The attempt to save the monumental world tree in Eindhoven is gaining momentum. Soon the tree will have a trunk of seventy meters to provide it with moisture and nutrients. Sensors will be installed in the tree to administer everything on time. Safety measures must also be taken under the tree—total cost: 30,000 euros.
The tree was badly damaged by a fire in July last year, and that caused a stir. The place was used by children to play. Sometimes, weddings and commemorations took place. Unfortunately, no one is allowed under the tree now.
No expense is spared to save the 263-year-old tree. More than 11,000 euros have already been raised with a crowdfunding campaign. “You don’t do this for every tree,” says Alfred van Kempen of Het Wasven in Eindhoven. Het Wasven is where the tree stands.
“To me, this symbolises that you are doing something for the future. We can now do something for the generations after us who also want to enjoy such a monumental tree.”
Artificial Power
Against the trunk comes a trunk one meter wide and ten meters high. From there, the branches all get their own trunk. “We fill it with nutrients. Sensors provide artificial power. You can compare it to tube feeding on the side.”
“This is how you create new roots along the tree. They grow together. After a few years, a second trunk has grown on the old trunk. Eindhoven is a real technology city. This is technology in a tree.”
Transplantation
In total, the proboscis is seventy meters long. It’s made of sail. The hope is to be able to save a third of the crown. “Making such a bypass has never been seen in the whole of Europe. According to international specialists, this should be possible. They estimate the success rate at 90 to 95 percent.”
In March, healthy branches were cut from the top of the tree and ‘transplanted’ at the bottom of the tree’s roots in the hope that they would grow. Now it appears that this rescue attempt has failed. None of the twenty branches took root.
Prospective Baby booms
The tree itself showed enormous resilience after the fire. New life came from the roots. Shoots shot out of the ground: stems with leaves on them, a kind of baby trees. “The tree really wants to, so we want to help it.”
These baby booms are doing very well. “They are half a meter high. By the end of this year they will be two meters high. There’s a huge root pressure behind it.” Around the old trunk comes a braid of all the new greenery. It becomes a kind of armour around the trunk. The old trunk disappears, and then the braid trunk remains.
Crowdfunding
“Of course, the tree has not been bombed into a world tree for nothing. We think it can live to be a thousand years old. When you get that old, it doesn’t mean you have to be in exactly the same state as when you were young. We’re not.”
The proboscis must be placed at the beginning of July. The costs can be up to 30,000 euros. These are paid for by the municipality and by Het Wasven. A new crowdfunding campaign should help with this.
Source : Omroep Brabant
Translated by: Shanthi Ramani
