My Take | Hong Kong must treasure the natural assets that help make it special

Hong Kong is well-known as a busy and bustling metropolis, with crowded streets, congested roads and tightly-packed skyscrapers. The city’s amazing biodiversity, including many endangered species, is not widely appreciated.

But flora and fauna is an integral part of what makes Hong Kong special. The city boasts more than 50 types of land-based mammal, over 130 dragonfly species, and 240 kinds of butterfly. There are 580 bird species, 1,000 types of marine fish and 3,300 species of vascular plants. It is imperative that these assets are preserved and able to flourish. Sadly, many are under threat.

A two-month public consultation on the updating of Hong Kong’s Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan concluded this month. The plan, required by an international convention, was introduced in 2016.

The review is a chance to make biodiversity a top priority for all sectors, public and private, and instil a love of nature in the community.

Four action areas are highlighted in the document: nature conservation, mainstreaming, capacity building and collaborative partnering. But the most important part is the 10 questions posed to the public at the end. These are broad and open-ended, essentially asking what Hong Kong’s vision should be for nature conservation and how to realise it. The government should be very receptive to submissions that can take the strategy to a new level.

Think-tank Civic Exchange, in a compelling submission, argues that nature should be integrated into decision-making across public and private sectors, with Hong Kong making an active contribution to the world’s efforts to reverse biodiversity loss, becoming a regional leader in the field. It advocates the establishment of a central hub for “nature-based solutions”.