Hong Kong’s lush forests are teeming with more wildlife ranging from birds arriving from neighbouring regions to newly discovered reptile species, experts have found, as they urge authorities to devise a conservation list to protect vulnerable local species.
The call by the city’s conservationists to formulate a “red list” – a long-awaited measure since 2014 – coincided with National Ecology Day on Saturday.
Marking the occasion, Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said the government’s first five-year plan would advance measures to protect the environment.
“The government is, for the first time, formulating a five-year plan that aligns with the national 15th five-year plan’s policy direction to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development, and boost growth so as to improve ecological environment quality, and steadily pursue green transition, build a liveable city, and realise a beautiful Hong Kong,” he said.
“We have gotten the brown wood owl … the Chinese barbet and the black-chinned yuhina, that expanded its range into Hong Kong – a good sign because it shows us that some of these species found our forests mature enough to find places to nest and food to feed on,” Ades said.