In early 2005 one of the main branches of the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree snapped off and made big news. CA seized the opportunity and urged the Administration for the enactment of a tree ordinance.

CA initiated several campaigns, such as “a leaf for each of us” signature campaign which urged the community to support a tree law and “tree for life” programme to spread public awareness on tree conservation. We also staged a pledging ceremony on Earth Day 2005.

After CA’s first stage of actions, we have collected about 10 000 people’s signatures who vow to support a dedicated tree law, among these tree lovers, there are specialists, academics, civil societies; we also gained cross-party support in the legislature. CA have also initiated a dialogue with developers, they generally support a clearer guideline on tree protection. We are of the view that a tree ordinance should embody the following principles:

1.         Trees, especially mature trees and woodland in the urban area or urban fringes, are important asset and should be protected. Woodland with important ecological or environmental value should be designated as Tree Conservation Area. The Area should not be void even when leased. Trees with unique cultural and historical value should also be protected.

2.         Felling of a tree larger than a certain size should be approved by the responsible Authority. Written approval must be obtained before trees could be felled. Unauthorized tree felling will be penalized.

3.         The process of tree felling application should be transparent. Tree felling larger than a certain scale should be disclosed to the public. The public should be duly consulted.

4.         Planting trees in private lots should be encouraged. If the site is open to the public, the developer or owner should be compensated, such as by transfer of plot ratio.

5.         Management and maintenance works of trees should be performed by qualified arborists. A professional body should be authorized and responsible for maintaining the standards and handling complaints.

6.         As trees are public asset, there should be adequate and genuine community participation in tree protection and devising greening policy.

The Conservancy Association points out that the majority of the public incline towards the enactment of a tree law, the Administration should not procrastinate.   The current tree protection mechanism (if there is one) simply fails to protect trees, even for Old and Valuable Trees. There are quite a few draft ordinances in the community and the Administration can consolidate these as well as learning from overseas examples.

The Conservancy Association will keep on striking for a tree law and further spread the message of tree conservation through public education; we hope that we can gather more momentum in the community to set up a better tree protection regime in Hong Kong.