Bunya, chopped down to make way for a road, to live on as material in 500 guitars 🌲🎸| ABC Australia

When guitar maker Matthew Semmens heard a landmark bunya pine tree would be cut down and turned into wood chips he went into rescue mode.
"I freaked out," he said. "I was like, 'we've got to save this tree and use it in the local community building guitars'."
The beloved tree stood along the roadside for at least 80 years, then retained as the centre of a busy roundabout as traffic got busier around it.
In 2023 the bunya was finally cut down to make way for construction of the final section of the $481 million Newcastle inner-city bypass, which has been in the planning for decades.
📽 Video produced by Jesmine Cheong and edited by Anthony Scully.
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[@johncl27]

love it...the re-use of an iconic tree, what it is being used for and the longevity of the project...all inspiring...nice to see your face too Wayne...been a long time!

[@Jesse-B]

"Earthy" was the perfect description of the tone. Well done Matthew.

[@nowendoc7]

Happy to know that in a sense the old tree lives on. There shouldn't be difficulties in ensuring that iconic structures, natural or otherwise are treated in way that allows their story to continue.

[@raykuipers3146]

Great that is a much better result then woodchips ,well done.