¡ Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Cap. 170), which protects wild animals listed under the second schedule from being hunted, possessed, sold or exported, disturbed of their nests or eggs without permission by authorised officer;

¡ Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586), which regulates the import, introduction from the sea, export, re-export, and possession of specimens of a scheduled species, including live, dead, parts or derivatives. The Ordinance applies to all activities involving endangered species which include the parties of traders, tourists and individuals;

¡ Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499), which specifies that designated projects under Schedule 2 of the Ordinance, unless exempted, must follow the statutory environmental impact assessment (EIA) process and require environmental permits for their construction and operation;

¡ EIAO Guidance Notes NO. 6/2010, 7/2010, 10/2010 and 11/2010. These guidance notes provide the observations on Ecological Assessment from the EIAO perspective, providing the general guidelines for conducting an ecological baseline survey for ecological assessment, introducing some methodologies in conducting terrestrial and freshwater ecological baseline surveys, and methodologies for marine ecological baseline surveys respectively;

¡ Annexes 8 and 16 of the Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM): Annex 8 recommends the criteria for evaluating ecological impact. Annex 16 sets out the general approach and methodology for assessment of ecological impact arising from a project or proposal, to allow a complete and objective identification, prediction and evaluation of the potential ecological impact;

¡ Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) which gives designation to country parks, conservation area, green belts, sites of special scientific interest, coastal protection area, and other specified uses to promote conservation, protection and education of the valuable environment;

¡ Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines Chapter 10 (HKPSG) provides the guidelines on landscape and conservation to achieve a balance between the need for development and the need to minimise disruption of the landscape and natural resources;

¡ The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between Governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival;

¡ The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (the Bonn Convention) is an intergovernmental treaty concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale. Its aim is to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range;

¡ United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (1992) is an international legally binding treaty. Its aim is to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity;

¡ The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognised as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species. The goal of the IUCN Red List is to provide information and analyses on the status, trends and threats to species in order to inform and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation;

¡ Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources;

¡ The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and Aichi Biodiversity Targets is a ten-year framework for action by all countries and stakeholders to save biodiversity and enhance its benefits for people;

¡ Wild Animal Protection Law of the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) is formulated for the purpose of protecting and saving the species of wildlife which are rare or near extinction, protecting, developing and rationally utilising wildlife resources and maintaining ecological balances.

12.3 Ecological Baseline

12.3.1 General

12.3.1.1 An ecological baseline has been established to understand the ecological condition of the study area. The purpose of establishing the ecological baseline is to collect comprehensive and up-to-date ecological information relating to the study area to allow an assessment of potential impacts associated with the construction and operation of 3RS project on the terrestrial ecology of the study area. It is also used when proposing suitable mitigation measures, and for the development of the monitoring and audit programme where necessary. The ecological baseline information were collected through literature reviews and purposefully designed surveys for any areas where data gaps have been identified. The results of the literature review are presented in Appendix 12.1.

12.3.2 Study Area

12.3.2.1 As specified in Clause 3.4.10.2 of the EIA Study Brief No. ESB-250/2012, the study area for the terrestrial ecological impact assessment includes the Tai Ho Stream Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), San Tau Beach SSSI, Lung Kwu Chau, Tree Island and Sha Chau SSSI and any other areas likely to be impacted by the project, such as open sea to the north of the existing airport island in relation to the investigation of birds’ activities over the land formation area and the adjacent waters. The study area for terrestrial ecological impact assessment covers all the ecological sensitive areas likely to be impacted, including:

¡ All land areas on the airport island;

¡ All land areas within 500 m from the coastline of North Lantau from Sham Wat Wan to Tai Ho Wan; and

¡ All land areas within the boundary of Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau (SCLKC) Marine Park

12.3.2.2 The study area for the terrestrial ecological impact assessment is shown in Drawings MCL/P132/EIA/12-001 to MCL/P132/EIA/12-007 while the study area for bird surveys is shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-008. For the purpose of this impact assessment, project area refers to the proposed land formation area (Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/4-001) and the areas on existing airport island where construction works for the project will be carried out (Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/4-004).

12.3.3 Key Ecological Sensitive Receivers

12.3.3.1 Key terrestrial ecological sensitive receivers within the study area or the areas that may potentially be impacted by the project include Tai Ho Stream Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), San Tau Beach SSSI, and Lung Kwu Chau, Tree Island and Sha Chau SSSI.

12.3.3.2 Tai Ho Stream was designated as a SSSI in 1999. It is generally regarded as a high quality freshwater stream in Hong Kong as it is one of the few lowland streams which remains unaffected by river channelization. This habitat accounts for about 29 % of Hong Kong’s freshwater fish species.

12.3.3.3 San Tau Beach was designated as a SSSI in 1994 as there is a seagrass bed that covers the southern part of the beach and it is one of the few places with seagrass in Hong Kong. Although it was designated as a SSSI due to the presence of seagrass, its diverse habitats such as abandoned agricultural land and Fung Shui Woodland also support terrestrial ecology.

12.3.3.4 Lung Kwu Chau, Tree Island and Sha Chau SSSI was designated in 1979 due to its high ecological value for avifauna, especially migratory birds.

12.3.3.5 The locations of aforementioned three SSSIs are shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-001.

12.4 Scope of Field Surveys

12.4.1.1 The ecological baseline information for the study area was initially collected via a preliminary desktop study and through literature review. To supplement the findings obtained from the literature review, ecological field surveys were conducted following the guidelines stated in the “Ecological Baseline Survey for Ecological Assessment (EIAO Guidance Note No. 7/2010)” and “Methodologies for Terrestrial and Freshwater Ecological Baseline Surveys (EIAO Guidance Note No. 10/2010)”. Methodologies of the ecological field surveys are appended in Appendix 12.2

12.4.1.2 The ecological field surveys proposed below mainly serve to verify previous study findings and update the findings with the latest conditions of key ecological resources. However, there is a lack of information on the use of the proposed land formation area by birds. As such a comprehensive bird survey has been undertaken to investigate this aspect.

12.4.1.3 The terrestrial field surveys carried out for this EIA study include:

¡ Habitat mapping and flora surveys;

¡ Avifauna surveys including boat and land-based surveys to investigate flight movements and egretry surveys; and

¡ Other relevant terrestrial and aquatic fauna surveys (i.e. avifauna, macroinvertebrate, herpetofauna and aquatic fauna surveys) at off-site habitat located within the study area.

12.4.1.4 The above-mentioned supplementary field surveys for terrestrial and aquatic fauna were conducted within the study area including the sites of conservation importance (i.e. Tai Ho Stream SSSI, San Tau Beach SSSI, Lung Kwu Chau, Tree Island and Sha Chau SSSI), North Lantau from Sham Wat to Tai Ho and the airport island to supplement the terrestrial ecological baseline condition and to verify the desktop information collected.

12.4.1.5 The survey locations and transects for avifauna surveys are shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-008, whilst the survey locations and transect routes for other terrestrial and aquatic fauna surveys are indicated in Drawings MCL/P132/EIA/12-009 to MCL/P132/EIA/12-015.

12.5 Key Finding of the Ecological Baseline Survey

12.5.1 Overview

12.5.1.1 The various terrestrial field surveys have been completed to collect the relevant ecological baseline data. A summary of the survey results are presented in this section, with focus on the avifauna because it is the main terrestrial fauna group found in the land formation area and is most relevant to the impact assessment. Full set of the baseline survey data including the habitat, flora and fauna survey results for the study area are presented in Appendix 12.3 and associated Annexes.

12.5.1.2 The land formation area lies to the north of existing airport island is currently open waters, which are generally not considered to be an important habitat for terrestrial fauna. However, during the surveys a few bird groups, noticeably seabird, waterbird, landbird and ardeid, were recorded in the open waters to the north of the existing airport island (including the land formation area).

12.5.1.3 In order to understand the relative use of land formation area and northern Lantau waters by avifauna, the birds recorded in the land formation area were compared to those recorded in the study area in northern Lantau waters. The boat survey results, for those birds recorded from coastal and pelagic habitats were extracted for analysis and expressed in terms of the number of birds recorded during the entire twelve-month survey period or the sighting number per trip from 24 rounds of surveys as presented in Charts 12.1 and 12.2 respectively. Only those recorded in pelagic (in the sea) and coastal (on the seawall) habitats are extracted and analysed as both habitats are subjected to direct impact. Other record in the land area (existing runway) are less relevant to the direct habitat loss; therefore they are not being taken into account in this analysis. Details of these survey results are given in Annexes N and O of Appendix 12.3. For the purpose of this assessment, the bird community has been divided into the following four main groups:

¡ Ardeid refers to all species under the family Ardeidae, which includes egret and heron;

¡ Landbird includes all passerines that use terrestrial habitat, e.g. pipit, raptor and thrush;

¡ Seabird includes families that adapt to pelagic environment including gull, tern and cormorant; and

¡ Waterbird includes mainly wader but excluding ardeid.

12.5.1.4 In the above categorisation, raptor is grouped under landbird for general analysis, but where necessary specific raptor species, noticeably Black Kite and White-bellied Sea Eagle, are discussed separately.

Chart 12.1 Overall Number of Birds Recorded in Land Formation Area and Study Area from 24 Rounds of Boat Survey in 12 Months

Chart 12.2 Overall Sighting Number of Birds per Trip in Land Formation Area and Study Area from 24 Rounds of Boat Survey in 12 Months

12.5.1.5 Although the size of land formation area and study area are not directly comparable, the charts show the importance of the land formation area for birds in the context of whole study area in northern Lantau waters. Chart 12.1 indicates that the number of seabirds (wintering gull species and cormorants) recorded from the land formation area accounts for only 1.2 % of the total number recorded in the study area. Similarly, the number of ardeids observed in the land formation area is about 6.7 % of the total number recorded in the study area. When compared to seabirds and ardeids, landbirds and waterbirds recorded in the study area are generally of much lower abundance owing to the lack of suitable habitats and the land formation area does not show specific significance to these two bird groups. Regarding the raptors of conservation interest, the distribution maps as given in Drawings MCL/P132/EIA/12-016a8 and MCL/P132/EIA/12-016a9 show that the land formation area is again not frequently utilised by raptors.

12.5.2 Bird Community and Utilisation in Land Formation Area

12.5.2.1 In order to identify bird’s activities in the land formation area, bird count records within the land formation area were obtained from both boat surveys and land-based surveys at North and Northeast Stations (exclusively those recorded at open sea and artificial seawall) are extracted for detailed analysis. In summary, a total of 65 bird species were recorded within the land formation area, which represent 43.6 % of the total number of bird species recorded during the avifauna surveys. The bird species recorded in the land formation area with a breakdown by season, flight heights, bird groups, behaviour and activities, are presented in Annex M of Appendix 12.3, and are summarised in Table 12.1.

Table 12.1 Summary of Bird Survey Records in Land Formation Area

Observation		Number of Birds Recorded
Observation		North Station (birds per hour)		Northeast Station (birds per hour)		Boat Survey (birds per trip)
Behaviour and Activity
Flying - Foraging	Ardeid	0	0	0.03	0.2 %	0.42	3.7 %
	Landbird	0.08	0.9 %	0.11	0.8 %	0.17	1.5 %
	Seabird	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Waterbird	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Sub-total	0.08	0.9 %	0.14	1.1 %	0.58	5.1 %
Flying - Travelling	Ardeid	0.90	9.8 %	3.68	27.8 %	1.88	16.5 %
	Landbird	1.79	19.5 %	2.32	17.5 %	0.96	8.4 %
	Seabird	0.18	2.0 %	0.11	0.8 %	0.71	6.2 %
	Waterbird	0.43	4.7 %	0.29	2.2 %	0.50	4.4 %
	Sub-total	3.31	35.9 %	6.40	48.4 %	4.04	35.5 %
Flying - Unknown	Ardeid	0.49	5.3 %	0.15	1.2 %	0	0
	Landbird	0.74	8.0 %	0.10	0.7 %	0	0
	Seabird	0.69	7.5 %	0.14	1.0 %	0	0
	Waterbird	0.19	2.1 %	0	0	0	0
	Sub-total	2.11	22.9 %	0.39	2.9 %	0	0 %
Perching - Foraging	Ardeid	1.15	12.5 %	0.64	4.8 %	2.96	26.0 %
	Landbird	0.13	1.4 %	0.54	4.1 %	0.04	0.4 %
	Seabird	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Waterbird	0.07	0.8 %	0.01	0.1 %	0	0
	Sub-total	1.35	14.6 %	1.19	9.0 %	3.00	26.5 %
Perching - Roosting	Ardeid	0.61	6.6 %	1.74	13.1 %	3.00	26.4 %
	Landbird	0.29	3.2 %	1.97	14.9 %	0.38	3.3 %
	Seabird	0	0	0.03	0.2 %	0	0
	Waterbird	0.10	1.1 %	0.03	0.2 %	0.04	0.4 %
	Sub-total	1.00	10.9 %	3.76	28.5 %	3.42	30.0 %
Perching - Unknown	Ardeid	0.51	5.6 %	0.24	1.8 %	0.29	2.6 %
	Landbird	0.08	0.9 %	0.17	1.3 %	0	0
	Seabird	0	0	0.08	0.6 %	0.04	0.4 %
	Waterbird	0.03	0.3 %	0	0	0	0
	Sub-total	0.63	6.8 %	0.49	3.7 %	0.33	2.9 %
Moving Locally – Foraging	Ardeid	0.13	1.4 %	0.01	0.1 %	0	0
	Landbird	0.03	0.3 %	0.07	0.5 %	0	0
	Seabird	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Waterbird	0.06	0.6 %	0	0	0	0
	Sub-total	0.21	2.3 %	0.08	0.6 %	0	0 %
Moving Locally - Unknown	Ardeid	0.31	3.3 %	0.51	3.9 %	0	0
	Landbird	0.14	1.5 %	0.17	1.3 %	0	0
	Seabird	0	0	0.06	0.4 %	0	0
	Waterbird	0.08	0.9 %	0.03	0.2 %	0	0
	Sub-total	0.53	5.7 %	0.76	5.8 %	0	0 %
Total		9.21	100 %	13.22	100 %	11.38	100 %
Season
Fall	Ardeid	1.35	14.6 %	2.07	15.7 %	1.54	13.6 %
	Landbird	0.94	10.3 %	2.82	21.3 %	0.08	0.7 %
	Seabird	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Waterbird	0.25	2.7 %	0.04	0.3 %	0	0
	Sub-total	2.54	27.6 %	4.93	37.3 %	1.63	14.3 %
Spring	Ardeid	1.10	11.9 %	1.22	9.2 %	3.04	26.7 %
	Landbird	1.26	13.7 %	1.21	9.1 %	0.21	1.8 %
	Seabird	0.22	2.4 %	0.08	0.6 %	0	0
	Waterbird	0.51	5.6 %	0.29	2.2 %	0.54	4.8 %
	Sub-total	3.10	33.6 %	2.81	21.2 %	3.79	33.3 %
Summer	Ardeid	0.75	8.1 %	3.06	23.1 %	2.17	19.0 %
	Landbird	0.71	7.7 %	0.33	2.5 %	0.96	8.4 %
	Seabird	0.46	5.0 %	0	0	0.38	3.3 %
	Waterbird	0.08	0.9 %	0.03	0.2 %	0	0
	Sub-total	2.00	21.7 %	3.42	25.8 %	3.50	30.8 %
Winter	Ardeid	0.90	9.8 %	0.65	4.9 %	1.79	15.8 %
	Landbird	0.36	3.9 %	1.08	8.2 %	0.29	2.6 %
	Seabird	0.19	2.1 %	0.34	2.6 %	0.38	3.3 %
	Waterbird	0.11	1.2 %	0	0	0.00	0
	Sub-total	1.57	17.1 %	2.07	15.7 %	2.46	21.6 %
Total		9.21	100 %	13.22	100 %	11.38	100 %
Flight Height*
0-10 m	Ardeid	1.13	21.6 %	2.69	40.1 %	1.38	29.7 %
	Landbird	1.68	32.3 %	0.94	14.0 %	0.96	20.7 %
	Seabird	0.22	4.3 %	0.06	0.9 %	0.42	9.0 %
	Waterbird	0.51	9.9 %	0.28	4.2 %	0.50	10.8 %
	Sub-total	3.54	68.0 %	3.97	59.2 %	3.25	70.3 %
11-50 m	Ardeid	0.15	2.9 %	0.88	13.0 %	0.92	19.8 %
	Landbird	0.83	16.0 %	1.24	18.4 %	0.17	3.6 %
	Seabird	0.65	12.5 %	0.19	2.9 %	0.29	6.3 %
	Waterbird	0.03	0.5 %	0	0	0	0
	Sub-total	1.67	32.0 %	2.31	34.4 %	1.38	29.7 %
>50 m	Ardeid	0	0	0.18	2.7 %	0	0
	Landbird	0	0	0.25	3.7 %	0	0
	Seabird	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Waterbird	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Sub-total	0.00	0 %	0.43	6.4 %	0	0 %
Total		5.21	100 %	6.71	100 %	4.63	100 %
Bird Group
Ardeid		4.10	44.5 %	7.00	52.9 %	8.54	75.1 %
Landbird		3.28	35.6 %	5.44	41.3 %	1.54	13.6 %
Seabird		0.88	9.5 %	0.42	3.1 %	0.75	6.6 %
Waterbird		0.96	10.4 %	0.36	2.7 %	0.54	4.7 %
Total		9.21	100 %	13.22	100 %	11.38	100 %

Note: * Only the records with flying behaviour and defined flight height are extracted for analysis.

12.5.2.2 The records presented in Table 12.1 comprise coastal (the artificial seawall of existing airport island) and pelagic habitats within the land formation area during the course of avifauna surveys. The records comprise of 11.38 birds per trip for boat surveys, 9.12 birds per hours recorded from land-based survey at North Station and 13.22 birds per trip for Northeast Station.

Bird Groups

12.5.2.3 With reference to the boat survey findings, the major bird group recorded in the land formation area is the ardeid species, which accounts for 75.1 % of the total record, followed by landbirds (13.6 %), whilst seabirds only account for 6.6 % of the total record and clustered in a particular area (see Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016a2). The percentages shown in land-based survey are slightly different but they similarly indicate the dominance of ardeid. Amongst the ardeid bird group, Little Egret is the dominant species recorded in the land formation area covering both open sea and coastal habitat (See Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016a2). Little Egret accounts for 72 % of the total record from boat survey and 44.5 % of the total record from land-based survey (Table B in Annex M in Appendix 12.3). The most common landbird (second commonest in all bird groups) is Barn Swallow, which accounts for 6.6 % of the boat survey record and 9.2 % of the land-based survey record. They are mostly recorded with travelling activities across the land formation area near the artificial seawall (see Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016a2).

Behaviour and Activity

Travelling as the Main Activity

12.5.2.4 From the land-based or boat survey results, travelling was the most commonly observed activity for the birds recorded within the land formation area, accounting for 35.5 % - 48.4 % of the total bird records. The travelling activities are mainly attributed to the local movement of ardeids.

Foraging at Artificial Seawall and Open Sea

12.5.2.5 Between 9.0 % and 26.5 % of the total bird records from land-based or boat surveys were found foraging while perching. From the boat survey data, foraging activities were attributed to 39.8 % of the recorded Little Egrets (dominant species under the ardeid bird group) , whilst the corresponding percentage from land-based survey is 17.7 % (Table A in Annex M in Appendix 12.3). The foraging activities within the land formation area recorded from boat survey were illustrated in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016c.

12.5.2.6 Foraging along the existing artificial seawall of airport island was recorded during the surveys. The big armour rocks are commonly used by the the ardeids as stepping stones to forage over coastal areas. Other than Little Egrets, two species associated with rocky shore, the Common Sandpiper and Pacific Reef Heron were also found foraging along the artificial seawall. Both species are solitary, thus the numbers recorded on the artificial seawall are rather low.

12.5.2.7 Little Egret is also the key species foraging in the open area whereas most of the waterbirds and landbirds are not adapted to forage over open sea. One exceptional case of landbird that can forage over sea and is also recorded in the land formation area is Black Kite. It is a ubiquitous species that distributes in a wide range of habitats and has a behaviour of soaring over sea for foraging. Black Kite was recorded soaring over the land formation area and foraging from sea surface.

No Breeding Sites

12.5.2.8 No sign of breeding behaviour or nests was observed within the land formation area during the avifauna surveys, and there is no information from literature which suggests the presence of breeding site within the land formation area. Both the existing artificial seawall and the open sea within the land formation area are thus unlikely to be breeding sites for the recorded bird species. The nearest known breeding sites to the land formation area are the Sha Chau egretry and the breeding pair of White-bellied Sea Eagle on Lung Kwu Chau.

Seasonality

12.5.2.9 Based on the land-based survey results, the highest number of birds was recorded in spring for the North Station and in autumn for the Northeast Station, whilst winter is the season with the lowest abundance for both stations. From the boat survey results, the highest number of birds was found in spring but the lowest number of birds was recorded in autumn. The results from different surveys seem to suggest that the seasonality of birds within the land formation area is not particularly apparent.

Flight Height

12.5.2.10 Categorisation of flight height is defined according to the bird’s flying practice over open sea. 0-10 m includes most of the activities that is associated with open sea surface, such as foraging over sea; 11-50 m includes most of the flight activities related to travelling; whilst >50 m includes the soaring behaviour of some species, noticeably large raptor species.

12.5.2.11 The majority (59.2 % - 70.3 %) of the birds observed during the land-based or boat surveys were within the range of 0-10 m above sea level, with some 29.7 % - 34.4 % of the birds recorded in the range of 11-50 m. Only a small portion (not more than 6.4 %) of the birds were observed at over 50 m above sea level. The highest percentage of birds recorded at relatively low flight height could be attributed to the large proportion of ardeid species which mostly travel at a level not high above sea surface.

Ecological Evaluation of Land Formation Area (Open Sea) and Northern Artificial Seawall

12.5.2.12 The land formation area and the artificial seawall is part of the sea in North Lantau. Marine habitat is generally not important to terrestrial fauna, but a small community of bird was recorded in the land formation area. Little Egret is the dominant species in the community but their abundance in land formation area is relatively low. The land formation area is not particularly important in the context of whole northern Lantau waters for ardeids. Other species recorded are mostly in passage stage. The ecological evaluation of the land formation area (open sea) and the artificial seawall along the existing runway were extracted from Appendix 12.4 and presented in Tables 12.2 and 12.3 below.

Table12.2: Ecological Evaluation of Land Formation Area (Open Sea) for Avifauna

Criteria	Open Sea in Location C
Naturalness	Natural habitat
Size	Approximately 650 ha
Diversity	Moderate in avifauna diversity (43 species)
Rarity	This habitat type is common in Hong Kong; 14 avifauna species of conservation interest are recorded, including Great Egret Ardea alba, Grey Heron Ardea cinerea, Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris, Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii, Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus, Little Egret Egretta garzetta, Pacific Reef Heron Egretta sacra, Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus, Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa, Black Kite Milvus migrans, Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus, Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus
Re-creatability	Not able to be re-created
Fragmentation	Not fragmented
Ecological linkage	The ardeids utilise the sea over the land formation area is ecologically linked to the Sha Chau egretry
Potential value	Low potential value to avifauna with respect to the low species abundance and diversity recorded.
Nursery/ breeding ground	No significant nursery or breeding ground recorded
Age	Unknown
Abundance/ Richness of wildlife	Moderate species richness for avifauna (43 species) with low abundance, dominantly Little Egret
Ecological value	Low ecological value for avifauna

Table 12.3: Ecological Evaluation of Artificial Seawall Along the North Coast of Existing Runways for Avifauna

Criteria	Artificial Seawall in Location C
Naturalness	Man-made habitat
Size	Approximately 5 km long
Diversity	Moderate in avifauna diversity (44 avifauna)
Rarity	This artificial habitat type is common in Hong Kong; 12 avifauna species of conservation interest are recorded, including Great Egret Ardea alba, Grey Heron Ardea cinerea, Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus, Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus, Little Egret Egretta garzetta, Pacific Reef Heron Egretta sacra, Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola, Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus, Black Kite Milvus migrans, Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus, Red-billed Starling Spodiopsar sericeus
Re-creatability	Can be readily re-created
Fragmentation	Not fragmented
Ecological linkage	Not functionally linked to any habitats of high ecological value
Potential value	Low potential value to avifauna with respect to the low species abundance and diversity recorded.
Nursery/ breeding ground	No significant nursery or breeding ground recorded
Age	16 years
Abundance/ Richness of wildlife	Moderate species richness for avifauna (44 species) with low abundance, dominantly Little Egret
Ecological value	Low ecological value for avifauna

12.5.3 Bird Community in Northern Lantau waters

Bird Groups

12.5.3.1 The bird community in the northern Lantau waters, including the land formation area, is dominated by ardeids. The ardeid community including Little Egret, Great Egret, Pacific Reef Heron and Black-crowned Night Heron, was widely recorded in the study area and mostly associated with coastal habitats in North Lantau, SCLKC Marine Park and along Urmston Road. The artificial coastlines in North Lantau, including HKIA, and marine construction sites are also commonly used by the species. The use of marine construction sites for foraging place is shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016a2, in which a large number of ardeids were recorded at the HKBCF project site where egrets were found perching on top of the floating parts of silt curtains around the site for foraging.

12.5.3.2 Seabirds were mainly recorded in open areas and were seldom found in coastal areas. Generally, the abundance of seabirds in Hong Kong is highly seasonal. The grid maps for seabirds in four seasons (Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016a6) show a relatively high abundance in winter season, which is attributed to the wintering gulls such as Black-headed Gull and Heuglin’s Gull, but a lower abundance in other seasons. Aggregation of wintering gulls were found mostly along the Urmston Road and SCLKC Marine Park, but they were seldom recorded in coastal water area.

12.5.3.3 Due to a lack of suitable wetland habitat in the study area the abundance of waterbirds (excluding ardeids) is very low (only 142 individuals encountered in 24 rounds of boat surveys or an average of 5.9 individuals per round), the exception to this statement being the rocky shore specialist species such as the Common Sandpiper. Small flocks of migratory waders such as the Red-necked Stint were occasionally seen during the migratory season, and were mostly associated with coastal area.

12.5.3.4 The landbirds recorded in the study area were usually travelling across the study area, as these bird groups usually do not land on open waters. An exception to this statement is the raptor species, Black Kite, which is highly associated with open sea as well as coastal areas when foraging. Black Kites usually soar over sea, search for dead fish and dash to the sea surface to collect food. Owing to their ubiquitous habit, they were widely recorded over the study area. The land formation area is not particularly important to them. Another raptor species associated with marine environment is the White-bellied Sea Eagle which has also been recorded in the study area. There is an established nesting location of the White-bellied Sea Eagle at Lung Kwu Chau, and thus these birds were recorded several times during the boat survey, mostly at Lung Kwu Chau and the adjacent inshore waters. In addition to these two raptors, Barn Swallows were also widely recorded travelling across the open sea area.

Breeding Activity

12.5.3.5 There are no breeding sites for birds in the open waters to the north of the existing airport island. Breeding activities within the study area are found in SCLKC area, where the extent of human disturbance is low.

12.5.3.6 The main breeding activity recorded in the study area is the egretry on Sheung Sha Chau Island. The breeding community consists mainly of Little Egret and Black-crowned Night Heron, and a small number of Great Egret and Pacific Reef Heron (details presented in Section 3.4 in Appendix 12.3). Based on the egretry flight path survey results, it was found that a considerable portion of the breeding community used Sheung Sha Chau Island and the adjacent waters for foraging (refer to Drawings MCL/P132/EIA/12-016e1 and MCL/P132/EIA/12-016e2).

12.5.3.7 Another noticeable breeding activity recorded in the study area is the established White-bellied Sea Eagle nest in Lung Kwu Chau. Owing to the presence of the nesting location, the species was mostly recorded in Lung Kwu Chau during the boat survey (distribution shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016a9).

Use of Existing Runway

12.5.3.8 Due to its vast and flat open area, the existing airport runway and adjacent grassland area often attract open country birds. The airfield bird data collected by the AAHK’s Bird Control Unit indicates that the dominant bird species are generalists or open country species such as the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Richard’s Pipit and Crested Myna. A small number of various migratory birds were recorded on the runway, including waterbird species such as Sanderling, Red-necked Stint, plover species, and raptor species such as Common Kestrel (species list given in Annex C of Appendix 12.1). A higher number of bird counts were noted during the autumn and this is consistent with the observation from the land-based survey conducted on Sha Chau which suggests a southward migration or dispersive movement of landbirds in autumn. It appears that a small number of birds use the runway as a stopover point during their long migration journey or dispersive movement.

Flight Movement

12.5.3.9 No apparent flight path can be identified from the land-based surveys undertaken within and near the land formation area. By contrast, the survey station on Sha Chau has recorded moderate-low bird abundance and detected frequent uni-directional movement in the migratory season. This landbird group predominantly moves in a southward and south-westward direction during the autumn and winter seasons. This southward moving pattern is consistent with general migratory activities that happen in Hong Kong, as the passage migrants and winter visitors mostly travel from north to south during spring and winter migration seasons. It suggests a small bird community utilises Sha Chau as a stopover point during southward migration or dispersive movement.

12.5.3.10 The flight movement across the study area is usually at low altitude. The flight height analysis results show that most of the birds in flight records fall in the range of 0-10 m above sea level, followed by the range of 11-50 m. Not many birds fall in the range of >50 m except the Black Kite which soars over the open waters.

Ecological Value of Northern Lantau waters

12.5.3.11 Other than some bird species associated with marine environment northern Lantau waters is generally not important for terrestrial fauna. Some bird groups, mainly ardeid and seabird, have been widely recorded in the northern Lantau waters. Ardeid is the major bird group recorded in northern Lantau waters with an egretry established on Sha Chau. The seabird community consists of mainly winter visitors and passage migrants such as gulls and terns. Their distribution in northern Lantau waters has mainly been found near Sha Chau, Lung Kwu Chau and Urmston Road. Other than ardeid and seabird, a few raptors species which have marine water associated behaviour, including Black Kite, White-bellied Sea Eagle and Western Osprey, have been recorded in northern Lantau waters. From a terrestrial ecology perspective, the main function of the northern Lantau waters is to provide a marine habitat for the ardeid community and a few raptor species associated with marine environment; and an over-wintering habitat for gull dominated seabird community.

12.5.4 Other Terrestrial Flora and Fauna Species at Off-site Habitats

12.5.4.1 Apart from the baseline avifauna surveys, other terrestrial flora and fauna surveys have also been carried out at off-site habitats (i.e. outside the project area). Details of the survey findings are documented in Appendix 12.3, and are also summarised below.

12.5.4.2 The hilly terrain of North Lantau is dominated by hillside shrubland and woodland. Along the coastline, lowland habitat including seasonal wet grassland and shrubby grassland are found in sporadic locations, mainly near the village areas. 32 terrestrial floral species of conservation interest have been recorded in the study area (but outside the project area), most of which are found in woodland and shrubland habitats. Some of these species are locally common, such as the Incense Tree Aquilaria sinensis, Cansjera rheedii, Lamb of Tartary Cibotium barometz, Small Persimmon Diospyros vaccinioides, Hong Kong Pavetta Pavetta hongkongensis and Portia Tree Thespesia populnea.

12.5.4.3 In terms of fauna species, there are widespread records of endemic and endangered amphibian species, including Romer’s Tree Frog and Short-legged Toad in North Lantau. Reptile species recorded in North Lantau are mostly widespread species except for the Tokay Gecko which has limited distribution in Hong Kong including North Lantau.

12.5.4.4 Butterflies however are more widely recorded in the study area (but outside the project area), with a butterfly hotspot identified at San Tau. There are however no hotspots or endangered species for dragonfly species identified in the North Lantau study area. A few freshwater fish species of conservation interest were recorded in lowland streams in Sham Wat, Sha Lo Wan, San Tau, Tung Chung, Pak Mong and Tai Ho.

12.6 Prediction and Evaluation of Impact

12.6.1 General

12.6.1.1 The project description is detailed in Chapter 4 of this EIA report. The 3RS additional seawalls and land platform will be formed over a period of several years starting in late 2015 / early 2016 to mid-2022. The proposed land formation and associated works and the future operation of the third runway project may affect the terrestrial ecology within the project footprint and adjacent waters. This section identifies the potential impact of the project on terrestrial ecology.

12.6.1.2 The potential ecological effects due to loss of habitat would include loss of breeding and feeding ground for bird fauna, reduction of species abundance/diversity, reduction of ecological carrying capacity, habitat fragmentation, loss of terrestrial habitat and formation of terrestrial habitat. Loss of habitat and the associated ecological effects would occur in both construction and operation phases, whilst the effect of formation of terrestrial habitat would occur in operation phase.

12.6.1.3 The potential disturbance effect during construction phase would include impact to Sha Chau egretry, habitat disturbance, disturbance to species of conservation interest and impact on freshwater fish community. During operation of 3RS, the potential impacts would include impact to flight movement of birds, disturbance to species of conservation interest and habitat disturbance.

12.6.1.4 On the basis of the baseline ecological information of the study area, the potential impacts on terrestrial ecology due to the proposed project were evaluated in accordance with the criteria set forth in the EIAO-TM. In the following sections both construction phase and operation phase impacts are evaluated.

12.6.1.5 The impact items identified as relevant to this project include:

¡ Direct Impact of Habitat Loss;

¡ Indirect Impact to Sha Chau Egretry;

¡ Impact to Flight Movement and Behaviour of Birds;

¡ Habitat Disturbance;

¡ Disturbance to Species of Conservation Interest; and

¡ Impact on Freshwater Fish Community

12.6.1.6 Except impact to flight movement and behaviour of bird which happens only in operation phase, other impacts are assessed for both construction and operation phases. Impact levels are ranked as “high”, “moderate-high”, “moderate”, "moderate-low”, “low” and “negligible”.

12.6.2 Habitat Loss

Loss of Feeding and Breeding Grounds

12.6.2.1 The proposed land formation works will result in loss of 5.9 km of artificial seawall along the north coast of existing airport island and loss of 650 ha of open sea area to the north of the HKIA. However, neither the open sea nor the existing artificial seawall are breeding sites for terrestrial fauna and as a result the loss of breeding grounds for terrestrial fauna in the project area is not expected.

12.6.2.2 Although the artificial seawall is not a natural habitat for terrestrial fauna, due to its proximity to open waters the big rock armour in the artificial seawall is often used by birds for foraging. The use of the artificial seawall by bird species is discussed in the Section 12.5.2. It was evaluated (in Table 30 in Appendix 12.4) that the artificial seawall along the north coast of existing airport island is not an important foraging ground for birds.

12.6.2.3 As shown in Annexes M and N of Appendix 12.3 which have also been described in Section 12.5.2, the dominant bird species found in the land formation area is Little Egret (in both open sea and coastal habitat). They forage and temporarily roost in the intertidal area of the artificial seawall, but return to communal roosting site at night time.

12.6.2.4 Other than the Little Egret, there are a few rocky shore species, including the Pacific Reef Heron and Common Sandpiper, recorded foraging along the artificial seawall. However, the abundance of these rocky shore associated species is not significant in the context of the northern Lantau waters (low abundance of ardeid and waterbird in the land formation area as compared to the study area as shown in Chart 12.1), suggesting that the land formation area is not an important foraging habitat for ardeids and rocky shore specialised species. Hence, the loss of artificial seawall would not result in significant loss of feeding ground.

12.6.2.5 Furthermore, the loss of foraging area would only occur temporarily, as a new and longer seawall of about 13 km in length will be constructed as an early part of the land formation process. It was also observed during the boat transect survey that ardeids make use of the silt curtain (provided under another unrelated project) as a foraging platform. This suggests that the temporary loss of the existing artificial wall as a foraging ground for ardeid will be offset by the new seawall and other foraging sites (silt curtains) during the construction phase. Other rocky shore foraging species are of low occurrence and the removal of the existing artificial seawall would not have significant implication to their population.

12.6.2.6 In the open waters to the north of the existing airport island the dominant bird species recorded was the Little Egret. Other than the Little Egret, the most frequently recorded species are Black Kite and Barn Swallow. Foraging over open area is noted for Little Egret and Black Kite but not for Barn Swallow. Although the 650 ha land formation would result in loss of open sea for foraging ardeid, the installation of new seawall would re-provide another foraging opportunity. As the land formation area is not particularly important to ardeid in the context of northern Lantau waters, the loss of the open sea would not have significant impact to them.

12.6.2.7 For Black Kite, the potential impact is relatively low, as this ubiquitous species can make use of a wide range of habitats in Hong Kong and it has been shown that the land formation area is not particularly important for this species.

12.6.2.8 The land formation area has low abundance and significance as birds’ feeding ground, and thus the impact of the loss of the area as a foraging ground is considered to be low during both construction and operation phases. During operation phase, the conversion of habitat from open sea to formed land would increase the land area and foraging opportunity for land birds but the effect is minimal. Similarly, the extension of artificial seawall would be beneficial for the ardeids foraging at coastal areas. The evaluation of the impact of the habitat loss on avifauna is summarised in Table 12.4.

Reduction of Species Abundance/Diversity

12.6.2.9 Reduction of species abundance and diversity is largely dependent on whether there would be any significant impact on foraging or breeding ground that has implication on species’ foraging and breeding capacity.

12.6.2.10 As discussed above, there will not be a loss of breeding ground arising from the project. In the context of foraging capacity, it has been evaluated that the land formation area is not an important foraging site for terrestrial fauna/birds. Although ardeids are commonly found foraging at the intertidal seawalls it is noted that they are well adapted to all types of intertidal habitats in the open waters of North Lantau and that the land formation area is not particularly important to the species. Construction activities which may cause temporary loss of artificial seawall (which will be restored by new and longer seawall in the early stage of construction) would have no impact on the foraging opportunity of the ardeid species. Therefore, the proposed project would not result in a reduction in the species abundance or diversity of terrestrial fauna species during both construction and operation phases.

12.6.2.11 After land formation, the terrestrial habitat created by this project could provide a temporary stopover point for migratory birds during the migratory journey which may have some positive effect on species abundance and diversity. The bird community present in the formed land would be dominantly open country and generalist bird species. Compared to the ardeid community at existing coastal waters, there will be a change in bird community. The formed land would be beneficial to the land bird species which may increase in abundance but the effect is expected to be insignificant.

Reduction of Ecological Carrying Capacity

12.6.2.12 Ecological carrying capacity is defined as the maximum density of a species that the resources in a particular habitat can support (Odum & Barrett, 2005). The carrying capacity of an area will be affected by changes in resource availability including food resources, space, breeding ground and other abiotic factors. For avifauna, carrying capacity is closely linked with the reduction of bird species abundance/diversity and loss of feeding and breeding grounds.

12.6.2.13 The land formation area itself is not a breeding ground for terrestrial fauna. Any potential disturbance to the Sha Chau egretry due to the installation of the twin pipelines on Sheung Sha Chau Island will be mitigated (details provided in Section 12.7.2) and would not cause loss of breeding ground for ardeids.

12.6.2.14 In relation to feeding habitat, the land formation area itself is not a significant site of food source for terrestrial fauna species. The artificial seawall along the north coast of the existing airport island only provides a stepping stone for rocky shore bird species foraging over the intertidal area but would not generate a significant amount of food sources for terrestrial fauna.

12.6.2.15 The loss of marine habitat in land formation might divert the birds feeding on the sea to adjacent area in northern Lantau waters which might increase the loading (number of feeding birds) of other area. However, owing to the low abundance of birds in the land formation area, the effect is expected to be negligible and no impact will be resulted on the ecological carrying capacity.

Habitat Fragmentation

12.6.2.16 Habitat fragmentation occurs when the landscape transformation includes the breaking of large habitat into small pieces (Forman 1997). Not only does it result in a reduction in population size, but also a division of the original population into subpopulation and creation of edge habitats (Burgman et al. 1993).

12.6.2.17 The proposed project involves formation of 650 ha of land in northern Lantau waters which will result in a loss of marine habitat but not terrestrial habitat. The land formation area is adjoining to the existing runway, which would not fragment large continuous terrestrial habitat or marine area that is important for terrestrial fauna use, such as foraging habitat. Therefore, the effect of habitat fragmentation is not expected.

Loss of Terrestrial Habitat

12.6.2.18 Loss of terrestrial habitat is generally not a concern as the new runway will be formed over the sea. Loss of terrestrial habitat will mainly occur at artificial habitats at the airport island, which is of low ecological value. Some landscape features, such as roadside planting and the SkyCity Nine Eagles Golf Course may provide a stopover point for occasional migrating birds but they could not provide a natural feeding ground. As these habitats are not considered important from an ecological perspective, the ecological impact due to loss of the terrestrial habitat is expected to be of low significance and no unacceptable impact is anticipated.

Formation of Terrestrial Habitat

12.6.2.19 During operation of the 3RS, the new runway would create a terrestrial habitat. The newly formed open area is likely to be of a similar ecological value to the existing runway and with limited ecological potential. With reference to the survey results by the AAHK’s Bird Control Unit and expert consultants, the airport runway would provide a temporary stopover habitat for open country or generalist birds. The ecological value of the formation of the new terrestrial habitat is considered as low.

Table 12.4: Habitat Loss

Criteria	Habitat Loss
Habitat Quality	The land formation area is located in the northern Lantau waters just to the north of the existing runway where sightings of birds are low and dominated by Little Egret. The marine water in the land formation area is generally not an important habitat for birds. The actual habitat quality is low for terrestrial ecology.
Species	Mainly ardeids, waterbirds and seabird species, 18 species of conservation interest including Great Egret Ardea alba, Grey Heron Ardea cinerea, Chinese Pond Heron Ardea bacchus, Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris, Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus, Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii, Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus, Little Egret Egretta garzetta, Pacific Reef Heron Egretta sacra, Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola, Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus, Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa, Black Kite Milvus migrans, Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus, Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, Red-billed Starling Spodiopsar sericeus, Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus
Size/Abundance	Large in affected marine water area but low in species abundance
Duration	Marine water: permanent loss of 650 ha of open sea area after completion of the land formation works. Artificial seawall: temporary loss during construction phase as longer (13 km) artificial seawall will be restored in early stage of construction phase; and the floating silt curtain in marine construction site could provide alternative foraging ground during construction.
Reversibility	Irreversible for the permanent loss of marine water; reversible for the temporary loss of artificial seawall
Magnitude	Low due to the absence of significant feeding and breeding ground under project footprint
Overall Degree of Impact	Low due to the relative low density of birds and foraging activities in the affected marine water during both construction and operation phases

12.6.3 Impact to Sha Chau Egretry

12.6.3.1 Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) is proposed for engineering the approximately 1 m diameter parallel drill holes through the deep rock stratum between HKIA and Sha Chau in order to facilitate the required diversion of the submarine fuel pipelines (see Section 4.2.6). Drill heads will tentatively emerge (daylight) on the rocky shoreline above the high water mark on the northeastern part of Sheung Sha Chau Island and once the pipelines are installed they will be connected to the existing Aviation Fuel Receiving Facility (AFRF) by pipelines as indicated on Drawings MCLP/132/EIA/12-035a and MCLP/132/EIA/12-035b. The originally proposed HDD daylighting location was immediately opposite the AFRF so as to minimise associated pipe connection works. However given the presence of the egretry in close proximity to that location, the proposed daylighting location was shifted further northwards to safeguard a buffer between anticipated works and the egretry. Only a small works area (about 10 m x 10 m) will be needed at this further north daylighting location.

12.6.3.2 Once the HDD effort is completed, pipeline installation will follow and this is planned to be done by fabricating pipelines on HKIA and then pushing these from HKIA through the parallel drill holes in the deep rock stratum to the Sha Chau works area. Because of the adaptation of pipeline pushing method from HKIA, the need for substantive construction works activity on the Sha Chau side can be significantly reduced. The level of vibration caused from the drilling activities would be comparable to general GI works which is barely detectable at ground level. However certain works activities will be required on Sha Chau while HDD drilling and pipeline pushing activity is ongoing. During drilling there will be a requirement to have a temporary container in place in the 10 m x 10 m works area as well as pumping capability (including a generator for the pumps) both to contain any drilling fluids that may emerge during daylighting and subsequently during the installation of the pipelines. The containment pit at the daylighting location shall be covered or camouflaged so that they fit into the existing environment when looking from outside. A commitment at the Sheung Sha Chau Island works location is for no night-time construction work to take into account the concerns on potential disturbances to nearby roosting ardeids (including nocturnal night herons). With the restrictions of no construction works during the breeding season and at night time, no significant impact is expected on the roosting ardeids.

12.6.3.3 A stand-by works barge may need to be moored near the Sha Chau works area but night-time activity on the stand-by barge is not expected to be required. It is emphasised that all pipe fabrication and pushing activities will be confined to the HKIA end of the pipeline. In the unlikely event that engineering difficulties are encountered during pipe-pushing activities, contingency / emergency activities may be necessitated at the Sha Chau works location during the breeding season but any activity would remain outside the egretry location and every effort would be taken to limit the need for such activities at night.

12.6.3.4 In the unlikely event that the flow of drilling fluid around the outside of the pipeline being installed was interrupted, intermittent use of a silenced generator and pumps in the containment pit on Sheung Sha Chau Island, including at night time, would be needed. Such emergency / contingency work is considered vital and unavoidable as there may be more significant environmental implications if emergency pumping were not allowed. The generator and pumps that are proposed to be used in such an unlikely scenario will be suitably silenced and any required lighting will be minimized and directed away from the egretry, and the containment pit at the daylighting location shall be covered or camouflaged. Given the location away from the egretry, quiet operation of the generator and pumps and minimal lighting, such contingency work is not considered a significant impact to the egretry.

12.6.3.5 As the pipeline pushing method from HKIA is adopted, all pipe fabrication and pushing activities will be confined to the HKIA end of the pipeline and no works will be required on Sheung Sha Chau Island during the breeding season. However for contingency should engineering difficulties be encountered that the pipelines are stuck in the drill holes during pipe-pushing activities from the HKIA, temporary pulling of the pipelines using the stand-by barge near Sheung Sha Chau Island would be necessitated in order to free up the pipelines to allow resumption of pipe pushing from HKIA. Such temporary pipe-pulling activity could however be done during daytime only. In such a scenario, the pipeline will be pulled from the barge location north of the Sha Chau works area, away from the egretry. The contingency pipe pulling will be mainly undertaken at the barge, which will be moored approximately 30-50 m to the north of the egretry boundary, and the works period will be kept as short as possible only for resuming the pipe pushing works. Given the short and temporary nature of the work and a considerable buffer distance between the barge and the egretry, the impact to the egretry due to the contingency work is considered as insignificant.

12.6.3.6 Ardeid’s breeding activities are seasonal and in Hong Kong, mostly occurring between April and July. Construction at the edge of the egretry would result in some human disturbance and noise that may affect the egretry if the construction works coincide with the ardeid’s active breeding season. The most likely outcome would be the shifting of ardeids’ nesting locations within Sheung Sha Chau Island away from the disturbance. The potential of abandonment of the whole egretry is low, as there are many suitable habitats available for the ardeids on Sheung Sha Chau Island and the construction works only affect a relatively small area.

12.6.3.7 Despite the perception that the Sha Chau egretry is highly sensitive, the egretry is currently located next to the Sha Chau AFRF, the only area with human activities on the Sheung Sha Chau Island. This demonstrates that the egretry can tolerate some degree of human disturbance. In fact, high tolerance to human activities is demonstrated at other egretries in Hong Kong such as the the egretries in Mai Po Village and Tung Shing Lei in northwest New Territories which are less than 100 m from the road and railway noise sources yet the egretries appear to be unaffected by the disturbance.

12.6.3.8 When the construction activities are carried out at the edge of the egretry (at the original location shown as yellow spot in Drawing MCLP/132/EIA/12-035b), the disturbance arising from continuous construction works, presence of human activities and mooring of flat top barges, happening in the ardeids’ peak breeding season (April to July) during both daytime and night-time would affect ardeid’s normal breeding activities. The impact is considered to be moderate if the activities are carried out in the ardeid’s peak breeding season, without any suitable mitigation measures. It includes the potential impact to nocturnal species, i.e. Black-crowned Night Heron, due to the night-time work.

12.6.3.9 In addition to considering the direct impact on the egretry, another potential impact considered relates to the potential indirect impact to the feeding grounds of ardeids breeding in the Sha Chau egretry. Based on the flight path of the egrets leaving from Sha Chau, a high percentage of the birds (38.1 % as shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016e1) recorded use of Sha Chau and adjacent sea for foraging. About 19.1 % of the ardeid surveyed are heading to North Lantau direction (including the land formation area) as shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016e1. Although the survey for the flight path return to Sha Chau shows a higher percentage (70 %) of ardeids coming from the North Lantau direction (shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016e2), the information collected from boat survey and North and Northeast Stations point count survey indicated that the land formation area is not a major foraging habitat for the ardeids (only 205 out of 3,088 ardeid individuals were recorded in the land formation area in 24 boat surveys and 295out of 2,314 ardeid individuals were recorded in 72 point count survey hours). The land formation area is not significant for these ardeids, when considering the whole northern Lantau waters and coastline (including artificial coast). The open waters and coastline are expected to provide sufficient foraging opportunities for ardeids, and hence indirect impacts to the breeding ardeids are not significant. The impact to the Sha Chau egretry is summarised in Table 12.5.

12.6.3.10 During operation phase of the fuel pipeline, which is no different from the current operation of AFRF, there will be no impact to the Sha Chau egretry.

Table 12.5: Impact to Sha Chau Egretry

Criteria	Impact to Sha Chau Egretry
Habitat Quality	Sheung Sha Chau Island where the Sha Chau egretry located, is dominated by tall shrubland with natural rocky shoreline surrounding the whole island. The eastern part of Sheung Sha Chau Island, immediately opposite to the existing Aviation Fuel Receiving Facility (AFRF), occasionally generate anthropogenic disturbance from its operation. The actual habitat quality for egretry is high owing to the presence of breeding population.
Species	Sha Chau egretry was recorded with Great Egret, Little Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron and Pacific Reef Heron
Size/Abundance	High abundance of ardeids breeding in egretry; the HDD daylighting location is small in size (10 m x 10 m)
Duration	During construction phase of Aviation Fuel Pipeline Diversion, which takes approximately one year. Works period on Sheung Sha Chau Island will be within the year outside ardeid’s breeding season
Reversibility	Reversible after completion of construction
Magnitude	Moderate due to high habitat quality and continuous activities from construction works, presence of human activities and mooring of flat top barges happening in during ardeids’ peak breeding seasons
Overall Degree of Impact	Moderate owing to the ecological importance of the egretry

12.6.4 Impact to Flight Movement and Behaviour of Birds

Aircraft Traffic

12.6.4.1 It is generally considered that sightings of aircrafts can create disturbance to birds. Birds may fly away from approaching aircrafts whilst increased air traffic may affect the pattern of birds’ flight movement if the aircraft flight track intersects with birds’ major flight path.

12.6.4.2 The birds’ flight movement in relation to the proposed project has been recorded through field surveys. As revealed from the flight direction information gathered from land-based surveys, there is no prominent flight path observed in proximity to the existing runway. As discussed in Section 12.5.3, uni-directional flight movement was recorded in the Sha Chau Station during the migratory season, but the magnitude is moderate-low (the majority of the 634 individuals recorded in 18 point count survey hours in autumn showing south, southeast or southwest flight directions), with the bird community mainly comprising landbird species.

12.6.4.3 From the migratory flight movement data the analyses suggest that the land formation area is not important for waterbirds, as they were infrequently recorded in the study area (only 142 individuals encountered in 24 rounds of boat surveys or an average of 5.9 individuals per round). While an aggregation of seabirds was noted in the northern part of the study area there is no significant flight pattern over the land formation area.

12.6.4.4 The main bird group travelling across the land formation area and adjacent sea is the ardeid. Their flight movements are mainly attributed to the local movement between foraging grounds, and as shown in the flight height analysis (as shown in Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/12-016b2), they usually fly close to the water surface (0-10 m) and rarely over the existing runway. Although their flight altitude is mainly recorded in the range of <50 m above sea level, ardeids in northern Lantau waters are mostly associated with coastline and the sea. They rarely fly across the runway and have no conflict with the aircraft traffic. During operation phase of the third runway, the flight movement of the ardeids is expected to be similar to existing scale although they would use the artificial seawall for foraging and roosting. The flight movement amongst the foraging grounds over sea would not conflict with the aircraft traffic.

12.6.4.5 In summary, there is no prominent flight path movement observed for the open sea associated bird species in the land formation area and its proximity. Owing to the absence of prominent flight path movement, the impact to the flight path movement due to increased air traffic is considered to be negligible.

Light and Glare Effect

12.6.4.6 Owing to the absence of other terrestrial fauna groups in proximity to the land formation area, only bird species would be potentially affected by the light and glare. Artificial lighting and glare can affect bird’s orientation if the birds rely on lighting, or absence of lighting for navigation. Lighting and glare may also interrupt their roosting behaviour. The literature review and survey findings suggest there is no significant aggregation of roosting or breeding birds in proximity to the proposed land formation footprint. There is therefore no potential interruption to any natural habitat for birds.

12.6.4.7 Welch (2011) observed that in Hong Kong the migration of terns, skuas and shearwaters peaks in early mornings in May. The peak time of day for migration of gulls in March is in late evenings. This suggests that gulls are primarily nocturnal migrants, whereas other species are primarily diurnal migrants. Although gulls species may migrate at night-time, their migratory movement may not be noticeable. Survey finding from Anon (2011-2013) indicated the breeding tern colony in Hong Kong is mostly confined to eastern and southern waters which have little relation to western waters. Both Welch (2011) and Lam and William (1993) pointed out the main migration routes of seabirds in the South China Sea is located at southeast of Hong Kong. Those seen in Hong Kong are a minor portion which have presumably drifted too far west or been blown into Hong Kong waters by strong easterly winds while crossing the South China Sea.

12.6.4.8 Due to the absence of significant bird conservation area and migratory route, the glare effect of the proposed third runway is unlikely to cause interruption and disorientation to birds’ flight movement. The impact to the flight movement and behaviour of birds are summarised in Table 12.6.

Table 12.6: Evaluation of Impact to Flight Movement and Behaviour of Birds

Criteria	Impact to flight movement and behaviour of birds
Habitat Quality	The land formation area is located in the northern Lantau waters just to the north of the existing runway where sightings of birds are low and dominated by Little Egret and no observable flight path or migratory route of birds was determined. In view of the present condition of the land formation area, the marine water habitat within the land formation area is not an important bird habitat.
Species	Birds, noticeably those with frequent flight movement over the northern Lantau waters
Abundance	Low owing to low frequency of flight movement in and adjacent to the land formation area
Duration	During operation phase
Reversibility	Reversible
Magnitude	Low due to the large affected area but the utilisation by birds is low
Overall Degree of Impact	Negligible due to absence of significant movement within and adjacent to land formation area

12.6.5 Habitat Disturbance

12.6.5.1 The main potential sources of disturbance to terrestrial fauna would be from dust and noise emissions from the construction activities of the project. The SSSIs and species of conservation interest identified on North Lantau and Sha Chau are San Tau Beach SSSI, Tai Ho Stream SSSI and Lung Kwu Chau, Tree Island & Sha Chau SSSI, all of which are far (at least 1 km) away from the project area. The terrestrial species of conservation interest in the natural habitat in North Lantau have adapted to mild disturbance from villagers living in North Lantau as well as from the operation of existing airport. With the large separation distance and implementation of the recommended mitigation measures for air quality and noise (details are provided in Chapters 5 and 7 respectively), the potential indirect air quality and noise impacts to the terrestrial ecology in North Lantau would be minimised to negligible levels.

12.6.5.2 Scenic Hill is the only natural terrestrial habitat that remains in the existing airport island. The location is environed by current traffic and construction activities of other projects. Therefore, the terrestrial habitat on the hill and associated flora and fauna are adapted to mild disturbance from the associated noise and dust emissions. There will be some construction activities for south cargo road improvement works as part of the proposed project, which is on the northwest side of Scenic Hill (but without any direct encroachment). Owing to the relatively small scale of road improvement works and the tolerance of the habitat, the potential ecological impact due to the construction activities is expected to be low.

12.6.5.3 As part of the diversion works for the submarine 11 kV cables, a temporary power generator will be located on the concrete-paved jetty on Sha Chau Island (where the Sha Chau radar is located) to maintain the power supply during the field joint work that will last for several months. The generator (6.3 m in length; 2.3 m in width and 2.3 m in height housed inside a shipping container) and a fuel storage tank (of similar size) will be located in the Sha Chau jetty temporarily (for several months) (see Drawing MCL/P132/EIA/16-006). As they are placed in the concrete-paved area not neighbouring the natural habitats on Sha Chau, this equipment will not cause disturbance to the terrestrial habitat and associated fauna.

12.6.5.4 During the operation phase, potential disturbance could include an increase in noise level at habitats in North Lantau, and SCLKC Marine Park including SSSIs (i.e. San Tau Beach SSSI, Tai Ho Stream SSSI and Lung Kwu Chau, Tree Island & Sha Chau SSSI) due to an increase in aircraft movement caused by the operation of the three-runway system. The potential impact is low due to the large distance (over 1 km) between the proposed third runway and the aforementioned habitats. Since the proposed third runway is aligned in a northeast - southwest direction, the aircraft flight track will avoid the area in North Lantau and Sha Chau when the aircraft is still flying in a low altitude.

12.6.5.5 Table 12.7 provides the evaluation of the ecological impact of habitat disturbance on Scenic Hill, North Lantau and Lung Kwu Chau, Tree Island and Sha Chau SSSI during both construction and operation phases.

Table 12.7: Evaluation of Ecological Impact of Habitat Disturbance

Criteria	Scenic Hill	North Lantau	Lung Kwu Chau, Tree Island and Sha Chau SSSI
Habitat Quality	Remaining natural hill on Chek Lap Kok with mainly shrubby grassland and secondary woodland; Construction work of HZMB-HKLR is undergoing at western side	The terrestrial habitat (including San Tau Beach SSSI and Tai Ho Stream SSSI) on northern Lantau is generally of moderate ecological value given the moderate abundance and diversity of flora and fauna species	The terrestrial habitat is of generally moderate ecological value except for the egretry
Species	5 terrestrial floral species of conservation interest; 8 terrestrial faunal species of conservation interest including 6 avifauna species and 2 amphibian species.	29 terrestrial floral species of conservation interest; 69 terrestrial faunal species of conservation interest including 31 avifauna species, 5 amphibian species, 4 reptile species, 28 butterfly species, 2 dragonfly species, 7 freshwater fish species and 2 freshwater macroinvertebrate species	2 terrestrial floral species of conservation interest; 22 terrestrial faunal species of conservation interest including 19 avifauna species,2 butterfly species and 1 reptile species
Abundance / Size	Low / approx. 19.0 ha	High / approx. 908.6 ha	Moderate-low / approx. 48.7 ha
Duration	During both construction and operation phases	During both construction and operation phases	During both construction and operation phases
Reversibility	Reversible for disturbance from construction phase but irreversible for disturbance from operation phase	Reversible for disturbance from construction phase but irreversible for disturbance from operation phase	Reversible for disturbance from construction phase but irreversible for disturbance from operation phase
Magnitude	Relatively small scale of road improvement works outside Scenic Hill	Minor disturbance due to large separation distance	Minor disturbance due to large separation distance
Overall Degree of Impact	Low due to small scale of indirect impact	Negligible due to large separation distance	Negligible due to large separation distance

12.6.6 Disturbance to Species of Conservation Interest

Floral Species of Conservation Interest

12.6.6.1 As described in Appendix 12.3, 32 terrestrial floral species of conservation interest were identified within the study area, but outside the project area. Owing to their far distances (more than 1 km) from major construction works in the project area, the identified flora species of conservation interest will not be significantly affected. Table 12.8 evaluates the impact of terrestrial floral species of conservation interest.

Table 12.8: Evaluation of the Ecological Impact on Terrestrial Floral Species of Conservation Interest

· Criteria	Impact on Floral Species of Conservation Interest
Habitat Quality	Terrestrial habitats in North Lantau are generally natural with high richness of floral species.
Species	32 terrestrial floral species of conservation interest
Abundance	Moderate-low
Duration	During construction phase and operation phases
Reversibility	N.A.
Magnitude	Negligible, as there is no loss of natural terrestrial habitat
Overall Degree of Impact	Negligible owing to far distance between major construction works in the project area and the habitat with floral species of conservation interest

Fauna Species of Conservation Interest

12.6.6.2 From the literature reviews and field surveys, data relating to terrestrial fauna species was gathered. Fauna species of conservation interest were found within the study area, but outside the project area. The potential indirect impacts to the fauna group or specific species due to the project are discussed below:

Herpetofauna, Macroinvertebrate, Stream Fauna and Bird Species in terrestrial habitat

12.6.6.3 The recorded hotspots for terrestrial fauna in North Lantau, such as the colonies of endemic amphibians species, butterfly hotspot and some sporadic sighting locations of bird are all at least 1 km from the project area. All these habitats will not be subject to direct loss. It is also worth noting that the identified terrestrial fauna hotspots were established before the construction and operation of existing airport and have adapted to a certain extent of disturbance. Noticeably, the population of Romer’s Tree Frog at Scenic Hill, i.e. the remains of a Chek Lap Kok population, has survived construction of the existing airport. Therefore, it has been predicted that this population together with other populations in North Lantau, will not be significantly affected during the construction of the proposed project.

12.6.6.4 The main potential sources of disturbance to terrestrial ecology would be from dust and noise emissions from the construction activities of the project. With the large separation distance and implementation of the recommended mitigation measures for air quality and noise (details are provided in Chapters 5 and 7 respectively), the potential impacts to the terrestrial ecology on North Lantau would be minimised to negligible levels. Compared to the existing airport, the third runway will be further away from North Lantau habitat; therefore the light and glare effect to the terrestrial fauna is also expected to be negligible.

Bird Species in the land formation area and the open water of North Lantau

12.6.6.5 A list of bird species of conservation interest has been compiled based on the field survey data collected. A list of sighting locations is presented in Appendix 12.3. Potential impacts on the four main groups, i.e. ardeid, seabird, landbird and waterbird, are discussed below.

12.6.6.6 Ardeid species have mostly been observed foraging along the seashore area. The ardeid community consists of Great Egret, Grey Heron, Chinese Pond Heron, Swinhoe’s Egret, Little Egret, Intermediate Egret and Pacific Reef Heron. Except Swinhoe’s Egret, all species were recorded in northern Lantau waters in the field survey. During the construction phase, ardeids observed to be foraging and roosting along the northern seawall, noticeably Little Egret and Pacific Reef Heron, will be affected. This artificial seawall will be re-instated in early stages of construction of the project thus the foraging opportunities will be recreated for them. Ardeids were also found in the coastal habitat in North Lantau, their habitat is subject to negligible effect during the construction and operation phases. As presented in Section 12.6.3, the Sha Chau egretry, consists of Little Egret, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron and Pacific Reef Heron, will not be encroached by the small construction works area on the Sheung Sha Chau Island and the HDD daylighting location will avoid the egretry. With the implementation of appropriate mitigation measures, the indirect impact to the Sha Chau egretry will be minimised to low levels (details in Section 12.7.2). As a result, it is expected there will be no significant impact to the ardeid species of conservation interest.

12.6.6.7 There were ten waterbird species of conservation interest recorded in the study area including Great Knot, Kentish Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew, Common Sandpiper, Ancient Murrelet and Terek Sandpiper in northern Lantau waters and Black-winged Stilt and Pied Avocet on the airport island. There are three seabird species of conservation interest including Black-headed Gull, Caspian Tern and Great Cormorant recorded in the northern Lantau waters. The land formation area has been assessed as unimportant for waterbirds and seabirds (see Section 12.5.1), thus these two bird groups will not be significantly affected during the construction phase.

12.6.6.8 It has been discussed in Section 12.5.3 that in general the marine habitat is not important for landbirds, and thus the impact to this bird group would be negligible. Most of the landbird species of conservation interest have been recorded in terrestrial habitat in North Lantau and Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau, including Lesser Coucal, Greater Coucal, Common Emerald Dove, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Chinese Hwamei, White-cheeked Starling, Red-billed Starling, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Brown Fish Owl, Collared Scops Owl, Japanese Sparrowhawk, Chinese Sparrowhawk, Crested Goshawk, Common Kestrel, Besra, Bonelli’s Eagle, Grey-faced Buzzard, Eastern Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Hobby and Crested Serpent Eagle. Their habitats are subject to negligible effect during both construction and operation phases. In the ecological field survey, Peregrine Falcon was recorded over northern Lantau waters. This species are very widespread in Hong Kong and the land formation area is not particularly important to them. There are three raptors which are highly associated with sea, i.e. Black Kite, Western Osprey and White-bellied Sea Eagle. The Black Kite is a ubiquitous species which utilises diverse and widespread locations including the marine environment. However, as discussed in Section 12.5.3.4 the land formation area is unimportant for this species and they will not be significantly affected. The White-bellied Sea Eagle has established a nesting location in Lung Kwu Chau, which is far (at least 1 km) away from the project area. Western Osprey is a winter visitor in Hong Kong with widespread distribution over the sea. They were recorded near Sha Chau and the land formation area is not particularly important to them. Therefore, the impact of construction on this species is considered to be negligible.

12.6.6.9 Other than the land formation works, there will be some construction works in the existing airport island. The construction works would affect the artificial habitat and associated fauna species. Owing to the short history and high artificial nature, the ecological value of the habitat is generally low. A few bird species, including two species of conservation interest Black-winged Stilt and Pied Avocet (as shown in Table 3 in Appendix 12.1), have been recorded in the SkyCity Nine Eagles Golf Course. The birds use the vegetated area for temporary stopover during migration or dispersive movement. The golf course and adjacent habitats are not natural habitats for wildlife species, other fauna species associated with the artificial habitats are generally of low ecological importance. Therefore, the loss of the golf course and artificial habitats would not have significant impact to the species of conservation interest.

12.6.6.10 In summary, it is unlikely there will be any significant impact to birds associated with this project due to the lack of ecological sensitive areas adjacent to the third runway. However, the proposed third runway may present a potential enhancement for ardeids and landbirds as the newly replaced and longer artificial seawall will provide more intertidal habitat for wading ardeids, and will facilitate foraging. Provision of a large terrestrial open area on the third runway could provide a temporary stopover point for migrants.

12.6.6.11 Table 12.9 evaluates the impact to the avifauna species of conservation interest while Table 12.10 evaluates the impact to the terrestrial fauna species of conservation interest beside avifauna species.

Table 12.9: Evaluation of Ecological Impact on Avifauna Species of Conservation Interest

Criteria	Ardeid	Waterbird	Landbird	Seabird
Habitat Quality	Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau are mainly natural habitats; An egretry is established on Sha Chau and a breeding pair of White-bellied Sea Eagle lives in Lung Kwu Chau. The 650 ha large land formation area is located in the northern Lantau waters just to the north of the existing runway where sightings of birds are low and dominated by Little Egret. The marine water in land formation area is not an important bird habitat.
Species	7 species including Great Egret, Grey Heron, Chinese Pond Heron, Swinhoe’s Egret, Little Egret, Intermediate Egret and Pacific Reef Heron	10 species including Great Knot, Kentish Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Black-winged Stilt, Black-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew, Pied Avocet, Ancient Murrelet, Common Greenshank and Terek Sandpiper	8 species including Lesser Coucal, Greater Coucal, Common Emerald Dove, Collared Crow, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Chinese Hwamei, White-cheeked Starling, Red-billed Starling; 17 raptor species including Japanese Sparrowhawk, Chinese Sparrowhawk, Crested Goshawk, Besra, Bonelli’s Eagle, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Collared Scops Owl, Brown Fish Owl, Grey-faced Buzzard, Eastern Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Hobby, Common Kestrel, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Black Kite, Western Osprey and Crested Serpent Eagle	3 species including Black-headed Gull, Caspian Tern and Great Cormorant,
Abundance	Moderate in the northern Lantau waters	Low in the northern Lantau waters	Low in northern Lantau waters; moderate-low in North Lantau Island; moderate-low for Black Kite	Low in northern Lantau waters
Duration	During construction and operation phases	During construction and operation phases	During construction and operation phases	During construction and operation phases
Reversibility	Reversible for construction phase but irreversible for operation phase	Reversible for construction phase but irreversible for operation phase	Reversible for construction phase but irreversible for operation phase	Reversible for construction phase but irreversible for operation phase
Magnitude	Moderate-minor	Minor	Minor	Minor
Overall Degree of Impact	Moderate for the potential impact to Sha Chau egretry during construction phase; low to other population in northern Lantau waters; Negligible to the foraging and breeding activities of ardeids during operation phase	Negligible owing to low abundance and low foraging activities in land formation area	Negligible owing to low abundance and low foraging activities in land formation area	Negligible, aggregate of the seabird and the foraging activities concentrated in Urmston Road with only a few records with low abundance in the land formation area

Table 12.10: Evaluation of Ecological Impact on Fauna Species of Conservation Interest Other Than Avifauna

Criteria	Herpetofauna	Macroinvertebrates	Stream Fauna
Habitat Quality	Terrestrial habitats in North Lantau are generally natural with nursery/breeding ground a few endemic amphibian species.
Species	10 species including both amphibians and reptiles	41 species including both butterflies and dragonflies	9 freshwater fish species and 2 freshwater macro invertebrate species
Abundance	Moderate-low in North Lantau	Moderate-low in North Lantau	Moderate-low in North Lantau
Duration	During construction and operation phases	During construction and operation phases	During construction and operation phases
Reversibility	Reversible for construction phase but irreversible for operation phase	Reversible for construction phase but irreversible for operation phase	Reversible for construction phase but irreversible for operation phase
Magnitude	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
Overall Degree of Impact	Negligible, owing to far distance from project area	Negligible, owing to far distance from project area	Negligible, owing to far distance from project area

Reduction of Species Abundance/Diversity and Ecological Carrying Capacity

12.6.6.12 As discussed above, the disturbance effect to the habitat of conservation interest, noticeably the SSSIs, is generally minor. It will unlikely affect the survival and habitat utilisation of fauna species. From species perspective, it was evaluated that none of the species of conservation interest will be subjected to major impact; thus the effect on reduction of species abundance and diversity would be negligible.

12.6.6.13 Since the ecological carrying capacity is closely linked with reduction of birds species abundance / diversity, the negligible change of species abundance and diversity would have negligible effect on ecological carrying capacity.

12.6.7 Impact on Freshwater Fish Community

12.6.7.1 Quantitative assessment of the construction phase water quality impact for the project has been undertaken in Chapter 8. The assessment findings have shown that under unmitigated worst case scenarios the predicted water quality at the ecological sensitive receivers along the North Lantau coast, including Sham Wat, Sha Lo Wan, San Tau and Tai Ho, would comply with the relevant requirements of WQO, and hence no adverse impact on water quality is anticipated. Therefore, the potential impact on the freshwater fish species of conservation interest in the lowland streams in North Lantau due to the construction activities would be negligible.

12.6.7.2 The potential change in water quality and hydrodynamic flow in North Lantau estuary due to the proposed land formation work is assessed in Chapter 8 water quality assessment (results shown in Section 8.7.2). No significant change to water quality and hydrodynamic flow in the estuarine habitat in North Lantau, including the streams in Tai Ho, Tung Chung, Sha Lo Wan and Sham Wat, will result; the effect to the freshwater habitat of the amphidromous fish species, noticeably Ayu Plecoglossus altivelis is negligible. Nonetheless, it will unlikely affect the freshwater stream ecology. Table 12.11 evaluates the impact on freshwater fish community in North Lantau.

Table 12.11: Evaluation of the Impact on Freshwater Fish Community

Criteria	Impact on Freshwater Fish Community
Habitat Quality	Lowland stream are generally considered to be of ecological importance in Hong Kong. The streams present in North Lantau are generally unaffected by pollution and support comparatively diverse aquatic communities. There are several lowland streams located at several locations within the study area in North Lantau, including Tai Ho, Tung Chung Bay, San Tau, Hau Hok Wan, Sha Lo Wan, and Sham Wat Wan. Amongst these streams, Tai Ho and Tung Chung streams rank first and second in terms of species richness of all streams in Hong Kong.
Species	Freshwater fish species confined to the rivers in North Lantau
Abundance	Moderate to low
Duration	Only indirect impact during construction phase
Reversibility	Reversible after completion of construction activities
Magnitude	Negligible
Overall Degree of Impact	Negligible owing to far distance between the land formation area and the streams and the land formation work would not affect the water qualities of those steams.

12.7 Mitigation Measures

12.7.1 General

12.7.1.1 Based on the ecological impact assessment findings in Section 12.6, the identified impacts to the terrestrial habitats, flora and fauna species in the study area are all considered to be low or negligible, except the impact to Sha Chau egretry. Therefore, no specific mitigation measures are required for those low or negligible impacts. Nevertheless, implementation of the existing bird strike preventive measures as identified in Appendix 12.1 and recommended mitigation measures on air quality, noise and water quality as detailed in Chapters 5, 7 and 8 respectively will further minimise the potential impacts on the terrestrial ecology.

12.7.2 Mitigation for potential impact to Sha Chau Egretry

12.7.2.1 According to Annex 16 in EIAO-TM and Study Brief No. ESB-250/2012, mitigation measures are proposed to avoid, minimise and/or compensate, in order of priority, for the adverse ecological impact identified, with an aim to protect, maintain or rehabilitate the natural environment if it is considered necessary. As detailed in Section 12.6.3, the impact to Sha Chau egretry during the construction of a submarine fuel pipeline between the HKIA and Sheung Sha Chau Island has been assessed as moderate. Therefore, mitigation measures have been recommended to address the impact in accordance with the criteria and guidelines stated in Annex 16 in EIAO-TM and EIAO Guidance Note No. 3/2010. The recommended mitigation measures are described below.

Avoidance

Land Formation Area

12.7.2.2 The land formation area is not located in a habitat of high ecological sensitivity, therefore the impact to terrestrial ecology is greatly avoided in the project design stage and no specific terrestrial ecological mitigation measures is deemed necessary for the loss of terrestrial habitat.

HDD Daylighting Location

12.7.2.3 The originally proposed daylighting location is immediately opposite the existing AFRF which minimises the pipe connection works. However given the presence of the egretry, the daylighting location is now shifted northwards. This measure aims to avoid direct impacts to the egretry (an avoidance measure based on the outcomes of the impact assessment) and furthermore, the daylighting location and mooring of flat top barge, if required, will be kept away from the egretry (original daylighting location refers to Section 12.6.3.1 and alternative location specified as blue zone in Drawing MCL-P132-EIA-12-035b). The vegetation on the northeastern side of Sheung Sha Chau Island near the proposed daylighting location is short and shrubby which is less suitable for egretry use. Only a small works area (about 10 m x 10 m) will be needed at the tentative daylighting location. This alternative is chosen as the preferred option owing to the ecological concern, despite a longer pipe connection is required. The final daylighting location within the blue zone is subject to further adjustment to avoid direct encroachment on the egretry, giving due consideration to the findings of the pre-construction monitoring for Sha Chau egretry, to be conducted before the commencement of the HDD drilling works at HKIA. With the adjustment of the daylighting location, direct encroachment onto the egretry will be avoided.

Timing of Construction Works

12.7.2.4 All HDD and related construction works on Sheung Sha Chau Island will be scheduled outside the ardeids’ breeding season (between April and July). No night-time construction work will be allowed on Sheung Sha Chau Island during all seasons except the contingency event as specified in Sections 12.6.3.4 and 12.6.3.5. With these avoidance measures any adverse impacts can be largely minimised.

Minimisation

Preservation of Nesting Vegetation

12.7.2.5 The HDD daylighting location proposed in the blue zone identified in Drawing MCL-P132-EIA-12-35b will be located within a rock area near the seashore, whilst the connecting pipelines will be aligned along the seashore (above the shoreline). This proposed arrangement will avoid the need for tree cutting, therefore trees that are used by ardeids for nesting will be preserved.

12.7.2.6 The potential impact to the Sha Chau egretry without and with implementation of the proposed mitigation measures are evaluated in Table 12.12.

Table 12.12: Summary of Impact to Sha Chau Egretry Before and After Implementation of the Mitigation Measures

Potential impact	Significance of impact without mitigation	Proposed mitigation	Significance of impact after adoption of mitigation measures
Construction phase
Direct impact of construction works at the egretry	Moderate	Adjust the daylighting location away from the egretry	Low
Disturbance to egretry due to construction activities	Moderate	Schedule all HDD related construction works on Sheung Sha Chau Island outside the ardeid’s breeding season (April to July) and no night-time construction work will be allowed in all seasons	Low

12.8 Cumulative Impacts

12.8.1.1 According to Chapter 4, 21 potential concurrent projects are identified in the area adjacent to the proposed expansion of the HKIA that may present interface issues. Several of these concurrent projects are identified with potential cumulative impact on terrestrial ecology. These concurrent projects include the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge: Hong Kong Link Road (HKLR), Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge: Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF), Tuen Mun – Chek Lap Kok Link (TM-CLK), Tung Chung New Town Extension (TCNTE), Potential Residential Development at Tung Chung Area 54 (PRDTC) and Public Housing Development at Tung Chung West Area 39 (PHDTCW) and the planned developments on the existing airport island including the Midfield development, the North Commercial District (NCD), the Intermodal Transfer Terminus (ITT) and other airport facilities related works.

12.8.1.2 The terrestrial impacts arising from the aforementioned concurrent projects are summarised in Table 12.13. The cumulative loss of habitat comprises grassland, shrubland, developed areas, plantation, woodland, secondary woodland and shrubby grassland. Aside from developed areas, no other natural habitat will be lost due to the third runway expansion, therefore there will be no cumulative impacts on terrestrial habitat loss. Beside land formation, the third runway expansion involves modification of existing artificial seawall and construction adjacent to already developed areas. Works will not result in habitat fragmentation, therefore there will be no cumulative impact on terrestrial habitat fragmentation.

12.8.1.3 Terrestrial noise and air pollution generated by traffic is not expected to contribute significantly to existing noise levels in the airport island and North Lantau as the background noise of the operation of the airport is high already. In addition, the third runway is located distant from North Lantau, therefore any increase in noise levels or air pollution due to the operation of the third runway project is expected to have insignificant impacts to both the wildlife in North Lantau and the disturbance-tolerant species identified on the existing airport island. As a result, it is anticipated that cumulative impacts from noise and air pollutions will be insignificant.