Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) spreads over 148 hectares of land on the northern slopes of Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong's highest mountain, near the town of Tai Po.
KFBG has a deep-set valley between two ridges, with a stream running steeply down through the forest. On the slopes there are forest, theme gardens, vegetable terraces, 8km of walking trails, 9km of roads, and conservation and educational facilities.
The Farm was established in 1956 to provide agricultural aid to farmers in need of support to help them lead independent lives; and to provide leisure and educational experience for the public. The theme gardens were designed and planted from the 1960's onwards, and through planting, natural process and protection from fire, what was once barren scrubland is now mature forest. Visitors are welcome.
Mission and Vision
- Mission: To harmonise relationship with the environment.
- Vision: A world in which people live sustainably with respect for each other and nature.
Core Values
- Sustainable Living: Appreciating the impact of their actions with regard to current and future generations. Having awareness of the connection with the environment. Valuing simple and responsible lifestyles.
- Justice: Being fair and accountable. Valuing socially equitable systems that protect the health of the planet, the people and their way of life. Protecting future generations.
- Love: Having self-awareness and understanding of the inter-relationship of all things. Having compassion and respect for all life. Recognising that outer discord is a reflection of inner discord. Striving for inner silence.
- Participation: Engaging mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually; fostering respect for different viewpoints, openness, dialogue and teamwork.
- Professionalism: Being a role model of caring, integrity, commitment, professional standards and best practices for partners, organisations, individuals and communities.
- Learning: Being adaptive and flexible to changing circumstances. Having a holistic outlook. Being practical, objective, creative and insightful.
- Happiness: Appreciating that happiness lies in creating and sharing happiness with others.
History and Heritage
Farm in the Early Days
The Kadoorie brothers, Sir Horace and Lord Lawrence, sowed the seeds of the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) when they founded the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association (KAAA) in 1951.
In 1941, there were 1.25 million people living in Hong Kong. By the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945, the population had shrunk to about 600,000. In that same year the flood of refugees fleeing the Civil War on the Mainland began. By the end of 1946 the population of Hong Kong had swollen to 1.5 million. The brothers, Horace and Lawrence Kadoorie, wanted to help these destitute refugees become self-supporting and independent; they wanted to help them regain their dignity and find security in their new lives in Hong Kong.
Since most of the Chinese refugees were farmers, an ambitious agricultural aid project was conceived, thus, the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association (KAAA) was formed on 28 September 1951. The founders were Horace and Lawrence Kadoorie, Norman Wright and Woo Ting Sang.
The KAAA’s aim was to encourage a philosophy of 'Helping People Help Themselves'. Those in need were given training, provided with agricultural inputs and interest-free loans to set them on the path to becoming independent.
In 1956, the KAAA established an experimental and extension farm at Paak Ngau Shek (the present site of KFBG) as a centre to demonstrate effective and profitable crop production and animal husbandry techniques, to improve livestock breeds and to train local farmers and Hong Kong-based Gurkha soldiers in farming so that they could have income when they returned home to Nepal. Special hybrids of pigs and chickens were selectively bred, and these made a big contribution towards food security. The result was a revitalisation, not only of the local economy, but also of the hopes and dreams of the people of the New Territories and Outlying Islands. The gardens of Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden were planned and planted from the 1960's.
Many aid projects were set up, which involved understanding the situation and needs of individual families and villages and then helping people where possible. Donations of training, livestock, houses, pig pens and cattle sheds were made to families; and paths, roads, bridges, dams and jettys built for communities.
In 2010 they found, stored away in an old store room, a cache of around 20,000 case files that contain information on the families, property, and financial circumstances of villagers throughout Hong Kong who were involved in the KAAA programmes. These are an important historical record.
As times changed and farming declined in Hong Kong, the Farm gave increasing attention to environmental issues.
On 20 January 1995, the Legislative Council passed an Ordinance that established the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Corporation (KFBG CAP 1156), opening the door to a new era of flora and fauna conservation, organic agriculture, environmental education and a focus on sustainability in Hong Kong and beyond. Andrew McAulay, the grand-nephew of Sir Horace and grandson of Lord Lawrence, became the first Executive Director and in 1999 was appointed Chairperson.
In 1998, KFBG extended its work into Mainland China.
The mission evolved to become, 'To harmonise our relationship with the environment'.