Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN) yesterday launched an online petition calling for the Department of Roads (DoR) and Kathmandu Valley Town Development Authority (KVTDA) to immediately halt its roadside tree-felling.[break]
AWNN - in tandem with Roots and Shoots and a new conservation group, the Trees Liberation Army - is also calling upon authorities to develop "an intelligent road design which includes existing and new trees".
The ongoing mass felling of the city´s roadside trees is led by the DoR and KVTDA, which have been given broad powers by the cabinet as part of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai´s road widening project.
While no formal government records are being kept, some estimates place the number of trees chopped down across the Valley so far in the thousands. There is currently no formal plan to replant the trees.
Some of the felled trees includes about 12 large ones from the protected forest at the base of Lalitpur´s Kirat Temple - affiliated with the Kirat community - on Hattiban Road.
"There´s a saying in Nepal that if you have to take something, then you should give something back. I don´t feel this is right," said Bipin Rai, a member of the local Kirat community.
There are now allegations of corruption surrounding sale of the felled trees - a lucrative business - prompting activists to call for an investigation.
"The damage which is currently being inflicted cannot be undone for years or decades to come. Pollution levels and temperatures in Kathmandu and Patan will rise, and people and animals will suffer," said a release from AWNN.
Ajeet Kumar Karn, district forest officer for Lalitpur, said: "You can feel the temperature fluctuations that we´re experiencing. It´s very crowded and the trees can barely cope with the current eco-system."
Over 30 trees on Lalitpur´s busy Pulchwok Road currently face the ax. Karn said their removal will move Kathmandu closer to becoming "a concrete jungle".
Local activists, including some affiliated with TLA, have now taken to tying ribbons around Lalitpur´s trees and painting graffiti slogans on their trunks, such as "Save Me".
Manoj Gautam, founder of conservation group Roots and Shoots, said the long-term solution isn´t as simple as calling for an immediate halt to tree-felling.
He said the problem reflected a more entrenched issue of "no vision" and "no proper expertise" on the part of DoR and KVTDA, which are both trained in felling and widening roads but not in tree replanting.“
"You currently cannot find one authority in Nepal which can handle the issue of replanting. We need a team with expertise and some teeth over the issue of environment," said Gautam.
Officials from both the Ministry of Environment and Department of Forests have already voiced their concern about being left out of the road-widening authorities´ tree felling spree.
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