The 5.6-hectare Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens sits on a hillside overlooking Central District, and is a conservation centre for 10 species of endangered mammals, birds and reptiles which attracted some 850 000 visitors in 2016-17. Overall, the zoo has a population of some 190 birds, 70 mammals and 20 reptiles with two species of mammals, Common Squirrel Monkey and Black and White Ruffed Lemur, bred successfully during the year.

The gardens contain over 900 species of trees, shrubs, creepers and foliage, and include a herb garden and a greenhouse. The gardens also hold an education and exhibition centre, which besides running regular displays of botanical and zoological specimens, provides teaching facilities and organises guided tours of the gardens.

Other parks that also have zoological specimens on display are Hong Kong Park, Kowloon Park, Tuen Mun Park and Yuen Long Park.

The annual Meet the Zookeepers event organised in the gardens was once again very well received by members of the public, with some 1 500 visitors taking part in the activity in 2016-17.

At the Meet the Zookeepers event, the gardens’ zookeepers shared their experience in the daily care of primates and birds with visitors.

The department’s zoological and horticultural education programmes are designed to engage the public in areas such as conservation and green issues. In 2016-17, around 22 800 people participated in 412 zoological programmes, and around 30 500 took part in 485 horticultural programmes. In addition, some 710 education programmes were organised for approximately 23 600 school students.

Guided school visits to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens gave students opportunities to learn more about animals and recognise the importance of environmental protection.

Guided visits to Kowloon Park were organised for schools and other organisations to promote environmental education.

During the year, a zoological education exhibition and a horticultural education exhibition were held at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens and Kowloon Park respectively. The exhibition materials were then displayed at other parks, including Hong Kong Park, Kowloon Park, Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Tai Po Waterfront Park, Tuen Mun Park, Yuen Long Park, North District Park and Lai Chi Kok Park. The exhibitions attracted around 23 000 visitors. In addition, 11 courses were conducted to educate members of the public about conservation issues.

The Zoological Education Exhibition aimed at enhancing the public’s knowledge of animals and stimulating interest in animal ecology and nature conservation.

The Horticulture Education Exhibition aimed to let the public know more about plants and green environment.

The LCSD is responsible for the management and maintenance of around 630 000 trees. Since January 2016, the department’s tree management responsibilities have been expanded as it took on the task of managing around 150 000 additional trees located on unleased or unallocated Government land within 10 metres of the kerbs of public roads (except expressways). Of the 480 trees currently on the Government’s Register of Old and Valuable Trees, 342 are maintained by the LCSD.

The LCSD operates six regional tree teams that carry out tree management work. In 2016-17 the department continued to conduct regular inspections of the trees under its care, and carried out tree maintenance and trimming work on some 73 500 trees.

Around 1 100 trees were planted under the department's tree-planting programmes in 2016-17, including 670 along roadsides and 430 in parks and gardens. Some 60 per cent of these were planted in the New Territories, with the remainder planted in urban areas. Among them, around 730 were flowering trees such as Yellow Pui, Queen Crape Myrtle, Paper-bark Tree, Golden Penda and Camel’s Foot Tree.

In line with our responsibility for improving the urban environment and the landscape in general, we maintain our policies and guidelines according to the latest horticultural and arboricultural practices, and periodically review our practices.

One of our goals is to make urban Hong Kong a greener environment. To this end, we closely monitor planting programmes in all districts, placing an emphasis on preserving existing trees and nurturing new ones, including those planted on development sites. During the year, we successfully preserved around 3 300 trees through the Tree Preservation Board.

The LCSD assists in vetting the landscape designs for open spaces and roadside amenities under development, and has had direct input into the designs for the Central Kowloon Route, the Kai Tak Development, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project, and the Greening Master Plan for the New Territories. In 2016-17, we also initiated landscape improvements for around 18 hectares at existing venues and roadside amenities.

The LCSD’s Sports Turf Management Section, established in 2014, provides professional advice and technical support for the management and maintenance of the natural turf pitches managed by the department, in particular the pitch at Hong Kong Stadium and other pitches designated for use by the Hong Kong Premier League. The department has also increased the level of training it provides to staff on turf management and maintenance. As a result of these measures, a measurable improvement in sports turf quality has been achieved at pitches used by the Hong Kong Premier League, and also at local community natural turf pitches. In particular, the Hong Kong Stadium’s turf pitch was in excellent condition in the 2016 Hong Kong Sevens. Thanks to the pitch’s new and effective drainage system, the rugby tournament was successfully held despite the heavy rain in the morning of the final day.

The pitch at Hong Kong Stadium performed excellently during the 2016 Hong Kong Sevens.