Big old trees want concrete pavements to be removed

As absurd as it may sound, I know a place where I feel the Earth spinning: the Fir Forest Trail in front of Woljeongsa Temple in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. Looking at a 600-year-old tree, I am amazed by a tree hollow, large enough for a bear to rest curled up inside. Sitting on the tree stump on the opposite side, boasting numerous growth rings, I find myself zoned out and feel the rotation of the Earth.

Walking deeper into the wintry forest, you may even be driven by a mysterious force. Under the rays of light dimming in the thick forest, a squirrel’s leaping gait drops snowflakes off the branches to the ground. You may feel as if you were hearing the sound of water conduits of the tall tree taking up water drops from the ground surface. Upon your arrival at an unfamiliar place, time feels as though it were a physically palpable entity. The hallucinating experience is a gift from the wondrous tree that stands aloof rooted to the ground firmly and silently.

As mountains mean a lot to Gangwon Province, forests represent Jeju Island. On a recent trip to Gotjawal on Geomunoreum, I saw a deeply rooted large tree covered with plants just as in a local saying that goes, “Stones hold on to trees and the trees do the same to the stone.” Indeed, it was reminiscent of a bunch of Kodama, a type of Japanese folklore spirits inhabiting trees in the animated film Princess Mononoke, sticking out their head here and there.

You have such a magical feeling only when you leave cities. However, long ago, big old trees were part of life. Zelkova trees would stand near the entrance to every village with a wooden pavilion under them. Guardian trees at the foot of the mountains were considered holy creatures. It might have been only natural that people would have moments of wonder and mystery in their everyday lives.

There are still some large trees, the girth of which is too large to wrap your arms around them, standing tall in old villages of Seoul and other major cities, even with many removed since the country was industrialized. These trees still surprise you, however, in a negative way: “How could they still be alive under these awful conditions?”

Big old trees struggle to survive on the ground covered with buildings and roads all over the place. With the ground surface paved with concrete, they breathe and take in rainwater and nourishment from the soil pad of one square meter. The roots of the pitiful trees barely support the trunk suffocated by layers of soil that were previously added to make new roads.

A study found for the first time that big old trees are likely to be stressed out in these environments. The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage under the Cultural Heritage Administration issued a research paper on Nov. 18 in the peer-reviewed academic journal “Scientific Reports” published by Nature Portfolio to discuss the growing environments and vitality of big old trees. A study of 25 Zelkova trees shows that trees have a lower maximum rate of photosynthesis if they grow in an area narrower than the area of water pipes spreading around the trees. Concrete layers on the surface block air, water, and nutritional substances from moving flawlessly. Likewise, the research team says trees rooted to the deeper ground with thick soil layers have a lower vitality level because less water goes down to the soil layers.

We should remove concrete layers and thick soil capping from where big old trees stand so that the roots can breathe. The research team said in a telephone interview, “Placing a bench around the trees may not be a big deal. However, the ground surface around the trees needs to be left bare. At least, their water pipes are supposed to be spread as much as possible to help trees grow.” Among the country’s national monuments are Zelkova trees that are 600 to 700 years old. We may be throttling the trees that would otherwise live longer without knowing. As the dying trees dry, our moments of wonder fade away.