Photo/Illutration Elizabeth Brabec, who is president of ICOMOS’s International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes, participates online in a news conference held Sept. 15 at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. (Soichi Tsuchidate)

The UNESCO-affiliated International Council on Monuments and Sites said the planned redevelopment of Tokyo’s leafy Jingu Gaien park amounts to “irreversible destruction” of the nation’s cultural heritage and called for the project to be scrapped.

On Sept. 7, the advisory body known as ICOMOS issued a “Heritage Alert” to protect the site famed for its avenue of more than 100 ginkgo trees.

ICOMOS cited the history of the leafy space created a century ago with donations from the public to honor the Meiji Emperor. Many of the trees were donated, too.

ICOMOS sent a letter to the project developers as well as the Tokyo metropolitan government, urging them to halt plans that include constructing a pair of 200-meter skyscrapers and felling 700 trees.

The letter demanded that the developers--Mitsui Fudosan Co., Meiji Jingu shrine which owns the land, the Japan Sport Council and Itochu Corp.--scrap the plan.

Additionally, it called on the Tokyo government, which approved the project, to reconsider the urban planning decision. It referred to flaws in the environmental assessment, suggesting the need for a review.

ICOMOS also sought the cooperation of the Japanese government in getting the project scuttled. It called for a response by Oct. 10.

ICOMOS member Elizabeth Brabec, who serves as president of the body’s International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes, which was involved in assessing the Heritage Alert, participated in a news conference held online in Tokyo on Sept. 15.

She said the committee members were shocked when they learned of the redevelopment plans for Jingu Gaien.

“It is virtually unheard of for a major city such as Tokyo to take some of its urban parkland in very short supply and to convert it to development,” Barbec said.

She said the construction project comes at a time when world responses to climate change recognize that maintaining open spaces and all parts of urban forests are of “critical importance.” 

Regarding the controversial plan to erect two high-rise buildings in a central area that the public is accustomed to using as a park, she said it “is an extremely unusual situation.”

Turning to the plans to chop down hundreds of trees, Barbec pointed out that some of them are 50 or even 100 years old.

“You cannot replace a mature heritage forest with the planting of new trees,” she said.

Brabec also complained that the project proceeded with little information shared with the public. She emphasized the need to offer information widely and create a forum where the public and stakeholders can contribute to the discussions.

The Tokyo government has asked the developers to present concrete measures to conserve as many of the trees as possible before starting the felling process.

As a result, the cutting scheduled to begin this month may be delayed from the planned date.

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