Britain’s oldest tree could be dead in 50 years - because tourists keep ripping off its branches for souvenirs, say experts.
The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is thought to be 3000-5000 years old but has a lifespan now of just half a century, campaigners say.
Catherine Lloyd, of Tayside Biodiversity Community Partnership, said the Fortingall kirkyard tree, which is surrounded by a cage, has become stressed.
She said: “They are attacking this poor tree, it’s stressed, and whether that’s the reason it is not doing very well at the moment, we don’t know.”
Neil Hooper, the tree warden for Fortingall, said they can’t tell how many visitors have atacked the tree but “certainly some needles, twigs, even bits of branches have been torn off”.
He said the more common problem came from visitors climbing into the enclosure, via a listed wall, to tie beads and ribbons to the tree’s branches, adding: “The metal plaque put up by the Tree Council has been forced down and twisted flat face down, which must have taken considerable force, by someone climbing into the enclosure.”
In a bid to keep the original specimen alive, seedlings from the yew will be planted at kirkyards in Perthshire and Angus, as well at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Catherine said: “The history the tree has seen is gobsmacking. You look at it and think it’s been there for at least 3000 years, 1000 years before the Romans came across Scotland.”
Due to its poor health, she said one day the ancient yew will “keel over”, adding: “But if we’ve got its progeny, we’ve got its clones growing elsewhere, then the DNA will be looked after and safeguarded.”
