RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
Country Parks
Despite Hong Kong's largely urban environment, opportunities for outdoor recreation are not lacking. No place is far from green countryside and there are 21 country parks covering some 40 per cent of the territory's total land area. Over 10 million visits were made to these parks during 1993. They are most popular during the cool, dry months from October to April.
The Director of Agriculture and Fisheries is the Country Parks Authority. With the advice of the Country Parks Board and its various committees, he is responsible for the management of land and provision of facilities within the country parks. These facilities include picnic and barbecue areas, walking trails, rain shelters, toilets, information posts and visitor centres.
Horticulture and Landscape Services
Urban Council
The Urban Council is heavily committed to improving the urban environment with landscaping. Its staff provide a full range of landscaping services including design and planning, plant production, planting, maintenance and conservation. All new projects undertaken by the council are expected to have a landscape element where possible. The council also plays a key role in preserving trees in the urban areas and in extending planting areas along the highways.
In 1993, the Urban Council planted about 9 000 trees and 800 000 flowering shrubs. About 90 per cent of the plants were produced in its own plant nurseries with the balance from commercial stocks.
To foster a greener Hong Kong, the council initiated the Green Hong Kong Campaign and designated 1993 as the Greening Year. The large-scale campaign was the first-ever greening campaign organised in Hong Kong. The Urban Council committed over $10 million in the year for this project which included tree planting in streets and on slopes. In addition, a series of community involvement activities such as talks and seminars, tree planting by the community, mini-flower shows, open days and guided visits to plant nurseries and major parks, and territory-wide potted plants competitions were organised to arouse public awareness of the need for greening Hong Kong. The 10 urban district boards, related government departments and voluntary greening organisations pledged their support for this meaningful campaign.
Apart from planting more trees, the council is also concerned with tree preservation. Its horticultural staff have been actively involved in preserving existing trees on development sites, and planting compensatory vegetation if the removal of the trees is unavoidable.
The council has put on display over 100 species of plants introduced from various countries such as Australia, South Africa, Taiwan, the USA and Southeast Asia at the Hong Kong Park's Forsgate Conservatory. Plants of special interests include Victoria amazonica, the largest water lilies; Dendrocalamus sinicus, the largest bamboo; and Raphia raffia, whose leaves are the biggest in the plant world.
Regional Council
The Regional Council maintains 693 hectares of greenery in parks, gardens, sportsgrounds, soccer pitches, games areas and children's playgrounds in the New Territories. It also manages amenity plots and soft landscape along highways and roads. In 1993, over
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