The felling of an adult jacaranda tree , in the vicinity of Quinta do Serrado, in Câmara de Lobos, reported yesterday by GENUS – Madeira Heritage Defense Association, was not properly licensed and the work was suspended as soon as the Câmara de Lobos Municipal Council was informed, the local authority clarified today.
In response to questions posed on Wednesday by JM, the Câmara de Lobos Municipal Council revealed, this Thursday, that it “had no prior knowledge of any intervention relating to the felling of the jacaranda tree”.
Following the complaint, the local authority stated that “an initial visit to the site was made in the morning” by the environmental engineer working for the Council. “On that occasion, a verbal warning was issued requiring the immediate suspension of any work related to the alleged felling of the aforementioned tree.”
“During the afternoon, municipal inspection services returned to the site to verify compliance with this recommendation. It was possible to confirm that the ‘felling’ work had been suspended”, the local authority added, also clarifying that, contrary to what had been stated by the GENUS association, the tree was not felled, “having only been subjected to significant pruning”.
The response from the Câmara de Lobos Municipal Council to the newspaper states that the owner of the land was questioned “about the possible obtaining of authorization or opinion from the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation (IFCN)” and that he “claimed to be unaware of the legal formalities applicable to this type of intervention”.
In conclusion, the municipality adds that the Forest Police were also called and were on site to register the incident and follow up on the process.