Earth Hour 2020: Managing our Oceans

For such a relatively small place, Hong Kong has a truly spectacular array of marine life. A study in 2017 found that despite making up just 0.03% of China’s seas, Hong Kong’s waters are home to 5,943 marine species, over a quarter of the 22,269 found in the whole of China. Hong Kong has more species of hard coral than the Caribbean Sea, more mangrove species than the whole of East Africa and several large, iconic marine animals, including Chinese white dolphins (Sousa chinensis), finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides), green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and horseshoe crabs. Despite this rich marine biodiversity, Hong Kong waters though are far from healthy. Around 2,000 hectares of sea area have been earmarked for coastal reclamation, adding to the seven per cent of Hong Kong’s reclaimed land area over the past century, and threatening to further destroy coastal ecosystems. <a href="https://medium.com/wwfhk-e/earth-hour-2020-managing-our-oceans-7a7d2f6a2a54">Read More</a>