Researchers that have been searching for the tallest tree in Taiwan for over ten years have finally found their record-breaker.
Searching through the island's giant trees – specimens that can grow to over 80 meters in height – geologists, ecologists, professional tree climbers and remote-sensing specialists finally discovered one that measures a whopping 84.1 meters tall.
- After four short hours hiking its ancient forests, we decided to move to the Scottish Highlands
- It may look like a bridge but this crossing isn’t made of brick or concrete – and it lasts for hundreds of years
A Taiwan fir (Taiwania cryptomerioides) is one of the 'giant' tree species that grow throughout Taiwan in old-growth forest that has historically been protected from loggers due to the steep terrain. To the Indigenous Rukai people, the Taiwan firs are known by the name ‘the tree that hits the moon’.
The island is one of the only places on Earth where trees can grow so tall because of its abundant moisture and warm climate. About 60 per cent of Taiwan is forested, and it is thought the island is home to around 950 million trees.
- 10 epic photos of the most monumental trees on Earth
- It's taller than Big Ben, can live for thousands of years and even regenerates
In 2014, researchers from the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute began their expedition to look for a group of trees known as the Chilan Three Sisters: three giant Taiwania firs that had been known to locals, but had never been scientifically measured.
Finding these in 2017 – with the tallest measuring 69.3 metres and a trunk diameter of nearly three metres – the group decided to continue their quest.
The team used a combination of citizen science and 3D scanning technology to find and map tall trees throughout the Taiwanese forests. The Taiwan Giant Tree Map was published in 2022 and officially identified 941 trees that were over 65 meters in height.
- Weirdest trees in the world: discover nature's wackiest
- These giants were planted by the Victorians. Now little birds sleep inside them
In 2023, the candidate for the tallest tree was picked after studying the map and the researchers headed out on an expedition to find it. The trek involved 20 kilometers of river tracing and two days of steep uphill hiking.
Climbers eventually reached the tree's crown, dropped a measuring tape and recorded a height of 84.1 meters. The tree was christened 'Heaven Sword of the Da'an River' and is thought to be around 1,000 years old.
Though tall, the Taiwan fir is not the tallest tree in the world, which has been recorded as being 116.07 meters tall. A Sequoia sempervirens nicknamed 'Hyperion' was verified as the world's tallest tree by the Guinness World Records in 2019. The coastal redwood was found in Redwood National Park in California and is thought to be between 1,200 and 2,200 years old.
Tall trees are also at risk from climate change, with storms growing stronger and cloud clover lifting higher, thereby drying out habitats.
Top image: a giant forest in Taiwan. Credit: Steven Pearce
