Geography and the Environment in Southeast Asia: Proceedings of the Geology Jubilee Symposium, The University of Hong Kong, 21-25 June 1976

10. The Tai Shang Wai Housing Project Controversy

X THE TAI SHANG WAI HOUSING PROJECT CONTROVERSY David C.Y. Lai Coastal wetlands are one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world,and are constantly subject to destruction by reclamation in the process of urbanization. In recent years,ecologists and biologists have indicated that wetlands are not only areas of natural beauty but also very a productive nursery and feeding habitat for wildlife 仰agner， 1974). In the United States, serious measures have been taken not only to preserve the remaining wetlands but also to ref1l1 and restore the depleted wetland areas, as was the case with the Marshes in northern California (Darling, 1969). Federal and State laws have been passed to make the protection of the environment a national po1icy, and this has frequently led to confrontation between environmentalists and industrial developers. One obvious example is the Great Salt Meadow controversy in Stratford, Connecticut. The Meadow is a deep marsh which had been zoned for industry as early as 1927 and Rykar, the developer, had been buying and reclaiming pieces of the Meadow for industrial development since 1948 with few objections from the public (Davenport, 1972). In 1969, the Connecticut legislature pas紛d a law designed to prohibit private owners from dredging and filling their own wetlands. The Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection had to reject Ryk缸's reclamation proposal because of the strong opposition expressed at a public hearing. The Great Salt Meadow was therefore saved from destruction. A similar environmental issue arose in Hong Kong when a comp個y planned to reclaim its own wetland at Tai Shang Wai for a housing estate. The government of Hong Kong approved the p叫ect despite the objections of the conservationists. The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of the controversy over the Tai Shang Wai housing project, and to ascertain how interested, concerned and informed about the issue were four selected groups of people in Hong Kong. 145 146 , 匡畫 M 山 A 它 2品」♂ zr 岫叫 且酥 E3 陸國 3 岫…翩….叫叫 DAVIOC.Y. LAI 區23 。"峭的 露自 w血叫 • J\I.lT-U~ .....“ ﹒岫" 」 MILEI .1'01101 亡J MUO F郎lre 10. 1: lAnd IJ.se 01 the Yue,. Long de{ta in 1957 TAI SHANG WAI CONTROVERSY 147 WETLAND TYPES OF THE YUEN LONG DELTA 叮le tenn ‘wetlands' is defined in a very broad sense by tl1e International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as ‘areas of submerged or water-saturated land whetl1er natural or artificial, penn叩開t or temporary, whetl1er tl1e water is static or flowing,fresh,brackish or salty. Water-dominated areas to be considered would include marshes, sloughs, bogs, swamps, fens, peatlands, estuaries, bays, sounds, lagoons, ponds,lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Where marine or coastal waters are involved water up to the depth of 15 meters is included.' (MAS Report, 1974). The Yuen Long delta, situated in tl1e nortl1western part of Hong Kong, is defined in tl1is paper a~ tl1e 2,270 ha of low句ing land to tl1e nortl1 ' of tl1e Yuen Long main road and to the west of San Tin road (Figure 10. 1). In 1957, about half of the delta was covered by dwarf mangroves and salt marshes (Table 10. 1). The mangroves,consisting of small trees or tall shrubs 2 - 5 metres high, are found mainly on the foreshore while the marshes,comprising grasses and sedges 1 - 2.5 metres hi阱， are situated mainly near rivers which are constantly supplied witl1 fresh water and new deposits (Hu, 1974). Since the 1950s, extensive areas of tl1ese two wetland types have been reclaimed by bunding, or by creating polders or sa1tings which are various!y used for fishponds, rough grazing, duck and poultry rearing,and for brackish padi (Tregear, 1958 and Grant, 1960). By 1969, tl1e mangroves and marshes occupied less than one tl1ird of the delta while tl1e kei wai and fish ponds had become the dominant wetland types, cove加g almost half of the total 缸'ea (Figure 10. 2). Kei wai are mudflats enclosed by bunds with sluice-gates to catch fish and shr!mps (Trege缸， 1958). At hígh tíde, the s!uice-gates are opened to allow water to flood tl1e dyked mudflats. On the ebb, nets are fitted into tl1e sluice-gates to capture fish and shrimps on tl1eir outward journey. Between the bund and tl1e mudflat is a deeper channel of water which helps to accelerate runoff from the mudflat when it is drained...