Just as their lavender-hued flowers began bursting into bloom, the row of jacaranda trees bordering the southern perimeter of Centro Laguna was practically obliterated last week as a safety precaution carried out by the municipal government.
The extreme action was ordered after a large branch from one of the trees suddenly fell to the ground on Monday, February 23, wounding a foreign resident who happened to be standing in the shade waiting to board a bus. The ill-fated accident victim was transported to the Chapala Red Cross clinic for treatment of an injury to his left leg.
According to Moctezuma Medina, head of the city’s ecology department, subsequent inspection revealed that four of the five jacarandas were so ravished by fungal disease that their mature trunks and branches had become dried up and drained of life. Only a slender trunk of new growth on the western-most specimen was deemed to be viable and thus, left intact.
Medina reports that management at the business mall has pledged to promptly replace the lost trees with well-developed saplings. It has not yet been determined whether the substitutes will be jacarandas or some other species that will provide ample shade and landscape enhancement.
Medina points out that detection of terminal disease or old age is considered among principal criteria for the issuance of ecology department permits for the felling, removal or extreme pruning of mature trees.
Authorization may also be granted for situations in which large trunks, branches or extensive roots are found to be causing damages to construction and infrastructure on private or public property and if they represent a safety risk from falling.
View protection is not considered a valid motive for tree felling and major pruning. The removal of trees to make space for new construction may be allowed under special arrangement with Medina’s office.
He advises property owners to follow proper procedure in all of the above cases. The interested party should call or visit the ecology office to request an inspection and official technical report on the conditions of the specimen in question. The service requires payment of a 200 peso processing fee, payable at cashier’s window in the city hall foyer. In addition, the petitioner will be responsible for donating two trees with a commercial value of at least 200 pesos to the municipal nursery. These will eventually be distributed for planting in the ecology department’s biannual reforestation campaigns.
Permits are not required for minor pruning concerned with tree health, maintenance and esthetics, provided that the work involves cutting off branches that measure under 10 centimeters in diameter and no more than 30 percent of the specimen’s foliage.
For complete information consult with ecology personnel in the north wing of city hall’s second story.