BHUBANESWAR: With lakhs of trees felled annually for development projects, the state government has framed a standard operating procedure (SOP) to encourage translocation of trees and prevent loss of green cover.A staggering 1.85 crore trees have been felled in the state for widening of highways and other development projects between 2010-11 and 2020-21. Over 7,800 trees were felled in the state capital between 2019-20 and 2022-23 for various projects.
Accordingly, the Forest, Environment and Climate Change department has asked the PCCF and HoFF to ensure implementation of the new SOP to save the full-grown trees.The transplantation practice apart from curbing green cover loss will be of much help in preventing felling of certain trees, which are under threat or are important due to their rarity of occurrence, species type, endangered status, size, age, location, religious importance, medicinal, emotional or aesthetic value.
As the process of shifting and re-growing of trees in a new location involves engineering and arborist skills to make it work effectively, forest officials said the guidelines for species suitability, preferable diameter class, planting techniques and post planting care for tree translocation have to be prepared based on local factors and availability of resources.
They pointed out trees like gulmohar, neem, jamun, mango, pepal and other ficus species can be easily translocated. However, the process is slow and takes time and what makes it expensive is the need to hire earth movers, cranes and trailers. “The SOP has been famed to provide effective solutions to these issues,” they said. As per the SOP, November and December are the most favourable months for transplanting large trees as it is not practical to keep such trees steady during the monsoon season.
It emphasises younger trees experience less root loss when transplanted due to which they show better resilience to transplantation shock.“Around 50 to 80 per cent of such trees have been found surviving in the first year and 30 to 70 per cent survived after two year of translocation,” SOP stated.
The SOP suggests tree species which produce ‘coppice shoots’ have better chances of survival after translocation if proper care is taken. Such promising tree species include figs, palas (Butea monosperma), silk cotton tree (Bombax sp), guava (Psidium guajava), karanja (Pongamia pinnata), neem, drumstick (Moringa oleifera), sapindus and night jasmine (Nyctanthus arbortristis).