EDITOR – The teams that hack at our trees are not trained.
When a member of the local hacking team is shown how to cut a branch so that the bark does not rip down the trunk as the branch falls, they show genuine appreciation that a member of the public cares enough about them to spend time teaching and demonstrating the correct methods of pruning.
When the team is shown a picture of how the trimming teams in Cape Town do not leave ‘elbows’ sticking out but trim right next to a main branch or trunk – then again appreciation is expressed.
These poor teams that come under such heavy criticism do not even know about the need to ‘balance’ the tree once big limbs are removed. Neither are they aware that some of their arboreal victims have isiZulu names and could show more respect for our heritage if they had been taught something about their cultural significance.
Are their absent supervisors/managers aware that there are guide lines to correct tree trimming? The municipality could be proactive by employing a forester to teach these skills to the department heads and cascade the knowledge down the line to the teams, before more of our lovely trees are butchered.
JS
Westville Conservancy
