Whilst, in theory, I conduct a development survey purely as a snapshot in time of what is on a site, tree-wise, before any development is planned, the actuality is that developers already have an idea of what they want. Whether it's a detailed plan of their new driveway or two houses, or just the knowledge that, somehow, they want 100 houses on that plot of land. And so, if I throw a spanner in the works by strongly advising that this tree or that group are retained, these people are unlikely to be too chuffed that their 100 houses drops to 99 houses, or that their new driveway has to be moved, and become longer, and cost them more.
In my eyes - and I realise that I am at quite far down one end of the environmental spectrum - trees (and generally flora, and fauna, and greenspace) are priceless. They cannot be costed; who has the right to say that building a house and making a profit off that is worth more than the retention of a valuable, living organism that provides shelter and food to a host of other organisms? Not to mention the mental benefits of trees for humans, and the ecosystem benefits (cooling, pollution attenuation, and so forth) the general treescape provides. How this can be weighed up and valued against profit is beyond me; in my eyes, one cannot, morally or practically, put a price on trees.
However; I work for a private company. Our job is to work for clients; clients who, sometimes, want us to give the nod to them to remove trees. Clients who, if they get a report from me saying "sorry, but I strongly advise against building here because of this tree" may then decide not to use the company I work for, and go for someone else. Someone who may have slightly lower standards, and play the development game more readily. And so, I lose my company clients, we shrink, and livelihoods are at stake.
There's also the argument that if I push myself out of business, then I can't save the trees that really matter. If I fight so hard for retention of anything that I see valuable, then we won't be consulted in the future, and other sites with valuable trees may go to other consultants who may give the nod for chainsaws to go in. In other words, should I throw some to the wolves so I can keep fighting for those that 'truly' matter?
So far, I have refused to compromise, and I like to think I won't begin to do so. I won't downgrade a tree if I believe it is valuable and worthy of retaining. Don't get me wrong; I won't kick up a fuss about every tree I survey; so in the respect I am already, slightly, pragmatic. But that is irregardless of what plans are for a site; if a tree is of poor quality, regardless of where it is, I will say so. Likewise for those higher quality trees.
But I vehemently believe that this capitalist, profit-driven culture that economic growth and "development" (at the cost of truly sustainable resource use, environmental preservation and social economy) is completely absurd. It can only go on so long before we're up against the wall, whether you're rich or poor. And the little slice of this unjust economic system that I'm most obviously exposed to professionally is these people wanting to get richer at the cost of the environment around them (specifically, in my line of work, trees). People who see a profit on land, where I see connected habitats, hedgerows and veteran trees. People who see a plot of 200 houses, where I see an open woodland habitat. And why should money come before conservation? There is not one good reason, in my mind, that it should.
However... how long before I come under pressure to give a little? How long before I over-ride my morals for the sake of our company's reputation among these wheeling and dealing, money-driven clients? I hope I never do... but then, what if it was my job on the line? Or more importantly, those of other people? I hope I never get stuck between these two opposing forces. But the fear that I might is weighing on my mind. And the disgust at this greedy, exploitative, careless system that I am periodically exposed to leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
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