Poor tree care puts Hong Kong's green heritage at risk, warn experts
Switch the focus from risk management, experts urge, as data reveals problems with hundreds of the city's most valuable specimens
Tree experts have called for reforms to protect the city's green heritage after a South China Morning Post analysis of official data revealed just 214 trees out of 484 rated "old and valuable" were in good or fair condition.
Of the rest, over 100 had obvious wounds and others were riddled with "severe cavities", decay and "signs of pests and disease".
INTERACTIVE: Tracking the health of Hong Kong's trees
Nine government departments are responsible for the 1.7 million urban trees in Hong Kong, including the stonewall banyans and other specimens considered important. But Ken So Kwok-yin, chief executive of the Conservancy Association, said the focus was on risk management rather than tree care.
"We just wait for the tree to really show it's in trouble or becoming a problem, then we do something," he said.
"We'd only do something to prevent it falling. We're not really talking about caring about our trees."