Tuesday, 22 March 2005
High resolution images are available
Dawyck makes safe sanctuary for endangered conifers
The future of one of the world’s rarest conifers, Abies nebrodensis, also known as the Nebrodi or Sicilian Fir and listed as Critically Endangered by The World Conservation Union (IUCN), is being safeguarded at Dawyck Botanic Garden in the Scottish Borders.
As the only naturally growing population of this species – amounting to just 30 trees -is to be found on a high Sicilian mountain, the 15 specimens recently planted at Dawyck are of significant conservation value. Curator David Knott explained: “A combination of soil erosion through deforestation; climate change; grazing and competition from other trees has all but wiped out the wild population, so conservation measures such as this are crucial in ensuring the Abies does not disappear entirely.
“This work is being conducted in association with the International Conifer Conservation Programme [ICCP], based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The ICCP is a worldwide scheme for the protection of vulnerable conifers. Dawyck’s other contribution to this programme is a planting of Metasequoia glyptostroboides, the Dawn Redwood from Western China which is also Critically Endangered.”
ENDS
Dawyck Botanic Garden, Stobo, Peeblesshire, is one of the four National Botanic Gardens of Scotland. It is open to the public daily from February 1 to November 30.
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a scientific research institution with a world-wide reputation for its expertise in the study of plants and their diversity. As well as three Regional Gardens – at Benmore, Argyll; Dawyck, Peeblesshire and Logan, Galloway - it operates several field stations around the world and has specialists working in more than 40 countries.
For more information, or for interviews and images, please contact Shauna Hay on 0131 248 2900 or Ellie Cooper on 0131 248 2991.