My Take | Native forest restoration project is literally, and figuratively, bearing fruit

Hong Kong is best known around the world for its city centre, a landscape dominated by soaring skyscrapers sandwiched in between the hills and the harbour. But its reputation as a green and pleasant land is growing. Residents and visitors alike are increasingly exploring the expansive country parks and remote spots, whether for hiking, adventure or spectacular selfies.

The natural landscape, however, has been severely degraded over time. Hong Kong was once covered in lush, tall, native subtropical forests, home to a rich variety of species. “People see this lovely green space, but it is not natural. It is not as it should be. It is a shadow of its original self in terms of biodiversity,” said Stephan Gale, head of flora conservation at the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG).

The native forests disappeared long ago and urban development, agriculture, hillfires and invasive species have all taken an ecological toll. There has been a decline in biodiversity, including the loss of local insects, birds and other animals who depend on such a habitat. The process has serious implications for climate change and makes the land more prone to landslides and floods. There is a need to restore native forests, but this is not straightforward.

One long-standing project in Hong Kong is making impressive progress and it bodes well for the future. The forest restoration programme, run by KFBG in the New Territories since the 1990s, became the first in the world last month to be credited with a premium-tier certification, the highest level, from The Global Biodiversity Standard.

This is an independent and authoritative international body that assesses and certifies projects around the world that protect, improve and restore biodiversity. Launched in 2024 it has, so far, certified six sites at different levels. The Hong Kong project, on the upper slopes of Tai Mo Shan, scored 9.3 out of 10, the highest score yet recorded among applicants for certification, including sites from India, Latin America and Africa. Best known among them is probably the Jane Goodall Institute’s restoration programme in Uganda for a forest corridor needed for chimpanzee conservation.

Programme manager Gale said the project began with trial and error, planting seeds to see what would grow on the grassland site, given its harsh, exposed, fire-damaged condition. This developed, in 2013, into a “community-based” approach, working out not only what would survive but which species worked well together, to maximise the positive impact on biodiversity.