After months of diligent efforts, the water pond was finally completed successfully to increase the habitat diversity of Shui Hau.

 In addition to storing water, we also planted Water Caltrops and Gordon Euryale in the pond to enhance biodiversity. The pond not only helps ensure we have adequate water resources but also reduces water loss from the wetland. During the bountiful harvest of Walter caltrops, we carefully cleaned and shared some of the water caltrops with the villagers and showed them the whole plant of Water Caltrops and Gordon Euryale. Some villagers mentioned that water caltrops were also once grown at Shui Hau in the past, not for commercial purposes but rather for Mid-Autumn Festival offerings and personal consumption. Therefore, when the villagers saw the water caltrops at Shui Hau, they all smiled and shared their childhood experiences of making toys with water caltrop shells. Witnessing their enduring childlike wonder and excitement in discussing methods of crafting water caltrop shell toys, we believe the reappearance of “Shui Hau Water Caltrops” brought both surprise and deep satisfaction to the villagers.

Figure 1: Figure 1: Building the water pond by hand without machine

Figure 2: Walter Caltrop and Gordon Euryale planted in the water pond

Figure 3: Cleaned and shared with villagers after harvesting water caltrops

Figure 4: Group photo of Shui Hau village representative and HKBWS staff

Figure 5: In addition to water caltrops, another aquatic crop, Gordon Euryale, was also introduced

Figure 6: Chopping off the "chicken head (shaped like)" to extract the Gordon Euryale’s seeds

Figure 7: Display tanks were set up to introduce the growth process of Water Caltrops

Figure 8: The Checkered Keelback in the water storage pond