It may have looked like a scrubby bush high on the bare slope of a hill in Somerset, but it was one of the most famous trees in England, and once one of the most famous in all Christendom. And it has been felled by vandals.
The attack left the crown trailing to 
the ground beside the almost severed trunk of the Glastonbury Thorn, said to have flowered on Wearyall Hill every Christmas day for 2,000 years, since Joseph of Arimathea thrust the staff he brought from the Holy Land into the soil and it miraculously broke into blossom.
There were reports of many people in tears in Glastonbury today as they looked up at 
the bare patch of sky where the tree had grown, beside a public footpath and protected only by an iron railing – still festooned with the ribbons, prayers and little decorations regularly left as offerings.
The day of the attack, 8 December, may 
have been chosen for its special significance: each year on that day a sprig is cut from a tree in St John's churchyard grown from a cutting from the thorn, and sent to the Queen to decorate her Christmas dinner table.
Katherine Gorbing, the director of Glastonbury Abbey (ruins at left), said: "It's a great shock to everyone in Glastonbury – the landscape of the town has changed 
overnight."
'"The mindless vandals who have hacked down this tree have struck at the heart of Christianity. It holds a very special significance all over the world and thousands follow in the footsteps of Joseph Arimathea, coming especially to see it."
The Glastonbury mayor, John Coles, climbed the hill to look at the 
stump yesterday, and said he was devastated.
"I'm stood on Wearyall Hill looking at a sad, sad, sight. The tree has been chopped down – someone has taken a saw to it. Some of the main trunk is there but the branches have been sawn away. I am absolutely lost for words – I just do not know why people would want to do this."
Paul Fletcher, a trustee of the Chalice Well, believed by some to be a sacred spring where Joseph hid the Holy Grail, said: "People in the town have felt this like a physical 
blow. It's an act of violence really, against a living thing, a tree which was so special and symbolizes the very origins of Christianity to so many people. There has been a vigil at the site all through the day, and I am sure people will come together to replant the tree."
It is not the first time the tree has been targeted, but thorn trees are famously resilient. In the middle ages, like the abbey below believed to hold the graves of King Arthur and Guinevere, it became a major 
pilgrimage site – and therefore was regarded as an object of Romish superstition in the religious turmoil in which the last abbot of Glastonbury was hanged in 1539 on top of Tor Hill. It was felled by Parliamentarians during the civil war, but had regrown from cuttings saved by townspeople. Like the St John's tree, thorns from cuttings also flourish in the grounds of the abbey, the rural life museum, the Chalice Well garden and other gardens in the town.
Avon and Somerset police are appealing for witnesses, and making house-to-house inquiries – despite being isolated, the spot is popular with dog walkers.
Joseph of Arimathea (left), who according to the Gospel gave his own tomb to hold the body of Christ, is said to have come to the West Country after the crucifixion, sparking legends about Glastonbury that unite the Holy Grail and Arthurian lore. In some versions of the story Joseph's staff was made from the wood of the cross, in others it had belonged to Christ himself.
Source:
The Guardian, "Glastonbury Thorn chopped down as town rages over attack on famous tree", by Maev Kennedy, accessed December 9, 2010
Representatives to a U.N. conference on biodiversity agreed early on Saturday to expand protected areas on land and at sea in the hopes of slowing the rate of extinction of the world’s animals and plants and preventing further damage to its ecosystems.
After marathon negotiations that stretched hours past the designated 
time, delegates also managed to overcome divisions between rich and poor countries to agree to share access to and the benefits of genetic resources such as plants whose extracts have been developed into medicines - a key sticking point that had threatened to doom the entire two-week meeting in Nagoya, southwest of Tokyo.
Environment ministers from around the globe also agreed on rules for sharing the benefits from genetic resources from nature between governments and companies, a trade and intellectual property issue that could be worth billions of dollars in new funds for developing nations.
Agreement on parts of the deal has taken years of at times heated negotiations, and talks in the Japanese city of Nagoya were deadlocked 
until the early hours of Saturday after two weeks of talks.
Delegates agreed goals to protect oceans, forests and rivers as the world faces the worst extinction rate since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.
They also agreed to take steps to put a price on the value of benefits such as clean water from watersheds and coastal protection by mangroves by including such "natural capital" into national accounts.
Services provided by nature to economies were worth trillions of dollars a year, the head of the U.N. Environment Program, Achim Steiner, said in a statement, adding businesses from banks to miners were key in halting rapid loss of ecosystems.
"These goals recognize and value the irreplaceable benefits that nature provides to people in the form of food, fuel, fiber, fodder and freshwater that everyone depends on," Andrew Deutz, director of international government relations for U.S.-based The Nature Conservancy, stated.
Delegates and greens said the outcome would send a positive signal to troubled U.N. climate negotiations that have been become bogged down by a split between rich and poor nations over how to share the burden in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
U.N. climate talks resume in Mexico in a month.
"TORTUROUS NEGOTIATIONS"
"We're delighted there's been a successful outcome to these long and torturous negotiations and I think it shows that these multilateral 
negotiations can deliver a good result," said Peter Cochrane, head of Australia's delegation in Nagoya.
Delegates agreed to a 20-point strategic plan to protect fish stocks, fight the loss and degradation of natural habitats and to conserve larger land and marine areas.
They also set a broader 2020 "mission" to take urgent action to halt the loss of biodiversity.
Nations agreed to protect 17 percent of land and inland waters and 10 percent of coastal and marine areas by 2020. Currently, 13 percent of land and 1 percent of oceans are protected for conservation.
The third part of the deal, the Nagoya Protocol on genetic resources, has taken nearly 20 years to agree and sets rules governing how nations manage and share benefits derived from forests and seas to create new drugs, crops or cosmetics.
The protocol could unlock billions of dollars for developing countries, where much of the world's natural riches remain.
"The protocol is really, really a victory," Brazil's Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira (right) told reporters.
It will also mean changes for businesses.
"This isn't a boring protocol. It will regulate billions of dollars for the pharmaceutical industry," said Tove Ryding, policy adviser for biodiversity and climate change for Greenpeace.
Karl Falkenberg, (below right) head of the European Commission's environment department, said it would also fight poverty.
"We finally have something that is going to give great results for the environment, for the poor people," who will be able to earn money in exchange for access to genetic materials, he said after the talks ended.
Delegates and greens had feared the ill-feeling that pervaded climate negotiations after last December's acrimonious meeting in Copenhagen would derail the talks in Nagoya.
"There's been a mood of change. I think the failure of the Copenhagen meeting last year perhaps has meant a new realization that we need to more flexible in negotiations," said Jane Smart, director of conservation policy for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Source:
Reuters, "Nations agree historic deal to save nature", accessed November 1, 2010
It may have looked like a scrubby bush high on the bare slope of a hill in Somerset, but it was one of the most famous trees in England, and once one of the most famous in all Christendom. And it has been felled by vandals.
the ground beside the almost severed trunk of the Glastonbury Thorn, said to have flowered on Wearyall Hill every Christmas day for 2,000 years, since Joseph of Arimathea thrust the staff he brought from the Holy Land into the soil and it miraculously broke into blossom.
the bare patch of sky where the tree had grown, beside a public footpath and protected only by an iron railing – still festooned with the ribbons, prayers and little decorations regularly left as offerings.
have been chosen for its special significance: each year on that day a sprig is cut from a tree in St John's churchyard grown from a cutting from the thorn, and sent to the Queen to decorate her Christmas dinner table.
overnight."
stump yesterday, and said he was devastated.
blow. It's an act of violence really, against a living thing, a tree which was so special and symbolizes the very origins of Christianity to so many people. There has been a vigil at the site all through the day, and I am sure people will come together to replant the tree."
pilgrimage site – and therefore was regarded as an object of Romish superstition in the religious turmoil in which the last abbot of Glastonbury was hanged in 1539 on top of Tor Hill. It was felled by Parliamentarians during the civil war, but had regrown from cuttings saved by townspeople. Like the St John's tree, thorns from cuttings also flourish in the grounds of the abbey, the rural life museum, the Chalice Well garden and other gardens in the town.
Avon and Somerset police are appealing for witnesses, and making house-to-house inquiries – despite being isolated, the spot is popular with dog walkers.
