were surrounded by villagers and threatened... The developers have now applied for a writ to compel the villagers to allow free access to their land. This was heard at the end of March. Government is also conducting prosecutions against the villagers for illegal dumping violations.
To curry public opinion the villagers have arranged for trees and grass to be planted on the illegally dumped soil, and have erected crude signs labelling the land as a Green Zone hoping to confuse the conservation issue. However the value of the site is clearly in the wetland - planting common local trees is not an ecologically credible alternative to restoring the marsh. In addition, the villagers have a laid a road from the gate they have erected across the filled land to the village of Ha Tei Ha.
Unusually, the developer is not the villain on this occasion, but intends to set aside the marsh as a reserve while building a development on Green Belt land immediately adjacent to the site. This type of development is already under way by Cheung Kong at Nam Sang Wai inside the Deep Bay Ramsar site, where Lut Chau was set aside as a reserve in partial mitigation for the project. It seems likely that unless the government upholds Wheelock's right to access its land the marsh will be lost as the remainder is filled in piecemeal by the villagers.
The problems at this site suggest that it is perhaps time that Lands policy be reviewed, so that protection of land with conservation value should be made an element of tenancy conditions in the leasing of government land.
Stop press: In a Ming Pao article Government has stated that due to fears of the surrounding area flooding as the rainy summer months approach it will move directly ahead with removing the soil from the marsh and later make a decision about who should be fined to recover the cost. Congratulations are due to the officers concerned on acting swiftly to resolve the most immediate part of this issue.
Long Valley
KCRC have announced a feasibility study is under way for a spur line from Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau. This will cut right across Long Valley, further partitioning the site following the river retraining discussed in earlier issues. HKBWS has written to the Environmental Protection Department. This highlights the need for the HKBWS survey of Long Valley.
Kam Tin
The West Rail project has produced a Habitat Creation and Management Plan for the Kam Tin Area. Work on mitigation for Painted Snipe and other birds of well vegetated wetlands will shortly be completed. The Painted Snipe radio tracking work has produced encouraging and valuable results. The areas of land set aside for conservation will not be used as direct compensation for the loss of open country farmland as they will be too close to the Railway line to attract many of the open country birds which formerly utilised the habitat at Kam Tin.
Tai Po Kau Fishponds
The Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau has responded to HKBWS enquiry and established that the District Planning Officer (Sha Tin, Tai Po and North) of Planning Department is responsible for monitoring the development to ensure that it will comply with the "approval conditions". Reports of suspected deviations should be reported to Mr Lam Wing-yuen of the relevant Planning Office at 2684 1701.
The unfortunate thing is that the "approval conditions" refer to the implementation of environmental mitigation measures as identified in the "submitted environmental impact assessment". However, HKBWS has been refused a copy of the EIA. The approval conditions have thus become a secret deal between the Town Planning Board and the developer, which is clearly wrong in this age of transparency in public administration. This may be an issue which HKBWS can pursue in the longer term at policy level.
| Black-faced Spoonbills tracked on Migration |
Mr Simba Chan, Wild Bird Society of Japan
One of the juvenile Black-faced Spoonbills ringed and fitted with a satellite tracking transmitter at Mai Po this winter (bearing ring number A18) has twice been noted on its migration up the eastern coast of China. Most recently it was recorded on 31 March from the eastern end of Chongming Island, which lies in the estuary of the Yangtze, just to the north of Shanghai. The same bird was also recorded at Wenzhou, in Zhejiang Province, more than 400km to the south on 23rd March.
Another Black-faced Spoonbill, (ring number T16) which was trapped in Taiwan crossed the Straits of Taiwan and proceeded through Fujian and Zhejiang provinces before being located at Yancheng on 19th March [this reserve is better known as a key wintering ground for Red-crowned Cranes - ed.].
On 31 March it was again located, this time much further north at 37deg40min N 126deg02min E, which, more simply put, refers to some offshore islands very close to the border and Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. It is very probably on U-do of Kyonggi Province. There were confirmed breeding records of Black-faced Spoonbills from here in 1995.
Sadly it is not yet clear exactly clear how T16 arrived here from Yancheng. My guess is it flew from Shandong to Korea, possibly via Liaoning. I tend to think it did not and flew directly from the eastern tip of Shandong - near the city of Rongcheng - to Korea. But please note that this is only my guess.
It might have flown from northern Shandong to the tip of Liaodong Peninsula, then travelled along the western coast of Korea to U-do. Some Black-faced Spoonbills might travel along this route as there are records from the Changshan Islands between Shandong and Liaoning. However, if this is a regular route, there should be more sightings at Dalian (a rather well watched site).
So far as I know there were no records of migrating Black-faced Spoonbills observed at the Yellow River Delta (further west in Shandong) nor Beidaihe, Hebei. It is rather unlikely it travelled around the Gulf of Bohai.
| Chebaling National Nature Reserve Under Threat |
By Mike Leven
The reserve management of Chebaling National Nature Reserve in north Guangdong Province have been promoting ecotourism. Sadly, a visit during November 1998 suggested that the Chinese face of Ecotourism is not the environmentally friendly approach to sustainable management that might be hoped for.
Around the reserve headquarters an area of farmland with trees alongside the river has been cleared for horse riding and horse stables and a house or perhaps a restaurant were under construction. A weir was being placed across the river in order to produce an area for canoeing and a concrete “pagoda" was under construction on the river bank. A further promised attraction was "damping", though it was not clear what form this was to take. All these developments appeared to be down to the initiative of a new reserve management team which is primarily interested in bringing more money into the reserve.
Whilst all these changes were rather distasteful to one who remembered when the horse riding area had wild Common Pheasants Phasianus colchicus feeding in the early morning, they might be seen as a necessary trade-off in ensuring adequate resources for the rest of the reserve. Sadly, however it is apparent that nature conservation is very low on the list of management priorities.
Most damaging is the construction of a hydro-electric scheme in the heart of the reserve which will result in the permanent diversion of around 3km of the tributary river to the south of Sin Yau Ting Village. This has led to the construction of a new access road and the destruction of forest along one side of the valley, as well as the partial blocking of the tributary by debris (though they will disappear in the long term in any case). The destroyed section of forest was one of the areas in the reserve where woodpeckers were most frequently seen, suggesting that it contained some of the older trees in the Reserve. Whilst this forest might partially recover, the diversion of the river will result in the permanent loss of one or two Blyth's Kingfisher territories. Together with the likely loss of a further territory around the headquarters, approximately 25-40% of the river formerly used by Blyth*s Kingfishers will now be unsuitable.
Evidence of lack of interest in nature conservation was abundantly evident elsewhere: the human pressure on the reserve had increased considerably compared to that reported by Ades et al in Porcupine 15 and there as much evidence of the collection of forest products; with at least 50 people collecting in the supposedly restricted-access “kernel " area alone. A White's Thrush was found in a snare that had probably been set for pheasants.
This article first appeared in Porcupine! No.18 (December 1998)
| Mai Po Update |
By Lew Young
FCA Permits
Each year around February/March, the WWF office at Mai Po will automatically renew the FCA permits for all FCA permit holders. These are now ready and can be collected from the Mai Po Panda Shop. However, as everyone who uses the facilities inside Mai Po, e.g. floating boardwalk, hides etc. needs to be a member of WWF HK, please bring along your WWF HK membership card as proof of your membership. For those whose membership has expired, they can join up again at the Panda Shop. In addition, please bring along $100 as this is the charge for the FCA Permit and the money will go towards the maintenance of the HKBWS's floating hide. If you prefer, you can also collect your permit from the WWF HK office in Central, but please first telephone Silvia Yeung at Mai Po (Tel: 2471-6306, 2471-9722), so that we can arrange for your permit to be delivered to Central.
If you are thinking about applying for your first FCA Permit, these permits take about four weeks to process. So after you have faxed all your papers to Silvia Yeung, please telephone her again after four weeks to check if your permit is ready yet.
Illegal fishermen in Deep Bay
AFD will receive the delivery of their 4-man hovercraft for patrolling the mudflats against illegal fishermen, bird nets etc., and will be housed by the helicopter pad at the southern end of Mai Po. AFD, as far as possible, have tried to select a hovercraft that will cause the minimum amount of disturbance (e.g. in terms of noise) to the birds on the mudflat. However, there will probably be some effect and AFD have asked that HKBWS members try to understand that this effects will be less than the disturbance from the illegal fishermen on the mudflat. For further information, members can contact AFD by e-mail: afdcon@hkstar.com, fax 2314-2802 or tel 2733-2368.
Bird books for sale in the Mai Po Panda Shop
The following publications are for sale at the Mai Po Panda Shop:
- HKBWS Annual Reports:
- 70-71, 72, 73, 74, 79 (HK$ 5)
- 80, 81-82 (HK$ 15)
- 83 (HK$ 35)
- 92 (HK$ 90)
- 93 (HK$ 120)
- 95, 96 (HK$ 150)
- Ali & Ripley.
Compact Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (HK$1,035) - Chalmers. 1986.
Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Hong Kong (HK$ 40) - Diskin. 1997.
Birding Hong Kong - a site guide (HK$ 160) - Holmes & Nash.1990.
Birds of Sumatra & Kalimantan (HK$ 115) - MacKinnon. 1988.
Birds of Java & Bali (HK$ 145) - Roberts. 1991.
Birds of Pakistan Vol. I and II (HK$ 750/ volume) - Strange. 1998.
Birds of South-east Asia (HK$ 199) - Viney, Phillipps & Lam. 1994.
Birds of Hong Kong and South China (HK$ 164) - Woodward & Carey. 1996.
Where to watch birds and other wildlife in Hong Kong and Guangdong (HK$ 140) - Zhang. 1997.
Birds of Yunnan (HK$ 250)
| Past Conservation News |
