410 Recreation, Sport and the Arts
Hong Kong Flower Show
The Hong Kong Flower Show is a major event, organised by the LCSD to promote horticulture and an awareness of the need for a green environment. Every year, it provides an opportunity for hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people and horticulture lovers from around the world to enjoy the beauty and diversity of flowers and to share their experiences in flower cultivation. Participants in the show are from Hong Kong, Mainland and overseas horticultural associations, floral art clubs, green groups, district councils, schools and the general public.
A range of educational and recreational activities was organised on the sidelines. of the show. About 200 horticultural organisations from 20 countries took part in the 2009 show in March at Victoria Park, attracting more than 538 000 visitors.
Horticulture and Landscape Services and Projects
The LCSD is responsible for the planting of ornamental trees and shrubs in public gardens and roadside amenity areas around Hong Kong, and for looking after the trees. It maintains the city's public parks, gardens, sports grounds, football pitches and children's playgrounds, amenity plots and the landscape plants on the sides of highways and public roads. During the year, the department planted 3.4 million plants, including trees, shrubs and seasonal flowers and carried out landscape improvement projects for 45.4 hectares of park land and roadside amenity areas.
Summer Youth Programme
The Summer Youth Programme (SYP) is a community-building programme co-ordinated by the Home Affairs Department which provides a wide range of cultural and arts, sports and all-round development activities for children and young people aged between six and 25 during the summer holidays. In 2009, the slogan 'Be Confident, Be Positive, Be an Achiever' was adopted to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China and to encourage young people to stay steadfast in adversity by putting faith in the future. Around 11 000 SYP activities were organised with more than 1.2 million participants2 during 2009. The cost of holding these events was about $42 million, of which $16.5 million was sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The balance was met by subvention from the Government and District Councils, private donation and participants' fees.
Websites
Home Affairs Bureau: www.hab.gov.hk
Leisure and Cultural Services Department: www.lcsd.gov.hk
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department: www.afcd.gov.hk
2
including activities organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department independently with its own source of funding.