There was upon a time a beautiful garden at La Silla observatory, full of life and nature. It was just the perfect place to enjoy a cup of coffee surrounded by friends and the sing of the birds and the wind. How can I forget the beauty of the Agave that grew up around this place just a year ago ?. As a matter of fact, a new Agave is growing up. Recently, a beautiful tarantula had his home in this garden. Also, just few days ago, eleven little pets arrived to this planet in this place. In short, this garden was the greener place in this remote mountain but ...

Just some days ago something happened. Upon a request of the director, all the beauty of this place was seriously affected by just a single word: "Transformation". Suddenly, all the beauty blown away with the strokes of the axes and, after minutes of quiet desperation, almost all the trees were kicked away in a truck.

I feel sad !

Felipe Mac-Auliffe
fauliffe@eso.org

Disclaimer: Any view or statement in this page is not part of an official standpoint of ESO.

Jorge,
With great sadness I feel forced to voice my opinion about the latest act of vandalism on La Silla. It is a shame that the hotel garden is being destroyed, to be paved over. I'm not against building an "Andalusian garden", but why in the world MUST it be built on the very spot where we had the most beautiful green area? It would have been perfectly possible to locate that new project in another place, preserving our beloved garden! Jorge, probably you have never really looked closely at that garden. It was not just trees and bushes. It was an oasis of life in this desert, with a complete ecosystem. A large number of birds were living there, including endangered species. On a quick glance, I found three recently inhabited bird's nests in the remains of the shrubs, and probably there were many more. Count these nestlings among the victims of your war against life. I know very well that this mailing will be utterly useless, and that the opinion of employees at La Silla anyway have no weight at all when they don't agree with your intentions. But I still feel that it is not only my right, but more so my duty, to make you aware that I definitely don't agree with any action that needlessly destroys some of the little life we have in this desert, and that this position of mine seems to be shared by almost everyone on La Silla.

Manfred.

Dear Jorge,
since many years I am member of "Robin Wood". This is an organization with the goal to protect (worldwide) trees and wood. When I see that someone cuts a tree, I feel anger. To cut trees without any reason is a great offence, even one cuts only one. I propose to send a photo of the cut trees as "Photo of the Week". Regards

Wolfgang

I want to say that I fully agree with what has been said by Ueli, Agustin and Manfred about the the crime being committed to our beloved garden. It must be noted that while we loose the greenest place around La Silla, another one is being carefully constructed far away to the north... what an example... As a picture is worth a thousand words, here is my contribution...

Peter

En algún momento saque esta fotografia. Disfrutenla.

Juan Carlos Pineda

Dear Jorge,
with great surprise mixed with growing anger I have seen today that the La Silla Hotel Patio is going to be transformed into a "Andalusian Garden". Not only is this place a common good of all the La Silla comunity sharing the time up here on the mountain, but also is the damage done to the trees, which are growng there since more than 15 years, impossible to undo. Where will the birds nest an sing in the morning and where will our gaze wander, when all is stone and pavement? The human interaction with nature at this place is already heavy. The Zoros are chased by the dogs, the Viscachas are sacrificed to the car traffic, the birds find less and less food and places in the trees, while our behaviour is not going to change a bit. I strongly urge you, to stop the ongoing work and consult with all the staff before proceeding with the transformation of this space. Many thanks,

Ueli Weilenmann.

Estimado Jorge:
Hoy he sido sorprendido por la tala de las especies vegetales que adornaban nuestro esteril entorno. Creo que es un espacio en el que compartimos todos y por tanto creo que deberiamos haber sido consultados de alguna manera. No tiene sentido ya decir que estas escasas especies han tenido que soportar condiciones climaticas adversas ademas de condiciones de altura y sequedad, lo que hacen de ellas algo unico, que de paso nos recuerdan la belleza de la naturaleza. No voy a discutir si lo que esta planeado hacerse en el futuro en ese sector es bueno o malo.. pero desearia que en lo sucesivo pudieramos ser mas democraticos... al menos en estas medidas que afectan a aquellos que respetamos la vida de los vegetales y animales de nuestro entorno y que sentimos la alegria de su compannia. Atentamente

Agustin Macchino Farias

Estimados amigos y amigas,
Mi más sincero sentido de pésame al jardín ... Gran tristeza me provoca la pérdida de seres vivientes que sucumbieron, nuevamente, a la mano irracional del hombre que arrasa sín consideración por el bien de un "proyecto" o del "desarrollo".- Las palabras del gran Einstein demuestran la demencia humana ..además nos entrega una advertencia:

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughtsand feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. " ...Albert Einstein

Si el consuelo existiera.... llamé a un amigo de CONAF y está dispuesto a regalarles 5 árboles nativos chilenos para vuestro jardín. cariños a todos,

Andrea Lagarini

Querido Felipe

Con absoluta sorpresa y tristeza me he sumado desde estas aridas tierras de Paranal, para decirles cuan condolida estoy de ver, como en aras del progreso y desarrollo, se destruye en vez de haber hecho una labor de preservacion primera. Tal vez tomara tiempo hacer el trasplante de aquellos arboles y plantas, pero habria sido lo mas humano, son solo los humanos los que promueven la guerra, son estos actos los que cada dia hacen de este mundo mas violento. Esto se contradice con la vocacion cientifica de quienes viven alrededor, no seria logico explorar el universo, si no tenemos consideracion con nuestro universo cercano, tan cercano que no fue respetado, como fue ese hermoso jardin, que nos hacia olvidar que estabamos en pleno desierto. Solo espero que el nuevo jardin andaluz, no tenga que sufrir el deseo de transformacion en el futuro como lo ha sufrido este hemoso jardin, que en pocas horas, fue sacrificado. Espero que esto nos ensen`e a cada uno, que tal vez trasplantar pueda ser mas lenta la operacion de desarrollo, pero nos hace mas humanos, nada reemplaza los an~os de cuidado de un arbol, ni de un jardin, la resistencia a esas especiales condiciones climaticas, el pequen~o microclima, demorara en crearse nuevamente.Con carin~o

Blanca Luz. Camucet