Wilson Lau, Civic Exchange

2012 was a landmark year for marine conservation. The reports began rolling in June, when the Australian government announced a proposal to protect 2.3 million square kilometres of ocean, equivalent to about a third of the size of Australia’s land mass. A few months later, the Cook Islands announced that almost a million square kilometres will be set aside as a marine park. In addition, the small island chain joins a chorus of other island nations in the Pacific, including French Polynesia and the Marshall Islands, in creating a global shark sanctuary totaling 6.7 million square kilometres in size.

The idea of setting up a conservation trust in Hong Kong has been on the back burner for a number of years but the city’s incumbent Chief Executive, Leung Chun-Ying, is providing new hope that a government-backed trust organization will finally get its wings. Trusts are non-profit organizations that are committed to preserving the cultural landscape and ecological heritage for the public good, indefinitely. Well-known organizations such as the National Trust in the UK have been around for over a century and are seen by the British public as a steward of places significant to its cultural past.

In many Asian cities thriving quarters are progressively being stripped of their distinctive street life. Market pressure is forcing out older residents and local shop-owners, typically in places that have been earmarked for prime real estate development due to their central, high-traffic location. No where is this more visible and dispiriting than in Hong Kong’s older districts. The confluence of Hong Kong's high post-war population growth, limited space for development and the urban design resulted in the development of areas that are socially vibrant and commercially diverse. Today these are situated in older districts where many buildings have become dilapidated, threatening their ability to support the residents within, as well as the street activity on their doorstep.

The world’s foremost experts group on birds, the International Ornithologists’ Union, has just confirmed a new species of bird that was discovered on the mountain peaks of Hong Kong. Given the common name Chinese Grassbird, their estimated numbers are few (initial estimates suggests no more than 50-100 pairs in Hong Kong); therefore, the cause for conservation should be great. It might be fortunate that the hill and mountaintop habitats where these birds make their home are largely found within Hong Kong’s country parks network.

Most of the time, threats to the environment are reported in a negative light. In Hong Kong, land and sea developments that can adversely affect the environment are readily reported in the news media, such as the proposal for a third runway at the Hong Kong International Airport, or the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, both of which have the potential of spawning environmental impacts beyond human health thresholds.