Like the animals that live in the trees
As Weng Hengbin says, “In the past, even though I liked nature and went outdoors and up to the mountains whenever I had the chance, I didn’t have many chances to actually climb trees.” If not for climbing trees, our understanding of and interaction with trees would be quite limited. Even these tree doctors, who know trees so well, would miss the chance to see things first hand.
“When I first started climbing trees, I was often amazed to compare what I saw with what I learned from books and find it was all true!” he says.
A tree, standing where it does all year round, may be silent, but it is always selflessly open to any creature. “A tree is its own ecosystem,” says Weng, recalling some of the unusual scenes he’s seen in trees. “Some creatures spend their entire lives in trees without ever coming down, from generation to generation.”
Of course, trees also welcome people to visit. According to ISA standards, as long as a tree has a healthy trunk of more than three inches in diameter, it can be climbed. But the really crazy thing is that arborists will use hammocks known as “tree boats” to spent nights up trees like the creatures that live there.
Of course, some people might be worried they’ll fall. “A lot of the time you just have to trust your aura,” says Weng abstrusely.
Every arborist has a list of trees they dream of climbing one day, and surprisingly Weng says with certainty that the ones he most wants to climb are in Taiwan.
“Taiwan really is a treasure island. Think about it, Taiwan is so small, but it has two of the six Chamaecyparis species that exist in the world. It has many giant trees that are over 3,000 years old, like the groves in the Qilan Forest Recreation Area. And if you transplanted any of Taiwan’s top ten giant trees to Japan, it would get into the top three.”
By climbing trees, arborists like Weng are able to stand on the shoulders of these giants of nature to see further, but at the same time, they also cherish the land at their feet. Perhaps this is another gift that trees can give to humanity.
Resting in a “tree boat” can feel like drifting amid a sea of trees. (courtesy of Climbing Tree)
To help with research into the forest canopy, arborists even clamber up ancient giant trees like these. (courtesy of Climbing Tree)
Climbing trees for exercise teaches you that you can reach the top with hard work and a never-say-die attitude.
Xu Renhan, who teaches aspiring arborists, is Taiwan’s first licensed female arborist.
Through tree climbing activities, otherwise unassuming trees on campus become the focus of fun.