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WORK OF THE COUNTRY AND MARINE PARKS BRANCH
In 2011-12, 16 hill fires occurred over an area of 27 hectares with 580 trees damaged in country parks. With relatively humid weather during the year, the number of hill fires and vegetated area affected were much reduced as compared with the previous years. Rehabilitation planting programme in areas damaged by hill fires and various fire prevention measures have been implemented.
Some 740,000 seedlings were planted in 2011-12. To enrich local plant diversity,
In the early years, exotic pioneer species such as Taiwan Acacia (Acacia confusa), Brisbane Box (Lophostemon confertus) and Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii) were planted to prevent soil erosion and to quickly restore vegetation cover. This objective has been achieved with sustained efforts in the last few decades.
To improve tree management in Hong Kong for the sake of public safety, the Department stepped up efforts on tree inspection, risk assessment and tree maintenance at the recreation sites of country parks and the areas adjacent to non-expressway public roads. Over 28,000 trees (involving about 1,620 sites and 280 tree groups adjacent to public roads) and 5 Old and Valuable Trees have been inspected. Tree management measures such as pruning and thinning, were prescribed for trees in poor health conditions or with high potential danger to the public. Tree management work was carried out by qualified and experienced in-house staff.
Nature Appreciation Activities
The Department organised a variety of marine conservation education activities targeting various sectors of the community. During the year, 144 public eco-tours, 7 public seminars, 4 beach clean-up activities, 82 school lectures, 54 exhibitions and 24 other kinds of educational activities were held, benefiting over 46,160 participants.
Park wardens patrol country parks and special areas on a regular basis to provide visitor services and to enforce the Country Parks Ordinance and related legislation. In 2011-12, 835 offenders were prosecuted or given a fixed penalty notice. Among these, a total of 309 offenders were given a fixed penalty notice for littering or spitting. Statistics are at Appendix 14. Park wardens and nature wardens also conducted frequent special operations in the country parks, such as searching for illegal animal traps, visiting villages for the promotion of fire prevention, enforcing prohibition of feeding wild animals and assisting the Police in search-and-rescue exercises. Regular joint operations with the Police were undertaken to combat crimes, such as illegal felling of Buddhist Pines and Incense Trees.
Reef Check
The Department coordinated the annual Reef Check in collaboration with the Reef Check Foundation. During the year,
There are at least 2,500 dolphins living in the Pearl River Estuary including about 1,300-1,500 dolphins living in the eastern part of the Pearl River Estuary and Hong Kong waters.
The Department regularly provides comments and advice on development proposals and projects as well as Environmental Impact Assessment studies to ensure that potential impacts of development projects on the marine environment and ecology would be adequately addressed, evaluated and minimised through effective mitigation.
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To conserve the countryside, by March 2012, 44,239 hectares (about 40 % of Hong Kong's total land area) had been designated as country parks and special areas. The Department manages all 24 country parks and 22 special areas for conservation, recreation, education and tourism. Hiking trails, mountain bike trails, nature trails, barbecue and picnic sites, camp sites and visitor centres are provided in the country parks, drawing some 13.3 million visitors in 2011-12.
The Department manages four marine parks and one marine reserve for conservation, recreation, education and scientific studies, covering 2,430 hectares. They comprise scenic coastal areas, seascapes and important marine habitats with an abundance of important marine fauna and flora, providing ideal opportunities for diving, snorkelling, canoeing and underwater photography. Some 211,400 visitors to marine parks were recorded in 2011-12.
the Department continued to produce and plant seedlings of native tree species. Major native species planted included Castanopsis (Castanopsis fissa), Chinese Hackberry (Celtis sinensis), Gordonia (Gordonia axillaris), Sweet Gum (Liquidambar formosana), Zhejiang Machilus (Machilus chekiangensis), Many-nerved Machilus (Machilus pauhoi) and Chinese Gugertree (Schima superba). Among all seedlings planted, 70% were native species.
(i) To improve the ecological habitat of the plantation areas; 
To cope with the increasing popularity of mountain biking activities in country parks, two new mountain bike trails, i.e. the Tai Lam Mountain Bike Practice Loop and the Tin Fu Tsai North Section Mountain Bike Trail, were built and opened to the public during the year. The Tai Lam Mountain Bike Practice Loop is located near Twisk Management Centre in Tai Lam Country Park. It consists of a 200-metre loop designed for beginners and a 200-metre section for mountain bikers with intermediate skill level. The Tin Fu Tsai North Section Mountain Bike Trail, also located in Tai Lam Country Park, is 2.1 km long, forming a loop near the Tin Fu Tsai Fire Lookout. About two-third of this trail is made of natural soil surface and the rest is forest track with concrete surface.
The trail is suitable for cyclists with a certain amount of mountain biking skills. A picnic site near the trailhead of Tin Fu Tsai North Section Mountain Bike Trail was also converted to a mountain bike training ground, which provides a number of features for mountain bikers to develop their skills. Both new trails are designed and built in accordance with the principles for sustainable trail promoted by the International Mountain Bicycling Association of USA. Furthermore, an event "Share the Trail, Share the Fun" was jointly held by the Department and Hong Kong Cycling Association in Tai Lam Country Park on December 4, 2011 to promote mountain biking safety and the share use of mountain bike trails in country parks.
A geopark is a unique natural area with special geological significance, as well as natural and cultural landscapes, serving the objectives of conservation, education and sustainable development. Hong Kong Geopark was opened in 2009 and acquired global status in 2011 to protect Hong Kong鈥檚 rich geological resources and their high research, tourism, educational and scenic value.
To sample the Hong Kong Global Geopark of China in the city centre, an exhibition featuring the Earth鈥檚 life history was opened to the public on October 3, 2011 at the lobby of the Bank of China Tower. The Prehistoric Story Room displays many valuable fossils and models, including an Armoured Fish model over 3 metres long, as well as ammonites and fish fossils discovered in Hong Kong.
To cope with the rising number of visitors to our Marine Parks, we have adopted a series of measures including more patrols, assigning volunteers to disseminate codes for visitors, arrangement of guided activities and publication of educational materials. Law enforcement action was also stepped up to combat illegal activities.
In 2011-12, the Department conducted a series of conservation activities for over 320,000 local students, teachers and nature lovers. The Department continued to carry out the Country Parks Education Programme "Nature in Touch" to strengthen the educational resources on nature conservation in country parks. This programme aimed at promoting a better understanding of country parks, biodiversity, flora conservation and geological characteristics in Hong Kong, thus enhancing public awareness of the importance in protecting the natural environment. The programme included a series of countryside learning activities for students and nature appreciation activities for the public. 
School education programme included Country Parks Orienteering, Kindergarten Visits, and school eco-tours. To encourage secondary students to gain insight of various conservation work in country parks, the "Country Parks Reporter Inter-school Competition" was held. The Department also organised outdoor field study activities to help teachers utilise the teaching tools in "Hong Kong Country Parks Education Kit for Secondary Schools" tailored for teachers.
Under the Country Park Volunteer Scheme, some 540 volunteers had completed basic volunteer training during the year and these trained volunteers served 27,832 man hours in the country parks conservation and education activities including publicity events, roving exhibitions, fixed-point interpretation, hiking route patrols, facilities maintenance and vegetation management. 
It is hoped that the fishermen can gain the experience and skills needed to run the business in a commercially sustainable manner in the future. The pilot scheme was extended to Hong Kong southern waters in March 2011 to allow more fishermen to participate in the scheme, better equipping them to switch to sustainable eco-tourism activities. During the year, a total of 154 school tours and 4 teacher workshops were held with over 5,100 students and teachers participating. Over 230 fishermen have been trained in this scheme. The operation of commercial tours also commenced and a total of 36 commercial tours with 1,125 participants were conducted.
To enhance public understanding and interest in coral ecology and promote local underwater sites for coral appreciation, "Our Coral Underwater Photo Contest" was organised in 2011 with over 160 entries.
33 coral sites were surveyed with the assistance of over 500 volunteer divers. Twenty-three of these coral sites recorded high coral cover (i.e. more than 50%) and the growth of corals at all sites was stable. Results of the Reef Check were publicised to enhance public awareness of the current status of our marine environment and to seek the public's cooperation in protecting our valuable marine resources. The findings also provided the Department with important information on the health status of corals so that appropriate action could be taken to protect them. In 2011, the Department launched a new mobile application "Hong Kong Reef Check". Users can browse the coral coverage of the 33 selected sites, the distribution and pictures of indicator species including reef-building corals, fish and other invertebrates.
Specially-designed marker buoys were installed at Ung Kong Wan, Sharp Island and Port Island for better protection of corals from anchoring damage. Regular sea patrols and underwater ecological surveys were also conducted to monitor the effectiveness of the coral marker buoys in these areas. The results to date are encouraging. There has been an overall increase in live coral cover in the marker buoy area. Damaged corals have shown signs of recovery.
About 200 dolphins of this population live in the western waters of Hong Kong around Lantau Island, Tuen Mun, Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau. The Department has been implementing a Conservation Programme for the Chinese white dolphin since 2000. Tasks include habitat protection and management, long-term monitoring of the dolphin population, investigation of dolphin stranding, promotion of public awareness of dolphin conservation, and liaison with the Guangdong authorities to exchange information on the conservation of the species. Variations and trends in abundance of dolphins in Hong Kong waters during recent years are closely monitored.
The Department formed a diving team for underwater ecological survey in 2011 with staff who were experienced in scuba diving and underwater ecological survey. The diving team will undertake thematic projects such as the long-term monitoring programmes for coral, reef fish and artificial reefs, and focused studies on the health of corals and the algae diversity.
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