3
SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 1992
MR WONG SAID: "IT IS
CONSERVE OUR COUNTRYSIDE."
EVERYONE'S
RESPONSIBILITY
HE SAID THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES
TO HELP
DEPARTMENT (AFD)
PRODUCED SOME 800,000 TREE SEEDLINGS EACH YEAR FOR PLANTING IN COUNTRY PARKS AND FOR USE IN GOVERNMENT LANDSCAPING PROJECTS.
"IT WOULD BE REALLY SAD IF SOME OF THESE TREES TURN OUT ΤΟ BE DAMAGED BY HILL FIRES OR VANDALISM, HE SAID.
MR WONG SAID TREES WERE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE ENVIRONMENT.
"THEY HELP TO BEAUTIFY OUR WATER CATCHMENT AREAS AND PROVIDE VARIETY OF WILDLIFE.
COUNTRYSIDE, STABILISE SOIL IN SHELTERS AND FOOD FOR A WIDE
"TO SHOW MY SUPPORT FOR TREES AND TREE PLANTING," HE SAID, ** I AND MY FAMILY ARE ACCUSTOMED TO PLANTING TREES IN COUNTRY PARKS WHEN THE COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING SCHEME STARTS EACH SPRING.
..
HE WAS PLEASED THAT THE SCHEME HAD NOW BECOME A VERY POPULAR ANNUAL EVENT AND HAD RECEIVED INCREASING SUPPORT FROM ALL SECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY.
HE ALSO URGED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO PLANT THEIR TREES IN COUNTRY PARKS IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
"SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR COUNTRYSIDE CONSERVATION BY PLANTING YOUR TREES AND TAKING EVERY PRECAUTION TO PROTECT THE COUNTRYSIDE FROM HILL FIRE, HE URGED.
H
ALSO OFFICIATING AT TODAY'S CEREMONY WERE THE DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES, DR LAWRENCE LEE: THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNTRY PARKS BOARD, MR CARLOS CHEUNG, AND THE GOVERNOR OF THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 3450, MR ANDRES GUILLEN.
EARLIER IN HIS WELCOME SPEECH, DR LEE SAID IT HAD BEEN THE DEPARTMENT'S LONG-STANDING PRACTICE TO ENCOURAGE ALL SECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY STUDENTS AND THE YOUNGER GENERATION, ΤΟ BE INVOLVED IN PLANTING TREES IN THE COUNTRY PARKS AND IN CARING FOR THEM.
HE POINTED OUT THAT THE COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING SCHEME DATED BACK TO 1957. SINCE THEN MORE AND MORE PEOPLE HAD RECOGNISED THE IMPORTANCE OF TREE PLANTING AND COUNTRYSIDE CONSERVATION.
"LAST YEAR, ABOUT 20,000 PEOPLE JOINED THE SCHEME AND PLANTED
A TOTAL OF 26,000 TREES," HE SAID.
DR LEE ALSO COMMENDED THE ROTARIANS FOR THEIR KEEN SUPPORT FOR TREE PLANTING AND NATURE CONSERVATION.
/HE SAID