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With an aim to enhancing the management and maintenance of the great variety of trees in the territory, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LSCD) is establishing Hong Kong's first Computerised Tree Inventory System to help the department formulate its long-term greening and tree preservation strategies in a more effective and efficient manner. The first phase of the tree inventory system is about to be completed.
Introducing LCSD's greening efforts at a press briefing in Kowloon Park today (November 1), the Deputy Director (Leisure Services), Mr Ho Wing-him, said: "As one of the major government departments in executing Hong Kong's greening policies, LCSD attaches great importance to and actively participates in greening and beautifying the environment.
"Other than planting trees on a territory-wide basis, LCSD also strives to preserving the existing trees. In order to enhance the efficiency of its work, LCSD has conducted a comprehensive tree survey at its venues and set up Hong Kong's first Computerised Tree Inventory System to formulate long-term strategies on tree management and preservation."
Being the first department to launch the Computerised Tree Inventory System, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at present manages about 600,000 trees. A study on the quantity and distribution of trees was initially completed last year, followed by a more comprehensive survey carried out by district staff in stages to collect data on tree species, height, trunk diameter at breast height, planting location and growth conditions. The survey data was then entered into the computerized system for analysis with a view to correlating the characteristics of the tree species with their growing habitat. The comprehensive survey was completed by the end of October this year and the data on some 200,000 trees has been entered into the database for system testing.
The Computerised Tree Inventory System is comprised of two phases. The first phase uses Lotus Notes to provide information on quantitative distribution of trees by district, location and species. The system shows the total number of trees in the 18 districts as well as their locations and species. Details of a particular tree can also be obtained by further clicking its specific number to retrieve the tree location; name; characteristics of planting location; size such as trunk diameter at breast height, height and crown width; and growing habitat such as evergreen or deciduous, flowering or non flowering etc. At present, data on some 200,000 trees has been stored in the database and input of all the tree data is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Upon completion of the first phase, the second phase will be launched to enhance the Geographic Information System and Personal Digital Assistant, to increase the server capacity for annual data input and to widen the network linkage for updating and retrieval of latest information. The Geographic Information System transforms the tree data into an electronic map showing the locations of the trees more clearly. Moreover, the inventory software in the second phase will also be able to automatically calculate the greening area covered by the crown spread of a tree.
In addition to retrieving tree information by location and species, the search function in the second phase will also be enhanced by including such other features as flower colour, flowering period, tree species and sizes to enable the retrieval of information according to users' needs for district planning and annual tree-planting design.
Mr Ho Wing-him said: "In tree preservation, LCSD deploys staff in each of the 18 districts every day for tree inspection and regular tree maintenance to ensure that all trees are in healthy growth."
In this area of work, LCSD uses advanced arboricultural devices for tree inspection including Arborsonic Decay Detectors and Digital Microprobe Decay Detecting Drills. An advance arboricultural device uses ultra sound without drilling to obtain the information on internal decay condition of the tree trunk not apparent shown on external inspection.
A Digital Microprobe Decay Detecting Drill is a lightweight and advanced arboricultural equipment using a 1mm diameter probe to penetrate timber for detecting any internal decay in the tree trunk. The tool measures the resistance to penetration of the probe and downloads the resulting data in digital form. The data is further edited and displayed through notebook computer for analysis on site.
"In Hong Kong, old trees with distinctive features and greening function were selected as 'Champion Trees',"Mr Ho added.
In Hong Kong, a total of 973 trees in 74 species have been selected as Champion Trees, among which 237 trees are on Hong Kong Island, 475 trees in Kowloon and 261 trees in the New Territories. Most of them are of the Chinese Banyan species. There are now more than 30 Champion Trees of six species growing in Kowloon Park. They are Chinese Banyan, Camphor Tree, Lebbek Tree, Java Plum, Peepul Tree and Chinese Hackberry.
Trees have a close relationship with the natural ecology and can provide a habitat for birds. Taking Kowloon Park as an example, an urban forest is formed by the many large trees in Kowloon Park, the large Banyan trees along Nathan Road, the large Camphor trees along Haiphong Road and the trees in Signal Hill in the vicinity.
These trees provide a suitable habitat and food for 100 species of wild birds, especially the woodland birds such as Crested Bulbul, Chinese Bulbul, Black-throated Laughing Thrush and Koel. In addition, the open grassland and the large bird lake in Kowloon Park also attract water birds such as Night Heron, Chinese Pond Heron, Common Kingfisher etc. About 20 species can be seen frequently in the park.
End/Thursday, November 1, 2001
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