The hundred-year-old camphor tree was tragically peeled, which made the old resident Gong Laohan heartbroken.

Another large tree with a shocking slash mark

俗話說“人怕傷心，樹怕剝皮”。這句話說的是樹皮對於樹木的重要性，如果樹皮被剝掉，樹木就很難存活了。眼下正是春季樹木發芽生長的季節，家住渝北區桃源大道的熱心市民卻向記者反映：桃源大道環湖雅居社區周邊的山坡和綠地，有不少樹木被剝掉樹皮，其中還有樹齡近百年的香樟樹。目前許多樹木已經枯死，還有一些樹木被人攔腰砍斷丟棄在一旁，讓人覺得十分可惜、憤慨。

Everyone wonders, who destroyed these trees? Why can't you get along with these trees? Yesterday, according to the clues provided by enthusiastic citizens, the reporter came to visit and investigate along Taoyuan Avenue in Yubei to understand the actual situation and the reasons behind it.

Peeled a circle of tree skin alive

"Comrade reporter, come and see, it will take at least hundreds of years for such a thick camphor tree to grow, and it is not easy to be stripped of the bark alive like this, and it seems that it will not survive! It's a pity...... "Yesterday morning, Uncle Gong, an old resident of Shuangfengqiao Wafang Community in Yubei, took the reporter to the Changyue Road next to Taoyuan Avenue that has not yet been opened, and pointed to the 4 tall and stout trees on the hillside of the road, with a very helpless and regretful tone.

Gong Laohan is an old local resident who later moved to a nearby community due to demolition, but they still return here often. The 4 big trees on the hillside were originally planted in the yard of a local family, and there is a well under the tree, which is said to have been planted by the ancestors of this family, and has experienced hundreds of years of ups and downs, and is the only physical object that has been preserved after the demolition.

The reporter saw that the trunks of these 3 big trees were either cut with knives or burned by fire, and 0 have died so far. And the last living camphor tree, with a trunk of seventy or eighty centimeters thick, required two people to hug it, and it did not escape the fate of being skinned. The tree near its roots had been stripped of a circle of bark fifty or sixty centimeters high, like a bright wound, and the bark was thrown all over the ground.

On the entire hillside where the big tree is located, all the vegetable fields cultivated by nearby residents are densely packed one by one, and many people are busy loosening the soil and watering in the vegetable fields. The open space under the trees was also seized and planted with corn and pepper seedlings.

Insiders told reporters that the shade of the big tree will affect the growth of crops in the vegetable field below because it shades a large area of sunlight, but the tree is too thick and difficult to cut down, and the movement is too big, so some people who grow vegetables here have the crooked idea of peeling the bark and letting the tree die, and the 4 camphor trees that have grown for nearly a hundred years have not escaped the poisonous hands.

"In the past, these big trees grew lush and green, especially in summer, just like holding up a huge green umbrella on a bare hillside, and sitting under the trees to rest and blow the wind when you are tired, not to mention how comfortable it is." Gong Laohan said sadly that the big tree is dead, and there is no shade on the hillside this summer.

Multiple departments have joined forces to rectify the destruction of green vegetables

In addition to the peeling of the big trees on the slope of Shuiyue Road, the reporter saw on the slopes near the Yaju community around the lake, as well as along Lingzhi Road, which is close to the Dongfanghong Reservoir and Pingtan River, that many stout trees on the roadside have been stripped of their bark, or cut off at the waist, and fallen to the ground in patches.

What is the reason for the intensification of the unhealthy trend of destroying green vegetables in the local area? The reporter came to Shuangfengqiao Street, Yubei District to understand the situation. According to the relevant person in charge of the environmental protection post of Shuangfengqiao Street, Huanhu Yaju is the largest rural to non-centralized resettlement community in northern Chongqing, and many residents are from suburban areas such as fungus and Wangjia, and have always had the habit of planting vegetables and crops. Around the community, there are many idle plots of land in the Yubei District Land Reserve Center and the bonded port area that have been requisitioned and unused.

After receiving a report from the public that the camphor tree was peeled, the street has sent people to the scene to investigate and collect evidence and track down the relevant responsible persons. At the same time, the sub-district will negotiate with the Yubei District Land Reserve Center, the bonded port area, and the Yubei District Urban Management Bureau to set up a green protection team to jointly strengthen the management and inspection of state-owned land and severely crack down on illegal acts of cutting down trees and destroying greenery.

What the experts say

Peeling and destroying the green is a criminal offense or involves multiple crimes

The reporter interviewed Zhao Xueli, a legal aid public interest lawyer at Chongqing Zhihezhi Law Firm, about the peeling of the century-old camphor tree. Lawyer Zhao said that the camphor tree is a national second-class protected tree species, and it is illegal to illegally harvest, destroy or trade camphor trees. The crime that may be constituted by the act of peeling the bark needs to be judged according to the specific circumstances, mainly including the following possibilities:

1. Intentional destruction of property

If the act of peeling the bark results in the destruction of the tree, and the value of the damaged tree is relatively large, or there are other serious circumstances, the crime of intentional destruction of property may be constituted. According to article 275 of the Criminal Law, whoever intentionally destroys public or private property, where the amount is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances, is to be sentenced to up to three years imprisonment, short-term detention or a fine; where the amount is huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, a sentence of between three and seven years imprisonment is to be given.

2.盜伐林木罪或濫伐林木罪

If the act of peeling the bark of a tree is directed at a forest or other forest trees, and the quantity is large, depending on the subjective purpose of the perpetrator, it may constitute the crime of illegal logging or the crime of indiscriminate felling of trees According to article 345 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, whoever illegally logs down forests or other forest trees, and the quantity is relatively large, is to be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, short-term detention or controlled release, and/or a fine; Whoever violates the provisions of the Forest Law by indiscriminately felling forests or other trees, and the quantity is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, short-term detention or controlled release, and/or a fine; where the amount is huge, the sentence is between three and seven years imprisonment and a concurrent fine.

3. Crimes against national key protected plants

If the tree stripped of its bark belongs to a plant under national key protection, it may commit the crime of endangering a plant under national key protection.

According to Article 344 of the Criminal Law, anyone who illegally harvests or destroys precious trees or other plants under key national protection, or illegally purchases, transports, processes or sells precious trees or other plants under key national protection and the products thereof, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, short-term detention or controlled release, and shall also be fined; where the circumstances are serious, a sentence of between three and seven years imprisonment and a concurrent fine is to be given.

New Chongqing-Chongqing Morning Post reporter Yang Xinyu intern Chen Xuanbing photo report