ENG-2002 — Page 351

THE ENVIRONMENT

oceanic characteristic. This special hydrographic condition helps to contribute to the high diversity of marine life found in Hong Kong.

Despite being close to the northern limit for hard corals, Hong Kong supports some 80 stony coral species. This diversity of corals is considered quite rich by international standards. A variety of marine fishes also breed in Hong Kong waters. Typical of eastern waters is the red sea bream, one of the several sea bream varieties whose fry are abundant along the shore of Mirs Bay in early spring.

Despite the small extent of Hong Kong waters, two marine mammal species can be found locally throughout the year. The better-known one is the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, also known as the Chinese white dolphin. The other is the finless porpoise. The humpback dolphin prefers the estuarine environment and inhabits the western waters of Hong Kong while the finless porpoise lives in the eastern and southern areas, which are predominantly oceanic waters.

There has been concern over the degradation of the marine environment by pollution, coastal development works, over-fishing and destructive fishing practices. To counteract the disturbance to inshore marine resources, artificial reefs are deployed to enhance fisheries resources and the biodiversity of the marine environment. The Marine Parks programme continues to serve as an important scheme in protecting and conserving sites of special ecological and conservation values.

Legislation and Nature Conservation

The Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation, who is also the Country and Marine Parks Authority, is responsible for the conservation of the terrestrial and marine ecological resources, as well as for the enforcement of legislation on conservation issues.

The Forests and Countryside Ordinance provides for the general protection of vegetation, and gives special protection to certain rare plants, including native camellias, magnolias, orchids, azaleas and the Chinese New Year flower.

The Wild Animals Protection Ordinance prohibits the hunting of wild animals or the possession, sale or export of protected wild animals taken in Hong Kong. It also restricts entry by unauthorised persons to three important wildlife habitats: the Mai Po Marshes, the Yim Tso Ha Egretry and the green turtle nesting beach at Sham Wan. The Country Parks Ordinance provides for the designation, control and management of the countryside as country parks and special areas for nature conservation, education, scientific research purposes while country parks can also be designated for recreation and tourism uses.

The Marine Parks Ordinance provides for the designation, protection and management of the ecologically important marine environments as marine parks and marine reserves for nature conservation, education and scientific research purposes. Compatible recreational activities such as swimming and diving are allowed in marine parks.

Besides general conservation of the countryside, the Government has been identifying and conserving sites of special scientific interest, such as those that are natural habitats of rare plant or animals species through exercising strict development controls. In all, 64 sites have been listed.

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