BY AIR MAIL
ENV 50/09/02
27th May, 1975.
Mr. Gerardo Budowski,
Director General,
International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources,
1110 Morges,
Switzerland.
Mr. Fritz Vollmar,
Director General,
World Wildlife Fund,
1110 Morges,
Switzerland.
RECEIVED REGISTRY N 52
- 2 JUN1975
HILK T
/6
Dear Sirs,
I have been authorised by His Excellency the Governor to reply toyour very helpful and understanding letter of the 16th May, 1975 on the subject of the Mai Po Marshes.
I can assure you that the Hong Kong Government is concerned to see that all reasonable steps are taken to preserve wild life in the Mai Po Marshes and elsewhere. The Government obtains advice on ecology and wild life generally from the Nature Conservation Sub-Committee of the Hong Kong Advisory Committee on Recreational Development and Nature Conservation. This committee, which contains specialists in ecology and wild life, has recently endorsed a comprehensive report on the future of the Mai Po Marshes. This report recommends that part of the area should be scheduled as a nature reserve and that part should be developed as a wild fowl park.
You will be pleased to hear that the Advisory Committee did not take the view that the garden housing estate which is to be built on the adjacent Tai Shang Wai area was incompatible with the proposed nature reserve and wild fowl park provided that a protective bund and screen of trees and some other works were provided by the developer and properly maintained. This will be the case because the maintenance of these works will be the responsibility of the estate development company which will be subject to Government control through lease conditions.