Taipei citizens have recently noticed a decrease in road trees. Shen Shengfeng, a researcher at the Biodiversity Research Center of Academia Sinica, pointed out that satellite imagery calculated that the tree canopy area in Taipei City has decreased by 13.7 hectares in the past two years, which is equivalent to the disappearance of 13,000 trees from the urban area. The Parks Department believes that it is related to private land, the development of National Taiwan University campus, and the reduction of green shade at national highway interchanges, including central construction. Shen Boyang, a candidate for mayor of Taipei from the Democratic Progressive Party, said that if he is talking about the central government again, he has no intention to respond to the question and calls on the city government to explain clearly as soon as possible. City councilor Hong Wan-zhen criticized that the reduction of tree canopy in Chiang City should be blamed on the central government, private land, and National Taiwan University; if the increase in trees is considered, both public and private land should be counted as Chiang Wanan's political achievements. He can only say that "trees can't lie, Chiang Wanan can."
Shen Shengfeng posted on Facebook that the team conducted systematic calculations using satellite images from the European Space Agency, combining multiple images from the same season every year to determine the tree canopy area. The results showed that the tree canopy area within the city streets dropped from 628 hectares in 2024 to 615 hectares this year, a net decrease of 13.7 hectares in two years, and the decrease in the second year was greater than the first year. If converted to about 10 square meters per tree crown, it is equivalent to the canopy of more than 13,000 trees disappearing from the urban area. But it is also reminded that what satellites see are changes in surface coverage and cannot tell whether they are caused by cutting, transplanting, pruning or typhoons.
After comparing relevant data, the Parks Department said that in addition to private land development, the causes of large reductions in tree canopy area include the development of the National Taiwan University campus, the reduction of green shade at national highway interchanges, and other cases involving central construction. They are clearly not caused by arbitrary tree cutting by the city government. They emphasized that the city government has added more than 13,000 trees in the past two years, and will add another 3,555 trees in the urban area next year. It is willing to communicate with Sheng Shengfeng's team to jointly promote the construction of Taipei's green foundation.
Shen Boyang attended the children's advocacy event and said, "If you are answering the central government again, you really have no intention to respond to the question." He was also surprised that the discussion on the tree issue should take one or two months. If some are from the central government, some are private or sick, what is the proportion? Why is there still no way to explain it clearly to the outside world? "A bit exaggerated!"
Hong Wanzhen said that the city claimed 13,225 trees, but there were only 1,739 trees in parks; there were 4,842 trees in large areas, including Jiannan Butterfly Garden, Neishangxi Nature Center and other woodlands, and even Fude Cemetery. The city government includes trees in scenic spots and cemeteries, and then tells citizens that street trees will only increase but not decrease, which is completely confusing the public. "The most outrageous thing is the 6,644 trees reported by the Building Management Office. This is the number of plantings reported by the architect when the construction license was issued. Is this also considered to be planted by the Jiangwanan City Government?"
Hong Wanzhen criticized that when the number of trees in Chiang City's municipal government was reduced, the central government, private land, and natural disasters were used. When calculating the number of new plantings, private construction projects became the municipal government's achievements. Tree felling on private lands was not under the control of the city government, and trees planted on private lands were used to collect political achievements. "Chiang Wanan It looks ugly!” If the city government insists on adding more than 13,000 trees in the past two years, it should fully disclose the planting locations, actual plantings, or just the projected plantings on the construction photos. What the satellite data sees is the reduction of the tree canopy, not a hard concave.
