We’re yet to learn the value of a tree

The Supreme Court’s suggestion that a protocol should be framed for estimating the cost of a tree is welcome at a time when trees are being cut down wantonly for various purposes. There was some new thinking on the issue of the cost of a tree during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the West Bengal government’s move to cut down 356 trees for the construction of five railway overbridges over a 59-km area. The project would cost Rs 500 crore. Fifty trees have already been felled and others have heritage value. The court had last year set up a five-member committee to determine the true value of a tree, which is a major factor in the assessment of project cost and in calculating compensation.

At present, the value of a tree is calculated on the basis of the value of the timber it has. But the committee has suggested that the cost should also take into consideration other benefits like the oxygen the tree releases into the atmosphere and the bio-fertilisers it produces. If the cost of these and other benefits go into the valuation of the tree, it will cost much more. The committee has also suggested that the benefits derived from the tree during its life should also be calculated. Heritage trees should command premium valuations. Such an estimation might put the value of a tree at Rs 74,500 multiplied by its age. Going by this calculation, the West Bengal government would have to pay Rs 220 crore, out of the Rs 500 crore budget for the project, just as compensation for the trees.

The court has not accepted the report but has sought replies from the Centre and the West Bengal government. It noted that governments would go bankrupt if the committee’s system of valuation is accepted. But it wants a rational and comprehensive system of valuation for trees. The aim should not be just to calculate the compensation price but the value of the tree in the ecosystem. This needs to be evolved as a protocol, giving due consideration for protection of the environment and the need for development. The committee’s report has given some ideas which will be useful as guidelines in the exercise. These have not been considered as relevant and important till now. The committee has also made other recommendations like the need for better compensatory plantation for the loss of trees. The planting of saplings in place of trees that are cut down is only a ritual now. Its recommendation that all alternatives should be considered before a tree is cut down is sound, but this does not always happen in these axe-happy times.