World's tallest tree is cooked alive

It had stood unharmed by man for almost four centuries. Dominating the lush Tasmanian rainforest, the tree known as El Grande, the largest hardwood plant on earth, was revered by environmentalists and tourists alike. Many came to gape in awe; it stood four times higher than Gateshead's Angel of the North.

Not any more. The 79-metre (260ft) tree has been accidentally 'cooked to death' after a fire started to provide woodchips raged out of control. 'This is akin to blasting at a Sydney demolition site and saying "Whoops, we got the Opera House as well",' said Bob Brown, a senator for Tasmania's Green party.

Furious biologists are now demanding an inquiry into the demise of the 350-year-old eucalyptus regnans. On an island where the Greens attract a fifth of the votes, El Grande's torching has sparked a ferocious row with a state government accused of being unfit to protect one of the world's most diverse remaining rainforests.

Independent consultant botanist Alan Gray declared El Grande dead last month. His post mortem described the tree as having been cooked from the inside.

El Grande's destruction has intensified scrutiny of the burning of Tasmania's forests to provide woodchip for export. Vast tracts of forest are hacked down before helicopters drop napalm to burn away the remaining vegetation.