© Leung Wai Ki / WWF

Today, Mai Po saw one of the first groups of public visitors coming back to the reserve since it was reopened on 13 April. A total of 30 WWF Hong Kong members joined the new Mai Po Public Visiting Programme named “Discovering Mai Po” to explore the beauty of this piece of internationally important wetland which supports internationally important populations of wildlife such as migratory waterbirds, and habitats such as mangroves, reedbeds and traditionally managed gei wai shrimp ponds.

© Alex Wong / WWF

• Dr Lew Young, Mai Po Reserve Manager, WWF Hong Kong, said that, “We are very excited to see visitors coming back to Mai Po Nature Reserve since it is a very important education facility for the public and students to understand the importance of wetland conservation. WWF is privileged to manage Mai Po Nature Reserve on behalf of the people of Hong Kong. To offer the public better opportunities to appreciate the value of the Reserve, WWF is pleased to launch a series of special ‘Discovering Mai Po’ tours this summer”

“Unlike the normal guided tours,” said Ms. Josephine Wong, Visitor Marketing Manager, Mai Po Nature Reserve, “visitors will be able to walk along a special trail with checkpoints where WWF staff will introduce environmental friendly activities to enhance public understanding on the importance of biodiversity of Mai Po.”

These activities will include:

• A puppet show of the life of a Black-faced Spoonbill
• Natural paper making out of the reeds at Mai Po
• Exploring dragonflies, insects and plants in the freshwater ponds
• Designing your own T-shirt in natural ways
• Seeing the breeding birds which are spending the summer at Mai Po

© WWF

Following the launch on 30 April 2006, the new programme will be running on Sundays, 21 May, 18 June, 16 July and 20 August 2006. The charge for the general public is HK$ 180 per person whereas it is HK$ 120 for WWF members, students and the elderly.

Further details can be found on the WWF website http://www.wwf.org.hk/eng/maipo/publicvisit/dmp.php