- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
Germany's parks plant a way forward on climate change
In the castle gardens of Muskauer Park, which straddles both banks of the German-Polish river border, caretakers have mounted a fightback against the impacts of climate change.
On the stump of a 150-year-old oak tree, gnawed by parasites and felled in a storm, a tender new shoot represents the estate's hope of adapting to rising temperatures and more frequent droughts.
As part of a "natural regeneration" project, the sapling was grafted onto its fallen predecessor by gardeners in the first step towards replacing the UNESCO-listed park's lost trees.
The young oak "will benefit from the roots of the old tree and will be more resistant to threats", gardener Jana Kretschmer told AFP.
By transmitting their DNA to the new saplings, the older trees "teach" their descendants how to adapt to less hospitable conditions.
"Nature shows the way, humans need only look on," said Kretschmer.
Drought and pests are among the silent killers encouraged by climate change, which weakens plants and has started to decimate the flora of the parklands on both sides of the Neisse river.
Some 180 beeches, ashes and oaks had to be felled there last year.
"Every year since 2018 we have to cut down more and more trees," said Kretschmer, the site's deputy manager, who bemoaned the loss of countless old trees as a "catastrophe".
- Natural cure -
In June, 15 German estates presented their plans to protect their gardens against the impacts of climate change.
At Muskauer Park, the groundskeepers are betting on the traditional method of natural regeneration to increase the tree-count.
Importing more resistant species of trees would be an option, but one that would be "neither sustainable, nor intelligent", said park manager Cord Panning.
A natural regeneration approach moreover promises savings in two scarce commodities: money and water.
Following the method, caretakers select the best young specimens to plant them in place of old trees, eschewing genetic engineering or any foreign transplants.
In time, they hope to restore virtually all of the trees in the 19th century garden that have been lost and felled.
Among the pests to have plagued the trees at Muskauer Park are the tinder fungus and the bark beetle.
"Usually, by the time you realise it, it is too late," said Kretschmer.
Long dry spells between 2018 and 2020 did nothing to help the situation, leaving the trees ever more vulnerable to attack.
- Fungal invasion -
Further south in Germany, at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, the spread of the phytophthora fungus and invasive mistletoe species are depriving trees of water.
"The trees are experiencing dry stress, even in years where rainfall is sufficient," said Michael Degle, the palace's landscape architect.
The Munich park has had a system of "sustainable tree management" since 2018, which employs moisture sensors and new pruning techniques.
The project feeds into the joint efforts of over a dozen garden estates in Germany, including Muskauer Park, to develop effective responses to climate change.
But their work is "reaching its limits", according to the group's June report.
Already, 20 to 30 percent of their budget is spent on fixing climate damage -- a share which is only increasing.
According to their calculations, somewhere between 200 and 250 million euros ($220 and 275 million) would be needed in the long term to protect historic parks from rising temperatures.
The damage to trees at Muskauer Park by a warming climate will be on show at the estate's open day at the end of September.
An opportunity, according to Kretschmer, to show that trees "are not just wood, but living beings much more clever than us".
L.Miller--AMWN