The only tree that was scheduled to be cut down for the construction of the highway… Sri Lankan monks left it.

The only tree that was scheduled to be cut down for the construction of the highway… Sri Lankan monks left it.

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In Sri Lanka, a ceremony was held to “go away” the trees that were scheduled to be felled by highway construction.

According to the AFP news agency on the 11th, the tree, called the Sri Lankan Legume, was first discovered in 1868, but was not seen last in 1911. Eventually, it was declared extinct in 2012.

It was discovered in 2019 that only one Sri Lankan legislative tree, 8 meters high, was found in the north of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s major city.

On the 10th in Sri Lanka, a rare species tree that was in danger of felling was put on an orange cloth and sent to the house. [AFP=연합뉴스]

On the 10th in Sri Lanka, a rare species tree that was in danger of felling was put on an orange cloth and sent to the house. [AFP=연합뉴스]

The problem is that the tree was going to be cut down for the construction of a highway to Kandy, a city in central Sri Lanka.

Environmental activists asked the monk for help, saying, “Please save the tree that only exists in the world.”

On the 10th, monk Tangol Sarada, who was asked by environmental activists, wrapped orange cloth around this tree trunk with several monks and poured holy water while chanting Buddhist scriptures. The orange cloth replaced the housework, the clothes worn by monks.

In Sri Lanka, there is a movement to protect the endangered trees. [유튜브]

In Sri Lanka, there is a movement to protect the endangered trees. [유튜브]

Through the ceremony, the monk declared, “This tree is now a monk in a symbolic sense.” “I want to save this tree,” he added.

AFP news agency reported that in Sri Lanka, where most of the 21 million people are Buddhists, many believe that “damaging the sacred tree will result in curse.”

The communication said, “The monks’ actions will be respected and the trees will be preserved.” A spokesman for the government of Sri Lanka said he would discuss the conservation of trees from now on.

The government is known to have expressed a position that “no one can cut trees even if they are replanted.”

Reporter Seo Yujin [email protected]


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