A new chapter is added to the special story of the oak of the Bosberg. One of the last branches of the age-old tree in Appelscha broke off during storm Eunice. Forest ranger Lysander van Oossanen made an appeal to secure the DNA of the tree.
Only two branches now stick out from the twenty meter high Bosberg, one of which is not in good shape. These are the tops of an underground old oak tree, a huge tree about thirty meters high, hidden in the sand mountain. “Most people don’t want to believe it when you tell them,” says Geert Veen of the Appelscha Historical Association. “But it is.”
“Throughout the centuries, the oak has been dusted and miraculously managed to survive. That it is an oak of at least three centuries old has already been passed on in the form of a legend. Only six years ago, after research, it became clear that the legend was also ‘where is.”
Plea to keep DNA of tree
Forest ranger Lysander van Oossanen wants the DNA of the tree to be preserved. “There were four arms, now two are missing.” One of the last two remaining branches now looks bad. “So it’s smart to get started with DNA now. Who knows, it might be around for another hundred years, but you never know.”
Four candidates have already signed up to help secure the DNA. Erik Bergsma of Stedelijk Groen from Glimmen, for example. He has not yet been to the tree, but briefly explains how you can preserve DNA: “You cut a young shoot from the tree and stick it on a two-year-old oak. Then you do a lot of prayers. Bergsma hopes.
Geert Veen of the Appelscha Historical Association also hopes that the tree can be given a second life. “If those two branches eventually disappear, you still have the DNA of that tree somewhere.” According to Veen, that could be a ‘plan’ for a next copy.