Nature Conservation for

Sustainable Societies
GEOG 1016
 GEOG1016
Instructor
Dr. Jimmy Li, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, HKU
Email: lijr@hku.hk
Office Location: 10.19, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus
Office Phone: 3917-7106

Lead Teaching Assistant

Mr. Aaron Wong
Email: tlwaaron@hku.hk
Office Location: 10.48, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus
Office Phone: 3917-5722
Location, Time, and Meeting Format
Location: CPD-LG.01, Centennial Campus
Time: 10:30 am-12:20 pm Thursday (10 minutes break)
Format: In person in the lecture hall
 Goals of the Course

My goals
 A synoptic and critical
survey of human
interactions with nature
and natural resources.
 The attendant problems
of their misuse and
overuse
 Enlightened approaches
to nature conservation to
contribute towards
sustainable societies.
 Your goals
 GEOG1016
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:
 Demonstrate an awareness of the fragility of the Earth’s natural
resource base, an outcome of human’s misuse and mismanagement
of natural resources
 Understand the prognosis of environmental future and therefore the
need to conserve natural resources to sustain future human needs
Skills:
 Establish a comprehensive and holistic perspective on human’s
tenure on the natural world
 Realize that the natural world is both a source and a sink for
satisfying human needs
 Develop critical and independent thinking on the multiple
relationships between humans and the natural world
 GEOG1016
Tentative lecture schedule:
Week Date Topic

Course introduction, Basic concepts in natural resources and

1 Jan 18
sustainable development
2 Jan 25 Non-renewable resources (1)
3 Feb 1 Non-renewable resources (2) and Renewable resources (1)
4 Feb 8 Renewable resources (2)
5 Feb 15 Lunar New Year (No lecture)
6 Feb 22 Water resource, water quality, and water pollution (1)

7 Feb 29 Water resource, water quality, and water pollution (2)

8 Mar 7 Field trip/reading (No lecture)
9 Mar 14 Soil and Land
10 Mar 21 Land pollution and land degradation (1)
11 Mar 28 Land pollution and land degradation (2)
12 Apr 4 Ching Ming Festival (No lecture)
13 Apr 11 World’s Primary Ecosystems (1)
14 Apr 18 World’s Primary Ecosystems (2)

15 Apr 25 World’s Primary Ecosystems (3); Class review/Exam preparation

 GEOG1016
Recommended Textbooks/Readings
 Withgott, J. & Brennan, S. R. (2007). Essential Environment: The Science
Behind the Stories. San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings

 Chiras, D.D. & Reganold, J.P. (2014) Natural Resource Conservation:

Management for a Sustainable Future, 10th edition. Pearson Education,
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

 Wright, R.T. & Boorse, D.F. (2014) Environmental Science: Toward a

Sustainable Future (International Edition). Pearson Education, Boston.

 Sherman D.J. & Montgomery D.R. (2022) Environmental Science and

Sustainability, 2nd edition. Norton Company, New York.
 GEOG1016
Course Evaluation
• Examination (60%)
Close-book
Two-hours
More details will be announced later
• Term paper (40%)
Each student should write an individual term
paper. A number of topics will be available for
students to choose from. The text of the paper should
be about 2,000 – 2,500 words in length (Please refer
to the syllabus for more details).
 Examples of Individual Term
Paper topics
1. Discuss why renewable energy, such as solar and wind
power, is not extensively used in Hong Kong even though
it is more environmental friendly than fossil fuels.
2. Assess the effects of deforestation on climate change and
possible ways for mitigation.
3. The future and sustainability of water resource in Hong
Kong.
4. The development of Northern Metropolis: Land use,
nature conservation, and sustainability.
 What are the Expectations?
• The paper should be based on library research of scholarly materials.
• The paper should be related to some specific issues and problems
discussed and debated in books, journal articles, book chapters,
periodicals and government reports.
• The use of web-based information, except for official reports and
reputable newspapers, should be kept to a minimum. Grey literature
(such as magazines published by environmental groups) could be
used, but with great care, because they may not always contain
factually correct information.
• The text of the term paper should be about 2,000 – 2,500 words in
length. It should include a list of references, as well as tables and
figures (if applicable). The list of references is excluded from the word
count.
 Structure of term paper
1. Title – What is your report about?
2. Introduction – What do you examine? Why do you examine it?
What is the importance of examining it?
3. Data & Methods – Which period and which place do you
examine? What data are used? How do you examine?
4. Results – What do you find?
5. Discussion – What do you want to argue/imply?
6. Conclusion – What can be summarized?
7. References – List references that have been cited.

*Note: Section 4&5 may be combined into one section “Results and Discussion”.
 Writing A Scientific Article
Title:
• Be specific enough to describe the contents or the key finding(s)
• Avoid technical jargons that only specialists will understand
• Should be appropriate for the intended audience
• Interrogative sentence (i.e., how, why) is NOT preferred as a title
Authors:
• The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally
listed as the first/corresponding author.
• Other people who made substantial contributions are listed as
co-authors.
Abstract:
• Should give the reader a "preview" of what's to come.
• Typically one paragraph, of 100-250 words, summarizing the
purpose, methods, and key findings of the paper.
• Do NOT use citations in the abstract.
 Writing A Scientific Article
Introduction:
• What question is the paper about? why it is interesting or
important?
• What work has been done and what questions remain
unanswered (literature review)?
• End with a sentence/paragraph describing the specific goals of
this study.
Data and Methods (Materials and Methods):
• Describe the data and methods used for the study.
• Do not put results in this section.
Results:
• This is where you present the results you've gotten.
• Use graphs and tables if appropriate, but also summarize your
main findings in the text.
• Do NOT discuss the results or speculate as to why something
happened; that goes in the Discussion.
 Writing A Scientific Article
Discussion (most important):
• Highlight the most significant results, and discuss if they can
solve the original question(s).
• Are your results consistent with what other investigators have
reported?
• If your results were unexpected, try to explain why. Discuss the
limitations, if any.
Conclusion:
• This section should comprise a brief statement of the major
findings and the implications of the study.
• New information must not be included in the conclusions.
Acknowledgments:
• Acknowledge people who provide data or technical assistance
and funding support.
References (Literature Cited)
 Writing A Scientific Article
Caption
Tables and Figures
above table
Table 1 Statistics of the two tree-ring sampling sites, the nearest meteorological station
and the PDSI grid point developed by Dai et al. (2004).

Data Type Site Code Location Elevation Number Time Span

(latitude; longitude) (m) (core/tree) (A.D.)
DEZ 34°45'N, 100°49'E 3495 47/22 1287-2004
Tree-ring
GOU 34°44'N, 100°48'E 3370 41/21 1346-2004
Meteorological
HEN 34°44'N, 101°36'E 3500 — 1960-2001
data
PDSI PDS 33°45'N, 101°15'E — — 1953-2005

Caption
below graph

Fig. 7 Correlation pattern of May-September precipitation at HEN station with regional

GPCC May-September precipitation for the period of 1960-2001.
 Marking Criteria
• Good
> in-depth understanding of your topic
> good presentation of your idea
> able to show your critical and lateral thinking
> references are properly used
• Bad
> plagiarism will be heavily penalized
> late submission will be penalized (5% mark deduction
per day)
 Term Paper Submission
• Deadlines: Mid April 2024 (TBD)
• Paperless submission via Moodle
• Students should attach a Department’s assignment
cover sheet
• A Turnitin report (only the page showing the similarity
index is required) should be attached to the paper and
they should be submitted together by the submission
deadline.
• The “Turnitin” system can be accessed via the course
Moodle.
• Plagiarism and copyright: Please do NOT copy
materials from internet or any other sources.
 Why do we need to conserve
nature/environment?
Because …
nature doesn’t need us but we need nature, as long as
we live on this planet.
 Why do we need to conserve
nature/environment?

Swami Vivekananda (1863 –1902)

Man can conquer nature (1976)

Mao Zedong (1893 –1976)
OUT OF AFRICA
Textile Waste In Hong Kong

• 40% of people surveyed have dumped

unworn clothes. 2.3 million new clothes
were dumped in a year, and 5.8 million
were discarded.
• 30% of resources were consumed within the past 25 years.
If continues, resources may be depleted in 50 years.
Some remarks about nature/ecosystem
• Everything is connected with everything else.
• Everything has a role in the system.
• There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything must go
somewhere.
 Don’t upset this Basic Law!
Food/Fuel Chain started by harnessing solar energy

herbivore >> carnivore

producers >> consumers

Food/Fuel Chain
• The foundation of the pyramid is the producer
• Human beings are supposed to be fewer and far between, but in fact
we are now far more than Nature can support.
• We have explored almost all accessible lands to satisfy
human’s needs.
• Some places have been all occupied by
humans!
USA vs China
• Rivers and lakes are drying up, endangering all
species.
 The Human Footprint
• Global Human Footprint Index represents the relative human influence in
each terrestrial biome expressed as a percentage. The purpose is to provide
an updated map of anthropogenic impacts on the environment.

As a result, not much wilderness left to other species.

The water cost –
‘Water Footprint’
 History of Energy Consumption
• Thus, we consume more and more energy...

units are in kC/person/day (1 kC= 4187 J)

 History of Energy Consumption
… hence depend more and more on fossil fuels

• One year consumption ≈one million years natural deposition

EIA projects 28% increase in world energy
use by 2040

https://www.eia.gov/ Energy Information Administration, US Depart of Energy

 Equity Issues
• It seems some are helping to • On the other hand, many
drain away earth resources faster do not even have their fair
than others! share!
 Ecological Footprint
• Ecological footprint measures human demand on nature,
i.e., the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an
economy.
Ecological Footprint

Hong Kong?
3.9
 The “Environment”
• Environment:
– The circumstances and conditions that surround an
organism or group of organisms.
• Consists of both:
Biotic (living things) &
Abiotic (nonliving things)
factors that surround a life and with which
the life interacts.

For human beings:

• Our built environment (e.g.,
buildings, roads, etc).
• Social relationships and
institutions
 Humans and the Environment
• We humans exist within the environment and are a part
of the natural world.
• Like all other species, we depend for our survival on a
properly functioning planet.
---With a good environment, we can enjoy:
quality food, longer lives, increased wealth, health,
etc…
--- If environment being degraded, we may suffer:
pollution, disease, lost of biodiversity, species
extinction, etc…
• Thus, our interactions with our environment matter a
great deal.
 Natural resources: vital to human survival
substances and energy sources needed for survival

• Perpetually available: sunlight, wind, wave energy

• Non-renewable resources: Oil, coal, minerals
- These can be depleted
• Renewable over short periods of time: timber, water, soil, wildlife
- These can be destroyed
 Global human population growth
• Human population has skyrocketed to over 8 billion (2023).
• The agricultural and industrial revolutions drove population
growth.

Industrial
Agricultural revolution
revolution
 Nature Conservation
• Nature conservation is the wise management and
utilization of natural renewable resources in a sustainable
manner to ensure the maintenance of biodiversity.
• Some threats to nature
• Pollution
• Deforestation
• Soil Erosion
• Over Fishing
• Water Scarcity
• Infrastructure Development
• Slash-and-Burn Practice
• Smothering of Coral Reefs
• Climate Change
• Illegal Species Trade
 Sustainability
Sustainability: Management of natural resources in
ways that do not diminish or degrade Earth’s ability to
provide them in the future
 Sustainable Development
• Sustainable Development: Development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
• Our Common Future-UN 1987
• 3Es: Environment, Economy, Equity
• Sign of un-sustainability: global
environmental problems
• Both renewable and non-renewable
resources are being over-exploited.
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Hunting and fishing
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Deforestation
After Deforestation
Tree plantation

Evapotranspiration decreases
Roads
destabilize
Ranching accelerates
hillsides
soil erosion by water
and wind
Winds remove fragile
Gullies and topsoil
landslides
Agricultural land is
flooded and silted up

Heavy rain leaches

nutrients from soil and
erodes topsoil
Rapid runoff
Silt from erosion blocks rivers and reservoirs causes flooding
and causes flooding downstream
 Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Deforestation

habitat fragmentation
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Deforestation
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Building dams
Provides water Flooded land
for year-round destroys forests
irrigation of or cropland and
cropland displaces people

Large losses of
water through
evaporation
Provides
water for
drinking Downstream
cropland and
Reservoir is estuaries are
useful for deprived of
recreation nutrient-rich silt
and fishing

Risk of
Can produce failure and
cheap devastating
electricity downstream
(hydropower) flooding
Downstream
flooding is Migration and
reduced spawning of
some fish are
disrupted
 Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Water pollution
Eutrophication
Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Air pollution

Jizera Mountains in Central Europe

 Emissions

SO2 NOx
Acid
depositionH2O2 O3
PANs Others

Direct damage to Reduced Increased

leaves and bark photosynthesis susceptibility to
and growth drought, extreme
cold, insects,
mosses, and
disease organisms

Soil acidification Tree death

Leaching Release Root Reduced nutrient

of soil Acids of toxic damage and water uptake
nutrients metal ions

Lake

Groundwater
 Direct impacts on ecosystems:
Invasive species
• Introduced by people accidentally or intentionally.
• Can cause problems if no natural enemies are present.
 Indirect impacts on ecosystems through
climate change
• Identifiable change in the climate of
Earth as a whole that lasts for an
extended period of time (decades or
longer)
– When due to natural processes, it is
usually referred to as climate variability
or natural climate change.
– Nowadays often refers to changes
forced by human activities.
Greenhouse Gases:
• Any gases that cause the “greenhouse effect!”
• In order, the most abundant GHGs in the atmosphere
are:
Impacts of Climate Change on Atmosphere
• Each of the last three decades has been warmer than any preceding
decade since 1850.
• Warming in recent decades is likely unprecedented over the past six
millennia.

Marcott et al., 2013 Science

Impacts of Climate Change on Atmosphere
• A heat wave is a prolonged period of excessively hot weather, which
may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic
climate countries.

Heat waves (Europe 2003)

 Loss of Arctic Sea Ice

PCC slide no. 038 Source: Arctic Council 2004

Regions vulnerable to Sea Level rise
Increased Increased
Drought Flood
 Impacts of Global Warming on Species
and Ecosystems

• Shifts in ranges
and migration
• Timing shifts
• Habitat impacts
Coral bleaching due to increase in ocean
temperature and acidity