Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/2020/Feng Shui woods management in Hong Kong SAR, China: history, evolution, challenges, and prospects

Feng Shui woods have showcased traditional village forestry management practices based on Chinese geomancy. Local village communities developed a set of regulations to monitor the utilization of the natural woodlands in order to preserve the associated spiritual and cultural values. Feng Shui woods are commonly found in the southern China and well-known of their high ecological significance. A total of 116 Feng Shui woods could be seen in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), China, but a few local rural villages remain nowadays under rapid urbanization in the city.

Accordingly, this case study aims at (1) introducing Feng Shui woods, (2) reviewing the history and evolution of Feng Shui woods management by local communities and the government of Hong Kong, and (3) addressing the challenges associated with the current management practices.

Key words: Feng Shui woods, Village forestry, Hong Kong SAR

Introduction

The meaning of 'Feng Shui'

Feng Shui (i.e. Chinese geomancy), also referred to as Fung Shui and Fengshui, is a set of rules and standards to determine whether a place is suitable for settlement or construction in China. In other words, Feng Shui is a vital factor when people are striving for the embedment of harmony with the natural environment. In the past, houses had a comparatively low resistance to natural disasters as they were made of simple materials like bamboo, earth or hay. Villagers’ lives and property were often under risk and therefore they linked landscapes with Feng Shui that would affect the well-being of individuals and families, and prospects of the entire clan.

Indeed, Feng Shui is the practical knowledge base created by the Chinese people based on their experiences in natural disaster management for centuries.

Feng Shui woods, in general, are forests that bring fortune and prosperity. They are commonly found in the lowlands of Southern China. Forests patches are cultivated, managed and preserved by villagers based on collective rules to secure the Feng Shui functions performed by forests.

In Hong Kong, owing to the pious faith in Feng Shui, trees have been carefully preserved which lead to the formation of natural woods of high species diversity despite human disturbance for more than a century in other rural areas.

Layout of Feng Shui woods

Figure 1. Feng Shui wood and village in Lai Chi Wo (in northeastern New Territories, Hong Kong)

In Chinese geomancy, a site’s geomorphology and the existing of landscape features carry their own meanings. For instance, mountains are responsible of controlling the source of life and vitality. People tended to build their houses in front of a major mountain range and surrounded by enfolding mountains in order to receive and trap living energy that flew along the mountain ranges behind their village. The principle of ‘back onto green mountains and receive water’ is crucial in village site selection as most early settlers were farmers and they relied heavily on forest resources and water supply.

However, it is difficult to find an ideal Feng Shui site based on the above-mentioned principle. Therefore, early settlers modified the landscape by planting Feng Shui woods, building Feng Shui fishponds and dykes, as well as constructing door beams to enhance the functions of Feng Shui for the stability of the village.

Old trees are trusted to have supernatural power apart from mountains and water bodies. Pak Kung (i.e. Earth God) shrine were built under the old-growth tree to protect the entire village from harm. Pak Kung tree and shrine could be found at the main village entrance.

To sum up, a typical rural village nowadays is backed by a crescent-shaped forest and range of hills to fence off cold currents and wind. Agricultural field and Feng Shui fishponds are in front of the village and village houses respectively. Moreover, the village is surrounded by water streams, and kept guards by Pak Kung trees and shrine at the main village entrance.

Functions of Feng Shui woods

A sense of security to villagers

Feng Shui woods build a sense of security to villagers regarding their linkages with Chinese geomancy, historical and cultural values. The history of the oldest Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong could be tracked back to more than 300 years ago. Feng Shui woods of different villages share common characteristics in terms of cultural aspect. For instance, as mentioned in section 1.2, the existence of Pak Kung tree to protect the entire village according to Chinese folk beliefs. In addition to its function in creating income sources and sheltering villages from extreme weather events, Feng Shui woods are therefore believed to be the ideal landscapes for human settlements. Meanwhile, villagers have developed a strong connection with Feng Shui woods as they recognize the importance of the surrounding woodlands in improving their living conditions.

Microclimate regulation

Feng Shui woods play an important role in regulating microclimate. Due to the presence of highly diverse tree species and complex plant community structure, Feng Shui woods could mitigate the impacts brought by typhoons and produce cooling effects for the local community through shading in summer. In winter, Feng Shui woods act as fences to block the dry and cold north wind at the bay. The dense broad-leaved trees in Feng Shui woods help to halt the spreading of wildfires, as well as intercept mountain torrents and sliding mud during landslides.

Generation of economic revenue

Villagers living around Feng Shui woods would gather forest products to generate income and support their livelihoods in the past. They collected fallen branches, twigs and grasses for firewood and fuel; herbal plants for medical purposes; and timber for constructions. However, these practices have been diminishing over years owning to the advancement of technology in recent decades.

Significant habitat for wildlife

Feng Shui woods have nurtured and maintained species diversity in Hong Kong. In estimation, around 600 tree species could be found in Feng Shui woods, which are about 20% of the total tree species in Hong Kong. Fruits from trees are important food sources for faunal species such as birds, fruit bats and the Masked Palm Civet. Moreover, Feng Shui woods are main habitats for butterflies and ants. Around 40% of Hong Kong’s ant species are described as forest specialists or remnants in Feng Shui woods. Species richness, which is the total number of species present in an area, of Hong Kong butterflies ranks second in Feng Shui woods.

An overview of Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong

Figure 2. Regional distribution of Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong

The Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) identified a total of 116 Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong through a territory-wide survey in 2002. Plenty of research on the history, culture and ecological values of Feng Shui woods have been conducted in recent years to facilitate the formulation of conservation policies but most of them focus on the respective woodlands in New Territories. Figure 2 shows the regional distribution of Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong. The size of Feng Shui wood is limited by topographical constraints. Average area of Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong is about 1 hectare. The largest Feng Shui woods can be found in Shing Mun in central New Territories which have an area of approximately 6 hectares while the smallest one in Wong Chuk Yeung in Sai Kung is only 600 m². 80% of Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong are situated at the elevation of 100 m or less.

Despite a total of 7.5 million people are living in Hong Kong, 70% of land in Hong Kong belong to the countryside. Forests in the rural area could be categorized into Feng Shui woods, lowland secondary forest, and plantation forest. The major feature of Feng Shui woods is the long history associated with the protection regulation by villagers that could be dated back to hundred years ago. Tall trees and large vines are commonly found in Feng Shui woods but not in lowland secondary forests or plantation forests. Feng Shui woods also offer favourable place of the growth of shade-tolerant plant species owing to the thick tree canopy that blocks out most of the sunlight. Given its structurally and floristically variability, Feng Shui wood has the most complex structure and contains unique tree species that cannot be found in other forest types. Detailed comparison of Feng Shui wood and other types of forest in Hong Kong is demonstrated in table 1.

Regarding local communities living near Feng Shui woods, there is currently no detailed information published by the government showing the total number of existing villages. Frequently mentioned examples of rural settlements in Feng Shui woods include She Shan Tsuen, Tai Om, Lai Chi Wo, and Mui Tsz Lam.

Table 1. Comparison of Feng Shui wood and other types of forest in Hong Kong

	Feng Shui wood	Lowland secondary forest	Plantation forest
History	The Oldest Feng Shui wood has a history of more than 300 years	Developed naturally after the Second World War	Since the post Second World War period
Tree canopy	Dense and tall	Dense and shorter	Sparse
Undergrowth	Dense	Dense	Sparse
Tree size	Dominated by old trees and large vines	Trees with all sizes	Relatively uniform
Tree species diversity	High (mostly native shade-tolerant species)	High (mostly native sun-loving pioneer species)	Low (mostly exotic plants and native pioneer species)

Feng Shui woods management in Hong Kong: history and evolution

The British government (1898-1997)

Forests in Hong Kong, in particular Feng Shui woods, are mainly situated in the New Territories which were leased by Britain from China in 1898 for 99 years under the Convention of Peking. The British government replaced the existing land ownership system in the New Territories with a leasehold and taxation, although conflicts between indigenous villagers and the government happened. In other words, lands in New Territories were all owned by the British government and the previous landowners could only lease land in that period of time. This lease was known as the Block Crown Lease, which was demised as Agricultural Lands, Building, Lands, fish ponds and others in Demarcation Districts. Such practice has been undertaken after the end of British rule in 1997, meaning that the lands in New Territories are now managed by the HKSAR government.

Even though the British government wanted to convert the traditional Chinese tenure system into a legal framework, a promise by the British government to preserve traditional customs and practices was given to the indigenous villagers. A pledge of non-expropriation was made to indigenous villages through a firm reassurance by the New Territories Ordinance (Cap. 97) in 1964. Since then, indigenous villages were respected and exempted from other urban-oriented development plan such as the New Towns programme in New territories, despite the rapid urbanization driven by pressing housing needs of urban inhabitants, container-port expansion, and cross-border China trade.

In 1972, the Small House Policy was issued to allow each male indigenous villager over 18 years old to build a three-storey small house on either his land or land granted by the government. This controversial policy has been receiving dissents over years and it is recognized as a barrier for rural landscape rehabilitation, which will be further discussed in section 4.1.

The inclusion of Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong’s Country Park system Country Parks Ordinance (Cap. 208) was enacted in 1976 to incorporate nearly 40% of Hong Kong’s lands with the intention to conserve the countryside and develop recreational sites for citizens. The Country and Marine Parks Authority is responsible to

• encourage their use and development for the purposes of recreation and tourism;
• protect the vegetation and wildlife inside country parks and special areas;
• preserve and maintain buildings and sites of historic or cultural significance within country parks and special areas but without prejudice to the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (Cap. 53); and
• provide facilities and services for the public enjoyment of country parks and special areas.

In the same year, the Forests and Countryside Ordinance (Cap. 96) was issued to define the responsibility of the Lands Department to (1) maintain trees on unleased and unallocated government land, and (2) enforce tree-related lease conditions for leased land. Simultaneously, the duties of AFCD in tree management include rural landscape conservation and monitoring illegal logging on government land. Feng Shui woods on government’s land are therefore under the protection of the Forests and Countryside Ordinance. The following acts are strictly prohibited in forests protected by the Ordinance:

• grass cutting, turf or earth removal, pine needle collection;
• damage to bud, blossom, leaf of any tree, shrub or plant;
• cattle or goat trespassing; and
• tree felling, burning, and cutting.

In 1991, the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) was extended to statutory planning control to the rural New Territories. It provided for the designation of Development Permission Areas (DPAs), within which unless otherwise specified or provided in plan, any development must have planning permission. The Development Permission Area Plans are valid for three years (and for another year upon extension) and are replaced by Outline Zoning Plans (OZPs). The Ordinance provides planning enforcement against unauthorized developments within the DPA.

In 1994, the Town Planning Board, who was the principal body responsible for statutory planning in Hong Kong under the Town Planning Ordinance, gazetted the rural OZPs (ROZPs) for conservation-related land-use zones. Under the ROZPs, Feng Shui woods have been designated as conservation areas, greenbelts, or Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in addition to the Country Parks system.

The HKSAR government (1997-present)

The New Territories Ordinance (Cap. 97), the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131), the Small House Policy, the Country Parks Ordinance (Cap. 208), and the Forests and Countryside Ordinance (Cap. 96) are still in effect nowadays.

Currently there is no specific management regarding Feng Shui woods and they are managed under the general tree framework. Strategies adopted by the government to manage trees in Feng Shui woods include (1) direct maintenance, (2) land control and lease enforcement, and (3) legislation enforcement.

In 2004, the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) was amended to streamline the plan making process and planning approval procedures, enhance the openness and transparency of the planning system as well as strengthen planning enforcement in the rural New Territories. As both government land and privately leased land are subject to land-use zoning, zoning is an effective way to conserve trees and forests. However, Feng Shui woods that are fallen to separate land-use zones would receive different levels of protection. Out of 116 Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong, approximately 49% of them are within Country Parks, SSSIs or conservation areas.

In 2016, conservation of Feng Shui woods was addressed in the “Hong Kong: Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 2016-2021” published by the Environment Bureau, with no specific policy and action mentioned.

Table 2. Timeline of the history and evolution of Feng Shui woods management by the government

Year	Event
1898	New territories with portion of the Kowloon peninsula north of Boundary Street was leased to the British government
1905	Block Crown Lease of rural lands instituted
1910	The New Territories Ordinance (Cap. 97) was enacted to provide a pledge of non-expropriation of land and property rights to indigenous villagers
1939	Rural areas were excluded from the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131)
1970s	Indigenous villages were exempted from the New Towns programme in New Territories
1972	The Small House Policy was issued
1976	The Country Parks Ordinance (Cap. 208) and the Forests and Countryside Ordinance (Cap. 96) were enacted
1991	The Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) was extended to rural New Territories
1994	The rural Outline Zoning Plans were issued under the Town Planning Ordinance
1997	Hong Kong’s sovereignty was transferred to the People’s Republic of China
2016	The Hong Kong Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2016-2021 was published

Local communities

Figure 3. Locations of She Shan Tsuen and Tai Om

Village forestry in Hong Kong had developed when the British administration took over the rule of New Territories in 1898 as villagers were afraid that their ownership to trees would be encroached. Villagers started to cut down trees for wholesale which had led to environmental degradation. In light of this, the British government improved the situation by introducing the scheme of defining and registering the plantation in 1905 (i.e. Block Crown Lease). Secure tenures of trees were given to villagers whose livelihoods were maintained by the sale of fuel, poles and timber and villagers had to pay their license fees for the occupation of Crown Land. Reforestation soon began after this scheme.

In the past, there were village rules on the protection of village trees in rural New Territories. Village rules were established by villagers during village meetings in the form of oral promulgation or written text which gradually became the ‘village custom’. Fine was charged upon violation. Some villages had no formally established village rules, but they followed the village custom and tradition. Preservation of Feng Shui woods and control of wood cutting were main focuses of village rules. In many villages, firewood cutting from hillslopes brought cash income for villagers from the sale of these woods in market towns and shipping out to nearby cities. Villagers also collected grass and firewood as fuel. Village rules on tree cutting were introduced because of the belief in Feng Shui woods in bringing prosperity to villages, the population growth in the New Territories, and the increasing number of outsiders coming to villages to steal wood.

She Shan Tsuen and Tai Om are Hakka villages located in the Lam Tsuen valley of Tai Po District in the eastern New Territories (Figure 3). Feng Shui woods in She Shan Tsuen and Tai Om are associated with local village communities and their existences in Hong Kong could be tracked before the British rule of the New Territories in 1898. Both villages are recognized as Indigenous Villages by law. Because of the importance of the two Feng Shui woods in shaping cultural-ecological landscapes in She Shan Tsuen and Tai Om, they were designated by the AFCD as SSSIs in 1975 and 2005 respectively.

Case study I: She Shan Tsuen

Hillsides surrounding She Shan Tsuen had been divided into three categories, namely:

1. Wooded hillslopes of Feng Shui significance
   • Access to these hillslopes was strictly controlled. Tree cutting was banned except for construction purposes. A permit would be issued by the four Managers of the clan Ancestral trust, the ‘Controller of the Hillsides’ which specified the quantity and type of timber to be cut while the process of wood cutting was under inspection of the ‘Controller of the Hillsides’ before any removal of trees.
2. The Communal hill
   • Tree cutting was allowed while tree cutters must follow the traditional practices of the village.
3. Private hillslopes
   • Tree cutting was permitted by village custom subject to the consent of the owner.

Anyone who violated the village rules would be fined $20 at a mass meeting of the village by the elders or the communal organization. Such rules were enforced 1 to 2 generations ago, but they are no longer enforced for decades due to the diminishing role of local communities (see section 4.1).

In present, villagers from She Shan Tsuen in general do not adopt a specific management practice for trees in Feng Shui woods behind their village and there is no assigned villager to take care of the woodlands. Villagers will voluntarily take care of the woodlands if there is anything wrong spotted.

Case study II: Tai Om

Tai Om had the practice of closure of the hill in the past that villagers were not allowed to cut trees or branches from the woodlands for an entire year. A villager was assigned to remind villagers of this collective rule by knocking a gong throughout the year periodically. A mutual monitoring and reporting system existed as well within the village.

Similarly, if violations were seen, violators were penalized for paying 50 cents or 1 dollar by the elders or the communal organization of the village. This practice had been tightly enforced before the Second World War but the elders relaxed the enforcement after the period of Japanese Occupation in Hong Kong (i.e. December, 1941-August, 1945).

In the past, all villagers in Tai Om carried out a traditional custom of ‘washing the foot the hill’ every year before the Chinese Lunar New Year to remove weeds growing at the bottom of the hillslopes and over extended tree branches from the forest into the ancestral hall and houses. However, this custom is no longer happening now because the inability and low willingness of villagers to manage the forest at the back of their village (see section 4.1).

Non-governmental organization

The Conservancy Association and the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society are the intermediary organizations between the Town Planning Board, the local village communities and the general public.

The Town Planning Board received an application (i.e. Y/NE-LT/2) in 2019 which is the proposal of converting the existing farmlands in She Shan Tsuen to residential buildings and public transport interchange to aid the middle-class families by offering large amount of high-end private housing units. This application has received strong opposition from the local village communities and the general public as Lam Tsuen valley, where She Shan Tsuen is located, is a hotspot of bird watching, conducting ecological survey of Feng Shui woods, and historical and cultural study on Indigenous Village. Moreover, the Ecological Impact Assessment submitted by the developer has underestimated the negative effects of this project to the nearby ecosystems.

The Conservancy Association and the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society have organized petitions and raised the environmental awareness of citizens by posting relevant information on their social media platforms. Objection letters were sent to the Town Planning Board and the application has eventually withdrawn by the applicant.

Challenges and recommendations

Diminishing role of local communities

Unlike the past, local village communities are now less reliant on tangible forest resources because of the rapid development of technology. The arrival of kerosene as a new fuel source and the electrification of rural areas in the 1960s replaced the utilization of grass and firewood. Furthermore, improved building techniques and guidelines have reduced the reliance on forest for shelter from typhoons. The reduced demands for medical herbs, as well as the declined spiritual significance of Feng Shui beliefs are vital reasons for the reduced reliance on the natural woodlands of local village communities.

Another notable factor regarding the change of the utilization and management of Feng Shui woods is the fading of customary rules and traditions. More and more villagers are emigrating to urban areas for job opportunities as the farming industry in Hong Kong is declining since the 1960s, linked with the rise of the industrial sector, financial and commercial sector. Ineffective regulations on rural land use and the pressing needs of container port in the 1980s have accelerated the conversion of abandoned farmlands into open storage facilities and vehicle repair workshops.

The Small House Policy has also driven the vegetation loss in rural areas throughout the decades as the younger generation from the local village communities prioritized land development over forest conservation.

Recommendation(s)

• More historical and cultural studies should be undertaken to preserve the spiritual and cultural elements of Feng Shui woods.

Institutional framework for Feng Shui woods management

As mentioned, Feng Shui woods are currently managed under the government’s general tree framework, which is widely criticized for its inefficiency and complexity. Overlapping duties might happen occasionally between the AFCD and Lands Department. The AFCD and Lands Department are sharing the responsibility of maintaining trees on unleased and unallocated government land and enforcing laws stated in the Forests and Countryside Ordinance (Cap. 96). The AFCD is the principal body to take care of trees’ health conditions and enforce power against illegal felling of trees on government land while the Lands Department is responsible for the overall tree maintenance and enforcing tree-related lease conditions for leased land. Sometimes cases of tree work or illegal removal might have been transferred between the AFCD and Lands Department, causing timely follow actions.

Recommendation(s)

• Standardization and formulation of specific management or conservation strategy for all Feng Shui woods as Feng Shui woods in Hong Kong are under protection of different Ordinances depending on their locations.

Conflicts of interests between the AFCD and local communities

Different approaches are adopted by the AFCD and local villagers regarding Feng Shui woods management.

In Tai Om, some villagers reckon that the AFCD should bare the responsibility of managing the natural woodlands as no one is willing to do it in present days while some of them suggested that villagers should be the person-in-charge of woodlands management based on traditional management practices as the Feng Shui woods are now under SSSIs, indicating that all removal of shrubs, weeds, tree branches are all prohibited. In the past, villagers had the exclusive right to collect grass and firewood from nearby woodlands; and cultivate and manage their own trees on their homelands under the recognition by Block Crown Lease. Therefore, local villagers have now lost their exclusive rights of managing the natural woodlands near their villages.

In She Shan Tsuen, villagers deemed conservation as unnecessary as the tree species in Feng Shui woods are common and it is normal for natural selection taking place over time.

Recommendation(s)

• Regular meetings should be held for the AFCD officers and local villagers to address their concerns and needs regarding Feng Shui woods management in all existing local villages associated with Feng Shui woods.

Illegal felling of Incense Tree (Aquilaria sinensis)

Incense Trees (Aquilaria sinensis) are evergreen trees in Hong Kong and they grow in lowland habitats across Hong Kong (e.g. New Territories, Lantau, Lamma and Hong Kong Island). In particular, the AFCD has recorded a high abundance of Incense Trees in Feng Shui woods behind rural villages and in Country Parks.

In terms of utilization by villagers in the past, the resin produced by the tree after fungus invasion was refined into lignum, a rare Chinese medicine. Incense Trees could also be used to produce aromatic incense and high-grade altar incense.

As the geographical distribution of Incense Tree has been shrinking in recent years, it is now listed as a State Protection (Category II) wild plant in China and a Near-threatened species under the China Plant Red Book. It is also listed as VU (i.e. vulnerable) in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Plants. In Hong Kong, the AFCD published the ‘Incense Tree (Aquilaria sinensis) Species Action Plan’ in 2018 to address the conservation of this species.

Because of the declining abundance of wild Incense Trees in Southern China which contributes to the shortage of agarwood in the Mainland China, illegal felling has extended to Hong Kong. Reported cases of illegal felling of Incense Trees in She Shan Tsuen have raised concerns of the general public. There were originally four Incense Trees but three of them experienced complete or incomplete cutting in the past few years. The detection of illegal felling, especially in night times, is a major challenge for law enforcement in Hong Kong as Incense Trees are mainly situated in Country Parks and rural areas that are free to access and have no security stations.

Recommendation(s)

• Installation of sensors to detect any crime related to illegal remove of Incense Trees at strategic locations. Warning signal such as lighting could be used to omit the problem of the alarming system for disrupting animals in the natural environment. Sensor systems should be connected to the nearest Police Station for a fast response.
• Education materials related to Incense Trees (and environmental conservation in general) through schooling and social media platforms.

Hill fires and tropical cyclones

Hill fires have been frequently reported in dry seasons with low precipitation and humidity in Hong Kong. Due to the accumulation of fuel in Country Parks from the growth of weeds and grasses in wet seasons, countryside is highly prone to wildfires. However, human disturbance is major reasons for the occurrence of hill fires in Hong Kong. More than 120 hills fires could happen on a single day of Chung Yeung Festival when citizens sweep tombs and commemorate their ancestors. Meanwhile, about 40 hill fires have been reported in Country Parks annually, where some of the Feng Shui woods are located. For fire suppression, the AFCD fire crew are on duty 24 hours during the peak season of hill fires within Country Parks. Hill fires are of great attention because burnt landscapes require a long period of time to regenerate.

Recommendation(s)

• Installation of smoke detector at Country Parks and gravesites near Country Parks for a quick follow-up actions in case of any hill fire events.
• Establishment of a fire vulnerability map regarding tree species and surrounding land-use zones.
• Education materials related to the proper procedures of grave sweeping through schooling and social media platforms.

Tropical cyclones usually visit Hong Kong in summer and early autumn, which may bring disastrous effects to both the urban and rural areas. In 2018, super Typhoon Mangkhut, the strongest typhoon ever in Hong Kong’s record, felled at least 1,000 trees in Country Parks and triggered landslides in some areas. Loss of Feng Shui woods is unavoidable during typhoon season.

Recommendation(s)

• Long-term monitoring of hillslopes with construction projects of hillslope stabilization.
• Afforestation programmes to restore degraded landscapes after typhoon events.