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Senseless damage to native trees

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A man's hand holds some small green fruit still on the tree
The small green fruits are valuable commodities(ABC Kimberley: Matthew Bamford)

A small green plum with the world's highest vitamin C content has long been in hot demand by the health food and cosmetics industries.

It's only available for a short season, usually after heavy after rains, on the Terminalia ferdinandiana tree, commonly called Gubinge or Kakadu Plum and which command high prices per kilo.

Groups of pickers are currently harvesting from trees in the bush and neighbourhoods around Broome, Derby and the Dampier Peninsula, keen to collect as much of the lucrative fruit as possible.

But reports are emerging of vandalised trees, snapped and twisted branches and even chainsaws being used.

Credits

Broadcast 
Broome, Derby, Horticulture, Native Species, Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander), Community and Society
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