Our marine waters - one of Hong Kong's most precious natural assets

This report has described the unique characteristics of Hong Kong's extensive marine waters, ranging from the shallow river-dominated waters of the west through to the deep oceanic waters of the east, including a number of harbours and sheltered areas each of which have their own special features and histories. The marine waters of Hong Kong are one of the territory's most precious natural assets. Economically, they support a huge amount of shipping that has made Hong Kong one of the most important container ports in the world. From the perspective of recreation, they are widely used for swimming, sailing and boating, wind-surfing, water-skiing and diving. They also support a rich range of sea life, some of it harvested for food but much that is important simply because of its beauty and diversity.

Without knowing about the condition of our marine waters and, specifically, how they are affected by human activities, we lack the power to protect them. As has been seen, our marine water quality monitoring programme is one of the most important initiatives undertaken to make sure Hong Kong stays aware of the state of its marine environment and is in the best possible position to take practical, effective steps to keep it healthy.

The past two decades have seen significant improvements in some-but not all-of our marine waters. Some clear positive results of the Government's efforts to protect Hong Kong's marine environment include some major improvements in the water quality of Tolo Harbour and many parts of Victoria Harbour. Despite population growth, excellent water quality has been maintained in Port Shelter and Mirs Bay, as well as at most of the bathing beaches. There are still problems to be faced and solutions to be found in some areas, however, and we must work together to address issues such as the deteriorating water quality in Deep Bay and elevated E. coli levels in western Victoria Harbour.

Problems will continue to exist unless we face them squarely and take positive steps to tackle them. Many of these steps have been described in this report. These include legislative enforcement, backed by initiatives such as the construction of new and better sewage treatment works, the extension of the public sewer network around Hong Kong, and the implementation of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) Stage 1 for improving the world-famous Victoria Harbour.

Members of the general public have had an important part to play too, and will continue to do so. Over time, they have come to see Hong Kong's water as the precious asset that it is, and many individuals have contributed to the territory's commitment to conserving water, connecting houses to the public sewer network, reducing pollution, and supporting related environmental initiatives.

A bird's-eye view of the Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works

For the future, a number of major sewage projects are already underway that should have a significant effect on reducing pollution, including HATS Stage 2, the Sewerage Master Plans, and the comprehensive village sewerage connection programme. Pollution associated with livestock waste would be further controlled as a result of the Voluntary Surrender of Poultry and Pig Farm Licence Schemes. Meanwhile, we will continue our longstanding programmes of controlling sewage-related pollution. The challenges lying ahead include dealing with the ongoing problems of stormwater pollution, sediment contamination, and the odour associated with sediment that is rich in organic pollutants, particularly near urban areas.

The marine monitoring programme will remain at the centre of the EPD's future efforts to safeguard Hong Kong's marine waters. Providing the raw information about the waters under our care, the programme will remain a catalyst for measures that will ensure we can hand on our marine heritage to future generations in the best possible condition.