Fate of Nanjing's trees firmly rooted among the public

Two Nanjing residents tie a green ribbon around a plane tree last week in a campaign to save the trees from being uprooted to make way for the construction of a subway line. [Photo / Xinhua]

The fate of the 600 plane trees scheduled for removal to make way for subway construction in Nanjing will be determined after a "green assessment", the city administration has announced.

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In future, all urban construction projects will undergo a review, with public involvement.

And the city will also conduct a tree census to provide a database and each tree adorning Nanjing's streets will have its own ID.

In addition, any future urban projects that require the removal of trees should be posted for public comment before being considered for approval.

Mayor Ji Jianye said on Tuesday that urban planners, architects, engineers and botanists should form an advisory board to make a "green assessment" before major urban projects proceed. Residents can volunteer to join the evaluating team and contribute their thoughts on whether a tree should be removed.

Trees stand crownless and ready for removal from the Daxinggong area of Nanjing. Plans called for removal of 600 plane trees to make way for a new subway line; now they will undergo a 'green assessment'. [Photo / Xinhua]

The developments are the latest in Nanjing's "tree crisis," which developed over the removal of plane trees downtown to accommodate construction of a metro station for the new No 3 subway line in the Daxinggong area.

Plane trees, sometimes called French Phoenix trees, were planted in the late 1920s along the main road to Sun Yat-Sen's mausoleum to honor the founding father of the Republic of China. More trees were planted later along most of Nanjing's major streets.

Locals consider the green canopy an important asset of the city, and a quick review of travel sites online showed that most articles about Nanjing quickly mention the trees.