ENG-1997 — Page 501

A volunteer gets down to earth during 'Trees Two Hundred and Beyond' Plantation Day at Chuen Lung, on the slopes of Tai Mo Shan. Similar exercises over the past few decades have helped restore tree cover to many parts of Hong Kong affected by seasonal fires or denuded during World War II. A large proportion of Hong Kong's wooded slopes result from planting programmes since the 1860s, which have transformed the formerly bare areas. Scattered remnants of the original forest cover survive in deep ravines and in fung shui woods near old villages and temples.