On a wing and a prayer: Hong Kong butterfly reserve’s future uncertain

As one of Hong Kong’s most successful community science and conservation projects celebrates its 10th anniversary this week, its founder and “unpaid CEO” says he has no idea what the future holds for Fung Yuen Butterfly Reserve.

“The lack of security is very worrying,” says Dr Yau Wing-kwong, who is about to submit a funding proposal to try to secure another two to three years for the reserve near Tai Po, which provides a precious habitat for more than 200 species of butterfly and an education service for thousands of visitors every year.

“Local people come with their kids for a visit. Then they take photos. Then they buy a book and become volunteers or get involved,” says Yau, who calls it the Hong Kong butterfly effect.

Such is the power of this effect that a decade on from its humble origins as a small community reserve set up by a few volunteers, the centre is almost unrecognisable. It now runs ambitious scientific programmes with schools and universities, operates youth group projects, employs six staff and trains hundreds of butterfly volunteers. Last month, about 5,000 people attended its butterfly festival, and on a recent weekend, it hosted leading butterfly experts from Macau, Japan and Taiwan, at a conference at Chinese University.

Not bad going for a group of enthusiasts from the Tai Po Environmental Association operating on a shoestring budget. Their original ambition was simply to protect butterflies from foreign collectors who came to the Fung Yuen valley and removed not just the butterflies but also the host plants, despite that fact it was designated as an area of Special Scientific Interest in 1980. When the government saw the work the group was doing, it agreed to a pilot project in 2005 based on the Scheme for Management Agreement. The association negotiated a reasonable rent for the land from local owners in the community and agreed to manage the habitat conservation, while the government would provide the funding.