Since 2013, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has been working with students on environmental youth leadership, and we have engaged 400+ students in developing projects to address conservation challenges such as food waste, biodiversity loss and energy use.
Building on IUCN’s (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) global conservation initiative, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) launched the Jockey Club “Ridge to Reef” Environmental Education Programme, with support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The holistic program aims to enhance the environmental literacy of Hong Kong’s youth. Using TNC’s Learn-Act-Lead model, we are working with Hong Kong’s students, teachers and schools.
The Ridge to Reef (R2R) concept shows that what happens on land affects what happens in the water. With Hong Kong being a coastal city, healthy and well-managed waterways, coasts and oceans are vital to all of us. To create lasting change, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) R2R focuses on students’ environmental literacy, teachers’ curriculum and schools’ policies and procedures by:
- supporting all levels of the educational structure within schools
- developing localized, free online curriculum to teachers
- deploying curriculum through educator training workshops
- engaging students in hands-on citizen science conservation fieldwork, and
- offering students internship opportunities at our TNC Hong Kong/Asia Pacific regional office.
Learn
We are now developing a free online nature education curriculum that will be available to all Hong Kong teachers. Materials available on this new “learning hub” will include animations, lesson plans, virtual field trips and classroom activities for teachers to use in expanding their students’ environmental awareness. We’ll be reaching out to Hong Kong teachers to show them how to use the learning hub and to take them on local field trips so they can understand first-hand some of the environmental challenges Hong Kong is facing.
Act
To get Hong Kong students outside and learning about conservation science, we are launching Citizen Science in Action Field Survey Experiences: TNC-led field trips for 300+ students that include data collection, as well as in-class pre- and post-field trip learning materials. These trips will also help encourage students in community volunteerism for the good of our environment. The field experiences will focus on TNC’s oyster reef restoration work and estuary and terrestrial biodiversity.
In March 2021, TNC created Ridge to Reef virtual field trip videos as supplementary materials for school sharing and pre-visit materials while waiting for face-to-face student field trips to resume. The virtual field trip videos use Deep Bay as the case study to illustrate Hong Kong’s biodiversity and the R2R concept. The videos have both long and short versions to fit into the learning and teaching needs of local and international schools.
Watch the full-length (16:22) video here.
Lead
A lucky 14 Hong Kong students will have the chance to develop hands-on conservation project design and implementation experience through internships at TNC offices and project sites. These internships can help build career pathways for participating students, as well as give the interns a chance to become conservation leaders among their peers.
Our vision is to inspire a new generation of young conservationists, equip them with relevant knowledge and skills, and take practical actions to conserve Hong Kong's ecosystem. Interested students, teachers or management in the education field are welcomed to contact tom.chan@tnc.org to learn more about the Ridge to Reef program.
The Ridge to Reef Environment Education Programme (R2R) aims to enhance the environmental literacy of Hong Kong’s youth, with the use of The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC’s) LEARN-ACT-LEAD model, to promote the Ridge to Reef holistic conservation approach - what happens on land affects what happens in the water.
Student internship plays an important role in the LEARN component, because interns can serve as ambassadors to promote the Ridge to Reef concept to their peers with student-initiated projects. In the summer of 2019 and 2020, TNC worked with ten students to provide training and guidance on project development, implementation and evaluation. The students worked on a total of five projects.
2020 Intern Projects
Ridge to Reef webinar and pitching competition
Students organized a two-day virtual event that attracted about 60 secondary school students from six international schools. The attendees learned about the Ridge to Reef concept and the importance of oyster reef ecosystems. They also joined a mini pitch competition by designing their own group projects with a five-minute pitch to TNC conservation staff on Ridge to Reef. Three out of the 10 teams got outstanding awards for their innovative and thoughtful ideas.
Storybook competition
Students aged 11-16 were invited to draw and write an interesting storybook to promote the Ridge to Reef concept. The winning story was Lola & Oscar’s Adventure created by Cloe L. (story) and Tiffany Z. (illustration) of Chinese International School, and the first runner up is Oliver The Oyster by Veda L. Both stories bring out the “Ridge to Reef” concept through the journey of an oyster and cover quite a lot of ecological information.
Ridge to Reef social media campaign
Students developed a mini-website and an Instagram page to promote the Ridge to Reef concept, introduce the summer interns and promote other competitions and activities. It is estimated about 300 students have been reach through these platforms.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEJ2aJ4nTXs/
Mini-website: https://tncinterners.wixsite.com/ridgetoreef
Ridge to Reef lesson plan
A lesson plan was developed to incorporate the Ridge to Reef concept into the international school curriculum. It has received positive feedback, and a teacher from Canadian International School promised to try the lesson plan next semester. It is expected to reach out to about 100 students when implemented.
2019 Intern Projects
Students developed a mini scientific research project to study how activities on the ridge impact the condition of the reef through a quantitative study of water quality along a river system in Hong Kong.
Students conducted desktop and textbook research on the water parameters in the Tung Chung River. During two field trips to the Tung Chung River, students measured water parameters such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH, which were analyzed at four sites along the river from upstream to the estuary. Water samples were taken back to the International School Foundation’s laboratory for bacteria culture and study.
Are you an educator that would like to incorporate environmental conservation and/or Ridge to Reef ideas to your students? The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has developed resources and activities for primary and secondary teachers, of any subject, that love nature. These resources range from field trips (COVID-19 restrictions allowing) for student to actively engage with Hong Kong’s ecosystems to lesson plans and newsletters for teachers.
Teachers enrolled in the educator network will have priority to participate in field trips and outdoor visits, to explore wildlife in Hong Kong and new conservation initiatives, as well as having priority to apply for our activities for your students. We welcome secondary and primary school teachers of science subjects, as well as curriculum development officers and interested educators to join.
To join the educator network, contact Conservation Education Manager, Tom Chan, at tom.chan@tnc.org
Sign up for field trips, download our application and send to Conservation Education Manager, Tom Chan, at tom.chan@tnc.org
Participating Schools as of April 2021
Primary Schools
1. Kau Yan School
2. Lok Sin Tong Leung Wong Wai Fong Memorial School
3. Lingnan University Alumni Association (Hong Kong) Primary School
4. Ma On Shan Methodist Primary School
5. Pentecostal Yu Leung Fat Primary School
6. Po Leung Kuk Lam Man Chan English Primary School
7. Pui Kiu College (Primary School Section)
8. Sai Kung Central Lee Siu Yam Memorial School
9. Tai Po Old Market Public School (Plover Cove)
10. Tin Shui Wai Catholic Primary School
11. Yan Tak Catholic Primary School
12. Yew Chung International School (Primary Section)
13. Yuen Long Government Primary School
Secondary Schools
14. Chong Gene Hang College
15. Cotton Spinners Association Secondary School
16. De La Salle Secondary School New Territories
17. Delia Memorial School (Glee Path)
18. Fanling Kau Yan College
19. Hong Kong International School
20. Hong Kong Red Swastika Society Tai Po Secondary School
21. HKSKH Bishop Hall Secondary School
22. King Ling College
23. Kowloon True Light School
24. Lok Sin Tong Yu Kan Hing Secondary School
25. Ma Kam Ming Charitable Foundation Ma Ko Pan Memorial School
26. Pentecostal Holiness Church Wing Kwong College
27. Pope Paul VI College
28. SKH Leung Kwai Yee Secondary School
29. St. Margaret Co-educational English Primary and Secondary School (Secondary School Section)
30. St. Peter's Secondary School
International Schools
31. Canadian International School
32. Chinese International School
33. Independent School Foundation ISF Academy (Secondary)
34. Island School
35. King George V School
36. South Island School
(School names are listed in alphabetical order)
Ridge to Reef virtual field trip
Ridge to Reef animations
Program Overview
Nature Works Hong Kong
Empowering the Next Generation of Environmental Leaders in Hong Kong.
