FIRST PARTIAL TREE INVENTORY IN THE METRO AREA OF SAN JUAN BETWEEN PINHERO AVENUE TO SAGRADO CORAZON ST.

IT WAS ABOUT TIME. For some time I have mentioned the need to have an inventory of trees to determine health, growth, mutilation, destruction, maintenance, elimination, diseases and substitution of those dead.

In some sophisticated cities in the world, not only there are people in government responsible for this type of inventory, tree wardens responsible for all the above, are also available, but also statistics regarding how much green space per person is available. In some is five, ten, fifteen acres of green areas per person in metro zones. We could
set a trend in the opposite direction, acres of asphalt/concrete per person!

Methodology, elementary and simple. A notebook and pencil. The distance covered is divided in segments between Pinhero Ave to
Roosevelt Ave, to start. Only trees and palms planted on the ground
or plastic, cement, square, round pots placed on sidewalks are counted.
Puerto Rico is the capital of architectural barriers. Imagine placing on
a six feet wide sidewalk, a tree feet wide pot! Pain in the ass to walk around these silly obstacles during rush hour.

Only the vegetation standing in the right side of the street were counted.Ponce de Leon Avenue, where this inventory took place is perhaps

the most important in the metro area. Also for contrast in the numbers, empty spaces where trees once stood.

NUMBERS BETWEEN
PINHERO AND ROOSEVELT AVE
Palms 28
Almacigos 86

BETWEN ROOSEVELT/PRUDENCIO RIVERA AVE.
Dk's 8
Tabebuias 39
Palms 30
Almond trees 2
Ficus benjamina 7

BETWEEN PRUDENCIO RIVERA AND
SAGRADO CORAZON ST.
Tabebuias 26
Dk's 5
Empty spaces 17

OBSERVATIONS

All the side walks show root damage, I am talking about a two miles, total distance. If you were
blind or in a wheel chair you would probably kill yourself considering the waves, cracks. All the trees show mutilation from grave to simple. Most are sick, two small for their age, showing in the amount of dirt/smoke in the bark, too close to electrical wires. How were these trees selected for the urban context? God knows.

Those empty spaces where trees once stood increase alarmingly as one moves toward Canho Martin Penha, an alienated community in Santurce. Also the worst looking trees. Coincidence?
I do not think so. The government still uses the mangrove to deposit used waters, without
any remorse.

However when adding the totals: 173 trees, 58 palm trees, 17 empty spaces, a tendency
of abusing palms is clearly demonstrated on the other side of the street recent construction,
and the Munhoz Rivera Avenue, running parallel to Ponce de Leon Ave.

In Puerto Rico there is a group of "arborists" I wonder where their credentials come from. What
kind of people are these? They always appear on printed media and tv, as authorities when some tree criminal mutilation makes the news, then disappear. I invite them, since that is their
little niche to do something meaningful besides the silly conversations on endemic trees and this and that. PLEASE! Count the damn trees, it only takes a couple of hours! Propose something or
take some action in your own hands. Stop the theories. Do something.

NOTE FOR PURISTS

The numbers are probably correct. Any margin of error will cover names of species. However,
since here nobody can tell between gymnasium and magnesium, not a big deal. The picture is
what remains.. And those token photos to the right of this blog and in upinthebreadfruittree.
Until next.

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