Environmentalist Joe Chan told Lusa that Macau's green areas have not improved significantly, although the government claims to have planted 19,000 trees in the last five years.
© Lusa
30/10/2026
by
Lusa
O environmentalist Joe Chan told Lusa today that Macau's green areas have not improved significantly, despite the territorial government complaining that it has planted 19,000 trees in the last five years through various initiatives.
Joe Chan stressed that environmentalists “do certainly support” the planting of trees, but pointed out that the “arborization in Macau depends not only on the number of trees, but above all on the effective rate of green cover”.
The environmentalist explained that the coverage of Macau's green spaces is lower than that of neighboring developed cities and that the method used to calculate the green cover in the territory is unique, since even when there are no trees – for example, in an almost deforested square – the area is accounted for in its entirety as green space.
As an example to Tap Seac Square, Chan said that although the square of 13,000 square meters has only “some trees”, the whole square is classified as “green space”.
In terms of natural spaces, “Macau still has a significant margin for improvement,” Chan said, suggesting to the government to increase effective green cover, reinforcing the conservation of old trees and existing settlements, as well as the maintenance of young and recently planted trees.
The Institute for Municipal Affairs (IAM) indicated in a written response to questions raised by Mrs Ching I that were planted “more than 19,000 mangrove trees, species adapted to coastal zones of transition between the sea and the land between 2021 and 2025”.
Although densely urbanized, Macau houses an area of mangroves along the Taipa-Coloane coastline, in the Cotai Ecological Zone.
This local ecosystem consists of only seven species, but they play a crucial role in coastal protection, water filtration and conservation of migratory birds.
Between 2020 and 2025, the area of green areas and the number of urban trees increased by about 10.3% and 8.1% respectively, the institute added.
The IAM indicated in the same response that in 2023 it invited experts from the interior of China to provide technical support in Macao, who gave professional guidance on the assessment of the health of old trees and their recognized value and recovery.
“ Between 2026 and 2030, the IAM will continue to increase and optimise, throughout the territory of Macau, not less than 200,000 square meters of green areas,” the institute said.
The plan also adds green elements in the upper passages to pedestrians with conditions for such and pedestrian crossings; develop three-dimensional afforestation, and “optimize planning” and provision of green and leisure spaces in urban areas.