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Flame tree replanting, anyone?
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Posted on May 03 2006
The replanting of flame trees is not a bad idea as it has been decades since flame trees in the CNMI were first planted along Beach Road and Airport Road and several of them have already been cut or just didn’t stand the test of time.
This was stressed by Isidoro Cabrera, Northern Marianas College Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service agriculture consultant, who has seen the growth of the trees from very young seedlings to the sturdy trees that everyone now see all over the island.
Cabrera said over 900 flame trees were planted in 1965 along Beach Road all the way to Susupe when the CNMI was still a Trust Territory.
After 41 years, over 50 percent of the trees have died, he said, due to industrialization and construction of power lines.
More than 450 flame trees, moreover, were planted along the Airport Road in 1978 and Cabrera was one of the members of the group that planted the trees in this area.
“It was the first year of the Commonwealth.” Cabrera said. Of these, only 5 to 8 percent have been lost.
He added that a fungal disease called Phellinus noxious also contributed to the demise of some of the trees.
“This disease affected the roots of the flame trees,” Cabrera said, adding that termites also ate up some of the trees through time.
Some trees were also felled by speeding cars, but now infrastructure expansion has become the main reason why flame trees are diminishing.
The agriculture consultant said the agency that could lead the planting of flame trees again could be the Forestry Division under the Department of Lands and Natural Resources and the Division of Parks and Recreation.
“In case you didn’t notice flame trees now have bloomed earlier than its usual season,” Cabrera said. He attributed this to the climatic conditions—the early onset of the dry season this year compared to last year when rains slowed down the bloom.
The flame trees did not fail the CNMI when it recently celebrated and held its 25th Flame Tree Arts Festival.
