Political Ecology of Islands Essay

Political Ecology of Islands Case Study of Lantau Tomorrow Vision Island
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Abstract
The environment has been under threats, especially from human activities, thus leading to various adverse effects on the same environment. There have been various issues facing islands, especially on social, economic, and political grounds. Lantau Tomorrow is one of the islands in question, especially with various aspects considered social, political, and economical. Lantau Tomorrow is an artificial island on the verge of being considered a reclaimed island (ZHAO, 2019). Hong Kong is currently faced with the hype demand for housing, thus accommodating the vastly growing population. The effective solution to the problem is the reclamation of the island to facilitate housing in Hong Kong. However, since it is a reclamation project, there have to be outcomes, especially from the ecological perspective. Therefore, Lantau Tomorrow Vision entails developing a third core business district in an artificial island that will cover an approximate area of 1,700 hectares. The estimated amount of the projected is hyped at HK$500 billion, which is a significant amount and has since received opposition from various agencies and persons (Lim, 2020). The amount is considered to be half of the city's fiscal reserves and issues related to environmental concerns, thus curtaining the project. Considering the issues at hand, an opposition point of view forms the basis of the analysis since creating an artificial island impact the environment (Zhao, 2019). Though the project can be advantageous, especially in dealing with housing in Hong Kong, this paper's findings support the opposite point of view since the island would lead to environmental problems related to biodiversity, climate change, and economic sanctions. Besides, the paper provides recommendations and alternative actions instead of opting for Lantau Tomorrow Vision. Therefore the Lantau Tomorrow Vision should not be a long-term solution to the housing problems in Hong Kong.
Keywords; Lantau Tomorrow Vision, the Housing problem in Hong Kong, biodiversity, climate change, and economic sanction.
Introduction
Human activities on the environment have been a major problem since it has proven to have adverse effects both short term and long term. The housing problem in Hong Kong has raised several concerns both locally and internationally (Zhao, 2019). The increase in demand for public housing has formulated a hypothesis towards finding a solution to fix the problem. Therefore, the Chief Executive Carrie Lam proposed a long-term solution by proposing the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, which aims to reclaim land by developing artificial islands. The project's launch raises concerns on the impact in terms of social, political, and economic aspects. While some are proposing the launch of the project as it would solve the problem of housing in Hong Kong by increasing housing supply, some are opposing the issue by defending their views in the aspect of the cost involved and the environmental issues it would cause in both the present and the future (Lim, 2020). The reclamation project is approximated to cost HK$500 billion by claiming 1700 hectares in the regions near Kau Yi Chau and Hei Ling Chau. However, this paper will provide various reasons as to why Lantau Tomorrow ought not to a future development project of Hong Kong as it does not suit the future solution to housing problems in Hong Kong and does not co-exist with the environment.
Lantau Tomorrow Vision is having a great impact on the environment, especially in Eastern Lantau Island. One of the great impacts is the severe damage it will cause to the ecosystem since it is a reclamation project. It is fair to consider that the Eastern Lantau has a vast marine ecosystem; thus, it is a region with great aquatic biodiversity. The proposed region which will be under development is a region that has a variety of species such as dolphins, fish, corals, and porpoises. The impact of introducing an artificial island into this region will be fatal to these creatures since an estimation of 265 million cubic meters of sand in which the process will require dredging and dumping (Chong et al. 2020). The process of sand deposition will lead to heavy metals, which may act as pollutants to the sea, thus affecting the aquatic life negatively thus pose their existence to great danger. Furthermore, the introduction of artificial sand into the sea is a devastating act, especially to aquatic life, since it leads to serious environmental pollution. Artificial sand will release the stone powder into the sea, which will remain for a long time, affecting aquatic life (ZHAO, 2019). If the project opts to use the sand from the sea, it will have a huge effect on the natural habitats for the sea creatures as it would require a large volume of sand which will cover a wide area to reach the targeted amount of sand. For instance, the fact that the region where the highland is being constructed is renowned for being a habitat to the Chinese white dolphins, the introduction of various development projects such as Hong Kong Zhu Hai Macau Bridge would alter the natural habitat of the Chinese white Dolphin thus posing their existence to threats (Harrison, 2019).  
Furthermore, the proposed area is very vulnerable to constant climate change; thus, the introduction of such a project would further increase the prevalence of climate change. Global warming is a serious concern in the aquatic environment, especially with the global sea level rising. According to statistics, the global sea level is postulated to have risen by a margin of 1.32metrets by the year 2100 (Lim, 2020). Therefore, in connection to the development of the artificial island, such environmental issues will be a constant threat to the island since the water level will always rise. At one point in the future, the water level will be the same as the ground level of the island, which may lead to conflict between the aquatic ecosystem and the land ecosystem. In addition, it will not bring threats to the people due to submersion of the island and the aquatic life since they will be more exposed to human activities, which may lead to water pollution (Zhou et al 2020). The prejudice underlying most people in Hong Kong that Lantau Tomorrow Vision is a long-term solution to the housing problem in Hong Kong is a shallow approach to the problem since the project cannot withstand long term solution. Its incompatibility with the natural environment can lead to irreversible effects on the aquatic environment. Thus, it will pose the nearby aquatic life to a potential danger of natural disaster (Chong et al. 2020).
Furthermore, the cost of implementing the developmen...