《TAIPEI TIMES》 Indigenous trees to add to Taichung park’s beauty

By Huang Chung-shan / Staff reporter

Thousands more trees are to be planted at Taichung’s Central Park （中央公園） in a bid to make the area the city’s “green lung,” the Taichung City Government said, adding the park is to open for a trial in August.

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The park, which covers about 67 hectares, is located in the center of the city’s Shuinan Gateway Park （水湳經貿園區）, which was created on the grounds of the former Taichung Shuinan Airport and is to be transformed into a commercial area housing ”smart” industries and business centers.

A total of 8,921 trees — 80.6 percent of which are indigenous species — would be planted at the park, which should grow into a “lung” for the city over two to three years, Taichung Construction Bureau Director-General Huang Yu-lin （黃玉霖） said.

Taiwanese persimmon, Formosan michelia, Chinese pistachio, camphor, stout camphor, beech and Taiwanese yew are among the trees to be planted, with different species used to mark different zones, such as those for sports, relaxation and family activities, he said.

The remarkable number of indigenous species at the park would help promote local plants and the effects of the trees would be felt across the entire area, he said.

The park is to be the nation’s first “smart” and low-carbon urban park, Huang said, inviting visitors to experience the “refreshing air” later this year.

The first phase, covering 15.29 hectares and requiring the planting of 3,120 new trees, has been completed, while the second phase, covering an area of 52.05 hectares and including 8,921 new trees, is to be completed this year, the bureau said.

More than 1,600 trees that already stood on the site will be spared and become part of the new design, the bureau said, adding there would be a total of nearly 10,000 trees.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES