Ramsar Convention in 1995, and supports globally important numbers of wetland birds, which chiefly arrive in winter and during spring and autumn migrations. The education center and natural conservation area is wide and its surrounding wetland has an area of 1500 acres (6 km
2). It provides a conservation area for mammals, reptiles, insects, and over 350 species of birds.
The reserve is managed by the
World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong since 1983 and WWF runs professionally guided visits for the public and schools to the reserve ; the
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has responsibilities for the Ramsar site as a whole. Deep Bay faces threats, including
pollution, and rising
mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...
levels that perhaps arise from intense
urbanization, especially (in recent years) on the north,
Shenzhen side of the bay.
In recent years, it housed over 55,000 migrating birds, including
Saunders's gull (''Chroicocephalus saundersi'') and a quarter of the world's
Black-faced spoonbill (''Platalea minor'') population. The critically endangered
Spoon-billed sandpiper
The spoon-billed sandpiper (''Calidris pygmaea'') is a small wader which breeds on the coasts of the Bering Sea and winters in Southeast Asia. This species is highly threatened, and it is said that since the 1970s the breeding population has dec ...
(''Calidris pygmaea'') is recorded regularly on migration. The reserve also includes inter-tidal
mangroves along with 24 traditionally operated shrimp ponds (called Gei Wai locally) to provide food for the birds. Mai Po Marshes receives some 32,000 visitors annually.
While the area was taken out of the
Frontier Closed Area on 15 February 2012, Mai Po Nature Reserve remains a restricted area under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Chapter 170) in order to minimize disturbance to wildlife.
Visitors need a 'Mai Po Marshes Entry Permit' to enter the Reserve.
By joining a WWF professionally guided activity you can book online wwf.org.hk/en and be part of a small group ecovisit and WWF will take care of permits for you.
Individuals can apply for a permit by writing to the
Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department of Hong Kong Government. The aforementioned Individual Permits normally take about four weeks to be processed.
38 mammal species inhabit the reserve, more than anywhere else in Hong Kong. Mai Po is home to one of the highest densities of
leopard cat in the territory, however they are nocturnal and rarely seen.
Small Asian mongooses are quite common in the reserve, often encountered by visitors near Gei Wai ponds during the day in winter. A small population of
Eurasian otters, a locally endangered species, is found in Mai Po.
The marshes also have rich insect biodiversity, housing the endemic Mai Po bent-winged firefly (''Pteroptyx maipo'' Ballantyne) was discovered. Not only was the species new to science, but it was also the first time for the genus Pteroptyx has been recorded in China. To understand the seasonal population changes, distribution and habitat requirements of the species,
WWF Hong Kong have been carrying out firefly surveys of the nature reserve. The surveys have also incorporated
Citizen Science
Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes re ...
participation, and using this approach to further monitor the biodiversity, WWF have incorporated
iNaturalist and the
City Nature Challenge into activities at their Mai Po centre.
Avian flu outbreak
In February 2008, the Hong Kong government closed Mai Po for 21 days following the discovery of a
great egret infected with
H5N1, also known as
avian flu. The closing marked the fourth in as many years and was consistent with the government's policy of closing Mai Po whenever an infection is discovered within a 3 kilometer radius of the premises.
The
World Wide Fund for Nature criticized the government, however, for what it called a discrepancy between the standards for closing Mai Po and the comparably less strict standards applied in urban areas. The
World Wide Fund for Nature wanted compensation of 1 million
Hong Kong dollars.
WWF then claimed that the government had not compensated it for lost income.
Education
Mai Po is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 74. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and one government school: Yuen Long Government Primary School (元朗官立小學).
See also
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Hong Kong Wetland Park
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Nam Sang Wai
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Fung Lok Wai
Fung Lok Wai () is an area of Yuen Long District that features fish ponds.
Location
Fung Lok Wai is located south of the Deep Bay, China, Inner Deep Bay, between Yuen Long Industrial Estate and Hong Kong Wetland Park. Immediately south of Fung L ...
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Environment of Hong Kong
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List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
References
Further reading
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External links
Official WWF-HK Mai Po WebpageMai Po Biotope Mapping Key{{Yuen Long District
Places in Hong Kong
Ramsar sites in Hong Kong
Nature conservation in Hong Kong
Nature reserves in Hong Kong
World Wide Fund for Nature
Mai Po