China has brought an endangered 300-year-old beaked walnut tree back to life after it was stolen and almost died 9 years ago
- The tree was stolen in 2013 and has suffered poor health for most of its life since, only slowly recovering with close and constant care
- Villagers who lived near the centuries-old tree before it was stolen believe it is a totem, a protective god’s presence
After several days of rain, the air in Liuzhou City, a city in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was humid and a little cool at 9am on March 18. Deng Yun was already on his way to Malushan Park to see his “patient,” a 300-year-old beaked walnut tree that was relocated to the park nine years ago.
The beaked walnut tree is a deciduous tree that can grow up to 30 metres tall and is a relatively rare species worldwide. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species classified the species as endangered in 1999.
This beaked walnut tree, which stands about 17 metres tall and has a diameter of 2 metres, is more fragile than other old trees. Its branches aren’t quite bushy, its leaves are a little lighter in colour, and pieces of artificial bark are clinging to the trunk to protect areas that have been damaged.
The tree’s poor growth stems from when it was stolen on April 20, 2013, from the Lagou County Nature Reserve, 45 kilometres from Liuzhou City.
Villagers living near the reserve have known since childhood that a centuries-old tree grew on the bank of the Longgong River. They believe the tree is a totem, a protective god’s presence.
“Every generation of villagers knew of its existence; it’s older than my great-great-grandfather, and it was suddenly stolen,” villager Wei Zhenmin, 52, told The Beijing News.
The tree was eventually tracked down by investigators at a private plant nursery in Guizhou and shipped back to Liuzhou at the end of October 2013.
Deng Yun, then-director of the Liuzhou Institute of Landscape Science, was tasked with resurrecting the ancient tree.
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Deng was taken aback by the wounds the tree had suffered, despite the fact that he had spent more than 30 years working with plants and had become accustomed to seeing a wide range of problems. He remembered it having a metre-long crack in the bark and mould on the bottom third of the roots. A large lateral root had already died. According to The Beijing News, the tree was severely truncated, with only the main trunk remaining.
“If the roots are rotten, the nutrient transfer is stymied; whether the tree can live depends on its own vitality,” Deng said.
Deng knelt next to the tree, which was lying flat in a giant trailer, to treat its wounds. He carefully cut off every necrotic, rotten, and mouldy root with a chainsaw before applying the yellow mud and rooting powder to the wounds one at a time.
“It’s like operating on a person; you have to completely remove the bad tissue and not let it continue to mould,” Deng explained.
Deng said the details of the surgery are still vivid in his mind after nine years.
The operation lasted for 25 hours and was declared a success, and the tree was transplanted to the pit dug ahead of time.
After completing a series of tasks, Deng gently patted the tree and said: “Come on, you have to live.”
The ancient beaked walnut tree sprouted a few new shoots a year later and has slowly produced more branches and leaves since.
“Based on its growth, it can basically be declared to be alive,” said Deng, who was delighted by the tree’s vitality.
Deng has been caring for the ancient beaked walnut tree since it was recovered nine years ago. In the process, he realised the significance of ancient tree preservation.
Deng believes that, in addition to natural factors, human factors must be considered in explaining the decline of old and valuable trees. Driven by insatiable commercial interests, the phenomenon of theft and logging of ancient and valuable trees has occurred repeatedly in recent years, despite being prohibited in China.
Yang Zhongqi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a professor at the Chinese Academy of Forestry, has repeatedly called for public attention to be brought to the protection of old and valuable trees, as well as their registration in various regions.
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Beijing, Shandong, Hebei, and another 15 mainland provinces had all passed local laws and regulations to protect old and valuable trees as of January 2022.
The “reborn” old beaked walnut tree has sprouted a few newborn branches emerging from beneath the bark after the recent showers of rain.
Maintenance of the beaked walnut tree is also ongoing. The park’s gardeners, like Deng, frequently visit the old tree, and everyone looks forward to seeing it return to its former glory in the forest. Only at that point will the rescue be considered a complete success.
