Mr Wotton
Reference...
33
CONVENTION ON WETLANDS OF INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE
1. Please see Hong Kong telegram no 1288 at Folio 31 conveying qualified approval for the inclusion of Hong Kong in the Instrument of Ratification of this convention.
2.
On receipt of the telegram I spoke to Mrs Sampson, Science and Technology Department, and learned: -
3.
(i) In order to meet the deadline, and to fit in with the
Secretary of State's movements, the Instrument was signed on 19 December. As this was three days prior to receipt of Hong Kong's telegram they could not be included in the Instrument.
(ii) They can be included at a later date (some other Dependent
Terrirories also failed to signify approval in time to arrange their inclusion).
(iii) Action to include Hong Kong would in any case be held over until after receipt of the official statement of the
conservation measures already in force in the Mai Po marshes (last sentence of Tuk).
The question now is whether we should inform Hong Kong that they missed the boat. If it is decided that they should be informed (by telegram) this could be done once we know the date that the Instrument of Ratification is to be lodged.
4. Arguments for informing Hong Kong seem to me to rest primarily on courtesy and on placing them in a position where they can prepare for any attacks by conservationists. On the other hand, informing them might result only in delaying preparation of the official statement to which I have referred and, possibly, in their eventually deciding against inclusion (since they have never been over-anxious to be included).
5.
Apart from the question of informing them of the position there is the question of a guarantee of non-inclusion of the area of Mai Po marshes. Mr Milton's letter of 10 December is as far as we can go at present, but I interpret Hong Kong's comment on this point in the Tuk as meaning they require a more definite guarantee. It is a point that will need to be cleared in due course. We could owever, await the promised statement before deciding on a course of action on this angle.
LAST PAPER
GR Webb
Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Dept K 245
233 4377
2 January 1976
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