‘The Beauty of Our Hills Is Being Sacrificed’: Afforestation, Forestry and Colonial Environmentalism in British Hong Kong

Abstract

This article examines the afforestation and tree protection efforts in Hong Kong during its colonial period from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Initially, the afforestation department adopted objectives in the 1870s purely for hygienic and urban planning purposes. Yet, with the support of the British Empire’s botanical network, the department successfully transformed Hong Kong Island into a verdant city by the turn of the twentieth century despite facing challenges. However, protecting afforested areas posed difficulties for the department as the local Chinese continuously damaged the trees in exchange for firewood, which was vital to their everyday life. In addition to this, the article also analyses the disputes that arose due to differing views on the usage of trees among the European community and the government in 1904–1905. These challenges forced the latter to abandon its profit-driven tree felling policy and became Hong Kong’s first tree conservation campaign.