A bulldozer clears the fallen cotton tree in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, May 25, 2023. Sierra Leone’s iconic cotton tree, which dates back centuries as a symbol of liberty and liberty by early settlers, fell during heavy rains in the capital city causing great loss to the nation and leaving ” A hole in our hearts,” Chief Julius Maada Bio told The Associated Press. Credit: AP Photo/TJ Bade
The country’s president, Julius Maada Bio, said Thursday that heavy rains in Sierra Leone’s capital have caused the fall of a centuries-old cotton tree, a national treasure whose loss has left a “hole” in people’s hearts.
“There is no more powerful symbol of our national story than the cotton tree, which is a physical embodiment of where we come from as a country,” Pugh told the Associated Press. “Nothing in nature lasts forever, so our challenge is to revive, nurture and develop that powerful African spirit for a long time.”
The tree, which is 70 meters tall and 15 meters wide, is about 400 years old and has been a national symbol of Sierra Leone for decades.
It has appeared on banknotes, woven into lullabies and has been visited by royalty, such as Queen Elizabeth II, to celebrate the country’s independence in 1961, according to a statement from Zebek International, a news agency that works with the government of Sierra Leone.
While the tree has withstood damage over the years, including a lightning strike that left it partially burned, Wednesday’s storm left nothing of the tree but a stump.
For Sierra Leone, the loss is similar to the fire that destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2019, the state news agency Zybek reported.
Sierra Leone is among the countries most affected by climate change. In 2017 more than 1,000 people were killed in a landslide caused by heavy rains.
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A bulldozer clears the fallen cotton tree in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, May 25, 2023. Sierra Leone’s iconic cotton tree, which dates back centuries as a symbol of liberty and liberty by early settlers, fell during heavy rains in the capital city causing great loss to the nation and leaving ” A hole in our hearts,” Chief Julius Maada Bio told The Associated Press. Credit: AP Photo/TJ Bade
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A bulldozer clears the fallen cotton tree in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, May 25, 2023. Sierra Leone’s iconic cotton tree, which dates back centuries as a symbol of liberty and liberty by early settlers, fell during heavy rains in the capital city causing great loss to the nation and leaving ” A hole in our hearts,” President Julius Maada Bio told The Associated Press on Thursday. Credit: AP Photo/TJ Bade
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People look at a fallen cotton tree in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, May 25, 2023. The famous cotton tree in Sierra Leone which dates back centuries as a symbol of liberty and liberty by early settlers, fell during heavy rains in the capital city causing great loss to the nation And it left “a hole in our hearts,” President Julius Maada Bio told The Associated Press. Credit: AP Photo/TJ Bade
Chief Pyo said he looks forward to discussions on how best to use space.
“What the cotton tree represents will last: how something so large and powerful can grow from something (as small) as a seed, how many people can gather together under the protection of something greater than the sum of their parts; and how centuries it will be the embodiment of our history, our unity and our resilience.”
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