Hongkong Land and OPCFHK jointly present Descendants of the Earth: Horseshoe Crab as the finale of the 2015/16 Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme

To: Supplement/Education Page For immediate release

A community engagement event to raise awareness of local conservation issues through fun-filled creative workshops and educational talks

HONG KONG, 29th June 2016 - To conclude the year-long 2015/16 Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme ("the Programme"), Hongkong Land in partnership with Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong ("OPCFHK") and City University of Hong Kong ("CityU") launched a two-week community engagement event Descendants of the Earth: Horseshoe Crab at the Programme's Closing Ceremony today. Officiating at the Ceremony were Mr Y K Pang, Chief Executive of Hongkong Land, Ms Suzanne Gendron, Foundation Director of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong, and Dr Paul Shin, Associate Professor of Department of Biology and Chemistry of City University of Hong Kong. Results of the newly- introduced Video Competition were also announced at the same occasion at The Rotunda of Exchange Square.

"The young citizens of today will build and shape the future of our community, and education plays an instrumental role in nurturing a responsible and green generation of citizens." said Mr Y K Pang, Chief Executive of Hongkong Land. "We are pleased to see that as part of the 2015/16 Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme, the Video Competition and the upcoming Descendants of the Earth: Horseshoe Crab are reaching out to a new and wider audience to arouse public awareness on the importance of conservation and biodiversity to our future."

This year, students who participated in rearing the juvenile horseshoe crabs at schools created short videos to promote public awareness on horseshoe crab conservation. The videos were made available for public viewing and voting earlier in June. Selected by the judging panels, the Grand Prize, First Runner-up and Second Runner-up are respectively the Diocesan Girls' School, Baptist Wing Lung Secondary School and Shun Lee Catholic Secondary School. With the largest number of public votes, Ho Fung College (Sponsored by Sik Sik Yuen) won the Most Popular Video Award. All video entries are now available for public viewing on the Facebook fan page of OPCFHK (https://goo.gl/LbthpF).

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Running from 30th June to 14th July 2016 at The Rotunda, Descendants of the Earth: Horseshoe Crab is designed to raise conservation knowledge about the indigenous species and unleash creativity for families and students with a series of games, DIY workshops and conservation talks. The fun-filled creative activities on the weekends (1st to 3rd July and 9th to 10th July) include craft-making of Horseshoe Crab Paper Helmets, DIY T-shirt Up-cycling Tote Bag, Conservation Postcard Making, Embrace Horseshoe Crab Conservation Talks (in Cantonese and English) as well as other conservation-themed games. Registration is required for the activities, and interested parties can visit the OPCFHK Facebook page for more information: https://goo.gl/nwMJWk, seats are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

"The Programme has come to its 6th year and we are very grateful for Hongkong Land's support and contribution to the Programme this year that makes spreading of messages for horseshoe crab conservation more extensive and in-depth," said Ms Suzanne Gendron, Foundation Director of OPCFHK. "This, again, proves the significance of corporate support to our work - not only can they support us financially, but they can also utilise their expertise and influence on members of society to spread the word. I am sure that with our concerted effort, more people will take up more responsibility for our environment."

Descendants of the Earth: Horseshoe Crab marks the finale of 2015/16 Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme, OPCFHK's major CSR initiative supported by Hongkong Land. Thirty secondary schools participated in the Programme, which offers students hands-on experience of horseshoe crab rearing. Juvenile horseshoe crabs bred at the Aquatic Science Laboratory of CityU were sent to the schools with aquariums and equipment set-up for a period of six to eight months. In the summer of 2016, the horseshoe crabs will be released to their wild habitats, creating a positive impact on the local ecosystem and contributing to the biodiversity of Hong Kong waters.

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Student representatives from four schools winning the Video Competition joined Mr Y K Pang, Chief Executive of Hongkong Land (middle), Ms Suzanne Gendron, Foundation Director of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (third from right), and Dr Paul Shin, Associate Professor of Department of Biology and Chemistry of City University of Hong Kong (third from left), to commemorate the launch of the two-week community engagement event, Descendants of the Earth: Horseshoe Crab.

Dr Paul Shin, Associate Professor of Department of Biology and Chemistry of City University of Hong Kong (front row, third from left) and Ms Suzanne Gendron, Foundation Director of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (front row, fourth from left) presented certificates to students who participated in the 2015/16 Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme, to acknowledge their great effort in taking care of the juvenile horseshoe crab and supporting conservation activities under the Programme.

From 30th June to 14th July, community engagement event Descendants of the Earth: Horseshoe Crab will be held at The Rotunda, Exchange Square. At the weekend workshops, participants can make their own postcard to pass on conservation message.

From 30th June to 14th July, community engagement event Descendants of the Earth: Horseshoe Crab will be held at The Rotunda, Exchange Square. The blowing game featured at the event illustrates to the public the importance of having a clean environment for horseshoe crab.