On Sunday 1st August, Sandy Duggie, MD of URBIS, joined with Tim Peirson-Smith of Executive Counsel and David Stanton of AEC to host a guided tour of the beautiful landscapes of the Old Course at Fanling Golf Club to some fellow members of the Hong Kong Institute of Environmental Impact Assessment. The Old Course was created in 1911 and the landscape comprises undulating fairways weaving through secondary woodland of high biodiversity, containing many very old and beautiful mature trees. Fanling Golf Club contains probably over 400 potential OVTs (Old and Valuable Trees) a large proportion of which are located in the Old Course, including a stand of the rare Glyptostroboides pencilis, the Chinese Swamp Cypress, that is critically endangered. The Old Course constitutes a “Living Heritage Landscape” that has been under continuous care and management for over 110 years. HKIEIA members were shown many of the initiatives taken by the Club to promote and enhance the biodiversity of the local flora, fauna and birdlife, and also paid a visit to Club’s Bee Farm and Butterfly Garden.
