Nature Conservation for

Sustainable Societies
GEOG 1016
 Goals of the Class
My goals
¨ A synoptic and critical
survey of human
interactions with nature
and natural resources.
¨ The attendant problems
of their misuse and
overuse
¨ Enlightened approaches
to nature conservation to
contribute towards
sustainable societies.
¨ Your goals
 GEOG1016
Instructor
Dr. Jimmy Li, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, HKU
Email: [email protected]
Office Location: 10.19, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus
Office Phone: 3917-7106

Teaching Assistant
Mr. Leo Y C YAU
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (852) 3917 5723
Office Location: 9.26, 9/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus
Time and Meeting Format
Time: 10:30 am-12:20 pm Tuesday (10 minutes break)
Zoom Meeting:
https://hku.zoom.us/j/99180829919?pwd=NDJEOGJxRXJsOGxKL1FsNFdzcz
VuUT09
Meeting ID: 991 8082 9919
Password: geog1016
 GEOG1016
Tentative lecture schedule:
Week Date Topic
Course introduction, Basic concepts in natural resources
1 Jan 17
and sustainable development
2 Jan 24 Lunar New Year (No lecture)
3 Jan 31 Non-renewable resources
4 Feb 7 Renewable resources
5 Feb 14 Water resource, water quality, and water pollution (1)
6 Feb 21 Water resource, water quality, and water pollution (2)

7 Feb 28 Water resource, water quality, and water pollution (3)

8 Mar 7 Field trip/reading (No lecture)
9 Mar 14 Soil and Land
10 Mar 21 Land pollution and land degradation (1)
11 Mar 28 Land pollution and land degradation (2)
12 Apr 4 World Primary Ecosystems (1)
13 Apr 11 World Primary Ecosystems (2)
14 Apr 18 World Primary Ecosystems (3)
15 Apr 25 Class review/Exam preparation
 GEOG1016
Recommended Reading List
§ Withgott, J. & Brennan, S. R. (2007). Essential Environment: The Science
Behind the Stories. San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings

§ Chiras, D.D. & Reganold, J.P. (2014) Natural Resource Conservation:

Management for a Sustainable Future, 10th edition. Pearson Education,
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

§ Wright, R.T. & Boorse, D.F. (2014) Environmental Science: Toward a

Sustainable Future (International Edition). Pearson Education, Boston.

§ Sherman D.J. & Montgomery D.R. (2022) Environmental Science and

Sustainability, 2nd edition. Norton Company, New York.
 GEOG1016
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:
• Demonstrate an awareness of the fragility of the Earth’s natural
resource base, an outcome of human’s misuse and mismanagement
of natural resources
• Understand the prognosis of environmental future and therefore the
need to conserve natural resources to sustain future human needs
Skills:
• Establish a comprehensive and holistic perspective on human’s
tenure on the natural world
• Realize that the natural world is both a source and a sink for
satisfying human needs
• Develop critical and independent thinking on the multiple relationships
between humans and the natural world
 GEOG1016
Course Evaluation

• Coursework 50%
Each student should write an individual term paper.
A number of topics will be available for students to
choose from. The text of the paper should be about
2,000 – 2,500 words in length (Please refer to the
syllabus for more details).

• Examination (two hours) 50%.

 Examples of Individual Term
Paper topics
1. Discuss why renewable energy, such as solar and wind
power, is not extensively used in Hong Kong even though
it is more environmental friendly than fossil fuels.
2. Assess the effects of deforestation on climate change and
possible ways for mitigation.
3. The future and sustainability of water resource in Hong
Kong
4. The development of Northern Metropolis: Land use,
nature conservation, and sustainability
 What are the expectations?
• The paper should be based on library research of scholarly materials.

• The paper should relate to some specific issues and problems discussed and
debated in books, journal articles, book chapters, periodicals and government
reports.

• The use of web-based information, except for official reports and reputable
newspapers, should be kept to a minimum. Grey literature (such as magazines
published by environmental groups) could be used, but with great care, because
they may not always contain factually correct information.

• The text of the term paper should be about 2,000 – 2,500 words in length. It
should include a list of references, as well as tables and figures (if applicable).
The list of references is excluded from the word count.
 Structure of term paper
1. Title – What is your report about?
2. Introduction – What do you examine? Why do you examine it?
What is the importance of examining it?
3. Data & Methods – Which period and which place do you
examine? What data are used? How do you examine?
4. Results – What do you find?
5. Discussion – What do you want to argue/imply?
6. Conclusion – What can be summarized?
7. References – List references that have been cited.

*Note: Section 4&5 may be combined into one section “Results and Discussion”.
 Marking Criteria
• Good
> in-depth understanding of your topic
> good presentation of your idea
> able to show your critical and lateral thinking
> references are properly used
• Bad
> plagiarism will be heavily penalized
> late submission will be penalized (5% mark deduction
per day)
 Coursework submission
• Deadlines: Mid April 2023 (TBD)
• All students should submit their papers into the assignment
collection box B located in the Department’s General Office by
5:00 pm on the due date.
• Students should attach a Department’s assignment cover sheet,
sign on the cover sheet of their assignment and stamp the ‘Date
of receipt’ on their work before submitting it into the assignment
box.
• A Turnitin report (only the page showing the similarity index is
required) should be attached to the paper and they should be
submitted together by the submission deadline.
• The “Turnitin” system can be accessed via the course Moodle.
• Plagiarism and copyright: Please do NOT copy materials from
internet or any other sources.
 Notes:
3. Guidelines on the use of reference materials in course assignments:
https://www.geog.hku.hk/coursework-submission-procedure

Book
Qu, Geping and Li, Jinchang (1994) Population and the Environment in China. Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO,
217 pp.

Book chapter
McGee, T.G. (1991) The emergence of desakota regions in Asia: expanding a hypothesis. In: N. Ginsberg, B.
Koppel and T.G. McGee (eds.) The Extended Metropolis: Settlement Transition in Asia. University of Hawaii
Press, Honolulu, pp. 3-25.

Conference or Symposium proceedings

Kuentzel, W.F. (1996) (ed.) Proceedings of the 1996 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. 31 March
to 2 April 1996, Bolton Landing, New York. General Technical Report NE-232. US Department of Agriculture
Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Radnor, PA, 309 pp.

Journal article
Marton, A.M. and McGee, T.G. (1996) New patterns of mega-urban development in China: the experience of
Kunsha. Asian Geographer 15 (1/2): 49-70.

Website materials
Planning Department. Study on Sustainable Development for the 21st Century: Final Report
http://www.info.gov.hk/planning/p_study/comp_s/susdev/final_hp/final.htm
Accessed on September 7, 2001.
 Writing A Scientific Research Article
Title:
• Be specific enough to describe the contents or the key finding(s)
• Avoid technical jargons that only specialists will understand
• Should be appropriate for the intended audience
• Interrogative sentence (i.e., how, why) is NOT preferred as a title
Authors:
• The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally
listed as the first/corresponding author.
• Other people who made substantial contributions are listed as
co-authors.
Abstract:
• Should give the reader a "preview" of what's to come.
• Typically one paragraph, of 100-250 words, summarizing the
purpose, methods, and key findings of the paper.
• Do NOT use citations in the abstract.
 Writing A Scientific Research Article
Introduction:
• What question is the paper about? why it is interesting or
important?
• What work has been done and what questions remain unanswered
(literature review)?
• End with a sentence/paragraph describing the specific goals of this
study.
Data and Methods (Materials and Methods):
• Describe the data and methods used for the study.
• Do not put results in this section.
Results:
• This is where you present the results you've gotten.
• Use graphs and tables if appropriate, but also summarize your
main findings in the text.
• Do NOT discuss the results or speculate as to why something
happened; that goes in the Discussion.
 Writing A Scientific Research Article
Discussion (most important):
• Highlight the most significant results, and discuss if they can
solve the original question(s).
• Are your results consistent with what other investigators have
reported?
• If your results were unexpected, try to explain why. Discuss the
limitations, if any.
Conclusion:
• This section should comprise a brief statement of the major
findings and the implications of the study.
• New information must not be included in the conclusions.
Acknowledgments:
• Acknowledge people who provide data or technical assistance
and funding support.
References (Literature Cited)
 Writing A Scientific Research Article
Tables and Figures Caption
above table
Table 1 Statistics of the two tree-ring sampling sites, the nearest meteorological station
and the PDSI grid point developed by Dai et al. (2004).

Data Type Site Code Location Elevation Number Time Span

(latitude; longitude) (m) (core/tree) (A.D.)
DEZ 34°45'N, 100°49'E 3495 47/22 1287-2004
Tree-ring
GOU 34°44'N, 100°48'E 3370 41/21 1346-2004
Meteorological
HEN 34°44'N, 101°36'E 3500 — 1960-2001
data
PDSI PDS 33°45'N, 101°15'E — — 1953-2005

Caption
below graph

Fig. 7 Correlation pattern of May-September precipitation at HEN station with regional

GPCC May-September precipitation for the period of 1960-2001.
Why do we need to conserve
nature/environment?
Because …
nature doesn’t need us but we need nature, as
long as we live on this planet.

(Swati Singh, NY Spirit)

Why do we need to conserve
nature/environment?

Swami Vivekananda (1863 –1902)

Man can conquer nature (1976)

Mao Zedong (1893 –1976)
OUT OF AFRICA
Textile Waste In Hong Kong

40% of people surveyed have dumped unworn

clothes. 2.3 million new clothes were dumped
in a year, and 5.8 million were discarded.
30% of resources were consumed within the past 25 years. If
continues, resources may be depleted in 50 years.
Some remarks about nature/ecosystem
1. Everything is connected with everything else.
2. Everything has a role in the system.
3. Nature knows best.
4. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything must go
somewhere.
We are all ‘Prisoners of the Sun!’
 Don’t upset this Basic Law!
Food/Fuel Chain started by harnessing solar energy

herbivore >> carnivore

producers >> consumers

Food/Fuel Chain
• The foundation of the pyramid is the producer
• Human beings are supposed to be fewer and far between, but in fact
we are now far more than Nature can support.
In many places, we have explored almost all accessible
lands to satisfy human’s needs.
Some places have been all occupied by humans!
USA vs China
Rivers and lakes are drying up,
endangering all species.
 The Human Footprint
Global Human Footprint Index represents the relative human influence in each
terrestrial biome expressed as a percentage. The purpose is to provide an
updated map of anthropogenic impacts on the environment.

As a result, not much wilderness left to other species.

The water cost –
‘Water Footprint’
 History of Energy Consumption
Thus, we consume more and more energy...

units are in kC/person/day (1 kC= 4187 J)

 History of Energy Consumption
… hence depend more and more on fossil fuels

One year consumption ≈one million years natural

deposition
EIA projects 28% increase in world energy
use by 2040

https://www.eia.gov/
Energy Information Administration, DOE
 Equity Issues

• It seems some are helping to • On the other hand, many

drain away earth resources faster do not even have their fair
than others! share!
 Ecological Footprint
-- our footprint on the planet Earth
• Ecological footprint measures human demand on nature,
i.e., the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an
economy.
Ecological Footprint

Hong Kong?
3.9
 The “Environment”
• Environment:
– The circumstances and conditions that surround an
organism or group of organisms.
• Consists of both:
Biotic (living things) &
Abiotic (nonliving things)
factors that surround a life and with which
the life interacts.

For human beings:

• Our built environment (e.g.,
buildings, roads, etc).
• Social relationships and
institutions
 Humans and the Environment

• We humans exist within the environment and are a part

of the natural world.
• Like all other species, we depend for our survival on a
properly functioning planet.
---With a good environment, we can enjoy:
quality food, longer lives, increased wealth, health,
etc…
--- If environment being degraded, we may suffer:
pollution, disease, lost of biodiversity, species
extinction, etc…
• Thus, our interactions with our environment matter a
great deal.
Natural resources: vital to human survival
substances and energy sources needed for survival

• Perpetually available: sunlight, wind, wave energy

• Non-renewable resources: Oil, coal, minerals
- These can be depleted
• Renewable over short periods of time: timber, water, soil, wildlife
- These can be destroyed
 Global human population growth

• Human population has skyrocketed to over 7 billion.

• The agricultural and industrial revolutions drove population
growth.

Industrial
Agricultural revolution
revolution
 Nature Conservation
• Nature conservation is the wise management and
utilization of natural renewable resources in a sustainable
manner to ensure the maintenance of biodiversity.
• THREATS TO NATURE
1. Pollution
2. Deforestation
3. Soil Erosion
4. Over Fishing
5. Water Scarcity
6. Infrastructure Development
7. Slash-and-Burn Practice
8. Smothering of Coral Reefs
9. Climate Change
10. Illegal Species Trade
 Sustainability
Sustainability: Management of natural resources in
ways that do not diminish or degrade Earth’s ability to
provide them in the future
 Sustainable Development
• Sustainable Development: Development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Our Common Future-UN 10987
• 3Es: Environment, Economy, Equity
Sign of un-sustainability: global
environmental problems
• Both renewable and non-renewable resources are
being over-exploited.
Direct impacts on ecosystems: Hunting
and fishing
Direct impacts on ecosystems: Deforestation
After Deforestation
Tree plantation

Evapotranspiration decreases
Roads
destabilize
Ranching accelerates
hillsides soil erosion by water
and wind
Winds remove fragile
Gullies and topsoil
landslides
Agricultural land is
flooded and silted up

Heavy rain leaches

nutrients from soil and
erodes topsoil
Rapid runoff
Silt from erosion blocks rivers and reservoirs causes flooding
and causes flooding downstream
Direct impacts on ecosystems: Deforestation

habitat fragmentation
Direct impacts on ecosystems: Deforestation
Direct impacts on ecosystems: Deforestation
Direct impacts on ecosystems: Building dams
Provides water Flooded land
for year-round destroys forests
irrigation of or cropland and
cropland displaces people

Large losses of
water through
evaporation
Provides
water for
drinking Downstream
cropland and
Reservoir is estuaries are
useful for deprived of
recreation nutrient-rich silt
and fishing

Risk of
Can produce failure and
cheap devastating
electricity downstream
(hydropower) flooding
Downstream
flooding is Migration and
reduced spawning of
some fish are
disrupted
Direct impacts on ecosystems: Water pollution

Eutrophication
Direct impacts on ecosystems: Air pollution

Jizera Mountains in Central Europe

 Emissions

SO2 NOx
Acid
HO
deposition 2 2 O3
PANs Others

Direct damage to Reduced Increased

leaves and bark photosynthesis susceptibility to
and growth drought, extreme
cold, insects,
mosses, and
disease organisms

Soil acidification Tree death

Leaching Release Root Reduced nutrient

of soil Acids of toxic damage and water uptake
nutrients metal ions

Lake

Groundwater
 Direct impacts on ecosystems: Invasive
species
• Introduced by people accidentally or intentionally.
• Can cause problems if no natural enemies are present.
 Indirect impacts on ecosystems through
climate change
• Identifiable change in the climate of
Earth as a whole that lasts for an
extended period of time (decades or
longer)
– When due to natural processes, it is
usually referred to as climate variability
or natural climate change.
– Nowadays often refers to changes
forced by human activities.
Greenhouse Gases:
• Any gases that cause the “greenhouse effect!”
• In order, the most abundant GHGs in the atmosphere
are:
Impacts of Climate Change on Atmosphere
• Each of the last three decades has been warmer than any preceding
decade since 1850.
• Warming in recent decades is likely unprecedented over the past six
millennia.

Marcott et al., 2013 Science

Impacts of Climate Change on Atmosphere
• A heat wave is a prolonged period of excessively hot weather, which
may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic
climate countries.

Heat waves (Europe 2003)

 Loss of Arctic Sea Ice

PCC slide no. 038 Source: Arctic Council 2004

Regions vulnerable to Sea Level rise
Increased Increased
Drought Flood
 Impacts of Global Warming on Species
and Ecosystems

• Shifts in ranges
and migration
• Timing shifts
• Habitat impacts
Coral bleaching due to increase in ocean
temperature and acidity