Cyprus Mail 2 October 2020 - by Bejay Browne
Paphos Greens have hit out at the mayor and municipality for cutting dozens of trees and carrying out what they described as “indiscriminate deep pruning” on others.
The trees were lining the dual carriageway, Dimokratias Avenue, which forms part of the ring road around the town and leads from the Paphos stadium roundabout and down to the tourist area, a Paphos green party spokesman told the Cyprus Mail.
“This was such a beautiful road lined with trees and shrubs and many people commented on it. But now trees have been felled and others pruned so deeply they may not ever recover,” he said.
There is no way to know how many trees have been felled, as the crews cut the trees at dawn, according to the greens, who said this is now the ‘normal’ practice of the municipality, and calling it a “criminal act!.
The excuse used is that the poplar trees were not in good shape but that does not negate the fact that they were “beheaded”, he added.
Poplar trees may not be liked by everyone, but they were alive and created a good amount of shade and should have had the dead branches cut instead of just “being killed”, he said.
The greens agreed that some of the trees needed cleaning up, but noted that living things, including human beings, get diseases and can be respected and saved.
“It is unbelievable the way this mayor behaves, and it makes no sense. The crews go so early in the morning that so no-one knows how many were destroyed and it’s very sad.”
The spokesman added that forestry department specialists have noted the recent practice being witnessed in all towns of, “deep pruning”, which was concerning as not all trees are the same and need to be treated differently.
“We have known for a long time that there were dry branches on some of the poplars, but cleaning could have been undertaken and not the easy solution of cutting them down or deep pruning. Unfortunately, deep pruning has become fashionable not only in Paphos but also in other districts. When will this ever stop.?”