More than a hundred trees within the campus of the Benguet State University (BSU) were recently cut. This is actually good news. There's no need to be worried about the cutting of the trees. In fact, it's great for the environment.
First of all, all of the 151 trees cut and removed were African tulips (𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢). There are several reasons why these trees had to be removed.
1. African tulips are invasive species. They spread aggressively meaning they outcompete native trees and plants for resources. In short, they are harmful to local ecosystems. That's why they are declared as pest species in countries like Australia. These trees have also been named as one of the 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱'𝘀 𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 by the Global Invasive Species Database.
2. African tulips are not native to Benguet or to the Philippines. These are species introduced here mostly because of their ornamental attributes. Because these trees are not native here, they can also pose harm to wildlife like birds and insects that have zero familiarity with them.
3. There's research showing that the nectar found in the flowers of African tulips can be toxic to a wide variety of insects such as pollinators like bees. This poses ecological harm because when pollinators like bees are reduced, the natural balance is disrupted.
4. African tulips are safety hazards especially in a school campus. African tulips are not sturdy trees. They have soft and brittle wood that can easily break due to strong winds. Their root systems are also shallow which makes them prone to toppling over during typhoons.
In short, the cutting of the 151 trees inside the BSU campus is good for the local ecosystem, good for biodiversity, good for the bees, and good for everyone's safety.
And according to a report by 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁, the official student publication of the BSU College of Natural Sciences, the state university has committed to replacing the cut trees with native trees. Tree planting will reportedly start by January next year.
