The Heritage Trees of Hong Kong

I’ve mentioned before the importance of recognising trees as heritage, both in the context of the beautiful London planes of Shanghai that occasionally get uprooted and destroyed or the various trees of Hong Kong that have been in major danger from the rapacious property developers down there for some time – remember the row over ?????

Anyway, nice to see an article in the Cathay Pacific in-flight magazine Discovery (which I can’t link to) by Sally Robinson and with photos by Gary Ng. Robinson points out a number of interesting things about Hong Kong’s trees: The Burmese rosewood’s (Pterocarpus indices) were planted by the British over 100 years ago and many remain, notably those outside the Central Government Offices in Central; A Register of Old and Valuable Trees was set up in 2004 and lists 500 special trees that need special care;

Those property developers who get so annoyed by trees getting in the way of their grand schemes these days should remember that the last great destroyer of trees in Hong Kong was the occupying Japanese (a group Hong Kong eventually and very happily expelled!!). This destruction of trees by the Japs was partly responsible for Hong Kong getting so many acacias imported from Taiwan.

Among my favourites are the camphors that proliferate in Hong Kong (and, like Banyans, are hated by property developers as they put down large roots) such as those (a picture is included in Discovery) that line Haiphong Road in Tsim Sha Tsui shading the street from the park opposite. Banyans are great and often venerated as spiritual but hated for their roots by the vandals and those sort of government officials (which Hong Kong has a lot of) who like all pathways and roadways to be smooth!! Hollow trees are still common in the New Territories and Stone Wall Trees still common in Kennedy Town and along Hollywood Road. Property developers really hate Stone Wall Trees as they often grow between buildings and become integral to the structures – charming to us mere mortals; annoying  to those hoping to squeeze in a few more square metres of retail space to profit from. Forbes Street, in Kennedy Town, is apparently home to over 20 Stone Wall Trees.

Quite simply think of trees as you would of buildings…they are heritage and it’s important to defend them.

(I should note for balance that Robinson’s article, interesting as it is, makes no mention of the link between Cathay Pacific and the Swire group who own the airline. Swire are also a major property developer who have not been overly kind to trees that get in their way!!)

The marvellous Banyans of Haiphong Road