I don't know what's the meaning of my standing in this spot. Why have they framed me in cement when I've still got to respect the laws of nature by keeping my trunk straight, extending my branches and sprouting leaves?

Losing more than trees:

Can people really think that nothing much would change without us trees? Can it be they don't know that we're not just "objects"? Our functions transcend the merely practical. We're more than just something for "improving living conditions."

"I remember when I was small. I loved to talk and laugh with you side by side under the peach tree with the wind rustling through the leaves and the birds tweeting. I don't know how it was that we fell asleep nor how many blossoms drifted down in our dreams." With songs like these, how can people not know that trees stir sentiment? Can it be that fallen leaves are no longer used as bookmarkers? Don't people feel the joy in tender young leaves? Don't they see the colors of dusk in a leafless dry branch?

Didn't they write in their books, "In a flat and barren landscape, a tree beckons people to gather under it. It creates atmosphere, and space is thus given meaning. Coming into daily contact with a living tree, you will slowly discover yourself being profoundly moved." It's just too bad that they don't believe what they themselves have written, for they don't believe anymore in anything they can't see.

Planting trees isn't arranging

flowers: Even if there are a few real trees in the city, they don't have much connection to people, who are almost always in too much of a hurry to think about stopping under a tree. So we just stand here symbolically on either side of the street. Maybe what they've lost isn't trees but the most important things of all: the spice of life, the feeling of being at peace. In seeing an old tree or a flower, they no longer marvel at the wonder of nature. They've already lost their feelings, their abilities to dream and romance.

When they plan things, they do still leave space for a few trees. Yet perhaps it's better to say that they leave space for arranging a few flowers, because what trees want is a complete living environment, not just a space in which to stand.

People are always talking about how they want to "turn things green," but don't they know that this isn't the same thing as building stages and amusement parks? Saplings need a big space in which to grow; they can't be planted in a pot. Turning things green isn't laying a green carpet in a garden. That's just turning things the color green.

Only with a complete living environment can trees grow big and tall. Don't they say in their milk commercials that they want their kids to grow like trees? Don't they hope that their children grow up with dignity?

Where to find gentleness?

People have come from nature and have planted trees in their environment since ancient times. We trees bring humanity into contact with mother nature, let it connect with its most basic needs. Our leaves and shade soften the hard edges of urban life.

In history, urban planners have been of two minds about planting trees in the cities. In Egypt, Persia and India trees were arranged in neat lines to accommodate irrigation systems. In France trees were woven together to make high hedges, their crowns trimmed flat. For these designers, a tree was a material used to define space rather than something they liked in and of itself.

Other nationalities were full of romantic and gentle feelings for nature, treating trees as living beings. They let the trees grow in their gardens and towns like in the woods. The Chinese are a people with these ancient traditions.

I don't know if it's because the cities are too crowded, squeezing out all tender feelings, or it's that people think that without any trees they and future generations can still go on living well as long as they continue piling up material wealth. It doesn't seem to bother them that there are more and more children with asthma and other respiratory conditions. Perhaps they think that the problem will be solved when the children who walk past me on their way to school every day are all wearing masks.

"Tree rights":

Trees, like humans, find their spirits sink under the pressure of urban life. At the very least, our physical demands are greater than trees in the forest and we need more attentive care. Unlike people, trees can't wait for the weekend to go back to the mountain forests. They can't hide out in human-controlled, air-conditioned homes, listening to stereos and ignoring the noise of the traffic.

Today, some countries are fighting for our right to exist, hoping to establish "tree rights." Then, in spaces to which we had claims, we would escape the harm of people out for their own selfish gain.

It may be that they're only doing this for their own good or because they've realized that the environment's gotten so bad they just can't keeping hurting trees, but in any case, we trees are grateful. There's just one more thing I'd like to say: The urban environment will only improve if people really want it to. Otherwise, there could be "tree rights" all over the world, and it still wouldn't be enough.

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Trees want more than just a place to stand, but becoming a stand to lean garbage against or a post for locking up a car, probably isn't what they had in mind. (photo by Diago Chiu)