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SCMP Reporter

Tigers still roamed the territory 50 years ago - the last one was shot near Stanley by Japanese militia during the war.

  It may seem hard to believe but, like the leopard, the South China tiger was a winter visitor to Hong Kong earlier this century.

  'Big cats' were not the only wild creatures which found the territory congenial: the South China fox and badger foraged, the menacing water monitor skulked the undergrowth, and dugongs - or 'seapigs' - plied the pristine waters.

  Today, less than 50 tigers are thought to roam southern China and, despite sightings of a large animal in the New Territories last year, Hong Kong's only 'big cats' will remain the two leopards in the Botanical and Zoological Gardens.

  However, that is not to say the territory lacks wildlife; in fact it harbours an abundance of wild animals and plants including rarities which are globally endangered, and several unique species.

   It is these elusive inhabitants, which many people are unaware exist, which the South China Morning Post will be highlighting in its campaign, and what Hong Kong stands to lose.

   Despite rapid population growth and the spectacular rise of the territory as a regional entrepot, which has irrevocably transformed the landscape, Hong Kong has become an oasis for wildlife in southern China.

   When viewed in its regional context, the importance of the territory's biodiversity becomes clear.

  Guangdong has lost 95 per cent of its original wildlife habitat; most devastating is the destruction of subtropical forest.

  Of the broadleaf woodlands which once carpeted the province, only one per cent remains.

  Today less than five per cent of Guangdong's original wildlife habitat is protected.

  In contrast, Hong Kong's protected areas represent 40 per cent of its total land mass.

  The territory has a greater proportion of land under protection than Britain and legal protection for most animals, all birds and some reptiles.

  Mai Po marshes nature reserve and the surrounding wetlands have been recognised for their international importance and declared a Ramsar site, obliging the Government to protect and manage the area for wildlife.

   Hong Kong has more species of coral than the Caribbean and more plant and tree species than Britain. It is a vital staging post for 13 globally endangered birds and boasts a diversity of animals which surprise the visitor.

  A host of rarely glimpsed animals still inhabit the highlands including the leopard cat, ferret badger, pangolin, porcupine, two species of civet and two types of mongoose.

  The territory also plays host to unique curiosities such as the thumbnail-sized Romer's tree frog, the Cascade frog and a bizarre two-legged lizard which five years ago emerged from a remote island and walked straight into the annals of science.

  Among 22 bats identified so far - a bamboo dwelling bat was added only last year - there are fish, fruit and insect-eating species specially adapted to their exclusive diets.

  Further down the ecological web in the mudflats and mangroves of Mai Po lie yet to be discovered creatures.

  Executive director of the World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong David Melville said crabs, snails and worms new to science had been found in the mudflats of Deep Bay.

  Although new species are regularly unearthed, a legacy of the territory's relatively short history, Hong Kong is far better studied than areas of a similar size in China.

  The wealth of environmental professionals, biologists and conservationists means far more is known about what the territory is set to lose than many other places in Asia.

  The first territory-wide biodiversity survey, which aims to identify which animals and plants occur where, has already unearthed a wealth of information and new species.

  But more quickly than new species are identified, others are dying out.

  For some endangered species such as the celebrated Chinese white dolphin, famed for its pinkness, time is running out.

  Less familiar, but equally at risk from toxic contamination and disturbance of its marine environment, is the elusive finless porpoise - rarely seen because it lacks a protruding fin.

  Hong Kong's biodiversity hangs in a fragile balance of which the team of Hong Kong University researchers conducting the survey are acutely aware.

  Their study is a race against time; to plot pockets of ecological richness before they disappear beneath the bulldozer.

  Infrastructure projects and private developments are looming over the fishponds and reedbeds of the northwest New Territories.

  Already blighted by tipping and container storage, wetlands may represent Hong Kong's most threatened habitat.

 A massive programme of reclamation threatens the remaining natural coastline and islands which dot the territory.

   With the release of the Government's grand strategy outlining development into the 21st century, conservationists fear the administration is gambling with Hong Kong's ecological heritage.

   The Territorial Development Strategy predicts 3,000 hectares of land will be needed for expanded port facilities and housing for more than eight million people by 2011.

 The Government admits to 'potentially serious environmental consequences' arising from the strategy.

  'Potential loss of habitat and destruction of fragile ecosystems would be of considerable concern,' the strategy says.

  Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden conservation manager Gary Ades said the development plans indicated the Government 'did not really understand' the concept of ecology.

   The country parks alone were not enough to guarantee Hong Kong's biodiversity. Lowlands and coastline, much of which had already been devastated by rampant development and reclamation, needed protection too, he said.

  Under the Rio Convention, the territory had an obligation to protect its 'wonderful biodiversity'.

  'We have got this wonderful biodiversity but we won't be able to boast if future development plans and reclamation damage it,' said Mr Ades.

 Conservationists fear the demands of development will eventually encroach on protected areas, and a review of laws protecting country parks which appeared to weaken rules against development only confirmed their suspicions.

  Mr Ades said:'The reason we have this oasis is partly because of the country parks and wetland areas - if they start moving into country parks all the effort that has been made to improve ecology will have been wasted.'   The recent Privy Council ruling in favour of Henderson Real Estate's controversial Nam Sang Wai development next to Mai Po marshes has restarted deferred planning applications for residential projects in the area.

  The WWF's Mr Melville said: 'It is not terribly encouraging.'  Despite the designation of Mai Po and the surrounding area as a wetland of international importance, the Ramsar site excludes buffer zone two - exactly the area developers are eyeing for large scale residential projects.

   Mai Po is being squeezed on all fronts.

 Polluted water is washing down from the Pearl River delta into Deep Bay. But reserve managers can only stand by helplessly.

 If the contamination reaches the shrimps, crabs, worms and fish on the mudflats, the thousands of migratory birds which flock to Mai Po may be affected.

  Battling with its own pollution problems, the territory has yet to come to grips with the pesticides, heavy metals and sewage contamination flowing down the Pearl River.

 Academics shrug when asked the type and quantity of pollutants flushing out of China and into Hong Kong.

   Marine biologist at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Institute of Environmental Studies Dr Gregor Hodgson said it was essential for the territory to look beyond its borders. 'It is certainly a very important issue for Hong Kong. If you look at the population projection for the area at that rate, although China is trying very hard to upgrade its pollution and sewage treatment equipment, there is no way it can keep up. The outlook is very grim.'   Looking at the Government's development strategy for the 21st century, which sees Hong Kong as the business, transport and communications hub of the Pearl River delta, the territory's wildlife might agree. While 50 years ago Stanley residents may have thanked the marksmen who shot the last tiger, by all reports a maneater, many people today hope the territory's biodiversity will survive for future generations.



A grim outlook for our ecology