Standing Tall

Trees breathe life into our planet and landscapes. It’s impossible to travel without witnessing how they shape the world, their roots deeply interwoven with our heritage and culture.

Words: EMILY OPIE

Trees have been culturally and spiritually vital for millennia. Perhaps more than any other form of life, they give us fascinating insights into the past. Unyielding against the tests of time, they remain rooted to the spot while the world moves frantically around them.

No matter where you are in the world, trees are true keepers of secrets. They hold stories of history and evolution, of periods marked by change and growth. From the sacred bodhi tree and towering kapok to gnarly bristlecone pines and tiny saplings nurtured for reforestation projects, each tree, much like us, has its own tales to tell.

It’s always a humbling experience to stop for a moment, lay your hand against an oak, baobab or banyan tree, and imagine all it has witnessed.

Ancient history

Trees are first thought to have appeared between 350 and 420 million years ago, millions of years before early humans evolved. The first tree, the archaeopteris, a tall tree with a slim trunk and green fern-like foliage, is now extinct. Yet from images generated by scientists, it’s not dissimilar to species found on earth today.

In Sweden, on the steep slopes of the rugged Fulufjället National Park, you can still come face to face with one of the world’s oldest trees. The unassuming Old Tjikko, a rather spindly looking Norway spruce, is thought to be at least 9,500 years old.

Researchers have been able to date the tree, in particular its root system, by identifying processes such as vegetative cloning (producing new organisms with identical genomes), layering (when branches sprout new roots into the ground) and carbon dating.

Lacing up your hiking boots to explore Sweden’s thirty national parks promises more than just fresh air and epic scenery.

Living among giants

Wherever you are in the world, trees always make their presence known. Cambodia’s Angkor Wat complex has long attracted travellers to its seventy temples, where intricate towers, courtyards and pathways reveal the fascinating 12th century history of the Khmer empire.

One temple in particular, made famous by the movie Tomb Raider, receives much attention from visitors. Ta Prohm, built in the traditional Bayon style, intricately carved and constructed without mortar, was slowly taken over by trees after it was abandoned in the 15th century. Tentacle-like tree roots seem to protest against this human structure, growing out of the building itself, as the lush jungle seemingly tries to reclaim its lost terrain.

In east and southern Africa, where the big five roam and the skies seem endless, the mighty baobab is never far away. Its most vital role is interwoven with the fragile ecosystem of the savannah across Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and beyond.

These massive trees are the embodiment of survival. They help to keep the soil humid, aid nutrient recycling and slow erosion with their enormous roots – and enable us to discover the regions’ incredible wildlife, season after season.

Spirituality & beliefs

Humans have long celebrated the natural world, acknowledging, worshipping and sacrificing to the power of the planet, sun and stars. Ancient beliefs and practices such as Shintoism in Japan and the worship of the Earth Mother, Pachama, in indigenous Andean communities, are still spiritually significant and practised today.

The concept of the ‘tree of life’ has played an important role in mythology and philosophical traditions. From Norway to Iran, China to Greece, tangled roots, intertwining branches and robust trunks have been depicted on the armour of warriors, in palaces, fortresses and churches, and woven into textiles.

Even the twinkling modern Christmas tree is derived from evergreen tree branches the ancient Greeks and Romans used as symbolic decoration.

Arguably the world's most sacred tree is the bhodi tree, ‘the tree of awakening’, revered by Buddhists who believe Siddhartha Gautama was meditating beneath its branches when he gained enlightenment. The tree was a fig, with large heart shaped leaves and a smooth trunk. It grew in Bodh Gaya in India, although other ancient trees of the same species are also considered sacred and referred to as bodhi trees. The Mahabodhi tree that now grows close to the original plot is thought to be a direct descendant of the first, and considered one of the four main Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India and Nepal.

India’s national tree is the banyan. Sacred to the country’s Hindu population, it’s a symbol of life, fertility, growth and strength. It also holds religious, mythical and cultural significance for other Dharmic religions, such as Jainism, Sikhism and Islam. The tree itself is beautiful, capable of growing for centuries to cover expanses of up to 4.7 acres, putting down a forest-like tangle of roots from its branches.

In China, the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree in the grounds of Hong Kong’s Tin Hau Temple, has been worshipped since the late 1700s, said to be able to make wishes come true.

Looking to the future

An unsustainable pressure is mounting on our environment. The effects of climate change – wildfires, flooding, drought and storms – as well as industries such as mining, logging and agriculture threaten the survival of forests worldwide, from Australia’s Daintree Rainforest to the dense Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda.

Innovative projects now look to counter these threats and bring about positive change. People from many countries and cultures are committed to enabling future generations to, literally and metaphorically, be protected by trees' shelter and magnificence.

Indigenous Amazon communities in Colombia have taken the protection of the rainforest into their own hands, a new generation of community leaders recognised as the key to protecting the forest against mining, logging and farming. Elders are training younger members not only to preserve their culture but also to use connections to build lines of communication with government officials and mining companies.

In Tanzania, a mutually beneficial business idea has grown from the baobab. Women from local communities, who have harvested baobab fruit for centuries, have begun selling new products: delicious jams and vitamin-C-rich skin products. Due to the success of their small businesses, landowners have begun to preserve baobab woodlands, instead of cutting them down for fuel and farming.

Conservation is now at the core of some luxury camps, lodges and boutique hotels, which look to minimise the impact on the environment by building around or within forests rather than cutting them down. Lapa Rios in Costa Rica, Sweden’s tree-top Treehotel and Ecuador’s Mashpi Lodge offer an unrivalled connection to nature by working with trees rather than against them.

The cultural significance of trees is also being marked in the United Kingdom. The UK Tree Charter has set out ten principles, supported by councils, community groups, schools and churches, to cement the positive relationship between trees and people. Part of their research included collecting 60,000 emotive and inspiring stories from individuals who explain why trees are so important to them.

Books we recommend

Literature is a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the world of trees. From fictional tales to mind-expanding facts and science, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourite books.

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

After 20 years working for the forestry commission in Germany, Peter Wohlleben explains the science behind tree communication.

The Overstory by Richard Powers

A novel that tells the tale of nine strangers who get caught up in an unfolding environmental crisis.

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

A fictional story which explores the teachings of Buddhism, asking questions and describing the natural world with a lyrical and mesmerising style.