Three 60-year-old breadfruit trees outside of Qingtan Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) will not be cut down after local residents protested plans to do so.
Six breadfruit trees line the sidewalk outside of the school, three of which the school had planned to cut down due to a risk of their trunks splitting during heavy windstorms, the school said.
Photo: screen grab from Google Maps
After the school announced in June that it would cut down the three trees, local residents enlisted the help of environmental group Treehuggers Taiwan (台灣樹人會) to petition the school to keep the trees, which were planted nearly 60 years ago by the school’s founder, it said.
The risk of splitting usually occurs when branches grow as thick as trunks, it said, adding that this had occurred in the three trees flagged for removal.
“We also received complaints from some residents that it is hard to walk along the sidewalk due to the growth of the trees,” it said.
Breadfruit trees typically live to about 100 years, so the six trees had already entered old age, it said, adding that the risks of the trees splitting or toppling would only get worse.
“However, we understand the concerns about preserving the trees, so we will discuss the issue further to find a solution,” it said.
City officials inspected the trees on Tuesday and determined them to be in good health, and said they could remain in place if they are kept well-maintained.
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS