University students save old camphor tree

TAIPEI, Tajiwan -- An old camphor tree over 70 years old in Taipei City was saved by a group of students of the National Taiwan University and nearby residents Saturday when a land developer was about to clear it from a piece of land in order to start the construction of an apartment building.

The land developer held a briefing in May, explaining it wanted to remove the tree and transplant it elsewhere. However, residents in the neighborhood and faculty and students of the university insisted that removal of the old camphor tree would spoil the “green tunnel” formed by old trees along the road where the tree is located.

Several protests have been held over the past few months whenever the developer sends in workers to remove the tree, whose ownership is ambiguous. Pan Han-shen, secretary-general of the Green Party Taiwan, said Saturday that trees should be considered public properties. The land developer, however, has argued that as owner of the land, the company is entitled to decide whether to remove the tree.

The land developer complained that the construction project has been delayed for months and caused serious losses to the company. It is hoping that the city authorities will make a decision over the tree transplantation proposal as soon as possible.

For now, the old camphor tree is saved because under the city bylaw, before the Bureau of Public Works issues an approval to the land developer, it cannot be touched, and the land developer has not received a written permission from the bureau stating it can remove the tree, according to Pan.

Despite the fact that the Taipei City Government has put into enforcement the Taipei City Tree Protection Bylaw since April 2003, many old trees in the metropolitan area have been uprooted, with some transplanted, in recent years by land developers.

Under the tree protection bylaw, old trees aged over 50 years and big trees with the girth exceeding 15 meters or the height reaching 15 meters are under protection.

To root up a protected tree for whatever purposes needs the approval of the city government's Bureau of Public Works. Usually the authorities would approve the cases when proper arrangements for transplantation are made.

大學生拯救老樟樹

這個星期六在台灣的台北，有一群大學生與居民拯救了一棵原本即將被建商移除的七十歲老樟樹。老樟樹位於徐州路，建商為了蓋豪宅而取得這塊土地，並在五月時表示將把這棵樹遷移他處。但附近的學生與居民認為移植老樹的行為會破壞原有的「綠色隧道」景觀，因此反對人士在過去幾個月中，不斷試圖阻止建商的移植行為，並主張建商對樹並不具有所有權。台灣綠黨的執行秘書潘翰聲表示，這些樹應該是公有財產。然而建商則主張基於對土地的所有權，他們有權決定是否移植這棵樹。

建商抱怨其建設工程已經延遲數月，並且造成公司的嚴重損害，並希望政府能盡快對移植方案做出決定。潘翰聲表示，在政府許可之前，老樹是不能動的。目前由於建商尚未取得公共工程局的書面同意，所以老樹仍未被移植。

儘管台北市早已在2003年四月即施行台北市樹木保護條例，但都市裡的許多老樹仍然在最近幾年中，陸續被建商斷根遷移。依據樹木保護條例，樹齡超過五十年的老樹、樹圍達15公尺 (譯註: 此處報導有誤, 應為2.5公尺) 或樹高超過公尺的大樹應受保護。若基於任何原因欲遷移受保護之樹木，則需經過市政府公共工程局的同意。在具備適當移植措施的情況下，通常政府會許可移植案。