The City of Helsinki will cut down trees that are in poor condition or that are otherwise hazardous. The work will be carried out in the northern parts of the Vartiokylä district, in the Ala-Malmi district and, later, in the Mellunkylä district.
The work will be carried out by recreational routes and plot boundaries where trees that may fall suddenly pose a danger to residents and passers-by. For safety reasons, small trees will also be thinned out at the junctions of routes and streets, in particular, where the view being blocked may be dangerous.
If necessary, small trees will also be thinned out at plot boundaries. If a housing company or plot owner so wishes, the City can also remove trees that have spread to the plot from a City-owned public street or park and cause a disturbance.
Some of the cut trees will be left on the ground to decay as varying levels of decaying wood support biodiversity in urban nature.
In Vartiokylä and Mellunkylä, the worksite encompasses the northern parts of Vartioharju, the eastern parts of Puotinharju, as well as Kivikko, Kontula, Kurkimäki, Mellunmäki and Vesala. A nature and landscape maintenance plan was prepared for this area in 2021. However, other planned work than the work mentioned above will not start in the area this year. The aim is to make the plots and recreational routes safer.
The City will start the work in Ala-Malmi, Vartioharju and Puotinharju at the turn of March and April. From there, the work will gradually progress to Mellunkylä during this year and next year. Attention will be paid to the bird nesting season in April–July when planning the work.
Image: © Marja Väänänen