What Does It Take To Save A Tree?

The following was summarized from an article by Augusto Villalon for the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

100-year old Dao Tree

One of the strongest responses to the call to avoid the cutting of mature trees happened recently at Mount Carmel Church in Quezon City. It came from Perry Ong, an alumnus of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños (BS '83 and MS '88 in Zoology).

Ong asks for the postponement or suspension of the Aug. 4 cutting of a spectacular fully grown dao tree in front of the Student Union building at the UPLB campus, which is estimated by botanists to be over a century old.

The tree is a campus landmark. UPLB veterans claim that the dao tree was there before National Artist Leandro Locsin began construction of the Student Union building in 1968. Locsin and landscape architect Salvador Bautista both respected the tree, integrating it into their design schemes.

The tree stands 20 meters tall. Its trunk is only a meter away from the main asphalted road of the campus. A large portion of its root system is covered with concrete that is a primary reason for its poor health these days.

It should have been left alone, in an environment that simulated forest conditions as closely as possible for a university campus. It should have been kept away from any concrete. That is not what happened. However in the 1960s, people approached conservation with far less information than we have today.

The tree aged badly. It now leans. Some campus humorists call it a "leaning tower." The sidewalk over its roots is cracking seriously, causing some alarm with people who think the tree is ready to fall over.

To exacerbate the situation, there has been a history of damaging tree falls at UPLB. Two of them, in fact, collapsed behind the Student Union building in 2003 and destroyed parts of its basement. A professor's residence was another casualty after a typhoon in 1995 when a tree collapsed on his house.Public safety is clearly at issue here.

What does one do with the tree?

Options

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun ordered the Los Baños-based DENR Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) and the DENR Community Environment and Natural Resources (Cenro) to investigate the issue.

They recommended pruning the tree to cut down on the weight of the upper portion to prevent further tilting. They also recommended the structure to prop up the midsection of the main trunk to strengthen and stabilize the tree'sposition. Their last recommendation was to rehabilitate the decayed lower portion of the tree.

EDRB recommended measures that prevented the tree from endangering public safety, constructively pointing out that the tree could be saved.

UPLB authorities consulted Dr. Ernesto Militante, a tree pathology expert and tree surgeon. He found the tree to be over-matured, saying that its concrete-covered location was not ideal for growth. It was difficult to know, he claimed, how deep the tree's roots were and therefore difficult to determine anchorage.

Dr. Militante recommended after his investigation that the tree should be cut.

Creative Approach

Many people today no longer think of pulling down bell towers in Spanish colonial era churches because they lean over (and many do) or are a threat to public safety. Instead, we find solutions to stabilize the tower.

Most solutions are painstaking, costing more than demolishing the tower, but we persevere because if the tower disappears an important part of church heritage vanishes forever. If the tree were to be cut, it would vanish forever in the collective memory of the UPLB family.

The dao issue introduces the heritage dimension for the first time to the discipline of forestry. It adds an unfamiliar layer to the standard forestry and public safety reasons on whether the tree should not be cut down or not. It asks that more solutions be explored before getting to the last resort of removing the tree forever.What is called for is a creative approach.

The decision taken by UPLB authorities will make a precedent in environmental and heritage preservation in the Philippines.