The Greater Tainan Government’s Tree Protection Committee is set to increase its membership by 11, as well as budgeting NT$3.3 million (US$110,730) for the treatment of trees, the city government’s Agriculture Bureau chief Hsu Han-ching (許漢卿) said.
The official made the remarks in response to criticism last month from environmental protection groups, which accused the city government of not putting enough effort into protecting the city’s historic trees.
The group highlighted the case of a century-old Taiwanese banyan on a piece of land in the North Community Cultural Park of the city’s North District (北區), which was sold to building contractors.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
The group said that although the tree was planted during the Qing Dynasty, it did not pass a conservation review by the committee, which did not give any reasons for its decision.
In response to complaints that city government officials held three seats on the former seven-member committee, Hsu said that the decisionmaking process would now be given greater importance, adding that he would step down as convener for the committee to avoid claims of government intervention.
Hsu said the committee would also increase its number of members to 18, an increase of 11.
However, Hsu said that as the committee had just undergone a personnel rotation and is understaffed, it may be difficult for the committee to care for all 204 historic trees in the city.
Several of the trees under the city’s jurisdiction have not yet been reviewed by the committee due to the amalgamation of the former Tainan county with Tainan city to form the Greater Tainan special municipality, he said.
“However, the committee is not excluding these trees from our care,” Hsu said, adding that it would continue to review the city’s trees and make nominations for future preservation.
According to Hsu, the committee has limited financial resources, with the local and central governments providing NT$800,000 and NT$700,000 respectively.
The funds are used to protect and nurture the ground around the trees, Hsu said, adding that the committee had allotted an additional NT$1.8 million to specifically treat trees for brown root rot.
Despite limited manpower and finances, Hsu said the committee does its best, adding that it hoped that civic organizations could help with the committee’s work.
Citing the Fu Tien Tree Healing & Conservation Foundation as an example, Hsu said the foundation had adopted flames trees (Delonix regia) in the city’s Tang Te-chang Park, as well as several Manila tamarind trees in Tainan Park.
The committee has also established a toll-free telephone number so that city residents can inform the city government about trees which could require conservation.
The city government also hopes to recruit volunteers to help maintain trees, Hsu said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai