Continuing from the previous article:
https://thepearlfarm.com.hk/blogs/blog/sustainable-pearl-1
Sustainable Development
In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development proposed that sustainable development is what mankind should do.
It contains two key concepts:
1. We pursue our current interests while also ensuring that our next generation can continue to survive.
2. Make good use of natural resources for development.
As for how to do it, different industries have their own methods. Recently, an international organization called CIBJO is studying the best practices for pearl farming and sustainable development.
These Best Practices may also be related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals launched by the United Nations.
I won’t cover them all here, but I will share my goals as they relate to pearl farming.
There are two basic goals:
[8] Suitable jobs and economic growth
[14] Protecting the marine ecosystem <br>These two things involve the most basic needs of humans and the oceans—survival. People need to make money to meet their basic needs, companies need to run their businesses, and fish need high-quality seawater to survive.
Then it is related to productivity. These two goals can be directly related to the entire value chain and supply chain.
So there are:
[9] Industrialization, Innovation and Infrastructure
[12] Responsible consumption and production
Normally, business seeks maximum profit and market share. The market is infinite and production is endless.
But the question in sustainable development is what is appropriate, or the doctrine of the mean mentioned in our Chinese wisdom.
Everything should be done just right, meaningful and effective, and should not be done just for the sake of doing it.
In fact, each goal seems so great and somewhat violates the principle of "making the most money" in business.
In fact, there are already many good examples in the world where you can make more money than before with the same resources just by changing the model.
<Example: Sharks @ Fiji>
<Example: Pearl farming @ Tonga>
Pearls can support many people as an economic pillar, but in the concept of sustainable pearl production, people must also cooperate with nature to protect the environment. To understand, we must first start with a pearl oyster.
If there is 1 hectare of sea area to cultivate pearl oysters, The Nature Conservancy has calculated the following scientific data on shellfish farming.
• Remove 500 kg of nitrogen per day (for feed)
• Filters 40 Olympic swimming pools per day • Increases 5 metric tons of wild marine fish per year • Stores a total of 2.1 metric tons of carbon
As for Hong Kong, although our pearl farm is not big, we have achieved some results.




Not a single relationship <br>Nature has given what she can give, and we have a group of fishing friends who have benefited from it. What is the pearl industry in different countries doing?
Japan <br>As a major pearl producing country, the Japan Pearl Exporters Association finally issued a sustainable development declaration this month (July 2022).
Different pearl farms in Australia are exploring the best operating practices. They have even formed associations to ensure that their entire industry chain supports marine conservation.
Tahiti <br>A group of black pearl farmers are encouraging people to stop using water guns to clean pearl oysters, which damages the environment. By not doing so, they are attracting fish to help maintain the health of the pearl oysters.
Mexico <br> spent three years in the 1980s using the reproductive capacity of pearl oysters to restore the marine ecology. It then became the only place in the Americas to cultivate seawater pearls.
Indonesia <br>There is a pearl farm that takes two days to reach by boat from Jakarta. The local environment is very beautiful, and it is self-sufficient in basic food, forming its own country. Local residents also participate in pearl farming. However, they also face many problems. One of them is that due to the Pacific Ocean currents, a lot of marine garbage is washed up on the beach. If they want to clean it up completely, they can only rely on ships to spend two days transporting the garbage to the capital for processing. As a result, the top management of the farm decided to subsidize the residents to build a small garbage disposal machine, which can turn garbage into useful building accessories and sidewalk treads. Another example is that the residents do not have enough books to read to their children. Therefore, the company started a project called #100BooksProject, where they encourage people to donate books. In four years, they received more than 4,000 books and a complete course on the marine plastic crisis.
Philippines <br>In addition to cultivating pearls, the largest local pearl farmers also employ local indigenous people and provide education and various resources to improve their living standards. In addition, because the area is remote, it is not easy for the Philippine government to govern, so the government cooperates with farmers to authorize the management of the area's security. In 2006, they started a non-profit organization called Save Palawan Seas Foundation, which is committed to local education and the promotion of sustainable development.
China
In 2018, because the country attaches great importance to environmental protection, it also introduced an environmental protection policy to restructure China's freshwater pearl farming industry. When this policy was introduced, it certainly brought a big blow to the industry, but it was also because of this decision that China's freshwater resources were able to return to their former appearance. In addition, the Chinese government also hopes to make the pearl farming industry focus on quality.
Hongkong


As time went on, my relationship with Pearl sublimated at the same time as my relationship with my girlfriend. When the relationship sublimated, I began to think about the crazy and exciting things in life, such as getting married, having children and starting a family. As for Pearl, due to the encouragement of a senior in the publishing industry, I decided to do something that was relatively crazy and unbelievable to me, which was to publish a book.


Because of this book, I have also successfully started another pilot project, which is to introduce Pearl into the education sector as a sustainable development teaching material. We cooperate with cross-industry partners to provide teaching and training to students of different levels. We will even work with other cross-industry partners who share the same philosophy.
Sustainable Pearls
It seems that there are many things I just shared about pearls, but they can actually be summarized into three major parts.
The first part is about economy, from the simplest buying and selling of pearl jewelry to how to drive the economic development of a place.
The second part is the environment, where rare aquaculture participates in marine restoration.
The third part is the community, which brings different positive values to society through cross-border cooperation.

These three parts are the three pillars of the concept of sustainable pearls. In simple terms, it is to use cultured pearls to repair the ocean. Using pearls as materials to share the different values of pearls with the society, and then cooperate with cross-industry to create new economic benefits.
You can imagine that every piece of pearl jewelry has at least one pearl. If you buy one, it means that you support the concept of sustainable pearls and pearl farmers.
Summarize

We are able to do so many things because we work with experts from other industries, including psychological education experts, marine biology professors, different NGOs, companies, parents, etc. They have also discovered the value of Hong Kong pearls that I never thought of.
I hope to collaborate with more people from different industries to achieve four things through Hong Kong pearl farming:

1. Work with more people in the fishery and agriculture sectors to utilize Hong Kong’s water resources to cultivate pearls and improve the fishery and agriculture sector
2. Collaborate with other industries to make Hong Kong pearls a local natural gemstone product that everyone is proud of and can go global
3. Let more people get to know Hong Kong pearls and understand the concept behind sustainable pearls
4. Use Hong Kong pearls to rebuild the name of the Pearl of the Orient
Thank you
When you go to buy pearls, you may want to ask some questions about the background of pearls, including what good deeds the pearl farmers are doing, the local government's policies on pearl farming, the environmental conditions of farming, etc.