Hong Kong Marine Protection Alliance Calls for Expanded Marine Protected Areas to Cover 30% of Waters
香港海洋保育聯盟倡增海洋保護區 長遠覆蓋三成本港水域
The Hong Kong Marine Protection Alliance (HKMPA), comprising multiple organisations and individuals, held a sharing session on Wednesday (18th) at the University of Hong Kong’s Swire Institute of Marine Science in Cape d’Aguilar. It renewed its call to expand marine protected areas to protect Hong Kong waters, proposing that four locations—Pak Nai, Shek Kwu Wan, Three Fathoms Cove and the Ninepin Group—be designated as marine protected areas. It also proposed increasing the number of marine protected areas from the current seven to 32 by 2030, covering 30% of Hong Kong waters. The Hong Kong Marine Protection Alliance comprises 24 organisations and 15 individuals, including the University of Hong Kong’s Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS), WWF-Hong Kong and The Nature Conservancy Hong Kong Foundation. David Baker, the alliance’s acting director and an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, said establishing marine protected areas would also align with the Hong Kong Government’s need to enhance tourism value (a promising alignment with government agenda). The alliance called for the existing management model at Cape d’Aguilar to be used as a reference, with fishing, hunting or the collection of marine life without permission prohibited under the “No Take” principle.
由多個團體組成及個人組成的香港海洋保育聯盟（HKMPA），周三（18日）在鶴咀香港⼤學太古海洋科學研究所舉辦分享會，他們續倡擴大海洋保護區以保護香港水域，建議將本港四個水域白泥、水口、牛尾海、及果洲群島4地點劃為海洋保護區，並在2030年前將海洋保護區數量從現時的7個增至32個，覆蓋30%香港水域。 香港海洋保育聯盟由24個組織及15名人士組成，包括香港⼤學太古海洋科學研究所（SWIMS）、世界⾃然基⾦會（WWF）香港分會、⼤⾃然保護協會（TNC）香港基金會等。聯盟暫任總監，港大副教授David Baker表示，設立海洋保護區亦符合香港政府對提升旅遊價值的需求（a promising alignment with government agenda），倡參考鶴咀現有管理模式，在「No Take」的原則下禁止未經許可釣魚、捕獵或收集海洋生物。