Sa Tanca Manna, in Cuglieri the shoots return to the millenary olive tree destroyed by the fires

"It is a great emotion to see the shoots on the millennial olive tree of Sa Tanca Manna , after the fire that devastated the whole of Montiferru on 24 July, and in particular this area and this natural monument that seemed to have been lost".

To say this this morning, at the foot of the plant in the countryside of Cuglieri , Gianluigi Bacchetta , professor of Botany and director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Cagliari , who rushed to the area last summer in the aftermath of the violent fires to ascertain the terrible damage to vegetation.

“Few believed in the possibility of a recovery - continues the professor, who in these 10 months has continued to commute between Cagliari and Cuglieri - Many said that it was even wasting time trying to revive this plant. Instead , the actions that have been carried out prevailed: mulching, emergency irrigation, the administration of left-handed amino acids to restore root functionality, the protection of the trunk with jute sheets and then the cover to simulate the hair that had been lost ".

All the interventions carried out during the autumn and winter began to give the hoped-for fruits in the spring : the plant is confirmed to be alive and vital , the shoots have exceeded 40 centimeters, and testify how this tree, which has millennia of experience, he understood what was the right moment to revegetate: "It was not possible in autumn, because it was a very dry season - resumes Bacchetta - Certainly he would not have wasted energy in winter, with the typical rigors and short days. He waited for spring, when conditions proved ideal. Already on Good Friday I had seen that in a portion of the stump there was a vegetative activity and chlorophyll photosynthesis activity was taking place under the bark. The signals were all there, and for this reason we kept the portion of the stump constantly moist, which proved to be the only one capable of reproducing sprouts. And this was, in spite of those who no longer believed in the millenary olive tree and for some time had been saying that it would have been good to completely eliminate everything ”.

The work does not stop. "As Banca del Germoplasma della Sardegna we continue to cultivate the seeds of the millenary olive tree - adds the director of the Botanical Garden of the University of Cagliari - because they can be useful, and as a Botanical Garden, based on the agreement with the Municipality of Cuglieri and in agreement with the Montiferru association, we continue to monitor and safeguard the Patriarch in the hope that he can become an example of resilience even for a community that, after a year, is still suffering from the harmful effects of the fire that took place and is still awaiting aid from the regional government which has not yet been disbursed ”.

(Unioneonline / vl)