Page 38 - OPCF 2020

馬蹄蟹校園保母計劃:
Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme:
10 Years of Conservation with Secondary Students and Corporate Partners
連繫學界與商界的十載保育里程
10年來的成果
A Decade of Achievement
5,000+ 學生參與 210 students trained
學校參與
1,688 schools engaged
馬蹄蟹放歸野外
horseshoe crabs released
保育基金於二零零九年與香港城市大學(城大)創辦 「馬蹄蟹校園保母計劃」，至二零一九年已踏入第 十年。計劃自推出以來致力連繫中學學界，藉著分享 人工繁殖與飼養馬蹄蟹的基本知識，並教導參與學生 守護馬蹄蟹自然棲息地，從而培育年輕保育人才，啟 發不少學生在畢業後投身保育行列。自二零一二年 起，保育基金更將這項計劃擴展至商界，進一步向社 會各階層宣揚馬蹄蟹保育工作。
保育基金亦在二零一九至二零二零年度新增設年幼馬 蹄蟹飼養設施，作為一個全新的保育教育平台。該設 施不單研究改善馬蹄蟹的飼養方法，還會與參加「馬 蹄蟹校園保母計劃」的學生分享心得，公眾亦可在此 了解馬蹄蟹的生態。此外，保育基金亦為二十四間中 學提供 STEAM 培訓，鼓勵學生籌組社區教育活動， 推廣馬蹄蟹保育。學生亦可以參加保育基金籌辦的學 校講座、泥灘清潔活動、社交平台宣傳計劃及網上講 座，一起提升保育意識。展望未來，參加「馬蹄蟹校 園保母計劃」的學生將有機會認識種群普查方法及技 巧，學習蒐集數據，守護這個瀕危物種。
2019 marked the 10th anniversary of the Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme, a collaboration between OPCFHK and City University of Hong Kong (CityU). Since 2009, the programme has engaged secondary school students by showing them the basics of breeding and rearing horseshoe crabs under human care, as well as educating them about the conservation of the species’ natural habitats. Over the years, these seeds of conservation planted among youths have borne fruit, with students later graduating to work in the environmental field. The programme was further extended to engage corporate partners since 2012.
In 2019/20, OPCFHK began operating its in-house juvenile horseshoe crab rearing facility for conservation education purposes. The facility aimed to study best practices in husbandry care for OPCFHK to transfer practical knowledge to participating students while providing a platform for the public to learn about the species’ ecology. OPCFHK also provided STEAM training and encouraged students from 24 secondary schools to design a community education activity about the species. Apart from this, school talks, mudflat clean-ups, social media campaigns and webinars were also organised to raise conservation awareness. In future, participating students will even have a chance to learn survey methods and techniques which could benefit gathering information on field populations of these endangered species.
馬蹄蟹小檔案
馬蹄蟹早在四億七千五百萬年前出現，歷史比恐龍更久遠，所以又有「活 化石」之稱。可惜由於人為因素，這個珍貴物種現正面臨滅絕危機，其中 中國鱟已被列為瀕危*物種，而圓尾鱟則屬數據缺乏*的物種，極需進一步 研究和保育。有見及此，保育基金在二零二零年六月二十日，參與了首屆 「國際馬蹄蟹日」，加強宣揚馬蹄蟹保育。
* 根據世界自然保護聯盟瀕危物種紅色名錄
About Horseshoe Crabs
Known as “living fossils”, horseshoe crabs emerged 475 million years ago—even before the dinosaurs! Unfortunately, they now face extinction due to human activity. The Chinese horseshoe crab is listed as Endangered* and mangrove horseshoe crab listed as Data Deficient*, prompting an urgent need for further research and action. To raise awareness about this issue, we celebrated the first International Horseshoe Crab Day on 20 June 2020!
*According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species
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