Hong Kong government hands HK$20 million to two conservation projects restoring Hakka village and a wetland area home to rare wildlife
- Countryside Conservation Office funding will go towards building accommodation at New Territories blighted by vacant homes and to the Sha Lo Tung wetland area
- Minister calls for other conservation groups to bid for slice of HK$1 billion to benefit the city’s natural landscape
Two projects to conserve and restore Hong Kong’s countryside heritage have received more than HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) in government funding, as the environment minister urged groups to apply for financial support to preserve the city’s natural wonders.
The revival of a wetland area home to rare species and the conversion of abandoned homes in a Hakka village into guest houses are the first schemes of their type to receive cash from a HK$1 billion pot unveiled by the city’s leader.
The Countryside Conservation Office (CCO) was formed in July 2018 under the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) to promote conservation and sustainable development of the city’s rural areas.
A total of HK$1 billion was ring-fenced for the CCO, as pledged by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in her maiden policy address in October 2017.
Last year, the government also set up the Advisory Committee on Countryside Conservation, which includes academics, rural and local stakeholders, conservation groups and representatives of government departments, to help the CCO vet applications.
Writing on his blog on Wednesday, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing said the committee had received funding for two projects, one to restore Lai Chi Wo, a 400-year-old Hakka village, and the other for the environmentally diverse area of Sha Lo Tung in Tai Po.