As we embark upon yet another academic year at the University of Hong Kong, we encounter many new faces: new first-year undergraduates in the classroom, and new research postgraduates in the laboratories. In the case of DEB, we are lucky enough also to have some new teaching colleagues. Dr Cynthia Yau joined as Assistant Professor this September, and an article introducing her will feature in the next issue of Porcupine! And, while not new to exactly DEB, Dr Kenny Leung takes up a new position as Assistant Professor, also from September. For anyone who missed it, Kenny’s (revealing) personal profile is in Porcupine! 25. "And, finally, congratulations to Gray Williams who has been appointed Honorary Director of the Swire Marine Laboratory for the next three years. Gray is not, of course, new to DEB but this appointment will see him taking on an additional, important role on behalf of the department. We wish him luck."

More newness: DEB, AFCD and Friends of the Country Park have just published a series of four field guides to local habitats. First off the block was Rocky Shores and Hillstreams, and by the time you read this, Hillsides and Sandy Shores will have joined them on the shelves of Hong Kong bookshops. All four volumes are bilingual, well- illustrated, and contain gazetteers for sites of interest. We hope they will be of value to secondary school students, teachers, biology undergraduates, and members of the public who want to find out a bit more about Hong Kong’s rich biodiversity.

Finally, new from Government is recently released and very long awaited Consultation Document entitled Nature Outlook: A Review of Nature Conservation Policy (http://www.etwb.gov.hk). It sets out conservation efforts and achievements of Government, describes their limitations, and makes some proposals for improvement that include the introduction of a scoring system for assessing ecological value of sites, and options for conserving ecologically important sites under private ownership. The sharp-eyed reader may note that this brief description of the contents of Nature Outlook doesn’t seem to include anything on actual policy (see pp.16 & 17), and the marine environment also gets short shrift. However, Government has invited comments on the document, and I urge everyone with an interest in the protection of the Hong Kong environment to read the document and send their views by October 18 2003 to the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau. They can be reached at nature_views@etwb.gov.hk, 2138 3221 (fax) or 2150 7144 (phone). There now an important opportunity to have an input into conservation initiatives in Hong Kong, and we should make the most of it.

David Dudgeon

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