Oh to be in Deep Bay Now That Spring is Here
Submitted by Martin Williams on 10 February 2015 - 6:31pmDeep Bay in northwest Hong Kong is a wetland of international importance, a magnet for migratory waterbirds.
Deep Bay in northwest Hong Kong is a wetland of international importance, a magnet for migratory waterbirds.
Mai Po Marshes has become one of the world’s greatest wetland reserves – and a place I’ve come to know well over the years.
A China Daily article published in January 2013 looked at Hong Kong conservation and the biodiversity plan, through a visit to Nam Sang Wai in the Deep Bay wetland.
Includes:
Conflicts between development projects and environmentalists seem to be escalating in Hong Kong. The government is working on plans to resolve tensions and protect biodiversity.
...The Nam Sang Wai project is just one of a growing number of environmental flashpoints between developers and green groups.
Nam Sang Wai is part of the Deep Bay wetland.
At Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve you can enjoy impressive wildlife spectacles.
Hong Kong Wetland Park is a curious place - habitats small and visitor centre immense.
Last decade, the future looked bright for the Deep Bay wetland, in northwest Hong Kong.
The British and Chinese governments agreed to list it under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance – showing they recognised it should be protected by “wise use”.
A slew of globally rare birds occurred each year, and numbers of waterbirds increased to a peak of around 70,000 in winter 1995/1996; great flocks of gulls, ducks and shorebirds treated visitors to what one birdwatcher called, “One of the greatest bird spectacles in Asia.” The Hong Kong Government helped expand the land managed by the World Wide Fund for Nature in the bay’s key reserve, Mai Po Marshes.
But now, many local conservationists are afraid Deep Bay – which is really a shallow estuary – is in steep, perhaps terminal decline.
Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve is a key part of the internationally important Deep Bay wetland