Monkey Puzzle Tree on Extinct List

With more than 8,000 tree species known to date, nearly 970 trees are headed for extinction says the UKs Global Trees Campaign. Chile's national tree, the monkey puzzle, is one you may recognize.
The Environmental News Service reports that major monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) habitat was damaged by a forest fire in Chile 18 months ago. The fire destroyed 71 percent of the araucaria forest in Malleco National Reserve. Some of the trees were 2,000 years old.
Researcher Cristian Echeverría said, "After years of destruction the monkey puzzle tree is now found in two small areas in the Andes and on the coastal mountain range. Fires in the summer season of 2001-2002 have destroyed 30,000 hectares of native forest, including 71 percent of the area of monkey puzzle and 61 percent of Nothofagus, a native beech, in one of the three reserves affected."
There is a real North American fascination with the monkey puzzle tree. Here is a discussion on About's forestry forum a year or two ago.
Monkey Puzzle Tree Discussion