Welcome to the Environment’s Longest Serving Hero Trees
Trees are both a critical and majestic part of our environment. But which ones have been doing their job for humanity and our planet the longest? What is the oldest living tree in the world?
Pity Methuselah. Since 1957 this 4,600-year-old bristlecone pine has held the title of the world’s oldest living tree. However, its glory is seldom appreciated because only a handful of people know where it actually is. The exact location in the White Mountains of California’s Inyo National Forest is kept secret for fear of souvenir-snipping tourists. Even photographs are restricted so it can’t be recognised.
If that lonely existence isn’t enough, last year, along came a 5,484-year-old rival to steal the whippersnapper’s record. Ah, the disappointments of youth…