The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) strives to protect the ecological environment in the design and construction of public housing projects. The ecology garden of HA’s Fai Ming Estate in Fanling has recently won in the HKILA Professional Awards 2021 organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects (HKILA) for its ecological and sustainability concepts thoroughly researched and executed in the design of the estate.

Fai Ming Estate nestles in a valley, flanked by rich woodland and surrounded by abundant flora and fauna. In order to protect the natural environment of the area, the HA took the initiative to commission ecological surveys and assessments early in the design stage of the housing project. The results indicated that there were a variety of butterfly species, birds and other native species like newts in the adjacent watercourse and woodland.

An ecological protection zone in Fai Ming Estate was set up to protect the watercourse and the native species. No piles could be applied within five metres of the watercourse and the watercourse itself. With an area of about 2 000 square metres, the Ecological Transition Zone is planted with native trees and shrubs, serving not only as an ecology garden for residents but also a hotspot for native species found in woodland and shrubs. The zone manifests our vision of “Coexistence of Nature and Public Housing”.

The ecology garden has a large number of plants, such as lxora chinensis and Asclepias curassavica, that butterfly groups like to inhabit. There are 78 butterfly species in the area, accounting for around 30% of the total number of butterfly species in Hong Kong. Two of them, namely Taraka T. hamada and Celastrina C. lavendularis, are considered to be rare species in Hong Kong.