FUKUOKA (Kyodo) Two giant trees in Japan and New Zealand are set to become "sister trees" at a signing ceremony Thursday in New Zealand's Northland region.
The Jomon Sugi, a Japanese cedar on Yaku Island, a World Heritage site in Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Tane Mahuta, a kauri tree in Northland's Waipoua forest, will have a sister-tree relationship establish under New Zealand's "family of ancient trees" project, local Japanese officials said.
The project is aimed at linking trees around the world that are more than 1,000 years old.
The Jomon Sugi-Tane Mahuta tieup is the project's first and is expected to serve as a symbol of environmental protection and educational exchanges between two regions that share a culture of coexisting with nature.
