Arborist nurtures Fujian's natural assets

"Tree trimmers with a bucket truck can finish a job in just half a day, whereas it takes us a full day or two," Yu said. "If a tree can be trimmed using a bucket truck, they don't hire us. We only get called in for the extremely difficult cases."

Yu further elaborated on the challenges faced when dealing with complex tree issues. "When a tree has diseased tissue deep within its crown, tree trimmers using a bucket truck — often equipped with a hydraulic extendable boom and an aerial work platform — can only prune from the outside in. This means that healthy outer branches must be removed first, just to reach the problem areas.

Trimmers often end up snapping branches simply for access, turning what should be a targeted removal into an unnecessary amputation of entire limbs.

"Arborists like us, on the other hand, can work from within, moving with precision and treating the tree on its own terms," she said.

After a typhoon hit Xiamen in 2016, Yu and her university team were mobilized to help clear damaged trees.

"The typhoon damaged over a million trees, leaving branches scattered across the ground and blocking vehicles," she said.

"I was about to graduate when our tree-climbing lecturer took us out to help. The damage varied greatly from tree to tree. Some branches had snapped and were lodged in other trees or tangled within their own branches, requiring us to climb up to remove them."