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dam-l HK Standard "Freshwater fish facing concrete problem"
Hong Kong Standard, Mar 14, 2000
Freshwater fish facing concrete problem
By Lilian Kwok
STORY: NEARLY 30 per cent of Hong Kong's native freshwater fish are
threatened with extinction and six species are already extinct because of
pollution and destruction of habitat, according to ecologists and
marine-life experts.
Karen Woo Lai-yan, assistant conservation officer of the World Wide Fund
For Nature, said yesterday more than 60 per cent of Hong Kong's rivers and
many freshwater streams had been destroyed by engineering works in the past
10 years.
Along with other ecologists and experts from 11 environment concern groups,
Ms Woo urged the government to stop destroying and polluting the
territory's natural rivers and streams to mark the annual International Day
of Action Against Dams and for Rivers, Water & Life _ a global campaign for
the protection of rivers.
``In North America and Europe, the channelised rivers and streams are now
being restored to a more natural state.
``We call for a genuine change in the government's attitude toward the
management strategy for our natural streams and rivers so as to achieve the
objectives of sustainable development and a quality environment,'' Ms Woo
said yesterday during a field visit to a portion of the channelised Lam
Tsuen River in Tai Po.
A University of Hong Kong ecology researcher, Bosco Chan Pui-lok, said six
species of freshwater fishes were already extinct and almost 30 per cent of
the native species were threatened with extinction due to pollution and
habitat destruction.
``Hong Kong's streams and rivers are home to more than 70 freshwater fish
species together with more than 40 brackish-water species living in river
mouths,'' Mr Chan said.
Dr John Fellowes, a senior conservation officer at Kadoorie Farm & Botanic
Garden (KFBG), said the destruction of any part of the ecology would in
turn affect our quality of life.
``The sources of food and shelter along river beds and margins, on which
most of fauna and flora depend, have been destroyed by thoughtless river
engineering works.
``Unless we adopt more creative flood-control measures, we will continue to
lose both our wildlife and our quality of life,'' Dr Fellowes said.
He also said the government had not taken seriously the impact of damage to
ecology when working on new town planning.
``Ecologists have not been really incorporated into development thinking.
It started but there's still a long way to go.
``Little attention has been given to the importance of ecology. Nobody
thinks about it in the early planning stage and does not take it
seriously,'' Dr Fellowes said.
Dr Michael Lau Wai-neng, senior conservation officer of KFBG, said the
government should consider whether channelisation with concrete was
necessary with all rivers.
``Just changing the rivers into nullahs _ totally covering them with
concrete _ is not the solution to prevent flooding in the lowland areas.
``We should think of better ways to clean up garbage in the rivers and
streams so as to prevent them from being blocked and to avoid flooding,''
Dr Lau said.
Dr Fellowes added: ``There's no need to have concrete bed on the river.
That does not help with flood control.
``But it does destroy all of the micro-habitat for insects, other animals
and fish to survive along the river bed. The river bed is very important
for the whole river eco-system.''
Copyright(c) 2000 Hong Kong Standard Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Doris Shen
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA 94703
doris@irn.org
tel: 510.848.1155 ext. 317
fax: 510.848.1008
http://www.irn.org
http://www.floodwallstreet.org
http://www.hk-sanxia.org