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The environmental baseline study has adopted the natural capital stock approach which reflects both the resource input (or 'source') functions and the waste assimilation (or 'sink') functions that our natural environment performs
The natural capital stock concept has been defined as comprising four primary components; natural resources, ecological resources, assimilative resources capacity and heritage resources, and four secondary components; recreational value, landscape value, existence value and scientific value.
Natural Resources Capital Stock
Land Use and Land Supply
Land suitable for development in Hong Kong is extremely limited and is under pressure from pollution. The current stock of land supply in Hong Kong is not sufficient to sustain current levels of development in the medium and long term and such that for development to continue, alternatives to development of natural areas will need to be identified.
Agriculture and Fisheries
The area of cultivated land in Hong Kong has declined by more than 50% between 1954 and 1996. Agricultural resources are under greatest pressure from development of land. Local marine fisheries production has also declined as has the number of commercially valuable demersal inshore fish species. Key pressures on fisheries resources are intensive fishing pressure combined with infrastructure development and increased marine pollution arising largely from population growth.
Freshwater Resources
Despite a slowing in the growth in demand since 1990, the amount of freshwater required each year in Hong Kong continues to increase, albeit per capita supply is declining. Despite the designation of extensive areas of Hong Kong's as water catchments and reservoirs, local sources only meet a quarter of the total freshwater demand, with the majority of Hong Kong's freshwater (76% in 1998) coming from the Dongjiang River, under an agreement with Mainland authorities.
Waste Arisings and Disposal
Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) are the two most significant waste streams in Hong Kong; despite some C&D waste being reused in public filling schemes, the remainder along with most MSW is disposed of to landfill. Due to a growing and increasingly affluent population, our production rate of domestic municipal solid waste is steadily growing such that domestic waste arisings are predicted to double 1997 levels by 2015.
Minerals, Aggregates and Energy Resources
Quarry production of aggregates from four sites in Hong Kong is currently around 17 million tonnes per annum (1996) and significant quantities of marine aggregates are also extracted from the seabed in Hong Kong waters. Future land based mining has effectively been prevented by competing land uses and development pressures.
Electricity is mainly supplied from three fossil fuel power stations in Hong Kong; Lamma and Castle Peak which are coal fired and the combined-cycle gas turbines at Black Point. Fuel is imported from throughout South East Asia and Australia. In addition, seventy percent of the electricity produced at the Daya Bay nuclear plant in Guangdong is also imported to Hong Kong.
Town gas is manufactured locally, with LPG being imported by sea.
With a population increasing in both size and sophistication, energy consumption will continue to increase. Nevertheless, efforts to improve the long-term sustainability of energy resources are available and under consideration, such as more efficient utilisation of non-renewable resources (eg cleaner-burning forms of transport, combined-cycle power generation, interconnection of Hong Kong generators), while renewable and alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, wave and landfill gas may also play a niche role in future.
Ecological Resources Capital Stock
Although much of Hong Kong's ecological capital has been degraded in the past few decades, recent studies indicate that a considerable range of biodiversity remains intact. Hong Kong's ecological habitats consist of a wide variety of communities which host a surprisingly diverse array of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, invertebrates and plants
These resources are, however, under threat from physical clearance, dredging and reclamation for new development, fishing pressure and increased disturbance from development encroachment. Wetlands and other lowland habitats are particularly vulnerable to development. The protection to ecological habitats provided by current statutes and designations is not comprehensive and certain specific species and areas of important habitat remain unprotected from development.
Assimilative Capacity Capital Stock
Assimilative Capacity of Marine Waters
As a result of the unparalleled levels of population and economic growth Hong Kong has experienced since the late 1960s, and the heavy reliance on marine waters as the receiving medium for liquid, and some solid, wastes, there has been a progressive deterioration in Hong Kong's marine water quality. Hong Kong marine waters are currently under increasing pressure from local wastewater discharges such that the natural capacity of the marine environment to assimilate waste inputs now appears to be exceeded in some areas such as Deep Bay. However, where pollution control measures have been implemented (eg in Tolo Harbour), improvements in water quality have been registered.
Assimilative Capacity of Freshwater Systems
Water Quality Index data for the last 10 years show that river water quality has sustained a territory-wide improvement, with fewer than 20% of stations recording 'Bad' or 'Very Bad' water quality in 1998. The alteration and conversion of natural streams to drainage channels has enhanced the natural capacity of freshwaters to assimilate volumes of floodwater and surface drainage, but channelisation also results in a loss of ecological capital stock since drainage channels cannot be colonised by normal stream assemblages of flora and fauna. Unless channel designs which provide ecological mitigation are adopted as the standard, this process is simply substituting ecological capital stock for assimilative capital stock.
Assimilative Capacity of Air (including Noise)
Longer term trends in air pollutants show increases in annual average concentrations of NO2, decreases in SO2, and consistently high levels of particulates with both TSPs and RSPs being close to their respective Air Quality Objectives limits. Rising levels of ozone (along with NO2) are a cause for increasing concern over the formation of photochemical smog, although additional data is required to establish the long term trend of the background ozone level. Poor air quality at many roadside locations has been attributed to vehicle emissions, and levels of NO2 and RSPs are particularly high in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Much of the particulate pollution in these locations can be attributed to the large stock of diesel vehicles on Hong Kong's roads.
About 1 million people in the SAR are exposed to excessive noise, principally as a result of road traffic sources. Whilst planning measures, building design solutions and retrofitting offer a degree of relief, Hong Kong's development densities are such that pedestrians and those living and working in urban areas will continue to be exposed to high levels of noise.
Heritage Functions Capital Stock
The heritage baseline resource has been defined for the study as comprising 67 Declared Monuments, 8 Deemed Monuments, 443 graded historic buildings and structures and a further 184 Sites of Specific Archaeological Interest (SSAI). Only Declared and Deemed Monuments however are afforded legal protection from damage or destruction. Knowledge of the historical resource has been augmented by a recently completed territory wide archaeological survey, and research shows that evidence of human settlement in Hong Kong dates as far back as the Neolithic period - up to 4000 BC.
Whilst Hong Kong's heritage resource has the potential to increase as new sites are discovered and notable buildings and structures are recognised, it is also under significant threat from new development, particularly in urban areas where older buildings without statutory protection are commonly demolished to make way for new schemes, rather than being incorporated into urban redevelopment programmes. In addition, the areas of highest potential for archaeological resources are include coastal sites where the pressure for development is greatest. Rural areas too are under increasing threat from encroaching development, particularly in growth areas such as the new towns, and where the lack of development controls on private land is threatens traditional village buildings and other cultural features.
Other Natural Capital Stock Functions
Scientific Value
Areas of scientific value are closely related to areas of ecological importance as well as to areas of important or unique habitat and heritage resources of significance. Thus in addition to constituting a loss in their own right, declining natural, cultural and ecological resources also constrict the avenues of scientific research and discovery.
Existence Values
Existence values are derived from resources and features which are valued by society; natural and ecological resources, environmental quality and heritage resources all carry an existence value, albeit a subjective one dependent upon society's priorities at any one time, which will be reduced when these resources are impacted.
Recreational Functions
Recreational values apply to elements of the natural capital stock which have some value for amenity and education such as open space, Country Parks, beaches and nature reserves. The recreational value of these features is derived from both their quality and extent of the resource, while ironically, simultaneously exerting pressures upon them. The ongoing sustainability of resources which attract or promote recreational use will depend on sensitive management to balance the demands of recreational users with ecological and conservation values, which in turn, feed back into the quality aspects of the recreational value.
Landscape Functions
Hong Kong has a diverse developed (cityscape) and undeveloped landscape by virtue of its geological, topological, ecological, climatic and anthropogenic influences. There is currently no comprehensive system of protection for important landscapes in Hong Kong, and impacts from sporadic, unchecked or visually inappropriate development are therefore a continuing threat to landscape value. Whilst the intrinsic value of the urban landscape is particularly subjective, the landscape setting of the metropolitan area of Hong Kong is important to both visitors and residents of the city.
Overall Summary
Most elements of Hong Kong's natural capital have experienced significant decline over the recent past The key response to the current condition of the natural capital stock in Hong Kong is the development of holistic and integrated polices and strategies to address the pressures acting upon the environment. In particular, whilst acknowledging recent progress by the Government Departments and Bureaux concerned, the sectors of conservation, transport and energy have been identified as still lacking explicit and comprehensive policies. These areas should receive priority in the production of an integrated framework to achieve sustainable development. Community education to bring about changes in individuals’ expectations and lifestyles must parallel these efforts, so that the need for such policies and strategies is understood, and that the changes they will bring are supported and encouraged by Hong Kong's present, and future, custodians.
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