A Hong Kong court sentenced a Japanese man who smuggled 60 endangered turtles to a year in prison, a huge disappointment for environmentalists. While the turtles (minus one) are now back in Japan, wildlife experts say the case highlights the need for tougher penalties as the illegal wildlife trade grows
The hunting of the Sunda pangolin and its smuggling abroad is on the rise. The police consider it to be transnational crime. Belief in this animal’s healing power – from increasing libido and to being used in the preparation of psychotropic medication – and the legalisation of its use in some countries has increased demand. The price of this rare nocturnal creature remains high because its is illegal to hunt.
Marine conservation NGO, BLOOM HK says it has launched Hong Kong’s first citizen science led online directory for reef fish, the 114°E Hong Kong Reef Fish Web-Portal (“114°E Web-Portal”) that contains live photographs and full profiles of nearly 400 species from at least 88 families of reef fishes found in Hong Kong waters.
回收膠樽也可得到現金回贈？近年本港市面出現膠樽回收器，而政府今年內會就塑膠飲料容器生產者責任計劃諮詢，環保團體免「廢」暢飲建議香港可參考其他城市，如澳洲的飲品容器按金計劃，以經濟誘因推動回收工作，望在2025年，飲品包裝的回收和循環再造率能達致七至九成。
Leading drinks companies have proposed a bottle deposit scheme for Hong Kong which aims to help reduce drinks waste by up to 90 per cent by offering financial incentives to the public.
“For a lot of buyers in Asia, awareness of seafood sustainability is close to non-existent. They know about the MSC [Marine Stewardship Council], but not much about where that certification comes from or what it means,” she said. “Seafood Market Tool is not just a tool for Peninsula, but it’s also a tool that can be donated in a pre-competitive model into the Hong Kong sustainable seafood coalition (HKSSC).”
Lack of deterrence in sentencing is not the only significant problem plaguing the effective prosecution of wildlife crime in Hong Kong. When large seizures are made, AFCD are routinely tasked with investigating the offences, under Cap. 586, despite having insufficient legislative powers to tackle the organised networks behind the smuggling. The primary piece of legislation used to combat organised crime in Hong Kong is, the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance (“OSCO”), Cap. 455.
