一天,導賞員帶着十數人來到海下灣海岸公園參觀。

他拿出一些海洋生物的圖片,問:你們見過海馬嗎?

小朋友們爭相舉手,導賞員問其中一位女孩:你在哪裡見過?

這女孩認真地說:我在家樓下的藥材舖見過,很多很多的...

大家都笑了;導賞員的心卻一下子變得很沉重。

心痛的是香港四面環海,住在這裡的小朋友對海馬的印象,竟然是躺在藥材鋪的抽屜內,被曬乾的海馬屍體。

幸運的是在那次參觀,大家看到的不單是圖片,亦看見了在水中暢遊的活生生的海馬。參觀完結後,這女孩興奮地向導賞員說:我會記著海馬游泳的樣子!

這個導賞員就是我。

看着這些小朋友閃爍的眼神,我們明白到生態保育必須先讓參加者體驗到大自然的可愛,才能令人發自內心地欣賞並愛護這大地。這也促成了生態巴士的成立。

One day, a tour guide led a group of children visiting Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park. The guide showed some pictures of marine lives and asked: Have you ever seen a seahorse?

The kids raised their hands excitedly and the guide picked a little girl and asked, “Where have you seen the seahorse?”

The girl answered seriously: I’ve seen them in the Chinese herbal clinic just near my home, there are many, many of them. . .

They all laughed, except the guide who felt really sorrow.

Hong Kong is surrounded by the sea and there are a lot of costal environment, yet the impression of seahorse to our kids is only the deadly, dried out corpse lying in the drawers of Chinese herbal clinic.

Fortunately, during the visit, the kids have seen not only pictures, but also lively seahorses swimming around. At the end of the day, the girl told the guide happily, “I will never forget the way of seahorses swimming!”

That tour guide is me.

We learn that an enjoyable experience in our nature is an initiation for environmental conservation for them. Environmental awareness must start with one’s pleasant experience in the nature because he can appreciate and love the earth from his heart. This is the initiation for the establishment of ecobus.

海下灣海岸公園 Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park