豪森林火災、極秘作戦で「恐竜の木」保護に成功　世界唯一の原生林

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】前例のない大規模な森林火災に見舞われているオーストラリアで、「恐竜の木」の通称で知られる貴重なウォレマイ・パインの世界唯一の原生林が、特別消防部隊の極秘作戦により焼失を免れていたことが分かった。豪ニューサウスウェールズ州が15日、明らかにした。（写真は豪ブルーマウンテンズ世界遺産地域にある、ウォレマイ・パインが自生する渓谷。ニューサウスウェールズ州当局提供）
　ウォレマイ・パインは恐竜が闊歩（かっぽ）していた先史時代から姿を変えずに生き残ってきた植物で、２億年以上前に既に自生していたことが化石から判明している。１９９４年に豪シドニー北西部の世界遺産ブルーマウンテンズの渓谷で発見されるまで、絶滅種と考えられていた。
　野生のウォレマイ・パインは現在、残り２００本に満たない。自生地域は、訪問者による環境汚染から木を守るため非公開となっている。
　ブルーマウンテンズは昨年から数か月にわたって続く森林火災で大きな被害を受けている地域の一つで、昨年末にはウォレマイ・パインの原生林にも火の手が迫った。そこで消防隊は、延焼を防ぐ難燃剤を空から原生林の周囲に散布し、さらに消防士らの特別部隊がロープで渓谷に下りて散水装置を設置したという。
　ニューサウスウェールズ州政府のマット・キーン州環境相は１５日夜、森林火災で焦げ付いた木もあったが、原生林は焼け残ったと発表。「前例のない環境保護作戦」だったと作戦をたたえた。
　今回の豪森林火災は気候変動によって影響が拡大しているとされる。豪東部各地では１６日、待望の雨が降り、住民らはようやく一息ついた。予報によれば雨は今週末まで続く見込み。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/01/17-12:35）

A secret operation by specialist firefighters has saved the world's last stand of Wollemi Pines, a pre-historic species known as dinosaur trees, from Australia's unprecedented bushfires, officials said.
Fewer than 200 of the trees exist in the wild, hidden in a gorge in the World Heritage Blue Mountains, northwest of Sydney, an area hit by one of the biggest bushfires that have ravaged much of Australia for months.
With flames approaching the area late last year, air tankers dropped fire retardant in a protective ring around the trees while specialist firefighters were winched into the gorge to set up an irrigation system to provide moisture for the grove, officials said.
Matt Kean, environment minister for New South Wales state where the Blue Mountains lie, described the operation as an unprecedented environmental protection mission.
While some of the trees were charred by the flames, the grove was saved from the fires, he said in a statement late Wednesday.
The fire did go through there, we had a few days of thick smoke so we couldn't tell if they'd been damaged. We all waited with bated breath, he told ABC radio.
It's just been a phenomenal success story, he added.
He said this wildfire season was the first opportunity to monitor the response of the trees to fire in a natural setting, helping the park to refine how it manages the grove.
The Wollemi Pine which grows up to 40-metres (130-feet) high is believed to have existed since the Jurassic period 200 million years ago, pre-dating many dinosaurs.
They were believed to be extinct, only ever seen in fossils, until their accidental discovery by a park ranger in 1994.
The grove's remote location has remained a closely-guarded secret to protect the trees from contamination by visitors.
Illegal visitation remains a significant threat to the Wollemi Pines survival in the wild due to the risk of trampling regenerating plants and introducing diseases which could devastate the remaining populations and their recovery, Kean said.
The trees have been propagated and distributed to botanic gardens around the world to preserve the species, but the Wollemi gorge is the only wild stand.
Australia's wildfires have since October claimed 28 lives, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and burned 10 million hectares (100,000 square kilometres) of land -- an area larger than South Korea or Portugal.
About one billion animals may have died in fires which have driven many species closer to extinction, according to environmental groups.
The country was enjoying a long-awaited respite on Thursday as rainstorms blanketed much of Australia's east, although a return to warm and dry weather was forecast for later in the southern summer.