Hong Kong must ‘revolutionise’ tree-planting methods to ensure public safety, reduce property damage, experts say as second possible storm looms
- Experts say government must opt for better quality soil and use more when planting trees in high-density areas to prevent them becoming vulnerable to storms
- ‘We were very lucky that Super Typhoon Saola was not that serious, or we could have lost a lot more trees,’ one scholar adds
Hong Kong must “revolutionise” how trees are planted to prevent thousands being felled, as well as reducing property damage risks and ensuring public safety, as a second storm could potentially hit just days after Super Typhoon Saola, experts have said.
“We have to revolutionise the way we plant trees in this high-density environment,” Professor Jim Chi-yung, of the Education University of Hong Kong’s geography and environmental science wing, said on Sunday.
“We were very lucky that Super Typhoon Saola was not that serious, or we could have lost a lot more trees.”
The Hong Kong Observatory on the same day said it could issue a No 1 warning signal on Monday in response to Typhoon Haikui, only days after Saola felled 1,545 trees across the city.
The academic said the damage to local trees had been minimal as the typhoon was less fierce than expected and Mangkhut in 2018 had wiped out about 100,000 of the city’s “weak trees”.
