Cypress growers plea for relaxations on transport:

Let there be new twigs on the trees

By Ananda KANNANGARA

People who celebrate Christmas will never forget to decorate their homes with Christmas trees during December. Children too love Christmas trees as they believe that the trees belong to Santa Claus. They think that Santa visits their homes on Christmas eve and hangs gifts on the branches of the tree for them to pick whatever they fancy.

Christmas trees are made out of the branches of cypress trees and also from small cypress plants. Although there are various plants similar to the cypress family, the leaves and bark of the triangular shaped trees are ideal to use as Christmas trees.

Well grown cypress plants

Cypress trees in a home garden

A cypress plantation in Nuwara Eliya

Collecting branches for sale

`Cypress trees' are also known as 'Fir trees'. Although, the trees have two different names, the leaves and the bark of these triangular shaped trees are similar. They are grown in evergreen forests in Northern countries. The trees are tall and straight. A unique smell emanates from the fresh leaves. The cypress plants do not need much water to grow.

History reveals that the ritual of decorating homes with Christmas trees was first introduced by the British. It is said that unlike any other country in the world, Christians in England, Scotland and Ireland have a great faith on Christmas trees.

Although Sri Lankans name this `Tree' the Christmas tree, the British say it is 'God's Tree' and also 'Fir tree'. They believe the tree is a gift from God.

Although, cypress trees are seen in many parts of the country, they are mainly grown in the Nuwara Eliya district. Cypress is also grown in Talawakele, Matale, Bandarawela, Haputale, Badulla, Welimada and Diyatalawa.

The Nuwara Eliya district is the most famous for cypress. Foreigners too travel from Colombo to Nuwara Eliya to buy cypress trees. The current statistics reveal that there are over 20,000 hectares of cypress plantation in the Nuwara Eliya and Talawakele areas.

As it is the Christmas season, the Sunday Observer last week visited Nuwara Eliya to meet the people whose livelihood is dependent on planting cypress trees and dispatching the branches to other areas, especially to Colombo and its suburbs during the season.

Our visit to the Uduwana area in Nuwara Eliya to view cypress plantation was interesting. The cold climate and chilly weather prevented us from visiting several hill tops where workers were busy engaged in cutting cypress branches to be dispatched to Colombo and to tourist hotels in the city. We saw lorries parked on either side of the roads and men, women and children loading the branches into the lorries.

Although our stay in Nuwara Eliya was brief, we had a rare opportunity of meeting the Chief Forester K.D.A.P. Jayasinghe in charge of the Nuwara Eliya Forest Department. Jayasinghe was the ideal person to discuss about cypress plantation in the district. We obtained details of the plantation from Jayasinghe and the Lake House special correspondent in Nuwara Eliya, Anton Samanpriya.

Although the Chief Forester was engaged in official duties related to the issue of route permits to transport cypress branches from Nuwara Eliya to Colombo, he still made time for us.

Jayasinghe said over 3,000 hectares of cypress lands in the District belong to the Government, and no one is allowed to cut branches or enter the plantation sites.

He said the Forest Department has deployed security at all state owned cypress plantation sites during the year, especially during the Christmas season to protect the trees from persons engaged in pruning them for the Colombo market.

Jayasinghe said cypress branches could be cut down only from private lands and from private sector companies which have over 10,000 hectares of lands in Nuwara Eliya and surrounding districts.

He said the Forest Department has launched a program to plant cypress nurseries and distribute them among cypress cultivators. Thereafter, the cultivators grow the plants in their home gardens as self-employment projects. The well grown plants are sold to customers during the Christmas season.

A cypress cultivator, R.D. Simon, 60, said he has cultivated cypress in a 20-perch land and earns about Rs. 70,000 during the season. He said cypress cultivators have business mainly during the Christmas season.

Buddhists too decorate their homes with cypress. A large quantity of cypress branches are also ordered by funeral parlours and florists in Maradana, Borella, Mt. Lavinia, Kollupitiya, Bambalapitiya and other areas in Colombo.

The leaves of cypress trees are also used to make bouquets, garlands and wreaths.

A longstanding environmentalist, Nuwansiri Peris, 40, of Talawakele said transporting lorry loads of cypress trees to Colombo and other cities is a lucrative business for men, women and children in Nuwara Eliya during the Christmas season.

During this time, cypress branches and plants are commonly seen in the Town Hall area in Colombo, near the Kollupitiya Junction, Galle Road in Bambalapitiya, Moratuwa, Mt. Lavinia, Ratmalana, Negombo and in Kandy.

Nuwan who has a wide knowledge of cypress cultivation said unlike in the past, there is a slight decline in cypress tree cultivation in Nuwara Eliya due to strict regulations, imposed by the Local Authorities when transporting them.

"Generally, many people in Nuwara Eliya in the past sent over 300 lorry loads of cypress to other areas, but now only a few lorry loads are seen during the festive season due to restrictions imposed by the Local Authorities and the Forest Department.

A cypress cultivator, Nimal Gamini said when a person wished to send even a small stock of cypress to a relative in Colombo or any other place, he has to get a permit from the Forest Department through the Divisional Secretariat.

"Since it is a long process to obtain a permit, many people engaged in transporting cypress have stopped even planting nurseries,".

He requested the authorities to minimise restrictions, so that people in Nuwara Eliya and Talawakele will again start planting nurseries and transport them to other areas during the festive season.

He said lots of cypress trees in the Nuwara Eliya Town were cut down in the recent past on the instructions of the Local Authorities, to beautify the city.

Although, a replanting program was commenced on a directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa it was not successful.

A resident of Nuwara Eliya and a horticulturist, Karunapala Piyasena said cypress transportation has dropped from 100 percent to 18 percent due to the strict regulations and called upon the authorities to grant relief to regular traders, so that lorry loads of cypress will once again go to Colombo and other major cities from Nuwara Eliya.

As a horticulturist, he said cutting off branches from cypress trees will not affect the trees and that new twigs will spring up after a few days.

"If people stop cutting branches due to Government restrictions, new twigs will not come up and it will affect the trunk of the tree".

He said there are many State owned barren lands in Nuwara Eliya and proposed to the Government to encourage people to plant cypress nurseries to increase the number of trees.

He opposed the destruction of forest lands in Nuwara Eliya for agricultural and other development purposes, since it will affect the existing cypress forest ranges.

A small scale cypress cultivator in Talawakele, G. Ranasinghe, said cutting down cypress branches will commence after December 15, A businessman in Nuwara Eliya Sunimal Ratnasooriya, requested the Government to stop importing artificial Christmas trees from countries such as China and Thailand, as it will affect local cypress cultivators. He said it will also discourage people from cultivating cypress.

Another businessman P.G. Rajendra said he has dealings with florists and hoteliers in Colombo and Negombo to provide cypress trees throughout the year". He said cypress cultivation was a self employment project in the Nuwara Eliya district and cultivators planted nurseries in small polythene bags and sent them to Colombo.

He said regulations should be relaxed as it is a homegarden project to 40 percent families.

He requested the authorities to protect the small scale cypress cultivators from the middlemen, so that a cypress branch could be sold in Colombo at a cost of Rs. 500 with transport charges, whereas each branch is sold at Rs. 1,500 - Rs. 3,000 by traders.