A Chilean judge investigating the illegal cutting and trade of threatened alerce trees ordered the detention of four people this month, among them the mayor of a town in the south of the country. The alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) is one of the world’s oldest living trees—it can survive more than 3,600 years—and is similar in appearance to the giant sequoia of the U.S. state of California, in some cases growing 150 feet high and 15 feet in diameter. Alerces won protected status in Chile in 1976, when the government declared the majestic trees a national monument. Trade in alerce wood also is prohibited internationally under the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). The four arrests were ordered May 9 by... [Log in to read more]