1
The case for minimizing reclamation of Victoria Harbour centres
on the protection of a unique and special public
asset and the natural heritage of Hong Kong.

2
Victoria Harbour is Nature's gift to Hong Kong people.
It is set against a stunning landscape of mountains,
land and water. There are few harbours in the world
that can match its breathtaking beauty. We ruin it at our peril.

3
As natural heritage nothing artificial, however "beneficial", can substitute for it.

4
Heritage connotes continuity capable of transmission from generation to generation. Hence, once any part of the body of water of the harbour is reclaimed, it is lost forever to the people of Hong Kong and can no longer figure in the continuum of inheritance.

5
The original Victoria Harbour was about 7,000 hectares in size. By 1990, over 2,500 hectares had already been reclaimed, but Government still proposed to reclaim a further 1,297 hectares (4 1/2 square miles). Of these, by the time the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance was enacted in 1997, a further 661 hectares had been reclaimed such that nearly half of the original harbour had been made into land. Despite the Ordinance, the Government has been proposing to reclaim the remaining 636 hectares. Thus, Hong Kong is in danger of losing the total of 3,800 hectares (15 square miles), that is, more than half of the harbour.

6
The campaign to protect and preserve Victoria Harbour, which began in 1995 with the founding of the Society for the Protection of the Harbour, aims to ensure that the harbour, which has been designated a special public asset and a natural heritage of Hong Kong people by the Ordinance, cannot be encroached upon unless there is an overwhelming reason, for example, for essential infrastructure. Hong Kong is fighting to protect and preserve what is left of its magnificent harbour.