A call for citizens to care for butterflies in Hong Kong at the “7.14 We Love Butterflies” Day

Today, the “7.14 We Love Butterflies” campaign was held in MegaBox, Kowloon Bay. Guests presenting at the event included Mr. Wong Kam-sing, JP, Secretary for the Environment Bureau of Hong Kong, Kandy and C AllStar, “Butterfly Ambassadors”, Mr. Daniel Ng, Chairman, Shell Hong Kong Limited, and Dr. MAN Chi-sum, JP, CEO of Green Power.

In his second personal participation in “7.14 We Love Butterflies Day”, Mr. Wong Kam-sing, JP, secretary for the Environment Bureau of Hong Kong, said: “‘7.14 We Love Butterflies’ is a very meaningful campaign, which encourages students and the general public to better understand the local butterfly ecology, so as to provide active support for butterfly conservation. To conserve the precious butterfly species in Hong Kong, the government has included some important butterfly habitats into the list of locations of special scientific research value, and created customised conservation plans for some butterfly species of conservation value. In addition, the government is working with stakeholders and experts to develop Hong Kong’s first Convention on Biological Diversity, so as to protect the local biodiversity, colourful butterflies included, in an integrated and systematic manner.”

Mr. Daniel Ng, Chairman, Shell Hong Kong Limited, one of the organisers, said: “‘Shell Nature Watch - Butterfly Explorer’, a program co-organised by Shell Hong Kong Limited and Green Power, was inaugurated in 2004 and is designed to raise the public’s awareness of biodiversity and conservation, thus contributing to ecological and environmental protection. Over the past 11 years, we have concerted efforts to raise the public’s awareness of the rich diversity of butterfly species in Hong Kong, and engaged them in butterfly conservation efforts. Starting from last year, we have even scheduled every July 14 as ‘7.14 We Love Butterflies Day’, calling on all Hong Kong citizens to conserve and protect butterflies.”

Kandy and C AllStar vied to be "Butterfly Experts"

This year, at the “7.14 We Love Butterflies Day” themed “Map Out for Our Butterfly City”, citizens uploaded butterfly-care pictures to the campaign website, and the program automatically pieced together the pictures into a map of Hong Kong, symbolising that we all love butterflies. Singer Kandy and Band C AllStar were specially invited to the campaign as “Butterfly Ambassadors”. They worked with 100 students to build a huge butterfly-shaped jigsaw and performed a butterfly-care playlet with many elementary school students, to promote caring for butterflies in Hong Kong.

In the butterfly-care playlet, Kandy and C AllStar became connoisseurs who are quite familiar with the butterflies in Hong Kong. They introduced special butterflies in Hong Kong to more than one hundred elementary school students, and vied to be the “butterfly experts” of the special butterfly species they chose. Kandy’s “Tuxedo Mask” showed up with a “Tuxedo” style, which is the smallest papilio worldwide with rare transparent wings, and also a nationally conserved species. Jase, a member of C AllStar, presented Danaus genutia with a tiger pattern covering its body, very brave and fierce. Another band member, Andy, introduced the cyrestis thyodamas with a map pattern on its body, which is hailed as the “King of Map” in the butterfly community. King introduced kallima inachus, which seems to be a withered leaf when its wings are folded. The delias pasithoe introduced by On Chan features bright colours and an auspicious name, which even “greeted” the attendees on site. The butterflies introduced by all the “butterfly ambassadors” were really special and impressive, and the ambassadors also took pictures of their “butterflies” on site, calling on citizens to upload their pictures to the campaign website in order to map out a butterfly-caring city.

“Butterfly Ambassador” Kandy and C AllStar called for butterfly appreciation

Kandy and C AllStar felt quite honoured to be “Butterfly Ambassadors”, and frankly said that they didn’t previously know much about butterflies in Hong Kong. The knowledge of special butterflies of Hong Kong introduced in the playlet was taught by the campaign butterfly experts. Kandy said: “Hong Kong is home to more than 260 butterfly species, which is one-tenth the total for China and more than the total number of species in Japan and the UK. I learned these figures when earning my butterfly ambassadorship, and I sincerely hope that more Hong Kong citizens will contribute to butterfly conservation.” Kandy believes that all girls will love these beautiful butterflies, so she was confident that the promotion of butterfly conservation won’t be a problem.

The four members of C AllStar compared butterflies to beautiful ladies: “They badly need our protection!” They said that through their ambassadorship, they had found there are many rare and special butterfly species in Hong Kong, and they were eager to invite all citizens to appreciate butterflies. “Many butterflies have begun to dance in community parks, which is very convenient for our butterfly appreciation. Let’s go out to meet them.” On Chan, a member of C AllStar, even said that he would invite his fans to start a butterfly appreciation journey together.

100 students built a huge butterfly-shaped jigsaw with butterfly-care pictures

The butterfly-care map included approximately 1,000 participants. At today’s event, a huge butterfly-shaped jigsaw was built using butterfly-care pictures provided by citizens, with 100 students from the Baptist Lui Ming Choi Primary School, the Yaumati Catholic Primary School and the Pui Ching Primary School participating in the activity. Liu Yunqi, a primary 3 student from the Baptist Lui Ming Choi Primary School, had uploaded his butterfly-care picture, and said: “I’m really delighted that my work is part of the butterfly-care map.” He will encourage more friends to participate in the butterfly-care activity and work together with them to protect butterflies. Yang Ningxi, another primary 3 student, expected more people will show concern for butterflies in Hong Kong: “Butterflies are very small and fragile, and if we fail to protect them, they may become extinct.” After the ceremony, Liu Yunqi, Yang Ningxi and other students campaigned on the street to call on citizens to provide support to “7.14 We Love Butterflies”.

Follow the butterfly appreciation routes to meet the special butterflies in Hong Kong

Six butterfly appreciation routes were specially introduced to go with the “7.14 We Love Butterflies” campaign – mountaintops, Shing Mun Country Park, Kowloon Park, Pak Tam Chung in Sai Kung, Tai Po Kau and Tung Chung Shan Tau Village. All these butterfly appreciation routes feature easy access and availability of various special butterfly species. Dr. Man Chi-sum, CEO of Green Power, said: “Butterfly appreciation routes have different themes, for example, the mountaintop is the optimal route for appreciation of montane butterflies, and Shing Mun Country Park for winter butterflies in the cold season and Kowloon Park for common butterflies. We hope that the promotion of a butterfly appreciation culture will become an important step for butterfly conservation in Hong Kong.” For details about the six butterfly appreciation routes, please visit www.shell-greenpower.net.

Editor’s Notes

“7.14 We Love Butterflies Day”

Hong Kong is home to more than 260 butterfly species falling into 11 families, which is one-tenth the total for China. With this high species density, Hong Kong is described as a "butterfly paradise". Every July 14 is scheduled as “7.14 We Love Butterflies Day”. This is the first specific day scheduled for conservation and protection of individual wildlife species in Hong Kong. As in previous years, a series of activities will be held to call on citizens to care for butterflies in Hong Kong.

This year, at the “7.14 We Love Butterflies Day” themed “Map Out for Our Butterfly City”, citizens uploaded butterfly-care pictures to the campaign website, including butterfly photos, happy moments during butterfly appreciation or their photos with Butterfly Bands, and the program automatically pieced together the pictures into a map of Hong Kong, symbolising that we all love butterflies. Singer Kandy and Band C AllStar were specially invited to the campaign as “Butterfly Ambassadors”. They worked with 100 students to build a huge butterfly-shaped jigsaw, and performed a butterfly-care playlet with many elementary school students, to promote caring for butterflies in Hong Kong. The campaign partnered with Chocolate Rain, a renowned local creation brand, to translate Fatina into butterflies. Citizens who upload a butterfly-care picture will receive a We Love Butterflies x Chocolate Rain Butterfly Card Holder. Up to now, approximately 1,000 citizens have uploaded their pictures.

Celebrities from all walks of life took the lead to upload their butterfly-care pictures to contribute to the butterfly-care map, as a token of support for “7.14 We Love Butterflies”, including Mr. Wong Kam-sing, JP, Secretary for the Environment Bureau of Hong Kong, Bernard Charnwut Chan, JP, Executive Council of Hong Kong, Prudence Mak, design director of Chocolate Rain, director Fire Lee, Sammy Leung, Kandy and C AllStar.

In addition, citizens who registered online could ask for a Butterfly Band, in one of the three colours available. Wearing the band on “7.14 We Love Butterflies Day” is a heartfelt token of butterfly care in Hong Kong.

For the “We Love Butterflies x Chocolate Rain Butterfly Card Holder” and the “We Love Butterflies Hand Band”, please visit: www.shell-greenpower.net

Facebook: search “We Love Butterflies-Butterfly Care”.

Media inquiry:

• Cammy So (Green Power):

           3961 0217 (office hours) or

           9746 1729 (non-office- hours)

• Maggie Lam (Shell Hong Kong Limited):
  
  2506 7341(office hours) or

        9329 1495 (non-office- hours)

The campaign-related pictures and images in this press release can be downloaded by visiting www.fotop.net (User Name: greenpower; Password: gpgpgp).