18/08/15 Councillor Jean Morrison & lord provost George adam
Aberdeen has joined an international peace project to grow seeds from atomic bomb-damaged trees – 70 years after the nuclear attacks on Japan at the end of World War Two.The Hiroshima-based Mayors for Peace organisation sent the ginkgo tree seeds to Aberdeen Lord Provost George Adam as part of the United Nations initiative.The seeds come from a tree which survived the bomb blast, despite being less than a mile from the epicentre on 06 August 1945. Duthie Park gardeners have successfully germinated six of the seeds, which are now six-inch high saplings.
Aberdeen has joined an international peace project to grow seeds from trees damaged by atomic bombs.
Mayors for Peace, based in the Japanese city of Hiroshima where the first atomic bomb was dropped more than 70 years ago, offered the ginkgo tree seeds to the city’s Lord Provost, George Adam.
The gesture was made as part of the United Nations ‘green legacy Hiroshima’ project which aims to spread the seeds and saplings worldwide.
The seeds sent to Aberdeen come from a 250-year-old ginkgo tree, which stands in Hiroshima’s Shukkei-en Garden – less than a mile from the epicentre of the atomic blast which obliterated the city on August 6, 1945.
The team of gardeners at Duthie Park have successfully germinated six of the seeds.
The ginkgo trees could soon be planted in the city’s parks and at other iconic locations around Aberdeen.
The Lord Provost said: “The fact that new life could grow from something so devastating gave people in Hiroshima hope and courage that their lives could go on.
“Aberdeen has such strong links with Japan so it is fitting that in this 70th anniversary year we use these seeds to grow symbols of hope for peace around the world.”
