| 8.1 |
The beautiful beaches
of Hong Kong are visited by thousands
of visitors each year. Though the
bacteriological water quality of beaches
has improved considerably in recent
years, the cleanliness of a beach
is more often related to the visual
impact. Floating refuse not only causes
nuisance to beach bathers but it also
affects marine traffic. Hence cleaning
up floating refuse at beaches is of
vital importance.
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| 8.2 |
Floating refuse at sea
could originate from shipwrecks, or
other marine accidents. The shark
prevention nets installed at the beaches
trapped some of the floating refuse
drifted from the sea. When they are
washed ashore or drifted into the
bathing area, they are collected by
the LCSD. Within the boomed bathing
area, the floating refuse is removed
by beach staff with the aid of a catamaran
or "seacat" on a regular
basis. For those landed on the beach
area, daily collection is carried
out by the contract cleansing staff
of the LCSD.
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| 8.3 |
As floating refuse could
be brought in by tide and current,
as well as affected by wind, there
is seasonal variation in the amount
of floating refuse collected at the
beaches. The greatest quantity of
floating refuse was collected at most
of the beaches in July to August (Appendix
2). This may be related to the adverse
weather and prevailing wind direction
in both months.
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| 8.4 |
The total amount of
floating refuse collected at the gazetted
beaches has increased by 10% in 2001
compared with 2000. In general, the
amount of refuse collected at beaches
on the east of Hong Kong Island was
greater than those collected at beaches
in the New Territories (Figure 8.1).
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Figure
8.1 Amount of floating
refuse collected at gazetted beaches
in 2001
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| 8.5 |
In order to enhance
public awareness and community participation
in environmental protection, various
activities had been organized by both
the government and the private sectors
to clean up our beaches.
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