WOLF HOWL
2017 began with the ugly roar of diesel-powered chainsaws shattering the normal peace and tranquility where I live on the outskirts of north London.
The local council have been busy cutting down hundreds of trees in the park and along the few country paths that survived after the area was developed for housing 20 years ago.
The official reason given for this destruction of perfectly-healthy mature trees is to “improve the woodland habitat“.
Improve the woodland habitat for whom?
Cutting down trees will do nothing to improve things for the vast majority of the local wildlife.
Countless nests, roosts, burrows, sources of food, breeding areas and natural defenses and habitat are being lost.
The only wildlife to benefit will be predators. The owls, the hawks and the foxes which will find it easier to catch disturbed and confused prey that have lost their usual cover and hiding places.
However, even the initial benefit to the predators will quickly reverse as, once the easy pickings have gone, the result will be fewer prey overall and, with habitat destroyed, breeding populations will not recover.
Cutting down trees in the depths of winter, when wild birds and small mammals are particularly vulnerable, is guaranteed to maximize the numbers that will die.
Will cutting down trees improve anything for the local residents? The answer is a resounding no.
Fewer trees means more noise. Trees muffle traffic noise and act as sound buffers. Fewer mature trees will result in poorer air quality because trees synthesize carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
Other benefits of trees include acting as wind breaks which helps reduce damage to fences and property from all but the most severe of gales and storms. Tree root systems also decrease the likelihood of flooding and limit the impact of heavy rainfall.
Impossible to quantify, but massively important, is the beauty of trees and their unique ability to improve the visual appearance, character and ambiance of residential districts.
Simply put, leafy suburbs are far better places to live than concrete jungles.
So who is better off then?
If there’s no improvement for wildlife or local residents from this tree felling, why is it being done?
Well there are some people who will benefit.
Just follow the money.
The contractors carrying out the work will improve their bottom-line and the council officials who commissioned it will claim they have justified their jobs.
The latter may also enjoy exercising the power their positions afford them.
Having the authority to order hundred of trees to be felled, to change the appearance of an area and being able to significantly impact the environment would be heady mix for many public employees.
It’s the old story of give someone power and they will be guaranteed to abuse it.
The council website dedicated to the venture describes it as “exciting” and a “scene change”.
A close friend with a more cynical outlook than myself suggests the chopping down of these trees will “improve” the chances of the land they occupied being reassigned as suitable for building houses on.
UPDATE Monday January 9th
The destruction continues.
The second week of 2017 has begun with more healthy trees alongside the local roads being felled for no good reason.
It takes decades for trees to grow and mature but only minutes to cut them down.