Many trees have failed in typhoons in HK over the years. Most people would regard that as a natural phenomenon. However, planting large trees in small planting pits, and lack of proper pruning regularly will contribute to tree failure in public places. Conducting inspection alone only records the event. What we need is a general understanding of why trees perform so poorly in HK.
Average citizens in HK, especially those living in urban areas, care little for trees. Tree care is not commonly on the agenda of management meetings. One reason is that the Government hasn’t really emphasized the benefits of tree planting, such as air quality improvement, energy saving, flash flood prevention, etc. to the public. What the Tree Management Office regularly promotes is tree risks. This can be seen on their website, with very little on the benefits of trees. Therefore, trees, in the average mind of local citizen, are regarded as strangers and full of danger. Citizens are in a way directed to find out tree risks rather than their benefits. This is a discouraging aspect of tree planting.
Besides, management policies and legislations on trees in HK are not enough. HK has no tree law like in Singapore, or other western countries. However, trees preservation in HK is managed by administrative measures, such as tree removal in development projects. Older, more valuable trees in HK are also protected by administrative requirements, usually written within work contracts. However, trees falling out of this range, like those veteran trees owned by people in private properties, are not protected at all. For example, there are many veteran trees over 100 years old in local villages, and they are left up to the mercy of the person or party that owns them. These trees were planted hundreds of years ago for Feng Shui, food, or medicinal purposes in the past. With urbanization advancing, these veteran trees are neglected. A good example would be the 400 year old Camphor Tree in Sha Tau Kok recently. Since the tree is declining, the villagers who wanted to preserve it have requested Government support, but have obtained minimal help so far. Therefore, the villagers have tried out their own methods but with unprofessional techniques like pesticide dripping, which will damage the tree further, providing another sad story in tree conservation.
Arborists play a big part in tree conservation. In general, arborists are asked to conduct primary tree risk assessment and any subsequent mitigation work in HK via Government and private contracts. This is also the area that the Tree Management Office mostly focuses upon. I would say, when an arborist obtains work in HK, there’s 95% chance it will involve tree risk assessment, and then the mitigation work, such as pruning and removal afterwards. Tree health assessment in HK is nearly non-existent. In HK, no matter what the course title is, it always seems to return to tree risk assessment and risk mitigation, and very little else. This is making the locally trained arborists ignorant of the other 17 domains of arboriculture, like tree selection, plant health care, abiotic disorders, and tree biology. I think I can boldly say that if a HK arborist attends an international conference, he’ll be like a lost child there, unable to communicate with his international counterparts. All this has happened due to the Government policies on tree management in HK in the past. A costly mistake, I feel.
Trees contribute hugely to air quality improvement, energy conservation by shading, and reduction of flash flooding in any green infrastructure. This is because trees are big and they live longer than most other plants. In fact, trees can stay longer in an urban setting than concrete structures, which usually have a design life of around 50 years. Trees can live for hundreds of years if treated properly. Trees also provide sentimental value to the public, and have been shown to increase property prices in western countries. To reap these benefits, we need to change public attitudes towards trees. Education is the key. The Government should reach out to promote the benefits of quality tree planting, instead of emphasizing the risks of trees. Arborists should be involved in tree design instead of giving it all to the landscape designers who are not trained in tree science. Training facilities should promote education in all the domains of arboriculture, instead of just focusing on tree risks. If this tide turns, HK may, one day, reap the benefits of good tree planting.