New road threatens ‘Great Grandfather’ one of the world’s oldest trees and legacy of weather patterns: “they’re like encyclopedias”

At roughly 5,400 years old, El Gran Abuelo, an ancient giant alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) which towers 196 feet (60 meters) over a ravine in the Chilean Andes is one of the oldest trees on the planet - some claim it is the oldest, predating Methuselah - a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) in California by about 600 years.

However, this majestic, ancient tree and others which surround it in Alerce Costero National Park, near Puerto Montt, Lake District, Southern Chile, could be felled to make way for a new road.

Controversial highway project would impact Alerce Costero National Park

The Chilean government is pushing forward with a long-debated plan to reopen Ruta T720 an old logging road that cuts through Alerce Costero National Park.

The Route T720 project was first proposed in 2008 as a development strategy aimed at improving connectivity between La Unión and Corral, two towns in Chile’s Los Ríos Region. However, during the planning process, Chile’s National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) conducted two environmental impact assessments, leading to modifications that delayed its approval.

Alerce Costero National Park would spell disaster for the forest’s ecosystems

Officials argue that the highway will improve connectivity and boost tourism in the region. A major point of contention is that 10 kilometers of the proposed route would cut directly through Alerce Costero National Park, a protected area home to diverse flora and fauna—including the iconic Alerce Milenario, a designated Natural Monument. Environmentalists warn that construction could threaten fragile ecosystems and disrupt centuries-old biodiversity.

Jonathan Barichivich, environmental scientist and member of Corporación Alerce, has voiced strong opposition to the highway project. He argues that the proposed road embodies an outdated model of development—one that prioritizes exploiting natural resources at the expense of environmental destruction.

“This approach may have been acceptable a decade or two ago, but not anymore,” Barichivich stated, emphasizing that modern progress must align with conservation efforts rather than threaten ecosystems.

Barichivich, along with fellow researchers Rocío Urrutia, Álvaro Gutiérrez, and Alejandro Miranda, published a study in Science titled “Chile’s Road Projects Threaten Ancient Forests.” In it, they warned about the serious environmental consequences of the proposed Route T720, including:

Rocío Urrutia, Professor of Natural Sciences and Technology at the University of Aysén, Adjunct Researcher at CR2, and President of Corporación Alerce, has raised serious concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the project.

“We don’t even know the exact size of the Alerce trees that will be affected, their precise locations, or the total number that will be cut down,” she explained. “How can something be approved when even the consulting firm conducting the study hasn’t fully assessed these details? We believe there is political urgency behind this, rather than a real interest in executing the project properly.”

Scientists warn that the highway project could increase the risk of wildfires and endanger the Alerce trees, which are crucial for climate research. These trees serve as natural climate archives, with their rings preserving thousands of years of weather patterns.

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