CAIRO — The cutting down of trees throughout Egypt to make way for new urban projects has angered the public and led members of parliament to call for new measures to protect Egypt’s trees. 

Parliament member Anisa Hassouna called on the government Oct. 17, particularly the Ministry of Environment, to prevent what she called the massacre of trees on Egypt’s streets. “It seems that the government doesn’t like fresh air,” she was quoted by the local media as saying.

Her statement came after massive tree cuts across several cities, such as on Ahmed Fakhri Street in Nasr City, on 17th Street in the Mokattam district in southeastern Cairo, in Ismailia and various streets in New Heliopolis. Most of the removals happened in September and October so builders could construct new residential areas, enlarge roads or build bridges.

Aware of the public anger, Hassouna called for a meeting of the parliament’s local development committee to pressure the Local Development Ministry to order an inventory of the trees within each district and urge the government to find ways to build more residences without cutting down trees.