ENG-2013 — Page 382

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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

A new 1.4 km trailhead at the Hoi Pui Section of Tai Lam Mountain Bike Trail was opened in March, providing a new trail for the public to enjoy and experience mountain biking.

Visitors can enjoy and learn about the beauty and diversity of Hong Kong's marine life at four marine parks and one marine reserve. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department manages the country parks, special areas, marine parks, marine reserve, the Hong Kong Wetland Park and Hong Kong Global Geopark of China.

Hong Kong Wetland Park

The 61-hectare Hong Kong Wetland Park, in the northern part of Tin Shui Wai and the southern tip of the Mai Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar Site, is a special area designated under the Country Parks Ordinance and promotes wetland conservation, education and ecotourism in Hong Kong. The park gives visitors the opportunity to appreciate wetlands and the Hong Kong's wildlife in an open and natural setting. In 2013, the park attracted about 440,000 visitors. The park also organised various education and publicity programmes such as the 'The Flying Beauties', 'Horseshoe Crab Fortnight' and 'Bird Watching Festival' to cultivate awareness of wetland conservation.

Hong Kong Global Geopark of China

The Hong Kong Global Geopark of China is made up of eight Geo-Areas occupying 5,000 hectares of land distributed across two regions: the Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region and the Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region. The Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region reveals spectacular hexagonal volcanic rock columns, in size and composition rarely found elsewhere in the world. The Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region comprises rocks formed by different earth processes over 400 million years, endowing them with great historical and educational interest.

In collaboration with the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong and the Association for Geoconservation, Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Geopark has set up an accredited geopark guide system to ensure the quality of the interpretation and guide services for visitors. Over 40 candidates have been successfully accredited as geopark guides since 2012.

Green Hong Kong Campaign

The LCSD provides at least one community garden in each of the 18 districts. A total of 10,975 participants attended the 51 gardening courses conducted in 2013, and over 3,321 people took part in 18 tree-planting activities organised by the districts.

Various activities were organised in 2013 to promote public awareness of the importance of 'greening' the environment. More than 350 local celebrities joined the 'Green Ambassador Scheme, over 4,500 people joined the 'Green Volunteer Scheme' to help promote community greening, and more than 880 schools and kindergartens took part in a 'Greening School Subsidy Scheme' to promote environmentally friendly initiatives. About 376,000 students from over 1,170 schools participated in a 'One Person, One Flower' programme. Seedlings were given to students to plant at home or in their schools.

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