News that the Eden Project is to receive saplings derived from cuttings obtained from Giant redwood trees in California (http://www.theguardian.com/uk/eden-project) is welcome but this species of tree is already well represented in several arboreta and parks in the UK. Much is made of these clones being potentially identical to the donor trees but it is an alien species so far as this country is concerned (see e.g. the fire-resistant bark of the mature tree, protecting against forest fires). The saplings will take quite some time to develop into impressive items but, I suppose, the more examples we have the better (although 'conservation' in this fashion is a bit like putting an animal into a zoo).
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