The tree was badly damaged by a fire in July last year which caused an uproar. The place was used by children to play and weddings and memorial events were held. No one is allowed under the tree now.

No expense was spared to save the 263-year-old tree. More than 11,000 euros have already been raised through a crowdfunding campaign. “You don’t do this to every tree,” says Alfred van Kempen of Het Wasven in Eindhoven where the tree is located.

“For me, this is a symbol that you are doing something for the future. We can now do something for future generations who would also like to enjoy such a huge tree.”

On the trunk there is a box one meter wide and ten meters high. From there, all branches get their own trunk. “We fill it with nutrients. The sensors provide artificial feeding. You can compare it to a feeding tube on the side.”

“This is how you create new roots along the tree. They grow together. A few years later, a second trunk grew on the old one. Eindhoven is a real tech city. This is technology in a tree.”

In total, the length of the trunk is seventy meters. It is made of sail. The hope is to save a third of the crown. Such a transgression has never been done before in Europe. According to international specialists, this should be possible with a planar tree. They estimate the success rate to be 90 to 95 percent.”

In March, healthy branches were sawn from the top of the tree and “planted” below the roots of the tree in the hope that it would grow. Now that rescue attempt appears to have failed. None of the twenty branches took root.

The tree itself showed tremendous resilience after the fire. A new life arose from the roots. Shoots from the ground: stems with leaves, a kind of small tree. “The tree really wants it, so we want to help it.”

These baby booms are doing very well. It is half a meter high and by the end of this year it will be two meters high. There is tremendous root pressure behind it.” A braid of all the new green will be laid around the old stump. It becomes a kind of shield around the stump. The old stump disappears and the braided stump remains.

“Of course, the tree is not called the World Tree for nothing. We think it can live up to a thousand years. Being old doesn’t mean you have to be in the same state as when you were young. We are not ourselves.”

The stump should be laid at the beginning of July. Costs can reach 30,000 euros. This fee is paid by the municipality and Het Wasven. A new crowdfunding campaign should help with that.

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