I did try Sun Hung Kai again, via BEC: they're not interested in doing anything re nature tourism at Sham Chung.

They were Black Kites - indeed common here, especially over and near the harbour, with significant roost on south slopes of hills near the Peak.

Hello. I will be visiting HK in February and I am hoping to buy TNF daypacks. Anyone know of shops that sell them aside from the ones already mentioned here? Thanks!

I stayed at a harbour view hotel in Hong Kong last week and was fascinated by the large birds circling over the harbour. They looked the size of a buzzard - would love to know what they were!

Paul Smethurst

Ah, that would be columnist Monckton, of no scientific background and Cuckoo Science.

Do people still believe in global warming? I thought Lord Monckton had destroyed you folk once and for all.

Well, we have country parks here.

But establishing them is tough - very very few new ones lately. And all that I know of exclude village areas, even abandoned villages - Sham Chung is a classic example of these, surrounded by country park yet excluded from it.
Idea when excluding the villages, much as small house policy, was to allow villages to survive. Wasn't anticipated people would mostly move out, and then village areas would attract rich city folk for renting commuter accommodation, maybe visiting on holidays, playing golf and so forth.

Money would indeed change minds; but Sun Hung Kai has already bought rights to most Sham Chung land - and seems utterly disinterested in doing anything like pleasant rural tourism (I have tried to contact Sun Hung Kai about Sham Chung, through Business Env Council - but nothing).

Sham Chung is one of several major sites for biodiversity that have been bought by developers in this way, with government fending off various proposals for developments, yet finding it tough to keep holding out.
There have been ideas for government buying land - which might be only way to establish country parks in such areas; yet very expensive. (Way too much for WWF or Greenpeace, say; Hong Kong has pitifully few nature reserves - and massive land prices surely a key reason. Not like UK, where RSPB and other ngos can buy land for reserves.)
So, arguments continue.

I haven't been to Sham Chung for a while; was told there's now a golf course, but not sure it's used much. I believe it's crap that Sun Hung Kai hasn't (that I know of) made effort to maintain and restore old village houses there.

About to send another email to BEC, re Sun Hung Kai and Sham Chung...

Just curious, what is required to make Sham Chung a national park? How can you obtain the funds to improve the village homes into something a bit more respectable? I am all up for changing the Sham Chung into national park but how would you persuade the villagers to change their minds especially the elders? The problem is most of the villagers that fled the land had to emigrate oversea to make end meat to support and raise their family. When the Sai Hung Kai opportunity came along, they see it as a lottery win. Kerching!! My father is one of those villagers who had survive a lot of hardship in the UK. I imagine it will be the same for the rest of the villagers. How would you change their mindset? For me I would like to see the land to be converted into national park than watching a couple of ponzy b*****ds playing golf. The problem is I don't have a say in this matter. If WWF and greenpeace really want to change this into a national park, they would have to provide some sort of funding to improve the housing in the area but the only problem is trying persuade the older generation who are mainly after a big paycheck. The only thing I can think of is to target the younger generation but the problem they are all disperse around the world.

I just wanted to congralute your beautiful post! It's so interesting to know the long history of a beautiful such as Sai Kung Peninsula...

Good to see article in yesterday's South China Morning Post, re AFCD having embarked "on a programme that will gradually phase out exotic tree species and replace them with local ones".
Says that at 21 country park sites, exotic species that had been widely planted on barren land after Second World War will be removed to make way for mix of local species.
"Thousands of the trees will be felled this winter, with new species belonging to local species to be planted in spring".

Yippee!