Notes » Important Bird Areas
Notes » November 2004
Important Bird Areas
It took eight years, but Hong Kong has had two sites included on a list of Asia's Important Bird Areas (IBAs).
Important Bird Areas ... I can't say that with a straight face.
The Deep Bay and Shenzhen River catchment area, and an area encompassing Tai Po Kau, Shing Mun and Tai Mo Shan, are on a list of more than 2,000 sites ...
The two sites in Hong Kong cover 65 square km - about 6 per cent of the total land area.
The Deep Bay site, which includes the Mai Po conservation area, holds 11 globally threatened bird species.
I'm all for protecting endangered species; given enough time, Hong Kong property developers would have drained the wetlands and built high rises on them.
But parts outside the Mai Po area - protected under the global Ramsar Convention on Wetlands - receive no protection.
That's either self-contradictory, or the Global Ramsar Convention has as much teeth as the Geneva Convention.
The other site falls within country parks and is relatively well protected.
Relatively? That's fair: mainland Chinese illegal immigrants have to eat to keep up their energy levels; mugging hikers and tying them to trees is exhausting work.
Overlooked in this inclusion is the inevitable confusion with the International Bank of Asia.
Where do I sign up for the Important Bird Area Visa card?
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