In 2014, we held a campaign ’30 Third Runway Victims’ to raise concerns about threats and dangers brought by the massive reclamation of the third runway project to dolphins in Hong Kong. During the 30-days public consultation on third-runway Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report proposed by the government, we selected the stories of 30 dolphins, all found themselves in the north water of Lantau Island, as the foremost victims under the impact of third-runway reclamation. We hoped their stories could stimulate public concern on dolphin rights. We encouraged citizens, after hearing the stories of dolphins, to hand in a submission to the Advisory Council on Environment (ACE) and call for a stop on the reclamation. At the end, 18,000 were submitted to ACE through the ’30 Third Runway Victims’, far more than we expected.
Unfortunately, the EIA report was passed under the ‘rubber stamp’ of the ACE and the Environmental Protection Department. The financial budget was also approved without a proper legislative procedure. Construction started in August 2016.
After 3 years, anyone ever wonders the situation of our dolphins? According to research, some of the dolphins who previously lived in the North Lantau waters (i.e.the reclaiming and nearby water) have already given up on those areas. Some of them have to move to the west and south-west as their new habitat. Along with the progress of reclamation and the migration of dolphins, we decided to reposition the campaign in 2017.
‘Saving the Handover Mascot Campaign’ aims at taking back the habitat that originally belongs to Chinese white dolphins, which were actually the handover mascot of Hong Kong 20 years ago. The campaign opposes to the scattered to-be-built Marine Parks and the current fairway of high-speed ferry. We believe that setting up marine parsk is a conservative measure for dolphin protection, rather than an insincere compensating measure only for getting the EIA report approved. This time, we ask for a big, connected marine park as a shelter for our remaining dolphins, and a relocation of fairway for high-speed crafts to prevent hurting them.
logo of ‘Saving the Handover Mascot’
It is our mission to keep fighting for dolphins in HK, protecting their last and remaining habitat, and asking for proper marine parks. We will keep follow up the dolphin situation in HK and monitor the third-runway construction. We now persuade every one of you to join our petition and protect our dolphins together!
To know more “Saving the Handover Mascot” by Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society and voice out for dolphins, please sign the petition letter and visit the Facebook page.
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