Greenery disappears as road expands: Tree uprooting in Boysun sparks public outcry

Due to road reconstruction, nearly 1,000 trees along the Darband-Elbayon highway and about 2,000 trees along the Manguzar-Denov route are being relocated. This has been authorized by the Surkhandarya Regional Department of Ecology. However, according to local residents, the process has already begun and greenery is being destroyed. Videos provided to Kun.uz also confirm this. Interestingly, the Ministry of Ecology had earlier expressed opposition to relocating the trees in this area.

Toxic emissions from a gas field—already a growing concern in the region — may no longer be the only problem for the people of Boysun. A new “assault” has apparently begun: this time on the trees.

Kun.uz received videos from Surkhandarya showing large numbers of trees being uprooted or cut down along a section of the 4R-105 “Darband-Boysun-Elbayon” highway. According to locals, some of the removed trees had been planted as part of the “Boysun Bahori” international folklore festival.

“They had made the whole road look like a garden for the ‘Boysun Bahori’ festival. Now, the trees in the middle are all gone. Just the other day, I saw it on my way to the gas station — more than 200 juniper trees in the center of the road had disappeared. They said a concrete road is being constructed there, part of the Boysun route. Maybe that’s why they were removed. They haven’t touched the trees on either side of the road yet — only the ones in the center,” said a local resident who reached out to Kun.uz.

Another local, who wished to remain anonymous, said that rumors of the possible felling of around 13,000 trees had been circulating in the area and that many people were concerned.

“Trees along the roadside had been marked with an ‘X’ — they've now been erased. Whether there was public pressure or something else, recently they went and removed the marks. Some trees have been cut down, while others were uprooted and distributed to cemeteries. The guards were reportedly assigned to take care of 10 to 15 of these transplanted trees. The junipers are just disappearing — they’re being cut down. The ecology office is located about 200 meters to 2 kilometers from the spot where these trees were cut,” he added.

Footage submitted by the citizen clearly shows dug-up areas where juniper trees once stood. In some cases, tree stumps remain, indicating the trees were cut. Another video shows a pine tree that has been uprooted and lies flat on the ground.

A permit was granted despite prior objections — the ministry speaks, then changes course?

The Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change commented on the situation to Kun.uz. According to their statement, on January 28 this year, the Surkhandarya regional office of the Ministry issued an official conclusion to the company implementing the project, regarding the fate of the trees.

The conclusion authorized the relocation of a total of 946 fruit-bearing, ornamental, and young trees that had not lost their ability to grow. These trees were located along a 24-km stretch of highway passing through the neighborhoods of Darband, Mustaqillik, Bibishirin, Gaza, and Sho‘rsoy.

The company reportedly provided a guarantee letter pledging to relocate the trees in accordance with agrotechnical standards and to maintain them for three years. Officials stated that, based on this agreement, 122 trees had been transplanted to date.

“Under the supervision of specialists and using special equipment, trees were relocated without damaging the root system and while preserving their viability. For instance, 27 tall pine trees, 22 beautiful catalpa trees, and 15 Virginia junipers—a total of 64 ornamental trees — were moved to the grounds of the Boysuntuman Vocational Technical College No. 3 in Bibishirin. An additional 15 junipers and 3 tall pines (18 trees in total) were planted at Secondary School No. 39 in Mustaqillik. Fifteen junipers were planted along the 4K-611 highway in Bibishirin, and 25 junipers at the ‘Boysun Vakhshivori’ LLC area in Gaza. In total, 122 ornamental trees and saplings were relocated.

Responsibility for preserving the vitality and providing continuous care for the relocated trees has been assigned to the head of the ‘SurkhonDaryoYo‘lKo‘kalam’ state enterprise,” the official statement reads.

However, the earlier-mentioned footage clearly shows trees being roughly uprooted from their roots, contradicting the Ministry’s claims. The Ministry has not addressed this inconsistency. Additionally, the Department of Ecology’s conclusion dated January 28 permitting tree relocation was preceded by a January 21 report which stated that a total of 2,706 trees were obstructing reconstruction works on both the Darband-Elbayon and the 4R-100 Manguzar-Denov roads. Of these, 1,976 trees were to be relocated for the 4R-100 road project. The initial design had called for the removal of 10,567 trees, but 8,591 of them have reportedly been preserved in the revised project.

Curiously, in September last year, the Ministry itself had opposed such measures. At that time, the Ministry rejected the developers’ request to remove trees, advising them to adjust the project so that no greenery would be harmed. Why, then, has the organization changed its stance now? The Ministry has not responded to Kun.uz’s inquiry on this point.

To recall, in July 2023 it was reported that nearly 70,000 trees and shrubs might be cut down in Surkhandarya and Bukhara due to planned road construction. The Ministry of Ecology had voiced opposition to the project at the time.

Later, the Committee for Roads was instructed to revise the project in a way that would avoid harming greenery.

In November of last year, Kun.uz also reported that 25-year-old trees in Fergana had dried up after being relocated to make way for the construction of a five-star hotel.