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HONG KONG UNESCO GLOBAL GEOPARK
ANNUAL REPORT 2015
(1) Protection of Geo-relics and Other Natural Resources
1.1 Planning Control

With a view to better conserving the outstanding ecological, landscape and geological
features of the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark of China (HKGP), statutory
plans covering an additional 200 hectares of neighbourhood areas within the one
unified boundary of HKGP were gazetted or approved during the reporting period.
(2) Science Popularization and Research
2.1 Geopark School Programme

The Hong Kong Global Geopark School Programme is one of our major
science-popularization initiatives. In 2015, over 20 primary and secondary schools
participated in the programme, which included talks, workshops, guided visits,
exhibitions and global E-classroom
sessions. In addition, to promote the
geopark concept and to help university
students develop effective science
transfer skills, HKGP staff delivered a
series of talks at major universities in
Hong Kong during the year.
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2.2 Student Exchange Programme

HKGP provides a platform for students to develop a global vision and to enjoy the
benefits of cross-cultural communication. On 25 March 2015, around 40 students from
the winning team of the Sweden’s
InnoCarnival Skåne, together with 12
science students from the Hong Kong
Baptist University and three young
Hong
Kong
ambassadors
geo-conservation,
engaged
for
in
a
student exchange in HKGP.

In 2015, HKGP’s student-exchange programmes involved over 10 global geoparks
and benefited over 500 students in the Asia Pacific Geoparks Network (APGN). We
conducted post-visit sharing sessions in
Hong Kong Geopark Schools, fostering
an active dialogue among the student
ambassadors,
their
schoolmates
about
teachers
a
range
and
of
environmental and cultural issues.
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2.3 Geolicious Cooking Classes

The two HKGP hotels launched a
“Geolicious
Cooking
Classes”
programme to reach a wider audience
and provide a fun platform for children
and their parents to learn about earth
science together. The cooking classes
are held every Saturday, Sunday and
public holiday.
2.4 On-going Research Projects

In
February
2015,
HKGP
staff
members visited the Nanjing Centre of
China Geological Survey and Linhai
Geopark to develop field truthing skills
and get first-hand information on
acidic volcanic rock columns as a part
of our on-going research projects.

Geologists from the China Geological Survey, Nanjing, and the University of
Geosciences, Beijing, were engaged to carry out geological surveys in the Sai Kung
Volcanic Rock Region and the Port Island-Bluff Head Geo-Area of the Northeast New
Territories Sedimentary Rock Region respectively, to enhance our understanding of
local geology and promote wider appreciation of geo-conservation.
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2.5 Scientific Discoveries

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong found a Paralycoptera fossil dating
back to the Jurassic period (about 147
million years ago). This is the first
vertebrate fossil from the Jurassic
period ever found in Hong Kong. The
findings
were
published
in
the
biological and medical sciences journal
PeerJ in 2015.
(3) Community involvement and Geo-tourism Promotion
3.1 Co-ordination Meetings with Local Communities

To ensure HKGP benefits the environment, local people and the economy, we work
closely with local communities and non-government organizations. Through regular
co-ordination meetings to discuss matters related to HKGP and the operation of local
geoheritage centres. At present, three local geoheritage centres are managed by local
communities within HKGP, and the
HKGP Volcano Discovery Centre
(VDC) is operated by the Sai Kung
District Community Centre, a local
community organization.
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3.2 Signature Projects

Two signature projects in the Sai Kung
Volcanic
Rock
Region
and
the
Northeast New Territories Sedimentary
Rock Region, involving upgrading the
walking trails, community amenities
and visitor facilities, are underway and
will be completed by the end of 2018.
For instance, indigenous villagers have been engaged in setting up the “Double Haven
Story Room” under the signature project. The project will also improve infrastructural
support and accessibility to HKGP and provide opportunities for interested local
communities to participate in geopark initiatives and community-involvement
activities.
3.3 Soliciting Support from our Partners

The collaboration between HKGP and the Lions Nature Education Foundation (LNEF)
over the past years has served as a transferrable example for other geoparks. In April
2015, LNEF was invited to visit the
Japanese Geoparks Network (JGN) to
explore
science-popularization
potential
partnership
projects between HKGP and JGN. This
is an on-going endeavour to share
experience among members of APGN.
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3.4 Local Communities Participating in Revalidation

To coordinate with our co-management
partners, we conducted a series of
briefing sessions in May and June 2015
before the 2015 revalidation exercise,
which
were
attended
by
local
communities. Village representatives
from the neighbourhood areas of HKGP were consulted about the programme details
before meeting the Global Geoparks Network (GGN) assessors for the 2015
revalidation exercise.
3.5 Enhancing Accessibility – New Kaito Ferry Service

Coordination with the local community of Lai Chi Wo and relevant government
departments resulted in the approval of a ferry service between Ma Liu Shui and Lai
Chi Wo in December 2015. This new
ferry service enhances accessibility to
this area of HKGP and demonstrates
the effective collaboration between
HKGP and the local communities.
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3.6 Exploring Opportunities to Engage Local Communities

To explore opportunities for local communities to participate in new geopark initiatives
and to boost mutual understanding between HKGP and the communities, HKGP
identified other areas of high potential
for local engagement, and organized a
number of strategic local-engagement
meetings with the villagers of Lai Chi
Wo, Tung Ping Chau, Sai Wan, Kat O,
Sai Kung Town and Ap Chau in late
2015.

Riding on the success of the agricultural revitalization project at Lai Chi Wo, we
worked closely with the local community of Lai Chi Wo, the Kadoorie Institute of the
University of Hong Kong, the Produce Green Foundation, the Hong Kong Countryside
Foundation, the Working Group on
Tourism Development in North District
and the Hong Kong Heritage Society to
provide better visitor services in the
Northeast New Territories Sedimentary
Rock Region and promote sustainable
socio-economic development in HKGP.
3.7 Geopark Guide System and Quality Enhancement

Currently, HKGP has 39 Recommended Geopark Guides (R2Gs) and four Accredited
Geopark Guides (A2Gs). Routine training and capacity-building sessions were
organized for the R2Gs and A2Gs during the reporting period. A new round of R2G
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interviews was held on 23 September 2015. Twelve “Provisional R2Gs” who passed
the assessment would become R2Gs by mid-2016 after completing a six-month
probation period.

A specialist in Musicology and Cultural Studies was invited to provide training on local
Hakka culture and Hakka dialect for 20 R2Gs. The talk covered topics such as local
Hakka cuisine, houses and festivals.

To enhance the standard of geopark guide services, in January 2015, HKGP invited a
trainer with experience in both the tourism industry and stage performance to give a
training workshop for 30 R2Gs on communication and presentation skills, and
problem-solving
workshop
also
techniques.
included
The
a
group
discussion, role-plays and a presentation
session to allow the R2Gs to learn
through practice, sharing and peer
review.

In
collaboration
with
the
Travel
Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC),
HKGP continued to work closely with
the tourism industry, co-organizing
on-going training and seminars for tour
guides and other members of TIC.
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(4) Capacity Building and Networking
4.1 Science Popularization Workshops

From 16 to 19 March 2015, HKGP and the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR)
General Office of the Science-Popularization Department co-organized the first
Geoscience Capacity-Building Programme. Representatives from around 30 global
geoparks, academic institutes and other science-popularization bases in Mainland
China, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Uruguay, Japan and Australia
participated in the programme.

HKGP continued to work closely with
Dr.
Masahiro
geologist
Aoki,
from
a
renowned
Japan’s
Tsukuba
Museum, to provide interpretation
training for frontline staff, particularly
on communicating geological concepts
to
the
public
in
a
useful,
easy-to-understand way.
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4.2 Visit from Staff of Wolong Nature Reserve

On 17 April 2015, around 30 delegates
from the Wolong Nature Reserve in
Sichuan
visited
“Conservation
HKGP
Zone
Staff
for
a
Training
Programme” to develop staff leadership
skills in nature reserve management
through training in Hong Kong.
4.3 Visit to Wudalianchi Global Geopark

In late August 2015, field officers from
the Country and Marine Parks of Hong
Kong visited a number of geosites in the
Wudalianchi
Global
Geopark
in
Heilongjiang Province, China to acquire
basic knowledge of volcanology.
4.4 Review of Partnership Arrangements

Currently, HKGP has established partnership arrangements with over 10 other geoparks
and related bodies. To foster closer relationships with our sister geoparks and other
co-operation partners and to ensure the quality of our partnership arrangements, we
started reviewing our sister and partnership projects. We will continue to review the
progress and effectiveness of our networking activities every 18 months to ensure that
they provide mutual benefits to the participants and a continuous contribution to GGN.
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4.5 Annual Conference of China Global Geoparks

On
27
April
2015,
an
HKGP
representative participated in the Annual
Conference of China Global Geoparks
and presented a paper titled “Geopark
Visibility and Brand Building” at the
Dali Mount Cangshan Global Geopark.
A representative of HKGP was invited to visit the Stone Forest Global Geopark of
China before the Conference.
4.6 Asia Pacific Geoparks Network (APGN) Workshop

With the support of APGN, a training workshop, titled “Sixth Japanese Geoparks
Network Training Workshop”, was held in Japan on 22 May 2015. A representative of
HKGP was invited to help with the workshop and to conduct a series of networking
activities with our sister geoparks and
cooperation partners in Japan, including
the Itoigawa Global Geopark, the Unzen
Volcanic Area Global Geopark and the
Aso Global Geopark.

From 4 to 6 June 2015, a delegation of geopark managers from the Unzen Volcanic
Area Global Geopark of Japan visited HKGP before their first student-exchange visit to
Hong Kong.
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4.7 Visit to the Ministry of Land and Resources

In early June 2015, the Secretary for the
Environment and the Head of HKGP
visited MLR to report on our preparation
for the 2015 GGN revalidation and major
achievements
made
under
the
Geoscience Capacity-Building Programme,
which was concluded in March 2015.
4.8 The 4th APGN San’in Kaigan Symposium

From 16 to 19 September 2015, HKGP
participated
Geoparks
in
the
Network
4th Asia-Pacific
San'in
Kaigan
Symposium, held in the San'in Kaigan
Global Geopark of Japan, to broaden our
exposure to global geoparks in the Asia
Pacific Region and to foster closer
relationships with our counterparts in GGN and APGN. HKGP presented two papers,
titled “Getting to know the China Geoparks Network and its transferrable success
factors” and “Setting performance standards and operation guidelines for better service
delivery”, at the Symposium.
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4.9 Other Networking Activities

To foster closer relationships and to explore possible opportunities for collaboration
between HKGP and representatives from other GGN geoparks, HKGP representatives
organized a number of guided visits and sharing sessions for representatives from
Mainland China, Sweden, Italy, Malaysia and Japan during the reporting period. This
included the promotion of local food
products from the Unzen Volcanic Area
Global Geopark and the first flight
between Hong Kong and Kumamoto,
where our Japanese partner Aso Global
Geopark is located.
(5) Others – Visitor Centres
5.1 Hong Kong Global Geopark Volcano Discovery Centre

Since its official opening on 15 July 2014, VDC has served as a gateway to HKGP.
VDC provided trilingual (Cantonese, Putonghua and English) counter services to
around 66,000 visitors during the reporting period, facilitating their exploration of
HKGP.
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5.2 Support and funding for Geo-heritage Centres

To benefit local communities and to ensure the continuation of quality services at the
geo-heritage centres, the respective centre operators submitted annual reports and
funding proposals to their potential sponsor, Fung Ying Seen Koon (FYSK) to solicit
its support in 2016-17. The funding proposals were approved in June 2015 by FYSK,
and the exhibits in three geo-heritage centres are being updated.
5.3 Hong Kong Geopark Visitor Centre

The exhibits at the HKGP Visitor Centre
at the Lions Nature Education Centre
were updated in November 2015, with
the addition of exhibits introducing the
geological history of Hong Kong, rock
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columns around the globe and GGN, and enriched with the addition of 3D geological
models and interactive games.
(6) Improvements, Recommendations and Action Plans

GGN officially announced on 19 September 2015, during the 4th Asia-Pacific
Geoparks Network San'in Kaigan Symposium, that HKGP had been successfully
revalidated and would continue to be a member of the GGN. We are now following up
the GGN recommendations and are taking the following steps to improve our services
and cater for the growing needs of visitors:
-
Further promoting HKGP in GGN and APGN and helping to promote GGN and
APGN;
-
Enhancing the synergy between HKGP and the Hong Kong country parks;
-
Raising public awareness and image of HKGP, including but not limited to, the
activities within its single unified boundary;
-
Enhancing HKGP’s visitor facilities and accessibility to facilitate visits to the
geopark, taking into account the geopark’s carrying capacity and the need for
sustainable development;
-
Strengthening communication and collaboration between HKGP and its various
stakeholders with a view to facilitating the planning and implementation of
sustainable development projects in the geopark;
-
Joining hands with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Government to establish a Paleontology Gallery and
an Earth Science Gallery in the Hong Kong Science Museum to popularize earth
science; and
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Fostering a closer relationship, strengthening networking activities and exploring
further collaboration with other members of GGN. Continuing the active promotion
of science transfer within APGN and active participation at GGN activities.
Date of Publication: 3 February 2016
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