AAHK - Sustainability Report 2016/17

Biodiversity

Preserving biodiversity and functional ecosystems plays an important role in sustaining a high quality of life for the people of Hong Kong. We have a demonstrable duty of care to avoid and minimise adverse impacts on biodiversity during the operation and development of HKIA. As such, we have developed the HKIA Biodiversity Strategy to ensure a structured approach to biodiversity management, and to support Hong Kong’s first Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan introduced by the HKSAR Government in December 2016.

HKIA Biodiversity Strategy and key actions

Our Strategy serves as a framework for conserving biodiversity at and around HKIA and identifies the key priorities for action, mainly in the following three key focus areas.

Marine species in the waters around HKIA such as Chinese White Dolphin (CWD)

Mitigation and enhancement measures adopted for the three-runway system (3RS) project. These include:

Use of non-dredge land reclamation methods to minimise disturbance to the environment.
Adoption of environmentally preferable deep cement mixing for ground improvement works in the disused contaminated mud pit areas north of HKIA.
Establishing dolphin exclusion zones around potentially noisy marine construction activities.
Managing SkyPier high-speed ferries (HSFs) by:
- Limiting the total volume of HSF traffic at an annual daily average level of 99 trips prior to designation of the proposed marine park
- Diverting HSFs travelling to/from Zhuhai and Macao away from the busy and narrowing channel immediately north of HKIA
- Restricting the speed of those diverted high-speed ferries to 15 knots or below in high CWD abundance areas along the diverted route
Designating a marine park of about 2,400 hectares to tie in with the full operation of the 3RS.
Setting up a Marine Ecology Enhancement Fund (MEEF) and a Fisheries Enhancement Fund (FEF) with a total budget of HK$400 million. Independent management committees were formed to manage these two funds. Over HK$7 million was granted from the MEEF and FEF to nine projects in July 2017. Details of the approved funded projects for the MEEF and FEF can be found at: http://env.threerunwaysystem.com/en/meef/meef_projects.html and http://env.threerunwaysystem.com/en/fef/fef_projects.html, respectively.

We also supported Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong for the development of a CWD conservation research framework and action plan.

Mitigation and enhancement measures adopted for the three-runway system (3RS) project. These include:

Use of non-dredge land reclamation methods to minimise disturbance to the environment.
Adoption of environmentally preferable deep cement mixing for ground improvement works in the disused contaminated mud pit areas north of HKIA.
Establishing dolphin exclusion zones around potentially noisy marine construction activities.
Managing SkyPier high-speed ferries (HSFs) by:
- Limiting the total volume of HSF traffic at an annual daily average level of 99 trips prior to designation of the proposed marine park
- Diverting HSFs travelling to/from Zhuhai and Macao away from the busy and narrowing channel immediately north of HKIA
- Restricting the speed of those diverted high-speed ferries to 15 knots or below in high CWD abundance areas along the diverted route
Designating a marine park of about 2,400 hectares to tie in with the full operation of the 3RS.
Setting up a Marine Ecology Enhancement Fund (MEEF) and a Fisheries Enhancement Fund (FEF) with a total budget of HK$400 million. Independent management committees were formed to manage these two funds. Over HK$7 million was granted from the MEEF and FEF to nine projects in July 2017. Details of the approved funded projects for the MEEF and FEF can be found at: http://env.threerunwaysystem.com/en/meef/meef_projects.html and http://env.threerunwaysystem.com/en/fef/fef_projects.html, respectively.

We also supported Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong for the development of a CWD conservation research framework and action plan.

Terrestrial species at HKIA

Ant and moth study : Monitoring of terrestrial non-native insect species in Hong Kong conducted by The University of Hong Kong. The objectives of the study are:

To monitor native and exotic communities of ants and moths at HKIA and the surrounding habitats.
To develop awareness on the ecological impacts of invasive species and prevent their establishment and habitat expansion.

Other wildlife at HKIA

Signed up to the “Say No to Shark Fin Pledge” organised by Hong Kong Shark Foundation and updated AAHK’s Sustainable Dining Policy.