FoE (HK): Hikers Should be Fine Examples in Protecting Natural Landscapes

Contributed by Friends of the Earth (HK)

Indeed, we should be proud of Hong Kong for its unique landscapes, with some even up to world-grade standard. The wide variety of land features is not only of high visual value, but also nurtured various ecological resources. The establishment of National Geopark in Hong Kong revived the public’s interests in Local Eco-tour. Many people regret to have missed such beautiful sceneries. However, the rapid increase in visitors is also a challenge to the carrying capacity of natural landscape. Quality of visitors becomes an important factor in natural landscape protection.

Some unique landscapes used to be lonely places, but now, more and more tourists are attracted. I revisited Bluff Head (Wong Chuk Kok Tsui) at Port Island recently. The crowds really surprised me. Bluff Head was a quiet place as difficult to access. Only experienced hiking teams were able to get there by taking a round trip of 10 hours on the mountains. Nowadays, the number of tourists is increasing due to the promotion of Geo-Park. On the day I visited, I saw the famous rock named “Devil’s Fist” was surrounded by several ferries and yachts, while black smoke was emitting from some of them. I began worry about the precious geological resources at Bluff Head. Hope it won’t become the next “victim” following the death of large White-flowered Derris at Lai Chi Wo due to bad behavior of tourists.

It is believed that most people, who engaged in nature conservation works, were in a dilemma of whether to publicize the nature resources or to keep confidential. Living in Hong Kong, it’s no doubt that we want more people to be proud of our precious nature resources. However, it is even more important to increase public awareness in nature conservation.

There is an urge that the Government should strengthen the resources on tourist education, while it is also important that the hikers set fine examples by taking real actions in protecting natural landscapes. On the same day at Bluff Head, I encountered a local hiking team of 15 people, including some professional hikers. They were very excited when reached the “Devil’s Fist”, and even climbed to the top of the rock for photo taking, without being aware that such behaviors will cause irreparable damages to the natural landscapes, which experienced millions of years before the formation.

Climbing to the rock top for photo-taking used to be a “common practice” in old days among hikers. Nowadays, green tourism has become a new trend that we should no longer simply emphasize personal satisfaction of travelling, but should also pay attention to nature conservation and sustainability. Another thing we should also alert is the well-developed transportation enables a large number of tourists reach anywhere easily in a short time. With the large number of visitors, even just a tiny improper action by each visitor will cause significant damages to the environment when accumulates along with time.

As a hiker who loves our environment, please be sure to take the Visiting Code （http://www.geopark.gov.hk/en_codes.html）as reference before planning your geo-visit. For your own safety and for nature conservation, please remember not to climb the rocks.