Greenpeace catches Hong Kong geopark ‘golden week’ visitors damaging marine life

Around 100 incidents of visitors catching sea cucumbers and digging up sea snails and clams were recorded in a single day at a popular spot in Hong Kong’s Unesco-listed geopark during National Day “golden week”, a green group has found, following similar incidents last year.

The Po Pin Chau section of the High Island Geo Trail in Sai Kung was also strewn with rubbish on a separate day, Greenpeace said on Tuesday. At nearby Long Ke Beach, the group recorded nearly 90 instances of environmentally damaging behaviour, including climbing trees, littering and disturbing wildlife.

A Greenpeace site inspection on October 4 recorded 3,010 visitor arrivals at Hap Mun Bay, at the southern end of Sharp Island, also known as Kiu Tsui Chau.

Greenpeace Hong Kong campaigner Ha Shun-kuen said the additional public funding and manpower allocated during Golden Week had failed to contain the damage. Measures included the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department’s (AFCD) deployment of more than 100 personnel to hiking and tourist hotspots, as well as a reservation system at Po Pin Chau.

“This indicates that strengthening enforcement only after overcapacity is exposed at individual tourist spots is merely a piecemeal ‘painkiller’ approach that fails to tackle the continuously expanding problem of overtourism at its source,” he said.

Between October 1 and 5, Greenpeace conducted field surveys at several Sai Kung hotspots, including Hap Mun Bay within the geopark, the Po Pin Chau section near the East Dam and Long Ke, to count visitors and record damaging behaviour.

At Hap Mun Bay on October 4, the group recorded more than 100 incidents involving visitors collecting marine life or coral remains. These included catching live sea cucumbers, using metal tools to dig out sea snails and clams, and picking up coral skeletons.

At 3pm that day, as many as 23 visitors were digging at the same time, with no officers seen patrolling or intervening, the group said.

The waters of Hap Mun Bay support coral communities, but the government’s proposed marine park boundaries cover only the eastern and western sides of Sharp Island, excluding the bay, Greenpeace said.

The group warned that concentrating enforcement efforts within the proposed marine park could push crowds towards Hap Mun Bay, putting pressure on its coastal ecology.

Ha said only seasonal closures of the Po Pin Chau trail for restoration work could effectively protect the natural environment.

Greenpeace urged the government to immediately assess the visitor capacity of all countryside hotspots across Hong Kong and set a cap for each location.

In the longer term, the group called for an ecotourism policy that prioritised conservation, required routine monitoring of visitors’ environmental impact and set out measures to address it.

The South China Morning Post has contacted the AFCD for comment.

Last October, Greenpeace documented similar behaviour on an overcrowded Sharp Island, where tourists dug up sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, conches and clams. The group also recorded littering, illegal fires lit for cooking and trampling on coral.

The AFCD previously carried out enforcement operations on Sharp Island during mainland China’s National Day Golden Week holiday, stepping up patrols at popular snorkelling spots and along the coast.