THE OLDEST TREE IN EUROPE DISCOVERED IN ITALY: HE IS 1230 YEARS OLD

This is the kind of discovery that marks the career of a scientist: in the heart of the wilderness, in Italy, sits the oldest tree in Europe known to date.

On a hill of the largest national park in Italy, the Pollino stands proudly the oldest tree in Europe. Scientists have recently discovered this specimen, a Heldreich pine, even older than Adonis, a 1075-year-old tree that grows in Greece.

In the mountains of Pollino National Park, south of Naples, a team of scientists was looking for old trees. This wild park, the largest in the country, has a few small villages within its borders, but nature can be particularly harsh.

Photo credit: Gianluca Piovesan

Researchers conducted a three-year survey in hopes of gaining a better understanding of aging and senescence (the process of slowing down life activity) in forests, as well as changes in the landscape over time.

It was on the heights of a hill that they discovered a Heldreich pine that seemed even older than the others.
Difficult for scientists to determine its age at first glance, it is by examining the interior that they discover that its nucleus has begun to disintegrate. But by using carbon dating and examining the rings of the roots of the tree, they were able to find out in what year the first ring of the tree was formed: 789.

Photo credit: Gianluca Piovesan

This makes this 1230-year-old tree, named Italus, the oldest scientifically dated tree in Europe to date. Maxime Cailleret, of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research , explains :

"Studying multi-century trees is immensely important to better predict the future impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems. "

Photo credit: Gianluca Piovesan

The researchers 'next goal is to understand the recovery of Italus' growth in recent years.

All you have to do is go for a walk in Pollino Park to see this majestic tree with your own eyes.