The purpose of this report is to document the characteristics and trends in the baseline environment in Hong Kong, as they have been defined for the Study on Sustainable Development for the 21st Century (SUSDEV 21). The report describes the baseline environmental, natural resource and cultural heritage resources according to the eight elements of the natural capital stock (see Section 2.2) which have been agreed for the study through a process of consultation.

The overall purpose of the baseline report, according to the study brief, is to provide essential environmental and ecological baseline information for the assessment of environmental sustainability.

A number of subsidiary objectives have been defined for the report:

• it should be focused - data and analysis will relate in the main to the "environmental" guiding principles and indicators, avoiding data which might only be of special interest to particular Departments or individuals;
• it should provide an assessment of the "health" of each element of natural capital stock;
• it should provide an overall assessment of the sustainability of current practices in Hong Kong in relation to environmental management issues.

The report should provide for the Government and the public:

• a focused, accurate and analytical appraisal of the baseline conditions;
• interpretation of trends and environmental conditions against established standards and policy objectives to identify both the state of the environment and the direction in which the natural capital stock is moving;
• a framework for reference and a launch point for Government action and policy response to the problems (and achievements) identified;
• sufficient data presentation and analysis to act as a reference for the indicators in the Sustainable Development System (SDS).

The environmental baseline report is structured as follows:

Section 2 describes the approach to the presentation and analysis of the baseline environmental information and the reason for the 'natural capital stock' approach which has been adopted in this report.

Section 3 presents the appraisal of the natural resources capital stock which includes land use and land supply, agriculture and fisheries, freshwater resources, minerals, aggregates and energy resources, and waste arisings and disposal.

Section 4 presents the terrestrial and marine ecological resources capital stock.

Section 5 reviews the assimilative capacity of the natural capital stock through appraisal of the existing natural assimilative capacity and assimilative capacity enhancers.

Section 6 resents a review of the heritage functions capital stock.

Section 7 reviews the other natural capital stock functions including their significance for existence values, scientific resources, recreational values and landscape resources.

Section 8 provides a discussion on the overall implications of the state of the natural capital stock examined in the report and identifies areas where current trends may be unsustainable and which may form the focus of future policy objectives.

Section 9 presents a list of reference material used in preparing the report.

This report is supported by a number of annexes which provide more detailed supplementary information pertaining to the sustainability appraisal. The following annexes are included:

Annex A : Country Parks and Special Areas in Hong Kong

Annex B : Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)

Annex C : Trends in Annual Solid Waste Arisings in Hong Kong

Annex D : Schedule of the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance

Annex E : Map of Water Control Zones and Monitoring Locations

Annex F : Marine and Freshwater Quality Analysis and Supporting Data

Annex G : Supporting Data for Criteria Air Pollutants in Hong Kong

Annex H : Transport and Non-Transport Noise Issues

Annex I : Listing of Declared Monuments