Public Outcry in Egypt as Urban Development Triggers Massive Tree Felling in Cairo

Cairo's Jamaat El Dewal El Arabiyah road is one of the city's busiest night-time playgrounds, with revellers, including Arab tourists, filling its clubs, restaurants and cafes year-round. Many of them may not have noticed the street's grand old trees, which by day provided much-needed oases of shade during the Egyptian capital's punishing summers. But not any longer: where the trees once stood are now mounds of earth and stumps and branches that have gone bone dry from days under the scorching sun.

Authorities maintain that the trees were sacrificed this month to "develop" the road. But that has not stopped a tidal wave of protest on social media and television talk hosts, with hosts decrying the loss of the trees and demanding that no more be cut down. The felling of Cairo's trees has been described as a "massacre" by critics, as well as an attack on the precious little green that exists in the bustling Nile-side city of 25 million people. Environmental activists believe tens of thousands of trees have been cut down over the past decade alone.

Some of the city's trees are as old as 100 or 150 years, and cutting them down "squanders an environmental value that's difficult to replace with young trees", said Nader Noureldeen, a Cairo university professor who specialises in water resources. Old trees "develop an underground root network that enables them to independently secure their water needs", he said.

The government insists the trees must be cut to create space for wider roads, new overpasses and buildings. Critics say they could be preserved with better planning. Many suggest financial gain could have been a motive, with the wood turned into charcoal and sold. "A criminal investigation must be undertaken," said Nasser Amin, a prominent international lawyer and a rights activist.

The felling of so many trees in a country known to be vulnerable to climate change has been documented on social media by individuals, activist groups and NGOs to expose what they see as a disregard for the environment. Heavily cut-back trees in a street in the Heliopolis district of Cairo. AFP Show caption: Heavily cut-back trees in a street in the Heliopolis district...

It also coincides with a high-octane construction drive overseen by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, whose 12 years in office have seen the rise of some dozen new cities – including a new capital in the desert east of Cairo – and the building of thousands of kilometres of new roads, dozens of overpasses in large cities and massive sea resorts in virgin coastal areas. However, the uproar over the "massacre" on Jamaat Al Dewal El Arabiyah is unprecedented in its magnitude and intensity, mostly playing out on social media platforms as well as state and pro-government media, which direct the blame to the government.

Mr El Sisi swiftly intervened to defuse the crisis, ordering all open spaces in Cairo to be turned green. State media and websites have repeated the announcement. "This country needs the shade provided by trees. The sun burns. I am sorry to be dealing with an elementary issue but, Mr President, you can stop the brutality shown to trees," pleaded Amr Adeeb, one of the Arab world's most popular talk show hosts. "Mr President, be decisive! I know this is not the work of the republic's president, but executive bodies, when they see the interest shown by the president, will do what needs to be done."

In a widely cited comment, Cairo governor Ibrahim Saber vowed that no more trees would be felled and that even pruning them would be done only when absolutely necessary. "We are putting in place mechanisms to implement this [Mr El Sisi's] initiative and how it will proceed," he said. "We will increase green spaces and the number of trees and we will protect them."

The Ministry of Environmental Affairs also stepped in, telling local councils across the nation not to allow trees to be felled except with written permission from the provincial governor. The Environment Minister, Manal Awad, directed provincial governors to update the government on the implementation of a plan announced last year to plant 100 million trees nationwide.