A construction plan threatens Sha Lo Tung, home to rare plants and animals A proposal to build a luxury housing complex in a small valley in the New Territories has caused much concern among local green groups. The scenic valley is Sha Lo Tung, which means 'sand snail burrow', referring to the local periwinkle. Biodiversity in the upland valley, at the eastern tip of the developing New Territories, is as significant as the well-known Mai Po Nature Reserve. Hakkas from Central China settled here in the late 17th century. For more than 200 years the villagers have carried out subsistence farming in the valley and terraced the surrounding slopes. Sha Lo Tung and the neighbouring Fung Yuen area have been identified as the second most important conservation area in Hong Kong, after Mai Po Nature Reserve. The valley comprises a variety of natural habitats - woodland, scrubland, grassland, abandoned paddies and freshwater streams. It is an ecological hot spot, with the highest diversity of species of animals and plants found in any one area in the whole of Hong Kong. In its freshwater wetland habitat, 68 dragonfly species - over half of Hong Kong's species - were recorded, including one new to science, Macromia katea, and a population of Gomphidia kelloggi which is probably the only one left in the world. Owing to its importance for dragonflies, the Government last year proposed designating the streams and their banks as a site for special scientific interest. Sha Lo Tung also supports over half of Hong Kong's butterfly, amphibian and larger mammal species, 20 per cent of vascular plant species - including six rare or endangered orchids, 12 per cent of stream fish species, 27 per cent of bird species, and 25 per cent of reptile species. Because of little human disturbance, barking deer, leopard cats, civets, wild boar and ferret badgers have started recovering their numbers in this remote valley. Despite Sha Lo Tung's impressive ecology, the proposal for the housing complex is still supported in principle by the Government. The administration denies the loss of a species amounts to a breach of the Convention on Biodiversity. This illustrates how conservation policy in Hong Kong is being led more by developers than by individuals who recognise the importance of biodiversity and the irreversibility of its loss. Friends of the Earth is a local non-profit environmental organisation. For information, call 2528-5588.