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Green Cities / Good old trees get the chop By Zafrir Rinat Government officials aren't supposed to express their emotions in the letters they send to official bodies, but Yisrael Galon of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry simply could not restrain himself. For many years he has been acting tirelessly to preserve ancient trees. He also tried to save the very old eucalyptus that was cut down last month in Petah Tikva to make way for a new roof at the city market. "With great regret I must inform you that I failed in my efforts to save a 130-year-old tree, one of the first trees in Petah Tikva," wrote Galon three weeks ago to Mayor Yitzhak Ohayon and the members of the Petah Tikva municipal council. "I have spent the past few nights in the vicinity of the tree, watching its death throes. I still cannot digest the action that has been taken by you and at your initiative. Advertisement "You could have preserved the impressive and healthy tree, earned glory and led an educational act of preservation," continued Galon of the plant engineering department at the Agriculture Ministry. "However, you chose a different path, with the building permit you obtained serving as a fig leaf for this grave action. Despite my pleas in recent days to hold further discussion and to present to you professional alternatives for the preservation of the tree, you did not bother to reply to me. There is no doubt that this is a wonderful and symbolic gift to Petah Tikva in advance of its 130th anniversary celebrations. Cutting down the senior citizen that contributed to the city is ungrateful and inconsiderate." The story of the tree in Petah Tikva is not unusual. In recent years quite a number of veteran trees have been cut down in other cities. According to the Petah Tikva municipality, the eucalyptus was a dangerous tree - one of its branches fell on a vehicle a year ago and nearly did serious harm. "We obtained all the permits for cutting down the tree," noted the municipality spokesman. "The Jewish National Fund (JNF) forestry superintendent, who came to the site, gave his approval for chopping down the tree. This is a place that is thronged with people, and we did not want to put the shoppers at risk." Some trees get saved However, there are cases in which extraordinary effort has been invested in the preservation of trees. This was done for the sycamore tree at the Holon junction, which stood on a spot designated for a bridge. Employees of the Netivei Ayalon company removed the tree from its site, including its root system, and moved it nearby, where it stands to this day. All of this was accomplished in a complicated and costly engineering operation. The people at the JNF and the Agriculture Ministry have been trying in recent years to raise awareness of the importance of preserving veteran trees. Three years ago Galon published a "Survey of Mature Trees and Tree Stories," which covered about 1,500 trees of 52 varieties. In the book's introduction, he noted that over the years we have learned to preserve archaeological finds in museums and to appreciate historic buildings. However, "trees, and even ancient trees, suffer here from abuse and destruction," he added. "They are uprooted and moved from one site to another because of construction considerations and real estate deals. Despite regulations that have been laid down for the prevention of the uprooting of trees, and despite the publication of municipal bylaws that make it difficult to uproot trees, hundreds of trees are nevertheless uprooted and moved each year and their history and the stories that are connected to them become extinct." Another contribution to the recognition of the importance of preserving trees has been the book "101 Special and Amazing Trees in Israel" (Am Oved). This book was written by Yaacov Shkolnik together with a professional team of JNF staffers who have been documenting ancient and special trees in various places for years. The book documents quite a number of urban trees, among them several famous trees such as the sycamore in Netanya that is mentioned in accounts of 19th-century travelers, among them Moses Montefiore and his wife Judith. The tree was located in the Arab village of Umm Khaled. The British traveler Mary Eliza Rogers, who visited Palestine in 1885, notes that during her visit to the village she rested under an isolated tree. The JNF people are convinced that she is referring to the sycamore. Petah Tikva is mentioned in the book thanks to a beautiful tree, a lemon eucalyptus, on Shapira Street. This is how Shapira describes it: "The unique tree is immediately noticed. The smooth, sensuous trunk, light yellow in color, invites caressing. Even the Petah Tikva municipality, which is usually insensitive about trivia like trees, has found fit to place a sign near the tree and speak in its praise." Among the urban trees that are documented in the book are some that have demonstrated particularly impressive endurance. One of these is a white acacia in Tel Aviv's Neveh Tzedek neighborhood, located on a plot that housed two schools in the past and is now home to the Suzanne Dellal Center. Unlike the eucalyptus, this variety was not planted in Israel by human beings but rather grew here naturally and once was very common in the sands onm which Tel Aviv was built. The professional team that gathered the information in the book is convinced that the gardeners of the schools that used to be located in Neveh Tzedek constantly battled the thorny creature, which is not popular in gardens. "We salute the stubborn wild tree, which for years has stood up to the blades of the pruning shears and the architects who have refurbished the plaza in Neveh Tzedek," says the book about the tree. "In our opinion it is now entitled to adorn the plaza without being disturbed." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Wimbledon shocker Shahar Peer knocks out 9th-seed Safina to slide into the fourth round. Time to hit Iran Israel must destroy Iran's nuclear program within one year or risk being attacked.

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