The campaign to save Lung Mei goes far beyond its unglamorous shores

If you have visited or even driven past Lung Mei on the north shore of Tolo Harbour, you might wonder why all the fuss about government plans to cover a stretch of coast with sand to make a swimming beach. There's a jumble of rocks amidst a mix of mud and sand, lapped by shallow waters that are sometimes brown with silt.

Though conservationists are fighting a tough rearguard action to keep Lung Mei as it is, there are no stellar flagship species - no pink dolphins, or spoonbills or otters. On a global scale, perhaps the most notable species are three kinds of gobies, which are small and rather nondescript fish, as well as the yellow seahorse. These are among a mix of marine life found during surveys by paid consultants and volunteer ecologists.

With unglamorous Lung Mei such a centre of attention, it is worth considering just what "nature conservation" means. Perhaps if you think of conservation, you picture star species such as tigers, elephants and pandas, along with rainforests, coral reefs and other ultrarich ecosystems. There certainly is emphasis on protecting charismatic creatures and places. And to some development-driven people, conservationists are troublesome, fluffy-minded tree huggers aiming to return us to the Stone Age.

Conservation is, however, far more complex than these stereotypical images suggest. As well as protecting plants and animals simply because we like them, reasons for nature conservation include the fact that our own survival is interwoven with the fate of the natural world.

But how much nature do we need? What does nature really do for us? No one can answer the first question, but the second leads to benefits called ecosystem services.

According to an international initiative called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), there are four broad categories of these services. Provisioning services are products derived from nature, including food, water and raw materials. Regulating services play roles in climate, pollination, waste treatment and keeping soil fertile. Habitat services provide homes for species, whilst safeguarding gene pools. And fourthly, there are cultural services linked to human benefits such as recreation, ecotourism and cultural heritage.