Leaning tree now part of UP heritage

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – A leaning dao tree at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) campus has been declared a “Heritage Tree” along with 11 others in the sprawling complex.

Those selected included an acacia, a pili, kapok or American cotton tree, royal palm, divi-divi, prickly narra, molave, white lauan, take, toog, and another dao dubbed “lola dao.”

The search for heritage trees on the campuses of the University of the Philippines System (UPS), which will culminate in a compilation of 100 heritage trees in a coffee table book, is among UPLB’s contributions to the UP Centennial celebration this year. UP was established in 1908.

The other constituent universities of the UP System are UP Diliman, UP Manila, UP Visayas, UP Mindanao, UP Baguio, and UP Open University (Los Baños).

The 12 landmark trees under the UPLB Heritage Tree project were identified recently by UPLB officials headed by Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco and alumni led by Dr. Elpido Rosario, UPLB Alumni Association president.

The markers beneath each of the 12 trees were unveiled by UP officials that included Regents Nelia Gonzales and Romulo Davide and former UPLB chancellor Ruben Villareal.

The event was organized through the leadership of Dr. Jose Sargento of the UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR), chairman of the ad hoc Committee on Heritage Trees, and the office of the vice chancellor for planning and development under Dr. Ruben Tanqueco.

The almost century-old leaning dao, which was once recommended for cutting on the issue of public safety, is now classified “Cultural Heritage Tree,” as reported by UPLB’s MLJ Baroña-Cruz.

The question whether to cut the aging tree or not divided some sectors of the UPLB science community and other concerned environmentalists about half a decade ago.

As gathered by The STAR, some former UPLB officials (Velasco became chancellor only in 2005) planned to cut down the tree before, saying it was in danger of toppling down because its basal area (butt) was already damaged and that it was leaning toward the road.

They expressed fear that it might fall anytime and harm pedestrians, particularly students.

But forest conservationists argued that dao (scientific name: Dracontomelon dao) is one of the country’s threatened and vulnerable tree species, as listed in the 1980 International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red Data Guide Book.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), then headed by Secretary Elisea Gozun, played a “Solomonic” role in the controversy.

It assessed the situation through its UPLB-based Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau and its verdict was: “The tree can still be preserved.”

Then came the killer typhoon “Milenyo” on Sept. 28, 2006.

A lot of trees on the campus were uprooted and toppled but the leaning dao survived as much of its foliage had been trimmed before the howler.

It also withstood typhoon “Frank,” which cut a wide swath of destruction across many parts of the country a few months back, although some trees in the UPLB complex again were knocked down or dismembered by the strong typhoon.

Dao is a tall tree (35-40 meters high) that can be used to make furniture, cabinets, crates, tables, boxes, matchsticks, bancas and rafters.