Bandula Gunawardana announced on Tuesday that the tree would be cut down near the capital, Colombo. First described in 1868, the fruit of the plant is not consumed by humans.
The last known specimen of the Sri Lankan leguminous tree (Crudia zeylanica) was seen in 1911. This species, which belongs to the family of flowering butterflies, was declared permanently extinct in 2012, until the only specimen in question was found in 2019 near the nation’s capital. Al Jazeera. According to the original plans, the eight-meter-high tree would have been cut down in February 2021, at the start of the highway construction, but the decision caused a huge reaction among environmentalists and Buddhists: one of the famous Buddhist monks in the country. He finally blessed the tree, and made it sacred, giving him protection.
The minister justified the Cabinet’s decision, on Tuesday, by saying that according to one study, there are still 40 other trees belonging to the same species, but he did not mention the location of these samples.
“We are committing a crime by delaying construction because of the myth that this is the only example of the tree species that exists” – Gunawrdana said.
It would cost 15 billion Sri Lankan rupees (16 billion forints) to avoid the tree, he added.
