A woman from Fort Myers, on the southwestern coast of Florida, has “married” her lifelong lover, a giant centenarian ficus who extends her benefactor shadow in a public park, to try to prevent authorities from cutting it, they reported. today local media.
Karen Cooper this weekend organized a wedding, in white dress, cake and guests, in the Fort Myers Snell Family Park, following in the footsteps of a group of Mexican activists against forest deforestation, who decided to attract attention by marrying with trees in symbolic ceremonies.
“I saw it and I thought we should marry the ficus, as some kind of joke, but people told me it was a good idea, so I said, okay, let’s do it,” Cooper told the newspaper The News. Press.
The link celebrated this Saturday in the town of Florida was attended by friends and neighbors of the bride and groom, a ficus whose roots cover an area of 8,000 square feet (744 square meters).
Although the Indian laurel is on land owned by the City of Fort Myers, its roots extend to a neighboring lot that is for sale for a million dollars.
For that reason, last December the public works department of the city authorized the cutting of the tree, which is opposed by Cooper and a group of residents in the neighborhood of Valencia Terrace, who has mobilized to stop any attempt to cut down the Ficus
According to News-Press, a person interested in buying the adjoining land asked in 2017 to the authorities what his responsibilities were with respect to the tree, since he did not want to assume the consequences should he fall on a house.
In a sign placed on a fence of the public park you can read: “Let’s save the ficus!” before the proposal of the authorities of its “total elimination at the request of the new owner of the vacant lot”.
“A new big house is an invasion, not this beautiful tree, please do not be complacent,” the poster says.
Apparently the mobilization has taken effect and the city council is reconsidering its initial plans to cut the tree, but the fate of ficus is still uncertain, the woman said.
“He is still not safe,” he said.
On Tuesday there will be an official meeting to determine if the now married ficus of Snell Park continues to provide shade and shelter to passers-by and neighbors or is cut and torn forever. efe
