TrailWatch app for Hong Kong hikers doubles as conservation tool

In the autumn of 2012, a group of keen hikers got to thinking how they could use their smartphones not only to capture images of the stunning scenery but to report on environmental problems sighted along the trail.

As it happened all were staffers at the Wyng Foundation, a family charity that supports, among other initiatives, environmental programmes such as those run by Civic Exchange and the Clean Air Network. The IT professionals in the group decided to take on the challenge of developing a smartphone app with that function.

The result is TrailWatch, a relatively easy-to-use app that not only helps hikers plan their walks and collate photos taken along the way, but also enables them to immediately post images of construction damage that they may spot.

Routes can be selected from photos shown on the app, but the programme can also propose possible trails based on location or distance. Once this is chosen, the app will keep track of a hiker's progress: speed, distance travelled, elevation reached and calories expended.

"It started off as an app to supplement our hobby, but then we thought conservation groups could use it as well," says Tsang Kwok-fung, communications director for the foundation.

"Many people are debating the value of country parks," he says, noting the increasing pressure on Hong Kong's country parks amid calls from development secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and tycoons such as Shui On Group chairman Vincent Lo Hong-sui to carve out parcels of land to build housing estates.