Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (May 3) :
Question:
The Government announced earlier that it would deck over 16 sections of nullahs throughout Hong Kong by three stages, and the works on the first stage have started. However, the decking of Lung Chu Street Nullah at Tai Hang Tung has recently aroused widespread disputes as the works involve felling of rare trees on stone walls. Some green groups opine that the Government should consider alternative works options to prevent rare trees from being sacrificed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the species and numbers of trees which are affected by such works and require relocation, broken down by the 16 decking works;
(b) whether the authorities will consider replacing those of the 16 decking works which involve relocating precious trees by alternative works options or amending the scope of such works, in order to preserve rare trees; if they will, of the names of the decking works concerned; and
(c) whether the authorities have assessed, in the past two years, if existing legislation is sufficient for protecting trees; if they have, of the assessment results, and whether they will consider enacting legislation on tree protection; if they will, of the details; if they will not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) For the eight nullah decking works in Stage 1, 24 trees require felling and five trees require transplantation, but none of them belongs to important tree* (see Annex 1 for details).
The other eight nullah decking works in Stages 2 and 3 are still under preliminary investigation. It is estimated that around 22 trees may be affected but again, none of them belongs to important tree (see Annex 2 for details). We can only determine the exact number of trees affected after the design has been completed.
(b) For all the 16 nullah decking works, only about 51 trees will be affected and no felling or relocation of important trees is involved. Before implementing any works project, the Drainage Services Department (DSD) will carefully consider different options in the design stage to ensure that trees located within the works area are preserved as far as possible, with priority being given to important trees that are affected.
The decking works of Lung Chu Street Nullah in Stage 1 does not involve any important trees. However, early in the year some environmentalists pointed out that some trees grown on the masonry walls affected by the decking works have special value. A review was immediately conducted on that batch of trees by the DSD and its landscape consultant in collaboration with the experts of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which confirms that those masonry wall trees are neither important trees nor suitable for transplanting. Nevertheless, the DSD, in an all-out effort to preserve that batch of trees as far as practicable, has revised the design on the decking works after consulting the Environment and Food Committee of Sham Shui Po District Council. Three masonry wall trees which have to be removed originally are thus preserved, reducing the number of trees to be felled to 18. Meanwhile, we are exploring the feasibility to preserve more masonry wall trees on the base that other trees located within the park adjacent to the Lung Chu Street Nullah will not be affected.
As the nullah decking works are implemented at the strong requests of the District Councils and local community, the Government will complete all the 16 nullah decking works as scheduled in order to improve the environment in the vicinity of the nullahs.
(c) The Government has been attaching great importance to protecting trees in Hong Kong. At present, there are several pieces of legislation for the protection of trees on government land, including the Forests and Countryside Ordinance, the Country Parks Ordinance, the Crimes Ordinance and the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance. These ordinances can protect trees in public places and country parks from being damaged or felled illegally.
The Government has also taken a series of administrative measures to protect trees on government land. For instance, to avoid unnecessary felling of trees, the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau and the Lands Department have issued technical circulars and instructions, which clearly state the rules and regulations of tree protection. For public works projects that involve transplanting or felling of trees, the works departments concerned are required to include information on tree protection in their submissions to the Public Works Sub-committee when seeking funding approval from the Legislative Council. Moreover, more stringent conditions have been introduced in works contract since June 2004 to enhance the protection of trees in construction sites of public works. For example, contractors are required to conduct a tree survey before the commencement of the works to ascertain the number, the condition and the species of existing trees. They are also required to set up protection facilities and submit monitoring report regularly on the condition of the trees.
For private land, the Government has included tree preservation clauses in all land leases since the 70's. In general, felling or transplanting of trees on private land requires the approval of the Lands Department which will not be given in the absence of full justification. For land leased before the 70's, the Lands Department will incorporate tree preservation clauses in the lease modification when lot owners apply for re-development.
To conclude, the Government has put in place a series of administrative and legislative measures to protect trees and these have proved to be effective. Therefore, the enactment of new legislation on tree protection is not one of our priorities.
* Important trees refer to trees on the Register of Old and Valuable Trees, and any other trees not on the Register but meet one or more of the following criteria:
(a) trees over 100 years old;
(b) trees of cultural, historical or memorable significance;
(c) trees of precious or rare species;
(d) trees of outstanding form; or
(e) trees with trunk diameter exceeding one metre (measured at one metre above ground level).
End/Wednesday, May 3, 2006
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