About Green Fun

Brief Information on "Green Fun"

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Under the Publicity & Public Education Sub-Committee", a "Green City Professional Group" has been formed with the purpose of forging a professional alliance to promote the quantity and quality of urban greening in Hong Kong. The present members of the Green City Professional Group are as follows:

Currently, Green Fun is concentrating on promoting the following programs:

1. The Hong Kong Tree Planting Day, an annual tree planting event started in 1998, is organized by the Hong Kong Tree Planting Day Executive Organizing Committee. It is normally held on the 4th Sunday of March each year, and thousands of dignitaries and citizens, including the Chief Executive of HKSAR and members of the People's Liberation Army stationed in Hong Kong, join hands in planting trees and seedlings in and around the Country Park area. Thanks to the great support of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation department, the Tree Planting Day of 2005 was successfully held on Sunday, March 20th at Sham Shui Kok, Lantau Island.

2. The Bauhinia Festival, initiated and coordinated by the Home Affairs Department, with a Kick-Off Ceremony organized by the Housing Authority and held on January 29, 2000 at the Tung Chung Bauhinia Garden. Over 116,000 Bauhinia trees and seedlings have been planted and over Bauhinia gardens established in various parts of Hong Kong in the past 6 years. A large-scale Bauhinia Festival was held from November, 2001 to March, 2002.

3. Landscaping the Hong Kong International Airport, both inside and outside the Passengers Terminal Building, is undertaken by the Hong Kong Airport Authority.

4. Beautifying the North Lantau Expressway, undertaken by the Highways Department and the Leisure & Cultural Services Department.

5. The "Sponsor a Tree for the Chest and the Community" Project , jointly organized by the Home Affairs Department and the Community Chest of Hong Kong. This project seeks sponsorship from corporations and individuals of tree-planting projects undertaken by various Government departments and non-Governmental bodies, and the funds donated (say, HK$100 from each sponsor for each tree) will go to support the Community Chest (80% of the donation) and Green Fun (20% of the donation).

   A Kick-off Ceremony for the Project was held on 6 January, 2000 at Hong Kong Park where Mrs Betty Tung, Hon Advisor of Green Fun and President of the Community Chest of Hong Kong, accompanied by many dignitaries, planted a Bauhinia tree as the Millennium Tree.

6. The " Adopt a Vintage Tree for the Chest and the Community " Project, which began in 2003, is jointly orgainsed by Green Fun, the Community Chest, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) and the Leisure & Cultural Services Department (LCSD). The LCSD helps by selecting 15 outstanding tress, which are grown in public parks or in popular urban locations, for adoption by individuals / organisations, usually for a period of 3, 5 or 8 years. Donations received from the adopters also go to support the Community Chest and Green Fun.

7. the " Donation of Vintage Trees" Project,also started in 2003, is handled mainly by Mr David Lan with kind support from the LCSD. The first two vintage trees donated to Hong Kong, with generous sponership from Mr Albert Hung, came from the People's Government of Xin Zheng City of Henan Province. The two very graceful 400-year old common Jujube are now transplanted in Hong Kong Park.

8. Advocating the enactment of an "Urban Tree Ordinance in Hong Kong" and a "Circum-Harbour Afforestation Plan". The Green Fun Committee has submitted a "Draft Urban Tree Ordinance" to the Government for consideration, and also donated a sum of HK$300,000 to the University of Hong Kong Foundation to support a study on the Circum-Harbour Afforestation Plan (CAP) which was proposed by Prof. C Y Jim.

9. Study Visits by Self-financed Green Fun Delegations have been paying visits to other cities, including Tokyo, Singapore, Chung Shan, etc. City greening observations and knowledge gained are shared by the delegations with Government departments and professional people in Hong Kong. The first Green Fun Seminar on City Greening was held on 7 April, 2005.

10. The Dissemination of Greening Information through the Mass Media, including a regular Green Fun Page in the Monthly Bulletin published by the Environmental Campaign Committee, occasional articles in some popular Chinese newspapers, a series of weekly Greening Talks presented jointly with Radio 1 of Radio Television Hong Kong, and the provision of a Green Fun Web-site (www.greenfun.org.hk). These initiatives aimed to promote the Hong Kong public's interest, participation and support in greening the city. For the first time, Green Fun was permitted to set up a Joint Pictorial Display on "Greening Activities in Hong Kong" in Government House during its Open Days in March 2002.