CHAPTER 3  IMPROVEMENT PROPOSALS	

Introduction of a Scoring Scheme for Assessing Ecological Value of Sites

3.1		We will continue to pursue the nature conservation objective through the existing conservation tools, implementation of conservation programmes for individual habitats and species, and enhancement of the management of the existing conserved areas as appropriate. In seeking to further enhance the effectiveness of the conservation efforts, the foremost task is to establish a reliable and widely acceptable system for evaluating the ecological value of individual sites with the objective of reaching a consensus within the community on a list of priority sites for enhanced conservation.  After drawing reference from international practices, we have worked out a scoring system at Table 1 for assessing the ecological value of individual sites by taking account of the value of their peculiar habitat and biodiversity.  The proposed scoring system seeks to provide a more objective and systematic mechanism for assessing the relative ecological importance of different sites, and to facilitate the identification of sites that deserve better protection and their relative priorities for action.  The priority list will help us focus our future efforts on the most deserving areas.  It will also provide useful information for planners of development projects who can take into account the possible ecological impact at the early planning stage.  

3.2		AFCD is now collating baseline ecological information through the conduct of a territory-wide survey programme with a view to establishing a comprehensive ecological database in phases by 2005.  The survey programme will cover different habitats; the location, status and composition of about 100 plant communities; and the distribution and abundance of about 1 000 animal species.  The findings of the ecological surveys will supplement existing ecological information available from previous studies and surveys (including the Biodiversity Survey conducted by the University of Hong Kong in 1996-97).  Above all, the findings will provide useful input to the proposed scoring system for the compilation of the priority list of sites for enhanced conservation.

Table 1  Proposed Scoring System for the Assessment of Ecological Value of Sites

Criteria	Weighting	Description	Score	Description	
Habitat 	(60%)				
Naturalness	15%	Habitats that are natural or with least modification by human activities in the past history will have higher conservation value.
Truly natural habitats (i.e. not modified by man) are usually highly valued. However, most areas of the territory have been modified. Generally, those habitats less modified will tend to be rated higher. 	0	Built-up or highly degraded areas with little conservation value. 	
			1	Man-made or intensively modified by human, e.g. agricultural land. 	
			2	Semi-natural or moderately modified, e.g. disturbed woodland. 	
			3	Truly natural or relatively free from human modification, e.g. natural woodland. 	
Habitat diversity	15%	Generally, the greater the number of major habitats, the greater the overall importance of the site as a whole. Major habitat types include woodland, inter-tidal mudflat, mangrove stand, natural stream course, freshwater marsh, etc. 	0	Containing no major natural habitats or habitats which are highly degraded. 	
			1	Containing only one major habitat type. 	
			2	Containing two to three major habitat types. 	
			3	Containing four or more major habitat types. 	
Size	10%	Larger sites shall be more valuable than smaller ones, all else being equal. 	0	Minute-sized: ≦ 1 ha. 	
			1	Small-sized: 1 ha < size ≦ 10 ha. 	
			2	Medium-sized: 10 ha < size ≦ 100 ha. 	
			3	Large-sized: >100 ha. 	

Non-recreatability	10%	Habitats which are difficult to be recreated are valued higher. This evaluates the complexity of the habitat types, the time and effort needed to recreate the ecosystem and the degree of uncertainty in recreating the habitats.	0 	Easy to recreate, but recreated habitats would have little conservation value e.g. landscaped areas. 	
			1	Easy to recreate, e.g. fishponds, abandoned agricultural land. 	
			2	Possible to recreate but it takes much time and effort, e.g. secondary forests. 	
			3	Very difficult or impossible to recreate regardless of time and effort, e.g. inter-tidal mudflats, natural woodlands, streams. 	
Degree of 
disturbance	10%	Disturbance from human activities, development and pollution will lower the conservation value.	0	Extreme level of disturbance e.g. urbanized area or highly polluted stream courses. 	
			1	High level of disturbance. 	
			2	Medium level of disturbance. 	
			3	Low or free from disturbance. 	
Biodiversity 	(40%)				
Species diversity & richness	20%	The more diverse the species assemblages and communities of a site, the higher is its conservation value.  	0	Insignificant diversity (as a reference, ≦5% of total number of recorded species in HK of a particular taxa group) for all taxa groups. 	
			1	Low diversity (5% < diversity ≦ 20%) of at least one taxa group. 	
			2	Moderate diversity (20% < diversity ≦50%) of at least one taxa group. 	
			3	High diversity (>50%) of a particular taxa group or moderate diversity of at least three taxa groups. 
	
Species rarity / endemism	20%	The more rare / endemic species the site supports, the higher is its conservation value.	0	Not known to support any population of rare or endemic species. 	
			1	Support populations of rare species of at least one taxa group. 	
			2	Support a population of endemic species, or populations of rare species of two to three taxa groups. 	
			3	Support a population of extremely rare species or rare endemic species, or populations of rare or endemic species of more than three taxa groups. 	

Options to Better Conserve Ecologically Important Sites under Private Ownership

3.3		In the light of the limitations of the existing conservation measures mentioned in Chapter 2, it is expected that most of the priority sites identified for enhanced conservation will involve land under private ownership.  We have examined a number of options and consider that the most practicable ones to better conserve these sites are through partnerships with key stakeholders including landowners and NGOs in the pursuit of the nature conservation objective.  We consider that the options of management agreements with landowners and private-public partnership are more practicable and worthy of further examination for application to the priority sites to be identified.  

Management agreements with landowners

3.4		Under this option, NGOs will be encouraged to enter into management agreements with the landowners concerned either with government subsidies or their own funding.  Through the management agreement, the landowner is required to undertake specified activities or allow the conduct of these activities by the NGO on his land for the purpose of better conserving the habitat concerned.  The terms of the agreement will be drawn up by the NGO in negotiation with the landowner, and the NGO shall monitor and ensure the proper implementation of the agreement to meet the conservation objectives of the site concerned.  The amount of funding to be made available for application by the NGOs and other implementation details including the mechanism governing the allocation and usage of the subsidies will have to be further looked into if this option is to be pursued.  

3.5		The management agreements will constitute a form of partnership among the Government, NGOs and the landowners in conserving individual habitats.  Since the management agreements are negotiated on a case-by-case basis, this option will provide the flexibility for programmes that best suit the needs of individual sites to be drawn up.  This option will incur recurrent cost on the Government if subsidies are provided to NGOs for entering into management agreements with the landowners.  The cost will vary depending on the terms of the agreement.  

3.6		The effectiveness of this option will depend on the willingness of the landowners and NGOs to participate in this type of management agreements, their commitment to fulfil the obligations under the agreements and the implementation of an effective monitoring and audit system for checking that the recurrent resources are well spent on the intended objectives.  We consider this option most suitable for habitats the sustainability of which depends on the type of human activities that take place in them. 

Private-public partnership

3.7		Under this option, a private developer with an ecologically important site, which development will otherwise be difficult because of the likely environmental impacts, will be allowed to develop a less sensitive section of his site provided that he undertakes long-term obligations to manage and conserve the remaining part of the site.  A similar approach has been adopted in promoting private-sector initiatives in enhancing conservation of wetlands (mainly fishponds) in the Deep Bay area.  In order to enhance the flexibility, proposals involving non in-situ land exchange for development with full justifications may also be considered on an exceptional basis.  Each of the proposals will have to be examined on a case-by-case basis by the authorities concerned.  The pre-requisite will be that the developer has to demonstrate that there is a feasible and acceptable conservation plan that can ensure the long-term conservation management of the ecologically important site concerned.   

3.8		The practicability of this option will depend on the private sector’s initiative to submit proposals.  Whether a particular proposal is feasible will have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis having regard to a number of factors including site constraints, ecological conditions, accessibility of the area, land use compatibility, infrastructural capacity, etc.  The financial viability of the management plan proposed by the developer for the long-term conservation of the habitats concerned is one of the key considerations.  One possibility will be the establishment of a trust by the developer to finance the long-term management of the conserved area with a capital injection adequate to support the recurrent expenditure of the trust.   In all cases, an effective monitoring, audit and enforcement system will be required to ensure the proper management of the conserved area.

3.9		This option will encourage the private sector, landowners, developers and NGOs alike, to draw up proposals that, if successfully implemented, can satisfy both nature conservation and development needs.  It can also help promote greater private-sector participation in nature conservation work that is essential to its success in the long run.  

Other options

3.10	The other options that we have examined in the review include tightening of the existing conservation measures, land resumption, land exchange, off-site mitigation and transfer of development rights.  However, they involve huge financial and land resources implications, or implementation complexities and difficulties that will more than balance out the conservation objective that they can achieve.  These options are not considered practicable and will not be pursued.  A summary of the considerations given to these options is at Annex.

Sustainability implications

3.11		A preliminary sustainability assessment has been carried out on all the options examined in this review.  The results show that options including private-public partnership, management agreements with landowners and off-site mitigation, though applicable only on a case-by-case basis, can strike a better balance between the economic and biodiversity considerations.  Private-public partnership also records a positive return in the cost-benefit analysis.  There are however operational difficulties and uncertainties relating to the implementation of the off-site mitigation option, which cast strong doubts on its practicability.  Application of the options of land resumption and land exchange would not be financially sustainable due to their immense financial and land implications.  The option of transfer of development rights is a non-starter because landowners have no development rights under agricultural leases.  The remaining option, i.e. tightening the existing conservation measures by removing land uses on statutory town plans that are incompatible with nature conservation will not impose additional costs on the Government but will have only limited impact since no active management is involved.

3.12	A more detailed sustainability assessment on new improvement options to be adopted would be carried out at a later stage taking into account comments received during the public consultation exercise.