uprooting thousands of trees

Many of Haviva St.'s present residents moved into this neighborhood because of its environmental quality, the views it affords and

its green landscape.

There are 2,900 trees in the "Haviva Project" area. Half of these are casuarinas and cypresses and the rest are Judas

tree (with pink-violet colored blossoms), oak, eucalyptus, pine and other kinds of trees. The "Haviva Project" calls for

uprooting some 2,000 of them. Their value cannot be estimated in terms of either money or quality of life. The planting of new

young trees - as was promised us - is absurd. How many years will it take for these saplings to grow into woodland which any

Israeli city dweller can only dream of living in? Most of the trees which will be uprooted are species other than pine.

Uprooting thousands of trees will bring about:

A. Destruction of the beautiful and relaxing landscape;

B. Soil erosion and floods in wintertime, because there will be no tree roots to stabilize the soil;

C. No air filtering from dust and gases;

D. Air with a reduced quantity of the oxygen produced by the "Green Lungs";

E. No water evaporation from the trees, which cool the neighborhood in hot weather.

Health:

The consequences of the lack of trees, (detailed in the paragraph above), in addition to the construction work, will combine to

increase the quantity of dust in the air and air-pollution. The residents' health will be thus harmed, especially the health of those

suffering from respiratory problems. The noise of construction work will turn the residents' life into an ongoing nightmare.

Flowers:

Thousands of cyclamens, a charming reserve in the northern part of the "Haviva Project" area, are in danger of being

wiped out, while large numbers of people from all over the country visit similar sites elsewhere.

Additional information regarding the trees:

The 2,900 trees in the "Haviva Project" area include: 780 casuarinas, 340 cypresses, 320 eucalyptuses, about 625 pines, and

some 830 other ornamental trees, among which are scores of Judas trees (with pink-violet colored blossom), scores of oaks,

and other kinds of trees.

Pine trees are considered to be disadvantageous, because they are more combustible than other kinds of trees and attract

allergenic parasites. It should be noted that casuarinas, which look like pines, do not have these disadvantages. Some 500 of

the pine trees in the area grow very densely, in plots where no apartment buildings are planned.

Carrying out the "Haviva Project" will involve uprooting some 2,000 or more trees out of the existing 2,900 ones;

only 100 - 200 pines, out of the existing 625, will be uprooted. When the construction of the buildings will be completed,

less than 900 trees will remain. The remaining trees will include 400 pines, planted very densely.