CIE Students join Coastal Watch Scheme WWF-Hong Kong

To promote the protection of our coastline habitats and enhance public awareness on the issues of marine litter, especially plastics that spoil our natural environment and cause severe harm to wildlife, the Coastal Watch Scheme has been initiated June 2014 by WWF-Hong Kong with the support of various NGOs and the government’s Environmental Conservation Fund. 30 CIE Associate Degree students from Environmental Conservation Studies, led by Dr. Stephen Cartwright, lecturer of Applied Science Division, have participated in the project.

CIE is one of the 27 teams involved in this project, which aims at fostering “citizen scientists” to collect data on marine biodiversity and marine litter. The data will then be passed to government departments including the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) for the planning and execution of possible solutions in the future.

This project focuses on six marine habitats for special care. CIE has adopted a site off the shores of Yuen Chau Tsai (元州仔), a site just outside Tai Po Island House. The site is a declared monument of Hong Kong. CIE team will be responsible for collecting and sorting data for the marine litter and marine biodiversity on this shore line, as well as attending the seminars and training workshops provided by WWF over the course of the year.

“Our students, through this scheme, will gain practical skills as well as knowledge on the issues and challenges facing the marine environment and aim to disseminate what they have learned through public engagements as well as amongst their fellow students. As a community service, aside from the data collection surveys, we will also clean up the shorelines, in an attempt to minimize the impacts of our anthropogenic waste, on our natural environment.” said Dr. Cartwright.