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Lantau Island has a total area of 147 square kilometres, of which 70 per cent is country parks. Lantau South Country Park and Lantau North Country Park were designated in 1978, while Lantau North (Extension) Country Park was designated in 2008. Spanning 56.4 square kilometres, Lantau South Country Park is the largest country park in Hong Kong.

A total of 12 trails on Lantau Island are managed by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, including nine country trails, two tree walks and one long trail – the Lantau Trail. The 70 km Lantau Trail is divided into 12 stages, starting and ending both in Mui Wo.

 

Ecological
Features

Lantau Island is known for its ecosystem diversity – grasslands, valleys, streams, woodlands, freshwater and brackish wetlands, natural coastlines, etc. are a few to name. The rich ecosystem diversity favours breeding of a wide variety of organisms and supports maintenance of biodiversity. To protect the rare species of Lantau’s flora and fauna, eight Sites of Special Scientific Interest and two Special Areas have been designated on Lantau Island.

Four marine parks can be found on Lantau Island, including the Brothers Marine Park, Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park, Southwest Lantau Marine Park and the South Lantau Marine Park that was designated in 2022.

Different Ecosystems

Pui O Freshwater Wetland

Sunset Peak Grassland

Nei Lak Shan Woodland

Historic Sites and Old Trails

Lantau Island is a place of great archaeological interest. Records of the Antiquities and Monuments Office show that Lantau Island features a total of 50 sites of archaeological interest. Despite further study on the importance of each site is required, Lantau Island is undoubtedly a place with high potential value in terms of historic research. In addition, Lantau Island is home to 74 historic buildings and six declared monuments. Fun Lau Fort built in the Qing Dynasty, for example, is one of the declared monuments on the island.

Apart from buildings of great historic value, Lantau Island also boasts two out of the 14 old trails recorded in the Study on Old Trails in Hong Kong, released by the Antiquities and Monuments Office in 2014. These include the Ngong Ping-Shek Pik Trackway and the Yi O-Fan Lau Boulder Trackway. Other than these two recorded old trails, ancient trails connecting different villages and monasteries can also be found on the island, such as Tung O Ancient Trail, Tung Mui Ancient Trail, Fa Mun Traditional Path, Nam Shan Ancient Trail, etc. These trails provide concrete traces of past human activities, and have gained much popularity among hikers nowadays.

Information: Antiquities and Monuments Office; Study on Old Trails in Hong Kong

Historic Sites & Old Trails on Lantau Island

Tai O Kwan Tai Old Temple
(Grade II Historic Building in Hong Kong)

Fun Lau Fort
(Declared Monument)

Yi O-Fan Lau Boulder Trackway