Tag Archives: Northern Metropolis

The Fifth Trail 第五山徑

Projects 項目香港山徑, hikingtrails, 生態旅遊, NMDS, hkhiking, 香港行山, mirsbay, 大鵬灣, ecotourism, 鄉村文化, villageculture, 后海灣, 鄉郊保育, 北部都會, Northern Metropolis

The Hong Kong Countryside Foundation is developing the concept of a Fifth Trail that connects Mirs Bay to Deep Bay through the hills and plains in the northern part of Hong Kong. It is not a single line, but a network of paths catering for hikers of different levels and linking villages, scenic points, culturally interesting places, sites of ecological values, and convenience stops. More than drawing lines on maps, colleagues and volunteers of HKCF have started making reconnaissance trips to assess conditions on the ground. These images show director Roger Nissim and volunteer Elton Lam evaluating potential routes to link the Robin’s Nest Country Park and Tai To Yan. Much work remains to be done.

香港鄉郊基金會正在構想香港的「第五山徑」，跨越香港北部的山嶺和平原，連接東部的大鵬灣和西部的后海灣。「第五山徑」不會是單一的路線，而是一個由多條步道組成的網絡，適合不同程度的遠足者，並將沿途的鄉村、觀景點、文化特色、重要生態區和補給站點連接起來。香港鄉郊基金的同事和義工不僅是在地圖上劃線，還已開展了實地考察，評估實際情況。照片展示基金董事 Roger Nissim和義工林穩超正在評估連接紅花嶺郊野公園和大刀屻的可能路線，「第五山徑」要做的事還很多。

Submission on Policy Address 2024

Latest施政報告, policyaddress, 北部都會, Northern Metropolis

15 Sep 2025
Our Foundation has submitted our views on the development of Northern Metropolis for consultation of Policy Address.

2025年9月15日
本基金特别就【北部都會發展】提交了施政報告的咨詢意見

Full document 全文：20240915 HKCF to policy address

兩大理由新田科技城的規模必須重新衡量

Articles 文章生態保育, ecological conservation, biodiversity, 生物多樣性, technology, 科技, 三寳樹, Ramsar Convention, 拉姆薩爾濕地公約, 新田科技城, 濕地, San Tin Technolpole, wetland, 北部都會, Northern Metropolis

（原文刊登在2024-3-12 南華早報給編輯的信，作者李森現任香港鄉郊基金副主席）

深圳現在毫無爭議地相當於中國的 IT 矽谷，華為、騰訊、比亞迪、大疆等重量級企業在這裡札根。目前，騰訊計劃建造新的“騰訊園區”，佔地133公頃，建築面積200萬平方米，可容納八至十萬員工。這些公司像磁石一樣吸引其他志同道合的公司到來，據報道，今年計劃在深圳設立的初創公司不少於86家。

相比之下，香港與之競爭將持續艱難。最近的財政預算講詞稱，去年和今年我們只能吸引到 40 家參與引進戰略企業的計劃。

據目前環境影響評估報告描述，新田科技城佔地300公頃，將造成巨大的環境破壞，緊鄰米埔自然保護區（具有重要意義的拉姆薩爾濕地）的地區約89公頃寶貴的濕地將被毀壞。為了抵消這一影響，規劃中的三寶樹濕地保育公園的很大一部分將保留為「補償」，但是這個公園原本在北部都會區發展策略中已規定為520公頃，現在卻在毫無解釋或理由的情況下，縮減至338公頃，即是削減了182公頃！

因此，考慮到與深圳的劇烈競爭，以及可能在生態非常敏感的地區造成巨大環境破壞的雙重挑戰，似乎政府非常有需要採取「謹慎方案」，分階段進行，以便更好地評估這個發展項目的真正累積環境影響，同樣重要的是讓政府有機會測試這片新的創科用地有人垂青嗎？

合適的第一期是集中發展*落馬洲河套地區*，該地區佔地87.7公頃，其中53.49公頃指定用於創科。

2024-3-12 Letter to Editor

Articles 文章, 未分类三寳樹, Ramsar Convention, 拉姆薩爾濕地公約, 新田科技城, 濕地, Sam Po Shue, San Tin Technolpole, wetland, SanTinTech, 北部都會, Northern Metropolis

2 reasons Hong Kong should rethink its massive technopole plan

(The letter to editor of SCMP was published on 12 Mar 2024. Roger Nissim is currently Vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Countryside Foundation.)

Sir,

Shenzhen is now the undisputed IT equivalent of China’s Silicon Valley with heavyweight companies such as Hua Wei,Tencent, BYD and DGI firmly established there. Currently Tencent have plans for a new ‘Tencent Campus’ covering a 133 ha site with 2m sq.m of floor space for 80-100,000 employees. These companies are acting like a magnet for other like-minded companies, it being reported that no less than 86 startups are planned for Shenzhen this year.

Hong Kong by comparison will continue to struggle to compete against this. As noted in the recent Budget speech, we have just lined up 40 businesses, last year and this year, under the Attracting Strategic Enterprises scheme.

The current 300ha site for the San Tin Technopole as described in the EIA is going to cause huge environmental damage with some 89 ha of valuable wetland to be destroyed in an area immediately adjacent to the Mai Po Nature Reserve, a Ramsar site of great significance. To offset this a significant portion of the planned Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park is to be set aside as compensation. This Park was originally stated in the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy to be 520 ha but now, without any explanation or justification, has now shrunk to 338 ha, a further loss of 182ha!

So given the twin challenges of competing with Shenzhen and the potential for huge environmental damage in this very sensitive area there seems to be a good case for taking a precautionary approach by proceeding in phases to be better able to assess the true cumulative environmental impacts this development will have but, just as importantly, to properly test the marketability of this newly created I&T land?

A suitable Phase 1 would be to stay focused on the development of the Lok Ma Chau Loop which covers an area of 87.7 ha of which 53.49 is earmarked for I&T.

Roger Nissim