[/su_column]
The threat to Hoi Ha Wan continues,  the Outline Zoning Plan now in place for Hoi Ha, sets aside a large area for village development.  A large piece of land that has been bought by property development.  This will will calamitous for Hoi Ha and spell disaster for the Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park.  It is not yet, too late.

We need to ensure that the Town Planning Board, the Marine and Country Park authority are in no doubt of our concerns on the threat pose by developments at Hoi Ha Wan.

We would suggest that any concerned members of the community write emails to the authorities.  The following is a list of email address and a sample draft email that you can copy and pasted into your own email and sent.

Email addresses (copy and paste into the to: field of email) tpbpd@pland.gov.hk, pspl@devb.gov.hk, kkling@pland.gov.hk, dep@epd.gov.hk, dafcoffice@afcd.gov.hk, joseph_ch_sham@afcd.gov.hk, mailbox@afcd.gov.hk, get_in_touch@livingseas.hk

Please note these email addresses will go to :

1. Town Planning Board:
   Email:   tpbpd@pland.gov.hk
2. Mr. Thomas Chow, Chairman of the TPB:
   Email:   pspl@devb.gov.hk
3. Chairman and members of the Country and Marine Parks Board
   Email:  mailbox@afcd.gov.hk
4. LING Kar Kan, Director Planning :
   Email: kkling@pland.gov.hk
5. WONG Sean Yee, Anissa, JP, Director of Environmental Protections :
   Email: dep@epd.gov.hk
6. Wong Chi Kong, Alan, Director AFCD :
   Email: dafcoffice@afcd.gov.hk
7. Joseph Sham, Asst Dir (Country & Marine Parks)
   Email: joseph_ch_sham@afcd.gov.hk
8. Copied to Living Seas Hong Kong

Suggested sample email, copy and paste this and adjust as desired:

“Hoi Ha Wan :  OZP (S/NE-HH/1)

To whom it concerns:

I am writing in support of the almost 11,000 people who have written to the Town Planning Board voicing objections to the OZP (S/NE-HH/1) for Hoi Ha.

I am particularly concerned with the obvious flaws in the process of finalising this plan and the fact that :

1. The area marked for development is almost 100% owned by commercial property development companies.  This housing will not be occupied by indigenous villagers.
2. The housing application demand has been greatly exaggerated by the village representative and has not been audited.
3. Environmental impact of the plans has not been assessed, especially around the issue of handling of sewage, so close to the Hoi Ha Wan marine park.
4. No consideration has been given in the plans to the need for increased infrastructure needs for the village expansion. Roads, public transport, parking, sewage have not been adequately considered.

I would humbly request that the draft OZP is firmly rejected and the DPA for the area is extended by at least one year. Hoi Ha Wan and the Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park are too precious to lose to a short-term commercial transaction.

Your sincerely

“

The post Threat to Hoi Ha Wan continues appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

Organised by ”Save Our Country Parks” and “Friends of Hoi Ha”, click on the following image to get more information from Facebook.

Basic itinerary can be found on the “Save our country parks” facebook page, please click on the image above to see more details.

Itinerary
1) Tai Tan Tour
10:00 am Meet at Tai Tan Village bus stop
Tai Tan Village tour and 3-mile hike to Hoi Ha
Contact persons:
English- 9088 7003;
Chinese- 9466 8167

2) Hoi Ha Tour
12:00 am Meet at Hoi Ha barbecue site, near the public toilets
Hoi Ha Tour and briefing
Contact persons:
English- 2791 6449 / 9720 4142;
Chinese – 2987 6253 / 9466 8167
[Please note that there is limited mobile phone reception at Hoi Ha]

The post 步走救海下Walk to Save Hoi Ha appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

Living Seas Hong Kong is concerned; we all should be, about the threat to country parks and specifically the immediate threat to Hoi Ha Wan marine park.

As a reminder, Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park has amongst the highest coral coverage and is beautiful above and below water:

 Marine life @ Hoi Ha Wan marine park

The problem, is that the Hong Kong Government, through the Town Planning Board has put together an Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) that effectively sets a large expansion of the village area into country surrounding the existing village, right next to the marine park. The Town Planning board has accepted a plan that “and to make provision for future Small House development for the indigenous village of Hoi Ha.”

So what is happening is that we are moving from a village area, that looks like this:

To something that looks like this:

The huge problem here is the large brown area, zoned as “V”illage type development, is

1. Mostly owned by developers and not villagers (see Paul Zimmerman’s post on this subject here (http://thehousenews.com/nature/land-zoned-for-small-houses-in-hoi-ha-already-sold-to-developers/), and will be uncontrolled.
2. “V”illage type developments are “exempted from planning controls, site formation, sewerage, drainage, and lack formal access. Both the construction and habitation of small houses severely impacts surrounding country and marine parks and is incompatible with the ecologically sensitive environment and high landscape value of enclaves, and Hoi Ha and the marine park specifically.”

This is a really huge issue.   Infrastructure is not there to support a large development and there are effectively no controls.  From a marine conservation perspective this spells disaster for the Marine Park and the fragile marine ecology that it aims to protect.

It should be noted that the Town Planning Board has also gazetted and “Outline Zoning Plan” for two other Country Park Enclaves, at Pak Lap (also in Sai Kung Country Park) and So Lo Pun (in Plover Cove Country Park)

The public still has a chance to overturn and correct these crazy decisions.

We suggest that you keep informed and be ready to take action, join and watch the following websites and Facebook groups:

• Save Hoi Ha Facebook group
• 香港郊野公園是我的呼吸空間 Hong Kong Country Parks, my breathing space: 
• Save Our Country Parks 保衛郊野公園

The details, for those that are interested as follows:

Press released from the govt, related to the gazetting of the OZP for Hoi Ha Wan : http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201309/27/P201309260298.htm

Detailed zoning plan for Hoi Ha Wan Village: http://www.ozp.tpb.gov.hk/pdf/S_NE-HH_1_e.pdf

The post Hoi Ha Wan marine park is under direct threat appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

報告一個好消息。城規會已於2011年12月16日否決了有關南丫島博寮港發展項目的申請。這是眾多團體和個人的共同勝利。我們特別感謝Jo Wilson及「活在南丫」(Living Lamma) 的不懈努力。

The post Rejection of the Baroque on Lamma plan appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

Our Photo Gallery can be found HERE

The post New photos uploaded appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

“We will….

Ban commercial fishing in marine parks. The ban will improve ecosystems in marine parks and offer better protection for marine organisms.”

Source : http://www.policyaddress.gov.hk/08-09/eng/docs/agenda.pdf  page 29, paragraph 3.

This is a great announcement and hopefully the start of an increasing emphasis on marine conservation efforts. What this means is that the current licenses given to commercial fishermen to allow them to fish in these areas will be purchased.  Fishing will continue in the marine parks by local ‘indigenous villagers’, who should not use nets.

Living Seas is very supportive of this step, we also believe the following measures are needed in the marine parks:

1. Demarcate areas where local villagers are allowed to fish.  This should be away from the ARs installed by the government’s Artificial Reef Project and sensitive ecosystems, such as the Ho Ha Wan coral beach.
2. Setup of extensive areas within the marine parks that are completely no-take.
3. Ensure local villager involvement in the management of the parks.  Local villagers must be incentivised to get actively involved and benefit from the marine park setup. This will help to ensure the success of the revitalisation and conservation of the marine parks.

The post Commercial fishing to be banned in marine parks appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

The zone was set up in 2003 and is being monitored by a team of professional scientists who, over a five-year study period, are looking into the effects of the zone on the habitats and species it is designed to protect.  The no-take zone is small covering a total area of 4 km²  (Note: Hong Kong’s only no-take marine reserve is 20 hectares or 0.07km²)

The latest results show that there has been a significant increase in populations of lobsters and crabs and that increasing number of juveniles are seen outside the protected area.  It is envisaged that in a year or two these will be of harvestable size for the local fishermen.

BBC audio report can be found by clicking on the following:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7509000/7509529.stm

Ban boosts Lundy sea species
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7509765.stm

The post UK: Lundy island – Do fishing no-take zones work? appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

按此

The AFCD is running a series of seminars, from June to August 2008 in the cultural centre aimed at sharing knowledge on marine ecology and conservation.  The talks will be in cantonese.

Click HERE for more information

The post Public seminar on marine parks – 2008 appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

In the marine parks certain activities are banned.

1. Fishing, collecting any animals or plants, except with permits issued by the AFCD.
2. Damaging any shoreline feature.
3. No fishing using trawl nets.
4. Water skiing jet skiing.
5. Possession of trawl nets, spear guns, chemicals or electric charge potentially to be used for fishing

Unfortunately this still allows for a plethora of destructive practices.  Including fishing with permits, fishing with gill nets.

The following links from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department website provide a useful introduction to the location and aims of the marine parks.

• Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park
• Tung Ping Chau Marine Park
• Yan Chau Tong Marine Park
• Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park

The post An intro to Hong Kong’s marine parks appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

The post SCMP letter “Fishing permits in marine parks appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.