The American chestnut is on its way back to the forests by Corina Ciubotaru

Nice people do nice things and take care of our planet, trying to make it back the way it was. They began by restoring chestnut trees to their former glory after a species of fungus almost wiped out the species in the last 50 years. The American chestnut is very vulnerable to a type of fungus that is believed to have been brought in through another species of tree from China, much more resistant but smaller. It is this tree that may now play a key role in saving the American species, through breeding and selection, making the new chestnuts stronger. The idea is to breed Chinese and American trees and obtain ones that resist to the fungus, and then gradually eliminate the foreign genes, leaving trees as pure as possible. The operation is conducted by the American Chestnut Foundation and creates plants that are adapted to each region where they normally grew. Within two or three years, chestnuts will be planted in six experimental regions between Tennessee and West Virginia, in hopes they will survive the threat of new diseases and insects, or even or rotting in the root, which is affecting some of them already. Chestnuts, which can reach 17 feet in diameter and 120 feet in height, are a source of good timber and sweet edible nuts that can be roasted.The American Chestnut Foundation has caught the public eye with this endeavor and its membership has grown from 15 to 6,000 in the last 10 years.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071122/ap_on_sc/chestnut_quest;_ylt=AjJRWZtG0AoDKhLi97v_JNms0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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edited by Barbora Matulova