CML says "tree replacement" at the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint will be "gradual

After announcing the felling and replacement of eight large trees at the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint, Lisbon City Hall now says that "not all infected specimens are proposed for replacement now, remaining as long as monitoring data so indicate.

Lisbon Photography For People

A week after the Lisboa Para Pessoas and a protest banner placed at the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint, where Lisbon City Council (CML) planned to cut down and replace eight diseased trees, the public information about this intervention has disappeared. It disappeared from the site and from the council's website. It is now available again - at least online -, but the City Council has now clarified that what is going to be done is "a gradual replacement of trees that are entering a phase of greater risk".

"Although some of the trees in the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint are contaminated by a fungus with a very destructive behavior and are in danger of falling due to the progressive degradation of the wood, not all of the infected specimens are proposed for replacement now, but will remain as long as the monitoring data indicates"The municipality told Lisboa Para Pessoas after a request for clarification. "What we're doing is gradually replacing the trees that are entering a phase of greater risk." However, CML has not indicated why the information about the felling and replacement of the trees has been temporarily removed from the site and the website.

Platform in Defense of Trees questions logging and asks for more information

On February 23, the Platform in Defense of Trees sent a request for clarification on the authorization of logging at the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara. "We also ask that the culling operation be postponed until all doubts have been clarified"they wrote in a message addressed to the councillor responsible for the Green Structure, Ângelo Pereira, and to the Mayor, Carlos Moedas. In the same letter, they asked for more information to be provided, such as a phytosanitary report carried out by a "suitable entity"such as the Veríssimo de Almeida Plant Pathology Laboratory, and a "technical opinion justifying the replacement of the felled trees with another species".

"We also ask the new executive to consider evolving the approach to large trees that have weaknesses and diseases"they wrote, adding that "Adult trees are magnificent living beings and are often irreplaceable. We therefore ask that in cases like this (...) consideration be given to taking measures to preserve the specimens, such as (...) propping them up or using cables to support the branches (...)".

To Lisbon For People, Rosa Casimirospokesperson and founder of the Platform in Defense of Trees, reiterated that "to cut down trees, you need a phytosanitary report done properly" and regretted the lack of information from the municipality. CML has published on its website, as it usually does, a "Tree Felling Authorization Request" - a short document with the identification numbers of the trees to be removed, their location and a short justification. "They often say that it [the document shared by CML] is a technical report, but we don't accept it. It's not signed by any technician or laboratory"Rosa argues. "It's not enough to say that trees are dangerous" for people strolling along the Belvedere, "we need to quantify how dangerous they are".

In the António Nobre Garden, better known as the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint, it was planned to cut down eight large trees of the species Celtis australis and replacing them with eight specimens of another species, Liquidambar styraciflua. CML explained that the eight trees had been assessed for felling because "have a high level of decrepitude and a sparse canopy" e "They are therefore a danger to the safety of people and property in the event of a rupture". In the document shared by the municipality, it could also be read that the tree elements have "signs of presence" from a fungus called Inonotus rickii.

On Lisbon's Municipal Tree RegulationIn a document published in 2015, we can read that "the tree replacement plan must include an assessment report on the trees to be replaced" and that this report "must be drawn up by the competent technical services of CML, the Parish Council or by an external entity recognized for this purpose". It is clear from this document that "slaughter will only be carried out after authorization from the competent authority"which could be the CML itself. To Lisboa Para Pessoas, the municipality assured that "Lisbon City Council's Tree Care Team, with its vast experience, carries out a continuous assessment of urban trees".

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