On Wednesday, an 80-year-old woman made news in Chile after she decided to cling onto a cork oak tree that stood in the way of road works in a Talcahuano neighbourhood, in the south of the country.
After decades of neglect, Elton Street was at long last getting the pavement neighbours had asked for years.
However, Housing and Urban Services (Serviu, in Spanish) workers were supposed to cut down the tree, something most residents had agreed to previously.
Pictures of the moment went viral in a matter of minutes and the Internet rallied behind Margarita, who managed to block further construction for that day.
Even though the Talcahuano Municipality supported the idea, “because it was a part of the project”, mayor Henry Campos visited the site Thursday.
There, Campos said that they “had decided to ask Serviu to halt works” and that authorities were exploring how to save the tree.
Last night, the Municipality informed that the tree had been transplanted by Dutchman, a company that specialises in this type of task. The tree was then sent to the city garden center.
“We heard about this because of social media. The company was created with that in mind, to protect the arboreal heritage,” said Dutchman CEO, Tomás Longueira.
“Dutchman did this for free,” Campos added.
