Oldest tree could die because visitors cut off branches as souvenirs
BRITAIN’S oldest tree, a yew thought to be 5,000 years old, could be dead in 50 years because tourists keep stealing branches to keep as souvenirs, campaigners have warned.
The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire, central Scotland, which stands inside a churchyard, has been left in increasingly bad health because of “stress” caused by visitors.
Tourists have allegedly chopped off branches and taken cuttings from the tree while visiting Fortingall, even though it has been surrounded by a cage for protection.
The yew is believed to date back between 3,000 and 5,000 years, but now has a life span of just half a century, according to the the Tayside Biodiversity Community Partnership.
Catherine Lloyd, a coordinator from the group, said: “They are attacking this poor tree, it’s stressed, and whether that’s the reason this poor tree is not doing very well at the moment, we don’t know.”
Because of its current poor health, Ms Lloyd said the ancient yew could “keel over” in “50 or 300 years”.
Neil Hooper, the tree warden for Fortingall, said that “they can’t tell how many visitors have attacked the tree”, but “certainly “some needles, twigs, even bits of branches have been torn off ” from the yew.
He said that the more common problem came from visitors climbing into the enclosure, via a listed wall, to tie beads and ribbons to its branches.
In a bid to keep the original specimen alive, seedlings from the yew will now be planted at various kirkyards in Perthshire and Angus, as well at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
The Church Yew Tree project is a 10-year programme working in partnership with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
The Botanic Garden has its own yew tree hedge, which originates from cuttings from the Fortingall Yew, and this will be used to grow on between 30 to 50 new saplings.
By 2020 the project aims to have identified more than 20 churchyards, which will accept the saplings for planting.
Ms Lloyd added: “If we’ve got its progeny, we’ve got its clones growing elsewhere, then the DNA will be looked after and safeguarded, and we will have more important yew trees.”