Wild About Hong Kong - hiking, wildlife, weather, conservation and more
[press release:] Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden’s long-running, scientifically informed forest restoration programme has been awarded Premium-Tier Certification by The Global Biodiversity Standard, the first site in the world to achieve this accolade. For almost 30 years, Kadoorie Farm and…
If you’ve been along Chi Ma Wan Road in Pui Wo, you’ve surely noticed a big, grubby white building just east of the playground at the junction with the road to the beach. It’s like a chunky rectangular block, with…
Email to director of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, after multiple correspondence with other FEHD officials failed to achieve progress on issue of over zealous use of pesticides versus mosquitoes killing considerable other wildlife: Table of Contents Disastrous impacts…
Dear AFCD, I am writing to submit my views on the updating of the city’s BSAP (Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan) for 2025-2035. Lantau: need positive projects for lowlands, especially pui o wetlands [way beyond simply struggling to stop small…
Can but try, I figured, after seeing government is open to comments for the forthcoming policy address by Chief Executive John Lee: Update, January 2026. Good to see hub for wetland conservation mentioned in an official speech, albeit unlikely I…
There have been quite a few reports lately about many people heading to the Hong Kong Geopark areas near the East Dam of High Island Reservoir, which has been promoted by the government yet with inadequate transport, and woeful facilities…
Given the Hong Kong government espouses a policy of “conservation in the south” of Lantau[1], and at the beginning of April 2025 a body called the Sustainable Lantau Office invited expressions of interest for “South Lantau Eco-recreation Corridor”[2], you might…
Nature Tourism at Pui O Has Potential, But Needs Government Support Nature tourism – in a very wide sense – might be one way of bringing some extra revenue to Pui O, and helping to reduce pressure for destruction of…
The Sustainable Lantau Office (SLO) was established by Hong Kong’s Civil Engineering and Development Department; given its origins perhaps hardly surprising that it has failed to achieve much regarding sustainability, but perhaps must keep hoping. In May 2025, the (SLO)…
While slopes in Hong Kong may receive intensive management – especially given the history of severe landslides during rainstorms – there has in recent decades been something of a shift from purely concreting them, to cultivating and allowing more greenery.…
In March 2025, WWF Hong Kong published a report, The State of Hong Kong Biodiversity 2025, and an accompanying Hong Kong Terrestrial Biodiversity Hotspot Map; you can download them via Hong Kong Biodiversity. This entailed considerable work; as a press…
Suppose you were ageing and with various ailments, yet still attractive to many; and you were in the care of someone who is doing nothing to help, but says they could make your body much better. Just one thing, though…
After I posted in a birding whatsapp group about issues with the Long Valley Nature Park, I was surprised at a response, sent to the whole group of over 200 members so hardly private. Well, perhaps complaints about conservation issues…
In another post, I’ve put email correspondence regarding my belief Long Valley Nature Park is far worse for bird diversity than it could or should be: Long Valley Nature Park initially poor for biodiversity yet improvements underway. Here, partly to…
In the movie The Blues Brothers, an enthusiastic live music bar owner is asked about the kinds of music played there. “Oh we got both kinds of music,” he replies. “Country … and western.” And after my recent first visit…
I have organised and led several outings to the Hong Kong countryside for school groups, chiefly for one school, for which I developed a “Hidden Hong Kong” week covering Mai Po Marshes, Kadoorie Farm, Cheung Chau, the northeast New Territories,…
Table of Contents 6 October 2025: Seemingly Mindless Spraying and Depleted Cheung Chau Wildlife Death liquid squirted at almost bare ground FEHD effectively waging war on Cheung Chau wildlife Email sent in September 2013 Email in February 2019, mentioning fogging…
Some years ago, I was asked to meet two or three people who were starting a new “environmental” ngo in Hong Kong, the World Green Organisation. Didn’t seem quite right to me – hardly ecowarrior type stuff, not up to…
While the Hong Kong government has touted ideas for “development in the north” and “conservation in the south” of Lantau, it seems more hell-bent on development: even an “eco-corridor” for the south seems to involve only development, zero boost for…
Table of Contents Policy framework ideas mostly ignored as incineration emphasised Presentation I gave to legco: No environmental impact assessment focused on Shek Kwu Chau site Email to me a few days ago: My name is Steven Chan. I am…
Conservation not a slogan South Lantau Biodiversity and Ecosystems Beach Water Quality as Indicator of Development Table 1. Beach water quality of bathing beaches in proposed South Lantau Eco-recreation Corridor in 2023: Bathing Beach Annual Grading Annual Ranking Weekly Grading…
A response to the South Lantau Eco-Recreation Corridor public consultation The Hong Kong Government’s latest wheeze for developing south Lantau is a proposed “South Lantau Eco-Recreation Corridor” – which seems eco in name only. As noted by the Sustainable Lantau…
If you’re among the privileged few with access to the inner sanctum of Deep Bay in northwest Hong Kong – a viewing hide at the seaward edge of the mangroves, you can experience one of the finest bird spectacles in…
If you’re unfamiliar with the Deep Bay wetland shared by Hong Kong and Shenzhen, you might wonder about the significance of the expanse of fish ponds in the area of north Hong Kong that will be the site of a…
I’ve lately noticed mention of nature-based solutions, abbreviated to NbS, regarding conservation ideas for Hong Kong. It seems all very well as an idea, but can it widely catch on – or is it fancypants jargon, which won’t appeal to…
One of the best arguments for protecting the San Tin fish ponds area – rather than destroying a large area to build the San Tin Technopole – should be mitigating flooding risk, including in downtown Shenzhen, which is also on…
The period for commenting on the EIA for Agreement No. CE 20/2021 (CE) First Phase Development of the New Territories North – San Tin / Lok Ma Chau Development Node – Investigation – to give it the official name – ends tomorrow,…
Though Shalotung is less than 4km from the hustle and bustle of Tai Po Market – around the same distance as Central to Causeway, should a kite care to fly direct – it seems a remote place, hidden away in…
I’ve just emailed views re government’s recently announced plan to create San Tin Technopole, including by destroying a substantial area of San Tin fishponds: I’m emailing to object to plans to destroy an area of San Tin fishponds to make…
Hong Kong will face more intense heat, flood, storm surges and biodiversity depletion under climate change. Healing Parks, an advocacy group, says that urban parks can help to mitigate these hazards – but current park design guidelines fail to consider…
Hong Kong government has plans for a massive reclamation, in waters between Lantau and Victoria Harbour, for something like a new mini city with central business district. First named East Lantau Metropolis, then Lantau Tomorrow Vision – even though not…
The project that started as East Lantau Metropolis, became Lantau Tomorrow Vision, and was called Kau Yi Chau Islands Reclamation looked set to be the most disastrous infrastructure project in Hong Kong’s history – costing huge sums of money, unsustainable,…
Yes, this is may seem impossible, ridiculous; but continuing with current state of affairs doesn’t look good for long term future of Deep Bay wetlands. The government is currently planning to establish “a system of wetland conservation parks for the…
I live on Cheung Chau, a small island in southwest Hong Kong – and became very used to it hosting many nesting pairs of Barn Swallows, which start arriving around mid-February, and stay till late summer. Been this way since…
Visit Sai Wan on a hot sunny Sunday, and it can seem like the type of tropical “paradise” that many seek, yet few find. In this bay on the eastern Sai Kung Peninsula, tens of people unwind on beaches and…
Last decade, the future looked bright for the Deep Bay wetland, in northwest Hong Kong. [I wrote this for the South China Morning Post in late 2004; it seems the mudflat level has about stabilised since, but still with issues including…
Around the mid-2020s, the WWF Hong Kong managed Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve underwent an infrastructure upgrade, with a HK$347 million grant from the Hong Kong Jockey Club – Hooray! [tiny update, now the upgrade is complete, 11 Feb 2025]…
With the apartment blocks of Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai to the southwest, Fairview Park estate to the south, and the urban sprawl of Shenzhen fringing the north coast, Deep Bay may seem an unlikely location for one of…
There is a Mai Po upgrade project underway [spring 2023], funded by a HK$347.86 million grant from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. This seems a substantial sum, especially as it is for infrastructure only, and chiefly a new visitor…
A “battle of the ponds” is underway in Hong Kong’s northwest corner. It focuses on Deep Bay, a wetlands area that borders on China, near Shenzhen. Developers who want to build here are tussling with conservationists who want to see…
“If you look at satellite photos of the Pearl River delta, Deep Bay really shows up. There is nothing else like it.” David Melville Published in Asia Magazine (South China Morning Post), November 1990 An estuary shared by North-West Hong…
Though Mai Po Marshes is at the heart of Hong Kong’s internationally important Deep Bay wetland, there are other important sites in the area – including the fishponds at Fung Lok Wai. These have been in the news at times…
