Bushfires: Ancient Wollemi pines saved from NSW fires in daring operation

Firefighters were secretly lowered in by chopper to save trees that have been growing for 200 million years | PICTURES

An aerial image obtained from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment shows a gorge of Wollemi pines in NSW. Picture: AFP

NSW firefighters have rescued the last of the ancient Wollemi pines remaining in the Wollemi National Park after their existence was threatened by the largest forest fire in recorded Australian history.

The pines, which have been growing in the national park for 200 million years, were feared to be lost as the 500,000-hectare Gospers Mountain fire ravaged the area in December, sparking a special rescue operation by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the NSW Rural Fire Service.

A firefighter rappels into a gorge in NSW in an effort to save the Wollemi pines. Picture: AFP

The operation involved using air tankers to douse the area of the national park in fire retardant and the laying of an irrigation system by firefighters who were flown in by helicopters.

The effort was kept behind closed doors to ensure the exact ­location of the prehistoric pines did not get out.

NSW environment minister Matt Kean said on Thursday that the organisations pulled out all the stops to protect these pines.

“If the fires went through we wanted them to be a cool burn as opposed to a hot burn to give them the best chance of survival,” Mr Kean told ABC Radio.

Fire retardent near the trees. Picture: Supplied

“The fire did go through there, we had a few days of thick smoke so couldn’t tell if they’d been damaged. We waited with bated breath.”

Mr Kean said specialist teams were winched in from NPWS via helicopter to ensure the trees had the best possible protection.

“There’s a few that are charred, I think we lost two trees. But there are around 200 trees in the population and the remaining 200 survived,” he said. “The Wollemi pine has outlasted the dinosaurs and thanks to the massive effort of the NP&W firefighters, who have just done an incredible job this fire season, they look like they’ve saved these trees.”

A helicopter drops a firefighter into the area of the ancient trees. Picture: AFP

“The 2019 wildfire is the first-ever opportunity to see the fire response of mature Wollemi pines in a natural setting, which will help us refine the way we manage fire in these sites long-term,” he said in a statement.

“Illegal visitation remains a significant threat to the Wollemi pine’s survival in the wild due to the risk of trampling regenerating plants and introducing diseases which could devastate the remaining populations and their recovery.”

Damaging a Wollemi pine is a criminal offence in NSW, with the penalty being a fine of up to $220,000 and imprisonment for up to two years.

A firefighter douses one of the trees. Picture: AFP

The Wollemi pine, once thought extinct, was discovered in the national park for which it is named in 1994 by off-duty park ranger David Noble.

The tree is considered critically endangered with fewer than 100 adult trees known to exist in the wild. In prehistoric times the plant grew widely across eastern Australia but progressively disappeared until its only habitat became four small patches in a narrow gorge just 100km from Sydney.

A firefighter checks on a Wollemi pine. Picture: AFP

Despite efforts to protect pines from outside contamination, its discovery led to the introduction of a deadly pathogen called Phytophthora through the boots of intrepid explorers, causing root rot in several of the original trees that could be up to thousands of years old.

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has started another colony of young Wollemi pines in a top-secret location in the Blue Mountains to ensure the survival of the original species, although successfully cloned seeds mean that the iconic pine has shot up in many places, including in London’s Kew Gardens where it was planted by acclaimed naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Parts of central NSW received rain on Wednesday and more was expected across the state on Thursday.

Some of the trees were in inaccessible areas. Picture: Supplied