For god’s sake, no, for our sake, leave mature trees alone. Take Coun. Scott Garnett’s (March 17) concerns seriously.
Mature trees must be left alone. They provide critical habitat for animals. Where do you think birds and animals go when trees are cut and land is cleared? Where can they go?
Roots absorb runoff and stabilize soil, providing protection from erosion and preserving water tables. Trees provide shading and cooling. When temperatures skyrocket they give protection from the heat. Mature trees provide windbreaks. Take trees out, and the remaining trees are more susceptible to blow down.
Stands of mature trees help resist wildfire. According to the Government of Canada, “In the moist forests of the west coast, wildland fires are relatively infrequent and generally play a minor ecological role.”
Mature trees absorb carbon. Newly replanted trees don’t.
The more trees you leave the better chance we have to slow climate change. The more trees you cut, the faster climate change accelerates. We are so close to the point of no return, when we lose our forests, we’re done.
You want to live here because of the natural beauty. Yet, everything that you love about this place is disappearing into condo blocks and subdivisions with no yards.
We need more housing and people can’t afford to buy a home?
Remember how people used to ‘get a foot in the market’ by buying the older cheaper bungalows? Properties developers now snap up and tear down to build pricey houses. Developers don’t build affordable, they build profitable and their short profit means long-term loss of natural spaces. When it’s gone, it’s gone for good.
We need quality of life. Places where children can play and birds and wildlife can flourish.
And those mature trees? Developers are permitted to clear all the trees off lots to build subdivisions. Not only is it cheaper to build on a cleared and flattened lot, there’s big dollars in those mature trees they fell.
Looks like the future is Langford with acres of hideous subdivisions - no natural beauty, no birds, no wildlife and certainly no mature trees.
Sue Starkey
North Saanich
