Germany's parks plant a way forward on climate change
The Peninsula
Bad Muskau, Germany: In the castle gardens of Muskauer Park, which straddles both banks of the German Polish river border, caretakers have mounted a f...
Bad Muskau, Germany: In the castle gardens of Muskauer Park, which straddles both banks of the German-Polish river border, caretakers have mounted a fightback against the impacts of climate change.
On the stump of a 150-year-old oak tree, gnawed by parasites and felled in a storm, a tender new shoot represents the estate's hope of adapting to rising temperatures and more frequent droughts.
As part of a "natural regeneration" project, the sapling was grafted onto its fallen predecessor by gardeners in the first step towards replacing the UNESCO-listed park's lost trees.
The young oak "will benefit from the roots of the old tree and will be more resistant to threats", gardener Jana Kretschmer told AFP.
By transmitting their DNA to the new saplings, the older trees "teach" their descendants how to adapt to less hospitable conditions.
