20th Ocean Park Conservation Day
 
The 20th Ocean Park Conservation Day was a huge success. Held on January 10, 2015, we celebrated our 20 years of spectacular achievements in Asian wildlife conservation through educational booth games and exhibition. The Foundation also introduced the Chinese white dolphin, the giant panda, and the Chinese crested tern, representing threatened animals from the sea, on the land and in the air. Guests were also invited to pledge and protect these wild animals.
 

Ms. Suzanne Gendron (right), Foundation Director of OPCFHK shared achievements of research and conservation projects funded by OPCFHK. Data from research supported by OPCFHK culminated in a government decision to designate up to 80% of the habitat of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Chinese white dolphin subpopulation as part of a wildlife sanctuary. OPCFHK also facilitated the first successful seabird restoration project in China, which helped conserve the critically endangered Chinese crested terns, as well as supported a wide range of giant panda conservation projects.
 
Ms. Judy Chen (left 3), Foundation Chair of OPCFHK; Mr. Leo Kung (right 3), Chairman of Ocean Park; Mr. Wong Kam-sing (left 2), Secretary for the Environment; Ms. Suzanne Gendron (left 1), Foundation Director of OPCFHK and Ms. Michelle Reis (right 2) participated in the celebration ceremony of the 20th Ocean Park Conservation Day to celebrate the conservation achievements of Ocean Park and OPCFHK in the past 20 years. They were holding a banner printed with different animals, signifying that human and wildlife can go hand in hand and live together peacefully.
It was our great honour to have Ms. Michelle Reis to share with us her practices in educating her son about environmental protection. She hoped that her son could support OPCFHK's conservation activities after he grew up. She also expressed her appreciation for OPCFHK's wildlife conservation efforts and hoped that more people could support our work.
 

Ocean Park has donated HK$96.2 million to OPCFHK over the past 19 years. In the 2013/14 fiscal year, HK$13.1 million of donation was received from Ocean Park. The generous support enabled OPCFHK to increase fundings over the years for supporting conservation and scientific projects across Asia. Ocean Park again donated the admission revenues from the entire day to OPCFHK. The success of this year's Conservation Day was reflected in the record-breaking donations of over HK$3.4 million from Ocean Park and various donors. Mr. Leo Kung (right 3), Chairman of Ocean Park; Mr. Tom Mehrmann (right 2), Chief Executive of Ocean Park; Mr. Matthias Li (right 1), Deputy Chief Executive & Chief Financial Controller of Ocean Park presented the donation to Ms. Judy Chen (left 5), Foundation Chair of OPCFHK; Ms. Suzanne Gendron (left 4) and Mr. Richard Tsang (left 2), member of OPCFHK's Board of Trustees, under the witness of Mr. Wong Kam-sing (left 3), Secretary for the Environment and Ms. Michelle Reis (left 1).
 
 
We developed illustrated panels and games to promote wildlife conservation, with a focus on the giant panda, China's National Treasure, the Chinese white dolphin, wildlife symbol of Hong Kong, and the Chinese crested tern, the legendary seabird.
 
Animal-themed face and body paintings and handicrafts, together with our volunteers' narration about wildlife conservation, made the guests' day fun and meaningful!
 

Many guests turned their passion for conservation into action, and promised to make little changes in daily life to protect our oceans.
 
The new "Meeting the Living Fossil' workshop was also popular. Through different horseshoe crab fossils and juvenile horseshoe crabs exhibited, as well as our volunteers' narrations, guests learned more about horseshoe crab's biology, conservation status, and ways to protect this precious species.
 

Guests who joined the "Friends of the Foundation" during the Conservation Day were eligible to enjoy the "Green Potting DIY" workshop for free. They had so much fun making their unique potting with recycled glass bottles, soil and decorations.
 

Through amazing videos and games, guests experienced the breath-taking journeys of the "University Students Sponsorship Programme" participants over the past decade, in order to learn more about our help to the threatened wildlife in Asia.
 

 
 
To express our gratitude to our major corporate sponsors and donors for their continuous support over the past year, we organised the "Donor Appreciation Reception" on the same day. 44 representatives and donors from 22 organisations joined to learn some of our achievements in wildlife conservation across Asia.
 

Two students from the University of Hong Kong, who have joined the University Student Sponsorship Programme in 2014, shared their precious experience and knowledge they gained from the programme with our donors.