Biodiversity
Preserving biodiversity and functional ecosystems plays an important role in sustaining a high quality of life for the people of Hong Kong and supporting the health, economies and cultures of countries worldwide. As HKIA and its surrounding waters host iconic and threatened species such as the Chinese White Dolphin (CWD) and the Romer’s Tree Frog, we have a duty of care to avoid and minimise adverse impacts on biodiversity during the operation and development of HKIA. We are also mindful of the role aviation plays in the trafficking of wildlife. As such, we have developed the HKIA Biodiversity Strategy to ensure a structured approach to biodiversity management and support the introduction of Hong Kong’s first Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan in 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.
Mitigation and enhancement measures adopted for the Three-runway System (3RS) project. These include:
- Using non-dredge land reclamation methods to minimise disturbance to the marine environment.
- Adopting deep cement mixing for ground improvement works in contaminated mud pit areas north of HKIA prior to commencing reclamation for 3RS.
- Implementing horizontal directional drilling in the construction of two underwater aviation fuel pipelines to avoid dredging of the seabed.
- 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 of 99 trips prior to designation of the proposed marine park;
- Diverting HSFs travelling to/from Zhuhai and Macao away from the busy and narrow channel immediately north of HKIA; and
- 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), managed by independent committees, with a total budget of HK$400 million. In 2018/19, the funds approved over HK$10 million in support for nine projects, details of which can be found at: http://env.threerunwaysystem.com/en/meef/index.html and http://env.threerunwaysystem.com/en/fef/index.html, respectively.
In collaboration with ACI, the Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) Partnership, and global wildlife trade monitoring NGO, TRAFFIC, AAHK organised a workshop and stakeholder forum on 28 March 2019 to share information and develop solutions on how airport operators, airport staff, and enforcement agencies around the world can collaborate to combat wildlife trafficking.
The In-To Tung Chung River Project entered its second year. Initiated by local NGO, Green Power, this three-year public engagement programme aims to strengthen measures to conserve the Tung Chung River catchment area and engage the community to raise awareness on protecting the ecological value of the Tung Chung River.
(Chinese version only)