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Chile: the “Great Grandfather”, the oldest tree in the world with 5000 years of history

This Patagonian cypress dethroned a California pine in May 2022. A witness to past centuries, it provides researchers with valuable information about the past.

The inhabitants of his region in Chile call him the “Gran Abuelo”, the great-grandfather in Spanish. The reason is simple: this tree, a Patagonian cypress, has been growing in a forest for more than 5,000 years.

With its 60 meters high and 4 meters in diameter, the “Great Grandfather” has been the oldest tree in the world for a year. In May 2022, it dethroned a California pine tree.

“This tree that has been growing here for so long is a survivor, explains Antonio Lara, a researcher at the Center for Climate and Resilience Sciences. We are in a very special place: a narrow and wet trench. It is not ideal for development and also has survived deforestation.”

Like “an open book”

Witness of the last 5,000 years, this cypress is also considered a “time capsule” that stores valuable information about the past and how these trees manage to adapt to climate change and their environment.

“If it disappears, it is a piece of history that goes with it,” underlines Carmen Rodríguez, a researcher at the Dendrochronology Laboratory of the Austral University of Chile.

“This tree helps us and gives us a lot of information… It allows us to study the past and understand it. It’s like an open book,” he adds.

For millennia, “Great Grandfather” has lived with birds, frogs and lizards. But with its new status as the world’s oldest tree, it now attracts tourists.

Author: Lola Dhers
Source: BFM TV

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