TOKYO — Workers began cutting trees Monday in central Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien park district to make way for a development project, a flashpoint for more than a year between environmentalists and real estate interests.

Developers led by real-estate company Mitsui Fudosan have a 10-year, multi-billion-dollar plan to build three skyscrapers on the coveted land and to raze a historical baseball stadium, replacing it with a new stadium.

A small group of protesters gathered Monday. They object to the destruction of trees in a city that lacks green space and is seeing many parks handed over to commercial interests.

The plan is backed by Tokyo Gov. Yuiko Koike, who once was Japan’s environmental minister.