Eighty thousand euros: the price to pay to save the thousand-year-old oakThe tree, in a serious state of health, needs to be propped up or it could succumb to winter.Around eighty thousand euros is the figure that it will cost to save the life of the oldest living being in the entire province of Almería. The millenary oak of Serón, better known as La Peana , is grave, but not dead. If it's admirers, grouped around the association 'Monumento Natural Encina la Peana', manage to gather that amount, the tree could outlive them and their children's children.
This is what the president of the association, Manuel Pérez Sola, believes that this Wednesday, October 13, in an interview for Cadena SER Levante, advanced some of the details of the plan that the association is going to implement to try to save a tree that has been an imperturbable witness of the evolution of the centuries in the province.
Shoring"The project is valued at around 80,000 euros, an important amount because for each of the 19 branches a shoring must be made, with a custom base for the ground and a fork to hang the branch that cannot damage it." The slope, the length and every detail is measured and priced. The struts have to be custom made by specialists and then placed. "That is what makes the project more expensive: the materials and the placement , the rest of the interventions are more of the type 'improvement of the surrounding conditions", explained the president of the group.
For this reason, the association's volunteers are immersed in a crowdfounding campaign that continues to add support. Although perhaps not fast enough, since it is a mission against the clock: the arrival of winter hangs like a sword of Damocles over La Peana.
The dreaded winter“In a tree with these characteristics, with the weight it has on the branches, the wind, the water stress or a powerful snowfall ... everything affects more than it should. These are holm oaks that, having so long, usually have part of the hollow trunk, which could affect the arrival of a harsh winter, "said the president of the association.
That is why the members of the group are already striving to mobilize the supporters (who are not few) of this unique natural monument. “We are reactivating all the contributions and knocking on the doors of the people who are willing to collaborate because we would like to make the first intervention, at least the highest priority, before winter arrives, before the cold weather arrives and before it could snow, which could endanger La Peana ”, he announced.
Participating in the funding campaign is as easy as entering the
goteo.org website and following the instructions to help save La Peana. The minimum amount to be a member of this commendable company is only 5 euros .
"The idea is that anyone who wants to can participate, that the money is not a handicap, because what we want from the association apart from of course saving the oak, is to link the population of the region not only with the oak, but with specimens of other trees that we have in the Sierra Filabres and, in general, with its fauna and flora , so rich and diverse. The best way is by knowing it and protecting it ”, defended Pérez.
Returning to the most immediate objective of the association, the latest initiative to save the millenary oak of Serón is none other than a painting of the tree painted by Andrés García Ibañez that will be auctioned to contribute to the project. All help is little, because, as Pérez says, La Peana is still alive, and although it is serious "if we are able to act in time we will surely save it and it will be able to survive us and future generations."
