This summer has just begun, but after a few days of heavy rain, the trees fall one after another: in mid June a Yellow Poinciana (Peltophorum pterocarpum) inside Yuen Chau Kok Park, Shatin collapsed and caused a casualty on the road; about two weeks later, a Chinese Banyan (Ficus microcarpa) outside the West Wing of the Central Government Offices also fell down and hurt three pedestrians. Was it the misconduct of the tree management staff, or the fault of our bad weather? 

In all the replies after the accidents, the Administration imputed the collapses to the adverse weather. First was the former head of Tree Management Office saying “it’s normal for tree collapse under rain and typhoon”, then the Leisure and Cultural Services Department claimed “the collapse is believed to be caused by loosened soil as a result of the continuous heavy rain”. The evils we bring on ourselves are the hardest to bear. Why don’t we have a thorough reflection on our mistakes but blame the nature? Throughout the years the evidences of problematic tree management are in front of us—over-pruning, lack of growing space, constructions that injured the trees, etc. None of these were being seen as real problems and handled properly. No matter how heavy the rain can be, the truth will not be whitewashed. The adverse weather was only a catalyst of the collapse. How unfair it is to shuffle the responsibility off onto the nature! 

So who bears the responsibility? Same as the collapse of Coral Tree (Erythrina variegata) in Stanley two years ago, the two collapsed trees received checking and were judged to be safe. The governmental department used “visual inspection”, which is a globally recognised method to check the trees. Visual inspection is not only about seeing and watching. It should be done by professionals to inspect every part of a tree—from the crown, branches, trunk, roots and the growing environment in great detail to assess the health conditions and structural problems, thus pinpoint the problems and apply corresponding treatment.