Preserving our century-old trees
BEING known as the City of Pines, trees have become our symbol of environmental movement, and distinctly grows even stronger as our local pride, so by hosting and nursing century trees, the city’s historical roots are also preserved from tales of local exploration and progress, solidarity, remembrance, adversity and resiliency as witnessed by these silent but living century observers. With this, Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr. has proposed an ordinance mandating the preservation of century and heritage trees in the jurisdiction of the city. In his proposal, Yangot stated that trees have been wellregarded since time immemorial. As the biggest plants on the planet, each individual tree removes up to 1.7 kilograms of dust and other pollutants from the air every year. Research further shows that within minutes of being surrounded by trees and green space, blood pressure drops and stress levels wind down. In the proposed measure, the alderman specified that all trees identified to have lived for more than 100 years shall be declared as “Century Trees”. Important tree species however which have not yet reached 100 years old but are considered ecological, historical or culturally valuable or belonging to rare species, or are adjacent or near a water source, spring or well and whose cutting or destruction will disrupt or destroy the water source, shall be declared as “Heritage Trees” and shall receive the same protection under the said proposed ordinance. Meanwhile, a Century Tree Special Technical Committee will also be established to oversee the implementation of the said measure. in it a very effective de-stressing tool to get me through a week’s worth of strain. It was through writing that I was able to cope – to some degree – with the loss of loved-ones. It is through writing that I am able to share (or purge, more aptly) these thoughts in my oftentimes crowded mind.
In ending this chat I want to share this quote from Terri Main: “You are a writer. The ‘normal’ ship has sailed without you long ago.”