Expert: None of trees deserved to be felled

CEBU, Philippines -  None of the trees in the cities of Naga and Carcar and the town of San Fernando deserved to be cut down.

This was the finding of the third-party tree expert who did a rapid assessment of the acacia trees that lined up the highway in southern Cebu that were recommended to be cut down for the risk they pose to the public.

Forestry expert Roger Guzman, executive director of the conservation group Philippine Federation for Environmental Concern, said that while the trees the Department of Environment and Natural resources identified as problematic and earmarked to be removed were indeed diseased, administering remedies and silvicultural treatment operations should be the recourse to take instead of immediately cutting them down.

“Some are really diseased and leaning. But when I evaluated the root system, most have fully developed (root system), although some of them have parts that are damaged; but these trees are still capable of surviving and can still grow well provided that proper protection is instituted.… In forestry you can remedy this.  You can do tree surgery,” he said.

Guzman presented the findings yesterday at the Capitol after conducting a  two-day rapid assessment he completed Thursday.

He mentioned in his report that most trees identified as diseased were only caused by physical injuries. He said that though the center of some over-mature trees are rotten, it is only common to old trees and does not significantly reduce their strength.

Guzman said that in the City of Naga, two trees lean towards the road, with one tree leaning quite low, although tall vehicles can still safely pass it by.

He recommended periodic pruning and installation of a warning sign that would be attached to a low, protruding branch.

He also mentioned one tree, which was already cut as it was severely diseased, that was located away from the road and did not obstruct motorists and pedestrians.

“The defects are caused by periodic burning at the base of the tree. The tree can still recover with proper protection and filling of some soil on the side that was excava-ted during road improvement work. The tree does not pose serious risk (to the public),” Guzman said.

There are 25 acacia trees in Naga that were subjected to scrutiny or physical evaluation.  Of the 25, four were already cut down last August 5.

“Proper maintenance and protection is necessary. There was no evidence of center rot at the basal part of one of the trees cut,” he said.

In all there are 154 trees affected by road widening in south Cebu; 88 of these trees were identified for removal.

Guzman, though, made it clear that what he did was just rapid appraisal, and recommended that an in-depth survey should be made.

“(The survey) is to evaluate the soil structure and quality that can be correlated with root growth, penetration and development, and hence determine the viability and strength of standing trees to withstand strong winds and typhoons,” he said.

He said four severely diseased trees that may be considered as posing considerable risk to the people need further evaluation, considering not only the physical attributes of the trees but also the base soil structure where it stands should be looked into.

“Re-evalutaion of these trees may be done to determine recovery and or further deterioration,” he said.

San Fernando Municipal administrator Neil Enriquez, however, said he was not satisfied by the presentation since nothing has been decided whether or not the cutting of trees would push through.

“Kasagaran namo is for cutting of the trees tungod kay nahadlok mi nga anytime kining akasya matumba. Kung naay matagakan ma-injured kinsa may i-blame sa mga tawo? Di ang DENR, di ang environmentalists, ang dakdakan gyud ani sa, ang LGU gud kay amo man ning obligasyon (We are for the cutting of the trees because we fear that these acacia trees could fall anytime.  If somebody gets injured when that happens, who gets blamed? Not the DENR, not the environmentalists; it is the local government units, because it is their obligation,” he said.

Eduardo Inting, DENR-7 Forest Management Services regional technical director, said another meeting would be held Tuesday to form a group that would conduct the in-depth analysis.

“We will form a task group and that group will determine whatever the action next after that meeting. During that meeting we will plan out the activity, maybe we will do another assessment with a pathologist coming with us. If we can do it as fast as possible, we would do it,” he said. — /RHM (FREEMAN)