ENG3415 Sustainability

and Green Life

Lecture 4 – Natural Heritage
Protection in Hong Kong

Lesson Intended Learning

Outcome and Learning Content
 Lesson Intended Learning Outcome
 identify and explain the characteristics of different
groups of ecological habitats and biodiversity of
Hong Kong
 Learning Content
 Habitat diversity in Hong Kong
 Species diversity in Hong Kong
 Conservation of Biodiversity

2
Definition of Heritage

Heritage

Culture Natural
Heritage Heritage

Source: UNESCO

Natural Heritage
 natural features consisting of physical and
biological formations or groups of such formations,
which are of outstanding universal value from the
aesthetic or scientific point of view;
 geological and physiographical formations and
precisely delineated areas which constitute the
habitat of threatened species of animals and plants
of outstanding universal value from the point of view
of science or conservation;
 natural sites or precisely delineated natural areas of
outstanding universal value from the point of view of
science, conservation or natural beauty.

Source: UNESCO
 Do you think that Hong Kong has a rich Natural Heritage?

THINK ABOUT IT…

Hong Kong Environment

 Land
 The total land area of Hong Kong is 1,100 km2,
over 60 km2 is the result of recent land
reclamation, but about 75% of total is open
countryside
 Topography is extremely rugged and there is little
natural flat land
 Highest point is at Tai Mo Shan (957m), followed
by Lantau Peak (934m)
 Because of rugged terrain, around 95% of
population live and work in <20% of land while the
remaining 80% is relatively undeveloped 6
Hong Kong Environment
 Geology
 Around 90% of Hong Kong is underlain by igneous rocks
(formed from molten rock)
 Volcanic rocks underlie about half of Hong Kong.
 Granites are the second commonest rock type cover about
¼ of Hong Kong
 Both volcanic and granites rocks from liquid magma but
volcanics cooled rapidly at surface and fine-grained,
granites cooled slowly underground have large crystals
 Volcanic rocks from higher and sharper peaks, while
granite hills are lower, rounded and covered by boulders
 Sedimentary rocks underlie small areas in Hong Kong
(~10%) 7

Hong Kong Environment

 Climate
 Hong Kong's climate is subtropical but half the year is
temperate
 Monson climate dominated by seasonal alternation of wind
direction and resulting in major contrast in weather
between winter and summer
 Between summer and winter there are shorter periods of
transitional weather
 Mean annual temperature is 22.8 oC (1961-1990)
 Mean annual rainfall is 2,214 mm
 Characteristic and ecologically significant feather of Hong
Kong winters is sudden arrivals of cold polar air that cause
a sharp drop in temperature
8
Hong Kong Environment
 Climate
 Winter is the dry season
 Summer is wet season, with 77% of total annual
rainfall between May and September
 Climatic seasonality leads to seasonality in hill
fires, common in late December
 Large differences between years in terms of
amount and timing of rainfall (901 mm in 1963
and 3,343 mm in 1997)

Habitat in Hong Kong -

Overview
 Natural vegetation of Hong Kong was sub-
tropical semi-evergreen rain forest
 Would supported tigers, leopards,
elephants…which no longer occur in Hong Kong
 Chinese settlement in last 900-1000 year Pinus massoniana
 Forest cleared for agriculture, from rice in
lowlands to tea on Tai Mo Shan
 First European visitors (16th -17th century),
forest and forest-dependent animals were gone
 British arrived in 1840, forest preserved only as
fung shui woods behinds villages
 Plantation of native pine, Pinus massoniana, but
were cut after Japanese Occupation (1940-1946)
 Planting increased again after the war and
establishment of Country Parks
10

Source: http://en.Wikipedia.org
Habitat in Hong Kong -
Overview
 Most flat areas were cultivated and most
hillsides were grassland
 Terrestrial habitats we see today have largely
been derived from grassland or cropland by
natural process of ecological succession
(directional changes in the structure and
species composition of a community)
 End point of succession in Hong Kong would
be a forest, but this process will take several
centuries at least
11

Habitat in Hong Kong -

Terrestrial habitats
 Grassland
 Shrubland
 Secondary forest
 Fung shui woods
 Plantations
 Freshwater wetlands
 Urban areas

12
Grassland
 Vegetation dominated by grasses
 Covers ~16% of Hong Kong
 Occurs only as a temporary stage on abandoned
cultivated areas, and more extensively in areas
which are regularly burned
 They recover quickly from fire
 Also dominate in areas which are regularly grazed
by cattle or cut for fuel
 Grassland is the ecologically-poorest vegetation
type in Hong Kong and supports the fewest species
of plants and animals

13

Shrubland
 10-15 years without fire results in replacement of grassland by
shrubland
 Grasses shaded-out by shrubs
 Most shrubs are evergreen, so much less dead fuel in winter
and fires become rare
 Many shrub species can recover if single fire occurs
 Multiple fires will kill all woody plants and return the site to
grassland
 Covers 16% of Hong Kong’s area and support many species
of birds, mammals and other animals
 Most important habitat for migratory birds
 If not burned or cut for 10-25 years, young trees will grow up
and shade-out the shrubs

14
Secondary Forest
 Trees form a continuous closed canopy, i.e. forest
 Called ‘secondary’ because it has grown up after the
original, or ‘primary’ forest was destroyed
 Most secondary forest in Hong Kong <50 years old
 10-20 m tall and much simpler in structure that the
primary forest
 Covers ~7% of Hong Kong’s land area
 Most important habitat for many Hong Kong’s resident
birds and mammals
 Lowland forest, below ~400 m above sea-level,
dominated by tropical plant families and species
 Montane forest (>400 m) dominated by non-tropical
plants because of low minimum temperature 15

Fung Shui Woods

 Fung shui woods
behind villages in the
New territories are
much older (300 or
more years)
 Have a tall (15-25 m)
canopy and more Lai Chi Wo fung shui wood

complex structure,
more similar to
original forest 16
Freshwater Wetlands
 Flat, lowland areas used for rice cultivation until
1970s are often poorly-drained and liable to flooding
after abandoned
 Formation of a ‘hard pan’ (an almost concrete-like
watertight later under the field as a result of
repeated plowing to the same depth)
 If left abandoned, the hard pan left intact formed
‘freshwater wetlands’ dominated by grasses and
sedges and become important habitat for birds,
frogs, dragonflies and other insects
17

Urban Areas
 Completely unnatural and only a few wild
species have been able to adapt
 Spread with people, e.g. sparrows, urban rats
cockroaches

18
Habitat in Hong Kong
-Freshwater Habitat Mosquito fish
Source: http://en.Wikipedia.org

 Hong Kong has no natural lakes or real rivers

 Many streams and several artificial reservoirs
 >70% of freshwater from China, rest from rainfall
in Hong Kong
 1/3 of Hong Kong’s total area used as water
catchment
 Upper stream: mostly steep, fast-flowing,
unpolluted and occupied by native species
 Lowland stream: slower-flowing, mostly badly-
polluted, often channelized (concrete channel),
support many exotic species (e.g. Mosquito fish)
19

Habitat in Hong Kong -

Coastal Habitat
 Region influenced by rise and fall of tides is called
inter-tidal
 Combination of waves and tides makes inter-tidal
zone one of the harshest environment on earth
 Hong Kong’s inter-tidal region is diverse:
 Rocky shores
 Boulder shores
 Sandy and muddy shores
 Mudflats
 Mangroves

20
Rocky Shores
 80% of Hong Kong’s coastline composed of solid
rock
 Vary in the degree of exposure to wave action they
receive and puts a strong influence on the species
occur
 Strong vertical zonation, based on the length of time
that organisms out of water
 Splash zone  above height of the highest tides,
only wetted by sea spray at high tide and in stormy
weather
 Sub-tidal zone  below the height of the lowest tide,
never exposed to air
 Inter-tidal zone  in between splash zone and sub-
tidal zone 21

Rocky Shores
 Hong Kong’s highly seasonal environment has a big
influence on rocky shore ecology
 Inter-tidal organisms are exposed to much greater
variation in air temperatures, as well as solar
radiation and rain, when exposed
 Winter: mild season on shore, but periods of
extreme cold can kill crabs and other animals on
shore
 Summer: harsh season, tides are lower and early
afternoon low tides may expose organisms to rock
temperatures reach >50 oC, non-mobile species e.g.
large algae drying off, and mobile species retreating
lower down the shore
22
Boulder Shores, Sandy and
Muddy Shores
 Boulder shores
 Between exposed rocky shores and sheltered
beaches, there are often shores dominated by
boulders
 These add a third dimension of complexity to the
basically two-dimensional rocky shore, and
biologically more diverse
 Sandy and muddy shores
 Coarse sandy beaches are the most hostile
environment for life because the substrate is
continually shifting
23

Mudflats
 Mudflats
 Occurs in very sheltered locations where there is
usually no wave action and the mud is simply
covered and uncovered by tides
 Largest inter-tidal mudflat is in Deep Bay, where
silt provided by Pearl River

24
Mangroves
 Develop on the upper part of sheltered shores in the
tropics and sub-tropics
 Because of Hong Kong’s cold winters, only 8
mangrove plant species
 Extremely difficult environment for vascular plants,
with high and fluctuating salinity and unstable and
anaerobic substrate
 Mangrove fauna is extremely rich as a result of the
huge range of microhabitats that mangrove provides
 ~290 ha of mangrove in Hong Kong, with 115 ha at
Mai Po
 Part of the mangroves at Mai Po were converted
into inter-tidal shrimp ponds (gei wais) in 1940s, a
very important habitat for water birds 25

Marine Habitat
 Hong Kong’s territorial waters cover a greater area (1800 km2)
than the land (1100 km2) but are much less well-known,
ecologically
 Maximum water depth ~80 m but most areas are much more
shallow (30-40 m)
 Hong Kong waters are influenced by a seasonal alternation of
marine currents, driven by the alternation in wind directions
 Two basic divisions of marine environment: pelagic (the water)
and benthic (the bottom)
 Marine organisms adopt to one the three major lifestyles:
 Plankton (free-floating, drifting with current, limited
swimming ability)
 Nekton (free-swimming)
 Benthos (bottom-dwelling) 26
Marine Habitat
 Hong Kong is on the eastern side of the Pearl River
estuary – the largest river in South China
 Western half of Hong Kong waters has an estuarine
environment, salinity falls almost to zero after wet
weather in summer
 Western waters are very turbid because of
suspended sediments brought down by the river
 Eastern waters are clear and oceanic, with a more
or less constant high salinity

27

Coral Reef
 Reefs are ridges below sea surface
 Add three-dimensional complexity to the two-
dimensional seabed, they provide more
microhabitats and support more species
 Coral reefs are built up over a long time from
calcium carbonate skeletons of reef-building
corals (colonial animals like small sea
anemones) and other animals, MOST
SPECIES RICH marine habitat
28
 Coral Reef
 Hong Kong has 50 species of reef-building corals,
they do not form true coral reefs here, they form
more simple structure than true coral reefs, but
supporting high diversity of animals, >300 fish
species
 Corals excluded from western Hong Kong waters by
low salinity and high turbidity
 Symbiotic unicellular algae, they need light and
rarely grow < 10m depth in Hong Kong waters
 Corals cannot survive exposure to cold air in winter
 Coral community best developed in sheltered waters,
e.g. Hoi Ha Wan and Yan Chau Tong
29

Source: Dudgeon, D. & Corlett, R.T.

(1994). Hills & Streams: an Ecology
of Hong Kong. Hong Kong University 30

Press.
 Do you think that Hong Kong is a rich Biodiversity?

THINK ABOUT IT…

31

What is biodiversity?
 Biological diversity or biodiversity is the
variety of all life forms (plants, animals and
microorganisms) on Earth
 Biodiversity is a measure of the relative
diversity among organisms present in
different ecosystems.
 "Diversity" in this definition includes diversity
within a species and among species, and
comparative diversity among ecosystems.
Healthy biodiversity should
included:

33

Species Diversity in Hong

Kong
 It is evident that Hong Kong is surprisingly
rich in biodiversity, although particular
locations that support many species of one
group are not necessarily rich in other taxa
 Current biological diversity in Hong Kong,
although high, is undoubtedly less that would
have been present in the past
 Many species lost as a result of deforestation

34
Species Diversity in Hong
Kong
 Hong Kong is considered rich in number of
species
 The number of species of birds in Hong Kong
is one third of that in China while the number
of butterflies species is also one sixth of the
total butterfly species in China
 At least 20,000 terrestrial species in Hong
Kong, including >200 species of butterflies,
2100 species of vascular plants, 700 species
of vertebrates, excluding micro-organisms
35

Example of Fauna in HK
Dolphins and Green Turtle
 Hong Kong waters supports two species of
resident marine mammals: the Chinese Chinese White Dolphin
White Dolphin, Sousa chinensis, and the
Finless Porpoise, Neophocaena
phocaenoides
 Pink coloration of many of Hong Kong’s
dolphins is apparently unique
 Mostly seen north of Lantau
 100-150 dolphins that regularly use Hong
Kong waters and more in the Pearl River Finless Porpoise
Estuary
 Threatened by pollution, loss of feeding
habitat, collisions with boats, and decline
in the fish supply as a result of over-fishing
 A species of sea turtle, the Green Turtle,
Chelonia mydas, nests on the beach at 36

Sham Wan, Lamma Island Green Turtle

Source: http://en.Wikipedia.org
Why is Hong Kong’s
Biodiversity Important?
 Wild species and communities are part of
Hong Kong’s heritage
 Wild species and communities contribute
directly to the quality of life of present and
future generations
Romer’s Tree Frog
 Wild species are a potential economic Source: http://en.Wikipedia.org
resource. Recent advances in
biotechnology have opened up possibilities
for exploitation of wild species
 A few species, e.g. Romer’s Tree Frog, are
known only from Hong Kong; Black-faced
Spoonbill with Hong Kong supporting a
significant fraction of world’s total
population. Preserving local biodiversity is
thus part of Hong Kong’s global Black-faced Spoonbill37
Source: http://en.Wikipedia.org
responsibility

Functions of biodiversity
 Food and drink.
 Medicines
 Other ecological services
 Industrial materials
 Leisure, cultural and aesthetic value

38
Benefits of biodiversity-
Food and drink
 About 80 percent of our food supply comes
from just 20 kinds of plant.
 Although many kinds of animal are utilised as
food, again most consumption is focused on
a few species.
 There is vast untapped potential for
increasing the range of food products suitable
for human consumption, provided that the
high present extinction rate can be halted.
39

Benefits of biodiversity -
Medicines
 A significant proportion of drugs are derived,
directly or indirectly, from biological sources
In most cases these medicines can not
presently be synthesized in a laboratory
setting.
 A small proportion of the total diversity of
plants has been thoroughly investigated for
potential sources of new drugs.
 Many Medicines and antibiotics are also
derived from microorganisms.
40
Benefits of biodiversity –
Other ecological services

 Biodiversity provides many ecosystem

services that are often not readily visible.
 It plays a part in regulating the chemistry of
our atmosphere and water supply.
 Biodiversity is directly involved in recycling
nutrients and providing fertile soils.
 Experiments with controlled environments
have shown that humans cannot easily build
ecosystems to support human needs
41

Benefits of biodiversity –
Industrial materials

 A wide range of industrial materials are

derived directly from biological resources.
 These include building materials, fibres, dyes,
resins, gums, adhesives, rubber and oil.
 There is enormous potential for further
research into sustainably utilising materials
from a wider diversity of organisms.

42
Benefits of biodiversity –
Leisure, cultural and aesthetic value

 Many people derive value from biodiversity through

leisure activities:
 a walk in the countryside
 bird-watching
 natural history programs on television.
 Biodiversity has inspired musicians, painters,
sculptors, writers and other artists.
 Many cultural groups view themselves as an integral
part of the natural world and show respect for other
living organisms.
43

Conserving biodiversity
 It means maintaining the variety of species
and genetic resources, as well as the
environment in which different species
coexist and are interlinked.
 Conservation of biodiversity is therefore a
total approach towards conserving the
Earth's rich, but depleting, variety of life forms
and ecosystems.
Biodiversity Conservation in
Hong Kong
 Major Government departments involved in
conservation:
 Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation
Department (responsible for Country Parks,
Special Areas, Restricted Areas, proposal of
SSSIs, enforcement of protected species
legislation)
 Planning Department (conservation zoning)
 Environmental Protection Department (EIAs)

45

Biodiversity Conservation in
Hong Kong
 Laws protect areas
 Country Parks Ordinance
 Wild Animals Protection Ordinance
 Town Planning Ordinance
 Marine Parks Ordinance
 Laws protect species
 Forestry Regulations
 Wild Animals Protection Ordinance
 Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance

46
Country Parks Ordinance
 Country Parks Ordinance (Cap. 208) (1976)
provides for the designation, control and
management of Country Parks and Special Areas
 Country Parks and Special Areas cover 40% of
Hong Kong’s total area so this is the most important
protected area legislation
 Established a Country Parks Authority (the Director
of AFCD) and a Country Parks Board for advice
 Duty of the Authority to recommend areas to be
designed as CPs and SAs and to develop and
manage these areas after designation
47

Country Parks Ordinance

 Management of CPs and SAs intended to:
 Encourage their use and development for the
purposes of recreation and tourism
 Protect the vegetation and wildlife
 Preserve and maintain buildings and sites of
historic and cultural significance
 Provide facilities and services for public
enjoyment

48
Country Parks Ordinance
 24 numbers of CPs were gazetted as in 2011
 22 SAs have been designated, most of them inside
CPs, but some like Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve, Ma
Shi Chau, are not
 Total area of Country Parks and Special Areas is
44,239 hectares
 CPs and SAs are almost identical from a legal point
of view, but AFCD provides more recreational
facilities in CPs, and emphasizes conservation in
SAs
49

50
Wild Animals Protection
Ordinance
 Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Cap. 170)
provides for designation of Restricted Areas (or ‘Wild
Animal Protection Area’) to which access is limited
 Mai Po Marshes, permit is always needed for
access
 Yim Tso Ha Egretry
 Sham Wan beach on Lamma Island, where Green
Turtles nest, a permit is needed to enter between
June and October

51

Town Planning Ordinance

 Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) mainly concerned with
planning urban areas but also provides for designation of
coastal protection areas, Sites of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSIs), Green Belts or other specified uses (including
Conservation Areas) that promote conservation or protection
of the environment
 70 SSSIs, mostly small areas of biological or geological
interest
 Land-use categories are shown on Outline Zoning Plan, with
an indication of what developments will be permitted in them
 No developments are allowed in SSSIs and few in CAs, but
no protection against other impacts e.g. hunting, fire etc.
 SSSIs are proposed by AFCD but then legal responsibility of
Planning Department
52
 53
Source: Planning Department

Marine Parks Ordinance

 Marine Parks Ordinance (Cap. 476) (1995) (marine equivalent
to CPO) provides for designation, control and management of
marine parks and marine reserves
 The Marine Parks and Marine Reserves Regulation was enacted
in July 1996 to provide for the prohibition and control of certain
activities in marine parks or marine reserve
 Aims to designate marine parks and marine reserves and do
what is necessary for:
 Protecting, restoring and, where necessary, enhancing marine
life and marine environment
 Promoting use of resources in marine parks to meet the needs
and aspirations of present and future generations of mankind
 Facilitating recreational activities in marine parks
 Providing opportunities for educational and scientific studies

54
Marine Parks Ordinance
 Swimming, diving and boating are prohibited in
Marine Reserve, while small-scale fishing is still
allowed under a permit system in Marine Parks
 Up to August 2005, 4 marine parks and 1 marine
reserve were designated
 4 Marine Parks: Yan Chau Tong, Hoi Ha Wan, Sha
Chau, Lung Kwu Chau. Newly-opened Tung Ping
Chau
 1 Marine Reserve: Cape D’ Aguilar
 Total marine protected area is still only slightly >1%
of Hong Kong waters
55

Forestry Regulations
 Forestry Regulations (Cap. 96) (part of the
Forestry and Countryside Ordinance)
 Prohibits sale or possession of 176 native
plant species, including all native orchids (蘭
花), all native camellias (茶花), all native
rhododendrons (杜鵑花)

56
Wild Animals Protection
Ordinance
 Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Cap.
170) makes it illegal to hunt, wilfully disturb,
possess or sell a list of named animal
species, including all wild mammals, except
rats, mice and shrews, all wild birds, selected
reptiles, three amphibians, and one insect –
the birdwing butterfly

57

Environmental Impact
Assessment Ordinance
 Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance
(Cap. 499) requires assessment of the expected
environmental impact before all major development
projects
 Include an assessment of the ecological impact,
unless the project is in urban area
 EPD may require the project to modify or stop if it
will have a major ecological impact
 EPD stopped KCRC building Lok Ma Chau Spurline
across Long Valley on ecological grounds
58
Problems of Biodiversity
Conservation in Hong Kong
 Ignorance: we cannot even name most groups
of organisms, and we know nothing about the
ecology of most species that we can name
 Terrestrial landscapes in Hong Kong are highly
degraded: not just vegetation but also soil
 Many species are extinct, at least locally, some
probably globally, it becomes too late to
conserve
 Most diversity is concentrated in a small
proportion of total area, e.g. forested upland
valleys, fung shui woods, lowland streams,
wetlands, coastal areas
59

Problems of Biodiversity
Conservation in Hong Kong
 High risk of fire: which magnifies the damage
especially within Country Parks
 High land costs: makes the acquisition of land
for conservation extremely expensive and create
huge pressures from developers on existing
protected areas
 Low priority of conservation in Hong Kong:
makes funding difficult
 Lack of informed public support for conservation

60
Reference List
 Cain, M.L., Bowman, W.D. & Hacker, S.D.
(2011). Ecology, 2nd ed.
 Dudgeon, D. & Corlett, R.T. (1994). Hills &
Streams: an Ecology of Hong Kong. Hong
Kong University Press.
 http://en.Wikipedia.org

61