CHAPTER 1  INTRODUCTION	

1.1		To many people, Hong Kong is just a small, densely populated and developed city with tall concrete skyscrapers and crowded streets.  However, this image is fast changing when more and more people discover and learn to appreciate the beauty of our natural environment that bears fascinating landscapes and a diversity of wildlife.  Today, Hong Kong is not only one of the world’s leading business centres, but also a good place for hiking and bird watching.  

1.2		Hong Kong has a varied topography and a long coastline.  Scenically, it has a great deal to offer - a landscape rising from rocky foreshores and inter-tidal mudflats to woodlands, hilly areas covered by open grassland, and a variety of scenic vistas that are rarely matched despite Hong Kong’s small area.  The value of our natural landscape goes beyond the beautiful scenery.  It provides a wide range of habitats to support a variety of animals and plants including some that were first found in and named after Hong Kong, and a few other species that are endemics.  Hong Kong’s strategic location at the junction of the temperate and tropical zoogeographical regions has contributed to the rich biodiversity of the territory.  Moreover, as Hong Kong is located along a major pathway of migratory birds across the Arctic, Oriental, and Australian Regions, many migratory birds visit Hong Kong every year.

1.3		Our natural environment also provides vital resources for recreational, tourism and educational activities. This natural asset is increasingly important as Hong Kong becomes more and more urbanized.  We need open space for relaxation.  The tranquility and beauty of the natural environment can freshen our minds.  Apart from serving as a living classroom for students, our natural environment also facilitates the development of eco-tourism that can both serve public education functions and generate economic values. 

1.4		Protection of this valuable natural asset requires the joint efforts of all.  The Government takes the lead and over the last three decades has been implementing a continuous programme of conservation with the launching of designation of country parks in 1976.  In the light of the increasing development pressure in the rural areas, zoning control was later introduced to regulate land uses for better planning and development including conservation of natural landscape and features.  The Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance, which came into operation in 1998, provides clear protection parameters for users and developers of land.

1.5		There are always competing demands for land to meet economic and social needs.  Developments and the associated human activities would unavoidably have an adverse impact on the natural environment and may, in some cases, conflict with the nature conservation objective.  We need to strike a proper balance to ensure that Hong Kong’s development needs are met without doing unacceptable damage to the natural environment. 

1.6		In recent years, there have been debates on whether a particular site really deserves conservation especially when there are plans to develop the site.  There are also criticisms about the limitations of the existing nature conservation policy and measures in conserving ecologically important sites that fall under private ownership.  The Government has to be responsive and it is highly appropriate that we should conduct a review on the existing nature conservation policy and measures with the objective of identifying areas for further improvement in those regards.  Although nature conservation covers both terrestrial and marine habitats and species, the review is mainly focused on terrestrial conservation that is the centre of the debates and criticisms. 
 
1.7		This document sets out the existing nature conservation policy and measures, and the results of our review.  It seeks views from the public and interested bodies on -

(a)	the introduction of a scoring system for assessing, in a more objective and systematic manner, the relative ecological importance of sites with the objective of reaching a consensus within the community on the priority sites for enhanced conservation; and 

(b)	practicable ways to better conserve ecologically important sites that are under private ownership within limited resources.