Thanks to digital imaging technology, each of Beijing's 18,235
ancient trees will be recorded in detail and their digital pictures
will be made available on the Internet early next year. People will
be able to learn the "life story" of each old tree online, said
Beijing Forestry Bureau.
A
citywide survey completed recently showed that an 8-meter high
cypress in Miyun County is over 3,500 years old, making it the
oldest living tree in Beijing. There are currently 2,310 trees in
Beijing over 300 years old. The survey also found that the largest
number of old trees was planted after the Yongle reign (1403-1424)
during the Ming Dynasty. Most of them were planted in clumps. There
are 95 groups, each containing at least 10 old trees.
Shi Hai, chief of the forest resources administrative department of
Beijing Forestry Bureau, said that in order to better preserve and
more conveniently manage these "living cultural relics," the
forestry department has made an electronic archival to administer
Beijing's ancient trees and famous woods, providing statistics,
search functions and conservation planning via a network and
database. The system will record all details regarding the
location, growth conditions, prevention and control of plant
diseases and elimination of pests for each ancient tree. Now when a
tree is afflicted with some kind of disease, forestry experts can
look up the archives for diagnosis and treatments.
The project will ensure that the information kept on each ancient
tree, such as height, girth diameter, history, and current
condition and conservation measures are recorded as part of the
electronic archives. In addition, each ancient tree will have two
digital photos taken at different times, to be used for the
evaluation of conservation efforts. Officials say that the bureau
has completed records for most of the old trees. They expect to
publish the information on the bureau's website in early 2003.
(China.org.cn by Zhao Meng, November 18, 2002)