Conservation of Fung Shui Woods

Besides a unique landscape feature of Southern China, fung shui woods are good references for understanding Hong Kong’s native vegetation. Important in terms of both cultural heritage and floristic research, these woodlands command significant conservation value. In Hong Kong where land space is scarce, striking a good balance between conservation and economic development is crucial. Protecting existing fung shui woods is one of our key conservation concerns.

At present, all forests on government land, including the majority of fung shui woods, come under general protection of the Forests and Countryside Ordinance (Cap. 96). The fung shui woods which are located within country parks (e.g. Shing Mun fung shui wood) are protected by the Country Parks Ordinance (Cap. 208), and several important woods (e.g. the Nam Fund Road fung shui wood) are now listed as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Highlighting their significance, this measure ensures that conservation considerations are taken into account when developments in or near these sites are proposed. In addition, the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) provides for control in land uses planning, and fung shui woods behind villages (e.g. Cheung Uk in Sha Lo Tung) are in most cases zoned as “Conservation Area” or “Green Belt”, so that the natural landscape is preserved. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has recently carried out an extensive survey on fung shui wood flora, which greatly widened our knowledge of this special landscape and habitat. We hope this information will help future land use planning and afford better protection to Hong Kong’s fung shui woods.

Although certain protection is already in place through above legislation, fung shui woods are not entirely free of threats. Villagers used to to protect these woods for fung shui reason, but controversies occur over conservation and development nowadays. Sitting immediately behind villages, fung shui woods are quite vulnerable to development threat. Trees on forest rims are sometimes destroyed to make way for new houses, roads or slope maintenance works.

In the past, human settlement caused different degrees of interference to nature while fung shui woods have co-existed with rural villages. It is a heartening exception that demonstrates harmony of man and nature. Indeed, there is a lesson to be learned here. Their survival is attributed to the rural community’s nature-friendly philosophy in utilizing natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Studying fung shui woods can enrich our cultural and ecological knowledge. It also shows us the way to keep an accord with nature. Most of the existing fung shui woods are situated in the New Territories and they are not seriously threatened by urbanization or major development projects at the moment. We hope this special topic will help increase public awareness and understanding of Hong Kong’s fung shui woods, through which the readers would learn to respect, appreciate and protect our natural environment and rural heritage.