Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong
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The Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (), often referred to by its
initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
OPCFHK is the conglomerate of the former Ocean Park Conservation Foundation (OPCF) and The Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation (HKSPC) established under the Ocean Park Corporation, with effect from 1 July 2005. It is a registered charitable non-governmental organisation. Its head office is in Ocean Park Hong Kong in
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, Southern District. OPCFHK has not only combined the missions of its forerunners to promote conservation activities for dolphins, whales and giant pandas, but also expanded to other animals such as birds, reptiles and amphibians of Asia. It looks for achieving the wildlife sustainability and biodiversity through advocation, facilitation and participation in the conservation of wildlife and habitats with research and education in Asia. While primarily funded by Ocean Park Hong Kong, the Foundation is also reliant on other caring corporations and donors to make a real difference in the conservation efforts throughout Asia.


Background

Whales, dolphins and
porpoise Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals an ...
s (
cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...
s) in rivers and coastal waters of Asia face many threats. Without prompt and decisive action, many of them or even some species will likely extinct in the coming decade. It is acknowledged that few were known about cetaceans and
marine mammals Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their relia ...
in Asia, exposing the needs to learn more to provide the prerequisite for and conservation. Though the situation has been improved, there is still a high possibility for the baiji dolphins (
Chinese river dolphin The baiji (; IPA: ; ''Lipotes vexillifer'', ''Lipotes'' meaning "left behind" and ''vexillifer'' "flag bearer") is a possibly extinct species of freshwater dolphin native to the Yangtze river system in China. It is thought to be the first dolph ...
) to go extinct in the decades to come. Our environment is constantly losing its
biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
with much pollution and
overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...
. Human caused
climatic change ''Climatic Change'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering cross-disciplinary work on all aspects of climate change and variability. It was established in 1978 and the editors-in-chief ...
, toxic chemical build up and energy shortages have even worsen the situation. Even the population of the
giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes us ...
s has increased from 1000 in the 1980s to 1600 recently, their survival is still not optimistic. And apart from the prominent threats to whales, dolphins and giant pandas, many other species are also disappearing at alarming rates. One recent threat is from a
Chytrid Chytridiomycota are a division of zoosporic organisms in the kingdom Fungi, informally known as chytrids. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning "little pot", describing the structure containing unreleased zoöspores. Chytrid ...
fugal infection that has spread through Central America, found in Australia and could easily expand to Asia, killing
amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
populations, which have been dropping for 10 years with environmental degradation and is now facing the possibility of extinction.


History


The former Ocean Park Conservation Foundation

The Ocean Park Conservation Foundation (OPCF, 海洋公園鯨豚保護基金) was established by the Ocean Park Corporation in October 1993. Its aims were to arouse the public awareness of the problems facing Asian cetaceans and to take actions to protect the Asian ocean. OPCF had become a registered charitable organisation in 1995. It was combined with HKSPC from 1 July 2005.


The Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation

The Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation (HKSPC, 香港熊貓保育協會) is an independent charitable organisation. Its establishment in March 1999 marked the significance of the arrival of the precious gift from China, a pair of giant pandas named An An (安安) and Jia Jia (佳佳). The aim of HKSPC is to improve the plight of giant pandas in the wild. The society was supported by the Central Government of the People's Republic of China. Ocean Park Corporation has also given support administratively and financially. Starting from 1 July 2005, HKSPC joined the former Ocean Park Conservation Foundation to form the current OPCFHK.


Conglomeration of OPCF and HKSPC

Cooperation between
zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...
s and
aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
s towards prominent leadership in wildlife and
habitat conservation Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in term ...
is critical in the 21st century, for the world is now in an era of rising environmental threats, climate change and shrinking biodiversity. Zoos and aquariums are in the position to offer more significant contributions to the international response to crises through their fieldwork and research, and through educating more than 600 million annual visitors. Strategic co-operation will remove barriers for global conservation efforts and strengthen the ability of zoos and aquariums to promote proper animal management practices, conservation of wild population, field projects and public education. Being a more resourceful single conservation foundation, utilisation of marketing resources to promote conservation work, and collaboration of efforts towards zero extinction and sustainable use of natural resources by the new OPCFHK are made possible. With the joint resources from the two old organisations, more are dedicated to investigation of the non-charismatic megafauna in addition to the emphasis on charismatic megafauna as the umbrella species to save wildlife habitats. More efficient conservation and better prospect to save other critical taxon and the ecosystem as a whole are given the green light under the conglomeration.


Organization structure

The Foundation's activities are currently led by the Foundation Director, supervised by a board of trustees and an eight-member Scientific Advisory Committee. It has two full-time paid staff, and they are assisted by a team of part-time staff members as well as volunteers. The foundation has been co-operating with other Non-governmental organisations(NGOs), such as the IUCN/SSC Cetacean Specialist Grou

Wildlife Conservation Societybr>
the
World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
(世界保育基金會) and the University of Hong Kong's Swire Institute of Marine Science (香港大學太古海洋科學研究所), to better realise its mission.


Research and projects

OPCFHK (and the former OPCF) has launched a number of studies and projects on wildlife animals including marine mammals and animals on land. Environmental conservation is one of the areas with which they are concerned. They have also actively organised various education programmes and public awareness projects.


Research on dolphin

/h2>

Apart from trying to save endangered dolphins in the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
, OPCF has also conducted a detailed research study of
Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
humpback dolphins Humpback dolphins are members of the genus ''Sousa''. These dolphins are characterized by the conspicuous humps and elongated dorsal fins found on the backs of adults of the species. They are found close to shore along the coast of West Africa ( ...
in Hong Kong. Moreover, OPCF has funded a study of conservation status of humpback dolphins in Xiamen (廈門), PRC. Other research studies include: Irrawaddy dolphins in northern
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
, Malaysia and
Mahakam River The Mahakam River (Indonesian: ''Sungai Mahakam'') is third longest and volume discharge river in Borneo after Kapuas River and Barito River, it is located in Kalimantan, Indonesia. It flows from the district of Long Apari in the highlands of ...
and lakes in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. In addition, a new action plan has been developed for the coming five years for dolphins in
Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...
in Vietnam and China. A special issue of ''Asian Marine Biology'' focusing on Asian whales, dolphins and porpoises was published by OPCF.


Research on the status of cetaceans in the Gulf of Tonkin

OPCF has conducted a project to investigate the status of cetaceans in the
Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...
from October 1999 to April 2000. This programme was sponsored by International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Species Survival Commission Cetacean Specialist Group with donations from Convention on Migration Species. This research has generated meaningful information on the distribution and abundance of
cetaceans Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...
in the Gulf of Tonkin. It shows the distribution and density of fishing vessels and the frequency and nature of accidental and intentional cetaceans catches.


Projects on horseshoe crabs

Horseshoe crab Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachn ...
s are not real crabs, but more closely related to spiders or
scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
s. The horseshoe crabs have been swimming in the Earth's waters for 400 million years. Although they are not in the endangered species list, their numbers are dropping to be in the extinction list.
City University of Hong Kong
has conducted a study on the horseshoe crabs in Hong Kong. the result shows that nowadays only 1 or 2 crabs can be found in every , a decrease of 90% in four years when compared to 10 to 20 in 2002. The biggest threat to the horseshoe crabs' population is from pollution and the development of the city's shorelines, which are destroying the ground for the creature to lay eggs and breed. In the light of this, OPCFHK have offered funding of 5 million dollars in 2006–2007 to save marine animals and horseshoe crabs and been working on an improvement project on life-maintaining facilities for infant horseshoe crabs before they are put into the wild. To arouse concerns from the public, education events are held within Hong Kong's territories on the background, ecology and conservation issues of horseshoe crabs.


Satellite tracking of the Yangtze finless porpois

/h2>

The Yangtze finless porpoise is listed as a First Class Protected Animal in China. OPCF had sponsored a study from August 1999 to May 2000 to track the finless porpoise's movement for 3 to 6 months using satellite. Data gathered are used to analyse their group structure, seasonal movement patterns, habitat requirements and social behaviour. This will help improve the finless porpoise conservation programmes.


Research on other marine mammal

Instead of focusing only on helping the dolphins, OPCF has also funded scientific projects in various aspects. For example, it funded the standing networks establishment in China between 2002 and 2003, mainly along its southern and northern coast, aiming at helping other injured or sicked marine mammals. It has funded other organisations globally in doing research, too.


Research on giant panda

/h2>

Due to
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
for agricultural landuse, the pandas are forced to migrate high up to the mountains. In the last two decades, the area of pandas' habitat has dropped by 50%. Now their habitat occupies only a total area of 14,000 km2, where they have a low reproductive rate. Institutional policies to protect the giant panda population: #Government enforced policies to stop the development of forest area in China. #
Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
corridors were designed to link up fragmented forest areas. #Artificial insemination has proven successful to breed giant pandas. Institutes in China, for instance, the China Research and Conservation Centre for the
giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes us ...

Wolong (卧龍)
and the
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
(成都) Research base of giant panda Breeding have successfully breed many giant pandas' infants. #As some of the people living in this forest are usually poor and rely on the pandas' habitat areas for food, the conservation program is designed to help improve the livelihood of those people, and educate them to protect the natural reserves for the pandas.


Projects on planting mangrov

/h2>

Mangrove plants play an important role in maintaining the stability and ecological balance of coastal
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s, but they have been destroyed in the past due to
reclamation Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back". It may refer to: * Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds * Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...
and infrastructure development in Hong Kong. With regard to this, OPCF launched a Mangrove Planting Day with th
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department
on 6 May 2000 to conserve mangroves in Hong Kong. Mangroves were planted in Kei Ling Ha Lo Wai, Sai Kung by helpers fro
Scout Association of Hong Kong (香港童軍總會)
and OPCF volunteers.


International Coastal Cleanup (ICC)

A campaign jointly organised by OPCFHK and Ocean Park's Environmental Steering Committee. Over 750 pounds of refuse was collected by around 80 participants on 7 October 2006.


University Sponsorship Programme 2005–06

Eight students from the department of Ecology and Biodiversity of the University of Hong Kong conducted researches on giant pandas and white-flag dolphin sponsored by OPCFHK. They participated in four different field research projects recentl

The four projects included studying: *the endangered Chinese white dolphins in Guangxi (廣西) *the ecosystem of the Defending Nature Reserve in
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
(四川) province *the number of finless porpoise and white-flag dolphin population i
Poyang Lake (鄱陽湖)
of China *giant pandas using enrichment items designed by students to stimulate giant pandas mentally and physically


Allocation of funds

Raised funds are generally allocated to three different aspects: # Ecological and behavioural researches on the cetaceans, giant pandas, birds, reptiles,
amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
s and other wildlife of Asia; # Researches on captive animals and any aspects of their behaviour and husbandry; # Projects, workshops and conferences related to education, conservation and ecotourism. In 2005–2007, OPCFHK had donated 10 percent of its scientific research funding to study the impact of South Asian
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
disaster on the marine environment, and to help rebuild damaged coral

"The tsunami tragedy has left the coastal regions of South Asia in massive need of reconstruction," Nora Tam, trustee chair of OPCFHK, said. "In our efforts to conserve, we need to rebuild the coral reefs and fragile coastal ecosystems so that the environment is better than before for both animals and human communities to thrive," Tam said. From November 2005 to January 2006, the Foundation has sponsored six Hong Kong University students to conduct #University Sponsorship Programme 2005-06, research projects, giving them a chance to experience a real-life conservation job in the field.


See also

*
Hulu Concept Hulu Culture () is a Hong Kong based non-profit organisation established in 2009 that endeavors to protect Hong Kong traditional culture and heritage. Based in Kwai Chung Town in the New Territories, it is partly funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Cl ...


References

{{reflist


External links


Official WebsiteOcean Park Hong Kong (香港海洋公園)
Environmental organisations based in Hong Kong 2005 establishments in Hong Kong