New-town plans may affect rare fish's habitat, WWF-Hong Kong warns
New town set to land on wetland habitat of the rare rose bitterling, warns WWF-Hong Kong as its calls on government to protect their home
As clamour mounts from villagers affected by planned new towns in the northeast New Territories, conservationists have called on the government to consider the fate of a small, rare fish.
They have urged the government to launch a comprehensive survey of the rose bitterling - once feared extinct in Hong Kong - and to make sure plans for the new town at Fanling North preserve its habitat.
Last week, the WWF conservation group found the fish in wetlands along the Ng Tung River, one of only four known habitats in Hong Kong. The fish grows up to only 8cm long and is named for the red colour that males turn during mating.
The wetlands - meanders of the Ng Tung River that were cut off when the river was diverted and widened in 1999 to control flooding - would be obliterated by buildings under present plans.
"In Hong Kong, conservation often has to make way for development," the city's WWF conservation manager Alan Leung Sze-Lun said.
"We are not saying the development of the New Territories should be suspended. But we believe that in the planning stage, the government should take conservation into consideration."
The rose bitterling was not mentioned in the project's environmental impact assessment, which described the faunal diversity of the 1.57-hectare wetlands as "low to moderate".
David Dudgeon, chair professor of Ecology and Biodiversity at the University of Hong Kong, said in a paper published in 1999 that the species might have vanished from Hong Kong.
The rose bitterling lays and develops its eggs in another endangered species, the swan mussel. This means it can exist only where the mussel survives.
An action plan for the conservation of local freshwater fish, proposed by the Advisory Council on the Environment in 2011, highlighted the fish's rarity.
WWF Hong Kong is also asking the government to revise the development plan for the second new town, Kwu Tung North.
Currently, the plan involves diverting the Ma Tso Lung stream to build a road link to Lok Ma Chau. Alternative plans like constructing a viaduct above the stream would do less harm to the environment, said Leung.
But according to the environment assessment, engineering constraints would require the viaduct to be less then two metres above the ground - too low for vegetation to grow.
The environmental impact assessments for both new development areas will be available for public inspection until August 3.
The Legislative Council development panel will be holding a special meeting on Thursday and Friday to hear views on the new towns.
