Tears for felled Botanic Gardens tree

THE EDITOR: November 2, All Soul’s Day, and I am saddened and speechless. On my morning walk in the Botanic Gardens, I literally was stopped in my tracks on discovering that a most beautiful tree, one I have always admired, was intentionally felled. It looked like carnage.

Chopped up into rough slabs, the trunk sustained massive cracks from the fall and sawdust trickled onto the pathway after the rain made it seem as if the tree itself had bled. My heart broke.

I was told this was a Naked Indian Tree and it had been felled to make room for the nearby arbour, which had collapsed and needed rebuilding. This was a tall, magnificent tree. It had a presence. It towered over those around and the morning light made it appear magical.

This unique tree bore special meaning to a dear friend. It was her favourite tree. She would finish her morning walks in such a way as to gaze upon it and admire its beauty and bask in the serenity it gave her. Knowing this, one year ago, on November 2 – her birthday – I sent her a picture of this special tree, telling her that she, like “her” tree, was a woman of great strength and beauty.

One year later, “her” tree is gone.

Why? This was a perfectly healthy tree which provided shade, shelter and beauty. Why was it cut down? Can whatever structure that needed, so desperately to be built, not be built around the tree or away from it?

That tree was clearly there long before any shoddy arbour was constructed. Now, its life was shamefully and prematurely terminated. Have we not yet learnt to work with nature and not dominate it?

We should be preserving and protecting these trees, not chopping them down to make room for more buildings. This was wrong. Today, I mourn this tremendous loss and pray for the soul of our nation.

JESSIE-MARIE CHAVES

Via e-mail