It's more than a tree to me
Big Fig Tree Fight
Tijania DeCaux, 10, is the last child to sit beneath the shade and umbrella protection of the Rex Smeal Park fig tree just as thousands have before her.
The swing sits still… it was not play that Tijania went to the park early on Monday for, but one last chance to feel the peace and calm of an “educator”.
“The tree is my favourite… it is more than a tree to me,” Tijania said.
As protective fencing was moved into place, hi-vis and high lifts moved into place, Tijania didn’t budge, and wasn’t bothered by the workforce tasked with the removal job ahead.
“The tree feels calm. I love calm spaces,” Tijania said.
With the last fencing panels moving into place, the young girl joined mum Margit Klammer, tears rolling down her face crying over the inevitable loss.
“This is a living being… it has seen people get married it has seen young babies nursed under it, birthday celebrations and funerals,” Margit said.
“A tree like this, it is sharing information, it is educating people through the stories shared. This is like an Aboriginal elder. When we cut these trees down, it’s a big disturbance to our social connection.”
Margit said children flocked to the tree because it helped them to “ground”.
“This is a place children explore, they connect with the environment. It is a place where they find courage and peace,’’ she said.
“You cannot get connection on a rubber mat.”
Council had late Sunday issued a notice of temporary closure of the Rex Smeal Park playground and area under the tree and contractors were deployed around 8am on Monday to start the establishment of an exclusion zone around the playground and tree.
