ZIM CITY

Millions invested into Hong Kong’s country parks

Paul Zimmerman shares his advice on how the AFCD can avoid silly investments in dragon claws

The Financial Secretary has set aside $500 million to carry out enhancement works in country parks: lookout points, treetop adventure camps, glamping sites, toilet improvements, barbeque sites and revitalising wartime relics. He promises that these will integrate with the natural surroundings and cater for the needs of all ages.

The ludicrous star gazing seats at Tai Long Sai Wan and the dragon claw that was quickly removed at Dragon’s Back give little comfort. Let’s keep the improvements simple.

Instead of ‘stargazing sites’ we can add benches along trails. Identifying wartime relics with information panels will do. Turning them into museums would be over the top. Doubtful is this plan for “glamping” sites.

Instead, let’s coordinate different departments to allow villagers to convert property into lodgings. Let’s incorporate village enclaves under country park management to lessen their burden on the surrounding environment.

Another $55 million has been set aside for improving ten popular hiking trails with tourism potential. We have yet to see the locations and alignments. Certainly additional 36 | SOUTHSIDE

funding for our country parks are overdue. Covering some 40 percent of our land, they have proven their worth. As with SARS in 2003 and now with Covid, the hundreds of kilometers of pathways through unadulterated nature have helped many keep fit and sane.

With the long spell of very dry weather, many trails are now crying out for repairs. Diverting visitors by improving the capacity of easily accessible trails may help. Carefully opening up more trails to reduce the pressure on worn out routes is needed too. This has to be balanced with the risk of disturbing wildlife.

Here lies the challenge. There has been hardly any increase in funding for manpower. Not for wardens, nor for management. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) needs manpower to coordinate different departments to equip the start of trails at transport nodes (which are mostly outside country parks) with refuse and recycling bins, as well as toilets.

We need management to rethink transportation through Sai Kung and other country parks, now overrun by taxis and minibuses (let’s have a park bus and ban others). Management time is also needed for expediting the designation of Robin’s Nest as a new country park.

More than hardware, AFCD needs people to look after our parks and to talk to the community to avoid silly investments in dragon claws.

Paul Zimmerman is the CEO of Designing Hong Kong, a Southern District Councillor and the co-convenor of Save Our Country Parks alliance.