From March 1, fines were introduced in Ivanovo for violating booking rules – from 4,000 to 26,000 rubles. Despite this, some management companies continued the practice of barbaric tree pruning. The Ivanovskaya Gazeta looked into the situation.
Branches cannot be trimmed during periods of active sap flow.
You don’t have to look far for examples – just take a closer look at the trees in almost any Ivanovo yard and even on the central streets. At the end of March, the Sheremetevsky Quarter management company crowned linden trees in the courtyard of our house on Sheremetevsky Prospekt. Now, instead of trees, there are stumps about two meters high. As a journalist and as a resident of the city, I sent complaints and requests to all possible authorities. I think my experience can be useful to other Ivanovo residents.
In a request to the Criminal Code, I asked on what basis the reservation was carried out, whether the contractors had the appropriate training to carry out such work, how the lost green spaces would be restored… The official response, signed by the director, contained answers to only two of the six questions.
The Criminal Code reported that the crowning was carried out at the request of the residents of the house “in order to eliminate fragments of trees that pose a danger to the life and health of people, as well as threatening the integrity of the property.” Yes, perhaps some branches of these trees were dangerous, but this, in my opinion, does not give the right to turn linden trees into stumps.
According to the Criminal Code, the appeal of residents “on the issue of crowning branches” (what branches are we talking about if they were cut down all of them?!) was registered on October 26, and was completed on March 27 – formally the company met the pruning deadlines specified in the “Rules for the Improvement of the City of Ivanovo” , where it is prohibited to crown trees from April, when active sap flow begins. But the document states that the dates are approximate and depend on weather conditions, and spring this year was early and sap flow most likely had already begun on March 27.
In addition to the Criminal Code, I, as a private individual, sent requests to the regional prosecutor’s office, the housing inspectorate and the Ivanovo Department of Municipal Control and Law Enforcement. The prosecutor’s office forwarded my complaint to the housing inspectorate, but the answer has not yet come from there.
And specialists from the municipal control department went to the site on April 10, checked whether there were any cut branches left in the yard (the management company had removed them by that time), and told me that they had forwarded the complaint to the city environmental committee. Their specialists also worked quickly: they personally verified the presence of stumps instead of trees, and now the committee is “taking measures aimed at recovering damage caused to green spaces.” Well, it’s even interesting whether the Criminal Code will suffer some kind of punishment for its barbaric actions.
The fine will reach 26 thousand rubles per tree
Most recently, on February 28, the Ivanovo authorities adopted the “Regulations on the procedure for maintaining green spaces,” which, in fact, has a significance comparable to revolutionary for the ecology of the city. It is here that for the first time financial liability is provided, including for incorrect crowning (previously there were sanctions only for illegal demolition), and the obligation to obtain permission to carry out pruning.
Moreover, the fine amounts set are quite sensitive – from 4 to 26 thousand rubles per tree. Before this, the main document protecting the environment in the city was the “Rules of Landscaping,” but they did not stipulate the obligation to pay the cost of damage for unauthorized pruning.
According to Anna Tsarevskaya, director of the Iva charity foundation, the signing of this document was preceded by a very long journey. “Several years ago, volunteers appeared in Ivanovo who decided to change the situation with pruning trees in the city,” says the specialist. “Thanks to the activity and perseverance of these people, progress began. Landscaping rules already existed at that time, but there were gaps in them, and the rules themselves were often not followed, since there were no sanctions. Our foundation began working on this: we met with government officials, put forward our proposals, and at the same time showed how to crown trees correctly.”
And things got off the ground. According to Elena Novikova, a landscape designer and tree care specialist at the Iva Foundation, contractors, who also win tenders for pruning trees on the central streets of the city, began to contact the foundation, asking them to teach them how to do it correctly. They are even ready to send their employees for training. But the short master classes also bore fruit: people began to treat trees more carefully.
But with management companies, homeowners associations and network organizations that trim trees near electrical wires or billboards, things are still bad. And this is also recognized by the city environmental committee. “Unfortunately, at the moment, the practice of competent pruning in the areas of apartment buildings and in the private sector has not yet been established. This is largely due to the fact that until recently there was no responsibility for incorrect pruning,” IG responded in an official request “Chairman of the committee Elena Sotnikova. In her opinion, the new edition of the improvement rules will correct the situation.
Where to go if a tree is pruned?
1. City Committee on Ecology: [email protected], tel. 41-27-10. vk.com/ecologyivgoradm
2. City Department of Municipal Control and Law Enforcement: [email protected], tel./fax 59-46-83. vk.com/umkipd_ivanovo. They react faster than the environmental committee; a complaint about incorrect booking will be transferred to the committee.
3. Iva Foundation: vk.com/ivafond37. Specialists take control of every situation of incorrect crowning, and all data is transferred to the environmental committee.
Before submitting an appeal, it is advisable to find out who exactly carried out the work – management company, homeowners’ association, network specialists, city administration. Photographs of crowned trees and their exact location will be very helpful.
“Anti-aging” pruning is akin to murder
Proper pruning of trees is, according to Elena Novikova, an art, a science, and creativity. The procedure is useful for urban trees if done correctly, in the right place, using the appropriate technology, at the right time. This is specially taught, and there are a lot of subtleties here. For example, you cannot trim trees with just a chainsaw, as is customary in the region: it is not suitable for small branches and can easily injure the plant.
Crowning requires a special garden tool, and it must be carried out by a trained person. And under no circumstances should you remove all branches on a tree.
“I don’t know when and why trees in our cities, and the situation is similar in neighboring regions, began to be crowned in a way called topping, that is, cutting off all the branches, leaving only the trunk,” admits Elena Novikova. “You can find in the documents another name is “rejuvenating pruning.” In fact, topping does not rejuvenate trees, but kills them. In 100% of cases, it makes the tree unhealthy, sick and potentially dead. Such a plant can stand for a long time, but spores get into the trunk, which is cut down incorrectly. wood-destroying fungi, bacteria, the wood begins to rot and the tree becomes dangerous.”
According to Elena, the abundance of young branches growing around the trunk is the tree’s attempt to survive after it was deprived of its nutritional organs during the process of topping – leaves. But there is nothing good about such a young crown, even though it looks attractive to non-professionals. “On healthy, untopped trees, the branch grows from the inside, in which case it is firmly attached to the trunk and does not break off,” explains Novikova. “And new so-called water shoots grow not from the inside, but from the side of the trunk. Such fastening does not withstand strong winds, snow, and over time, the branch that has grown and become heavier breaks off, and this is already dangerous for people.”
Topping is harmful to the environment as a whole. “For some reason, we are accustomed to treating trees as something unimportant that grows quickly. In fact, this is not so,” warns the landscape designer. “But green spaces perform many functions: they release oxygen and protect against dust and noise. Moreover, there are simply no analogues for protection from noise. And city noise greatly affects people’s health, significantly increasing mortality. We cut down trees, make asphalt parking lots in their place, and then we wonder why people develop allergies at the age of 70. Why do children get sick so often?
As explained in the city ecology committee, the rules for the improvement of Ivanovo stipulate the need to obtain permission for pruning, deadlines and standards for the volume of work. The types of pruning that are acceptable for different tree species are also specified. In any case, crowning should not remove more than 30% of the tree’s deciduous mass. To carry out pruning, you must obtain permission to carry out work by submitting an application to the environmental committee. All actions in the territories of apartment buildings must be carried out by decision of the meeting of homeowners.
Ksenia KABANOVA
Tags: fines incorrect booking introduced Ivanovo
-
