This year the specialised services from Chisinau City Hall will continue to perform works of trimming and cutting down hazardous trees in Chisinau. Interim Mayor Vasile Ursu told Monday’s sitting of the City Hall on January 15 that 76 trees, most of them poplars, have been downed in Chisinau by the wind in the wake of the natural calamities registered on January 3-4. Ursu requested the “Green Spaces” Association (SVA) to identify and then trim and chop down hazardous trees without delay, so as to succeed in performing these works before that the trees come into leaf. SVA deputy head Galina Leahu told Info-Prim Neo that at present the tree care in the municipality is ceased, but the local authorities will address the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources in an attempt to extend the authorisation concerning deforestation in Chisinau. Galina Leahu mentioned that the cutting down of trees in Chisinau is not a whim of the local authorities and that the objections of the greens are not justified. She mentioned she personally takes stock of the complaints received on the part of Chisinau’s residents. There are registered about 100 requests including the chopping down of the poplars and very few complaints that would express the people’s dissatisfaction with the deforestation. The procedure of marking the sick trees takes place in summer, during the vegetation period, when the special commissions carry out raids throughout the city and can determine the hazard level of the trees. The tree is marked when it is half-dry, has hollows, with a significant potential to fail and a target that might cause injury or damage to the passer-by and vehicles. As for the last year’s tree care, Galina Leahu mentioned that over 700 poplars were chopped down in the municipality. The poplar is a species that needs to be renewed most of all. According to the assessments carried out last year, about 9,000 trees need to be renewed in Chisinau.