Protesters in Tokyo formed a human chain Sunday to demand the government save thousands of trees by revising its plan to redevelop a popular downtown park.
Also at stake are the well-known 150 gingko trees lining a century-old promenade built to commemorate Emperor Meiji, the great-grandfather of Emperor Naruhito. Critics and environmental activists say the gingko trees will be under threat from any construction right next to them. Sunday’s protest came after a United Nations-affiliated conservancy issued a “heritage alert” for Tokyo’s Gaien area. A senior member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, or ICOMOS, said Friday that the plan goes against a global fight against climate change and raised questions of transparency around the decision-making process.
Brabec noted that some of the trees are 50-100 years old. She said the heritage they represent can never be replaced with the planting of new trees. “It is virtually unheard-of for a major city such as Tokyo to take some of its urban parkland, which is in very short supply, and convert it to development.”Koike told reporters Friday that her government has urged the developers to revise the plan before they start cutting down the trees.
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