Some tourists have been camping, cooking over open fires and removing marine creatures washed ashore in a Unesco-listed geopark in Hong Kong, potentially violating park rules and posing an ecological threat, the Post has found.

Visitors who talked to the Post on Saturday were also split about how the park could be better protected – some suggested crowd control measures, while others questioned how authorities could balance such measures with the tourism experience.

The Post’s visit followed Greenpeace’s call for the government to protect outlying islands after thousands of tourists flocked to Sharp Island, also known as Kiu Tsui Chau, during the first day of the National Day “golden week” break, causing damage to the environment including corals.

The Post visited the island in Sai Kung Inner Sea, listed as a Unesco Global Geopark, on Saturday morning and found about 100 visitors on the beach and a tombolo at noon.

Among them, a group of 10 tourists from Panyu in Guangdong province said they had been camping on the island for two nights and had cooked instant noodles and luncheon meat for meals with a portable gas stove.

“We came here because it’s free and there are no wild boars around,” said a man surnamed Leung, who has camped on Sharp Island for two nights with his family and friends.

Greenpeace said on Friday that 4,602 people had landed on Sharp Island on October 1, the third day of the “golden week” holiday, posing a threat to the ecologically sensitive area.