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Hi Angie: Welcome to HK Outdoors. There’s website for the bungalows, at (oops – July 05: seems to have disappeared!); tel 2980 2325 I stayed there some years ago; fine. There’s other accomm on Lantau, but I mostly haven’t tried; a search I tried a while ago turned up Lantau Resort, near Pui O (edited 18 Nov 08 – sadly seems to have vanished); also at Pui O, there’s Treasure Island If you do stay on Lantau, please let us know how you get on. Martin
Fung Wong Bungalows, in Shui Hau, are pretty close
(sadly, web pages are no more – expensive host, apparently; but could be new pages later)
Post edited by: martin, at: 2005/07/25 10:39
Hi Douglas: No official ones as yet, but a beach may yet be designated for nudity on small island off Sai Kung.
I’m late to reply, as been away.
Know one guy who told me of running most of the trail in a day – reached southwest hills near Tai O, but darkness upon him so abandoned attempt on full trail.
One way of avoiding camping could be to break journey at road, and take bus to accommodation, such as holiday flats at Shui Hau (Fung Wong Holiday Bungalows).
Yes, that’s nature tourism we’re promoting. Not, err, naturist tourism.
Mind you, given the right cast, a nude sunbathing video from the wild side of HK could prove a hot seller. Maybe we should get plannng, and, kind volunteer, you should get trimmin and tanning. (Don’t hold your breath; will have to run this one by the missus first, and see if I can dodge the flurry of frying pans.)
Martin :rolleyes:
Hi Silva:
Welcome to HK Outdoors – and thanks for posting the wonderful photos.
Yes, too bad it’s usually murky across the harbour these days.
– and it seems in one case, great minds think alike when it comes to harbour shots (well, one great mind, and me
).doing bit of internet research, I find many places want tourists – inc Phuket, Maldives, Seychelles, Penang…
International Ecotourism Society’s January issue focuses on tsunami, and tourism wanted:
http://www.ecotourism.org/index2.php?publications/digital_travelerI’ve emailed Jetwing, as considering visiting, and received the following email:
Quote:Thank you for getting in touch with Jetwing Eco Holidays!Your kind concern and encouraging words are greatly appreciated at this time and it will help our country and its people to start rebuilding their lives again.
At this point in time your visit to Sri Lanka is most need as so many local communities depend on the tourist for their sole livelihood. Your visit will encourage them to start rebuilding their lives and to get back on their feet again.
With reference to your query, the interior of the country is total in tact and even some coastal hotels of the affected areas are now fully operational.
Most nature tourists are going ahead with their tours as most places visited by nature tourist have not been affected by the tsunami disaster and the infrastructure is intact.We in fact have a tour group named Ornitholidays from the UK due to arrive today for a 2 weeks birding tour. We also have many individual nature travellers arriving within the next few weeks and months.
Therefore, I suggest that you go ahead with your planed tour to Sri Lanka. This will be one of the best ways that anyone can help to rebuild the countries that affected by this disaster.Since you have 9 days (8-16 Feb) for your tour, I will tailor an 8 nights and 9 days Wildlife& Birding tour itinerary for you. I hope to include a few days in the rainforest, which will give you a chance of seening many endemic birds and some small mammals. Also a couple of nights in Yala for all the big game, shorebirds, etc. As you say Yala Village is undamaged, and the Yala National Park was reopened just a few days ago, which is encouraging news to us all.
The hill country can also be visited so that you can see the Himalayan migrants and some of the most beautiful terrains in the country. I will try to fit in a few more places of interest to you, like the Udawalawe National Park, which is one of the best places to see elephants.Please bear with me for a few days, in order that I send you a tailored itinerary.
Thank you once again for your effort to help our country and the the many people who are depended on the tourism industry to get back on their feet again. Tourists’ visits give us the heart to carry on even with so much pain around us.
Look forward to a fruitful dialogue.
Kind regards,
Ayanthi
message posted to Oriental Bird Club email group:
Quote:Forwarding a message from Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, whom most group
members will know as the editor of the Sri Lanka Wildlife News which
I regularly forward to OB. Obviously, the situation described applies
to one degree or another in all of the areas affected by the tsunami.
The message is that many of the areas are dependent on tourism and
would like our support as soon as they have been able to pick up the
pieces.Best wishes
Krys
Krys Kazmierczak
[email protected]
Original Message
From: “Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne”
Subject: Post Tsunami – Sri LankaDear All,
Under the circumstances, I am sure you will excuse the generic note.
I am
sorry that I have not been in contact with you’ll. But I know my
colleagues have kept some of you in the loop on the tsunami which hastragically cost a lot of lives in Sri Lanka.
The Yala-Tissa-Kirinda area experienced a heavy loss of life. The
only
loss of lives of at a Jetwing Hotel was at Yala Safari Game Lodge.
The
Yala Safari Game Lodge was totally destroyed with staff and guests
losing
lives. The total death toll could be as high as fifty. I went down
with
senior colleagues as soon as we heard of the devastation and spent
four
days working with search teams. We are still engaged in tracing
survivors
and relief is being provided to staff who are affected. The time
spent
recovering bodies of the dead, were the worst days of my life.By the fourth day, many of the dead had been buried and the thoughts
of
the local communities turned to their future. They don’t want to live
off
relief aid. Many people from park staff to jeep drivers to wayside
kiosk
owners asked me to re-start business as soon as possible. They
repeatedly
said that the best way we can help is to bring tourists back and re-
start
the local economy.We need a week or two to come to terms with the human tragedy and to
ensure that humanitarian efforts are fully supported. After that
Jetwing
together with others wish to get the economy back on track so that
people
can re-build their shattered lives.The Yala Village hotel is virtually undamaged. All of the hotels in
Tissamaharama are intact. In my search for survivors, I visited many
of
the properties and also reassured them that we will bring visitors as
soon
as possible. The staff of many of these properties have also suffered
the
death of friends or relatives and are also very anxious of their
livelihoods. They want the dignity and security of employment.Many people in Sri Lanka depend on tourism for a livelihood, directly
and
indirectly. Over 70% of the tourism infrastructure in terms of room
nights
is intact and all of the hotels away from the coast are fully
operational.
One of the best ways for overseas nationals to support the local
communities is to resume travelling to the island, after allowing SriLanka a couple of weeks to re-group.
All Jetwing Hotels are open for business other than the Yala Safari
Game
Lodge, which was fully damaged by the recent disaster.Finally, I know all of you wish the best for all of us in Sri Lanka.
If I
am extremely brief in any of my replies please excuse the brevity as
we
are going through a difficult time.Best wishes
Gehan
Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne
CEO
Jetwing Eco Holidays
Wildlife & Luxury Travel
Jetwing House, 46/26, Nawam Mawatha, Colombo 02 , Sri LankaTel: ++94-11-2345700 or ++94-11-2381201 Fax:++94-11-2441289.
[email protected], [url]http:www.jetwingeco.com[/url]Post edited by: Martin, at: 2005/01/06 15:26
Hi Zar:
Welcome to HK Outdoors!
Haven’t camped here myself (yet), but a couple of campsites I’ve passed that seem good are Man Cheung Po, southwest Lantau; and Ngong Ping below Ma On Shan.
Hope others add ideas.
Martin
Quote:Dear Charlie,I discussed the issues you raised with my marine engineering friend again. He has kindly provided further views in respond specifically to them. He is a proponent of wider deployment of Anti-trawling Artificial Reefs along our coastline, as a means to restore our damaged seabed and depleted fish stock, to prevent further damage by illegal trawling, as well as reuse of our waste tyres as sustainable disposal solution. What is perplexing to us is why is this option not adopted by EPD to dispose of our waste tyres stockpile, and why is AFCD not charged with enriching our in fish stock through Anti-trawling ARs. However, it is also important to know that Waste-tyres AR is by itself a sustainable solution, hence these exchanges. My other enquiries reveal that AFCD is only charged with creating the ARs in Marine Parks and Fishery Protection Areas, as well as the methodology of creating the ARs; anywhere else is the responsibility of Lands Department, and the Marine Department would have a say from the navigation point of view. I don’t see the Lands Department initiating a sustainable solution for the seabed. Hence it would appear to me that the responsibility should fall on the Environmental Department which has to dispose of the waste tyres. EPD has apparently been adopting wrong methods of disposal. We are eager that EPD is motivated to initiate the use a more sustainable solution such as Anti-trawling ARs to dispose of our stockpiling waste tyres, and for the other departments, Lands, AFCD and Marine to co-operate.
Keen
and from engineering friend:
Quote:Re: Anti-Trawler Tyre Artificial ReefsApparently, some old issues have not been settled and some new ones are raised. Hopefully the new information below will help: –
1. “Structural Integrity of the tyre ARs is still untested. …. No direct hit by serious typhoon
yet”. Back in 1997, AFCD were equally cautious when they set out to choose an appropriate
tyre AR design. AFCD subjected the test tyre AR to the “flip tests” which simulated the
worse possible conditions where a severe typhoon would tumble the tyre ARs along the
seabed. These were very severe tests because the tyre AR was tested on land where its
weight is 4 times that in water, and therefore experienced 4 times the stresses actually
encountered in the sea. If the tyre AR passed the tests on land, it would have no problem
in the sea during typhoon conditions.The chosen tyre AR design performed well during the test. All tyres were intact and the
whole AR structure maintained its shape. Thereafter, questions of structural integrity of
the chosen tyre AR design never arose again.In fact, these tyre ARs have proven themselves over the years. Since their first
deployment in 1998, Hong Kong was hit by no fewer than 11 typhoons rated 8 or above.
Maggie rated 9, hit Hong Kong in June 1999 followed in September 1999 by York, rated 10. York, the most severe typhoon in the last twenty years lashed HK for over 11 hours
with wind speed up to 234 km/hour, the highest recorded wind speed in HK. Subsequent
dive surveys by AFCD showed that the deployed tyre ARs retained their structural
integrity and, no repair or maintenance work was required.Two “Tyre nodules are (traditionally used as) fish habitats.” … They have not been tested as
anti-trawler ARs.Since AFCD began their AR Programs in 1995, HK’s AR technologies have evolved
rapidly from small pyramidal tyre nodules or sunken boats, to very sophisticated, high
profile structures designed to suit specific tasks and sites. The latest and most successful
anti-trawling ARs are such specialized structures, incorporating tyres or bio-filters,
sufficiently heavy and robust to resist the impacts of the largest trawlers in HK, and yet
light enough not to sink into HK’s muddy seabed.Some of these third generation anti-trawler ARs standing 7 m above the sea floors, can be
found in the two marine parks in Hoi Ha Wan and Yan Chau Tong as well as the Long
Harbour Fishery Protection Area. From the shrill complaints AFCD receives since their
deployment and the large number of damaged trawler nets found on these anti-trawler
ARs, there is no doubt that these ARs are extremely effective.Regular dive surveys by AFCD have also confirmed that these ARs provide excellent
feeding grounds, spawning sites and protective habitats for a wide variety of fishes,
including commercially valuable reef fishes.3. “Anti-trawlers are usually ships/or derelict dolphins … much heavier obstructions”
Traditionally, ships or derelict dolphins were deployed as anti-trawlers. But derelict
dolphins from dismantled bridges or piers are not readily available and very expensive to
deploy due to their massive weight; while de-commissioned ships are expensive to buy,
clean out and prepare for deployment to avoid polluting the sea.Furthermore, with the high prices of scrap steel in recent years, any mass over and above
the necessary weight (such as the over sized steel ships) to stop illegal trawlers is
redundant and a waste of resources. The modern anti-trawler ARs are designed to provide
just enough mass to stop the illegal trawlers and yet do not sink into the muddy seabed in
HK, unlike the massive dolphins.HK’s experiences also showed that ships and derelict dolphins were not as productive as
purpose built anti-trawler ARs. They need additional enhancement ARs to raise their
productivity. So from an overall cost benefit point of view, purpose built anti-trawler
ARs are much better proposition than decommissioned ship, dolphin, or other dismantled
concrete structure.4. “The number of tyres that need disposing off could make the sea floor in HK look like a
scene from NT.” Some simple calculations may clarify the situation.According to AFCD’s latest AR design with anti-trawling properties, one 8-9 m high tyre
anti-trawling AR will take about 4,000 tyres, to give the AR sufficient size, weight and
structural complexity. Just to put a protective ring of anti-trawler ARs around one marine
park (e.g. Tong Ping Chau) would require over 300 of these ARs. That comes to 1.2
million tyres.
Let’s consider the Outer Port Shelter Fishery Protection Area. To put a protective ring
around this area would require over 600 of these anti-trawler ARs. That comes to 2.4
million tyres!Experiences also show that some trawlers attracted by the increased fish stock inside the
protected area, would lift their nets over the anti-trawler boundaries to fish inside. So
randomly dispersed AR deployments inside these zones are also necessary. Again, let’s
take the Outer Port Shelter FPA as an example. At a deployment rate of 1% of the sea
floor area, a further 1,800 ARs are needed. That adds up to 7.2 million tyres, or six years
supply of HK’s discarded tyre.5. Does AR promote fish production or merely pull in fish stock from the nearby rocky
shores? …. The “natural habitat versus ARs” issue
AFCD’s own surveys and studies showed that the deployed ARs supported larger (sizewise)
and more commercially valuable reef fishes than the natural rocky shores in HK.
On the other hand, there were very few fish in HK’s muddy seabed.
Native species such as John’s Snapper, Painted Sweetlip and Long-tooth Grouper which
had disappeared in HK waters since the late 1950’s, have reappeared in and around the
ARs and in significant numbers. More interestingly, several commercially important fish
have used the ARs as spawning sites. These included the Blacktip Crevalle, Purple
Amberjack, Mangrove Snapper, Painted Sweetlips, Japanese Seabass, Black Seabream
and Goldlined Seabream.These are usually reef fishes which prefer waters deeper than six meters (i.e. away from
the rocky shores) where HK’s natural hard-bottom substrates are already destroyed by
intensive trawl fishing in the past. Therefore, AFCD’s studies strongly suggest that the
deployed ARs do increase the overall fish stock within the HK waters rather than merely
pulling the fish away from HK’s rocky shores or muddy seabed.6. “By deploying anti-trawler ARs, are we not pulling in fish stock to centralized locations
for them to be caught quicker?”
In 2000, AFCD commissioned a study to examine the impacts of various policy
approaches on HK’s fish stocks. The study concludes “the greatest improvement in (HK’s)
fishery (would be) achieved by the elimination of trawling”. Failing that, the simple
exclusion of trawlers in the various marine parks and Fishery Protection Areas (FPAs)
would be better than doing nothing. In addition, further improvements can be achieved by
deploying ARs in these protected zones even if we cannot exclude the indigenous
fishermen using gill nets and lines from these sites.
Therefore, the answer is very clear. HK’s fish stock will benefit much more if anti-trawler
ARs are deployed to keep out the trawlers in these protected areas.
Ideally, we should ban all form of fishing inside the existing 2 PFAs, the 4 marine parks,
the D’Aguilar Marine Reserve and the Airport Marine Exclusion Zone. But political
reality dictates that we have to move one step at a time if we hope to make steady
headway in helping our marine environment.7. There are still some doubts. Why don’t we wait until there are conclusive scientific proofs
before taking the plunge?
It is important to realize that HK’s hard bottom substrates at 6 meters and deeper were
virtually eliminated by indiscriminate trawling in the past. The anti-trawler ARs deployed
in water deeper than 10 meters (to allow for a minimum draft of 5 m Chart Datum) in the
PFAs and marine parks are simply an attempt to partially restore this portion of this
marine ecology. HK cannot afford the luxury to sit back and do nothing.
8. West Kowloon and Victoria Harbour are not particularly good examples … these are
beyond any form of short/long term remedial action.
A practical approach would be to require land reclamation projects to contribute 1%, of
the project costs to a “Marine Mitigation Fund” to be used to partially restore the damage
marine ecology. The mitigation effort can be carried out in HK’s marine parks, marine
reserve, the Airport Marine Exclusion Zone and the PFAs. “Carpeting the (sea) bottom”
with ARs is not practical and has never been considered.email correspondence continued, with this from Charlie Frew:
“Lawrence,
Many thanks for forwarding me the response from your engineering colleague. Whilst I agree with some of the responses I still fear that a lot more work needs to be carried out into the deployment of xx tyres as ARs.
Yes Hong Kong’s seafloor is in a state of oblivion, no thanks to trawlers – but carpeting the bottom with tyres may not necessarily be much better.
We have not had a direct hit with a serious typhoon in many years, the big one is yet to come, dynamiting has more or less been stamped out from Mirs Bay (HK side at least) and Anti trawling devices are usually ships/ or derelict dolphins – much heavier obstructions. Tyre nodules are purely fish habitats. So none of these impacts have really been tested on tyre ARs in Hong Kong.
We should also look at the fisheries management of the Tyre ARs – currently licenses are given out to indigenous fishermen who are free to fish in and around ARs. Are we not pulling in fish stocks to a centralised location for them to be fished quicker? I strongly believe that more work needs to be done by AFCD into this issue and further research into natural habitat verses ARs. West Kowloon and Victoria Harbour are not particularly good examples…..as these are beyond any form of short/long term remedial action. The east coast of Hong Kong is where we should be looking.
Maybe using some of the tyres is an obvious solution and yes AFCD should continue to monitor the ARs and draw comparisons. I really think they have done some tremendous work so far.
I for one would like to see more ARs in Port Shelter, esp since they are due to bring in the trawling ban. Sink some tyre ARs in certain locales and we will have a very productive region.
But I am just throwing caution to the wind as the number of tyres that need disposing off could make the seafloor of HK look like a scene from NT; but in our case it is out of sight-out of mind.
CF”
After Charlie Frew emailed Keen, with some reservations about tyres for artificial reefs, Keen obtained this info from an engineer friend:
“16th November 2004
Dear Lawrence,
RE: MERITS OF TYRE ARTIFICIAL REEFS (ARS)
I shall address each of the five issues raised concerning the tyre artificial reefs as follows:
1. Would toxins leach out from tyres?
Many scientific studies have been carried out in the past ten years to determine whether tyre AR will contaminate the seawater.
The following is a list of references we have at hand confirming that tyres are safe to use for ARs:-
(a) The US National Artificial Reef Plan (Stone, 1995) includes tyres as a reef construction material, noting that no toxic effects attributable to leaching or decomposition have been demonstrated.
(b) National Artificial Reef Plan. NOAA Tech. Memorandum NFMS OF-6, US Dept. of Comm., Wash, D.C, Nov. 70; Stone, R.B., 1995.
(c) A review of waste tyre utilization in the marine environment; Chemistry and Ecology 10: 205-216; Collins, K.J, A.C. Jensen and S. Albert, 1995. …. No adverse impacts demonstrated.
(d) Bio-accumulation studies of tyre artificial reef biota. Paper presented to the Third International Ocean Pollution Symposium, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida April 1997. Chemistry and Ecology; Collins, K.J, W. Figley, and E. Spanier, (in press).
(e) Acceptable use of waste materials. In European Artificial Reef Research, Proceedings of the 1st EARRN conference, Ancona, Italy, Southampton Oceanography Centre, 1996, pp 377-390; Collins, K.J., and Jensen, A.C., 1997.
(f) Scrap tyres for marine construction: environmental impact. In Recycling and Reuse of Used Tyres; p-p. 149-162. ed. By R.K. Dhir, M.C. Limbachiyya, and K.A. Paine. Thomas Telford London; Collins, K.J., Jensen, A.C., Mallinson, J.J., Mudge, S.M., Russel, A., and Smith, I.P. 2001.
(g) Epifauna of tyre reefs in Israel have been studied in detail. No significant excess levels of contaminants (for a range of heavy metals) were found (Collins et al in press.)
For, Hong Kong, in AFCD’s first tyre AR contract for Hoi Ha Wan and Yan Chau Tong Marine Parks in 1997, laboratory tests were carried out to detect possible toxins leaching from the waste tyre samples. None were detected. Since then, AFCD has deployed tyre ARs extensively in Marine Parks at Yan Chau Tong, Ho Ha Wan and Sa Chau- Long Ku Chau, and at the Airport Marine exclusion Zone, Kit-O Marine Research Center, the Long Harbour PFA and the Outer Port Shelter PFA.
2. Would tyres break loose from ARs
The tyre reef project in Florida is a well-documented failure which highlights the importance of using special design to cater for the corrosive environment in the sea. Even today, many countries still use steel fasteners to bond tyres together to form Tyre ARs. These steel fasteners corrode quickly in seawater and the tyres eventually break loose spilling tyres along the coasts.
In Hong Kong, the tyre reef designs were selected after an international tender and uses non-metallic fasteners in a patented construction. In the past 7 years, these tyre ARs have withstood many typhoons, impacts of huge trawler booms and fish dynamites without disintegration. These reefs are regularly checked and some of them have been dragged along the sea floor, far from original positions, and still retain their structural integrity.
3. Can tyre ARs act as anti-trawling devices?
In the last two years, AFCD has successfully deployed anti-trawling ARs specially designed to withstand Hong Kong’s most powerful trawlers. Moreover, these special anti-trawling ARs are able to rest on the silty seabed without sinking.
In short, with careful design and construction, mechanical strength and anti-trawling properties can be built into tyres ARs, or ARs of other selected materials.
4. Are tyre ARs productive?
Through extensive studies since 1997, AFCD has tried out many different types of artificial reefs using concrete, rocks, boats, tyres and special synthetic materials with various AR designs.
AFCD found that rock pile ARs and concrete ARs are both too heavy and prone to sink into Hong Kong’s muddy seabed.
AFCD also found that, the ship hulls are relatively empty and not very productive for its huge mass. Fish tend to aggregate in the small pilot cabins where the structures are more complex. However, when tyre ARs are deployed in these hulls as those in Long Harbour PFA and Outer Shelter PFA, the productivity of the boat ARs increases by several order of magnitude. The most obvious observations were that there were more fish in the tyre AR than the pilot cabin of the same boat.
AFCD also found that elevated tyre ARs of sufficiently large sizes are comparable to their most prolific ARs with bio-filters.
5. Do ARs pull fish away from rocky shores without adding to the total biomass?
HK’s shorelines have been damaged by extensive land reclamations over the last four decades and this trend shows no sign of stopping. Some recent examples include the reclamations in Victoria harbour, the west Kowloon reclamation, the reclamation for the Disney Theme Park at Yam O and the Lamma Island Power Station reclamation. Clearly an extensive portion of HK’s natural marine habitats is continuously been destroyed. The deployment of ARs even at the proposed rate of 200 ARs per year for the whole of Hong Kong, can only partially replace these lost habitats. To put it in anyway, where would those fish go now that their natural habitats at Victoria Harbour (or west Kowloon) are destroyed?
Similarly, away from shore line, most of the hard bottom substrates in HK’s inshore seabed are destroyed by the intensive use of bottom-scrapping trawler nets in the past three decades. Again ARs must be deployed to replace the lost habitats for the marine lives.
Therefore the question of ARs pulling fish away without adding to the total biomass is really not applicable to HK’s badly damaged marine landscape.
Henry”
Hi Janie: welcome to HKOoutdoors!
A few years ago, I asked someone why pretty much no one lives there anymore – he told me that in 70s, there was a spate of robberies by people from mainland (where times surely tough), and most moved out.
Likely also linked to deceline in farming in HK, as cheaper produce from elsewhere – more remote villages typically emptied out, or like Tung Ping Chau only v few residents left.
(Also asked about smuggling, which I’d heard used to be pretty common there: “that doesn’t happen anymore”)
).