XN000022-1983-10-11 — Page 2

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1983

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PRINCE PHILIP'S MESSAGE

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THE FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT OF A MESSAGE DELIVERED BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AT THE WORLD WILDLIFE FUND HONG KONG BALL THIS (TUESDAY) EVENING:

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DELIGHTED TO VISIT HONG KONG AND I HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED BY ITS DEVELOPMENT EVER SINCE I FIRST CAME HERE IN 1946. BUT ON THIS OCCASION I FEEL RATHER LIKE A MIDWIFE OR A GODPARENT, SINCE THE LAST TIME I WAS HERE I HAD THE PLEASURE OF HELPING TO BRING WWF-HONG KONG INTO THE WORLD.

+THE ORGANISATION OF THIS GREAT PANDA BALL SHOWS THAT IT HAS RAPIDLY DEVELOPED INTO AN EFFECTIVE FUND-RAISING ORGANISATION. I COULD SEE FROM THE PLANS FOR THE MAI-PO MARSHES, WHICH I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO VISIT THIS MORNING, THAT WWF-HONG KONG IS INVOLVED IN AT LEAST ONE VERY WORTHWHILE CONSERVATION PROJECT.

+BUT THIS IS A PANDA BALL AND THAT IS SIGNIFICANT IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE. WWF-HONG KONG SHARES THE PANDA SYMBOL WITH ALL THE OTHER WWF ORGANISATIONS WORLDWIDE AND IS THEREFORE PART OF THE WORLDWIDE EFFORT TO GIVE WILDLIFE A CHANCE TO SURVIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THE HUMAN POPULATION IS STILL EXPLORING AND EXPANDING ITS HABITAT, AND WHERE DEVELOPMENT, EXPLOITATION AND POLLUTION ARE THREATENING AN INCREASING NUMBER OF SPECIES WITH EXTINCTION.

IT IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE A SIZEABLE PROPORTION OF THE FUNDS GENERATED THIS EVENING WILL BE SPENT IN CHINA IN AN EFFORT TO ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF AN UNIQUELY CHINESE ANIMAL, BUT WHICH ALSO HAPPENS TO BE THE WWF SYMBOL.

+SO THAT THIS EVENING, IN SPITE OF ALL THE ANXIETIES AND UNCERTAINTIES, WHICH I KNOW THAT YOU FACE HERE, ALL OF YOU PRESENT WHO HAVE BEEN GENEROUS ENOUGH TO SUPPORT WWF HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT COME WHAT MAY, THE CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE MUST GO ON YOU HAVE DEMONSTRATED YOUR PARTICULAR CONCERN FOR THE CONSERVATION OF NATURE IN HONG KONG YOU HAVE DEMONSTRATED YOUR GENERAL SUPPORT FOR THE INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO CONSERVE NATURE WORLDWIDE, BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, YOU HAVE MADE A PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE RESCUE OF THE GIANT PANDA, A SPECIES THAT HAS GAINED A SPECIAL PLACE FOR ITSELF IN THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD, BUT WHICH ALSO HAS SUCH A PARTICULAR AND EMOTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR ALL CHINESE PEOPLE.+

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