MOST Jamaicans, we suspect, did not pay much attention to the handover of a tree relocation device at Jamaica House on Monday. But, as Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness rightly pointed out, Jamaica’s acquisition of this heavy duty equipment brings to the fore the importance of taking a broader look at the conflict between development and the environment.

We were not surprised when Mr Holness, in an effort to make his point, recalled the 1990s case of then Works Minister Roger Clarke, who oversaw the felling of a very large guango tree in Liguanea, St Andrew, to facilitate the expansion of Old Hope Road.

We remember well the furore that action created and the heavy flak directed at Minister Clarke, who was easily one of the country’s most loved politicians.

Our interest in Monday’s event is based on our firm belief that trees serve as the lungs of the Earth. They facilitate preservation of air quality and combat global warming by absorbing harmful carbons released by the use of fossil fuels — an activity which has increased exponentially with industrialisation over the last 200 years.

Experts tell us that mature trees are crucial in the provision of shade, water retention, water evaporation, and transpiration as well as carbon sequestration.

Additionally, tree roots help reduce soil erosion, increase water percolation and filtration, improve water quality, and reduce the risk of flooding and slippage or slope failure. All that remain of particular importance as intense rainfall is one impact of climate change.

Against that background, it is extremely important to retain natural forests, and to engage in the comprehensive, wide-ranging planting of trees — which are also absolutely essential for the protection and preservation of wildlife.

It is with that in mind that the prime minister, we are told, instructed the acquisition of the tree relocation device, which now gives the country the opportunity to preserve mature trees while executing major infrastructure projects.

The heavy duty machine has a specialised spade designed to help reduce tree loss as it will enable the Forestry Department to efficiently dig up, relocate, and replant some of the mature trees that would otherwise have come into conflict with development activities.

The efficiency of the device, Mr Holness said, gives the trees a 90 per cent success rate of surviving after being moved and replanted.

Mr Ainsley Henry, CEO and conservator of forests at Forestry Department, was equally gung-ho about the acquisition of the device, saying: “As of today, rather than simply cutting down trees, we now have the capability to move them, to save them, to keep them growing, especially in our urban areas where they are needed the most.”

The ability to achieve that balance between infrastructural development and preservation of the environment is extremely important, especially given Jamaica’s exposure to tropical storms, because, as we have pointed out before, trees standing at safe enough distances from houses serve as a priceless wind break, protecting buildings. The same is true for crops on farms.

In all of this, though, Mr Holness correctly points out that we can’t engage in infrastructural development at the expense of our natural assets. Our goal is to act as good stewards of our natural environment while seeing to our economic development.