Hong Kong conservationists call for protection of old Chinese banyan tree, historical dispensary in Kowloon City
- Conservancy Association calls for Urban Renewal Authority to avoid transplanting 12-metre-tall Chinese banyan, says efforts could harm its ability to absorb nutrients
- Groups also urges government to protect Lee Kee Memorial Dispensary, citing building’s ‘huge importance to Kowloon City’s development’, social history
An old Chinese banyan tree and a historical dispensary in Kowloon City are too valuable to be relocated or removed as the result of a redevelopment project and should be preserved where they are, a Hong Kong conservation group has said.
The 12-metre-tall Chinese banyan has stood in front of the Lee Kee Memorial Dispensary in Kowloon City for about six decades. With an umbrella-shaped crown spreading out for 10 metres and aerial roots dangling down from the branches, the tree generously overshadows passers-by during the summer heat and is also a mini-habitat for birds.
“It is really rare to have a tree like this in an urban area like Kowloon City. The tree serves as a landmark of the district,” said Ken So Kwok-yin, director of the Conservancy Association and a certified tree worker.
The tree and the dispensary are located at the edge of a redevelopment site marked out by the Urban Renewal Authority as part of its latest project.
Announced in May, the HK$15 billion (US$1.9 billion) scheme will redevelop the area between Carpenter Road and Nga Tsin Wai Road, relocating 1,600 households from aged buildings and producing 4,350 flats over 15 years.
While the authority had indicated that it planned to transplant some trees in the area for preservation, So said he did not consider the plan ideal, explaining that it involved trimming the Chinese banyan’s roots and the crown, which would harm its ability to absorb nutrients.