Hong Kong (HK), one of the world’s most densely populated areas, has however 40% of its land protected as Country Parks. It is also home to over 200 rivers and streams covering roughly 2,500 km in length. Most of the urban streams have been transformed into artificial canals, to which the society pays little attention. Since 2015, Hong Kong’s Drainage Services Department (DSD) has initiated several river revitalization projects to enhance rivers’ ecological functions and reintegrate rivers into society. This study employs mixed research methods, including literature and policy analysis, expert interviews, field visits, and a public survey, to examine Hong Kong’s river management structure and identify key-related issues. The findings reveal a fragmented management scheme, characterized by a ‘one river, two systems’ strategy – the Water Supplies Department (WSD) impounds upland streams as reservoirs for local use, which are protected due to the location inside Country Parks; while DSD manages heavily culverted and channelized downstream (which fall outside the boundary of Country Parks), serving as storm drains with diminished ecosystem integrity. Cross-departmental collaboration between upstream and downstream is lacking. Freshwater biodiversity conservation in Hong Kong remains rudimentary, with fish and macroinvertebrates entirely neglected. The designation of Ecologically Important Streams (EIS) is insufficient for conservating biodiversity; no bio-monitoring measures for water quality exist. DSD’s river revitalization efforts have only achieved limited success, with ecological measures appearing merely “cosmetic”. Our survey (102 completed questionnaires) reveals diverse recreational interactions with rivers, but only 20% of respondents were aware of river revitalization. Nonetheless, the study shows a high public willingness to participate in river management. Finally, we provide suggestions for managing the rivers as social-ecological systems.

Yixin Cao, Karl Matthias Wantzen
Interdisciplinary Research Center of Cities, Territories, Environment and Society (UMR CNRS 7324 CITERES), University of Tours, France

 
ID Abstract: 362