A World Wetlands Day 2011 celebration ceremony was staged at Hong Kong Wetland Park on Saturday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands.

The Hong Kong Wetland Park is holding a series of educational and promotional activities for four consecutive months to celebrate World Wetlands Day and deepen public understanding of wetland conservation.

Such activities included a funfair, guided tours, an inter- school bird race, a storytelling competition and workshops.

"Since last November when bird watching season kicked off, the Wetland Park has organized an array of exciting activities," Alan Wong, the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said at the celebration ceremony, adding" they were very well received, drawing over 8,000 participants."

World Wetlands Day marks the anniversary of the signing of Convention on Wetlands on Feb. 2, 1971- an international effort to protect valuable wetlands around the world.

The Hong Kong Wetland Park, located in northern Hong Kong, attracts a large variety of endangered birds such as black-faced spoonbills, falcated ducks and eurasian curlews with its extensive area of freshwater marshes. The best time for bird watching is when migratory birds arrive in the Wetland Park every winter.

As the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals has declared 2011 as the Year of the Bat, the Wetland Park will organize origami and badge-making workshops with bats as the theme during Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.

A musical based on a love story between two Black-faced Spoonbills will also be staged during the festive period.