Redwoods seek Irish home

TREES and plants in general are up to a month late in donning their summer colours, but should be wearing their lush seasonal coats by now.

Many people will probably walk in the woods over the bank holiday, normally a prime time for experiencing the grandeur of trees.

You are unlikely, however, to see anything like a mighty Californian redwood. But that could all change, for Ireland is one of the seven countries chosen to save this behemoth of the forest. Redwoods are going international, cloned in an effort to promote reforestation and deal with climate change, and our growing conditions are seen as eminently suitable.

Although measuring just 18 inches tall, the laboratory-produced trees are genetic duplicates of three giants that were cut down in northern California more than a century ago. Remarkably, shoots still emerge from the stumps, including one known as the Fieldbrook Stump, which measures 35 feet in diameter.

Believed to be about 4,000 years old, the tree was about 40 stories high before it was felled. These giants can be as tall as skyscrapers and sometimes reach 400ft.

Spearheading the project is the non-profit Archangel Ancient Tree Archive. Co-founder David Milarch describes the cloning as a first step toward mass production.

“We need to reforest the planet; it’s imperative. To do that, it just makes sense to use the largest, oldest, most iconic trees that ever lived,” Milarch explains.

The Milarch family has a nursery in Copemish, Michigan, and became concerned about the world’s forests in the 1990s. They searched the US for “champion” trees that have lived hundreds or even thousands of years, convinced that superior genes enabled them to outlast others of their species.

Scientific opinion varies on whether the longevity theory is true, with sceptics opining the survivors may simply have been lucky. The Milarchs, aiming to prove the doubters wrong, have developed several methods of producing genetic copies from cuttings, including placing branch tips less than an inch long in baby food jars containing nutrients and hormones. The specimens are cultivated in labs until large enough to be planted.

Several thousand clones have been taken from more than 70 redwoods and giant sequoias. The challenge is to find places to put the trees, people to nurture them and money to continue the project.

Countries chosen for planting are: Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Germany and the US.