“Ancient Guardian of Time: The Fortingall Yew’s Battle for Survival Amidst a Rising Tide of Overtourism”
This unchecked behavior has come at a price. As a result, the Fortingall Yew has shown signs of distress, one of which is the tree’s surprising sex change in 2015.
After living for millennia as male, the tree miraculously bore red berries on its outer crown which is a distinct behavior of female trees. While switching sexes is common among trees, the yew had only been growing berries on one branch. This indicated that the tree’s sex change was only a partial change — a rare occurrence among yews and could be a sign that the tree is under duress.
Edward Parker/AlamyThe Church Yew Tree Project aims to plant and grow saplings from the Fortingall Yew’s DNA in 20 other church yards by 2020.
“It’s a strategy for longevity,” Ancient Tree Forum Chair Brian Muelaner told The Guardian. “The Fortingall Yew is fragmented and it may be so compartmentalized that part of it has become sexually ambiguous. We are all continuously learning about ancient trees – the aging process of trees is a new science.”
Interestingly, these shenanigans from tourists aren’t even the worst that the Fortingall Yew has been through. Historical accounts speak of holiday bonfires at the base of the tree and horse-riding through its widened middle.
“People have been unkind to the tree for centuries,” Lloyd said. In some cases, chunks of bark were removed to make cups in the 19th century.
Now, in an effort to preserve the ancient tree’s DNA, Fortingall Yew’s caretakers have launched an initiative called the Church Yew Tree Project, which is meant to stretch over a period of 10 years to create and distribute yew tree hedges in other churchyards.
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