Dear Ms Li,

Re: Illegal pruning at the egretry in Kwong Fuk Road, Tai Po, and
subsequent destruction of nests and killing of wild birds

 On 6^th June, 2017, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) carried out a tree pruning operation at the junction of Kwong Fuk Road and Wan Tau Kok Lane, during which multiple wild egrets and herons were injured or killed and their nests and eggs destroyed.

Appallingly, pruning staff continued to trim the trees, despite being aware of the damage caused by the operation. We, along with the majority of the public, strongly condemn this act of cold-bloodedness and cruelty.

The pruning operation, in addition to being rather illogical, raises concern in public issues including public resources utilization, tree management and animal protection laws. Hence, we demand detailed responses from the LCSD to the following:

1. Did the LCSD carry out any operation in response to ‘a request from the public referred by a relevant government department seeking the trimming of overgrown tree branches at the junction of Kwong Fuk Road and Wan Tau Kok Lane in Tai Po’, as reported by various media? If so, which government department or district council member had made the referral? In addition to ‘overgrown branches’, did the complaint referred by the department or district council member concern also bird droppings, etc?
2. Before its decision to respond to the referred request, did the LCSD engage qualified aboriculturalists to conduct an independent tree risk assessment, or ecology experts to conduct ecological impact assessments of procedures in the operation? If so, I urge the LCSD to immediately make public the full texts of these reports. If not, please explain the reasons for not conducting said assessments before tree trimming.
3. Was the pruning operation carried out by a contractor, or solely by the LCSD New Territories East Tree Team?
   What were the name and rank of the government officer who authorized the operation?
4. Are the authorizing officer and pruning staff qualified in aboriculture? Before the operation, did the LCSD consult or inform the Tree Management Office (TMO) of the Development Bureau, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), and other related departments, as per usual practice?
5. The LCSD should be aware that the concerned woodland is adjacent to the Tai Po Egretry, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located at Kwong Fuk Road, Tai Po Market, and that it has been a breeding ground for egrets for years. Even if the LCSD was unaware of this, it could easily deduce, during on-site assessments before pruning, that the woodland was a home to birds, evident from bird droppings on branches and the ground beneath the trees. Why, then, did the LCSD nevertheless go on with the tree pruning operation, threatening the safety of the birds at the site?
6. Suppose that pruning staff did not notice bird nests on the trees before pruning. What actions did the person-in-charge take, then, when the staff noticed hatchlings, eggs and damaged nests falling from the trees during the operation? Why did the LCSD continue with the operation, neglecting the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Cap. 170), which states, in Section 4, that ‘no person shall, except in accordance with a special permit, hunt or wilfully disturb any protected wild animal’, and in Section 5, that ‘no person shall, except in accordance with a special permit, take, remove, injure, destroy or wilfully disturb a nest or egg of any protected wild animal’?
7. Does the LCSD admit that it has committed a criminal offence against the aforementioned Wild Animals Protection Ordinance?

Due to the seriousness of the matter, please give, in details, an account of the incident and responses to the above questions by 9^th June (Friday).

Sincerely,

Roy Tam Hoi-pong

Chief Executive (Voluntary), Green Sense

If cycling is a part of low-carbon living style,
cycling track should not be the enemy of trees.

More than 3,000 trees will be felled in order to complete the remaining Tuen Mun-Sheung Shui cycling track (Yuen Long-Sheung Shui Section),. The felling includes trees with crown over 20 meters and age more than decades. The environmental cost is unreasonably huge.

After analyzing the route and the construction sites of the cycling track, we have found out that there are two major problems in the Tuen Mun-Sheung Shui cycling track project. Firstly, a large section of the cycling track is located along the Castle Peak Road and the New Territories Circular Road with a narrow width. This greatly increases the difficulty of the construction and thus the number of trees to be felled. Secondly, as the cycling track will be built next to the highways, cyclists will be immensely affected by the air and noise pollution from the heavy traffic. The quality of the cycling track will be worryingly low. Based on the observations we made on-site and the reports provided by the government, we have concluded that it is unsuitable to build this section.

However, the Legislative Council has already approved financial funding to the project. We therefore have immediately contacted the responsible governmental department to raise our request for tree protection. We arranged a meeting with the representative from the Civil Engineering and Development Department in September. After reviewing tree reports, we arranged an on-site investigation with the officials in October in hope of proposing modifications to the project. We have given a series of suggestions to avoid tree felling, including a change in route, partial reduction in the width of the cycling track (the current guideline is a minimum of 3.5 metres), and an adoption of gallery road.

The response from the government is positive and they are currently considering our suggestions. We will continue the follow-up on this project to reduce tree felling as much as possible.

]]> http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/11/%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e7%b9%bc%e7%ba%8c%e8%b7%9f%e9%80%b2%e5%b1%af%e9%96%80%e8%87%b3%e4%b8%8a%e6%b0%b4%e6%ae%b5%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e3%80%80%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e8%88%87/feed/ 0 http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/08/%e5%85%83%e6%9c%97%e8%87%b3%e4%b8%8a%e6%b0%b4%e6%ae%b5%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e6%96%ac3284%e6%a3%b5%e6%a8%b9-%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e5%bb%ba%e8%ad%b0%e6%94%b9%e5%96%84%e5%96%ae/ http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/08/%e5%85%83%e6%9c%97%e8%87%b3%e4%b8%8a%e6%b0%b4%e6%ae%b5%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e6%96%ac3284%e6%a3%b5%e6%a8%b9-%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e5%bb%ba%e8%ad%b0%e6%94%b9%e5%96%84%e5%96%ae/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2016 04:12:27 +0000 editor http://greensense.org.hk/?p=2345

3284 trees will be felled for the Yuen Long-Sheung Shui cycling track
The environmental cost is unreasonably high
Green Sense urges improvement on both the route and the design of the track in order to reduce tree cutting

Paul Chan, the Secretary for Development, posted an online blog yesterday (21^st). Referring to the accomplishments of the Hong Kong athlete Lee Wai Sze in the Olympics, he mentioned the recent policies done by the Government to encourage local athletic development, including the establishment of the cycling track network.

Green Sense agree that cycling is both a low-carbon transportation means and a public leisure activity. However, 3,284 trees will be felled in order to complete the remaining Yuen Long-Sheung Shui, part of the Tuen Mun-Sheung Shui cycling track. The felling includes banyans with crown over 20 meters. The environmental cost is unreasonably huge ^[1].

According to Roy Tam, the Chief Executive (Voluntary) of Green Sense, “It is contradicting for the Government to improve our quality of life by establishing cycling tracks while felling trees massively and destroy the natural environment.”

While the Government claims that they have already minimized tree removal, they are not acting thoroughly. We have once suggested it is possible to reduce tree felling by reasonably decreasing the width of the track, sharing path with pedestrians and improving routes design. However, the Government did not consider these suggestions seriously.

We once again urge the Government to reduce tree cutting for the Sheung Shui-Yuen Long cycling track. Establishing cycling track should not be turned into a tree massacre.

[1] – 20^th May 2016 meeting, Finance Committee of the Legislative Council, http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr15-16/chinese/fc/pwsc/papers/p15-53c.pdf