2
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: A FULLER LIFE FOR ALL
Under the Country Parks Ordinance, the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries is the Country Parks Authority and is responsible for the management of country parks. Up to now, the Agriculture and Fisheries Department has managed about a quarter of the scenic countryside for recreational purposes. In 1977, visitors to these areas alone totalled more than 2.5 million. Many others took advantage of the generally un- restricted access to penetrate into remote areas.
Since 1972, the department has been expanding its basic management services by providing picnic sites with tables and benches, litter bins and children's play apparatus and, where it is safe, fireplaces for barbecues. Footpaths are being improved and waymarked, and there are nature trails with guidebooks for people who take their outings seriously. There also are information boards, panoramic displays and maps, viewing compasses, explanatory posters and pamphlets, and simple shelters against the rain and sun.
The department's other services include first aid and search and rescue, which are administered from management centres and conducted by patrolling personnel. The often caused by careless department also safeguards the countryside against fire visitors and is responsible for landscape rehabilitation and the protection of flora and fauna.
―
J
Apart from the country parks, other places of great beauty and interest cater for naturalists on a restricted basis. These include Yim Tso Ha, Hong Kong's largest egretry, and the Mai Po marshes, with their abundant attractions for birdwatchers. Although permits are not required to visit the Tai Po Kau Special Area, a forested nature reserve managed by the Country Parks Authority, fires are forbidden. Picnic areas, however, have been provided along the walks. All wildlife at Tai Po Kau is protected, with the result that visitors can still occasionally catch a glimpse of such rare fauna as the Barking Deer and Chinese Pangolin.
Urban Council
The Urban Council, with its long experience in managing parks, playgrounds, swim- ming pools and beaches, and organising sport and entertainment, has played a vital role in community life. Its plans - both current and future reflect an increasingly sophisticated and innovative approach. New swimming pool complexes at Aberdeen, Hong Kong Island, and at Tai Wan Shan, Kowloon, feature facilities for the handi- capped and heated main pools for year-round use; traditional swings, slides and roundabouts at Tung Lo Wan Garden in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island, have been replaced by more imaginative - and safer - ‘adventure' playground equipment; and footballers at Morse Park, Kowloon, are playing on artificial turf for the first time. Although the pitch is still experimental, artificial turf probably has a future in Hong Kong. Unlike grass, it requires no maintenance and it is not affected by the vagaries of the weather.
Providing open space for urban dwellers has always been one of the council's main priorities and several important new projects are planned. These include a recreation centre at the Wan Chai reclamation to be completed in three stages starting in 1978; a tennis complex at Wong Nai Chung Gap to be ready in 1979; facilities for pleasure boating at the Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Park; and Stage II of Kowloon Park, which will include sports facilities, a classical Chinese garden, an aviary, a music bowl