Jean Henkens' tropical plant rescue: Two trunk Thai tree

Diary entry for Saturday 16th February 2013

I am somewhere in Thailand, within a small secluded village with an unpronounceable name. It is a very special moment, a day that I will never forget.

I am honoured to be welcomed in a very old Buddhist temple. The head monk, an erudite old man, wants to see me. He is aware of my travels and would like to talk to me about my 'tree project' and the moving of Thai trees to England, to the new Center Parcs at Woburn Forest.

The monk is fascinated with my mission, he’s amazed that we, in Europe, are building an exotic jungle of plants and asks to hear more about this project. I show him a film on my small laptop about the construction of the new Subtropical Swimming Paradise at Woburn Forest.

He is sympathetic towards our project, although it is very hard for him to imagine the immense proportions of the building. He asks to see the film again and then asks me to join him for a walk in his temple where he tells me that the last four years the whole complex was flooded many times.

The monks have decided, together with the people of the surrounding villages, to build a new temple complex that will be dedicated to the awakening of mankind to the climate change. This new 'temple of hope' will be built on a higher place in the garden around the current temple. They do have a problem, there is a very rare tree standing right on the spot where the new temple in planned to be built.

Bron en hele artikel: CP UK