Root of the problem

FOR HALF A century Mrs Lee gathered every day with her neighbours under three Chinese banyan trees outside her home in Clarence Terrace, Sai Ying Pun. The 15-metre-high banyans were planted by her husband when he was a young boy, 70 years ago, and became the centre of life for the area's residents. From dawn until dusk, people, mostly elderly, came here to exercise, chat and make friends under their branches, which spread out like fans, providing shelter from sun and rain.

But in June the government's jackhammer army came. The trees were uprooted so the road could be repaved as part of a renovation project.

'When my husband was a child, he and other children planted seven banyan trees on the terrace; these three survived everything, even typhoons. They were very beautiful here,' 80-year-old Mrs Lee says.

Teeming with birds, the banyans were also filled with memories. 'Before, our homes were hot, with no windows and lighting,' says the grey-haired Mrs Lee. 'We always sat outside to catch the breeze and my husband would sleep under the trees at night.'

Her sense of loss is shared by many in Hong Kong, according to the University of Hong Kong's Dr Jim Chi-yung, author of Champion Trees In Urban Hong Kong, the city's only record of old and outstanding trees. Since 1995, 54 of the 370 'champion' trees - many more than a century old - have been lost, and 30 badly damaged. 'They are Hong Kong's cultural heritage,' Jim says. 'Many people have been living with the trees for decades. They see the trees daily and [when they lose] them, they feel like [they are] losing their friends.' Jim says most trees suffered because of 'senseless and careless' construction ordered by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). 'The pace of the loss is too alarming to be ignored by any responsible government,' says Jim, who estimates that all the champion trees will be wiped out in 50 years.

The destruction is not just a concern for tree-huggers and residents. Dr Edwin Lau Che-feng, an assistant director of Friends of the Earth in Hong Kong, warns that the cutting of the urban areas' old trees will deteriorate city air quality and increase its temperature. Trees with lots of foliage help reduce temperatures and clean the air, experts say. In the SAR, trees are managed by three main departments: the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department conserve country parks' trees; the Highways Department is responsible for trees along major roads; and the LCSD protects trees in parks and urban areas.