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[SDG Forum Series 2021-22] The Sound of Trees – Urban Forestry and Sustainable Development
0 852SDG Forum Series 2021-22
Session 1
The Sound of Trees – Urban Forestry and Sustainable Development
Speakers: Mr. SO Kwok Yin, Dr. Alvin TANG
Moderator: Prof. Amos TAI Pui Kuen (Associate Professor, Earth System Science Programme, Faculty of Science, CUHK; Associate Director, Office of University General Education)
Date：03 / 12 / 2021 (Fri)
Time：7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
The talk will be conducted with ZOOM. Link will be provided later.
There are limited spots for CUHK students/staff to attend the talk on site.
In Cantonese
Brief Description
SDG 15 Life on Land aims to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.” Urban forestry plays an important role in fostering the sustainable management of forests.
Hong Kong maybe synonymous with skyscrapers, yet it has a huge amount of green space. You may be surprised to learn that there are over 1.7 million trees planted in the urban areas of Hong Kong. How should we manage the trees? What are the shortcomings in the tree management policies in Hong Kong? What is its relation to urban forestry? What challenges lie ahead?
In this SDG Forum, Dr. Alvin TANG will guide the audiences in considering tree management from different perspectives, highlighting the relationship between tree management and SDGs. Mr. SO Kwok Yin will illustrate the shift in tree management from arboriculture, which involves the care of individual trees, to urban forestry, which deals with forests as systems and spell out the conditions which account for sustainable urban forest management, focusing on the role of community.
About the Speakers
Mr. SO Kwok Yin is the Chief Executive of the Conservancy Association, a local environmental NGO with the longest history in Hong Kong. He works on forest rehabilitation and urban tree management for more than 23 years. He has been participated in the various tree management, tree-related education and industry development committees and councils to promote the importance of tree and urban forestry from policy, academic to public level.
Dr. Alvin TANG is the Course Coordinator and Lecturer of Tree Management Programme, College of International Education, School of Continuing Education at Hong Kong Baptist University. Dr. Tang’s research interests lie primarily in the areas of plant disease, tree management, fungal taxonomy and mushroom poisoning. The findings of his work have contributed to a better understanding of tree diseases and at the same time have helped to establish more effective management measures to reduce the risk of tree failure, which in turn helps to safeguard public safety in urban areas. He has established a close relationship with different government departments – especially the Tree Management Office of the Development Bureau, the Highways Department and Housing Authority – to understand their pressing concerns related to tree management and to conduct research to support their management regime and provide them with more options. Dr Tang is currently a member of a global expert committee on brown root rot disease to monitor the outbreak of plant disease worldwide. He has worked on various topical subjects in Hong Kong over the years, including tree disease and mushroom poisoning, and has conducted 112 media interviews to give insights on different scientific topics. As of today, Dr Tang has published 45 articles and wrote a book called “Fascinating Insights into the Mushroom World”, a first book about mushroom in Popular Science in Hong Kong.
Free admission, all are welcome.
Enquiry：sdg-ouge@cuhk.edu.hk
Online reservation：
CUHK students and staff：
on-site participation https://webapp.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/ras/restricted/event?id=56015
online participation https://webapp.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/ras/restricted/event?id=56016
Public audience：
https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13642484
Co-organized by Office of University General Education, CUHK and SDSN Hong Kong