Ancient Australian tree takes life-saving drive

WOOD PILE

This handout photo from Prospero Productions, taken on July 14, 2008 and received July 20, 2008 shows a boab tree being transported on the back of a truck, somewhere between Kununurra and Broome, from its home in the remote northern Kimberley district of Western Australia state. Australian Aboriginals replanted the ancient boab tree on July 20, 2008 in Perth after it was driven thousands of kilometres with a police escort to save it from destruction. Photo courtesy AFP.

by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) July 20, 2008
Australian Aboriginals replanted an ancient boab tree on Sunday after it was driven thousands of kilometres with a police escort to save it from destruction.

A road widening scheme meant the tree, estimated to be 750 years old, had to be uprooted from its home in Western Australia and moved 3,200 kilometres (1,900 miles) by truck to a park in state capital Perth.

"Everyone is hoping that the tree will live for another 750 years," said horticulturalist and project coordinator Patrick Courtney.

"We are giving it the best chance it would ever have got."

The bottle-shaped tree can can live for up to 2,000 years and is a native of the remote northern Kimberley district of Western Australia state.

It weighs 36 tonnes, stands 14 metres (46 feet) high and is 2.5 metres (eight feet) in diameter.

The tree played a significant role in the traditions of the local Gija people, who have given it to the Nyoongar people, the traditional owners of Perth's King's Park area.

The Gija held a ceremony to see the tree off on its marathon six-day journey to its new home, and on Sunday, a traditional ceremony to welcome the tree and replant it was held in Perth.

The move would have cost around 120,000 Australian dollars (117,000 US), but once the tree's plight was known, contractors offered their services for free, Courtney told AFP.

As the tree was in its dormant stage in the tropical dry season, few special measures needed to be taken to keep it alive during the journey.

It will be in the company of another 14 young boab trees, which seem quite happy in the more temperate climate of the Perth region, Courtney said.

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

WOOD PILE

Scientists to discuss climate risk posed by wetlands destruction

Sao Paulo (AFP) July 20, 2008
Moves around the world to drain marshes and other wetlands to make space for farming could be hastening climate change, scientists gathering in Brazil from Monday will be hearing.

ROCKET SCIENCE NASA Plans To Test Space Shuttle Replacement In Spring 2009 ATK Receives Contract For US Air Force Sounding Rocket Contract SpaceX Conducts Static Test Firing Of Next Falcon 1 Rocket Pratt And Whitney Rocketdyne Contract Option For Solar Thermal Propulsion Rocket Engine	LAUNCH PAD AMC-21 Is Delivered To Spaceport Sea Launch Delivers Echostar 11 To Orbit Countdown Underway For The Launch Of The Echostar XI Satellite Sea Launch Sets Sail For EchoStar XI Launch
SHUTTLE NEWS External Tank ET-128 Sets New Standard During Recent Shuttle Mission NASA Sets Launch Dates For Remaining Space Shuttle Missions NASA shuttle to take last flight in May 2010 Disaster plan in place for Hubble mission	STATION NEWS ISS Crew Inspired By Vision And Dreams Of Jules Verne Space Station A Test-Bed For Future Space Exploration Space chiefs ponder ISS transport problem, post-2015 future Two Russian cosmonauts begin new space walk
SPACE TRAVEL UK Space Competition Unearths Young Talent UCF Project Selected For NASA Explorer Mission House Passes S And T Bills Commemorating NASA's 50th Anniversary, First Woman In Space Magellan Aerospace Wins Lockheed Martin Orion Contract	DRAGON SPACE China's Long March 2F Rocket Ready For Trip To Launch Center Shenzhou 7 Shipped To Launch Center For October Launch China's Shenzhou VII Spacecraft Flown To Launch Center For October Takeoff China Makes Breakthrough In Developing Next-Generation Long March Rocket
ROBO SPACE NASA Robots Perform Well During Arctic Ice Deployment Testing Eight Teams Taking Up ESA's Lunar Robotics Challenge Three Engineers, Hundreds of Robots, One Warehouse Tartalo The Robot Is Knocking On Your Door	MARSDAILY NASA Spacecraft Shows Diverse, Wet Environments On Ancient Mars When Mars Was A Water World Phoenix Mars Lander Continues Tests With Rasp A Workday On Mars Is More Than 9-to-5:40

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement