香港米埔濕地：當(dāng)開(kāi)發(fā)商瞄準(zhǔn)水鳥天堂

HONG KONG — Squeezed tightly between two megacities with a combined population of 20 million are some of East Asia’s most important wetlands, where rare birds sing out amid traditional shrimp ponds.

香港——在兩座人口總數(shù)為2000萬(wàn)的特大城市之間，卡著東亞最重要的一片濕地之一，在那里，珍稀的鳥類在傳統(tǒng)的蝦池間歌唱。

Look up, and looming right above this rustic setting are the crush of skyscrapers in Shenzhen, China, almost close enough to touch. Just out of view behind some hills to the south are the congested streets of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.

抬頭看，在這片田園風(fēng)情之上，中國(guó)深圳密集的摩天大樓赫然聳立，近得幾乎觸手可及。南面的山丘，擋住了看見(jiàn)九龍和香港島擁擠街道的視線。

But in this corner of northwest Hong Kong, tens of thousands of cormorants, herons, egrets, sandpipers and other birds, including endangered species like the black-faced spoonbill, gather each winter to feed on the mud flats. Eucalyptus trees line a path that cuts along the shrimp and fishponds, where small restaurants serve up the day’s harvest.

在香港西北的這個(gè)角落里，成千上萬(wàn)的鸕鶿、蒼鷺、白鷺、鷸和其他鳥類，包括瀕臨滅絕的物種，比如黑臉琵鷺，每年冬天都聚集在一起，以泥沼地為生。桉樹沿著蝦池和魚塘排列出一條小路，那里的小餐館提供當(dāng)天收獲的食物。

For bird watchers, bike riders and day-trippers from Hong Kong, the wetlands offer welcome respite from the city’s crowds, even if the sound of birdcalls is regularly interrupted by the clank of hammers and the beep-beep of reversing vehicles from an industrial district nearby.

對(duì)于來(lái)自香港的觀鳥者、騎行者和一日游游客來(lái)說(shuō)，這片濕地提供了喘息的機(jī)會(huì)，遠(yuǎn)離城市擁擠人潮，即便鳥鳴經(jīng)常被附近工業(yè)區(qū)錘子的叮當(dāng)聲和倒車的滴滴聲打斷。

But in a place where land prices are among the most expensive in the world, shopping malls and apartment blocks are far more profitable than shellfish, and the area is increasingly attractive to developers.

但在這個(gè)地價(jià)位居世界前茅的地方，購(gòu)物中心和公寓樓比貝類更有利可圖，而且開(kāi)發(fā)商對(duì)這里的興趣越來(lái)越大。

“In a few years, this will all be housing,” said Yip Ka-kit, 32, as he took a break from riding his bicycle around Nam Sang Wai, a 400-acre wedge of the wetlands bounded by two rivers and filled with fish ponds and reed beds. “People in Hong Kong only care about the economy.”

“幾年以后，這里將全都變成住宅樓，”在南生圍周圍騎車休閑的32歲葉家杰(音)說(shuō)。這是一片400英畝(約合162公頃)的濕地，由兩條河環(huán)繞，遍布魚塘和蘆葦?shù)亍?“香港人只關(guān)心經(jīng)濟(jì)。”

Signs warning of the punishment for arson — up to life in prison — hang prominently in the wetlands, a reminder of one of their most imminent threats: fire. A series of blazes this spring scorched parts of Nam Sang Wai.

濕地里醒目地掛著嚴(yán)懲縱火行為的警告牌，最高可達(dá)終身監(jiān)禁，它提醒著這里最緊迫的威脅之一：火災(zāi)。今年春天，一系列火災(zāi)燒焦了南生圍的部分地區(qū)。

It is not the first time suspicious fires have burned in the area, which environmentalists and officials believe may have been set to undermine its ecological value.

這不是該地區(qū)第一次發(fā)生可疑的火災(zāi)，環(huán)保人士和官員們認(rèn)為，這可能是人為放火，為了破壞該地區(qū)的生態(tài)價(jià)值。

Police say they are investigating, but have arrested no suspects. Last year during a public hearing, a representative of a company that has applied to develop the area denied it had any role in the blazes.

警方表示，他們正在調(diào)查，但沒(méi)有逮捕任何嫌犯。去年，在一次公開(kāi)聽(tīng)證會(huì)上，申請(qǐng)開(kāi)發(fā)該地區(qū)的公司代表否認(rèn)該公司與火災(zāi)有關(guān)。

“There has been a longtime struggle between the landowners and preservationists about the future of that piece of wetland,” said Eddie Chu, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council who represents the area and has called for protection of Nam Sang Wai.

“土地所有者和環(huán)保人士之間就這片濕地的未來(lái)進(jìn)行了長(zhǎng)期的斗爭(zhēng)，”代表該地區(qū)的香港立法會(huì)議員、呼吁保護(hù)南生圍的朱凱廸說(shuō)。

Seen from above, the wetlands look like a net, with thin bands of land looping around blue blocks of water.

從空中俯瞰，這片濕地看起來(lái)像一張網(wǎng)，在藍(lán)色的水域周圍環(huán)繞著一圈狹長(zhǎng)地帶。

For centuries, rice paddies filled the area. Then beginning in the 1940s, the people who worked this land, many of them refugees from war and political chaos in China, turned the paddies into fishponds that earned far more than rice.

幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，這片區(qū)域遍布稻田。后來(lái)從20世紀(jì)40年代開(kāi)始，許多因中國(guó)的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)和政治混亂而來(lái)的難民在這里種地，他們把稻田變成了魚塘，賺的收入遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)稻米。

For decades, landowners have sought to develop the area, only to be rebuffed by the courts and government agencies. Last year the local planning board rejected the most recent proposal from a developer because of concerns about the potential loss of wetlands. The developer said it would appeal.

幾十年來(lái)，土地所有者一直尋求開(kāi)發(fā)這片地區(qū)，但遭到法院和政府機(jī)構(gòu)拒絕。去年，出于擔(dān)心可能失去這片濕地，當(dāng)?shù)匾?guī)劃委員會(huì)拒絕了開(kāi)發(fā)商的最新提議。開(kāi)發(fā)商表示會(huì)提出申訴。

The total size of the wetlands area is about 4,350 acres, equivalent to five of Manhattan’s Central Park. Part of the wetlands are off limits to large-scale development, including the Mai Po Nature Reserve, which is protected under the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation of wetlands.

濕地區(qū)域總面積為大約4350英畝(約合1760公頃)，相當(dāng)于五個(gè)曼哈頓中央公園(Central Park)。部分濕地是大規(guī)模開(kāi)發(fā)的禁區(qū)，包括受保護(hù)濕地的國(guó)際公約拉母塞公約(Ramsar Convention)保護(hù)的米埔自然保護(hù)區(qū)(Mai Po Nature Reserve)。

The reserve includes traditional shrimp farming ponds that have largely disappeared from the rest of China. The ponds, known as gei wai, make use of the tides to suck in young shrimp from Deep Bay. The ponds are then closed off, allowing the shrimp to grow in protected lagoons, until they are harvested by draining the water during an ebb tide.

該保護(hù)區(qū)包括傳統(tǒng)的養(yǎng)蝦塘，在中國(guó)其他地區(qū)，這樣的池塘基本已經(jīng)消失。這種池塘名為“基圍”，它利用潮汐吸入后海灣的幼蝦。然后封閉池塘，讓蝦在這個(gè)受保護(hù)的瀉湖中生長(zhǎng)，然后在退潮期間，通過(guò)把水抽干來(lái)收獲它們。

The World Wide Fund for Nature in Hong Kong operates 21 gei wai in the reserve. The shrimp are harvested at night.

世界自然基金會(huì)香港分會(huì)在保護(hù)區(qū)內(nèi)運(yùn)營(yíng)21個(gè)基圍蝦塘。蝦都是在晚上收獲的。

One night several pounds of shrimp were netted as a group of environment officials from mainland China watched and later dined on the shrimp, which were accompanied by soy sauce, chili peppers and beers.

一天晚上，中國(guó)大陸的一群環(huán)保官員網(wǎng)走了幾磅蝦，然后蘸著醬油和辣椒，就著啤酒吃了蝦。

“When we harvest there are small fish and shrimp we don’t want, and the birds come and eat,” said Wen Xianji, assistant director of the Mai Po reserve. “This traditional way of aquaculture benefits both humans and birds.”

“那個(gè)時(shí)候有很多鳥，就來(lái)了就可以吃，因?yàn)槭蒸~以后有剩余的一些小的魚、蝦，他們不要了，鳥就來(lái)了可吃，”米埔保護(hù)區(qū)副總監(jiān)文賢繼說(shuō)。 “所以他們傳統(tǒng)的養(yǎng)殖方式對(duì)人類和鳥類都有益。”

The nature reserve has the added protection of its location along Hong Kong’s border with Shenzhen, where permits limit entry from the Hong Kong side, and a 15-foot fence topped with barbed wire blocks people from crossing from the mainland.

這個(gè)位于香港與深圳接壤處的自然保護(hù)區(qū)得到了額外保護(hù)，從香港進(jìn)入這里要受許可證限制，還有一個(gè)15英尺(4.5米)高的圍欄，上面架著鐵絲網(wǎng)，阻止大陸人從這里穿過(guò)。

Still, poachers do sometimes visit by boat to catch mudskippers, amphibious fish used in Chinese medicine.

然而，有時(shí)會(huì)有人坐船來(lái)偷彈涂魚，這種兩棲魚類是一種中藥。

But other areas nearby, like Nam Sang Wai, have less concrete protections.

但附近的南生圍等其他地區(qū)，就沒(méi)有如此切實(shí)的保護(hù)。

The most recent development proposal in Nam Sang Wai would have included apartments for 6,500 people.

南生圍最新的開(kāi)發(fā)計(jì)劃包括能容納6500人的公寓樓。

The developer, a joint venture between a family that has long owned the land and Henderson Land Development, a large Hong Kong property company, said it would follow a model like the London Wetland Center, which included a residential development that financed a habitat preservation project.

這塊土地由長(zhǎng)期擁有它的家族與香港大型房地產(chǎn)公司恒基兆業(yè)地產(chǎn)有限公司(Henderson Land Development)的合資公司開(kāi)發(fā)，該公司表示，它將采用像倫敦濕地中心那樣的模式，其中包括為一個(gè)棲息地保護(hù)項(xiàng)目提供資金的住宅開(kāi)發(fā)項(xiàng)目。

The proposed development itself would take up less than 10 percent of Nam Sang Wai’s 400 acres, with the remainder preserved as managed wetlands, its backers say.

該項(xiàng)目支持者表示，南生圍共有400英畝土地，擬議的開(kāi)發(fā)項(xiàng)目本身占地不到10%，其余部分將保留為受管理的濕地。

Environmental groups, however, oppose the plan.

然而，環(huán)保組織反對(duì)該計(jì)劃。

“So far from what we’ve seen the scale of development is not compatible with the area,” said Woo Ming-chuan, conservation officer for the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. “It’s quite sensitive and unique, and they want to build residential towers.”

“到目前為止，我們所看到的發(fā)展規(guī)模并不適合該地區(qū)，”香港觀鳥會(huì)的保育官員胡明川說(shuō)。“這里非常敏感和獨(dú)特，而他們希望建造住宅樓。”

Ms. Woo said she believed any plan that sacrifices some of the wetlands would only encourage further encroachment.

胡明川說(shuō)，她認(rèn)為任何犧牲部分濕地的計(jì)劃只會(huì)助長(zhǎng)進(jìn)一步的侵占。

“We are afraid that once approved it will be a precedent for similar applications in the future,” she said.

“我們擔(dān)心，一旦獲得批準(zhǔn)，它將成為未來(lái)類似申請(qǐng)的先例，”她說(shuō)。

For now, the area remains a popular weekend destination for walkers, cyclists and nature lovers, with the entrance to the wetlands a short walk from a shopping mall that sits atop a rail station.

目前，該地區(qū)仍然是步行者、騎行者和自然愛(ài)好者趨之若鶩的周末旅行地，濕地入口距離位于輕鐵站上方的購(gòu)物中心只有短短一段路程，步行即可到達(dá)。

A short sampan ride takes visitors across an eddy of the Shan Pui River. The captain can often be found sleeping on the boat, waiting for passengers to board the small wooden craft, with a maximum capacity of seven. It is the only ferry in Hong Kong that traverses a river and the only one human-powered.

游客可以乘坐舢板穿過(guò)山貝河的漩渦。人們經(jīng)常會(huì)看到船長(zhǎng)在船上睡覺(jué)，等著乘客登上這條最多可容納7人的小木船。它是香港唯一一條橫穿河流的渡輪，也是唯一一條使用人力劃槳的渡輪。

Among people who visit the area, the fear is that the forces of development will eventually win out.

該地區(qū)的來(lái)訪者擔(dān)心，發(fā)展的力量最終勝出。

“Of course I want them to preserve this place,” said Mr. Yip, the cyclist. “If they fill in everywhere in Hong Kong with houses, there will be nothing left to do here.”

“我當(dāng)然希望他們保留這個(gè)地方，”騎自行車的葉先生說(shuō)。“如果他們?cè)谙愀鄣教幧w滿房屋，那么這里就沒(méi)有什么能做了。”