In the Kyiv region, activists of the village of Kuchakiv, Boryspil district, want to bring to administrative responsibility those responsible for the destruction of three hundred-year-old white poplars, whose crowns were cut off by communal workers, leaving only the trunks.
The conclusion of dendrologist Volodymyr Vetrogradskyi showed that after such damage to the point of growth cessation, taking into account the biological features of the species, tree restoration is unlikely, says Alla Prykhodko's post in the Facebook community "Boryspil for all".
"The trees were healthy, grew in the green zone, gave residents shade in the summer heat, and did not interfere with communications," writes Prykhodko.
She said that this crowning took place on November 10, 2022.
Vetrogradsky explained that this type of tree pruning is prohibited abroad, because it usually leads to the death of the plant. In addition, white poplar, especially after 60 years, does not tolerate radical pruning. And such care on the eve of winter leaves no chance for the tree to recover.
"Recovery is unlikely. If, due to the coincidence of certain circumstances, it begins to recover in the spring, the chances of a full recovery of the crown are extremely small, he said. – Recovery shoots have poor attachment to the trunk and often break off at the base in strong winds.”
Prykhodko emphasized that Resolution No. 559 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On fees for calculating the amount of damage caused by green space within cities" establishes that a tree with the loss of more than half of its crown branches is considered damaged to the extent of growth cessation, i.e. to death. And the removal of all branches is a gross violation of Ukrainian legislation and entails administrative responsibility.
As EcoPolitic reported before, in the Zaporizhzhia region, eco-inspectors discovered illegal felling of trees in the field protection forest strip, which caused damages in the amount of more than 588 thousand hryvnias. Two "black lumberjacks" 42 trees were damaged to the point of stopping growth.