Luotian lavishes love on its ancient trees

After finishing her daily toils, 72-year-old Zhu Fengyi enjoys nothing more than reclining in her courtyard under the shade of a majestic 700-year-old blue sandalwood tree.

The multiple trunks of the tree endemic to China splay out and twist upward before it sprouts its verdant foliage.

The sight of ancient, gnarled trees is not a rarity in Luotian county of Hubei province, a place that has become well known for its forestry protection work.

Zhu has benefited from her tree's shade for the 53 years she has lived in the county.

"My family regards it as our ancestor. Even the dry branches and fallen leaves won't be picked up and used as firewood," she said.

Luotian is blessed with an abundance of trees over 100 years old, each with its own digital file that records its ecological, cultural and historical value.

More than 11,000 trees have been documented in the county so far, according to its forestry bureau.

There are 115 trees that are more than 500 years old, 1,966 aged from 300 to 499 years old, and 9,150 aged from 100 to 299 years old.

A total of 118 types of trees have been recorded, among them cypresses, ginkgo trees, Masson pines and persimmon trees.

"Despite natural disasters and increasing human activities over the past hundreds of years, these ancient trees have retained their roots," said Qu Guangxin, director of the center involved in protecting ancient trees at the county's forestry bureau.

The county has gone a step further by incorporating QR codes into the tags attached to each tree, enabling the public to not only learn basic information such as names, classifications and characteristics, but also to delve deeper into their backgrounds and stories. Who looks after the tree, its growth situation and disease history are also recorded.

The county's forestry bureau has built pocket parks and themed areas to embrace and nestle its ancient trees like a warm blanket.

Villagers in Baiyangchong agreed to tear down small canteens, baths, toilets, reading rooms and recreational and sports areas for a maple forest to be planted.

In the county's Baihewan village, ancillary facilities like bamboo pavilions and stone steps have been built to better integrate their ancient trees into the landscape.

Luotian has allocated more than 3 million yuan ($420,000) to assigned villages to carry out protection measures, resulting in the preservation of more than 150 ancient trees.

"With the trend of loving and protecting trees, it has become a wide consensus to step up conservation and stop overdevelopment," said Yuan Yong, director of the county's forestry bureau.

Li Menghan and Liu Kun contributed to this story.