Building Urban Nature

Category: Indigenous Knowledge

  • Ho Sheung Heung 河上鄉

    Ho Sheung Heung 河上鄉

    Location

    Ho Sheung Heung, Sheung Shui, New Territories, Hong Kong

    Size

    37 ha

    Project Team

    The Conservancy Association

    Project Year

    2005 – present

    Phase

    Maintenance

    Key Tensions

    Meet the arborist and the conservationist – Ms. Kami Hui

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    Long Valley Freshwater Agricultural Wetland Management: Collaborations between ENGOs and Local Farmers in Ho Sheung Heung

    Long valley is the largest contiguous freshwater wetland in Hong Kong. It has been called the first case in HK that conservation groups won the contest with development. Through a series of protests, a piece of wetland with high ecological values was protected when (Kowloon–Canton Railway Corporation) KCR proposed to build the new Lok Ma Chau Spur Line in 2000. Today, Ho Sheung Heung farmland management,  as the Long Valley Management Agreement (LVMA) pilot project, has become a role model for conservation projects in Hong Kong  which integrates agriculture, biodiversity, landscape conservation, cultural heritage, education and local community participation on the same piece of land. 

    How are Wetland farming contributing to the local biodiversity and ecological restoration?  What is the role of green groups in the cooperation of various actors?

  • Hong Kong Wetland Park

    Hong Kong Wetland Park

    Location

    Wetland Park Road, Tin Shui Wai, New Territories, Hong Kong

    Size

    61 ha

    Project Team

    URBIS Limited (LA)
    Architectural Services Department (A)

    Project Year

    1998 – 2006

    Phase

    Maintenance

    Key Tensions

    Meet the ecologist – Ms. Elizabeth Leven

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    Ecological Mitigation Design:
    Hong Kong Wetland Park before EIA Ordinance

    The Hong Kong Wetland Park, an original ecological mitigation area for the reclamation of Tin Shui Wai new town in north territorial of HK, has become a key millennium project. It now attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors and hosts thousands of educational activities each year. 

    How was it built in history? How did ecologists, landscape architects, engineers and other professional consultants collaborate on landscape projects in a time when the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) did not exist?

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    Planting Trial and Adaptive Management: 
    Mudflat and Butterfly Garden

    Wetlands, where water meets land, are the most complex of the earth’s three ecosystems. How does the design of the Hong Kong Wetland Park respond to the complexity of wetland ecosystems? What experiments have been done during the design process? What kind of adaptive management should be carried out after the design?

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    Work with Soil and Hydrology: 
    Integration of Indigenous Knowledge

    Wetland formation also involved the heavy machinery work of soil and hydrology. What are some the technical challenges encountered in Hong Kong Wetland Park? How were they resolved? How indigenous knowledge can be integrated with modern wetland technologies?