Seoul Metropolitan Government will put its street trees up for adoption, offering citizens a chance to look after the plants that line them, officials said Thursday.
The “Adopt-a-Tree” project will launch in September with about 8,600 trees. It will be expanded to all 284,000 of its trees next year, the officials said.

The trees will be allotted to institutions only, such as schools and companies, but not to individuals. Interested institutions should send in an application, officials said, although detailed requirements are yet to be finalized.

The institutions will be allotted trees planted in a maximum of 3 kilometers of streets or plots and for a set duration of a year. They will be able to put their organization’s sign on the trees they look after.

Seoul officials said the program would help cut the costs of maintaining trees, while offering citizens a chance to nurture plants. In a pilot program, Sun-sa Elementary School in eastern Seoul adopted more than 4,000 ginkgoes and box trees in May. Its students now pick up trash, pull weeds and water the trees.

The city will still be in charge of more professional care of the trees, such as disease prevention and treatment.

The state of Texas first started an adoption program in 1985 with “Adopt-a-Highway” and it has spread through other U.S. states and other nations such as Canada, the U.K., and Japan.

Japan launched a park adoption project in 1998 and now runs programs such as cleaning streams, roads and green areas.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)