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Loss of Habitats and Biodiversity
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© Alan Leung |
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Over the last two decades rapid economic and population growth in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) including Hong Kong have resulted in water shortages and deteriorating water quality. The threats facing freshwater biodiversity in the PRD may have a lower public profile than shortages of clean water for human and industrial uses, but are immense and complex. Human impacts are disrupting the ecological functions of freshwater ecosystems, and harming the species they support.
As Hong Kong is small and mountainous,,most development has occupied lands on the flat floodplains. Lowland development pressures have driven the loss of freshwater wetlands and many lowland streams have been channelised to reduce the risk of flooding. The loss of natural river banks when they are converted into concrete channels make these areas uninhabitable for many freshwater species. |
