Though Long Valley attracts half of the Hong Kong bird species for foraging and inhabiting, the place was still under threats. In order to conserve this wetland of extremely high ecological value, while facilitate and integrate the sustainable development in local community, economy and environment in the meantime, the Conservancy Association has implemented a two-year “Action Model for Sustainable Development in Long Valley” supported by the Sustainable Development Fund. The programme aims to balance and put forward the sustainable development in the three aforementioned aspects.
One section of the programme took the initiative in training local residents of the region as eco-tour guides and developing eco-tour activities, a “first-ever” attempt in Hong Kong. The first batch of 20 resident-tour guides went through all the trainings, and a graduation ceremony was held in a spring afternoon as a credit for their outstanding performance.
The first batch of eco-tour guides held their first tour, accommodating and guiding around 100 guests to appreciate the ecological and cultural characters in the Long Valley region. The organiser also prepared a warm basin dish feast for the graduates, the Long Valley fellows and guests from all over the town to celebrate their graduation.
In the ceremony, CA also signed a contract with six corporations on the eco-tour arrangements for the graduated guides, which pave the ‘triple-win’ situation in community economy and environment of the Long Valley region.
