If Trees Could Speak....
By Anitha S
14 October, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Like all evenings, that day too we sat under the huge tree in the heart of the city of Thiruvananthapuram sipping tea made by the lady who runs a small tea shop. We were just going over the events of the day, the boring classes, the heat and threat of rains, the traffic block as many of us traveled from the suburbs to the city for our studies and so on. It was then we noticed two people come to the tree with some banners and posters. They started tying it on to the tree – one banner attracted us because of the slogan it carried- FREE THE TREES. We wondered what had happened to the trees that they needed freedom. Some of us were worried that maybe this huge tree under which we have been sitting for over an year is going to be cut, like many which were being removed in the city. We spoke a bit to the twosome as the tea shop lady also came, anxious that the tree under which she has been working would go. The team explained that they were having this campaign called the Signature Tree to focus on the need to conserve as many trees as possible before thinking that the only option is to cut them away. Many trees in the city were being removed without proper assessment of their health and status. The group was also putting forth the demand that there has to be a scientific evaluation of the tree, its growth pattern, the health of roots and bark before it is cut. One of them told us that if trees could speak, they would tell us many truths about having to grow in a developing city like Thiruvananthapuram.
We helped set up the banners and the posters that graphically portrayed what makes a tree unsafe. Without us knowing, we started seeing a lot of truths and facts that we overlook or take for granted. We realized that trees are taken for granted. We hardly notice them or care for them. When we saw the nails that have been driven into the huge Mahogany just for some temporary advertisements and heard the impact of such actions on the health of the tree, we were shocked. The fact that such damages can lead to infestation by insects and water retention we understood how we invite danger. The tendency to collect all rubbish especially after sweeping under a tree and dispose them off by setting fire is rampant in the city.With the closure of the Villapilsala Waste Treatment Plant that brought untold damage and distress to a whole village for over a decade, the Corporation has given a non-verbal order to burn waste on the road side openly as the public continues to throw waste in a haphazard manner without segregation.
As road develop and widen, the spaces available for pedestrians, way side vendors and trees are almost gone. They all are silent and speechless in the face of this huge roaring development monster. Many of us remember cycling from the suburbs we live in to the city schools. Now it is almost impossible. Very soon, cycles will disappear from the roads. Cycling will be a fashionable pass time for the elite and the health freaks and not a mode of safe and sustainable transport. There is a growing intolerance on city roads towards all two-wheelers too. It is this daily experience of ours that made us understand the posters on tarring and concreting of roads better. As each inch of space is important to create more wide roads, the tree bases too get tarred or concreted. The roots and bark of the tree which also needs to breathe and absorb water gets choked underneath, As the tree grows, the base also grows to support the weight of the main branch and the canopy. But if this space is denied, the tree will become top heavy and soon topple. Added to this is the modern means to make more money by tiling all the footpaths. This too leaves little or no space for trees retained on the footpath. The more tiles there are, the amount on the vouchers will be more..and the rest is anyone’s guess. But the victim would be a tree which has to struggle to hold straight.
The electric lines overhead cannot be lopped or cleared ever. Nor can they be maintained according to the growth of the tree. The only dispensable item here are the branches of the trees. They are cut in the most irregular manner adding to the instability of the tree. It was news to us that each tree has an architecture of its own. The way a Neem grows is so different from the Tamarind. Each tree has to be maintained and pruned, if need be according to this. Otherwise it will fall and create problems.
We were really impressed by the fact that 7 sciences – Soil science, Entomology ( Study about insects), Pathology, Botany, Silviculture, Wood science and Physiology join together to help us understand tree growth and health better. The Kerala Forest Research Institute in Peechi, Thrissur does have a Tree Help line facility by which tree health can be assessed ([email protected]/ 0487-2690222). Just like our body which needs care and attention, diagnosis and treatment, trees and all living beings need to be attended. In Nature, they grow well without any problems getting cleaned, corrected and healed by the free interactions and harmony with other beings and factors. But in managed landscapes like cities and urban spaces, trees need the positive intervention of us humans.
It is easy to cut trees away. But with changing climate and other factors, conditions for planting and growing trees is becoming less suitable. If trees could speak, definitely they will tell us more. This unexpected encounter with the Tree Walk team has made us look at trees in a new way…
Anitha.S in conversation with Hisham, Blesson, Nimin, Akash, Jose and Rakeah on 9.10.2013 during Tree Walk’s FREE THE TREE campaign. Please contact Tree walk at [email protected]
Photos: Veena, M and Suresh Elamon
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