The Partnership for Nature Education and Conservation, or PNEC, was established in 2020. We are committed to building an eco-community in Nam Chung, promoting sustainable living, building community resilience, and protecting the local ecology and rural culture; we strive to develop place-based eco-community education through practice and action, and respond to environmental crises at local and global level.
PNEC is a registered charity in Hong Kong (No. 91/16604).
Vision
A world of interbeing, diversity and goodness.
Mission
We aim to create ‘Nam Chung Eco-Community’ as a nourishing, abundant and sustainable living-and-learning space.
Values & Principles
Respect for Individuality and Collaboration
Body-Mind Transformation through Local Practice
Learn from Traditional Wisdom, Make Good Use of Local Resources
Nature as Teacher, Farming as Life, Learn and Share Together
Together we create a community of compassion and peace with love, trust, inclusiveness, equality and passion.
History & Development
The establishment of Nam Chung Eco-Community, called “Reed Blossom Community”, can be traced back to 2009. At that time, the fish pond wetland in Nam Chung was threatened by private developers. The “Nam Chung Land Nurturing Movement” was launched, and nearly a hundred supporters invested money and time to lease more than 100 dou of farmland from local villagers (including fish ponds), approximately 800,000 square feet, in order to preserve the natural landscape of Nam Chung and promote local sustainable agriculture.
Entering 2013, the core members of the original Land Nurturing Movement were reorganized. The new members decided to change from passively defending the land to actively building a nature-loving community. They established an association with a mission to promote holistic living, sustainable agriculture and community building. They have delivered a lot of nature-based activities over the years.
Since 2016, the community has begun to recruit young interns, and has accumulated a group of people who care about sustainable living, ecological farming, well-being and other fields, and acquiring related hands-on skills. Even though they are from different backgrounds and age group, they all learn and gain a lot from each other. An eco-community in Nam Chung is quietly being formed.
By 2018, the core members of the community at that time decided to formally register as a body corporate in order to more effectively promote public education and activities within Hong Kong. The corporation was finally named “Partnership for Nature Education and Conservation” (PNEC), and was formally established in 2020.
The name of the corporation comes from the fact that there are many abandoned fishponds in the area of Nam Chung and Luk Keng, some of which are affected by the influx of sea water and grow into dense reed beds. It is named after this amazing scenery as the reeds blossom.
