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• With a size of just 1 108 square km, only 25% of Hong Kong's land area has been developed, while the remaining 75% is left in a relatively natural state. Most of these areas are country parks or protected areas under statutory protection. In the face of land supply shortage, some members of the public have proposed to convert part of the country parks for housing development.^{1Legend symbol denoting At the Panel on Environmental Affairs on 28 April 2008, a Member raised that consideration should be given to developing tourism facilities or residential housing on less ecologically important part of country parks. Some Members also raised questions at the Legislative Council meeting of 26 October 2011 and 16 October 2013 on government plans to reduce the size of country parks for housing development as well as plans to study developing undeveloped land in Hong Kong. On the latter two occasions, the Government said it had no such plans.} This issue of Essential provides an overview of the protected areas in Hong Kong, followed by a brief discussion of concerns over the land use of country parks.

Categories of protected areas in Hong Kong

• There are four broad categories of protected areas in Hong Kong, though the physical boundary of each may overlap with one another. The first is country parks^{2Legend symbol denoting The concept of country park could be traced back to the mid-1960s when Dr Lee Talbot, an renowned international conservation expert, was invited to visit Hong Kong and conduct a survey which led to a report filed to the Government of that time. The report called for the establishment of several country parks.} and special areas designated under the Country Parks Ordinance (Cap.208) enacted in 1976 for "open air recreation" and "protection of the countryside". This category occupies the largest area, covering 44 300 hectares or 40% of the total land area. They provide habitats to over 98% of all flora and fauna species in Hong Kong. At present, there are 24 country parks and 22 special areas.^{3Legend symbol denoting About 70% of land in Lantau is designated as country parks, compared with 38% on Hong Kong Island, 37% in the New Territories and 3% in Kowloon. There are also 5 000 hectares of Hong Kong Global Geopark which are originally part of country parks and special areas, or newly designated as special areas.} Most country parks are on government land and only 1% or 460 hectares are located on private land. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") is responsible for managing these parks and areas.
• The second category is water gathering grounds which are protected under the Waterworks Ordinance (Cap. 102). These grounds are defined as any surface collecting rainwater for the waterworks including reservoirs. They aim at preserving the quantity and quality of water resources. Development on these grounds are discouraged. With a total area of about 36 000 hectares, most water gathering grounds are located around the reservoirs and in hilly terrain. Hence, they also overlap with country parks and fall under the protection of the Country Parks Ordinance. The Director of Water Supplies is the official responsible for marking these grounds.
• The third category is conservation-related zonings which include site of special scientific interests, conservation area, coastal protection area and green belt. They are created in town plans in accordance with the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131). These zonings are made following the principles stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, ^{4Legend symbol denoting The Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines are a Government manual of criteria for determining the scale, location and site requirements of various land uses and facilities. This manual, developed by an interdepartmental committee, is applied in planning studies, preparation and revision of town plans and development control.} namely for (a) retaining sites with significant landscape, ecological and geological attributes; (b) restricting land uses to those sustaining these retained sites; (c) controlling adjoining uses to minimize adverse impacts; and (d) creating new conservation sites in compensation for those conservation sites lost to development.
• Green belts, created for safeguarding existing natural environment from urban encroachment are the biggest component of these zonings, covering 16 000 hectares or 14.5% of the total land area of Hong Kong. The other zonings, designed to conserve the natural landscape or ecology, have a combined size of around 7 000 hectares or 6% of the total land area. All these zonings can be imposed on private or government land. The Town Planning Board is responsible for drafting these zonings in town plans.
• The last category is restricted areas which are set up for protection of wild animals under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Cap.170). Access to restricted areas is regulated in order to prevent hunting or trapping of animals listed in Schedule 2 to the Ordinance. Altogether, there are three such restricted areas, including the 800-hectare Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve.^{5Legend symbol denoting There are two other restricted areas, namely Sham Wan on Lamma Island and Yim Tso Ha in North District.} Most of the restricted areas are on government land. The Secretary for the Environment is vested with the power to create restricted areas to be managed by AFCD.

Concerns over the land use of country parks

• In recent years, some members of the public have advocated using part of the country parks for development. However, some other members of the public are also concerned that this idea, if realized, may damage the integrity of the country park system. This section highlights some issues of concern about changing the land use of country parks.
• First, there is concern over the nature and scope of the development restriction in country parks. Section 10 of the Country Parks Ordinance states that "no new development shall be carried out within the area of the proposed country park", unless AFCD has given prior approval. Under section 16, existing land use which reduces the enjoyment of the parks may also be required to be rectified. The advocates for development are concerned if the restriction is too harsh as it applies to all parts of country parks, without considering whether a proposed development is in the park area located in the urban fringe or remote hilly areas, nor considering the extent of impact of the proposed development on the internal zonings, i.e. recreation, wilderness or conservation zones as classified by AFCD.
• That said, not all works must be avoided in the country parks. In fact, the Director of AFCD may approve some infrastructures like overhead power cables proposed by utilities or development of recreational facilities by private sector, after consultation with the Country and Marine Parks Board^{6Legend symbol denoting The Country and Marine Parks Board was set up under the Country Parks Ordinance and Marine Parks Ordinance. With members appointed by the Government, its key function is to consider and advise the Director of AFCD on country and marine parks policy and programmes. Another function is to consider objections against proposed designation of country and marine parks.} to ensure that these works are compatible with the requirements of the Country Parks Ordinance. Apart from this, according to AFCD, small house development may be considered in country parks under certain conditions and subject to final approval by the Lands Department.^{7Legend symbol denoting According to a note issued by AFCD in June 2012, small house development may be considered on suitable sites, such as within the village environs of a recognized village, in country parks.}
• The second concern is whether the demarcation of country parks boundary should be and can be reviewed. In identifying areas suitable for country parks designation, AFCD has been adopting the "intrinsic criteria" that cover the value of conservation, landscape and aesthetic, and recreation potential.^{8Legend symbol denoting The conservation value is determined by species diversity, degree of naturalness and rarity etc. Landscape value can be qualitatively assessed based on degree of naturalness and scenic quality etc.} For demarcation of the country park boundary, AFCD will consider the area's size, proximity to existing country parks, land status, and existing land uses. Once designated, the existing law does not require that the country park area and its boundary be regularly reviewed against the established criteria.
• In general, an area sufficiently large in size and close to the existing park is usually favoured over isolated and smaller area for efficient park management. In the past, government land was always preferred over private land in country park designation for protection of the "legitimate interest of New Territories villagers".^{9Legend symbol denoting The statement was made by the Secretary for the Environment when he moved the second reading of Country Parks Bill on 7 January 1976. Please refer to Official Record of Proceedings of the Legislative Council of that date.} Hence, section 25 of the Country Parks Ordinance provides that village areas, traditional burial grounds, temples and other religious buildings may be excluded from any country park or special area. Yet this policy has been revised in 2011 after public concern in 2010 over excavation works in Sai Wan within the Sai Kung East Country Park. From then on, private land may also be included if the use of the site is compatible with country park setting.
• The last concern is about the development pressure on country parks. Forty years after the enactment of the Country Parks Ordinance, the urban sprawl has gradually blurred the separation between the countryside and urban areas. Since 1992, there had been at least three occasions where the Government modified or tried to modify the boundary of two country parks for alternative uses,^{10Legend symbol denoting In 1991, the then China Light & Power built its overhead power cables in Tai Lam Country Park. In the mid 1990s, Towngas also built its gas pipes in the same country park. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a developer was granted approval to occupy part of the Pat Sin Leng Country Park for a golf course project in Sha Lo Tung. The approval was subsequently overturned by the court. In 2008, an equestrian and education centre was allowed to be set up in Clear Water Bay Country Park.} which are summarized as follows:
  
  

  (a)	Clear Water Bay Country Park:
  	(i)	In 1992, about 18 hectares of the country park were converted into part of the Southeast New Territories Landfill. In so doing, the then Director of Agriculture and Fisheries did not go through the statutory procedure of excising the area, he instead issued a memo of the encroachment approval to the Lands Department which then allocated the land to Environmental Protection Department for landfill use. As a result, the land was said to have been only on loan and it would be restored and returned to AFCD after the closure of the landfill;11Legend symbol denoting Director of Audit Report No. 61. and
  	(ii)	In June 2010, after completing the relevant statutory procedure, the Government gazetted a designation order to replace the map of the Clear Water Bay Country Park to excise five hectares of the park for the Southeast New Territories Landfill extension. Although the Country and Marine Parks Board did not object to the excision, the Legislative Council passed a motion in October 2010 to repeal the order in view of public opposition to the excision.12Legend symbol denoting While the Government and the Legislative Council had opposing views on that, the Government did not take further action against the repeal motion which was endorsed by the Council. Eventually, the Government announced in January 2011 that it would scale down the landfill extension without encroaching into the country park.
  (b)	Tai Lam Country Park: Two hectares of land were excised from the Tai Lam Country Park in 1995 for the development of Route 3's approach road. Yet at the same time, the Government incorporated two pieces of land with a total area of 42 hectares into the same country park.

• Although the Government has indicated that it has no plan to develop country park at this stage,^{13Legend symbol denoting See Endnote 1.} the development tension is likely to linger, amid calls for a review of boundary demarcation of the country parks on the one hand, and calls for expanding country parks even further on the other.^{14Legend symbol denoting There are calls to the Government proposing the establishment of a platform to review the boundary of country parks in an objective and scientific way. Yet, there are also calls for further expanding country parks to areas of so called country park enclaves which are areas surrounded by the parks.}

Prepared by CHEUNG Chi-fai
Research Office
Information Services Division
Legislative Council Secretariat
8 December 2016