ENG-2001 — Page 506

RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS

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as well as the preservation of trees. It maintains all public open spaces in the form of parks, gardens, sports grounds, football pitches and children's playgrounds, and also amenity plots and soft landscape plantings alongside highways and public roads. The services provided include landscape planting, horticultural research, tree maintenance and conservation. During the year, the department planted 60 000 trees as well as 2.8 million shrubs and seasonal flowers at these places and carried out landscape improvement projects for 30 hectares of park land and roadside amenity areas.

Hong Kong Flower Show

The Hong Kong Flower Show, an annual region-wide event, is organised for horticultural associations and floral art clubs in the HKSAR and from the Mainland, green groups, District Councils, schools and members of the public. The show has been growing in size and popularity every year. Apart from numerous colourful landscape displays, artistic floral arrangements and horticultural exhibits, the show provides many other fringe activities. These include talks and seminars, demonstrations, guided tours, music and cultural performances, photographic and drawing competitions, horticultural workshops and family fun games. In addition, various types of plants and horticultural products are put on sale in a commercial stalls area, to which admission is free. More than 80 local and overseas horticultural organisations took part in the 2001 show held in March in Victoria Park, attracting a record attendance of over 500 000 visitors.

Green Hong Kong Campaign

To enhance public awareness of greening the environment, a series of community involvement projects and educational activities, such as the Green Hong Kong Ambassadors Scheme, community planting days, Green Hong Kong Activities Subsidy Scheme, green camps, theme flower shows, horticultural courses and seminars were organised in 2001. A new programme entitled 'One Student, One Flower' was introduced under the Green School Subsidy Scheme to tie in with the department's extensive 'periwinkle' planting programme. Students and teachers were provided with 'periwinkle' seedlings and seeds for planting at home or in schools in order to cultivate their interest in growing plants. More than 160 000 students from over 600 schools and kindergartens took part in this programme.

Beautification of the North Lantau Highway

In support of the Chief Executive's policy on greening, the LCSD initiated an improvement programme at the North Lantau Highway by planting about 5 000 heavy standard flowering trees of four metres in height and 70 millimetres in diameter and 100 000 flowering shrubs, at an estimated cost of $10 million. The programme started in February and will be completed in October 2002.

The project aims to provide attractive scenery along the transport route serving the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, for both residents and tourists. The extensive planting of flowering trees and shrubs is enhancing the highway's appearance.

Summer Youth Programme

A region-wide Summer Youth Programme, bearing the central theme 'Hong Kong, Our Home --- Let's Serve and Share', is organised each year for children and young