A solution for reforestation is cloning big, old trees
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Having an impressive size as well as an impressive age, scientists are hoping to save the cypress and therefore, old Lady Liberty is getting cloned.
With the global warming and all of its terrible effects, people have started to pay more attention to the environment and some of them are going to great lengths to protect both the fauna and flora of our planet. And they’re not doing it simply for saving the future of humanity but also because there are many rare and special animals and plants living on Earth.
One of these rare and special things can be found in the Big Tree Park and it is a 2,000 year-old cypress called Lady Liberty. The tree has a 10 feet thick trunk and it is 90 feet tall. Saving the tree is considered mandatory as the Senator, a larger, older and more popular tree from the Big Tree Park was destroyed for years ago by arson.
This means that despite of the great size and the fact that the tree is surrounded by an 8 foot tall fence for security, Lady Liberty is not necessarily safe. Therefore, given that many companies are turning to cloning for different purposes, like the one in China that wants to clone cattle to cover the market demand, why not clone trees as well?
Of course, the cloning won’t be done by the Chinese company but by a nonprofit organization in Michigan, which is trying to save forests by cloning the oldest and biggest trees. Since deforestation is such a big problem these days, although to some the idea might sound peculiar it might really help saving our forests.
In order to take samples from the tree for cloning, three people climbed the tree using ropes, as if they were climbing a mountain. Although the climb was not too difficult, the climbers encountered some problems with bees.
The Archangel Ancient Tree organization is experienced in cloning trees as they already did so with 150 species, 90 percent of which were replanted and are now growing into the wild. Among the cloned trees is also the late Senator and its clone is now already 50 feet tall and stands at the entrance of the park.
In conclusion, cloning trees seems to be a viable solution for saving our forests using old, big trees to make sure the new ones will be as great and as long-lasting as the old ones.
Image source: www.bing.com