The Knightwood Oak

Knightwood oak

Thought to be the oldest tree in the New Forest, the Knightwood oak is over 500 years old, but only lasted so long because of human intervention. The tree was pollarded, meaning that once it had reached maturity the branches were chopped off so the tree grew new shoots. Given all the climate protests going on at the moment to highlight human’s impact on the environment, it’s interesting to think that this tree only survived so long due to people, and that maybe a tree lasting so long isn’t what nature intended.