When we are sick, we go to a hospital to see the doctor. When trees are sick, they need help from the tree doctor. Since trees do not have legs, they have to wait for the tree doctor to pay a visit. 

Trees and forests are the foundation of the ecology we live in. However, they are suffering severely recently at an unprecedented level due to man-made climate change. They wither and die as the temperature goes up. It is painful for us to see they are dry-drying.

Chigwan Park is known widely among locals as the tree doctor. In fact, he is the director of Jeju Tree Hospital and is the first man called as such in Jeju Island. He engages in a number of tree and forest preservation activities including a school forest saving campaign and a prevention of tree pests. 

▲ Jeju Tree Hospital / Director Chigwan Park

The man called the Jeju tree doctor

Park studied architectural engineering in college. As his studies deepened, he came to realize that buildings destroy nature. He took an action to his awakening and transferred to Konkuk University’s horticulture department. Finishing the course, he got a job at Hallym Botanical Garden in Jeju and promoted to the general manager. Around the time, Jeju introduced Tree Doctor. He passed the test and opened Jeju Tree Hospital in Jocheon-eup in 2020. 

“I worked for Hallym Botanical Garden for 7 years and took care of more than 3,000 kinds of plants. I also took climate change seriously, carried on my study on the tree care methods practiced in America, and developed my own methods” says Park.

He diagnoses, prescribes, and treats tree damage to school forests, street trees, protected trees, old trees, and old village scenic and symbolic trees, and is also researching citrus pests in Jeju.

Citrus resinosis, a type of fungal disease, is deadly. Once a tree is infected, it spreads to neighboring trees, which must be cut down and destroyed. In severe cases, citrus groves have to be shut down. His new tree treatment has been producing positive results for two years. In recognition of his work, in 2023, he received the Commissioner of the Forest Service’s award in the Tree Doctor Tree Care Case Competition. He now conducts briefings for tangerine farmers to teach them how to prevent and treat resinosis.

Importance of forests around school

He provides free diagnosis and treatment to trees young and old in about 100 elementary, middle, and high schools. 

“There are a lot of old trees in the school, but they are not being maintained due to lack of budget and lack of proper management. I hope that the tree treatment activities at the school, which I started with a sense of mission as a tree doctor, will help to nurture the children’s emotions and create a pleasant learning environment” says Park.

He explains that not only do school forests provide a great environment for children to play, but research shows that children who grow up in schools with more trees are more emotionally stable.

“Our school forest is precious, but it’s being lost because it’s not managed. There is no one to solve the problem. Hundreds of children are growing up with trees, and we’re trying to make sure that when they grow up, they’ll remember the importance of trees” says Park.

“Pest outbreaks caused by climate change are also the first to start in Jeju. If there is a problem, we need to control and treat it, but the response is late, so the trees are neglected and die. In particular, I have been working on preventing foreign pests for eight years. When I see a new pest, I take pictures and report it to the Plant Quarantine Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs” says Park.

“I hope that my work on citrus pest control and school forest rehabilitation will spread and help raise awareness of the importance and care of trees” adds Park.