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An Old and Valuable Tree (OVT), which was infected with brown root rot (BRR) disease and had a potential risk of collapse, was removed today (April 23) to ensure public safety, a spokesman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) said.
Listed on the Register of OVTs with registration number LCSD CW/4, the tree was a 20-metre-tall Chinese banyan (Ficus microcarpa), located on Pokfield Road near the junction with Smithfield Road in Central and Western District.
The spokesman said that the department had all along carried out regular inspections and maintenance on the tree. Inspections and maintenance works had been strengthened since 2012 when the tree was found in a worsened health condition with a sparse tree crown. The tree was then suspected of being infected with brown root rot (BRR) disease. A joint site inspection by the LCSD, the Tree Management Office (TMO) and the Expert Panel on Tree Management (EPTM) under the Development Bureau was thus conducted in October in the same year. As the tree was structurally stable, the LCSD was advised to continue its monitoring of the tree, and to regularly apply fungicide and trim dead branches.
During an inspection last August, LCSD staff found that the health condition of the tree did not show signs of improvement. Following a laboratory analysis by TMO, which confirmed the infection with BRR disease, another joint inspection by the LCSD, the TMO and the EPTM in January 2015 further reaffirmed that the health of the tree was deteriorating and had become irrecoverable with its overall structure damaged, leading to a potential danger of collapse.
Since the tree was located adjacent to a busy road, the LCSD decided to remove it as soon as possible to ensure public safety and curb the spread of BRR, after consulting the TMO.
The spokesman said that the department would continue to adopt a prudent approach in inspecting and managing trees under its care. Removal of problematic trees will be undertaken only when no other viable risk mitigation measure is available.
Ends/Thursday, April 23, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:00
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