This paper is published in:
Wong, C.Y.
2017. Change of Forest Role and the
Approach of Management in Hong Kong. Proceeding of 2nd Asia Pacific Urban
Forestry Meeting. Food and Agriculture Organization, UN
 |
Author presenting at 2nd APUFM, FAO - Seoul 2017
筆者於聯合國粮農組織第二屆亞太城市林務會議 - 首爾 2017 |
Change of Forest Role and the Approach of Management in Hong Kong
(香港的森林角色及管理方針的演變)
Chiky, Cheuk Yuet
WONG
MPhil.,
BSc., ISA BCMA, TRAQ
President,
International Society of Arboriculture Hong Kong Chapter
ABSTRACT
Hong
Kong has experienced decades of rampant deforestation since the 17th
century. Since the end of WWII,
intensive tree replanting was in place.
Different objectives of reforestation were set along the change of the
society’s needs. The authorities of tree
planting and management were also established and reformed according to the
role change of the urban forest. In
recent years tree accidents due to aging and diseased trees have drawn much
attention from the public. Increased
expectation on tree management such as professionalism of tree practitioners as
well as occupational safety has initiated a revolution of urban tree management
in the city. The movement was initiated
by the government with the active involvement of professional bodies, trade
union and industrial chamber. Their
elevated engagement to steer arboricultural trainings of different levels,
industrial regulations, research backup, as well as community-driven programmes
will definitely write a new page of urban forestry of this densely-populated
city.
Keywords:
Reforestation, Urban Forestry, Tree Management, Hong Kong
-
P.O. Box 83282 Concorde Road Post Office, Hong Kong
Background of Hong
Kong and its Vegetation
Hong
Kong (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, HKSAR.
Latitude 22° 8´ North and 22° 35´ North,
Longitude 113° 49´ East and 114° 31´ East) is located in
southern China, adjoining Guangdong Province.
There is just more than 1,100 sq. km of land,
in contrast with approximately 1,655 sq. km of waters.
With 60% of the land being hilly (the tallest
hill heighted almost 1,000m) or on steep slopes, and a population of over 7.3
million, dense built-up area is confined within 25% of land, making Hong Kong one
of the most congested cities in the world (Figure in 2015
).
Located
just south of the Tropic of Cancer, climate of Hong Kong is sub-tropical with
relatively clear seasonal characters.
The mean temperature in 2016 was 23.6 degree Celsius, maximum
temperature being 35.6 degree Celsius in July and minimum being 3.1 degree
Celsius in January.
Owing to the seasonal
monsoon from the shore, humidity is relatively high (relative humidity average
was 81% in 2016).
There is relatively frequent and intense precipitation
with total rainfall of over 3,000mm in 2016, concentrated between May and September.
Other than thunderstorm, there is also impact
from tropical cyclones (“Typhoons”) that usually happened near end of summer between
August and October
.
Nine typhoons impacting Hong Kong were
recorded in 2016 and most of them are associated with heavy and widespread rain.
The prevailing wind direction is northeast,
however, concentrated during drier months in winters.
Southerly wind dominates in summers.
With
such humid climate, the original vegetation type of the region was suggested to
be Southern China Coastal Tropical Rain Forest
.
The remnant of this, however, is hardly be
traced due to continuous human disturbance.
Majority of the vegetation on countryside of Hong Kong was
re-established after WWII and the existing top succession type is secondary
forest.
Despite intensive interference,
the current local vegetation is high in diversity.
There are over 3,300 species of vascular
plants (more than 2,000 being indigenous),
of which over 450 species are trees.
Native trees comprise over 300 species.
There are far exceeding 130 tree species, of which over 40 are natives, being
commonly planted
in
the urban area, reflecting high diversity.
Types of Urban Forest in Hong Kong
As a
metropolis with such a large population size but limited land area, most of the
vegetated area within Hong Kong could be reached within 1-hour travel from the
built-up areas and is regarded as urban forest in the context of this paper
.
With this definition, urban forest in
Hong Kong includes the following major vegetation types:
1.
Peri-urban forests and plantation woodlands
(e.g. country parks)
There are 443 sq. km of country parks and
conserved land area in Hong Kong, covering approx. 40% of the territory
area.
Functions of these areas include
water catchment, recreation, education, and nature conservation.
There are 24 country parks and 22 special
areas (particular spots for nature conservation with size from 0.06 ha to 460
ha
),
scattering all over Hong Kong.
It takes
less than an hour for any citizen to reach one of the country parks.
All country parks are opened all year round free-of-charge.
2.
City parks
Most of the parks within urban area are opened to public free-of-charge. There are over 30 landmark district parks
among the 18 districts of the territory.
While most of the parks provide general recreation and leisure
facilities, some of them serve specific functions or are thematic such as
botanic garden, zoo, Chinese landscape, special sport grounds and heritage
conservation.
3.
Pocket parks, gardens and amenity areas with
trees
Other than landmark district parks, there
are uncountable numbers of smaller public parks and gardens within the dense
built area. Most of them are planted
with trees. The smallest amenity areas may
be just a tiny pocket of 10 sq. m in size.
This category also includes gardens and parks within private / leased
lands. Trees on private lands also
contribute much to the greenery of Hong Kong.
Although most of them has restriction on access, the tree canopy does
contribute lowering the temperature of the dense city and improving the
landscape that is shared amongst the public.
Some private gardens (e.g. theme parks) could be accessed with
permission or fees.
4.
Roadside
planting
This refers to tree planting along public or restricted roads, either in
tree pits or strip pieces of planting beds.
5.
Other
green spaces with trees
This includes, but not limited to, abandoned / undeveloped lands,
agricultural plots, river banks, mangroves, cemeteries, atriums/podium/roof
gardens
and village areas.
Some of the land may
be privately-owned.
History of Urban Forestry in Hong Kong
Development
of Hong Kong started rapidly after WWII, but the destruction of natural
habitats for fire wood had been much earlier.
It is believed that large-scale deforestation began from the 17
th
century, when more villagers inhabited the hillside.
Deforestation was nearly completed after the 1840s,
when available literature describes the local landscape as ‘barren’ or ‘bare’
,
except some remnants of isolated forests
.
After
British establishing its colony in Hong Kong, large-scale reforestation with
record began since 1880.
It was recorded
in late 1930s that there were about 47 sq. km of plantation on the Hong Kong
Island alone.
However, reforestation
during that period focused mainly on fuel wood production
.
It is believed that some levels of landscape
improvement and conservation appeared at the same time since majority of the
British or rich foreigners lived on mid-hills of Hong Kong Island.
It is difficult to refer those planting
efforts as urban tree planting due to the small population at that time
(population size 849,800 in 1931)
.
The
real urban forest establishment in Hong Kong happened after the end of WWII in 1945,
when most original plantations were cleared during Japanese occupation
.
With rapid population expansion in the few
years afterwards (2,200,000 in 1950 after civil war in Mainland China
),
the government started to increase the number and volume of reservoirs in the
countryside
.
Massive and systematic tree plantings, led by
then Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries were implemented around
reservoirs and along water catchments for erosion control since 1953 (the 4
major plantation zones are at Tai Lam, Shing Mun, Tai Po Kau and Shek Pik with
total area of 68.5 sq. km).
Most of the
current 24 country parks are in fact located around reservoirs and the
associated water catchments (total plantation area >125 sq. km).
All country parks are regulated under the Country
Park Ordinance promulgated since 1976 and the first country park was
established in 1977
.
During that time, country parks were managed
under the renamed Agriculture and Fisheries Department (AFD).
After decades of development and change of
planting approach from erosion control to conservation, country parks and
conservation issues are now under the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation
Department (AFCD).
The name change also
reveals the shifting of focus in the establishment and management of forest in
the countryside.
In
contrast with countryside, urban parks were planned and managed under the then Urban
Services Department (USD) established since 1960. That department (formerly Sanitary
Department) was a general municipal department which served not only greenery,
but also sanitary, local welfare, leisure and sports issues. Other than parks, systematic urban planting
had not commenced until the setting up of urban greening committee under Urban
Council and referencing to successfully-established new towns (with planned
greenery) since 1970s. USD was later restructured in 2000 to the
current Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), which manages all
public parks, gardens, roadside trees and since 2004, the registration of Old
and Valuable Trees (OVTs). With hygiene matters
excluded, the function of LCSD still covers services other than greenery.
Government Structure in Tree Management
Country
parks and city parks/gardens have made up a large portion of the city greenery,
but there is another portion of greenery which is also significant.
Due to the hilly terrain in most part of Hong
Kong, there has been increasing numbers of modified slopes along the
development of the territory.
Such
engineered slopes, most commonly vegetated with trees, are currently under the
maintenance of various public works departments such as Drainage Department,
Highway Department, Housing Department, Water Services Department, etc.
Engineered slopes within other government
venues are maintained by another department – Architectural Services Department
.
All these departments do maintain all the
trees on their slopes.
Such
decentralized arrangement of tree management is termed “Integrated Approach on
Tree Management” by the HKSAR Government
.
There was no supervising department above these
tree-managing departments until the setting up of Tree Management Office (TMO)
in 2009.
TMO, under Greening, Landscape
and Tree Management Section (GLTMS) of Development Bureau, though so named,
does not have actual management operation on urban trees.
Instead, it serves as a policy making and
consulting unit on tree issues raised by other governmental departments.
Inherited
from government development on municipal services, there are currently 3 main streams/grades
of government officers responsible for tree management under the above
structure. They are:
1.
Forestry Officer under the system of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department – their duties cover
conservation, management of country park and other conserved areas, etc.
2.
Leisure Service Officer under the system of
Leisure and Cultural Services Department – their duties cover diverse services
including sports, recreation, cultural activities, as well as park and street
tree management.
3.
Landscape Architect under the system of public
works departments – their duties include planning, design and upkeeping of
urban landscape within government premises.
Various
government departments appoint staff with reference to these grade(s) and
associated duties for handling tree issues.
On the other hand, officers from the above 3 systems would be seconded
to other departments to input support and advise on tree-related issues.
Manpower on Tree Works
Most
of the tree planting and maintenance works in Hong Kong is conducted by
gardeners or landscape contractors.
They
not only work on trees on private lands, but also significant amount of trees
from the public sector as works are contracted out by the government.
Currently there are approved lists of
landscape contractors for public works
,
but there are in fact not much technical requirement on qualifications and
skill levels of manpower.
Much of the
tree planting and maintenance work is still delivered by gardeners or untrained
casual labours – instead of professionals with specific skill, regardless of
the increased awareness on tree care in recent years.
Attempts have been made from the landscape
industry to register “landscape works” (including tree works) as a recognized
trade under the construction industry.
However,
this attempt was of no avail and those workers are still regarded as casual and
unskilled labours.
Tree Accidents
In
recent 10 years, there have been several fatal tree accidents (Table 1) which
raised the awareness of the public on proper tree management. After a fatal accident in 2008 that was
widely covered by media, the government established the TMO according a
specific task force’s recommendations, in response to the comment of the
Coroner’s Court. Since establishment,
TMO has promulgated various guidelines and instructions to government
departments on tree risk assessment and management. Though there is no formal ordinance regulating
tree professional practice, tree-management departments generally follow the
direction suggested by GLMTS/TMO.
Table 1.
Record of tree fatal accident from 2008 to 2017
Date
|
Location
|
Planter
type
|
Failure
type
|
Tree
owner
|
Victim
|
27/8/2008
|
Stanley
|
Street
pit
|
Trunk
|
Government
|
1
pedestrian
|
14/6/2010
|
Shatin
|
Slope
|
Branch
|
Government
|
1 cyclist
|
11/10/2012
|
Tai
Po
|
Abandon
land
|
Branch
|
Government
|
1
passenger in truck
|
14/8/2014
|
Mid-level
|
Slope
|
Whole tree
|
Private
|
1 pregnant pedestrian
|
Among
the 4 fatal accidents, 3 of the trees involved were under the maintenance of
the government.
Pressure had been put
solely on the municipal units who were responsible for the trees, until the
accident in 2014 in which a tree failed and killed a pregnant woman.
The tree was identified to be under the
management of a private property.
It led
to increased awareness of the general public in taking care of trees within
their premises.
Other than fatal
accidents, there have been around 80 reported cases of tree failure resulting
in injury (20 nos.) and/or property damage (62 nos.) between 2013 and 2015
.
In order
to offer guidelines and professional advice on tree management, specially to
property owners, GLTMS compiled the first comprehensive tree management handbook
in 2016
.
The handbook also stated clearly the legal
responsibility of tree owners and management agencies.
The document also forms part of the Code of
Practice on Building Management and Maintenance under the Building Management
Ordinance in order to strengthen the regulation.
Tree Works and Occupational Safety
There
has been no specific regulation on the training or qualification of tree workers,
other than the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Ordinance, which generally
applies to all industry. Gardeners and
casual labours had been the major work force in tree works. However, the quality of works such as pruning
varies and malpractice was commonly reported.
As
tree works are quite specific in nature and procedure, general OSH instructions
such as Works at Height may not be applicable or feasible. For example, working platform or scaffolding
is not applicable to most scenarios for tree pruning, while aerial lift may not
be able to reach the tree or the tree part.
Tools for tree works such as chainsaw are also not regulated in Hong
Kong currently. There are numerous cases
of accident in the course of tree works and some results in serious injuries or
even death (Table 2).
Table
2. Reported accidents/incidents related to tree works between 2007 and April
2016
Date
|
Victim
|
Type of
injury/Incident
|
Associated
tools / procedure
|
2007/11/21
|
Worker
|
Head injury
|
Climbing
|
2008/10/20
|
Worker
|
Multiple injuries
|
Climbing,
improper PPE
|
2009/06/26
|
Worker
|
Head injury
|
Climbing
|
2009/10/18
|
Worker
|
Head injury
|
Ladder
|
2010/10/09
|
Worker
|
Aerial trap
|
Aerial
platform
|
2010/10/21
|
Worker
|
Head injury
|
Improper
PPE
|
2011/10/06
|
Worker
|
Bone fracture
|
Ladder
|
2012/02/27
|
Worker
|
Fatal
|
Climbing
|
2012/12/17
|
Worker
|
Head injury
|
Improper
PPE
|
2013/08/07
|
Worker
|
Burn injury
|
Gasoline
|
2014/03/30
|
Worker
|
Limb injury
|
Chainsaw
|
2016/04/28
|
Worker
|
Head injury
|
Risk
assessment before works
|
Recent Movements in Urban Forestry
There
is no tree ordinance in Hong Kong.
Most
of the trees in the territory are currently protected via a few legislations in
relation to tree protection, such as Forests and Countryside Ordinance (Cap.
96) for government lands, Country park Ordinance (Cap. 208) for Country parks,
Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) and Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210) for general unlawful
acts.
Interference on public trees
without permission is illegal.
On the
other hand, trees on most private (leased) lands are protected by
administration means through relevant terms in the lease.
Therefore, in most scenarios any interference
on trees shall be approved by the government.
In recent years, the government issued or updated numerous technical
circular and practice notes
,
entailing and emphasising requirements on arboriculture training of competent
persons in handling such applications and supervising tree works.
Due
to previous fatal accidents, tree risk assessment has become the most concerned
element on tree management.
There has
been continuous effort between the government and industry on increasing the number
of trained or accredited competent persons who are qualified to conduct tree
risk assessment.
Other than
accreditations provided by international professional organizations such as
Tree Risk Assessment Qualification by the International Society of Arboriculture
(ISA), a wide range of international and local qualifications including short,
non-assessment-based courses are also recognized by the government
.
With
the plantation role shifting from erosion control and fire break to
conservation, increasing efforts are made since 1980s to increase the diversity
of existing forest through enrichment planting.
Native species were planted among established exotic plantations, as
advocated by local green groups.
For new
plantation in infrastructure projects, matrix of exotics and natives also
became popular since the 1990s.
Plantation
Enrichment Project (PEP), rolled out in 2009, further reinforce the effort in
replacing aging exotic trees.
The same
approach was later extended to non-Country park plantations
.
With the coverage of Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) extended to Hong Kong SAR since 2011 and formulation of
city-level Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) in 2016, the
conservation role of urban forest has become distant and that would reshape the
management approach and increase emphasis on knowledge acquisition.
Capacity Building
With
increasing awareness of tree care, the number of tree-related accidents is also
on the rise.
There has been a movement
within the industry calling out to improve the quality and training of tree
care practitioners.
The first batch of
Certified Arborists (CAs) of ISA – a certification through examination - was
practising in Hong Kong since mid-2000s, together with Certified Tree Worker –
Climber Specialists (CTW-CS).
After more
than 10 years’ development, there are more than 1,000 CAs and approx. 100
CTW-CS in Hong Kong by May 2017
(Table 3).
CA, being one of the earliest
credentials in arboriculture introduced to Hong Kong, has become a recognized
tree professional certification by the government.
Significant number of CAs are government
officers, while another major portion is from practitioners working in the
private sector providing services to government contracts, as well as private
clients such as properties management, contractor, etc.
Table 3. Number of ISA/ISAHK’s credential holders in Hong
Kong (as at 8 May 2017)
Certification/Qualification
|
Issuing authority
|
Requirement(s)
|
No.
|
Certified
Arborist (CA)
|
ISA
|
3 years experience in arboriculture /
arboriculture degree + 1-2 years experience
|
1012
|
CA Municipal
Specialist (MS)
|
ISA
|
CA + 3 years experience in urban tree management
|
31
|
Board
Certified Master Arborist (BCMA)
|
ISA
|
CA + ^sufficient points in experience, formal
education, related credential
|
11
|
Tree Risk
Assessment Qualified
(TRAQ)
|
ISA
|
Recognized credentials or formal academic training
|
221
|
Certified
Tree Worker Climber Specialist (CTW-CS)
|
ISA
|
1.5 years tree climbing experience +
First-aid, CPR, aerial rescue training
|
93
|
*Qualified
Chainsaw and Pruning (Ground) Technician (QCPT)
|
ISAHK
|
1.5 years chainsaw operation experience
|
26
|
*Programme launched in 2015; ^Refer to
ISA’s website (www.isa-arbor.com)
|
With
rapidly increasing demand since the early 2010s, there has also been growing
number of arboriculture educational programmes provided by local institutions and
training organizations. While most of
the programmes are part-time basis for practitioners or beginners who are
interested in the industry, full time vocational training programmes targeted at
high school graduates appeared first in 2014 (Table 4). All these programmes, except the higher
diploma programme, are provided by self-financing institutions, however.
Table 4. List of full-time academic programme related to
arboriculture.
Academic programme
|
Institution
|
Type /*QF Level
|
Since
|
Conservation
and Tree Management
|
Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education
|
Higher Diploma / 4
|
2014
|
^Horticulture
and Landscape Management
|
Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong
|
Bachelor / 5
|
2015
|
Tree
Management
|
Hong Kong Baptist University, College of International
Education
|
Associate Degree / 4
|
2015
|
*QF: Qualification Framework of Hong Kong
^Part of the admissions is subsidized by the government though it is offered by
a self-financing institution
Since
more than 30 years ago, the government has organized trainings to staff
managing trees. However, as it is a known
practice for government officers to shift roles within the same department
every several years. It happened
frequently that the trained officers were moved to positions not related to
trees while the new staff would pick up tree duties without prior trainings in
trees. Currently there is still no
mandatory academic requirement on arboriculture / urban forestry for applicants
to tree-related governmental posts.
As
the urban forestry industry continues to develop in Hong Kong, queries on the
existing tree management system as well as professionalism
and career prospects of qualified practitioners are on the rise.
In 2016 the GLTMS took the lead to consult various
organizations in the industry (including ISA Hong Kong Chapter, trade unions
and industry chambers) and to lay out a professional development route map.
There are two parallel pathways agreed
between the industry and the government on quality enhancement of
arboricultural services:
1.
Standardization of training through the
establishment of Qualification Framework (QF) for the Horticulture and Arboriculture
Industry as a whole;
2.
Definition of roles and responsibilities, and
also regulation on practitioners, to be developed within a newly formed collaborative
industrial organization – Horticulture and Arboriculture Trade Confederation
(HATC).
The
first path is steered by the Education Bureau of the government and the process
is targeted to be completed within 2 years (by 2019). The second path is led by the industry with
the collaboration of different stakeholder groups. A major objective is to formulate an
industrial plan for the long-term professional development and enhancement of tree
management quality. At the same time,
the government is conducting a manpower survey within the arboriculture and
horticulture sectors, which ever share notable resources in the territory. The results will definitely help in planning
of resources and further development of urban tree management.
Research
Proper
tree management depends on our understanding of trees – their biology,
physiology and response to environmental factors. Available data on tree species either local
or planted in Hong Kong is very limited and there exists large knowledge gaps
regarding tree management. Currently most
of the scientific research is conducted by students and teaching staff of
subsidized tertiary institutions. There
are pieces of small-scale research on urban forestry or tree management, but
the scale is piecemeal and popularity is far lagging behind from that of other
areas such as biotechnology, engineering and environmental science. In fact there is no academic programme on
arboriculture or urban tree management offered by these subsidized
institutions. All existing programmes
are vocational and therefore without strong research backup.
Community Involvement
The
government has played a very active role in urban forest management, from large-scale
plantations at the beginning to laying down direction on tree risk management
in recent years.
However, relatively
little involvement from the community has been incubated and resources had been
heavily relied on the government.
The
earliest large-scale community involvement on urban forestry was the annual public
tree planting campaign organized by the government since 1957.
This task-base event has continued to be
popular among the public and had attracted more than 10,000 citizens to take
part in recent years.
Corporate
Afforestation Scheme since 1998 was another attempt to get community involved
in the process of planting as well as maintenance (a short term for 3 years
before handing over to the government).
The above schemes were led by AFCD with increased involvement of the
public from merely planting to maintenance.
The upgraded version of Plantation Enrichment Project (also under AFCD)
since 2016 further enhances the involvement of the community through engaging
non-profit organizations from planning, through planting to management stages
for at least 5 years
.
This is the first well-structured public
forest management programme in Hong Kong.
Other
than country parks, the government has launched several Greening Master Plan
(GMP) projects on a phase-by-phase basis covering major built areas of Hong
Kong since 2004
.
The main objective of the projects is to
increase greenery coverage in built-up areas and do not form additional parks
or gardens.
Systematic consultation to
local communities at the planning stage has been the main community
involvement, though there were some opportunities for community planting in
localized areas.
Other
than government-led programmes, some local non-profit organizations have also
initiated tree planting programmes within the territory.
A non-profit-led urban forestry programme
with the widest community involvement is a donation scheme through a locally
popular E-payment system.
Part of the
transactions are donated to planting (trees and other plants) in the city
.
Benefited from the popularity and convenience
of the payment system, this funded-planting programme has drawn the
participation of a large number of people.
Maintenance of the plantings is handed back to the venue owners.
Involvement of the citizens is confined to
payment, awareness to tree conservation and greening is in doubt but the
programme has made a record in term of quantitative involvement.
With
a few exceptions of particular nature reserves or private lands with
conservation concerns
,
virtually there is no public forest entrusted to community for management, as
happened in other countries such as UK and the US.
Conclusion on the Way Forward
Many
plantations in Hong Kong have reached an age of over 60 years. While woodlands in the countryside can be
further developed with enrichment planting, aging symptoms are not uncommon on many
old trees in the built-up area due to less-favourable growing conditions. As more information is available to the
public, the increased expectation on proper tree management is pressing the
municipal authority to review its management approach. Requests ranged from enhancing conservation
measures, improving professionalism of manpower in delivering arboriculture
services, upgrading standards in tree management and a more transparent system are
diverting a holistic approach in urban forest management.
Notwithstanding
the existing pieces of regulations, it is now a right time to consider a
collective ordinance which comprehensively covers all critical aspects of tree
conservation and management, defining the responsibility and proper practice,
as well as consequence of unlawful acts.
In parallel to this, a review of manpower within the government including
frontline workers, management staff and policy makers, as well as entry requirements
for each position is equally important.
With such enhancement, the government can also review and simplify the
current tree management structure so that resources can be centralized while professionals
can be collectively appointed for making efficient management decisions.
With
increased number of trained persons and clear goal established for urban
forestry, it becomes more practical for the industry to define clearly the
requirements for different levels of practitioners on urban tree management and
related works (e.g. setting tree climbing qualification according to
international standard to be mandatory requirements for tree workers). A review and screening of the existing
various trainings or qualifications shall be conducted to standardize the
competency of practitioners (e.g. aligning training contents as well as the
requirement of refreshing skills and knowledge in areas such as tree risk
assessment and other work skills).
Proper
tree management is linked to accurate and up-to-date scientific data, more
public resources should be allocated to support universities and non-profit
organizations to conduct research on this subject. This would help find solutions to various
tree diseases, improving public safety, improving the vitality of old trees and
provide direction for new tree planting.
With
increased awareness on tree conservation, it is possible to explore partnerships
with non-profits or private stakeholders in tree management
.
Such collaborative models have been adopted
in other countries, allowing increased positive community involvement in urban
forest management and better allocation of public resources.
Urban
forestry is different fundamentally from individual tree management that has
been practised for decades with a single leader – the government.
More expectations on the function of urban
forest imply increased demands on resources.
Successful transition from the existing management system (single task) to
one which will take care of increased services (multi-tasks) depends on innovative
ideas and collaborations among interested groups.
In other words, the society could no longer be
satisfied by the number of planted trees (e.g. 18.8 million trees planted by
different departments from 2001 to 2010)
,
but it would concern more on the quality of urban forest so established.
Daley, P.A. (1970). Man's influence on the vegetation of Hong Kong. In
Anon. The Vegetation of Hong Kong: its Structure and Change: Proceedings of
a Weekend Symposium. Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch), Hong Kong.
pp. 44-55.
