HOPE FOR VERY RARE MAGNOLIA IN CHINA

Global Trees Campaign surveys have confirmed scientists' fears - Magnolia sinica, a large, beautiful magnolia tree found only in Yunnan province, China, has been reduced to just 50 trees in the wild. The species really is on the very brink of extinction in the wild.

That news was tempered, however, by the discovery of around 5,000 saplings in local nurseries, all known to have come from the last remaining wild trees. Following this discovery, the Global Trees Campaign, in partnership with Kunming Botanic Gardens and the local Chinese authorities, is working to reinforce the wild population of Magnolia sinica with the nursery saplings, planting them out in secure sites within a local nature reserve.

In November 2007, 200 nursery-grown saplings of Magnolia sinica were planted out in carefully selected sites within Xiaqiaogou National Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province. The planting was undertaken by nature reserve staff and personnel from Wenshan Forestry Bureau and Seedling Station under the leadership of magnolia expert Professor Weibang Sun. Staff from the nature reserve were charged with caring for the saplings and monitoring their progress.

In March 2008, a visit to the project site by Prof. Sun and Global Trees Campaign staff revealed very high survival rates amongst the saplings: 89% and 92% at the two sites. Although it is still early days, these excellent initial results suggest that the project has the potential to achieve a significant impact on the population of this extremely threatened tree.

See Chinese magnolias for more information.

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