eco-tourism

Maybe "eco-tourism" conjures visions of bucolic days in the outdoors, enjoying dolphins, birds, hikes, or even relaxing meals in small restaurants in beautiful surroundings. I wish it were so pleasant in practice. Writing here, on my experiences in Hong Kong I have a few tales to relate that aren’t for the faint-hearted – if you want to skip them, note that I close with a few recommendations for tourism officials and companies.

First, a little background info on me. I’m British, and since my teens have loved birding. Whilst at university, I led a couple of expeditions to study birds at Beidaihe, east of Beijing – and after these I decided to live in Hong Kong, and try to do something for conservation in parts of east Asia, especially (at first) Beidaihe. I returned to Beidaihe for more surveys, and helped launch eco-tourism to the town.

Seeing “wild” places being damaged – and reading of many problems facing the global environment – I figured eco-tourism held some hopes for protecting wild places, so people could make some money whilst keeping these places intact. In Hong Kong, too, I occasionally led birding tours, though I focused more on writing articles, taking photos, covering wildlife and conservation when I could.

If you like scenery, wildlife, and plants, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (嘉道理農場暨植物園) should be high on your list of places to visit in Hong Kong. It's dominated by forested hills, with botanic gardens and greenhouses, cages, aviaries and enclosures holding captive animals, and wild birds and other animals that have been rescued and are being cared for.