IPN news retrospect regarding massive clearing of Canadian poplars in Chisinau

[04.02.06. About 90 poplars to be cut down on Saturday on Pan Halipa Street in Chisinau] About 90 poplars will be cut down on Saturday, February 10, on Pan Halippa Street by the Green Spaces Management. Its deputy head, Eliferie Haruta, told Info-Prim Neo that the decision to cut down and replace poplars with other species belongs to the City Hall. The source also said that the cutting down accompanies the restoration of the Military Glory Memorial. [21.02.06. Ten thousand poplars to be cut down in Chisinau] Roughly 10 thousand poplars are due to be cut down in the Capital and replaced with other species. This will occur at the interim mayor’s request. Vasile Ursu claims that their down makes breathing impossible during summer. A disposal in this respect was signed on Monday, February 19. Eliferia Haruta told Info-Prim Neo that those 9500 poplars need to be cut down because their life expectancy is of 40-45. In order to assess the poplar’s state, which could collapse during a wind storm, a commission will be created composed of specialists from the Ministry of Ecology, the Botanical Garden, the Municipal Centre for Preventive Medicine, and from the municipal social-ecological Dpt. [16.03.06. Massive extermination of poplars is a crime against Chisinau’s inhabitants and next generations] “This is a crime against the inhabitants of the capital and the next generations”, the ex-mayor of the capital, Serafim Urecheanu put it referring to the massive extermination of poplars. The ex-mayor of the capital said that “the aberrant ides of Ursu will transform the city into a desert”, especially by the fact that the new planted species will make shadows and clean the air only in several years.” Serafim Urecheanu considers that the interim mayor misleads the citizens when he talks about the existence in Chisinau of about 10,000 poplars, when there are in fact about 30,000. “All these trees are to be cut down by Ursu at the order of the country’s leadership, without taking into consideration that many generations put their heart to transform the capital into a green city,” [21.03.06 The Capital lost 152 poplars last week] The Green Spaces Management cut down 152 poplars last week. The head of the Management, Grigore Taban, told a mayoralty’s working meeting that the cutting is carried out as scheduled. By the end of the year all the female poplars will be chopped down, because of their down when they bloom. Vasile Ursu, the interim mayor said that firstly the old trees were cut down and will be replaced with new species. According to the municipal this year 15% of poplars producing down will be exterminated. 2604 poplar will be cut down in Rascani district, Botanica will lose 2911, Buiucani – 1282, Centru district – 1114, Ciocana – 411. [27.03.06 Environment organizations of the capital might inform the prosecution about massive extermination of poplars] Environment NGOs of the capital might inform the prosecution about the massive extermination of poplars, carried out by the mayoralty. Beside this, the ecologists could call on the population not to take part in the green action, started by them few years ago, „A tree for our lasting”, the chairman of Chisinau Territorial Ecologist Movement, Vladimir Garaba said. According to Garaba, this action is illegal, made only on the ground of a cutting agenda and not of a Program, which, usually, is set after the situation is analyzed and forecasted taking into account the impact, and after a plan of preparing the planting material is drafted. More than this, in case of a Program, the specialists had to monitor every tree in order to determine its real situation and the necessity to be cut down. [29.03.06 The City Hall gave up cutting down the poplars on the streets of Chisinau] The City Hall gave up cutting the poplars on the streets of Chisinau after the ecologists proclaimed the decision to cut down the trees on the basis of a schedule signed by MERN as ollegal. The president of the OTC MEM, Vladimir Garaba, told Info-Prim that according to the legislation, the trees can be cut only after a group of specialists analyze their state and fill the necessary documents to cut them down which are then signed by both the ecologist group and the MERN. If the above requirements are not respected, any cutting of the trees is deemed illegal and abusive. [30.03.06 The interim mayor of the capital city insists on the cutting down of approximately 9 thousand female poplars] The interim mayor of the capital city, Vasile Ursu, insists upon the cutting down of approximately 9 thousand female poplars because of the down that they produce and because of the risk of them collapsing in the event of a strong wind. The cutting down procedures will cost about 3 million lei. During a press conference, Ursu declared that the time has come for order to be brought to the green spaces of the city, which have been ignored for many years. Furthermore, the interim mayor has declared that the majority of poplars in the city are damaged. [05.04.06 A member of parliament has asked for the support of the press to stop the cutting down of the poplars] A member of parliament has asked for the support of the press in order to make the civil society more aware of the issue and to stop the fuss of cutting down the poplars in Chisinau. Anatol Taranu, member of AMN, asked the journalists during a press conference, to persuade the civil society to stop the “madness” that is happening in the capital city related to the cutting down of the Canadian poplars. Taranu said that instead of cutting down the trees, which represent the lungs of the city, the City Hall ought to treat them, during the period of down appearance, with a special solution, brought from Lyon in France, where most trees are Canadian poplars. The solution is applied a single time and the poplars stop eliminating down, completed the Member of Parliament. During the same press conference, the president of the AMN, serafim Urecheanu, said that the decision to cut down the trees does not belong to the interim mayor Vasile Ursu, nor to the Chisinau municipal council, but to the leadership of the country, which has taken over the handling of the capital city. According to Urecheanu, the consequences of the cutting down of the poplars can only be repaired after 30-40 years. [18.08.06 Ecologists against cutting down Capital’s poplars] The Environment NGOs will institute proceedings and appeal to the support of the international institutions accredited to Moldova and the foreign ones, including the Council of Europe, in case cutting down poplars from the capital will continue. 9 environment organizations signed a joint declaration in this respect.