Those of us who have ever stood before some particular tree and found ourselves utterly transfixed by its beauty understand why Joyce Kilmer wrote his poem “Trees” (many might be surprised to know the poet Joyce was not a woman but a soldier who was killed in action during World War I).
Its first line goes “I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree” and many, at least of the older generation, can recite the rest of it by heart, perhaps because it is one of the first poems they learned in school or at home.
Perhaps, it is also because one or two generations ago, there were still many trees to look at, whether in the provinces or the cities.
There was a time, for instance, as late as the 1950s, when Manila was known as a garden city, when it had more green spaces than grey buildings, and trees shaded the streets and avenues. It is no coincidence that floods were practically unheard of during this time.
Nowadays, trees are largely gone in the metropolis, and millions of hectares of our forests in the provinces have been denuded. Is it no wonder we don’t value trees as much?
Recent news reports say some 32 Caliandra trees inside the Philippine Information Agency compound in Baguio City are going to be cut down to give way to the construction of a vacation cottage for the President’s Executive Secretary.
There was the reported “massacre of trees” within a mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) area of the Ipilan Nickel Corp. in Brooke’s Point in Palawan, the province often called our country’s “last ecological frontier.” Based on reports from environment officers, Ipilan cut down some 7,000 century-old trees within 30 hectares of land for its mining operations.
There are also some 2,000 doomed trees along Escario Street, one of Cebu City’s main thoroughfares, planned for cutting to give way to the P10.6-billion bus rapid transit project to ease traffic in the metropolis.
Two years ago, 187 trees that used to line the sidewalk of South Avenue along the walls of the Manila South Cemetery were removed to give way to a road-widening project linking the Makati Central Business District to Ayala Land Inc.’s Circuit Makati.
If we don’t feel grief at the sight of a dying tree or one being cut off to give way to a new road, building, mall, golf course or whatever, well it may be because we also no longer carry a sentimental poem about trees in our hearts.
We have become citizens who take the miracle of trees for granted, living in a country where trees are routinely cut and woodlands and forests are being mauled all in the name of development.
Trees should be an extension of our people’s pride and community spirit. It should be a no-brainer for our cities to want to preserve trees. Local governments should even maximize in their urban-planning programs the positive benefits of trees, by siting buildings, structures, roads, car parks and other constructions appropriately to prevent trees from being cut down or removed.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources should set stricter guidelines to prevent the indiscriminate cutting of trees, whether on public or private land. In fact, it should not be allowing this, unless the trees are already dying or pose a risk to public safety, and the local government and the people should be consulted before any tree cutting is done.
We believe in development, but the natural environment, especially our trees, should be part of the development equation too, because they provide social and economic benefits to the community and to the ecosystem.
Trees improve air quality by absorbing pollution and greenhouse gases. They reduce surface runoff water from storms and soil erosion and prevent landslides. They also enhance property values. Given a choice, people are more intuitively drawn to a greener landscape. Studies say it makes people more productive and healthier to be closer to nature. People linger and shop longer along tree-lined streets. Offices and apartments where there is more greenery have higher occupancy rates. Trees are natural attractions for tourists, homebuyers and businesses.
This is the 21st century. There has to be a better way to build than simply paving over green space, a way to develop new structures without harming the existing ecosystem. When there are so fewer trees left, let us not touch them but enjoy them. Or else, the future generations will bear the cost of our follies.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano