The higher the buildings along the two coasts of Victoria Harbour are, the more the urbanites look forward to the simple wilderness without buildings, vehicles or roads. A paradox is: Is the wilderness still wild with tourists and noises? Jim Chi Yung, the chairman of Hong Kong Friends of the Country Parks, who endeavours to promote conservation of country parks and ecological tourism, will tell us how to strike a balance between natural landform promotion and natural resource conservation.
"The particular landforms in Hong Kong have high quality, and are so near to the urban district that you can finish a round trip in a single day. By contrast, many famous geosites in the world are far away from the urban district, so that a trip may take at least two days," Jim Chi Yung said.
"I most appreciate the sedimentary rocks in east New Territories. The rock formations at Ma Shi Chau and Tung Ping Chau took shape about 100 million years ago, and have developed bizarre shapes due to extended erosion by seawater. Volcanic rocks and granite are extensively exposed on the ground surface in Hong Kong, but sedimentary rocks are rare, which makes that area more precious."
"I often conducted geographical investigations during my school and university days. The hexagonal rock column group at High Island is most impressive. The thick hexagonal rhyolitic tuff is globally rare, but it abounds in Hong Kong. The interesting twisted hexagonal column group at High Island Reservoir East Dam was formed under the extrusion of crust activities before lava was condensed during the volcanic eruption over 100 million years ago. Just imagine we humans as young as 10,000 years can witness the natural changes over 100 million years ago!"
Jim Chi Yung, chair professor of the Department of Geography, the University of Hong Kong, has been studying trees in Hong Kong for many years, and is therefore often referred to as "King of Trees" by local media. He modestly said that he doesn't quite understand rock sceneries because the places where the rock formations were exposed lack soil, and therefore trees are few. However, he pointed out that barren rocks alongside verdant woodlands add to the scenic diversity of Hong Kong.
“These natural resources have been there all along, but few people know them. It is absolutely a good thing to let more people know the geological treasure in Hong Kong through more promotion.” Some people are worried that promoting natural sights to the public may disturb the fields. Jim Chi Yung said, “No doubt once the unknown fields are developed, they will attract a great number of tourists, which will unavoidably bring much pressure to the nature. In the past, some people were found to arbitrarily dig at featured geosites in the name of geographical investigation, resulting in damages to the rock formations.”
“Many people misunderstand ecological tourism as going to the fields and taking some pictures. Ecological tourism in its true sense is a kind of learning and experience. Tourists get close to nature not only physically but also spiritually. At High Island Reservoir, they should find out why there is a hexagonal column group; at Port Island, they should learn why the rock formations are red.”
During ecological tourism, remember this: You may leave your footprints and good memories, but you cannot leave rubbish. There are many examples of destroying natural sights overseas. As an English saying goes: Loving nature to death; ecological tourism has its merits and demerits. One example in China is Lijiang, Yunnan, which fails to achieve the original aim to conserve natural regions through ecological tourism after it was developed into a world cultural heritage, but instead the virgin soil has been trampled and polluted by swarms of tourists.
"I don't object to promoting the geosites, but the promotion should be conducted carefully to ensure the geosites are not decorated artificially and the natural landforms must be preserved. For example, many current country parks set too many rails and lay too many concrete paths, which facilitates people but spoils natural sights."
When Jim Chi Yung served as chairman of Country and Marine Parks Board, many citizens required the Government to build more concrete paths and rails in the suburbs for safety and comfort. He said, "In my opinion, outing is different from shopping, so you cannot require the same safety measures in the wild as in the stores. Nature surely has unknown risks. People should know that and undertake natural risks to some extent."
Hong Kong Friends of the Country Parks has for many years been educating the public and guiding urbanites into nature. Chairman Jim Chi Yung noted that description and guided appreciation of rock landforms will be prioritized in the coming year. The Friends of the Country Parks intends to publish books to introduce the landform wonders in Hong Kong, and hold guided appreciation courses for school teachers and impart knowledge to the children about the solid treasures in their homeland.
