Tree saved from developer's clutches

2010 / 02 / 22

Taiwan Today　Tree saved from developer's clutches    

When a 70-year-old camphor tree on Xuzhou Road in Taipei City was about to be removed in September 2009, its long-time neighbors came to the rescue.

The 70-year-old camphor tree, thanks to the community and NTU students, will be standing at the same spot for a few more decades. (Staff photos/Chen Mei-ling)

• Publication Date：02/12/2010
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Kwangyin Liu

“The tree accompanied me throughout my study at the nearby Department of Law in National Taiwan University some 30 years ago,” said Huang Hong-hu, a lawyer who lives in the building next to the tree. When the land developer posted a notice late September 2009, saying that the tree would be removed for construction work, Huang immediately decided to take a stand. “The tree has become a part of my life,” he said.

Nearly 200 camphor trees stand on Xuzhou Road, forming a green canopy rarely seen in Taipei. When Fu Tai Construction Co. Ltd. bought the 340 square meters of land at No. 10 Xuzhou Road in 2006, it planned to build a serene structure amidst camphor trees. Excluded from its plans, however, was a tree standing in the way of a planned parking lot entrance.

The land developer concluded in May 2009 that the tree had to go, at least for the duration of the construction. However, most of the neighbors knew nothing about this conclusion; not until the notice came out four months later did they know their leafy friend would be plucked away. They feared that even if the tree was only removed temporarily during construction and restored afterwards, it could well die during the process.

The whole neighborhood was mobilized. Huang and other residents soon organized a meeting and started a petition overnight on behalf of the tree. “Today a single tree is taken down; tomorrow the entire green canopy,” Huang said. “We must do something to show them we care.”

In October, the Green Party came to their aid. “Like everyone else, at first we doubted the feasibility of saving one tree,” said Pan Han-sheng, spokesperson of Taiwan Green Party. However, after meeting with the residents, he concluded the action was not only about one tree, but the entire street, and more importantly, “the right of people to protect the environment they live in,” Pan said.

In the following months, the Green Party helped the community hold several protests whenever the developer sent in workers to remove the tree. “Trees are public property, because they are intertwined with the neighborhood’s memory and life,” Pan said. “You don’t get rid of an old friend just because she is in your way, you go around her.”

Students from National Taiwan University joined the battle later on out of a sense of solidarity. “We are part of the neighborhood, too,” said Fu Wei-che, a third-year political science student and president of the NTU Student Association, who also attends classes at NTU’s College of Social Sciences nearby.

NTU has two major campuses. The Gongguan campus lies in a busy area surrounded by shops, restaurants and night markets; the one on Xuzhou Road, on the other hand, is surrounded by trees, residential buildings and small coffee shops.

Fu Wei-che, president of the NTU Student Association, explains how students were mobilized to join the Xuzhou Road community in the tree-saving mission.

Fu’s dormitory is located near Xuzhou Road, which he describes as a retreat away from the hustle of city life. “Whenever I see the green tunnel, I feel at home,” Fu said. “It always calms me down.”

The NTU students felt that they should have a say in this, and decided to stand on the frontlines with the camphor tree. The night before a major protest, dozens of them spent the whole night making props—yellow ribbons with “old trees don’t go” written on them—and tying them on over 100 old trees on Xuzhou Road.

The sight of the entire green tunnel draped with yellow ribbons was stunning. Not only was the land developer taken aback; the residents were surprised, too.

“Mr. Huang admitted that in the beginning, the community didn’t have much confidence in us,” Fu said, “because the media tend to portray university students as selfish brats, indifferent to the world outside their campus.”

Fu and his fellow students worked hard to change that impression: “We decided to unite the students and the community, of which the campus is also an essential part.” They not only helped with the protests, but further mobilized student representatives from various campuses to participate in the community’s meetings.

Familiar with the Internet and what it can achieve, the students spread the word online. Soon the petition had over 3,000 signatories, sending a strong, unanimous message: “We want the trees to stay.”

Suddenly the pressure was coming from everywhere: the community, the students, and a non-governmental organization. The land developer even received e-mails from angry netizens who saw the news online. The land developer, however, argued that as owner of the land, it was entitled to decide whether to remove the tree, which was necessary given the design of the parking lot.

In this tug of war, the architect was the first one to give in. In late December, the Green Party received a letter from Kuo Hsu-yuan, the chief architect of the construction project, saying that his studio had decided to retract its design, and no longer insisted on maintaining the parking lot design.

As the designer of several green housing projects in Taiwan, Kuo respected the efforts of the Green Party. “I agree that the trees should be saved, and I am touched that people in Taiwan are beginning to see the value of protecting the environment, instead of going head over heels for new construction,” Kuo said.

Before the year 2009 ended, the land developer finally gave in. Fu Tai Construction found another architect to take over Kuo’s unfinished work, and promised not to remove the camphor tree during construction.

Pan regards this victory as a sign of the awakening of civil society. “Each tree we have protected stands as a landmark of our movement, reminding us of their indispensability, and the power of the people when united,” he said.

It was not a single influential person who saved the camphor tree at No. 10 Xuzhou Road. It was the combination of the community’s united will and effort that did the job. (KL)

Write to Kwangyin Liu at

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