Everyone agrees that cities benefit greatly from having more trees. From providing shade, to cleaning up the air, trees act as a welcome respite from the incredibly hectic city life.
Which is why the Dhaka South City Corporation’s current campaign against trees in their municipality has been baffling at best and worrying at worst.
Experts agree that a quarter of any urban space, at the very least, should be dedicated to greenery, and on that front our capital city is woefully inadequate -- which hovers close to 8% at best. The lack of trees in Dhaka is directly related to the record high temperatures and the continued destruction of our air quality.
If things continue as is, our cities will soon become uninhabitable.
Furthermore, the DSCC’s cited goal of beautification cannot be accomplished through the cutting of trees. From Boston to Amsterdam, some of the most beautiful cities in the world have one thing in common: They allow nature to coexist alongside their concrete structures.
Of course, there are also concerns whether the tree-felling is following proper protocol as there are allegations that the DSCC never applied for the required permissions necessary to carry on with the campaign. Needless to say, such allegations have to be thoroughly investigated. Guidelines have to be strengthened so that something as environmentally precarious as tree-felling follows the code.
The government needs to take a pro-active approach and increase the number of trees, focusing on parks and similar projects. We need dedicated parks that function as recreational centres and serve as small-scale tourist attractions. No matter what lens one chooses to employ, cutting trees is akin to shooting ourselves in the foot, and the DSCC needs to understand this.
We need more trees, not less.